Drugs are profitable precisely because they're illegal. People will pay loads of money for something if they want it bad enough, and since the supply is relatively limited...
Look at prohibition -- after it was repealed, organized crime had to go into other businesses to survive. Ones that are generally less profitable.
Exactly. A man having sex outside marriage was never punished, but a woman who was even *suspected* of not being a virgin on her wedding night was to be put to death. And let's not forget the LOVELY requirement than women marry their rapists. That, right there, is enough proof for me that basically everything in the old testament should not be used as the sole basis for something in modern society.
The thing is, schools "need" to have multi-million-dollar sports facilities and useless crap like that, and they can't do that if they can't charge people 20k/year or more. Now that the price is up, it sure as hell isn't going to come back down any time soon.
I wanna point out -- when I finally get back to school, I am more than likely going to be running a 300 dollar netbook. And in 2.5 years of schooling, I only racked up a little over 12k in loans. More than I'd like, but it's been going down now that I'm paying it off. Not everyone who goes to school is a "me-too" idiot. Some of us went to school because we liked the fact that we could learn stuff;)
Having structure is good, to an extent; but when everything is so compartmentalized, like it is now, that simply is not going to work. College is far too "inorganic" -- things are discontiguous. Ever hear a student complain about how a class for their major is "something they'll never need"? That's a symptom of this, among other things. If you aren't showing students how the class will help them, they have no incentive to learn outside of getting a piece of paper, except in a few students who just like everything.
I lived in the "high-end" building at my old university -- we each had separate rooms and big beds, and that was all that we got above the normal. The internet connection has *always* sucked there -- to the point you can't use Skype (which *does* have legitimate educational uses, since my ex still goes there and I use it to go over papers with her) or browse YouTube or download large files you *need* to have for a class. This is in addition to being forced into the oldest open building on campus every semester when something in the building fails miserably, and not even getting a refund for the difference.
And then the school won't help the psychology department go to a conference, but they gave thousands of dollars to the African-American organization on campus so that they could run a fashion show. And a million-dollar inflatable sports dome. And tons of other crap with money, like buildng a covered walkway for a section of sidewalk that is less than 250 feet, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars.
Actually, I think as long as they make it about a genius who happened to be gay, instead of a gay man who happened be a genius, it will work out very, very well, both in terms of storyline and in terms of what it does for people.
But I think the "once you have a girlfriend they all come running" phenomenon thing is a mixture of "Well, he's a got a girlfriend, he can't be a total bastard, right?" and "Well, I'm so much better than she is, obviously, and I'll prove it by taking him."
"Indie" and "Amateur" are very different beasts. And one of the games from a previous bundle -- Atom Zombie Smasher -- is fantastic, even if it has simple graphics.
I have an intel 3100 graphics chip in my netbook, and a dual-core processor... frozen synapse runs great once you turn off the useless background stuff.
Actually, no, it was B has no power to force Amazon to collect their sales tax since they do not have a presence in the state; it is the *customer's* responsibility. Unless everything I've ever read on the matter is wrong, in which case, please, show me ^_^
This sort of thing happens -- albeit on a MUCH smaller scale -- all the time. When a town is courting a large industrial company, there are frequently negotiations to temporarily forgive property taxes and things like that; it's assumed that the added jobs will more than make up for the temporary loss of tax revenue from the industrial company's new plant.
Actually, considering Stalino, Mao, and Pol Pot didn't perpetrate their atrocities *in the name of* atheism, you're wrong on this one. And there is *plenty* of religious fuckery in the world: genital mutilation, subservience of women, murder over which imaginary friend you hallucinate, etc.
Just saying, there may be good Christians, but that doesn't mean that their religion isn't full of shit...;)
5 times the global average, or 5 times the American average?
and 1% of the solar power available, right now, would require ~1% of the planet's surface. Barring ocean installation, which means we'd have to use ~3% of the land surface of the planet. And that's only if we have 100% efficient panels. Panels now are, what, 50% efficient? So we'd need 6% of the land surface of the planet in order to harness 1% of the solar power available...
If my math or assumptions are waaaaaaay off, please let me know.
The big problem is that every technology has a downside. Solar requires large areas of land; hydro requires us to block off rivers; coal pollutes; oil... also pollutes; nuclear is the biggest target of NIMBY-ism I can think of; geothermal is expensive and hard to do properly.
We can't magically fix our energy problems. There is only so much energy capacity in the world. We can only build so many solar panels, so many hydro plants, so man coal or oil plants, so many windmills. The better solution to fixing our energy problems is for us to look into increasing efficiency of existing technologies, using them where necessary, and reducing our energy consumption in general. If our consumption continues to grow, we will eventually be unable to generate enough to power all our stuff.
