Slashdot Mirror

What we do in the next 10-20 years will determine whether our planet remains hospitable to human life or slides down an irreversible path

We've had 5-10 years left to save the planet for the last 30 years or so... The numbers may change, but the — unsubstantiated — message is always the same...

I'm not going to make an exhaustive list, but I will offer a few sources.

1) The predictive record:

a) Temperature and CO2: James Hansen - one of the most prominent climate scientists in the world, and former head of the NASA Goddard Institue for Space Studies - gave highly influential testimony to the United States Congress in 1988 based on his efforts at numerical modeling of future AGW. The actual increase in temperature is approximately that of his best-case scenario, in which he assumed far lower CO2 emissions than have actually occured; the actual increase in CO2 since that time has exceeded his worst-case scenario.

(Despite this unambiguous falsification of his models, Hansen continues to prophesy CO2-induced doom real soon now to this day - and the media still takes him seriously.)

The temperature predictions of the early IPCC reports have also been falsified; over time the group has gradually lowered their estimation of the climate's sensitivity to CO2, while maintaining that doom is as imminent as ever (or more so).

b) Sea level rise: "A senior environmental official at the United Nations, Noel Brown, says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the earth by rising sea levels if global warming is not reversed by the year 2000. Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of "eco-refugees," threatening political chaos, said Brown, director of the New York office of the U.N. Environment Program." - San Jose Mercury News (June 30, 1989)

2) Vague, mutually contradictory models: Amusingly, this very thread contains a fine example about sea level rise - phantomfive's "real, peer reviewed scientific paper" predicts seven meters of sea level rise in the near future (and I have seen other papers predicting even larger rises), but both the Guardian article he linked, and the Solomon Islands paper in the OP have other climate scientists are predicting a rise of less than one meter.

Another good example of the self-contradictory nature of the "settled science", is the myriad efforts to explain away the unpredicted 15+ year long "pause" in statistically significant global warming that has occured since about 2000 (although the strong El Nino this year may finally end it, at least temporarily): there are now 50+ official excuses, ranging from "the missing heat is hidden in the oceans" and "excess volcanic dust is dimming the sun", to "the pause isn't real; it's just an error in the measurements". Many of these excuses are mutually contradictory - the pause cannot be just a measurement error and also have a real physical cause.

(Suspiciously missing from the above, is any serious consideration of the possibility that the models were just wrong about the magnitude of the climate's sensitivity to CO2.)

3) Low quality data: There are two main problems with the data sets upon which modern climate science is based. The first is that claims about the long-t

Really Slashdot editors....
Try 1979 at a Ford plant in Detroit.
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-sear...

Really it is a new low when the editors on slashdot can not be bothered to use Google
.

The LM was shutdown in the 90s. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D2FDB76835BA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM https://twitter.com/PJWeber/status/385392352535130112

You are a goddamn liar. The LM and WM have been closed like this before. https://twitter.com/PJWeber/status/385392352535130112 http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4D2FDB76835BA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Here are some references:

From 2009, Obama has four years to save the world.
From 2009, Global Warming is now irreversible
From 2006, the end of the world as we know it
2005, Past the Point of No Return
2004, Damage becoming irreversible
1989, We Have 10 Years.

Personally I think we've missed a huge opportunity to fund fusion research. It wouldn't actually take that much from a global community perspective. If Copenhagen had focused on funding Fusion instead of trying to make transfer payments to 3rd world countries, they could have gotten support and actually accomplished something. It would have been great. Oh well.

Of course no one would ever predict greater disasters than is justified by evidence.

By what method does giving the UN the authority to tax people in the World not present them as a "World Government"? You, like so many others have been duped in to thinking that either: They in fact are the World government and the US is a subject. Or. That any conspiracy thought of conspiracy is irrational.

My hunch is, that you have fallen in to the later trap. Conspiracies are real, even if the TV and Radio has told you over and over that anyone speaking of a conspiracy automatically irrational. Nothing could be further from the truth, but this is the reality that you have been presented.

