I suppose thats true, although it has averaged out after 30 years. On the other hand, Nasdaq, real estate, and S&P have seen bubbles much larger than what we may be seeing now with gold. So what do you suggest?

http://i48.tinypic.com/30953e1.png
Note that most data begins at 1980. Also note zirp since 2008.

Most data from here (I am not sure about the methods but its from government...):
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?ap

Gold and FFR is from elsewhere, I had it sitting around but I'm sure you can easily check to verify. Data from pre-1980 is harder to find. If you have a good source I would love to know it. To me it looks like the price of gold was being suppressed and it is just now catching up with everything else. In other words the volatility in gold is the result of manipulation.

Real typers use Kelvin

I guess cents are pretty redundant since it only goes to 2 decimal places anyway. The missing degrees symbol has annoyed me many times.

When coins had 20x the value of today they were also made of metals that were worth around the same as the coin. Today all we have is nickles.

Come on though. A spider bite leading to a heart attack?

Knowledge-Based Education â" We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the studentâ(TM)s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
       

Where does it say they don't want their children challenging their beliefs? Nowhere. They just don't want teachers with an agenda making this happen on purpose. Anyway those programs are probably useless, feel good measures.

I've been challenging beliefs since I about 2nd grade. The first I remember challenging beliefs was realizing in 2nd grade that all these priests and nuns were full of shit and trying to manipulate me by making me feel good after confessing my sins. They wanted me to confuse the feeling of relief that it was over with gods love. And I went to catholic school so I was surrounded by this stuff.

Anecdotal, I know, but the point is that actual critical thinking comes from within, not because it gets written on a blackboard.

Adbusters came up with "the 1%"

They don't want to get rid of critical thinking, they want to get rid of experimental gradeschool courses called "critical thinking", and similar. Stop getting your info from the mews, or worse, headlines. I know you know they are misleading, if not outright wrong in whatever field you have expertise in. This is true of everything.

I've had doctors say similar things to me. I had a big swollen thing on my arm after getting bit by a spider and they told me if I hadn't come the poison may have drained into my lymphatic system and into my heart causing a heart attack. How common are things like that or your example?

I don't understand this argument:

If that is the purpose then just institute a tax earmarked for unpaid ER bills... and anyway it can be implemented by the states as they choose.

That is how I used to think actually, until I broadened my perspective to see governments for what they are. All a government can offer you is throwing shitloads of money at a problem or use violence (lock people in cages or kill them). I won't say it is never in my best interest to have this around...but from what I have seen, more often than not government solutions cause more problems than they solve.

Yes it is insane to keep trying the same thing over and over if it doesn't work. It's even a cliche.

I don't believe I would.

Yea I get that. What are some successful examples of reform? Have the same laws/regulations used to implement the reform later been used against the best interest of the same people who supported them?