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Apparently, almost a year ago to the day, a "large amount" were stolen from a Philly airport. I couldn't find a follow-up (might be what I used for initial sources), but am I now to believe these theives can finally spend their cash? Or was the design tweaked since then? I suppose if it was, it would benefit the FBI investigation to not have that stated.

No, you aren't necessarily meant to infer what it means, since it has an understood definition. "Living paycheck to paycheck" describes the situation where someone's earnings go completely toward paying their monthly expenses, with little or no chance to build up a cushion of savings. If I make $100,000 per month and I spend all of that money maintaining my lifestyle (and I don't have a decent "rainy day fund" built up already), then I'm (technically) living paycheck to paycheck.

Granted, the term is a little broad, not really defining what "little to no savings" is, or for what period after being laid off someone should be able to survive. CNN's article uses "6 months or less in savings" as being the dividing line, so it's giving you a more solid definition, at least (while matching the OP's claim that "most people in the US live paycheck to paycheck").

Samsung's patents were standards patents.
Apple's patents were not.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/08/apple-samsung-veto-import-ban/

Im going to laugh my ass off when the drill to the mantle project keeps hitting pockets of gas and oil that we have been told for years was a limited fossil fuel. http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/tech/mantle-earth-drill-mission/index.html The horseshit about being harder to drill and pull from ungodly depths is just that-horseshit. We have had 5 wells drilled tapped and capped in ANWAR since the '70's. The real problem is how we harness the energy in a responsibile manner. Fracking is not the answer, I was being an ass. The technology exists for cleaner more efficent sorces of power yet our mindset hasn't really changed much since the days of the industral revolution. Wait! lemmie get off my milk basket...mah heads gonna 'splode. It's late for me 3rd shft IT. I had enough.

"obamacare" will RAISE the health care costs for average family of four by over $7K from 2014 to 2022.

If the $18.23/person/month price increase means health insurance companies will have to actually pay to treat their paying customer's medical bills, instead of immediately canceling the insurance policies of the majority of those who start costing them money, or capping their benefits at a few thousand per year and forcing them to max out their credit cards, mortgage their homes, and go into bankruptcy ("Using a conservative definition, 62.1 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical.") when they actually get sick, it will be MONEY WELL SPENT.

http://www.litigationandtrial.com/2009/08/articles/series/special-comment/health-insurance-rescission-three-times-more-likely-than-losing-russian-roulette/

http://www.seiu.org/2012/03/lifetime-caps-on-health-insurance-coverage-are-gone.php

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/05/bankruptcy.medical.bills/index.html?_s=PM:HEALTH

Were the strikes based on the interviews with the suspect in the mainstream media over the course of the last year since the attack occurred?

How about posting the source for your bullshit?

Might it be Moon of Alabama?

Maybe CNN?

But the mission didn't go as planned. A fierce firefight broke out, and the Americans had to withdraw -- not knowing if the person they were trying to get was dead or alive.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/somalia-us-shabaab-raid/index.html

The Libyan interim government called the U.S. capture a kidnapping and has requested an explanation from Washington about the raid,

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/

(Nice URL there CNN: :"US Forces Africa Terrorist Raid".)

How about posting the source for your bullshit?

Might it be Moon of Alabama?

Maybe CNN?

But the mission didn't go as planned. A fierce firefight broke out, and the Americans had to withdraw -- not knowing if the person they were trying to get was dead or alive.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/05/world/africa/somalia-us-shabaab-raid/index.html

The Libyan interim government called the U.S. capture a kidnapping and has requested an explanation from Washington about the raid,

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/06/world/africa/us-forces-africa-terrorist-raids/

(Nice URL there CNN: :"US Forces Africa Terrorist Raid".)

And the Lincoln Memorial, which again, wasn't closed in the 1980s or 90s era shutdowns

That's weird. Whats this photograph of, then?

Apple & Exxon keep swapping 1st, 2nd place. Apple's the largest again.

Anyway, I don't see how expanding programs from 30+ years ago really qualifies as becoming a leftist state.

While you may be right in that there have been no significant qualitative changes, as Stalin once put it, "quantity has a quality all its own". If only a tiny sliver of the population is collecting tax-funded benefits, you are Ok. But, once that sliver expands beyond a certain threshold, it becomes bad.

On Obama's watch, the number of people receiving food stamps has increased dramatically. He added more people to the rolls in his one term so far, than Bush did in his two terms. Perhaps, that's because Democrats want more people on the dole — so as to keep more voters supporting the party of government. Heck, the current Administration runs advertisements encouraging people to sign-up — I can't imagine such enrollment efforts being considered, when the program was first introduced, can you?

