And therefor, a well armed populace is the best final defense of freedom.

Out of 26 years only 1 is "normal"? At what point should we just conclude that your definition of normal is the issue?

The world is less polluted today than it was 30 years ago. And far far less than it was 100 years ago. So isn't that a shrinking pollution problem, not a growing one?

We can always fund more research. But I'm sure that fact hasn't influenced the previous findings of those researchers.

Getting back to the actual topic, Timothy and you both implied that the budget of topic here originated with the House. It didn't. It originated with Barack Obama. That's all I'm saying.

Hey, now! Corporations are people too.

Thank you for that question. I'm glad you asked.

The concern here is for the financial well-being of our country. Once a majority population of a Democracy has figured out that they can just vote themsleves gifts from the coffers of the country, that country will certainly head down a swift path to financial ruin. That's why we don't have Democracy.

The founders of the United States fortunately were aware of this history, so they slowed this phenomonon down by deciding upon a Republic. By voting only for Representatives, the direct control of the coffers is taken away from the voters in favor of stability. But even a Republic's financial solvency can be threatened by a majority of politicians out-promising each other over how many gifts they will give people in order to get elected.

The fiscally conservative side of the voting block is very concerned that a number like 70% receiving direct payments could be the tipping point to create the phenomenon I've described above. That may or may not be the case, as many direct payments are for direct goods and services (e.g. Farm subsidies, federal payroll, etc.) But it is a concern that is something we as a country should watch closely and discuss.

The political ignorance of you and timothy is, I am affraid to say, embarrassing. Let me explain what has happened here.

The POTUS has made a budget that he suggests to the House of Representatives. You can find and explanation of this on Wikipedia.

You can also know more about this if you would just RTFB that was posted today.

"Calls on the Congress to enact bipartisan commonsense, comprehensive immigration reform consistent with the President’s principles and that builds on the bipartisan legislation that has already passed the Senate, which the Congressional Budget Office has found would reduce the deficit by almost $1 trillion and increase the economy by $1.4 trillion over the next twenty years."

Timothy. You claimed that the House originated President Obama's budget proposal. Citation needed please.

A nearly semantic language that can solve problems for the user with the information that they are looking for?

This sounds like Stephen Wolfram is angling for a buyout from an enormous search engine (that has the majority of market share).

Such a search giant busies itself with the trying to stay ahead of a curve that is contantly try to flatten itself. This would be quite the engine for solving that problem...

I graduated with a degree in Engineering in 2010. There were organized groups and promotions EVERYWHERE on campus to promote all kinds of engineering and programming to women. There was not a single group to encourage men to join nursing. Not a single poster anywhere.

Just because you find one website on the fringes of the internet does NOT mean you have discovered parity. The social obsession to view women as victims at every turn doesn't apply to men. EVER.

When I start seeing movements to increase the dearth of men in the fulfilling career of nursing, I might start having some actual respect for efforts such as these.

Be welcoming and warm in our acceptance of anyone. But to push them toward something they are not really interested in, just so some people feel better about themselves, is absolute silliness.

Humanity in the United States has become far more fragile over the last 30 years.

That is exactly how I feel too! In order to get MS Office to work, they claim I need a product key. Ha! Product key, Scmoduct Key.

I was also told that in order to get Ender's Game to work on my TV screen I needed to buy a digital copy off of Amazon Prime for $19.99. Oh these silly people. Luckily I know how to make this stuff work without their help.

An invitation to speculate and draw our own conclusions based on a model that everyone will pick apart?

Bring in some pre-conceived ideas from Slashdot readers and we have a real festive discussion ahead of us today! Popcorn time.

I'm taking wagers on how many posts this one gets within the next 2 days. My computer model puts the number at about 535.