Ever stop to consider the implications of success in the quest for immortality on a planet with finite resources, let alone the social and political consequences of control over who will drink form said fountain of youth?
We are already approaching the carrying capacity of the planet within a generation. If anything we could probably use some chlorine in the gene pool and better resource management.
From the vast majority of/. posts on this weapon the community resembles a bunch of 10 year old boys playing war and comparing and contrasting all kinds of minutiae without considering what are arguably the more important issues: Why do we need yet more efficient means of destruction? What purpose does it achieve? Instead of being raving fanboys have you considered the opportunity cost of the resources expended in such programs?
And the republicans were smart enough to realize it was crap and did not pass it when they controlled all three branches.
Sorry, but the blame lies solely with the democrats on this one.
As misguided as this statement is, even if one were to accept its veracity it at face value, it is a meaningless one. You do realize that republican vs. democrat is a distinction without a difference. There has been, and is, only one party, and that is the party of Big Business. Follow the money and the policies it purchases and it should be painfully obvious.
So we should eliminate all systems that have waste in the government?
Absolutely!
My point was that everyone is so concerned about the cost of their school taxes (which they kind of can vote on) but no has a say about how much federal taxes are thrown away to the military were at least 10x the amount is spent (no one gets a 'say' on this).
We have a representative democracy so the usual "write to your state congressman/senator" advice, for what it's worth, applies if you wish to express an alternative view on how to vote on defense appropriations. I can sympathize however as, in practical terms, it feels like no say at all. Granted school taxes are decided via a more direct democratic process given the smaller and localized scale of government it involves, so one does feel more empowered.
A large percentage of people don't even pay school taxes but almost everyone gets to pay for the military.
That is a false statement. Please see this article for details. In fact, every homeowner, business, and renter (through their landlord) pays property taxes whereas slightly over half the population pays any federal income taxes. While I don't have citations, I'd wager the percentage of the population that is not homeless or living in property tax exempt homes is minuscule in comparison. So the truth is more likely the other way around.
My school district let about a third of the teachers go due to the closure of a business that was paying a 1/5 of the school taxes and is now gone. How do you fill a hole like that? Schools aren't even legally allowed to stock pile tons of cash so what prevents that type of catastrophe? No one is going to move to a school district that is teetering on collapse which only further compounds the problem.
Sounds like a pretty small tax base if a single payer shoulders 20% of the burden. The obvious solution is to increase the tax base and keep your businesses happy though that is generally easier said than done and impossible to prescribe a plan for knowing nothing of your local geography/economy. Are you living in a small and dying rural town perhaps?
Maybe if I could resolve my own town budgets before kicking a dime to the Feds we wouldn't have these issues.
That's wishful thinking and I too wish it were so! We certainly don't get much for our fed tax dollars in return. Somehow I feel that telling the IRS to get bent is unlikely to go over too well.
Throwing money at a problem doesn't magically fix things, but money seems to be the biggest complaint about schools from tax payers yet no one is screaming at voting polls i mass numbers about Federal waste.
Couple things, just cause they're bitching about money doesn't make it the correct solution to all that ails education...parenting & administrative waste are huge factors that may be being overlooked (point I was trying to make in my original post). As regards federal waste, see aforementioned remedy.
Also my original response was to the parent asking for better individual classroom instruction from teachers that let students meet their full potential. My question was how do you do that with less money? What answer did your response have to address that?
- Encourage parents to, well, parent better. Or learn how to if a good role model was unavailable to them. This includes taking an active role in educating one's child, attending to discipline, nutrition, physical fitness, and being a loving and available parent overall. If one cannot or will not discharge this basic parental duty (and yes th
Please don't trot out the tired 'we need more money' excuse as the standard go to solution for all that ails education. I suggest a quick read of the following post by a fellow/.er illustrating the utter waste (at least in Minneapolis) and suggest a reconsideration of the many problems illustrated in this thread before offering 'solutions'.
Or any of the former satellites of the CCCP for that matter. The authoritative list is here.
On that list was a station out in the middle of the Indian Ocean that caught my eye - Diego Garcia, and how it was depopulated by the British to enable the US to set up shop for military purposes. The following cable and corresponding wikipedia article was quite an interesting read on yet another hegemonic adventure undertaken by the US govt. I wonder how long before the European Court of Human Rights will take to decide the case. Odds anyone for the outcome?
