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Yeah, that was kind of funny, but this cartoon is funnier and more on-topic.

John McCain's stance on copyright infringement is hypocritical. The reason is that he is currently being sued by Jackson Browne for copyright infringement because he used the song "Running on Empty" without permission. This looks to be yet another Republican professing high fallooting morals but who by his deeds is shown to believe that morality is for the populace and doesn't apply to him.

Warrant requirements? And what happens when they don't bother getting one? Another slap on the wrist?
If officers are only punished as far as suspension with pay for offenses your ordinary person serves a jail sentence(up to life) for, no amount of new law will help the situation. Either someone in charge needs to clean up the police departments or the people need to get a whole lot angrier when cops are only fired(if that) for murder, torture, and the like*.

*Honestly, there's so much you can google or youtube examples yourself. It's disgusting.

Empathy is a learned behavior

Rhesus monkeys will go hungry rather than subject others to electric shock. How do you think they learned this?

Empathy is a natural phenomenon in primates, probably in other mammals too, and probably involving mirror neurons. Our neocortex can manage to narrow it to only members of our tribe, or broaden it's scope to all living things, these are learned, but the basic functionality is innate.

I'm no fan of RyanAir but largely because they have the ruthless attitudes necessary to prosper in a free market, inspired by the American example of SouthWest airlines.

It should be noted, though, that Southwest has had the highest passenger satisfaction ratings for a decade and a half.

-Ted

Sorry if there any errors, or omissions, I am trying to be accurate. A lot has happend in a little over a week.

The following takes place between July 29th and August 7th:

August 07, 2008:
Judge rejects student visa injunction sought by H-1B opponents
Tech workers don't have standing to fight Bush administration visa move
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111963

August 07, 2008:
Jobless claims surge to highest level in 6 years
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

August 06, 2008:
Bureau of Labor Statistics reports big drop in tech jobs
Almost 50,000 IT positions lost in last 12 months
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/07/news/economy/jobless_benefits.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

Aug 06,2008:
Yet another visa, this one allows 5000 Koreans to work in the USA each year
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200808/200808060014.html

August 06, 2008:
Apple sued over treatment of it's tech workers
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/06/apple-gets-sued-indentured

August 05, 2008:
Bogus diploma ring busted
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-diploma-mill-04-aug04,0,2164133.story

August 03, 2008:
July marks seventh consecutive month of job loses
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/46146.html

August 02, 2008:
Sun to cut between 1000 to 2500 jobs
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/08/01/sun-us-tech-market-wont-shine-soon/

August 01, 2008:
Gartner's grim IT hiring outlook
http://blogs.zdnet.com/careers/?p=140

August 01, 2008:
Feds charges man for H1-B fraud
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_visa01.47edb3e.html#

Jul 31, 2008:
More than 3.7 million Americans had full-time jobs chopped to part time
the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/business/economy/31jobs.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

July 31, 2008:
Layoffs set for 22,000 California state workers
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_10046324

July 30, 2008:
WTO Doha talks collapse
India's backdoor attempt to allow more H-1Bs into the USA failed, for now
http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=content/why-you-should-be-thrilled-wto-doha-talks-collapsed

July 30, 2008:
NY gov slashes spending; state said in "recession"
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN3032764920080730?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

July 30, 2008:
China trade has cost 2.3 million U.S. jobs
http://www.reuters.com/article/politic

A group of airline employees insist they are in earnest, and they are upset that neither their bosses nor the government will take them seriously.

A flying saucerlike object hovered low over O'Hare International Airport for several minutes before bolting through thick clouds with such intense energy that it left an eerie hole in overcast skies, said some United Airlines employees who observed the phenomenon.

A Paul Hellyer, former Canadian defence minister says be believes advanced technology from extraterrestrial civilizations offers the best hope to "save our planet" from the perils of climate change.

Also about the gritty ex-cops that got fired for being a child molester or planting evidence or beating a petite woman bartender for not serving him.

Stellar employees, those ex-cops.

