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In addition to what iNow said, I think much of it is also couched in a, I want to say North American way of thinking which I found very different from the view and actions of police in most parts of Western Europe. With that I mean is that non-compliance with police commands has to inevitably result in an escalation of events. But again, that is not the case elsewhere. German law for example does not count fleeing from the police as violent form of resistance against the police. In one case a fleeing driver winged a police officer and it was ruled as an accident rather than a violent action (the reasoning was that the deed had to be aimed directly at the victim rather than an incidental injury). As such, a German police officer would not at any point during traffic control aim their weapons (of whatever kind) at a driver during a regular stop. To provide some more context, in Germany in 2016 weapons were drawn 52 times against people, resulting in a total of 11 deaths and 28 injuries. This is for a police force of at that time 270k officers. In Canada, by contrast has roughly a police force of 70k officers and had a similar number of shooting incidences per year (roughly 60). However, they tend to be far deadlier, the last number for Canada I saw was that 34 out of 55 police shootings resulted in death. In the US, the numbers are, as we all know, far worse. It starts with training which tends to be much longer in Europe and the attitude toward encounters. But perhaps also relevant is a kind of warrior mentality at play in which officers are trained to spot danger in every moment of their interaction and basically flip a switch from casual to deadly encounter. This causes a very stressful situation with the risk of the switch being flipped while not necessary. To me that sounds very different to what I have heard from German police officers, where they are trained to evaluate a situation and then only escalate if the situation becomes life threatening. I.e. proportionality of the response is a key element, where not having a license or number plate would likely lead to violence or even death. There is also a huge emphasis on de-escalation. Another important difference is that there is no qualified immunity or similar mechanism in Germany (not sure about Canada) despite having a strong police union. Though I should, there is a discussion in Germany regarding police violence and racism but most involve non-lethal events. As a whole it seems to me that in the NA system (and especially USA) there is a big onus on the civilian to do make not mistakes to minimize the risk of a potential harmful police encounter, whereas in Germany it is more seen as the responsibility of the police to keep things peacefully. There also seems to be also a cultural gap in that regard. Most Canadian and US-American colleagues kind of understand or even assume that non-compliance is likely to lead to harm and/or death whereas (Western) Europeans tend to focus on the initial event (e.g. non-violent vs violent transgressions).

The thing is, being on twitter, soundbites are kind of necessary, and it's easy to read too much into a tweet where someone is trying to be pithy. Steak-Umm wasn't wrong, but it's arguable what "it" encompasses. The process of science, or the knowledge it uncovers? And are you picking nits when the parenthetical "all science is subject to revision if new information is uncovered" isn't included, because perhaps that was meant to be understood? So yeah, it could have been worded better, but then it wouldn't flow as well. "The good thing about Science is that the truth of the information it uncovers doesn't depend on whether or not you believe in it." would be better, but won't fit as well onto a t-shirt. It's also a matter of his followers probably knowing the science is both a process and a body of knowledge and being able to discern between the two uses, and Steak-Umm cynically assuming that his followers aren't those people.

Unfortunately, those of us in the US weren’t able to dismiss him out of hand. And yet his administration’s response seems to not have much to do with the information he got, since he largely ignored it and did almost nothing. Which is one reason I want to know why it would have mattered knowing the details of how the virus originally spread. Would Trump have done a different kind of nothing? Would governors have changed their push to repeatedly reopen too soon? Would they have done something different in avoiding mask mandates? How were these decisions based on the WHO's investigation?

Emotions are great motivators, but many folks don't use them correctly, imo. They get passionate or angry or frustrated in a way that wastes the energy that could be used. It's like using a motor to spin a flat piece of metal. It just spins and does no work, but if you angle the metal so it resists the air you create a propeller, something that actually does some work. So find something productive to achieve, and put all your anger and passion behind THAT. Don't just wave your hands. Be careful assigning behavior like this to all humans. We've prospered as a species partly by balancing our fears and our curiosities. Boldness isn't lessened one bit by lots of careful research and testing the waters. Without careful consideration, "bold" becomes "rash and foolhardy".

