MigL

I'm not so sure it will end in 2020. If the Democrats can't stop fragmenting and come together behind a viable candidate, we might be stuck with a second term of D Trump. But, say the Chinese have had enough of D Trump's meddling with their economy and exports to their biggest market, and they decide to use Russian strategy and interfere in the election to ensure a Democrat win ( so that things go back to normal ). Would you say the Republicans got what they deserved, or would you want an investigation into possible Democrat 'collusion' ?

Absolutely ! Because once they put you in jail, they also feed you. ( so it is still your choice to make ) But seriously, what is wrong with ASKING for help, instead of just TAKING what you want ? Again I'll remind you... A person's right not to go hungry does not diminish another's right to his possessions. ( rights stop when they start infringing on the rights of others ) So you have #3 choices... Everyone's rights are equal. Some people's rights ( not being hungry ) are more important than other's rights. Total anarchy, where robbery and taking what you want is justified ( is it MORE justified if you steal from the rich ? ) . Pick one, and justify your choice, please.

He still had a choice to make, Dimreepr. What others did to him does not justify his actions/crimes. ( is justify a very different word also ? )

Air defense systems, against incoming threats, are optimized for relatively large threats, such as aircraft, and are of limited value against small missile threats. They are practically useless against even smaller drones. The future lies with directed energy defense systems, whether radar controlled laser systems that can track/target multiple threats, or directed EMP, which is electromagnetic and is focusable, or, in the future, direct bursts from solid state, steerable emitters ( similar to active radar array modules ).

That might be true in Civil Justice, but it's hardly ever the case in Criminal Justice.

Justice is defined as the 'removal' of a person from society when that person has been shown not to abide by the 'rules' agreed upon by that society. Their behavior is harmful to members of society, or their livelihood, and the 'removal' to protect society may include periods of incarceration, or even being put to death in certain societies. ( fines are never justice, but that is a personal interpretation ) Whether that agrees with your interpretation of 'justice' is a different matter. I'm sure most people interpret the concept differently.

Just finished reading your link INow ( thanks ), but I don't agree with it either. I see the Government ( and society ) providing equal opportunity; what you bring to the table whether it's inheritance, a work ethic, intelligence, willingness to take risks, etc. is totally up to you, and in a large way, determines the outcome. ( inheritance might be a bit problematical in this discussion because we are discussing historical disadvantages that directly lead to inheritances for the privileged ) Take the first example of L Ellison's daughter. She may have been given an unfair advantage of opportunity ( 2 Bill worth !!! ), and she'll probably never be disadvantaged, but do you really think she'll be a good producer ( I don't know, but I've never even heard of her ) ? Not everyone is equally abled and it's not the purpose of Government or society to level the playing field of ability. Just of opportunity.

Just got back on and haven't read your link yet, INow, but I intend to. I feel I need to explain the equal opportunity/equal outcome comment. Equal opportunity means everyone who wishes to become a doctor has access to education/funding/support to achieve that goal. The hard work and commitment required to achieve that goal is up to them. And if reparations enable this, I'm all for them. Equal outcome means everyone who wishes to be a doctor becomes one. Even if they choose not to apply themselves to the task. It is simply 'handed' to them, because, otherwise, they would be disadvantaged. IOW everyone is given a suitable box to stand on and watch the game from outside the fence, so they don't have to make the effort of buying a ticket. Which doctor would you prefer operating on you ?

We seem to have different visions of the society we want to live in... Seems JC and I favor equal opportunity for all. INow and Zapatos are in favor of equal outcomes for all. And that just isn't going to happen ( because of the multitude of factors involved ). Don't have a clue what Mistermack wants

Yes, it is a scary world, Zap. Seems like everyone is responsible for their own misdeeds. Unless you work for some Government institution, where, all of a sudden, you cease to have personal responsibility for your actions, and 'society' ( or taxpayers ) assume all responsibility. That's why I said "shouldn't be held liable"

Wouldn't lowering the fence, for EVERYBODY, serve the same purpose ?

