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axeil posted:reposting in the hopes it can get more discussion, the US water system is in deep, poo poo with multiple cities having Flint-level badness in their pipes. Obviously we need to privatize the entire water infrastructure of the nation. Duh. In fact just privatize every single infrastructure in the nation. For reals though my dad works for a water company and yeah, we're turbo-hosed as a nation. Infrastructure spending has been 'cutting the fat' in the name of fiscal austerity for so long we're long, long past muscle or bone to continue the metaphor. His explanation was that budgets are so tight that it's basically devolving into the same trap that quarterly capitalism falls into. Sure we can rip up and replace the lead pipes for this entire neighborhood, and let's say as an example it will cost 10 dollars for a system that would last ten years as the replacement, or 1 dollar per year. We don't though because if we ignore it as long as possible the cost is 0. Costing 0 is great, let's do that! When poo poo totally breaks and we're absolutely forced to do something with no other choice let's use this other, lovely patching technique that lasts two years and costs 3 dollars. Look at how much money we saved this year! After all 3 is less than 10! Then a decade from now when we've done that poo poo patch job five times we've ended up paying 15 dollars. Now do that at every step of the process, in every way for every piece of infrastructure. You're left with loving ancient pipes that are in complete poo poo condition with one-off patch jobs across the entire network and welp, we need to cut the budget again. How can we save money this year?
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Feb 8, 2016 22:22
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quote:Somewhat ironically, Texas, perhaps the reddest of red states, asks a federal court to stick its judicial nose into this political morass, where it does not belong absent statuary authorization. While it's certainly a legal win because gently caress those guys for even trying, seriously, I almost wonder if it's a humanitarian loss. I can absolutely see some rear end in a top hat looking to firm up his conservative cred having pictures, names, addresses and such of these people splashed on a page somewhere and we'll have some
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Feb 9, 2016 02:52
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radical meme posted:From the first page but, I'm just now finding and catching up with this thread. This is a discussion that needs to be had and all of the candidates should be forced to address it. At this point I think it's just a matter of standing back and watching the disaster unfold while taking care of the people around you. Infrastructure is just hosed. Full stop. That problem's not going to get even near the idea of fixed in our lifetimes, only worse. Then there's almost no solution to the idea of corporate controlled water supplies becoming the majority. As water resources start to vanish monied interests are going to start sniffing at profit and nothing will be done to prevent serious problems until it's long, long past the point of crisis. At first it won't even be seen as a problem. It will be that benevolent invisible hand of the glorious free market, guided by infallible job creating Randian ubermensch, all hail the job creators, who are here to help you unlike that nasty, stinky government. Then we'll get something like (another) unprecedented drought and welp can't be giving out water, there's next quarter's profits to think about don't ya know? People will end up destitute paying for water, migrants within the country or dead from dehydration, easily preventable illnesses from drinking unsanitary water and so on and so on.
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Feb 9, 2016 20:26
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Popular Thug Drink posted:i think this is going to be a long defining trend in american politics, as boomers and older gen-xers watch the unsustainable trend of white american middle class prosperity vanish and get real angry about it. like yeah, life is getting objectively shittier for people who were promised endless prosperity ever, and they thrash around looking for someone to blame when in reality the mid-20th century american experience of good paying low skill blue collar jobs was a historical aberration. some of this is going to bleed down to millenials as well who were expecting a gravy train that never showed up. it's hard to look at a four decade long economic boom which worms its way into the white american consciousness as the new reality of things as just a temporary boost before the return to a status quo of extremely wealthy capital classes, a small professional white collar core, and a huge population of marginally employed poor people like the rest of american history always was Even if you accept that those times were an aberration, you can be rightfully pissed off that the result of such phenomenal wealth for decades on end was 'lol get hosed you lazy teenagers, I got a degree working part time and then I earned my house with a solid retirement so you can too' in place of 'gee we should rebuild the nation's infrastructure because it's all kinda falling apart and work on the social safety net to improve the entire country for everyone who isn't a billionaire'.
