There are much better ways to heat your home than incandescent light bulbs. You'll have a warmer home and save money if you use efficient lighting and efficient heating.
From my point of view outside of the USA the problem is two fold in the USA:
One, the USA is awash in guns, anyone can get one. This is a minor issue.
Two: the culture in the USA says it is okay to solve problems with firearms. The culture in the USA says it is normal to live in fear from violent crime, and a good way to stay safe is to have a firearm handy. This leads to disgruntled people shooting other people. This leads to what might be a fist fight in most of the western world turning into a shoot out in the USA. You have to pretty scared to shoot a random person knocking on your door (who was looking for directions). You have to be pretty scared to think it is a good idea to have a loaded weapon in your home.
No one I know who owns firearms owns them to defend their home or their person. Guns are for hunting and target practice. Only drug dealers routinely carry firearms for self defence, but they mainly shoot each other, and having a gun has been proved to be singularly ineffective as self protection. As drug dealers are a very small sub-culture, there are very few gun deaths.
Can someone explain why so many people in the USA think human rights should only be respected by the government and not private individuals or corporations?
Up here in Canada the government has more leeway to infringe your rights than corporations or other citizens. For example the police can detain you, but private citizens cannot. The government can force you to pay taxes, but corporations cannot. The government can force a website to remove "hate speech", but a private citizen cannot. Yes, as a private citizen who owns or rents property, I have many rights over my private property including excluding those I do not like. But if I'm running a business catering to the public I do NOT get to discriminate against people based on their beliefs, creed, race, etc... Human Rights apply to all areas of the public - government and corporate.
If it seems like an honest mistake, I send it back. I've been sent the wrong order by amazon twice, and I contact them, arrange to get paid for shipping and send it back. My personal honesty and integrity are more important than a few dollars.
If I'm sent something out of the blue I did not order with an invoice I will keep it and ignore the invoice as this is a scam.
I was shocked that people would post in public that they are dishonest - and brag about it.
Cultivate virtue for a better life, and a better world.
There are not "dumping" the chemicals. They want to build a secure, floating, facility for destroying the chemicals. Building this facility in an environmentally sensitive area doesn't seem that bright. I would have expected it to be better to build it somewhere dry, like an isolated desert.
This creator must be some sort of evil, violent,psychopath to design: cancer, hiv, fig wasps, malaria, a universe where pretty much all of it will kill his favorite creation, parasitical wasp Dinocampus coccinellae, old age, lupus, etc...
Or, maybe there is no sign of a creator and it all just evolved.
Science is not at all like religion. As you say yourself: "The difference is we test all that stuff in science and try to break it; whereas in religion we try to protect our views". Science takes nothing on faith, it is all tested multiple times. Science is not a a belief, it is a method of determining what the real world is actually like.
Science does not automatically reject the benefits of meditation, or any other hypotheses. Some people might, but science does not, and it it is science, not Buddhist philosophy that has determined that meditation has a real affect of the state of your brain.
Getting paid the going rate is nice until the super rich get the pols to pass laws allowing hundreds of thousands of hb1 visa's so they don't have to pay the going rate.
There is no "free market" any where in the world - least of all in the USA.
Any time government has allowed a fairly unfettered free market it has led to wealth concentration, resentment, and revolution. this revolution might be the raise on unions, violent overthrow of the current government, but it happens eventually.
CEO salaries are set by the board of directors, not the workers or even the shareholders. Exec wages are high because the boards are stacked with people rubbing each others backs.
Executive salaries are obscenely high because the executives are on each other companies board of directories and vote each other high salaries. It has nothing to do with attracting talent. And this is another case of free market fail as it is very common for shareholders to vote (non binding of course) for lower executive salaries and being ignored by the board.
By almost any objective measure of standard of living, general happiness, health and well being the USA comes in last when compared to other modern western states.
The USA has more murder, higher income disparity, lower economic mobility, terrible health care, almost non-existent social safety net, uneven education, and we could could go on for a bit here, but you get the idea.
The USA is still an economic powerhouse, but the rewards are going disproportionately to the already wealthy. There are many signs that the USA is heading the wrong way: unreasoning ideology replacing thoughtful policy, laws based on fear not facts, various scandals involving abuse of power by almost all levels of government, and population quite happy to trade false security for their liberty.
I've used the Canadian version of turbo tax for years without any problems, but my taxes are pretty simple.
I'm not sure how asking for a bunch of anecdotes will help you verify how good tax software is. Maybe there is study or review on this subject somewhere.
I'm pretty sure the people who might be interested in the overly complex bond lottery are the same people who would just donate money to seti. A Donation gives seti all your money with very little overhead compared to a bond or lottery.
No hint of Sexism? Women were officers only, and the big bad troopers had to stay in their own zone in the ship away from them
I'm not entirely convinced that military service is a good way to make men of callow boys. If you live in a society that demands "government service" to get the franchise it might seem like a glorious option to a callow youth. I'll concede it wasn't a classic fascist government in the book, but it certainly wasn't a democracy.
