From STNG it always struck me as funny that the Klingon women wore body armor, but in the name of "Roddenberry Costume Design" that armor always showed cleavage. Great! Put body (bawdy?) armor on the women of a race that's really into personal combat, then leave a gap in that armor right over the heart!
I largely agree with you, but I don't really believe that competition for resource and space is the cause of most armed conflicts today. Instead I believe over-sized egos and over-hyped nationalism exaggerate the perception of competition for resource and space. War is usually good for the leaders, no matter how much they may say (and perhaps truly feel) they hate it.
Actually, make it hard enough, and perhaps they SHOULD go after you, first. After all, by taking all of those steps to protect your privacy, it proves more than ever that you have something to hide! Some idiot who browses with no protections isn't smart enough to hatch an effective terrorist plot. Someone who takes all of the appropriate step is. Someone who takes all of the appropriate steps, and knows how to hide the fact that those steps were taken, is even scarier.
One side thinks their country can be the greatest place on Earth, and wants to work on the needed changes to get it there.
The other side thinks it already is, and doesn't want to change a single thing - only roll back some of the changes the first group has already managed.
I'd prefer to think that "Born in the USA" was cast in the first mold, because recognition is the first step toward fixing. Also, any citizen of any nation can take the first view, and probably should. But then I just might be a little biased.
The area hobby shop went out of business a few months back. Now we're just left with the "hobby aisle" of a few stores. Typically that amounts to some crafts, small plastic model cars and/or airplanes, maybe some Estes rockets, etc. Heaven help you if you want powered model cars or airplanes, etc. When was the last time you saw a Chemistry Set? (Aside for any possible poison danger, when did you last see promotion of the mindset needed for a chemistry set?)
Yes, there are resources online, but there's nothing like a kid in a hobby shop. These are the kids who grow up and build the "Losing Its Toolbox" culture.
And people call me naive, but you appear to be part of a very large group of similarly naive people.
It's not just that we've never had a free market, it's that such a free market as constitutes your utopia has never, and cannot exist. One simple reason. Once you get to the class that is winning the entrepreurial free market sweepstakes, you'll not find a true believer in the free market. In fact their first act is to hoist the ladder they climbed.
Do you really think that Pepsi and Coke have and maintain a duopoly because they make superior soft drinks at the best price! No, they do it with arm-twisting distribution contracts. Do you really want government out of the action to the point that contracts no longer exist and constrain actions?
In that case, join most of human history. Until the last 500 years or so, most of human history has been hopeless stagnation for most of the human race, with a few despots at the top - until they get to fat and decadent and are toppled - in favor of the next batch of despots. There are a few shining moments that make the history books, but most of history wasn't so hot.
So the premise here is that if we don't restrain greedy people and let them do what they want, "market forces" will take them down and make it a better world for themselves. I would contend that it's far more likely that they'll destroy the free marketplace in favor of retaining their own wealth and power.
By the way, IMHO the point of the free market is to harness the inventiveness of ANYONE who wants to try. When people talk central planning they think government. But once you get to cartels and polyopolies that dominate today's marketplace, you equally have central planning - just not by government, but just as bad.
It's not "the Coming Wave," we're right in the midst of it, and have been for some time. It's not in front of us, we're well into it. That's not to say it won't get much, much worse, but it's very important to realize that we have entered the effects of overpopulation.
Just ask the Atlantic Cod fisheries, the Pacific garbage patch, that dry lake somewhere in the former USSR - heck, there are too many to list.
Great stuff, that free-market non-government GPS, isn't it?
I have nothing against the Free Market. Nor have anything against the government. I have something against people who feel that it must be all of one and none of the other, or that either can stand on its own feet, unaided.
Specifically on-topic, There was over a decade of the Free Market thrashing around trying to create "The Information Service." I know, because at various times I used several of them. They all failed, because they all wanted to own the entire pie, and none of them could. The internet walked in and simply wiped them all away. The only way any of them could even dream of surviving was to participate in the internet - to become an internet access point - an ISP. The internet succeeded BECAUSE nobody owned the whole pie, not in spite of it.
In a more enlightened place, maybe industry could have come together and done that. But that's not the USA of the 1980's and early 1990's.
