OffThePost.org

http://asheepnomore.net/2013/12/29/40-m ... nse-world/

Apologies in advance if this was posted earlier.

The Ludacris map is quite informative.

Thanks for the link, its excellent.

22. If China and India are last to have sex why are there so damn many of them?

20. Canadians rank higher for bribery then the US. I know Quebec is striving to bring up the Canadian average in this regard but still I suspect there is a US reporting issue here.

17.

3. I knew the Brits were busy but didn't realize it was that extensive.

2. 6. I think these two are culturally related but I'd be curious if the American's on here feel there is relationship or not.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

More likely lax regulations just means "bribery" can be more easily disguised. It's all but out in the open these days. Our politicians brazenly raise funds, associate with lobbyists, and even gamble on the stock market (though it's hardly "gambling" when you have a direct hand in how those stocks might rise or fall). Attempts to try and curtail it just made it that much worse.



Yeah...shows you where our priorities lie. Also shows you why the NCAA is without a doubt the most corrupt institution in America.

I'm at least proud of NH for making a hockey coach their highest paid state employee.

As for maternity leave/metric system, the two could be culturally linked. We are a stubborn people, and we're also notoriously cheap (except when it comes to paying college football coaches).

I think if we're going make use of sterotypes about cheap and stubborn, the Dutch would lead Americans by a lot, although the Scottish and Koreans may gave them a run for that title. Not sure what you'd get if you combined them though.

America does seem really conservative and reluctant to change. You also have a political system that makes it incredibly difficult for government to institute change even when they're elected with a strong majority.(I believe your founding fathers intentionally designed that) I don't think there is any other democratic nation whose political system makes it so hard to do anything new.

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

You'd have a mess on your hands, that I know for sure.



I don't think the system's the problem, it's the fact that it's just been corrupted and no one is willing to admit that it's broken. It won't by until we REALLY hit the skids that real change will come, kinda like when the Great Depression hit. Americans have a very myopic view of things. So long as it doesn't adversely affect their ability to put food on the table, they're largely apathetic.

just as it ever was, it's always been corrupt and if anything I could probably make a strong case that is less so today but I'm way to lazy to do that much research.

The forth coming problems for society created by technology are going to be huge. Human knowledge is growing exponentially, right now it should double in the next 15 years, by the end of my life it should be doubling less than every year if continues on the same trend it has historically (and I can't think of any reason it will slow down unless CPU processing hits some road block) Is it really reasonable to expect a political system created for an agrarian economy and society to keep up to that?

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Yeah USA!

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/05/gay_marriage_map_where_is_same_sex_marriage_legal.html

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

Relieved and thrilled at this ruling, but holy shit it shows just how precariously balanced the Supreme Court is right now and how much hinges on who our next president will be. I'm guessing Ruth Bader-Ginsburg (who fucking rules, by the way) will definitely be stepping down within the next four years or so. I wish that moron Thomas would too, but unlikely. Can't believe the great Thurgood Marshall was succeeded by that fuckwit.

Your Supreme court is quite a bizarre setup and the split along political lines and how the process is gamed from the beginning to select one party philosophy over the other is perhaps the most disturbing thing in American politics. And that's saying a lot when you consider the frequency of state gerrymandering, actively trying to remove voters from the voting list, many states allowing judges to be elected, the influence of special party interests through PAC's and other sleazy donations and, and, and........etc

My understanding is that until Reagan the Supreme court was more or less just a selection of those believed to be the best minds available then he made it political. Is that correct? Or just liberal accusation?

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

I don't think it's fair to blame Reagan. He appointed Sandra Day O'Connor and that sure as hell wasn't a conservative pick at all.

I think it really all went to hell not with a president but with a societal shift per se. Roe v. Wade pretty much remains the most divisive decision the SC has made in modern times. Since then, the first thing the news outlets asked what their stance on abortion is. I can still remember HW Bush blowing up on a reporter (and I didn't blame him at the time) when he introduced David Souter at a pressers for the first question asked was on abortion. Now all Americans seem to give a shit about when it comes to the SC is social issues. Things like Eminent Domain and Citizens United, where the court just plain fucked up, aren't really a priority amongst Americans.

Interesting piece on judicial polarization. Seems the Roberts court is the worst ever in this regard.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/the-incredible-polarization-and-politicization-of-the-supreme-court/259155/

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

This map will rub you raw emotionally. Takes a minute or two for the animation to have an impact but the buildup is worth the wait.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_history_of_american_slavery/2015/06/animated_interactive_of_the_history_of_the_atlantic_slave_trade.html

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"

https://graphics.axios.com/2020-01-17-w ... esktop.png

Wow, America once again winning the race to the bottom.

Purple = both parents get paid parental leave
Yellow = Mother only gets paid parental leave
Orange - no paid parental leave

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Shoresy, "It's called a sweater"