Traditional American people? I didn't realize those inventions you mentioned were developed on reservations. The rest of us aren't usually more than a few generations removed from immigrants. This was especially true half a century or more ago when those technologies you listed were developed.
Can you please cite the evidence where the overall economy, real wages, or standard-of-living of Americans has "collapsed" since 1965? Or where "fundamental technological innovation" has ceased? Increased economic prosperity for nations outside of the US and Western Europe may be a scary prospect to racists and xenophobes, but it's not necessarily the death knell for America.
If you want to point to the US incarceration rate as an argument against national policy on drugs, then fine. Conflating it with a lack of civil liberties is ridiculous.
Gingrich's speech was no more than pandering to the crowd ahead of the primary election. He's made bullshit promises in every state he's campaigned in so far. How does funding a new moon mission mesh with the Republican party's insistence on deep budget cuts on everything but military spending? Face it, we aren't going to the moon or Mars anytime soon. One side of the aisle wants to overspend on the military, the other wants to overspend on social programs. All the debate over taxes and discretionary spending is political theatre. Neither party is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to fix budgetary problems and neither really gives a damn about space exploration.
I thought this would be Google's chance to kill Firefox. Not many other search providers for Mozilla to run to. Microsoft can attempt to tie IE and Bing together and Google can tie Chrome and Google search. Firefox is left out in the cold to whither and die like Netscape. Probably not good for the consumer, but such is the way of things.
How many people have died from this incident (or any nuclear-related event) compared to number of coal miners and oil rig workers who are killed each year? As far as long term health effects, like increased cancer rates, time will tell. However, let's compare that to coal miners contracting chronic lung disease and that the many deaths attributed to respiratory distress caused by air pollution. What about coal mine explosions or oil spills? Please explain to me how nuclear power is somehow more dangerous than the alternatives. Don't bother bringing hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, etc into the argument. When practical, I fully support those sources over nuclear.
The space program has been a giant government boondoggle that has produced nothing of value for the citizens of the United States. The free market certainly would've far surpassed the successes of NASA if not for regulations and taxation./s
The French have not won a major war in nearly 300 years in which the United States was not their ally. French-Indian / Seven Years War - lost; Napoleon - kicked major ass and wreaked havoc for years and still lost; Franco-Prussian War - lost; Algeria - lost; Vietnam - lost before the US made the same mistake. We don't even need to mention WWII, the collapse of the Republic, and the whole Vichy collaborationist thing. What's that you say? The French made a major contribution towards the American War of Independence, fought valiantly in WWI, and have been good allies to the US during wars of the past few decades? And none of that really has to to do with the US being their ally any more than the US winning wars has to do with the bit part the other nations play in our coalitions, save perhaps Britain.
During the War of 1812, Canadians (not British regulars) never crossed onto American soil and only won a single battle on Canadian soil in which the forces were primarily Canadian rather than British. Those facts notwithstanding, the American effort to invade Canada during that war was inept and embarrassing.
The Lusitania was carrying weapons, certainly. It is interesting to speculate what would've happened if the US would've stayed out of it. Not convinced the world would've been a better place, nor even that WWII wouldn't have happened around the same time period. Almost certain Hitler wouldn't have rose to power though. I'd read that book.
The millions of people living in wealthy, democratic South Korea may disagree with you. The citizens of Kuwait also may beg to differ (it was about oil, but we did some good in the process of protecting our interests).
And with WWI, there was plenty of provocation. The Zimmerman telegram, the Lusitania, unrestricted submarine warfare. You could argue we were providing material to the Allies, but that applies to the run-up to WWII also.
Only major actions I'd list as unjustifiably wrong are Mexican War and Spanish-American War. Iraq was more a misguided, horribly bad idea than outright evil.
Please be a troll. If you aren't, I suggest you read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. He makes a convincing argument that race has nothing to do with it.
If the US defaulted on it's debt, who stands to lose more, China or the US? China's put their eggs in one basket. They're not the ones with the power. Besides, the overwhelming amount of US debt is owned by, wait for it, the US. It's China that controls much of the foreign-owned debt.
Slashdot Mirror
Traditional American people? I didn't realize those inventions you mentioned were developed on reservations. The rest of us aren't usually more than a few generations removed from immigrants. This was especially true half a century or more ago when those technologies you listed were developed. Can you please cite the evidence where the overall economy, real wages, or standard-of-living of Americans has "collapsed" since 1965? Or where "fundamental technological innovation" has ceased? Increased economic prosperity for nations outside of the US and Western Europe may be a scary prospect to racists and xenophobes, but it's not necessarily the death knell for America.
