Huckleberry of Yore

36 minutes ago, zapatos said:

If you are a billionaire you still get social security payments.

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.

32 minutes ago, swansont said:

Proportional to what you paid in; the payment requirements are capped. Also there is a means-testing. If you have income over a certain amount, you aren't eligible.

Means testing has been proposed for social security but as I understand it not implemented yet.

15 hours ago, Phi for All said:

So the military was socialistic when we had the draft? Choice is the difference?! 

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.

On 2/4/2020 at 2:05 AM, prakash2dubey said:

 

Increasing population, decreasing resources

 

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....

1 hour ago, Carl Fredrik Ahl said:

How do you get those sleep paralysis?

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.

2 hours ago, nevim said:

I’ve had it since childhood although never at night

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?

7 hours ago, Strange said:

The idea that it was built as a basic calendar,

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.

35 minutes ago, Endy0816 said:

That is you protecting yourself from sleep walking and the like.

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.

10 minutes ago, iNow said:

That must’ve been one big bird. Even organic chickens are less than $10 by me. I’m in the Midwest. 

I'm in Minnesota.  My eyes bulged when I saw $17 on the register.  Better taste good.

Edit: 4.27 lb.

Reading this made me curious, so I bought a whole chicken.  It's organic and as such cost about twice normal ($17).  It says: "100 % AIR CHILLED, No Retained Water, Including chlorinated water."  I'll look at a cheaper chicken next time.  (I'm in the Midwest US.)

I made the mistake of following those two links and don't recommend them.  Still, I don't see snopes or anyone else following up on the legitimacy or the claims in the NYT 1902 article.  I found nothing relevant by searching, so for now I presume subsequent investigation revealed a hoax or maybe the bones turned out to be non-human.

Just now, Strange said:

It is a bit bizarre of the NYT to put a 1902 article behind a paywall. I wonder if they still have copyright on it?

Not a lawyer but I'm pretty sure the answer is no.  Consequently, I believe you can acquire an original copy and republish it to you heart's content.  But apparently the NYT has gone to the trouble of scanning their old editions and put them up for subscription based viewing. 

A bit off topic:

Coincidentally years ago I had the idea of scanning old papers and putting them on a website, even purchased some old out-of-copyright NYTs and some Civil War era editions.  I had trouble with OCR software and abandoned the idea.

4 minutes ago, Strange said:

So, complete unadulterated nonsense then. 

Probably.  I thought it unfortunate the author deviated into specifics of crane technology, but I provided link so that you can read the arguably unrelated NYT article referenced by the OP.

That's the point I think.  Discoveries of giant skeletons were made prior to the 20's or so and have been scrubbed by a conspiracy.

Looks like your link requires a subscription to read the article.  Here's an alternate resource:

https://www.ancient-code.com/the-greatest-smithsonian-cover-up-the-giant-skeletons-of-wisconsin/

I've seen versions of this story over the years and I don't know if it's just another fictional conspiracy theory or not.  Hard to imagine the motivation for such a coverup, except I suppose selling newspapers.

3 hours ago, Kjtmmlm said:

How is it not wrong to marry or sleep with your father ????

You aren't asking if it is wrong or isn't, you are asking for reasons why incest may be "not wrong".  OK.  Assuming consenting adults without clinical mental deficiencies, many people view decisions about personal relationships to be a private matter.  I.e. none of "your" business, and not the business of the government (in a free society).  I recall a story several years ago where a man married his daughter but they claimed they were unaware of their relation until after the fact.  I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for them, or not care at all.

There are reports the disease may be a result of eating soup made with bat.  (The flying mammal kind.)  Also saw a headline that eating snake might be involved.  I don't know if either has been confirmed. 

Having worked in China several times I have no doubt such consumption takes place.  I once saw a cartoon of a snake chasing a rat, and a Chinese chef chasing them both.  At one banquet, I saw people drinking snake bile.  One of my Chinese counterparts gleefully explained to me that the soup I was eating was made with scorpions.  I noticed no effects, positive or negative.

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

What makes you think evolution is a thing?

Not sure what you are asking.  But as an example, calorie restriction appears to be a novel way for evolution to protect a population experiencing food scarcity.  A similar mechanism has been suggested where adolescents' transition into puberty may be accelerated in good times and delayed in times of famine.  So I was just considering what underlying genetic process might explain a trend of lower body temperatures; specifically, if inter-generational mutations are not entirely random.  (I had assumed such mutations were random, but perhaps I'm mistaken, which is often the case.)