Politics
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62 entries. 32,942 words.
2012-10
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The First Debate.
2012-10-04.
Hey, did you know there was a presidential debate last night? I did, but I forgot to watch it. So I did what anyone else would do: I went to C-SPAN.org and started watching it tonight, because I watch television on my own schedule! Because I’m a rebel. And stuff.
- Politics
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The First Debate, Partial Recap.
2012-10-06.
So I didn’t finish watching the first debate, I had to turn it off after around 45 minutes.
- Politics
2012-11
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Apocalypse.
2012-11-07.
I have to admit I’m fairly surprised that Virginia went for the blue president, considering the general anti-Obama atmosphere around here. The only thing I can figure is that Virginia Republicans didn’t think Romney was red enough, so they stayed home. (I know they hated McCain, so I can only assume they didn’t like Romney either.)
I’m also very surprised that Virginia went for the blue senator. I have no explanation for that. (Admittedly, I didn’t follow that race much so I don’t know how it went. I assume it was a bloody massacre from start to finish.) I’m not at all surprised that the 7th district went for the red congressman, though. I’m not sure why they bother having congressional elections there.
- Politics
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Secession.
2012-11-17.
I see that there are a bunch of petitions for states to secede (I like to link to Fox News stories so conservatives can’t complain about biased sources) from the Union after the president was re-elected. These make great sensational headlines which further push people into “us” and “them” camps. Of course, the first thing I thought, and the first thing any critical news consumer should have thought, was: It makes sense that there would be an increase in secession petitions after every election, so this is probably not news. I set out to prove my theory and provide a tiny bit of context to these stories. (You’re welcome, journalists.)
- Politics
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What’s a Fiscal Cliff?.
2012-11-20.
So I’m trying to catch up on this whole “fiscal cliff” thing. What is it? Well, according to Wikipedia, the only information source that it’s completely safe to link to, the fiscal cliff is a combination of events that are scheduled to take place on Jan 1 2013, if no one intervenes. One is the end of Bush tax cuts. Another is a broad set of spending cuts. A third is something about new taxes related to Obamacare.
- Politics
2012-12
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Meaningful Action.
2012-12-16.
I was pretty disappointed when I read reports that Obama had called for “meaningful action” following the shooting tragedy Friday. If you’re not familiar with the lively debate over the Second Amendment in this country, those words mean that he is planning to push through tough new laws to take away our rights to arm ourselves. It was disappointing to hear him say that, because I have always enjoyed giggling when I hear fear-mongerers misguidedly ascribe a radical left-wing communist agenda to the Obama regime.
- Commentary
- Politics
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A Few Loose Ends.
2012-12-17.
A few more comments on uncontroversial topics like mental health and gun control.
- Commentary
- Politics
2013-01
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At the bottom of the cliff.
2013-01-02.
Not surprisingly, all sides reached a deal on the fiscal cliff negotiations, so the cliff was more of a pothole. It’s rather difficult to find actual information among the news reports, but it looks like, among other more mundane things, the tax increase on 200k earners that Obama was adamant about changed to a tax increase on 400k earners, which could either be considered a win for Republicans or a compromise by everyone. Either way, it still doesn’t affect me.
- Politics
2013-02
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Furloughs Might Actually Harm Me.
2013-02-23.
The potential for government furloughs is one of the rare political stories that actually might have a direct impact on my life.
- Personal
- Politics
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No More Saturday Mail.
2013-02-23.
The USPS is going to stop Saturday delivery. Now they just need to work on stopping mail delivery Monday through Friday, too.
- Commentary
- Politics
2013-03
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Sequestrated.
2013-03-02.
Looks like sequestration is a go.
- Politics
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Tech at Night Like A Barrel of Fish.
2013-03-11.
I stumbled onto a blog called Tech at Night hosted by RedState. That’s right, you heard me, it’s a tech blog by the hyper-partisan right-wing blog RedState.
- Politics
- Technology
2013-04
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North Korea Trollololol.
2013-04-06.
This daily hubbub about North Korea is getting kind of ridiculous.
