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I hope this is a lesson to everyone regarding temporary suspension of powers. There is NO SUCH THING AS TEMPORARY. Once you give them away they are gone until the next revolution and re-establishment of laws.

I don't think you quite have the hang of how things work in a democracy.

After the Civil War, black Americans were free, but then segregation laws were passed in some states, but they were ultimately struck down. The United States once had a constitutional amendment prohibiting alcohol, and then it was undone as very unpopular by another constitutional amendment. During World War 2, Americans had their spending controlled by ration books for things like food, gasoline, and clothing. That's over. During World War 2, American media and mail was censored by the government. That's over. Until recently, cities and states could place onerous restrictions or prohibitions on the ownership of firearms by law abiding citizens, but that has been struck down.

The Patriot Act was previously amended to address civil rights concerns:

Senate passes Patriot Act changes
Posted 3/1/2006 11:11 AM Updated 3/1/2006 9:48 PM
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Senate added civil liberties protections to the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, clearing the way for renewal of the anti-terrorism law passed shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The 95-4 vote ended months of bipartisan debate centering on privacy rights. Subsequent procedural votes Wednesday showed enough Senate support to move the bill this week to the House for final passage and then to President Bush.

Most Americans are OK with spying on people in direct contact with terrorist organizations, or who are plotting an attack.

Because now that Osama is dead, this abomination is now to protect from mysterious random people....

Lets clarify this a bit, shall we?

Yes, it will help protect us from mysterious people - currently unknown people who are in contact with terrorist groups, as well that people plotting attacks. That is the point after all, isn't it?

Although most people on Slashdot seem to oppose spying on anyone, most Americans are OK with spying on people in direct contact with terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda (organizations trying to kill large numbers of people, not Dennis Kucinich/Ron Paul voters ... unless they happen to be eco-terrorists engaged is actual terrorism).

And maybe you've forgotten, the Patriot Act has been amended in the past to address civil rights concerns.

As to Osama being dead... let's try a thought experiment.....

If Steve Jobs were to die tomorrow,... would Apple computer vanish? Would the board of directors and senior executives vanish? The tens of thousands of employees and contractors? The factories that make Apple products? The thousands and thousands of stores that sell their products? The tens or hundreds of millions of customers that own or are buying Apple products? Would the products vanish? Would any of it vanish anytime soon if Steve Jobs died tomorrow? The answer is: No. The Apple board of directors would name a new CEO and the company would continue. Apple might ultimately fail and vanish after some years due to lack of vision, or drive, or by losing its iconic chief visionary, but it wouldn't vanish immediately. It is also possible that they would benefit from Jobs exiting the scene... it would take time, probably years, to determine.

So, what about Al Qaeda? Now that Bin Laden is dead,... has it vanished? Has Al Qaeda's world-wide leadership vanished? Have the tens of thousands of varied terrorists and insurgents around the world swearing loyalty to Al Qaeda vanished? Have the caches of weapons and cash vanished? Have the tens or hundreds of thousands of people that they trained vanished? Have the hundreds of thousands or millions of active supporters around the world vanished? Have the tens of millions of Muslims that approve of them vanished? The answer is: No. Al Qaeda has named successors to Bin Laden, and they are carrying on in their various plots and campaigns of destruction, murder, and mayhem. In a sense they may even be more lethal now --- Al Qaeda's leadership has vetoed some planned attacks in the past since they projected that it wouldn't meet the Al Qaeda standard for body counts. The new leadership may take what they can get. Of course, if you have enough incidents killing dozens or hundreds at a time, you can still reach a total body count in the thousands. So, yes, Al Qaeda is still dangerous.

It has been understood by anyone interested that this is a problem that will almost certainly last decades - that was being discussed not long after 9/11. Here is something from 2007: Pace Says War on Terror Will Require Decades of Effort. What is the alternative? Give in the their demands? Bin Laden's demands are that the United States convert is Islam, throw away the Constitution, and govern by harsh Sharia law. In case you are wavering about which way to go, here are the top ten reasons this may not be a good thing from the previous link:

10. Islam commands that drinkers and gamblers should be whipped.
9. Islam allows husbands to hit their wives even if the husbands merely fear highhandedness in their wives.

