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Sunday, February 9, 2020

Is Society Filtering for Fairness/Merit or Wealth?, Random Stuff, and More

- in a previous post I mentioned the following formula which I came up with. It sort of can semi-predict success of an individual within this system:
success in this system = opportunity/network/environment/school + capital buildup/financial backing/savings + understanding local system/capitalism + understanding craft/skill/education + ethics and/or corruption level/communication/interpersonal skills + genetics/health/physical condition + effort/hard work/flexibility
- the formula works across virtually all stories of success I've come across (including migrant success stories. There are few instances of homeless people having social mobility?). Once I discovered it (the formula) the world seemed a little less amazing then it previously seemed (because the system feels at least partly rigged towards those who are already doing well and it's generally pretty dodgy all around?)? People who aren't prepared are often put into positions of power that they shouldn't be? The formula should obviously be more aligned to the following:
success in this system = understanding craft/skill/education + ethics and/or corruption level/communication/interpersonal skills + effort/hard work/flexibility
- politics clearly filters for wealth. The correlation between how much money you have and your ability to win is ridiculously high?
‘In The Lobby’ to On The Committees—How Lobbyists Took Over Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UC-VPZMuW4
correlation fundraising and presidential win
How strong is the association between campaign spending and political success? For House seats, more than 90 percent of candidates who spend the most win. From 2000 through 2016, there was only one election cycle where that wasn’t true: 2010. “In that election, 86 percent of the top spenders won,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks campaign fundraising and spending.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/does-more-campaign-money-actually-buy-more-votes-investigation/355154/
Most of Britain's Parliament is not elected... Meet THE LORDS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgMRiA9dZQs
correlation congressman fundraising
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/money-and-elections-a-complicated-love-story/
The more you outspent your opponents, the more you won by.
More interesting is a look at how the size of the winning candidate's victory corresponds to how much more that person spent. (The first three graphs in this post correspond to spending, not what was raised by the campaign.) Here are all of the races, with the vertical axis showing the point spread of the victory (e.g., a 60 percent to 40 percent win is a 20 percentage point spread). The horizontal axis shows the percentage more or less that the winning candidate spent.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/does-more-campaign-money-actually-buy-more-votes-investigation/355154/
http://theconversation.com/money-in-elections-doesnt-mean-what-you-think-it-does-104452
- money buys you better healthcare, clothing, better food, etc... and a longer life. It seems to filter in a subtle fashion for Eugenics/bloodline much like the monarchies of old?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Burgess_(political_scientist)
https://www.techtimes.com/articles/247472/20200221/clothes-maketh-the-man-especially-in-job-interviews.htm
- notice that most heads of state attend the same schools? In Australia's case, it would be University of Sydney or University or Melbourne. In England, it's congregates around the Oxbridge network. In France, it's the Grande Ecole. This mechanism seems to be present in most of the world?
australian prime minister alma mater
The Prime Ministers of Australia have attended a variety of different educational institutions.
Until relatively recently, it was uncommon for prime ministers in Australia to hold a university degree. Out of the first ten prime ministers, only three attended university and only two held degrees. However, nine out of the most recent ten prime ministers have been university graduates. The University of Sydney (seven), the University of Oxford (five), and the University of Melbourne (four) have been the most frequently attended institutions. The vast majority of degrees awarded to future prime ministers were in either arts or law. Only Edmund Barton, Earle Page, and Robert Menzies undertook postgraduate studies that resulted in a substantive master's degree. Six others undertook postgraduate studies in the form of a second bachelor's degree, including four who did so at Oxford University and proceeded to a Master of Arts by seniority. No prime minister has held a substantive doctorate, although Earle Page was a medical doctor. Bob Hawke dropped out of a Ph.D. program.
Many of Australia's early prime ministers had limited formal education and left school at a young age to seek employment. Chris Watson, Andrew Fisher, and Joseph Cook all finished their formal schooling before the age of 13. John McEwen is the most recent prime minister to have had no secondary schooling, while Paul Keating is the most recent to have had no university education. Four early prime ministers were educated entirely outside of Australia – one in New Zealand and three in Great Britain. There has been a relatively even mixture of private schools and government schools, and many prime ministers alternated between the two systems. Only a handful of schools have hosted more than one future prime minister – Melbourne Grammar School (three), Sydney Grammar School (three), Wesley College, Melbourne (two), Abbotsholme College (two) and Sydney Boys High School (two).
united kingdom prime minister alma mater
A list of prime ministers of the United Kingdom and the educational institutions they attended. As of December 2019, of the fifty-five prime ministers to date, twenty-eight were educated at the University of Oxford (including thirteen at Christ Church), and fourteen at the University of Cambridge (including six at Trinity College). Three attended the University of Edinburgh, three the University of Glasgow, and two Mason Science College, a predecessor institution of the University of Birmingham. John Major was (as of 2020) the last of the eight prime ministers who did not attend university after leaving secondary education.
Twenty prime ministers were schooled at Eton College, of whom nine were educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, including all three who held office between 1880 and 1902 (Gladstone, Salisbury, Rosebery). Seven were educated at Harrow School and six at Westminster School. Nine prime ministers to date have been educated at non-fee-paying schools; these include all five who held office between 1964 and 1997 (Wilson, Heath, Callaghan, Thatcher, Major).
Fifteen prime ministers trained as barristers at the Inns of Court, including twelve at Lincoln's Inn (although not all were called to the bar). Two (Wellington and Churchill) completed officer training at military academies.
united states president alma mater
grand ecole criticism
To think outside the box, France’s high-level civil service needs to open up. So do French boardrooms. At the moment a staggering 84 percent of the leaders of the top 40 companies in France hail from just three places – HEC, ENA, and Polytechnique.