Maybe it's really the new plan to stop illegal immigration and boost exports. Depress the economy far enough and those jobs currently held by illegal immigrants will start to look good, even at those wages. Those same "new US wages" will be competitive with the sweatshop wages every other nation in the world is trying to leave behind.
"There will be jobs for Americans......when American sweatshops are legal again......and when Americans are eager to work in them."
I'm just wondering how "The Big Bang Theory" is going to respond to all of this when next season starts. Will Sheldon be devastated, will he defend String Theory against "this silly, inept Higgs experimental data," or will he somehow hop on the Higgs Bandwagon?
The more interesting part was the desert-sensible underground portion. From what I can see the two parts weren't anywhere near each other, just spliced together on film. From the igloo you could only see the berm around the atrium.
OK, I'll bite. I've held off, but hours later this thread is still at less than 200 comments.
> On the other hand, if Romney is elected, the country has a fighting chance to recover.
Right not, the major problem with the country is the degrading fortuntes of the middle and working class. Our economic doldrums are from a lack of demand, and many other places here it has been said that when more is demanded, business will hire to meet the needs, etc. The lack of demand is because of the downward pay pressure on the middle and working class - they have less to spend, and many have fallen out of even that category.
Without any further comment on other aspects, I'll simply say that in this situation supply side economics simply will not work. It's not a supply probem, it's a demand problem
Every Republican proposal I've seen begins with cutting taxes and reducing government spending. (Regulation too, but I'm focusing.) Cutting taxes essentially gives more money to the wealthy. Cutting spending essentially takes money away from the non-wealthy. Right or wrong, this will do nothing positive for demand.
I'm sure someone will tell me how stupid and simplistic I am with this opinion, how I'm deluded and that by simply letting excessively greedy people do whatever they want, everything will get better for everyone. Ponies too, no doubt. The specifics might be interesting. Maybe not.
It gets even worse when you have to get at your imap servers over an ssh-forwarded port. Prior to auto-discovery it was pretty easy. Now it's hit-or-miss.
"Just works" (TM) is great when it does, or when you need to do something slightly unusual. Then it just gets in your way. That's the thing that bothers me most about people trying to make Linux "user friendly", because it can only ever be "mostly user friendly" and when they do that they usually also take away the hacker hooks.
In the long term, understanding the universe has always paid off. In the meantime, neglecting any long-term payoff, you can consider the $7.5b of the LHC at worse a neutral waste of money.
Take a look at what we spend on wars. Take a look at what we spend preparing for wars. Take a look at what we spend bulking up, hoping to scare the other guy out of wars. Take a look at what we spend on drugs, medicating ourselves because we find reality too boring. (For those not enthralled by LHC, space travel, etc.) Take a look at what we spend trying to keep the aforementioned people from buying drugs, because it offends our moral sensibilities. The list could go on forever, most of these things quite negative...
and you want to pick on science and understanding the Universe as a waste?
I'm glad to know that. I had been thinking that corporations could use financial coercion against people, especially in times of tight employment, but now you've set me straight.
It's good to know that the Golden Rule doesn't really exist, that only government can do bad things like that.
And it won't be just Florida. Don't forget the Gulf Coast, etc. Plus there seems to be some locality, because I've read that the Atlantic seaboard is seeing more sea-level increase than other places.
As for sea-level rise due to aquifers, I'd be as much worried about aquifer depletion as about sea-level rise. Aside from difficulties of continuing to pump water, some areas are showing subsidence, etc.
Most spacecraft can do something significant to change their orbits. While the ISS does have a thruster system, it's just for maintaining the existing orbit and making minor changes to avoid junk.
If you really want to blur the line, try a Cycler.
Slashdot Mirror
Wow, I never would have suspected the Klingons of pumping blood or oxygenating it by-committee.
From STNG it always struck me as funny that the Klingon women wore body armor, but in the name of "Roddenberry Costume Design" that armor always showed cleavage. Great! Put body (bawdy?) armor on the women of a race that's really into personal combat, then leave a gap in that armor right over the heart!
I largely agree with you, but I don't really believe that competition for resource and space is the cause of most armed conflicts today. Instead I believe over-sized egos and over-hyped nationalism exaggerate the perception of competition for resource and space. War is usually good for the leaders, no matter how much they may say (and perhaps truly feel) they hate it.