Slashdot Mirror
Ever stop to consider the implications of success in the quest for immortality on a planet with finite resources, let alone the social and political consequences of control over who will drink form said fountain of youth? We are already approaching the carrying capacity of the planet within a generation. If anything we could probably use some chlorine in the gene pool and better resource management.
From the vast majority of /. posts on this weapon the community resembles a bunch of 10 year old boys playing war and comparing and contrasting all kinds of minutiae without considering what are arguably the more important issues: Why do we need yet more efficient means of destruction? What purpose does it achieve? Instead of being raving fanboys have you considered the opportunity cost of the resources expended in such programs?
Why is this modded funny? I thought it was insightful!
And the republicans were smart enough to realize it was crap and did not pass it when they controlled all three branches.
Sorry, but the blame lies solely with the democrats on this one.
As misguided as this statement is, even if one were to accept its veracity it at face value, it is a meaningless one. You do realize that republican vs. democrat is a distinction without a difference. There has been, and is, only one party, and that is the party of Big Business. Follow the money and the policies it purchases and it should be painfully obvious.
So we should eliminate all systems that have waste in the government?
Absolutely!
My point was that everyone is so concerned about the cost of their school taxes (which they kind of can vote on) but no has a say about how much federal taxes are thrown away to the military were at least 10x the amount is spent (no one gets a 'say' on this).
We have a representative democracy so the usual "write to your state congressman/senator" advice, for what it's worth, applies if you wish to express an alternative view on how to vote on defense appropriations. I can sympathize however as, in practical terms, it feels like no say at all. Granted school taxes are decided via a more direct democratic process given the smaller and localized scale of government it involves, so one does feel more empowered.
A large percentage of people don't even pay school taxes but almost everyone gets to pay for the military.
That is a false statement. Please see this article for details. In fact, every homeowner, business, and renter (through their landlord) pays property taxes whereas slightly over half the population pays any federal income taxes. While I don't have citations, I'd wager the percentage of the population that is not homeless or living in property tax exempt homes is minuscule in comparison. So the truth is more likely the other way around.
My school district let about a third of the teachers go due to the closure of a business that was paying a 1/5 of the school taxes and is now gone. How do you fill a hole like that? Schools aren't even legally allowed to stock pile tons of cash so what prevents that type of catastrophe? No one is going to move to a school district that is teetering on collapse which only further compounds the problem.
Sounds like a pretty small tax base if a single payer shoulders 20% of the burden. The obvious solution is to increase the tax base and keep your businesses happy though that is generally easier said than done and impossible to prescribe a plan for knowing nothing of your local geography/economy. Are you living in a small and dying rural town perhaps?
Maybe if I could resolve my own town budgets before kicking a dime to the Feds we wouldn't have these issues.
That's wishful thinking and I too wish it were so! We certainly don't get much for our fed tax dollars in return. Somehow I feel that telling the IRS to get bent is unlikely to go over too well.
Throwing money at a problem doesn't magically fix things, but money seems to be the biggest complaint about schools from tax payers yet no one is screaming at voting polls i mass numbers about Federal waste.
Couple things, just cause they're bitching about money doesn't make it the correct solution to all that ails education...parenting & administrative waste are huge factors that may be being overlooked (point I was trying to make in my original post). As regards federal waste, see aforementioned remedy.
Also my original response was to the parent asking for better individual classroom instruction from teachers that let students meet their full potential. My question was how do you do that with less money? What answer did your response have to address that?
Several ways actually in no particular order
Please don't trot out the tired 'we need more money' excuse as the standard go to solution for all that ails education. I suggest a quick read of the following post by a fellow /.er illustrating the utter waste (at least in Minneapolis) and suggest a reconsideration of the many problems illustrated in this thread before offering 'solutions'.
Or any of the former satellites of the CCCP for that matter. The authoritative list is here.
On that list was a station out in the middle of the Indian Ocean that caught my eye - Diego Garcia, and how it was depopulated by the British to enable the US to set up shop for military purposes. The following cable and corresponding wikipedia article was quite an interesting read on yet another hegemonic adventure undertaken by the US govt. I wonder how long before the European Court of Human Rights will take to decide the case. Odds anyone for the outcome?