Change, however, is afoot.
France’s elites are beginning to understand that they need to attract the best foreign minds and hone leaders able to compete in the era of globalisation. Otherwise, warns Gumbel, “even cream can go sour”.
French grandes écoles need ‘a change of mindset’
Gumbel added: "David Cameron gets a hard time for surrounding himself with old Etonian buddies and being out of touch, but compared with François Hollande, who has surrounded himself with his old classmates, Cameron seems harmless. In France it's still a system of jobs-for-the-boys that was prevalent in Britain back in the 1950s."
- note that most selective schools seem to have skewed selection policy?
"The truth is that right now, whether you get into a university like this depends disproportionately on your socio-economic background and which school you went to. Part of it is that we need to look beyond the ATAR, because the ATAR correlates with socio-economic background and schools."
For those parents the focus often falls on how hard it is to get into selective schools. About 14,000 children sit the test every year to apply for just 4000 places.
The process is so exacting that it is hard to secure a place without attending expensive private cram-schools or tutoring.
In theory, state selective-schools are supposed to offer children from all socio-economic groups the chance to receive an elite education.
But the high costs of preparing for the exams means that in practice the majority of students at selective schools come from middle-class families.
A recent study found that only 2 percent of students at selective schools come from families in the bottom quarter of socio-economic status. Often, selective schools offer a cheap alternative to middle-class families who could afford private school.
entry into ivy league college odds
But that’s where the happy story seems to end. At Ivy-plus colleges, those elite institutions that propel people to greatness and equalize disparities, more than two-thirds of the students are from rich households and fewer than 4% are from poor households. “Elite college campuses are almost entirely populated by the students who benefit the least from the education they receive there; the ones who were already wealthy when they arrived on campus,” Tough notes. The worst offender: Princeton, which according to the 2016 data is 71% rich and only 2.2% poor.
selective school entry odds
Analysis of My School data by Guardian Australia reveals that students at selective schools are strikingly more advantaged than other nearby schools. They are overwhelmingly attended by the most educationally advantaged students and in many cases are dramatically unrepresentative of the suburbs in which they are located.
...
“Selective schools were supposed to be public schools that were accessible for gifted kids. The fact that there are almost no disadvantaged kids in these schools tells us they’re no longer accessible and they’re not genuine public schools because they’re not open to anyone except the most advantaged families in NSW.”
iq and wealth correlation
How important is intelligence to financial success? Using the NLSY79, which tracks a large group of young U.S. baby boomers, this research shows that each point increase in IQ test scores raises income by between $234 and $616 per year after holding a variety of factors constant. Regression results suggest no statistically distinguishable relationship between IQ scores and wealth. Financial distress, such as problems paying bills, going bankrupt or reaching credit card limits, is related to IQ scores not linearly but instead in a quadratic relationship. This means higher IQ scores sometimes increase the probability of being in financial difficulty.
Consider this: in his latest book Sandel points out that at Ivy League colleges (the most prestigious in the country) "there are more students from families in the top 1 per cent (income of more than $630,000) than there are students from all families in the bottom half of the income distribution combined".
As it is for education, so it is for wealth. Sandel cites figures showing that "the median income for working age men, $36,000, is less than it was four decades ago".
The richest 1 per cent, he points out, earn more than the bottom half combined.
If you're born poor you likely stay poor. Of those in the bottom fifth of the income scale, Sandel says, "only about one in 20 will make it to the top fifth".
That's OK, though, Barack Obama told them: "You can make it if you try." By Sandel's count he used that line in speeches more than 140 times during his presidency.
It echoed the "lifters and leaners" mantra in Australia; if you didn't make it you weren't trying hard enough or even worse there was something wrong with you.
Sandel says the members of the meritocracy "inhale too deeply of their success". They overlook luck, good fortune and think success is earned.
The idea that you can make it if you try, Sandel says "congratulates the winners but denigrates the losers".
...
Power must be shared and made more accountable. Michael Lind says: "A country run by an aristocracy or an oligarchy is a democracy in name only."
- the interesting thing for me is what intelligence entails in society. For most people it's what a person "knows". If you know why this is problematic it's because most of the time quality of education is correlated with wealth level? This means that a lot of the time you're doomed from the start if your family is poor and/or has a non-academic culture (because they don't have access to books or the Internet). Note the correlation between the type of people who get into selective schools in one of my above points. Note, if you're lucky enough to gain a scholarship/bursary/financial assistance (ironically, it costs to money to even apply to a lot of these schools) you're scrambling still to catch up as well (for a lot of students this is true, not all though. Sometimes genetics/natural ability/talent can make up for it) and if you don't gain entry into one of these schools at an early age you can't really maximise the benefits. Tests should/could be focused in on rate of learning, memory, discipline, creativity, abstract/critical/breadth/depth of thought, practical problem solving, etc? A lot of people say that morality/ethics should play no role in the selection process. In reality, it helps determine whether you can work in a group situation?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suits_(American_TV_series)
success in this system = opportunity/network/environment/school + capital buildup/financial backing/savings + understanding local system/capitalism + understanding craft/skill/education + ethics and/or corruption level/communication/interpersonal skills + genetics/health/physical condition + effort/hard work/flexibility
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/09/thinking-like-political-elite-random.html
best schools in australia
https://bettereducation.com.au/school/secondary/national/au_top_secondary_schools.aspx
When "merit" is fake. US rich buy tutoring, etc. to get kids into a "good college/university." If not enough, rich donate (legal) money to colleges/universities. If still not enough, they pay for bribery and cheating (illegal). Merit is irrelevant: more capable but less rich kids lose out to more rich.