You will soon be wrong: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/04/amazon-to-launch-library-lending-for-kindle-books/1
I don't know if an american equivalent exists but there are several yearly subscription options on this website: http://librairie.immateriel.fr/ (sorry, it's french). It's probably not the only one of its kind.

"Whenever a controversial law is proposed, and its supporters, when confronted with an egregious abuse it would permit, use a phrase along the lines of 'Perhaps in theory, but the law would never be applied in that way' - they're *lying*. They intend to use the law that way as early and as often as possible."

The answer is simple - amend the law to fix the parts that need fixing. It's done all the time. Good grief.

Senate passes Patriot Act changes
Posted 3/1/2006 11:11 AM Updated 3/1/2006 9:48 PM
By John Diamond, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Senate added civil liberties protections to the USA Patriot Act on Wednesday, clearing the way for renewal of the anti-terrorism law passed shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The 95-4 vote ended months of bipartisan debate centering on privacy rights. Subsequent procedural votes Wednesday showed enough Senate support to move the bill this week to the House for final passage and then to President Bush.

"...an outbreak that would start from where exactly?"

Maybe from here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2404051.stm

or here:

http://www.livescience.com/2403-climate-threat-thawing-tundra-releases-infected-corpses.html

or even here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-12-26-smallpox-in-envelope_x.htm

Can we assume that the declared US and Russian stocks are the last viable samples anywhere on the planet..?

Burson-Marsteller is no stranger to anti-Google stories. In 2007, Microsoft admitted that it had an "ongoing relationship" with the firm, which had been lobbying a number of top UK businesses to raise the issue of Google's dominance in search.

And they have been known for this in the past: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-08-23-microsoft-letters.htm

And they are also targeting Google heavily in the phone and search market especially with threatened lawsuits.

So, yeah, a quick glance at a posting history means jack all when someone who knows what they are doing would try and mix normal comments in with the shilling. But you look at the consistent themes on particular topics, the ability to land FPs with prepared essasy with links, and you realize what you're looking at is clearly astroturfing.

Personally I dont give a shit about Linux, and use Windows and Macs mostly, but I do give a shit when people are paid to shape the conversation. And you should too. It's not tin foil hat stuff when they have ADMITTEDLY paid bloggers to do this.

Of course the flip side of it is that we can generate enough noise of our own to render BPL unusable. Wifi, too - want to see how well your 50mW wifi router manages against my 400W 2.4GHz amp?

Have you forgotten that hams have only a secondary allocation on the 70cm band?

And in the US there is work afoot to remove that allocation completely

Isn't the GSM Association a bunch of greedy, monopolistic corporates that corrupt the government for profit? We're supposed to support them? I'm so confused. :(

Oh, and when did Europe abandon science? I thought this sort of thing was reserved for Idaho. Next thing you know they'll have creationists.

The essentials of the story didn't change:

Navy SEALs flew to Pakistan in helicopters to Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad where they shot him dead, and one of his wives in the leg after she came between the SEALs and Bin Laden. The SEALs took Bin Laden's body and the US buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim custom. The rest is relatively minor detail.

Then they don't even keep the body around long enough for anyone else to verify it. They just go dump it in the sea? Seriously?

They didn't just dump his body in the sea, they buried it at sea in accordance with Muslim tradtion (though there are disputes among Muslim scholars about when and how it is permitted). Muslim custom requires quick burial. Besides, DNA tests provide all the certainty needed. (How many other 6'4" Muslims that look exactly like Bin Laden are there in Pakistan living in million dollar compounds with vast quantities of communications with Al Qadea and Bin Laden's wives present? That many?)

Why is it so important for a Muslim to buried their dead in a day?

Muslims strive to bury the deceased as soon as possible after death, avoiding the need for embalming or otherwise disturbing the body of the deceased.

Islamic Scholars Split Over Sea Burial for Bin Laden

... Mr. Brennan said that appealing to other countries would have exceeded the time frame that Islamic custom requires, of burial within 24 hours of death.

I don't think there is any serious reason to doubt a quick burial at sea, especially since the US is trying to account for Muslim sensitivities.

They are all pathological liars in my book.

President Obama announced Bin Laden was killed by American forces:
Obama Announces Death of Osama bin Laden

Al Qaeda has announced he is dead:
Text: Al Qaeda statement confirming bin Laden's death

Iran says he is dead:
Iran's intelligence chief says bin Laden died long before the 'alleged raid'

Family members denounce his death:
My father's death was criminal and I may sue the U.S.

