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The Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) put out a notice in 2010 claiming that Huawei is involved in spying for the Chinese government.
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-05-07/news/27580384_1_chinese-telecom-huawei-technologies-ren-zhengfei

Cheating:

- Governmental currency manipulation which is pretty much a certainty.

- "Product Dumping", e.g. selling a product at below production cost (either by simply eating the loss or cutting corners and dumping an inferior, unsafe product) so as to drive competitors out of the market and then price-gouge once you're the only supplier (already seen in some markets where China did, in fact, run US companies out of business)

- Rampant theft of intellectual property - we're not just talking Napster-grade "file sharing" here, we are talking about rampant spying and thievery of patented products and designs. As the last article I link shows, it's not just the US getting burned by the Chinese - this is a major point of concern in the EU as well.

Are you getting some form of a clue now?

Microsoft has a patent specifically on how to best sell your private data to the highest bidder. I'm trying to find it at the moment, but searching for Microsoft and patents mainly returns results on Novell, Nortel, Android, etc. And why exactly did Microsoft file this patent in conjunction of their purchase of Skype:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/72771.html

And you may want to read these:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-18/social-media/29443159_1_facebook-profiles-status-updates-advertisers
http://mashable.com/2010/05/20/facebook-caught-sending-user-data-to-advertisers/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_sells_your_data.php
http://www.financetechnews.com/how-facebook-sells-your-personal-info-and-gets-away-with-it/

The Gates Foundation is pushing AMCs, which have come in for a wary reception.

Seriously. Visit a slum in India sometimes - but make sure to duck at the right time.

Really? I've been told by various people who have been to India that what many do is stop walking, lift their garments up a bit, maybe squat/spread the legs a bit, then shit (and it appears to be true: http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/india-failing-to-control-open-defecation-blunts-nation%E2%80%99s-growth/ ). FWIW many walls also have messages[1] on them telling people not to pee on them...

As for plastic bags, some places in the world are so poor that plastic bags would be too scarce or too useful to be used for throwing shit.

On a related note, there's an organization in India that builds public toilets (amongst other things): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulabh_International

[1] Sometimes even paintings of Indian gods in the hope of better deterrence: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-17/varanasi/28111767_1_ghats-rana-mahal-urinating
See also: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2010/06/11/peeing-in-pune-urinating-in-udaipur/

It's already been done.

Bomb in the Rectum? Sounds like the name of a good Mexican Restaurant.

It's already been done.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-09/news/29638632_1_gold-dust-gold-rush-jewelry-district

Deep below the workshops in Baghdad's cramped, rundown jewelry district, unemployed men spend their days scouring the city's sewer system for the one thing they say can bring them money: flakes of gold. Several times a month, men desperate for an income descend as far as 15 feet into the dark in search of gold bits that have been washed down the drain by craftsmen cleaning up after a day of etching and molding jewelry.

Websites abroad got blocked due to trademark issues just because the owners wouldn't fly all the way to USA to defend themselves in court.

Yes, because trademark jurisdiction is handled by treaty.

And do try and explain this : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-26/us-canada-news/29474292_1_sikh-riots-sfj-communal-violence-bill

Again, the claimed tort was committed in violation of treaties to which the US is a signitory. They aren't claiming US law is soverign over the world. They're claiming that treaties the US and India are signitories to give group A a right to sue group B. Note, it's not the US deciding to do this.

Either the members of Congress party should spend a fortune coming down to USA and defending themselves, or be declared guilty since they failed to show up to defend themselves.

It's a tort case, there's fault, but not guilt.

So yes, apparently you can be prosecuted in US courts for smoking weed in Amsterdam if someone actually bothers to file a case.

Please look up torts vs. criminal charges. Also, please look up how the AFTA does not apply US law to apply overseas, but allows people to sue in the US over treaty violations.

Should any other government do the same to USA for say the Waco massacre of innocents? Or say sue the USA army for Guantanamo bay or Al Gharaib abuses? And if they did, will USA government accept such prosecution as legitimate?

The US government was sued and did lose over some of the Gitmo issues.