Our hero got to kill aliens and "come of age" pretty much as in the book, just without power armor. The book had quick military trails, and the scene were our hero faces "administrative punishment" instead of being drummed out of the service is straight from the book. The leadership in the book underestimated the "bugs", and I do not think they were portrayed as "clowns" in the movie.
The movie did a good job of showing the horrors of war, for example, the crew running about terrified in the ship that broke up - not calmly and heroically dying. War is gory. War is horrible. War should be a last resort.
But I certainly think the movie can be seen as you see it, given its much different tone, and obvious elements of satire where the book was much more earnest.
I've always enjoyed the movie Star Ship Troopers as a satire of fascism and chauvinism. I thought it conveyed the spirit of the book, if a bit skewed, quite well.
It can go faster than 132mph, but the Bugatti Veyron will empty its tank in 12 minutes at top speed.. Which is a good thing as the tires only last 15 minutes at top speed.
Childs was in the wrong, and should have handed over the passwords, but as is often the case in the "land of the free" the punishment was grossly disproportionate to the crime. In most of the rest of the western world this would have been a civil case: a judge would have ordered him to hand over the passwords, and given him a small fine for being a doofus. On refusing to hand over the fines he would been sent to jail until he handed them over, and be given a contempt of court fine,.
Only in a country that prides itself on "three strikes", "zero tolerance", and jails more people than any other country (both per capita and raw number in jail) could any person in the justice system think his punishment was reasonable.
Pretty much all foreign intelligence agencies already knew about what the NSA was up to; the USA government IS upset because Snowden informed the USA general public.
What the NSA was and is doing wasn't a big secret among governments. Many of the governments now complaining about being spied on cooperated with the USA to gather and share much of this information. Yes, they might be pissed that the USA crossed a few lines here and there, but they knew the USA was spying on everyone.
In countries that actually believe in rights for their citizens records about you ARE yours. In BC Canada it is against the law for any company to release any personal data about anyone to anyone - including the police. The police have to get a warrant and you would be able to argue that YOUR personal records should not have been released.
Of course the USA long ago became some sort of corporate fascist machine for making the rich richer so basic human rights are no longer important.
Slashdot Mirror
In much of the common wealth it IS legal to trespass if you are not doing any damage and you have a valid reason for passing through.
There are much better ways to heat your home than incandescent light bulbs. You'll have a warmer home and save money if you use efficient lighting and efficient heating.
From my point of view outside of the USA the problem is two fold in the USA:
One, the USA is awash in guns, anyone can get one. This is a minor issue.
Two: the culture in the USA says it is okay to solve problems with firearms. The culture in the USA says it is normal to live in fear from violent crime, and a good way to stay safe is to have a firearm handy. This leads to disgruntled people shooting other people. This leads to what might be a fist fight in most of the western world turning into a shoot out in the USA. You have to pretty scared to shoot a random person knocking on your door (who was looking for directions). You have to be pretty scared to think it is a good idea to have a loaded weapon in your home.
No one I know who owns firearms owns them to defend their home or their person. Guns are for hunting and target practice. Only drug dealers routinely carry firearms for self defence, but they mainly shoot each other, and having a gun has been proved to be singularly ineffective as self protection. As drug dealers are a very small sub-culture, there are very few gun deaths.
Can someone explain why so many people in the USA think human rights should only be respected by the government and not private individuals or corporations?
Up here in Canada the government has more leeway to infringe your rights than corporations or other citizens. For example the police can detain you, but private citizens cannot. The government can force you to pay taxes, but corporations cannot. The government can force a website to remove "hate speech", but a private citizen cannot. Yes, as a private citizen who owns or rents property, I have many rights over my private property including excluding those I do not like. But if I'm running a business catering to the public I do NOT get to discriminate against people based on their beliefs, creed, race, etc... Human Rights apply to all areas of the public - government and corporate.
If it seems like an honest mistake, I send it back. I've been sent the wrong order by amazon twice, and I contact them, arrange to get paid for shipping and send it back. My personal honesty and integrity are more important than a few dollars.
If I'm sent something out of the blue I did not order with an invoice I will keep it and ignore the invoice as this is a scam.
I was shocked that people would post in public that they are dishonest - and brag about it.
Cultivate virtue for a better life, and a better world.
There are not "dumping" the chemicals. They want to build a secure, floating, facility for destroying the chemicals. Building this facility in an environmentally sensitive area doesn't seem that bright. I would have expected it to be better to build it somewhere dry, like an isolated desert.
This creator must be some sort of evil, violent,psychopath to design: cancer, hiv, fig wasps, malaria, a universe where pretty much all of it will kill his favorite creation, parasitical wasp Dinocampus coccinellae, old age, lupus, etc...
Or, maybe there is no sign of a creator and it all just evolved.
Science is not at all like religion. As you say yourself: "The difference is we test all that stuff in science and try to break it; whereas in religion we try to protect our views". Science takes nothing on faith, it is all tested multiple times. Science is not a a belief, it is a method of determining what the real world is actually like.
Science does not automatically reject the benefits of meditation, or any other hypotheses. Some people might, but science does not, and it it is science, not Buddhist philosophy that has determined that meditation has a real affect of the state of your brain.
