"Mr. President. The world's faced with rising oil costs and falling windpower costs, people in Africa are starving, 1/6 of our country has no access to health care and half don't have adequate access to it, our kids aren't keeping up with the rest of the world in math and science education, businesses are going Big Brother on their employees' facebook profiles, and our Defense Department is spending $700 billion a year with nothing to show for it"
Yes, resources are obviously limited, but calling it a "collapse" gives everyone the impression that depletion of non-renewable resources is a singular, instant event that would have riots on the streets in something akin to a zombie apocalypse. The reality is that, as resources become more scarce, the prices will just keep rising. This will eventually lead to it becoming cheaper for businesses to recycle and dig up old trash. There won't be an apocalypse, but there WILL be a depression era in which the majority of people can't afford the high costs of many things that are cheaply available today until the volume of construction material can be salvaged (and maintained) at high enough levels again. You can already see this happening in other industries, like energy, where renewable fuels are getting increasing corporate support as oil and natural gas sources become depleted. Exxon doesn't care about global warming, pollution, or any other public costs; all that matters is profit. Same goes for every other Fortune 500 company.
It'll just be another scenario in which a few plutocrats keep being wasteful until it screws everyone over, then get the government to enact laws for their benefit (in this case, enforcing recycling, composting, and so on--which should already be enforced--once it means a net profit for businesses) once everything comes back to bite them in the ass. Nobility: 9001, proletarians: 0.
Mercury, various other byproducts, and the acidification of oceans is much more unsafe than nuclear power, which only releases radiation into the environment after a catastrophic earthquake (or being built by Russian tyrants)
This is the big misunderstanding: Not everyone ends up in the ER. The average American visits the hospital less than once a year. It's all the preventable diseases that cause all those deaths. People who have various things wrong with them, but don't know it until it's too late to be treated. It's not a matter of them being rejected from the ER; it's that the ER can't save them at that stage.
Trayvon Martin DIDN'T start the fight. In case you haven't been keeping up, he was killed because Zimmerman IGNORED THE POLICE and started following and harassing a random kid.
Actually, we do know that his nose wasn't broken. He had no injuries at the police station, nor was his light shirt covered in blood, which would be expected from someone with a broken nose.
I get that lasers and explosions are cool, but should we really be happy about spending $700 billion a year on ways for the rich and powerful to exert their influence in extravagant ways, while people are dying in this country every day because they can't afford to see a doctor for completely treatable diseases?
That's part of the scientific process, isn't it? Pursuing an idea until it's proven false? I don't think there'd be very many employed researchers if they were all fired for having an incorrect hypothesis.
Of course, you can't expect the bean counters making all their money off them to have any firm grasp on such concepts like logic or science.
"so that the marginal employee is no longer a profitable hire"
That is EXACTLY the opposite scenario I brought up. Frankly, though, if your profit margin is so narrow that you can't afford the extra cost of not knowing your employee's facebook information, you aren't running a very good business to begin with.
Actually, rainforests do have poor soil for farming. All nutrients are quickly absorbed by the flora, so even after (god forbid) deforestation, the resulting land is in poor condition to sustain the mass production of crops.
So what, you'd refuse to hire a worker to increase output when the demand's there, just because the government's being mean to you by protecting the person's civil rights?
I don't see how "sexual orientation" or "marital status" are important questions. Then again, I'm one of those crazy people who don't see how "what's your facebook password?" is a relevant question either. Being told you can't discriminate based on private details must be a horrible intrusion on your freedoms.
Also, what Schiff failed to mention is that the US is ranked #4 in the world in ease of doing business (after Singapore, Hong Kong, and New Zealand) according to the World Bank. I can't imagine why, what with our unique tax system that lets multi-billion-dollar companies pay a smaller percentage in taxes than their bottom-line employees, or our largely ineffective regulatory agencies which are constantly being neutered by Congress.
Not necessarily. The advantage of consoles is that they get to be sold at a loss, since those costs are subsidized by the money the companies make off the video games. A Steam console seems like a pretty good way to give a good gaming experience to those who can't afford a computer with the same specs.
If there was really any justice, then people who refuse to recycle or accept the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change shouldn't be given the same say as I'm given in determining the future of this planet. My future grandchildren are the ones who will have to pay for this stupidity.
the only problem is that America is large enough and dumb enough that its rejection of such basic science has an effect on the GLOBAL climate; not just their electric bill.
