MigL

One other issue which needs consideration is the fact that immigrants from poorer nations are often willing to work 'under the table' for less than min wage. That would be consistent with JC's example of the German underground economy ( 20 years ago, East Germans, now, Turks ), and the $500 000 cutoff is possibly responsible for the large numbers of undocumented Latino gardeners, housekeepers and maids, in affluent American homes; those people are willing to work for less than min wage, and the government supplies them with an enabling loophole, and a steady stream of illegal ( as opposed to legal ) aliens. The underground American economy attracts, and takes advantage of illegals. If everyone was required to pay min wage, I get the impression illegal immigrants would also decline. ( am I now going off topic, and back to the original OP, before it was split off ? ) I don't know; you introduced that analogy, not me, or Ricky.

Somehow we have to find a balance between voicing an opinion, which should have no limits imposed, and, disseminating that opinion to the masses, which should have limits, checks, balances, and possible arbitration.

Sorry Swansont, not familiar with that law, as it doesn't exist in Canada ( Ontario ). I did look up you claim, and while in Canada you can also get away with paying less than min wage for employees who derive a portion of their wages from tips, we don't seem to have the $500 000 cut-off that you guys have.

If you assume country flags, then Belgium or Germany seem likely candidates. Unfortunately the list of studies produced in those countries which are still being discussed today, is extremely large. Any other clues ?

Sorry about the 'Spanish Inquisition' ( that would be Joigus, he's from Spain ), but we do love our 'tangents'.

I think you miss Ricky's point, Dim. It's not about industrious mouse, it's about lazy mouse. What lesson does he learn ? Will he/she repeat the same pattern next year ? And the year after ? How do you learn that bad decisions have consequences if someone else is always bailing you out ? And would the industrious mouse get the same pleasure from giving that lecture for the 5th year in a row ? As for JC's point, many small businesses are owner operated. The owners work very hard, and very long hours, to expand and grow the business. As soon as they reach a certain point, where they need to hire additional help, they are often faced with an insurmountable situation, where the cost of wages, insurance, possible benefits, etc., are equivalent to two steps back fr that step forward. This is the point where most small businesses fail. By all means, increase minimum wages, but give small businesses the 'tools' to make the transition to 'hired help'. This may not even be needed in metropolitan areas, but in small communities, where small business dominates, minimum wage increases can have detrimental effects. And I don't see much evidence being presented that raising minimum wage has lifted any group out of near poverty, either. Min wage increases do have an 'inflationary' pressure. And sometimes the wage increase doesn't make up for the inflationary effect, leaving things pretty much as they were. So while the increases may not reduce employment, as INow's study suggests, they may also not have much of an effect on changing people's economic status.

Yeah, right. You ever try taking away food from a German Shepherd ?

Looking at it only from a fiscal perspective, our 'Western' populations are aging. We don't produce enough kids to replenish our population, and we live longer. In a few years half the population will be of retirement age or older, and only one quarter will actually be working, and paying taxes, to support the others through subsidies and pensions. That is untenable. Immigration brings in the young people to support an aging population. Furthermore, If you are only going to pay immigrants minimum wage, which doesn't pay much taxes, you haven't resolved the issue. Unless immigrants are well paid, and pay a fair amount of taxes, all of us older ( soon to be ) retired people will be eating cat food. ( and my cats don't like to share )

We ALL wish you had his eloquence, Dim

I appreciate the math guys, but the OP's assertion is easily disproven by molecules, where each proton doesn't 'bind' to only one electron, the residual Coulomb attraction is responsible for intramolecular bonds, and some even makes molecules 'polar', resulting in measurable intermolecular effects.

Maybe you're dyslexic. And you meant to say "multiple beers"

Keeping in mind also, that big game hunting wasn't a day trip, but would have taken weeks , if not months, to travel to the migratory areas of the big game, hunt/kill, and carry the meat/game back. The women could be used to carry supplies/provisions there, and back. And did not leave them vulnerable and undefended back in the village where they wintered. Assuming of course, they even had a permanent village; maybe they just followed the herds, north and south.

Can only speak for my brain ... More and more, it is the same area of the brain that I use to 'read' the News.

Yes, they certainly are .