Umm no. Google it up. Websites abroad got blocked due to trademark issues just because the owners wouldn't fly all the way to USA to defend themselves in court. If you do not show up to defend yourself, you lose the case by default in absentia. Isn't USA awesome? And do try and explain this :

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-26/us-canada-news/29474292_1_sikh-riots-sfj-communal-violence-bill

Congress Party of India(basically the ruling party/government of India at the time) is NOT a US entity/citizen last time I checked. Yes, incredibly enough the government of India somehow is NOT a US entity. The accusation itself is without any actual evidence. The effect? Either the members of Congress party should spend a fortune coming down to USA and defending themselves, or be declared guilty since they failed to show up to defend themselves.

Oh, and yes USA is known to actually go and arrange for illegal kidnapping of foreign citizens that it thinks have committed some crime, instead of going through the extradition route. Feel free to google up Alvarez Machain as one example.

Isn't it amazing? USA thinks it can prosecute entire democratically, legally elected governments and question the actions of a sovereign democratic nation with a functional working legal system of its own. So yes, apparently you can be prosecuted in US courts for smoking weed in Amsterdam if someone actually bothers to file a case.

Should any other government do the same to USA for say the Waco massacre of innocents? Or say sue the USA army for Guantanamo bay or Al Gharaib abuses? And if they did, will USA government accept such prosecution as legitimate?

Probably from their currency manipulation schemes that lower the value of their currency (and, in turn, lower the cost to buy their goods). That scheme subsidizes Americans more than any debt ownership. Still, we're mutually dependent, I'm not worried about them.

While China does something to work itself out from the "mutual dependency" with US, what is US doing (or even able to do)?

. . . fighting the drone wars - http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/barack-obama-sends-drones-to-libya/story-e6frg6so-1226043520342 and over Pakistan, fighting the rebels - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/US-promises-Pak-mini-drones-but-launches-mega-attack/articleshow/8059928.cms to bother with Amazon. That is the problem when you mix movie plots.

BTW, It is a PR nightmare when a single military can be compared to imperial forces and sentient killer machines in the same satirical reference.

I'll just duplicate of my last reply for you here, oh what you didn't like my citation? how about another one?:

[citation needed] Citations are a great thing really. For instance here's one that says the battery backup system worked flawlessly as intended, but was only ever designed to run for 8 hours.

Funny thing about backup backup systems, is that the backup backup is only ever designed to buy you time to allow you to get your backup ... back up and running.

The batteries got flooded, not damaged by the earthquake. The power cable would be yet more redundancy.

[citation needed] Citations are a great thing really. For instance here's one that says the battery backup system worked flawlessly as intended, but was only ever designed to run for 8 hours.

Funny thing about backup backup systems, is that the backup backup is only ever designed to buy you time to allow you to get your backup ... back up and running.

That $31,900 the bottom 90% of American workers make looks really really good to the bottom 90% of Indian workers.
Wages are rising in India - that means they will become less competitive and US workers stand a chance of getting some of those jobs back. Article

India has a higher rate of inflation than America, typically associated with rising wages
Link to data

Finally that mother jones article, while depressing in some aspects, does highlight one very important thing:

In 2007, the bottom 60% of Americans had 65% of their net worth tied up in their homes.

I'm sorry if I have little sympathy for those who mortgaged their homes to the hilt in an effort to keep up ridiculous lifestyles. I understand the sociological pressures that are placed on the average American due to advertising and socialization - but all it takes to break the cycle of debt is to do some simple math, that is - "I make x amount of dollars and thus i should not spend more than y in order to provide for my family." Yes it would be nice to drive a Bugatti and live in a big house, but the reality of the situation is that when you can't afford that, you shouldn't buy it. The culture of excess is ridiculous - the belief that everyone can participate in it, even more so.

I would if I had revenues of $800 million.

I haven't heard many reports of the dam break due to the earthquake:

Dam breaks in northeast Japan, washes away homes: Kyodo

The dam already caused serious damage, and we are all worried about what could happen with the reactor? At least they have a plan A, B, C with a reactor. How do you stop a dam break? I would rather have a reactor in my back yard than a dam.

I am a nerd.

I am a nerd who watch the stock market closely.

