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In Israel right now there is a law banning thin models. To protect the feelings of the whales.

You don't understand this. This is to protect young girls from thinking they must starve themselves to meet our society's view of beauty:

* Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness
* A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 - 10% of anorexics die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be dead after 20 years and only 30 - 40% ever fully recover
* The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15 - 24 years old.
* 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems

Ref

Okay, it's estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder.

That's roughly 2-3% of Americans. (Note: binge eating, i.e., bulimia without the puking, is also an eating disorder. Which means there is some non-zero overlap between this 2-3% and this next statistic...)

It's estimated that roughly 75% of Americans (that's ~234 million) are overweight or obese.

So... treatment for eating disorders (and the complications related to them) would have to be roughly THIRTY TIMES more expensive than treatment for obesity & overweight (and complications related to...) in order to justify banning skinny models, but not banning overweight or obese models. It would have to be *30 times* more harmful to society to have skinny models making girls feel bad about themselves than having fat models making girls think it's okay to be obese.

Now do you get it?

Outliers in both directions, but in the present case, not to the same extent.

...

One half of one percent of women go thru a period of anorexia. Of these only 5 – 10% die of their disorder within 10 years. Yet 35.7% of Americans suffer from obesity. Medical costs for obesity on average were $1,429 higher per person per year.

So the outliers aren't significant on the skinny side, but they are devastating on the fat side.

There are several fallacies in your argument. First, your source does not say "go through a period", it says "one in 200 American women suffers from anorexia", i.e 0.5% is the current risk, not the lifetime riks of ever having an episode of anorexia. Of those, 20% will eventually die of complications of their eating disorder. That's 1.4 million people. How is that "not sognificant"?

Going with a statistical life expectancy of ~70 years, we are talking about 20000 death per year. Compare this to 32000 traffic victims and 14000 murder victims a year. Consider how much the US spends on road safety and the criminal justice system, and tell me that it's not worth to try to tackle this problem.

The fact that there are worse problems in not a reason to ignore this one. As a society with limited resources, cost/benefit expectation should be a guide to our actions.

Outliers in both directions, but in the present case, not to the same extent.

The outliers in weight clearly favor the heavy side, and its a far tougher nut to crack that the anorexic who looked at a magazine. I suggest the researchers come up with a believable way to control the tendency towards overweight by changing pictures in a magazine. Then they would have something of true value.

One could even make the case that removing the skinny side of normal from the cultural images may push the tendency towards acceptance of more obesity. This would have a far greater effect on health care costs than anorexia.

One half of one percent of women go thru a period of anorexia. Of these only 5 – 10% die of their disorder within 10 years. Yet 35.7% of Americans suffer from obesity. Medical costs for obesity on average were $1,429 higher per person per year.

So the outliers aren't significant on the skinny side, but they are devastating on the fat side.

Comprehensive anorexia treatment costs about $120k/year, and the numbers I've read in recent papers show closer to 20% fatality rates, though when I've looked into the methodology used to create that number I saw a ton of guessing. I'm not saying anorexia is a bigger problem than obesity, but I am saying it's a huge, and expensive problem. It's certainly orders of magnitude more deadly than, for instance, terrorism. Glamorizing unhealthy body types has been linked to increased obesity as well as anorexia, too.

Again, I'm not advocating an action, just urging kneejerk posters on Slashdot to recognize that anorexia is an increasingly terrible problem faced by hundreds of thousands of women and some smaller number of men.

Outliers in both directions, but in the present case, not to the same extent.

The outliers in weight clearly favor the heavy side, and its a far tougher nut to crack that the anorexic who looked at a magazine. I suggest the researchers come up with a believable way to control the tendency towards overweight by changing pictures in a magazine. Then they would have something of true value.

One could even make the case that removing the skinny side of normal from the cultural images may push the tendency towards acceptance of more obesity. This would have a far greater effect on health care costs than anorexia.

