CurrentEvents « The HabitableZone

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Birthright Citizenship RobVG June 29, 2025 3:34 pm (CurrentEvents)

To be blunt, NASA is now dead RL June 27, 2025 11:56 am (Space/Science)

Just for the record... ER June 22, 2025 8:59 am (CurrentEvents)

NSIDC offline? ER June 12, 2025 12:19 pm (Space/Science)

Musk trashes his own AI after it chose a liberal worldview. RobVG June 23, 2025 9:56 am (CurrentEvents)

Psyche keeps its date with an asteroid BuckGalaxy June 22, 2025 5:21 pm (Space/Science)

The Three Unknowns After the U.S. Strike on Iran BuckGalaxy June 22, 2025 12:58 am (CurrentEvents)

There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy. BuckGalaxy June 22, 2025 12:29 am (Flame)

"Remember, what the dormouse said, ER June 5, 2025 4:14 pm (Space/Science)

Not ready for prime time BuckGalaxy June 19, 2025 12:18 pm (Space/Science)

hypocrisy ER June 15, 2025 2:30 pm (Flame)

So, it is official RL June 6, 2025 5:39 pm (Space/Science)

Waiting for Princip by TB October 3, 2011 8:20 pm

Using the wife's computer for this post... Highly complex and evolving systems can usually generate many work-arounds and alternatives to continue ... by ER 2011-10-04 05:58:33
- Again, the key word is "decentralize." by TB 2011-10-04 07:00:19
  - True, but decentralization is a form of redundancy. It costs money to duplicate services, and there are opportunity costs, ... by ER 2011-10-04 08:59:37
    - Robustness and flexibility are only antithetical if you're talking about a centralized system. by TB 2011-10-04 09:29:01
      - I wasn't talking about businesses, I was speaking in general about the properties of large systems. The Roman Empire got ... by ER 2011-10-04 12:39:41
        
        "Ayn Rand in charge?" by TB 2011-10-04 12:59:39
        
        You have just won the tetrafecta. You are absolutely wrong on all 4 counts. by ER 2011-10-04 13:09:23
        
        "Absolutely?" You sure? Why? by TB 2011-10-04 13:11:19
        
        Do I have to explain everything? 1)Ayn Rand/Karl Marx "in charge" are metaphors for the fact that an overly complex Roman ... by ER 2011-10-04 19:48:54
        
        The entire point of Rand's (among others) ideas was about not having someone "in charge" of everything. by TB 2011-10-04 21:41:06
        
        The entire point of this thread was about the dynamics of large systems, a topic I have great interest in ... by ER 2011-10-05 05:25:36
        
        As Perry Mason used to say, you opened the door. :) by TB 2011-10-05 08:49:13
Funny he didn't mention computer programs trading stock by RobVG 2011-10-03 22:15:18
- So, does anyone else have an idea how technology could take us into WWIII? n/t by RobVG 2011-10-05 14:50:26

Shame on the GOP by Eri October 2, 2011 10:45 pm

Obama wants to end the war on terror by BuckGalaxy October 2, 2011 1:34 am

I've been following the technology in places like Aviation Week. by TB 2011-10-02 09:06:40
- Check it out: by TB 2011-10-02 09:27:49
  - Thanks for the links! Lots of interesting data on that page. Remember we're still far from getting the full ... by BuckGalaxy 2011-10-03 23:04:37
    - Cripes, you can get pocket digital cameras that remember faces or can tell if someone blinked in the picture. ... by TB 2011-10-04 07:02:17
It is possible to overlay the Right's growing flirtation with isolationism and "peace" alongside Obama's increasingly aggressive and successful war against ... by ER 2011-10-02 04:59:03
- The right's knee jerk reaction to oppose Obama on anything and everything has little precedent in post Civil War America. ... by BuckGalaxy 2011-10-03 23:14:15
  - "Little precedent??" by TB 2011-10-04 07:03:15
- While it does seem possible that we can severely damage (and possibly end this current form) of Al Qaida, I ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-10-03 20:40:13

