The best crop in Afghanistan and some other counties is the opium
poppy but it's under duress with the war on drugs- however we then
lose a valuable pain killer also.//I got very interested in the
chemical basis of certain artist's paints and materials- like cadmium,
etc.- and realized my error of shaping a brush tip with my lips in the
past- oh well.//Sounds like a great date, archy but I don't drink
anymore. Two drinks and I fall in love.
On Mar 13, 4:04 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> You and I could make a fortune exporting coltan from the Democratic
> Republic of Congo (via forced artisan mining products flown out in
> Antonevs by former Soviet pilots to Rwanda and thence by truck to
> Mombasa with Kenyan drivers equipped to pay $800 a load in bribes to
> get it loaded onto a Chinese ship for the refinery in Asia). The
> stuff is worth about $300 a kilo, not far off the price of opium
> before it's refined to heroin. I doubt we'd engage in either form of
> trade rigs, but use a mobile phone or even cross a steel bridge and we
> do. We could treat ourselves to a decent dinner and wine in Kigali
> for $30 and it would be safe to walk back to our hotel. Cheaper still
> up country, but everything tastes of bananas (much of the economy is
> based on the 'beer banana'). If we were younger, this would no doubt
> equip us for life back home in our own increasingly banana republics!
>
> On Mar 12, 1:38 am, rigsy03 <rigs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I was thinking of these as they were integrated into Common Law and
> > still impact modern law, litigation and taxation. But don't "test"
> > me...yet!// I don't think there is a "need" for a poor class either
> > but it exists even with government assistance programs. Is it related
> > to ambition? Some of our immigrants were dirt poor on arrival but
> > gradually prospered. Did the economic system of the time- manual
> > labor, mostly- help? Then there are wars and unions to consider. What
> > about personal characteristics? There certainly are rags to riches to
> > rags stories abounding. How have current economies changed the nature
> > of the workforce- consider the influence of the Industrial
> > Revolution.//Anyway, I have dusted off 10 volumes of Churchill and
> > have started in after watching a great version of Richard III. I read
> > a couple sets long ago but it seems all new again. I must say, the
> > English are/were certainly a resiliant bunch. :-)//Finally, more than
> > one stay-at-home mom has exclaimed she was a "slave" in my lifetime so
> > that's probably the lure of an outside job plus it seems impossible to
> > live on one salary although it also costs a lot to work sometimes. Now
> > we just consider our life styles obsolete.
>
> > On Mar 11, 5:27 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > I remember the Danegeld and Bots and Wers (blood payments to widows).
> > > I'm resistant to the idea that there is any need for a poor class, but
> > > I also dislike free riding when work needs doing. I think we've lost
> > > the plot on work organisation and money.
>
> > > On Mar 10, 6:58 am, rigsy03 <rigs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > > Rents are related to Saxon/Danish tributes, in a sense. In fact, the
> > > > whole idea of money setting the value was Germanic, I believe. And
> > > > one's worth was also set by law and culture.
>
> > > > On Mar 9, 2:09 am, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > In Piff's experiments it doesn't matter much if you are born into the
> > > > > wealth, so what you and rigs say holds in comparison. It's not
> > > > > sympathy with the poor - if this system worked it wouldn't matter.
> > > > > What I object to is serfdom to rents (as the economic term) - what I'd
> > > > > look forward to is a society in which we can do stuff without the
> > > > > current money motives. We restrict a lot of human activity through
> > > > > law and culture. I think we've got the way we do money wrong and
> > > > > should by now have a more moral system in keeping with democracy. We
> > > > > haven't and are losing democratic control and many what they thought
> > > > > were such things as secure pensions. My 'allegiance' is with the
> > > > > thought of a better form of life. Austerity, in which the poor have
> > > > > to take less, is ludicrous in the massively improved productivity of
> > > > > the present. My guess is, if we had a cull of the top 10%, we would
> > > > > soon not notice any skill loss. I only suggest this as a thought
> > > > > experiment to cut through the bull they put out on their necessity -
> > > > > and hence the necessity for all the mega wealth as 'motivation'. If
> > > > > we could put a global salary cap on soccer at £80K the game wouldn't
> > > > > stop.
