Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

It's a cultural taboo, but I could see it coming back into fashion if there was a worldwide drought or food blight. I remember reading this SF book where a caste of human cattle developed over time- people treated them like livestock even though they were genetically the same as humans.


>> ^raverman:
I'm curious what tipping point in cultural development made this taboo?
I'm gonna guess the invention of agriculture and settled community / cities. Kinda hard to eat your neighbors children when you can't move away from them.

I'm curious what tipping point in cultural development made this taboo?

I'm gonna guess the invention of agriculture and settled community / cities. Kinda hard to eat your neighbors children when you can't move away from them.

It looked like you were directing your threat of violence at me; if not, no harm no foul.

And as far as pensions go, think again. In this day and age, noone is exempt from losing benefits and a pension. There are plenty of police pension plans that stipulate the terms under which an officer can lose his pension. Abuse of authority and becoming a liability to the department through bad conduct are two common situations that a pension can be taken away.

That's why (smart) cops don't abuse people with perceived affluence and/or lawyers.>> ^Mashiki:
Who said anything about a threat? Projecting much. I enjoy pointing out the obvious, and sorry position doesn't make any difference. If you were stupid enough to do it, you'd pay for it too, at the end of the day.
Fun tip point: Pensions are protected, and so is reasonable force under the law in terms of assault. But you'd by and far enjoy losing don't worry. Plenty of case law on it.
>> ^longde:
I don't know who you think you're talking to with your keyboard threats.
If I was stupid enough to get in a position that would let you do that, and you were stupid enough to try, you would never be able to retire. I'd make sure your pension was given to my kids and my lawyers.

Who said anything about a threat? Projecting much. I enjoy pointing out the obvious, and sorry position doesn't make any difference. If you were stupid enough to do it, you'd pay for it too, at the end of the day.

Fun tip point: Pensions are protected, and so is reasonable force under the law in terms of assault. But you'd by and far enjoy losing don't worry. Plenty of case law on it.

>> ^longde:

I don't know who you think you're talking to with your keyboard threats.
If I was stupid enough to get in a position that would let you do that, and you were stupid enough to try, you would never be able to retire. I'd make sure your pension was given to my kids and my lawyers.

Response from Hank Johnson via wikipedia:


“I wasn’t suggesting that the island of Guam would literally tip over. I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents – an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 – could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and over burden its already overstressed infrastructure."

“Having traveled to Guam last year, I saw firsthand how this beautiful – but vulnerable - island is already overburdened, and I was simply voicing my concerns that the addition of that many people could tip the delicate balance and do harm to Guam.”

Total insane bullshit.. not about mandatory vaccinations. I think at some point when they are facing a 50% of the country being infected, they will have to vaccinate, because they don't have the hospitals or respitory to save these 5% of the population that will die from h1N1 if it spreads to over 20% of the population or whatever the tipping point is.

Nonsense about metal bracelets...?? Trust me if it gets bad enough people will be lining up for vaccine, but it will be too late by then.

