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Fred Reed's mathematical analysis of Trump's Wall proves that Trump is insincere, proves that Trump is mathematically incompetent, and earns Fred Reed an honorary nerd card:
https://fredoneverything.org/the-wall-the-sound-and-the-fury-and-not-much-else/
More math!
~childo
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Trump's Wall Is Mathematically Unlikely
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Dealing with failure is easy:
Work hard to improve.
Success is also easy to handle:
You've solved the wrong problem.
Work hard to improve.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Sunday January 07 2018, @04:19PM (4 children)
> Lets start with the simpler questions.
Yes. You talk like a border wall could be effective.
> it would slow the invasion of illegals..
Perhaps, but how much? Doubt it would do enough to be worth the immense cost.
It's not just the cost in money, it's the cost in reputation. We in the US have always prided ourselves on being smarter than those warmongers and idiots in Europe. European nobility tried endlessly to paint the US as an unstable, experimental nation governed by ignorant peasants (ewww) that couldn't possibly survive more than a century. The Civil War handed them a bushel basket of arguments and reasons in support of what they very much wanted to believe. And then, the Civil War ended with the nation not only intact, but rid of the shame of slavery. They still doubted, still wanted to doubt. The US built the Transcontinental Railroad just a few years later. Then the US economy passed Britain to become number 1 in the world. And then we built the Panama Canal. And then there was WWI, and WWII. It was hammer blow after hammer blow. There were still people who wanted the US to fail, still tried to argue the US was going to fail, but after WWII everyone else could see that they were wrong and just laugh at them. The US didn't rest on its laurels either. Landing people on the moon impressed the hell out of the whole world.
Since the moon landings, the US has stumbled. The mess in Vietnam was underway even as we landed on the moon. We finally got out, having accomplished nothing good. We were supposed to be smarter than that. We not only had overwhelming force, we had the brains to use it effectively, or not use it if it wasn't effective. We were not into brute force. And we won the Cold War without turning it Hot. We were the shining light on the hill, the example to the rest of the world that they too could all become democracies, that it would work, and everyone would be happier and better off. We didn't need to build a wall. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Walls were for losers.
Since th end of the Cold War, we've been bungling away our reputation.
And now, we have a President who got elected in part by promising a Big Beautiful Wall! WTF?! What happened to being smart, sophisticated, savvy Americans? Now we're aspiring to be a bunch of spoiled, obese wantons who don't want to be bothered with thinking and education. The wall is just about the dumbest, most ineffective, expensive brute force idea we could have possibly embraced for securing the border. It's Al-Qaeda's dream come true, if we go ahead and actually try to build and maintain it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Sunday January 07 2018, @05:42PM (1 child)
I have eyes. Israel built a wall, it worked. Hungary only built a fence, but it worked. China built one, it worked. Nobody can point to an example where a wall failed to control access. Because a wall can be breached with sufficient effort is not a reason to avoid building one. If it cuts the flow in half it will pay for itself in the first year of operation. And it almost certainly will achieve that, if from nothing other than psychology. That big beautiful wall is going to say "YOU ARE NO LONGER WELCOME TO INVADE US" and cut the number who try.
Again, i can smell your fear, and it isn't that it will be a waste of a puny $18B. You fear it will work. Why?
Yes. Why? Could the Immigration Act of 1965 have anything to do with it? Could trading a space program for a welfare state have anything to do with it? Could our growing poz load have anything to do with it?
Stop with the squid ink. The Soviets built walls to imprison their own population, who were fleeing for their lives as fast as they could. We are trying to stop an invasion.
Go read some Carlyle and begin your journey to the Dark Side. Yup, they did say that and History is proving many of their criticisms valid. For example Carlyle said our form of government was only working because most people were too busy expanding into all that virgin territory to squabble over political power and control of resources. But that once we filled up the land we would have the same problems as Europe. Well we filled up and the Old Republic is dead and all but forgotten.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 07 2018, @07:19PM
>Israel built a wall, it worked.
It's working for Israel, that's true. Good example.
>Hungary only built a fence, but it worked.
They had a fence on their border with Austria and it was working, but they turned off the electricity and tore it down. That was an odd decision.
>China built one, it worked.
It worked until the Manchus went through it and conquered China (look up the Qing dynasty sometime).
>Nobody can point to an example where a wall failed to control access.
What about the Maginot Line on France's eastern border? What about the Atlantic Wall on Europe's western shoreline?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 07 2018, @09:07PM (1 child)
Our current reputation: idiots who won't build a wall to save themselves, very easy to take advantage of, not too smart/sophisticated/savvy
Step 1 for improving our reputation is a wall.
A good reputation is one that is beneficial to us. The goal isn't to be liked or disliked, or to be feared or not feared. A mix of those is sensible. You seem to think that we should be loved by all, but respected by none. This isn't to our benefit. Letting the world walk all over us does us no good.
Picture a kid getting bullied. Should he try to buy friends? Maybe he should give cookies to the bullies every day, and that will make them respect him? No. That isn't how life works.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @01:35AM
Sorry, the idiots are the ones who voted for Trump. You may not have had good alternatives, but you could vote for someone with no chance of winning as a protest, or just stay home in disgust.
A wall is not going to save you from immigration or getting taken advantage of. Your politicians take far more advantage of you than the immigrants, you need to sort them out. Building a wall does make you look stupid, because it isn't the solution to the real problems you face.