Locals protest his death:
Pakistani tribesmen protest

So tell me, are all of these people with multiple and conflicting interests lying about Bin Laden being dead? Is it just to fool you? If so, why?

The USA Today article that first broke the story about the secret smear campaign: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2011-05-06-google_n.htm

The Daily Beast article that broke the story that the client paying for the campaign was Facebook: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-12/facebook-busted-in-clumsy-smear-attempt-on-google/?cid=topic:mostrecent1#

The actual email string between the reporter and a Burson employee that started this whole thing: http://pastebin.com/zaeTeJeJ

-David
david44357.com

The summary is hard to read because the article itself is written in very poor English, making it hard to read. When there are two grammatical errors within in the first two words of the blog post, it's not a good sign.

The Daily Beast article is much better written. (It links back to the USA Today article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2011-05-06-google_n.htm , which lays out the campaign, although doesn't name Facebook)

I do not trust the government to tell the truth on matters this large. While I doubt bin Laden is alive, I doubt the official version of his death even more.

Let's see..... the US Government announces he is dead:

Obama Announces Death of Osama bin Laden

The terrorist organization he headed announces he is dead:

Text: Al Qaeda statement confirming bin Laden's death

The regional troublemaker with a strong intelligence agency and an avowed enemy of the US announces he was dead before the operation:

Iran's intelligence chief says bin Laden died long before the 'alleged raid'

Family members denounce his death:

My father's death was criminal and I may sue the U.S.: Bin Laden's son slams Al Qaeda leader's killing

The locals are protesting his death:

Pakistani tribesmen protest

At this point, I think anyone doubting Bin Laden's death is about ready to star in their own personal Truman Show, and doesn't really need more news or photographs.... maybe a shrink or philosopher. Cogito ergo Bin Laden moritur.

The looney bin is getting crowded. Sanity: step 1, step 2....

There's absolutely nothing that says geeks can't be bullies

Interestingly, there's been some recent studies that bullies and victims often share many of the same traits:

They found the typical bully has trouble with academics and resolving problems, has negative attitudes and comes from a family with conflict.

A typical victim sounds surprisingly similar: he or she is likely to be aggressive, lacks social skills, thinks negative thoughts, has difficulty in problem-solving and comes from an environment of negativity. These youths are rejected and isolated, the research found.

Strike "trouble with academics," and you've just described many geeks. It's not surprising that people in a group that tends to fit the profile of bullying victims also learned how to be bullies somewhere along the way. Now that there's no "dumb jock" to shove their head in the toilet, one of them gets to be big man on campus and shove some other poor nerd's head in the toilet.

I know what you mean, but ... have you ever pulled out one of those old books and read them? If so, how many? If all you had to do was replace the books that you actually might re-read from time to time, I don't think it'd be too expensive. I'm getting pretty comfortable living only in my Kindle. I have a paper book that I bought several months ago, I never get around to reading it, because it's so much less convenient than my e-reader, which is always in my bag anyway.

Also, via OverDrive, you can get library books on your Kindle now (and other e-readers). So you don't even have to necessarily buy your old books if you really don't want to, you can just check them out for free. Amazing. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2011/04/amazon-to-launch-library-lending-for-kindle-books/1

Doctors give more tests because they're afraid of being sued if they don't.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-06-20-ER-overtreated_N.htm

Exactly how do you plan on powering electric long distance OTR semi-tractors?

Replace most of them with trains because they cause a disproportionate amount of road damage compared to the tax they pay. Road damage increases with the 4th power of weight increase

Trucks do pay more taxes, but i don't think that an 80,000 pound truck pays 160,000 times more than the driver of a 4000 pound car. Ok, 160,000 sounds excessive, a GAO study says that an 80,000 pound truck causes as much damage as 9600 cars. let's say an average car owner pays just $100/year in road taxes -- do any trucks pay $960,000?

Hybrid cars are great for city driving. In stop and go driving the hybrid trucks and SUVs whomp on the fuel efficiency of my truck, but semi's are going to be doing hwy driving. With little stop and go to get the advantage of regenerative breaking. Without frequent regenerative breaking you substantially cut the effectiveness of hybrids,

But hybrid powertrains have been used for many years in vehicles much bigger than a semi. Surely there must be some benefit?

