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Everything posted by Phi for All
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Yeah, we know how you feel about Obama. But the DOJ released a report last year. Private prisons don't work, and they make the system more dangerous and cost far too much. It's dumb to use a capitalist growth business model on something you don't want to grow (like prisons). And when we're talking about the nation's power (which we really are - check the title), the lure of profits are too great. So much of what we do is based on our electricity, and on keeping our buildings warm. Power is so intrinsic to modern daily life that, like walking on the sidewalk or driving on the roads, it's something we should fund ourselves so we're not also having to pay profit to a private company. I would also argue that a private power company always does what's in its own best interest, which may include actions that aren't in the consumer's best interest. For some reason, during deregulation under Reagan and Clinton, the doors were purposely left wide open for scams and predatory business practices. In some states, it's possible for one private energy provider to change your service if they have your account number (which they typically get by claiming to be from your current provider).
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May be? You should seriously get your reason checked if you think the women in those marches didn't vote. Jesus H Christ, you aren't a stupid man but this is such a stupid stance. I've changed my mind about relocating to Canada.
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I knew you were a closet Trumpet. You haven't fooled anyone with your denials. This is one of the saddest things I've ever read from you.
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Those are all excellent examples of the ways many people misuse anecdotal evidence to confirm their own biases.
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is creativity an enemy of mainstream science and hence so is art?
Phi for All replied to farolero's topic in The Lounge
He gets used a lot as a misunderstood scientist by those who don't understand him. Definitely a guy who learned the box so completely he could think well outside it. -
Is there really 100 tredicillion Planck Time seconds each second?
Phi for All replied to SciNoodle's topic in Physics
For a dollar, I can put you in touch with this physicist. Actually touching him costs more. -
Innovative service for your forum
Phi for All replied to DmitryHD's topic in Suggestions, Comments and Support
They only speak to those clever enough to figure that out on their own. -
is creativity an enemy of mainstream science and hence so is art?
Phi for All replied to farolero's topic in The Lounge
I've seen this argument many, many times over the last dozen years. It's almost always put forth by those who want the loosest possible rigor applied to their own "creativity". We're less rigorous than Physics Forum, and more rigorous than many other science discussion sites. Quit trying to drag them all down to a mediocre level. -
farolero has been added for six months. Posts that don't make sense waste everyone's precious time. Too many people asking what you're on about. Let's get it together, mod queue folks. Posts that make sense get approved!
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Newt Gingrich alluded to this (although he was grateful, not concerned) last summer, when Putin Trump was lying about the crime rates. He stressed that if people FELT crime was on the rise, that was more important than the reality that it wasn't. He went as far as implying that feelings ARE fact. This tactic can help justify a whole lot of miserable, ignorant misthinking anywhere. In our media and our politics, it's unconscionable.
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And how do you feel about this being used to misinform? It seems pretty disingenuous to count Obama's pronouns like they were off the charts when they were actually below what many politicians use. It's like reporting that Obama increased federal spending to US$3.6T!!! It's true, but it's a lower rate of spending than any other president since Eisenhower.
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It's ridiculously easy to fool us with lies that sound plausible, or that we can easily imagine. Cops/donuts, politicians/first-person-pronouns, black welfare queen. I think the US media has gotten wicked good at using the fewest words possible to invoke the most emotional responses. They flash "Immigration" across the screen and instantly those viewing know how they'll feel about the ensuing story. And the media knows that a story about a dog rescuing a drowning toddler won't keep you tuned in as long as the story about a cache of automatic weapons found in an urban neighborhood, so if they have to choose, they'll cover the guns.
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Why a colony on Mars, rather than on the Moon?
Phi for All replied to Cosmo_Ken's topic in Astronomy and Cosmology
A colony on Mars gives us most of what we'd get from the moon in terms of experience and knowledge, plus it's closer to the metal-rich asteroid belt, where we can source materials for further colonization. If we do that though, Ceres might be a better choice. -
The "foreign meddling in our elections" brouhaha
Phi for All replied to proximity1's topic in Politics
You should fight laws that are wrong. You shouldn't equate the legal but "not right" (Citizen's United ruling and capital punishment and poor cabinet choices) with the illegal (assault, breach of contract, and fraud). -
I would say the media in the US is agendized. First is profit, second is getting across the message your parent corporation wants you to convey. Is it a conservative approach that causes a corporation to deny AGW, or is it profit? Is it a liberal approach to equate all sides in an argument, or is it to make it look like there's more controversy and thus more reason to stay tuned? Both sides of our politics claim the media sides with the other guys, but in reality I think it's just about the money. It's certainly not about keeping us decently informed. It is funny about the personal pronouns though. Exactly the type of thing someone would jump on if they don't like you, but how does anyone get along without using "I" and "me"? Reminds me of a Jim Gaffigan line about the stereotype of cops liking donuts so much and using it against them. You shouldn't do it because you know who else loves donuts? EVERYBODY.