It's growing.... by Eri October 1, 2011 11:06 pm

"What I saw at the Revolution" by TB 2011-10-06 12:33:41
Heh. by TB 2011-10-02 19:59:33
- I foresee a leader will arise and then things will spin faster and they WILL be heard. And everyone ... by Eri 2011-10-02 22:51:14
  - So far, their leaders have been airheads, too. by TB 2011-10-03 09:33:37
    - You're either blind or choose not to see what is happening. These are not mindless masses. They are ... by Eri 2011-10-03 22:39:16
      - Most unfortunately, "mindless" and "voter" are not mutually exclusive. by TB 2011-10-04 08:15:39
I've been watching it grow, and spread. And there's been very little notice of it in the MSM. I remember ... by ER 2011-10-02 04:27:29

"Narrative" and reality by TB October 1, 2011 12:58 pm

The Gates of Eden by ER 2011-10-01 17:30:46
- Your stuff's a lot better. by TB 2011-10-01 17:56:49
  - EDITED: Thank you, TB. But I couldn't help but seeing the delicious irony of being lectured about reality by the Great ... by ER 2011-10-01 18:03:17
    - Yeah, there's a few points of lucidity in there, but a lot of it's just nonsense, the sort of thing ... by TB 2011-10-01 18:35:20
      - Everything is opinion, except the speed of light. And we're not really sure about that. by ER 2011-10-01 18:39:58
This was a life lesson very hard won for me. Now I am a proponent of "It is what it is". Once ... by Jody 2011-10-01 16:33:47

Question: by Jody September 30, 2011 2:05 pm

The empirical answers are clearly written across history, including what practically amounted to scientific experiments: East and West Germany. ... by TB 2011-09-30 14:49:46
- Tom, Tom, Tom. It's disappointing to see you raise this again. You know that both East Germany was ... by bowser 2011-09-30 22:12:00
  - Tom can always find an example that will demonstrate his points. So can I. Germany today is one of ... by ER 2011-10-01 05:50:40
    - Better hope Germany's luck holds, by TB 2011-10-01 10:25:33
      - And you'd better hope Germany's luck doesn't hold, or the entire foundation of your universe and worldview will come crashing ... by ER 2011-10-01 10:45:20
        
        Only one side in these discussions typically ends them by throwing data and evidence out the window and descending to ... by TB 2011-10-01 11:39:40
        
        Yeah, but you're scared of Liz Warren, by ER 2011-10-01 11:48:19
        
        It's hard to take this stuff lightly. My kids are going to be living in this country for a ... by TB 2011-10-01 12:49:33
        
        And losing your sense of humor and of the absurd is really going to improve the situation immeasurably. Not ... by Eri 2011-10-01 23:17:35
        
        Didn't it ever occur to you that I and everyone I love also live in this country? And that ... by ER 2011-10-01 12:57:22
        
        See, I can't quite wrap my head around a term like "rightly or wrongly, I'm convinced." Nothing hostile or ... by TB 2011-10-01 13:38:50
        
        "Rightly or wrongly" is not an expression or admission of possible uncertainty or error on my part. It is an ... by ER 2011-10-01 14:47:05
You don't have to choose between a blue pill and a red pill. The correct answer to your question is what ... by ER 2011-09-30 14:33:51
- I guess some could say that the right amounts of the two depend on when and where the people are. ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-09-30 18:37:36
  - You can't figure out the right mix, it has to evolve naturally and be implemented politically. Hopefully, that will ... by ER 2011-10-01 06:31:07
  - If you want an answer to that, just go out and look. See for yourself which systems adapt, grow ... by TB 2011-09-30 21:32:40
  - I'm afraid I'm a bit more cynical than that. Most people want what is best for them, in the ... by ER 2011-09-30 19:13:20
    - No offense... ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-09-30 21:52:31
      - I'm the cynic. I have learned that people have a tendency to talk themselves into believing what they want ... by ER 2011-10-01 06:13:29
        