And Pizza Hut stock takes off!

Ok, how about this specific: About five years ago, it was revealed that the National Security Agency had a massive database containing hundreds of millions of phone calls. Not from terrorists, not from suspects, but from tens of millons of ordinary American citizens. Why would the NSA go to all the trouble of doing this - illegally, I might add - if they didn't think they could glean useful data from it? (USA Today)

Another specific: In the former communist states (the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc) the government systematically eavesdropped on people's phone calls. This had the effect of scaring people into submission (you could never feel safe saying or doing something critical against the government). It is estimated that in the DDR (Eastern Germany), about half the population were informants, i.e spied on their family, friends or neighbours for the government.
And yet, even the Soviet government needed an excuse before they imprisoned someone - they couldn't just send someone off to work camp without a trial. Supposedly treasonous comments picked up during conversations were one way of providing such excuses.

I think you're wrong in assuming you can avoid incrimination by being careful with what you say. There is one piece of advice lawyers give their clients over and over again: Don't talk to the police. You may think nothing can go wrong if you're innocent, you may think you're smarter than the police, you may think your statements are completely innocuous, but it doesn't help. What you say will be misunderstood, taken out of context or simply misheard, as many regretful suspects can testify to. Even a simple and innocuous statement like, "Sure, I didn't like the guy, but I wouldn't kill him!" can and will be used against you ("I remember hearing the suspect say he didn't like the victim").

Fine, here's a source. And another. And another. And another.

Sheesh, quick google of "US AID JAPAN"

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-03-11-us-reaction-tsunami_N.htm

Relief en route the same day that the tsunami struck. All assets already in the area mobilized immediately.

It makes you sound like a douche to imply that they wouldn't help without charging, when the US sent aid immediately.

And pretty soon it'll be all trains stations and other forms of public transportation.

That's right, blame it on religion instead of harder targets like teacher's unions that have protected terrible and under-performing teachers. I'm a great example of why they should be broken up. My math education was so bad in "good public schools" that I am now staring down the prospects of having to go to a community college to make sure I have all of the foundations plus engineering calculus down pat before I can apply for a M.S. in any respectable subject.

That's right, blame it on the unions. Most of the school systems that score better than the U.S. in international comparisons are union systems, like Finland.

http://www.mcgraw-hillresearchfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/pisa-intl-competitiveness.pdf

McGRAW-HILL RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Policy Paper: Lessons from PISA

WHAT THE U.S. CAN LEARN FROM THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS

3. Ontario, Canada

An interesting fact about high-performing Ontario, Canada is that the teachers there are heavily unionized. In fact, every teacher is required to join the union, which is as strong and
as fiercely protective of teachers’ rights as any union in the U.S.

But in Ontario, they have shown that a strong teachers union is not inimical to successful education reform.

Here's what unions do:

Alfonse D'Amato, who went up the ranks in the Republican party on Long Island, and finally was a U.S. Senator, got sued after he left Congress. In a lawsuit, both sides have to disclose a lot of documents. One of the documents that came out was a letter from D'Amato to one of his assistants discussing how much of their income civil servants should be required to kick back as campaign contributions to the Republican Party -- should it be 2.5% or 3%, something like that. Because of the statute of limitations, they couldn't be prosecuted for it, but everybody who had a county job knew this was going on. My friend's daughter applied for a job as a lifeguard, and they told her that if her parents weren't members of the Republican Party, she shouldn't bother applying -- they would check.

That's what it's like without unions. You need the approval of the Republican Party bosses to get a job. You have to contribute to the Republican Party to keep your job. And if your boss doesn't like you for some reason, he can claim you were really incompetent all these years and fire you.

In the non-union states, the schools are firing teachers with 20 years experience making $60,000 a year and replacing them with recent college graduates making $25,000 a year. That's the future of conservative America: you work 20 years at a job, get fired, and have to spend the rest of your life in semi-employment.

The unions, and the teachers themselves, have been targets for right-wing wackos, most of whom don't even understand education. Read the Wall Street Journal comments pages sometimes.

It has repeatedly turned out that anti-union school "reformers" who claimed they had to fire incompetent unionized teachers, and replace them with young, inspiring teachers, were getting good test results because their teachers were cheating on the tests.

