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How many Islamic countries have the capacity to manufacture and sell all those weapons to make this happen? Seems to me that the biggest threats to peace are the arms peddlers, the US (Hillary should get a medal)/Europe/Russia/China/Brazil/Israel, who like nothing more than to motivate everybody into buying their wares. But hey, nice to see such blatant propaganda modded up so highly. I mean we gotta a war to sell. Let's all do our part. Buy bonds!

It would only be beneficial to our economy if we figured out a way to do transmutation of elements that would make metals abundant and cheap, it's not a negative, it's a positive. Aluminum is used as a store of value, here is a 5 year chart.

Oh, and in case you are wondering why did I mention Goldman Sachs and aluminum in one sentence, well, here it is. How do you like that picture? Do you think holding aluminum is smarter or dumber than holding US dollars or US Treasury bills or bonds?

At least in Libya they have: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/09/does-not-represent-us-moving-photos-pro-american-rallies-libya/56803/

They were already losing money, the Fire is (was?) a loss leader for Amazon. Hard to drop the price if you're already selling at a loss.

As far as I have heard, it has been limited to federally controlled areas like National parks.

There is much more going on. Examples of federal efforts as well others.

Google wants to keep their image clean amongst open source. But that doesn't mean they aren't using other people to sue over patents or giving them patents to do their dirty work.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/09/googles-already-using-their-motorola-patents-sue-apple/42196/

They're also helping HTC go up against Nokia and filing an antitrust complaint against Nokia in the EU.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304821304577438740232322350.html

I'd fully expect to see them start doing more now that they have Motorola. I suspect they didn't have any patents worth having in the mobile area but now they do and they're doing to use them.

Seems like Ron Paul's congressional record is about the same as a paperweight. The guy might have an interesting idea now and then (and a lot of nutjob ideas in between) but those ideas don't translate to anything real.

Given his failure as a representative, why should we pay attention to anything else he says?

Well as Finnish prisons are widely said to be comparable to caribbean resort hotels, I'm sure he's quaking in his boots at the prospect.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/06/israeli-spies-want-credit-stuxnet/53354/
Others want their expertise to rank with the NSA it seems :)

Killing foreigners? Okay. Killing Americans? A violation of the president's oath to uphold Constituional Law: "No person shall... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." A kill list may exist, but a kill list that includes Americans citizens is tyrannical.

I don't know where the fuck you've been man, but they think that they're giving people due process!

As a libertarian-leaning Democrat (yes, we exist), Holder has been nothing but a walking, talking fuckup machine. First, the asshole seems to want to tell me who to spend my weekends with (4th paragraph), but then wants to brainwash people in his anti-Second Amendment campaign.

As a centrist Dem, I'm going to say right now to Obama: get rid of this shit stain or lose in November.. full stop. And don't get me wrong, Romney is going to be a disaster, but Holder is evil incarnate.

The assassinations appear to be the Mossad + MEK.

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/09/10354553-israel-teams-with-terror-group-to-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-us-officials-tell-nbc-news?lite

I would be surprised if the CIA was involved with the MEK directly. My guess the U.S. provides intel and support with drones and looks the other way while Israel does the dirty work with Stuxnet/Flame/Assassinations.

Israel even seems to want credit for Stuxnet:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/06/israeli-spies-want-credit-stuxnet/53354/

Its a really nice surprise to see a competent covert operation against a target that deserves it. I honestly didn't think our government or Israel's had it in them anymore.

There is no recognised right to the Internet

Yes, there is.

That still uses a photograph as the source material. The suggestion here is that CGI will replace the source material with some type of super AI editing tools or database of easily modified scenes/models/objects.

Like this?