After the announcement of Nokia jumping into the sack with Microsoft, this is what happened ---> http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/elop-gambles-nokias-future-on-microsoft-partnership/articleshow/7486397.cms " .... with Nokia's stock closing down a staggering 14.22 percent at 7.00 euros

If Algeria is next, we can hope for Libya too. Unfortunately, Libya's Khaddaffi known for his sex orgies has a likeminded friend in the senile Italian clown Berlusconi.

North African girls?! Who supply them? Are they traded goods?!

Yahoo writes: "Silvio Berlusconi, the long-serving prime minister of Italy, is facing multiple scandals that are entertaining and deadly serious. Italian prosecutors are seeking a fast track trial for Berlusconi on a number of charges. The charges include abuse of power and having sex with an under aged prostitute. On the first charge, Berlusconi is accused of bribing a British lawyer named David Mills to provide favorable testimony in court cases. The more entertaining charge concerns an alleged sexual encounter between the 74-year-old Berlusconi and a 17-year-old night club dancer named Karima El Mahrough, possibly an Egyptian national, and paying for the privilege. Berlusconi and El Mahrough have denied having sex. Berlusconi appears to be trapped in a curious contradiction in Italian law. The age of consent in Italy is 14 and paying for sex is not illegal. But paying for sex with someone under 18 is a crime punishable by three years in jail."

Times of India wrote: "An influential Italian Catholic newspaper said on Tuesday that the prostitution probe into Premier Silvio Berlusconi's encounters with a Moroccan teenager is like a 'devastating tornado' damaging the country's image"

Sorry Italy, the damage is done, years ago by not kicking out that turd.

Let us hope that at least some EU politician have b0ll0cks and can take that little fu**er in his b**** and tell the Algerian leaders and the Libyan Khadaffi pack to take their bags and go to Saudi Arabia for retirement. William Bush Jr is probably already there waiting for them, similing and waiving.

Apparently India's Supreme Court has already made a ruling about this

Yeah, RTFA. TFA says "Bombay High Court" and there are other high courts in India. See Kerala High Court clears way for India's first Islamic bank.

Falcon

Investigations by US authorities found that while students were admitted to residential and on-line courses of the university and on paper lived in California, in reality they worked illegally in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Consider also a related article which gives the university's side of the story

"Starting in April, one of student assistants Anji Reddy, who worked in TVU administrative office, teamed with another student Ram Krista Karra, who also has a consultant company, conducting a large cheating scheme by asking students to make tuition payment into Ram Krista Karra's personal account in exchange for student I-20 and CPT approval. TVU has fired these two individuals," the email said.

So we've got a bunch of people who are supposed to be attending university in California but who are actually working in other states (the visa only allows on-campus employment of less than 20 hours per week) and are paying into someone's personal account. Either these students are the most naive, trusting bunch of people on Earth, or some (or more likely, all) of them were in on the scam.

The headline writer in TFA said 2010 was the warmest on record, not James Hansen. He said that it was equal top. The second paragraph in your first article states that the NOAA agrees with NASA's results, that the surface temperature for 2010 was tied with 2005.

The second article shows that the delta of the temperatures was the second highest (meaning the change in temperature not absolute temperature). That measures something different than NOAA and NASA.

Your third article shows that the lower atmosphere was tied with 1998. Once again, that is measuring something different than NOAA and NASA, and therefore does not conflict with their findings.

NOAA said "tied". Japan said "second highest". UAH says "tied" with 1998.

That's not what the media wants. When you need a really good headline you go to Hanson. He never hesitates to hand-wave statistical error and say "hottest" on cue.

Certainly not. A few components, early on in ISROs history - sure. But not "most of it".

According to this article, the earlier versions of this rocket used Russian engines, and they lost another one in April due to replacing Russian engines with Indian engines:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indigenous-engines-bring-down-GSLV/articleshow/5814028.cms

He was sending the profits to Hezbollah, (recognized by the USA as a terrorist group):

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/01/dmca_unlocking/

http://gizmodo.com/5702752/how-a-suspected-terrorist-led-to-the-first-unlocked-phone-dmca-violation

http://iplextra.indiatimes.com/article/08OA5Nj4tzeWa

I don't know why we are relying on a Google translated article when Xinhua News Agency (state run) offers their own English translations (second copy) of this exact news release. And they're much more readable. Such news sites often offer me periodic enjoyment.