But food stamps is just one example. The best measure of how far Socialism has crept upon a country is to look at how much of the GDP is spent by the governments (federal and local)... And by that measure we are looking pretty sad.

Also, it sounds like you only want wealthy people to have children. Just another way the wealthy is keeping the poor down

Raising a child is a major expense. With modern contraception methods it is rather irresponsible for people, who can't afford it, to have children.

Wanting them to not do it is not "keeping the poor down" — it is dissuading the poor from making a mistake. There is nothing wrong with it — especially for those, who will, likely, end up paying the poor's bill...

Because farm raised fish contain toxic chemicals and is not safe for human consumption

"OK, I chuckled a bit when I read that. I guess you forgot about 9/11, the subway bombings in London, Hotel bombings in Mumbia, or the random idiots that do things like the Boston Marathon Bombing."

I guess you don't even know what the Taliban is.

Hint: The Taliban did none of those things.

"I also guess that you forgot why she was targeted. It wasn't just because she was going to school. If that was the case, they would have just shot up the bus/van she was on & killed all of the girls with her."

That's what the Taliban do, or throw acid in their faces. Though your ethnocentric world view apparently prevents you realising this isn't America and you don't have big yellow school buses for every student and many just walk to school with friends, but individual groups are usually attacked before the attackers flee. Two other girls were shot and wounded alongside Malala, which shows how stupid your comment is.

See here for other such attacks on schoolgirls in Pakistan/Afghanistan:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/23/world/asia/afghanistan-girls-poisoned/index.html

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/26-Jun-2013/a-fragile-peace-with-taliban-if-school-attacks-escalate

(Specifically, I quote: "But what kind of justification can possibly be offered for the firebombing of a college bus carrying forty girls from their Quetta campus? Fourteen defenseless girls died in the bombing; eight more people died when the terrorists ambushed the hospital.")

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/03/world/asia/pakistan-acid-attack/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/meast/cnnheroes-jan-afghan-school/index.html

"OK, I chuckled a bit when I read that. I guess you forgot about 9/11, the subway bombings in London, Hotel bombings in Mumbia, or the random idiots that do things like the Boston Marathon Bombing."

I guess you don't even know what the Taliban is.

Hint: The Taliban did none of those things.

"I also guess that you forgot why she was targeted. It wasn't just because she was going to school. If that was the case, they would have just shot up the bus/van she was on & killed all of the girls with her."

That's what the Taliban do, or throw acid in their faces. Though your ethnocentric world view apparently prevents you realising this isn't America and you don't have big yellow school buses for every student and many just walk to school with friends, but individual groups are usually attacked before the attackers flee. Two other girls were shot and wounded alongside Malala, which shows how stupid your comment is.

See here for other such attacks on schoolgirls in Pakistan/Afghanistan:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/23/world/asia/afghanistan-girls-poisoned/index.html

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/26-Jun-2013/a-fragile-peace-with-taliban-if-school-attacks-escalate

(Specifically, I quote: "But what kind of justification can possibly be offered for the firebombing of a college bus carrying forty girls from their Quetta campus? Fourteen defenseless girls died in the bombing; eight more people died when the terrorists ambushed the hospital.")

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/03/world/asia/pakistan-acid-attack/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/meast/cnnheroes-jan-afghan-school/index.html

"OK, I chuckled a bit when I read that. I guess you forgot about 9/11, the subway bombings in London, Hotel bombings in Mumbia, or the random idiots that do things like the Boston Marathon Bombing."

I guess you don't even know what the Taliban is.

Hint: The Taliban did none of those things.

"I also guess that you forgot why she was targeted. It wasn't just because she was going to school. If that was the case, they would have just shot up the bus/van she was on & killed all of the girls with her."

That's what the Taliban do, or throw acid in their faces. Though your ethnocentric world view apparently prevents you realising this isn't America and you don't have big yellow school buses for every student and many just walk to school with friends, but individual groups are usually attacked before the attackers flee. Two other girls were shot and wounded alongside Malala, which shows how stupid your comment is.

See here for other such attacks on schoolgirls in Pakistan/Afghanistan:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/23/world/asia/afghanistan-girls-poisoned/index.html

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/26-Jun-2013/a-fragile-peace-with-taliban-if-school-attacks-escalate

(Specifically, I quote: "But what kind of justification can possibly be offered for the firebombing of a college bus carrying forty girls from their Quetta campus? Fourteen defenseless girls died in the bombing; eight more people died when the terrorists ambushed the hospital.")

