I agree with this post, up until the the VP part. I believe a Lessig presidency would fight the good fight, but only make a little dent in the problem. Granted that dent would do us a world of good. But no, I don't think the VP would be prez in 4 or even 8 years. Granted, this is all wishful thinking, but hey, I'll support (with $) the best person until I have to throw in the towel and pick the most electable one.

I think drinkypoo was talking a little tongue and cheek, he's aware that people aren't making mental choices to 'take over'. He mentioned 'natural consequence', which is just what has happened. Hispanics have migrated, individually seeking better lives for them/their families, often fleeing war and poverty. Don't forget the US and world bank have played roles in some of that. Maybe it's combined with bad decisions, but most likely differences in resources: read the book Gun, Germs, and Steel. I just realized I didn't address your call for enforcement of immigration laws. I'd say it costs taxpayer money, and net illegal immigration is zero currently. I guess that kinda makes me not care about the issue too much. I'd almost rather we fix those fucking potholes.

Why has nobody brought up that America funds all these drug cartels? I don't really have a dog in this fight, it's pointless for countries to blame eachother for anything, it's better to actually solve the problem. In my opinion, legalize drugs, let the cartels whither & die.

Good questions.

I think some have tried and continue to try to close Gitmo. When countries torture, many people, including it's own citizens, do make a stink. Making something illegal never gets rid of it, but it does cut down it's use and provide avenues to fight it.

I'd say almost all rebellions end in nothing changing, and the most violent ones usually result in a more violent government than the one originally protested against. This line of thinking is at best risky. I'd say try peaceful methods first, or AT LEAST, at the same time. That would be siding with those against torture: liberals and libertarians. And supporting things that are least trying to do the right thing, like this measure.

I think the right to slavery was in there. I think the founders had differing opinions, and they did the best they could to compromise on what the law should be. Politics has never been clean, tidy, or perfect, so giving up and wishing for an armed rebellion is just not helping anything.

I have always wondered how much extra fuel is used and CO2 produced by vehicles having to putter along behind cyclists. Combine that with extra braking and acceleration needed to get around cyclist I wonder if bicycles are a positive or negative force with respect to greenhouse gasses.

Probably negligible. If you're forced to go slower, you'll probably save gas, unless there are no upcoming stops. Ya, braking usually means wasting gas, but I'm still guessing the effects are negligible. The amount saved by the cyclists far surpasses it - look it up, the studies are endless. If I see a cyclist in the distance, I lay off the accelerator and coast till I come up to a safe distance behind them - sometimes not having to touch the brake at all.

Side note, I've mastered a zen approach to never getting mad in traffic. I have a lot of fun driving, and in 25 yrs, been involved in less than $2500 of accident damage. I think I drive faster than most, and yet use less gas. Ask me how if you'd like to be preached to.

Thank you for bringing some actual information (sorry I got no mod points). I agree the title might sound like it's implying something more than the science shows (as far as sins go, this doesn't seem that bad imo). Maybe the article was picked partly because of the cool pictures instead of just on the merit of it's wording. Flipping through them (at the bottom), I can't help but thinking about thousands of years of people not knowing what our world looked like, and now we have this at our fingertips.

The reason I believe in global climate change is because of the many scientific studies that point to it. These studies explain their methods, get scrutinized, and people even use statistics to estimate the chance they might be wrong. I don't believe in it because I notice anything about the last two winters in my area. That would be ridiculous.

If you're going to compare asian immigrants to blacks and hispanics, you have to consider the filters applied. Asian immigrants have the means and desire to get here, and for the most part, they're not coming from war-torn hell holes.

That said, I can and do ask my own community to work harder. As a hispanic, I encourage us to look at the advantages of asian tiger-moms (note there's some disadvantages here too, but on average we can do better), and quite getting girls pregnant before we can afford it.

But for everyone, I'd encourage us all to think of it like this. If we're all neighbors, then we're actually teammates to a degree. Consider that the more poor your neighbors are, the more likely you'll get robbed. The better you and your neighbors do, the higher our whole standard of living gets. If we're on a team, and we are the player doing poorly, we should focus on doing better, working harder. If we're the player doing well, we should keep doing well, but also spend some energy helping the teammates not doing well. Encouragement helps in almost all situations (unless you're pissing people off), and costs no energy (it usually actually creates energy). Discouragement is the opposite.

I recently saw a comedian explain it - it's funnier if you 'punch up'. Even 'punching down' is usually a self-deprecating joke about the comedian ("look what an asshole I am").

White people have had an advantage for hundreds of years (or longer?), and it shows in the percentage of politicians ruling, and probably more importantly the percentage of super rich. It started with slavery, but continued with Jim Crow, and exists today as, at minimum, bias. With that history and current imbalance, it stands to reason that any comparisons showing white people favorably will be met with disdain.

I think of it like this. If we're all neighbors, then we're actually teammates to a degree. If we're the player doing poorly, we should focus on doing better, working harder. If we're the player doing well, we should focus on helping the teammates not doing well. Encouragement seems to work in all situations, and actual help and advice in some situations (like if it's requested).