Further notes:

• McCain didn't vote because he wasn't there. He has publicly supported telecom immunity is recent days, however, so it's safe to say he would have voted for it.
• While Clinton voted against it this time, she didn't bother to show up to vote when this came up earlier this year (to vote on the bill or to help with the filibuster). It still potentially speaks well of her that she was against this, but apparently she wouldn't stand up for it when it was really politically dangerous.
• As for Obama, last time around he spoke out against it and voted to against cloture (i.e., to filibuster). He didn't show up to vote on the bill itself, but it's fair to say that that vote was probably seen to be a foregone conclusion (I'd still have rather he did vote, but it was a primary election day). This time he voted for cloture (i.e., against a filibuster). He did vote for various amendments to limit or strip the immunity provisions, but they all failed, and he voted for the final bill with immunity. It was well known he was going to do this but I, for one, am still quite disappointed.

How about a link to a real newspaper?

here
here
here
here (oops, my bad ;)
here
here
here
or how about one from a city that is directly impacted by the decision, like here?

Mayor Daley calls Supreme Court's gun-ban reversal 'a very frightening decision'
High court strikes down Washington D.C. law in ruling that could have Chicago implications
An angry Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday called the Supreme Court's overturning of the Washington D.C. gun ban "a very frightening decision" and vowed to fight vigorously any challenges to Chicago's ban.

The mayor, speaking at a Navy Pier event, said he was sure mayors nationwide, who carry the burden of keeping cities safe, will be outraged by the decision.

Chicago's handgun ban, which has lasted for more than a quarter-century, came under threat earlier in the day when the Supreme Court decided that Washington D.C.'s law against handgun ownership is unconstitutional.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court determined that Americans have the right to own guns for self-defense as well as hunting. The decision, which had been expected, is a win for gun-rights advocates and provides a better definition of the rights of Americans to own firearms.

Illinois gun-rights activists have said they expect to mount a quick legal challenge to the Chicago Weapons Ordinance.

Other city officials said they felt confidant that challenge would fail.

I'm disappointed in you, timothy. I'm sure there were a lot more submissions than this one. Since this is Thursday, I hereby nominate you as "Aurthur Dent" (Monday is my Dent Day).

Why do I have to <p> on my paragraphs when I've selected "plain old text"??

What kind of checks and balances in a Republic is that?

Unlike a democracy a republic does not require checks and balances. All a republic requires is "a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch". A dictatorship can very well be, and most likely is, a republic.

This kills all of the lawsuits by quaffing each suit prior to the discovery process.

Only until the US Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional. Now whether they would or not is up in the air. The current court has rubber stamped some of what the Bush admin wants to do but has barred others. The recent court ruling upholding habeas corpus for instance was a 5 to 4 ruling. However the Gonzales v. Raich ruling, the case about states rights and California voters approving medical marijuana, was 6 to 3 against states rights, without giving any logic based on the USA Constitution for the ruling.

something Obama's done? Crony earmarks?

Crony earmarks by Obama? No problem. How about this?

"Pfleger gave Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after [State Sen.] Obama announced $225,000 in [state] grants to St. Sabina programs."

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/apheadline_detail.php?story_id=D918P08G2&group=ap.online.headlines.business

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-thu_anheuser-busch-inbevjun12,0,2035555.story

Banks can't call in loans, so no matter how much they want you to pay off your loan, they can't make you

They can and they have before, thats how the great depression came into being... there can be wider economic effects: as the surviving banks try to raise cash by calling in loans, there can be a vicious circle in which bank runs cause a credit crunch, which leads to more business failures, which leads to more financial troubles at banks, and so on. And they are doing it again, as this process has already begun by CitiBank [1]

What does the value of your house have to do with your ability to pay your property taxes?

The value of your house is what is used to generate the amount of taxes you pay. While you may live in an area that shows no appreciable growth in the past decade, the rest of us have seen taxes go up by as much as 100% in some instances.

If you don't like the way your property is valued for taxation, complain to your local officials

Obviously, you have never done this. If an error is made, you PAY it first, no matter how insane the error is. Then you go through months, sometimes years, in the process of appeals before the board. Then and only then, do you get your 'adjustment' paid back to you as a credit of 'taxes due', with no interest for the difference.

But dont worry, Im sure you are so smart that you know for a fact that this could never happen to you, because things are 'different' because you are smart enough to avoid it.

it wasn't Afghanistan, al-qaeda, or osama bin laden either. Here's some quotes, but i'm sure you know all this already right?

