turbotsat comments

Posted in: Do you regard the U.S. Constitution as a model for the free world? See in context

Isn't it already? There's a wikipedia article about that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Constitution_and_worldwide_influence

And:

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/international/development/decline-influence-united-states-constitution

... According to a 2012 study by scholars from Washington University and the University of Virginia School of Law, as of 1987, 160 of 170 international constitutions were based at least partially on it. ...

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

"Civil rights leader" Lewis and the DNC are already using this in fundraising letters.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/15/democrats-fundraise-off-lewis-trump-feud/

Democrats Fundraise Off Lewis-Trump Feud - 15 Jan 2017

... “Today, Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter. He said that I’m ‘all talk’ and ‘no action,'” reads a DNC fundraising email sent Saturday. “I’ve been beaten bloody, tear-gassed, fighting for what’s right for America. I’ve marched at Selma with Dr. King. Sometimes that’s what it takes to move our country in the right direction.” ... “We refuse to stop now. We’re not done fighting for progress. We’re ready for the next four years,” the email adds before asking, “Are you with us? Join me and chip in whatever you can today to help Democrats stand up to injustice.” ... The Democrat’s fundraising email says donations will “be divided evenly between the DNC and John Lewis for Congress.” ...

Entire fundraising letter is at:

http://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000159-a259-de6d-a75d-ff7bdaea0001

... If you’ve saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately and be divided evenly between the DNC and John Lewis for Congress. QUICK DONATE: $3 QUICK DONATE: $10 QUICK DONATE: $25 QUICK DONATE: $50 QUICK DONATE: $100 Or donate another amount.

... Paid for by the Democratic National Committee, (address) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions or gifts to the Democratic National Committee are not tax deductible.

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Posted in: Japan pledges patrol vessels, $1.1 bil aid for Vietnam See in context

Another source says:

The six new coastguard patrol boats had a total value of 38.5 billion yen ($338 million) and Vietnam would get a concessional loan to pay for them, a Japanese official said. No timeline for delivery has been discussed yet. Japan had previously agreed to provide six old patrol boats to Vietnam.

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Posted in: Japan's elderly inmates prefer jail See in context

Capsule hotel units are pretty cheap on Alibaba. And there are kilometers and kilometers of empty land in Japan. Probably lots of empty islands. Just pick one, build a ferry dock, load it up with capsules.

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Posted in: Kremlin counts days to Trump's inauguration, blasts Obama See in context

Ukraine ... unless those are imaginary troops in the Crimea ...

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Posted in: World's 8 richest men own as much wealth as poorest half of world's population: Oxfam See in context

And if the billions of laborers and working class around the world suddenly disappeared, what would happen to these men?

They'd put the managers out in the fields.

mainly because the naysayers say it's financially impossible.

Clearly other countries do it. It's not done in the USA because of the nature and direction of health industry lobbies.

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

Strangerland: No kidding, ...

I didn't know it either but just saw it claimed on a meme and looked it up on wikipedia ... Now I understand (bass4funk's?) claim that Hillary won the popular vote three times but lost both elections in spite of it ...

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Posted in: World's 8 richest men own as much wealth as poorest half of world's population: Oxfam See in context

How many people are employed directly or indirectly by these men?

If they and their wealth suddenly disappeared, how many would be unemployed?

And if the governments suddenly doubled taxes on them, how much of that tax do you think the governments would allow to trickle down to the poor? The governments take in huge revenues already!

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

Strangerland - Yeah, why should the candidate that gets the most votes win in an democracy win? The logic of having the winner be the candidate with the most votes is just baffling. I mean, it's a democracy, right?

You've (probably) been singing Obama's praises for the last 8 to 10 years ...

... in spite of his loss of the popular vote to Hillary in the 2008 primary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_2008

Barack Obama, Jr.: 17,584,692

Hillary Rodham Clinton: 17,857,501

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Posted in: Sea Shepherd finds Japanese ship with slaughtered whale See in context

Strangerland: I like it. It's got a bit of a bite/kick to it. I wouldn't say I love it, but it tastes good to me.

Do you have dreams of a certain sentient being singing to you at night?

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Posted in: 2 women attacked while walking home in separate incidents See in context

the first incident occurred at 3:20 a.m. and the second at 4:10 a.m

TheGodfather: No comment.

In an ideal world, people could walk around whenever and they want. In the real world, in most places it's a risk to do so.

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Posted in: S Korean prosecutors seek arrest of Samsung heir See in context

He looks a lot like his sister.

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Posted in: Trump team considers relocating White House media corps See in context

The press corps will get a hologram and they'll like it.

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Posted in: Outgoing CIA chief rips into Trump on Russia threat See in context

SuperLib: Imagine if Obama responded to Trump and the nutjob birthers the way Trump has responded to Lewis. Night and day difference between these two men.

You're not kidding. Bob Creamer's 300+ visits to the White House AFTER Obama gained the presidency should have told you that.

