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You could have a whole industry of finger-pointers and fact checkers looking into the effectiveness of offset claims.

The example of green server farms doesn't strike me as ludicrous or faddish. It's really easy to measure things like power consumption.

Siting would in part determine where the power is coming from. You could also do cool things like setting up in a northern state that gets lots of snow, and use ice ponds to assist the air conditioning.

It's conceivable that big farms could invest in local alternative energy plants as a way of stabilizing long-term costs and priority during shortages.

You could back up wind power with an investment in "methane farming" at a local landfill. Methane could be stored and "burned" in a fuel cell stack when the grid or wind farm can't supply cheap and/or "green" juice.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-really-an-autism-epidemic&print=true AND http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1576829,00.html

Whilst I have no particular opinion on the issue of Intel's guilt or otherwise, I have to laugh at:

the only court I am interested in is the court of public opinion. In that court Intel is Guilty PERIOD.

In that court, half the US public subscribe to creationism. 73% believe in miracles, 61% in the devil, and 34% believe that the Earth is being visited by alien spaceships. According to Time, 36% of Americans think that the government were complicit or actively involved in 9/11. Almost a third of Americans believe that electronic devices like cell phones cause cancer, and the vast majority believe that the risk of dying of cancer is increasing.

So what? Only this: the court of popular opinion and reality (or justice) have very little in common. That does not negate the importance of said institution. The mere fact that we are in the words of Douglas Adams a lot of useless bloody loonies doesn't negate the fact that these are the nation's voters and consumers. But it does mean that pointing at 'the court of popular opinion' to justify your language is scraping the bottom of the barrel. OLPC are publicly held to be darling happy fluffy bunny types who can do no wrong... and?

Corporations are the last entities that should be consulted regarding morality and ethics. They don't have any because you can't reconcile utility maximizing behavior with behavior that is contrary. Corporations are limited only by what they can get away with or what they think they can get away with. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501040705-658372,00.html

What about the drug company's? Aren't there some African states that refused to be extorted on licensing arrangements for AIDS drugs? I know I'm supposed to be conditioned that protecting IP is good but isn't saving lives better?

I would expect corporations to want to protect assets. If they can condition the general public to believe...then their stock becomes more valuable which is what it's all about. The unfortunate thing is we let corporations get in a position to dictate morality and ethics when they should have no part in the debate.

I'd rather buy domestic and be allowed to complain when they outsource my job to India. Instead of being the guy driving a Mercedes with a dumbfounded look on his face.

There have been serious studies into this idea for decades, generally involving a giant "gun barrel" submerged in water. Pump the water out, put the rocket in, let water in from the bottom to push the rocket out. Unfortunately, the NASA site with all the cool and futuristic science has been taken down (no doubt because Al Quaeoeida could build their own terrorist space elevator if they read about it on the web).

Here's a link to a really old (1963) article on a variant of the concept: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,829711,00.html

There's a reason so many are anti-Bush, because he's dropped the ball with terrorism (Terrorists determined to use aircraft, daily intel briefing), reduced civil liberties, and has tried his best to cow the general public with fear. Hence the popular phrase "I'm sick and tired, of being sick and tired"...in regard to W. Clinton left Bush with a plan to go after Bin Laden and ample warnings about the terrorism threat. Richard Clarke did his best to warn the dubya administration, and he was demoted. Here's the full deal. on Time.com.

For Wikipedia, could be any of a thousand staffers, I've worked on Capitol Hill and there's just too many people that would have motives to alter this Wikipedia entry.

Sorry, here's the TIME story from 1959: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,937849,00.html

Oh yeah, everyone who is against steam cell research is perfectly rational. There isn't a single person* opposed to stem cell research but in favor of in vitro fertilization.

The only thing less rational would be if someone were pro-life, except of course for when it came to capital punishment.