Who were the perpetrators?
a. Much of the evidence establishing who did the crime is dubious and miraculous: bags full of incriminating material that happened to miss the flight or were left in a van; the "magic passport" of an alleged hijacker, found at Ground Zero; documents found at motels where the alleged perpetrators had stayed days and weeks before 9/11.
b. The identities of the alleged hijackers remain unresolved, there are contradictions in official accounts of their actions and travels, and there is evidence several of them had "doubles," all of which is omitted from official investigations.
c. What happened to initial claims by the government that 50 people involved in the attacks had been identified, including the 19 alleged hijackers, with 10 still at large (suggesting that 20 had been apprehended)? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-50suspects,0,1825231.story

THE 9/11 COVER-UP, 2001-2006
Who Is Osama Bin Ladin?
a. Who judges which of the many conflicting and dubious statements and videos attributed to Osama Bin Ladin are genuine, and which are fake? The most important Osama Bin Ladin video (Nov. 2001), in which he supposedly confesses to masterminding 9/11, appears to be a fake. In any event, the State Department''s translation of it is fraudulent.
b. Did Osama Bin Ladin visit Dubai and meet a CIA agent in July 2001 (Le Figaro)? Was he receiving dialysis in a Pakistani military hospital on the night of September 10, 2001 (CBS)?
c. Whether by Bush or Clinton: Why is Osama always allowed to escape?
d. The terror network associated with Osama, known as the "data base" (al-Qaeda), originated in the CIA-sponsored 1980s anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. When did this network stop serving as an asset to covert operations by US intelligence and allied agencies? What were its operatives doing in Kosovo, Bosnia and Chechnya in the years prior to 9/11?

All the Signs of a Systematic 9/11 Cover-up
a. Airplane black boxes were found at Ground Zero, according to two first responders and an unnamed NTSB official, but they were "disappeared" and their existence is denied in The 9/11 Commission Report.
b. US officials consistently suppressed and destroyed evidence (like the tapes recorded by air traffic controllers who handled the New York flights).
c. Whistleblowers (like Sibel Edmonds and Anthony Shaffer) were intimidated, gagged and sanctioned, sending a clear signal to others who might be thinking about speaking out.
d. Officials who "failed" (like Myers and Eberhard, as well as Frasca, Maltbie and Bowman of the FBI) were given promotions.

Poisoning New York
The White House deliberately pressured the EPA into giving false public assurances that the toxic air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe. This knowingly contributed to an as-yet unknown number of health cases and fatalities, and demonstrates that the administration does consider the lives of American citizens to be expendable on behalf of certain interests.

Anthrax
Mailings of weapons-grade anthrax - which caused a practical suspension of the 9/11 investigations - were traced back to US military stock. Soon after the attacks began in October 2001, the FBI approved the destruction of the original samples of the Ames strain, disposing of perhaps the most important evidence in identifying the source of the pathogens used in the mailings. Were the anthrax attacks timed to coincide with the Afghanistan invasion? Why were the letters sent only to media figures and to the leaders of the opposition in the Senate (who had just raised objections to the USA PATRIOT Act)?

The Stonewall
a. Colin Powell promised a "white paper" from the State Department to establish the authorship of the attacks by al-Qaeda. This was never forthcoming, and was

And now your current governor has been implicated in the recent trial of Tony Rezko.

Is there something in the water of Lake Michigan that makes Illinois politicians ethically-challenged?

Not that Texas has any right to gloat, being (in)famous for "Landslide Lyndon"

How is Obama's good friend and Mentor Tony Rezko doing? You know the man who helped him buy his house. Has the Jury returned a verdict on him yet?

You might want to read today's Chicago Tribune. Even cops can get arrested. In Illinois, bugging without a warrant is a class IV felony whether you do it or a cop does it.

If you catch a cop bugging your house and the cop isn't arrested, you sue the city for megabucks. There isn't a city in the state that's going to let this slide.

If the feds bug you I'm not sure what would happen, but presumably you could sue under the Civil Rights Act.

I still wonder if I should have sued the cops for a civil rights violation when they searched my garage last Memorial Day (oh, the irony). It's journaled here at slashdot. Also see Liberty? What liberty?