Neal deGrasse Tyson made and amateurish post ( which he should have qualified ), and was soundly rebuked by Steak-Umm's social media postings. I actually find it kind of humorous. Steak-umm's Twitter Account Feuds With Neil deGrasse Tyson Over Science: 'Log Off Bro' (msn.com)

I would give him a break, @MigL, although I see your point. The word "truth" is perhaps not the best choice --sociologically--, granted. But, Number of times Feynman uses the noun "truth" in the Feynman Lectures on Physics: Volume I: 5 Volume II: 6 Volume III: 9 Number of times the adjective "true" appears in the Feynman Lectures on Physics: Volume I: 128 (one of them in the composite word "untrue") (at this point I stopped counting) The difference is these were not tweets. If you think about it, there are two ways in which you can present scientific "truths": 1) Inertial mass and gravitational mass are equal 2) Inertial mass and gravitational mass are equal to within 1 part in 5 billion Now, I don't know about you, but I don't mind calling the second one "true." The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. I 18-1 (My Italics emphasis.)

+1 Thanks for the response I was hoping someone would try it as I have never put anything on youtube before. It did say something about private and then something about waiting a day whilst it 'processed' when I asked to make it public. That dfay has now passed. But I really don't know what I am doing so welcome all the help I can get.

Unfortunately the video doesn't seem to be public, was that intentional? When I click the link YouTube responds with: "The video is unavailable" "This video is private."

Haha, that is a pretty cool inlay in the floor. I love when craftsmen show off a bit. And yes, it is solid pieces. I seem to have an affinity for making projects that can't be moved without at least two people. 😁 I'd love to see them! I cut some dovetails once but only to see if I could do it. I've not yet used them on a project.

Yes, wonderful illustration of patterns emerging from collective behaviour. Taken one by one these starlings seem quite "vulgar" as compared to other, more beautiful, birds. But when they team up to do this in the sky, they truly are a wonder of Nature.

I'll see if I can get a couple of photos of some impressive dovetail joints I made and a couple of housing joints. 😉 Well done, both of you!!

Perhaps you should go back and read the relevent post again. The facts that the universe is near infinite in extent[just a phrase of mine, you can say extraordinarily large beyond any comprehension if you prefer] , and near infinte in content [numbers of stars and planets also extraordinarily large beyond comprehension] along with the facts that the stuff of life is everywhere we look, gives us every reason to believe abiogenesis should/could have also taken place elsewhere, off this Earth. Those are facts that have plenty of reputable scientists accepting that we are "probably "not alone". None of that is the extraordinary evidence required to validate for certain, that life exists elsewhere. We don't know. In actual fact this is what I actually posted If that contradicts your hypothesis [not a theory] then so be it. Not closed minded, simply scientifically minded and reafirming what Carl Sagan said. "extraordinary claims, require extraordinary evidence". And of course as I also said, the small percentage that remain as unexplained, are just that unexplained and could be any number of scenarios, as I also mentioned, including, yes, Aliens. But guess what? We dont really know. PS: I also in general reject conspiracies and those pushing conspiracies, and reject any nonsense of an anti gravity machine as it also lacks any evidence to support that claim.

That’s wonderful! It looks like you used solid pieces and not just veneer over plywood. I also like the inlay in your floor