That happened in George W. Bush's Texas, it happened repeatedly in many places, and it just happened again in Michelle Rhee's DC public school system. If you read the USA Today story http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-03-28-1Aschooltesting28_CV_N.htm you'll see that the testing company, McGraw-Hill, reported to Rhee that the test results had a large number of wrong answers erased and replaced with correct answers, a sign of cheating, and Rhee covered it up.

Meanwhile, the same people who are attacking teachers' unions -- originally Republicans but now also "moderate" Democrats -- have ended free college, like City College in New

I don't know about now, but at least in 2007 60% of Iraqis thought that attacks on US forces were justified. A vast majority of Sunnis and Shiites also oppose the American military presence; only the Kurds support American troops being there. Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-19-iraq-poll-day2_N.htm

Afghanistan is more favorable to the US, though not all roses.

No. When you buy a pack of smokes today, it's only a small fraction of the price that isn't taxes.

If the Catholic church can get away with an apology for the rape of countless young boys and girls on behalf of its members

The Catholic Church doesn't hold a monopoly on molestation cover-ups.

In all fairness, we should tackle the Boy Scout molestation cover-up next. Or maybe a discussion of child molestation in the Australian Anglican Church? Or hey, what about the Episcopal Church's child molestation run in the '70s and '80s?

The hypocrisy here would make me sick if it wasn't so damn funny.

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/multimedia/2006/05/fightclub, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13037439/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-05-29-fight-club_x.htm.

Americans are more unlikely to have a passport vs a State issued ID.

But are they more unlikely to have a passport or be functionally literate? For this shitty country's brainwashed masses to take their own unearned "exceptionalism" as an article of faith is just hilarious in the face of the facts.

Apparently you missed this and this and this and this and this and and and and

NAS batteries have Sodium metal, and sulfur inside. Large installations are cost effective and have a long life.

Eh, googling around, I see a $2.5 million dollar battery with roughly 10 mWh of energy storage (assuming 8 hour constant power discharge). That's still pricey for the purpose you want it used for. Even if it is fully charged and discharged (during peak load) every day (and remains perfect efficiency for its lifespan of 15 years), it's adding about $0.045 per kWh (ignoring the time value of money, which would make it a bit more expensive) to the cost of producing electricity.

They're using it to turn cheap base load power into expensive peak load power.

what we do need is to insure the operators pay for cleaning up the existing ones, and pay in perpetuity to store the nuclear waste they have made without US, the tax payeres footing the bill.

Why? Those taxpayers are contributing both through prevention of recycling of nuclear fuel rods and driving up the cost of storing radioactive waste. They should pay.

I'm rather surprised they didn't buy Comcast.

That'd be silly, considering AT&T Created the Comcast we know today by selling them AT&T Broadband in 2001. What kind of business would buy back a business they'd already spun off...

oh.

Oh no, you don't.

"The video is from 2006. The guy is explaining the incoming 2008 crash in vivid details. He made money on shorting the mortgage market. So you are a fucking retard who is also ignorant, and with my SIGNATURE I refute your stupid ass claim that you sucked out of your asshole in that idiotic, retarded paragraph, moron."

You still don't get it? The scenario of the crash was predicted by Paul Krugman back in 2000-s and a dozen of other economists. It has NOTHING to do with gold standard or pegged currency. Absolutely NOTHING at all - bubbles can happen just fine in the gold-based economy, in fact they are AIDED by it because the limited supply of currency forces firms to use various credit mechanisms.

So you still have NO predictions at all. Zero. Zilch. None.

You're back at redefining what the "inflation" means. For morons - it means an increase of prices which is nowhere to be seen. Indeed, it has actually fallen http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/02/core-inflation-declines-for-first-time.html which had been PREDICTED by the Keynesian economists.

I think, next time you'll redefine 'sunrise' as 'inflation'.

And here's what happens when people listen to idiots like you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ee_real_gdp_growth.svg - 20% of the GDP had been wiped by the austerity measures forced by the de-facto 'gold standard' (pegging the local currency to the euro).

Oh, or maybe an example of Britain should help you? http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2011-01-25-britain-economy_N.htm - austerity measures kick in and economy 'surpisingly' stalls. Why would that happen when government slashes spending and pledges austerity?

Do you understand that you have exactly ZERO

"We aren't wanted there? Ask the protesters. They want us there."