For God's sake! This trite is *not* insightful. To make such patently absurd arguments about the problems of the 2 party American political system and then compare them to a system like the Chinese is irresponsible and without merit. No one doubts that there are issues in American politics, but it's a hell of a lot better than any communist system.

It is ridiculous to claim that China is Communist; today's China is Communist only in the name of its ruling party. China is a capitalist country; you mustn't confuse Communist with Authoritarian, which China indeed is. And I did not say that the Chinese political system is better or as good at working for the public good as the American system, I said that there are different levels of democracy, with the Swiss style of direct democracy at one end, and absolute dictatorships at the other end. China is closer to the latter end than America is, but it is far better than old European monarchies.

Your arguments about emissions or environmental pollution are drivel too. The Chinese don't give a lick about people or the environment, they care about propaganda and misleading sorry saps like you into believing that their elitist leaders give a shit.

What do you have to back this up with? Nothing. You are pulling arguments out of thin air. It is true that it's fairly recent that it's become a big issue in China, and results are still a ways away, but what has the Bush administration done for the government? Article in Chinese

I'll throw out a couple of examples besides the Chinese government's assault on freedom of thought and academic discourse. How about the numerous kids' toys that were sold here in the US, made in China, that have had various toxins and drugs in them? How about the Pet food tainted with rat poison because of their protein doping process? My cat nearly died as a result of that.

When 80% of your country's toys are made in China, and there turns out to be something wrong with a toy, chances are it's made in China. In fact, only 72% of toy recalls seem to be of products from China, so Chinese-produced toys must be safer than those from other countries! The same thing goes for pet food and everything else; pretty much everything you own is made there, so when there's a problem with something you own it's going to be something made in China.

That government didn't give a rat's ass about hurting anyone because it might cut into their profits!

Like Bush refusing to sign the Kyoto protocol because it would hurt profits?

How about the fact that Chinese don't own cars as much because they can't afford them?

Where does this come from? This is a ridiculous statement. More and more Chinese are buying cars, and it's a big problem. 1000 to 1200 cars are added to the streets in Beijing every day, but at least each car pollutes less than an American car does.

I haven't talked to one Chinese immigrant that ever wants to go back there. I don't care if you're out there or not, you didn't grow up there, obviously. Do you honestly believe their technology is so superior to the US that the US can't hope to meet their emissions standards? Or the US is so evil and greedy that they just don't want to? I've got news for you. Any democracy is going to do a hell of a lot more for the environment then your communist friends because they are richer and have more resources to do so. Democracies, or Representative Republics like the US, while not perfect, are always going to be more collectively in line with the greater good. If you don't believe that, then I suggest you stay

Well, until someone gave them a taser gun. Now, shoot first is the rule because they won't get sued, and don't have to worry about it.

Not true. Here in Chicago, the police get sued all the time - almost daily. Multi-million dollar judgements are commonplace, and the cops in question are invariably sacked (and sometimes financially ruined).

Here are some examples.

> What is needed to make your case is a statistical analysis that says C.S. majors earn less and are unable to find work.

Actually no, becuase that was not my case. A BSCS may be employable, but he or she would have been better off to have chosen a different major.

BSCSs may earn more than IT workers who have no degrees, in some cases. But, often there is little, in any, difference. Employers want experience, not degrees, look at the job ads.

Unlike doctors, lawyers, engineers, CPAs, nurses, or many other professions; a BSCS is not a hard requirement for most IT jobs. The degree has very little value relative to it's cost and difficulty. Add that to the aggressive offshoring of IT professionals, and it seems to me that a students time, effort, and money, would be better spent elsewhere.

And here is some data to back that up:

> "According to the AeA Cyberstates yearly reports, "High Tech" employment experienced job losses of 945,000 in the 2001 recession. Since this drop in employment, the "High Tech" sector has recovered about *300,000* jobs, but during the period in question, a probable *669,681* H-1B and L-1 computer-related workers were added to the workforce."

http://tinyurl.com/3pj2c3

> "Job security for IT professionals plummeted more than 10% from January to February of this year, far surpassing the average job security declines seen nationwide in a rigorous analysis of U.S. employment patterns."

http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/edu/2008/033108ed1.html

