Where will inflation stop?

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

I'd admit, I'm a bit fascinated by just how stupid this is. So I wasted about 10 minutes of my time researching and testing this myself. It doesn't take a rocket scientist- or any kind of scientist- to verify that the snapping sound is not made by the finger tips rubbing together, but by finger smacking the palm. The friction at the fingertips just provides the latching mechanism to store energy in the finger for a quick release, maximizing the force in which the finger strikes the palm. And it needs a lot of force to make significant sound, because the human palm is not the greatest at creating sound when struck. 
 

Thanos' hand was metal. While he could not load up his finger to maximize energy like a human finger- he was smacking metal on metal. It wouldn't take much to make a significant sound. Same with a prosthetic hand. It's not made of flesh, but plastic. Much more sound with less effort.
 

I'll be waiting for my government check. 

Boost_Crazy said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

I'd admit, I'm a bit fascinated by just how stupid this is. So I wasted about 10 minutes of my time researching and testing this myself. It doesn't take a rocket scientist- or any kind of scientist- to verify that the snapping sound is not made by the finger tips rubbing together, but by finger smacking the palm. The friction at the fingertips just provides the latching mechanism to store energy in the finger for a quick release, maximizing the force in which the finger strikes the palm. And it needs a lot of force to make significant sound, because the human palm is not the greatest at creating sound when struck. 
 

Thanos' hand was metal. While he could not load up his finger to maximize energy like a human finger- he was smacking metal on metal. It wouldn't take much to make a significant sound. Same with a prosthetic hand. It's not made of flesh, but plastic. Much more sound with less effort.
 

I'll be waiting for my government check. 

Maybe you can get somebody from S.H.I.E.L.D. to cut you a check. That is, after you take the time to learn the difference between an online article and an academic study.

I wonder if Iron Man can snap his fingers?

 Taiwan temporarily blockaded Taiwan last August. I didnt see a missile then.

China blocked Taiwan. You didn't see a missile, because 3 aircraft carrier groups with further backup from Australia and Japan said "NO". I'd call a fleet tangible.

Opti said:

You understand that the dollar wasnt always the reserve currency right? They all made the same argument you are making, before getting replaced. It routinely changed throughout history during tumultuos times. Most modern governments arent above currency manipulation to increase the supply. Have you looked at the US M1 Money supply lately?

Except if they go to anything else they could go into a recession immediately- problem with a flat, consistent money supply like precious metals, is you could easily run out of liquid money regardless of wealth and have to resort to barter. The only other nation that has the monetary supply of liquid cash and the capacity to protect it's markets currently is the EU.

We've been over this before. BRICS is a thing. They've had a summit every year since 2009. They are supposed to decide later this year if they are going to admit new members and what the criteria will be. Iran and Saudi Arabia have formally requested to join. Last year Russia created an alternative to SWIFT. They are also supposed to discuss an alternative to the petrodollar at this year summit. Russia is trading oil and gas in Ruble and China in Yuan. Its seen as a way to combat western dominance in global institutions. Id recommend doing a little reading on the subject, because its definitely a thing and has been for over a decade. Its effectiveness could be up for debate, but wether its a real thing is not.

You're missing the point. All your nations in BRICS are either doing their own thing, in an active cold war (How will Iran and Saudi Arabia be at that table, with the Saudis now offering peace agreements with Israel and asking for western technology transfers?), or are falling apart. Only two share borders that let them move people, capital, goods and scientific research- the rest have to ship. What would nations like Brazil gain from this, when the entire South American continent has been seeking similar goals and are all within trading distance? My point is, it might be together but does it even work?

Opti said:

In reply to frenchyd :

I feel little affiliation with either of the two major parties so I do not attend primaries. I do appreciate what the House Reps did with introducing the Fair Tax though.

Then pick a party, if it doesn't matter base it on connivance  or anything and go and make your case.  
  Remarkably it takes very few people to change the direction of anything.   
When America decided to go for independence from the King.   It was a modest crowd of people and by no means universal. Right up to the end of the revolutionary war there was a sizable  percentage of the population who were Loyalists.  
    Even in the South during the civil war there were those who opposed slavery and separation from the Union.   
      

Boost_Crazy said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

Maybe you can get somebody from S.H.I.E.L.D. to cut you a check. That is, after you take the time to learn the difference between an online article and an academic study.

I wonder if Iron Man can snap his fingers?
 

The difference between an online article and an academic study is easy- 

One is free, the other costs taxpayers $118k. 
 

I was thinking the next study should be to see if The Thing can fart. I'm betting no. 

