They are misleading. The cost of electricity hasn't risen that high (I personally pay maybe 20% more than 10 years ago), but heating oil and gas became very expensive. Car fuel is twice as expensive as 15 years ago. Part of it is due to higher taxes, part due to inflation that Oettinger conveniently chose to ignore, part due to higher taxes.
The "De-industrialisation" is real, of course, but it has been around, oh, since the early 90ies at the very least and has got nothing to do with energy prices per se. The Ruhr area had it especially bad, with closing of all the coal and steel works because both got uncompetitive with China. Semiconductor industry was the next, look what happened with Telefunken or some Siemens parts. All thanks to mismanagement. Same goes to chemical industry (Hoechst, VARTA).
Sort of. I'd rather say, Americans have got a strong commitment to the appearance of freedom, and thus, to implement most real world policies they have to jump through so many hoops that the resulting freedom is actually less than with a straight forward solution and costs more. And people are actually proud of that. I'd call it the "freedom theatre", akin to "security theatre".
"Ra ra" is not an argument, by the way, because by this logic USSR was certainly the best place to live (hint: it wasn't, even though there were some good things).
Oettinger was always full of crap. First, he is an atomic playboy of the Fallout universe sort. Second, he is corrupt. As a prime minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg he pushed a far too expensive project, knowing there would be cost overruns, and forbid to even mention these. Why? Because his girlfriend would make a nice profit at that project. That were some of the reasons why he lasted only 5 years as prime minister of that particular (and pretty corrupt itself) federal state. Basically, only his designated successor lasted less than that (but that one probably was the worst prime minister of any German federal state ever).
And no, the majority uses the safety net exactly as it is supposed to be used - as a help for bad times - and pay more than their fair share back for the good times. When you are writing about the majority abusing the safety net, you are writing out of your arse, the proof being the fact that only a minority of the potential workforce is unemployed.
And well, frankly, I'd rather have some people abuse the safety net than a larger percentage of people around me having such a low standard of living that they'd start being criminals.
The libertard paradise - Russia in the 1990ies - was not a nice place to live at all, for exactly that reason. And if you think you can protect yourself with firearms, just remember that criminals would have no scruples to do Han Solo to you.
Well, by the same logical necessity it violates the rights of some if it doesn't. You see, every government decides for a different set of rights because there is no such things als "natural rights", all rights are artificial constructs.
Article one paragraph one of German constitution: "Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority."
This comes even before the right to life and is the fundamental principle of German constitution and also the reason for the huge social safety net in Germany.
If you want to live under a different set of rights, that's fine with me, but do not try to preach your set of rights as the only valid one.
And yes, I know about Apple Newton and I even know about Psion Series 3, which was two years before Newton. Should have been obvious if you'd read my post carefully.
The validity of this patent was not the question anyway - I personally don't consider software patentable at all, which is sort of a common viewpoint in Europe. I just wanted to explain that Microsoft is longer around in the handheld area than people think. Looks like even you didn't knew.
Actually, no. Microsoft has been tinkering with mobile devices for a long time. As funny as it seems, they were actually one of the pioneers in this field, together with Psion and Apple. Windows CE predates even the first Palm Pilot.
Finance classes? Nutrition classes? Not in Germany. Well, actually there are cooking classes here alright, but they only are taught in schools that aren't preparing people for the university. And before you think that I went to a fancy private school: university-preparatory schools in Germany are also free for everyone who passes the required grades. And please, stop treating poor people as incapable.
Just FYI, I came from a "working poor" family (happened due to us moving from the USSR to Germany). I've made it, thanks to German social safety net and the willingness to actually do something. My sister never bothered to do something, now she has got more difficulties.
It sucks, though. I used to be one. Very difficult to travel and most people don't know a stateless person status even exists, which doesn't make things easier.
Hm, if it really tastes the same to you, maybe the fresh food you can get is not very good in first place.
I can taste the difference for sure. Then again, I buy groceries every other day on the way from work. Because of that I don't even need a car, everything I need for two days fits in my backpack just fine. And of course, raw fruits and vegetables are tasty, too.
When I went to the university (and back then it was free for everyone here in Germany who has passed the Abitur exams) the total cost of my kitchen equipment (which included a stove, a fridge, a frying pan, a pressure cooker, a cutting board and two decent knives) was about $400, not $400000. Could have been cheaper but I really wanted that induction stove and the Japanese knives). My girlfriend back then taught me a few basics about cooking, and I am glad for it, because it made things easier.