I'm totally in the camp of people that say it's only been 75 days, give him some more time, geez! In comparisons that try to paint him as being worse than an outright sprint for dictator control by a sociopath who allowed a pandemic to become a controlled genocide. But absolutely not in considering that the president is war criminal in chief and that, wow, maybe all that good stuff they're doing was, i don't know, supposed to be their job the whole time? anyways, anyone who is actually going to say the US empire is humane, even if playing devil's advocate for sake of a good discussion, could have the cure for cancer for all I care, it's time to tune them out because they're basically implementing the same form of cognitive dissonance as people who think all of the police out here murdering black men is justified, for whatever random reason. Sorry if that seems cruelly unrelated or harsh but I think it's a much more comprehensive and coherent analysis of behavior than "douchey" and "unreasonable" when these people seem pretty damn proud to be the leaders of the so called free world. (And yes, our modern age has extreme levels of privilege and luxury and I am really appreciative of it all but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be standards) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pavlich-bidens-border-policies-are-humane-hardly/ar-BB1eG178 "According to lawyers who have visited children in the facilities, 4,200 minors are being kept in Border Patrol "jail like cells" for longer than 72-hour maximum legal limit. They are sleeping on cold floors, in crammed conditions and going hungry. And while the White House doesn't want to "label" the situation as a crisis or disaster, the deployment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to handle the situation proves it is exactly those things." I'm confident that video has been secured of these facilities, maintaining the status quo from the last term isn't humane. Sadly what has become a conservative talking point is actually true, the facilities were started under the obama admin. Just because a bunch of idiots who probably desperately need to be tested for dementia get a hold of a piece of information and use it to smear the other party's guy doesn't mean it doesn't have some truth to it. Being humble about the right kind of volatile problem riddled information can at times be a magical skill that draws the lines between people considering your perspective even if it has its own problems, and realizing that you're just completely full of shit

Really well done sir! I'm duly impressed. 😁 Here is my latest project. A simple bookshelf made of birch. The joinery is primarily biscuits.

They remind me of schools of fish, just “swimming” through a different fluid.

When I was young I used to see those giant flocks of starlings all the time. I was always mesmerized by them. I still see them occasionally, and while they are much smaller flocks they still do that dance in the sky.

There’s an old saying about how campaigns are written in poetry whereas legislation and governance is written in prose. You’re welcome to your feelings, but feels rather nit picky to me. YMMV You mean other than injecting $6T into the economy and coordinating 3Million daily vaccine shots, while also organizing climate commitments from other nations, readying the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by 9/11, and addressing a surge of migrants on the southern border in a humane way... And all within their first 75 days in office? Not to put too fine a point on it, but your criticism is a bit douchey and a lot unreasonable. In fairness, the congress had been actively and voluntarily relinquishing / surrendering their power to the executive branch for decades. The basic calculus is that it’s easier to keep their seat and win the next election when they refuse to take hard votes. Can’t say I blame those holding executive office who are more than happy to continue receiving and exercising said power.

The Zimbabwe school kids report is puzzling for sure, I've read attempts to explain it as mass hysteria or school kids fantasies but such explanations would seem to fall short so far. The Tic Tac is puzzling but it has an air of some sort of military test more than extraordinary technology to me. The 1952 Washington, DC sighting is, I think, one of the most inexplicable sightings and it also showcases the dishonesty of the military at the time in how they tried to explain it way with things like temperature inversions when in fact it had multiple independent eyewitnesses, multiple independent radars, Air Force pilots, interaction with air force jets, commercial jets, and even had the president demanding to know what was above the white house. The Coyne sighting as it is known was seen by the crew of a military helicopter and people on the ground and remains inexplicable as well. The Japan Airlines sighting over Alaska is yet another interesting sighting and is still debated today as to the particulars. Considerable disagreement over how the government reacted, differing accounts of the sighting, and a supposed cover up make this one interesting but also confusing.

That is exactly it. Of course many folks see a degree as an entry ticket to a job, but fundamentally that is not their purpose. And before everyone dunks on social sciences, it should be noted that according to 2016 census data from Statistics Canada, men with Bachelor's in Biology make less than their peers in Social sciences (in women it is reversed). The highest paid categories are in Nursing, Engineering Mathematics and Computer sciences. It is perhaps not surprising that more vocational disciplines are associated with higher earnings (with mathematics being an exception, I suspect it may be part of the big data boom), but it is also shows that the there are other indicators that one needs to recognize. Especially research in natural and other sciences is often a parallel stream to higher-paying industrial jobs.