Doing a bit of research this weekend, I can quickly point you to a valid conspiracy. If you read the Wiki page for Ross Perot, pay attention to the 1992 Presidential campaign section, paragraphs 4 and 5. Follow the link to the follow up statements here from an alleged perpetrator.

Before you plug your ears and yell "La la la I'm not listening" I hope you understand that the conspiracy is verified. What is not verified is whom actually blackmailed Ross Perot. There was no follow up investigation, which is something else that should bother you.

Challenge the reality that the media has been presenting you! You will find that much of it is false.

Despite some claiming that this is bunk there is actually truth there. It would appear that there was a large number of documents released in 1994 that confirmed the stories locals (like my mother) had been telling people. I wish I knew where to find those US Army documents as they would be a great addition to the news paper articles I found with a quick Google search. If you are going to make claims like the parents you had better be able to back them up with sources:
Operation LAC
Operation Dew
Army test Sprayed chemical over the city in 1950s
Biological warfare tests near Corpus Christi safe, Army says
THE ARMY'S SMOKE SCREEN
Outstate spraying

Despite some claiming that this is bunk there is actually truth there. It would appear that there was a large number of documents released in 1994 that confirmed the stories locals (like my mother) had been telling people. I wish I knew where to find those US Army documents as they would be a great addition to the news paper articles I found with a quick Google search. If you are going to make claims like the parents you had better be able to back them up with sources:
Operation LAC
Operation Dew
Army test Sprayed chemical over the city in 1950s
Biological warfare tests near Corpus Christi safe, Army says
THE ARMY'S SMOKE SCREEN
Outstate spraying

Despite some claiming that this is bunk there is actually truth there. It would appear that there was a large number of documents released in 1994 that confirmed the stories locals (like my mother) had been telling people. I wish I knew where to find those US Army documents as they would be a great addition to the news paper articles I found with a quick Google search. If you are going to make claims like the parents you had better be able to back them up with sources:
Operation LAC
Operation Dew
Army test Sprayed chemical over the city in 1950s
Biological warfare tests near Corpus Christi safe, Army says
THE ARMY'S SMOKE SCREEN
Outstate spraying

As a scientist, I'm frustrated by the apparent fact that most people don't care about the science.

Is this a one-sided frustration, or did it bother you when you read the unscientific things said Hansen said in the paper? Things like, "Over the next several decades....California’s Central Valley could no longer be irrigated." I'd love to see his source for that, it's certainly not supported by IPCC report, nor by any science I am aware of (Central Valley rainfall is hugely affected by ENSO, and climate computers aren't able to predict ENSO at all).

Or what about this fun stuff? "Sea levels would rise and destroy coastal cities. Global temperatures would become intolerable. Twenty to 50 percent of the planet’s species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk. That's as sensationalist as you get.

Does it REALLY sound scientific to you? How much different is it than this lovely quote, that "entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.". Sensationalism attracts attention, but is it scientific?

There's a lot of unscientific behavior all around, and it's extremely depressing to people who are interested in how the environment works. You could do worse than following Richard Feynman, who suggested that if people are not trying to find ways to attack their own ideas, they aren't being scientific.

Back in the Kyoto talks, we were TOLD that if no action was taken, then the point of no return was something like 2007. Well? Based on that "science", nothing we do can help anyway.

We get predictions like that all the time. If there's anything we learned from the climategate emails, it's that a lot of the scientists working on this problem are not working in good faith.

The solution, I think, is to work on things that will help us anyway, even if AGW turns out to not be a problem. For example, improving electric car technology will be good for America, whether AGW is a big ball of hype, or whether it's real. Same with fusion electricity. We can work on those things.

Maybe the solution is to quit making bio fuel in probably the worst way possible. I love bio fuels but when algae base fuels don't qualify for any of the subsidies because they are made from the wrong plant (read this a while back in the local paper and can't find the full article but the U of MN page on the summit is still available) there is something wrong with how we are making them.