Patent and innovation discourse aside, it should be noted there's an interesting piece comparing the locality of populations in the US vs China. Let's face it, China (and the Southeast Asia region this connects them with) have a higher population density and a greater need for this high speed lengthy rail. It's also going to bring much needed economic development via freight shipments to very poor areas that the United States probably wouldn't experience on a corresponding scale.

Oh, also, there's some pretty entertaining rail-envy springing up.

And before you call it outright theft, consider the history of the "technology transfer" program that seeded all this. It sounds like there's going to be lengthy lawsuits lasting a decade or more and that the companies have reason to sue -- good reason. I wonder how this is going to affect future "technology transfer" programs to China. Also, one last bit of praise: NPR's radio coverage of this has been top notch.

You wouldn't have ash encircling the planet and blocking out the sun as with a Chicxulub-type impact (which is by far the most devastating effect of a large asteroid impact to life on a planet), although you may still get some smaller Eyjafjallajokull-size ash clouds. Now if it landed in the ocean you'd have serious mega-tsunamis that would wipe out of a lot of coastal areas all around the world, but again not devastating on a planetary scale.

Well, don't take it as fact, but the geologist who discovered this said (from the TFA):

"Nothing within a few hundred kilometres of the blast would have survived, but more importantly the climate of the entire Earth would have been changed. It would have filled the atmosphere with so much dust that sunlight would be obscured, possibly for several years, killing a large amount of plant life on which animals obviously rely, thereby causing a global kill event - although perhaps not on the scale of the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs."

Also, there was a recent study that suggested an asteroid impact in the ocean could cause massive devastation of the ozone layer, with all sorts of nasty effects for plant life. That was for a 1km asteroid. Still theoretical, but interesting to note.

At breaking laws and acting without morality or conscience against the interests of the nation and humanity?

I can't wait for the poor bastards to try outsourcing development to India.

Um...this is India that is developing this? I do understand the sarcasm though.
On that note, from India's Economic Times

"We have to protect it (data)," Saraswat said, adding, "Only way to protect it is to have a home-grown system, the complete architecture...source code is with you and then nobody knows what's that."

He said DRDO is putting in place a dedicated team of 50 software professionals in the Bangalore and Delhi software development centres to accomplish the task.

I am not trying to be demeaning, but that is a small number of people for one task...considering this is India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-Gunnalli-village-all-men-are-Gyanappa-all-women-are-Gyanavva/articleshow/6494036.cms>/a>

H1B is certainly part of the problem but it goes much deeper...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/jobs/IBM-Accenture-EDS-moving-more-jobs-to-offshore-locations/articleshow/6221409.cms

A few months ago, an Air India flight crashed in Mangalore, killing more than 150. The cause of the crash was later determined to be the pilot ignoring the co-pilot's warning to come around for a landing as they didn't have enough of the short runway left to make a landing. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mangalore/Mangalore-crash-Captain-ignored-co-pilots-plea-to-abort-landing/articleshow/5992615.cms.

Removing the co-pilot will only increase the probability of similar accidents.

Actually, if you are using encryption > 40 bits,you must deposit the key with the govt in an escrow account,

so yeah,"any encryption that is legal is encryption you cannot trust."

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6308052.cms
Read the 2nd para

I am not sure whether /. users appreciate the whole situation in India. Terrorists using blackberry is an actual problem here. Also, the threat of terrorists here is a real one - unlike in most other countries - with many countries actually pouring money in to push terrorism to India.

Before the current home minister came in with somewhat tight security and controls, we used to have a lot of terrorist attacks in India. The current homeminister radically decreased the number of incidents by overall increasing the security - while not too much impinging on the privacy till now.

Most of the security was through surveillance, which was being hamstrung by the enemy using blackberry for communication. So by creating this hullaballoo and then RIM publicly accepting it, terrorist will stop using blackberry for communication, thus increasing the effectiveness of surveillance.

