That just highlights even more problems, for example the $869 billion is divided between 59 million Americans, so most of those - the neediest - are going to be taking a substantial hit. Retired workers average at about $1300 a month, dropped under your vision to $800 a month. Disabled workers would lose about a third of their income. Over half of the $949 billion goes on medical care, and I'm willing to wager that's likewise divided up between a relatively small number of people.
As appealing as UI sounds on the face of it, it's a really ignorant idea at this point in our economic development.
And further that wealth isn't held in giant gold bars stored in deep underground vaults, it's mostly shareholdings in companies that employ lots of people and other investment vehicles which things like pension funds rely on.
Multiply 300 million people by a very modest ten thousand dollars a year. Now tell me where that's going to come from, comparing with current US tax revenues, then tell me how you intend to avoid rampant inflation if you somehow manage to come up with it.
Try this experiment, newsflash. Set up two profiles, one with a fake picture of an average looking guy with average credentials. Then set up another profile of a ripped young stud with less than average credentials. Get back to us when you find out which gets more attention.
It's neither bad nor good, it's just human nature.
Most guys on the other hand? Well, considering that a huge percentage of us guys treat women as not much more than disposable toys until full mental maturity?
So you treated your mother as a disposable toy? Please, spare us the glib stereotyping and rhetorical laziness, it's way beyond old and busted.
Women do plenty of objectification too, or how did you think the Chippendales earned a living, their witty repartee and metrosexual househusbanding skills?
Because women are buying it as substitute for a cock, men as substitute for a relationship?
...what? Do you have visions of men sweet talking their sex dolls and bringing them out to dinner or something? I don't even know what to say to this.
Women use vibrators/dildos because they want want sex without the "baggage" of a boyfriend/one night stand, men want to play-pretend the exact opposite.
Again wtf?
while there's a huge market for dildos and vibrators in all shapes and colors that have nothing to do with realism.
Hahaha, no there isn't. They exist but the overwhelming majority of dildos sold look like penises, because women want to imagine they're having sex with Brad Pitt or whoever while using them, which is perfectly normal and rational.
Or do you think the country should suspend all research and any semblance of forward planning and just build toilets?
I certainly do think the basic hygiene and welfare of the average Indian should be improved to approximately mid-twentieth century standards before the nation embarks on any flashy space exploration, but of course that would be much more difficult and involve enfranchising people and stamping out the rampant corruption. This is not the same as developed countries doing space exploration before they've cured cancer, we're talking about people living in chronic, primitive poverty. If you don't like people mentioning toilets, maybe you should build more toilets.
And spare us the race card, it's a sad comment on India that pointing out this obvious fact is even vaguely controversial to some.
I don't believe the origin of life is part of public education anywhere, since we have no real idea how life got started. It's what came after that creationists latched on to and let's face it - even they must know the science is solid. This whole episode has been an extended period of trolling on the part of these religious factions, hoping to raise their profiles and gain membership.
Earth would be exeedingly interesting to any supposed aliens just for the fact it's clearly quite different.
Even if there were earthlike worlds nearby we aren't able to see them yet. For all we know there could be a great many, or as tompaulco mentioned life could form in a variety of different environments. Even if there weren't many, earth-pattern life might simply not be all that interesting. I mean what are they going to do with life forms that almost certainly can't survive in their native environment and they're unable to interact with except on the most rudimentary level? Hold gas-masked dinosaur jousts?
Indeed. The end of the constitutional protections afforded to people of most western nations was destroyed by the passage of the 'homeland' security acts in their countries
the problem with "pay more" is that there's often a huge discrepancy between what a company can afford and what experienced people think they're worth.
It's a problem which fixes itself pretty quickly as the experienced people run out of money. Except they don't seem to be running out of money so someone must be paying them what they think they're worth. Therefore the problem isn't with them.
Or, there are enough planets teeming with nonsentient life that one more is barely a curiosity. Or, they really did visit and left a probe somewhere in the Oort cloud but it will take thousands of years to send a message home, assuming home even exists anymore.