One is done by peer reviewed actual scientists and has legitimate merit. While the other?   

In reply to frenchyd :

Go read the study before you judge me. I did

So did everyone's home study data for finger snap acceleration, friction and force data collected in 10 minutes correlate to the published data?

Just wondering if there is a difference in what the $118k produced versus what you accomplished at home. 

In case you want to refer to the data in your comparison

GIRTHQUAKE said: China blocked Taiwan. You didn't see a missile, because 3 aircraft carrier groups with further backup from Australia and Japan said "NO". I'd call a fleet tangible.

A fleet is tanglible. Access to markets is not. Also the fleet you mentioned hasnt stopped China from performing military exercises around Taiwan. Is it tangible if it doesn't work?

Except if they go to anything else they could go into a recession immediately- problem with a flat, consistent money supply like precious metals, is you could easily run out of liquid money regardless of wealth and have to resort to barter. The only other nation that has the monetary supply of liquid cash and the capacity to protect it's markets currently is the EU.

Recessions never happen? Even as a direct result of government's actions? Its interesting to hear people say that things can't happened that have happened multiple times in history. The Sterling was the largest currency in the world when it was replaced as the reserve currency, by a smaller currency.

You're missing the point. All your nations in BRICS are either doing their own thing, in an active cold war (How will Iran and Saudi Arabia be at that table, with the Saudis now offering peace agreements with Israel and asking for western technology transfers?), or are falling apart. Only two share borders that let them move people, capital, goods and scientific research- the rest have to ship. What would nations like Brazil gain from this, when the entire South American continent has been seeking similar goals and are all within trading distance? My point is, it might be together but does it even work?

I was only responding to you saying that BRICS wasnt a thing, and a bunch of US economists made it up. Thats factually incorrect. I even said their effectiveness is up for debate. Now your response is that they are all doing something else or arent unified. You know what they are working on together and unified about? The dominance of the west in major geopolitical systems like the petrodollar and SWIFT. Do you understand that we cooperate with multiple governments that we oppose on certain things or have major differences in the way the country is ran, but we share a similar goal in whatever specifically we are working on? The thing these countries agree on, is the Wests dominance in major institutions.  Ive been told multiple times on this board when talking about things like waste and the law of diminishing returns that the government can do multiple things at once, and spending resources on one thing does not mean you cant do the other. So are all other governments different and can only do one thing? PS. The US is pretty much always in a proxy war or cold war, we still get all kinds of things done, normally even more war and sometimes massive economic influence in other countries, sometimes those are the same things.

frenchyd said:

Opti said:

In reply to frenchyd :

I feel little affiliation with either of the two major parties so I do not attend primaries. I do appreciate what the House Reps did with introducing the Fair Tax though.

Then pick a party, if it doesn't matter base it on connivance  or anything and go and make your case.  
  Remarkably it takes very few people to change the direction of anything.   
When America decided to go for independence from the King.   It was a modest crowd of people and by no means universal. Right up to the end of the revolutionary war there was a sizable  percentage of the population who were Loyalists.  
    Even in the South during the civil war there were those who opposed slavery and separation from the Union.   
      

I might have agreed with you a long time ago, but studies have been done and the average voter has little to no effect on policy. Policy movement in the US largely tracks the richest and the interest groups. You are right in the fact that it takes very few people to change things, I just dont happen to be in that group of people.

I dont understand your civil war reference unless you mean that the people who opposed slavery opinion's didnt matter against the establishment.

In reply to frenchyd :

If you dont believe there is waste in academic studies, you might want to read about the sokal squared scandal.

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Opti said:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Sounds like you need to get in the business of testing comic book movies for the federal government. Could easily knock out 3 or 4 of these studies a year.

What are the hulks pants made out of?

How do they use the restroom in spandex?

How many arroslws does Hawkeyes quiver hold?

Does the robustness of black widows assets affect her acrobatics?

This is deceptive. Nobody is doing government studies about Marvel Superheros.

https://www.oswego.edu/news/story/researchers-find-worldwide-audience-study-superhero-proportions

I dispute this. This lady literally did research on the physiques of super heroes, and it was published. Are you going to tell me that public colleges arent government funded directly and indirectly through student loans?

Opti said:   

I might have agreed with you a long time ago, but studies have been done and the average voter has little to no effect on policy. Policy movement in the US largely tracks the richest and the interest groups. You are right in the fact that it takes very few people to change things, I just dont happen to be in that group of people.

I dont understand your civil war reference unless you mean that the people who opposed slavery opinion's didnt matter against the establishment.