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Feb 10, 2016 07:38
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computer parts posted:It sounds like you're getting pissed at the middle class instead of the wealthy. Eh, wasn't specifically my intention to come across that way. I may have worded it poorly. What I meant to convey is that even if it is accepted that the overall trend is going to be a generalized decrease in wealth as we transition out of the aberrational period of wealth and back to the mean there's a really solid argument to be made that the decades and decades of wealth were just pissed away. Long before a huge portion of today's population was even born that wealth was siphoned off into some 1%-er rear end in a top hat's Cayman islands bank account or stashed away in a corporate foreign subsidiary and the infrastructure of the nation was left to rot. Now we and who knows how many more generations are going to have to live through the poo poo that comes out of that, and that's the optimistic outlook. It's not unreasonable to believe that those same people who made this happen may very well decide it's more profitable to ride that train to the bitter end, burning the country to the ground so they can loot the ashes. If we really are returning to the historical mean managing that unprecedented wealth and putting it to work for the public good could have made the transition an absolute poo poo-ton more manageable. Instead a wealthy few get to live with more money than god for awhile and then the entire system is in danger of just flat out self-destructing.
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Feb 10, 2016 08:19
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Dropping like flies today. There's whole percents of the base up for grabs now!
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Feb 10, 2016 21:17
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Solkanar512 posted:Yeah, setting up an illegal PAC and trying to force an "Austin vs. Californians" type recall election sounds really loving smart. "It's only illegal if you get caught" With the realities of the the justice system we have in America being what they are I wouldn't exactly be holding my breath waiting for negative consequences for Uber. Only reason there's been any legal problems so far is because Uber's business model is messing with other people who have enough money to be heard. edit: Tobermory posted:In other Cleveland news, white people continue to be horrible: bird food bathtub fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Feb 11, 2016 |
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Feb 11, 2016 01:54
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My heart and my best intentions still tell me this is true, but the facts and evidence make me think 'Holy loving poo poo no way we live in a universe that god drat bizarre! Right? RIGHT!?
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Feb 11, 2016 18:42
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haveblue posted:Reminder (again) that making average people do a bunch of math to file their taxes is perpetuated by TurboTax to give itself a reason to exist.
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Feb 12, 2016 17:59
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Fried Chicken posted:Ideally yeah, but what gets dropped from the existing curriculum to fit it in? I know I shouldn't, I really, really shouldn't but it's almost pathological. One topic I absolutely cannot resist on Face-space-twitter is those mouth breathing poo poo heads spewing the memes about the common core math homework assignment their kids got and just  in their own smugly superior ignorance about how smart they are that they can understand how stupid and useless this technique is. It hits every one of my buttons and just drives me up a god drat wall to see someone be so completely assured that their existence as the Platonic ideal of 'Ignorant rear end in a top hat' means that obviously this thing is wrong, why should I spend ten seconds trying to learn about it? It's so obviously wrong because I'm right so we shouldn't even bother understanding what it is and what it can do.
