Phi for All

! Moderator Note This is science discussion, so yes, you do need evidence when making claims against what we observe in nature. Support your arguments or you're just preaching, which is against the rules.

! Moderator Note Irony meters are breaking everywhere. Thread closed.

Our star quarterback got signed at great cost because he claimed to have a better way to play. He fights with the owners, he fights with the managers, he fights with the players, and he fights with the press. He calls an audible on almost every play, using the stadium loudspeakers. He has a TON of baggage in his personal life that drags the whole team into a negative spotlight almost weekly. He gets sacked, fumbles the snap, and throws a LOT of interceptions when we play certain teams, handing out wins to teams that don't deserve them. We're in danger of losing our spot in the playoffs for the first time in ages. It looks suspicious when he brags about the many ways he personally enriches himself and avoids paying team fees. /American football analogy Sorry, just trying to figure out better ways to explain why Trump is not to be admired in this situation. He's still selling commemorative coins for the summit he backed out of, and they expect to sell all they made.

I think this is most likely actually (the opportunistic seizing part). Giving up nukes is Kim's big play, the one he gets the most concessions for (if he's even thinking like that -- it doesn't fit in with his larger stated goals). Bolton painted a grim future that starts with unequivocal denuclearization. Why on Earth would Kim start negotiations shackled like that, like it's a hostile takeover by a corporation? This move of Trump's does the same for Kim as it does for Putin, making them seem like more reasonable actors in international politics (and especially more reasonable than the US for a change). Trump clowns to his popular base (who have no idea what successful negotiations on that scale look like), the media covers his every ignorant tweet because money, and the boring, bad ratings voices of reason at home are drowned out by the blare.

! Moderator Note This discussion isn't going well. The OP needs to respond to some of the direct questions that have been posed, hopefully with some mainstream science involved.

Any policies based on the for-profit vagaries of our privately run, entertainment-based media are designed to further investment opportunities for those who leech onto periods of chaos for personal gain. At a time when Russia and China are flexing the power they've carefully grown over the last decade, we have a leader who seems bent on removing the US as a contender while he enriches himself and his cronies. Trump's isolationist tactics are pushing traditional allies away at a time when we need them most. Net benefit for Putin is easy to see. He gets to seem like the reasonable guy who just wants peace, and at home he gets to flap his hand at the silly Americans. And Putin's style is to use every victory on his side and every misstep on the other side to further his less savory policies with his own people. Internationally, Russia's importance is inflated, and Putin is much more likely to be proclaimed leader-for-life. I would not be surprised at all to see Putin step in to fill the void Turnip has created in the NK talks.

The distinction I make between faith and hope/wishful thinking is in the willingness to change one's life for the belief. I can hope there is something for my consciousness to continue into after the death of my body without doing anything different in my life. Faith, however, often requires great sacrifices and strictures on lifestyle based only on the strength of the belief.

Thank you, I prefer to attack ideas, not people.

The only assumption I made was about it being mentioned before that nothing you've described is out of the normal parameters for human empathy, and that's why I said "probably". The rest are observations based on your writing, which is all I have to go by in this discussion. I "picked" that one segment to quote strictly because it held examples of what I find to be faulty reasoning. In science terms, you've removed your falsifiability. The way you pose your explanation for this phenomenon, you can never be shown to be wrong (and again, I'm not saying you are, just saying you aren't presenting objective support for it).

This is not critically thought out. You've set up a scenario where you already assume you're an empath, then set up justifications as to why detractors are always wrong, and are now impervious to reason. You've probably been told before that none of your observations are outside the normal human empathy range, but you're emotionally convinced you have something special. That's not to say it's not possible, just that you haven't approached this in a way that peaks any scientific interest. You need to overcome some basic minor peer review before you start making any conclusive statements about an extraordinary ability.

It seems almost engineered that these men reject intellectual arguments, don't care about being healthy or educated, and generally vote for those who actually make it harder for the working class to get by. They support the butcher with his thumb on the scale who has been pushing inferior meats cut way past the bone for years, just because the other butchers try to serve everyone fairly. It's a long con that has been very successful for the worst extremist capitalists. They've removed most of the help a government can provide, and then they made the People afraid of the government. Very handy when POTUS needs to remove the FBI's credibility.

By the definition of faith, you wouldn't use "evidences" to determine whether you should use this doctor. If someone told you he was the best, and you didn't research whether or not others supported that stance, but instead proclaimed that was good enough for you, then that would be taking the doctor on faith. Chances are, you asked more than one person. You may have checked the diplomas on the wall. You met with the doctor to get a feel for how confident and personable and concerned they are about your case. You may have asked for a referral from another doctor who has a proven track record, whose word carries some weight with you. Using the doctor like this isn't faith. You did enough checking to be able to TRUST that this doctor is the best one for you. No faith involved, not even a little. The moment you want more than the word of another, you aren't believing using faith.