You're not wrong, but even fewer people vote in primaries (they like it that way) so voting will make more of a difference there.

Candidates swing hard into the party line in the primaries and then try to appeal to the middle in the general election, better off to pick a sane one from the beginning.

In reply to j_tso :

I agree and I vote in primaries, and TX is open primaries. I assume frenchy meant conventions or debates, since you arent allowed to stand up and make a case in an actual polling place.

Opti said:

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

Opti said:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Sounds like you need to get in the business of testing comic book movies for the federal government. Could easily knock out 3 or 4 of these studies a year.

What are the hulks pants made out of?

How do they use the restroom in spandex?

How many arroslws does Hawkeyes quiver hold?

Does the robustness of black widows assets affect her acrobatics?

This is deceptive. Nobody is doing government studies about Marvel Superheros.

https://www.oswego.edu/news/story/researchers-find-worldwide-audience-study-superhero-proportions

I dispute this. This lady literally did research on the physiques of super heroes, and it was published. Are you going to tell me that public colleges arent government funded directly and indirectly through student loans?

 

So if I take out student loans to buy a race car, then Rand Paul can add this to his list and then everybody can go nuts and jump up and down about government waste in colleges until they ban Formula SAE.

OK.

At least I'm not the one who is obsessed with superheroes passing gas. That is kind of sick.

Come to think of it. Using this thread to list Rand Paul's talking points is kind of Political.

I thought we weren't allowed to do that here.

Opti said:

frenchyd said:

Opti said:

In reply to frenchyd :

I feel little affiliation with either of the two major parties so I do not attend primaries. I do appreciate what the House Reps did with introducing the Fair Tax though.

Then pick a party, if it doesn't matter base it on connivance  or anything and go and make your case.  
  Remarkably it takes very few people to change the direction of anything.   
When America decided to go for independence from the King.   It was a modest crowd of people and by no means universal. Right up to the end of the revolutionary war there was a sizable  percentage of the population who were Loyalists.  
    Even in the South during the civil war there were those who opposed slavery and separation from the Union.   
      

I might have agreed with you a long time ago, but studies have been done and the average voter has little to no effect on policy. Policy movement in the US largely tracks the richest and the interest groups. You are right in the fact that it takes very few people to change things, I just dont happen to be in that group of people.

I dont understand your civil war reference unless you mean that the people who opposed slavery opinion's didnt matter against the establishment.

Re; Civil war,  that even dominantly  held beliefs  are  not universal. Could the Civil war  ( and the attending 600,000 lives lost ) been avoided  if rational debate been vigorous in the South  on the subject? 
     Regarding  being a minority?   I'm absolutely certain that our forefathers were the radical rebel minority in 1776  

 I got a building permit ( my real goal in running for Major)  in spite of near universal opposition  to that permit by the establishment.   Even though I only gave 1 speech and spent I day door knocking.  42% of the vote  was enough for the established majority to take me serious.  ( oh it did cost me $2 to be put on the ballot). 

In reply to No Time :

So did everyone's home study data for finger snap acceleration, friction and force data collected in 10 minutes correlate to the published data?

Just wondering if there is a difference in what the $118k produced versus what you accomplished at home. 

In case you want to refer to the data in your comparison

Yup. I even experimented with a friction modifier to gauge it's effect. I licked my finger. 
 

I could spend $100k gathering data on the amount of force a hammer can deliver to a thumb analog. Different hammer weights, swing speeds, etc.. I could make all kinds of charts, tables, and graphs- to tell you that hitting your thumb with a hammer hurts. 
 

Again, this notion that just because there is some merit- "look at all of the data they generated!"- justifies any cost is absurd. The fact that people can't see this explains why we shovel so much money at real problems without holding people accountable for the results. Then we cry that the problem is that we don't have enough money? 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

So you have evidence to document your findings about the forces and mechanism involved in snapping you fingers? If you didn't document it then it essentially didn't happen.  

Sure the "could Thanos snap his fingers" is silly and clickbait, but doesn't necessarily mean the data is frivolous and not useful. 

I'll agree, just getting data doesn't mean the data has any value. I'm curious about the content of the grant proposal and what that may tell us about the goals for the research. But I also think it's a bit presumptuous for you to unilaterally judge the whether the research has any value, unless that's your field of expertise (I haven't seen your CV or list of publications). 

Now if you did actually do the hammer study and document the forces, velocity, and energy, then your cynical study could be used when creating design specifications for some PPE to protect your thumb. But to do a quality study I suspect it would cost more than $10 and 30 minutes to complete. 

