Side effects. Like lung damage. Sure, you can point to studies which say there is LESS damage than tobacco. But those take in to account that pot spokers smoke less often. It's illegal and not cheap.
Make it freely available, usage will soar and the damage WILL be greater than tobacco.
That's why the UN didn't just have a FOOD CRISIS SUMMIT this summer.
Point of order. The bulk of this "summit" was to address not the lack of food, but the lack of CHEAP food. Food costs were high in no small part to the cost of fuel to move the food. Another notiable cause is using food for fuel (biofuels). It essentially takes a years worth of food for a single person to fill a car's tank with biofuel. Once.
It's not the only cause, but it's a biggie.
If you read up at the wfp site, you'll note that the bulk of aid is for countries with political unrest.
Illegal immigrants don't pay tax, but then again, the same applies for most poor families. And yes, that includes consumption taxes like sales tax. But this description pretty much applies to any poor family, legal or illegal. They don't pay jack in taxes, but they have lots of kids.
You completely missed the point. The system was designed to handle a certain amount of poor or low-income families. The funding was based on legal immigration numbers and legal citizens. We've broken the system by allowing massive unregulated importation of poverty. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 15% of the public student body in California who are the children of illegal immigrants. That was 7.7 billion dollars a year of unanticipated expenses. Money doesn't "magically appear" and there are no gumball trees or lemonade streams.
When some claim the answer is to "increase taxes", what happens is you squeeze the middle class even more, push more businesses either out of business or out of the state and DECREASE sources of tax revenue for the state -- compounding the problem.
Legal residents use the system as it was designed to be funded. The children of illegal immigrants are using the system when they should not be here. Every dollar spent to educate them is a dollar less for those here legally. Figure it out. It's not that hard.
Jhon, it's not just the schools, you are forgetting several things.
Oh... I'm not forgetting them. I just used schools as a prime example that EVERY PENNY that they might be bringing in tax-wise is eaten up the moment those kids go to school. 7.7 billion a year estimated back in 2004.
The "unskilled laborers" you believe have been deprived of jobs by illegal immigrants wouldn't make enough money to pay income taxes either, and they would use more public services.
You are making an incorrect assumption. I never claimed people are being deprived of jobs. Re read my post. Many of these "service" and "unskilled" jobs were performed by high-school and college students. Most of whom didn't NEED public assistance. I was one of those. Now there is an entire class of people form whom this is their career. Dishwasher/busboy/fast-food-jockey were NEVER meant to be careers.
25+ years ago, you could have walked in to a burger king and I might have asked you "do you want fry's with that?". Today, I see 40+ year olds doing that work rather than HS kids.
I really don't understand your point. Very very few people in this country make enough to pay $14k in income taxes...
My point that as a group, they do not even covor the cost of educating their children -- regardless of what taxes they *DO* pay. In 2004, it was reported that children of illegal immigrants made up 15% of the california school system. That was $7.7 billion a year back then. Think the problem is better now? Add on the healthcare costs. You've essentially covered in just those two areas California's yearly deficite.
We're importing poverty at a huge cost to the middle class.
One other thing - at this point it is just silly to be bitching about people who are scraping along illegally in this country, and working hard and actually contributing to the economy, when we have wall street, detroit, and whoever else can get their grubby hands in the treasury raping us for trillions of dollars. Corporate welfare is, at this point, so big that I don't even care anymore about the smaller things. It's obvious that we have to get rid of the rampant corruption in the federal government before they empty the treasury. We can worry about the smaller things after that.
I disagree. I also disagree with your numbers and would like a citation, but I'll just focus on what I quoted. I disagree that the problem is small -- I also disagree that we should focus on one problem at the exclusion of all others. If we do that, we'll do nothing but put out economic fires until we rot. All these problems need solutions. Importing poverty is not sustainable.
I'm sorry to break the news to you, but they provide most of the hard labor in the hospitality industry. Having worked in it, I know this from experience.
Jobs which were provided before by highschool and college students -- and other unskilled laborers. I know this from experience as *I* was one of those unskilled.
What problems do they cause?
