2013-02-23, 16:11 | Link #261 | |
Master of Coin
Join Date: Mar 2008
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2) Agreed. 3) Actually, you will be surprised how much Solar and Wind grew under the Obama Administration (So did gas and oil), but every panel you put up is a endless source of energy, meaning other fossil fuel can be diverted to other uses. Solar and Wind are never meant to completely replace fossil fuel (not likely for a long time) but supplement them in usage. |
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2013-02-23, 16:13 | Link #262 |
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You know guys, Europe isn't perfect.
Europe has plenty of its own problems. Surely that's clear with what we've seen in Greece and Iceland, amongst other nations. Frankly, if your argument is simply "Let's do what those other guys are doing. Who cares if some of them have just about bankrupted themselves, we should follow them anyway" that's not a terribly compelling argument. If you want to convince people of a particular policy idea, then argue for the merits of the policy itself. You don't need to point to other countries to prop it up. A good idea is a good idea no matter where it originated from.
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2013-02-23, 16:25 | Link #263 | ||
Meh
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Also, the problem with public transportation in the US has more to do with the way our population centers have grew over the years. We have too many people spread out over too big of an area for many public transportation methods to be practical. There's no point for cities and municipalities to invest in a public transportation system that either nobody will use because it doesn't cover the area they are at and need to go, or too expensive because they had to cover too large of an area without sufficient number of users to sustain the system. Quote:
They are definitely something to use for augmenting coal/nuclear, though in the long run I think space-based solar power is the way to go, unless them guys over at ITER can figure out how a way to make fusion practical. |
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2013-02-23, 16:41 | Link #264 | |
On a mission
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It is still useful though to look elsewhere since they can help us by providing some empirical evidence. It is not ok to use it as a blunt instrument to whack people with. Of course, my own posts in the gun thread should clearly point to which stance I'm taking (I really didn't feel like debating it again but just going to say that I am largely with Gundamfan's post above me), but even I will have to acknowledge that perhaps my nation's approach isn't the healthiest.
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2013-02-23, 16:53 | Link #265 | ||||||
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It was a potshot only in your own mind. What I stated was simply the truth. I pointed out facts and figures, and only got "THE US IS DIFFERENT!" repeated ad nauseum back at me.
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The whole thing w/ "foreign oil" is just missing the point IMO. It's an international market, it's not as if the oil we produce are staying inside the country. Foreign oil, domestic oil, they all go into the same pile that is the international market. The only way to change that would be to nationalize the oil industry and/or severely restrict/ban oil exportation. Quote:
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But let me point out a falsehood here. The top 1% of taxpayers took home an average of $370,000 AGI in 2010, per IRS records. The top 1% consist of 1.4 million people (who filed tax returns that year). 1.4 million people x $370,000 = $518 trillion Well, we just blew away, not only the deficit, but the federal debt, too. Of course, it is silly to tax them at 100%, but you brought up the number, so I thought I'd put that particular notion to rest. But taxing them at 50% would still do the trick nicely. It's a common misconception that taxing the rich more won't solve our problem. Who tells you that? Rich people, naturally. Anyway, that's my math based off of IRS records from 2010. What is your math? Quote:
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That's all I'd like, is just a number from you, so if you could simply provide me one, that would be cool. Thanks!^^ |
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2013-02-23, 17:09 | Link #266 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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I cannot put electricity into my car to make it go, nor can I afford a new car, nor can I afford a presently non-existanst conversion kit to make it go on electricity.
My car is over 40 years old and it still runs fine. The only computer in it is generally my cel phone. It was considered a compact car in 1972, were now it is about as long as a full sized car. Electric cars with range are not cheap. Nor are electric "filling station" common at this time. The electric car is still a rich persons toy at the moment. It is coming down, but it is not in the realm of lower middle class common daily driver region yet. Nor is it presently viable as a work car, van, or truck for business uses.
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Last edited by Ithekro; 2013-02-23 at 17:26. |
2013-02-23, 17:11 | Link #267 | |||
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Age: 38
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2013-02-23, 17:15 | Link #268 | |
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Join Date: May 2009
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I live in a very big city, and in my opinion it costs less to live in the main city than to live way out for slightly cheaper, but a whole lot more stress and gas and time to drive to work everyday. In my city all houses are expensive anyway, if you want to actually own the house. And if you really don't care where you live then there are plenty of dirt cheap, dirty apartments in the ghettos for you to live in in the main city. Way cheaper than living in the suburbs and you can live closer to work too. Just be careful once the thugs wake up. We have public transportation in the main city, but it is not a lot of good. Nothing like the great subways in New York City. So anyone who's old enough and not mentally incapable has a car. |
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2013-02-23, 18:18 | Link #269 | ||||
Meh
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Like I said, stay classy.