The guy was just saying he doesn't understand, not that he has some sort of aversion to it. The fact that you need to be an ass about it should make everyone question your intelligence as well.
This is the common sentiment among older generations, yet younger generations regularly score higher on tests that previous generations have taken; kids today have to learn alot more than you did, so you'll have to forgive your kid for not knowing how to use a slide-rule since he's busy learning calculus instead. If you think kids today are "lazy" or have it too easy because they aren't doing the lab exercises you're talking about, that's because they're too busy learning about the various discoveries in chemistry and biology since your days in school to waste a whole day on a pointless lab demonstration. Not ALL teenagers are the delinquents the previous generation hears about on the news.
Also, most kids in my high school DIDN'T get A's; even though everyone SAID they got A's, just looking at the roster showed most ended up with B's or C's, and even so, "the masses" were in non-honors classes, where an A isn't given as much credit as an A in an Honors class. So Gym class today is pointless and an obligatory A. Don't like it? Your kid shouldn't even be in Gym class to begin with; sign him up for a computer science class instead. The only one at blame for that is you.
It seems generally-accepted for your generation to criticize your children's generation (except your kids! they're angels), but guess what? your parents' generation did the same thing. And my generation will do the same thing. And who, exactly, will be the ones doing this criticizing? "The masses" who lack such basic skills like self-judgment or humility. The same not-so-intelligent type of person you complain about, and the same type of person you've shown yourself to be.
Is this stuff really hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars cool? We live in a pretty backwards country when technological innovation is about killing and oppressing instead of healing and entertaining. Every bomb or shiny gun or automated robot our military makes is being made for the sole purpose of killing or oppressing someone else, and nobody cares because those tragedies are happening in a mythical little place called "the rest of the world."
Slashdot Mirror
I've been dreading the day I'd have to leave Vista behind!
"Mr. President. The world's faced with rising oil costs and falling windpower costs, people in Africa are starving, 1/6 of our country has no access to health care and half don't have adequate access to it, our kids aren't keeping up with the rest of the world in math and science education, businesses are going Big Brother on their employees' facebook profiles, and our Defense Department is spending $700 billion a year with nothing to show for it"
"QUICK! BAN ALL THE PORN!"
Yes, resources are obviously limited, but calling it a "collapse" gives everyone the impression that depletion of non-renewable resources is a singular, instant event that would have riots on the streets in something akin to a zombie apocalypse. The reality is that, as resources become more scarce, the prices will just keep rising. This will eventually lead to it becoming cheaper for businesses to recycle and dig up old trash. There won't be an apocalypse, but there WILL be a depression era in which the majority of people can't afford the high costs of many things that are cheaply available today until the volume of construction material can be salvaged (and maintained) at high enough levels again. You can already see this happening in other industries, like energy, where renewable fuels are getting increasing corporate support as oil and natural gas sources become depleted. Exxon doesn't care about global warming, pollution, or any other public costs; all that matters is profit. Same goes for every other Fortune 500 company.
It'll just be another scenario in which a few plutocrats keep being wasteful until it screws everyone over, then get the government to enact laws for their benefit (in this case, enforcing recycling, composting, and so on--which should already be enforced--once it means a net profit for businesses) once everything comes back to bite them in the ass. Nobility: 9001, proletarians: 0.
I live in Texas. My neighbors, co-workers, and family members are more likely the ones I shouldn't be siding with.
Mercury, various other byproducts, and the acidification of oceans is much more unsafe than nuclear power, which only releases radiation into the environment after a catastrophic earthquake (or being built by Russian tyrants)
This is the big misunderstanding: Not everyone ends up in the ER. The average American visits the hospital less than once a year. It's all the preventable diseases that cause all those deaths. People who have various things wrong with them, but don't know it until it's too late to be treated. It's not a matter of them being rejected from the ER; it's that the ER can't save them at that stage.
Trayvon Martin DIDN'T start the fight. In case you haven't been keeping up, he was killed because Zimmerman IGNORED THE POLICE and started following and harassing a random kid.
Actually, we do know that his nose wasn't broken. He had no injuries at the police station, nor was his light shirt covered in blood, which would be expected from someone with a broken nose.
