shirgall

The estimates don't have big error bars. 4.54 plus or minus 0.05 billion years, based on radiometric dating of terrestrial, lunar, and meteoric materials. A common error is assuming that such dating is only based on carbon, but yes, this age is "accepted" not proven, because of core assumptions that have, as yet, not been overturned by new evidence or experiments. It has not risen to a level such as the law of gravity, but it's pretty solid compared to the YES hypothesis. For example, experiments trying to show that radiometric dating is flawed have been found to have flaws of their own. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/helium/zircons.htmletc. etc. The question becomes, "what does 'firm' mean to you?" What does 'begin' mean to you? It obviously means something quite different to me.

Does anyone find it ironic that the original post shows the grand canyon, which has visible stata going back to the proterozoic era?

Handling risk is a deep topic. There's nothing inherently unfree about getting insurance. Insurance is not always used to deal with things that happen to you, but can also be used to cover the things that happen because of you. My wife has liability insurance because, as a nurse, there is always the chance of making a mistake. Sometimes it's worth it to get insurance just because it's worth having a company and its lawyers in your corner if something goes wrong and you get sued. The concept of insurance is used to cover the costs of events that could happen, not events that necessarily will. And not only that, there's also the possibility of upside risk as well as downside. For example, imagine you intended to test market a product. You might take out some form insurance for the possibility that your product was more successful than expected, and could therefore cover the costs of higher growth lest your product fizzle in the marketplace due to unavailability. A rainy day fund is even a form of insurance, even if you cram it in your mattress.

Since I was trolling by quoting the Bible, I was hoping someone would get the joke. Indeed, with some good self-knowledge, you learn to trust your gut after a while.

Does your idea of wealth distribution include standard of living? The world's poor today are all materially better off than the poor a hundred years ago...imagine how things could have been without war machines and government waste.

I understand the feeling, but I suggest you turn your focus to the accomplishment of getting your message out rather than having it not be sent because of analysis paralysis. I sense a lot of frustration in what you are saying, and perhaps a little remorse about having said it, but I would be proud to write about something so personal and deeply touching. I hope you will get some good results from counseling, and I of course encourage you to call into the show to get some feedback from some truly empathic folks. Hang in there!

As they say, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits..."

http://www.garvan.org.au/news-events/news/bone-fractures-can-double-or-triple-mortality-for-up-to-10-years In 2014, over 192,000 Americans died from non-firearm traumas (most of them falls). Broken bones are not a joke.

Image stabilized version (obvious content warning): https://gfycat.com/SourFaroffArawana

The rise of Trump is directly related to the failure of the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party and the watered-down (and therefore mildly statist) nature of Rand II. It is fueled by the willingness of the GOP to tax and spend with as much glee as the Democrats even when they don't have to. The spectacular failure of the first MBA President (Bush II) to bring the business of government to heel must have been forgotten at this point...

What is more frustrating is when you get edge cases that muddy the water. For example, the High School Physics "F = ma" is wrong. It's actually "F = Δp / Δt". It's just that momentum is more difficult to teach than mass.

If you have competing theories that explain all of the observations and accurately predict future ones, then the less complicated one wins.

We trust theories that are consistent with the evidence that abounds around us and that are also logically consistent. Gravity works with the things that can can observe directly. Dark matter is called "dark" because we don't know enough about it to describe it. The theory of gravity describes the manner in which objects attract one another. It does describe how orbits work, even galactic ones, but in the galactic case there is evidence of mass that is not yet accounted for. Dark matter is simply a label for that missing mass and the investigation of dark matter is simply the search for that mass. Don't complicate things. When you see the "dark" label, just remember that it just means that there's something that should be there based on the effects of it but they haven't found yet.

Start at 9:15... (content warning)

The fact that people defy the law in order to defend themselves is a tipping point in itself. It is fundamental for people to realize that they are more responsible for their personal safety than any faceless organization.

The circumstance that justifies the lethal use of force is the immediate, otherwise unavoidable danger of death or grave bodily harm to yourself or the innocent. Were you considering less than lethal force? If you are even in the realm of considering, you no longer have immediacy anymore and you are instead looking for restitution. There are many ways to resolve disputes, but I'm pretty sure the first step is negotiation not force.

All independently verifiable observed instances of consciousness have been backed by matter to date.

My first software consulting company was "Horizon Systems"... there are a lot of names like Landscape, Panorama, Vista, etc. that evoke similar expansive moods.

From Extra Credits, on getting the designer mindset: However, the mindfulness being exercised here can extend to other things than game design.

And if you defend yourself in Denmark, you get in trouble... http://www.thelocal.dk/20160126/danish-teen-fought-off-her-attacker-with-pepper-spray-now-shell-face-fine

Andreas Wahl, shooting a rifle at himself underwater, dropping from 40 feet tied to a kettle bell that slows him by looping, and luging through a BBQ while covered only with a spray of water...

Immigration isn't the only topic here, nor is it even the most popular one. Therefore your premise that immigration is a topic here because "right-wingers are... most keen" doesn't reflect that. There are many people of all stripes that recognize that the US grew because it championed the idea of "The Freedom Club" and sought to attract people that believed in that ideal. The counterpart to that is that you want to discourage people who don't want to be part of "The Freedom Club" from trying to join. Most of the time, however, we argue about what it means to be part of "The Freedom Club" and not immigration.

Your theory may be buoyed by immigration posts, but there are a lot of other posts on this board aimed at the sacred cows of the right and the left.

underscore, reinforce, support, lend credence to...