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/03/world/asia/pakistan-acid-attack/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/meast/cnnheroes-jan-afghan-school/index.html

Seriously though, $10 says it's a U.S. citizen unhappy with D.C. dysfunction. The terrorists wouldn't waste their bullets. They're home watching CSPAN with a bowl of popcorn and thinking "Mission Accomplished".

No, the terrorist that was most recently shooting up DC is in prison now. They caught him.

Former Marine reservist pleads guilty in Pentagon shooting incident

Melaku, a 23-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Ethiopia, was arrested June 17 at the cemetery. He had a backpack with four plastic bags each containing 5 pounds of ammonium nitrate, material commonly used in homemade explosives. He also had numerous 9 mm spent shell casings; black paint and a notebook with Arabic statements mentioning al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and the "Path to Jihad." ...

Melaku admitted to five shootings with a legally owned handgun at military buildings in Northern Virginia between October 17 and November 2 of 2010. He said he attacked the Pentagon, Marine and Coast Guard recruiting offices and he twice fired at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

They also previously caught the Beltway snipers. There are some interesting things there too. -- The Beltway Snipers' Motives

Via http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/03/apple-samsung-sanctions-grewal/

          July 7, 2004: Jury advised of adverse interference when Samsung allowed emails to be automatically deleted even after it was told to retain relevant emails. After Samsung's appeal, Judge William Martini found "Samsung's actions go far beyond mere negligence, demonstrating knowing and intentional conduct."
        October 17, 2005: The U.S. Department of Justice fined Samsung nearly $300M for memory price fixing within the U.S.
        Feb. 7, 2007: U.S. government fined Samsung for $90M for memory chip price fixing for violations in 2006.
        Jan.15, 2008: Samsung's offices in Korea were raided after evidence showed that a slush fund was used to bribe government officials and other business leaders.
        July 16 2008, Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-He was found guilty in Seoul of financial wrongdoing and tax evasion. Despite prosecutor request of seven years in prison, sentence was reduced to three years followed by a pardon by the South Korean Government in 2009 to allow him to help with its successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. He is now a member of the International Olympic Committee and this 'pardoned criminal' returned as Samsung's Chairman in March 2010.
        May 19, 2010: The EU Commission fined Samsung for being part of a cartel that shared confidential information and fixed memory chip prices (along with eight other firms).
        Nov. 1, 2011: The Korean Fair Trade Commission fined Samsung for being part of a cartel that fixed prices and reduced output for TFT-LCD screens between 2001 and 2006.
        March 15, 2012: The Korean Fair Trade Commission fined Samsung for a mobile phone price fixing scheme and consumer fraud whereby consumers would be paying more than what the discounted prices advertised.
          July 25, 2012: Magistrate Grewal informs the jury that they could take into account that "spoliation" of evidence occurred when Samsung destroyed evidence that could have been used in the Apple lawsuit; Samsung had a policy of automatically deleting emails that were two weeks old and should have suspended that policy between August 2010 (when Apple informed Samsung of patent infringement) and April 2011 (when Apple initiated the lawsuit).
        August 24, 2012 a jury returned a verdict finding Samsung had willfully infringed on Apple's design and utility patents and had also diluted Apple's trade dresses related to the iPhone. But Samsung continues to fight the ruling, and continues in their copying behavior.
        Dec 2012: EU issued a Statement of Objections (SO) against Samsung for abusing its Standard-Essential Patents in not providing FRAND rates. Samsung withdrew all SEP-based injunction requests against Apple in Europe days before the SO was issued, but to no avail.
        April. 2013, Samsung is accused of and admits hiring people in several countries to falsify reports of HTC phones "constantly crashing" and posting fake benchmark reviews.
        October 2013 Samsung in confirmed reports from independent and objective testing, found to be intentionally falsifying performance benchmarks of its flagship products: the Galaxy S4 and Note 3.

Is different attacking persons, over what could be moral or cultural tabus, than attacking a government. But both can cause revolts, picking the right persons. And there are other ways to desestabilize (i.e. faking a recording of Chavez saying that is actually kidnapped instead of dead) that could be enhanced manipulating or releasing partial information to the public.

Show me where Apple have crossed the ethical lines ? You may disagree with their case, but I don't recall anyone claiming their lawyers were unethical in prosecuting that case ...

As for Samsung, they're just scumbags who don't respect the law of any land...

(Taken from Fortune ...)

