Lurker > red sox 777

Like Cosmology (where the joke is that you're good if you are within 1 order of magnitude)? It's an acceleration term, remember, so that 2% becomes much much bigger very rapidly.

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He doesn't have that kind of power. Anyone who refuses to pay the fine for the individual mandate will win his case. Obama could not enforce that law without getting himself impeached.

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Actually, loads of presidents give this kind of rhetoric. It's just that no president has thought he could do anything about it since Andrew Jackson. And Obama doesn't either.

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Revolutionary France tried metric time, but it was abandoned because it was extremely unpopular. I think in part at least, the reason was that people hated 10-day weeks, with still only 1 day of rest.

Also, I highly doubt the reason the US is lagging in science education is that we don't use the metric system. It's because parents and students don't see science education as important here.


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Do you understand how approximations work? If I'm measuring something in km over a short time, then I don't care about 5 meters. I mean, approximating 9.80665 m/s to 9.8 m/s can be bad, too. After just 15 seconds, you're off by 1 meter. That's huge if you're designing a bomb targetting system, for example.

Duh. But 9.8 to 10 is not a good approximation. And if you're measuring something in km, the timespan for the gravitational acceleration is probably going to be pretty long, enough to make a pretty big difference.

And yes, 9.80665 to 9.8 is far far better an approximation than 9.8 to 10.

*Also, I misspoke earlier. The error after 5 seconds is only 2.5m. Still pretty significant.

And come on. I literally said I liked the standard system because the number 32 is cool. Which is true, but that is obviously totally subjective.

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Doesn't have to be credit. My main spending tool right now is my debit card, which is equivalent to cash. The only time I ever use cash is when I have to pay people back for things or go to little places that don't take cards.

Debit cards are credit. It's drawing on a bank.

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Also shut up red sox 9.8 m/s is excellent, and you often DO approximate it as 10 when accuracy isn't a big deal.

No, you don't. It's an acceleration term, so to get to position you have to square it. After just 5 seconds you're off by 5 meters, which is a pretty big distance.

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Though I suppose it makes sense that the US would be the first to transition to a pure credit system. We are the country that made credit big after all. Credit is and has been the foundation of the US economy for over 150 years.

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We should stick with the Imperial/Standard system. It is so much more fun than the metric system. Acceleration due to gravity is 32 ft/s or 9.8 m/s. 32 is so much cooler and a better number than 9.8. I mean, 9.8? You couldn't even get a nice round number like 10?

The traditional system is better on things that matter, like temperature (100 = really hot, 0 = really cold), and snow depth in the Northeastern US (6 inches = moderate storm, 1 foot = good storm, 2 feet = big storm). Who cares about the distance between the north pole and the equator or the boiling point of water?

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It's not like physical money even matters nowadays. Soon enough all our transactions will be done through cards and cash will be a thing of homeless people, drug dealers, and hipsters. I guess we've pretty much reached that point already.

But the rest of the world has not. Cash is well and thriving in Europe and China. This is not a good thing for the US.

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We could stop production of $1 bills. That would force the machine vendors to change.

Dollars are the new quarters after all- I hate paying for something with ten $1 bills that have accumulated as I've gotten change back for $10 and $20 bills.

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http://emory.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats/0910/?whichCycle=1112

I found lawschoolnumbers to be a very informative site, where applicants self-report their stats and admissions result. This chart shows that if you can get a 166, you are just about guaranteed admissions to Emory (ranked in the 20s). It appears to be just about the only thing they care about.

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More important than the issue of the $1 and $2 coins however, is the higher denomination bills. We used to have $500, $1000, $5000, etc. bills. Back when $500 could buy a house, even. Today, it is not even that much money, and we have no bills higher than $100.

The result is that it is very difficult to do even medium sized transactions like purchasing a big screen tv or used car with cash. And forget about doing large transactions, like buying a house, in cash. Choices are good, and the people should have the legal currency of the nation as one of their choices, in addition to credit and bank accounts and whatnot.

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Something for you to think about, Smuffin: who does the Fed's policies hurt most?

It's not the top 1%, because they're the ones receiving the bailouts. It's not the bottom 50%, because they don't pay taxes, and therefore are not responsible for the US government's debt. Besides, inflation is the great equalizer, unless you are sophisticated enough to invest your money in inflation proof assets. And people generally don't do that in the USA unless they are in the top 1%, even if they have the means to do so.

The group that suffers most from excessive government debt and inflation is the upper middle class. They pay most of the taxes, and hence for most of our government's spending. The upper middle class is composed primarily of college educated folks (college educated is roughly equivalent to the top 25% in the US by income). They suffer the burden of bailing out the top 1%, while simultaneously inflation eats away at their margin over the bottom 50%, because these people are not good investors.

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However, 5 crumpled $1 bills in your pocket outside your wallet = super lame.

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I just find $1 bills really inconvenient. They get crumpled and take up way too much space. My experience in Europe with the 1 euro and 2 euro coins was very positive by comparison.

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We need to adapt our currency to the reality of inflation. We actually have lower denominations than 80 years ago, when a dollar was worth something like 20 times what it is worth now.