* Bush even praised in vitro fertilization in his 2001 speech about the horrors of stem-cell research

I hate to say I agree with the Chinese government, but the Falun Gong are a bunch of raving loonies and the only reason they are afforded the smallest inch of credibility in the west is because doing so helps to justify an increasing paranoia about the rise of mainland China here.

Seriously, Li Hongzhi fits every definition of a cult leader. Check out this interview with him in Time magazine for a taste of his wackiness.

Not that any of this justifies persecution, of course, but he's the Chinese L. Ron Hubbard.

healthcare/insurance corps have produced a "libertarian" hoax that is precisely wrong.

Neither healthcare nor health insurance were created by Libertarians in the US. The current health insurance industry was created by a Democrat, FDR. During WWII, because of wage and price control laws, employers couldn't pay employees more so to entice people to work in factories and other establishments the government allowed employers to pay for health insurance for the employees. And still today employer have an incentive to offer insurance instead of just paying employees more. If the laws favoring employer provided health insurance, they pay no tax on it, were gotten rid of and employers were able to pay employees more so they could buy health insurance on their own healthcare would be cheaper and more people would be more keen to hold costs down. And by allowing people to buy and pay for their own healthcare they will be able to decide what sort of coverage they want, if they only want catastrophic coverage they can pay less for it versus another person who wants everything covered. Then with more people paying more out of pocket they will be more willing to shop for lower prices. That's called competition, you know, what many blame on driving workers pay down? Let competition drive cost down.

--I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.

I'd argue that they are the overseers of how governments, corporations, and groups in general run.

Still, Ghandi's other quote --- "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is gravely important that you do it." I take to heart..

I strive to be like one of the best unknown people... the Unknown Rebel.

Reading the text and the picture still makes my eyes mist up. No matter how big they are, and how small you are, you can still make a difference. I think that sentiment is what is missing in the US today...

Torture is still used because it works, and it works because it's still used? That's some nice circular logic there, Lou.

The only reason it's still used because some people are sociopaths who enjoy hurting others (or they are in search of "revenge"). This is why it's generally associated with Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and North Korea. It's a verifiable fact
that
torture
does
not
work
for
the
reasons
I
explained
previously.

There Are Four Lights!

Considering that current law states that copyright is valid until 70 years after the author's death, that copyright will expire in 2036.

Of course, since there's this other person who also died in 1966, the copyright period will probably be extended before it expires.

Considering that current law states that copyright is valid until 70 years after the author's death, that copyright will expire in 2036.

Of course, since there's this other person who also died in 1966, the copyright period will probably be extended before it expires.

.haeger

1. According to a report by "The Economist", the Japanese government, by 2005, had apologized 17 times for the role of the Japanese in World War II. The Japanese government even gave a written apology to the Korean government.

2. According to a report by "The Washington Post", Tokyo paid $500 million of war reparations to Seoul in 1965.

3. According to a CNN report, a "Time" magazine report, and several other reports, Nazi symbols are popular in Korea. "A small photo of Adolf Hitler adorns the entrance to the Fifth Reich, an upscale watering hole in Seoul's Shinchon university district. A larger picture of the Führer hangs across from the bar, where waiters and waitresses with swastika arm badges mix drinks that have names like 'Adolf Hitler' and 'Dead'."

4. Koreans have viciously treated non-Koreans in South Korea. The Chinese immigrant community has succeeded in nearly every Asian country (including Japan). The exception is South Korea. The Chinese population in Korea declined from 50,000 to 10,000. "Many Chinese claim they were forced out by the Seoul authorities."

5. A reporter at "The Economist" wrote, "Koreans have always prided themselves on ethnic homogeneity, and feared and distrusted outsiders."

6. The U.S. State department has warned, "Citizenship [in Korea] is based on blood, not location of birth, and Koreans must show as proof their family genealogy. Thus, ethnic Chinese born and resident in Korea cannot obtain citizenship or become public servants."

