Slashdot Mirror

Why wait. The police did a pilot with 23 police forces between 2003 and 2004. The results were spectacularly good. 13,000 arrests attributable to the system, and an arrest rate per police constable 9 times higher than the national average.

http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=mod load&name=News&file=article&sid=2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,7369 ,1271120,00.html

Another victim of the new tyranny, John Catt, was subjected to a stop-and-search by police, who recorded the purpose of the search as 'terrorism' and grounds for their intervention as 'carrying plackard and T-shirt with anti-Blair info'. There you go, then: an anti-Blair slogan on your T-shirt is grounds for suspicion of terrorism, even if you're 80 years old.

I, for one, am worried about the world my 3-year-old will come to know.

This is why they want to catch them young.

Previous comment: Can anyone deny we are heading to 1984?

Maybe I RTFA wrong, but what I got out of it was that the big corporations that be went after another P2P site, and when it came down to the meat and potatoes nothing was being done wrong, but they still got their way. I know everyone around here hates the patriot act and the spying and such, but what really scares me is that atleast the government is kept in check by the constitution, declaration of independance, civil rights, etc.. (It's being pushed right now because we are at war, but that's another issue - and it will get turned around one way or another) - while the these corporations are only kept in check by the size of their war chest, and they have declared war on john que public...

IMHO, bigbrother isn't coming from the government(s) but from the powerful corporations.

At least when you are busted from the governments that be (you are presumed inococent until proven guilty) , depending on the nature of the crime - you are given a chance at rehabiliation because simply put the punishment is to fit the crime. While with the corporations, you are guilty untill proven inocent (the complete opposite), even if you are lucky enough to be able to afford to defend your self - atleast with the government if you aren't you are given a public defender, and in the mean time they are going after to ruin your life, and I'm sure succeeding...

In #14279307, Sayeth deaddrunk,

Although you didn't blame them exclusively, Europe's relative secularism has taken care of priests saying or doing stupid things like that. I'd like to think that the US could be included in that but Creationism makes me very pessimistic on that score.

I do not think I can respond to your observation any more eloquently and succinctly than this quote by famous literary critic Harold Bloom from his article "Reflections in the Evening Land" in yesterday's edition of The Guardian,

"I am a teacher by profession, about to begin my 51st year at Yale, where frequently my subject is American writers. Without any particular competence in politics, I assert no special insight in regard to the American malaise. But I am a student of what I have learned to call the American Religion, which has little in common with European Christianity. There is now a parody of the American Jesus, a kind of Republican CEO who disapproves of taxes, and who has widened the needle's eye so that camels and the wealthy pass readily into the Kingdom of Heaven. We have also an American holy spirit, the comforter of our burgeoning poor, who don't bother to vote. The American trinity pragmatically is completed by an imperial warrior God, trampling with shock and awe."

In #14279307, Sayeth deaddrunk,

Although you didn't blame them exclusively, Europe's relative secularism has taken care of priests saying or doing stupid things like that. I'd like to think that the US could be included in that but Creationism makes me very pessimistic on that score.

I do not think I can respond to your observation any more eloquently and succinctly than this quote by famous literary critic Harold Bloom from his article "Reflections in the Evening Land" in yesterday's edition of The Guardian,

"I am a teacher by profession, about to begin my 51st year at Yale, where frequently my subject is American writers. Without any particular competence in politics, I assert no special insight in regard to the American malaise. But I am a student of what I have learned to call the American Religion, which has little in common with European Christianity. There is now a parody of the American Jesus, a kind of Republican CEO who disapproves of taxes, and who has widened the needle's eye so that camels and the wealthy pass readily into the Kingdom of Heaven. We have also an American holy spirit, the comforter of our burgeoning poor, who don't bother to vote. The American trinity pragmatically is completed by an imperial warrior God, trampling with shock and awe."

Agreed. Global warming being larely influenced by humans and you don't have to be a right wing nut to agree with what scientists have been saying for years now. Here's an interesting link.

Grown up in the eastblock I know a little bit about the USSR - believe me when I tell you how common this state was to the USA of today when it comes to ideology.