• July 7, 2004: Jury advised of adverse interference when Samsung allowed emails to be automatically deleted even after it was told to retain relevant emails. After Samsung's appeal, Judge William Martini found "Samsung's actions go far beyond mere negligence, demonstrating knowing and intentional conduct."
• October 17, 2005: The U.S. Department of Justice fined Samsung nearly $300M for memory price fixing within the U.S.
• Feb. 7, 2007: U.S. government fined Samsung for $90M for memory chip price fixing for violations in 2006.
• Jan.15, 2008: Samsung's offices in Korea were raided after evidence showed that a slush fund was used to bribe government officials and other business leaders.
• July 16 2008, Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-He was found guilty in Seoul of financial wrongdoing and tax evasion. Despite prosecutor request of seven years in prison, sentence was reduced to three years followed by a pardon by the South Korean Government in 2009 to allow him to help with its successful bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. He is now a member of the International Olympic Committee and this 'pardoned criminal' returned as Samsung's Chairman in March 2010.
• May 19, 2010: The EU Commission fined Samsung for being part of a cartel that shared confidential information and fixed memory chip prices (along with eight other firms).
• Nov. 1, 2011: The Korean Fair Trade Commission fined Samsung for being part of a cartel that fixed prices and reduced output for TFT-LCD screens between 2001 and 2006.
• March 15, 2012: The Korean Fair Trade Commission fined Samsung for a mobile phone price fixing scheme and consumer fraud whereby consumers would be paying more than what the discounted prices advertised.
• July 25, 2012: Magistrate Grewal informs the jury that they could take into account that "spoliation" of evidence occurred when Samsung destroyed evidence that could have been used in the Apple lawsuit; Samsung had a policy of automatically deleting emails that were two weeks old and should have suspended that policy between August 2010 (when Apple informed Samsung of patent infringement) and April 2011 (when Apple initiated the lawsuit).
• August 24, 2012 a jury returned a verdict finding Samsung had willfully infringed on Apple's design and utility patents and had also diluted Apple's trade dresses related to the iPhone. But Samsung continues to fight the ruling, and continues in their copying behavior.
• Dec 2012: EU issued a Statement of Objections (SO) against Samsung for abusing its Standard-Essential Patents in not providing FRAND rates. Samsung withdrew all SEP-based injunction requests against Apple in Europe days before the SO was issued, but to no avail.
• April. 2013, Samsung is accused of and admits hiring people in several countries to falsify reports of HTC phones "constantly crashing" and posting fake benchmark reviews.
• October 2013 Samsung in confirmed reports from independent and objective testing, found to be intentionally falsifying performance benchmarks of its flagship products: the Galaxy S4 and Note 3.

If Apple tried to pull that shit, all hell would break loose. And rightfully so. For me personally, it's enough that I don't buy anything with a Samsung brand on the outside any more. They're the only company for which that's the case.

Simon.

Learn to read and process what you read: "One victim told local media earlier this month that "the more you run, the more they want to chase you." Some victims described being chased about 200 meters (656 feet) by a swarm." Direct from TFA (and summary) which is what he was commenting on.

His point was completely valid, if unnecessary, reporters are idiots. Like you, apparently.

Samsung ... the good guys" You must be kidding. They copy and they clone. Apple does gold so Samsung does gold.

Oooh! Oooh! Can I play too? LG makes a completely touchscreen interface phone, so Apple does too. Samsung offers phones with replaceable colored backs, so Apple does too. Android phones tended to have bigger screens than the iPhone, so Apple made the iPhone screen bigger. All the Android tablet makers offered a higher DPI than the original iPad, so Apple did too.

There are revolutionary changes, and there are evolutionary changes. Making evolutionary changes (like a thinner device, or a higher resolution screen, or going from 32-bit to 64-bit) is not copying. I'm not even sure offering different color phones qualifies as either revolutionary or evolutionary, but it's so damn obvious that there's no way it goes into the revolutionary category. If that's what you're relying on to base your accusations of copying, you're grasping at straws.

Apple sells a 64-bit phone with a 64 bit operating system and conversion tools to take advantage of it. Samsung announces that they'll be building 64 bit phones too, one day.

Anyone old enough to have gone through the 32-bit to 64-bit Windows transition should know that except for some specialized applications, 64-bit doesn't really get you much additional performance. Yes it'll dramatically speed up double long int operations (2x), though I think the only place those are used are on infinite precision calculators. And it'll improve hardcore math calculations (finding primes sped up about 35%). But with byte-wise applications like data compression, there's no speedup. The other main advantage of 64-bit - flat memory space - isn't a pressing need for smartphones at present. So the only common smartphone apps I can see benefiting from 64-bit are maybe some games. Smartphones simply aren't the platform of choice for the heavy number-crunching applications where 64-bit processors really help.