You missed the word "effective" in there. Besides, as mentioned, the post was in that odd space between snark, sarcasm, and sadness.
Actually, make it hard enough, and perhaps they SHOULD go after you, first. After all, by taking all of those steps to protect your privacy, it proves more than ever that you have something to hide! Some idiot who browses with no protections isn't smart enough to hatch an effective terrorist plot. Someone who takes all of the appropriate step is. Someone who takes all of the appropriate steps, and knows how to hide the fact that those steps were taken, is even scarier.
(Don't know if this is sarcasm or sad.)
One side thinks their country can be the greatest place on Earth, and wants to work on the needed changes to get it there.
The other side thinks it already is, and doesn't want to change a single thing - only roll back some of the changes the first group has already managed.
I'd prefer to think that "Born in the USA" was cast in the first mold, because recognition is the first step toward fixing. Also, any citizen of any nation can take the first view, and probably should. But then I just might be a little biased.
Lucky! I honestly don't know how far it is to the nearest decent hobby shop, any more. All 3 of the ones I knew of within 50 miles are gone.
Take this trend back to where it starts... kids.
The area hobby shop went out of business a few months back. Now we're just left with the "hobby aisle" of a few stores. Typically that amounts to some crafts, small plastic model cars and/or airplanes, maybe some Estes rockets, etc. Heaven help you if you want powered model cars or airplanes, etc. When was the last time you saw a Chemistry Set? (Aside for any possible poison danger, when did you last see promotion of the mindset needed for a chemistry set?)
Yes, there are resources online, but there's nothing like a kid in a hobby shop. These are the kids who grow up and build the "Losing Its Toolbox" culture.
And people call me naive, but you appear to be part of a very large group of similarly naive people.
It's not just that we've never had a free market, it's that such a free market as constitutes your utopia has never, and cannot exist. One simple reason. Once you get to the class that is winning the entrepreurial free market sweepstakes, you'll not find a true believer in the free market. In fact their first act is to hoist the ladder they climbed.
Do you really think that Pepsi and Coke have and maintain a duopoly because they make superior soft drinks at the best price! No, they do it with arm-twisting distribution contracts. Do you really want government out of the action to the point that contracts no longer exist and constrain actions?
In that case, join most of human history. Until the last 500 years or so, most of human history has been hopeless stagnation for most of the human race, with a few despots at the top - until they get to fat and decadent and are toppled - in favor of the next batch of despots. There are a few shining moments that make the history books, but most of history wasn't so hot.
So the premise here is that if we don't restrain greedy people and let them do what they want, "market forces" will take them down and make it a better world for themselves. I would contend that it's far more likely that they'll destroy the free marketplace in favor of retaining their own wealth and power.
By the way, IMHO the point of the free market is to harness the inventiveness of ANYONE who wants to try. When people talk central planning they think government. But once you get to cartels and polyopolies that dominate today's marketplace, you equally have central planning - just not by government, but just as bad.
I too will agree with what you say, but I'll also add that several parties have subsequently tried to own html. Embrace, extend, extinguish!
It's not "the Coming Wave," we're right in the midst of it, and have been for some time. It's not in front of us, we're well into it. That's not to say it won't get much, much worse, but it's very important to realize that we have entered the effects of overpopulation.
Just ask the Atlantic Cod fisheries, the Pacific garbage patch, that dry lake somewhere in the former USSR - heck, there are too many to list.
Great stuff, that free-market non-government GPS, isn't it?
I have nothing against the Free Market. Nor have anything against the government. I have something against people who feel that it must be all of one and none of the other, or that either can stand on its own feet, unaided.
Specifically on-topic, There was over a decade of the Free Market thrashing around trying to create "The Information Service." I know, because at various times I used several of them. They all failed, because they all wanted to own the entire pie, and none of them could. The internet walked in and simply wiped them all away. The only way any of them could even dream of surviving was to participate in the internet - to become an internet access point - an ISP. The internet succeeded BECAUSE nobody owned the whole pie, not in spite of it.
In a more enlightened place, maybe industry could have come together and done that. But that's not the USA of the 1980's and early 1990's.
Maybe it's really the new plan to stop illegal immigration and boost exports. Depress the economy far enough and those jobs currently held by illegal immigrants will start to look good, even at those wages. Those same "new US wages" will be competitive with the sweatshop wages every other nation in the world is trying to leave behind.