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Posted in: Koike urges Olympic golf venue to allow women members See in context

Some of these clubs have (or had) admission policies that include barring admission to a candidate if that candidate receives a single downvote from the admissions committee or the membership, IIRC.

Probably it has been a while since they had signs up. But a 'need not apply' policy doesn't really need signs visible, to be enforced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_National_Golf_Club

... The golf club's exclusive membership policies have drawn criticism, particularly because there were no African-American members admitted until 1990, as well as a former policy requiring all caddies to be black, which was omitted from the club's bylaws in 1959. The club began granting membership to women in August 2012. Prior to the acceptance of female members, Augusta National defended its position by citing that in 2011, more than 15% of the non-tournament rounds were played by female players who were member guests or spouses of active members. ...

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

Rep. Lewis' three decades of inauguration attendance would definitely include the inauguration for the 1996 election, which Bill Clinton won with the help of illegal funding from the mainland Chinese government.

But somehow he managed to hold his nose and attend that one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy

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Posted in: Beijing warns Trump: One China 'not negotiable' See in context

ts: That's because the status quo is the de facto, unrecognized independence of Taiwan,

ThePBot: No it means Taiwan is not independent.

If you claim Taiwan is not independent, tell me how many military units the PRC has in Taiwan right now.

If a war is started over the question of Taiwan's independence, it will be the PRC starting it, as Taiwan is already independent.

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Posted in: Making health care affordable to all is a big political issue in many countries. What do you think is the best way to achieve this? See in context

Devalue it.

I think it was either Molly Ivins or Ann Coulter who pointed out in a few articles that the medical industry (specifically the American Medical Association, a kind of doctor's union) and medical eduction (the medical schools) combine to artificially constrain access to medical degrees and medical positions.

This is to their advantage, it keeps jobs and jobholders in their industry scarce and allows them to charge a lot.

The stated excuse is that they need this stuff (80-hour-plus workweeks for interns, high admission standards and low admission rates, requiring students to obtain an undergraduate degree before permitting access to medical school) to breed the supermen or demigods necessary to administer health care.

Also, with all the medical institutes sitting around, they should be able to combine and make autodoc diagnosis programs and machines, and standard procedures to be followed for all conditions. After these are distributed costs should drop drastically. When you call the weekend triage nurse, she'll walk you through a diagnosis and then make a recommendation as to whether you should keep your kid at home and nurse them there or take them to the ER. She might call the doctor if her flowchart or training says to at some point.

People seem confused about the relation of business to productivity, at least there are tons of complaints on JT boards about how unproductive their fellow salarymen are. The primary purpose of every actor in the system is to maximize their benefit. If working harder gets your deadlines done sooner, a consequence is that pink slips may come sooner. Even the managers may not want deadlines finished sooner. The medical industry isn't immune to these kinds of non-apparent goals. Neither is government. So don't expect much.

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Posted in: 2 killed after their car rear-ends truck on icy road in Nagoya See in context

From photos on other news articles, it looks like the deicing machine was one of those towed machines with no (or a non-standard) bumper, and the car went under it.

Probably if there was any kind of bumper on the machine it didn't match the bumper on the car.

The machine has a sign but the sign might be reflective-only or dim or might have been turned off.

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Posted in: Japan aborts mini-rocket mission shortly after liftoff See in context

toshiko: it must be showing off this rocket to Kim?

It's a little teeny rocket with a little teeny payload. And Japan doesn't have nukes. I don't think DPRK will worry about it. (They might use the opportunity to complain about it, though.)

The warheads on those teeny little Sparrow air-to-air missiles range from 20 kg to 40 kg. Compare that to the 3 kg on this Japanese rocket.

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Posted in: Japanese scientists say they are closer to solving mystery of Earth's core See in context

It's the San Fernando Valley that's Silicone Valley ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_Valley

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Posted in: Japanese body language: 7 key gestures to learn See in context

"At JFK" ... he must get away with that a lot ...

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

Several Democrats are lining up to boycott the inauguration, but they all appear to be from largely Democratic districts.

A principled stand would mean a lot more if they were actually risking something.

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Posted in: Beijing warns Trump: One China 'not negotiable' See in context

ThePbOt: and the US' (previous?) stance was if China changed the status quo, it would mean war. Now we're living in an era where the US might be the one who changes that status quo, effectively causing a war.

That's because the status quo is the de facto, unrecognized independence of Taiwan, and in order for China to change that, unless the Taiwanese say "sure, we'll join the mainland, no problem" it DOES mean war if China still insists.

But does the US recognizing an independent country automatically mean war? It would still be China insisting on the war.

Suppose they claimed your country of residence. And, for example, you lived in (remote outpost of the Commonwealth, or whatever). And China: "Great Britain attacked us unfairly during the Opium War, so we'll just take this (remote outpost of the Commonwealth, or whatever) and call it even-Steven." There'd probably be a war. Would you think your country started it?

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

AP: ... I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” Lewis said ...

