Gerry

"Stupid is as stupid does!" - Forrest -

I'm not sure they did this for Zika, but they were creating genetically sterile mosquitoes. I like the idea of viral immunity that is inheritable, and it came out of research into bacteria immune systems. We could use some help with the emerging "Supper bugs" But then there is the turning of pigs into human organ factories. Have we not learned that in China the geese and ducks give the flu to the pigs who give it to the farmers. Pigs with human genes, what could go wrong! The Clovis thing is that it was essentially local. Shit poor luck to camp there guys. My take away is that is more likely an event than a big rock that creates a ELE.

We are nature. This extinction is mostly our goblin, but I think it is more complicated than that. As to the honeybees, I think that is an easy fix. Nanotechnology bees. Drone bees. Easy peasy in less than 10 years.

George Carlin line was some thing like: Planet Earth is going to be just fine, it humans that are fucked. Take action? Hell CRISPR is such an easy technology we will do it to ourselves. That is something to worry about not mini black hole from a Hadron Collider. Did you hear that there is thought that the Clovis extinction could have been comet/meteor air burst event? The dates in this post are 10 years old, but I read a recent, less than a month, article on the topic.

See! As an ecology minded fellow I believe the best thing for Gaia would be the elimination of 7 Billion of us. That would leave just 500M of us to start the F-up all over.

How about equal access to school vouchers? School nutritional support programs? The IRS is always extracting our money under the penalties of jail or hell. One man's milkshake is another man's B1, or tax loophole. There are some I like and other I do not. Their moral superiority is also relevant to your personal politics. What did Steven King say in "It", 'They all float down here!"

Jesus I turn my back to watch Fox News and the world explodes. I think when mankind could barter with the next clan over we were a better species.

Brian? "[...] provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States. [...]" What is this "general welfare" crap? Could that include Universal Heathcare?

Is Taxation theft? I assume you would clearly say yes. My guess is there are many federal things, governmental things that you consider "abuse of power" and forms of theft. As I said I can understand the argument. I'm sure that you understand my arguments. Not quite the same, but related. I'd love a Constitutional Convention for the purpose of dividing off self autonomous regions. I'd draw a line around NJ, eastern Pennsylvania, the south east section of NY, and all of NE, though ME is a problem, and have a high degree of self rule within that domain. I assume my friends on the west coast feel more or less the same. WE could keep our tax dollars and spend them on all that damn foolish socialistic crap we like. We could have Big Bird as our "regional" bird. I mean we could have God's Land, say the south, the We Use To build Stuff, the rust belt, The Real West from AZ to MT, and the Dude Land west of the Rockies.

FWIW, I'd like to spend my tax money building that Texas accelerator. Size matters.

That is done all the time. Tax dollars are sent to a central location, DC, then returned to states as federal expenditures. The return to where I live in less than what was sent. Many state get more in return than they sent. Mississippi got $4.70 for each dollar they paid in federal taxes. [i would have posted the graph but the software want the images URL.] This is where the chart is. I think these are 2016 data, but they may refer to 2015 tax submissions. I will also note that as I follow such things, these ratios have increase over the last decade. States like SC, Virginia, Hawaii, Alabama, Mississippi, all have larger military expenditures than I would willingly contribute to. SC and I think GA are building those fighter jets, Air force 1, and other new toys. Boeing Defense headquarters is in Missouri and they get $1.34/tax buck. I would be perfectly fine with them building 5 or 6 less fighter jets and spending those tax dollars on school nutrition, elderly poor food distribution, and saving Big Bird. No one is asking me if I want my tax dollar, and those are MY dollars I earned, on those Jets. It is spent as "they" deem appropriate. I do not find the redistribution of income from the richer to the poorer as an inappropriate social function. A society that concentrates income and wealth in the manner we do is unjust. In 2014 1,245,279 households earn in excess of $500,000. There were 148,606,578 returns filed. That is 0.84% of all tax returns had an adjusted gross income in excess of $500K. That groups income was $1,926,649,000 or roughly 20% of all gross income in 2014. Good for them. As you look at regular folks, the folks that do the work for the production of the GDP, the disparities become clearer. About 75% of returns have gross incomes less that $75K. Their total income is $2,961,227,270 or roughly the upper 0.8% earns 66% of the income of 75% of America. Knock it down a notch to those with incomes under $50K. That is 62% of America and they in total earn less in total than that upper 0.8% ! These people are not going to be able to afford the healthcare products produce by the blood suckers we call the Insurance providers. My income level is closer to the top 5%, maybe more. I am on Medicare as is my wife. I think we will be ok until we die, but I am not sure about it. One of my daughters is in a household of about $75K, but her husband's work status changes periodically. Currently she gets HC insurance from work. [btw, she has no choices. She is "forced" to use the insurance her employer selects. Now that's a crap shot."] Their lives are at the top edge of the working poor. If they have to buy their own coverage, well their shit out of luck. For me, I see the disparity of income distribution as inequitable. I would rather "we all" understood this and worked voluntarily to make the poorer better off because the richer saw the justice in this. Well, not in my life time. So I'd use a tool that I will philosophically agree with you is a bit odious. I'll use tax code as wealth redistribution system.