Funny that. Only the other day, Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister, decided that he'd like to be able to ask the UK intelligence agencies to spy on Members of Parliament.

You never know, those crazy Liberals or Conservatives might be in league with Terrorists(TM).

If GW Bush was in power in 1940 we would have been allies with Hitler and help to stop the jewish terrorists.

Of course we would have. Keep in mind that his grandfather, Prescott Bush, profited from dealings with the Nazis during WWII. Ethics? What are those? All that matters is money!

Friday December 16, 2005 8:16 PM

TOKYO (AP) - An undersea earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 shook northern Japan early Saturday, but there was no danger of a tsunami, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of damages or injuries.

The quake occurred shortly after 3:30 a.m. and was centered about 30 miles below the seabed off the coast of Miyagi prefecture, about 180 miles northeast of Tokyo, the agency said.

I prefer the UK version of this one. Courtesy of the Guardian:

The law lords' judgment was so damning of the anti-terror legislation that one of the panel, Lord Hoffman, went as far as saying: "The real threat to the life of the nation, in the sense of people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but from laws like these."

Anybody can put together a list of links to articles by pacifist morons, but that doesn't really say anything about Iraqis' experience after the invasion. In short, millions of people gained their liberty, and hundreds of thousands avoided the fate that the invasion prevented, hacked and raped and slaughtered by Saddam and his ass-headed thugs.

1) BBC, wikipedia (many media sources ref'ed), human rights watch (which wanted military action to stop the Rwandan genocide), and globalsecurity.org (like Jane's Defense) are "pacificst morons"? What's next, was Stalin a disciple of Ghandi?

2) that doesn't really say anything about Iraqis' experience If you had actually read the articles, you'd have run into one of which was a poll of Iraqis, in which even 70% of Shiites want us out of the country now.

3) hundreds of thousands avoided the fate

And, pray tell, where are the remains of these fantastical numbers of people? Why is it that the same organizations that were cited to list the human rights abuses of Saddam by people like you (Amnesty and Human Rights Watch) are now ignored when they point out that the human rights situation is no better in current day Iraq?

If this is how Yahoo sees it, they're missing the point. Yahoo (and other web-portals) can use Social Networks to learn more about their users. For instance, a certain social circle may all be members of a bowling league, so maybe show bowling ball advertisers to people that have a direct connection with the bowling league circle. The connection I see is more in delivering more appropriate content to users, not saving money on search.

Then they aren't missing the point. To quote the article:

More important to a huge business such as Yahoo is how social search could bring new ways to cash in. Search engine firms make money through advertising, and in the short run, a tighter focus increases the likelihood of being able to charge higher prices for ads. In the long run, social groups might emerge inside the search engine - for example, a group of doctors in Hong Kong who share their bookmarks - who could be specifically targeted by advertising campaigns.

They get it. Or at least, the Guardian's reporter thinks they get it.

> sounds like a two piece custom pool cue... (niether here nor there)

I'm not sure what you mean by that. But I have tried posting the above comment to the Guardian and Browns blog neither of which worked. Anyone here want to do me the favor.

See also the Guardian on 'web cults` "Are you being paid to say that by Microsoft, or just doing a mate a favour?" (to quote one email we received this week on the topic of open source software development)"

" If you'd like to comment on any aspect of Technology Guardian, send your emails to tech@guardian.co.uk"

Well I for one would but you make it very difficult by not posting the comments or retrospectivly editing the comments out of the archive. Very Ministry of Truth if you ask me.

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,16 376,1667292,00.html

Granted, this may be easy for me to say, as I have not been directly, personally affected (no one I know has been killed/injured/involved) by terrorism...

Well, I have been directly affected by terrorism. I stood on the sidewalk and watched in horror as innocent people flung themselves out of a quarter-mile-high building instead of being burned to death. I saw, heard, and felt the impact of the second plane. I dodged falling debris with the rest of the crowd, and walked up Broad Street to get away from the site with my fellow New Yorkers, hitting the redial button on my cell phone until I could get through to my family to tell them I was still alive.

And, I agree with you.