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Feb 12, 2016 20:24
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BetterToRuleInHell posted:Hold on, what is this number line poo poo. Also what grade is this? Yes one example exercise entirely divorced from context and not even attempting to understand what it is conveying looks strange. This should not come as a shocker to anyone but welp here we are so of course context means zero point jack poo poo. AS AN ILLUSTRATION (seriously that part right there is really important) I'll set up an example based on the rote memorization mathematics philosophy most people were probably taught under. THIS WILL BE AN ILLUSTRATION and that context can hopefully be expanded on to explain why this approach to mathematics takes the steps it does and how, when given in context, they make a lot more sense. Imagine if you will you're first or second grader or something who has zero concept of what multiplication is because you're still a kid, glue tastes good and you learned to tie your shoes last year. You've just completed a section of mathematics explaining how you can take one number, put it next to another number and "add" them to get a bigger number. This was probably illustrated with blocks or something because you're a kid and the world is new to you. So you've got this addition stuff down and now the teacher starts talking about multiplication. Through some wizardry that means precisely nothing to you yet, 7 and 7 can equal 49. Well that makes no sense because 7 and 7 makes 14 while 4 and 9 makes 13 so what's all this stuff about? Then the teacher explains it to you as 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 49. Hey that makes sense you're basically doing a lot of that adding stuff you figured out not too long ago. So when you get 32 * 17 just add 32 + 32 + 32..... Wait that sucks. So you learn how to multiply numbers. You used the concept that was given to you before, expanded on it to absorb a new technique of dealing with numbers and now you've progressed as a student. But you're parents are so god drat stupid with no loving clue about anything they run to Face-space-twitter and poo poo out a meme onto the world how 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 is such a dumb way to do math why would anyone bother with that it's complicated and useless and takes too long and anyone who tries to do things that way is dumb and stupid and we're so much better than them because we don't do things that way. Well congratu-loving-lations on latching on to 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7, now get out of the room and let the people who are smarter than their shoe size teach your children because you're not qualified to do a drat thing. edit: this has a harsh tone but it's not direct towards you. It's directed towards the parents who don't even begin to ask the questions you just did attempting to figure out what is going on and just get all  about how they're right
bird food bathtub fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Feb 12, 2016 |
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Feb 12, 2016 22:31
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BetterToRuleInHell posted:Apparently it does because the temperament of the replies so far are as if I insulted their mothers as well as questioned the math. It still seems odd that this particular method is somehow easier than simply writing out x-y=z, which itself is just a written expression than can be done in your head anyways. One of the more awe inspiring things to realize about math, and something that would seriously never have happened to me if it weren't for one specific amazingly good teacher, is that at some point it transitions into what feels like learning a language, not learning math. There comes a point where things just click together and you realize you're not just memorizing another stupid pointless formula, you're figuring out the alphabet of an entirely different language that can show you some really mind-blowing things. People are messy though and, if they manage to get lucky enough to have a really amazing teacher, they come to that realization internally and based on the methods of learning that they employ. These methods can be wildly, HUGELY different from one person to the next. It's almost like those seeing eye "3D" images. You kinda either get them or you don't based on how you view the world. For some people learning the classic method really is how they grasp it the best. For others the techniques being included in common core will just 'click' and unlock the concept for them so, sooooo much faster while the classic methods are so odious that they will just shut down and ignore mathematics for the rest of the entire lives thinking they're the problem. That last fact is completely ignored by some in favor of making GBS threads out memes and their children will pay for it.
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Feb 12, 2016 22:56
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This fuckin' election man. This is just all so insane. Writers for The Onion have basically given up trying to make up outlandish poo poo to skewer political reality. The Scalia piece was funny, don't get me wrong, but they just can't out-crazy the crazies anymore with their articles. All they've got left is hanging on for the wild ride and making comments about what is actually happening. Even white hot sphere of pure rage isn't absurd anymore, it's just a description of reality.
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Feb 14, 2016 05:53
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Litany Unheard posted:Isn't something like half of South Korea's economy controlled by five or six families? Sounds like an improvement over the US. What is it like 40% controlled by the Waltons or something?
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Feb 16, 2016 02:09
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Khisanth Magus posted:I must say that the idea of a supreme court that is completely deadlocked and accomplishes as much as congress(in a 4-4 lock, yet again the supreme court doesn't decide what to do and the lower court stands) kind of amusing yet sad. Sounds like a game plan right out of the Republican playbook. Break the federal level and turn the state/local into your feifdom.