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And the difference is relevant for healthcare- because the reason it is unconstitutional is not that the government is forcing individuals to pay, but that it is forcing them to act. The government can force individuals to pay- through an income tax- this is established by the 16th Amendment, which is part of the Constitution as much as some dislike it. It can't force individuals to act.

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Well, I'd argue that a lot of the Court's interstate commerce jurisprudence from 1937 to 1995 was flawed (and some of the pre-1937 rulings were right). They pretty much swung from extreme to extreme after 1937. For example in 1918 the Court struck down a law against selling products of child labor across state lines, because it targeted manufacturing instead of commerce, meaning to them trade.

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Still, it fascinates me that had Obamacare simply taxed the money and then redirected it to private companies, this would be unquestionably constitutional. We'll see how the SC rules.

Well, if it's a tax, it's a tax on income, not on not buying healthcare. I think this is an important distinction.

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Obamacare forces you to enter into a contract with a private company.

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And forcing kids to eat lunch is highly unconstitutional and a very scary precedent.

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Are you kidding? MOST of them do exactly this! Granted, there are a few who are willing to engage in reasoned debate, but that's the exception, not the norm!

I take it you haven't actually been on a liberal college campus, and can't compare. It is much much worse- and there are plenty of people on the other side on Board 8. Enough so that we have discussions instead of verbal lynch mobs.

Disagree here too. Most of the ignorant masses are ignorant by choice. They aren't inherently stupid, they just choose to spend their time on reality shows rather than worldly events. Convincing them is just as valid as convincing some egghead video game nerd who ranks anime characters on board 8.

Well you said random idiot, not average member of the ignorant masses. Board 8 probably is a bit more intelligent than average purely as a matter of intelligence (not education) though, just because of self-selection. Statistics are more likely to interest smarter people, so the contests tend to draw a somewhat smarter group than usual. The same is true of complete sentences and grammar, something we have that most places on the internet do not.

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Well, there is a difference there- you could just choose to forego lunch.

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Most board 8ers either are or were students at a liberal college. What's your point?

That most (or at least many) Board 8 posters are not most students at liberal colleges. They're not the ones who dismiss your argument out of hand because you don't agree with their value judgments, without even considering your reasoning.

My simple point is, it'd be FAR easier for me to reasonably convince a random idiot of the merits of capitalism than it would be to convince a board 8er. Most Board 8ers have already been so far indoctrinated by the commies that they need several years of deprogramming!

It's not much of an accomplishment to convince a random idiot, not something you should want. That's not a sign that you are right.

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It's a hypothetical. Justice Scalia asked in the healthcare open argument if the government could force people to buy broccoli. If yes to broccoli and health insurance, why not school lunches?

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When you're indoctrinated with things that are untrue, it's possible to actually know less than someone who knows nothing at all.

No, then you still know more, but your reasoning process is just blinded.

But Board 8 is not like that more than the general public is. You can get plenty of open, honest, discussion here- try doing so with most students at a liberal college and you won't get very far. Nor will you get anything reasonable at Yahoo or Youtube- see the pages of posts blaming Obama for anything that happens anywhere in the world.

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Does this cost extra? If not how is it different than saying schools are making kids buy a tray for lunch. It's not like they're making anyone eat them (even though they should obviously be encouraging kids to do so.)

Forcing kids to buy lunch from the school should be unconstitutional too.

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are you on it?

No. Board 8 is better educated and more intelligent on average than the general public. This is not too surprising when considering the demographics of this board. Especially that this is a board about the contests, i.e. about statistics.

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The public votes for the President and Congress, and Board 8 is probably better qualified than the general public, so I'd say Board 8 is about as qualified to evaluate this as could be expected. Obvious Board 8 can't issue any binding legal opinions.

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My opinion is no. However, I'd think an income tax increase and a single-payer system would be constitutional (and far better policy than this law we have- which isn't to say it would necessarily be better than no government involvement).

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Let's see what Board 8 thinks.

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So apparently the Department of Education is planning to force kids to buy fruits and vegetables for lunch at school. And people think Justice Scalia's broccoli argument is irrelevant? There are so many unconstitutional laws, strike 'em down!

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Louisiana? I think some schools (including Michigan?) have programs where you can apply without an LSAT score if you meet certain other requirements, yeah.

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We should get rid of the penny and increase production of $1 coins. And introduce $2 coins and $500 bills.

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WTF

i'd be incredibly happy just to get a 170

I've always done really well at standardized tests.....much better than my performance in school.

The hardest section for me on practice tests was consistently the reading comprehension- a few of the questions always felt ambiguous, even after reading the answer. Strangely enough, on the actual test, I only missed 2 RC questions and 5 logic games questions (through running out of time), which I basically never missed on practice exams.

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Games aren't scaled enough I think. And same with films.

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A look at the biggest casino companies (a look at how insane Macau is):

1. Las Vegas Sands - $42.26 Billion Market Cap

Casinos:

Venetian Las Vegas
Palazzo Las Vegas
Sands Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Venetian Macau
Sands Macau
Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Just 6 properties (a 7th opening this year), but this is biggest (by gaming revenue) and most profitable casino company in the world. 80% of the revenue comes from the Asia properties. Total projected gaming revenue for 2012 is around $11B, or more than 1.5 times that of the whole Las Vegas Strip. China evidently has tons of new rich who have no better place to put their money than Macau casinos.