It is even worse than that. Some bio fuels don't count as bio fuels for federal funding. Last year there was an article in the local paper (only summary available online now) about the algae fuel summit being held here in Minnesota. One of the things it mentioned was that algae didn't qualify as a bio fuel. If anyone is interested the University of Minnesota still has the info page available which has a fair amount of info on it.

You got modded troll, but you made me curious, because I seemed to remember hearing these before, too. Doing a google search of "global warming irreversible YYYY" I came up with these:

From 2009, Obama has 4 years to save the world

From 2009, global warming is now irreversible, study says(also discussed on slashdot)

From 2006, The End of the World As We Know It; THE world has already passed the point of no return on global warming.

From 2005, past the point of no return.

Also from 2005, Global warming irreversible.

From 2004, Damage from warming becoming irreversible.

From 1989, We have a 10 year window to fix the problem.

What do you think of that?

odd I hear crickets.......

You got modded troll, but you made me curious, because I seemed to remember hearing these before, too. Doing a google search of "global warming irreversible YYYY" I came up with these:

From 2009, Obama has 4 years to save the world
From 2009, global warming is now irreversible, study says(also discussed on slashdot)
From 2006, The End of the World As We Know It; THE world has already passed the point of no return on global warming.
From 2005, past the point of no return.
Also from 2005, Global warming irreversible.
From 2004, Damage from warming becoming irreversible.
From 1989, We have a 10 year window to fix the problem.

What do you think of that?

"We've had the technology to do video calling for quite a while - people just aren't that into it."

Wrong: we want video phones but we don't want to pay a lot for it, especially since it requires both parties to spend $$$. People do want to see each other, webcams seem to have done quite well since they're less than $100 but few wanted to spend the several hundreds of dollars that video calling had cost until just recently.

In response to the synopsis: "we can use Skype to call one another over the Internet and video call with mobile `phones, but the video quality is nowhere near the quality shown in the film 2001 or the aforementioned Transatlantic Tunnel film."

Huh? You act like progress on video calling has just ended. You realize 20 years ago a video phone cost $750 and looked and sounded like crap over 56k, right?

It wasn't until 2004 when a real video phone was released by D-Link. Using broadband eliminated the framerate problems but the price was a bit high at $400 each.

Video phones really wouldn't be possible until we had a wireless network that could handle it but 3G cellphones weren't even available in the US until 2004, and 3G was still so new by 2007 that the first iPhone didn't even offer 3G.

Fast-forward just 6 years after 3G first reached the US and Skype now allows video calls through 3G on iPhones for free. That's amazing progress! To go from the network just being setup to transmitting video calls over it for free. And that was all of 6 months ago, give it some time, another 6 years from now using your cellphone as a video phone will look better than it did in 2001 and Transatlantic Tunnel and it will be free.

How non-technical, and after how thorough of a look?

I'll just leave these here...

http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-297432.html
http://gigaom.com/2008/08/31/dont-like-the-iphone-check-out-these-touchscreen-phones/
http://www.gsmarena.com/newscomm-769.php
http://www.telecomasia.net/node/5199
http://www.google.com/search?q=SPH-1300&hl=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=jjfATeTDOIL30gHT_tXuBA&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1680&bih=947
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ET&p_theme=et&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EEF6B3EB0A8C768&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
http://cgi.ebay.com/SPRINT-PCS-PALM-OS-WIRELESS-PHONE-SPH-1300-DUAL-BAND-/180613037497
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2000-09-25/news/18143226_1_cell-phone-palm-os
http://www.geardiary.com/2006/11/30/the-palm-treo-700p-palm-os-smartphone-review/
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=1690
http://www.gizmag.com/go/2306/
http://www.google.com/search?q=sony+p900
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/10/13/lg.debuts.new.prada.phone/
http://www.esato.com/phones/compare.php?phone=433&cp=439
http://gizmodo.com/#!190670/cect-a1000-touchscreen-phone-with-1000-hours-standby
http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/at-t-8525/4505-6452_7-32133413.html?tag=lia;rcol

these aren't phones, but what the hell... they could still be mistaken for an iPhone at a glance...

