Odracirys

Hi. This is Odracirys, and I have something to say.  Europe is not free.   This may come as a shock to those who think that Europe is a bastion of liberal thought.  It’s merely a bastion of leftist thought, and as I have realized, left-wingers can be just as much against freedom as any right-wingers.  If you are a Classical Liberal or a centrist, I would like to make the case for voting for those you may not even strongly support, but who are in danger (as are we all) if the authorities get what they want.  Many of the powers controlling Europe are so authoritarian and despotic that they must be resisted.  They attempt to appear like they are on the side of good while destroying the freedoms that people these days take for granted.  Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen, although they have flaws like anyone else, have been unfair targets of governmental abuse, and I feel that the best way to stop this abuse is to show the authorities that the more they try ...

I just wanted to take some time to jot down my thoughts regarding some of the hypocritical attitudes that I have found within certain leftist circles before and after the election of Donald Trump.  This has gotten quite messy, and it’s not written like an article.  These are just some musings, some of which are quite detached from each other.  I am not making a “point”, as such, except to point out instances when certain people on the left (often called “regressives” at this point) can be as hateful and condescending as those on the right whom they think are on the complete opposite of the spectrum.  If you want to read more about that, then feel free to continue. First, I’ll give a bit of a background to show that I’m not a right-winger.  As I mentioned before, I was a Bernie Sanders supporter from the beginning, and even donated a bit to his campaign.  Bernie was not the perfect candidate, as no candidate is.  Speaking of imperfection, I was par...

There once was a conversation between a tolerant person and a bigot.  Here is how it went down: A: Have you seen the video "If You Are A Muslim, You Are Retarded!"?  It's spot on. B: Are you serious?  That's hate speech! A: What?  From what they believe, Muslims are proving that they are not intelligent, and their ideas clash with those of the Constitution. B: You're being a total bigot! A: Why?  Muslims respect Muhammad, who had no respect for women and other ethnic groups. B: So you're claiming that a full quarter of the global population is dumb and/or evil? A: Well, maybe not...but don't you see a problem with that mindset? B: Absolutely not.  We should have tolerance for all kinds of people, no matter what they believe. A: Then why did you share that article, "If You Tell Me You Are Supporting Trump, I Already Know Seven Things About You", with some of the things you know about Trump supporters being that they "have no...

Statistics Are Interesting! The Wall Street Journal 2012 Election Map This is a brilliant map, showing each county (or county-equivalent state subdivision, seemingly aside from those in Alaska and Hawaii).  You can see that the deeper the blue, the more skewed towards Obama, and the deeper the read, the more skewed towards Romney the counties are. Although there are Red States and Blue States, it easy to see that things aren't so simple as that.  Maps like these tell us that it's mostly urban areas (as well as rural areas with large minority populations) that go for Democrats, and rural areas that go for Republicans. Even looking at New York, California, Washington, and Oregon (among others) you can see that lots of rural counties went Red.  It was the same in recent past elections. Nevada is a Blue state, yet the only Blue areas of the state are Las Vegas and Reno.  All other counties are Red.  Yet the population distribution is such that just ...

Obama Wins Re-Election, and More Well, I called it.  Not so much me, but the pollsters and electoral vote mapping sites whom I've been checking in on quite frequently for the past 6 months or so.  I thought that the result would be Obama: 332 and Romney: 206 (I put down Obama: 332-247 and Romney 191-206 just because I was a bit hopeful about North Carolina, which didn't go Obama's way this time).  It turns out that I (and hence, the polls leading up until now) were correct. Here are some major things that have happened today: -  Obama re-elected -  Gay marriage legalized by ballot initiative in Maryland and Maine -  Recreational use of marijuana legalized for the first time ever in the U.S., in Colorado and Washington. -  Alan Grayson (outspoken Democrat representative who was defeated 2 years ago) reclaims a house seat. There are others.  As for marijuana, I've never tried it and don't care to try it (neither do I like ...