https://www.facebook.com/RichardDWolff/
College cheating scandal: Pimco tycoon jailed for 'chutzpah'
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51418440
Most researchers point to working memory as being the most important to 'intelligence'. They argue the ability to juggle information that makes humans more intelligent. I would argue that the idea is not only wrong, but backwards. Juggling information in a very small memory system +-7 bits, is not what makes us intelligent. Instead the ability  to continuously stream distant concepts (in highly complex fields of study) into consciousness, and the ability to sustain a large amount of information active in the subconscious, is what really makes us intelligent. It is known that humans have a higher ratio of glial cells to neurons, but also different lobes of the human brain are certainly more tightly bound together than chimp brains. The size of the corpus callousum is thicker which allows both sides of the brain to communicate better.
best schools in united states
best schools in world
- even in the job application and interview process we seem to have a bias for the wealthy?
job interview bias socio economic demographic
“We rarely talk explicitly about social class, and yet, people with hiring experience infer competence and fitness based on socioeconomic position estimated from a few second of an applicant’s speech,” Kraus said. “If we want to move to a more equitable society, then we must contend with these ingrained psychological processes that drive our early impressions of others. Despite what these hiring tendencies may suggest, talent is not found solely among those born to rich or well-educated families. Policies that actively recruit candidates from all levels of status in society are best positioned to match opportunities to the people best suited for them.”
https://news.yale.edu/2019/10/21/yale-study-shows-class-bias-hiring-based-few-seconds-speech
- even if you can gain entry to a good firm cliques based on social class can sometimes form which leads to further advantages based on family wealth
pin stripe prison book
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/6171533-the-pinstriped-prison
https://www.amazon.com/Pin-Striped-Prison-Lisa-Pryor/dp/0330423509
ivy league income
Thus, the scholar graduating in 2019 can expect to earn an average starting salary of $79,927, $55,062, or $85,676 for a public, private, or Ivy League education respectively.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/112815/ivy-league-degree-worth-it.asp
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/cnbc-make-it-the-top-50-us-colleges-that-pay-off-the-most-2019.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/22/college-applicants-from-families-in-the-1-percent-have-a-big-edge.html
ivy league ceo statistics
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/28/these-30-colleges-produced-the-most-current-fortune-500-ceos.html
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/where-the-top-fortune-500-ceos-attended-college
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlywhitler/2019/09/28/new-fortune-100-ceo-study-the-top-graduate-schools-attended-by-fortune-100-ceos/#23be31212719
- this is why I sometimes think about whether there is a policy of Eugenics via stealth? If you study mental illness, you'll realise that a suicide signal is normally only sent during times of high stress, abuse, torture, etc... Same pattern over and over again? Incidences of suicide higher in poorer demographics globally? It's better to stop the signal being sent rather then trying to nullify the signal once it's sent?
percentage people suicidal
About one person in 5,000–15,000 dies by suicide every year (1.4% of all deaths), with a reported global rate of 10.7 per 100,000 population in 2015 (was 11.6 in 2008). In Western countries male and female rates of suicidal behaviors differ at a greater degree compared to those in the rest of the world.[2][3][4] Around 20% of global suicides are due to pesticide self-poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low- and middle-income countries consisting in about 80% world population; some of these pesticides are forbidden by United Nations (UN) conventions.[5][6] In high-income countries consisting of the remaining 20% world population, the most common methods are firearms, hanging and other self-poisoning. Europe is the most suicidal region in the entire world, while the Eastern Mediterranean the least.[7][8] According to a University of Washington study, the global rates of suicide death have fallen by a third between 1990 and 2016. At the national level, rates of suicide mortality for women were lower than those for men in all countries except Liberia. Worldwide, the rates were about 16 deaths per 100,000 men and 7 deaths per 100,000 women in 2016. Women around the globe also experienced a greater decrease in suicide rate (49%) compared with men (nearly 24%) over the study period.[9]
Suicide claims more lives than war, murder, and natural disasters combined.
General
In 2017 (latest available data), there were 47,173 reported suicide deaths in the U.S.
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for those between the ages of 15 and 34 in the United States.
Currently, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.
A person dies by suicide about every 12.8 minutes in the United States.
Every day, approximately 129 Americans take their own life.
Ninety percent of all people who die by suicide have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
There are 3.54 male suicides for every female suicide, but three times as many females as males attempt suicide.
494,169 people visited a hospital for injuries due to self-harm behavior, suggesting that approximately 12 people harm themselves (not necessarily intending to take their lives) for every reported death by suicide.
Depression
25 million Americans suffer from depression each year.
Over 50 percent of all people who die by suicide suffer from major depression. If one includes alcoholics who are depressed, this figure rises to over 75 percent.
Depression affects nearly 5-8 percent of Americans ages 18 and over in a given year.
More Americans suffer from depression than coronary heart disease, cancer, and HIV/AIDS.
Depression is among the most treatable of psychiatric illnesses. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of people with depression respond positively to treatment, and almost all patients gain some relief from their symptoms. But first, depression has to be recognized.
The best way to prevent suicide is through early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of depression and other mood disorders.
children by income statistics
- this brings me to my next point. It's obvious that I'm interest in how many illnesses form. Mental illness is interesting for me because of the impact it has on society. We know that there is a high incidence of mentally ill people in jail. Are they in jail because they are mentally ill?, did they end up ill after they entered prison?, was it a genetic issue?, did a bad life cause them to be that way?, etc... This is another aspect that compounds. If you're mentally ill and you're poor you're less likely to have money to have access to healthcare and have a job. You're less likely to be able to afford healthy food and will obviously have a shorter lifespan as well?
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/10/human-like-animal-behaviours-and.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-13/childrens-access-to-disability-funding-depends-on-their-suburbs/11917466
disability correlation socio economic demographic
Dr O'Rance said that the relationship between disability and economic disadvantage 'works both ways'.
