200 generations....well, that's not a very specific amount of time, so I can't really comment on that specifically, but I wonder if it the whole "more rare genetic variations" has something to do with having bigger and more diverse populations inter-mixing. If there's a general trend in the last couple hundred to couple thousand years, it's that you've got people clumping together in bigger groups, developing complex trade and migration, all of it adding up to a much broader gene pool than the days of the hunter-gatherers going around in relatively closely related groups of 100-200 people, and that in turn leading to a much big genetic variety.

Questioning the system will get you in trouble every time. It helps make sure that the cost of complaining or asserting your rights or asking for consideration or doing anything but keeping your head down and doing whatever you're told is too high compared to the (relatively) momentary discomfort and inconvenience. And it's pretty effective too. I know my rights- in encounters with the police, or when going through security at the airport - but when if a cop stopped me for no reason walking to the store (as frequently happens to my sister) and demanded to see my ID or search my bag....I can't say I wouldn't do exactly as she does and just go with it. I certainly do with the TSA's nonsense. The possibility of getting dragged off for some bullshit reason is a good threat. Even if it doesn't stick, it still sucked. You still endangered your job/vacation/whatever.

Dude, everyone pays taxes. They pay income taxes. They pay payroll taxes. They pay sales taxes. It's just that the poor get the income tax refunded to them, making it an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam.

I noticed you completely skipped over the part where you were in the hated 47% by your own admission of income. Where's your self-hatred? Though there's really no argument you could make that'll make me take you seriously now. I suppose that was a lost cause anyway, considering your other statements, like....Oh, noo! I joined americorps! I actually was contributing something to my community! HORRORS! And I was gaining job experience...I think I said that explicitly... so you know, I bettered myself while bettering my community. That's what I did, straight out of school. And I would have done it, recession or no, because it was the right thing to do. And you...worked at Wendy's.

Of the two, I think I know which looks better on the resume. I certainly have never complained about the boost my AmeriCorps gave me, even if the crash of the world economy meant it took a year to find a decent job. Shockingly, employers tend to look well on civic-minded folks who have shown grit and dedication. To say nothing of having held a position at a higher level than a new job seeker could usually attain.

Plus, I'm pretty sure you don't know the least little thing about economics. Utility theory isn't subjective to me. I'm not pulling it out of my ass when I say that $1k is more valuable to someone making 10k/year than $100,000 is to someone making $1m. It's one of the fundamentals of the dismal science.

As to spoiled punks...Dude, I work in the non-profit industry. If you think I'm looking for success or wealth, you're obviously smoking something. Seriously, maybe you should talk to someone. You know what non-profit work is? It's working your ass off for half the money you could be making in the for-profit sector, pulling ridiculously long hours, and giving everything you've got to a cause. Because you actually want to see the world become a better place.
I don't think I'm the greedy one. I'm not the one pushing to crush the poor into the dust in order to line the pockets of the wealthy with a few more dollars that mean less than nothing to them.

Have you ever heard of the just world fallacy? You're a prime example. You're so sure of the virtue of the rich (they worked hard for that money!) and so sure of the moral depravity of the poor (nothing better than envious thieves!)

Oh- one question. So you were making minimum wage, and if our incomes were similar, you were *certainly* not paying any federal income tax.

The reason I ask is that it's occurred to me that the fallacy that the 53%ers may be falling into is thinking that those not paying federal income tax are simply not having it deducted. That's not the case; they just get all of it back from Uncle Sam in their tax returns.

The point about regressive is that it doesn't need to be higher the less you make; due to marginal utility, a flat tax across the board will disproportionately affect the poor.

Non-regressive taxes are not a free ride.

Also, if you'll read more carefully, you'll see that I said. I did AmeriCorps the year *prior* to the Great Recession, thus putting me in the job market right as it hit. But I don't think I was asking for sympathy; just establishing that I was broke going into the Great Recession, and was broke for most of it due to the suckiness of the job market.