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/prodserv/handheld.html
http://www.suddenlink.net/pages/curtismc/palms.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_III

really.. if you think about it,
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB04F816AA79462&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

it was possible to go from JFK to LHR in under 3 hours flight time.

Getting from middle of Manhattan to the airplane seat can take longer

The only people who've ever heard of "Amero" are the conspiracy theorists who made it up. China is "the powers that be,

You're hilarious. Let me give you a hint: The bushes are related to the same group of fuckers who have been running the world for centuries, and so are many former U.S. presidents. Excerpt:

George Herbert Walker Bush has three lines that go back to King Edward I of England. He also is descended from King Henry I and King Henry II, both of England, and William I and Robert II, both of Scotland. Bush has common ancestors with 15 American presidents: Washington, Fillmore, Pierce, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, both Roosevelts, Taft, Coolidge, Hoover, Nixon and Ford.

Other presidents who have connections to British royalty are George Washington, the two Adamses, Millard Fillmore, Rutherford Hayes, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

Mrs. Ronald Wilson Reagan is descended from Henry I, king of France, and Henry I, king of England. Mrs. George Herbert Walker Bush is descended from Henry II, king of England, and other notables. There are other royal descents of first ladies but these will serve as examples.

The Powers That Be haven't changed much in hundreds of years, and they're still running this country. Note that Obama, both Bushes, and Clinton are all/have all been members of unconstitutional policy groups — like the Bilderbergers, for example. Holders of U.S. office aren't permitted to attend secret meetings (the meetings are not announced and would be unknown if not for [probably intentional] leaks) whose proceedings are secret (which they are.) If you really think China is running things here, think again. Chinese powers exert influence but China's general past policy of isolationism has hurt their ability to influence the world today. They have to do it financially, and that's not the only power available. Until and unless China becomes more personally technically proficient, which will require that they stop persecuting their intelligentsia, they're not running shit. These are nations, holding a bunch of currency doesn't permit a hostile takeover.

I'll submit as reference (aside from having been here)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19900627&id=8uYNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eXUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7078,925768

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MH&s_site=miami&p_multi=MH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB340F09FEA23DA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

It gets HOT.
The building AC thing is weird like that here, too - it adds to the shock when you leave an office set to 65 or 70 into an exterior that's 115-120.

Ironically, in the winter, they set the buildings to almost 90 when it's 60 out.

While you generally are permitted to photograph or record video of people without permission in most public places, it is illegal in Illinois to "videotape, photograph, or film" people without their consent in "a restroom, tanning bed, or tanning salon, locker room, changing room or hotel bedroom." 720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/26-4(a).

Your linked article makes sense for private places, but as far as I can tell, if you're in a public park, or on a public roadway, or on a public sidewalk, or in a government building, or other public place, you have no reasonable expectation of privacy.

The police department elected not to prosecute Mr. Gannon. (Sorry for paywall) Yes, he was certainly hassled a lot, apparently within the letter of the law.

The vast majority of news stories I've read in my lifetime about 'gunfights' involve lots of rounds being expended & not many hits. Lots and lots of stories about the first shot being fired, and that missing completely. Any studies of several hundred modern 'gunfights' that say otherwise? Any studies at all?

Well, they won't be acknowledged around here, and they're hardly _studies_, but there are plenty of _News_Stories_ about reasonably accurate firearms use. These stories prove that it is possible to hit bad guys under stress, and undescore the fact that these criminals do NOT want a fight, they _want_ an easy score. When confronted with deadly force, they:

A. RUN AWAY!!! (often wounded)

B. Die.

C. (Occasionally) make return fire.

This makes a firearm (any firearm) that_you_can_connect_with a very valuable thing in any gunfight.

This guy managed 1 for 4, but that was enough:
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=12A808418303B698&p_docnum=1

There are plenty of stories like this. I'd cite more, but it's bedtime.

