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The Space-Time Vortex Around Earth

An interesting experiment is almost over, and I thought it might be fun to talk about it, and introduce an idea perhaps NASA scientists haven't thought about...

According to Einstein's theories, Earth creates a divot in the fabric of Space, and gravity is the effect of things sliding down the fabric of Space into this divot.

Because the earth is spinning, this should create a twisting of space and time around the earth, resulting in a vortex. That's what this experiment is designed to test.

I, however, have a few things to point out that may disturb this idea: The earth is revolving around the sun. This may cause a drag in space-time behind the earth ... it may also result in eddies in space time behind the earth, rather than a vortex actively going around the earth. Sphere: Related Content

Lawsuits - when are they right, and when are they wrong?

In the U.S., we've become too lawsuit-happy. Everyone knows that, so I'm not going to bother to prove it. However, what we do need to do as a society is realize when lawsuits are appropriate and when they are not.

A lawsuit is not designed as a free source of income. Take, for instance, Stephen Diamond. He is a private lawyer in Illinois who has been filing lawsuits against online retailers for not charging Illinois state taxes. Now, ultimately it's good for the state of Illinois, and for many other state governments, because they have been getting shafted by these online retailers. So, when the Attorney General of Illinois decided that the state would join Diamond's lawsuit, it was really good for the state. They're going to be getting tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars on the deal.

However, where this stinks is this: Diamond is getting millions on the lawsuits. In Illinois, if you sue a company for tax evasion, and the state joins your lawsuit, you're entitled to 25% of whatever the state recovers. So, if the state recovers 60 million bills, Diamond's firm will pocket 15 million.

So, should Illinois get money out of these companies? Absolutely! They should've been getting paid taxes all along from them. Should Diamond receive any of that? Sure! He should receive a commission based on how long and hard he worked to bring this to the state's attention. National average income is $12/hour. If Diamond's firm collectively spent 1.25 million hours working on this project, then absolutely they should be getting that much money. They didn't, so they shouldn't.

The 15 million that Diamond is receiving is coming directly out of taxpayer's pockets, and that's what's most annoying about it. That 15 million should be going to schools, infrastructure, the homeless, etc., in the state of Illinois.

Along the same line of thought, and what served as the trigger to this whole posting is this: the MPAA is sueing a grandpa because his grandson downloaded 4 movies online. 3 of the movies they already owned on DVD! They're asking for $400,000 in damages. But I have to ask this question: Did this old man do $400,000 worth of damage to the company? By his grandson downloading these 4 movies (which were immediately deleted, btw), did they cause 14000 people to collectively decide not to buy the movie on DVD? Of course not. He didn't even cause his own *family* not to buy them on DVD.

The MPAA and RIAA lawsuits are cases of people suing not just because they want to recover damages - that's understandable, and should receive our blessings - but are instead cases of people just being downright mean. "I have the right to sue you, so I'm going to sue you" seems to be the attitude that so many companies and people in our world take. If I sued everyone I had a right to sue, I would be a billionare by now. I haven't, because I understand that people are human and will occasionally make mistakes.

You don't have to file a lawsuit to tell someone they've done something wrong. Let's grow up and start communicating like rational adults. Sphere: Related Content