I do accept the view point of - those who gives up privacy for security deserves neither. But terrorism is such a big actual problem here - with more than 800 sleeper cells currently, people are going to accept this - otherwise there is going to be daily bombings and deaths.

In my view of viewing things terrorism is merely a symptom of far deeper underlying problems with government and society and with international affairs. In the face of that, secure e-mail is barely a footnote. If a government can completely and totally monitor all communications by all people within its borders, it has succeeded only in addressing a means to an end. It has not and likely will not address why so many people want to become terrorists in the first place, what motivates them, why they do what they do, and how to actually prevent this phenomenon by addressing its root causes.

Nobody ever wants to really look at root causes. They're too busy making sure a good crisis "doesn't go to waste" as an Obama staffer put it (don't think for a moment that this idea is limited to USA politics). They just want to exert as much control as possible over the means to an end. They want to make terrorism as difficult as possible by those who wish to carry it out because that means more police power for them. No one seems to want to make fewer people consider becoming terrorists in the first place. Addressing the type of political and social unrest that makes once-harmless people consider such drastic measures might mean taking a hard look at foreign and domestic policy with a willingness to drastically alter the status quo towards a pro-freedom position, and no one in power really wants to do that. It would reduce their power.

I'm not saying that terrorists are something other than scum. They are. I'm saying that you are dealing with nations that, based on their actions, have the attitude of "well if we're going to have terrorism anyway, things like the USA's Patriot Act that we could have never passed without active attacks sure do sweeten the deal". That's part of the problem. Anyone who gets what they want due to terrorism, directly or indirectly, is part of the problem of terrorism. Unfortunately that includes many state actors.

I am not sure whether /. users appreciate the whole situation in India.
Terrorists using blackberry is an actual problem here. Also, the threat of terrorists here is a real one - unlike in most other countries - with many countries actually pouring money in to push terrorism to India.

Before the current home minister came in with somewhat tight security and controls, we used to have a lot of terrorist attacks in India. The current homeminister radically decreased the number of incidents by overall increasing the security - while not too much impinging on the privacy till now.

Most of the security was through surveillance, which was being hamstrung by the enemy using blackberry for communication. So by creating this hullaballoo and then RIM publicly accepting it, terrorist will stop using blackberry for communication, thus increasing the effectiveness of surveillance.

I do accept the view point of - those who gives up privacy for security deserves neither.
But terrorism is such a big actual problem here - with more than 800 sleeper cells currently, people are going to accept this - otherwise there is going to be daily bombings and deaths.

Pakistan has been the (alleged and many a times proven) source of funding for most terrorist attacks. Blackberry has been the alleged/potential medium for communication for terrorists that can not be traced. I see nothing draconian about Indian government requesting Blackberry asking for tracking their data, specially when ever other telecom provider does.

Btw. even today there is a news headline about how Indian police cracked a murder victim by tracking his cellphone calls:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Infosys-manager-confesses-to-killing-wife-held/articleshow/6308212.cms

May be Indian police men are not able to track such communications in Blackberries.

Man, you must have skipped your sociobiology classes, whatever they call it lately. Women bear the brunt of reproductive cost. And due to male insecurity over paternal certainty, even if the rape doesn't lead to an unwanted pregnancy, the woman feels (legitimately) devalued as a mating prospect. Males justify this attitude of blaming the victim with an internal Mel Gibson voice-over (she was asking for it).

On the male side of the reproductive coin, the worst case scenario is paying support for a child that isn't even yours, and that you can't actually visit, and won't love you enough to check you into rehab if you falter in middle age. See How DNA Testing Is Changing Fatherhood. The courts presently have little problem with this, despite its historical demographic slant, and I've yet to read a feminist complaint on this front.

India has also caught the bug. See Don't do paternity test routinely. The previous article argues in favour of precisely this measure.

I don't get the Hurd controversy. America basically impeached the smartest man in American politics since Robert McNamara and there was never a hint of harassment. Over what? Bad judgement concerning small sums of money that wouldn't even top up a petty change jar in the sexually enlightened nation of France.

Mark's obligation to the HP shareholder was to single-source his lechery, or nix his duplicity. Fail to pass elementary skill testing question, do not pass GO multiple times, nor collect over $50m in bonuses.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft, so seeing him say that university isn't necessary is a little unsurprising.

