The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

It's a nice day today.  Went out and cut the grass, couldn't ask for better weather.  Low 60's.

[Lettow77]

 My suitemates make me wish ill on my fellow man.

Giant amount of what we hope is facial hair in the sink, rap playing, bathroom smells of pot, mystery lump of disgusting on the floor, and of course the ubiquitous pissing all over the seat.

  I pin my aspirations on the fact that such untermensch will probably drop out of even a podunk college like this.

[Admiral Yi]

Heard on NPR that there's another government shut down battle looming (not a default battle).  GOP wants $1 billion in FEMA emergency spending offset by cuts elsewhere.

[11B4V]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6FTWv7abjU

[Razgovory]

Heard on NPR that there's another government shut down battle looming (not a default battle).  GOP wants $1 billion in FEMA emergency spending offset by cuts elsewhere.

Perhaps they can find the savings in their own districts.  I'm sure they can find a billion dollars in federal projects in their own back yard.  Gives the added benefit of getting government out of their constituents hair.  Everyone wins.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm sure they can find a billion dollars in federal projects in their own back yard.

Federal projects?  You mean like arts and crafts, woodworking, that sort of thing?

[Grinning_Colossus]

Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections

Women in Saudi Arabia are to be given the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, King Abdullah has announced.

He said they would also have the right to be appointed to the consultative Shura Council.

The move was welcomed by activists who have called for greater rights for women in the kingdom, which enforces a strict version of Sunni Islamic law.

The changes will occur after municipal polls on Thursday, the king said.

King Abdullah announced the move in a speech at the opening of the new term of the Shura Council - the formal body advising the king, whose members are all appointed.

"Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior clerics and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from next term," he said.

"Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote."

The BBC's world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan says it is an extraordinary development for women in Saudi Arabia, who are not allowed to drive, or to leave the country unaccompanied.

She says there has been a big debate about the role of women in the kingdom and, although not everyone will welcome the decision, such a reform will ease some of the tension that has been growing over the issue.

Saudi writer Nimah Ismail Nawwab told the BBC: "This is something we have long waited for and long worked towards."

She said activists had been campaigning for 20 years on driving, guardianship and voting issues.

Another campaigner, Wajeha al-Huwaider, said the king's announcement was "great news".

"Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians," she told Reuters news agency.

Correspondents say King Abdullah has been cautiously pressing for political reforms, but in a country where conservative clerics and some members of the royal family resist change, liberalisation has been very gradual.

In May more than 60 intellectuals called for a boycott of Thursday's ballot saying "municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role".

Municipal elections are the only public polls in Saudi Arabia.

More than 5,000 men will compete in municipal elections on Thursday - the second-ever in the kingdom - to fill half the seats in local councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The next municipal elections are due in four years' time.

Will this lead to prohibition?

[Razgovory]

I'm sure they can find a billion dollars in federal projects in their own back yard.

Federal projects?  You mean like arts and crafts, woodworking, that sort of thing?

What ever they want.  Let them choose.  Highways, farm subsidies, military stuff, The Mitch McConnell Memorial federal courthouse, local bluegrass festival, bloc grants for schools, whatever.  If they want to tighten the belt of government, start at home.

[Admiral Yi]

What ever they want.  Let them choose.  Highways, farm subsidies, military stuff, The Mitch McConnell Memorial federal courthouse, local bluegrass festival, bloc grants for schools, whatever.  If they want to tighten the belt of government, start at home.

I see the outlines of a Grand Compromise emerging.  The Republicans can cut spending in their own districts and states, and the Democrats can raise taxes in theirs.

[DGuller]

Will this lead to prohibition?

[Razgovory]

What ever they want.  Let them choose.  Highways, farm subsidies, military stuff, The Mitch McConnell Memorial federal courthouse, local bluegrass festival, bloc grants for schools, whatever.  If they want to tighten the belt of government, start at home.

I see the outlines of a Grand Compromise emerging.  The Republicans can cut spending in their own districts and states, and the Democrats can raise taxes in theirs.

Works for me.  Of course Blue states already have higher taxes which causes them not to rely on the feds as much .  It will likely devastate the economies of a lot of conservative states, but hey, that's where that rugged individualism plays a part.  Can't pay for your highway in Wyoming?  Well you can get a four wheel drive truck.  Well just don't write it off as a farm expense.  So perhaps walking maybe more your speed.  It would help states like Michigan though.  Toyota won't find a plant in Kentucky so great when nobody can pay to maintain the roads and sewers to the plant.

[Josquius]

Sometimes you just want to punch a friend in the face:

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[Tamas]

I am considering learning French. Shoot me.

[Ideologue]

I am considering learning French. Shoot me.

It's illegal to have firearms in Europe.  Probably kitchen knives, too.  Sorry, charlie.

[Duque de Bragança]

I am considering learning French. Shoot me.