"Get off a shot _fast_. This startles your opponent, and gives you time to make your second shot perfect."
-- Lazarus Long

Speaking of McDonald's, I bet they'd use street-view ads to make their own fantasy version of the golden arch-less Cycle Center in Chicago. (Via WP)

They'd probably replace trees with Big Macs and bikes with Happy Meal toys.

Nope, at least 58% self-identify LDS.

One of Utah's local papers did some research into LDS demographics (unfortunately, the article's only available from a pay archive, but the abstract in the search results contains the meat of the article).

The church itself claims 72% (certainly some of this claim is showmanship, but still...).

So, no. There are not as many non-members as there are members.

And whether there are appropriate honorifics relating to the form in which it is written, Oh, He whose name requires three sheets. (Three sheets to the wind, perhaps ...)

At least he didn't decide to become a "Princess."

And, just in case anyone thinks I'm making this up, or that this doesn't happen in the 21st century, just go to this link (it's a search result page for the "The State," South Carolina's biggest newspaper). The sixth entry on the page is a full article detailing what happened at Benedict the last time they tried this (you can pay to read the whole thing if you like, but the summary should give you a good idea).

Actually C-Span went off too. They don't have control of the cameras.

But I've got to love it--we've got a hacker in the bunch:

The Politico reports, "Also, Republicans can thank Shadegg for turning on the microphones the first time. Apparently, the fiesty Arizona conservative started typing random codes into the chamber's public address system and accidentally typed the correct code, allowing Republicans brief access to the microphone before it was turned off again."

And PULEESE let's not pretend that Dems haven't done these stunts too. They've all run out to the steps to protest medicare changes, travelgate report and other times when they were in the minority and things weren't going their way.

Our Congress is tame when you compare it to other countries. Just try watching the PM speak before the UK parliment or legislation in places like Taiwan, India, S. Korea, etc. where they break out in fist fights.

or try this ... http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SA&p_theme=sa&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFED411187FC0D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

I'm not personally in favor of outlawing guns or strict gun control laws, however it is useful to try to see both sides of the argument without bias.

It is incredibly quick and easy for any normal "law abiding" citizen to cause death when a gun is available. You are relying on them making the choice as to when and when not to fire the gun.

Consider "crimes of passion" and similar situations where a person temporarily fails to rationally control their actions due to an overwhelming emotional response. Whether it results from finding your spouse in bed with another lover, getting cut off in traffic or ending up in the express checkout lane behind someone who can't count - there are many everyday situations in which people are prone to overreacting. The availability of a loaded firearm can change the outcome dramatically.

That reminds me of Chicago's first police department helicopter - revealed June 2007. (news article)

Helicopters and drones are both useful for those on-foot police chases, carjacking incidents and general surveillance (can't let those riots get too out of hand!).

To save others from looking around ...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2A320ADE94F0E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

THE SYSTEM: "IT SERVES NO PURPOSE EXCEPT TO CONSUME ITSELF."

Source: Tim Weiner, INQUIRER WASHINGTON BUREAU

The United States is on the verge of building a Star Wars missile defense system. But the project's in-house critics say it has become a "feeding frenzy" of contractors building an expensive system of questionable worth. After nine years of research and $30 billion, with little to show for the time and money, Congress has ordered the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) to build something: an elaborate system of missiles, radars, command

Published on March 23, 1992, Page A01, Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)

http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/self_licking_ice_cream_cone/

self-licking ice cream cone n. a process, department, institution, or other thing that offers few benefits and exists primarily to justify or perpetuate its own existence. Also in the form self-licking lollipop.

The guy's name is "Johnny Zit-train." Sounds like a character out of a Clearasil commercial.

Putting your high school up for sale is a prank.

Here's a link to part of an article on such a subject. I wasn't able to find more details on how the pricing details are handled. This article indicates that a Transit Authority in Texas has control over their prices, and also demonstrates the sense these people have.

The Triple-Trac. Because you'll believe anything.

Yesterday Boston-based Gillette introduced Mach3, a men's three-bladed razor that it described as its most important product launch since the 1971 debut of Trac II, the world's first twin-blade razor.