> "Gates claims that Microsoft needs more H-1b to hire new foreign graduates. But there are many U.S. graduates with several years of experience trying to find work at Microsoft and other employers - but Gates does not open these "entry level" positions to these Americans. Why? Experienced Americans are only considered for the positions that require an arbitrary 3 to 7 years of experience in several specific skills - then the Americans are summarily rejected for not meeting all of those arbitrary qualifications."

http://tinyurl.com/358alw

> "Dell Job Cuts to Top 8,800 as U.S. Spending Slows"
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aEO1GX_CC.8U&refer=us

> "Motorola to lay off 2,600 workers"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-motorola-8k-jobcuts-motapr04,0,4870738.story

> "Chrysler Slashing Tech Jobs - The latest cutbacks affect 400 technology workers"
http://www.thecarconnection.com/blog/?p=1095

> "AMD axes 10% of its staff"
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36823/167/

> "Yahoo Profits Slip; To Cut 1,000 Jobs"
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/01/yahoo-profits-s.html

> "Google lays off about 300 at DoubleClick"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/BUA2VUNAO.DTL&tsp=1

> "EBay Cuts 125 Jobs in Europe, North America"
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080320/ebay_jobs.html?.v=4

> "CNET to Lay Off 120"
http://www.redherring.com/Home/24032

> "At least 160 employees at CBS Corp. . . were let go"
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-stations9apr09,1,7495348.story

> Applied

"Dell Job Cuts to Top 8,800 as U.S. Spending Slows" (Dude! You're getting a pink slip!)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aEO1GX_CC.8U&refer=u...

"Google DoubleClick cuts 300 jobs"
http://www.newsoxy.com/google_doubleclick_cuts_300_jobs/article10671.htm

"Motorola to lay off 2,600 workers"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri-motorola-8k-jobcuts-motap...

"Chrysler Slashing Tech Jobs - The latest cutbacks affect 400 technology workers"
http://www.thecarconnection.com/blog/?p=1095

In other news, according to the NYT:

> The economy shed 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of rising unemployment, presenting a stark sign that the country may already be in a recession.

> The unemployment rate ticked up to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, its highest level since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005.

> The downturn has even come to San Francisco, where highly trained workers with elite degrees flock to work for some of the world's biggest technology companies. CNet Networks, the online media giant, laid off 10 percent of its staff -- about 120 workers -- this year in an effort to increase profitability and its share price. Yahoo, the search engine company, said it would cut its work force by 1,000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/business/04cnd-econ.html?em&ex=1207540800&en=c1de4fb13c4ec4bd&ei=5087%0A

Canada has more land area per person but their population tend to ignore a good portion of that area making a real population density a low larger.

Also, you comparison of DSL prices is a bit misleading. The prices are different from city to city and market to market but DSL can be had in Chicago for about $20 a month. I only payed $35 a month for a 3 meg connection and my father was is paying $10 or $15 for a 1.5 or 1 meg connection that suits his need. That was about 2 to 3 years ago when we temporarily located in the Chicago area for a job that lasted about 8 months.

I don't think this says what you want it to say.

It's difficult to predict what he will do but I'll throw this in because it does seem relevant to this conversation,

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-oped0314obamamar14,0,7185898.story

I'd like to see the levels present in the average American's blood-stream.

You'd probably want to be more interested in the reduction in human sperm counts and other issues apparently caused by hormones released into the environment by females.

From http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/shopping/chi-mxa030108pillp24mar01,1,546324.story Dr. David Norris, a physiology professor at the University of Colorado, said what concerns him is the exposure of these hormones to humans, especially fetuses and newborns. According to Norris, numerous reports show that estrogenic chemicals in water can result in thyroid problems and an adrenaline imbalance.

Seems Darwin is at work - a couple of generations ignorists in denyal and their offspring are goners anyway, no problemo.

Having both-sex fish in Boulder Creek - 30 miles down from the Continental Divide caused some stir recently.

Given that Google, MSN, etc. are doing this I bet it's just a matter of time before police start mounting cameras on their patrol cars as a means to identify illegal behavior that the officers in the car might miss. How would you like to get a ticket in the mail a week after a police car driving by takes a photo of you jaywalking? That's the sort of thing this could eventually lead to, and that's not what most people want.

Chicago already does this. They have vans with cameras on top that record the license plates of cars parked on the side of the street as the van drives by.

