Yes, you still get the munchies.

Having played in that "casino" for over 30 years, I'll call BS. Unemployment has always been a lagging indicator of the direction of the overall economy, while the markets are forward looking. You can certainly approach it that way by placing your money on more risky companies, but that's entirely up to the individual investor. There are plenty of lower risk investment vehicles...S&P500, utilities (I have my own anecdote on that one above), etc. where you can put money down long term, and expect a decent rate of return. Take a look at the historical returns on just the S&P. There have been a total of 2 periods when you would have lost money over a ten year period, the first was during the Great Depression, and the second was 2008-2009. Don't believe me?...look at:

http://financeandinvestments.blogspot.com/2012/06/historical-annual-returns-for-s-500.html

Or, you could simply put your money into the S&P500, and do pretty well. You'd also save yourself a lot on broker fees, and the headaches of researching individual companies. Here's a chart going back to 1950. You can clearly see the "Internet bubble", and the collapse from from the housing bubble as well. But, over time, it's essentially, a continuous climb.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=^GSPC&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=

There's no reason you can't start collecting on that trickle at an early age. At 23 years old, I had $600 to my name back in '82, and on the advice of a broker (and remembering that my grandmother had invested in the same company) purchased 60 shares of Detroit Edison. I joined their dividend reinvestment program (DRIP), which was much better back then (no fees, and 5% discount to the market price). I've long since sold the original 60 shares, and only hold onto those that were accumulated via dividends and reinvestment...now worth about $20k.

If you participate in a 401k, chances are that you're already in the market, and enjoying some trickle.

Do some homework on the markets, it's much easier now than when I started. It's not only for 1 percenters.

Let's try another analogy...

Suppose you have a pool in your backyard, and some kids use it w/o your permission. When one of them drowns, who's liable?

Now, I'm not taking Spamhaus' side on this, but analogies are just that, and often apples vs. oranges.

Actually, it is, and this is the reason that the FAA has requirements for pilots to remain current. They're required to execute a minimum number of take-offs and landings. And any training program worth a shit gives them simulator time, and practice with emergency procedures. I haven't sat in the controls in 20+ years, but maybe these guys aren't getting enough practice now.

Your example with a car is irrelevant. Cars are not planes, and you don't have to stop the plane to take over from an auto-pilot. Frequently, in an aircraft, you'll have more time to figure things out than in an automobile. You don't have to deal with trees, pedestrians, or other solid objects until you get close to the ground.

Get some time under the hood, and come back and tell us the same. Been there, done that.

Yup, and most of the auto industry is out to get us. Just look at this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_vehicle
At the 2012 World Hydrogen Energy Conference, Daimler AG, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota all confirmed plans to produce hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for sale by 2015.[6] General Motors said it had not abandoned fuel-cell technology and still plans to introduce hydrogen vehicles like the GM HydroGen4 to retail customers by 2015....In 2009, Nissan started testing a new FC vehicle in Japan.

So, maybe, just maybe, you're overlooking something.

You can see this in the U.S. in a much smaller way with communities that have homeowner's associations (HOAs). Some people hate them, and hate being told what they're allowed to do with their own properties. I've belonged to a couple, and been to HOA meeting where it was lucky someone wasn't packing heat. On the other hand, you have the option of living in areas without an HOA, and your neighbor might paint his home yellow, and impact the value of your property by doing so. In the end, it's all about striking a balance, in this, and in larger forms of government.

At least on this planet, transmissions are rarely just a single push to talk, or even just a few. The frequency is reused multiple times, or even constantly on a carrier. Spectral displays can show activity across very large bands, and automatic reporting and recording of the activity isn't that difficult.

All that said, I agree that I'd place my money on winning the lottery many, many times before anyone finds ET.

Incorrect. There are plenty of ways for the government to sole source products. It's done all the time.

'It's our hardware, it's our networking.'"

Until they tell us it's not.

Okay, well maybe I misunderstood you, but I'm still missing it as the discussion is about SARS, not influenza. And, for that my comparison is still accurate. Your numbers for fires are the same as mine, only stated differently.

It's not working, you're still here.

This is the typical panicked response that the media depends upon. Your chances of contracting the disease isn't anywhere near 1 in 30, and your chance of dying is much smaller still. Learn what the real numbers are, and you can pay attention to the things that really matter in life instead of what you've heard on the boob tube. Relatively speaking, a much higher number (and percentage) of the population died in auto accidents. Should everyone stay home?...maybe not because more people died in home fires (10-14 per million in the U.S over the last ten years).