Oh, believe me, I know that Congress and the Senate voted for these fucking loopholes, but that's not a valid excuse for this crap. You don't think that Steve Jobs knew that he was paying an effective tax rate well below the entry-level guys he had working 70 hour weeks? This is a guy that parked in handicapped spaces looooooong before he actually got sick we're talking about here. He rationalized it as "Horray for me, fuck everyone else", and that's a trait you see a lot among these 'Master of the Universe' types. People all over the world metaphorically polish his knob every time the subject of Apple comes up, but rarely do people talk about what an unbelievable prick he was, and I don't just mean the way he treated his employees, he treated everyone that way.

Yes, congress passed laws allowing these companies to do this shit. Congress didn't make them move their "offices" to tax havens all over the world. They didn't make them send all that money to banks in the Caribbean to hide it from the IRS. Nobody forced them to be leeches, sucking in subsidies while raking in billions. Apple's sucking up $30 million in Texan taxpayer dollars despite the fact that they are literally the most valuable corporation in the fucking world. They've got $10 Billion (with a b) in cash in the bank, and they still need Texans to cough up a little extra to build that fucking plant? Come the hell on. That's the extortion bullshit I'm talking about. They're taking $30 million from who knows how many social programs, schools, infrastructure...and in exchange we get what? The privilege of working for them so they can earn more money off of our labors?

I mean, an unemployed mother looking for food stamps, she's a fucking leech on society, but the most valuable corporation on earth gleefully taking huge transfers of wealth from public coffers into their private accounts is what? A goddamn pillar of the community? A company to admire? Please. They're the real leeches. Let these mother fuckers move their corporate offices to fucking China, or better yet, let them take their shit and go to Africa, far from these pesky taxes and everything else. I don't really much give a shit, but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit here and subsidize their goddamn profit margin while half the houses in my neighborhood are sitting fucking vacant because the families that lived in them lost their jobs and then lost their homes, and then, when they hit the lowest point and have to go get some sort of assistance to make sure their kids eat decent food, get called "parasites". Fuck that shit. You want to see the real parasites, go fucking read Forbes.

If you end your campaign (quit), you can no longer raise funds. If you suspend the campaign, you can continue to bring in money to lower any debts your campaign might have. For more details, see this: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/04/why-santorum-merely-suspended-his-campaign/50982/

Better check again, the long flabby arm of the law now operates antiaircraft systems. http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2011/09/manhattans-real-anti-aircraft-battery-stinger-missiles/43062/

You post is utter, citeless bullshit. The US is one of the few countries, unlike Europe, where social mobility is very possible. Even for worker bees, just putting money in a Roth IRA every month in a good Dow 30 dividend stock will make you a millionaire in 30 years.

2011's The Forbes 400 of Richest Americans was An all-time high 70% of this year's list are self-made, up from 55% in 1997>. And many are college drop-outs.

If anything, being born wealthy makes kids lazy and entitled and lacking in the drive and ambition that drove their parents. Last time I checked, Paris Hilton wasn't on the Forbes 400.

Anybody remember the Atlantic story from a while ago about Pakistan transporting its nukes?

It was presented as "Oh noes, they move their nukes in ordinary trucks instead of military convoys. Maybe we should invade them and secure their arsenal."

Lo and behold, the DoE is using the same method in the US.

+5 insightful? Seriously? You folks don't see any difference between the internal security of the US and that of Pakistan?

Anybody remember the Atlantic story from a while ago about Pakistan transporting its nukes?

It was presented as "Oh noes, they move their nukes in ordinary trucks instead of military convoys. Maybe we should invade them and secure their arsenal."

Lo and behold, the DoE is using the same method in the US.

Instead, the plant actually withstood the quake and, what's more, actually shut itself down automatically during the quake. What happened next is what screws TEPCO (rightfully so)

Hmmm, actually it is not true .
The meltdown of at least one of the core was caused by the earthquake.
In a country like Japan, were magnitude 7 earthquake happens on a 6 months basis, the Japanese safety at the site was absolutely inadequate. And TEPCO new it.

The fallacy of your argument is this: you equate the leaders of the argument of both sides, and give them equal footing.