>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
You know - I'm going to go ahead and use one profanity for a change, though I usually eschew the practice. But all this neoliberal whining about the health care protesters is BULLSHIT.
I have a very good memory. I recall that in the Bush years, the Democrat party was pretty cool with the fine art of public protesting. Democrat protests were FAR more organized and planned by neolib far-left interests than the current protests are.
But now all of a sudden the protesters are 'nazis'... The White House sets up a snitch program to rat out fellow citizens... Unions thugs are roughing up protesters... Leaders of the house & senate are maligning US citizens and even Godwined the issue... Neolib apologists and propogandists like Madcow whining about how 'bad' protesting is... Hmmm - Democrats don't seem to think protests are so cool any more. Community activists are now a bunch of 'nazis'... My, how things change in just a few months...
I didn't mind the protests against Bush, even though they were Democrat hired rent-a-mobs. But there's nothing WRONG with that. If the protests didn't actually reflect the will of the people, then they would have gone nowhere. But the Iraq war protests had traction becuse the American people didn't support the war in general. The protests reflected the national mood and attitude - so they were legigimate despite being fostered and fomented by neolib special interest groups.
The same thing is true of the protests now. This is not just a bunch of bussed in rent-a-mobs. This is a wide spread protest by a HUGE number of citizens who do not like what is happening. They're motivated by the stimulus bill, or unemployment, cap & trade, takeovers of auto companies, the huge deficit spending, the health bill, or any number of about a million things Obama has said/done/planned since he took office.
I think they also reflect the rather alarming attitude that Democrats demonstrating since they took power. They are acting about 100X more totalitarian and nazi-esque than the Republicans ever did under Bush. They drip with contempt towards their own citizens. They insult and demean opposition. They ignore the polls that show there is not a lot of support for what they're doing. They're brusque, callous, and haughty - and they don't mind showing it. What's worse, there are some very scary things going on like Union thugs roughing up protestors and shoving private citizens out of public meetings. That's jackbooted, brownshirted, oppression being bought and paid for by Democrats - just the stuff they accused Bush of doing.
And then there's the Democrat party's blatant hypocrisy. They whine at citizens for not saving money while they spend like drunken sailors. They tell companies to drive to Washington while they buy brand new private jets and go on massively expensive junkets.
Combine the lack of support for unpopular legislation with the Democrat propensity for voter disdain and utter hypocrisy... Is it any small wonder that people are protesting en masse? It's a wonder this didn't hit them much sooner, to be frank. They've crossed a line and reached a tipping point. This isn't just some Republican orchestrated thing. This is a massive citizen uprising against a government that is becoming too intrusive.
The neoliberals flacks like Madcow can sneer at the citizens all they want. But these are CITIZENS of the United States that are trying to get invovled in the process - and the Democrats are treating them like they're scum. The Democrat party is playing with fire here. If they keep up this kind of condescention and deny the reality of the situation (that people DON'T want this) then they're going to end up repeating 1994 in 2010.


C'mon really dont be that stupid, first of all with the war on Irak most of the people at that time was Ok with it, when they saw that everything was a lie and a personal agenda of some is when the protest begin not before , but now they are protesting for something that has not even happen, for someone as ignorant as you it has to ring a bell or are these rednecks that naive not to ask some question or see diferent opinions before taking a side?. C'mon

You know - I'm going to go ahead and use one profanity for a change, though I usually eschew the practice. But all this neoliberal whining about the health care protesters is BULLSHIT.

I have a very good memory. I recall that in the Bush years, the Democrat party was pretty cool with the fine art of public protesting. Democrat protests were FAR more organized and planned by neolib far-left interests than the current protests are.

But now all of a sudden the protesters are 'nazis'... The White House sets up a snitch program to rat out fellow citizens... Unions thugs are roughing up protesters... Leaders of the house & senate are maligning US citizens and even Godwined the issue... Neolib apologists and propogandists like Madcow whining about how 'bad' protesting is... Hmmm - Democrats don't seem to think protests are so cool any more. Community activists are now a bunch of 'nazis'... My, how things change in just a few months...

I didn't mind the protests against Bush, even though they were Democrat hired rent-a-mobs. But there's nothing WRONG with that. If the protests didn't actually reflect the will of the people, then they would have gone nowhere. But the Iraq war protests had traction becuse the American people didn't support the war in general. The protests reflected the national mood and attitude - so they were legigimate despite being fostered and fomented by neolib special interest groups.

The same thing is true of the protests now. This is not just a bunch of bussed in rent-a-mobs. This is a wide spread protest by a HUGE number of citizens who do not like what is happening. They're motivated by the stimulus bill, or unemployment, cap & trade, takeovers of auto companies, the huge deficit spending, the health bill, or any number of about a million things Obama has said/done/planned since he took office.

