Slashdot Mirror

Syria - Shia/Alawite govt in spite of a Sunni majority (which is what irritates Saudi Arabia), sustained in power mainly by Iranian support. Now, I wonder if you remember this?

Other than that, if you really want to lose your mind, have a nice day, sir.

I really think the best strategic move for USA is to stay out of it: in such a nightmarish overlapping/conflicting seas of interest, it wouldn't take too much for the players to want a simplification: what would be easier than to explain to a population driven crazy by war than "The US devils are to blame" - they'll forget quite quckly about their internal quibbles.

http://www.theworld.org/2012/11/the-energy-costs-of-oil-production/ “Back in the 1920’s, oil was paying off at 100-to-1,” said Zencey. “It took one barrel of oil to extract, process, refine, ship and deliver 100 barrels of oil. That’s a phenomenal rate of return. If you work out the percentage, that’s a 10,000 percent rate of return.” But that’s not the rate of return today. Now, conventional oil production worldwide pays off at about a 20-to-1 ratio. And in Canada, where the oil comes from tar sands, it’s closer to 5-to-1. “Renewable energy sources are paying off at higher rates, 12-to-1, 15-to-1, 17-to-1. That tells you right there, hmmmm, the age of oil should be over.”

...rampant voter fraud perpetrated at the hands of minorities...

Be vigilant, my friend. The canadian storm is coming.

It's actually becoming inpossible to celebrate an innocent little Mithraitic Mystery during R&R. What is this, Monotheocracy? What about the usual devout god-idol fearing sacrifice or three to Moloch, on military grounds, on the harvest celebration?

All this social religious intolerance has really gone too far! Fortunately, even deep Wiccan crimonies are still observed and respected, in the intelligence and medical detachments.

Too late.

In 2012 Pakistan shut down their cell phone networks for a period of time . The reason they did this was to prevent bombings, which often use a cell phone as their trigger.

Almost all cell phones now are connected to the internet, even the very cheap ones.

Thus, the year it says we will see the first murder via an internet connected device likely has already happened.

What they mean to say is the first murder via an internet connected device that uses the internet itself to commit the murder.

But really, some of those cell phones go off when sent a text. It really is barely different for them to go off when receiving an email and more modern phones like the iPhone's texts go over the internet anyway. Even though these people are using much cheaper models, it could easily have already happened.

"He is a very eccentric person; there is no question. He is a very complex person. In fact, in one instance in August, I had heard a rumor that he had in fact killed somebody, and I asked him about that. And he says, “That he actively encouraged the rumors about him.” And I said, “Why would you do that?” He said, “Because I wanted people to be scared of me.” He said, “Remember I am living here, in a place where I feel very threatened. Where I think people are trying to harm me, and I want them to be afraid of me, and if they think that I am capable of some brutality, then all the better” So clearly he is living a life that most people would never choose, never even dream of. And yet, I asked him, point blank, “Why don’t you leave? If you think people are trying to kill you, why don’t you leave?” He says, “I love it here! What do you mean?” That’s why I said he is complex; it is very hard to figure him out."

There are some other interviews with or stories by Josh Davis who has interviewed him for over 100 hours over 6 months.

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/14/165160275/anti-virus-software-pioneer-on-the-run-in-belize

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/threatlevel_1112_mcafee/

McAfee sounds crazy and paranoid, but that doesn't mean that people aren't out to get him.

Hey, it worked for Bouazizi, look at Tunisia now!
It appears to be working in Egypt and elsewhere, too.

Bummer for the fear-mongering war machine executives, how do you save the masses from themselves????

In some countries, cemetery plots are leased, not sold.

I like to listen to The World, from BBC/NPR... In today's audio...

http://www.theworld.org/node/24849

"Delhi-based economic journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurtha tells anchor Lisa Mullins why India's economy is managing some growth while many neighboring economies are slipping."

But, what did *I* learn today? (this is from memory, and some of it my own adding...)

        India's economy is set or on track to grow some 3-5% this and next year, even though the rest of the (industrialized) world is stagnating. Why? India's economy is not nearly as integrated with the rest of the world as is the US', Japan's, Korea's, UK's, etc.

Some 1/3 of Indians go to bed starving, but some 2/3 of "Americans" are classed as "overweight". Indian make of some 1/3 of the world's IT force, yet India's own domestic infrastructure is ~ or http://www.theworld.org/node/24850

I learned:

"General Motors and Chrysler produce nearly a quarter of their North American vehicles in Ontario. So they're asking Canadian taxpayers to pitch in almost a quarter of the money that the companies say they need to stay afloat. The World's Jason Margolis has more."