Chicago's also going crazy with police cameras and red-light cameras. The city's argument is that the police cameras are used to deal with safety/crime problems and the red-light (and illegal turn on red) cameras are for revenue collection, I mean safety. I'm just waiting for those red-light cameras to start issuing jaywalking tickets.

More red-light cameras coming to Chicago

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080215-blogging-olympics-ioc,1,7510480.story

Here is the link to the article without registration.

Charlie Rangel had called some of Obama's comments about the history behind Civil Rights Act "absolutely stupid"

Like his comments about Ronald Reagan.

My own impression of Obama is of someone who's not in touch with the facts, has no concern with getting them right, and thinks that the country owes him the presidency.

Does this mean that it doesn't work like this for purely digital works? No, but it isn't evidence that it does either.

This is the evidence you're looking for.

What is your name? I'm confuse

A) Barack Osama
B) Barack Hussein Osama
C) Barry Soetoro
D) Barry Obama

Heeeyyyyy, he has 4 different rotated names!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2007-03/28585966.jpg <--- Here it puts "Barry Obama".
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2007-03/28585926.jpg <--- What means this jewel?

His father Barack Obama is muslim of Kenya and bigamist (he married 3 wives) after divorced from Ann 2 years later.
His stepfather Lolo Soetoro is radical muslim of Indonesia working first for Army of Indonesia and later for oil company western.
His stupid mother Ann of Kansas in Hawai was atheist but was converted to muslim and got marriage with 2 muslim husbands.

I'm confuse of his school in Indonesia, 1st and 2nd grade is in catholic school and 3rd and 4th grade is in muslim school. <--- How is he converted to Christian if did go first to catholic school and later to muslim madrassa?

And he is membership of www.tucc.org (Trinity United Church of Christ). How is that this muslim is membership of this racist christian churck (only for blackes and for Africa)?

And for demonstration of his christianity, "can Obama eat the iberian ham made from pigs?".

Goes he to pray to Church the Sundays or pray to Mosque the Fridays? Barry Soetoro is hidding his truth.

What is your name? I'm confuse

A) Barack Osama
B) Barack Hussein Osama
C) Barry Soetoro
D) Barry Obama

Heeeyyyyy, he has 4 different rotated names!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2007-03/28585966.jpg <--- Here it puts "Barry Obama".
http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/photo/2007-03/28585926.jpg <--- What means this jewel?

His father Barack Obama is muslim of Kenya and bigamist (he married 3 wives) after divorced from Ann 2 years later.
His stepfather Lolo Soetoro is radical muslim of Indonesia working first for Army of Indonesia and later for oil company western.
His stupid mother Ann of Kansas in Hawai was atheist but was converted to muslim and got marriage with 2 muslim husbands.

I'm confuse of his school in Indonesia, 1st and 2nd grade is in catholic school and 3rd and 4th grade is in muslim school. <--- How is he converted to Christian if did go first to catholic school and later to muslim madrassa?

And he is membership of www.tucc.org (Trinity United Church of Christ). How is that this muslim is membership of this racist christian churck (only for blackes and for Africa)?

And for demonstration of his christianity, "can Obama eat the iberian ham made from pigs?".

Goes he to pray to Church the Sundays or pray to Mosque the Fridays? Barry Soetoro is hidding his truth.

It wouldn't work because the source alone isn't enough.

To teach? Maybe not, but it's a start.

It's Fedora. The rest are simply applications. So...try to set this thing up with a fresh Fedora. Or even Edbuntu. You'd see the problem pretty quickly.

I don't see it... given that these "simply applications" are a large part of the point.

Apparently you don't get it. It is "WIFI". They're using standard wireless frequencies and protocols. There's nothing magical about it. Anyone can listen in.

Yeah, their neighbor, the sheep herder, is going to have a laptop with AirPwn on it.

I'm not really sure how you can do ad-hoc wireless networking (this "mesh" concept) and expect it to be secure.

You continue to show little grasp of technology. I suggest you look into amatuer radio sometime...not to say amatuer radio gear is the solution, but it will give you a clue.

Dismissive and not helpful. I am not saying the technology doesn't exist, but I do think the XO is an easier solution, and probably cheaper.

But hey, if you think you can do it better, go do it. Maybe Intel would be interested.

