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Hubble Discovers Dark Spot on Uranus
TheDawgLives writes "Just as we near the end of the hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean, winds whirl and clouds churn 2 billion miles away in the atmosphere of Uranus, forming a dark vortex large enough to engulf two-thirds of the United States."
The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration still has this headline on their front page:
NOAA Continues to Predict Above-normal Hurricane Season
So what kind of hurricane season have we had?
Four named storms and 5 hurricanes. Not shabby, but way short of the (revised, even ) forecast: 12 to 15 named storms, 7-9 hurricanes, and 3-4 major hurricanes.
And thank goodness they were so wrong. Some of those hurricanes were pretty stiff, but fortunately none made landfall.
Dark Reflection
Hey, if you can get the people and governments all over the world to forgive U.S. debts, then maybe the U.S. can talk about forgiving yours.
How many countries aren't in debt, really? The U.S. can't even negotiate to end most of its debt, because it's privately held by parties large and small all over the world. At least we've forgiven the debts of some countries when they really needed it.
Oh, and I don't see companies in L.A. countries pouring billions of dollars in research, development, equipment, and labor into huge operations in the U.S. just to see those operations nationalized by the U.S. If you really want capitalism to work in Latin America, your countries need to honor land ownership, leases, and license rights. Nationalizing or threatening to nationalize huge foreign investments does not exactly encourage people to invest more money in your countries. Your specific country may not be doing this, but you lumped Latin America into a group and didn't make clear a specific country to debate.
The U.S. is not responsible for the entire world's economy. We do what we can for us. You need to do what you can for yourselves. That's the way trade works. Yes, we have a huge infrastructure here in the U.S., but we've built that. No other country came in and built the Roosevelt Interstate System. No other country came in and built the nationwide electric grid. No other country invented the assembly line, the microprocessor, and the airplane. Despite the fact that Hollywood studios make some really awful movies and on the whole aren't very artistic, they do invest the money into production, advertising, and distribution that makes American films the most widely watched in the world. No other country built our Atlantic to Pacific railway. No other country is the founding place and headquarters of Coca-Cola, Microsoft, or General Motors.
In order to have the economic advantages of a strong economy and solid infrastructure, you must invest in a strong economy and solid infrastructure. This is not just investment of money. It also involves laws, education, and taxes geared towards letting people make money. Our education system in the U.S. is not as good as it should be, and unfortunately doesn't show signs of improvement in the short term. However, there is still the right mix of influences to make the U.S. competitive if not to keep us in the top spot economically. Your government and the people in your country may have different priorities. In the U.S., where money is the primary tool to solve problems, a strong economy is a priority that ranks soon after national security. If your country has some other priorities that come before developing the economy that take a back seat to the economy in the U.S. and you've acheived those priorities, then you're just as successful as we are. It's about priorities.
In the U.S., socialism scares us, not because it's inherently bad but because it takes away on of the the greatest hopes we have -- that we'll be able to make enough money to take care of most of our problems. The U.S. was founded on a distrust of government to serve the needs of the people. Unfortunately, too many Americans these days don't understand that. If a socialist country really can serve the needs of its people well enough and isn't oppressive like many have been, then it wouldn't be so bad for people who could trust it to stay that way.
Neither did the US.
It's the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.
No other country invented the assembly line, the microprocessor, and the airplane.
Neither did the US.
Look up the history of the assembly line and airplanes. As to the microprocessor, it was indeed a US invention but like the other examples it was also product of an international community of research & development in microelectronics.
There's nothing wrong with nationalistic pride, but let's not imagine these achievements occured ab novo or uniquely in the US.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.