'Socioeconomic disadvantage can contribute to disability and vice versa. People with disability often have lower average incomes than
 people without disability, and their disability can impose extra costs on individuals and their families.'
'On the other hand, risk factors for many chronic diseases are higher among socioeconomically disadvantaged people, and people workin
g in lower status jobs can face greater occupational hazards (such as serious workplace injury) that in turn contribute to higher rat
es of disability', Dr O'Rance said.
https://www.aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/2009/apr/strong-links-between-disability-and-socioeconomic
“TBS is a rather unique institution in the world,” Boone says. “In many countries there’s a choice: people can be held accountable for their deeds and are sentenced to prison, or not, and be put in a psychiatric institution. We have a psychiatric institution that is part of the criminal justice system for people who can be held not [accountable] or only partly accountable.”
Unlike high-security hospitals in the UK or the Netherlands, TBS has very specific conditions. People must have committed a crime with a minimum prison term of four years and have a high chance of recidivism: the programme works on specifically on their reintegration into society. If this is not deemed possible, or they refuse to cooperate, they can eventually move to a normal high-security hospital and be confined indefinitely.
There were 1,300 people detained with a TBS ruling in 2018: people stay in a treatment centre, sometimes after a jail term, and are treated for the psychological conditions that are thought to have played a role in their crime. Every two years, judges assess whether the treatment should be extended, and the average stay is two years.
- feels like somehow everything has been inverted? Technically, as you move down (or up depending on how you view the pyramid of needs) you're supposed to have less materialistic goals but clearly most people become 'corrupted' somehow? This leads to significant issues. Wonder whether it's partly just lies on lies to just people to try to behave better over time? Hope is that one day people will 'see the light' and change?
maslow hierarchy of needs
Changes to the original five-stage model are highlighted and include a seven-stage model and an eight-stage model; both developed during the 1960's and 1970s.
1. Biological and physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, etc.
3. Love and belongingness needs - friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
4. Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
5. Cognitive needs - knowledge and understanding, curiosity, exploration, need for meaning and predictability.
6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.
7. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.
8. Transcendence needs - A person is motivated by values which transcend beyond the personal self (e.g., mystical experiences and certain experiences with nature, aesthetic experiences, sexual experiences, service to others, the pursuit of science, religious faith, etc.).
- it's a self corrupting cycle and I'm surprised that people don't realise that if we promote shonkiness we end up with shonkiness? If we promote idealists we need them to be able to navigate the system without getting corrupted or having to compromise heavily on their policies?
Money In Politics Is An Emergency Says Director of Wolf-PAC
Economic Update - US's Profit Driven Medicine
Growing inequality - Can the rich really help the poor
buy political influence
- the obvious irony is few of the amongst the public realise much of the above? Moreover, many people have a culture of celebrating corruption, hypocrisy, and lies? It's as though society is demoralised or has resigned itself to the belief of, "why try to beat if you can join them?"
Corruption keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. Corruption is why we win.
Syriana - Corruption
The Big Short (2015) - Mark Baum (Steve Eisman) Meets a CDO Manager [HD 1080p]
Al Pacino's speech about God (The Devil's Advocate)
Devils advocate Look but Don't Touch.....
Max Keiser on fraud and financial terrorism
Choice is an illusion, created between those with power, and those without. And this is the nature of the universe.
Marcus Aurelius: Commodus is not a moral man. You have known that since you were young. Commodus cannot rule. He must not rule.
Essentially liberal internationalists from Europe, Japan and the United States, the liberal wing of the intellectual elite. That's where Jimmy Carter's whole government came from. [...] [The Trilateral Commission] was concerned with trying to induce what they called "more moderation in democracy"—turn people back to passivity and obedience so they don't put so many constraints on state power and so on. In particular they were worried about young people. They were concerned about the institutions responsible for the indoctrination of the young (that's their phrase), meaning schools, universities, church and so on—they're not doing their job, [the young are] not being sufficiently indoctrinated. They're too free to pursue their own initiatives and concerns and you've got to control them better.[16]
- not only do we celebrate and embrace a culture of shonkiness but we have a political and military industrial complex that seems to be designed to protect it? Even if there are trillions of dollars missing it doesn't matter, as long as the system and this way of life is protected? It's as though society goes out of it's way to immortalise shonky people and crucify anyone that it simply doesn't like and says otherwise (even if they've done something significant for humans)?
Martin Luther King (assassinated)
Jesus (crucified)
Nelson Mandella (imprisoned and declared a terrorist by some security services)
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (assassinated)
Mother Theresa (demonised)
Yitzhak Rabin (assassinated)
Joan of Arc (burnt at the stake)
"Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those they have slain." "So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_prophet
Wolf Of Wallstreet Matthew McConaughey [FULL SCENE] [HD]
Wolf of Wall Street - Best Scenes
The Wolf of Wall Street Lemmon Quaaludes
security clearance questionnaire
solari report missing trillions
nocera union inflation
A decline in union membership and activism helps explain why US inflation and wages have remained subdued despite a prolonged economic recovery. Low inflation gives the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates low for longer, particularly if it wants to see workers’ wages rise. US inflation has undershot the Fed’s 2% target for 100 of the 104 months since the start of the financial crisis, according to Capital Economics. 
corruption vs wealth correlation
- at some point you wonder if society was designed this way so that the shonky people of each nation would go after one another instead of after their own populations?
The West Wing - Toby's definition on what a president should be like
The West Wing 222 - Two Cathedrals - President Bartlet shouts at God
"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
- it's obvious this has been happening for probably thousands of years of human civilisation?