Perhaps we should be happy that China is funneling upwards of $10B a year to American casino companies- makes a slight dent in the trade deficit.

The Venetian in LV is very high class and an enjoyable place to be. Blackjack rules are not the best, but decent.

2. Wynn Resorts - $15.61B Market Cap

Casinos:

Wynn Las Vegas
Encore Las Vegas
Wynn Macau
Encore Macau

Again, the key to success is Macau. Only place to gamble in China, and loads of nouveau riche.

Again, Wynn in LV is high class. Rules are not bad, though worse than at some of the MGM properties.

3. MGM Resorts International - $6.658B Market Cap

Casinos:

Bellagio
Aria
MGM Grand Las Vegas
Mirage
Mandalay Bay
Monte Carlo
New York New York
Luxor
Excalibur
Circus Circus
MGM Grand Macau
MGM Grand Detroit
10 others

It seems strange that MGM's market cap is so much less than LVS and WYNN consider that it has so many more casinos. And these are big, high-end, casinos too, including the iconic Bellagio. But the problem is that they only own half of one casino in Macau, and that is the key market now. Meanwhile they have a crushing (more crushing than LVS and Wynn, less than Caesar's) debt load from construction prior to the recession.

Probably the best casino chain to play blackjack at in Vegas, if you're not betting large amounts of money (in which it's a lot easier to find good rules). Stick to the mid to high end MGM places though- those are where you find the good rules.

4. Caesar's Entertainment - $1.85B Market Cap

Casinos:

Caesar's Palace
Harrah's
Paris
Flamingo
Bally's
Planet Hollywood
Rio
Many others

Some people took this company private in 2007 for $18B. Well, they got what they deserved, it seems, for paying a large sum of money to buy a hyperleveraged company at the market peak that gets by by ripping off customers. It was once the biggest casino company in the world, but lost its place due to crippling levels of debt and lack of a casino in Macau. And I want to say because customers realized how terrible their rules are, but I'm not sure how significant a reason that was for their problems.

Don't gamble at any Caesar's property. Their rules are terrible almost across the board, and you can find a better game elsewhere.

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Logic Games are fun. The other sections aren't, but I would have fun just doing logic games.

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But today's technology is better than technology from the mid-90s- that's why computers are more expensive today. Of course the exact same computer is much cheaper today- but the typical computer that consumers buy is more expensive.

Oh wait......video games haven't actually improved since the 90s. Ok then I guess!

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No. All prices must go up. Game prices have not- they defy logic, reason, and the mighty Federal Reserve. Their defiance cannot be tolerated.

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IIRC I had a 167 on my first practice LSAT, and ended up with a 174. I was kind of disappointed because I was consistently getting 175-180 on practice LSATs before that. Ran into time issues on the real LSAT and ended up not getting to a whole section of logic games questions- I suppose that's why it's a good idea to take practice exams under real exam conditions (i.e. not use your computer clock to keep track of time).

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Gaming is really really cheap. What other hobby can you do for $3 an hour these days? That's assuming you play a $60 game for 20 hours, so it's probably actually a really high estimate- $1/hr is probably more realistic for what people actually pay.

I want to see some game developers start charging $100 (okay, $95 for the psychological effect) for their premium games. It offends my sense of justice that game prices have not inflated since the mid-90s. All prices must go up. The Fed printed too much money for it not to do so. Roar.

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True, but spending time to pull the ticket, get it validated inside the mall, and then insert it in the machine on the way out, is annoying.

On a loosely related note, $5 blackjack is great, but I can understand why casinos are reluctant to offer it (with decent rules at least).

Assuming 100 hands an hour (typical with 4 players at the table), that's $500 bet per hour. House edge with typical decent rules is 0.48%, so that's $2.40 per hour per player. With 4 players, that's $9.60 per hour. Then you've got to pay for free drinks for all the players, for the dealer's wages, for the casino operations people's wages, and for all the upfront capital expenditure.

Pretty hard to turn a profit at all if players are actually betting $5/hand, and are playing basic strategy. I suppose in practice people don't play basic strategy, so the realistic edge is more like 1-2%, but even with $40/hr coming in, the profit probably still is pretty low.

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Also, what is up with shopping malls in LA charging for parking if you stay more than 2-3 hours? Don't they want you to spend lots of time at their stores?

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So I just saw a movie in Los Angeles, and it was $13.50. This is more expensive than it was in Manhattan a year ago. Since everything is usually more expensive in Manhattan than anywhere else in the USA, I'm going to assume that this was the result of inflation. Hurray! Inflate that dollar away.

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And yes, that is usually a colossally stupid mistake. Our government has a big advantage over everyone else who buys a stock to prop it up though- it's not spending its own capital. Or the taxpayer's capital. It's spending borrowed money that was borrowed at a rate lower than inflation and can be repaid with a piece of paper printed by the borrower. As long as those conditions remain, the sucker is not our government but the people who gladly lend it money at less than the inflation rate.

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