And yet four months ago, he advised students not to do that. There can only be one or two Bill Gates' so advising millions of people to do that is not a great idea. And, to poke a hole in your logic he technically did graduate.

You must be younger than 40. Anyone that age and older knows he was a drop out and daddy with Paul made Microsoft possible.

Gates dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft, so seeing him say that university isn't necessary is a little unsurprising.

And yet four months ago, he advised students not to do that. There can only be one or two Bill Gates' so advising millions of people to do that is not a great idea. And, to poke a hole in your logic he technically did graduate.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/hardware/BlackBerry-to-open-code-for-security-check/articleshow/6249666.cms

Btw, India is indeed in the right company. Things are no different for US.

It has already been blocked in those middle-eastern commercial hubs
UAE, Saudi Arabia block Blackberry

It's good that we agree on something. It should be noted, however, that there has been a flat line in global temperature for the last 10 or so years. While this is insignificant as an indicator of anything, it should be noted that the models that are used for all projections failed to predict this.

Careful... that line worked in 2008, but not in 2010. 1998 is a useful year for selection bias.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5951409.cms Following the release of global temperature data which revealed April of 2010 was the hottest April ever and that this year so far has been warmest on record, Nasa has said global temperatures have been steadily rising since the late 1970s with no significant let-up in the trend.

Interesting. Looking at the Nasa GISS temperature graphs, they seem to disagree with themselves, see here. Your point about selection bias is correct, but I was not claiming that global warming has stopped, I was claiming that the models used for all kinds of funky predictions about the future temperatures failed to predict the 10-year flatline(what happens next is anyone's guess). I should probably also point out that choosing the year 1880 can also be seen as selection bias, since the Little Ice Age ended right about then, so increasing temperatures is only natural after an extended cooling like that. Without context, graphs beginning at 1880 also provide a nice upward slope all the way to the present, save for the "small" dive at around 1950.

I also think it's curious that you choose to use an article in the Times of India as proof, instead of pointing to the data that they draw their conclusions from. Climate science is so politicized that everything on the Internet having to do with it should be taken with a truckload of salt, whether it agrees with your position or not.

I'm sorry, what? I'd like to know how you link a few years of poor oyster harvesting to global warming, so please quote some kind of source.

Using google is really not that difficult. (Further down the article downplays the link, but that's business press for you.)

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/06/28/story1.html Young oysters seem to be dying in their swimming larval stage because the slightly acidic seawater is dissolving their shells from the outside faster than they can grow, Kaufman said. The breeding cycle has failed for each of the past four years, he said.

Using google runs into the problem I outlined above. Using google to find a business journal article that suggests ocean acidification as a reason for poor harvest of oysters, even if "some scientists" think so, is anecdotal and not evidence of anything. As the guy later on in that article says, the problem is not unprecedented and is likely caused by entirely natural factors.

Same goes for the coral statement. Ocean acidification is a scary-sounding theory, but whether it will have any major ill-effects is pretty much an open question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification Research has already found that corals, coccolithophore algae, coralline algae, foraminifera, shellfish and pteropods experience reduced calcification or enhanced dissolution when exposed to elevated CO2.

Uh-huh. I also experience increased perspiration when subjected to higher temperatures. I should also point out that using wikipedia as a source in any highly political issue is pretty futile, since one side will always highjack any articles having to do with it, even if attempts are made to avoid it. The wikipedia article

It's good that we agree on something. It should be noted, however, that there has been a flat line in global temperature for the last 10 or so years. While this is insignificant as an indicator of anything, it should be noted that the models that are used for all projections failed to predict this.

Careful... that line worked in 2008, but not in 2010. 1998 is a useful year for selection bias.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5951409.cms
Following the release of global temperature data which revealed April of 2010 was the hottest April ever and that this year so far has been warmest on record, Nasa has said global temperatures have been steadily rising since the late 1970s with no significant let-up in the trend.

I'm sorry, what? I'd like to know how you link a few years of poor oyster harvesting to global warming, so please quote some kind of source.

Using google is really not that difficult. (Further down the article downplays the link, but that's business press for you.)