7. "Purity" of blood is extremely important in Korean culture. "Traditional reverence for familial bloodlines [in Korea] and the social stigmas attached to adoptees as well as children who are disabled, mixed race or born out of wedlock limit local enthusiasm for the [adoption] program. Thus, international adoption continues to outpace domestic." "Because of societal values emphasizing the importance of bloodline, children were adopted domestically only by extended family or blood relatives."

Although a tiny percentage of Japanese citizens supports a revisionist history (as evidenced by the shocking memorial next to Yasukuni Shrine), the overwhelming majority of Japanese is aware of the correct history of World War II: specifically, the Japanese military initiated a war of aggression.

However, this unfortunate history is no justification, whatsoever, for the the racist and bigotted attitudes of the Koreans. Korean citizens who reside in Japan but who refuse Japanese citizenship should be treated as foreigners. These Korean "refuseniks" are loyal to either South Korea or North Korea. The Japanese government should fingerprint all Korean "refuseniks".

Uranium Miner Cancer (5x Greater than non-miners)

Lung Cancer in Non-Smoking Uranium Miner

Cancer Kills 14 Aboriginal Uranium Workers

Google can find you lots more, just search for uranium miner cancer.

Remember the radon scare? Now just imagine going to work every day where there is a lot of radon present and your boss doesn't give you an air-tank to avoid it.

As far as cleanup, take a gander at the Moab tailings pile left behind from the last time someone made a buck off "cheap, clean nuclear power".

To use an example more people may recognize, Yao Ming was "created" by the Communist China-assisted marriage of two national basketball stars: http://www.time.com/time/asia/covers/501051114/story.html

FWIW, there was a lull between the first world trade center bombing and the eventual successful one.

With the outfits like the GIA and the AZF floating around in france, you should be thankful for a greater than 10 year lull in attack on the paris metro...

If you read the propaganda from the other side of the pond, one wonders if it is because of this tightening of the law, france has been able to live "peacefully since"

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,176139,00.html

What a despicable thing to do to an animal just to make it tastier to eat.

The photos of tubes being put down the throats of ducks certainly look horrific, but animal rights activists have a tendency to over-dramatize things. From an article in Time magazine:

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1669732,00.html

The debate is centered on the practice of gavage, in which corn is force-fed to farm-raised ducks through a funnel down their throats. Some argue that gavage is inhumane, while others counter that the physiology of a duck is not the same as a human. "It seems terrible if you don't know that a duck's esophagus is lined with a very thick cuticle, if you don't realize that baby ducks are fed by their mother pushing her beak down the baby's throat," says Ariane Daguin, owner of D'Artagnan, the largest foie gras purveyor in the U.S. Recent studies by Dr. Daniel Guémené, a leading expert on the physiological effects of gavage, have shown that ducks with young in the wild were under more stress than the ducks being fed through gavage. And both The American Veterinary Medical Association's House of Delegates and the American Association of Avian Pathologists have concluded that foie is not a product of animal cruelty.

Also, here's an abstract of research by Guémené:

http://www.edpsciences.org/articles/animres/pdf/2001/02/faure.pdf

The debate on welfare issues related to the force feeding of ducks and geese involves understanding the reactions of the animals to the force feeding process. Two types of experiment were performed. Ducks and geese were trained to be fed in a pen 8 metres away from their rearing pen and were then force fed in the feeding pen. The hypothesis was that if force feeding caused aversion, the animals would not spontaneously go to the test pen. There were some signs of aversion in ducks, but not full avoidance, and there were no signs of aversion in geese. In another experiment, the flight distances of ducks from the person who performed the force feeding and from an unknown observer were measured. Ducks avoided the unknown person more than the force feeder. Their avoidance of the force feeder decreased during the force feeding period. There was no development of aversion to the force feeder during the force feeding process.

Did this one make anyone else think of Star Trek VI? No? Anyway, it's just another example of how science fiction can't keep up with reality. The idea of a 2001 prequel to a 1960's science fiction series is what doomed Enterprise from the start -- society and science in 2001 had surpassed many aspects of TOS (transporter and FTL excepted, of course).