>
> > > > > On Mar 9, 5:45 am, "pol.science kid" <r.freeb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > > why do you think poor is a negative standard.. i mean of course the word
> > > > > > itself is negative.. what about austerity .. why should it be noble than
> > > > > > poor.... i wonder sometimes how it must feel to be rich.. the one thought
> > > > > > that comes is what will i do with all my money(do our 'means' influence our
> > > > > > personalities much?).... and at times i wonder what sort of aspirations i
> > > > > > would have had i had been poor.... i agree with rigs.. it really depends on
> > > > > > the person... someone poor removed from his poverty and gaining means could
> > > > > > turn out to be very unscrupulous.. you would think they might have
> > > > > > empathy.. but i guess that's not always the case... but then again one
> > > > > > feels that the fact that some have and others not... and keeping in the
> > > > > > background that its completely accidently this distribution of wealth.. or
> > > > > > prosperity...you sympathize with the poor... is it he thought that it
> > > > > > couldve been us.. or is it that they didnt deserve it...
>
> > > > > > On Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 8:20 AM, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > > Hen and egg leads to evolution, that to 'big bang' considerations.
> > > > > > > One wonders what we miss even in such. If infinity is 'real'
> > > > > > > everything that is possible has to happen and monkeys chained to
> > > > > > > typewriters produce Shakespeare - which can be simulated on computer.
> > > > > > > Results are that one monkey typing of infinite time could do the job
> > > > > > > and , of course, in an infinite universe one money is doing this right
> > > > > > > now. This, of course, equates to the same person winning the lottery
> > > > > > > every week ad infinitum. One can do calculations with finite numbers
> > > > > > > on the distance one has to travel to meet oneself on another earth.
> > > > > > > Light travels very fast in space (and down to bicycle speed in a Bose-
> > > > > > > Einstein condensate), though how fast is it travelling in that space
> > > > > > > travelling faster than light being sucked into a blackhole? At some
> > > > > > > point in the big bang one needs a vast and very fat inflation, this
> > > > > > > itself once maths is applied suggests not only an infinite universe,
> > > > > > > but an infinite number of them. Maybe infinity is a dud concept?
> > > > > > > In human affairs I think we meet more grounded possibilities and get
> > > > > > > distracted by endless critical possibility. The problem is that most
> > > > > > > people are more or less non-numerate and can't see much of a chain of
> > > > > > > consequences -as in polygamy for males and what this means for women,
> > > > > > > or what one can be as a man in such reduced circumstances for women..
> > > > > > > Riches produce certain opportunities for the rich and take them away
> > > > > > > from others at the same time - here we usually bring in meritocracy -
> > > > > > > but against other criteria on the rewards of hard work the merit bit
> > > > > > > evaporates or requires endless justification not too dissimilar to
> > > > > > > junk like 'rigsy should do what I tell her because I'm the man' -
> > > > > > > some non-grounding in ideology. On the IQ standard, some will think
> > > > > > > they are more intelligent than others but it this to say we are
> > > > > > > generally more intelligent than those societies that score so low on
> > > > > > > such tests? I suspect the better explanation is they are adapted to
> > > > > > > their life circumstances, the prevalence of infectious diseases in
> > > > > > > them and so on. Somewhere in the first 'explanation' is vanity and a
> > > > > > > conflation of IQ-intelligence with 'superiority'.
> > > > > > > Questions on whether we should place constraints on accumulated wealth
> > > > > > > and what it does in our societies don't seem to have infinite issues
> > > > > > > but finite ones. I have few problems with focusing wealth into fusion
> > > > > > > reactors, decent policing and education, health care and so on - and a
> > > > > > > lot with the ideology that to do this we have to have the kind of
> > > > > > > capitalism that allows the vast payments to sports stars and banksters
> > > > > > > practising a common form of polygamy in which women swoon around the
> > > > > > > guy buying the $125,000 bottle of champagne, or the husband giving his
> > > > > > > family rat meat and keeping the giraffe cuts for his mistress.
>
> > > > > > > On Mar 8, 10:36 am, rigsy03 <rigs...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > > > > > > Re your remark on literature x science- it all depends on what you
> > > > > > > > have read as the rich and powerful are also portrayed in a very
> > > > > > > > negative light. And the "wordy" sciences often paint life with rose-
> > > > > > > > colored ink. We would have to trace back to myths which were the first
> > > > > > > > attempts to package a subject or theme- it might be a chicken and egg
> > > > > > > > debate.
>
> > > > > > > > On Mar 6, 6:03 pm, archytas <nwte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > > > > > > I doubt the science romanticises the poor rigsy, though we could
> > > > > > > > > quibble on its context in a "game". In many parts of the global, very
> > > > > > > > > much a mortal coil only worth shuffling off, children are still sold
> > > > > > > > > and worse. One recent story that made the Bimbo Broadcasting
> > > > > > > > > Corporation was on an Afghan family who had to sell a son to keep the
> > > > > > > > > rest of the family through the winter. Others 'feed' their families
> > > > > > > > > opium.xszdaaaaaasxcd ( a comment from my cat leaping on
>
> ...
>
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