I get that lasers and explosions are cool, but should we really be happy about spending $700 billion a year on ways for the rich and powerful to exert their influence in extravagant ways, while people are dying in this country every day because they can't afford to see a doctor for completely treatable diseases?
That's part of the scientific process, isn't it? Pursuing an idea until it's proven false? I don't think there'd be very many employed researchers if they were all fired for having an incorrect hypothesis.
Of course, you can't expect the bean counters making all their money off them to have any firm grasp on such concepts like logic or science.
"so that the marginal employee is no longer a profitable hire"
That is EXACTLY the opposite scenario I brought up. Frankly, though, if your profit margin is so narrow that you can't afford the extra cost of not knowing your employee's facebook information, you aren't running a very good business to begin with.
Actually, rainforests do have poor soil for farming. All nutrients are quickly absorbed by the flora, so even after (god forbid) deforestation, the resulting land is in poor condition to sustain the mass production of crops.
So what, you'd refuse to hire a worker to increase output when the demand's there, just because the government's being mean to you by protecting the person's civil rights?
All those Facebook personality tests could have told you that.
Also, my Bleach character personality is Kon.
I don't see how "sexual orientation" or "marital status" are important questions. Then again, I'm one of those crazy people who don't see how "what's your facebook password?" is a relevant question either. Being told you can't discriminate based on private details must be a horrible intrusion on your freedoms. Also, what Schiff failed to mention is that the US is ranked #4 in the world in ease of doing business (after Singapore, Hong Kong, and New Zealand) according to the World Bank. I can't imagine why, what with our unique tax system that lets multi-billion-dollar companies pay a smaller percentage in taxes than their bottom-line employees, or our largely ineffective regulatory agencies which are constantly being neutered by Congress.
Not necessarily. The advantage of consoles is that they get to be sold at a loss, since those costs are subsidized by the money the companies make off the video games. A Steam console seems like a pretty good way to give a good gaming experience to those who can't afford a computer with the same specs.
You can't really call most of those conflicts "wars." It's more like "rich nations colonizing poor nations while the UN can't do much about it."
That's not fair. There aren't any cavemen around to defend themselves against such insulting accusations.
If there was really any justice, then people who refuse to recycle or accept the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change shouldn't be given the same say as I'm given in determining the future of this planet. My future grandchildren are the ones who will have to pay for this stupidity.
the only problem is that America is large enough and dumb enough that its rejection of such basic science has an effect on the GLOBAL climate; not just their electric bill.
The guy was just saying he doesn't understand, not that he has some sort of aversion to it. The fact that you need to be an ass about it should make everyone question your intelligence as well.
This is the common sentiment among older generations, yet younger generations regularly score higher on tests that previous generations have taken; kids today have to learn alot more than you did, so you'll have to forgive your kid for not knowing how to use a slide-rule since he's busy learning calculus instead. If you think kids today are "lazy" or have it too easy because they aren't doing the lab exercises you're talking about, that's because they're too busy learning about the various discoveries in chemistry and biology since your days in school to waste a whole day on a pointless lab demonstration. Not ALL teenagers are the delinquents the previous generation hears about on the news. Also, most kids in my high school DIDN'T get A's; even though everyone SAID they got A's, just looking at the roster showed most ended up with B's or C's, and even so, "the masses" were in non-honors classes, where an A isn't given as much credit as an A in an Honors class. So Gym class today is pointless and an obligatory A. Don't like it? Your kid shouldn't even be in Gym class to begin with; sign him up for a computer science class instead. The only one at blame for that is you. It seems generally-accepted for your generation to criticize your children's generation (except your kids! they're angels), but guess what? your parents' generation did the same thing. And my generation will do the same thing. And who, exactly, will be the ones doing this criticizing? "The masses" who lack such basic skills like self-judgment or humility. The same not-so-intelligent type of person you complain about, and the same type of person you've shown yourself to be.
Is this stuff really hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars cool? We live in a pretty backwards country when technological innovation is about killing and oppressing instead of healing and entertaining. Every bomb or shiny gun or automated robot our military makes is being made for the sole purpose of killing or oppressing someone else, and nobody cares because those tragedies are happening in a mythical little place called "the rest of the world."