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Ted Cruz

7 (6.5%)

Rick Santorum

16 (14.8%)

Michelle Bachmann

13 (12%)

Chris Christie

23 (21.3%)

Rand Paul

49 (45.4%)

Total Members Voted: 107

[Scoops Novel]

Do you know anything about the groups present? There are obviously criminals, but how are the army viewed, parties, etc?

[GlyphGryph]

From what I've heard, the police tend to be viewed as just another criminal gang.

Anywho, you guys should check out the newest update in the Snowden thread. >_>

[Scoops Novel]

Thank you.

[Teneb]

My parents have a friend on Brazil who has been saying for a while that this was coming.  Organized crime is so rampant there that they openly wage war on the police, to the point of launching organized attacks on police stations.  The people are terrorized and fed up.  Don't know much about what other problems they have.

Usually I try to stay out of political discussions, especially when it comes to a derail, but I feel this must be corrected.

Organized crime reached a peak around 3 years ago, when the police and authorities finally decided to take action and managed to drive crime back from many areas around cities. Attacks on police stations these days happen only on recently-pacified areas. These latest protests have little to do with crime (there are, of course, criminals that use said protests as cover to steal and commit acts of vandalism). The problems are that public health and education are nearly abandoned by the government, while taxes and spending with things such as stadiums keep increasing.

[SalmonGod]

Organized crime reached a peak around 3 years ago, when the police and authorities finally decided to take action and managed to drive crime back from many areas around cities. Attacks on police stations these days happen only on recently-pacified areas. These latest protests have little to do with crime (there are, of course, criminals that use said protests as cover to steal and commit acts of vandalism). The problems are that public health and education are nearly abandoned by the government, while taxes and spending with things such as stadiums keep increasing.

Thanks for providing some better context.

The guy I mentioned who lives in Brazil has visited my family twice.  Once a few years ago, and then a couple months ago.  This recent visit, he said it was only getting worse.  One of his best friends was recently executed by a gang in the street for not handing over his wallet fast enough.

That last bit sounds like what's happening everywhere.  Where I live, education has received a few million in cuts every year for the last several years.  Roads fall into disrepair and they'll close them off for as much as two years, just to patch up a mile stretch.  Meanwhile, the state poured something like $500 million into the Lucas Oil Stadium and had it built in less than 3 years.  You can see where their priorities are.

[Sheb]

Stuff that get them reelected.

"We built you a new stadium" makes for a better slogan than "We fixed potholes".

[nwob]

Stuff that get them reelected.

"We built you a new stadium" makes for a better slogan than "We fixed potholes".

Eh, not at the point when the roads are completely unusable

[Scoops Novel]

It might warrant it's own thread (the Brazil protests certainly seem to), but is anyone familiar with the usual methods, and circumvention thereof, of winning court trials in unbalanced courts? Also, are there any generic laws governing carrying concealed recording and filming equipment, without being a journalist? Just in case.

[Frumple]

Generic laws... where at? A cursory googling doesn't seem to be showing universal ones in the states, barring perhaps anti-voyeurism stuff, but there are specific ones that vary from state to state. State of things in the european countries seem to vary from place to place, too.

As with a lot of things of that nature, you're going to want to check the specific laws of the area you're intending to operate in, especially in regards to what you're intending to do. This is as true for recording people (especially without consent) as it is for concealed weapons carrying.

[misko27]

Definitely not. There is simply too much space in between the various laws to have something "universal". I mean it pretty much seems to run the gamut.


Also, a bill supporting making Washington D.C. a state has been created, apparently not the first, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has thrown his support behind it.

[Dutchling]

What would that actually do, in practice?

[misko27]

A lot actually. Mostly make it far more independent from the federal government, as technically the City is run by it right now.


Also add 2 New senators, and Representatives, which would be useful. As of the moment they have no political representation beyond a observer. It's also larger then Wyoming and Vermont by population.

[palsch]

Politically it means two new Democratic Senators and one Representative (population is too low for two I believe) for the foreseeable future.

Combine that with proposed Puerto Rican statehood (two Senators and seven Representatives, although the Republicans might squeak one or so) and you have the Democrats being gifted a considerable number of federal seats. So it's not going to be an easy fight.

[FearfulJesuit]

Knowing Latin America (to which PR culturally belongs far more than it does to the rest of the United States)...probably not. You'd have to gerrymander out a district in San Juan's suburbs, probably, and the Dem-controlled state legislature would be unlikely to let that happen.

Also, nitpick: PR would get five representatives, not seven. So, OK, maybe one Republican seat (this would become much more likely if Puerto Rico, like Florida, becomes a retirement destination for people from the colder parts of the US. However, it's almost entirely Spanish-speaking (a large minority of Puerto Ricans don't speak good English, the courts are bilingual, Spanish is the language of instruction, etc.), so that seems unlikely, at least for now.

[Owlbread]

I thought the reason for having a "District of Columbia" was to stop one state having dominance over all the others, back when states were seen like countries. DC should be a state, I think - just make sure the federal government is separate from the state government.