Unfortunately due to the inverse square law even our strongest radio emissions are unlikely to be detectable beyond a couple of light years, within which radius there are no signs of civilisation we can see. It's interesting to think about really, an entire civilisation could advance to our level of sophistication, and probably considerably beyond, while being invisible to just about anyone more than a few dozen light years away.
I'm not saying that's the answer to the Fermi paradox but civilisations of any sort might simply have a far smaller footprint on a galactic level than anyone imagined, and while explorers could have passed by a hundred thousand years ago, five hundred thousand years ago or ten million years ago and found little of interest, there's no reason to believe they might stop by exactly right now and ask to be taken to our leader.
It would benefit everyone if the police were seen as/felt like part of the community. Efforts in that direction are handicapped by the laws and justice system that follow police involvement however, a prison system where rape is considered a punchline and a public that loves them some perp walks. The entire system needs an overhaul to become optimally functional.
I think people are missing the sheer scale of this, what I assume is tongue-in-cheek. suggestion. We're talking about a planet here. It would take an awful lot of nukes to vapourise enough ice to create any kind of increasd atmosphere pressure, even if there was enough ice to do so. Afterwards it would be quite radioactive and there are no guarantees it wouldn't just quickly freeze again. You'd be much better served parking giant solar concentrator arrays above the poles and blasting away instead.
First of all, plenty of people actually did do just that. That is, several novels were written by various authors based on their own experiences in a role playing game.
If by plenty you mean a bare handful versus the millions who played the game while doing no such thing. It certainly wasn't a regular feature of the hobby.
Why try to blow the dust off a 30-year old script?
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That just highlights even more problems, for example the $869 billion is divided between 59 million Americans, so most of those - the neediest - are going to be taking a substantial hit. Retired workers average at about $1300 a month, dropped under your vision to $800 a month. Disabled workers would lose about a third of their income. Over half of the $949 billion goes on medical care, and I'm willing to wager that's likewise divided up between a relatively small number of people.
As appealing as UI sounds on the face of it, it's a really ignorant idea at this point in our economic development.
And further that wealth isn't held in giant gold bars stored in deep underground vaults, it's mostly shareholdings in companies that employ lots of people and other investment vehicles which things like pension funds rely on.
What, you mean like workhouses? What makes you think they'd work any better than in Victorian times?
Multiply 300 million people by a very modest ten thousand dollars a year. Now tell me where that's going to come from, comparing with current US tax revenues, then tell me how you intend to avoid rampant inflation if you somehow manage to come up with it.
Could be pretty valuable to the right companies...
Try this experiment, newsflash. Set up two profiles, one with a fake picture of an average looking guy with average credentials. Then set up another profile of a ripped young stud with less than average credentials. Get back to us when you find out which gets more attention.
It's neither bad nor good, it's just human nature.
he law does not force your spouse to open their legs for you.
It does inflict heavy fines if you don't drop your pants for her though. Poor, poor women.
And you never had any female friends you viewed as more than disposable toys until age 22 or so? I'm not saying that explains your comment but...
Most guys on the other hand? Well, considering that a huge percentage of us guys treat women as not much more than disposable toys until full mental maturity?
So you treated your mother as a disposable toy? Please, spare us the glib stereotyping and rhetorical laziness, it's way beyond old and busted.
Women do plenty of objectification too, or how did you think the Chippendales earned a living, their witty repartee and metrosexual househusbanding skills?
Because women are buying it as substitute for a cock, men as substitute for a relationship?
...what? Do you have visions of men sweet talking their sex dolls and bringing them out to dinner or something? I don't even know what to say to this.
Women use vibrators/dildos because they want want sex without the "baggage" of a boyfriend/one night stand, men want to play-pretend the exact opposite.
Again wtf?
while there's a huge market for dildos and vibrators in all shapes and colors that have nothing to do with realism.
Hahaha, no there isn't. They exist but the overwhelming majority of dildos sold look like penises, because women want to imagine they're having sex with Brad Pitt or whoever while using them, which is perfectly normal and rational.