I think they also reflect the rather alarming attitude that Democrats demonstrating since they took power. They are acting about 100X more totalitarian and nazi-esque than the Republicans ever did under Bush. They drip with contempt towards their own citizens. They insult and demean opposition. They ignore the polls that show there is not a lot of support for what they're doing. They're brusque, callous, and haughty - and they don't mind showing it. What's worse, there are some very scary things going on like Union thugs roughing up protestors and shoving private citizens out of public meetings. That's jackbooted, brownshirted, oppression being bought and paid for by Democrats - just the stuff they accused Bush of doing.

And then there's the Democrat party's blatant hypocrisy. They whine at citizens for not saving money while they spend like drunken sailors. They tell companies to drive to Washington while they buy brand new private jets and go on massively expensive junkets.

Combine the lack of support for unpopular legislation with the Democrat propensity for voter disdain and utter hypocrisy... Is it any small wonder that people are protesting en masse? It's a wonder this didn't hit them much sooner, to be frank. They've crossed a line and reached a tipping point. This isn't just some Republican orchestrated thing. This is a massive citizen uprising against a government that is becoming too intrusive.

The neoliberals flacks like Madcow can sneer at the citizens all they want. But these are CITIZENS of the United States that are trying to get invovled in the process - and the Democrats are treating them like they're scum. The Democrat party is playing with fire here. If they keep up this kind of condescention and deny the reality of the situation (that people DON'T want this) then they're going to end up repeating 1994 in 2010.

This could be the tipping point of the Iranian revolution.

i'm not reading a novel at the moment, just shitloads of books related to architecture, machinery and graffiti. it's a fucking blast.

'mural art: large scale art from walls around the world' is one of the best books i ever got my hands on. the photos in it are ridiculously awesome and it's the kind of book anyone and everyone will be impressed by. seriously. did i tell you it's fucking awesome yet?

'spacecraft: fleeting architecture and hideouts' is a book i've had for over a year now and i've just returned to it for the umpteenth time. even if you don't appreciate architecture you'll love this book. it's got a house in it where the furniture slides into the wallspace, a treehouse on top of a skyscraper, an incredible structure in thailand called 'hybrid muscle' which the locals attach buffalo to in order to generate electricity. if i could marry a book it'd be this one.

'over: the american landscape at the tipping point' is a photographic wankfest. this alex maclean fella got in a small plane and took hundreds of aerial photos of the american landscape where nature and humans have collided. it's a treat.

Wow I didn't even know about this, looks like they decriminalized all criminal drug laws for soft and hard drugs in 2001, allowing possession of 10 times the regular dose, treating infractions as a social and addiction problem.

Generally I believe the US is heading towards full decriminalization, I believe currently 13 states have medical marijuana programs, with California being the most progressive. The DOJ has stated raids against head shops will now end. Polls from 2001 to 2008 show a steady rise in support decriminalization.

The tipping point will be how the current moves to tax marijuana in California will proceed, which is being discussed as a means to curb the state debt.

I personally believe that even incremental decriminalization will how profound effects on reducing large criminal cartels in Mexico and South America as they are key suppliers of most of the drugs that seep into the US.

Agreed. "Tipping Point," "Blink," and "Outliers" are interesting reads.

Yeah.. brought to you by the same people that oppose the Kyoto protocol, deny the health effects of second hand smoke and promote deregulation of health care insurance.

Yay.

This article sheds some light on why numbers like +0,8C or 3% are really big numbers. Key word, 'Tipping point'.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/01/climatechange.carbonemissions

After watching the second epsiode, this seems like a fragmented part of a full 4-5 minute pilot instead.

And if "following" instead of "leading" means I'm still holding the largest market share, let me be following anyday.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were always evil, except Gates is a genius left-brainer whereas Jobs is a genius right-brainer. As technology has surpassed a critical tipping point in capability needed for every-day user needs, the selling point will be from design.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Thanks for sharing ThePinky.

This is actually a good discussion - everyone please keep things civil. I've noticed sometimes that when personal revelations come out in a thread - that's the tipping point when things go berzerk. But not on our community.