So,
        Canadians produce around 25% of GM's cars, and GM wants Canadians to ante up (help out) with some 20% of the money GM needs. Including benefits, Canadian GM workers earn about $49/per hour! But, effective take-home pay is about $25/hour. Canadians, understandably, are concerned that GM or other US-carmakers will get them to sign on to a Canadian-citizen-funded auto industry bailout program, then take the money to less-expensive Asian areas, or back to the US.

Interesting report...

---

And, here:

GM Europe 'could run out of cash'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7922186.stm

----

GM Europe 'could run out of cash'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7879372.stm

I listen to the following podcasts that cover technical subjects and are the best I've found. The Naked Scientists provide the best overall coverage in hour-long sessions. Leoville's Futures in Biotech is very good in this cutting-edge field, but offers a limited number of entries. Perhaps more donations would enable the producer to do more. Microbeworld offers one-minute bites. Some of the leoville material that covers his radio call-in program last 2 hrs. Except for the FIB, all of his stuff is electronics-related (computers--Mac and Windows --, computer security, cell phones, digital cameras, and home theater). Some casts involve panels and guests. I've not included several more he does relating to food and children. Time compression software or other enhanced playback options are helpful with it as well as the other items if your time is limited.The Lancet offers several categories of current medical info. Podnuts is a computer repair discussion. Ziepod on Vista Home Premium works well to download all new episodes once a week. http://leoville.tv/podcasts/twit.xml http://feeds.feedburner.com/microbeworld http://www.theworld.org/rss/tech.xml http://leoville.tv/podcasts/kfi.xml http://leoville.tv/podcasts/fib.xml http://www.thenakedscientists.com/naked_scientists_podcast.xml http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/quirksaio.xml http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/docarchive/rss.xml http://leoville.tv/podcasts/leo.xml http://podcast.thelancet.com/laneur.xml http://podcast.thelancet.com/lancet.xml http://podcast.thelancet.com/laninf.xml http://feeds.feedburner.com/podnutz http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/mh/rss.xml

Since ms makes that much in PROFITS (not revenue) per MONTH off it's (illegal) monopoly, the find is nothing. They should penilize (yep) ms that much per WEEK. Hit them enough to make it hurt, to comply, to open up...

Check out:

http://theworld.org/?q=node/16292

But, don't forget the black market. People WILL get hold of these. At some point, if antibiotics became illegal, then when does the kick-in/reporting to law enforcement start for the attending physician?

Also, since we're on meds/drugs/pandemics, drug abuse should be managed in more creative ways. See:

Drug debate in Spain (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020812

Overdose Rescue Kits Save Lives
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17578955

Global Obesity Series
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=010108full

South Africa law focuses on teen sex (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020810

Just in case anyone's interested...

But, don't forget the black market. People WILL get hold of these. At some point, if antibiotics became illegal, then when does the kick-in/reporting to law enforcement start for the attending physician?

Also, since we're on meds/drugs/pandemics, drug abuse should be managed in more creative ways. See:

Drug debate in Spain (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020812

Overdose Rescue Kits Save Lives
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17578955

Global Obesity Series
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=010108full

South Africa law focuses on teen sex (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020810

Just in case anyone's interested...

But, don't forget the black market. People WILL get hold of these. At some point, if antibiotics became illegal, then when does the kick-in/reporting to law enforcement start for the attending physician?

Also, since we're on meds/drugs/pandemics, drug abuse should be managed in more creative ways. See:

Drug debate in Spain (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020812

Overdose Rescue Kits Save Lives
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17578955

Global Obesity Series
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=010108full

South Africa law focuses on teen sex (4:00)
http://theworld.org/wma.php?id=01020810

Just in case anyone's interested...

Public Radio International had a 5 minute piece on this a few weeks ago. You can listen here if you can play wma.

The World (a PRI program) mentioned this in part of a larger story on malaria in Africa (WMA file, fittingly enough). The ultimate point was that as much as Bill is being generous in his giving, he largely has wanted to see it go toward technological improvements rather than simple things that work now (eg sleeping mats spayed down with repellent).

It's a good listen overall, though.

The World (a PRI program) mentioned this in part of a larger story on malaria in Africa (WMA file, fittingly enough). The ultimate point was that as much as Bill is being generous in his giving, he largely has wanted to see it go toward technological improvements rather than simple things that work now (eg sleeping mats spayed down with repellent).

It's a good listen overall, though.

A few other NPR shows:

Science Friday

Speaking of Faith

To the Best of Our Knowledge

The World

And the most popular hour on public radio:
Car Talk

Oh, and Jimmy "Nukear" Carter can??

GWB is nothing comparied to Jimmy Carter, who did graduate work in nuclear physics, he pronounces the word nook-ee-uh

This release renders NPR's The World correctly for the first time.

One nice Safari feature is the two-click procedure to report a broken page to Apple. The World is the only page I ever had to report. Now I am happy.