If they get bored and stop listening, they'll get confused, won't they? I think they often get bored because they can't follow along, it's incredibly boring to have someone drone on using statistics and measurements you don't grasp and won't remember on a subject you also don't grasp.

I agree, but so far, measurements have consistently been outpacing the estimates, almost never the reverse.

What they tend to do is come from that incomplete data and incomplete analysis to model the absolute best case scenario to dictate policy, not the worst. That's absolutely what the U.N. report does, and it's not clear to most how much is left out, like infinitely better melting models (the measured melting in Greenland is already at the rate not predicted to be reached until 2075 in the UN's published estimations) and feedback loops we already see in action like melting methalhydrates and permafrost, both outgassing massive amounts of methane. Sane policy makers DO assume the absolute worst modeled outcome, then suggests policies to avoid it, at all cost when that worst case is extinction. Since measurements are consistently as bad or worse than the worst case scenario modeled, the only rational thing to do is assume that will continue and plan for the worst....you know, like they taught in preschool, hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Your house burning down is an unlikely worst case scenario, but I bet you have smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and support the fire department. Good planning is to assume you WILL have a fire and plan to minimize the damage.
Or, terrorist attacks. The likelihood you'll be killed in a terrorist attack is exceptionally low, but we spend untold billions and sacrifice liberties to combat a worst case but unlikely scenario.

Prudence is the better part of valor.

Edit: as to most problems society faces, I suggest they are likely ALL a function of overpopulation....no question imo when it comes to the apocalyptic problems. Pollution, resource mismanagement, ecological destruction, etc. None would be disastrous with 1/10 the population.

@BSR

I already donate regularly to my local children's hospital, give any spare change I have to people you describe, and work at an inner city school where I keep boxes of cereal (it's cheap and vitamin packed and the kids like it) because my students come up to me on a somewhat regular basis hungry.

But as an individual, it's easy to act alone. To combat what one considers bad-public-policy, one must join the conversation.

What are you really asking me to do here? Someone posts some racist memes and I'm to keep my mouth shut because it won't do anything. I do not agree.

I can act alone, but to change policy it starts by having conversations about perceived ills in society. Forgive me but keep your stoic silence to yourself and I'll keep talking if the spirit moves me.

@BSR

I already donate regularly to my local children's hospital, give any spare change I have to people you describe, and work at an inner city school where I keep boxes of cereal (it's cheap and vitamin packed and the kids like it) because my students come up to me on a somewhat regular basis hungry.

But as an individual, it's easy to act alone. To combat what one considers bad-public-policy, one must join the conversation.

What are you really asking me to do here? Someone posts some racist memes and I'm to keep my mouth shut because it won't do anything. I do not agree.

I can act alone, but to change policy it starts by having conversations about perceived ills in society. Forgive me but keep your stoic silence to yourself and I'll keep talking if the spirit moves me.

No, he's a liar plain and simple and we know it.

That means anything he claims is quite suspect and not to be believed, just like this "attack" he staged.

He may have been attacked, that's what he was looking for, but no one cares because 1) he went there looking for it and 2) his injuries are self reported so quite suspect and 3)he's a known liar who just as likely hurt himself (if he was hurt at all) in order to blame the milkshake throwers.

I watched the video, I saw no "combat clubs". I saw plenty of totally liquid milk shakes with no powder or clumps, so no cement, and the close-up thumbnail that confirms that.

I also saw a known liar and rabble rouser intentionally picking a fight with a known violent gang who hoped to get attacked on camera so he could condemn them, and you bought it hook line and sinker. I think you know it.

Odd, you aren't as upset by the lack of coverage of all the innocent people violently attacked by Patriot Prayer gangs, and there are plenty of them.

Your video, Combat gods, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Shouldn't that read "A bear faces Chuck Norris in combat"? It's traditional to list the more dangerous predator second.

Since they set up a process to repatriate Confederates, I would guess either the law has changed or they were assumed to have renounced citizenship when they swore allegiance to the Confederacy...but I'm no historical law professor.

Yes, there are some non combatants who joined Daesh who claim to have not renounced or forfeited their citizenship, but since they gave aid and comfort to the enemy during "war" and could be executed imo, wanting to return home and be subjected to the legal system doesn't sound a bit smart. I think those who took up arms are in a different boat, with a much harsher likely legal outcome.

This problem isn't only an issue on facebook. It effects basically every social media site, including twitter, youtube, reddit, and linkedin.

There have even been issues with manipulation on Videosift---though the community structure here is very well designed, to combat that sort of thing.

*news *quality *promote *worldaffairs (for mention of the Myanmar genocide.)

The police are, and always have been, tools for those in power to stay in power. Most places they don't even try to combat financial fraud, wage theft, and all that, even though it does way more damage (like the 2008 collapse). The illusions of equality and justice are there to keep the masses from rioting in the streets, as is the self-serving promotion that 'anyone could become one of us, if you just work hard enough'. Truth is it doesn't take hard work. By and large, rich people were born rich, or have psychological deficits that allow them to exploit, harm, and even kill without remorse. Shkreli and his ilk have 'what it takes' to get rich in America. People with hang-ups like ethics and morals will always be left behind until the system fundamentally changes.

Every government in the world has always been run by the privileged. When you have power and privilege it's inevitable that most will use the one to protect the other.

