I think the EnergyStar program could do more good, and may actually be doing harm in its current form. In what ways could I try to impact it?
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posted by spbmp
on Apr 3, 2013 -
9 answers
Help me with my ten year old sons school project !
I'd like to find people - as well known as possible - to whom the adage "power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely" .
So an ideal example would be someone who started off with good intentions and then on gaining power started behaving poorly . Also ideally once they'd turned nasty their actions would not be so despicable that you wouldn't mind explaining them to a ten year old
Thanks
posted by southof40
on Mar 9, 2013 -
38 answers
Many years ago I recall watching a movie, where this southern state politician (supposedly based on a true character) was pulling dirty tricks during his campaign. IIRC, he for example accused his competitor of being a "humanist", along with several other carefully chosen praise words which, to his uneducated voters, sounded like insults. Does anyone know which movie I am referring to, or who this politician was?
posted by helion
on Jan 16, 2013 -
4 answers
How do you deal with someone who doesn't seem to fight fair? My mother and I often have intellectual discussions about politics, religion and ethical questions, where we often have different or even contradictory views to one another. They wind up as arguments despite my best intentions - please help me to do better!
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posted by EatMyHat
on Jan 3, 2013 -
30 answers
Should I pursue a casual FWB relationship with this narcissistic but very intellectually interesting and sexy jerk?
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posted by tamagogirl
on Dec 27, 2012 -
109 answers
Canadian politics question. Screwing the environment and shutting down science - what's in it for Harper?
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posted by Meatbomb
on Dec 25, 2012 -
10 answers
What are some examples of industries that successfully regulated themselves, and examples of those that failed?
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posted by matt_arnold
on Dec 12, 2012 -
18 answers
I am British. I have recently acquired American in-laws. They are a traditionally Republican family. I, like many Europeans, consider the current iteration of the Republican Party has passed so far beyond the pale as to no longer be a rational organisation.
So I saw a post-election graphic on Facebook I would normally have shared, but...I'm wondering how this new branch of family will perceive that.
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posted by glasseyes
on Nov 16, 2012 -
46 answers
I'm in the mood for some good political postmortems. Big races, little races, recent news, ancient history, whatever. Probably U.S. though.
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posted by 2bucksplus
on Nov 8, 2012 -
6 answers
Does anyone know where to obtain a copy of Pat Buchanan's memo to Richard Nixon, "Dividing the Democrats"?
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posted by dhartung
on Nov 7, 2012 -
3 answers
What are some examples of new, interesting, funny, and/or powerful ways in which social media have been used during the current 2012 U.S. election season? What's caught your eye? Who's doing it right, who's doing it very wrong, where are the notable gaps?
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posted by Superplin
on Nov 6, 2012 -
9 answers
BookFilter: Can you recommend books that connect what happened in the 60's to the current American political culture?
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posted by dry white toast
on Nov 3, 2012 -
6 answers
I want to make a web-page which will track if UK political parties' election manifesto promises once they are in power. I don't want to devote my life or income to this and i'm only doing it because i think i ought to=i am lazy. Comments? Suggestions? Need to know? Sarcasm? Thanks^_^
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posted by maiamaia
on Oct 6, 2012 -
2 answers
I need help so I don't miss out on watching the best "can't miss" speeches of the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
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posted by marsha56
on Sep 6, 2012 -
10 answers
Do presidential/prime minister candidates in countries other than the United States release tax returns?
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posted by dsfan
on Aug 18, 2012 -
15 answers
Does there exist a demographic of humans currently living in the United States of America that are "on the fence" about who they will be voting for in the upcoming 2012 presidential elections? Additionally, I'd like some sort of description of these people.
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posted by coolxcool=rad
on Aug 17, 2012 -
25 answers
Care to recommend some in-depth documentaries (and books, or anything online) about World War One?
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posted by nfg
on Aug 14, 2012 -
10 answers
Would appreciate advice on part-time jobs in Glasgow, for a mature student with an eye on building her CV more than earning pocket money (though that would be good too!).
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posted by cendawanita
on Jul 26, 2012 -
3 answers
I have been seeing several references lately to "post-truth" campaigns/politics lately, but I am not sure exactly what the definition is. I can infer what is implied, but want material that explains what it is.
Example [more inside]
posted by annsunny
on Jul 14, 2012 -
7 answers
Occupy Wall Street held a
National Gathering in Philadelphia which ended this week. There was supposed to be a collectively drafted "blueprint" document emerging from sessions. The last report I could find mentioned that it was still being compiled on July 5. It was supposed to be completed to hand off to a group marching to NYC over the course of this weekend. Does anyone have a link to this document? All I've seen are some painted signs that were used in the process.
posted by Miko
on Jul 6, 2012 -
4 answers
Ths a new political movement in Mexico lead by university students called #YoSoy132. What exactly does their name signify?
