steve2470
steve2470's JournalThousands gather for new protests in Russia
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/24/us-russia-idUSTRE7BN04420111224Thousands of people gathered in Moscow Saturday to call for a disputed election to be rerun, increasing pressure on Vladimir Putin as he seeks a new term as Russian president.
The protesters were heartened before the second big rally in two weeks by the Kremlin's human rights council saying a new election should be held, although it is only an advisory body whose recommendations are regularly ignored by Russia's leaders.
Tens of thousands of people protested in Moscow on December 10 and many more demonstrated across the world's largest country the same day to complain against alleged vote-rigging in the December 4 election won by Putin's United Russia party.
Police said about 5,000 people attended the start of Saturday's rally on Prospekt Sakharova (Sakharov Avenue), named after Soviet-era dissident Andrei Sakharov. But a police source told Itar-Tass news agency the figure was around 20,000.
ignorant question about UK system, if you please
Before I ask this question, please know that this is a theoretical question and I do not think Cameron and Tories would do this. As some of you know, I have the greatest respect and affection for the UK.
Theoretical question: Let's say the Tories and Lib Dems joined to sponsor a bill in the House of Commons that would replicate the 1933 Enabling Act made famous in Germany. Let's say, for theoretical purposes, that 100% of that coalition's MP's would vote for it.
What recourse do Labour and the other parties have ? Could they defeat it in the Commons ? Thanks for your time.
What are the arguments against repealing the 9-11 era security laws ?
Of course, I'm referring to the PATRIOT act, the Military Commissions Act and others.
I don't debate conservatives, so I'm not familiar with all their arguments. I'd REALLY like to hear from people familiar with the military and security communities.
Anyone else meet family for Christmas halfway between residences ?
My brother lives 4 hours from me and the rest of my family is deceased. So, for Christmas we meet halfway to "celebrate". Neither one of us is highly religious, but it's good just to see each other and talk.
Anyone else do this ?
Why Ron Paul's Racist Newsletters Didn't Hurt Him in Texas
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/12/why-ron-pauls-racist-newsletters-didnt-hurt-him-in-texas/250427/The fact that Texas Rep. Ron Paul once published racist sentiments in his newsletters has been known for quite some time. And yet Paul has managed to keep getting elected in his Houston-area district on the Gulf Coast. A onetime Democratic consultant in Texas, who asked that his name not be used, emails this anecdote from the 1996 general election that returned Paul to Congress after a 12-year hiatus:
At the time, the "Ron Paul Political Report" was listed in an online Neo-Nazi Directory that also included publications by the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Brothers (or something like that).
Of course, we thought we could use this to our advantage. So, in the focus group, we let participants look at the newsletters and told them that Ron Paul's Political Report was listed in the Neo Nazi directory with the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.
*more at link above*
99% plan new tax war on Super Rich in 2012
The message body of this post was accidentally deleted due to an unexpected bug in our new software. The bug has been fixed, and most of the data was recovered. But unfortunately we were unable to recover the full text of this post. An older version of this post may be available in its edit history. Also, the author of the post may edit the post to replace the missing text, if they wish. The DU Administrators apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.Boehner sticks to his guns as Senate Republican leader McConnell urges swift action
The message body of this post was accidentally deleted due to an unexpected bug in our new software. The bug has been fixed, and most of the data was recovered. But unfortunately we were unable to recover the full text of this post. An older version of this post may be available in its edit history. Also, the author of the post may edit the post to replace the missing text, if they wish. The DU Administrators apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.Does Matthew Kroenig want a nuclear war with Iran ?
The message body of this post was accidentally deleted due to an unexpected bug in our new software. The bug has been fixed, and most of the data was recovered. But unfortunately we were unable to recover the full text of this post. An older version of this post may be available in its edit history. Also, the author of the post may edit the post to replace the missing text, if they wish. The DU Administrators apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.Who is your "less obvious" avatar ? I've always wondered, have you ?
Having been on DU for over 7 years now, I've seen many male and female avatars who I cannot identify. Are you the same ?
Anyone willing to play "identify the avatar" game ? I'll go first. Mine is FDR (duh) 
Son Calls Cops on Mom Over World of Warcraft
A 'Cataclysmic' Response
12/18: A 16-year-old male called the police on his mother after she apparently tried to make him stop playing the online role-playing video game World of Warcraft. Police received the call just after 9 p.m. No arrests were made.
http://wilton.patch.com/articles/teen-calls-cops-on-mom-after-she-tries-to-make-him-stop-playing-world-of-warcraft
"Leave me alone Mom, I'm about to level up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 
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