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562978,00.html

Found that in a previous /. comment. Very apt though.

In Soviet Russia, there were 'standing room only' flights.

No kidding.

Convergence.

CC.

"As of the mid-70's... the Russians weren't admitting anything other than successful missions".

While true of their general policy, definitely not true of the two instances when they lost a crew (Soyuz 1 in 1967 and Soyuz 11 in 1971) on a mission. In both instances, there was a big state funeral (US astronaut Tom Stafford was even a pallbearer at the second) and their human spaceflight programme was brought to a halt. The Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11 tragedies were well-known about in the West. No need to trouble the CIA. You could, for example, have picked up Time magazine May 5, 1967 or July 12, 1971.

Or maybe just the local paper. Here's an eBay auction (not mine) for a regional American newspaper reporting the Soyuz 1 crash as front-page news on the day after it happened, giving Soviet news agency Tass as the source.

"As of the mid-70's... the Russians weren't admitting anything other than successful missions".

While true of their general policy, definitely not true of the two instances when they lost a crew (Soyuz 1 in 1967 and Soyuz 11 in 1971) on a mission. In both instances, there was a big state funeral (US astronaut Tom Stafford was even a pallbearer at the second) and their human spaceflight programme was brought to a halt. The Soyuz 1 and Soyuz 11 tragedies were well-known about in the West. No need to trouble the CIA. You could, for example, have picked up Time magazine May 5, 1967 or July 12, 1971.

Or maybe just the local paper. Here's an eBay auction (not mine) for a regional American newspaper reporting the Soyuz 1 crash as front-page news on the day after it happened, giving Soviet news agency Tass as the source.

As far as losing contracts...well...who ELSE would the government go to? It's not like a NASA contract and they have between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin.

Other telecos. This is what allegedly happened to Qwest in 2001, when the NSA wiretapping program started (BEFORE 9/11/01). Qwest had some fat government contracts coming, but were pulled when they refused to go along with the illegal wiretapping. This made for a bit a problem for their CEO Joseph Naccio, who sold a bunch of shares in the spring and was then prosecuted by the feds for insider trading when the stock price fell in the summer. His defense, which he was not allowed to provide evidence during the trial, was that he sold his shares when he thought these government contracts were going to make up for falling revenue in the rest of the company. If this is true, someone needs to go down hard for malicious prosecution.

It might not be true, but that's the problem with politicizing law enforcement. In high profile white collar prosecutions, it was almost reflexive that the defendant would claim the prosecution was political, and those claims would be dismissed as quickly. Such was the case with Don Siegelman, former governor of Alabama. Except it looks like he was right: a host of Republicans were implicated in a bribery scandal along with Siegelman, but only the Democrat was prosecuted, let alone investigated.

My suggestion, blog about avoiding war with Iran.

How about blogging on avoiding allowing psychotic terrorists to have nuclear weapons, avoiding threatening to exterminate everyone in a neighboring country, and avoiding executing people for being gay or insulting the government?

I know this is slightly OT, but I'd like to see some sort of reasoned debate over it here...

What exactly was so offensive about MoveOn.org's ad campaign in the first place?

Petraeus has handled the Iraq war poorly, and in several cases lied outright to the American people. MoveOn.org called him out on it. Isn't that how democratic politics and free speech are supposed to work?

It's no secret that many Americans feel that the government misled the general public in order to bolster support for their war, and the ad was a simple reflection of this reality. It wasn't even a baseless personal attack -- they provide quotations, and even cite their sources.

Perhaps the most troubling part of the whole saga is that the house passed a resolution condemning the advert 341-79, and the senate 71-29 (With all 49 republicans, and 22 democrats voting in favor). The president even got in on the action.

This Time editorial seems to have the best summation of the whole situation.

Is this all the legislative branch is good for these days? Sternly wagging their fingers at political action groups, and listening to baseball testimony?