Something is wrong here. The headlines (AP and others) are claim that Trump is attacking Lewis. Is AP sure they're quoting Lewis correctly? Surely it can't be that Lewis attacked Trump?

(foxnews.com) .... Lewis explained his decision to stay away from the inauguration as "you cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right." He said it will be the first inauguration he has missed in three decades, a time that includes Democrats and Republicans taking the oath of office. ...

The first in 30 years he's missed. That means he overcame his qualms in 1996, and made to the inauguration Bill Clinton won with the help of mainland China.

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Posted in: Japanese scientists say they are closer to solving mystery of Earth's core See in context

BM: I just hope these guys got the science right and their research doesn't turn out to be another boob job.

Don't get your hopes up ...

... 85% iron and 10% nickel ... “Our latest experiments suggest that the remaining five percent of the inner core is composed mostly of silicon,” Ohtani said. ...

... doesn't sound real inviting ...

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

PTownsend: In a 6 degrees of separation sense I can see how you made your connection.

Why does it take 6 degrees? The headline of this article is "Trump unleashes Twitter attack"! Why is it not 0 degrees of separation?

PTownsend: It's a my source vs. your source, my worldview vs. your worldview disagreement.

No. The arguments the Dems are pushing have severe weaknesses. The press and Dem supporters don't seem to care. This is as usual.

PTownsend: Another 'curious': Are you concerned that Russia might be trying to influence US politics? Of all my concerns about a Trump presidency, that's high on my list.

Just google "ukraine hillary". See if you're still concerned when the (recent) news is about Ukraine working with Hillary to discredit Trump, and that Ukraine is now backtracking on that, to attempt to get into the new President's good graces.

And aren't you concerned that it appears the DNC may have faked the Russian hacking? If not, why did they refuse the FBI direct access to their servers?

The hacking narrative really needs to have something to it before I'd believe it. ALL of the parties pushing it have, or may have, motives to push it. The reasoning and evidence they're providing is weak. I understand why the Dems and their fellows would jump at any chance to discredit Trump. It's like a doctor hitting their knee with a rubber hammer; they almost HAVE to kick. The question is why the rest of us should accept it?

There was much stronger evidence that the Chinese helped fund Bill Clinton's 1996 election effort, illegally. Clinton having won the election, his DOJ buried the investigation. Were you concerned about that? Wouldn't that tend to disqualify Hillary from seeking the presidency herself?

Anyway, sure, they can go ahead and have hearings and investigations on the 'Russian attempt to influence the 2016 election'. Why not? And they should also investigate the 'Ukrainian attempt to influence the election'. I'm not saying they shouldn't look into these.

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

katsu: There wasn't. Wilson's lie accusation was itself a lie.

Nope: "(wikipedia, Joe Wilson): ... Prior to Obama's speech, Democrats had twice rejected amendments to the bill requiring documentation of legal status in the United States in order to receive benefits under the proposed plan, contending that a more complex application process would delay or prevent citizens from receiving health care. ...". Also, Wilson issued a public statement of apology the day of the outburst.

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Posted in: Man with guide dog hit, killed by train after falling off platform See in context

The link below includes a photo of the platform.

The safety of the platform appears problematic. The Braille blocks are about four feet from the edge, and inside the blocks (away from the tracks) there's zero clearance in some places, between the blocks and pillars.

But ultimately the guy's safety is up to him. Why walk along the edge of the platform, away from the blocks?

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170114/p2a/00m/0na/018000c

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Posted in: Trump unleashes Twitter attack against civil rights leader; protests begin across U.S. See in context

PTownsend: Curious how you think this comment has anything to do with Lewis's concern about Russia (perhaps the state, perhaps someone/s in Russia) influencing the election and Trump's tweet, which I think is the topic. Are you suggesting that Lewis should not have a voice in criticizing the election process and the pres-elect's tweet because he's (fill in the blank yourself)?

Curious how you think my comment bolstering Trump's tweet was off-topic in a thread headlined "Trump unleashes Twitter attack".

If you want to talk about the hacks, why don't you tell us why you still think the intelligence community's public relations campaign is still unfalsifiable, after it's come to light that the DNC denied the FBI access to the 'hacked' servers, so the entity the FBI is relying on for their second-hand information is a company the DNC hired, a company run by an anti-Russian-government Russian ex-pat, said company also tied (as a 'senior fellow') to a foundation controlled by a Ukrainian billionaire who donated $25M to Hillary's Clinton Foundation, and said company also tied to Google who provided them with major funding, Google whose ex-CEO Schmidt just happened to be funding a big data IT effort attempting to ensure Hillary's election.

John Lewis, the Democratic National Committee, Obama's FBI, the Russian ex-pat, the Ukrainian billionaire, senior never-Trumper congressmen McCain and Graham, the NYT, WaPo, CNN, and Buzzfeed wouldn't have any motive to inflate, misconstrue, or even LIE about any of their information, would they? Why, they're just trying to ensure the honesty of the election process!

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