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Dangers of Global Warming



 
 
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  #741  
Old November 29th 15, 03:03 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Quadibloc
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On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 7:23:34 AM UTC-7, Martin Brown wrote:

But it doesn't. You can easily end up with an elected dictatorship even
if you start out with a democracy. You always need a system with checks
and balances so that no one party can ever grab absolute power.


It's a tradeoff.

Yes, the Parliamentary system can easily be subverted if a dictator is elected -
since the only check and balance is either an elected President, or the monarch.

The American system, therefore, has greater long-term survivability. But it
pays for that; states' rights allowed segregation to survive into the modern
era; it took the Supreme Court, through _Griswold vs. Connecticut_, to legalize
contraception; in Canada, we have patronage politics, but eventually the
negative feedback deals with it - in the U.S., they have pork-barrel politics,
which has positive feedback.

Thus, while Europeans have reason to shy bricks at the U.S. for being
backwards, it may perhaps be just as well that Americans endure the greater
imperfections of their political system at the moment - because, being the only
democracy with nuclear weapons, it is critically important that they _remain_
democratic.

Robert Heinlein was extremely optimistic to think that the rest of the world
would have been able to just ignore Nehemiah Scudder.

John Savard
  #742  
Old November 29th 15, 03:07 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Mike Collins[_4_]
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Quadibloc wrote:
On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 7:23:34 AM UTC-7, Martin Brown wrote:

But it doesn't. You can easily end up with an elected dictatorship even
if you start out with a democracy. You always need a system with checks
and balances so that no one party can ever grab absolute power.


It's a tradeoff.

Yes, the Parliamentary system can easily be subverted if a dictator is elected -
since the only check and balance is either an elected President, or the monarch.

The American system, therefore, has greater long-term survivability. But it
pays for that; states' rights allowed segregation to survive into the modern
era; it took the Supreme Court, through _Griswold vs. Connecticut_, to legalize
contraception; in Canada, we have patronage politics, but eventually the
negative feedback deals with it - in the U.S., they have pork-barrel politics,
which has positive feedback.

Thus, while Europeans have reason to shy bricks at the U.S. for being
backwards, it may perhaps be just as well that Americans endure the greater
imperfections of their political system at the moment - because, being the only
democracy with nuclear weapons, it is critically important that they _remain_
democratic.

Robert Heinlein was extremely optimistic to think that the rest of the world
would have been able to just ignore Nehemiah Scudder.

John Savard


So you are suggesting that France, Britain and India and Pakistan are not
democracies?
Nehemiah Scudder would be admired by many Americans.



  #743  
Old November 29th 15, 03:34 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Paul Schlyter[_3_]
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On Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:52:42 -0800 (PST), "Chris.B"
wrote:
On Tuesday, 24 November 2015 20:54:05 UTC+1, Paul Schlyter wrote:

Then it might be possible to see if gun control would really be

helpful or not.

And since
the people decided, the US still has few restrictions for gun
ownership, and the US also still hasn't gone metric.

In Europe, democracy arrived later. Meanwhile, European

governments
decided to go metric, and they also disarmed their people. So

when
democracy arrived in Europe, people were already used to metric
units, and also to live without guns.


Know any Americans who don't know the meaning of a 9mm? ;ø]


You lost some space probes due to conversion errors between metric
and US units. The more often such conversion must be made, the more
likely those occasional conversion errors will be.
  #744  
Old November 29th 15, 03:53 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Quadibloc
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Default Dangers of Global Warming

On Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 7:10:00 AM UTC-7, Mike Collins wrote:

So you are suggesting that France, Britain and India and Pakistan are not
democracies?


France and Britain together would be insufficient to defend the world from
Russia and China.

Pakistan is not a democracy; non-Muslims do not have equal rights there.

India, although a democracy, also has serious problems with "communal
violence", as they call it, and its nuclear arsenal is also unequal to those of
Russia and China.

It is the United States that stands between the world and a dark night of
totalitarian slavery.

John Savard
  #745  
Old November 30th 15, 06:02 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
[email protected]
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On Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 9:53:13 AM UTC-5, Quadibloc wrote:
On Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 7:10:00 AM UTC-7, Mike Collins wrote:

So you are suggesting that France, Britain and India and Pakistan are not
democracies?


France and Britain together would be insufficient to defend the world from
Russia and China.


It's worse than that. France and Britain together with USSR were insufficient to defend even themselves from the Nazis.


Pakistan is not a democracy; non-Muslims do not have equal rights there.


That is irrelevant. It is most certainly possible to have a "democracy" that does not grant equal rights to all, in fact it's very likely.

  #746  
Old November 30th 15, 06:23 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
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On Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 9:34:12 AM UTC-5, Paul Schlyter wrote:
On Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:52:42 -0800 (PST), "Chris.B"
wrote:
On Tuesday, 24 November 2015 20:54:05 UTC+1, Paul Schlyter wrote:

Then it might be possible to see if gun control would really be
helpful or not.

And since
the people decided, the US still has few restrictions for gun
ownership, and the US also still hasn't gone metric.

In Europe, democracy arrived later. Meanwhile, European

governments
decided to go metric, and they also disarmed their people. So

when
democracy arrived in Europe, people were already used to metric
units, and also to live without guns.


Know any Americans who don't know the meaning of a 9mm? ;Å™]


You lost some space probes due to conversion errors between metric
and US units.


It was really a "cultural" error, much more so than conversion.

The more often such conversion must be made, the more
likely those occasional conversion errors will be.


Which is one reason why English units are provided on most consumer products. Metric is not particularly helpful in most such cases.





  #747  
Old December 3rd 15, 07:36 PM posted to sci.astro.amateur
Chris.B[_3_]
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On Sunday, 29 November 2015 15:53:13 UTC+1, Quadibloc wrote:

It is the United States that stands between the world and a dark night of
totalitarian slavery.

John Savard


Why is it that US comic artists and story writers spend so much time inventing superheroes? Is it a lack of faith in US justice which demands a super being to set matters right in the face of all that is corrupt? Is this the same reason why so many Americans believe in aliens? They hope for outside help to remove the countless villains which spoil their day? Is this also why so many Americans abuse illegal drugs and end up in prison? Any means of escape from hideous [US] reality is better than none at all? Hence the obsession with gambling, the lottery and Las Vegas? More escapism from everyday, US reality? So many questions so few [sensible] answers. ;o)

 




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