Not according to this British Court:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1670882,00.html

The "errors" this judge points out are some BIG ONES. Such as the alleged causal link between CO2 and temperature. Does anybody ever point out the ridiculous amounts of money Gore and other corporations stand to make if this hysteria goes any further and forces more legislative and trade policy changes?

Al Gore's lies have even be been disputed by his own environmental allies from the IPCC. John T. Houghton, co-chair IPCC Scientific Assessment working group 1988-2002, acknowledges that ice core samples show CO2 driven by temperature, not the reverse, as stated by Al Gore.

The CIA disagree with your analysis. 'Drinking water, in fact, is shaping up to be the single most contested resource on the planet... it notes that almost half of the world's population will live in "water-stressed" societies. And that's going to drive a number of regional conflicts in the coming years.'

But I've done a few Internet researches. "religion child abuse" for example, yields about 2.5 million Google hits, many on the first few pages are links to scientific papers researching the link between those two. "religion mental illness" yields about 2 mio. pages, again several from the first few pages pointing to scientific journals or papers. If the link is no obvious to you: You certainly would agree that "training" a child in, say, shizophrenia, would be abusive, wouldn't you?

Your "Google Proof" method of affirming your claims is invalid. The majority of pages on the "religion child abuse" search are quoting Dawkins and discussing his claims. Let's look at the first 10 results, shall we?

1. http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48252 - WorldNetDaily
Discusses Dawkins' series "The Root of All Evil?". Presents comments from a Catholic Church spokesperson in responce. Takes no position on the issue, as good news journalism shold.

2. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,100175,00.html - Time Magazine
A news article about a paricular sect who refuse medical treatment for their children in favour of prayer. This is not common religious teaching, and the article doens't present it as such, but discusses the rights of the parent and changes to the view of "freedom of religion." More about politics then religion.

3. http://www.nospank.net/bottoms.pdf - NoSpank PDF
Bias aleart. NoSpank has a pre-published agenda and have cherrypicked articles to support. That aside, the article doesn't conclude that religion is child abuse, but that when religion is used to abuse it can have worse after affects. I would dispute this article based on the fact that it is published by a non-objective source, but regardless, it doesn't support your initial idea.

4. http://richarddawkins.net/article,118,Religions-Real-Child-Abuse,Richard-Dawkins
I won't even bother. Yep - surprise. Richard Dawkins thinks religion is child abuse. But wait a second - it reveals where some of Richard's spite towards the church comes from:

Being fondled by the Latin master in the Squash Court was a disagreeable sensation for a nine-year-old, a mixture of embarrassment and skin-crawling revulsion...

This is something I've been searching to find for a while. Reading Dawkins' work, and listening to him talk, I've always thought to myself "someone in the church has hurt him, and he's blaming God for it". And I was right. He speaks like someone who is motivated by bitterness rather then a series of objective findings that lead him to atheism. So he was abused, and blames religion/church/god for it. Maybe laying blame on the abuser who was using their position of responsobility for wrongdoing would be more sensible then a crusade against religion.

5. http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2006/11/religion-as-child-abuse-and-about-hell.html - Blog post
Not anything approaching authorititive, the author links his own critiques of James Dobson that take read meaning into statements where there are none, and then write a diatribe on that one point. Example? He links an article which looks at the following paragraph:

Some kids can be crushed with nothing more than a stern look; others seem to require strong and even painful disciplinary measures to make a vivid impression. This difference usually results from the degree to which a child needs adult approval and acceptance. The primary parental task is to see things as the child perceives them, thereby

Reading the link you provide, I can't see how you say that Carter proposed it; he and the DoE were heavily pushing for Nuclear Power Everywhere, and actually threatened to veto a congressional bill to extend funding for the initial plan.

The only reference I find in Time's Archive is here, which is more about the precursor project Powersat, which used mirrors to heat a liquid and drive a turbine.

The Wikipedia article doesn't mention Carter at all.

