Since I'm from Chile, and I originally made it for myself, I included a Dollar to Chilean Peso (local currency) conversion. I thought I would be useful to have an option for converting to local currencies to appreciate better the differences among countries. Still a work in progress by the way.
Ooh, ok, thanks. Since the numbers in that column were preceded by the "$" sign I thought they were in dollars and referred to something else. Speaking of that something else - the numbers you had in Column I are strikingly close to the officially projected amounts of what a "wealthy" person in each one of those cities would be (in dollars). I mean the US cities only. For example, for the Bay Area that number is in the $4m-$5m range, for DC it is in the $2m-$3m range, etc. I am guessing it is just a coincidence but it drew my attention and since I did not know what the column stood for I asked. It turns out it was not what I thought :-)
Nothing novel about this discovery/hypothesis. It is basically a simplified rehash of Gilbert Ling's Association Induction Hypothesis (AIH), which stipulates no membranes for cells and cellular entities as purely phase transition phenomena driven by adsorption of water on proteins/potassium and structured by sunlight.
Ling's work was first published in the 1950s and more than 70 years later the untenable theory of cell membranes is still promoted and taught in biology classes, despite being conclusively disproven by Ling, Pollack, Szent-Györgyi (Nobel laurate), etc. Now, we get to hear portions of the AIH effectively getting plagiarized and republished by scientific groups without any reference to the extensive work done by those scientists mentioned above. Well, I guess as long as science is getting on the right track after 70 years of "soul searching", a little plagiarism is worth it, right?
"...Gerald Pollack has written a rollicking romp through cell biology that should rock the science. He has taken the principles of physical chemistry and applied them to the fundamental processes of the cell in a lucid explanation of how these ‘engines of life’ might work. To be fair, the experimental science is mostly not his own, but represents his deep understanding and appreciation of the work of people such as Gilbert Ling and Albert Szent Györgyi. If they are collectively correct, this work represents a paradigm shift in cell biology, and Pollack performs a service comparable to the popularization of Copernicus by Galileo. (The author is not shy about the extreme nature of his views and draws his own analogy to the Copernican revolution in the opening paragraphs.) Pollack has hit upon water structuring by proteins and phase changes to explain everything from cell division to muscle contraction, expanding the idea of phase changes to include everything from voltage changes to conformational changes in proteins."
> It is basically a simplified rehash of Gilbert Ling's Association Induction Hypothesis (AIH), which stipulates no membranes for cells and cellular entities
No it's not - it's a refinement of current theories that is perfectly compatible with the existence of membranes.
Indeed. In fact there are several works directly showing the formation of protein phase separation occurring at the inner membrane surface to cluster receptors [1,2].
To be fair, (as someone who just heard about this today) it seems like the theory is not that cell membranes are pure fantasy, but that they don't play the role biologists usually think they do. It has more to do with sodium pumps at the membrane than existence of the membrane itself. Which is still pure crank territory, but, you know, not quite that crazy.
>“When we consider the sheer number of extracellular mitochondria found in the blood, we have to ask why such a discovery had not been made before,” Dr. Thierry said.
Heck of an understatement! It amazes me both how much and how little we know about life at the same time.
Mitochondria floating in the blood is the #1 candidate explanation for why blood transfer from young to old animals can rejuvenate them, and vice-versa.
>and that same lack of genuine social relations is what creates psychotic reactions such as what you see in Kaczyinski.
Nice analysis...but that last part is false. The psychotic reactions of the Unabomber are a direct result of his torture at the tender age of 16 while at Harvard, as part of project MKUltra. I would like to see what ethics review board approved that "research" (on a minor btw) and why the freak who conducted this torture was not only never held accountable, he went on to become one of the 20th century's most respected psychologists.
"...Henry Alexander Murray (May 13, 1893 – June 23, 1988) was an American psychologist at Harvard University, where from 1959 to 1962 he conducted a series of psychologically-damaging experiments on undergraduate students, one of whom was Ted Kaczynski, later known as the Unabomber."
"...Kaczynski's lawyers later attributed his hostility towards mind control techniques to his participation in Murray's study.[26] Some sources have suggested that Murray's experiments were part of Project MKUltra, the Central Intelligence Agency's research into mind control."
"...The experiment involved psychological torment and humiliation...The Harvard study aimed at psychic deconstruction by humiliating undergraduates and thereby causing them to experience severe stress."
Part of MK-ULTRA was convincing people that it involved trying to spy with ESP, and that had been terminated. It was a PSY-OPS attack on the American public that succeeded. Most people today who know about it believe what it promoted. Nobody involved was prosecuted.
The CIA torture regime is a direct outcome of MK-ULTRA.
Yep, and in fact it was project MKUltra that came up with the concept of "learned helplessness" (another name for induced depression) as a result of the torture experiments on people like the Unabomber. The funny thing is that civilian psychiatrists continue to insist that depression can only develop in genetically susceptible individuals and cannot be due to environmental stimuli only. Yet, the military/intelligence bases a lot of its "enhanced" psyops/interrogation techniques on the idea that stress/torture is perfectly sufficient to induce depression (even suicide) in ANY individual.
Interestingly enough, when I tried to bring up the issue of "learned helplessness" as a very common state of mental health these days, I got heavily downvoted in another thread (though lately the posts seem to have recovered a bit).
I am pretty sure he/she was NOT joking or being /s, and is now downvoting my comments. To make matters worse, his comments shows up as the top comment for the thread currently, so apparently quite a few top HN contributors agree with this "approach".
