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Happy 4th of July

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Re: Happy 4th of July

#31

Post by timapplesauce »

nr2x wrote: post #8
srvmshr wrote: post #6

Quoted post unavailable.

Given a disproportionate number of HN users are in California, no we don't actually "choose" congress in any reasonable sense. We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. Given how our institutions work, the people of Wyoming have vastly more influence on a per capita basis than those in California, which is evidenced in our…

> Supreme Court turn to the batshit insane side of reality.

Following the Constitution as written instead of legislating from the bench is batshit insane?

Federal protection of abortion rights should come from Congress, not an overreaching activist Judiciary. Also, if you’re in California nothing has changed about access to abortion and nothing will change for the foreseeable future.

Re: Happy 4th of July

#32

Post by hnburnsy »

nr2x wrote: post #8
srvmshr wrote: post #6

Quoted post unavailable.

Given a disproportionate number of HN users are in California, no we don't actually "choose" congress in any reasonable sense. We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. Given how our institutions work, the people of Wyoming have vastly more influence on a per capita basis than those in California, which is evidenced in our…

Now do the House of Representatives.

Re: Happy 4th of July

#34

Post by timapplesauce »

birdyrooster wrote: post #22
nightski wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you are projecting your own insecurities honestly.

Quoted post unavailable.

I do. It’s a big country so maybe your corner of it is as you describe. I have personally lived in 5 different states and visited most of the rest and never encountered anything like what you describe.

Much like all over the world there are lots of bigoted idiots, but they are very much the tiny minority of Americans and they do not represent this country or its values.

If this country is so terrible why do we struggle to keep people from coming here to live illegally, or “undocumented” if you prefer that term?

Re: Happy 4th of July

#35

Post by nunez »

While I am not proud of some of the decisions our government has made, I am very proud to be born an American and still believe in the American ideal.

That said, I fired up my grill one day too early lol

Re: Happy 4th of July

#36

Post by jollybean »

makk wrote: post #27
jollybean wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That kind of violence is extremely rare, moreover, it happens by extremists on 'all sides' and pales in comparison to the likelihood you will be robbed/killed for all the normal reasons, and, if you live anywhere 'normal' in the US, the likelihood of any of that is actually quite low, almost (but not quite) on par with most other countries. Despite what the headlines might have us believe. That this is the second wei…

> On par with most other countries That's interesting. Do you have a source for that? Would help others appreciate what you're seeing.

Here's 2016 murder data for Illinois cities.

Really bad crime is fairly concentrated.

Outside of those ugly spots, it's something resembling normalcy.

America has a wicked gang/urban violence problem in 'hot spots'. And then a more 'common problem' everywhere else, of a different nature.

And of course political/active shooter type killings are actually quite rare. Though they are way more frequent in the USA then elsewhere, and are a serious kind of 'civic problem' - they don't actually represent an risk to individuals. There's about 1 'mass shooter' per day in the US, the average deaths per mass shooter is quite small (or 0), and so it doesn't really move the needle. It's something we want to be 'concerned about' not 'afraid of'.

[1] https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-...

Re: Happy 4th of July

#38

Post by Maursault »

Akronymus wrote: post #18
nr2x wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given a disproportionate number of HN users are in California, no we don't actually "choose" congress in any reasonable sense. We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. Given how our institutions work, the people of Wyoming have vastly more influence on a per capita basis than those in California, which is evidenced in our…

> We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. That sounds like it is working as the founding fathers intended. As that gives rural states a voice as well. If that is a good or bad thing is debatable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

> That sounds like it is working as the founding fathers intended. As that gives rural states a voice as well.

This is why residents of DC and Puerto Rico should be allowed to choose representation in Congress, because as it is, about 4M US citizens are paying taxes without any voting influence in Congress.

Re: Happy 4th of July

#39

Post by Akronymus »

Maursault wrote: post #38
Akronymus wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. That sounds like it is working as the founding fathers intended. As that gives rural states a voice as well. If that is a good or bad thing is debatable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

> That sounds like it is working as the founding fathers intended. As that gives rural states a voice as well. This is why residents of DC and Puerto Rico should be allowed to choose representation in Congress, because as it is, about 4M US citizens are paying taxes without any voting influence in Congress.

Isn't DC a district? And Puerto Rico an unincorporated territory? As in, both would need to be converted to states first, and in the process lose some benefits a lack of statehood provides. (At least in the case of PR) For DC there is a legal argument that can be made that it shouldn't be one due to being the seat of the government and under direct rule of congress. at least from my reading up on it.

But yeah, the citizens deserve representation as well.

Re: Happy 4th of July

#40

Post by Fatnino »

Akronymus wrote: post #18
nr2x wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given a disproportionate number of HN users are in California, no we don't actually "choose" congress in any reasonable sense. We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. Given how our institutions work, the people of Wyoming have vastly more influence on a per capita basis than those in California, which is evidenced in our…

> We get to pick 2 people to represent ~40M people in the Senate, whereas the ~500k people of Wyoming get to pick 2 representative as well. That sounds like it is working as the founding fathers intended. As that gives rural states a voice as well. If that is a good or bad thing is debatable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

The senate works as intended (if you call that working).

The house is utterly broken. The half a million people in Wyoming get one representative in the house. By that logic, California's 40m people should have 80 representatives. Instead we only have 53.

The problem is that at some point they simply capped the size of the house. It should really be ~2 times as big as it is now.

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