So... Is this what leads to translations of "darkness" or "Mystery" in those closing lines of chapter 1?

Eusocial carries more implications than being a social creature, there is a genetic, evolutionary, relation that borders on a social contract. It is an argument other than the legalistic argument of freedoms and rights. But as I said, we are on different sides of this fence, but that is ok. I understand your side of the argument, for the most part, but I reject it. The control argument of the last paragraph is like our straw dogs in CH. 5. I always control my energies and abilities. The individual is always in control of these thing. The use of "future" is a more problematic projection. I fully endorse the use of tax code to redistribute wealth. I fully endorse using those funds to better individuals lacking such resources. In a society with the disparity of income and wealth of America, the tax code must be used to redress these disparities. In a well ordered society such remedies would be unnecessary. I will gladly spend other peoples money on many things including nutritional needs. [As in meals on wheels and school food programs.] There are lots of places I would rather my tax dollars were not spent, or spent at lower rates.

I can see that, but I guess my question is what actually was stated in the original TTC Chinese. I take it xuan is that word, character.

Well on this issue we have to disagree. I believe humans are eusocial. E. O. Wilson]. It is in our interest to work collectively for genetic reasons. As he points while being eusocial, we do form groups that are competitive with in that structure. I am an atheist, but I do embrace aspects of christian social philosophy. I believe we are our brothers keepers.

I do not think that is excluded by current thinking, but I think the Higgs energy might have an effect on that. But then it is not like I know more than what becomes "common" knowledge. It makes sense to a lot of the physics community, but I know it is not settled. I recently read a book that described the "Time Line" for the big-bang. A lot of strange stuff took place in that first second! It was a book for the non-particle folk, sort of "the Universe for the Poet" approach. I kept getting lost. Reading again and again. I still can't catch up to the train. But I was impressed that all that happened in that time. I never knew it was dark when it went boom. also, I do not think there is the math do confirm any of it.

Why is this approach a solitary American approach? There are no other western, industrial, nations that think this is a workable system. It clearly was not before the ACA, a least the semblance of a market place approach back then. I hear the argument, but I do not understand how it improves healthcare for everyone. Is healthcare a Right?

If you look at German, French, and other Universal, single payer, the cost of the Dr. education is free, for the doctor. Their compensation for there services are far less than in America. I am not sure how, but the malpractice costs are negligible. There total cost are in the 50% to 60% of better.of America's, and their health outcomes are generally.

What makes the second so interesting, for me, is the little tubies they did this in.

No light to be seen.

Can there be multiple big bangs, and resultant universes going on at the same time?

For how long and how far?

Darkness = mystery ??? Mostly why I asked. Darkness shows up so often there must be a reason. I thought it might be a form of "unknowable truth" or "unseeing-able". There is also a notion of the pairing that must be a part of the "story", so I hope someone with Chinese language skill and/or a better library of interpretations can help me. What I would like is a version of the TTC that shows the original Chinese with very literal English translation of each character.

Can anyone direct me to a translation of the TTC with these three features. The original characters, as close to the ancient forms, of the TTC with "exact" translations under then. A rendition of the TCC in English that follows the above literally. An English translation "smoothing out" the Chinese into what we usually accept as a translation. Many, many years ago I had a book that did something like this.