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Feb 17, 2016 00:19
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DemeaninDemon posted:That's totally fine by me. If the family thinks Scalia wouldn't like Obama at his funeral then that's their choice. Fine on it's own, sure and out in reality probably the best way for everything to work out. Want to put money down on Fox News not getting their screeching harpy base riled up about the crypto-muslim uber socialist mega-Kenyan usurper in chief disrespecting him by not attending? 'cause their relationship with reality is....strained.
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Feb 19, 2016 19:33
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GreyjoyBastard posted:I gotta say, as much as I hate Cruz, I do enjoy him helping drag the GOP discourse down. http://www.npr.org/2016/02/19/46742...ontent=20160220 quote:A superPAC supporting Ted Cruz is hitting Donald Trump in South Carolina radio ads and robo calls for his support of the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the State Capitol grounds quote:It's not about tolerance anymore. It's about mandatory celebration. It's about forcing people to bake cakes and forcing people to photograph gay weddings. Forcing clergy to officiate. It's about transgender bathrooms in your child's school. It's about tearing down our Judeo-Christian values. It's about tearing down our America. Open the bloodgates 
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Feb 20, 2016 21:00
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Oh gee who has been saying that for years now? Maybe, just maaaaaaaybe you should have done something in 2000, or 2008 or 2012 besides "gently caress MINORITIES HARDER" doubling down. Nah it'd never work. Has to be the cantaloupe-calved Mexicans. Oooh, maybe those slut-Women? Or the uppity-Blacks. No wait, the terrorist-Muslims! Yeah it's their fault Trump is eating your party alive, because George kept us safe from them! That's the ticket. Go with that.
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Feb 21, 2016 06:12
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For as much as Jeb!'s performance has been an amazing dumpster fire to watch and laugh at and has burned through just hideous amounts of cash I don't think it dispels the idea that money runs politics. I think it's more that having that hideous amount of cash has now become the ticket to get into the cage match that is politics. Once you're in everyone else with money still gets to throw punches or watch you flail about uselessly and amusingly, but nobody is getting in the ring without either having that money on their own or having a billionaire sugar daddy to put it up for you.
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Feb 21, 2016 23:02
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BabelFish posted:Not sure if this one's been brought up here yet, but John Kasich said something stupid again quote:Asked later Monday about the Twitter post by Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, Mr. Kasich told reporters, “I completely agree” Well that's that. He agreed with Hillary.  He's loving done.
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Feb 22, 2016 22:25
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I'm a pretty pessimistic person to begin with so take it with a grain of salt but I'll be on eggshells the whole time until Trump actually loses the general election. One good no-poo poo market crash or a french-style coordinated terror attack at the wrong time and the screaming, bigoted, angry-xenophobe crazy vote will look really god drat appealing to a whole lot more Americans and then welp, embrace the yoogest and most luxurious...I dunno fascism, rebranded neo-nazi, antagonistic isolationist? What the gently caress IS Trump?
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Feb 24, 2016 07:32
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zoux posted:If a "Trump is actually good with Latinos" media narrative emerges from this Nevada poo poo I'm joining ISIS. Will [THING] improve advertising revenues by fostering a horse race narrative? Then [THING] will happen. Make of that what you will but, uhh, pack your Koran I'd say.
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Feb 24, 2016 17:49
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haveblue posted:If politics is threatening your mental health stop following politics. But how do I get politics to stop following me?
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Feb 25, 2016 23:02
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CommieGIR posted:It takes John Oliver for me to dread Drumpf even more. Don't worry, I got ya covered on this one.
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Mar 1, 2016 02:30
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Max posted:I know it was a fictional film, but whenever I think about people signing up for the military, I think about that scene in Winter's Bone where Jennifer Lawrence is pleading with the recruiter to take her so that she can have some money for her family. edit: Also the GI bill. When you're on the bottom of the economic totem pole that degree price tag is not small potatoes. "free" college can't be sneezed at when it's the high school diploma of good jobs today. bird food bathtub fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Mar 1, 2016 |
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Mar 1, 2016 17:12
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