One half of one percent of women go thru a period of anorexia. Of these only 5 – 10% die of their disorder within 10 years. Yet 35.7% of Americans suffer from obesity. Medical costs for obesity on average were $1,429 higher per person per year.

So the outliers aren't significant on the skinny side, but they are devastating on the fat side.

Except, you know, you can't kill a cop with a camera (unless you bludgeon him over the head with it, but even then).

At least here is South Carolina it is still legal to use upto deadly force against the police during an unlawful arrest, and has been upheld many time in the SC Supreme Court.

In point of fact, the judge did order the filing handled: (appropriate action).

Some factors involved in sealing documents: (from here, a different jurisdiction, but the principle remains)
        (1) the need to ensure a fair trial;

        (2) the need for witness cooperation;

        (3) the reliance of the parties upon expectations of confidentiality;

        (4) the public or professional significance of the lawsuit;

        (5) the perceived harm to the parties from disclosure;

        (6) why alternatives other than sealing the documents are not available to protect legitimate private interests as identified by this Rule; and

        (7) why the public interest, including, but not limited to, the public health and safety, is best served by sealing the documents.

As was pointed out, filing publicly removed even those limits the original web site had on access (while imposing new ones - PACER access). Another thing guaranteed to irritate a judge, he filed them as an exhibit with a motion asking permission to file some other document, instead of letting his motion stand on its own legs. If I understand it right, the judge is saying "it doesn't promote justice, why should we publish it?"

You're looking to hoist Mr Thompson by his own petard. The judge is looking to preserve the dignity and process of the court. Both are worthy causes, but I suspect that you might feel differently talking from the bench instead of the cheap seats. :)

OMG, I really can't believe this was modded "Insightful". It is total BS. First off, in most states (Pennsylvania for sure) "average citizens" have full arrest powers. Any citizen can (and many do everyday) arrest criminals. Now this power is extended to what is known as a "breach of the peace", not any old law on the books. The theory goes (the way I was told) other non-breach-of-the-peace laws didn't warrant immeadiate custody, therefor you had time to go get a law enforcement officer. BTW: A breach of the peace is hard to pin down and seems to change now and again, as well as by state. But in PA it is every felony and several misdemeanors. If you are interested in the topic search it out on the net, you'd be surprised what a citizen can do: http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/opinions/HTMLfiles /COA/2982.htmCitizen arrest in DUI case (BTW- Non-Felony)

Don't forget pyromaniac firefighters!

In case you hadn't noticed, the ground layer is covered with a layer of CO2, as evidenced by the tremendous amount of plant life on the planet.

However, you aren't taking into account the difference in atomic weight

Saying that CFC's diffuse easily, even under the thermal activity induced by the Sun, is like saying the Mississippi River can carry a brick from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Nope, you've got to be a troll. Nobody could be that ignorant/stupid and still be able to use a computer.

South Carolina, and, I'll bet, other states, make traffic webcams available on the internet. I want something like this, but with actual video (instead of stills apparently taken at random intervals) and on my Clie. That way I can actually see the road conditions/traffic congestion and decide where and whether to change my route.

A dead zone? A nature preserve is more like it. Since the place was irradiated and people don't go there anymore, the place is turning into a forest. Sure, the animals and plants are irradiated and that will shorten their lifespan and cause cancer, etc. Well, if people were still there most wouldn't even be living there. I wouldn't be surprised to see people living there again in 30 years once the more dangerous short half-lived elements decay. Just like in Hiroshima.

People go to spas for health reasons, yet spas are usually pretty radioactive.