The only reason Apple went with 64-bit so early is marketing. They have a history of discontinuing support for technologies while they still have a lot of life in them, in favor of new technologies which haven't yet been established. Sometimes this works (replacing the 5.25" floppy with 3.5" floppies, dropping floppy drives in favor of optical) and they end up leading the industry. Other times it backfires (Firewire, Lightning) and leaves them stuck with a standard different from the rest of the industry (USB). Because they dive into these new technologies head-first, they try to give their users and developers years of advance warning so they can prepare. The introduction of 64-bit processors in smartphones is clearly premature, but they're doing it as a heads up to their users and for the marketing buzz that comes with being first.

Anyway, 64-bit ARM has been available for over a year now. Just that nobody (aside from AMD) went with it prior to Apple because there was no pressing need for it. Samsung saying they'd go to 64-bit as well isn't copying Apple. It's their way of saying it's no big deal and they were scheduled to transition to it too eventually.

. Consumer Reports and other customer satisfaction survey's I've seen don't rate Samsung all that highly. Apple leads the pack in every survey I've seen.

Consumer reports rates the Samsung S4 #1 well above the iPhone. Prior to that, LG was #1. The iPhone hasn't been #1 in their rankings for a couple years now.

Samsung topped Apple in the latest smartphone customer satisfaction survey.

That is a bit disingenuous. Depending on which polls you want to believe, anywhere form 30% to 70% of the population doesn't even know what Obamacare is.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/opinion/carroll-obamacare-poll/index.html
Obama only got 3% more votes than Romney. If I win anything by 3%, I consider it a very narrow victory. If the 30% number above is correct, claiming that the will of the people is that they want Obamacare is a little silly. At the other end, if the 70% is correct, claims that the people want Obamacare is completely delusional.

I can say that I was a bit worried during the election because of how close the popular vote was. It was clear that Obama was going to soundly beat Romney in the Electoral College. The last thing I wanted was for the Romney to win the popular vote and Obama to win the Electoral College. That would have raised the bad behavior on both sides of the isle exponentially.

Oddly enough there is middle ground, the only problem is the democrats aren't listening to the people. The republicans are

Oh yeah? Poll:

Politicians acting like children
The 10% approval rating in the new CNN survey, which was conducted Friday through Sunday, is down 10 percentage points from CNN's previous survey at the beginning of the month. The 87% disapproval rating is a jump of nine points from the first week in September.

While Americans' perception of the job Congress is doing has taken a hit, President Barack Obama's approval rating -- well under 50% -- has remained steady since earlier in the month.

Just go to Google News and hit "poll". 75% are AGAINST shutting down the government to stop Obamacare, and the tea party's numbers are lower than they have ever been. And as the President pointed out, Romney ran on a "dump Obamacare" plank. HE LOST. You had a chance to dump Obamacare last election, YOU LOST. So you damned sore losers throw a hissy fit and shut the government down because you can't get your way.

You tea partiers are like three year olds.

The telecom industry is already subsidized (see Universal Service Fund) and it doesn't really work. On the other hand, shared infrastructure, something the government could invest in, apparently has great benefits in fostering competition in Korea, for example. The basic idea is that instead of letting ISPs build their own proprietary network, we build open, shared internet infrastructure and let ISPs share the infrastructure and compete for customers. This is sort of obliquely analagous to the breakup of AT&T in 1984. The government mandated that AT&T resell its network to long distance resellers and the prices of long distance plummeted over the next 10 years.

* The Senate rejects it
* The Senate rejects it
* The Senate rejects it

The ever efficient Democratic Senate.

Senate passes its first budget proposal in four years - Sat March 23, 2013

The Democrat-controlled Senate passed its first formal budget proposal in four years early Saturday after hours of non-stop voting that started Friday evening. The non-binding plan for the 2014 budget calls for a trillion dollars in tax increases and passed 50 to 49. No Republicans voted for the bill, and four Democrats voted against it. It now goes to the House, where it is expected to be shot down. Senators recently voted down a budget proposal passed by the Republican-controlled house. ...

The "vote-a-rama," as it's known on Capitol Hill, typically is an annual affair each budget season. However, because it's been so long since Democrats put a budget on the floor, almost half the current senators had not been through the demanding and exhaustive practice. It involves the consideration of and voting on dozens of amendments to the proposed bill.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/30/politics/cnn-poll-congress-approval/

According to CNN you're wrong:

What if you're waiting on a passport?
If you're waiting on a U.S. passport, how long that wait will last depends on where the passport agency is located. Passport services, because they are funded by other revenue, are generally "unaffected by a government shutdown," according to a State Department spokesperson.
There's just one possible catch: If the passport office is located within a government building that has been shut down, passport approvals may be affected.
If you need a visa
Because consular services at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world are largely funded by application fees, not annual appropriations, visa applications filed by foreigners wanting to enter the United States will continue to be processed, according to the State Department.

