John Cuthber

A competent government would have index linked the line so that doesn't happen. I don't have many figures for "affordability" but I live in the UK which has about the fifth richest economy in the world. I really don't believe that we can't afford to pay people enough to stop kids going to school hungry. I really don't care greatly how we address that issue. But a minimum wage above the poverty line or a UBI looks like it's worth trying. If only on the basis that everything else has been tried, and has failed. (who remembers "trickle down economics"?) There is the "but employers will not be able to afford to pay it" war-cry. And, as I have pointed out, if that's true then they are not running a valid business and all the free market capitalists should be happy to watch them fold.

It's not that long since the UK introduced a minimum wage. The Right wing (Tory) politicians all said it would kill jobs, crash the economy and lead to a plague of locusts etc. You know- the things they always say will happen if you do something decent. And it didn't happen. On the other hand, if you have a minimum wage that's below the poverty line (and we have) then you have an interesting state of affairs. A rich man sets up a factory. He buys raw materials and his workers make things. He sells the things for more than the cost of raw materials (+ overheads) + minimum wages. He pays the workforce minimum wage. And, of course, as the owner of the business, he draws a big fat salary from the profits. Meanwhile, the government uses the taxes (which I pay) to top up the incomes of these workers. But, if the factory had to pay enough that they staff didn't need state handouts, the company would go broke. So the owner is being payed a lot- effectively from taxpayers like me- to run an uneconomic company. If you set the minimum wage below the living wage, it's a way for rich people to syphon money out of the taxpayers. Once they realised this, the Tories were very happy with it. Be careful what you wish for...

It's probably very much like any other sort of melon. But it looks cool. Realistically, like all plants they are mainly water, held together with things like cellulose, pectin and starch. The mucilaginous bit is probably similar to other gums. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gum

The experiment is so easy that it's done "by accident". If there was an effect of the radio waves from 5G transmitters then there would be a change in the growth of the green algae that grows on exposed surfaces. Any inhibition of growth would be pretty obvious because the algae would be exposed at close range and 24/7 The experiment has been done, and the answer is that we don't have algae clear patches round antennae. So we know there isn't an effect on cells..

It was in a book my father owned. TECHNOLOGY FOR SUGAR REFINERY WORKERS. Hardcover – 1 Jan. 1941 by Oliver. Lyle (Author)

And there was, plenty but only Romney let his belief in truth overrule his loyalty to the party.

If the outcome of impeachment proceedings was based in law and evidence, then Trump would have been kicked out last time. The right to freedom of speech does not stop there being a law (and indeed an article in the constitution) against inciting insurrection. The right to freedom of speech is not absolute; it never has been. In the limit, the decision is made by a court. The Senate may well decide that telling people to "fight like hell" is not acceptable. More importantly, the Republicans may decide that Trump's usefulness has come to and end and it's better to get rid of him in which case- like last time- the law won't matter.

There's also a difference between ordering a cake and inciting insurrection...

They are. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/04/us/politics/supreme-court-sides-with-baker-who-turned-away-gay-couple.html That's- kind of- the point I was making.

I presume that the thing that made you think this was relevant was that the problem with a laptop is that you can't carry it in your pocket.

No, it's not really proof of anything. Tight trousers are associated with reduced fertility. Stuffing a phone into your pocket would tighten them. It's possible that it's something altogether different. If shirts with pockets are more expensive and fertility is related to good foo0d (and thus, to wealth) the correlation may be nothing to do with phones.

The idea isn't new. In practice, you do need a vacuum pump- in order to remove dissolved air. I first read of it in a book about sugar manufacturing- the book is one that belongs to my dad. It's probably 60 years old, and the idea wasn't new then. Even in the laboratory setting, it's quite common to evacuate the evaporator then close off the connection to the pump, and switch it off to save power (or water). As illustrated, there's a practical problem. the tube needs to be something like 10 metres long. Not may labs are big enough for that

There's a damned strong correlation..

The moment may be past, but I rather liked the analogy that's doing the rounds. Imagine that Facebook is a Christen Bakery and Trump is a gay wedding cake.

In one case the two hydrogens (marked in red) are on the same side, in the other case they are on opposite sides.

He never really needed followers any more than you or I do, except that he's psychotic. Not being POTUS will not cure his desire for praise. Got any evidence? As has been pointed out and argued about, the likes of FB are not owned by the Left, but they are the ones making the decisions to block the terrorists. Are you saying it was the Lefties who refused to allow a gay wedding cake? That's a very interesting question. And the Devil's advocate answer is "Would you prefer Pravda?" It's one of those things where a combination would probably work better. And are irrelevant. The point is that these are not state owned institutions. If the state was denying them freedom of speech, that would be another issue. Incidentally, when a man who has a press office tells you that he is being censored, you know that he's lying.

The important point about "the immigrants took the jobs" is that it's a lie. It's one of the lies that the political Right use when they have to explain why so many people are struggling to get by in such a rich country. The actual reason is "some white guy in a suit outsourced your job to China (or wherever) because that increases shareholder profit. It's nonsense, of course, just like "trickle down" economics.

Do you understand the difference between cis and trans? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cis–trans_isomerism Oleic acid is the cis isomer and elaidic acid is the trans isomer

If you are talking about saturated fats then you are not talking about trans fatty acids. No saturated lipid is trans, you can only get cis and trans isomers of unsaturated fats.

Yes, because the term is ambiguous; as wiki says. A closed system is a physical system that does not allow transfer of matter in or out of the system, though, in different contexts, such as physics, chemistry or engineering, the transfer of energy is or is not allowed. Moving a magnet near a magnetic material involves a transfer of energy If I put a beaker of water on a magnetic stirrer, the water will get warm because work is done by the stir bar against the viscosity of the liquid.

I think Dim "got" the fact that you said you didn't understand plain English. And I think he teased you about it. but I'm sure he will speak for himself.

Do you mean plain English which is free from analogies which are not understood? Or do you mean plain English which nobody understands because it lacks analogies? Because what you have written means the second one, rather than the first Isn't it more likely to be a school subject like history or even cookery? Speaking of bias... Your unjustified assumption that Salik's schoolwork would be religion is a bias. Your bias. And I think that's the point which Dimrepr made.

It's important to focus on school, though you should make sure you have some variety. These questions have been discussed for hundreds of years; they will still be here when you get more time.

Define "successful"... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher

I think so, but it's not really my field.