Suck it up, buttercup ! You are going to die, along with the rest of the universe, in a 'heat death', where even protons have ( possibly ) decayed, and there is no more useable energy left for any processes to happen … … In several billion billion billion billion years. ( and quit using the 'reveal' button, it's annoying )

Again I ask because I'm not very familiar with all American States. I am familiar with New York State where minimum wage currently stands at $12.50/hr ( I believe ), and is scheduled to increase to $15/hr over the next couple of years. Is minimum wage a state responsibility, or is it federal jurisdiction ? Does every State have their own min wage, and how low is it in some of the poor Southern States ? Seems a lot of the poor Southern States are very good at attracting industry, with 'Right-to Work' legislation and low min wages. Are they purposely keeping people at low wages/non-union to attract industry/jobs ? Would a federally mandated equitable minimum wage help lift the poor states out of poverty, or would industry/jobs go out of country ?

I had read about this a week or two ago in, of all places, Daily Mail, but could not find a link to the actual study, or their publication. The report I read did not specify Milgrom's MOND, but simply MOND as in "modified' gravity. The explanation was rather vague, and hand-wavy, but essentially uses the Machian idea of ALL other mass-energy in the universe affects local gravity at galactic scales. If anyone has been able to find the actual study, and any publication of it, I would certainly appreciate a link. PS Found it buried in the NBC news link, buried in SergUpstart's link. Testing the Strong Equivalence Principle: Detection of the External Field Effect in Rotationally Supported Galaxies - IOPscience

I thought you already were world class .

Again, my apologies to all, including Phi. This didn't need to be public; I should have taken it to PM.

No. Markus will explain that gravity is not due to magnetism, or motions of opposite charges, or even mass. It is due to energy and momentum, that space-time experiences the curvature that is gravity. Particle and anti-particle pairs are created from the same energy, and annihilate, releasing the same energy. Energy which causes the same curvature and geometry of space-time which the particles and photons follow. Why would you think particles and anti-particles move differently in a gravitational potential ?

Sorry CharonY. I didn't mean to drag you into a long-running spat I've had with Phi. My previous post was meant for him; I didn't mean to turn it into a definition of Conservatism. It was a rebuke of assertions he's made concerning my political leanings/morals.

It's a known fact that if you're constantly on your phone while on a date, you're not getting any sex. Is that equivalent to infertility ?

Just the fact that you use 'Conservative' interchangeably with 'Republican' is worrying. Conservatives in Canada and Europe are more progressive than American Democrats. At least half of American Republicans are just plain nuts. The implication is that some of us who tend to be a little fiscally conservative are interchangeable with American Republicans. You have used that wide brush on me, a few times … And used perceived, or imagined, offense to unfairly lash out at me. ( bottom of page 3 )

Doesn't sound like a bad person. A little misinformed, and ignorant of what is actually happening, but just a regular Joe, with a few problems like many of us, who expects either a little help from his Government, or to get out of his way. There are many such people; liberal in some ways, conservative in others. That doesn't make them good or bad; what does is when unscrupulous, self serving 'leaders' and news organizations start feeding them lies, conspiracies, label them as one of their own, and introduce doubts about the 'other side', such as election fraud, QAnon, Hillary's eMail, etc. There were Conservatives in the 50s and 60s, and even the ones in the 70s and 80s were nowhere near as bad as what Conservatism, actually the Republican Party, has become in the US; Hell, George W Bush looks like a champ next to the current chump. This is a new phenomenon of the last couple of decades. And I fear a lot of Democrats, or Liberals, are falling for the Republican party/leader ruse. Just like they used 'fear' of Muslims after 9/11, they are using fear against the American people, the left fearing Republicans, and the right fearing Democrats, further sowing discord. If the Democrats fall for it, and hate all conservatives, America will never get past this. The answer is to approach any 'reasonable' Republican leaders that may be left, and working together to restore trust by the populace. Let them understand that the Government is concerned with the well being of the country, not simply staying in power. And shut out ( if not convict ) those Republicans who supported the worst President in American history If the Democrats start acting like the current Republicans, this will never end. In 100 years, Democrats and Republicans will still be blaming each other, like Palestinians and Israelis, living to 'avenge' the past, and doing nothing for the future. I notice a little 'understanding' in you above post, Phi. I'm glad you used a 'detail' brush, instead of that wide brush you usually use to describe Conservatives.

Vaccination is an exposure to the traits of a virus that trigger an immune system response, without the detrimental ( dangerous ) side effects. The 'flora' from human waste has been used to treat people whose digestive system is compromised because of its loss, but no, I wouldn't recommend manure therapy either. There are, however, studies that link eating dirt to better immune system, and digestive system health. Exposure to small amounts of detrimental stresses ( viral, bio, or unclean ) makes the body more resistant to those stresses. Unless the stress is large enough to kill; vaccines are obviously engineered not to kill. I remember reading that Mononucleosis ( kissing disease ) is prevalent among freshmen College students, because they go from their parents clean homes, to much less sanitary conditions in the dorms.