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Walk? bike? how would you like to bike 20 miles each way to work in michigan winter while trying to navigate the snow covered ground which may or may not have a sidewalk for you to bike on? I'm sure you'll be thrilled with the idea of sharing the main roads with cars in the middle of winter, what could possibly go wrong. Public transportation? who's gonna pay for it? when states, cities and municipalities are forced to cut down police and fire departments due to budget shortfalls, they're somehow going to come up with the money to pay for an expansive public transportation network large and robust enough to cover the third largest country in the world, where more than half of the population lives out in the suburbs? Quote:
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Because you just claimed that 1.4 million people in the United State had a combined income of $518 TRILLION. Which is certainly odd, considering the GDI of the entire US economy in 2010 is only around the mid $14 trillions. As GDI includes "the sum of all wages, profits, and taxes, minus subsidies", I really don't see how your number can be remotely correct. Here's a fun fact, your 1.4million people apparently earned more money in 2010 than the total economic activity and output of the ENTIRE WORLD($74.4 trillion) by SEVEN TIMES. These data are freely available from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Last edited by kyp275; 2013-02-23 at 18:33. |
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2013-02-23, 18:30 | Link #270 | ||
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Join Date: May 2009
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And now we see that taxing the top 1% at 100% will most definitely not get rid of the debt. Which means there are other things we need to look into as well if we want to lower the deficit or debt (though an even more progressive tax would not hurt). I would only prefer an even more progressive tax on the people who like to evade taxes by getting a bunch of writeoffs. Last edited by Kudryavka; 2013-02-23 at 18:45. |
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2013-02-23, 19:07 | Link #271 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 46
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Today's standard appears to be Short scale (American) thousand (1,000), million (1,000,000), billion (1,000,000,000), trillion (1,000,000,000,0000), quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000), quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000), etc....
Though some countries still use I think is called Long scale (European) which is different after a million (1,000,000) into milliard (1,000,000,000), billion (1,000,000,000,000), billiard (1,000,000,000,000,000), trillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000), etc....
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2013-02-23, 19:19 | Link #272 | ||
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Age: 36
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2013-02-23, 20:13 | Link #273 | |||
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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If people are shielded from the "real costs" of goods by subsidies, they make bad consumer choices. Also, while I don't think a Bicycle or walking would be alternative option for most people, you could easily see more people car-pooling, setting up coops or switching to a motorbike. People would be able to cope with increases in petrol prices. That said, I think it would be unwise to cause any sudden jumps in petrol prices, as consumers need some time to adjust. Quote:
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2013-02-23, 20:13 | Link #274 | ||||
Meh
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Last edited by kyp275; 2013-02-23 at 20:27. |
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2013-02-23, 20:24 | Link #275 | |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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2013-02-23, 20:24 | Link #276 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Age: 36
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Hopefully this is a repeat of the Human Genome Project (where those who insisted the project would take 700 years were very much in the wrong); it's hard to imagine him being that astronomically off the mark given his good track record. I'll keep hoping for the best, at any rate. I prefer to hope that we'll rise above the drudgery of everyday life at a good pace rather than continue to roll around in it. :/ Please change fast, shitty fucking world of ours.
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2013-02-23, 20:27 | Link #277 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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I'll just note that I'm what my people call a "progressive engineer". A lot of these technologies have excellent long term merit in a mixed deployment. However, an engineer understands that proponents of these advanced technologies often wave their arms about without having the *slightest idea* of what the limitations and obstacles are.
That's when I spend a lot of time face-palming when a great idea is easily undercut by someone very enthusiastic but clueless about the details.
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2013-02-23, 20:29 | Link #278 | |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 35
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2013-02-23, 20:33 | Link #279 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Age: 36
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2013-02-23, 20:39 | Link #280 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: classified
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Hydrogen fuel-cell cars look to overtake electric autos http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/25/bu...fuel-cell-cars Why Hydrogen Cars Could Still Be The Future http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelk...be-the-future/ The problem of generating hydrogen is being tackled by scientists and engineers alike. Daniel Nocera of MIT has made a few minor break throughs with his "artificial leaf" concept that could (after much further development) make hydrogen cells a reality. ‘Artificial leaf’ makes fuel from sunlight http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/a...leaf-0930.html If his technology pans out, it would also allow Solar Power plants to use water to create hydrogen and thus clean fuel.
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