So yes, this idea has been around a long time (your article traces it back to Peter Glaser, which Wikipedia places in 1968), but it's always gotten the same reception it has now: "yes, that's a nice idea, but we're too busy doing other things right now."

Tarzana, California (AP) -- The Gay Nigger Association of America (GNAA) is celebrating 10 years of trolling Slashdot (as well as setting up shock sites and vandalizing Wikipedo) and we would like YOU to help us celebrate! The GNAA will be holding 10th anniversary celebration parties at dozens of locations across the US. Founder Timecop will be hosting a party at GNAA World Headquarters in Tarzana, California. We hear there are quite large gatherings also planned for Waco Texas, West Palm Beach Florida, Hope Arkansas, and Kennebunkport Maine. In addition a group of Londoners will simultaneously hold a party to celebrate the GNAUK at a pub in London.

As a bonus incentive GNAA will be giving out free schwag to the parties, but unlike certain websites it will not just be lame tshirts, no, we will be giving away goatse rescue floppies, exclusive first edition DVDs of Gayniggers from Outer Space, copies of Time Magazine, and complete box sets of the L0de Radio Hour. One lucky party will recieve $1,000 to spend at His X Press! So don't delay, arrange your party today!

In true GNAA fashion, we will also be crashing nearby Slashdot parties and drowning out all possible conversation until we get "modded down" by security.

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sort of: 1899 Horsey Horseless

The problem listed in the article is an increase in heart attacks and strokes post-transfusion. Time's more complete article says that 25% of blood donor recipients have heart attacks within the 30 days post-transfusion, as opposed to 8% of patients who came in to the emergency with similar conditions, but did not get a blood transfusion.

When the problem shows itself over the 30 days post-transfusion, it can be hard for medical researchers to notice and research the issue. I'd suggest (assuming this research has been done properly), having my probability of MI increase from less than 1 in 10 to 1 in 4, would make me want them to consider altering the requirements, whether it be by providing more new blood, or by artificially adding Nitric Oxide (not Nitrous Oxide, as the summary claims).

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1657686,00.html

You want your Goatse on holes?

How about the US boarder holes? Dont worry, its just a Time Magazine front cover... looking like goatse.

'education' could simply be using the brain harder.
i remember reading about bilinguality being a factor in reducing a chance of dementia (though can't find a link right now).

then there's also the possibility of games improving brain state - http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/12/0733237

and, well, there's also the thing that moderate alcohol usage could help in dementia prevention ;)
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1623739,00.html

so there are some things one can do. let's drink to that !

-S

If we start tunneling through the phone lines, governments can just cut the cables there too (except for "official" uses of course). Ground-based communication in general is trickier with Burma due to low resources and dense jungle. Satellites are a good idea, and they are already being used to document Myanmar atrocities. Tech isn't good enough to get detailed accounts of the protests (only stuff the people are actually *protesting* like the civilian relocations and shelling of villages), but it's a good start.

That's too funny, modded as flamebait by some brainless neocon follower.

      Yeah BWJones, how can you be so unpatriotic? I am shocked and I think I am going to faint. In fact, you must be a terrorist for not Supporting Our Troops and Our Great Leader Who Can Do No Wrong.

      Sympathy, guy. I laughed.

Funny how most of the people who say that the US is a police state are Americans who've never actually been to or met anyone who has lived in a real police states.

You're totally right. Those other repressive regimes operate secret prisons where people are whisked away without being formally charged and then they're tortured for supposed information. Nobody even knows how many of those prisons exist or how many prisoners are in them. And then their own government completely monitors all their 'private' communications without warrants or any reasonable cause to suspect them of wrong-doing.

Fortunately, we've got a constitution that protects Americans from living under such a 'police state.'

Seth

You might find this article interesting then

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1659417,00.html

The relatively informal test found 43% of the medical equipment was affected to some degree by mobile phone signals...

