It's a shame that these days, we are focused on hyper-specialization and don't see these sort of polymaths.

"Starvation mode" has been shown to be a myth. It comes down to basic math, calories in vs. calories out.

If you eat less and work out more, you lose weight. You do the opposite, you gain.

There's no way for the body to "magically" get fat when eating less. That violates the laws of thermodynamics. Sure, the rate of how quickly you gain or lose weight may change (e.g., when you eat less or change your macros to consume less sugar, you may find yourself being more lethargic in the short term until you get used to it, and so you will burn fewer calories). Or, as you lose weight, you need fewer calories (because there isn't as much of you to support).

But a calorie is a calorie and reducing ~3500 calories results in about 1lb of weight loss. Is it exactly 3500? No. Why? Because there are so many other variables at play. But is it closer to 3500 than, say, 500 or 10,000? You bet.

The sad state of things is such that even though they are using H-1B improperly, those affected are mostly college-educated white males.

I disagree. Given the disproportional representation of Asians in STEM fields, I would say that those affected are mostly college-educated Americans - yes, more white than black, but certainly includes Asians and women.

Obviously, this depends on the location (e.g., more Asians in California and East Coast vs. Midwest), but I think this affects all skilled Americans in IT.

And I think the mistake is in characterizing it as something that only affects white people. It's all about narrative -- bring in other groups, then see the magic unfold.

Voyager was pretty bad, especially because of the annoying captain. It was far worse than Enterprise.

But Neelix was awesome, right?

Also wanted to add that co-opting the fringe primarily seems to be happening with one party (i.e., the GOP), and that is reflected in the election results.

However, please bear in mind that in terms of political views, the US is also more conservative than the rest of western society.

What is considered left in the US would be considered pretty moderate or even center-right in many parts of the world.

In may ways, co-opting the extreme right (e.g., the tea party) and some of the libertarian values reflect this reality.

It may be what you prefer, but empirical studies of choice have shown that most people's choices fall along a median, and success is often the result of trying to accommodate one side of the median and most of the median.

It's the same with consumer products, and it's the same with elections.

All systems lean towards simplicity, and the more mature a system is (i.e., it's been around for longer), the more strong parties coalesce towards the median.

Two political parties are a sign of a mature democracy.

Look up Anthony Down's median voter theorem.

You know the only thing worse than an Uber driver? A hippie bicyclist complaining about the Uber drivers.

Free market, bro. Surge pricing works because there is a limited availability, high demand, and the company is charging what they can get away with.

Scheduling pickups? As someone who travels every week, I can certainly relate to this. But then what's stopping you from canceling and just paying the $5 fine or whatever? Or what happens if Uber is unable to have a driver pick you up? Given the complexity involved in scheduling systems, they probably find it easier to do "point in time" scheduling, which works for their business model. 80/20, and the number of folks who want to schedule are much, much smaller and the effort required to arrange for it is probably significantly larger.

Seriously, though. I am glad that Uber is here to disrupt the cab industry, with their dirty cabs, rude drivers, and propensity to hate credit cards.

"To all things, there is a time."

- Babylon 5

3-6 years?! For most Indians and Chinese, it's closer to a decade.