I was actually better positioned than you were- I had a master's degree and a year of job experience at a fairly high level, but yeah, the best jobs I were able to get were part time secretarial work at an IT firm and a job making sandwiches at a ski resort. But that's neither here nor there; my point was that I have looked poverty in the face, though only lightly. It's not like I had a family to support.

Um....I don't think I said anything about theft. Just argued that flat taxes are inherently regressive, and that the poor DO pay their fair share via payroll and sales taxes...more than, in some ways, considering marginal utility. From my perspective, what *you're* advocating is theft. It's not that strange to argue that those making 80% of the money should be providing 80% of the taxes. What's the point of robbing the poor to pay the rich? Why should those making the smallest portion of the income pay the majority of the taxes?

If you're paying payroll and sales taxes, it's hardly a free ride. Those are all very regressive taxes. Are you familiar with marginal utility? I don't know how you fared in the Great Recession, but that first year was a PITA for me. I had just finished a year in AmeriCorps, and I was broke. AmeriCorps ended in september, right as the crisis hit. So looking for work was fun, I can tell you that. I took every job I could get my hands on, but my total income that year was less than 10,000 dollars.

And i can tell you, ten percent of my income that year was a big deal to me. $1000 bucks would make me or break me- be the difference between sleeping in my car or making the rent on my 1 room share of a really shitty four bedroom apartment.

Eventually, I was able to find "real" work, and now, while 10% is nothing I'd throw away, it's not as desperately important to me.

Hopefully you can draw your own conclusions from here.

I've read that arguing with people just makes them cling even more strongly to their beliefs, so instead of arguing, I will simply quote the Economist, and let you draw your own conclusions:

"the lower 40% of households in America pay no net federal income tax. They do pay social-insurance taxes, ie Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and a share of corporate taxes and federal excise taxes" (http://www.economist.com/node/21534799)

It says 2006-2010. I think it's a bit of both.

Someone suggested connecting facebook to a yahoo account. Yahoo pulls all the contacts. You can then connect google+ to that yahoo account, and it'll pull in all of those contacts.

Does it really cost more money? It seems to bring in a hell of a lot more money at the universities I'm familiar with. Take my alma mater for example- they've steeply cut funding to the language, history, (etc) programs, but the Engineering department is rolling in dough. Not only is the school lavishing it with new buildings, it brings in a TON of grants and other funding...which is why the school IS lavishing it with better facilities.

I don't really think we should look at immigration as a problem, but a possible solution. So yes, let the visas stay with demand. But the best thing to do would be to create a way to fast track the people with the skills we need into citizenship. The country has always prospered from brain drain, but now we seem to be trying to reverse the trend. We educate people here, and they gain valuable experience here, but we make it very hard for them to stay- and many of them do want to stay.

I think there's nothing wrong with the format of looking at competing explanations, necessarily. PBS has done some very good documentaries in this style. It can be far more accurate than an authoritative-style one, because they can really educate people on what we know (or think we know) and what is still up for debate... and how these things are "decided". I also think it can do a great job of illustrating exactly why it's fun to be a historian or a scientist or whatever and what those fields are actually like- not coming out and stating the obvious, but trying to find a new way to look at what we know to create a better picture, or discovering new things, and best of all taking everything- our new info, our new theories- and then arguing about them.

But you're right, the format can be abused and used very badly. Quality matters. But I'd point out that the other format can be equally misused- I've seen terrible ones that oversimplified complex material to the point of falsehood, focused on a sensational or politically-motivated set of "facts", made it appear that highly disputed data and theories were accepted, and gave credence to the biggest whackjobs in the field.

If our documentaries have gotten worse, it's not the format change. It's that there's more money in making really crappy and sensationalistic documentaries.

My question exactly. What the hell were the designers thinking? Creeper thoughts, apparently.

John fuckin' Noble.

In fact, that's the one thing I know about this game: John Noble's got a role in it. Everything about it could suck, and that alone would make it awesome.

Too far fetched...compared to SG:U? They're all set in the same universe- the same far-fetchedness applies. That's kind of the point.