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OT: 119th Obsequious Banter Thread: April Foods Day

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April Foods: Which food is/are among your favorite(s)? (Pick up to three)

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Superman33 said:
Since we seem to have some Volcano experts here, has there have been any talks/attempts to prevent them from exploding?

I have a project I love where students research natural disasters and try to figure out how to limit their damage. It is the ultimate cross-curricular activity. My favorite for stopping Volcano damage was to "Plug the hole", which is probably just going to make it worse. Most kids focus on how to limit the damage after they go off, such as directing lava low, containing debris with giant nets, and filtering the ash out of the air.
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No - not right now.

But somewhat tangential, there’s something called the Kardashev scale that details certain abilities of civilizations. A level 1 civilization can access all energy available on its planet. Which should include preventing earthquakes and other natural disasters.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Kardashev scale - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org
 
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If everyone does it, and the government doesn't step in on the collusion, then they are at fault.
 
BackToTheBrierePatch said:
But some people want to blame the government.
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If tariffs are supercharged like they are being suggested ....it will get even worse for U.S. "consumers"....(check that...citizens)

swami24 said:
If everyone does it, and the government doesn't step in on the collusion, then they are at fault.
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That is what antitrust is for...and that is how this was discovered. But some like the so-called "free market" of no regulation....
 
Embiid said:
Is that a definite. I thought they were trying to prevent the buy out through anti-trust?
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There is like 2..3hearings going on atm...but they feel confident that it will go through..I kinda hope so cause they have to run it better than Albertsons does
 
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Embiid said:
If tariffs are supercharged like they are being suggested ....it will get even worse for U.S. "consumers"....(check that...citizens)


That is what antitrust is for...and that is how this was discovered. But some like the so-called "free market" of no regulation....
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the free market has always been a myth. It's a changing landscape where a country does need to try to protect itself... but at the same time also recognize the financial penalties that can be placed on its own citizens by wielding tariff's haphazardly.

If you look at China right now they are producing EV with state funding that are being sold for maybe 1/3 to 1/4 of their actual value. If they were allowed to export those vehicles and sell them in the US it would severely undercut anything produced (or partially produced) in the country and sold.

This was pretty common place tactics by US companies in the US market in the 1800s and into the 1900s and why monopoly laws came into place domestically. You had companies willing to undercut and take losses in order to drive competitors out of business and then control the market.

At which point once they controlled the market they could reap the benefits and raise up prices significantly. China wants to do that at a global level.

But where 'haphazardly' comes into play. Saying a policy like "and we'll add 10% tariff to every product from China" is just ridiculous. That's just going to be passed onto US consumers. It's not high enough to change any plans to import those products to the US, it just means they likely get sold at a higher cost while exported. It also does nothing if it's a specific product or material that is being state subsidized and intended to try to disrupt the US market for that product.
 
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Flybynite said:
the free market has always been a myth. It's a changing landscape where a country does need to try to protect itself... but at the same time also recognize the financial penalties that can be placed on its own citizens by wielding tariff's haphazardly.

If you look at China right now they are producing EV with state funding that are being sold for maybe 1/3 to 1/4 of their actual value. If they were allowed to export those vehicles and sell them in the US it would severely undercut anything produced (or partially produced) in the country and sold.

This was pretty common place tactics by US companies in the US market in the 1800s and into the 1900s and why monopoly laws came into place domestically. You had companies willing to undercut and take losses in order to drive competitors out of business and then control the market.

At which point once they controlled the market they could reap the benefits and raise up prices significantly. China wants to do that at a global level.

But where 'haphazardly' comes into play. Saying a policy like "and we'll add 10% tariff to every product from China" is just ridiculous. That's just going to be passed onto US consumers. It's not high enough to change any plans to import those products to the US, it just means they likely get sold at a higher cost while exported. It also does nothing if it's a specific product or material that is being state subsidized and intended to try to disrupt the US market for that product.
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Free market means "free" from regulations and no thought/consideration to the "law of the jungle"...but trickle down zombie economics is still the prevailing orthodoxy in this country and in business schools despite all the historical evidence that it is Ayn Rand and Chicago School inspired trash.

I mean adopting your economics to an egotistical novelist is not the most prudent approach to economics although we know it really only serves narrow interests....hence why it won't go away.

People need to understand that monopolies are actually antithetical to Capitalism. You have schools of thought that twist Adam Smith so cynically.

You need some tariffs and yes targeted but that across the board extremist talk is just foolish even if for public consumption to seem tough on China. Unfortunately, you can't decouple from China with crazy tariffs...you will only invite your own doom and make your economy more of the anticompetitive toll booth economy it already is...
 
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Embiid said:
So yesterday I nearly cut off the entire tip of my left index finger with pruning shears like a jabroni....luckily it was mainly the corner tip and mostly the skin with part of the nail. No bone or other damage but close per the xray. Should regenerate. Have some gnarly bloody pics of the finger but not sure they can be posted? Looks like something out of Halloween. Was bleeding like a mofo and had to go to the Lankenau ER which is always a clown show in the city....

Such a fun experience but luckily ok and not my dominant pimp hand and fingerbang digit 😵‍💫

May change my handle name to LittleFinger to challenge @BigToe...
View attachment 903457

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Just seeing this now.

As someone who lost a chunk of their tow in a mowing accident, you can certainly grow it back!

Good luck!
 
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Tripod said:
Just seeing this now.

As someone who lost a chunk of their tow in a mowing accident, you can certainly grow it back!

Good luck!
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z9-dragon-ball-z.gif
 
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