Zero Sum

Ann Coulter appeared on Fox news O'Reilly Factor and made the preposterous claim that radiation is good for you. She even claims that scientists have discovered this and the media is hiding it! She says the scientific consensus has changed and that it actually reduces the risk of cancer!
This sounds like the beginning of another right-wing BS 'truthiness' thing like their claims now that global warming has been debunked. Maybe if they say it loudly enough and enough times people will accept it as fact. Fox news viewers will believe almost anything!

That is of course, your scientific opinion, correct?

That is of course, your scientific opinion, correct?

Unless we decide to go back to gold standards (ie, pegging the value of the dollar to the price of gold), the Feds will have to intervene and control the supply of money. I don't know where you got the idea that the feds print money willy nilly but that is not really what they do. The fed do increase interest rates to reduce the money in circulation to combat inflation, however they will NEVER EVER let the rate of inflation fall below zero (negative inflation, aka deflation) because that is harder to control than inflation.
Personally, I have no opinion on bailouts because I do not have a degree in economics and probably don't understand the intracacies of modern US & global economy. However, it is my understanding that the economy would have fared worse had it not been for some strategic bailouts.. that is why companies like Goldman Sachs & AIG got bailouts, whereas Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
I dont know where Paul got his numbers from, but this is what I got from www.measuringworth.com
Current data is only available till 2009. In 2009, the relative worth of $0.05 from 1908 is:
$1.20 using the Consumer Price Index
$0.90 using the GDP deflator
$2.60 using the value of consumer bundle
$5.23 using the unskilled wage
$8.02 using the Production Worker Compensation
$6.76 using the nominal GDP per capita
$23.40 using the relative share of GDP

Deflation is not the same as stronger currency. You are getting confused between deflation and devaluation. They are completely different things. Devaluation (weaker currency) is what happens when the value of the dollar drops with respect to other foreign currencies. Deflation on the other hand is when prices fall, and it is generally seen as more harmful than inflation because it is harder to correct and stabilize the economy. As Zero Sum pointed out, there is a huge difference between nominal inflation and out of control inflation.. Paying $20 for a loaf of bread is not a bad thing when your wages have kept up with the inflation.

Well, your latter statement is a matter of opinion. The only fix that took place is that Congress voted to deny the existence of GW. They could tackle the other issues of our day in the very same manner and with the very same effect.

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Science obviously matters to a majority of Americans as well as the rest of world, in spite of the very loud and anger-driven, anti-science crowd.

The value of US dollar is a double edged sword. Having a weaker dollar lessens its buying power hence increasing the price of imports, which helps lowering trade deficit. So a strong dollar is not necessarily better than a weak dollar. Morover, inflation is also not that bad.. It is only uncontrolled inflation that is bad. Having a nominal inflation is sign of a strong economy and it is way way way better than deflation. Read up on Deflationary Spiral if you are interested.

And if this house committee votes that the earth is flat will that make it so?

I've walked over to a few people in the movie theatres before and told them to 'shut the f-up.'
The look on their faces is priceless and they are offended, but it gets them to shut up.

Students here on F1 Student Visa's pay taxes.
And they have to pay fees as well.
How do you live in the US legally or illegally and not pay taxes?

IMO its not harsh at all. We need to be firm at the border and enforcing our citizens' and residents' access to fair employment while preventing illegals from becoming tools for corporate profiteering. All the while allowing innocent bystanders to get a chance to contribute to the melting pot.
Educated, healthy illegal kids are better for the nation in the long-term, before and after they leave. But most forms of welfare? E-verify that.

The rape of Nanking

Gar-John's MO.

You said "Maybe we need it or maybe we don't but understand that cutting the program is also either cutting a lot of jobs or not creating a lot of jobs." That says that even if the program isn't needed, we need to understand that jobs depend on it. That should be irrelevant altogether - if you keep it going for no reason other than a lot of jobs depending on it then it's money down a black hole. The rest is just your old tirade about the stimulus package which is not actually backed by anything. If nothing else, common sense tells you that pouring a few hundred billion into an economy will obviously have an effect on that economy and hence the job market. Otherwise, we're saying that money just evaporates.

Why would I be embarrassed?
I thought your comment (joke) was stupid and said as much - thought not in a way that was provocative.
The subsequent posts by you however, tell a very different story.

There needs to be something to scale the differences in cost of living in various areas. Someone making $28K living in east texas, or arkansas is going to be able to afford to support a wife. Someone making $28k living in Los Angeles, is living in their parents basement.
Well, that much goes without saying. I guess it would be unfair for people in countries where it is illegal to take currency out of the country, but our immigration policy should reflect the needs of its citizens, not potential ones. I think proof of financial support would be a part of POE.

Check this out.

I think there's the regional forums, but I'm not exactly enthusiastic about getting sucked into so many different cliques.
How about a general travel forum on this site? Give people a chance to share their travel experiences and give tips to everyone else. Its obvious most of us here have had to travel internationally at least once, so everyone could share something.

Why do you care? You don't seem to have any problem with the other stereotypical generalisations in this thread.

Paul - I do a lot of scientific research so it's quite obvious we will never agree on topics like this

are you a statistician now too?

Very true, but unfortunately she tried to use her experience in such a manner as to invalidate mine. It drips from her posts.

I'd say that most people would follow the common sense approach, which in this particular example, would be the 'convenient' choice to stick with that which is familiar, familial, and social.