Phi for All

1) No, we now think it may indeed just be a friend (which is great). 2) Yes. He was warned about breaking the rules, but he took that to mean we were going to ban him any day now. So he started posting like he was a condemned man. 3) No, he started a goodbye thread. His personal messages were mostly just derogatory slurs against science in general and the forum specifically. I know it's a shock, but it seems we're all like this, every science forum has kicked him out. 4) Yes, but I'm only privy to the private messages he sent to me. Regardless, he certainly earned a ban on simple rule breaking. Since his request is open to interpretation, I have no problem editing the reason for his ban. He certainly earned it strictly from ignoring the rules. Though sent in private, I have no problems showing his messages to me, along with my replies. Edit: Sorry, I keep cross-posting with others.

Hiding the junk food makes it a game in your daughter's mind, a challenge to overcome. Plus she has discovered the joy of forbidden fruit (or in this case, Cheetos). Deny a human being something and they will obsess over it. I prefer pointing out natural consequences rather than punishment. It's tough since she can't appreciate the health consequences at her age. Does she have an allowance that can be taken away to pay for unauthorized snacking? I recommend rigging an electrical device, something around 100,000 volts (but very low amperage), so that every time she says it's OK for your daughter to have junk food against your wishes, your mother gets a jolt. This has been empirically tested and proven to adjust bad behavior.

"I wish your brethren would NOT be released from hell to wreak havoc upon the Earth when you grant me this wish!"

I heard you scream all the way at my house!

Oh Flying Spaghetti Monster, I pray you'll help John Cuthber learn how to use quote tags someday. And I hope you'll find it in your meatball to help swansont control his vicious instincts. And please tell mooeypoo she's not going to Hell for touching my manicotti. And we pray for brother Aristarchus to get better, so that someday we might get the banned back together. In Cheeses name, Ramen.

I think Janus provided some evidence that having work/school inevitably looming after your free time is a problem. I think I showed you that changing your employer/school to suit your needs is a problem too. Everyone would have to change, and I think many jobs require sunlight, or are more efficiently done during daylight hours. I don't know, I'd have to think about that a little more. Economically, you'd spend more on lighting. Personally, I like to get work done so I can feel better about my free time. There's something about finishing a job and then kicking back that's very satisfying. Also, I find it easier to fall asleep after some down-time unwinding. Working and then the drive home after leaves me wired, like Janus mentioned. It could very well be that school would be different from work. It might be good for students to sleep right after learning something. Then again, when the mind is racing after having learned something new and great, it might be hard to fall asleep. I am SO disappointed that you're unwilling to test your hypothesis. It makes most of this just sheer conjecture. You could be sitting on the greatest idea EVER, but will you give it a week to experiment? Noooooooo.

! Moderator Note References to the personal commitment of an illegal activity are forbidden by our rules. Furthermore, for encouraging another to commit an illegal activity, a complaint is being filed with your ISP. It will be up to them whether to involve the local authorities.

A recent study shows that praying for science forum Moderators can actually cause instability in the person praying, possibly resulting in all common sense getting sucked into an unstable, superdense area like a black hole, or maybe a white hole. It was some kind of hole, I remember that part.

! Moderator Note This post is off-topic to the discussion. Furthermore, it is simply preaching, which is also against our rules. Please re-read the rules you agreed to when you signed up.

You started a thread saying goodbye, because you felt you were going to be banned. I suppose I took that for a request. I mean, why would you do that if you weren't leaving? Edit: Sorry, cross-posted with swansont.

See your doctor, please.

Appolinaria lives in Connecticut, where they don't understand rhyming etiquette. An angel-haired genie who will axe your linguini, 'cause that's how they get their spaghetti cut!

My bad. The article linked to the study "Accidental Politicians: How Randomly Selected Legislators Can Improve Parliament Efficiency" at arXiv.org at the Cornell University Library. After I got through the conclusions, the Cornell logo was the last page I saw before starting the thread.

I once flew a duck to Australia. Ducks are best because they'll never fail ya. Fly you quick as a fox to a post office box, and from there, just get someone to mail ya. Creationist posts are all junky. Their arguments get kind of funky. "Science sucks! You're all pimps! WE are better than chimps!" Which is really a slight to a monkey.

Do you think this would lead to better representation? My knee jerk reaction says yes but parties can be beneficial (as long as two don't dominate or misrepresent). As long as the pool weren't simply full of the kinds of people who are inclined to enter politics currently, I think this would work. And it would avoid the obvious consequence of forcing someone to serve who absolutely didn't want to. I worry that this might eventually be corrupted, but then I suppose any system is susceptible and needs to be revamped periodically. Here in the US as well. Many people consider it a hassle, perhaps for its brevity or the time it takes away from normal pursuits. I would hope that a period of four or five years for Congress might be viewed differently, and more favorably. I think it would seem like more of an experience rather than an inconvenience.

I took the phrase "let['s] see" to mean "let's test it" or "let's actually try to get this schedule implemented".

No, let's say you are chosen by lottery to be the US Representative for your district in CT in the year 2016. As shown earlier, 35% of last year's incoming congresscritters had never held office before. You have a staff that could get you up to speed on procedure and methodology. Your own viewpoint is important but you're there to represent what voters in your district want. You already have limited means to poll your district, I'm sure. I'm thinking that many people in this position would be more willing to admit that the two major parties don't really represent their own stances accurately, so party affiliations might not mean as much as before. What would your inclination be in that regard? Would you band together with your fellow CT reps? Would you look for other reps who held your views? Would you do more to reach out to the people in your district?

No. How do you find time to write with three dogs? My Corgi wants to be walked all the time.

Was this article from Wired or The Onion?

I realize that, but I felt guilty for hurrying my post just to keep my hash browns from burning.

Nothing I've seen so far excludes anyone currently from being a member of Congress except age and citizenship. You have to be age 25 and a citizen for 7 years for the House and age 30 and a citizen for 9 years for the Senate. The present system has an automatic bias against the mentally impaired and convicted felons, so perhaps a lottery system would need some strictures for repeat offenders and a test for minimum mental fitness.

I agree, and it was condescending for me to shade the truth to someone who seems to be straddling a fence. It wasn't accurate and I apologize to the members and especially kitkat. It doesn't always work to change someone's mind by degree, especially with inaccurate information.

I'm fine with my current work/play schedule. Let me know how getting your employer/educational facility to change works out.

! Moderator Note This part of your post is a personal attack and is against the rules. Please don't resort to attacking the person, especially when you can be so accurate describing the faults in his ideas. I normally don't attempt moderation in threads where I've replied as a member, but this is a blatant violation.

I love unsolved mysteries, but only in that they are still left to be solved, maybe by me. I don't think removing the mystery removes any of my love of the world and its amazing variety and complexity. And if life works to direct itself by constantly inventing new defenses for survival, well that's amazing too, considering the forces at work that can destroy us. If you've never been less than a mile from a tornado, or felt the concussion of a close lightning strike, or been scraped ashore across the sea bottom by a rogue wave, you can still think about the truly incredible slow march of evolution as it branches out forming life to match the conditions of this Earth, and be awed by what nature can accomplish.