AnnoyedCapitalist

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• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  Well, actually you sidestepped my question, which is fine, but doesn't answer it. Oh. I thought you were looking for the answer to "Why are they so focused on something that isn't actually safer." I don't have an answer otherwise....
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  Antinous, I answered in #36. Can you now answer my question at the end of #24?...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  His "right" to travel was not infringed on -- they were given seats and were seated first. The issue arose when he could not conform to the regulations, which are equally to all people. The fact that this hinges on...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  Ok Takuan, I'll bite: Yes. What rights of the child were violated? Another question for you: If the child grows a few years further, and its discovered he was misdiagnosed and does not in fact have autism, does that make...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  this thread is devolving into a "you hate children"... contest Actually, what created the havoc in BoingBoing was the autism....
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  It is definitely a reflection of our American child/family hating culture. The same things happen when you go to restaurants. This stuck out for me. You do realize that bringing children to restaurants (and on flights) is a largely American...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  the airline's much vaunted concern for safety... Antinous, note that I've never mentioned the airline's concern for safety. These are about government regulations. I don't think airlines would spend as much time on safety procedures without them. You may point...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  Does that include going back to the gate to let the kid calm down for an hour until the next flight?...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  Wow, I am so sorry for all the typos. I hope you can decipher the above....
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  if the delay had been the result of an elderly person having heart palpitations,everyone's reaction would have been different. Maybe. But is they were severe enough he couldn't remain in his seat, he too would have been taken back to...
• Commented on American Eagle flight returns to gate after flight attendant goads autistic toddler into a tantrum
  I'm not quite sure I see what everyone is upset about. Given all of the issues of Autism, and the legal regulations on the airlines, I would imagine there would be conflicts occasoinally. The child WAS unconrollable. The plane cannot...
• Commented on Death and Taxes, and a Boing Boing story
  The market would kill you and sell you for dog food if it made a buck. True, but only if the NPV of the rest your life's work was worth less than a dollar. Otherwise, to the salt mines with...
• Commented on Debunking the climate-change denialists' talking-points
  I am also concerned that the "cures" for global warming may do more harm that good. Turning corn into ethanol comes to mind. Actually that was done a) for renewable energy and b) for the corn farmers. I don't think...
• Commented on Debunking the climate-change denialists' talking-points
  I'm sure this thread is over, but there was something bothering me about the premise of the original post which I wasn't able to define until just now: Talking points or no, if you're talking to someone who brings up...
• Commented on Debunking the climate-change denialists' talking-points
  so if we listen to the "everything is just fine" party and all end up dead, what then? Well, actually that's going to happen anyway. Climate change won't significantly affect our generation. Climate solutions won't help our generation either....
• Commented on Debunking the climate-change denialists' talking-points
  While this is nice to have for the more extreme and ignorant denialists, I think an equally valuable resource would be a debunking of the "Global warming caused hurricane Katrina" and "sea levels will rise 20ft in a century" apocolyptic...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen -- Your antagonistic comments were no invitation to discussion either. Instead of making any point, you simply said the numbers were wrong and meaningless. Neither of those are true for the numbers I copied. And for your patest post,...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Dnl2ba - I actually vaguely recall those charts as well. But I think it was only comparing the top marginal tax rate against GDP. That top tax rate has varied a lot through the decades. The difference with the Bush...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen -- I don't care about winning. I'm interested in getting rid of ignorance about financial issues. My initial comment was to give BoingBoing-ers some perspective on all of the numbers -- the game itself shows how Medicare and Social...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen, The BLS numbers show that total unemployment is 5.0%. I am vindicated. I can only guess that you have recently stumbled upon the fact that economists have more than one category for people not working. Anyone who is familiar...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen -- 1) Not apples and oranges, perhaps annuities and bonds. Not the same thing but they aren't entirely different and can be compared. Many financial ratios do this, compare yearly cash flows against liabilities. If you know well enough...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Spazzm -- Mea culpa, wasn't you who proposed it. Also note that my tonge is planted firmly in my cheek while making these comments. I was trying to riff off of your "corporations" comment, because I think it's a great...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Scottfree, p197 of the report, not the PDF. Its #203 in the PDF. In the middle of that table you have "Net results for Budget perspective." The HI and SMI present values of -$12.7T and -$23.6T come out to -$36.3T...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen: I'm not sure what you mean by meaningless. Those numbers come from the actuaries at SSA and Medicare. Who cares if they were given by a "crank?" Spazzm: Yea, I guess you'd be able to vote in the state...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Noen, It wasn't a very funny prank, then. If you'd bother to educate yourself for 10 minutes on Google, you'd know those numbers are correct. Hint #1: Unfunded medicare obligation conclusion on p197 in the pdf linked in this summary....
• Commented on Rube Goldberg Cream Egg killer
  My first thought when I saw this was "Man, between this and that optical illusion video, viral vids are getting pretty neat!" But no, the effort he put into that and his other Japanese gameshow themed video are clearly the...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  And we all know how beneficial giant corporations are to our society. Well, I'm glad someone sees this. Not sure I agree that we should treat the whole nation as one, though. Maybe stick with the one-person one-vote thing, but...
• Commented on Online game: balance the US budget
  Interesting quiz on present values of govt obligations here. Object, to identify the following figures: 1. $38.6 Trillion 2. $11.9 $ 9.65 Trillion 3. $13.7 Trillion 4. $ 7.1 Trillion 5. $ 2.7 Trillion 6. $ 0.5 Trillion Answer is...
• Commented on Reason TV: Mississippi Drug War Blues
  Cops without recorders are like Court-rooms without stenographers. Not in the eyes of the law. It's nigh impossible to impeach their testimony. Require the cops record these events, just as the record traffic stops and such. Actually the reason most...
• Commented on Pope's astronomer on ET
  Stephen Hawking was freaking invited to the Vatican to meet with JP2 and discuss Science years ago. [Though admittedly, Haking claimed the pope told him not to investigate beyond the Big Bang, but he is prone to story telling.] Catholicism...