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I was also disheartened to hear that my wife, a Japanese national with a green card, might now have to use the foreigners line at customs again. This is related to another law that will be taking effect soon (or already). For those who don't know legal permanent residents (Green Card holders) have been allowed to get in the US citizens line and, I believe, aren't required to give finger prints or have their picture taken (as they are already on file from immigration). This makes it easier for families in which one or more members may not be citizens to go through customs and immigration together (big help when you have kids).

I didn't know about that either -- I don't think it's gotten much publicity. A little googling turned up an article on an obscure website. Life is about to get a lot harder for legal green card holders entering the the US.

Here's a page with the A and B squares cut out in detail side-by-side: Outside the context of the checkerboard it's much easier to see they are the same color. Interestingly, even the color of the letters A and B looks different out of context.

There are a series of 5 circles in a specific pattern... in the case of the new $50 it's the zeros in all the little "50"'s on the back.

Here's more info.

Here's a great example of that "slop" in action. Take a look at this image. The two squares A and B appear almost white and black, respectively, but are in fact composed of pixels of exactly the same shade of grey.

It's not just SciAm that has observed this creeping Lysenkoism either -- see also the International Herald Tribune, and that bastion of left-leaning reporting, the Washington Post (with the sub-head, "Changes Renew Criticism That the President Puts Politics Ahead of Science").

And by the way, do you consider any and all criticism of the President in an election year invalid by virtue of perceived politicking? Sometimes things are just wrong at any time.

Whatever makes you think that everyone has a right to compensation when "bad things" happen? For there to be compensation, there must be fault. Unfortunately, the American legal system is littered with examples of juries finding blame where none exists, because they think that someone "ought" to be compensated. And we as a society pay, in increased costs, restricted services, and restricted freedom.

Lawyers are largely to blame for this problem. There are some classic examples from this very case, as highlighted on overlawyered.com:

Among the many highlights in which the plaintiffs tried to prove their case: lawyers showed the jury a 1976 medical form in which Moore complained to IBM of "allergies, dizziness and blurred vision", and blamed this on "systemic chemical poisoning"; the defense showed the jury the full form, which revealed that this was a reaction to a 1955 tetanus shot and seasonal hay fever.

An IBM witness testified that the trichloroethylene (TCE) that plaintiffs blamed for "system chemical poisoning" was frequently used as an anesthetic for surgery. Plaintiffs tried to turn that around: "Hawes asked Whysner if putting a patient to sleep using TCE would have an effect on the entire system, a systemic effect. `Yes,' Whysner agreed."

A bit off topic, but I just came across a chart today which is the closest thing I've seen which gives a sense of the Total Perspective Vortex as Adams described it. All it needs is the "You are here". See it here.

There were a few really funny IT postings in Australia recently. Depending on how you react to them you could also consider them the worst!

I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has to produce charts for their job.