I watched three thousand innocent people murdered just because they had the courage to live as free people. And how are we honoring their memory? By giving up the freedoms they died for, for a false sense of security.

We've been told "They hate us for our freedoms." If that's true, then why has Switzerland, where people have at least as much individual liberty as we do, not been attacked by The Terrorists?

We've been told that we need to give up some freedoms in the name of safety. If giving up individual liberty makes you safer, then why is it that in countries where individual liberties are suppressed the most that people have the most to fear? I'm not saying that the people who want to reduce our liberty in the name of security are tyrants; I believe they think they're doing the right thing. However, the belief that you must choose between liberty and safety is not true. Perhaps it's up to the citizens of the free world to let our politicians know this. Or, we can just sit around on our well-regulated duffs and hope that the government can keep us safe.

It's the other way around - the British billion used to be a million million, i.e. 1000 American billions. They officially changed it, though - see here.

An interesting article on Branson's 'success' -

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1664999 ,00.html

Patrick Le Lay, chairman of TF1, the most-watched TV channel in France:

"TF1's business [is] to help Coca-Cola sell its products... What we sell Coca-Cola is available brain time. For an advert to be effective, the viewer's brain has to be available. Our programmes are made so that their brain becomes available, that is to say to entertain them, make them feel relaxed to get them ready between two commercials."

Nothing to add.

Thomas-
Sources: Original French, English version

because aslan is god and god is perfect.

i mean, duh!

Those who have read books one and two [...] may wish they had [...] the handy interplanetary "orientation leaflet for newbie passengers" quoted in full in chapter 3 (brazenly entitled "RTFM").

Do0d, just man the man pages...

Above and beyond everything wheel the "gods", hyper-intelligent collectives of extremophile nanobacteria living inside asteroids and cometary nuclei. Their power, executed by meteor, is enormous. Their first and last commandment is "KEEP THE NOISE DOWN".

For this, we need a real-life super-hero:

Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to accept every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real,
Isn't afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn't conform to the usual mold,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight wont do
Never back down when he sees what is true
Tells it all straight, and means it all too
Bracing for war, but praying for peace
Using his power so evil will cease:
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must

10 points for anyone who can create an alternative ending for M-U-G-A-B-E.

... at the Guardian.

I apologize for exaggerating in my initial statement. The Bush administration has not broken ALL laws, rules, treaties and international regulations. Im sorry for making such a blatant generalisation. Do you follow the same logic in other contexts? Is it wrong to say that Saddam killed Kurds because he didnt kill ALL Kurds?

What I said in the original post, and for clarification will repeat here is that the Bush administration have shown that any law, rule, treaty or regulation by any national (US) or international forum will be broken, bent or circumvented if they see fit to do so.

The current administration has

Tortured
Kidnapped
Murdered
Instigated coups
Lied (Take your pick. My favourite is: "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.")
Broken treaties
Hindered international courts

The list goes on and on. I could list more points, various incidents on each point and various sources for each incident but frankly, I can't be bothered. Those who realize that these atrocities are being committed need no persuasions and those who refuse to acknowledge or refuse to see the harm... well... I have no illusion of "converting" anyone.

So; have a nice weekend, and don't let the clue-by-four hit you on the way out.

I apologize for exaggerating in my initial statement. The Bush administration has not broken ALL laws, rules, treaties and international regulations. Im sorry for making such a blatant generalisation. Do you follow the same logic in other contexts? Is it wrong to say that Saddam killed Kurds because he didnt kill ALL Kurds?

What I said in the original post, and for clarification will repeat here is that the Bush administration have shown that any law, rule, treaty or regulation by any national (US) or international forum will be broken, bent or circumvented if they see fit to do so.

The current administration has

Tortured
Kidnapped
Murdered
Instigated coups
Lied (Take your pick. My favourite is: "Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons.")
Broken treaties
Hindered international courts

The list goes on and on. I could list more points, various incidents on each point and various sources for each incident but frankly, I can't be bothered. Those who realize that these atrocities are being committed need no persuasions and those who refuse to acknowledge or refuse to see the harm... well... I have no illusion of "converting" anyone.

So; have a nice weekend, and don't let the clue-by-four hit you on the way out.