Regarding Pu toxicity, I quote:

The latent effect of exposure to 239Pu was the subject of a Los Alamos National Laboratory study. This paper provides an update to an ongoing study of the health of a group of 26 young males who worked on the Manhattan Engineer District's Project at Los Alamos in 1944 and 1945. During this time, these men experienced significant contamination of 239Pu. Of the 26, 21 had left Los Alamos by 1946, one left in 1948, and none had significant additional plutonium exposure after 1945. Exposure was primarily by inhalation, though some also were exposed through cuts in the skin. The internal plutonium deposition ranged from 50 to 3,180 Bq and the effective dose ranged from 0.1 to 7.2 Sv. The median deposition and dose were 565 Bq and 1.25 Sv, respectively. The mortality of this group was compared to the mortality of U.S. white males. The standardized mortality ratio (STR), calculated by comparing the mortality of the subject group to the U.S. white male population, indicates that the exposed Los Alamos group experienced statistically significant fewer cancers and longer lives. Since this may be due to the education level of the Los Alamos group (these 26 had attained a higher level of education than the average U.S. male and this generally correlates with a healthier life style), they were also compared with a population of unexposed Los Alamos workers with comparable hire dates and general education levels. This comparison indicates that the general mortality, as well as cancer-induced mortality, of the two groups were statistically similar. Thus, the exposure of these 26 men to 239Pu did not significantly affect their health over their lifetimes.

So yes, Pu is dangerous (what isn't?), yes it should be carefully handled, but I still find it funny that some people think we should outright ban it, while its sitting in containers at special facilities, while cheerfully getting injected with Botox (botulism toxin) to remove a wrinkle...

I work for a university research group that is working with NOAA and other organizations to improve data collection and predictions associated with severe weather in our area. The truth is, there is not just one organization controlling all the information in the event of, for example, a hurricane.

NOAA, FEMA, and state emergency management groups work together in the event of a disaster. They create plans ahead of time as to who will do what in order to avoid confusion. So it's NOAA's responsibility to decide whether a hurricane is category 3 or 4, but it's the state EMD's responsibility to tell people what to do in the event of a hurricane.

It's important to have a detailed disaster plan to avoid exactly the kind of scenario you describe. The current plan includes everything from when the Governor should announce a highway lane reversal to the format my research group's storm surge prediction should be delivered in. The media can use this plan to know who to contact for what information, and to tell people what to expect.

And, to chime in on the topic, I think that NOAA's data should absolutely be free. Don't stifle research.

South Carolina has had this for some time now.

http://www.sled.state.sc.us/SLED/default.asp?Categ ory=SCSO&Service=SCSO_01

If you're talking about the Presubscribed Interexchange Carrier Charge (PICC), it's not a tax. It was a payment mandated by the FCC that the long distance companies pay to the local phone companies, and it was set at about $1 per month for residence lines. Lots of long distance carriers charged up to $5 per month which is pure profiteering. It was really just a cost of doing business and they have no business charging you extra for that any more than they could charge a line item for the CEO's golden bidet. But they probably did it so they could say "don't blame us, it's a tax that the FCC forces us to collect". Which is a lie. I say "was" because that charge was eliminated for most phone lines in 2000. So if they're still collecting a "National Access Fee" in year 2003, consider it padding for the bill so they can offer you those low low long distance rates.

But fast ROLLER COASTERS are the great, perilous danger from which we must protect the masses.

Riiiight.

Aw, c'mon, you must be able to see the flaws in that argument.

First, skydrivers are well aware that they're doing something dangerous. If roller coasters are dangerous to normal folks, people sure don't know about it. There's no point in protecting people from risks they knowingly take, but there is a good reason to protect them from risks which they aren't aware of.

Second, how many people skydrive? Maybe a few dozen ever. Compare that to the number of people who go on roller coasters. It makes a lot more sense to regulate an activity which millions of people participate in every year than one which only a few participate in. I bet bungee jumping wasn't regulated at first, but there are regulations now (such as this one from South Carolina).

but there are no laws against nepotism

Are you sure about that?. I just typed "nepotism laws" into google and the pertinate SC code came up on the first page.

"Title 8 - Public Officers and Employees CHAPTER 5. NEPOTISM AND BUYING AND SELLING OF OFFICES PROHIBITED"

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House Majority Leader House of Representatives Washington, District of Columbia 20515 United States of America webpage http://www.house.gov/

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