Now there’s an inspiring election slogan

Sri Lanka holds presidential elections on January 8, 2015 with the incumbent party being accused of rampant corruption. This is actually being used as an argument in favor of returning the ruling party to power, if you can imagine it.

In this context, a southern ruling party MP’s remarks are highly revealing for their bluntness. He is reported to have advised voters to support the SLFP because, as he put it: “We have made enough money not to be greedy next time. But if you elect the opposition, they will make money hand over fist.”

Now there’s an inspiring slogan: Vote for us because we have already stolen as much money as we need. You have got to admire the brazenness of such a claim and the logic behind it.
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Do vanity license plates represent the view of the driver or the state?

The license plates on cars are issued by the state. But states have found that they can generate extra revenue by creating so-called ‘vanity plates’ that surround the obligatory identifying information with a message that car owners can choose subject to state approval. This raises the issue of whose view is on the plate, the car owner or the state. The fact that the owner chose that message argues in favor of the owner. The fact that the state issues the plates and controls what can be put on it argues in favor of the state. So what happens when the owner selects a message that the state objects to?
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Torture and the ‘ticking bomb’ scenario

When trying to justify the most appalling acts of torture, its advocates invariably invoke the ‘ticking time bomb’ scenario where we are told that in order to save a huge number of lives it is imperative to get some information quickly from someone who refuses to give it. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia is the latest to haul out this old chestnut about how it could be justified to save millions of lives, adding that there is nothing in the US Constitution that prohibits this, though one would think that the Eighth Amendment prohibition against inflicting “cruel and unusual” punishment would cover it.
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The reaction to the thaw in Cuba-US relations

When president Obama announced the thaw in relations with Cuba, my guess is that many people would have been surprised that there was even an embargo with Cuba, since knowledge of foreign relations is not exactly the strong point of the public. But Obama seems to have a better feel for public opinion on this issue than those who are acting apoplectic over this development, with polls overwhelmingly supporting his move.
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