I can access Wikipeida with an old cell phone. What's your point?

How big is the screen on that cell phone? What's the resolution?

How about the interface?

Unless we're talking about iPhones (which are quite a bit more expensive than the XO), what's your point?

Secondly, Wikipedia is the worst thing to use to educate. It probably wouldn't be in their language

Close enough. No, it wouldn't be it Quetchua, but Spanish is the language of education in Peru.

Regardless, Wikipedia was just an example. Suppose they do want to learn English -- there are resources online, and tons of text to practice on.

And you're being unreasonably dense. The OLPC doesn't have new technology. This kind of screen is the first I've seen in a mass-produced device, true, but it's not magical.

Strawman. I didn't say it's magical. I do believe it's much better than a cell phone.

Hint: Hand cranked generators have been around for YEARS!

So?

Here's the point: As far as size is concerned, there relationship between size and usefulness is not linear. Either things need to be small (hand sized), or reasonably sized (laptop sized).

For kids, this is apparently the right size.

The area in between is not useful, and has failed multiple times in the market.

For adults. Your point?

If it's a toy, take the kids. If it's the wonder platform you think it is, take mine.

You talk to them, then.

At the very least, it is inspirational.

The XO isn't being taken seriously, which is why people are dropping out of the program like flies. It was an interesting experiment, but it failed.

It failed to produce what you apparently expected. It's not a laptop for grownups, it doesn't do things that would be considered essential if we were talking about, say, high school in middle-class America. But that doesn't make it a toy or a failure.

You see, it succeeded in its actual goals. (In fact, that story was on Slashdot recently. Try reading that TFA, too.)

• The US is far and away the largest, if not the only, producer of helium; and
• we'll probably be out of Helium within 10 years.

It was/is Nigeria which all the ruckus was about with regards to Microsoft funding the removal of OSS from the ClassmatePC's they ordered with Linux. Peru is where they are deploying and as you mentioned, there was a nice story recently about it:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-laptop_webdec22,1,6878223.story?ctrack=2&cset=true

LoB

Non-registration link for the Chicago Tribune article.

The incident began about noon, when a Springfield police officer sitting a Fifth and Carpenter streets saw a green Chevrolet Cavalier speeding south on Fifth. The driver, allegedly Britz, slammed on his brakes at the intersection but almost didn't make the red light, police said.

The incident began about noon, when a Springfield police officer sitting a Fifth and Carpenter streets saw a green Chevrolet Cavalier speeding south on Fifth. The driver, allegedly Britz, slammed on his brakes at the intersection but almost didn't make the red light, police said.

"Also, how do you know they were bought for toddlers? They could have been bought for big sister who carelessly left them out (after all, kids sometimes do those sorts of things)."

He knows they were bought for toddlers because a toddler went into a coma.story

It's occurred to me. I think it's more likely that, though, that it's because they haven't done enough to end the war in Iraq.

In recent approval polls, the current Democratic congress actually did better with Republican respondents than with Democratic respondents. American's opinion of how the war in Iraq is going is virtually completely unified (and negative), and more Americans "strongly disapprove" of GWB than they did of Nixon, just before his impeachment trial began.

If you're a Democrat (disclosure: I am), this state of affairs sucks, because procedural rules of legislation make it very easy to derail bills through votes for cloture and the threat of a filibuster. The minority party has used this power in this Congress more than any other Congress in history, and then turned around and made fun of the majority party for not being able to get anything done.

The last time there was a Congress strongly unified against the President, it was the "Republican revolution", whose stalemate with Clinton wound up shutting down the government. But then, Clinton definitely wound up on the winning side of public opinion. One wonders if memories of that stalemate are giving the Democratic leadership the jitters.

Only one? Bothe Bush and Cheney have DUIs on their records. It's sad whan an old criminal like me has a better police record (IE, "none") than both the President and Vice President.

Of course, our previous Governor is headed for prison, as is some clown (Klutzo the Clown, in fact) who used to be a policeman but who is now knows ans "Klutzo the Child Molester".

My elected officials and law enforcement officials are such wonderful people! At least I don't live in Chicago!

-mcgrew

Your comment would be hilarious if the reference was to the actual candidate who stated this: Mitt Romney.