- Commentary
- Politics
2013-08
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Codefellas.
2013-08-17.
John Hodgman is in it. That is all.
- Politics
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Syrian Intervention.
2013-08-29.
I’m generally not in favor of going into Syria.
- Politics
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Tricksy Tricksy.
2013-08-31.
Wow, what a shrewd political move by the president.
- Politics
2013-09
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All About Syria.
2013-09-06.
This is the sheik topic of the day, and since we have to post stuff on our blogs now and then, we need to idly speculate about it.
- Politics
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Syrian Rebels: Know Anyone With Guns?.
2013-09-06.
Some Syrian rebels were complaining that the U.S. hasn’t sent any weapons or ammunition.
- Politics
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The President’s Remarks on Syria.
2013-09-11.
I only have a couple of comments about the president’s address.
- Politics
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Crazy People Are Always Out There.
2013-09-17.
It’s all been said before. Crazy people are always out there. You can’t stop them.
- Politics
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Chicken With Defunding.
2013-09-21.
Looks like we’re back at the ol’ debt ceiling stalemate. Or government funding stalemate. Or something like that. Is this the third one? Fourth? Hundredth? I can’t remember. It seems to happen once or twice a year now.
- Politics
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Back to the House We Go.
2013-09-27.
As fully expected by everyone, the Senate removed the defund-Obamacare provision and returned the budget bill to the House.
- Politics
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Bring On The Shutdown I Guess.
2013-09-28.
Well, it looks like the House Republicans are determined to shut down the government because now they’ve put in a clause to fund the government only if Obamacare is delayed for a year.
- Politics
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An Odd Time For a Late Opening.
2013-09-30.
You have to wonder about the logic of waiting until 2 PM to open the Senate for business on the final day before an alleged government shutdown.
- Politics
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Back to the House We Go, Part Two.
2013-09-30.
The Senate spat the funding bill back to the House in record time. Less than ten hours left for the United States government!
- Politics
2013-10
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Journalists Aren’t Helping, Gotta Watch Live.
2013-10-01.
Journalists are really pretty useless in this day and age, so I’m watching C-SPAN live to see what’s going on with this funding bill. What could be more exciting than counting votes?
- Politics
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It’s A Libertarian Paradise.
2013-10-01.
No last-second midnight deal after all, but I still have to believe the House won’t let this shutdown go on for very long.
- Politics
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House Tries Reverse Psychology.
2013-10-02.
"If we can’t pass a bill that defunds Obamacare, let’s try passing many different bills that fund everything except Obamacare."
- Politics
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What’s Really At Stake Here.
2013-10-03.
This has nothing to do with whether Obamacare is good, bad, or indifferent. What’s at stake is whether factions in Congress should have the power to circumvent the normal process of making laws so they can enforce their will on the whole country.
- Politics
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Say What Now?.
2013-10-04.
In other news, it looks like the Obama administration is bringing us a few steps closer to a police state.
- Politics
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Why Jon Stewart Usually Resonates.
2013-10-04.
I guess when you look at an issue without layers and layers of self-delusional partisan rhetoric in the way, and just focus on the absurdity of it, you can’t help but come up with a consistent view of who did what, when, and why.
- Politics
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DoD Civilians Back At Work.
2013-10-07.
Using the Pay Our Military Act, Chuck Hagel put most DoD civilians back to work.
- Politics
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Turnabout Is Fair Play.
2013-10-15.
Seems to be some buzz now about a bi-partisan deal the Senate is cooking up to open the government and raise the debt ceiling. The deal sounds like it goes something like this: "Let’s do this exact same shutdown and debt ceiling drama again in February." Because it’s not so much a deal as it is a postponement of a deal.
- Politics
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Back to the Senate We Go.
2013-10-16.
Today we are assured (again) that the Senate deal is close and will save us all, and everybody will approve it, and everything will be back to normal. Until January. If House Republicans go for it. Which based on their past performance, you have to think they won’t. Because if they do, then they did all this for nothing.