If this is true, then how come our schools are so awful?

We the people have been throwing more and more money at schoolteachers, and requiring ever-increasing levels of training and education to maintain their license to teach, yet the educational achievments of our students have been flatlined for 40 years, and have even fallen dramatically in some districts.

Have we really been throwing money at teachers? Teacher salaries have remained fairly constant in inflation-adjusted terms over the past few decades. W have definitely been throwing money at schools. With NCLB testing and gee-whiz-bang "let's give everyone a tablet" initiatives, and insanely overpaid administrators, we're spending way more, but we aren't seeing any results... hm...

Meanwhile home schooled children, taught by parents with no formal training as teachers, outperform government-schooled students so often that the high achieving home schooler has become a cultural meme, if not a cliche.

Charter schools have also been able to deliver superior results at lower cost.

Um, citation needed? Yes, some charter schools are great, but even more are worse.

No, I don't think we need professionally trained well paid teachers. What we need are voucher programs, more home schooling, teachers and schools that have to compete, the utter end to tenure of any kind, and pay/bonuses based on classroom performance instead of seniority.

Because tying pay raises to test performance doesn't give anyone an incentive to cheat. It would never happen.

Opening up the teaching profession to anyone with a bachelor's degree and a demonstrated knowledge of a subject (english, math, science) would be even better. There is no evidence that having a master's degree in early childhood education helps someone teach 3rd graders how to multiply. Let those who want to teach and who are good at it take the field, and get rid of parasitic space takers for whom a teaching job is a state-paid sinecure.

Most of all, outlaw public sector unions so that groups like the NEA aren't able to block real education reform.

I'm all for at-will employment, but let's be honest, if school systems could get away with paying teachers minimum wage, they would. After all, if all you need is demonstrated knowledge of a subject, why don't the 1st graders teach kindergarten? Too far? OK, well, certainly a high school dropout should be OK. After all, they know their colors and how to read "See Spot Run." I'm sure you wouldn't mind handing over your kids to a burnout stoner, right?

The US has the world's most stable power grid and every hospital has backup generators. The '03 blackout is the only major incident to happen to the US power grid and even then, backup generators. The idea is that the *best* care can only happen when the lights are on. That is why they come to the US. This is a fallacy by the way.

The US doesn't even make the top 15 list of healthiest countries. If you want the best doctors you're better off in #1 Monico, #2 Macau, or #3 Japan.

"... Just to make sure that their government is free of ties to terrorism... "

Do you mean terrorism like the kind that involves killing unknowing bystanders? The U.S. doesn't do that. Oh wait...

Stop confusing big banks with HFT firms like Knight. The financial crisis was not caused by HFT and while the big banks may have HFT divisions (which I don't personally agree with) they were certainly not the cause of market crash. Knight on the other hand, had a trading glitch and lost big. They were not bailed out and ended up being sold shortly after the fiasco to avoid going under. http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/19/investing/knight-capital/index.html

I don't see a probem here I figured someone had a faster internet connection and with that their automated transcation systems just did the job they were to do. The following article even mentions the need for speed: "Those cables could reduce the Internet's latency by about 60 milliseconds between those two points That's an imperceptible lag for the average Internet user, but it's an eternity for high-speed stock traders. They can make or lose millions of dollars in that span of time" So nothing got stolen just someone was faster as far as I would think. http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/30/technology/internet-cable/index.htm

7 in 10 Japanese cars sold in U.S. made in N. America

And on the flip side...

Most 'made in U.S.A.' cars are Japanese

So, "Japanese cars" and "American cars" are basically synonyms.

• Rouhani: I bring peace and friendship
• Iran: no place for nuclear weapons
• LIVE: watch U.N. general assembly
• Iran ready to make nuke deal?
• Israel: Iran using smokescreen
• Did sanctions work?
• UNGA: 5 things to look for

Frankly, I find this disturbing that her speech was not mentioned AT ALL. Only Iran and Israel. Nothing to see here folks, move along now. Look the other way.

While one doesn't lead to another, it doesn't surprise me when young kids who play GTA end up killing people with family members' guns while still young themselves. While almost no parents are perfect, plenty of parents are really, really, dreadfully awful. The parents who buy these games for young kids are often cut from the same fabric that leave loaded weapons laying around the house while unsupervised kids are running around.

And the parents who have a swimming pool at their house are generally more dangerous than those who have guns lying around.

