Perhaps I misheard him. I'll ask him tomorrow. Though come to think of it, he could have meant Trump's tax cuts costing the U.S. 7.8 trillion dollars.

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America has the best Chinese food in the world.

That is my response to that.

The fact that you can walk into a Chinese buffet and get a plate full of pepperoni pizza and french fries makes America truly the greatest country in the world.

If I lived in a land where people regularly chanted Christians to Beruit and Alawites to the grave yard, it probably encourage me to flee too. Intellectual flight is a symptom rather than a cause. Being at the junction of Sunni/Shia spheres of influence and this weird Turkish Irredentism as well as proximity to a failed state with a massive influx of weaponry probably has more to do with it than a lack of people with masters degrees.

That doesn't change the fact that the fleeing of intelligent people is making third/second world places worse, even the ones at peace. Take most of South America as an example. Most of those places don't have active wars, yet the intelligent people flee leaving their home to rot, subsequently making the place they go to have to give out foreign aid, which doesn't help so the cycle continues.

I wouldn't say it's the only reason, but I'd say that it's a significant one. Then again, Africa does have major cities with plenty of modern luxuries, and even it has millions of people moving to other continents.

That's my point. The thing is that I can understand flight from some places where the government tries to forcibly mutilate the genitals of your daughter or something but if you're living in the relatively peaceful area of say Sao Paolo in Brazil you shouldn't really leave to America just for a few more $$$.

I'd say if policies could be implemented to help incentivize people staying, it would definitely put a cork on the flood of immigrants so to say, even if it wouldn't halt it entirely. People aren't too complicated when it comes to where they want to live. Most of the time, it's as long as it's comfortable.

Okay, try and describe said theoretical policy to me.

Every day, migrant working in rich countries send money to their families in the developing world. It’s just a few hundred dollars here, a few hundred dollars there. But last year, these remittances added up to $80 billion, outstripping foreign aid and ranking as one of the biggest sources of foreign exchange for poor countries. Following a boom in the 1990’s, this flow of money is lifting entire countries out of poverty, creating new financial channels, and reshaping international politics.

Sending a few bucks home to your dying granny isn't the same thing as making the country a better place. Sure, you're SLIGHTLY putting money back into the economy but quite little.

There are few militaries in the world that can even begin to field the same type of equipment in the same number as the United States; people tease, mock and belittle the F35, but there's no actual competitor aircraft taking to the skies that can do what it does as good or better, let alone close.

I hate to be that Russki but the Su-57 is going to be better, since it has most of the F-35s stealth systems while having much more maneuberability, speed, lift, fuel efficiency, etc. Not to mention, the stealth systems that the American military rub their diddlies to is going to become outdated with VHF Radars, and once again maneuverability, ruggedness and firepower of an airplane is going to surpass 'stealth.' Even the old peak-Soviet Radars were able to counter most American stealth technology allowing the Serbian military in Yugoslav wars still armed with WW2 weapons to shoot down an American fighter ten years ahead of it's time and twenty years ahead in introduction date of the aforementioned Radar. So, the F-35 will remain useful in fighting say in Africa, or Turkey, or some country which Russia and/or China do not sell arms to, but if you fight an ally of Russia and/or China your F-35 is going to be a waste.

Perhaps I misheard him. I'll ask him tomorrow. Though come to think of it, he could have meant Trump's tax cuts costing the U.S. 7.8 trillion dollars.

over a decade. Another way to phrase that same stat, though, is that Trump's tax plan will inject 7.8 trillion into the economy over the next decade. Plus, we're talking about an opinion based on a projection based on a summary based on an idea -- from the same source:

Ned Davis Research earlier this year ran a scenario analysis to illustrate the drag on earnings should interest expenses no longer be deductible. It calculated that a 20 percent tax rate would boost profits by 7.2 percent, but once those deductions are removed, the benefit shrinks to 2.6 percent. In other words, about two-thirds of the gain from tax cuts would be wiped out.

Those simplified deductions Trump talked about on the campaign trail are going to preserve a lot of tax revenue while saving everybody a lot of time, money, and effort come filing season.

Sending a few bucks home to your dying granny isn't the same thing as making the country a better place. Sure, you're SLIGHTLY putting money back into the economy but quite little.

Kapur and McHale would disagree. But what would they know with their fancy degrees and book learnin'

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Kapur and McHale would disagree. But what would they know with their fancy degrees and book learnin'

You're right, someone sending home a bit of money every so often is certainly better than that person staying back to get their country out of a slump. Even then, with one less person from that country the international exchange will not be as great since that country will have less to provide. Additionally, even if a person is sending money back, their absence will still stall the country from it's transition to an information economy.

You're right.

Well the professional economists are likely right. I'm just a dilettante perusing their work.

The fact that you can walk into a Chinese buffet and get a plate full of pepperoni pizza and french fries makes America truly the greatest country in the world.

American Chinese always makes me regret moving here, or at least being so far from a chinatown.

It depends on the place. I don't like most chinese food, but my mall has some great chinese from a place called Man Chu Wok. I used to go to the mall for the gamestop, the bookstore, and the chinese food. But the gamestop left :/
Yet I still go for some good food and stuff to read while eating it!

Weirdly enough my favorite ever Chinese food was from a place in Australia.

Islam is a conservative religion, but a lot of muslims are also brown and immigrants. Which makes the way both the left and right respond to them fairly hilarious.

They have so much in common with Christian conservatives if only they could bridge... actually never mind, I'm probably better of with Jehovah Bowl than having some sort of pan-pshyco alliance.

Kind of wish I had time to do a little editing :(

I mean, I'm not really an Islamophobe. As I said in the discord we have a lot of Tatar Muslims in Eastern Europe and generally they're good lads. Same thing can be said for the Azerbaijani and other ones in the post-Soviet space. I'll grant the communists this, they were able to make Muslims lay off of the crazy shit, and behave like proper citizens. What I can't stand is however is the ones from MENA because their Islam is... different to say the least. I hate to be that guy but you know, #notallmuslims

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over a decade. Another way to phrase that same stat, though, is that Trump's tax plan will inject 7.8 trillion into the economy over the next decade. Plus, we're talking about an opinion based on a projection based on a summary based on an idea -- from the same source:

<Snipped quote>

Those simplified deductions Trump talked about on the campaign trail are going to preserve a lot of tax revenue while saving everybody a lot of time, money, and effort come filing season.

The 7 trillion was a mistake (should have been 700 billion), but the 20 trillion was not. I recommend everyone use this site for their U.S. debt numbers when discussing things.

usdebtclock.org

We are 700 billion past our budget, with 20 trillion* in debt.

#notallmuslims

I lived in Indonesia for a while, it was great, people (in the Muslim areas) seemed much more ritual focused and there was a fairly diverse religious community. Everyone was pretty friendly.

I would never go to Saudi or Kuwait though.

I've always wanted to visit Indonesia. Then again it was for the biodiversity and the Komodo Dragons. I'd have been a zoologist in another life.

I did hear the muslim community there was quite nice from a few articles though.

Komodo Dragons are terrifying monsters. That is all.

Aw, they're just misunderstood. I mean, 11 foot long, 250-300 pound reptiles with poisonous saliva, granted. But there's only been 10 cases of them fatally attacking people in decades. They're beautiful in a primal sort of way.

.

Ten documented cases sure. Nothing like watching them circling a creature while its blood goes septic so they can eat it alive. *shudder*