Which is sufficiently vague enough research to not mean shit. Populations will most likely either A) stabilize significantly below the UN threshold due to some major resource shortage or B) surpass it significantly. The truth is we can accurately estimate how much oil is left, and we can see that our renewable resources are lagging behind enough to be worrisome. Its only pointless to worry about distant horizons to someone who is more concerned about the "now" than the future.

Sure it does. Ready access to energy is what makes our lives better than an iron age farming village. It enables us to become wealthy, get fat, produce large structures. This energy is fossile fuels. The production of energy is tied to wealth as it enables more resources to be produced. He has some other posts that show why we will eventually have a finite supply of energy on Earth even with fusion, geothermal and solar. At some point, we wont have enough energy to meet the demand. With such a large population dependent on this energy, the results will be catastrophic. I suspect the population will stabilize eventually, but he does a good job tying energy production into the economic system and essentially showing why we either must become self sufficient in small family groups and watch our population, or head to the stars (which he also thinks is highly unlikely).

I agree with fairtax in principal, however it is known that rich people always are less harmed by sales taxes. Even with the prebate, I still see a potential problem there.

I wouldn't call that fraud at all. Fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual, I'd hardly call someone getting a mortgage to buy a home following all the regulations de-frauding a bank.

You say your wife here then your "girlfriend" below. What are you up to?

Linear/exponential growth is not possible forever. http://physics.ucsd.edu/do-the-math/2011/07/can-economic-growth-last/

Re-puking-can is another one, since they continually spout the same bullshit all the time.

You don't discipline a 16 year old by beating them with a belt until they are crying and scared. 16 year olds are basically young adults, and they can be reasoned with. He could have thrown the computer out the window to make his point, or simply taken it away, or he could have reported her to the authorities.

Sexual molestation? Come on.

Spanking makes sense for younger children since they can't be reasoned with. They understand pain and discomfort as something to fear, so they avoid it. However when you spank them you don't beat the fuck out of them with a belt and verbally abuse them. You just swat them a few times without causing injury to get the point across. Even some unruly 16 year olds that try to hit you or push you need to be restrained or slapped a few times, but this guy actually seemed to be enjoying or at least craving beating her with a belt. He went and got another one when the wife took the belt from him rather than let the few swats he already did stick. The daughter was sitting there crying and scared, and he kept at it. She wasn't trying to resist, nor was she being violent towards them. He could have just picked the computer up and stuck it in his closet or something. Lesson learned.

You are an asshole, and I don't give a damn if you have mutilated genitals. It doesn't give you the right to be a worthless pile of shit.

The issue is most 23 year olds are incapable of being financially independent even if they are employed or hard workers in this economy. The unemployment rate amongst that age group (18-26 or something) is 24 percent. This is not because they are lazy, its because they are competing for jobs that 35 year old laid off people with working experience are also competing for, and also because some jobs were annihilated never to come back, and many people aren't retiring.

You Texans and your pride. I lived there for a few years and got sick of hearing about it.

Legally considered yes, not a child in reality. 16-22 year olds are somewhere between child and adult. A 16 year old should have the right to self determination, and freedom from being beat on. If I did that to my 18 year old child, who is insignificantly more mature than a 16 year old I would be charged with assault. There is no reason a 16 year old shouldn't be allowed some level of self determination and be treated like a young adult.

Thank you for being an advocate of the voice of reason.