While one doesn't lead to another, it doesn't surprise me when young kids who play GTA end up killing people with family members' guns while still young themselves. While almost no parents are perfect, plenty of parents are really, really, dreadfully awful. The parents who buy these games for young kids are often cut from the same fabric that leave loaded weapons laying around the house while unsupervised kids are running around.

Wouldn't it be nice if the west had the entire moral high ground on this?

What high ground does it have?

Oh, right, Iran invaded the Talysh Khanate region in 1826, so it's an imminent threat to the region. Also, there were those poorly-translated speeches in Israeli tabloids from a weak President who is out of office.

Ah, but Iran doesn't participate in the world central banking system, so better get in there and take it over before they do get nukes (the multinational banks can't get their client states to invade counties with nukes), for the sake of the petrodollar. One must ask, "Cui bono?"

At least the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected government, to ensure a half century of stability in that country, so we've got that as a base to start from.

Linux really is one of the great successes of the computer age.

But there sure is an astonishing contrast between how much it has enriched Linus' personal fortunes vs., say, Steve Ballmer (never mind Bill Gates), or for that matter Stephen Elop or Carly Fiorina.

Let us never confuse creating value with capturing value; somehow we have to get them better aligned.

Or if the user was a dog.

who knows why or who it benefits, but it certainly isn't the people of the UK.

Is that your evaluation based on many years of experience with the intelligence agencies? Or is it the snark of a passing minute on the internet?

NSA helped foil terror plot in Belgium, documents, officials say
Police arrest 10 over Belgian 'Islamist terror plot'
Belgian police raid homes in connection with Syrian terror groups recruits
Two Belgian "terrorism" suspects detained in Yemen
Fearing terror attack, Belgium arrests 14

Oh bullshit! You may think its the best thing since sliced bread but for every guy like you that will beat the thing there are a good 100 that will get bored halfway through and end up dropping the game, never to return. This has been documented and just because you are a fanboy of the series will NOT change those figures. For the record i have GTA III, GTA:VC, and GTA:SA, know how many of those I finished? NONE, that is how many, as it never fails but the GTA games always end up feeling like a slog once you get a little passed the halfway point. The second a game starts feeling like I'm punching a clock instead of playing a game? I'm out of there and the figures show I'm far from being alone in that sentiment.

For the record the only sandbox games i had enough of a fun time playing the missions to complete were Just Cause II and Saints Row games, JCII because they kept ramping up the "cool guys don't look at explosions" badass-o-meter and with the saints games the missions kept getting more and more batshit so I stuck it out just to see how crazy they got by the end. With the GTA games it always felt like you had seen all the best stuff by the halfway point and they started feeling repetitive so i bailed. Just because this guy doesn't feel its some epic adventure doesn't change the fact that the majority probably won't see the end of GTA V anymore than I saw the end of GTA III-GTA:SA.

See my other comment here: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4214133&cid=44856279

It includes one testimonial about groups:
""A child was sent to me who had been teased by a whole group of children as a result of an incident at recess. I took him through the steps that I learned from Bullies to Buddies and within 15 minutes this child was able to go back to class and continue learning. The teacher was amazed at the transformation. I was able to teach the whole class the technique, which resulted in more time on task and more learning. The students got along better and the learning environment became more pleasant and enjoyable for everyone. Izzy is a master of making this learning fun and easy to teach.â -- Malda Burns, Rockdale Elementary School Counselor, Rockdale, Texas"

I don't know how long ago you deal with a bully that way, but these days you might be arrested and jailed for assault for intentionally giving someone a concussion in school. Times have changed. Also, maybe nobody messed with you, but did you lose out on other relationships that you will never know about based on people's perceptions of you? (Maybe not in many schools, but consider what the implications would be in the workplace...)

Also, as Izzy Kalman points out, fighting back can work, but only when you are absolutely sure you can defeat the bully. Also, what if that bully had a gun or knife, or a friend who did? Once you take a swing in response to bullying (whether verbal or physical), it could be seen as "self-defense" by the bully to seriously hurt you. These things are tough calls sometimes.