The GOP has worked very hard to make sure public funds find their way into private control. They vilify only the parts of the government designed to help those less fortunate. After they realized Trump wasn't going to "stain" them with his corruption and bigotry, they could easily see how he could make them wealthier. One of the most galling parts in this is how conservatives wrap themselves in the American flag while making it easier for Putin to destabilize everything the US has stood for since WWII. Russia is one big mafia state run by billionaire criminal extremists, and they've finally found a POTUS they can manipulate. The GOP used to credit Reagan with the smarts to bring down the Berlin Wall, and now openly embrace a POTUS who is dumb enough to admire the most corrupt person on the planet.

! Moderator Note You've been told repeatedly what doesn't work, and you reject it. Discussion becomes impossible when you remove what works from problem solutions. This can't stay in mainstream, and it's not worthy of speculations since you refuse to engage in normal discussion style, and choose instead to favor your own made up maths. Thread closed.

So they end up more concerned someone may take their guns than take their lives with a gun. To me, this speaks of emotional manipulation. Capitalism is awesome for growth. Whenever it's misapplied to something that should be carefully kept in check, it fails. We could use a private solution for those who like to shoot guns. The market would love to set up hunting excursions where weapons are provided (and nobody owns a gun), and ranges where you can lease any gun you want. As long as those weapons are tightly controlled, the market for them can grow all it wants. The hard sell is to those who want a gun for protection. I think the best way to convince them is figure out better insurance against armed break-ins, namely fewer guns on the streets overall (not more police and prisons). There are some great statistics that show how much more dangerous you make your house when you buy one for home protection (you reduce only the chances of armed assault in exchange for increasing the chances of several other lethal situations). Again, tough sell since men like macho more than smarts, on average. I honestly don't know what to do about the gun owners that believe they stand ready to repel a betrayal from their own government. These are probably some of Trump's biggest supporters, yet they have no problem with any of the Russia allegations, despite being some of the most paranoid folks on the planet. These are also the 3% of Americans who own half the guns. Maybe we do nothing with them, but keep hinting that we MIGHT come for their guns someday. Get them to hunker down in their compounds and wait. As long as they're hoarding those weapons and firing at cutouts of FBI agents, they can pretend they're safe from the might of the US military.

Concern for profit knots up many issues in the US that should be public responsibility. Everything productive has to wait until someone/some corporation with a lot of money figures out how to insinuate themselves into the issue at the taxpayer expense, then lobby politicians while misleading the public to support their new investment opportunity. Human loss isn't considered over loss of profit. Most Americans understand rationally that "Pour enough gasoline on the fire and you'll smother it" is a poor strategy. Guns and gun violence help fuel many extremist conservative/capitalist agendas wrt our justice system (largest in the world, folks, #1 with a bullet!). Our system withholds social aid to create criminals so we can justify spending that money instead to protect ourselves from them. The working class has a designer golf shoe on its throat, and the extremist wearing it is telling them to buy more guns, which historically results in growing our criminal culture.

These words clash weirdly with the responses you received. You cited some evidence to support a position on a higher power, the evidence was critically reviewed and commented on, and your first chance at rebuttal results in walking away for a completely different reason (that the other participants don't share your faith). It's not intellectually honest to move the goalposts like that.

For that, you might as well start a public solar power utility. We could produce the electricity that's too cheap to attract private investors, use it for the roads to start, and expand it as the cheapest electricity solution for home and business as well. Maybe reward those who switch from costly private energy providers with Medicare enrollment at any age....

FedEx has ordered 20 of them: http://www.ttnews.com/articles/fedex-orders-20-tesla-semis

I'd always heard they called them that because of the coupling (settle DOWN, DrP!). The truck breaks apart, and the tractor can operate separately from the trailer. Semi-detached, maybe? edit: x-posted with zapatos, and I think his description of the semi-trailer (not having all the wheels necessary to operate independently) is the most likely source of the term "semi" for big-rig trucks.

What conclusions have you come to? For future readers, please share some understanding.

This is a somewhat impartial look at specs: I'm hoping the speed up 5% grade and the range are also done with an 80k lb load like the acceleration test.

This seems like an attempt to put all belief into the same box so you can give guesswork and faith equal footing with critical thinking. It's a common defense for a weak position. I see no reason to give it any weight whatsoever.

Raider5678 has been suspended for six months at his own request, in order to pursue employment and educational opportunities in a less tempting and more focused manner. We wish him all the luck in the world, and hope to see him back in time for the holidays.

! Moderator Note Moved to Speculations. Students need the mainstream sections free of non-mainstream concepts.