This isn't really an American issue but it has been getting a lot of bad press so I figured I'd say something about it.
What
the
fuck
...?
Politicians have affairs all the time. That's not such a big issue, especially in this age where our president can get a blowjob from a fat brunette in the office and get impeached for it by a speaker of the house who is also cheating on his wife.
The politicians with brains who do this kind of thing either repent or leave their political office to fix their personal lives. President Clinton eventually came around. Governor McGreevey did the right thing by resigning and getting divorced, but he has turned into a complete nutjob who needs some serious therapy (not because he's gay, but he has some really serious issues). Newt Gingrich saw opportunity when he found out about the Lewinsky scandal and the President's attempt to hide it, but he was smart enough to resign before people found out about his extramarital affair.
And then you have the idiots. Strom Thurmond was raised in a strict racist WASP background, so he got over it by having a kid with a black woman (his daughter's still alive). He saw that it wasn't as bad as people made it out to be, but he couldn't believe the truth so he unleashed his wrath on the Black population, running as a States Rights candidate for President and holding a one man filibuster for over 24 hours against the Civil Rights Act. What a shameful figure of American history.
Larry Craig's not much better. We all know he's gay, so he should just try to come to terms with it so we can all move on. Instead he ruthlessly attempts to hide it while trying to maintain his seat in the Senate. You're gay. That wouldn't be a big deal if you didn't try to solicit sex in the men's room. Just shut up, quit, and fix your personal problems. I'm sick of hearing about you in the news.
And then there's Nick. He was having an extramarital affair for a long time and people finally found out. He had a very dramatic, public divorce. Now he's showing off his supermodel girlfriend and taking her with him to meet all the other world leaders. He's also begging the paparazzi to keep following him even though nobody cares about him. The French people want a president, not another Charlie Sheen (this is the first name that I could think of because I can't stand him). The French are complaining about not being able to pay their bills but he's too busy fucking his supermodel whore all across the world.
Let's hope Peter's wrong, but I have a feeling he's right.
Anyway, I'm sure every single one of you here knows about the situation. If you don't, now's your chance to learn.
The stimulus program proposed by Bush and Congress won't help us. What it does is it forces the government to find money that doesn't exist and give it to the American people. The government is going bankrupt. What we have to do to get this money is either borrow more from China or print more dollars. If we borrow more money, we'll just be deeper in debt. If we print more money, the value of the dollar will go way down.
If we keep inflating the money (which we have to do to compensate for our current fiscal policy) and the value of our money goes down, we'll just suffer in both the global and the domestic markets. Yeah, that will do us a lot of good. The stimulus will only add to this problem. Because the dollar will be devalued, the money that families will get will be worth less than their money was worth BEFORE they got the money, because inflation is so high.
The Republicans want lower taxes. We can't afford lower taxes if spending levels are so high. The democrats want a bigger stimulus. I just explained why that's bad.
Why are oil prices so high? Actually, they're not. The rise in price of oil in terms of gold has been 20-30%. In terms of US dollars, however, it's approaching 400%. Oil is traded in US dollars so it looks more expensive than it actually is on the world market.
Lowering interest rates right now will just encourage people to borrow more and get deeper into debt. Do you really want to owe more money during an economic depression? Everyone loses out when this happens, even the major financial institutions.
While we will have a major economic depression compared to the one seventy years ago, the rest of the world will only have a minor setback. This will actually be GOOD for the other countries because we consume more resources than anybody else. If we crash, the resources we used will go to other countries like India and China and help them tremendously.
This should have happened decades ago but it didn't because we were the economic bullies of the world. Now that living beyond our means has finally caught up to us, we can let the free market work its course in the world while we suffer the consequences of our imperialistic jingoism.
Canada and Europe are all "IN YOUR FACE, AMERICA! WE TOLD YOU SO!" I don't blame them.
New research suggests ‘abstinence-only sex education’ does little to dissuade teenagers from having sex. Just saying no may not be an effective strategy in keeping kids from having sex, a newly released study reports.
The evaluation, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research Inc. on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examined the impact of the abstinence-only-until-marriage programs funded under the 1996 federal welfare reform law.
Through the study, more than 2,000 children were randomly assigned to groups that received abstinence-only counselling and those that received no counselling. Over the next four to six years, numerous surveys were done to determine the impact of these programs on the behaviour of the kids.
Researchers found no evidence that these abstinence-only programs increased rates of sexual abstinence.
The study also showed that the students participating in these abstinence-only programs had a similar number of sexual partners as their peers not in the programs, and that the age of first sex was similar for both groups too.
