Slashdot Mirror

Already happening.

There's quite an interesting tussle in the Pacific right now, mostly focused around Australia and New Zealand, between the USA and China for influence. China is Australia's biggest trading partner, and it's been cosying up culturally to New Zealand for a couple of decades now. All the US really has left to offer, in that area, is military security. I think it's the switch in allegiance of those two countries, which will come within the next 20 years, that will make everyone finally agree that US hegemony is over.

The Slave Islands are the worst kept secret in South Korea.
http://www.news.com.au/world/a...

The entirety of geopolitics is now and always has been a gigantic exercise in kettles calling pots black.

The Slave Islands are the worst kept secret in South Korea. http://www.news.com.au/world/a...

No. Lizard Squad is itself down.

http://www.news.com.au/technol...

Apparently, they were taken down by hackers who were upset at Lizard Squad being a bunch of little pricks.

Good to know: http://www.news.com.au/nationa...

Whilst you probably haven't read it, you might like to sign this petition... http://www.news.com.au/technol...

https://www.change.org/p/targe...

Also here is a link to a photo of the Aus police ones - they look pretty well reinforced.

http://resources2.news.com.au/...

Steve Jobs gave a lot of money to charity, he just didn't brag about it: http://www.news.com.au/finance....

Geezers will remember the race between USSR & USA to develop 'mind control' technology through much of the last century. America got a late start and rushed to catch up to the decades old Soviet research. Similar to the 'space race' but less publicized. [It is said that-] This research ended in 2003. You may find interesting information with a search for the MKUltra program. Traditional media tend not to report such things but here are some links:
http://www.news.com.au/technol...
https://sites.google.com/site/...

640k should be enough for anybody.

The Body even gets by with 22K

Hilarious:)

For some actual photos of people who tried it:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/apple-wave-microwave-charge-hoax-hits-twitter-after-ios8-launch/story-e6frfrnr-1227066810582

The stories linked to were at:

News.com.au
CNN
Newsweek

Those are hardly obscure names in the world of journalism.

The pattern I see is that that you won't go to where the stories are posted and try to manufacture a controversy from it.

They already have lasers, have you been living under a rock, or behind the moon?

And, if you forgot, the original laser sharks were created during the American civil war.

In other news in Australia our Attorney General is defending free speech, in particular the right to express racist views.

So if you record someone being a racist in a public place, the racist calls the cops and get the witness to racism put in jail.

(2 and half more years of these conservative loonatics)

http://www.news.com.au/nationa...

Other than the $52 million to hospitals. He promoted organ donation heavily after receiving his much like Michael J Fox did with Parkinson's and Christopher Reeve did paralysis.

Sarah Palin: "Mr President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke."

A more interesting question is why Spencer never publishes any of his alleged massive critiques of AGW in peer reviewed journals.

There is a known problem there.

THICK ATMOSPHERE and Climategate and Scientific Journal Chicanery

Climate researcher and IPCC co-author Eduardo Zorita calls for Warmergate plumbers Michael Mann, Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf to be barred from the IPCC process and muses on the “very troubling professional behavior” evident in those leaked emails:

I may confirm what has been written in other places: research in some areas of climate science has been and is full of machination, conspiracies, and collusion, as any reader can interpret from the CRU-files

I am also aware that in this thick atmosphere – and I am not speaking of greenhouse gases now – editors, reviewers and authors of alternative studies, analysis, interpretations, even based on the same data we have at our disposal, have been bullied and subtly blackmailed. In this atmosphere, Ph D students are often tempted to tweak their data so as to fit the ‘politically correct picture’.

Climategate's Michael Mann Channels His Inner Palpatine

The Climategate emails reveal that when the scientist-activists saw skeptical scientists successfully calling public attention to such evidence, they went on a vicious attack, pulling strings to pressure universities and science journals to fire or blackball the skeptical scientists for presenting their competing theories and evidence. The Climategate emails also show Mann as one of the most aggressive warriors in the battle to publicly disparage and ruin the careers of scientists who disagree with his views on global warming.

For example, upset that Harvard University researchers were successfully arguing that solar variance rather than carbon dioxide emissions are the most likely primary cause of recent global temperature fluctuations, Mann sent out an email seeking to coordinate action to pressure Harvard to rebuke or discipline the researchers. “If someone has close ties w/ any individuals there [at Harvard] who might be in a position to actually get some action taken on this, I’d highly encourage pursuing this,” writes Mann to fellow scientist-activists.

