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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

[Baffler]

On Poland, I found a very interesting graph. After completing secondary school, Polish students take a standardized test called the Matura. The minimum score to pass is 30%, and a funny thing happens when students score a 29...

Edit: Graph
http://imgur.com/4nnbyru

Which part of the document? I can only feed so much into Google Translate at a time and I don't want to scan the whole thing that way.

I'm taking this on faith from the guy who made the graph myself, I speak no Polish.

[Reelya]

It's pretty clear that some people get a chance to try the test again. Some of them got 31% or more on the 2nd attempt. Maybe if your within 5% of the cutoff you get a 2nd try?

There's a tendency to go "OMG someone got a second try at a test how unfair" but that's forgetting the purpose of education is to teach people, not to judge people. That was the backlash at make up tests being added in Alabama state schools: conservatives decried those evil misguided liberals giving kids a second chance at learning the curriculum: : "you failed Algebra 101 once, you don't get another chance for life!" seems to be the message. Which is utterly retarded. The two alternatives are to shove kids through the system who haven't learned the material - but we get to feel all warm an fuzzy because we judged them as failures. How fun. Or, we hold them back a year and repeat every class for them even if they only failed one subject. Which is a costly waste of time for everyone.

[Sheb]

Well, it's not clear they got a second chance. It's as likely that teachers fudge the results of people right beneath the grade cutoff to make them pass, similar to what happened to Helgoland's friend.

I remember reading a study that found something similar in scientific papers (well, it was psychology, but still): looking at all the results, you had not nearly has many results right above the 0.05 p-value as you'd expect. It seems that scientists, when facing results with a p-value slightly to high to be 'significative' would find a way to fudge them, maybe drop a couple of outliers, or try another statistical test.

[Vector]

On Poland, I found a very interesting graph. After completing secondary school, Polish students take a standardized test called the Matura. The minimum score to pass is 30%, and a funny thing happens when students score a 29...

Edit: Graph
http://imgur.com/4nnbyru

Which part of the document? I can only feed so much into Google Translate at a time and I don't want to scan the whole thing that way.

LOL, look at p. 18.

I'm taking this on faith from the guy who made the graph myself, I speak no Polish.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

U.S. states' pot legalization not in line with international law: U.N. agency

They're welcome to enforce that treaty once they get around to dealing with human rights violations around the world they ignore. Or even that gun ban.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has said Uruguay's new bill contravened the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, which it says requires states to limit the use of cannabis to medical and scientific purposes, due to its dependence-producing potential. The Vienna-based INCB monitors compliance with this and two other drug control treaties.

Yeah, the bill based on made up 'science' created by the fear industry is very relevant to individual states deciding to decriminalize.

[Frumple]

... wait, "dependence-producing potential"? That alcohol and tobacco already demonstrably have, yet are legal outside of medical and scientific purposes? What?

Though looking at the convention thing itself, it looks like tobacco wouldn't be a narcotic (sleep inducing drug, by the apparent definition). Alcohol definitely is, though. And it's clear. So the convention can screw off, the hypocritical arse.

[Zangi]

Either its me or the articles use of 'convention' instead of law means its not actually law, but rather a non-binding agreement?

[penguinofhonor]

It's not a law (the UN can't make laws) but I think a convention is one of the stronger meaningless agreements they can make.

[Bauglir]

A convention is a legit treaty. Legally, it trumps all domestic law, up to and including the US Constitution. Nobody in their right mind should believe this changes anything, though - the state laws are trumped by Federal law, too, and it's equally unenforced.

EDIT: But it isn't self-executing so it has no actual legal force. Ha. The United States federal government is just legally obligated to implement laws that give effect to it, which it has, and those are already being ignored.

EDIT: Also, keep in mind that treaties only really apply to nations that have ratified them (the US seems to have ratified this one), or to all nations when they're so widely adopted that they become considered customary international law because basically everybody's on board (like the Law of the Sea conventions), and customary international law is subordinate to domestic law. Because consistency is the last refuge of lawyers, legislators, and judges who don't enjoy job security.

[RedKing]

This is actually a brilliant angle to push legalization within the US. Just tell Republicans that the UN has a convention against the recreational use of marijuana. Before you know it, they'll be sponsoring legislation to give Federal subsidies to pot growers, just to fuck with the UN.

[Jervill]

Okay, the more I look at the Minnesota-Senate election results, the more confused I get.  Franken did much better than I would have imagined in the rural parts of the state (winning districts 1,7, and Eight) even though he's been lambasted as "Hollywood Liberal" since he started.  He would have won anyways (Minneapolis, St Paul, and the Iron Range bring enough D votes that any Republican is fucked statewide...see Secretary of State race for example) but to win by the margin he did was quite impressive.  http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/

Also, all three rural Democrats won in the state, even in MN-08 which the GOP went after hard.

EDIT: I know his opponent was a frickin' moron, but that's enough to explain everything.

EDIT2: It's more of a what did he (and other national MN Dems) do to resist the GOP wave that wiped all the other ones out?

Not that MN Dems completely held up, the State House fell to the Republicans.  State Senate wasn't up this year, still a Democratic majority.

EDIT3 (I am the edit master): It looks as if Sullivan has been called for Alaska-Senate.  So what is that, 54-46 GOP Senate?

EDIT4: The 54-46 is assuming Landrieu loses in Louisiana runoff.

[FearfulJesuit]

Oh, that reminds me...Michele Bachmann didn't run for re-election. Whatever will we do without her wisdom?

[Jervill]

Please don't remind me of her.  I live in MN-06 now (work related).  She was replaced by the just as horrible Tom Emmer (last seen losing MN-Gov to Dayton in 2010.)

Incidentally, Dayton won MN-Gov in 2014, with an outright majority.  First outright majority since former Republican (now Independent) Arne Carlson in 1994.

EDIT: Also, fuck Bachmann.  She only one 1/8 of the state with barely 50% of the vote and would get crushed statewide.  To make things worse, she's actually from Iowa.  She is an embarrassment to the state.

[mainiac]

Guys stop discussing American politics in this thread, we have Sheb's thread for that.

[Sheb]

Guys stop discussing American politics in this thread, we have Sheb's thread for that.

When I read the first part of the sentence, I was like "How crap, they're talking 'Murrica in my thread again", forgetting this was the US thread. The second part made me burst out laughing. 

Also, not a word on the US-China climate deal? Obama vowed a 26% reduction from 2005 levels by 2025.