MigL

No Joke. Did you read about the derailment in New Palestine, Ohio ? I work in the chemical industry, with Phosphorus and Phosphine, on a daily basis, but that one rattled wven my nerves.

I really hate disagreeing with Swansont because ( he's usually right ) I only have Southern ontario to draw my conclusions from. The 'cost' of building a house is not just the 'cost of building' that house. While the cost of lumber has doubled in the last two years, other costs, for trades, excavating, foundation, plumbing, electrical, etc, have not risen that much in the Niagara Region. On the other hand, lot prices have skyrocketed in this area, during the last 5 years. A building lot that used to cost $50000, now sells for $250000. Unless this is park land or protected land owned by the municipality or the Province, you can forget about the 'low cost' part of your housing plan. The only way it becomes attractively priced again, is if the land to be used is in an area that no one else wants. In other words, we are back to relocating people away from city centers. The economics make this unavoidable.

I fully understand that, and that is not the issue. My post was in response to And I must admit a mistake. I read it as 'dehumanize' in my hurry, instead of 'demonize'. My apologies; but why was offense taken ? I have my own ideas as to why 'wokeness' is not looked on favorably like 'enlightenment' of the 17-8 century, but that is a subject for another thread.

Seems the insult is well deserved; I didn't say 'massless', I said 'weightless' ( big dfference ). Tell you what; let's do a little experiment ... Next time you go sky diving, bring a bathroom scale with you. As you are falling, place it under your feet. If it reads anything other than zero, I will publicly apologize to you. If it reads zero, you will publicly admit you are a 'crank'. Deal ?

I did like Peterkin's breakdown of problems associated with building large numbers of affordable housing in, near, or far from, major cities with large homeless populations. Also I would think that for the first year or two, recovering addicts don't need the stress of a job, nor a public transit system to get to one. That can come later, after de-tox, when they have the confidence to get back into the 'rat race'.

Due process involves a reasonable hope for defense against a charge. But is someone like D Trump gets elected again, and with the help of his cronies on the Supreme Court, passes a bill making living on the stret, with no fixed address, a minimum 2 year prison term, a lot of people are going to jail. So no, I'm not trolling you, but I've been discussing stuff with you for 12 years and I've gotten used to it. And you have made a proposal; build more housing. it was that proposal that made me question where you would build the housing, and whether it would involve re-location similar to Alex's plan.

I wonder what is mre dehumanizing, 'woke' or 'bigot' ?

We can't relocate our homeless to Europe, Studiot; Republicans would see that as free 'vacations' for the homeless, while Democrats see it as internment at Auschwitz. My home area in South Central Italy ( Irpinia region ) has hundreds, if not thousands of abandoned houses. People relocate where the jobs are ( Rome and North ) leaving windows and doors open. Houses 'abandoned' so pay no taxes. Many parts of Southern Italy offer houses for 1 euro. Then again, everyone wants to visit Italy, no one wants to actually live there.

It is not a red herring; simply an example of how quickly due process can become irrelevant, and something that was legal can become illegal at the whim of a fewpeople. Start paying attention to the details. Your 'cure for homelessness is to build more affordable housing; seems like a no-brainer. Where will you build them ? In prime downtown real estate where the cost of building and the room to build would be prohibitive, or are you also going to 'relocate' the homeless to areas where there is room for a lot of housing to be built, and for reasonable prices ? Sound like you are planningJewish ghettos and NAZI camps also ...

Equating Alex's plan with NAZI concentration camps or Jewish ghettos is a gross abuse of the 'slippery slope' argument. Really ? You have to ask ? Where is 'due process' for women who could decide what to do with their own bodies last year, yet, are now criminals if they get an abortion ? ( because half a dozen SCJustices decided so )

whatever the causes this is a problem that is growing. And not just for homeowners where the homeless choose to make their encampments, but much more so for the homeless themselves. Solutions need to be found and discussins need to be had. And while I ( and many others ) don't agree with Alex's methods and ideas, it did open the door for discussion involving people like Markus who have first hand experience in the field. The worst thing that can happen is shutting down the much needed discussion ( especially by city councils and governments ) because someone suggests an unpalatable idea.

Our Liberal Government decriminalized cannabis products here in Canada, with Government oversight on the growers, middlemen, and local dispensories. The result has been that you can get a widervariety of products ( gummies, creams, rtc.) but a baggie of smokable is more expensive than from a street level supplier. ( we are also allowed to grow 4 plants per person for personal use ) I only mention this because you wrote 'conservative' instead of 'republican', as it should be.

City of Toronto has the largest homeless population in Canada. As a result, their shelter situation is at near or full capacity according to the following data Daily Shelter & Overnight Service Usage – City of Toronto Other cities, having less homeless, have lower occupancy rates. You don't have a funny bone, do you ? I don't care; the weather has got to be better than here.

Contrary to what Peterkin advocates, building more shelters does not work; many shelter are only half full. The 'shelter or blanket' approach suggested by Zap seems more sensible, but requires many volunteers driving around in vans on those cold nights. However, I'm not sure what's worse; being called a NAZI, or a 'mom'. But as long as INow is offering; I'll take that trip to Auustralia.