FRAUD ALERT

The Financial Post article is typical scientific fraud, in my opinion. They apparently want you to read their publication so that you will see the ads, and they don't care how they get you to do it. They don't hire writers who understand the issues apparently, and they don't give their writers enough time to do research.

Look at these paragraphs from a June 20, 2006 article from the Oregonian newspaper, Mercury rules give kiln a pass, which is now available only to paid subscribers.

"As Oregon, with federal prodding, clamps down on mercury emitted by a Portland General Electric coal-fired power plant in Boardman, it leaves unregulated an Eastern Oregon factory that is a far larger source of the toxic compound.

"The state's biggest industrial source of airborne mercury is a cement kiln run by Kansas-based Ash Grove Cement Co. in the town of Durkee. Unaffected by federal laws aimed at coal-fired power plants, it released 632 pounds of mercury into the air in 2004, the last year when records are available, compared with 151 pounds emitted by PGE's facility."

Yes, compact fluorescent bulbs should be given to some agency to recycle them. But broken compact fluorescents are a small contribution to the total amount of mercury in the atmosphere, which is rapidly increasing by thousands of tons each year since China is increasing the number of coal-fired plants.

The cell phone theory is a little weak. From TFA, researchers found that "bees refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby"?? How nearby? Inside the homes of honeybee keepers? If that were the case we'd have seen the issue spring up much sooner.
Anyway, bee population scares have come up before. From this article:

U.S. honeybee population devastated. Experts say mites, weather killing hives
Author: Matt CrensonAssociated Press
Publish Date: June 23, 1996
America's honeybees are in a bad way. Already weakened by 12 years of battling blood-sucking mites, bees have been brought to their knees by a soggy spring on the heels of many regions' exceptionally cold winter. Experts estimate that more than 90 percent of wild colonies have been wiped out nationwide, along with a large number of those tended by beekeepers. "It's devastated the population of unmanaged bees that are in hollow trees and old...

So how did the bees make a recovery 11 years ago? Had they even recovered before this current problem? Can anyone find a bee population trend from the past 50 years?
Another thought: could this have anything to do with the fear of Africanized honeybees spreading into North America? Sorry for spouting conspiracy theory, but what if the government tried to use GM to stop the killer bees and it backfired? (same level of plausibility as the cell phone theory).

I lived in Appalachian Kentucky, in one of the two or three poorest counties in the country. The problems with education didn't come down to teacher unions, it came down to political pork barrel.

In a nutshell, the way you get elected in those parts is to deliver relatively cushy government jobs to your friends and supporters*.

Since funding for schools is already pitiful, the usual strategy is to have lots of low paying teacher jobs, rather than fewer good paying positions. If you pay less per job, you create more porkbarrel positions that will bring you votes.

Kentucky really isn't interested in spending more on schools, and is just using teacher unions as a convenient excuse.

* or hand out fifths of whisky on election day. Or indulge in good old fashioned vote buying.

TFA from the /. article that you mentioned can be found here:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_pro duct=BG&p_theme=bg&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p _text_search-0=Database%20AND%20compilers%20AND%20 fight%20AND%20for%20AND%20copyright%20AND%20protec tion&s_dispstring=Database%20compilers%20fight%20f or%20copyright%20protection&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perp age=10&p_sort=_rank_:D&xcal_ranksort=4&xcal_usewei ghts=yes

Unfortunately, since it is from 1999, it has been moved to the "premium archives". To read the full article, you have to pay.

So Barney Fife and Roscoe P. Coltrain if you're listening...some of us are watching.

Compare this with other online newpaper websites, for instance - AZCentral (which is the online version of the Arizona Republic). Take a look at their prices for their archived articles.

* Single-article purchase - $2.50
* 24-hour pass, 10 articles - $9.95
* 3-article pack - $6.95
Good for one week from purchase.
* 10-article pack - $21.95
Good for one month from purchase.
* 25-article pack - $49.95
Good for one month from purchase.
* 40-article pack - $79.95
Good for one month from purchase.