Science - it just works. No faith required.
Getting paid the going rate is nice until the super rich get the pols to pass laws allowing hundreds of thousands of hb1 visa's so they don't have to pay the going rate.
The USA does NOT have a free market. p.
There is no "free market" any where in the world - least of all in the USA.
Any time government has allowed a fairly unfettered free market it has led to wealth concentration, resentment, and revolution. this revolution might be the raise on unions, violent overthrow of the current government, but it happens eventually.
And most revolutions happened when income disparity reached new highs.Read some history.
CEO salaries are set by the board of directors, not the workers or even the shareholders. Exec wages are high because the boards are stacked with people rubbing each others backs.
You say that raising minimum wages causes poverty and reduces employment as if you have some facts to back this up. Unfortunately for you the facts say the opposite: Higher wages won't increase unemployement, no harm when wages raised, "another study says you are wrong.
Executive salaries are obscenely high because the executives are on each other companies board of directories and vote each other high salaries. It has nothing to do with attracting talent. And this is another case of free market fail as it is very common for shareholders to vote (non binding of course) for lower executive salaries and being ignored by the board.
By almost any objective measure of standard of living, general happiness, health and well being the USA comes in last when compared to other modern western states.
The USA has more murder, higher income disparity, lower economic mobility, terrible health care, almost non-existent social safety net, uneven education, and we could could go on for a bit here, but you get the idea.
The USA is still an economic powerhouse, but the rewards are going disproportionately to the already wealthy. There are many signs that the USA is heading the wrong way: unreasoning ideology replacing thoughtful policy, laws based on fear not facts, various scandals involving abuse of power by almost all levels of government, and population quite happy to trade false security for their liberty.
I've used the Canadian version of turbo tax for years without any problems, but my taxes are pretty simple.
I'm not sure how asking for a bunch of anecdotes will help you verify how good tax software is. Maybe there is study or review on this subject somewhere.
Why not just donate?
I'm pretty sure the people who might be interested in the overly complex bond lottery are the same people who would just donate money to seti. A Donation gives seti all your money with very little overhead compared to a bond or lottery.
No hint of Sexism? Women were officers only, and the big bad troopers had to stay in their own zone in the ship away from them
I'm not entirely convinced that military service is a good way to make men of callow boys. If you live in a society that demands "government service" to get the franchise it might seem like a glorious option to a callow youth. I'll concede it wasn't a classic fascist government in the book, but it certainly wasn't a democracy.
Our hero got to kill aliens and "come of age" pretty much as in the book, just without power armor. The book had quick military trails, and the scene were our hero faces "administrative punishment" instead of being drummed out of the service is straight from the book. The leadership in the book underestimated the "bugs", and I do not think they were portrayed as "clowns" in the movie.
The movie did a good job of showing the horrors of war, for example, the crew running about terrified in the ship that broke up - not calmly and heroically dying. War is gory. War is horrible. War should be a last resort.
But I certainly think the movie can be seen as you see it, given its much different tone, and obvious elements of satire where the book was much more earnest.
I've always enjoyed the movie Star Ship Troopers as a satire of fascism and chauvinism. I thought it conveyed the spirit of the book, if a bit skewed, quite well.
The spying is too much without enough oversight and should be scaled back, reined in, and controlled. BUT, spying on real, actual enemies is required.
And it isn't just the abuses of the NSA. The USA is FORCING people to have intrusive body cavity searches then being asked to PAY for them. And how about those border searches 100 miles from a border. There is a lot of government abuse that needs to be fixed.
But you still need to spy on your actual, real enemies.
It can go faster than 132mph, but the Bugatti Veyron will empty its tank in 12 minutes at top speed.. Which is a good thing as the tires only last 15 minutes at top speed.
It can go faster than 132mph, but the Bugatti Veyron will empty its tank in 12 minutes at top speed.. Which is a good thing as the tires only last 15 minutes at top speed.
Childs was in the wrong, and should have handed over the passwords, but as is often the case in the "land of the free" the punishment was grossly disproportionate to the crime. In most of the rest of the western world this would have been a civil case: a judge would have ordered him to hand over the passwords, and given him a small fine for being a doofus. On refusing to hand over the fines he would been sent to jail until he handed them over, and be given a contempt of court fine,.
Only in a country that prides itself on "three strikes", "zero tolerance", and jails more people than any other country (both per capita and raw number in jail) could any person in the justice system think his punishment was reasonable.
Pretty much all foreign intelligence agencies already knew about what the NSA was up to; the USA government IS upset because Snowden informed the USA general public.
What the NSA was and is doing wasn't a big secret among governments. Many of the governments now complaining about being spied on cooperated with the USA to gather and share much of this information. Yes, they might be pissed that the USA crossed a few lines here and there, but they knew the USA was spying on everyone.
In countries that actually believe in rights for their citizens records about you ARE yours. In BC Canada it is against the law for any company to release any personal data about anyone to anyone - including the police. The police have to get a warrant and you would be able to argue that YOUR personal records should not have been released.
Of course the USA long ago became some sort of corporate fascist machine for making the rich richer so basic human rights are no longer important.