- Politics
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See You Back Here In January.
2013-10-17.
I’m watching on C-SPAN.org as the House is voting to adopt the Senate’s bill to fund the government until January and raise the debt ceiling until February, which the Senate passed today 81-18. Everyone expects it to pass.
- Politics
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It’s Nothing Like A Credit Card!.
2013-10-17.
I was watching C-SPAN last night and saw Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaking about the debt ceiling when he stumbled into a pet peeve of mine. He was describing the debt ceiling and what it means to raise it. Naturally he went to the go-to analogy that everyone uses when discussing the debt ceiling: It’s like paying your mortgage with your credit card.
- Politics
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I Really Have To Say This?.
2013-10-23.
The problems with Healthcare.gov are entirely unrelated to whatever problems are in the law. Saying the healthcare law is bad because the web site is broken is like saying speed limits are bad because your car broke down.
- Politics
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Healthcare.gov Contractors Declare: Not It.
2013-10-25.
It’s extremely clear what the contractors are saying in their Congressional testimony: "Everything worked fine when we delivered it, so don’t blame us."
- Politics
2013-11
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Hacking Data Pipes Not That Bad.
2013-11-01.
Nobody hacked into anyone’s servers. They only tapped into the raw data stream between the servers.
- Politics
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Big Mistake or a Big Lie.
2013-11-06.
I’m not one of those people who thinks that "making a big mistake" is the same as "lying," but now that plenty of people are losing their existing plans, he’s getting hammered for lying to us.
- Politics
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Trying To Make Sense of Insurance Premiums.
2013-11-08.
Normally if I see an article titled "Obamacare destroying lives, killing business," I skip it, because it’s obviously going to be partisan rhetoric, especially coming from RedState, a political blog which thrives on such. But for some reason I went through with reading this article, because I saw that it was a (supposedly) real-life example of someone who is being forced to buy a more expensive plan with less benefits under Obamacare.
- Politics
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A Lucky Political Disaster.
2013-11-14.
I think it’s safe to say now that the Obamacare rollout has been a total disaster, and Democrats have no choice but to make some concessions (or "fixes"). Even if it wasn’t really a disaster, it’s solidified in the national consciousness as a disaster, and perception is reality in politics.
- Politics
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So Over Obamacare.
2013-11-21.
I’m over the whole Obamacare apocalypse now. It’s no longer a topic of interest.
- Politics
2013-12
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Totally Insensitive Thoughts on Shooters.
2013-12-27.
A bunch of thoughts struck me when I saw a Louisiana mass shooting headline.
- Politics
2014-03
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Ukraine and Crimea.
2014-03-07.
An attempt to make some sense of the recent crisis in Ukraine.
- Politics
2014-09
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A Brief Word About That Controversy.
2014-09-05.
I generally try to avoid industry politics on this blog, unless it relates to in-game politics. (Like raiders versus casuals.) Which is why I don’t have much to say about the recent kerfuffle known as GamerGate.
But I will say that I fully support equality and inclusiveness among gamers and I find personal threats against anyone loathsome. I try to cling to the possibly naive belief that truly despicable people are a very small, very loud minority.
- Administration
- Opinion
- Politics
- Responses
2014-12
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Bush v. Clinton 2016.
2014-12-18.
If 2016 turns out to be Clinton v. Bush, can we all agree that the American experiment has failed?
- Politics
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North Korea? Really?.
2014-12-20.
Seriously, North Korea is the country pushing us around?
- Politics
2015-02
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Three Times The Controversy.
2015-02-21.
There have been three controversies in the blogosphere lately that I haven’t had a chance to comment on. (Well, three that I know of, at least-I’m sure there are more floating around.) I don’t particularly like to be controversial on this blog but I did want to at least voice my opinions.
Twitter and MMO Gypsy made me aware of a Rock, Paper, Shotgun interview with Peter Molyneux that made the rounds of the blogosphere. Regardless of what I think of Molyneux and Godus, I personally found it an appalling example of tabloid journalism if not an outright abuse of press credentials. Hard questions do not need to be openly belligerent. I really hope that’s not the direction that games journalism is heading. (Interestingly, or perhaps shockingly, that style of interview turns out to be fairly normal overseas.) I wrote a big long post about this but honestly I don’t want to dwell on it that much.