Seriously, does grandma, who only watches youtube videos of the kids and e-mails her bridge club, need a PC that draws 700W? Does Uncle Bob really need a 63" LCD display when his whole apartment is 10 feet wide? Do we really need to *drive* to the grocery store for a gallon of milk when it's actually quicker to get there by bike?
We can save a *lot* of energy -- and money -- by thinking about our choices.
I'm 22... I like knowing how things work, too, you know. Was watching a thing on the History Channel last night, tracing from the telegraph to the internet, and I started asking questions (like how twisted pairs of wires reduce interference, things like that).
However, lots of older people are the same way -- "I only care about the computer at all because I need it" is a common refrain, trust me. Younger people just aren't encouraged to actually investigate any more:\
Hey, not every Liberal likes every tax, you realize? I find sales tax in general to be regressive; I find income taxes to be too high considering the constant "need" to cut everything *but* defense and tax breaks for the rich.
If my tax dollars were going to education and health care, instead of re-education and murder in foreign countries, I'd be pretty content with the tax rates as they are now.
I haven't had to sign for delivery in 4 years of buying stuff from Amazon. Over 100 orders, and I've *never* had to sign for a single thing. Not even a computer.
And Borders' selection was never all that great. If I'm already near a bookstore, I'll go in, look around, see what looks fun, might even buy something; but if I have to go out of my way to get to a bookstore, screw it, that's what my Kindle is for. Guaranteed inventory vs. hopeful inventory -- which one do you think makes me feel less like I wasted my time?
"I don't need to vaccinate because of herd immunity" is pretty damn close to "I can keep grazing my animals on this little plot of public land"... eventually, the whole thing breaks down, and you have *no* grass for your animals -- or immunity in society.
God, I wish it was ALWAYS this way... Local Christian radio network (they have like 25 stations around PA and NY) puts everything on hold every 6 months for abut 3 days, and the 2 weeks before that, every other sentence is "we need money, the giving time is coming!". So, for 3 days straight, when I ride with my parents, I get to listen to "we need moar money!" constantly. I really wish these people would just fold already >.>
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Drugs are profitable precisely because they're illegal. People will pay loads of money for something if they want it bad enough, and since the supply is relatively limited...
Look at prohibition -- after it was repealed, organized crime had to go into other businesses to survive. Ones that are generally less profitable.
Exactly. A man having sex outside marriage was never punished, but a woman who was even *suspected* of not being a virgin on her wedding night was to be put to death. And let's not forget the LOVELY requirement than women marry their rapists. That, right there, is enough proof for me that basically everything in the old testament should not be used as the sole basis for something in modern society.
The thing is, schools "need" to have multi-million-dollar sports facilities and useless crap like that, and they can't do that if they can't charge people 20k/year or more. Now that the price is up, it sure as hell isn't going to come back down any time soon.
I wanna point out -- when I finally get back to school, I am more than likely going to be running a 300 dollar netbook. And in 2.5 years of schooling, I only racked up a little over 12k in loans. More than I'd like, but it's been going down now that I'm paying it off. Not everyone who goes to school is a "me-too" idiot. Some of us went to school because we liked the fact that we could learn stuff ;)
You know that not everyone who goes for Art or History or English Composition is there because the sciences are too hard?
I just like writing, thank you very much. Makes me happy to do it.
Having structure is good, to an extent; but when everything is so compartmentalized, like it is now, that simply is not going to work. College is far too "inorganic" -- things are discontiguous. Ever hear a student complain about how a class for their major is "something they'll never need"? That's a symptom of this, among other things. If you aren't showing students how the class will help them, they have no incentive to learn outside of getting a piece of paper, except in a few students who just like everything.
I lived in the "high-end" building at my old university -- we each had separate rooms and big beds, and that was all that we got above the normal. The internet connection has *always* sucked there -- to the point you can't use Skype (which *does* have legitimate educational uses, since my ex still goes there and I use it to go over papers with her) or browse YouTube or download large files you *need* to have for a class. This is in addition to being forced into the oldest open building on campus every semester when something in the building fails miserably, and not even getting a refund for the difference.
And then the school won't help the psychology department go to a conference, but they gave thousands of dollars to the African-American organization on campus so that they could run a fashion show. And a million-dollar inflatable sports dome. And tons of other crap with money, like buildng a covered walkway for a section of sidewalk that is less than 250 feet, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars.
Actually, I think as long as they make it about a genius who happened to be gay, instead of a gay man who happened be a genius, it will work out very, very well, both in terms of storyline and in terms of what it does for people.
Don't forget that the "OMG so many partners!" thing has been more or less completely debunked.
... clever.