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/romney_all_business_well_have.html

I'd like to know if forcing your beliefs on other people is worth twice as much crime? Is making cheaper, more effective paint worth twice as much crime?

You mention that abortion might be linked to a lowering in crime. I'd like to mention another fact, that abortion is a proven risk factor in breast cancer.

Irrelevant, you may say, but it is another instance of 'forcing beliefs', but from the other side of the coin:

The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation continue to deny the link between induced abortion and an increased risk of breast cancer. They make no effort to publicize (or they wholly ignore) the increased risk of breast cancer associated with oral contraceptive use. link.

Many of these groups are promoting their own beliefs that an abortion is an important right over the free flow of information (and oral contraceptives), letting women know that it increases their risk factor for the second most fatal form of cancer, according to the ACS. The knife slices both ways, and people die in both cases.

Did you RTFA? This article IS NOT about inserting genes from one species into another, it's about creating entirely new chromosomes and being able to insert them into an organism, the key phrase being "Creating an artificial chromosome".

...and poor Microsoft who has totally fucked up Vista (and delayed it several times) just to implement a "unbreakable" DRM system... instead of fixing some of Windows' real problems.

I laughed when I saw the Tribune story (sorry, bugmenot required) "Buying windows costs priest post">.

FTFA: 'The challenge is going to be teaching computers to recognize the suspicious behavior

Indeed; TFA itself shows its ignorance. You can teach a human, you can teach a dog, you can even teach a rodent, but you CANNOT teach a computer. Unlike humans, dogs, rodents, and even insects, computers can't think. They can only compute and display the results of their computations (including simulations derived by computation).

A computer is only an abacus with billions of wires, each with only two beads per wire... well, actually only one bead per wire. How many more beads do I need to add to my abacus before it becomes self-aware?

You don't "teach" a computer any more than you "teach" an abacus. You teach a dog, you program a computer. When an IT publication speaks of computers "thinking" or "being taught" you know that they're ignorant of the low level basic functioning of a computer, and therefore have no credibility.

Hell, I wrote a program in 1983 on a 1mz Times computer with 20k (not meg, K) of memory that will argue with you, and pretty much passes the Turing test. The version downloadable from the linked page was converted to Clipper so is almost half a megabyte, but it's basically the same 20k program with a shitload of compiler overhead.

When you come up with a computer that thinks and has no biological components, wake me up. I will have been taking a nap in the dirt for a long, long time.

If you are in IT and claim computers can or ever will think, you should be ashamed of yourself.

-mcgrew

PS- speaking of insanity, IMO it's just batshit crazy to give the cops this kind of power in a city where off duty police officers brutally attack small womenn bartenders and businessmen, and even murder other cops? Are these the sorts of people you want stalking you?

To anybody who thinks this is a good idea, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?????

FTFA: 'The challenge is going to be teaching computers to recognize the suspicious behavior

Indeed; TFA itself shows its ignorance. You can teach a human, you can teach a dog, you can even teach a rodent, but you CANNOT teach a computer. Unlike humans, dogs, rodents, and even insects, computers can't think. They can only compute and display the results of their computations (including simulations derived by computation).

A computer is only an abacus with billions of wires, each with only two beads per wire... well, actually only one bead per wire. How many more beads do I need to add to my abacus before it becomes self-aware?

You don't "teach" a computer any more than you "teach" an abacus. You teach a dog, you program a computer. When an IT publication speaks of computers "thinking" or "being taught" you know that they're ignorant of the low level basic functioning of a computer, and therefore have no credibility.

Hell, I wrote a program in 1983 on a 1mz Times computer with 20k (not meg, K) of memory that will argue with you, and pretty much passes the Turing test. The version downloadable from the linked page was converted to Clipper so is almost half a megabyte, but it's basically the same 20k program with a shitload of compiler overhead.

When you come up with a computer that thinks and has no biological components, wake me up. I will have been taking a nap in the dirt for a long, long time.

If you are in IT and claim computers can or ever will think, you should be ashamed of yourself.

-mcgrew

PS- speaking of insanity, IMO it's just batshit crazy to give the cops this kind of power in a city where off duty police officers brutally attack small womenn bartenders and businessmen, and even murder other cops? Are these the sorts of people you want stalking you?

To anybody who thinks this is a good idea, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?????