Yes, you stopped the bullying that time. But words leading to endless rounds of violence also are how gang wars and endless vendettas can get started. Other aspects:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/living/bullying-fight-back/index.html
"This type of "superior force" advice shows a lack of appreciation for the complexities of the bully-victim dynamics of today's world, where bullying often takes place in new arenas, such as on the Internet. Sure, if a victim fights back and flattens his bully, the bully tends to back off. But what if the bullies are hiding behind computer screens? What if the target is physically incapable of taking down the bully, which is more often the case?
The truth is that there are many bullying situations in which the victim cannot simply beat up the bully and end the problem. The very nature of bullying renders victims fearful, frozen and incapable of defending themselves. According to bullying researcher Dan Olweus, bullying is characterized by three factors: 1) It is repetitive (not a one-time event in the hall, but a regular ongoing problem). 2) It is unwanted (not two-way teasing where both parties are having fun, but instead a situation where someone is on the receiving end of taunts and aggression). 3) It takes place in the context of a power imbalance (a bigger kid against a smaller kid, or multiple kids against a single kid, or a kid with more social capital against a kid with less social capital).
When multiple kids are targeting one child, the situation can feel completely overwhelming. ..."

Nothing works for every situation. For example, Izzy Kalman says his approach requires the "bully" to be reasonable emotionally stable -- which is almost always the case, but not 100% of the time.

BTW, Izzy Kalman's approach does not work by reporting bullying. In fact, he generally discourages reporting as just something that will escalate the problem (except if the bully is extremely unstable or causing significant physical harm).

Here is the core of his approach:
http://bullies2buddies.com/how-to-stop-being-teased-and-bullied-

How do you define "fallen dramatically"?
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/17/us/violent-crime/index.html
Seems to me that America still has WAY more crime, violent crime especially, than other 1st world countries.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/october/annual-crime-in-the-u.s.-report-released

The reason for using weapons matters, not just the fact that someone is willing to open fire.

So why do you expect them to start assassinating government officials, rather than using the ballot box to vote in politicians who they like? Isn't the reason for not using weapons also important?

You can paint them as extremists and nut jobs, but they haven't started killing people to impose their political beliefs on you, have they?

Basically, you are just spouting off about people who disagree with you. That's certainly your right, so have fun with it.

Those Ted Nugent loudmouths talk a big game and while I'm sure many are serious, most will shit themselves like he did when called to action.

I never heard that story, so thanks for referring to it. He says he didn't do so, and made up the story when talking to interviewers who were stoned. I can't say which story is reality, but it is ridiculous.

Although I disapprove of guns in schools for any reason, I'd sooner arm elementary school teachers than any of the 2nd amendment wingnuts.
At least I know the people like the ones at Sandy Hook will actually put their lives on the line for what they believe in, whether or not they believe they have a right to pack heat.

Again, the ones with guns who aren't killing government officials are the "wingnuts", but you have the clarity of thought to decide who deserves to be able to defend themselves.

Here's right-winger David Frum's take on the matter:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/15/opinion/frum-guns-race/index.html

From what I just read of him, I wouldn't put him too far in the "right-wing" column. But as to his article, claiming that people who advocate having the means to defend themselves are simply racists, or at have an exaggerated fear of black men, is more of the same tripe that's been spewed for years by left-wingers. I'll file it in the appropriate circular receptacle.

sorry, meant to link to this article but i didn't tag link:

"Corporate profits hit record as wages get squeezed"

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/03/news/economy/record-corporate-profits/index.html

Putin to America: You're Not Special

I'm sorry, Mr. Putin. I can't hear you over the sound of our own awesome.

If he's "done", the most organized members of the rebel forces are the moslem brotherhood and al qaeda. Which means he'll probably be replaced by a islamic fundamentalist government.

It's just not true. Those forces are there, but most people anywhere aren't fanatics, by definition. Being Muslim is not the same as being in al Queda, sympathizing with al Queda or anything else.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/opinion/zuka-syria-resistance-leader/index.html

Where is the al Queda take over of Libya? Where is the al Queda take over of Egypt? Even the Muslim brotherhood couldn't hold onto power in Egypt . People hated them and hated their focus on religion and piety and the moves to exclude people based on religion and ethnicity, all at the expense of material prosperity and progress and modernity and , you know, living.

  Where is the al Queda take over of Iraq? Given a choice between self determination and the fucking Taliban, people will choose self determination. Sure al Queda and Taliban are harassing forces in Iraq, good at IED detonation mostly. And? And? Where is THAT going? Nowhere.

The reason for using weapons matters, not just the fact that someone is willing to open fire.
Those Ted Nugent loudmouths talk a big game and while I'm sure many are serious, most will shit themselves like he did when called to action.

Although I disapprove of guns in schools for any reason, I'd sooner arm elementary school teachers than any of the 2nd amendment wingnuts.
At least I know the people like the ones at Sandy Hook will actually put their lives on the line for what they believe in, whether or not they believe they have a right to pack heat.

Here's right-winger David Frum's take on the matter:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/15/opinion/frum-guns-race/index.html

Works for NASA anyway...well...almost.