Laptops are perfectly natural and subject to evolutionary forces. In the future, they will evolve into Terminators and come back in time to kill you for starting the resistance. Or, they'll evolve into a Machine World, where humans are grown not born, and turn us all into batteries.

Oh, and it should be 90 % beach.

What I am saying is that taxpayers shouldn't be held liable for Government misdeeds because people have no choice but to contribute, Zap. Not sure if your post is addressing me or Raider CharonY. We can talk about race ( ? ) all we want, CharonY, we can even have biases, or dislikes for a particular group of people; That is all allowed, as long as we don't incite hatred. What we CANNOT do is act on those biases; and trying to level the playing field for past injustices by favoring one group over another IS reverse discrimination ( you are free to call it what you want ). I also don't follow your arguments about improving minority neighbourhoods by better schools/opportunities. I'm going to need a reference to account for your dismissal of such programs. That being said, I really don't have an issue with reparations. Most Confederate States were able to fund a war with the wealth acquired from slavery. ( see my previous post about Virginia ) As always, the devil is in the details, and keeping things fair for everyone.

Ultimately it all comes from the same place. The difference is Ford customers have the option of not buying Ford products if the costs of fixing Ford's bad engineering is passed onto them. Do you have the option of not paying your taxes for bad Government decisions ???

No Zap, it comes from Ford's profits. They can choose to pass it onto the customers, but then they lose customers. The Government doesn't/shouldn't have 'profits'. This difference makes your argument unsuitable.

WOW ! You guys have cheese shows in the UK ? If they allow tasting at all the exhibits, I'd be constipated for a week. ( love cheese; a nice Parm. Reggiano, some crusty Italian bread, a good bottle of red wine, and I'm in heaven )

My mistake Janus. I read it as 3 Gs instead of 3x the mass. ( I weigh close to 200 lbs )

There are questions regarding the suitability of red dwarf stars to sustain life ( as Ken's comic points out ). Because the star is so small, orbiting planets are extremely close ( notice those orbital periods ? ), and planets may become tidal locked. IOW they keep the same face to their sun , leading to extreme temperature differentials between the night and day sides. Red dwarfs are also convective ( a constant mixing of the He build-up throughout the star ) leading to excessive flare activity. That, and the large shifting magnetic fields, may make close proximity to the star uninhabitable. I would head to Tau Ceti e. But I'd be extremely uncomfortable weighing almost 600 lbs, and sweltering in 60 deg. C temperatures. ( habitable zone my a*s )

Good work John. Very satisfying to still get to do some 'sperimentin' at our age.

A destination can often be reached by more than one route; some routes are preferable to others. Some routes are actually harmful to one or many. The common expression is " The end doesn't justify the means" A lot of people with very lofty goals have committed atrocities throughout history, to achieve those goals. Also why is this in Relativity ? It has nothing to do with Einstein's Relativity. Should be in Philosophy oor Ethics.

@John Cuthber Applying an extremely well regulated ( to 3 dec. places ) power supply to the 'ground' or common ( black lead ) on your digital multimeter, you will then be able to measure to 3 dec. places on either side of 1 V. IOW the red lead will measure the difference ( positive or negative ) from the 1 V reference. ( I agree, a well regulated power supply would be more difficult to source than a multimeter that reads to 4 dec. places )

Virginia's economy benefitted greatly from slavery during the time when it joined the Union ( 1770s ), to the abolishment ( 1860s ), so I would have no problem with the state Government paying reparations. Especially now that the state economy seems to finally be in an upswing after the 2008-09 crash.

Fortunately Electromagnetism is what Physicist call a gauge force. In simple terms that means there is no absolute value for voltage ( like, say, for temperature ), and if you use 1V as your reference, you will be able to measure +/_ 0.001 V on either side of it.

No can do, Londy. They've all stopped returning my calls. ( as a matter of fact, a few have restraining orders against me ) Ha Ha, just kidding.