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posted by xicana63
on Jun 11, 2012 -
4 answers
Help me track down a blog (from maybe 10 years ago) where - if memory serves - the author posted feminist pieces and talked openly about her voluntary sterilisation in her 20s. I vaguely recall that the poster's handle was "Green"-something along the lines of GreenFairy (but not 100% sure on that either).
posted by kreestar
on May 28, 2012 -
3 answers
After showing the 2010 Academy Award-winning documentary
Inside Job at a college, what questions would you ask a follow-on panel comprised of Occupy Wall Street activists, Ron Paul Republicans, economics/business professors, and business owners?
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posted by Roach
on Mar 3, 2012 -
5 answers
I'm very angry about what's happening in the UK right now, including-but-not-limited-to: the unnecessarily savage and unequal budget cuts, the privatisation of our education, health and police systems, the scapegoating of vulnerable groups and the dishonesty and cynicism of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat politicians involved.
Other than protesting, what active, concrete action can I take to fight or correct these wrongs? [more inside]
posted by Kirn
on Mar 2, 2012 -
14 answers
Are there any political forums where reasonable conservatives discuss politics with reasonable liberals?
posted by goethean
on Feb 6, 2012 -
4 answers
Where can I find a summary of candidates for the next election?
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posted by VTX
on Nov 3, 2011 -
4 answers
Looking for short PDFs summarising topics relevant to UK politics, probably posted to Metafilter in the last couple of years. These were produced by civil servants or advisors to explain the broad concepts of a topic (e.g. Nuclear power) to a politician in just a few pages. Thanks.
posted by theyexpectresults
on Aug 29, 2011 -
4 answers
I’m looking for an animation that I saw somewhere on the net (probably YT) this year. If I remember correctly, it’s mostly illustrated, black and white, with pictures and words and arrows used to illustrate key concepts as the narration unfolded. The key feature is that it was really well produced, swooping and rotating as the drawing unfurled. The illustration is simple and fun, even though the subject matter is fairly serious — I think it was about politics, something like… I don’t know, Corporate Personhood. Or maybe not. Anyway, I think the animation was done well after the narration, and the two are unaffiliated.
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posted by scamper
on Aug 20, 2011 -
20 answers
In the late 1990s a well-educated 18-year-old boy, homeschooled on a farm somewhere like West Virginia, published a book commenting on American society and politics from a classical perspective. His story was covered by major newsmagazines, and he went on to an Ivy League school. Who was he?
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posted by Harvey Kilobit
on Aug 15, 2011 -
7 answers
I'm looking for research or advocacy groups that are critical of governments that hire consulting firms such as KPMG for budgetary advice or auditing purposes. Other than The Yes Men, please ;)
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posted by copystar
on Jul 28, 2011 -
2 answers
Book suggestion filter! I need to catch up on all the 20th century history I missed because of childhood.....
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posted by motsque
on Jun 28, 2011 -
14 answers
I want to learn more about the animal rights issue in Australia in the context of animals being raised for slaughter. Where do I start?
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posted by vidur
on Jun 14, 2011 -
16 answers
How do I find policies that are actually in use, not future or the past? Specifically: How can I find EU actually-in-use policies (and if possible, if it's actually happening on the ground) in regards to second language education.
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posted by titanium_geek
on Jun 4, 2011 -
2 answers
Can anyone point me towards examples of authors (or other artists) who have produced work with a theme that runs contrary to their own established political or social views?
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posted by MShades
on May 27, 2011 -
26 answers
I once ran across an educational/political comic. Someone on my shared PC cleaned out the history so now I can't find it. Text description of this comic inside...
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posted by TinWhistle
on May 13, 2011 -
3 answers
What studies and books are there about the economics of scientific research? I'm interested in a few questions including does giving out grants to University based researchers produce more startups and more highly regarded refereed papers than institutions like NIH or CSIRO? The only book I know of that looks at this is the book
The Economic Laws of Scientific Research which looks interesting but is also described as a polemic.
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posted by sien
on May 1, 2011 -
7 answers
I follow politics and current events, especially international politics, fanatically. I know next to nothing about economic systems, philosophy (particularly political philosophy), sociology, and other basics of social science that could be useful when trying to make sense of the world, though. I would like to change this.
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posted by dcheeno
on Apr 13, 2011 -
25 answers
There's a misleading political billboard up in my small Massachusetts town, implying photo ID is required for voting. This is not true. I'm hopping mad & trying to figure out what would be an appropriate response to this situation. (More info & a photo link below.)
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posted by anonymous
on Apr 9, 2011 -
30 answers
It's that time again: Bloomberg and other candidates are starting to cram trees in my mailbox. Where and how can I opt-out of paper campaign mailings for NYC?
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posted by D.Billy
on Mar 30, 2011 -
5 answers