But I think the "once you have a girlfriend they all come running" phenomenon thing is a mixture of "Well, he's a got a girlfriend, he can't be a total bastard, right?" and "Well, I'm so much better than she is, obviously, and I'll prove it by taking him."
64-bit has compatibility libraries and whatnot for 32-bit binaries. It's really useful.
"Indie" and "Amateur" are very different beasts. And one of the games from a previous bundle -- Atom Zombie Smasher -- is fantastic, even if it has simple graphics.
I have an intel 3100 graphics chip in my netbook, and a dual-core processor... frozen synapse runs great once you turn off the useless background stuff.
Actually, no, it was B has no power to force Amazon to collect their sales tax since they do not have a presence in the state; it is the *customer's* responsibility. Unless everything I've ever read on the matter is wrong, in which case, please, show me ^_^
This sort of thing happens -- albeit on a MUCH smaller scale -- all the time. When a town is courting a large industrial company, there are frequently negotiations to temporarily forgive property taxes and things like that; it's assumed that the added jobs will more than make up for the temporary loss of tax revenue from the industrial company's new plant.
Actually, considering Stalino, Mao, and Pol Pot didn't perpetrate their atrocities *in the name of* atheism, you're wrong on this one. And there is *plenty* of religious fuckery in the world: genital mutilation, subservience of women, murder over which imaginary friend you hallucinate, etc.
Just saying, there may be good Christians, but that doesn't mean that their religion isn't full of shit... ;)
Actually, her criticism isn't of the vaccine itself, it's of the mandatory innoculation of young girls.
When the doctor says, "this is a severe allergy," you should say, "rerun the rests"... just saying, since those tests aren't *that* bad >.>
5 times the global average, or 5 times the American average?
and 1% of the solar power available, right now, would require ~1% of the planet's surface. Barring ocean installation, which means we'd have to use ~3% of the land surface of the planet. And that's only if we have 100% efficient panels. Panels now are, what, 50% efficient? So we'd need 6% of the land surface of the planet in order to harness 1% of the solar power available...
If my math or assumptions are waaaaaaay off, please let me know.
Also, I rather like your sig.
The big problem is that every technology has a downside. Solar requires large areas of land; hydro requires us to block off rivers; coal pollutes; oil... also pollutes; nuclear is the biggest target of NIMBY-ism I can think of; geothermal is expensive and hard to do properly.
We can't magically fix our energy problems. There is only so much energy capacity in the world. We can only build so many solar panels, so many hydro plants, so man coal or oil plants, so many windmills. The better solution to fixing our energy problems is for us to look into increasing efficiency of existing technologies, using them where necessary, and reducing our energy consumption in general. If our consumption continues to grow, we will eventually be unable to generate enough to power all our stuff.
Seriously, does grandma, who only watches youtube videos of the kids and e-mails her bridge club, need a PC that draws 700W? Does Uncle Bob really need a 63" LCD display when his whole apartment is 10 feet wide? Do we really need to *drive* to the grocery store for a gallon of milk when it's actually quicker to get there by bike?
We can save a *lot* of energy -- and money -- by thinking about our choices.
I'm 22... I like knowing how things work, too, you know. Was watching a thing on the History Channel last night, tracing from the telegraph to the internet, and I started asking questions (like how twisted pairs of wires reduce interference, things like that).
However, lots of older people are the same way -- "I only care about the computer at all because I need it" is a common refrain, trust me. Younger people just aren't encouraged to actually investigate any more :\
Hey, not every Liberal likes every tax, you realize? I find sales tax in general to be regressive; I find income taxes to be too high considering the constant "need" to cut everything *but* defense and tax breaks for the rich.
If my tax dollars were going to education and health care, instead of re-education and murder in foreign countries, I'd be pretty content with the tax rates as they are now.
I haven't had to sign for delivery in 4 years of buying stuff from Amazon. Over 100 orders, and I've *never* had to sign for a single thing. Not even a computer.
And Borders' selection was never all that great. If I'm already near a bookstore, I'll go in, look around, see what looks fun, might even buy something; but if I have to go out of my way to get to a bookstore, screw it, that's what my Kindle is for. Guaranteed inventory vs. hopeful inventory -- which one do you think makes me feel less like I wasted my time?
Tragedy of the commons at work?
"I don't need to vaccinate because of herd immunity" is pretty damn close to "I can keep grazing my animals on this little plot of public land"... eventually, the whole thing breaks down, and you have *no* grass for your animals -- or immunity in society.
God, I wish it was ALWAYS this way...
Local Christian radio network (they have like 25 stations around PA and NY) puts everything on hold every 6 months for abut 3 days, and the 2 weeks before that, every other sentence is "we need money, the giving time is coming!". So, for 3 days straight, when I ride with my parents, I get to listen to "we need moar money!" constantly. I really wish these people would just fold already >.>