If you want to point to the US incarceration rate as an argument against national policy on drugs, then fine. Conflating it with a lack of civil liberties is ridiculous.
If it's such a small percentage, how does Rick Santorum win primary elections?
Not saying this couldn't happen, but central Florida is flat and humid and the closest tall buildings to that park are in Orlando, many miles away.
He's Al Gore 2.0.
Gingrich's speech was no more than pandering to the crowd ahead of the primary election. He's made bullshit promises in every state he's campaigned in so far. How does funding a new moon mission mesh with the Republican party's insistence on deep budget cuts on everything but military spending? Face it, we aren't going to the moon or Mars anytime soon. One side of the aisle wants to overspend on the military, the other wants to overspend on social programs. All the debate over taxes and discretionary spending is political theatre. Neither party is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to fix budgetary problems and neither really gives a damn about space exploration.
Coming up with an ingenious method of saving a $2 billion satellite rather than scrapping it and sending up a replacement is a sign of weakness?
Hasn't he appeared on The Simpsons more than once?
Yes, and look at the failure of nation-building the US did there. Oh, wait.
Where was the oil in Bosnia and Kosovo?
I thought this would be Google's chance to kill Firefox. Not many other search providers for Mozilla to run to. Microsoft can attempt to tie IE and Bing together and Google can tie Chrome and Google search. Firefox is left out in the cold to whither and die like Netscape. Probably not good for the consumer, but such is the way of things.
Obligatory XKCD. http://xkcd.com/936/
for an article about a Kindle Fire on fire.
This was a different design with an easier test objective. It's explained here: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/2400-miles-in-minutes-hypersonic-weapon-passes-easy-test/
How many people have died from this incident (or any nuclear-related event) compared to number of coal miners and oil rig workers who are killed each year? As far as long term health effects, like increased cancer rates, time will tell. However, let's compare that to coal miners contracting chronic lung disease and that the many deaths attributed to respiratory distress caused by air pollution. What about coal mine explosions or oil spills? Please explain to me how nuclear power is somehow more dangerous than the alternatives. Don't bother bringing hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, etc into the argument. When practical, I fully support those sources over nuclear.
It's cool. I've noticed Poe's Law extends to most crackpot political stances. Impossible to tell the difference between sincerity and parody.
The space program has been a giant government boondoggle that has produced nothing of value for the citizens of the United States. The free market certainly would've far surpassed the successes of NASA if not for regulations and taxation. /s
The French have not won a major war in nearly 300 years in which the United States was not their ally. French-Indian / Seven Years War - lost; Napoleon - kicked major ass and wreaked havoc for years and still lost; Franco-Prussian War - lost; Algeria - lost; Vietnam - lost before the US made the same mistake. We don't even need to mention WWII, the collapse of the Republic, and the whole Vichy collaborationist thing. What's that you say? The French made a major contribution towards the American War of Independence, fought valiantly in WWI, and have been good allies to the US during wars of the past few decades? And none of that really has to to do with the US being their ally any more than the US winning wars has to do with the bit part the other nations play in our coalitions, save perhaps Britain.
During the War of 1812, Canadians (not British regulars) never crossed onto American soil and only won a single battle on Canadian soil in which the forces were primarily Canadian rather than British. Those facts notwithstanding, the American effort to invade Canada during that war was inept and embarrassing.
Can you point me to the research that shows the last Ice Age ended over the span of a century?
The Lusitania was carrying weapons, certainly. It is interesting to speculate what would've happened if the US would've stayed out of it. Not convinced the world would've been a better place, nor even that WWII wouldn't have happened around the same time period. Almost certain Hitler wouldn't have rose to power though. I'd read that book.
The millions of people living in wealthy, democratic South Korea may disagree with you. The citizens of Kuwait also may beg to differ (it was about oil, but we did some good in the process of protecting our interests). And with WWI, there was plenty of provocation. The Zimmerman telegram, the Lusitania, unrestricted submarine warfare. You could argue we were providing material to the Allies, but that applies to the run-up to WWII also. Only major actions I'd list as unjustifiably wrong are Mexican War and Spanish-American War. Iraq was more a misguided, horribly bad idea than outright evil.
Please be a troll. If you aren't, I suggest you read Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. He makes a convincing argument that race has nothing to do with it.
If the US defaulted on it's debt, who stands to lose more, China or the US? China's put their eggs in one basket. They're not the ones with the power. Besides, the overwhelming amount of US debt is owned by, wait for it, the US. It's China that controls much of the foreign-owned debt.
"Companies and governments can't defend" - Companies, perhaps. Governments, not so much. http://xkcd.com/932/