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The "foreign meddling in our elections" brouhaha
Phi for All replied to proximity1's topic in Politics
I want to point out that you're basically saying the law shouldn't matter if you think something is "not right". Further, you imply ("at minimum") that your views make this an actionable offense. I can't agree with this. It's not on the same level as, say, advocating assault. -
In recent years, privatization of prisons has come under scrutiny as a failed experiment. Similarly, many municipalities are now rethinking their decision to sell public utilities to private energy companies. Reagan-era federal government downsizing in the 80s led to selloff of public energy assets. Retail costs have soared over the years and continue to go up, while wholesale energy is getting cheaper and cheaper. We were promised cost-effectiveness due to large-market efficiencies, and it seems that has happened but hasn't been passed along to the consumer. Many consumers want to go back to public ownership and control, especially now that the big energy corporations are denying climate science. What do you think? Is energy a commodity for market concerns, or in modern times is it an essential service that should be in the public's control?
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! Moderator Note Please abide by the rules you agreed to when you joined. Do NOT bring up supernatural explanations in a science thread in a science section of the site. Mainstream science only, please.
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Is it very expensive to see doctors in USA? (split topic)
Phi for All replied to fresh's topic in The Lounge
I've been slamming "the wealthy" for this type of mentality, and of course I realize that's a blanket condemnation, but it seems to be the mindset of those with wealth who seek political power as well that any type of socialized medicine or welfare is a handout, given by the masters to the servants, instead of an investment in society. They want to control, they want to pass judgement because they're better, and they want to punish or praise based on their whim. The concept of investing in people's prosperity through effective socialism, working alongside effective capitalism, is lost on most Americans. -
Are Greenhouse Gases or AGW Real? (Split from, 'Climate Change')
Phi for All replied to RiceAWay's topic in Speculations
Coming from someone who is so clearly anti-science, I find this claim devoid of even a shred of intellectual honesty. -
This is beyond the pale. First, you fail to show even a single example of the hypocrisy you accuse us of, then you make up your own facts to support the claim instead. Plenty of people showed him where he was wrong. Is it hypocritical of me to ask you to stop lying, to stop making shit up to defend your behavior here?
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Is it very expensive to see doctors in USA? (split topic)
Phi for All replied to fresh's topic in The Lounge
A big part of the unnecessary expense that doesn't get talked about is overcharging to compensate for cash flow. As part of the cost of doing business, US medical corporations have to build in extra charges because the insurance companies can take years to pay out on claims. Many doctors get into some serious cash-flow problems that can keep them from updating equipment, give raises to employees, and many other standard practices. Add to the equation that each office has to deal with multiple private insurance carriers, each with different paperwork and criteria, and it's a recipe for administrative and fiscal disaster. -
So he's got a point and people are 8 pages of unhappy with the hypocritical way the volunteer moderators run the site for the administrators. I acknowledge my behavior is subject to biases, and I've worked hard over the last decade with the staff to help set up the rules to reduce judgement calls that are influenced by bias. What do you suggest we do to change all this unhappiness, Ophiolite, because I sure didn't see anything reasonable from proximity1?
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Is it very expensive to see doctors in USA? (split topic)
Phi for All replied to fresh's topic in The Lounge
If you're dealing with actual doctors and nurses, the care is decent and even superlative in some areas. But the wealthy insist that health is a private business matter, and force us to use insurance as a means to access a viable risk pool, ensuring that profit is the priority. Insurance is great when you know the value of something and want to protect it, but it's a pretty awful way to keep people healthy. I think the wealthy expect the rest of us to settle for a fixed value on our health, the way we do with life insurance. The US injects capitalism where it has no business. We spend more for almost everything except gasoline, so we tend to have very little savings.