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/05/is-western-leadership-required-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/06/religious-conspiracies-is-capitalism.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/conspiracy-theories-understanding.html
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=west+wing+vengeance+is+not+jewish
West Wing Hashkiveinu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdtoMbbmVUk
Toby: The Torah doesn't prohibit capital punishment.
Rabbi Glassman: No.
Toby: It says, 'An eye for an eye'.
Rabbi Glassman: You know what it also says? It says a rebellious child can be brought to the city gates and stoned to death. It says homosexuality is an abomination and punishable by death. It says men can be polygamous and slavery is acceptable. For all I know, that thinking reflected the best wisdom of its time, but it's just plain wrong by any modern standard. Society has a right to protect itself, but it doesn't have a right to be vengeful. It has a right to punish, but it doesn't have a right to kill.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_West_Wing
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=west+wing+bible
West Wing - Bartlet & the Bible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CPjWd4MUXs
Bartlet: I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.
President Josiah Bartlet: Yes it does. Leviticus.
Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.
President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police? Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you? One last thing: while you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building, when the President stands, nobody sits.
[Dr. Jenna Jacobs stands]
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_West_Wing
- the justice system is where the poor get hit/filtered at multiple levels. Since we filter for wealth rather then idealism there are bizarre consequences. People are clearly more likely to steal during times of economic difficulty. If they meet with judges or polices who follow the letter of the law they will be likely thrown in jail or fined. Since our system filters for wealth once more they're stuck with poor quality representation or no representation at all which means their problems get compounded. It's quite possible that there are many poor, overworked, mentally ill, suicidal, criminal, people out there through no real fault of their own?
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-sea-of-fakery-random-stuff-and-more.html
More and more Americans are now representing themselves, with just one in four civil defendants represented by counsel, according to Bloomberg. This is down from nearly all defendants having lawyers in 1992, according to a 2015 study. The number of litigants without lawyers has risen in the four years since the study, as well.
An opportunity for justice is the "bedrock" of the American legal system, but pro se litigants up against attorneys are unlikely to win their cases or settle on beneficial terms.
Trish McAllister, head of the Texas Access to Justice Commission said: “It’s really a crisis. People aren’t able to get into the courts and they’re not able to navigate them once they’re there.”
Money is the holdup in most cases: litigants simply can't afford counsel and most attorneys won't take cases where the payoffs are too small to justify the court appearance. Last year, the Trump administration effectively closed the Justice Department’s Office for Access to Justice, which was set up to provide access to lawyers for all Americans.
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/americans-simply-cant-afford-lawyers-anymore
justice vs cost of lawyer
That was in 1976. In recent decades, the scientific validity of forensic hypnosis has been called into question by experts who study how memory operates, especially in police interviews and courtrooms. It is one example of a growing number of forensic practices – including the analysis of blood spatter patterns and the study of what distinguishes arson from accidental fires – that prosecutors once relied on to secure convictions, but which are now considered to be unreliable. “The breadth of scientific error in forensic disciplines is breathtaking,” Ben Wolff, an attorney for Flores, told me.
After reading about Flores’s case, Gardner got in touch with a hypnosis expert named Dr Steven Lynn. As a young psychologist in the 1970s, Lynn was a “true believer” in the power of hypnosis to retrieve memories, he later testified in a hearing in Flores’s case. But when Lynn began to test this assumption, he found that in study after study, hypnosis actually harmed subjects’ recall. It led them to “recover” at least as many false memories as accurate ones, while increasing their confidence in the memories’ accuracy. “Maybe they’re having a very vivid experience during hypnosis, but that experience is not necessarily a truthful experience,” Lynn told the court.
overturned appeals legal system
According to the last examination done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 15 percent of civil trial decisions were appealed, about half by plaintiffs and half by defendants. Of these appeals, about 43 percent were dismissed or withdrawn, often due to the parties’ ­settling. In the ­remaining 57 percent, about a third were modified or reversed, either by an intermediate court or a court of last resort. Interestingly, verdicts in favor of plaintiffs were modified or reversed twice as often as judgments favoring defendants. So roughly one in five appealed decisions are invalidated, but most of those cases are sent back for a new trial, some with instructions for modifying an award.
shop lifting trend recession
Shoplifting and fraud surge linked to recession | Financial Times
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/shoplifting-soars-due-to-the-recession-197451
police buy food for shoplifters
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/05/us/nypd-officers-whole-foods-trnd/index.html
prostitution trend recession
About 21 million people - or three out of 1,000 people globally - are in forced labor, meaning they have been coerced or deceived into jobs which they cannot leave, figures released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) this year showed.
The ILO said about 4.5 million of these, mainly women and girls, were victims of sexual exploitation and overall the human trafficking trade was estimated to be worth $32 billion a year.
Ruchira Gupta, founder of Indian charity Apne Aap Women Worldwide that works with prostitutes in 10 red light districts, said cuts in funding to women’s projects had reduced the options open to women and girls other than prostitution.
“We are seeing the number rise in these 10 red light districts while the age of the girls is falling,” said Gupta, adding the average age of female prostitutes in India was between nine and 13.
“We need to invest more in girls and women so that there are options other than prostitution, organ trade, or (becoming) child soldiers.”
While the ILO figures suggested modern-day slavery has risen to a record level, the data came with the caveat that it was hard to estimate numbers as victims were often scared to come forward and there was a lack of records in most countries.
