@cjsmall
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Architect, Software Developer, Individualist
Joined March 2009
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Syllogism:
* Freedom is the absence of force.
* Force is the absence of freedom.
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Individualism is the philosophy that embodies the pursuit of freedom.
Authoritarianism is the philosophy that embodies the naked use of force.
Pragmatism is the philosophy that states that it is pursing "freedom" through the use of force. It is merely a lie used to attempt to conceal a preference for force over freedom.
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Endless hours of debating endless topics can all be reduced down to the simple formula stated above. Ultimately, you either come down on the side of freedom or force. The choice is an absolute: freedom prohibits the initiation of every form of force while any application of force immediately destroys freedom. There is no "pragmatic" middle-ground.
Pick your side and then be honest about it -- both with yourself as well as with others.
And for anyone who chooses freedom, let's please stop providing intellectual cover for others who advocate the use of force, regardless of the context. Call them out on their position, identifying the means they choose to employ and leave it at that. Debating the use of force under any circumstance only provides an unearned intellectual veneer for what is always plain old thuggery.
I've always said that if there is one thing this country is sorely lacking, it's sniper nests. Thank you President Trump for listening and getting 'er done.
zerohedge.com/political/trum…
Honestly, I love how everyone is treating this seriously, with all sorts of economic analysis to demonstrate why it doesn't make sense for one reason or another.
Trump opens the door to the clown car and everyone rushes to make sure they are not the last one in!
It's sad. Sad I tell ya. :-(
Don't bank on it: Experts cast doubt on Trump's $5,000 pledge to voters:
bit.ly/4xe93jr
Not a good look?!!!!
This is out-in-the-open corruption! After complaining about it for well over a decade, this is precisely voter tampering and election interference. Trump is an all out authoritarian and only the remnants of the philosophy behind the Constitution constrain him from being a dictator.
OK, I've already spent my $5,000, so you people better vote hard, often, and right this fall or there is going to be hell to pay!
No smiley. I'm not kidding!!!!
(Philosophy) h'uh
Yeah!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin) uh-huh, uh-huh
(Philosophy) h'uh
Yeah!
(What is it good for?)
Absolutely (nothin')
Say it again, y'all
smbc-comics.com/comic/major
Are other people having problems with X today. Every 30 seconds it dies and says "Something went wrong: Refresh".
Sounds less like a disaster and more like a wondrous human achievement to me.
Senior citizens outnumber young kids across the world for first time in human history trib.al/4iiegnL
I hope that in addition to the technical challenges that will have to be met, that creative and humanistic architects who have the ability to see and understand the Martian landscape will be employed in order to create a unique built environment that reflects this new planet. It represents a great opportunity and I would hate to see it squandered as industrial oil-refinery-style components are exported in the name of expeditiousness -- as seem to be pictured here.
Read your poetic Ray Bradbury and study your Frank Lloyd Wright before beginning this venture. Always remember that humanity is involved and central to everything done.
Can anyone explain to me who the political strongman dictator is in this scenario?
The numbers behind the US-Venezuela oil deal:
Venezuela has now confirmed that the agreement covers 65 billion barrels of oil across 17 fields, with the US receiving "majority control."
At current WTI crude oil prices of ~$83/barrel, those reserves have a gross market value of ~$5.4 trillion.
Reports indicate the deal includes 100-year rights to develop the fields, while the US will receive 55% effective output, along with an ownership stake and rights to purchase oil at cost.
At 55%, that would correspond to ~35.8 billion barrels of effective output.
At today’s oil prices, that amount of crude alone has a gross market value of ~$3 trillion.
That said, Venezuela primarily produces heavy, sour crude, which typically trades at a meaningful discount to benchmark oil prices and requires more expensive production, blending, and refining.
Even assuming an illustrative $25-$35 of net economic value per barrel after discounts and development/operating costs, ~35.8 billion barrels could represent up to ~$1.25 trillion of cumulative economic value over the life of the fields.