Leading those who accept the scientific evidence are... the scientists. Yes, the people who train for their lives, who thrive on evidence, logic and the scientific method. To be sure, some are corrupt, but if you argue the majority of them are, then you are effectively arguing against the entire profession. You sure you want to go there?

Leading the other side are those who profit from denial, and those who just don't want to change their way of life, or have religious beliefs about the matter.

These groups are not equally qualified to talk about the matter. And to paint the entire climatologist community as high priests is to equate their science with religion, which is in and of itself a fallacy. An effective one, but a fallacy nevertheless.

It looks like the anti-SOPA efforts are having some effect, as the President has now come out against it. But he hasn't promised a veto yet.

Your country? Which one is it?

The UN declared it a human right.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/06/united-nations-wikileaks-internet-human-rights/38526/

I love how Anonymous hates on everything related to the US, the West, police, etc., and utterly ignores things like China jailing or disappearing human rights activists, Beijing requiring bloggers to register their real names, or the over 5,000 people the Syrian government has murdered this year, instead posting tired, lame anarchist diatribes predicting the downfall of Capitalism.

I hope that Anonymous one day gets what it wishes for, if only so they could witness how horrible that world would be.

Just tried the link http://newtgingrich.com/ and up comes freddiemac.com

Looks like it is on a rotating forwarder. The briefest of examinations suggests that it sends people to a URL from this list:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/12/gingrichs-campaign-still-looks-awful-lot-book-tour/45977/
http://www.greektravel.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/gingrich-senior-aides-resign/2011/06/09/AGN77VNH_blog.html
http://www.tiffany.com/?siteid=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZFfQKWX54
http://www.freddiemac.com/
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2009/09/11/60353/gingrich-porn/
http://www.intrade.com/v4/markets/contract/?contractId=654836

I think it is great. I'd think it was funny if it happened to any politician, or any public figure really.
At a minimum it is funny because of all the people who will get their panties in a wad over it.

The EU is violating those poor people's human rights! The UN must invade the EU to protect their human rights!~
/sarcasm

http://www.stltoday.com/news/science/article_3eb9f408-c955-11e0-8349-001a4bcf6878.html

and

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/08/darpas-very-expensive-sci-fi-projects-future/41427/

and

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/science/space/18starship.html?_r=1&hp&gwh=30EB3709176A86B1A438FEC050C5C291

It frustrates me that the media is treating the recent arrests http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/07/fbi-confirms-arrests-anonymous-hacking-case/40153/ as some sort of major blow against Anonymous. The people arrested accessed the LOIC from their home IP addresses! This is not the work of master criminals. The picked up a few morons who blindly followed Anonymous's call.

Guess again.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/07/how-google-accidentally-helped-expose-dsk-accuser/39691/

"her identity has been well shielded by most American media so far"

The reason you can't find her name easily is because the media has been trying to keep her name out of the stories. Google hasn't been censoring anything, however, so you can use Google to find her identity if you're inclined to do so.

records laws often allow some sort of cost recovery fee, so printing them all out will allow you to stick it to those uppity 'journalists' and their 'transparency' to a much greater extent.

Nope. Originally (a couple of years ago) they were quoting $15 million for the entire undertaking.
But now it's just $725 for one complete paper copy.

Read the interview with a mother of one the Fukushima workers and then come back:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/03/mother-fukushima-worker/36240/

They will all die gruesome death, they even don't have enough dosimeters.

> No, I did-- and assange isnt "this sort of thing", as he wasnt selling nuclear secrets

Also, the spy swap meant that we got something for letting them off the hook. Who, exactly, would Assange get swapped with?

You've never even tried to rebut the fact that it's an offense for which one can be executed, you've merely pointed out that they don't usually seek it.

Don't get me wrong, though. If they have to take it off the table to have him extradited, they will. But not before then.

> None of them citizens, not once their citizenship has been established.

You mean because they made one of them renounce his citizenship?

The fact that you know all this and are arguing anyhow doesn't exactly repair your credibility, you know. I'd say it's a bit worse than grabbing the wrong link out of a set.