Congratulations! Your video, Combat Obscura Official Trailer Oscilloscope Laboratories, has reached the #1 spot in the current Top 15 New Videos listing. This is a very difficult thing to accomplish but you managed to pull it off. For your contribution you have been awarded 2 Power Points.

This achievement has earned you your "Golden One" Level 40 Badge!

The reason why we still have human pilots in fighters is because you can't jam or hijack a pilots brain. Any machine that is remotely controlled can be jammed at the very least. Leaving it unresponsive to commands. The exception here is that it could be pre programmed to perform a specific bunch of tasks, perhaps even something as advanced as air to air combat but, it loses a lot of flexibility. And it can be easily exploited.

E. G. you know a robot fighter jet is on it's way. Jam it so it cannot be called to cancel it's mission. Put some children into the target area.... That can happen and does with real pilots too, but they are able check and recheck as many times as they feel necessary either their JTACs or the amazing optics on modern jets giving a clear picture from over 10 miles away.

And that if course is with the ethical concerns of having an automatic killing machine fly around, which people like Stephen hawking warn us about. Perhaps in the immediate future the danger is quite low with only collateral incidents, but can you imagine say Trump with this kind of power. A trained soldier regardless of being broken in during training and even with all of the testosterone and adrenaline flowing through his body is still a compassionate and thinking human being. The likelihood of ordering a military wide atrocity is very low compared to an army of machineswhich will carry out any tasks no matter how gruesome. Can you imagine what Trump would do if people were no longer in the loop to share the responsibilities and burden of war? And by extention, that technology would likely be used to control the populace. You think the police in the US have there fair share of power tripping jackasses slipping into the service, well imagine if every officer was basically a silicon version of Trump. That's the worst ki d of robocop movie ever lol

Your video, Metra sets fires along tracks to combat dangerous cold, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon say the F-35’s superiority over its rivals lies in its ability to remain undetected, giving it “first look, first shot, first kill.”

Hugh Harkins, a highly respected author on military combat aircraft, called that claim “a marketing and publicity gimmick” in his book on Russia’s Sukhoi Su-35S, a potential opponent of the F-35. He also wrote, “In real terms an aircraft in the class of the F-35 cannot compete with the Su-35S for out and out performance such as speed, climb, altitude, and maneuverability.”

Other critics have been even harsher. Pierre Sprey, a cofounding member of the so-called “fighter mafia” at the Pentagon and a co-designer of the F-16, calls the F-35 an “inherently a terrible airplane” that is the product of “an exceptionally dumb piece of Air Force PR spin.” He has said the F-35 would likely lose a close-in combat encounter to a well-flown MiG-21, a 1950s Soviet fighter design.

Robert Dorr, an Air Force veteran, career diplomat and military air combat historian, wrote in his book “Air Power Abandoned,” “The F-35 demonstrates repeatedly that it can’t live up to promises made for it. … It’s that bad.”

The development of the F-35 has been a mess by any measurement. There are numerous reasons, but they all come back to what F-35 critics would call the jet's original sin: the Pentagon's attempt to make a one-size-fits-all warplane, a Joint Strike Fighter.

History is littered with illustrations of multi-mission aircraft that never quite measured up. Take Germany's WWII Junkers Ju-88, or the 1970s Panavia Tornado, or even the original F/A-18. Today the Hornet is a mainstay of the American military, but when it debuted it lacked the range and payload of the A-7 Corsair and acceleration and climb performance of the F-4 Phantom it was meant to replace.

Yeah, the F/A-18 was trash when it first came out and it took YEARS and multiple changes/fixes to allow it to fully outperform the decades old aircraft it was designed to beat when it was released.

The F35 is not the best at anything it does, it is designed to fully be mediocre at all roles in order to allow it to be a single solution aircraft. That may change with more money, time, and data retrieved from hours spent in actual combat, but as it stands it is what it was designed to be. A jack of all trades and master of none, not something I would want to be flying in a role where I could encounter a master of that role.

As @ChaosEngine says, it is far beyond time that we move to a design where the pilot is not in the plane. There is no reason at this time that we cannot field a plane that could successfully perform it's role with the pilot in a secure location nearby. Such planes could be built cheaper, could perform in g-forces that humans cannot withstand, and would be expendable in a way that current planes are not. However, this would mean that our corporate welfare system for huge defense contractors would take a massive hit. We can't have that, can we?

It's pretty clear the governments can't get their shit together, so it is up to us as individuals to drive the change.

If you want to do your part to combat climate change, then any reduction in products that come from animal farming is going to decrease your carbon (and methane) foot print.

e.g. Go for the bean burrito with guac or tahani dressing, instead of a beef and cheese burrito.

Go for the coconut/soy/almond ice cream instead.

Watch the COWSPIRACY documentary on Netflix, and look up Dr. Richard Oppenlander speaking to the EU parliament.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet

It's pretty clear the governments can't get their shit together, so it is up to us as individuals to drive the change.

If you want to do your part to combat climate change, then any reduction in products that come from animal farming is going to decrease your carbon (and methane) foot print.

e.g. Go for the bean burrito with guac or tahani dressing, instead of a beef and cheese burrito.

Go for the coconut/soy/almond ice cream instead.

Watch the COWSPIRACY documentary on Netflix, and look up Dr. Richard Oppenlander speaking to the EU parliament.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet