Huckleberry of Yore

Only if the billionaire payed into social security. Clearly this very likely the case but not strictly necessary. A billionaire who earns no interest (or is it taxable interest?) but lived off the existing cash holding would receive no social security payment. And pay no income tax BTW. Means testing has been proposed for social security but as I understand it not implemented yet.

Right. In this thread there appears to be no consensus or agreement about the definitions of capitalism, socialism, fascism, dictatorship, and authoritarianism. Maybe this should be addressed in order to have a meaningful discussion. It seems that capitalism implies unscrupulous and/or fraudulent acts aimed at benefiting the actors likely to the detriment of all others. And it seems that all activities benefiting the entire population are seen as socialistic. I'd cite oil companies as counter example. Fossil fuel firms seek vast profits to benefit it's shareholders and employees and in turn provide critical energy supplies that fuel all our lives. Thought experiment: what would happen if (private) oil production was banned completely. It's likely massive starvation and pestilence would result. So oil companies greedily seek to enrich its owners, and thereby feed* virtually the entire human population. Another example: North Korea's rumored pandemic policy. Carefully and quickly shooting suspected coronavirus carriers would obviously be meant to protect society with no regard for those seeking their own enrichment (the infected). Doesn't this rather perfectly match the goals of socialism? *Feed, clothe, house, employ, protect, et cetera.

As long as service members explicitly and freely choose to serve, the US military is in no way socialistic. Edit: with respect to the rights given up by those who opt for service. Funding the military is, yes, socialistic.

I made several trips to Beijing in 2004 and recall the SARS concern seemed less than Corona, maybe due to the lack of internet. The hotel had CNN but that was a few minutes each day. I hope the onset of spring will put an end to this threat. Kio tsukete Sensei-sama. I took this photo in the hotel elevator. Don't know if they actually did though.

In my youth I cleaned coins dug using a metal detector with baking soda and water. Worked for old pennies, and brightened silver nicely, although as noted previously, valuable coins should not be cleaned like this.

IMO this is contradictory in the sense that the most valuable resource of all is human intelligence. If intelligence declines significantly over time then the human race may be in trouble, but aren't IQs thought to be increasing?

With the exception of C3PIO nobody seems to sleep. Hand rails for safety. Isn't F=ma missing as accelerating to light speed in a few seconds would render the ship and its passengers a cloud of hot gas or something equally as dead.

Big pharma has to follow FDA rules, and provide return on investment for the owners. Not a conspiracy as much as simple economics. Consider the case of ketamine used for severe depression. Apparently, since ketamine is anesthesia and not approved for depression a psychiatrist can't prescribe it. But for some reason you can go to a special clinic and spend $10K for ketamine treatments (which insurance companies won't cover). The drug itself is cheap but since there is no possibility of patenting it no drug company can afford to go through the expensive process of approval for treatment of severe depression. Once again the government is the problem.

Basic calculator. Scientific calculator. Function graphing. Text editor. Image editor. Non GUI - simple grep, sort, hex dump....

I am unsure of the cause but suspect it is more likely after a day of strenuous physical activity. It probably happens once every month or two. When I was married, I would struggle to speak (yell) to get the attention of my partner. Now I try to move an arm or sit up and succeed after what seems like eternity. Often there is sense of a threatening intruder leading to panic, but it has happened where the paralysis occurred without threat and I experienced an enjoyable state of relaxation. But that is very rare. I agree with nevim, it's hideous. My first experience was about the age of 14. I dreamt there was a demon in the room; I could "see" a ghostly white figure reflecting on the wall. I believed for a long time after that I was "possessed". Years later I learned that sleep paralysis is a common experience.

Looks like whitish, translucent to me.

Felix Felicis?

My understanding is that most prehistoric populations that survived had devised time keeping technology primarily to allow them to plant crops accurately enough to provide sustenance for their populations. Cultures that failed to do so likely died out. So Stonehenge probably served that purpose primarily, and secondarily had added cultural significance dealing with dead ancestors, funerals, and probably some really kick ass parties.

I understand that. The brain turns circuits off so we don't physically react to dream scenes. The usual scenario though is that I'm trying to wake up but my dream state convinces me there is a threat in my room (intruder) and I can't turn the circuits back on, so panic sets in. And I have definitely experienced dreaming that I woke up only to realize that I was still dreaming. My dad had the same experiences, I don't think it's uncommon.

When I'm awake, I know it. When I become aware that I am dreaming, I will be waking quite soon, so I have not much time for flying or whatever fun I might like. The exception is the occasional "night terrors" where I'm aware I'm dreaming but can't move and have difficulty wakening. These events are thankfully rare as they are typically quite horrific.