To work illegally, you need to do one of the following: work for cash or work with fake SSNs. You think that alone doesn't cause problems? Many I've enountered claim exempt and pay next to no income tax. Think that doesn't cause problems?
And how exactly can you pin *$25+ billion* of dollars of fiscal irresponsibility on a significant minority? Do these illegal aliens spend hundreds of billions of dollars every single year on their own somehow?
Simple. I dont. Read what I said -- it's due in "no small part". I don't exclusevly blaim them -- but note they are part of the problem. Rather than dismiss them entirely because they can't be blamed ENTIRELY for the problem.
Okay, from this day forward, all restaraunts, hotels, service shops, farms, warehouses, drivers, are magically forbidden from using undocumented workers. Not only would there be a supply crisis, but you won't be able to afford going to your local restaurant or hotel. The cost of produce alone would skyrocket.
You seem to have the problem of not thinking and puting words in others mouths. Who suggested a solution which would cause what you state?
If you asked the people that run the hospitals, they would tell you the State isn't paying them enough to keep the doors open. They would also tell you that the emergency rooms are overwhelmed with people who can't afford to go to a doctor for non-emergency service. These are actual citizens using public services because they can't afford any other medical care.
I work in the healthcare industry -- closely with hospitals. Perhaps you should take your advice and actually ask them. Many will tell you stories different than you state. I know -- I work with these people.
Why is that, do you suppose? What are the requirements to immigrate legally? Are they unreasonable or irresponsible? I already know the answer. Look it up.
As a lifelong Californian and middle-aged guy, this State has no "immigration issues." We love our immigrants! They pick ALL of the produce farmers grow, gladly provide all of the dirty, sweaty work in the hospitality industry. They have good credit, buy houses and pay taxes. It's been this way for at least 50 years.
Um... counter-point time.
Funny, that. I'm a "lifelong Californian and middle-aged guy" and I disagree with you. Not about the "immigrants" part, but your leaving out the fact that we aren't talking about "immigrants" (my wife is one -- most of her family and my grandparents). It's the ones working here against the law, oversaying visas, working under fake SSNs, etc, etc, etc that are realling causing problems.
That California is yet again on the brink of bankruptcy is due in no small part to the costs generated by our unregulated under-the-table importation of poverty. What about state healthcare? Emergency rooms are closing in droves. Why? Our roads are overused, housing over priced and the tax burden shifts more and more upon the middle and upper classes and businesses to keep just the infrastructure running. Businesses are leaving the cities... and the state. The "rich/upper" income tax bracket STARTS at $44k paying nearly 10%. Know any "rich" people who make under $50k? Certainly not if they plan to live in California...
I don't want to call you stupid, but I think you may qualify. I live in California and my property tax runs about $6k-$7k per year. My home value is slightly above the state average. You REALLY think that the taxes generated by my property can cover even one single child? How much do you think the property taxes generated by a single home with 2-4 families living in it? Or an appartment? Seriously? Use your grey matter. They do NOT cover their costs even remotely. It's a huge drain on society which cannot be sustained.
Critics object to misleading portrayals of Tax Freedom Day in the popular media. It is commonly referred to as the day "the average American" has earned enough to pay his (or her) tax obligations. See for example this ABC News report.[2] While Tax Freedom Day presents an "average American" tax burden, it is not a tax burden typical for an American. That is, the tax burdens of most Americans are substantially overstated by Tax Freedom Day. The larger tax bills associated with higher incomes increases the average tax burden above that of most Americans. ... The Tax Foundation defends its methodology by pointing out that Tax Freedom Day is the U.S. economy's overall average tax burden -- not the tax burden of the "average" American, which is how it is often misinterpreted by members of the media.[1] Tax Foundation materials do not use the phrase "tax burden of the average American", although members of the media often make this mistake.
Basically, there is a huge burden on the wealthy. Most american's pay no income tax at all -- and quite a few get "free money" in the form of EICs.
Of those that actually PAY taxes, it's much much higher than that "average" % you cite.
You mean the illegal immigrants who's kids suck up any and all tax money they may generate - and then some - the moment they enroll them in a public school? It costs ~$12k-$14k per kid. How many of these families generate enough income to cover just one kid? Not counting the other drains on social programs.
