Monopolies are the free market in action.

There are "natural monopolies" in the real world. An example would be that "last mile" thing - it makes very little sense for seventeen competing companies to all run fibre to every house in a city.

"Natural monopolies" should be the province of government.

Other than the "natural monopolies", pretty much every monopoly exists as a result of government regulation imposing draconian startup penalties on newcomers. Frequently as a result of a business bribing government to impose those barriers, but when you have a government that can do anything you desire, it's going to be bribed to do what someone other than you desires also....

the potential dangers to both humans and humanities infrastructure

If the humanities infrastructure suffers, no doubt there'll be fewer English majors, and more CS majors, so it'll be a good thing, right?

Or did someone mean "humanity's infrastructure"? Yes, I know, "my people don't do editing"....

We'll get more results by using 20% of the money to expand SpaceX contracts, and applying the other 80% toward deficit reduction.

80% of SLS devoted to deficit reduction is a trivial change in the deficit (Better to split it between SpaceX and Orbital Sciences and mission development. Allowing $3B per year for mission development, that leaves enough to pay for development of Falcon9R, Falcon9 Heavy, and Orbital's equivalents.

Or just buy Dragon flights from SpaceX - $5B per year would pay for a Dragon launch every couple weeks.

Or an equivalent number of Falcon9R launches for unmanned missions. Or a Falcon9 Heavy every other month....

Or problem is we put people into positions of power who developed their sense of morality at a time when "The Nazis" were still a valid political party and we didn't generally allow African Americans into the military yet.

And in 50 years, we'll be putting people into positions of power who believe something that is a very fashionable idea in 2014. No idea what it will be, but since we pick our leadership from among the elderly, and develop our ideas of what's good, right and proper during our youth, it's inevitable.

Note also, for reference, the "Buffalo Soldiers". They were around from the end of the Civil War (formed in 1866). There were Negro regiments during the Civil War as well.

It should be noted also that the 9th and 10th Cavalry, as well as other Negro regiments existed through WW2 until the military was integrated during the Korean War (considerably before the rest of US society).

and we're not really an apex predator either.

Yes, actually we are.

A very efficient one, at that, being omnivorous and all. It lets us get past that boom/bust cycle that so many predatory species have to live with....

one of the tenants of punctuated equilibrium

I had no idea that punctuated equilibrium was renting out its spare rooms.

Or did you mean "tenets"?

I had no idea we were supposedly responsible for the extinction of mammoth.

Why not? We've had evidence that we ATE them going back to the 1800's.

The early 1800's

1/20th of one percent of their annual budget.

If we attach penalties for violation of the UN bill of rights governments would be forced to hold a much higher standard of behavior.

I suggest you take a quick look at the UN Veto Powers. Then ask yourself: "how likely are ANY of these countries to want real penalties attached to the UN Bill of Rights?"

If your answer to the question above was "why, all five of them would give the UN Bill of Rights some teeth in a heartbeat, if only someone would suggest it to them", then go right ahead and do so.

Then report to your psychiatrist and tell him you need stronger meds....

was known to be effective by '97

From your link, it was known to have "great potential" by '97.

Which is NOT the same as "known to be effective".

Success in life in not measured by how well you know coding.

Agree completely.

Alas, talking in public about things you know nothing about tends to make you look like an idiot.

Not that Biden needed "One More Thing" to help him look like an idiot - he's had that down for years.

Assuming life favors a single-star system when in reality it favors a twin-star system.

I'm assuming you are a native of a twin-star system who happens to be doing anthropology work among the savages in this system.

Because otherwise, I can't figure out how you'd know that life favors a twin-star system, given that we know of zero twin-star systems that support life.

Joe Biden knows less about coding than my daughter.

Hell, he probably knows less about coding than he knows about guns...

Hint, Joe: firing a shotgun THROUGH your front door violates pretty much every rule about target identification that there is.

So, the Evil Corporation decides to not make its employees work Saturdays?

And you're complaining about this?

I gather that this means that it's only evil if a corporation makes YOU work Saturdays, but if they make the people who provide you services work Saturdays, that's just fine?

Job growth in one year means there are more jobs. Forever.

What an intriguing theory you have.

Note that if self-driving trucks were to become available, truck driver jobs would all disappear...forever. In other words, new technology sometimes makes jobs disappear.

And job growth last year doesn't guarantee the existence of jobs next year. Otherwise, the Great Depression would never have happened.