Rising poverty was blamed for driving more women into the sex industry against their will.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trafficking-economy/younger-girls-forced-into-prostitution-in-economic-crisis-conference-idUSBRE8B410620121205
Richard Wolff Responds to the Argument Capitalism Has Improved Poverty
farmer suicide rate trend united states
Richard Wolff Explains How China Beats The West At Capitalism ft. Richard Wolff (TMBS 101)
Capitalism Didn’t Make the iPhone, You iMbecile
The Michael Brooks Show
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh2UY1hxlMr4_7Az_iQ82HQ/videos
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/are-we-now-ussr-brexit-and-more.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/frydenbergs-work-until-you-drop-idea,13335
https://webtopnews.com/poverty-in-uk-around-56-percent-of-people-in-poverty-14209-2020/
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/480710-one-third-americans-paycheck-poverty/
working poor
working poor trend
poverty line
“Newstart Allowance for single people is $190 a week less than the pension and unlike pensions, it is not indexed to wage movements so the gap grows each year,” Davidson told Pro Bono News.
“A failure to increase Newstart, and tax cuts skewed to high-earners, are likely to further increase poverty and inequality.”  
mortality and economic growth
average savings per person
- when you examine society as a whole do you understand why there needs to be an elite of some sort? Most people are lazy, apathetic, immoral/ammoral, etc... Since society views material goods as a measure of success we end up with what we have?
Many pointed out that the full quote attributed to Churchill is: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Democracy means the rule of people. This often translates to the rule of the mediocre.
In political terms, secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institution and religious dignitaries (the attainment of such is termed secularity).
The First Amendment which ratified in 1791 states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." However, the phrase "separation of church and state" itself does not appear in the United States Constitution.
Bartlet's quote at the end: "Corruptio optimi pessima", which he then translates "Corruption of the best is the worst" is an old Latin maxim.
- if you read enough you realise that huge amounts of what the elite says makes no sense. I honestly think that capitalism and socialism/communism have both failed? Most/many countries seem to take components from both ideologies? If you understand things as they are you'll realise that they're trying to save the system rather the system saving the people? If you examine many components of the current leader of the world order (US) then you'll realise that they have heaps of money losing ventures? It could be the end of the US Empire (share of global GDP has sharply reduced over time since end of World Wars, heaps of money losing ventures, entangled in many overseas conflicts while they have internal problems, etc...)?
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/08/china-vs-usa-research-notes-random.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-case-for-and-against-chinas-rise.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/11/challenges-to-us-empire-international.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/07/are-we-now-ussr-brexit-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-big-5-us-it-firms-arent-unbeatable.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/01/life-in-cuba-more-russian-stuff-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/09/inside-north-korea-russia-vs-usa-part-3.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-venezuela-examining-prophetspre.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/02/life-in-syria-why-jsf-isnt-worth-it-and.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2016/01/xi-jinping-china-background-and-more.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/01/life-in-philippines-duterte-background.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/04/life-in-vietnam-2-data-recovery-work.html
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2017/04/life-in-vietnam-prophetspre-cogs-12-and.html
Richard Wolff - Revolutionary Lessons for The US (TMBS 120)
Economic Update - The Capitalist Corporation
France paralysed by biggest strike in years - BBC News
Deep State Tactics 101 Part V
Is Bernie Why Obama Is Cozying Up To Warren ft. Ana Kasparian
Big Banks Admit True Fear Is Socialism
Keiser Report - From Copycats to Innovators to Ultimatums (E1377)
Keiser Report - ‘Blitzscaling’ Unicorns Losing More Money Than Frackers (E1378)
Keiser Report - ECB, tear down that wall! (E1374)
Keiser Report - Germans Stacking Gold (E1376)
Keiser Report - From Copycats to Innovators to Ultimatums (E1377)
Keiser Report - What fracking bonanza (E1379)
- some people don't understand how they came to be successful. Others have to study systems (Ed Thorp is probably a good example of this who remained on the light site while George Soros probably went to the dark side) in order to become successful. Once you understand the system then you understand why the wealthy may be reluctant to help those down below more? It may be a trust deficit (I call it Squirrel Syndrome)? If they give back what do they gain for it? It's also the fact that after they've climbed the ladder of society they may simply want to bank what they have and not have to worry about others? Capitalism is flawed but it's flaws are exacerbated when it allows people to simply speculate to make/earn money because ultimately the gap between real gains and speculation will stretch out which leads to boom/bust cycles?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/06/the-george-soros-philosophy-and-its-fatal-flaw
Empires blame "others"- not their systemic problems - for their declines. UK blamed US, Germany: they rose as UK lost its capitalist empire over the last century. US and European capitalism, in decline, now blame an ascending China. Such blame rarely ends well; wars often follow.
A Billionaire Admitted Capitalism Is Broken
success in this system = opportunity/network/environment/school + capital buildup/financial backing/savings + understanding local system/capitalism + understanding craft/skill/education + ethics and/or corruption level/communication/interpersonal skills + genetics/health/physical condition + effort/hard work/flexibility
https://www.infowars.com/american-society-would-collapse-if-it-werent-for-these-8-myths/
- at the other of the scale you have those who are stuck with having no choice in their future life. A lot of them enter military service for that reason and not knowing that health outcomes down the track may not be that great?
https://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com/2019/12/mental-illness-and-human-mind-control.html
- one tragedy of all this a near religious belief in "market pricing" and "market forces". Capitalism and  most other social systems that humans have tried have never worked?
If you spend enough across multiple businesses you'll realise that they this is nearly arbitrary. It is obvious that the world struggles to figure out what the intentions of the elite are? Surely a staggered formula for remuneration would be one possible idea that should be investigated? Differential analysis to see what the difference is between him and another person. Remember when fuel prices were high and people were calling for him to be removed? Staggered formula so that short, medium, long term needs are looked after. Not possible if the world only filters/believes in filtering people up though?