I really like to quote that film, "Ratatouille", at this point: "Anyone can cook".
Well, going to work by car would take me 40 minutes. Going to work by bike takes maybe half an hour longer, is much more fun (riding at the riverside vs standing in a traffic jam), is far cheaper - especially with German fuel prices - and burns around 700 kkal.
Oh, and after you have done it for a while you feel way fitter. Is a win-win situation. Oh, and I paid around EUR 2000 for my (pretty good) bike, the cost of a car is ten times as much for a lower quality vehicle.
People with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant. And yes, obesity can cause insulin resistance, but does not have to. Interestingly, insulin resistance is not solely caused by a large simple carbohydrate intake, but instead by a large quantities of dietary fat. You can look it up yourself here: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/40/11/1397.short
Why on earth would all mammals evolve the ability to store excess energy as saturated fat if the body wasn't fully prepared to run itself on that stored energy?
Because otherwise they would starve if they cannot get a meal in time.
Taken a step further - what fuels mammals during hibernation?
Humans don't hibernate. And the closest human relatives eat mostly fruits, which are carbohydrates. Besides, what is so difficult in understanding "emergency ration", which the fat storage is? To make an easier to understand comparison: you can surely survive on canned food, but you really shouldn't use it as your primary food source.
High-intensity glycolytic exercise is the EXCEPTION, not the rule. It is an activity that ISN"T supposed to happen frequently, and when it does happen it isn't supposed to be of a long duration.
Only it is. Humans are built as endurance runners first and foremost - although strength training is admittedly more fun. Glycogen storage is so small because glycogen is not the optimal way to store energy due to a comparably low energy density. It is supposed to be enough until the next meal and fat is the storage for the starvation mode.
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Google uses Teleatlas, so not much difference there.
Modern?
Dude, that was possible with a Windows Mobile phone from 2002. And with Treo phones before that.
They are misleading. The cost of electricity hasn't risen that high (I personally pay maybe 20% more than 10 years ago), but heating oil and gas became very expensive. Car fuel is twice as expensive as 15 years ago. Part of it is due to higher taxes, part due to inflation that Oettinger conveniently chose to ignore, part due to higher taxes.
The "De-industrialisation" is real, of course, but it has been around, oh, since the early 90ies at the very least and has got nothing to do with energy prices per se. The Ruhr area had it especially bad, with closing of all the coal and steel works because both got uncompetitive with China. Semiconductor industry was the next, look what happened with Telefunken or some Siemens parts. All thanks to mismanagement. Same goes to chemical industry (Hoechst, VARTA).
Sort of.
I'd rather say, Americans have got a strong commitment to the appearance of freedom, and thus, to implement most real world policies they have to jump through so many hoops that the resulting freedom is actually less than with a straight forward solution and costs more. And people are actually proud of that. I'd call it the "freedom theatre", akin to "security theatre".
"Ra ra" is not an argument, by the way, because by this logic USSR was certainly the best place to live (hint: it wasn't, even though there were some good things).
Air conditioning is not quite as widespread in Germany. Neither is electrical heating, by the way.
Oettinger was always full of crap. First, he is an atomic playboy of the Fallout universe sort. Second, he is corrupt. As a prime minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg he pushed a far too expensive project, knowing there would be cost overruns, and forbid to even mention these. Why? Because his girlfriend would make a nice profit at that project. That were some of the reasons why he lasted only 5 years as prime minister of that particular (and pretty corrupt itself) federal state. Basically, only his designated successor lasted less than that (but that one probably was the worst prime minister of any German federal state ever).
Geothermal for example.
Still, solar power is not the single answer for all energy needs, the same as the hammer being not the only tool available.
You do not need either to wash your clothes. A bathtub works for washing and the sun is good enough for drying.
Pride goes before a fall.
And no, the majority uses the safety net exactly as it is supposed to be used - as a help for bad times - and pay more than their fair share back for the good times. When you are writing about the majority abusing the safety net, you are writing out of your arse, the proof being the fact that only a minority of the potential workforce is unemployed.
And well, frankly, I'd rather have some people abuse the safety net than a larger percentage of people around me having such a low standard of living that they'd start being criminals.
The libertard paradise - Russia in the 1990ies - was not a nice place to live at all, for exactly that reason. And if you think you can protect yourself with firearms, just remember that criminals would have no scruples to do Han Solo to you.