        ...Touche. I understand that the rest of Scandinavia is still a bit sore about that (Word has it you can't sit ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-10-01 16:08:35
        
        Well, that's something I won't be using on my bread. by Eri 2011-10-01 23:22:53
        
        Another inadequacy of the Spanish language. They have no slang for excrement, so they wind up using words like butter ... by FrankC 2011-10-01 16:43:20
        
        They don't need slang for by ER 2011-10-01 18:19:25
        
        Yeah but we are talking about slang not legit words. Still the imagery of the phrase in question is poignant, ... by FrankC 2011-10-01 19:36:37
        
        That there's a fightin' word, hombre! My favorite Spanish phrase (learned on the radio during Cinco de Mayo) which I had ... by Eri 2011-10-01 23:32:28
        
        It just occurred to me, that might have originated as an abbreviation for prostituta. That is a legitimate word too, as ... by ER 2011-10-01 20:04:41
- I could not agree more by FrankC 2011-09-30 16:52:14

The new oil boom by TB September 30, 2011 9:49 am

9 More Years of Drought for Texas? by Eri September 30, 2011 5:56 am

:( Some areas are in Stage 3 of water restrictions. The trees are in shock. My shrubs are burned. It has been a ... by Jody 2011-09-30 07:05:18
- Fox hated Texas. He detested the heat. Texas has two weather cycles: hotter'n hell and Blue Norther. by Eri 2011-09-30 11:39:24
Then they get frogs and flies. by ER 2011-09-30 06:08:02
- Or... by Eri 2011-09-30 11:41:46

Conficker worm is scarey by Eri September 29, 2011 9:27 pm

Meh... always these scares. The internet may become somewhat crippled, but the only thing that could completely take it down is ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-09-30 18:44:06
There are plenty of defenses against this worm. by TB 2011-09-30 08:12:15
- I clicked on each of the images and was led to sites for downloading those products. Since the sites ... by Eri 2011-09-30 12:05:01
  - You're not supposed to click on them. The test is whether or not all the links are visible. ... by TB 2011-09-30 14:13:00
    - There were all visible. I didn't see any directions. by Eri 2011-10-01 23:34:52

The arrest of a physicist for possessing a model aircraft. by Jeff-Wash September 29, 2011 7:03 pm

Remember, one of the goals of terrorism is to not only cause damage and casualties, but to force governments to ... by ER 2011-09-29 19:21:02

Bad news for air travellers... by BuckGalaxy September 29, 2011 10:12 am

I don't understand why the WH is not willing to send teams of SEALS, Green Berets, and CIA operatives into ... by Jeff-Wash 2011-09-29 18:55:00
- They may have. But they're not going to announce it if they have. Would kind of defeat ... by Eri 2011-09-29 21:37:34
- If Obama publicly sends U.S. troops into Libya on the ground, his base will flay him alive. He's already ... by TB 2011-09-29 19:15:32
  - Yeah, and I'm sure if he sent in the Airborne the Tea Party would wholeheartedly support him. Besides, that may be ... by ER 2011-09-29 19:52:16
    - Like I said, I hope Special Forces are working this stuff. by TB 2011-09-29 19:54:59
      - I think that's pretty much a no brainer. There were a few reports about CIA and millitary adivors working ... by BuckGalaxy 2011-09-29 20:49:49
        
        I can't wait for the kudos from the Right for Obama to come rolling in now that Al-Awlaki has been ... by ER 2011-09-30 06:00:54
Over and above the terrorist threat to commercial aviation, the world might look very different if technology made military aircraft ... by ER 2011-09-29 10:43:02
- Cavalry was quickly replaced with tanks. Military aircraft already have a lot of defenses against these things. I've seen some questions about ... by TB 2011-09-29 11:34:07

No Child Left Behind but Where are the Teachers? by Eri September 29, 2011 9:24 am

I don't like to yell type in caps lock much, but ... by VelociraptorBlade 2011-09-30 18:46:22
Another article on this subject. by TB 2011-09-29 15:59:11

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