So yeah... they are the problem. So are the other things you meantion. They are not mutually exclusive.
And if that is the case, then through the vast amounts of universe that there is, we would have seen SOMETHING SOMEWHERE from a more intelligent race.
(A) we're either the first, or basically it takes ~X amount of time (X being the age of the universe) for intellegent life to evolve and we can't see ET sending us signals because he hasn't evolved yet or he's sending them from 200k light years away as we speak and wont see them for a very long time.
(B) Signal loss is so huge in the vastness of space we just cant possibily detect ET's version of Eight is Enough and Electro Woman and Dyna Girl. Maybe it's a blessing...
After all, we can't be the only beings that would be sending/looking for extraterrestrial signals, could we?
I don't live in the US. I live in Europe. From our point of view, you have two parties that are so similar we can't even really tell the difference. Our position is usually closer to the democrats, since we tend to be quite a bit more "left" on the political spectrum than the average US person, and the dems aren't "so far right" in most of their positions.
So it would be accurate to say that "[Your] position is usually closer to the republicans"? Because, you state above that our two parties are so similar you "can't even really tell the difference", right?
Or, You don't know what the eff your talking about. I think it's the latter.
Slashdot Mirror
Who's FUDing? "none of those risks are present"? If by "none", you mean "reduced", then you are correct. Otherwise, you are being dishonest.
Btw, reduced does not equal none.
I would suggest that you READ the article you linked to. The "active ingredient" may help fight lung tumors.
Not the other chemicals and particles ingested when smoking it. Morphine is usefull, too... when directed by a physician.
Side effects. Like lung damage. Sure, you can point to studies which say there is LESS damage than tobacco. But those take in to account that pot spokers smoke less often. It's illegal and not cheap.
Make it freely available, usage will soar and the damage WILL be greater than tobacco.
Just sayin'. There ARE side effects.
Point of order. The bulk of this "summit" was to address not the lack of food, but the lack of CHEAP food. Food costs were high in no small part to the cost of fuel to move the food. Another notiable cause is using food for fuel (biofuels). It essentially takes a years worth of food for a single person to fill a car's tank with biofuel. Once.
It's not the only cause, but it's a biggie.
If you read up at the wfp site, you'll note that the bulk of aid is for countries with political unrest.
You completely missed the point. The system was designed to handle a certain amount of poor or low-income families. The funding was based on legal immigration numbers and legal citizens. We've broken the system by allowing massive unregulated importation of poverty. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 15% of the public student body in California who are the children of illegal immigrants. That was 7.7 billion dollars a year of unanticipated expenses. Money doesn't "magically appear" and there are no gumball trees or lemonade streams.
When some claim the answer is to "increase taxes", what happens is you squeeze the middle class even more, push more businesses either out of business or out of the state and DECREASE sources of tax revenue for the state -- compounding the problem.
Legal residents use the system as it was designed to be funded. The children of illegal immigrants are using the system when they should not be here. Every dollar spent to educate them is a dollar less for those here legally. Figure it out. It's not that hard.
Perhaps you should. It is more.
Oh... I'm not forgetting them. I just used schools as a prime example that EVERY PENNY that they might be bringing in tax-wise is eaten up the moment those kids go to school. 7.7 billion a year estimated back in 2004.
You are making an incorrect assumption. I never claimed people are being deprived of jobs. Re read my post. Many of these "service" and "unskilled" jobs were performed by high-school and college students. Most of whom didn't NEED public assistance. I was one of those. Now there is an entire class of people form whom this is their career. Dishwasher/busboy/fast-food-jockey were NEVER meant to be careers.
25+ years ago, you could have walked in to a burger king and I might have asked you "do you want fry's with that?". Today, I see 40+ year olds doing that work rather than HS kids.
My point that as a group, they do not even covor the cost of educating their children -- regardless of what taxes they *DO* pay. In 2004, it was reported that children of illegal immigrants made up 15% of the california school system. That was $7.7 billion a year back then. Think the problem is better now? Add on the healthcare costs. You've essentially covered in just those two areas California's yearly deficite.
We're importing poverty at a huge cost to the middle class.