- Opinion
- Politics
- Responses
2015-08
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The Wild Internet Frontier.
2015-08-06.
The hubbub surrounding John Smedley stepping down from Daybreak has gotten me thinking once again about The Internet and its place in society.
I’m sort of a Libertarian at heart so the very idea of The Internet has always appealed to me. A place where everyone is free to make their own way, without any pesky government regulations. A place that breaks down political and social borders and treats everyone like an equal human being.
- Musings
- Politics
2016-09
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On The 2016 Election.
2016-09-26.
A very two-sided view of the 2016 election.
- Politics
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On The First Debate.
2016-09-28.
A few thoughts on the debate, and things that made impressions on me.
- Politics
2016-10
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On The Veep Debate.
2016-10-05.
A few observations about the veep debate Tuesday night.
- Politics
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On The Newest Trump Scandal.
2016-10-09.
Thoughts on the latest scandals and the general trends in political discourse.
- Politics
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On The Second Debate.
2016-10-11.
More rambling about politics, because what else is there to talk about?
- Politics
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“Revolution”.
2016-10-12.
This is exactly what I’m worried about:
“No, no, no,” @mike_pence said when a woman suggested "revolution" if Hillary Clinton is elected. "Don’t say that.” https://t.co/IjOzsTSkPm — Jason Noble (@jasonnobleIA) October 12, 2016 Good on Mike Pence for challenging it. Kind of.
Using divisive rhetoric to win support is kind of double-edged sword. Pence can’t exactly say to the crowd, “I know we’ve been *saying* that demons will erupt from the earth to devour your children if Hillary is elected, but you guys know we’re only saying that so you’ll vote for us, right? We don’t actually *mean* it.”
- Politics
2016-11
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An Election Day Tale.
2016-11-09.
This is a long tale of my voting experience this morning. I tried to keep it entirely non-partisan and focus on what I saw, heard, and felt, but if you don’t want to risk it, feel free to skip. (But in return, you have to read every other one of my posts for the rest of time! Just kidding.) I wrote this fairly quickly by my standards, and normally I would spend about four years editing something this long, but I wanted to post it before the results started coming in.
- Politics
- Stories
- Writing
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Post-Election 2016.
2016-11-10.
Long rambling reactions to the election.
- Politics
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Deep Breaths Please.
2016-11-10.
I’ve been watching Trump *very* closely since election night. He hasn’t said more than a handful of words since his victory speech. He hasn’t gloated. He hasn’t blustered. Everything is going very well. Extremely well. Shockingly well. Everything is proceeding exactly like the peaceful transfer of power should go. Everyone in Washington appears to be conscious of the nation’s fears and taking deliberate steps to calm things, despite all the reporters trying their best to rile things up again. Frankly this transition so far appears to be going better than the one from Bush to Obama, which I also thought went very well.
- Politics
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A Slight Correction.
2016-11-11.
I made a semantic error in my last post that I need to correct.
- Politics
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New Place For Commentary.
2016-11-13.
Hey guys, I’m moving my dumb political commentary to a different site. Maybe someday I’ll tell you what it is!
I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but have been too lazy. It just doesn’t seem wise to put too many opinions online under one’s real name anymore. In the old days, nobody knew how to do anything on the Internet, and the only people who would ever find you were people you’d never, ever see in real life. Now real people in real life know how to Google people’s names (no doubt thinking that they’re “computer hacking”), not to mention every potential employer is going to Google your name.
- Politics
2017-01
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Swamp of Ineffectual Presumption.
2017-01-21.
Okay, in case anyone actually is interested in my dumb political commentary, I’m writing at the Swamp of Ineffectual Presumption. It’s guaranteed to offend everyone of every political persuasion, since I tend to write from a perspective outside of all the traditional political ideologies.
- Politics