Sara Vowel on people comparing people to Rosa Parks: http://www.time.com/time/sampler/article/0,8599,96 988,00.html

Running an Irish pub is a common occupation for smart people in the US, then? Or did you just pull that last statement out of your ass? Guess you did.

Eh, the two statements are entirely unrelated. The first part of the statement was to arrest the absurd notion that there are few European immigrants in the US, when a tiny country like Ireland, with 4 million (well, a little over) gets on the list with countries like China and India. In fact, there are abotu 200 times as many Irish immigrants in the US as there are Chinese, relative to the size of the countries. Forgive me if my math is slightly off.

The second statement is just a statement of fact. The smart people are in fact leaving Europe for the US. This is not only demonstrably true, it has also been a topic of conversation in Europe for years and years. But then again, I guess you are one of those ignorant people who don't know things like this.

Are you familiar with the term "brain drain"? This is when smart people systematically leave one region to seek their fortunes in a region that is more supportive of their talents. There is a significant immigration from Europe to the US still, and the immigration consists of, as opposed to the immigration to the US from Latin America, the top talent of Europe. If you are really good at what you are doing, you will in a significant number of cases move to the US. Soccer perhaps being one of the few exceptions.

If you want to read more and get enlightened, try this article. If you would rather stay ignorant and argumentative I'd recommend you do not read the article. Your illusions will be shattered.

If you don't want to shatter your illusions by reading this article - let me enlighten you just a little bit. An example to show why talented people are leaving Europe and working in the US instead.

If you are a professor at most European universities, you have a certain salary. What subject you teach is more or less irrelevant in regards to your salary. If you teach economics your salary is about the same, with minor variations, as the salary of a history professor or a sociology professor. This is because in the European mindset your effort is what should determine your salary, not your marketability.

In the US a professor of history makes from $45,000 and up to about $80,000 or so, depending on university, experience etc. If you have a PhD of Economics and you join one of the better schools, like Yale, your starting salary is probably going to be in the $120,000 to $150,000 range. If you get tenure you'll probably go well past $200,000. In base salary. He makes two or three times as much as a professor of history. Is this fair? Yes it is. Does it mean that the smart economic students are moving to the US, yes it does.

If you finish a PhD in the US, which a lot of Europeans do, with great grades and a job offer from Cornell or Yale. How many people would move back to Europe? How many could?

As you say, not exactly. Depends on your definition of 'domestic spying', I suppose:

Deaths from WTC: 2,726 See http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm51SPa6. htm

US deaths in Iraq, to date: 3,774 See http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_ca sualties.htm

Could better 'domestic spying' have prevented the WTC atrocities, well, maybe.

See http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,333 835,00.html

From that last article,
"Could al-Qaeda's plot have been foiled if the U.S. had taken the fight to the terrorists in January 2001? Perhaps not. The thrust of the winter plan was to attack al-Qaeda outside the U.S. Yet by the beginning of that year, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi, two Arabs who had been leaders of a terrorist cell in Hamburg, Germany, were already living in Florida, honing their skills in flight schools. Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar had been doing the same in Southern California. The hijackers maintained tight security, generally avoided cell phones, rented apartments under false names and used cash-not wire transfers-wherever possible. If every plan to attack al-Qaeda had been executed, and every lead explored, Atta's team might still never have been caught.

But there's another possibility. An aggressive campaign to degrade the terrorist network worldwide-to shut down the conveyor belt of recruits coming out of the Afghan camps, to attack the financial and logistical support on which the hijackers depended-just might have rendered it incapable of carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks. Perhaps some of those who had to approve the operation might have been killed, or the money trail to Florida disrupted. We will never know, because we never tried."

I'm very concerned about my civil liberties, but I'm even more concerned that the the next time I take the 'plane, the bus, the subway - or I'm just sitting at my desk, or on holiday with my family - I might get wiped out by some terrorist.

Where you have a point is that intelligent, positive options to resolve the inhuman mess in the Middle East probably did not include invading Iraq.