"The basic takeaway message is that there are no differences between the two groups on any behavioural outcomes," says lead study author, Christopher Trenholm, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research.
Debate Continues Over Effectiveness
Some sexuality experts say the study only confirms what most sexuality researchers have already known that abstinence-only programs simply do not work.
"The data coming forth now is simple proof, solid, unassailable evidence to back up what many of us have known from the get-go," says Joy Davidson, a certified sex therapist in New York City. But the debate still continues on which is the most effective way to help particularly the youth to abstain from sex till marriage since sex has become a very normal element in most relationships. Even the religious principle of not fornicating before marriage is now totally ignored by most. So what’s the way forward? Is abstinence even possible for most of today’s youth? What do you think?
IOWA: Democrats
It was a three-way tie between the top three candidates. No surprise there. John Edwards got the rural vote (I said why in the last Note). Obama got the Not Hillary votes. Hillary got the rest. The others didn't really get anything.
IOWA: Republicans
Huckabee won for some of the same reasons why Edwards won, but with a Bible Belt twist. Romney campaigned obsessively and still got second place. Take that, Rudy.
WYOMING: Republicans
Romney won, but who really cares? In fact, what was the point of this?
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Democrats
Hillary won because she turned all emotional after losing Iowa so she brought her husband. She won because people still think she represents them and not the establishment.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Republicans
It's always more interesting on the Republican side. This primary was proof that they don't have a clear frontrunner. I have no idea why McCain won. Romney was disappointed AGAIN, but who cares? Giuliani beat Ron Paul but what difference does that make? Fred Thompson got some ground but he won't hold out much longer. Why the fuck is FOX trying to censor Ron Paul? That'll just gain him more supporters.
MICHIGAN: Both parties
Pointless and won't affect the general outcome.
NEVADA: Democrats
It appears that Obama has a lot of support among casino workers. I wonder if that means anything. Hillary won again, but just about everyone who didn't vote for her hates her guts. Edwards is losing ground. Bill Richardson would have done well in this state.
NEVADA: Republicans
Romney won because he's a Mormon, but the win won't mean anything in non-Mormon states. Ron Paul got second so he must be gaining a lot of ground. His supporters are becoming even more rabid.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Republicans
McCain and Huckabee are involved in a fierce battle similar to the one in 2000 with McCain and then Governor Bush. This time, it's less nasty and McCain seems to be winning.
JOE BIDEN
Biden had a lot of integrity and experience. Looking back, I think he would have done better if he stayed for a few more primaries. He has more experience in foreign policy than any of the other candidates and can bring Democrats and Republicans together. I don't understand why he quit so soon.
CHRIS DODD
He was really scary. His voice was too harsh and neck fat bounced when he talked, so he always creeped me out.
MIKE GRAVEL
Why is he still in the race? He won't ever come out from last place because all of his potential supporters are with Ron Paul.
DENNIS KUCINICH
He won't have much better luck.
DUNCAN HUNTER
I'm not sure if he even exists anymore...
BILL RICHARDSON
Like Biden, he also has a lot of integrity and experience. He would also have done better if he stayed. I would expect him to get a third place in Nevada.
John Edwards the populist candidate for President. You might remember him from 2004. If you don't, you're clueless about politics.
Anyway, I have no idea why this guy is still running for president. He'd make a good senator or somebody who sticks up for the little guy, but not President. He has almost no experience and nothing to run on except that the rich are oppressing the poor. The rich ALWAYS oppress the poor. That's just life.
Besides that, he has nothing else going for him. NOTHING. His stance on issues don't stand out from a typical Democrat. He's a trial lawyer. He has almost no political experience. He had the worst attendance record in the Senate in recent history. Worst of all, he sticks up for the poor people. That doesn't sound like a bad thing if you don't see how he lives. He recently built a huge million dollar mansion in Florida as his vacation home. Also, who in the right mind would get a $300 haircut, anyway? My hair doesn't look as good as his but I could get the same look at a local barber shop for less than $30. Without depleting my campaign funds.
Practice what you preach, Johnny boy. You always whine about how the rich live lavish lives while taking away precious resources for poor people, but you're doing the exact same thing.
The only reason the Democrats keep him is because he's a Liberal Democrat from the old South. The South has gone Republican ever since Strom Thurmond ran for president (a shameful moment in American history) and they need all the votes they can get. He's just there to get the rural poor to vote Democratic. He himself won't win the presidency.
BTW, John Kerry endorsed Obama. That means Edwards definetly won't win. Back in 2004 Edwards had the same purpose he does now: to get more votes from the rural poor, which wasn't enough to earn him a spot in the White House.