Interestingly, there are wikileaks connections even there.

> Political support....from someone who isnt holding any office whatsoever right now? One or two people dont "much political support" make.

Would you prefer the quotes from the justice department mentioning that they have a task force working on this? Or how about the fact that there's an active investigation, as evidenced by the subpoenas to Twitter?

No, that doesn't mean they will execute him, but it does mean that there are people who'd like to. You won't find many out-and-out calls for assassination, but you will find plenty who wouldn't mind trying him in a death penalty case.

> If you are saying that crazy people will do crazy things, then I agree; but I dont get what that has to do with Assange, especially as he is in custody at the moment. Hes not likely to be randomly shot by some crazy person.

Right now? Probably not. If he's let free? That changes things.

The dinosaurs are actually Biblical dragons. Noah even had some on the Ark. Everybody knows that.

From the link, emphasis mine: "Kentucky's state-backed $150 million creationist theme park, The Ark Encounter, will allow visitors to explore a literal interpretation of the Bible's story of Noah and the ark."

Is this actually legal? And does anyone have any statistics on how much Kentucky is using on education?

Wrong!

The dinosaurs are actually Biblical dragons. Noah even had some on the Ark. Everybody knows that.

Here is some more complete information on this subject if anyone is curious. Interestingly
it looks like Republicans are largely responsible for this.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/47-Percent-Dont-Pay-Taxes-No-Big-Deal-3230

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/business/economy/14leonhardt.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-04-16-editorial16_ST_N.htm

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-half-of-US-households-apf-1105567323.html?x=0&.v=1

Why do you assume I vote Republican? Actually, I voted for Cynthia McKinney in the last election, and Nader in years before, mostly as a protest vote. :-) I'm in a "safe state" so I knew the Democrats would win in those states anyway.

Do you see how your assumptions could be part of the problem? Also, Democrats, like Republicans, are a big part of the problem... Democrats are not engaging with these bigger trends. Obama is a mostly a corporatist and upholder of a broken status-quo relative to what we could see. Look at who he put in charge of US economic policy (people from Wall Street). Look who he put in charge of "education" reform (people from big schools). He's also a militarist -- within three days, he used military killer robots (drones) in a way that lead to the (claimed) deaths of three children.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5575883.ece
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Obama-Finds-Predator-Drones-Hilarious-1171
Solutions to moving beyond that:
http://www.pdfernhout.net/recognizing-irony-is-a-key-to-transcending-militarism.html

You're not engaging with the factual information I presented (as factual as stuff is from the US Government http://www.shadowstats.com/ ). Why? Is it perhaps just too unsettling to think about the implications? Those jobs and population figures are not much of calculations as a statement of facts as presented by the US government and a simple prediction of population growth the next decade based on the last decade.

It's true there are retirements coming up, but that is not going to fix the big trend. And in the short term (next decade) many people in the USA lost much of their retirement nest egg and are working longer, either postponing retirement or going back to work after the had retirement (incidentally, depressing wages).

So, again, where are thirty million net new jobs going to come from in the USA over the next decade?

Are you suggesting people stop trying to make sense of macroeconomic trends? Sure, doing volunteer stuff etc. is great, and I do, but you also just can't stick your head in the sand. Also, how can anyone start a business and hope for success in it if the fundamental dynamics of the economy are changing and they are not aware of it?

Also, if you look at the basic demographics of what is going on in the world (see Hans Rosling), you will see that "foreigners" are rapidly increasing in their ability to produce their own stuff. The USA has very little relative advantage anymore, the way it did when it was the only major intact economy after WWII.
    http://www.gapminder.org/
    http://www.ted.com/speakers/hans_rosling.html
And, you'd also see that even China is automating to cut labor costs...
    http://www.plasticsnews.com/china/english/headlines2.html?id=1278958338

Anyway, you might want to think about how you are filtering, spinning, and assuming information here.

The good news is, this all helps me get a better sense of how to present things, so thanks.

As a matter of fact, we have too many Internets.