If this suite's a success, why is it so buggy?

Andrew Brown
Thursday December 8, 2005
The Guardian

Of all the myths that have grown up around open source software, perhaps the most pervasive is Eric Raymond's aphorism that "Many eyes make bugs shallow", suggesting that if lots of people can view a program's source code, they will find and fix its errors more quickly than commercial products whose code is jealously guarded. The only problem with this is that it's not true - certainly not in one of the flagship projects of open source, OpenOffice.

This project is most often quoted as the threat to Microsoft's cash-generating Office suite. The free suite comprises a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program; and graphics, equation editor and database programs if you want.

OpenOffice is the only free and open source product competitive with Office, able to read and write Microsoft format documents almost flawlessly. For Linux desktop users, it is the only way to communicate in the universe of business. But it also vividly demonstrates the limitations of open source as a way of producing software, and its futility as an ideology.

I like OpenOffice. I used it long before it was usable, out of a mixture of perversity, stinginess, and vague anti-Microsoft sentiment. When I started writing books, I had Microsoft Word 97, which could not print a 60,000-word manuscript without crashing. I have written numerous macros (which automate less obvious, or screamingly obvious, tasks), including the word count for version 1. I have done quality assurance work, submitting reports on bugs and testing those reported by others. So I know something about the open source "community" and the enormous gap between myth and reality.

Improbable assumptions

The reality is that any computer user probably depends on open source programs every time they look up anything on the net. But they don't know that, and they don't have to.

The myth of open source rests on two improbable assumptions. The first is that a significant proportion of users can fix bugs. That is true at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the concept of open source was first formalised in the 1980s by Richard Stallman and others, and it is true in some of the geekier corners of the internet. But on programs intended for use by the non-programming public, it's a very different story.

This is important because of the second crucial false assumption: that even if not all users can fix a bug, they can help find them. They can't. Most users just think: "The computer isn't doing what I want."

Big commercial software companies know this well. When developing products for the public, they spend a lot of money on usability testing to find out what users expect from software, and how to meet those expectations. Companies lose from user dissatisfaction in a way open source software doesn't, and so have an incentive to avoid errors in the first place: the number of calls to a support desk grows exponentially with the number of bugs and users. Where's the support desk for OpenOffice?

Despite the open source rhetoric, OpenOffice actually started as a commercial product - StarOffice, from Germany's StarDivision - before being bought in October 1999 by Sun Microsystems. Almost all the work on it is now done by about 100 full-time Sun programmers. That is a tiny fraction of the armies Microsoft or Google can deploy to solve a problem.

But what about the innumerable volunteers who can download the code and fix what they like? They take one look at the effort involved and run. OpenOffice is an extremely complex mountain of source code. As far as I know, in the five years it has been available as open source, not one contribution to the program has come from amateurs. The outsiders who have provided input have been full-time professionals employed by Linux companies to help make the software

Well, here's some balance for you : The Guardian on why OpenOffice sucks so badly.

Umm... I beg to differ.

Checked for World of Warcraft gold on ebay recently? Who do you think earns that stuff ;) It isn't a bot.

I think some slashdot ed has been tickled again.

Yes. The basic premise of the article is false. The author claims the area is stable and free of earthquakes. Quote:

"Before the construction of Taipei 101, the Taipei basin was a very stable area with no active earthquake faults at the surface. Its earthquake activity was similar to parts of the UK, with micro-earthquakes (less than magnitude 2) happening about once ayear."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,165 5977,00.html

The above information is false. Taiwan is in a severe earthquake zone and has several major earthquakes each century. Quote:

"Taiwan sits on an extremely active tectonic region, near the junction of the Eurasian and Philippine Sea tectonic plates. This region experiences seismicity and rates of crustal motion among the highest in the world. The last century saw several large, damaging earthquakes, including the following notable events:"

Event Magnitude Year Damaged Buildings

Chi-Chi 7.3 1999 52,000

Raino/Chiayi 7.2 1941 76,000

Taichung 7.1 1935 70,000

Jayi 7.1 1906 34,000

http://www.rms.com/Catastrophe/Models/Taiwan.asp

The builders know this and have built the skyscraper to withstand 2,500 year events. Quote:

"The design criteria are tougher than needed to comply with local codes, says Shieh. Codes require the frame to stay elastic in a 100-year shock and remain upright through a 950-year event. But actual capabilities are better, claims Shieh. The building is engineered to stay up under a 2,500-year shock, corresponding to 0.5-g ground acceleration."

http://www.construction.com/NewsCenter/Headlines/E NR/20031124g.asp

So there is little truth in the article.