The Climategate emails also reveal Mann recruiting investigative journalists to dig up dirt on scientist Steve McIntyre, who had called into questions Mann’s scientific theories.

There is plenty more if you dig into that instead of conspiracy theories about the "Koch brothers."

When was the last time you heard about someone buying a counterfeit shirt, putting it on, then dying from it, or killing someone else?

Oh, and various multi-million dollar drug busts:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
http://www.abc6.com/story/2336...
http://www.news.com.au/nationa...
http://www.celebritynetworth.c...

Russian spies in Australia at 'near Cold War level'

China's spies come out from the cold

Chen Yonglin, a Chinese diplomat who recently defected in Australia, claimed Beijing had as many as 1,000 spies in Australia alone.

http://www.news.com.au/finance...

Jobs wasn't a Christian, but he did seem to subscribe to the belief that one's left hand shouldn't know what the right is doing.

BTW this dude self-scanned $100 worth of groceries at Coles, got charged $62. He feels bad that he doesn't feel bad: http://www.vice.com/read/i-dont-feel-that-bad-about-stealing-from-coles-but-i-feel-bad-about-not-feeling-bad http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/shady-shoppers-stealing-millions-using-scanner-trciks/story-e6frfmd9-1226514344385

You got it the wrong way ...
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/new-zealand-migration-to-australia-soars-40-per-cent/story-fnixwvgh-1226790754690

The article talks about dole bludgers heading across to Australia.

And the numbers ...
"648,200 New Zealand citizens are living in Australia" ...
"About 64,000 Australian citizens are living in New Zealand."

I know you meant it as a joke, but it sort of makes you look like the fool

As a matter of fact, the ship is already surrounded by penguins. What these mischievous beasts are up to can hardly be imagined...

Let me say this again: Keep. Your. Mouth. Shut.

Too bad he didn't listen.

Any more stupider, and he would be eligible for a Darwin Award.

"Could he look any more stupider?" -- Mrs. Chanandler Bong

Indeed: 20 jobs where women earn more than men

To say nothing of remunerating females MORE than males for the same job and WITH the blessing of the government-appointed Sex Discrimination Commissioner.

Violent crime rate [aic.gov.au], meanwhile, has increased, mainly due to increase in assaults, and in particular of sexual assault.

Again, you are misrepresenting. We have a big problem with motorcycle gangs here who, among others, import guns ILLEGALLY. 1 million guns were destroyed in the two buybacks of 97 and 03, but since then about 1 million guns have been smuggled in illegally.

We have low gun homicide rate, but the main thing increasing it is actually *bikie gang wars*. That is not the same as in the U.S., where the "average person" can go on a rampage with a highly effective weapon. The stats are skewed by criminal organisations' use of guns here.

You take a simplistic slant on a complex issue just to make it look like you have an argument. You don't.

Fair enough - and you'll note I did acknowledge the likelihood of a "whoosh" moment. ;-)

OT and for the record, though, I used to have no formal objection to the term "twerking" until I saw the most ignoble moment of Australian politics in the form of a clip of that fat creepy billionaire, Clive Palmer twerking for votes. If only some things could be retrospectively "unseen"...

There are some pictures here and here. I have to admit it looks like the saving is in the thickness, not squeezing the passenger. I wonder how it copes with the kid who insists on kicking the seat in front!

did you not know the place was nearly destroyed?

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2011/03/16/1226022/657762-japan-reactor.jpg

yea those tidy schematics are really helpful

You do realise that in Australia a 1.5% levy on income tax covers the cost of a "free" health system for all Australians (taxpayer or otherwise),

That 1.5% income tax levy doesn't cover the whole cost of the healthcare system, not even close.

Expat guide to Australia: health care

All taxpayers contribute 1.5 per cent of income to Medicare. Higher earners contribute 2.5 per cent. This falls very far short of the budget required. Most funding comes from central government.

Healthcare costs rise to $130bn, or $5800 per Australian: report

Having said that, I think that the Australian healthcare system is interesting and probably a better model than some other national healthcare systems.