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2010/06/28/story1.html
Young oysters seem to be dying in their swimming larval stage because the slightly acidic seawater is dissolving their shells from the outside faster than they can grow, Kaufman said. The breeding cycle has failed for each of the past four years, he said.

Same goes for the coral statement. Ocean acidification is a scary-sounding theory, but whether it will have any major ill-effects is pretty much an open question.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
Research has already found that corals, coccolithophore algae, coralline algae, foraminifera, shellfish and pteropods experience reduced calcification or enhanced dissolution when exposed to elevated CO2.

Heat waves are weather and are caused by natural variability. Same goes for blizzards, neither is proof of anything.

When the variability starts marching away from known records, then the climate is changing beyond it's known natural cycles. El Nino weather patterns and other variables of course come into play, but hey, you got to pretend you were thinking for a second.

As far as your claim about the Arctic, I believe the scariest guess so far has been ice-free by 2015. All of those "predictions"(guesses) are based on models that ignore significant aspects of the inner workings of Earth's climate, most notably changes in cloud cover.

The Northwest Passage has been navigable for the first time in history for two years in a row. The US military is already reorganizing itself to defend it as a new attack vector. Russia, Canada, and the US are already squabbling over the resources under the ice.

I'd also like to point out that any kind of catastrophic global warming that CO2 might cause requires some kind of significant positive feedback mechanism, but none have been identified as of yet. It has simply been assumed that there must be one without any speculation as to what that might be. Cloud cover for example is likely a significant negative feedback when temperatures get higher.

In this case, you're entirely full of shit.

http://www.pnas.org/content/97/4/1331.full
Ice-core records show that climate changes in the past have been large, rapid, and synchronous over broad areas extending into low latitudes, with less variability over historical times. These ice-core records come from high mountain glaciers and the polar regions, including small ice caps and the large ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.

As the world slid into and out of t

Being an Indian, I will be really proud of myself -- if this really happens. However, last time when they did some stunt like this, it turned out to be a USB stick or something similar.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rs_500-laptop_display_on_Feb_3/articleshow/4049914.cms
http://www.merinews.com/article/rs-500-laptop-is-not-a-laptop/15709651.shtml

I sincerely hope that this time they won't repeat the same story.

This is wonderful. Talk about crashing through the $100 floor.

Or not. Last year, Indian officials announced a $10 laptop for the masses, which turned out to be much more than $10, and nowhere close to a laptop.

I wouldn't expect much from their "$35 tablet" announced when the OLPC XO-3 tablet is getting some attention.

An alternative technique of cleaning spill called "bioremediation" has been extensively researched by TERI in the past decade. Bioremediation involves harvesting a certain type of bacteria that feeds upon oil waste. A technique called "Oilzapper" involves four types of bacteria feeding simultaneously on four different layers of oil. More of this in an article in Times Of India.

Took me like 5 seonds on Google to find this.

>>>Visiting India: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/2009-was-Indias-hottest-year-ever/articleshow/5543676.cms

Thanks that was informative. And you didn't even have to call me "stupid" to make your point! Amazing. ;-)

BTW where I live (North America) 2009 was one of the coldest summers on record. I'm curious where all this supposed heat was? It certainly wasn't here. http://www.examiner.com/x-3420-Cleveland-Weather-Examiner~y2009m9d10-2009-Coldest-US-summer-in-recent-history-300-lowtemp-records-set

Visiting India

Islam != the sexually repressed extremist wahabist nutjobs that get excited about this sort of thing. You can't judge all Muslims by Osama Bin Laden.

The ban of Facebook in Pakistan had massive popular support. Just google it. Here's one example: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infotech/internet/70-percent-of-Pakistanis-want-permanent-ban-on-Facebook-Poll/articleshow/5972793.cms

"70 percent of Pakistanis want permanent ban on Facebook: Poll"

That's for a *permanent* ban, not just for the draw mohammed day, which of course had even more support. Now of course these people aren't as bad as Osama Bin Laden but that's a stupidly high bar to set for calling someone an extremist.

The basic problem is that Muslims who self-identify as moderate have a very different idea of what moderate means than Westerners who are looking for moderate Muslims.