I just got to 500 karma the other day, so, no, I've never downvoted any comments on this site, and I don't expect to. I think downvoting is spiteful and breeds suspicion of other contributors.
Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here.
Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto. It doesn't really matter if I passively benefit from Palantir's activity while sitting pretty or while racked with moral agony. Similarly, I can't think of a life decision I've taken as a result of reading the news. Sure, I could donate my stock to charity or strive to work at the WHO, but I am almost certainly not going to.
>Also, I think commenting on voting activity is considered bad form here.
OK, sorry if it was a personal attack.
As far as the actual commenting on downvotes - well, if such downvotes are in support/defense of obvious signs of mental illness (e.g. the exact term in this case is "learned helplessness") then I will point that out even if it is against the HN culture.
Medical reality trumps culture any time, at least for me.
>Whether I'm /s or not is, frankly, immaterial. My comment is true de facto.
It actually matters, a lot. If a significant portion of the population acquires "learned helplessness" that will in and of itself lead to collapse. I have to ask - does this approach work for you? Namely, being disengaged from life and trying forcing yourself to enjoy it when it is quite obvious things are pretty bad right now? So bad in fact, that 1 in 4 young Americans are seriously contemplating suicide - an "unraveling" of the social fabric?
One would hope being racked with moral agony would be sufficient impetus to work towards change. Unless you believe you have no influence, how do you justify closing your eyes as a solution?
>which the public responds to with indifference and numbness and another drive through at McDonalds.
Look through the responses in this thread. At least 2-3 other people described that their approach to the impending collapse is...to ignore it...and to also make sure they enjoy the nice September weather and to ruminate on their impending richness from cashing in on stock options. I sincerely hope these comments were /s or a joke. If not...well, then maybe this is why we are in this situation now - a good portion of the public is severely lobotomized to care about anything else but frozen pizza.
The one thing that is guaranteed is that if your M.O. is to ignore the issues that threaten to cause nationwide (or global) collapse then things will never get fixed. I am astounded to see several comments in this thread that are basically the approach the crew of sinking Titanic embraced - i.e. the ship is sinking and the people are running around like headless chickens so we better get those bands ready and playing festive music. Unbelievable!
I'm kidding, and I see what you mean - but I think reading more news solves big issues just as well as reading less news.
Changing the state of things now, or changing the way people approach things in the future - that's how the change thing works. Western people have had so much of the latter from the hyper-media environment that I find myself sympathising with the flouride folks - ideology may as well be in the water for how pervasive it is.
Our individual approaches toward media consumption have to be personal and pragmatic - they aren't statements of Kantian universal morals. Much like tee-totallers don't necessarily believe that everyone should give up drinking.
I know you're not quite saying this, but the idea that avoiding the news and having your head in the sand have anything to do with each other is a false equivalence. If anything, in today's world it's the other way around.
To be fair, if you think that consistently ignoring potentially civilization-ending issues is the road to mental "health" and focus...you may want to consult a doctor. Yes, THAT kind of a doctor. I am willing to bet you will get quite a lecture on "owning your issues".
The consequences would not be simply severe. There is an actual law passed by US in 2002 authorizing military action against ANY country (including NATO members!) working to bring US citizens to the Hague for a trial at ICC. And yes, that law explicitly allows invading the Netherlands and attacking ICC if needed in order to prevent war crime trials against US citizens. To make matters worse, there are rumored secret extensions (by executive action) of that law allowing LETHAL action against ANY individual(s) (as opposed to countries) who work towards getting a US citizen to trial at the ICC. See my comment in response to the use who you said was living in a fantasy world.
User @jaywalk said you live in a fantasy but it is actually an understatement! How come you have never heard of the "American Service-Members' Protection Act", which Bush signed into law SPECIFICALLY for de-facto preventing ICC from ever trying a US citizen for war crimes???
"...In 2002, then-President George W. Bush signed the American Service-Members' Protection Act into law, authorizing the use of military force to free its citizens from incarceration and trial by the International Criminal Court. The act, dubbed the "Hague Invasion Act" for the name of the city in the Netherlands where the ICC holds prisoners, allows the President to use the American military to free its service members or those of any allied country who might be captured for trial there. More menacingly for potential U.S. allies, the act allows the United States to end military assistance for signatory countries to the ICC treaty, unless they agree not to extradite American citizens to The Hague."
That law explicitly authorizes the US military to INVADE the Netherlands and attack the ICC in order to free a US citizen on trial there. Netherlands is a NATO member, just like the US!! Not to mention a party to a number of other non-aggression pacts the US has with most Western European countries. That law Bush pushed for and signed makes the entire NATO idea a freaking joke. No country is safe if it ever dares to arrest US military members, no matter how horrible the war crimes committed by them. As they say in the commercials "but wait, there is more!" There are also multiple secret executive actions and DOJ "legal opinions" accompanying that fascist/evil law and the rumor is those secret amendments authorize covert LETHAL action by US special forces against foreign government officials (or any other foreign individual for that matter) working towards bringing a US citizen to trial at the ICC in Hague.
So, I would be thrilled to know what customs officials you have in mind that would be willing to get assassinated (covertly) for doing ANYTHING that can be construed by the US as aiding/abetting the capture and bringing a US citizen to ICC for a war crime trial. Even if you find such kamikazes, no country would dare issue orders authorizing its own officials to perform such acts against US military personnel.
So, no offense, but what world exactly are you living in!?!?