I disagree. I also disagree with your numbers and would like a citation, but I'll just focus on what I quoted. I disagree that the problem is small -- I also disagree that we should focus on one problem at the exclusion of all others. If we do that, we'll do nothing but put out economic fires until we rot. All these problems need solutions. Importing poverty is not sustainable.
Excellent questions. Much is sucked up by the beuracracy. And the cost of teaching "special needs" kids is no small portion.
Some Interesting reading
Jobs which were provided before by highschool and college students -- and other unskilled laborers. I know this from experience as *I* was one of those unskilled.
To work illegally, you need to do one of the following: work for cash or work with fake SSNs. You think that alone doesn't cause problems? Many I've enountered claim exempt and pay next to no income tax. Think that doesn't cause problems?
Simple. I dont. Read what I said -- it's due in "no small part". I don't exclusevly blaim them -- but note they are part of the problem. Rather than dismiss them entirely because they can't be blamed ENTIRELY for the problem.
You seem to have the problem of not thinking and puting words in others mouths. Who suggested a solution which would cause what you state?
I work in the healthcare industry -- closely with hospitals. Perhaps you should take your advice and actually ask them. Many will tell you stories different than you state. I know -- I work with these people.
Why is that, do you suppose? What are the requirements to immigrate legally? Are they unreasonable or irresponsible? I already know the answer. Look it up.
But they are allowed to immigrate legally -- if they would only follow the law.
Um... counter-point time.
Funny, that. I'm a "lifelong Californian and middle-aged guy" and I disagree with you. Not about the "immigrants" part, but your leaving out the fact that we aren't talking about "immigrants" (my wife is one -- most of her family and my grandparents). It's the ones working here against the law, oversaying visas, working under fake SSNs, etc, etc, etc that are realling causing problems.
That California is yet again on the brink of bankruptcy is due in no small part to the costs generated by our unregulated under-the-table importation of poverty. What about state healthcare? Emergency rooms are closing in droves. Why? Our roads are overused, housing over priced and the tax burden shifts more and more upon the middle and upper classes and businesses to keep just the infrastructure running. Businesses are leaving the cities... and the state. The "rich/upper" income tax bracket STARTS at $44k paying nearly 10%. Know any "rich" people who make under $50k? Certainly not if they plan to live in California...
I don't want to call you stupid, but I think you may qualify. I live in California and my property tax runs about $6k-$7k per year. My home value is slightly above the state average. You REALLY think that the taxes generated by my property can cover even one single child? How much do you think the property taxes generated by a single home with 2-4 families living in it? Or an appartment? Seriously? Use your grey matter. They do NOT cover their costs even remotely. It's a huge drain on society which cannot be sustained.
Perhaps you should read what you post.
Basically, there is a huge burden on the wealthy. Most american's pay no income tax at all -- and quite a few get "free money" in the form of EICs.
Of those that actually PAY taxes, it's much much higher than that "average" % you cite.
You mean the illegal immigrants who's kids suck up any and all tax money they may generate - and then some - the moment they enroll them in a public school? It costs ~$12k-$14k per kid. How many of these families generate enough income to cover just one kid? Not counting the other drains on social programs.
So yeah... they are the problem. So are the other things you meantion. They are not mutually exclusive.
Can you cite any part of the majority opinion or Scalia's concurrence which suggests this?
It sounds to me like doing both would be even better.
Shut your festering gob you tit! Your type makes me puke! You vacuous toffee-nosed malodorous pervert!
(A) we're either the first, or basically it takes ~X amount of time (X being the age of the universe) for intellegent life to evolve and we can't see ET sending us signals because he hasn't evolved yet or he's sending them from 200k light years away as we speak and wont see them for a very long time.
(B) Signal loss is so huge in the vastness of space we just cant possibily detect ET's version of Eight is Enough and Electro Woman and Dyna Girl. Maybe it's a blessing...
Yes we could.
So it would be accurate to say that "[Your] position is usually closer to the republicans"? Because, you state above that our two parties are so similar you "can't even really tell the difference", right?
Or, You don't know what the eff your talking about. I think it's the latter.
will your beard be when you reach 1000?