The FDA’s letter to 23andMe calls “particularly concerning” the information the tests would provide about the gene linked to breast cancer (BRCA) “because of the potential health consequences that could result from false positive or false negative assessments.”
According to 23andMe's site:
"You should not change your health behaviors solely on the basis of information from 23andMe. Make sure to discuss your Genetic Information with a physician or other health care provider before you act upon the Genetic Information resulting from 23andMe Services. For most common diseases, the genes we know about are only responsible for a small fraction of the risk. There may be unknown genes, environmental factors, or lifestyle choices that are far more important predictors. If your data indicate that you are not at elevated genetic risk for a particular disease or condition, you should not feel that you are protected. The opposite is also true; if your data indicate you are at an elevated genetic risk for a particular disease or condition, it does not mean you will definitively develop the disease or condition. In either case, if you have concerns or questions about what you learn through 23andMe, you should contact your physician or other health care provider."
Identifying yourself by your skin color means you perceive the color of your skin to imply something about you.
Anyone who asserts that the color of an individual's skin implies something about that individual is a quintessential racist. It implies nothing about you as an individual. Anyone who says it does (including you), accepts the premises that every racist accepts: that a color somehow defines the identity or nature of that individual.
"Offensively ignorant"
#1) I can't control what offends you, that's your choice. If you are offended, then choose not to be. #2) Ignorance means lack of knowledge or information. What specific information am I lacking in this context?
"I've been around a good long while." Again, no (rational) person in this forum cares how long you've been around. What does that have to do with my argument?
"Nobody mentions that an economy has a hypothetical failure mode (like the game of Monopoly) where all of the money ends up in one person's hands -- and then trading stops."
"if a town wants to pool their money and pay to build out infrastructure that should be legal"
If people want to pool their own money together, they can. The only thing this bill prevents is the government from forcing an individual to pay for something.
Even if every individual was morally obligated to pay for something that the town wants (which is not the case), providing services is not the proper role of government.
Profit is a form of value. Big surprise that people are deriving value in different ways. Anyone that uses PirateBay without deriving some sort of value is either irrational or has blindly accepted the irrational premises of altruism.
Rand's theory of concepts is the explicit cognitive framework of induction and abstraction - both vital to comp sci endeavors. To overlook her work is a tremendous oversight, a detriment to this congruency.
You seem to think that $10 out of $10 in taxes goes directly towards roads, schools, or whatever. In reality, about $2 out of the $10 is actually spent for the those purposes.
$6 out of the $10 is a dead weight loss... completely consumed by government waste and inefficiency. The remaining $2 of the $10 is effectively transferred to bank accounts of politicians & friends via bribes, political donations, and outright theft.
It codifies a new premise of society: If you do not labor to maintain your own existence or your offspring's existence, another individual will be force to -- creating a queue of needy people demanding the sacrifice of others.
The end game is exemplified in aid given to rid hunger in Africa, which is an increase in the population that suffers from hunger.
clammer, would you mind emailing me sometime? I was just reading some of your other comments on HN, and I really enjoy hearing your thoughts. My email is jon at atlaswebdev dot com. Thanks!