Random Stuff:
- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
- latest in science and technology
The seed libraries sprouting up across the US
launchpad australia export
business intelligence crypto space
getting listed crypto exchange
cern public data
"service central" accc
Hipages vs Service Seeking vs Oneflare
https://sputniknews.com/science/201811091069659311-solar-storm-mines-detonations/
https://www.itwire.com/open-source/two-men,-one-woman-in-race-for-debian-project-leader-s-post.html
https://www.itwire.com/security/threat-actor-offers-access-to-uk-forces-support-body-for-us$5000.html
https://www.itwire.com/health/%E2%80%98panic-marketing%E2%80%99-by-retailers-in-covid-19-crisis,-claims-choice.html
https://www.itwire.com/open-source/two-men,-one-woman-in-race-for-debian-project-leader-s-post.html
https://www.itwire.com/open-sauce/nbn-will-face-stern-test-as-employees-are-forced-to-work-remotely.html
https://www.itwire.com/business-technology/vocus,-zoom-tie-up-to-provide-unified-communications-platform.html
https://www.itwire.com/telecoms-and-nbn/covid-19-telstra-says-no-additional-job-cuts-for-next-six-months.html
https://www.fool.com.au/2020/03/20/why-this-small-cap-asx-tech-share-rocketed-45-higher-today/
https://www.itwire.com/security/monitorminor-maker-claims-it-s-for-parental-control,-kaspersky-calls-it-stalkerware.html
https://www.itwire.com/security/covid-19-sec-firm-emsisoft-offers-to-aid-healthcare-providers-hit-by-ransomware.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-19/venice-canals-run-clear-amid-coronavirus-lockdown/12071378
https://venturebeat.com/2020/03/16/microsoft-white-house-and-allen-institute-release-coronavirus-data-set-for-medical-and-nlp-researchers/
https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/finder-app-new-way-that-you-can-save-8480/news-story/eb4944cffe2138a46111bf07ed056c94
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/research-how-bodys-immune-system-fights-coronavirus-covid-19/12059266
https://medium.com/@secureITmania/a-secret-note-to-bug-hunters-about-url-structure-and-its-parsers-2982f70ff6d6
https://www.itwire.com/enterprise-solutions/a-guide-to-working-from-home-for-employees.html
https://www.itwire.com/enterprise-solutions/a-guide-to-working-from-home-for-employers.html
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/if-youre-close-scene-crime-police-can-demand-google-hand-over-your-data
https://www.itwire.com/security/windows-ransomware-comes-like-a-thief-at-dawn-or-at-night-fireeye.html
https://www.itwire.com/health/accc-issues-advice-on-consumer-rights,-obligations-on-event,-travel-cancellations-due-to-covid-19.html
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/15/spacex-aborts-launch-attempt-of-sixth-batch-of-starlink-satellites-due-to-engine-power-issue/
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/coronacast/where-did-coronavirus-really-start-spoiler-not-a-cia-lab/12062910
https://sputniknews.com/science/202003171078605734-supermassive-black-hole-at-milky-ways-center-increasing-in-activity-/
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/powerful-x-ray-machine-finds-antibody-to-fight-coronavirus/ar-BB11ral0
- latest in finance and politics
https://www.afr.com/world/europe/boris-vows-britain-will-become-free-trade-superman-20200203-p53xfn
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-doctor-and-world-recognised-humanitarian-catherine-hamlin-has-died
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2020-03/philippines-bishops-cbcp-duterte-tagle-accusation.html
https://www.ladunliadinews.com/2020/03/liberias-providence-baptist-church.html
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/if-he-had-a-fast-ball-it-s-gone-is-biden-sharp-enough-to-be-president-20200320-p54c1s.html
https://www.wnd.com/2020/03/67-million-americans-expect-trouble-paying-credit-card-bill/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-19/reserve-bank-coronavirus-response-losing-control/12071872
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/you-can-buy-fuel-for-less-than-1-a-litre-in-melbourne-but-some-service-stations-are-still-charging-1-60-20200319-p54btu.html
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-19/coronavirus-distribution-problems-for-supermarket-suppliers/12066684
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/zoltan-stares-abyss-fed-has-failed-here-what-powell-must-do-right-now-avoid-catastrophe
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/nine-meals-anarchy
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/boeing-seeks-tens-billions-us-government-loans
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-equity-futures-are-plunging-again
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/how-much-further-can-markets-fall-here-one-banks-answer
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/488098-four-us-banks-are-the-worlds-largest-fossil-fuel-financers-analysis
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/18/we-werent-worthy-aboriginal-elders-group-refused-funding-by-nigel-scullion-four-times
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stop-doing-it-it-s-ridiculous-pm-blasts-hoarders-panic-buyers-20200318-p54b9d.html
https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-are-countries-flattening-the-curve-of-coronavirus-20200317-p54b3g.html
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/health-chiefs-warn-population-to-stay-away-from-hospitals-unless-it-s-urgent-20200317-p54b47.html
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/hoarding-traders-a-mad-scramble-for-greenbacks-hits-the-aussie-dollar-20200318-p54bae.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/15/trump-leadership-coronavirus-pandemic
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-australia-live-updates-tougher-crowd-measures-expected-as-virus-cases-surpass-450/live-coverage/8111dfa0aa77a938681d17c79839e383
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/coronavirus-latest-international-anzac-day-services-cancelled-coles-puts-limit-on-milk-live-updates/ar-BB11kfKb?li=AAgfYrC
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-aldi-threatens-to-call-police-on-parents-using-kids-to-buy-toilet-paper/news-story/0159ef6ca56176edd6b521c38c44c4e9
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/china-expels-us-journalists-from-the-wall-street-journal-new-york-times-and-washington-post
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Downer
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/17/harvests-could-be-lost-if-travel-restrictions-lead-to-labour-shortages-on-australian-farms
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/coronavirus-governor-pritzker-trump-shit-together-airports-chicago-ohare
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/15/epidemiologist-britain-herd-immunity-coronavirus-covid-19