In reply to No Time :

You changed my mind. Now I'm worried that the finger snap research didn't go far enough, and we could be missing out on important data. I think we should broaden the scope. There are so many variables that were left unexplored.  How much do you think it will cost to learn everything there is to know about snapping fingers?  $5 million? 10? But that just covers snapping. What about clapping? Whistling? I think this just might justify a whole new government agency. We could raise their budget every year. 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

If it's so easy then please do it.  Get the grant.   At that point you'll have some merit.

  Until then  you are displaying your Lack  of knowledge. 
  I get a kick out of people who say it's so easy to get or do something when they have absolutely no knowledge, just something they have heard. 

Opti said:

A fleet is tanglible. Access to markets is not. Also the fleet you mentioned hasnt stopped China from performing military exercises around Taiwan. Is it tangible if it doesn't work?

If the American market "isn't tangible"- your words- then why did China attempt a blockade? Bro if you don't see how a nation attempting to force another into economic submission with violence isn't a tangible thing, I can't do anything for you.

Recessions never happen? Even as a direct result of government's actions? 

Not what I said. You're claiming that historically fiat currencies fail, except you're trying to compare to an era without the economic controls we have, or the internet, or the sheer wealth, or collective experience... Prior to 1950 we had a crash every 5 years or so.

I was only responding to you saying that BRICS wasnt a thing, and a bunch of US economists made it up. Thats factually incorrect. I even said their effectiveness is up for debate. Now your response is that they are all doing something else or arent unified. You know what they are working on together and unified about? The dominance of the west in major geopolitical systems like the petrodollar and SWIFT. Do you understand that we cooperate with multiple governments that we oppose on certain things or have major differences in the way the country is ran, but we share a similar goal in whatever specifically we are working on? The thing these countries agree on, is the Wests dominance in major institutions.  Ive been told multiple times on this board when talking about things like waste and the law of diminishing returns that the government can do multiple things at once, and spending resources on one thing does not mean you cant do the other. So are all other governments different and can only do one thing? PS. The US is pretty much always in a proxy war or cold war, we still get all kinds of things done, normally even more war and sometimes massive economic influence in other countries, sometimes those are the same things.

Because you keep using BRICS as an example of the "Importance of the American Market decreasing" (also your words) and I'm pointing out that half of those nations are actively fighting each other or falling apart. Which of them can protect their markets and local waters like America can force project? The only two in BRICS, to keep using them as a punching bag, are India and China- and India is an American ally that's doing it to contain China.

Had you approached this from a standpoint of "Other continents are rapidly unifying like the EU to make competing markets to the US's dominance" I'd agree, and frankly it'll probably be a great thing for African nations to have their own like the African Union. But I'm confused here, because it seriously seems like you're trying to make some similar claim to "The west has fallen" meme, when in reality they're able to do this partially because we've enforced open seas for decades.

In reply to frenchyd :

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

If it's so easy then please do it.  Get the grant.   At that point you'll have some merit.

  Until then  you are displaying your Lack  of knowledge. 
  I get a kick out of people who say it's so easy to get or do something when they have absolutely no knowledge, just something they have heard. 
 

Ignoring the fact that you are completely missing the whole point of this conversation (hint: it's not about finger snap research)- would you then agree that you should not talk about building houses or fixing Jaguars since you are not a licensed contractor, nor a certified Jaguar mechanic? 

Boost_Crazy said:

In reply to frenchyd :

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

If it's so easy then please do it.  Get the grant.   At that point you'll have some merit.

  Until then  you are displaying your Lack  of knowledge. 
  I get a kick out of people who say it's so easy to get or do something when they have absolutely no knowledge, just something they have heard. 
 

Ignoring the fact that you are completely missing the whole point of this conversation (hint: it's not about finger snap research)- would you then agree that you should not talk about building houses or fixing Jaguars since you are not a licensed contractor, nor a certified Jaguar mechanic? 

Meh. The point of this conversation is to keep repeating libertarian anti-government talking points over and over and over again. 

Of course we all have a crazy libertarian uncle that nobody wants to sit next to on Thanksgiving that everybody is a little afraid of. When he isn't driving his friends and family crazy ranting and raving about how the gohvernment is wasting HIS tax money doing endless studies about the elasticity of dog poop while they are trying to eat their mashed potatoes, then he is on Internet forums for hours and hours posting about...

Nevermind. 

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

As we all know, big corporations are impossible to run inefficiently because the ghost of Milton Friedman doesn't like that