Clinton agreed to make it independent, but that changed:

The US government, which funded the development of the internet in the 60s, said in June it intended to retain its role overseeing Icann, reneging on a pledge made during Bill Clinton's presidency. Since Icann was created, the US commerce department has not once interfered with its decisions.

From The Guardian.

After all, ICANN voted and agreed to use the .xxx domain but that offended some conservative types and their protests to the US government got it stopped. So now, they have interfered.

While most species on the reserve show no physiological indications of mutation, many, particularly lactating mammals and amphibians, have undergone astonishing genetic changes.

"In certain cases, chromosomal mutation of the animals has accelerated by a factor of 30," says Mikhail Pikulik, director of the Minsk Institute of Zoology. "The same species just 30km away remain practically unchanged. At the moment, these changes have been confined to the area of chromosomes and genes."

One particularly interesting example is that of voles, a kind of field mouse now thriving. While they look exactly the same as before, an analysis of their DNA has revealed a phenomenally high rate of mutation. Under normal circumstances, a gene found in the cell's mitochondria called cytochrome b changes at a rate of one mutation in every million letters of genetic code per generation. However, voles on the exclusion zone are producing one new mutation for every 10,000 letters of DNA code per generation. The genetic differences between these voles and others living outside the exclusion zone are greater than those normally found between mice and rats, species which diverged around 15m years ago. Evolution has been shunted into overdrive.

Why these changes haven't resulted in abnormalities and sickness on a massive scale may be an indication that nature is far more adaptable than previously imagined. It might also signify that the limits of its resilience have yet to be fully tested, though scientists on the reserve readily admit that even they don't know what is really happening deep in the forests: "If an animal dies of cancer in the wild," says Mikhail Pikulik, "it is simply eaten by wolves. The deaths of two or three animals of the population is not a grave matter. The health of an animal population is reflected in overall numbers."

Source is here

It's not just dictatorial countries: the British have a draconian "Official Secrets Act" and recently used it to clamp down on a memo that purportedly said Bush wanted to bomb Al Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar (a US ally) thereby killing hundreds of journalists, and Blair talked him out of it. Initially nobody believed it (Bush can't be THAT dumb) but since the Brits have clamped down it must be true...

...it cant remain there for long... no more limbo

In other (actual) news, LIMBO itself is in Limbo as the Vatican decides if it ever existed.

Not sure where this domain is, now that there is officially no limbo.

That's right, according to the Vatican, there is no Catholic basis for limbo. No limbo? Turns out it had the theological sophistication of Kryten asking "Then where do all the calculators go?"

Whats going on this week? The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

http://unfccc.int/2860.php

This is news coming out this week to go along with UNFCCC, the Guardian story even helpfully has a link to UNFCCC. Its FUD.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,165 4803,00.html?gusrc=rss

New Orleans ring any bells ?

still at least there is free wifi, that helps when you have (whats left of) a population who lost every single thing they owned

As for human rights, Guantanamo bay ? CIA torture flights ? Corrupt Politicans ? Fake News ?, Poverty ? Chemical Weapons ?

sure China has problems, but take that plank out of your eye first

Newspaper publishers seem to be making the same kind of errors as the record industry. They seem to be overvaluing their product and treating obvious benefits of digital distribution as something people have to pay extra for, if possible multiple times.

Take the UK national papers, they want the same money for a years subscription than buying a physical product. E.g: http://www.guardian.co.uk/digitaledition/subscribe will cost you £130 for a year. There's only a 2 week searchable archive available for the hefty cost.

Once again I bet they're all scratching their heads wondering why people aren't rushing to sign up.