https://theaimn.com/moralising-hoarding-panic-buying-and-coronavirus/
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/coronavirus-prime-minister-scott-morrison-to-meet-with-state-officials-to-decide-on-school-closures-sunday-night/news-story/e1e4c63e4fa7809c5522121f306e4a9e
- latest in defense and intelligence
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/vietnam-digs-in-on-south-china-sea-oil-and-gas-projects-amid-chinese-pressure
https://beebom.com/us-military-wants-game-devs-build-ai-fighter-jets/
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/acting-counterterrorism-center-head-fired-according-to-former-us-officials/ar-BB11r8bf?li=AAgfIYZ
https://www.rt.com/news/482040-afghanistan-taliban-prisoners-release/
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/troop-exodus-why-war-afghanistan-has-become-another-us-foreign-policy-failure
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/not-again-china-building-another-better-stealth-fighter-129852
https://www.arabianaerospace.aero/libya-s-deadly-game-of-drones.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nazi-names-argentina-document-list-pedro-filipuzzi-buenos-aires-a9378321.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duga_radar
- latest in animal news
https://www.pressreleasepoint.com/biology-graduate-students-research-genetics-chimpanzees-captivity-called-ahead-curve-thinking
https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/world/worlds-only-known-albino-orangutan-photographed-alive-and-well-in-borneo-rainforest/ar-BB11148K
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chimp-culture-to-be-protected-by-un-v9lftcnkl
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/video-captures-rescued-orangutan-s-demonstration-of-proper-hand-washing-1.4858071
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/rescue-center-orangutan-gives-lesson-in-hand-hygiene/video/5abd0b7ff94dabe0c387424e0933d867
https://www.hindustantimes.com/it-s-viral/man-rescues-baby-camel-from-pit-wins-its-mom-s-gratitude-watch/story-q1CVkQFiHL6m8PqadomenM.html
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/grand-old-dame-to-get-elephant-companions-after-circus-life-20200313-p549vw.html
https://www.cheshire-live.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/adorable-new-recruits-born-chester-17881545
https://localnews8.com/news/2020/03/18/in-these-very-dark-times-jane-goodall-explains-why-she-is-still-hopeful/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8095743/Woman-presses-lips-against-glass-chimpanzees-zoo-enclosure-ape-kisses-right-back.html
https://www.tcpalm.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2020/03/11/save-the-chimps-usda-animal-welfare-act-critical-violations-tiffany-tuffy/4455690002/
- latest in music and entertainment
https://www.australiangolfdigest.com.au/usga-ra-declares-distance-increases-must-stop-in-findings-from-distance-insights-project/
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/20/f1-drivers-virtual-races-following-postponements-bahrain-gp-codemasters-2019
https://au.sports.yahoo.com/fa-forced-deny-claims-wembley-151207394.html
https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/home-and-garden/spot-the-car-pets-latest-social-media-craze-shows-cats-and-dogs-perfectly-blending-in-with-soft-furnishings/ss-BB11nI6F?li=AA2FZ8I
https://www.rt.com/news/483228-coronavirus-challenge-licking-toilet-seat/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8111515/Outrage-NAKED-female-tourist-spotted-crossing-road-Bali.html
https://www.kidspot.com.au/news/woman-accidentally-bakes-xrated-cake-for-best-friends-birthday/news-story/9c7515b444f6884e85694f5263bef34e

Random Quotes:
- Credit card fraud losses to nearly $500 million a year in the latest release of official statistics, with online credit card fraud making up around 85% of those losses.
The introduction of tokenization is widely regarded as the credit card industry’s last chance to make a significant dent in online fraud in Australia to try and head off intervention by regulators that saddle losses from fraud with banks and issuers rather than allowing institutions to pass through the losses to merchants.
- Speaking to Military.com in October, the chief said that, over the course of his career, he has heard feedback from airmen who felt the most hopeless during deployments, unable to connect with someone from their unit or loved ones back home.
Officials raised concerns over rising suicide levels in the Air Force in August last year.
Men are statistically more likely to die by suicide than women, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Men make up around 80 percent of the active-duty Air Force.
The rate of suicide among active duty troops has increased significantly over the past five years, according to a Pentagon report released in September.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in September that the military was caught up in “what some call a national epidemic of suicide among our youth.”
- "Peace through power is the unwavering security strategy of this government."
- It might come as a shock to anyone who loves pandas, but these lumbering black and white creatures are not the most practical for the ecosystem. Nothing and nobody eats them, they barely interact with other species and have a hard time reproducing. On a more positive note, they help spread the seeds of the bamboo they spend many hours a day chewing, and have become a public face for conservation.
- China is in competition with the United States and other nations in the race to develop deadly AI applications – from nuclear submarines with self-learning chips to microscopic robots that can crawl into human blood vessels.
“These kids are all exceptionally bright, but being bright is not enough,” said a BIT professor who was involved in the screening process but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.
“We are looking for other qualities such as creative thinking, willingness to fight, a persistence when facing challenges,” he said. “A passion for developing new weapons is a must … and they must also be patriots.”
- Studies suggest harassment is rampant in the fast food industry. In one 2016 survey of 1271 US female fast food workers, 40 per cent said they faced sexual harassment on the job. Of those, 42 per cent said they were forced to accept it because they couldn’t afford to lose their job and 20 per cent said employers retaliated in some way after they reported the harassment, including cutting their hours or giving them a less desirable schedule.
at
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Market Consolidation/Neo-Feudalism, Random Stuff, and More

- it never occured to me until recently how consolidated things in the world were in the global market place. In this post we'll take a ...