Well, by the same logical necessity it violates the rights of some if it doesn't. You see, every government decides for a different set of rights because there is no such things als "natural rights", all rights are artificial constructs.
Article one paragraph one of German constitution: "Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority."
This comes even before the right to life and is the fundamental principle of German constitution and also the reason for the huge social safety net in Germany.
If you want to live under a different set of rights, that's fine with me, but do not try to preach your set of rights as the only valid one.
If driving is the sole purpose of your life, either go into racing or kill yourself.
What helps is hitting the windshield with the palm. It is loud but does no damage.
From here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/1996/Nov96/wincepr.aspx, so November 1996 for CE, three months before Palm Pilot.
And yes, I know about Apple Newton and I even know about Psion Series 3, which was two years before Newton. Should have been obvious if you'd read my post carefully.
The validity of this patent was not the question anyway - I personally don't consider software patentable at all, which is sort of a common viewpoint in Europe. I just wanted to explain that Microsoft is longer around in the handheld area than people think. Looks like even you didn't knew.
Actually, no. Microsoft has been tinkering with mobile devices for a long time. As funny as it seems, they were actually one of the pioneers in this field, together with Psion and Apple. Windows CE predates even the first Palm Pilot.
I am pretty sure that the time sync function is not mandatory.
Bugger me sideways, I've read the same about the USA. I guess the truth is out there.
Finance classes? Nutrition classes?
Not in Germany. Well, actually there are cooking classes here alright, but they only are taught in schools that aren't preparing people for the university. And before you think that I went to a fancy private school: university-preparatory schools in Germany are also free for everyone who passes the required grades. And please, stop treating poor people as incapable.
Just FYI, I came from a "working poor" family (happened due to us moving from the USSR to Germany). I've made it, thanks to German social safety net and the willingness to actually do something. My sister never bothered to do something, now she has got more difficulties.
It sucks, though. I used to be one. Very difficult to travel and most people don't know a stateless person status even exists, which doesn't make things easier.
My power company paid me a EUR 20 bonus because I cut my power consumption by 300 kWh last year.
Hm, if it really tastes the same to you, maybe the fresh food you can get is not very good in first place.
I can taste the difference for sure. Then again, I buy groceries every other day on the way from work. Because of that I don't even need a car, everything I need for two days fits in my backpack just fine. And of course, raw fruits and vegetables are tasty, too.
When I went to the university (and back then it was free for everyone here in Germany who has passed the Abitur exams) the total cost of my kitchen equipment (which included a stove, a fridge, a frying pan, a pressure cooker, a cutting board and two decent knives) was about $400, not $400000. Could have been cheaper but I really wanted that induction stove and the Japanese knives). My girlfriend back then taught me a few basics about cooking, and I am glad for it, because it made things easier.
I really like to quote that film, "Ratatouille", at this point: "Anyone can cook".
Once every two months :-O
Do you actually remember how fresh food tastes like?
Well, going to work by car would take me 40 minutes. Going to work by bike takes maybe half an hour longer, is much more fun (riding at the riverside vs standing in a traffic jam), is far cheaper - especially with German fuel prices - and burns around 700 kkal.
Oh, and after you have done it for a while you feel way fitter. Is a win-win situation. Oh, and I paid around EUR 2000 for my (pretty good) bike, the cost of a car is ten times as much for a lower quality vehicle.
People with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant. And yes, obesity can cause insulin resistance, but does not have to. Interestingly, insulin resistance is not solely caused by a large simple carbohydrate intake, but instead by a large quantities of dietary fat. You can look it up yourself here: http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/40/11/1397.short
Oh yes, another cause is also lack of physical activity:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?volume=279&issue=9&page=669.
And here you are, preaching that carbohydrates and physical activity are the root of all evil and only fat is good.
Because otherwise they would starve if they cannot get a meal in time.
Humans don't hibernate. And the closest human relatives eat mostly fruits, which are carbohydrates. Besides, what is so difficult in understanding "emergency ration", which the fat storage is? To make an easier to understand comparison: you can surely survive on canned food, but you really shouldn't use it as your primary food source.
Only it is. Humans are built as endurance runners first and foremost - although strength training is admittedly more fun. Glycogen storage is so small because glycogen is not the optimal way to store energy due to a comparably low energy density. It is supposed to be enough until the next meal and fat is the storage for the starvation mode.