Doing long-term research?

* 500-article pack - $995
Good for one year from purchase.
* 1,000-article pack - $1,995
Good for one year from purchase.

And this is just for a local paper! NewsLibrary.com, the "go-between" for the AZCentral archives, boasts 694 newspapers and other news sources that you can search - for a price.

The New York Times archives look like a deal compared to those.

Compare this with other online newpaper websites, for instance - AZCentral (which is the online version of the Arizona Republic). Take a look at their prices for their archived articles.

* Single-article purchase - $2.50
* 24-hour pass, 10 articles - $9.95
* 3-article pack - $6.95
Good for one week from purchase.
* 10-article pack - $21.95
Good for one month from purchase.
* 25-article pack - $49.95
Good for one month from purchase.
* 40-article pack - $79.95
Good for one month from purchase.


Doing long-term research?

* 500-article pack - $995
Good for one year from purchase.
* 1,000-article pack - $1,995
Good for one year from purchase.

And this is just for a local paper! NewsLibrary.com, the "go-between" for the AZCentral archives, boasts 694 newspapers and other news sources that you can search - for a price.

The New York Times archives look like a deal compared to those.

That said, high speed internet access is rapidly becoming as essential to the growth and development of the mind as public education. Kids with high speed net access preform better in schools. That's not necessarily a causal relationship, but it's something worth investigating.
Do you have some backup for this claim?

My home state gave laptops to all middle-schoolers a few years ago, and pretty much without question, it's been an unmitigated disaster.

First, it was money that was diverted into the program. Not a huge amount, but it's pretty pricey.

Second, teachers and schools had to prepare for the laptops. Schools spending largish sums of money on IT is kinda silly.

Third, teachers and schools have to deal with them on a daily basis. They break, they have tech problems (not that many, they are iBooks), they make funny noises, and give the frowny face icon sometimes.

Fourth, they are a big distraction. Kids stealing a peak here and there. Kids multitasking ESPN.com and IM.

Fifth, they take classroom time from other subjects.

Sixth, teachers have to spend more time preparing classes that utilize the new technology. Where before some notes about a lecture where good, now a slide-show and/or document "handout" is expected.

The article in the local newspaper is pay-for-view, but here is the abstract: "Middle schoolers who used laptop computers for two years performed about the same on a standardized test as students before them who never had laptops. Critics of laptops say the scores are the first real evidence that the program, which so far has cost more than $15 million, is an expensive fad. But proponents say it's too early to expect dramatic changes in test scores." link

Earlier this week there was a front page article in PA that 63 people in 20 counties were being charged for back taxes for buying from 2 specific internet wholesale sites that had been subpoenaed (Link)

Don't have the article with me, but both of the sites had already been shut down at the time of print.

In any case, I expect Bush to be able to stand on his own. The fact that he couldn't face the comission on his own two feet (metaphorically) that he is not in charge. He is not a leader.

Here is your reference to Bush saying that God speaks through him: Intelligencer Journal and the Lancaster New Era, on July 16, 2004. . Here's the Lancaster Online archive. It requires Javascript.

I don't care about Bush's personal beliefs. I only care about the constituencies he panders to when he creates policies for our country.

Why would you vote for this failure again? He blew the war on terror before 9/11 and brought us into Iraq solely as the behest of his neo-con buddies in their quest for world domination, while claiming it was related to the war on terror. He hasn't come clean about his national guard record, nor his history of drug use. While Kerry was fighting in Vietnam, he was having Senior pull strings to get him out of his military obligation. Hasn't he demonstrated to you that he is unfit to lead our country?

In Illinois, the Democrats control the state government and recently changed the law to allow Bush on the ballot. According to state law, the Republican convention must be held before Sept. 1. The Republican convention was on Sept. 3rd, so it was later than it needed to be to legally allow President Bush to appear on the ballot in Illinois. The Illinois Democratic Party response: Change the law by altering the deadline so that the Republican convention would be within the new deadline (Senate Bill 2123). The Pantagraph published an article about this on June 29, 2004, the first few sentences of which you can find online. State Rep. Bill Mitchell (R-Forsyth) was quoted as saying "The bottom line is people should be able to vote on the President of the United States and voice their opinion on him." and Democratic Party Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich concurs. But what goes unmentioned is how this need to vote for a candidate does not extend to third parties or independents.

