Bonam

I think the unfettered liberalism was not so much on the part of Obama as on the part of universities, coastal cities, celebrities, mainstream media, etc. Unfortunately, these places are only becoming further radicalized in their liberalism as a result of their aversion to Trump and their feeling of a need to "resist".

Before the invention of nuclear weapons, major wars happened every couple of decades, and were killing progressively more people. Tens of millions of people. The proportion of people that die as a result of war in recent times (post WWII) is the lowest in recorded history.

Indeed. Since nuclear weapons were invented, there has never again been a significant war between major powers. Nuclear weapons are the greatest technological innovation for the cause of peace in the history of humankind.

Feel free to send an extra check to the government for the amount you feel you underpaid.

Regardless of the form of government, a region that doesn't want to be part of a larger country should not be forced to remain a part of that larger country. The age of empires is over. It is no government's right to force the people of a region who yearn for independence to remain subjects against their will.

And yet the good almost always outweighs the bad.

Yes, I'm sure parents will be asking doctors to turn on their future baby's "I want to be a slave" gene.

Who cares? Sports is dumb. Especially compared to the potential benefits of a future generation that is free of genetic diseases, has improved immune systems, improved healing abilities, improved cancer resistance and longevity, and perhaps even enhanced intelligence.

But many of them are well on their way. Massive state surveillance is completely pervasive. Democracy is increasingly less and less responsive to the wishes and issues of the voters, and the political class has made themselves into a new aristocracy. Meanwhile, populations are increasingly polarized over ideological issues. The militarization of police forces continues apace. The warning against state tyranny is no less relevant now than it ever was.

And why not? Again, so easy to just throw money away. I think the lack of incentive for politicians and bureaucrats to spend money wisely is one of the biggest problems with modern democracy.

But it's so easy to throw away other people's money. Politicians have absolutely no incentive to spend money wisely. Any possible consequences are for future generations to deal with, long after their political careers are over.

Pretty sure most of the energy projects finally being shot down now WERE started decades ago. That's how long it takes to get anything approved/processed in Canada. As for less harmful oil elsewhere... kinda depends on what kind of harm you mean. If by harm you mean it makes Alberta's wilderness areas a bit less wild and a bit more ugly, then yeah, the oil sands cause a lot of harm. But if you mean CO2 emissions, then no. Because you have to consider that when the oil is produced in, for example, Saudi Arabia, they then provide a giant subsidy to their own citizens and make oil use essentially free, causing massive absurd overuse, leading to more emissions. Additionally, the money they make from selling oil is used to fund extremism around the world. All that said, I'm fine with leaving it in the ground provided that Canada had other industries ready to go, but I'm not sure that's the case either.

Far as I can tell this government seems actively hostile to businesses both large and small. Only things I hear from my friends back in Vancouver are how the new tax rules are gonna suck.

Moral arrogance is a great term. Definitely accurately describes the attitude of a typical Seattle lefty once.

Think so, this is the oldest thread I remember seeing necro'd!

Fixed it for you.

Only plausible way to watch that show here in the US is torrents. Good job CBS for putting it behind a paywall that no one will ever pay for. The first two episodes were pretty good, however, I think they made a mistake "re-imagining" the Klingons. TNG/DS9/VOY/ENT had the Klingons as one of the most well developed alien civilizations in all of sci fi and here they go throw all that away for a much more annoying version of them.

True, they certainly could still repeal it, but their chance for doing so in the present year has passed now that we're past the budget reconciliation deadline. From here on out, if they want to do a repeal, it'll need Democrat support, which seems unlikely. They could try again to get it through by reconciliation next year but if they failed now with the relative urgency and imperative of a new president pushing to get it done, it seems less likely to go through then, and it's quite possible they'll lose their senate majority after that in the 2018 elections. If that happens, Obamacare is likely to stick around for a long time, would be my guess. Not having repealed Obamacare also likely means that Trump's tax agenda doesn't stand a chance since there are enough Republicans who would oppose going further into deficit and the way to fund the tax cuts would have been from the savings of defunding Obamacare.

I think it's hilarious that after chanting their repeal Obamacare mantra for 7 years as almost their one singular point of policy, Republicans have spectacularly and repeatedly failed to do so even though they control all branches of the federal government and the majority of governorships and state legislators too.

Of course interception of submarines is a primary mission of anti-submarine weapons, by definition. But as to how well that mission goal is met... I don't think there's much capability to detect deeply submerged enemy submarines at this point. If any such technology exists at this point I guess it would be highly classified, anyway.

If you had a government as horribly run as America, you would want it to stay as far out of healthcare as possible, too.

I said nothing of 99%. I said that people tend to chase those careers. Go talk to kids in grades 8-12, who are starting to think about what they might want to do. Most of them spend much of their time/energy on team sports and on things like band, acting, etc. While some realize that professional careers in these fields are unrealistic for them, that is where their passion tends to lie, for both girls and boys. Meanwhile, very few are actively interested in or excited by math and science. Why? Well, kids consume a lot of media, and the media constantly shows sports and celebrities. They show these people in a very glamorous way and as symbols of success. Take a poll of students asking how many would like to be a star football/basketball/hockey/etc player,. how many would like to be a famous actor, and how many would like to found a successful tech start-up (i.e. all pinnacles of success in their respective fields), and you'll probably get something like 95% for the first two categories and maybe 5% for the last.

The threat of EMP is commonly exaggerated in popular culture. Your thread title certainly doesn't help. No, it won't fry all electrical/electronic equipment permanently, whether you're talking about a CME or a nuclear EMP weapon. When it comes to CMEs, the travel time of the CME from the Sun to Earth is typically 3-5 days and we have instruments that detect them as they form, meaning necessary steps can be taken in advance (i.e. powering things off). When it comes to nuclear EMP, EMP-optimized weapons are a whole other branch of development from basic nuclear weapons and there is no indication this is something NK has undertaken so far. Further, the reach of such a weapon is exaggerated in popular culture. It would certainly not affect the entire continent. Also, while missile defense systems remain imperfect, the same anti-missile systems we have in place to intercept strategic nuclear weapons can also be used against EMPs. That said, I agree with you that on the scale of North America, $20 billion is a trivial cost and is a small price to pay to make the electrical grid robust against even very improbable threats.

If the venue receives public (government) funding, then I think the venue blocking certain kinds of speech but not others constitutes a violation of free speech rights. Universities receive public funding.

Our democratically elected overlords disagree.