They also elected the KANGAROO POO YUM YUM Motorists Enthusiasts party: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/likely-senator-dodges-questions-about-kangaroo-poo-fight-video-20130909-2tf8j.html

A shame in South Australia where Nick Xenophon has been reelected as an excellent Senator beloved by his constituents and the Interwebs http://www.news.com.au/national-news/independent-senator-nick-xenophon-overwhelmed-by-record-voter-support/story-fncynjr2-1226714814451

but Xenophon couldn't get his #2 elected because the Greens cut a deal with the major parties. HA! That will come back to haunt them BECAUSE THEY JUST HELPED ELECT THEIR ARCH RIVALS THE ULTRA-CONSERVATIVE FAMILY FIRST PARTY. That will really come back to haunt the Greens now. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/election-2013/micro-parties-harvest-three-seats-in-senate/story-fn9qr68y-1226714827198

My thoughts exactly.

These minor parties, seem to me to be more or less further to the right.

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/federal-election/record-number-of-minor-party-senators-threatens-to-unhinge-coalition8217s-plans-for-change/story-fnho52ip-1226714777975

Hi, Mark Fucking Zuckerberg here. I own you're fucking asses, you pathetic like pukes. If I want to sell your left fucking kidney, I can do it because I'm Mark Fucking Zuckerberg and you're pathetic addicts.

That's probably a decent description of his present state of mind, considering he also supports the idea in his original business card in a succinctly summarized but less eloquent form. Funnier then when it was without any hindsight about the ramifications.

The Future of Terrorism: What al-Qaida Really Wants

Full text: bin Laden's 'letter to America'

Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you?

(1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. ...

(2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you.

(a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest.

We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached.

(b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind:

(i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator....

HAMAS Targets Spain

Bonus:
UK: Muslim Gangs Enforce Sharia Law in London
AU: Muslim body wants 'moderate' sharia law but government rejects plan
SE: 'Separate laws for Muslims' idea slammed

She was clinically dead for 42 minutes.
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/miracle-patient-clinically-dead-woman-revived-after-42-minutes/story-fneuzlbd-1226700018382

In recent years, people living in the city of Sydney have had: (in order of "seniority")

1. A female mayor (Clover Moore)
2. A female premier (Kristina Keneally)
3. A female prime minister (Julia Gillard)
4. A female governor general (Quentin Bryce)
5. A female queen (Libby)

And yet we still have our testicles busted.

Not all women whinge, but there are a few man-haters who like to perpetuate the notion that women are persecuted, as this secures sympathy and allows them to get extra attention from policy makers.

We therefore have the situation where:

1. More money is spent on female-specific health issues, despite women living longer than men
In Australia, we have national breast cancer & cervical cancer screening programmes, but nothing for men. (Yet prostate cancer affects more men than breast cancer affects women???) The hysteria is such that even our men's sports teams continually raise money for breast cancer, even though most of those guys will go impotent (or die) from prostate cancer a few years down the track.

Worse yet, our Federal Government has set aside $20 million to vaccinate school boys against cervical cancer
Even though all school girls are already vaccinated, there's a CHANCE a girl may not be, and she MAY have sex with a boy who MAY have the HPV virus, which means she MAY develop cervical cancer. Somebody do the stats on how many Aussie girls will get cervical cancer if we don't vaccinate school boys.

Then you read that 750 young Australian men will get testicular cancer this year. Only a few dozen will die, but those who survive will lose at least 1 testicle. Imagine what those $20 million could do if directed towards young men. In suicide prevention. (The biggest killer of young males.)

2. We have a Sex Discrimination Commissioner who endorses sex discrimination in remuneration
Win for women in bid to hike super pay
Feminists complain that men retire with more money than women. For years Australian men got the aged pension at 65, while women could get it at 60. Now we're equal. How about raising the retirement age for women by 5 years, since they live 5 years longer?

3. Our government-owned rail network recently required that male railway workers cleanly shave, or go home
RailCorp shaves staff for being ungroomed
Imagine the same requirements imposed on women ... shave your legs or go home!
The policy was also changed to forbid male staff from wearing shorts; they must now wear trousers. In a country that has 44 C (111 F) summers! The original policy required women wear trousers as well, but they complained and so the policy was amended to allow females to choose between trousers and skirts.

The list goes on ...

I don't know why I am wasting my breathe on such an obvious paid shill (or worse still, an Alan Jones follower). Hopefully I can translate the above copypasta for everybody else.

The Craig Thomson case is far from over and it is more than likely that he will prevail in court. Craig Thomson was arrested in NSW by Victorian Police on credit card fraud charges. These charges total a little over $900 AUD and Craig was authorized for up to $50,000 per annum in work-related and incidentals.