Nationally, the two major corporate parties know when to get along as well. Some readers may recall that the official-sounding (but privately-owned) "Commission on Public Debates" which hosts the presidential debates (taking that away from the League of Women Voters) is owned by the RNC, the DLC, and a few of their mutual corporate friends. These debates excluded Nader and Buchanan in 2000 despite a majority of the country wanting to see them in the debates. They were excluded by setting the barrier to entry high (15% interest level in pre-debate polls) and (as Nader points out in his book "Crashing the Party") gathering poll data from corporate-run news agencies friendly to the cause of third-party exclusion. This year, there is a movement to provide a more reasonable set of debates but Sen. Kerry and Pres. Bush are contractually bound to their CPD debates and will probably not appear in any Open Debate-run debate.

If the Democrats spent as much time opposing the Republicans as they spend opposing competitive third parties (like the Greens) and independents (such as Ralph Nader this election year), the Democrats would probably be a different party. Illinois is not a contested state, it is a "safe seat" for Kerry.

i happen to live about 5 minutes north of buffalo, i am so happy this [fill in the blank] went to jail, he should got 20 years, you can read about it from the local newspaper at:
Buffalo Spammer gets 3.5-7yrs.
heres the local archive of his a$$ in the news:
Buffalo Spammer Archive

Shelley also told reporters at a press conference in Sacramento that he urged the state Attorney General to pursue criminal and civil charges against Diebold for installing voting machines that had not been certified by the state and then misleading government officials.

I was always taught to start out with a positive comment [...]

A laudable practice, though if you'll forgive me for saying so, your "positive comment" in this case bears the whiff of overweening politeness intended as mockery (or "damning with faint praise"), which I doubt your instructor would have approved of.

Unfortunately, I can not find a shred of evidence to support any of your claims.

Then you didn't read my reference (beyond looking for quotes to yank out of context), as it provided its own references.

IMHO the only way you could make the statements you have quite an emotional investment in the issue and I doubt any rational discussion would change this.

I concluded much the same of you, but I figured I should answer you anyway for the benefit of our other readers.

For those to lazy to follow the link, here are some exerpts from this in-depth "analysis":

Ooh, quoting out of context, there's a winning strategy. Here are a few more relevant quotes:

[...] You see, I have a law practice to attend to. (Yes, I exist. Yes, I'm a practicing lawyer in Los Angeles. I graduated Yale Law School in 1992, and I am a member of the Calfornia Bar. My practice consists entirely of litigation, with a strong appellate practice.) [...]

[...] All of the facts in my Q&A are well-documented, either in the US Supreme Court opinion, Federal Law (3 USC Sec. 5), former Supreme Court case-law, the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida courts below, or, occasionally, press accounts. [...]

[...] While there are humorous aspects to the Q&A, it is indeed serious. The illogical opinion of the Supreme Court, one of the worst and ill-reasoned opinions in US history is, unfortunately, no joke. [...]

(And just in case it wasn't clear, I am not the author of the site I'm referring to.)

Of course, this is all moot as Bush would have won the election no matter how many times your recounted, even under the most Gore-favorable criteria.

No, he wouldn't. [These are, unfortunately, from pay-to-read archives, so I can only cite the summaries. Relevant quotes below:

While the vast majority of Florida's overvotes could never have been assigned legally to any presidential candidate, experts say there are some clues in the ballots that offer at least evidence of, if not proof, for whom voters meant to vote. And that evidence suggests Al Gore was preferred by more voters than George W. Bush. Among the clues: 71,548 overvote ballots had a vote for Gore, but not Bush. There were 25,082 overvote ballots that had a vote for Bush, but not Gore.

Democrat Al Gore might be president today if Fl