I'm not convinced of your idea either, but I'm open to discussing it. And this is a discussion forum, and as such, it is intended for discussing ideas, without fear of being called names, or labelled. This is done with reasoned, valid arguments, not insults and down-votes.

Minority Report ??? Seriously the death rate among the homeless in Vancouver has jumped 75% after 5 years of high, but steady numbers , for 2021. This isn't working either. A lot of homeless drug addicts prefer to live in tent cities ( even my town of 135000 has several ) because they are easily serviced by their supplier. All shelters have a 'No Drugs' policy, and while this is fine in the summer, Canadian winters can be brutal. I would imagine quite a few freeze to death on the streets of Edmonton, Winnipeg or Toronto. This being a mental health issue, or at least, a 'state of mind' issue, would the compassionate thing to do be rounding them up and sheltering them indoors. At least for those nghts when temps are expected to fall below -5o C. Or am I being a NAZI ?

Not a new phenomenon. The Sargasso Sea was discovered by Portuguese sailors in the Atlantic Ocean, and becomes visible whenthe organisms are removed from the reefs by rough weather. I do so envy you. We had a straight 12 hours of freezing rain overnight last night, and again, on and off today. I'm sick and tired of scraping my car windows and windshield. Not that I can go anywhere; roads are a mess and dangerous.

And then here again last week: And then here yet again more explicitly just yesterday: And: You don't seem to realize that a lot of people have an aversion to anal sex. First off, it can lead to scatological incidents, and requires some sort of covering on your bed. Second, it can be extremely painful for the receiver, especially if you're as well endowed as I am 😁 . And third, some people consider it an exit, not an entry. None of this has anything to do with whether the butt is hairy or not, so it makes no difference whether homosexual or heterosexual anal sex. Capish ? There ... There ... ( pat, - pat )

No, what is laughable is your failure to provide ANY citation to back up your point. Come back with an opinion when you have a clue ...

Oh my. You do take it badly when someone points out possible defects. Imagine if I had called you a ( borderline ) bigot. You'd be taking one of your guns and coming to look for me. Now imagine how Intoscience feels ... You keep being you,INow. I don't participate in most all the threads you are active in because I dislike you. On the contrary, I rather enjoy our 'repartee'. It is an aquired taste that no amount of conversion therapy can get rid of.

Are these same neutrinos not hitting the nucleii in your body when you go skydiving ? Yet you are weightless in free-fall. By the way, what is an 'active' nucleus as opposed to a 'dead' one ? ( is February 'crank' month ? )

Russia has decided to play the 'short' game, exposed all their weaknesses, and fared badly. V Putin will now go down in history as a loser or a madman ( if his nuclear arsenal still works and he's willing to use it ) Xi is a lot smarter; he's playing the 'long' game and remains uncommitted to either side, waiting for one or the other to show a weakness. He's an opportunist who has no problem allying himself with the West if Russia continues its failures in the Ukraine as it benefits China and his grip on it. If, OTOH America should show a lack of resolve, he will take that opportunity to ally with Russia and take Taiwan.

China and Iran are free to do as they like. But there will be consequences for their actions, and the US, and the rest of the free world will respond accordingly. Iran is already sanctioned up to its armpits, and they are supplying Russia with some drones, but parts are hard to come by. China has some hi-teck sanctions imposed on it, but I believe it remembers lessons learned in 2008-09. The American economy faltered and they stopped buying, yet China's economy suffered even worse. The popular saying, at the time was "When America sneezes, China catches a cold". Imagine the repercussions for China if America, and the rest of the free world stops buying from them.

Maybe that is why you are so jaded, and calling people ( borderline ) bigots. It's due to your 'environment'. Most of us get along perfectly well with gay people, and we have good laws that protect their rights, while protecting my rights to not like the same practices they do. Differences are what makes the world go around. I will bow out of this discussion because I feel it has come full circle and INow is discussing evolutionary fears for our dislikes, completely forgetting, again, the large toll the AIDS epidemic toook on the gay community starting in the 80s, and, although now controllable, still no cure. There are too many inconsistencies in the arguments being made. CharonY has posted some excellent material indicating the mostly learned response ( nurture ) for our likes, dislikes and attractions, and quite a few others concur. Yet there are those who still argue that for homosexuals, likes and dislikes as well as who you are attracted to, are not learned, but innate ( nature ) The former member Cosmologist did so, as well as Stringy continuing to I just wnder. If a lab rat can be made to enjoy eating poison by stimulating the 'pleasure'centers in its brain, could a 'straight' human be made to enjoy homosexual sex by doing the same ? And would that eventually change that person's sexual orientation ? ( the germans probably performed such experiments in WW2; I saw it on Else: She-Wolf of the SS )

I just love it when some confused person has to use a YouTube video to back up their claims. Try a good Science book instead; YouTube is NOT peer reviewed. Maybe you should realize that we have sent interplanetary probes ( now interstellar ) on fly-bys of the outer planets, including Pluto ( and pictures sent back as proof ), using the Newtonian gravity model, which happens to include G . Do you even stop to consider what accuracy G has to be known to ( never mind the Cavendish experiments) to be able to plot and execute near orbital trajectories at the distance of Pluto ?