Expensive meals refers to the time he met with a journalist over lunch for purely work-related reasons. From memory, the bill was ~$55. The 'prostitutes' he supposedly bought with credit card was misreported after another publication printed 'pornographic movies'. Comically, the original publication also misreported as the movie in question was an R-rated action flick watched in his hotel room while staying for official business. The biggest stretch comes from 'Holidays Interstate'. This actually means he bought a soft-serve icecream to have on camera.

Scot MacDonald was a Liberal MP. As for NSW Labor corruption, at least the party is focused on cleaning it up. Two gone already. Eddie's little empire stretched much further than ALP though, most his mates are Libs. No Liberal Corruption, eh?

Disclosure: I am not an ALP, Liberal or National member. I do not intend to give my first preference vote to any of these parties. I have previously been a Young Liberal.

Yes AC Australia was big on the eating disorder websites aspect.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/australia-to-become-net-nanny-state/story-e6frfro0-1111117886418

Now think of the iFad: one rarely sees Android tablets out there, even though they are as good as iPads. In fact, most people seem to prefer Phablets.

The Android tablets that are sold, especially the "phablets" as sold because they are cheap. And cheap mostly means terrible. They end up unused, and THAT'S why you don't see them out there.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/usage-study-shows-ipad-proves-to-be-the-one-tablet-to-rule-them-all/story-e6frfro0-1226684205587

Victoria this week announced an inquiry into whether the punishments for sexting — which can include 10 years in jail and registration as a sex offender — are too harsh.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/states-lead-the-way-in-reviewing-sexting-punishments/story-e6frfro0-1226122171777#ixzz2YwsctLfK

I've given this a lot of thought, and compiled a solid rant on the subject.

My thesis about privacy in 2013 - 2020:

Lets start with some facts:
1. The Spy agencies in NZ, UK, USA, Australia and Canada spy on everyone, even their own citizens. 2. The UK copies literally everything that traverses the Internet and keeps it for 3 days for analysis (EVERYTHING!) 3. The USA shares this information (including commercial secrets) with its private enterprises to help them win international business. 4. So many people work for these agencies that from time to time this information is made public. 5. Nobody really cares. 6. The chances of any of these organisations giving up such a valuable source of power are about the same as global nuclear disarmament 7. It’s only a matter of time until the local police have access to all this information. 8 . In 2001, as sysadmin of BSSC I could read the email of every teacher and every student at that school, without leaving a trace of evidence, nor with any fear of punishment for wrongdoing.

So, I assert: You have no privacy online. You never really did. It was only by unspoken rule of sysadmins that we let you have the illusion of privacy. Ed Snowden betrayed sysadmins.

Strangely, Google poise to release the most important advancement toward our goal of total access to information - a video camera strapped to every second person’s head (Google Glass), and people are up in arms (9) and so are the governments best poised to take advantage! (10).
I think we’ve got it all wrong. Let’s stop bitching about this rampant surveillance and embrace it.

Let’s get our spy agencies to make everything they’ve got available to everyone! Let’s mandate that every Google glass camera must be on all the time, every phone must have its microphone on all the time, every GPS recording its location and all this content uploading to the cloud!

Information WANTS to be free! EVERYONE should have access to EVERYTHING!

Then it will hardly be accessed, because if Facebook status updates have proven anything it’s that it’s no fun spying on all your friends if all they do all day is play Farmville.

Finally, these civil libertarians realise that nobody really cares about them, or their “right to privacy”, and we will be able to make the most out of google glass (11).

Sources:
1. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-whistleblower-edward-snowden-on-global-spying-a-910006.html
2. http://mashable.com/2013/06/21/gchq-spy-agency-taps-global-internet/
3. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-14/u-s-agencies-said-to-swap-data-with-thousands-of-firms.html
4. Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden
5. http://www.news.com.au/
6. http://io9.com/5969204/could-nuclear-disarmament-actually-increase-our-chance-of-an-apocalypse
7. “if the information is there, it’s already collected, why not use it to prosecute the crime? Why are you protecting the guilty? If you’re innocent you will want us to use this information to exonerate you.”
8. I read your email. Get over it.
9. http://www.policymic.com/articles/29585/3-new-ways-google-glass-invades-your-privacy
10. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57591975-93/google-glass-privacy-concerns-persist-in-congress/
11.

Well, he's had his passport revoked, is being hunted around the world, and is being vilified in almost all public media.