Again, very broadly speaking, this isn't something in the female mentality, or at least it has not been....
The existence and popularity of dildos invalidates both your position and hers.
Or do you think the country should suspend all research and any semblance of forward planning and just build toilets?
I certainly do think the basic hygiene and welfare of the average Indian should be improved to approximately mid-twentieth century standards before the nation embarks on any flashy space exploration, but of course that would be much more difficult and involve enfranchising people and stamping out the rampant corruption. This is not the same as developed countries doing space exploration before they've cured cancer, we're talking about people living in chronic, primitive poverty. If you don't like people mentioning toilets, maybe you should build more toilets.
And spare us the race card, it's a sad comment on India that pointing out this obvious fact is even vaguely controversial to some.
Seems they've gotten their own irrational fear of nuclear power under some measure of control
Call me when they've gotten their indoor plumbing situation under some measure of control.
You are aware that the origin of life and the evolution of life are two seperate topics?
I don't believe the origin of life is part of public education anywhere, since we have no real idea how life got started. It's what came after that creationists latched on to and let's face it - even they must know the science is solid. This whole episode has been an extended period of trolling on the part of these religious factions, hoping to raise their profiles and gain membership.
Earth would be exeedingly interesting to any supposed aliens just for the fact it's clearly quite different.
Even if there were earthlike worlds nearby we aren't able to see them yet. For all we know there could be a great many, or as tompaulco mentioned life could form in a variety of different environments. Even if there weren't many, earth-pattern life might simply not be all that interesting. I mean what are they going to do with life forms that almost certainly can't survive in their native environment and they're unable to interact with except on the most rudimentary level? Hold gas-masked dinosaur jousts?
Indeed. The end of the constitutional protections afforded to people of most western nations was destroyed by the passage of the 'homeland' security acts in their countries
Er, that mostly only happened in the US.
the problem with "pay more" is that there's often a huge discrepancy between what a company can afford and what experienced people think they're worth.
It's a problem which fixes itself pretty quickly as the experienced people run out of money. Except they don't seem to be running out of money so someone must be paying them what they think they're worth. Therefore the problem isn't with them.
When is Plumber Day? Car Mechanic Day? Kindergarten Teacher Day maybe?
What?
Or, there are enough planets teeming with nonsentient life that one more is barely a curiosity. Or, they really did visit and left a probe somewhere in the Oort cloud but it will take thousands of years to send a message home, assuming home even exists anymore.
Unfortunately due to the inverse square law even our strongest radio emissions are unlikely to be detectable beyond a couple of light years, within which radius there are no signs of civilisation we can see. It's interesting to think about really, an entire civilisation could advance to our level of sophistication, and probably considerably beyond, while being invisible to just about anyone more than a few dozen light years away.
I'm not saying that's the answer to the Fermi paradox but civilisations of any sort might simply have a far smaller footprint on a galactic level than anyone imagined, and while explorers could have passed by a hundred thousand years ago, five hundred thousand years ago or ten million years ago and found little of interest, there's no reason to believe they might stop by exactly right now and ask to be taken to our leader.
It would benefit everyone if the police were seen as/felt like part of the community. Efforts in that direction are handicapped by the laws and justice system that follow police involvement however, a prison system where rape is considered a punchline and a public that loves them some perp walks. The entire system needs an overhaul to become optimally functional.
I think people are missing the sheer scale of this, what I assume is tongue-in-cheek. suggestion. We're talking about a planet here. It would take an awful lot of nukes to vapourise enough ice to create any kind of increasd atmosphere pressure, even if there was enough ice to do so. Afterwards it would be quite radioactive and there are no guarantees it wouldn't just quickly freeze again. You'd be much better served parking giant solar concentrator arrays above the poles and blasting away instead.
First of all, plenty of people actually did do just that. That is, several novels were written by various authors based on their own experiences in a role playing game.
If by plenty you mean a bare handful versus the millions who played the game while doing no such thing. It certainly wasn't a regular feature of the hobby.
Why try to blow the dust off a 30-year old script?
Agreed, but that wasn't what I was objecting to.