#things explained

[fishystar]

I think doctors or whoever has the "right" to label people with stuff would declare that a good portion of my family has ADHD or ADD.  I'm only saying this because "Squirrel" is a valid answer to questions at my house.

Dad: Why is the TV on?

Me: Squirrel.

Dad: Okay.  Don't leave it that way.

Dad: Why are the pickles out?

Me: Squirrel.

I think that's enough examples.  But I just remembered something else that might seem odd.  But I'll save that one for some other time

[ruglen-holon]

Anarchism is a movement that came from the middle peasantry after capitalist development threatened their way of life, with the guiding principle that further decentralization would stop subsequent social antagonisms and allow the peasantry to retain their way of life.

Communism on the other hand is the highest point in the centralization of production, owned collectively by society such that the division of labor no longer exists and states serve no function.

One path pines for an idealized pre-capitalist path & wishes to turn back the hands of time, the other sees a shining future without capitalism and resolves to forge on ahead.

[rynamari]

I AM SO MAD ABOUT THE IOWA CAUCUS

So Monday night was the Iowa Caucus and dear god SERIOUSLY??????? THIS IS RIDICULOUS. Now because I’m a history major I’m going to discuss the Caucus in general and how it works along with the issues I had with the Democratic side. If you don’t care for a massive wall of text there’s a “tl;dr” at the bottom so you can search that. But I do explain how the Caucus works if you’re interested in it. 

So the way the Iowa Caucus works is it’s a way to start indicating who the respective Polictial Parties should start considering for the nomination. Does the Republican Party start considering (from best to worst in polls) Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee(Dropped out), Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, or Jim Gilmore. Now if you don’t recognize most of those name that’s fine, because Huckabee dropped out of the race, and anyone after Kasich is doing extremly low in the polls so they’re not getting as much media attention. But right now the Big 3 are Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio for the Republican party nomination. 

On the Democratic side there were only 3 candidates running compared to the Republican’s 11(now 10). They were Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley. Now O’Malley dropped out of the race last night as well leaving just Clinton and Sanders. 

Ultimately the bottom line for why Iowa is so important is it’s the first instance of voting for Party candidates and who people want as the nominee for their Party. But each party does a different version of how they vote. 

Republicans cast votes in a “secret ballot” which is basically what you probably think of with voting. You mark/write something on a piece of paper and then submit it. The workers then will go through each individual piece of paper and say something along the lines of “1 vote for Trump. 1 vote for Cruz. 1 vote for Cruz” with each vote being a different piece of paper. Now here’s my first bone to pick. THE FACT THAT IT’S STILL PAPER!!!! Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it computerized so it automatically tallies who is getting a vote????? FINE WHATEVER WHY MAKE THINGS EASY WITH GOVERNMENT.

The Democratic version of voting is more complicated because why not? The Democratic version of voting for the Iowa caucus is as follows. At each place of voting there will be a designated area for each candidate. So picture a clasroom. At the door is the O’Malley supporters, by the teachers desk are the Bernie Sanders supporters, and in the middle of the room are the Hillary Clinton supporters. Each candidate must get at least 15% of the total people in the room. So if you have a class of 100 people and O’Malley got 14 or less, he would get 0 delegates from the precinct. If that happens the O’Malley supporters have to chose one of the other candidates (Sanders or Clinton). Once that is done the numbers are tallied and delagtes are given to the candidate. Rinse and Repeat and now you have the winner of the Democratic Caucus. 

Ok. I know it’s taken a while but here’s the point. So with the way the the Democratic works, it was inevitable that there would be some close numbers. All said and done, in percentage it was Clinton at 49.9% and Sanders at 49.6%, with the actual voting numbers being only a 4 vote difference. Now the reason it was so close with Hillary Clinton winning was due to 3 districts. These 3 districts were a dead even tie between Clinton and Sanders. Now you might be wondering how did Clinton win those districts if it was a tie? Well apparently there is a procedure for that in Iowa (and it’s completely legal which is baffiling). So in the event of a tie the procedure is either FLIPPING A COIN OR PULLING A NAME OUT OF A HAT. Now you did just read that right. Hillary Clinton literally won 3 districts and even the Iowa Democratic Caucus because of a coin toss. WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????? HOW IS THIS A THING????????????????????????????

tl;dr : The Iowa Caucus is confusing as all hell, and in the event of a Democratic Tie will determine the winner based on a coin toss or pulling a name out of a hat. 

[hlcyn-hll]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Spoilers)

So, in case people are wondering who the "high school valedictorian in Iowa City" is that Agent Sitwell was naming possible threats (including Cap, Tony, Bruce, Strange, a person under the Secretary of Defense and an unnamed person in Cairo) was, I believe I have figured it out. 

Upon looking it up, there are quite a few Marvel characters born or living around the Iowa area, including Hawkeye, his brother Trickshot (Barney Barton), and Nomad. However, one stood out. A hero named Virtue. 

First appearing in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #13, meeting and working with Peter Parker on the newspaper (The Daily Bugle). This would lead us to believe that he is around the same age as Peter, which in the current universe (movies) makes him either a high school senior or a recently graduated student. Thus, there is no reason as to why Virtue (Ethan Edwards) would not be a valedictorian wanting to go to a busy city (New York) away from quiet Iowa. 

While this is not one hundred percent, there is a good chance that the man's list included Virtue as he wasn't a well-known hero at the time of the events that happened in TWS, since he would only be a senior or have just graduated. But, if his powers or capabilities were starting to be recognized, it would explain why he was being watched by S.H.I.E.L.D and Hydra. 

[bang-up-to-the-elephant]

And woop de woop River Song didnt make a return :DDD

[ct55]

Betty Bowers explains marriage

Betty Bowers explains what REAL Biblical marriage is all about. It's funny besides being, well, pretty much spot-on.

[ct55]

Memo To Gay Voters: The GOP "Just Isn't That Into You"

What will it take for gay voters to realize that the G.O.P. just isn't a friend? I often cite the term "gay Republican" -- right alongside terms like "military intelligence" and "compassionate conservative" -- as an example of an oxymoron. .