Snowden isn't being hunted around the world because his passport is revoked. He is in Russia. Snowden isn't being vilified in "almost all public media." It is quite the reverse - he is being hailed as a hero by Chinese, Russians, many Europeans, and others across the world.

Well, at least he took refuge in Russia. What use do they have for four laptops full of NSA secrets?

Russia warns Ireland it will retaliate in spy row
Ireland Is Training Base for Russian Spies
As many Russian spies in UK today as in Cold War: Soviet defector
Canadian navy officer sentenced to 20 years for being Russian spy
10 in US held as spies for Russia
Russian spies in Australia at 'near Cold War level'
Germany jails Russian spy couple
Belgian diplomat suspected of being Russian spy
Finnish academic charged of aiding Russian spies
Spies in Sweden mostly from China, Russia, Iran
Estonia shaken by new Russian spy scandal
Georgia: Russian Spy Ring Smashed in Tbilisi -- Officials
Spain-Russia spy row leads to diplomats' expulsion

Russian warplanes breach NATO airspace - British and Norwegian jets intercepted Russian military aircraft ... close to the U.K. and Finland
Russian spy plane flies by Swedish military drill

This report comes after the newspaper wrote on 22 April, 2013 that Russian fighters had made dummy attacks close to Swedish territory during the Easter weekend.

RAF catches Russian bombers in UK airspace
UK jets shadow Russian bombers
Russian bombers’ secret UK missions ‘not a friendly act’
Russian subs stalk Trident in echo of Cold War - ... hunting down British Vanguard boats in a return to Cold War tactics
Russian around - A DESPERATE hunt was on last night for a Russian nuclear submarine lurking off the coast of Britain.

Many European cities turn into ghost towns after "regular" (mandated) business hours. They are often crime ridden, overrun by tourists, dirty, and extremely expensive:

http://www.news.com.au/realestate/investing/pinnacle-list-worlds-priciest-property/story-fndbarft-1226594667286

Those prices are even more extreme considering the significantly lower disposable incomes of Europeans.

two fitty, please

I see your 2 fitty and raise you to five fitty (and, if that's not enough, there you have some more)

Now... I'll call... whois icann?

Frankly, I trust wild eyed revolutionaries like you less than I trust them. Most revolutionaries promise utopia, none deliver them. It isn't uncommon for what comes after revolution to be far worse than what preceded it. The fact that you advocate mass murder as the start of building your utopia is a warning sign. The fact that you would throw away the US Constitution with its many protections and separations of power for something unspecified but somehow better is another warning sign. You are being carried away by your imagination. Beware, or you may end up being carried away by men in uniform, either white or blue.

The Soviet Story (2008)

House warming, certainly.

Global? Maybe.
What happened to global warming?
Curry: less warming than predicted. Models seem wrong

Might be.

What happened to global warming?
Curry: less warming than predicted. Models seem wrong

What is the p-value for "no warming since 1998", for a linear regression line? What is the p-value for the time series starting 1997 and 1999?

Do you even know what I'm talking about?

Apparently the irony was unintentional. Well, don't confuse your lack of a sense of irony, and possibly humor, with my being stupid. If you want to look it up or do some calculations yourself, and post the results, knock yourself out. Just be sure to note the source of the data and your methodology in case anyone wants to replicate your work (this being science and all), as well as the usual measures of significance, etc.

If you want to quibble about the facts, perhaps you can inquire of Professor Judith Curry? (Will that be Chair to Chair, or random internet poster to Chair?)

Curry: less warming than predicted. Models seem wrong

Professor Judith Curry’s statement yesterday (25 April 2013) to a US House of Representatives subcommittee investigating global warming:

I am Chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology

If all other things remain equal, it is clear that adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere will warm the planet. However the real difficulty is that nothing remains equal

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 4th Assessment report (IPCC AR4) published in 2007 made the following key statements...:

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations For the next two decades, a warming of about 0.2C per decade is projected for a range of SRES emissions scenarios.”....

However, since 1998 there has been no statistically significant increase in global surface temperature. While many engaged in the public discourse on this topic dismiss the significance of a hiatus in increasing global temperatures because of expected variations associated with natural variability, analyses of climate model simulations find very unlikely a plateau or period of cooling that extends beyond 17 years in the presence of human-induced global warming

It looks like we'll have a pretty good idea within a couple of years, wouldn't you say?

Maybe.

Curry: less warming than predicted. Models seem wrong
What happened to global warming?

You have to be pretty dumb to install malware on Android

And yet almost a million Android users have.