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Elections
Posted On: Nov 8, 2012 15:28:41 GMT -5
Post by Yume Hanabi on Nov 8, 2012 15:28:41 GMT -5
The emperor of Japan isn't considered a god anymore.
I think a constant figurehead with little power is a good thing. At least in my country; the king doesn't have much power, but he's the one who kept the country together all through our governmental crisis, and he worked the hardest to help the parties reach a compromise. And he's not young anymore, too. He really deserves respect.
But anyway, this is about American elections. Well the results are out, and I must say I'm relieved. I'm not American, but American elections have an international impact, and pretty much everyone over here (and especially our government) was hoping for Obama's victory.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 8, 2012 20:33:07 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Nov 8, 2012 20:33:07 GMT -5
Well gay marriage and recreational pot are now legal in my state. This might be the first step to ending the drug war. (No, gay marriage doesn't have anything to do with that.) Well looks like our same-sex marriage bill is passing, although I'm surprised at how many people voted against it, especially considering how terrible the counter arguments for it where... Probably those who put up a barrier on gay marriage because of religious views. My mom was probably one of them that voted against it.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 8, 2012 21:12:12 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Nov 8, 2012 21:12:12 GMT -5
I'm convinced that in fifty years' time, we'll think back on our bans on gay marriage the same way we look back on the Jim Crow laws now--with disgust and shame.
And yeah, hopefully this will be the first much needed step in ending the drug war. Such a waste of money and time. Hopefully it'll make a dent in prison overcrowding, too. Prisons should be for murderers and rapists, not nonviolent drug offenders.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 8, 2012 22:19:10 GMT -5
Post by sukotsuto on Nov 8, 2012 22:19:10 GMT -5
Ahhh the war on drugs debacle. Opposite of the opium wars in China back in I think 19th century, but just as bad an idea for most nations involved. Especially considering how Portugal removed the ban for most (if not all) illegal drugs, and it actually reduced drug-related crimes and abuse.
As for this current election, I still don't have a candidate that I wanted, but I want anyone who does get elected to do a good job regardless. In the debates, Romney made some really good points that I wanted Obama to adopt (like taking our business to Latin America instead of China, as well as a lot of business-related proposals). No social issue is really affecting me at all, so they're not much of a concern to me - it's the economic woes that needs to be addressed first.
And speaking of economy, A LOT of people don't remember that this China thing is very similar to Japan back in the 80s. It might be slightly different in execution, and they might have learned from the mistakes made then, but it's still basically the same. It's not that China "owns" the US because of debt and nonsense like that, the US still has a strong enough economy on its own, it just that it's terrible mismanaged by people focused on short-term major profits instead of total stability and ability to accept stagnation in order to not lose money. Or whatever. I'm pretty much just taking excerpt from various articles that piqued my interest regarding the economy, so I might have not said it too well
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 8, 2012 22:38:30 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Nov 8, 2012 22:38:30 GMT -5
Especially considering how Portugal removed the ban for most (if not all) illegal drugs, and it actually reduced drug-related crimes and abuse. Exactly. Most of the violence people associate with drugs isn't actually due to the drug use itself--it's due to the drug trade. If you make it illegal, it becomes risky to sell and buy. That jacks up the price, which in turn equates to more profit and therefore more crime in order to cash in on said profit. iirc, in decriminalizing drugs, Portugal also set up programs for addicts to get help recovering, rather than throwing them in jail. Jailing addicts doesn't change the reason why they're using in the first place or give them tools to resist going back to abusing when they get released from jail. Only actual treatment does. The US's model of jailing users with no treatment just means those people return to using and therefore jail in an endless cycle. It costs a lot to pay for rehab, but it costs a lot less than throwing somebody in jail over and over.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 10, 2012 16:14:07 GMT -5
Post by supersonic1453 on Nov 10, 2012 16:14:07 GMT -5
The emperor of Japan isn't considered a god anymore. I think a constant figurehead with little power is a good thing. At least in my country; the king doesn't have much power, but he's the one who kept the country together all through our governmental crisis, and he worked the hardest to help the parties reach a compromise. And he's not young anymore, too. He really deserves respect. But anyway, this is about American elections. Well the results are out, and I must say I'm relieved. I'm not American, but American elections have an international impact, and pretty much everyone over here (and especially our government) was hoping for Obama's victory. Well, America told them to do that. What the populace actually thinks and feels is another matter entirely; however, I'm sure you're right in that the younger generations generally feel that way.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 13, 2012 15:49:41 GMT -5
Post by Youngster Joey on Nov 13, 2012 15:49:41 GMT -5
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 14, 2012 1:12:21 GMT -5
Post by sukotsuto on Nov 14, 2012 1:12:21 GMT -5
lol I just read that one. But come to think of it, how much can a president really do for a country? As compared to individual politicians, the US president is definitely the top, but most presidents probably never really did as much as people think they do, as the rest of the process in getting things done is outside the president's hands, like congress, senate, lobbyists, supposed people acting behind closed doors, the... "illumnati" ( ), etc. One of the few exceptions to that is if a major incident happens that will aid a president help sway public opinion on his side, enough for the president to take advantage of this event to put in measures that seem reasonable at that very moment. I'm starting to think that a president would find it more difficult to take care of domestic issues as compared to international issues. The only real immediate change we can do seems to rely a lot on your local government rather than the federal government, so I feel local votes are the ones that actually matters the most.
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Elections
Posted On: Nov 15, 2012 18:39:13 GMT -5
Post by Umbra on Nov 15, 2012 18:39:13 GMT -5
And yeah, hopefully this will be the first much needed step in ending the drug war. Such a waste of money and time. Hopefully it'll make a dent in prison overcrowding, too. Prisons should be for murderers and rapists, not nonviolent drug offenders. I forgot to mention, though, that the state legalization of marijuana is likely to conflict with federal law. Still, it would be interesting to see the state ignore the feds.
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