Is that measured in total dollars or dollars-per-student? Most of the stats I've seen put the US down around 10th in the developed world in terms of dollars-per-student.

I've commented on this before in other threads. There's a (rather disturbing IMHO) school of thought that thinks government is the ultimate economic engine. Thus any money the government doesn't collect is equivalent to subsidy.

Interestingly, the Soviet Union routinely underestimated US military capabilities on the assumption that if the US had the capability, the US would have used it. The US hadn't used it, so obviously they didn't have it.

Source: Operation Solo, John Barron.

drinkypoo linked me to the Amnesty International source. Thank you for the additional information.

You made a claim, I asked for a source, you provided it. No need to get snippy there, sparky.

Can I see a citation for that statistic please? Or at least your calculations to come up with that figure?

I'd be interested in a survey of the Voluntary Human Extinction Project for the numbers of vegans amongst their ranks.

Obviously the kid is not a rational actor (most human beings aren't but we're quite good at lying to ourselves in that respect), but I wonder what made this seem like a good idea to him. I'm not excusing his behavior by any means, but what external factors lead him to believe that 1) this was an acceptable action and 2) a failing grade was serious enough to warrant this action.

I've seen you post this comment 3 times. I'm going to extend you the courtesy of assuming you're not a troll.

Let's assume the FBI knew this guy was intending to fly a gryocopter into no-fly space. Let's further assume based on reading this guy's emails,or tapping this guy's phone, or rummaging through his trash, or his refrigerator, or installing secret spy devices in his underpants to measure his potential for Communist sympathies, that they decided he's a legitimate protestor and not a home-grown terrorist. In that case, shooting him out of the sky risks public out-cry. Particularly since the air-defense systems around DC no-fly zones are SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES. Weee bit of overkill there. So what's less headache? Shoot the kook down or let the kook have his fifteen minutes of political-stunt-fame and go about your day?

"Says the white guy" is not actually a valid counter-argument. You do realize that, correct?

Looking at the GS base-scale, six-figure incomes don't start until GS-14 Step Six. At that point in their career, a GS-14 usually has responsibilities commensurate with a military colonel.

Yes. Comcast says "We'll let you access data at this speed." They then turn around to the source as say "Pay us money so your traffic can go through at this speed." Why does Comcast get to double-tip on this?

Scalzi has stopped doing it in recent years, but it was a custom of his at one point. Here's his from 2008: http://whatever.scalzi.com/200...

It's not Social Justice (TM) that the Sad Puppies are opposing. It's Social Justice (TM) at the expense of a decent or entertaining story. I was on the fence about the whole thing until last year,. What pushed me over the edge was If You Were A Dinosaur My Love winning Best Short Story in the Hugos. Even those who liked it admitted that it probably doesn't qualify as fantasty, science fiction, or speculative fiction.

There was a 2001 Superman comic to this effect, entitled "What's so Funny About Truth Justice and the American Way?" (later adapted into an animated short, "Superman vs the Elite"). Largely a reaction to the anti-hero movement and the "flawed god" stories, it addresses the necessity of dreams and ideals and why seeing everything as bleak and depressing is our ultimate self-inflicted damnation. I highly recommend both the comic and the film version.