"There will be jobs for Americans... ...when American sweatshops are legal again... ...and when Americans are eager to work in them."
What did you expect? That link points to the "Heritage Foundation."
I'm just wondering how "The Big Bang Theory" is going to respond to all of this when next season starts. Will Sheldon be devastated, will he defend String Theory against "this silly, inept Higgs experimental data," or will he somehow hop on the Higgs Bandwagon?
The more interesting part was the desert-sensible underground portion. From what I can see the two parts weren't anywhere near each other, just spliced together on film. From the igloo you could only see the berm around the atrium.
The rest of the house was actually the Hotel Sidi Driss...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g293756-d523724-r32974695-Hotel_Sidi_Driss-Matmata_Gabes_Governorate.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c3Mdk_di7Q
Darn... haven't seen a Natalie Portman reference here in a long time.
Do you think the results would vary based on naked, petrified, both, or neither?
OK, I'll bite. I've held off, but hours later this thread is still at less than 200 comments.
> On the other hand, if Romney is elected, the country has a fighting chance to recover.
Right not, the major problem with the country is the degrading fortuntes of the middle and working class. Our economic doldrums are from a lack of demand, and many other places here it has been said that when more is demanded, business will hire to meet the needs, etc. The lack of demand is because of the downward pay pressure on the middle and working class - they have less to spend, and many have fallen out of even that category.
Without any further comment on other aspects, I'll simply say that in this situation supply side economics simply will not work. It's not a supply probem, it's a demand problem
Every Republican proposal I've seen begins with cutting taxes and reducing government spending. (Regulation too, but I'm focusing.) Cutting taxes essentially gives more money to the wealthy. Cutting spending essentially takes money away from the non-wealthy. Right or wrong, this will do nothing positive for demand.
I'm sure someone will tell me how stupid and simplistic I am with this opinion, how I'm deluded and that by simply letting excessively greedy people do whatever they want, everything will get better for everyone. Ponies too, no doubt. The specifics might be interesting. Maybe not.
It gets even worse when you have to get at your imap servers over an ssh-forwarded port. Prior to auto-discovery it was pretty easy. Now it's hit-or-miss.
"Just works" (TM) is great when it does, or when you need to do something slightly unusual. Then it just gets in your way. That's the thing that bothers me most about people trying to make Linux "user friendly", because it can only ever be "mostly user friendly" and when they do that they usually also take away the hacker hooks.
In the long term, understanding the universe has always paid off. In the meantime, neglecting any long-term payoff, you can consider the $7.5b of the LHC at worse a neutral waste of money.
Take a look at what we spend on wars.
Take a look at what we spend preparing for wars.
Take a look at what we spend bulking up, hoping to scare the other guy out of wars.
Take a look at what we spend on drugs, medicating ourselves because we find reality too boring. (For those not enthralled by LHC, space travel, etc.)
Take a look at what we spend trying to keep the aforementioned people from buying drugs, because it offends our moral sensibilities.
The list could go on forever, most of these things quite negative...
and you want to pick on science and understanding the Universe as a waste?
I'm glad to know that. I had been thinking that corporations could use financial coercion against people, especially in times of tight employment, but now you've set me straight.
It's good to know that the Golden Rule doesn't really exist, that only government can do bad things like that.
And it won't be just Florida. Don't forget the Gulf Coast, etc. Plus there seems to be some locality, because I've read that the Atlantic seaboard is seeing more sea-level increase than other places.
As for sea-level rise due to aquifers, I'd be as much worried about aquifer depletion as about sea-level rise. Aside from difficulties of continuing to pump water, some areas are showing subsidence, etc.
Most spacecraft can do something significant to change their orbits. While the ISS does have a thruster system, it's just for maintaining the existing orbit and making minor changes to avoid junk.
If you really want to blur the line, try a Cycler.
So THAT's the root cause of the Greek and Spanish economic problems. Thank you so very much for enlightening me!
Evidentally feudalism IS the Way of the Future!
Quoth Alexander Haig, "I'm in charge!"
Quoth Kirk Douglas, and Tony Curtis, etc, etc, etc, "I am Spartacus!" (had to throw that one in)