This includes a $100 billion investment to develop these fields, while Venezuela estimates the projects will generate $209 billion in tax revenue for the country.
This is one of the biggest energy deals in history.
One of my favorite Rand Newman songs. No one does irony better. No one!
youtube.com/watch?v=SXD-Uz8l…
When in doubt, go meta!
New Data Center Built To Handle Influx Of Online Rants Against Data Centers buff.ly/LvDpPvY
All of the great points made here are true, but unfortunately, completely irrelevant since nothing Warren ever speaks of has anything to do with economics or the wellbeing of anyone. Her entire program, along with Sanders and all the others like them, is enslavement through the collectivistic expansion of centralized command and control over others.
I've said this in the past: In my youth Ellsworth Toohey was the most incomprehensible character in The Fountainhead, seeming to be totally unrealistic. I couldn't fathom his psychological state of mind. However, as I got older I started seeing Tooheys everywhere. Warren, Sanders, etc. are the embodiment of him in the real world. They have no concern for the harm and damage they cause, just so long as they can chain their betters and force them to march to their instructions. And their ability to remain in power relies upon their appeal to the little Tooheys deep in the souls of the people who support and vote for them. Their incessant proclamations are pure propaganda designed not to sway rational people, but to touch that inner Ellsworth in so many.
Warren has the intellectual depth of a three year old. They too believe that things which cost other people vast sums of money are free. Her free program cost taxpayers at least 41 million dollars in its final year to process 296,531 returns. That is 138 dollars per return, minimum, and the House report notes even that understates it, since agency support costs were never counted. Fewer than half of one percent of taxpayers used it.
And here is the detail that illustrates her entire lifelong strategy of evasion. Direct File only handled simple returns, W-2 wages and standard credits. Those are exactly the returns the market already files for zero dollars, through Free File, Cash App Taxes, and the free tiers of the software she hates. The government spent 138 dollars per return, taken from your neighbors, to duplicate what those same filers could already get for nothing, then labeled the invoice savings.
Nothing the government hands you is free. It is prepaid, by force, with a bureaucrat's markup. The corruption worth calling out, Senator, is what you have done to that word.
Apropos of nothing, here is a song, Desert Sky, that I think almost no one is likely to have heard of; one which I like. This falls somewhere in the jazz/rock fusion area. Give it a listen and see what you think.
youtube.com/watch?v=Bt-cJrks…
"This is bad."
OK, who is going to top this as the best LOL joke of the day?
🚨 Our national debt just hit 40 TRILLION DOLLARS!
This is bad. Congress needs to get spending under control and BALANCE THE BUDGET. Americans deserve better.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
Sen. Rick Scott voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which raised the statutory debt limit by $5 trillion and is projected by CBO to increase deficits by $3.4 trillion over 10 years.
floridapolitics.com/archives/74582…
congress.gov/bill/119th-con…
bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/what…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_B…
Hey @X, how about you put an
[ ] I've got it.
checkbox on the 280 character limit pop-up and if the user checks it, you stop annoying them for the ten thousandth time! The recent change is no improvement as you now have to hit Reply twice when this appears, but only once when under the character limit. This introduces an unpredictable inconsistency into the user interface which leads to a new set of problems.
Related question: Why do software developers just decide to force their ideas upon every user rather than making these things user-selectable features that can be turned on/off from a settings control panel? Unlike today's collectivist trend that treat all of us as interchangeable widgets to be manipulated at will, we are, in fact, individuals with a very wide range of preferences. I would appreciate being treated more as one.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Should a country founded on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution be allowed to vote everyone into slavery?
Jeffery Small retweeted
"Certificate of need" laws require permission from the government for new providers to offer a health care service.
But states without these laws enjoy better access to higher-quality, lower-cost care. Learn more in a new Cato study by @sslivinski and @Matt_d_Mitchell.
ow.ly/Z0xi50Zz6A0
A final summation of this administration, tied up in a pretty pink bow.
Trump Generously Offers To Do Jobs Of Legislative And Judicial Branches Too buff.ly/NsPiprC