The original article talked about local papers, which at least in the UK are of poor to laughable quality. A paper containing 90% advertising with a couple of articles making a mountain of some local molehill (with a heavy political bias) is no more appealing online than it is in print.

Ame

And neither did Clinton. [...] Sorry for this temporary insertion of non-slanted facts. You can resume your regular misinformed spin now.

I note during the time Kyoto was open for signing, Clinton had to work with an opposition-controlled legislature that had developed an unfortunate obsession with his penis. Bush, on the other hand, has had an unusally firm grip on Congress. And I note that although Clinton didn't campaign promising to sign Kyoto, Bush did. Plus, there have been several more years of science mainly backing it. Oh, and the treaty came into effect after that paragon of environmental sensitivity, Russia, got in ahead of us.

But otherwise, the two situations are completely equivalent: Bush and Clinton have both been president, and neither signed the Kyoto treaty. And since you put it that way, neither FDR nor Lincoln did anything about global warming, either. How dare people suggest that Bush is at fault when so many great leaders have done just what he's doing?

Well the Tech is out there to reverse this .

We just need a Apollo program level of devotion to it .

University of Wisconsin has a working 3HE reactor, he fuel is just the issue, the moon is the answer.

Helium-3 on the moon, and the new finding of altering Hydrogen atoms molecular
orbits in a manner unknown before and pointing to fundamental errors in physics/Calculus .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,162 7424,00.html

Keep in mind he has had some peer review on this before chucking it on the bone pile .

The Algae that makes enormous amounts of oil for biodiesel and other uses also
gives as a short term methodolgy vs. drilling for oil . It also burns cleaner .

        * Soybean: 40 to 50 US gal/acre (40 to 50 m/km)
        * Rapeseed: 110 to 145 US gal/acre (100 to 140 m/km)
        * Mustard: 140 US gal/acre (130 m/km)
        * Jatropha: 175 US gal/acre (160 m/km)
        * Palm oil: 650 US gal/acre (610 m/km) [2]
        * Algae: 10,000 to 20,000 US gal/acre (10,000 to 20,000 m/km)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

There is yet Hope, but stray a little and you will fail to the ruin of us all - LOTR

Ex-MislTech

Also "The Foundation"

Interesting article here.

Too bad, because science is extremely bigotted. Against anything that doesn't tie into the fabric of other scientific fields and won't stand on its own. ID loses. Maybe you should consider more bigotry for the best truth we can know instead of an 'enlightened' acceptance of bullshit.

BTW, did you mean this Coyne? Doesn't appear there's much support for ID:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,130 26,1559743,00.html

this rumer has been debunked. the ps3 will not tie one disc to one ps3. http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2005/11 /15/sonys_clampdown_on_secondhand_games_updated.ht ml

read it yourself.

Agreed.

I would also add Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.

I mentioned in an earlier comment that the poll was about as scientific as a /. one as the survey choices had already been limited to ones suggested by readers of Jack Schofield's blog. Link to actual survey here.

Best example I could find quickly

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,36 05,1127802,00.html

If TV (and other media) doesn't inspire some people to commit crime, then explain this http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975 769,00.html...

Im not convinced bad parenting is the whole story, or even that its limited to idiotic kids, its impossible to get a definitive answer, but undeniably everybody is influenced by what we see and do (tv/games/news etc etc) the closest to a study free from unknown variables has to be the Bhutan's saga... and thats some pretty damming evidence! see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975 769,00.html

If TV (and other media) doesn't inspire some people to commit crime, then explain this http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,975 769,00.html.

"Four years ago, Bhutan, the fabled Himalayan Shangri-la, became the last nation on earth to introduce television. Suddenly a culture, barely changed in centuries, was bombarded by 46 cable channels. And all too soon came Bhutan's first crime wave - murder, fraud, drug offences."

Yeah, good job it doesn't happen anywhere else in the world

no wait,

"America's 25,000 cotton farmers received more than $3bn in subsidies last year, equivalent to 100% of the market value of cotton output. This works out at a staggering subsidy of $230 an acre."

Not that I'm defending the C.A.P.

some depressing reading :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,3604,102 0653,00.html