Starlings, a new state of matter? (lots of minutes, I've cut the last video.) How do they do that? Remind me of cellular automata. But far more amazing.

A man boarded an airplane and took his seat. As he settled in, he glanced Up and saw the most beautiful woman boarding the plane. He soon realized She was heading straight towards his seat. As fate would have it, she took The seat right beside his. Eager to strike up a conversation he blurted out, “Business trip or pleasure?” She turned, smiled and said, “Business. I’m going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Boston." He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen Sitting next to him, and she was going to a meeting of nymphomaniacs! Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, “What’s your Business at this convention?” “Lecturer,” she responded. “I use information that I have learned from my Personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.” “Really?” he said. “And what kind of myths are there?” “Well,” she explained, “one popular myth is that African-American men are The most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is That Frenchmen are the best lovers, when actually it is men of Mexican Descent who are the best. I have also discovered that the lover with Absolutely the best stamina is the Southern Redneck.” Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed.. “I’m Sorry,” she said, “I shouldn't really be discussing all of this with you. I don’t Even know your name.” “Tonto,” the man said, “Tonto Gonzales, but my friends call me Bubba".

Is the anger you feel something that can be used to make the situation better? If so, then there’s no need for anger. Focus on making things better. If not, then your anger is only distracting you from finding those things that can help. Anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Try exercise and meditation instead, or whatever brings you joy.

Thanks for bold underlining your goalpost move, but at a certain point, you need to acknowledge that any step in the right direction is a good step.

Everybody is talking here of a 15-$-minimum wage as though it were a Huge step towards returning the amassed wealth @ the hands of 1% of US population to the lowest of lowest Americans . . .. . . Gosh !!

The only thing that offends me is nonapology apologies like this and I didn’t insult you. Feel free to reread what I actually typed. You even quoted it. Your beliefs are irrelevant. Correct, because I shared actual facts and didn’t make unsupported unevidenced comments based solely on my beliefs. Two points: 1) The onus is on you to support your own assertions, not on readers to chase down whether or not what you “believe” is valid, based in reality, or fictional horseshit pulled out of your anus. 2) I went ahead and DID “wiki” your post at Minimum Wage in the US and nowhere does it support your claim that “more than 85% of American workers who earn minimum wage actually earn over $11 an hour.” What it DOES say is that the effective AVERAGE minimum wage across the US is over $11/hr. If you don’t wish to be corrected, then consider not saying things which are demonstrably false. If you stand by the claims you’re making, then point to a serious source which backs them up. If you wish to be taken seriously, consider also not throwing tantrums and claiming you’re being attacked when you do get corrected.

As someone who earns about $15 an hour, I can tell you it's with great difficulty. For an adult working a 40+ hour week, $11 an hour ain't worth shit. Earning less than that is just demeaning. How are you supposed to improve your situation if you don't have money to spare? I think America needs to start adding extra import taxes to companies that don't pay their workers fair wages or pensions on top of the minimum wage increase.

Nobody here gives a shit what you believe, Jay Tony. This is a topic where facts both exist and matter. https://www.statista.com/topics/5920/minimum-wage-in-the-united-states/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/03/15-minimum-wage-black-hispanic-women/

Grow up my child, grow up..

It's probably generally accepted that most people have fantasy ideals and the unattainable celebrity represents that.

So you are calling a theory that I brought up wrong while your theory is based off of if, should and certainly not extraordinary evidence... it is certainly not. It is no evidence. You are hoping that since we have a lot of planets there should be life... you just spice up the words to sound better with 0 evidence. Another degrading claim backed by nothing. So the US never invaded Germany? Operation paperclip never happened? 1942 wasn’t our first official ufo sighting? It wasn’t a “battle over LA” ? In 1945, same time as operation paperclip, the US didn’t have an increase of sightings? Those are facts. “I know nothing” *socrates would be a good quote for you to think about so you are not so closed minded. If you are going to degrade back it up with facts please.