You mean those same 'protesters' who are and have been armed? Or did you miss that part? Maybe this will refresh your memory.

How can that be "unethical" if it's what all vendors do?

Do "all vendors" bill you per-processor, whether or not you use their software on the computer?

Perhaps you need to go back and understand the licensing agreements that Microsoft that with the PC OEMs. Even if MS software was not installed, the OEMs paid Microsoft. The US DoJ had an issue with it all.

And while you're at it, it is interesting to take a peek here . Ignorance of history on a moderator's part is not a reason to mark a posting as a troll.

Yes, the jurors are retards, and lawyers make sure of it.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2011-03-09-column09_ST1_N.htm

If google cut me a check for 1337 for infosec work, I'd want to keep it in my job portfolio for when potential clients or employers ask for a reference. ...just saying.

Some banks like JP Morgan Chase now let you "deposit" a check by iPhone by taking a picture of the check.

You could keep the original check in your portfolio while getting the cash as well :-)

Well, criminals are already using Facebook to determine which houses are empty and worth robbing, and even which people can be kidnapped [link]...

So a Crimebook would be only fair.

Ford's Jaguar: Yes
Tata's Jaguar (post-2008): possibly not?

The way the Fox News folks get their "public sector workers make more" number...

What has Fox News got to do with anything? I never mentioned Fox. I don't get my facts from Fox. Or MSNBC. Or from CNN. ABC, CBS, or NBC.

Here are a couple articles discussing the problem. The problem being, at it's root, that there is no compelling reason for government to restrain public sector union wages & compensation. Just the opposite, in fact. Politically, it builds an "unholy alliance" between politicians and public sector unions.

USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2009-04-09-compensation_N.htm

The pay gap between government workers and lower-compensated private employees is growing as public employees enjoy sizable benefit growth even in a distressed economy, federal figures show.

Public employees earned benefits worth an average of $13.38 an hour in December 2008, the latest available data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says. Private-sector workers got $7.98 an hour.

Overall, total compensation for state and local workers was $39.25 an hour â" $11.90 more than in private business. In 2007, the gap in wages and benefits was $11.31.

The gap has been expanding because of the increasing value of public employee benefits. Last year, government benefits rose three times more than those in the private sector: up 69 cents an hour for civil servants, 23 cents for private workers.

Labor costs account for about half of state and local spending, according to BLS and Census data. Benefits consume a growing share of that, now 34%.

LA Business Journal: http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2010/dec/20/unions-push-public-pay-out-scale/

There is little question that the compensation, benefits and pensions of public sector employees exceed those of many private sector workers. Whatever the standard, compensation that is commonplace for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers in California is almost unheard of in the private sector.

Consider, for example, the city of Los Angeles. Its memoranda of understanding with public employee bargaining units are posted on the cityâ(TM)s website. There are more than 80 types of clerical positions. The pay range for these is, on average, $43,600 to $53,200 per year. In general, after five years employment, a secretary will earn $53,200, well above what the private sector generally pays.

The salaries of clerical workers are commensurate with those of other city workers. Child care associates, golf starters and salaried recreation workers all typically receive more than $40,000 a year to start and all other full-time, salaried city recreation positions receive more than $50,000 a year to start.

You were saying?

Strat

Had this happened on Bush's watch, he'd be excoriated (and deservedly so). But Obama? Not at all.

No political fallout at all. None.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N.htm

Overall, federal workers earned an average salary of $67,691 in 2008 for occupations that exist both in government and the private sector, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The average pay for the same mix of jobs in the private sector was $60,046 in 2008, the most recent data available.
These salary figures do not include the value of health, pension and other benefits, which averaged $40,785 per federal employee in 2008 vs. $9,882 per private worker, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The federal pay premium cut across all job categories — white-collar, blue-collar, management, professional, technical and low-skill. In all, 180 jobs paid better average salaries in the federal government; 36 paid better in the private sector.

State government employees had an average salary of $47,231 in 2008, about 5% less than comparable jobs in the private sector. City and county workers earned an average of $43,589, about 2% more than private workers in similar jobs. State and local workers have higher total compensation than private workers when the value of benefits is included.

http://remineralize.org/

And such fertilizer produces healthier plants that need less pesticides.

"Biodegradable plastic made from plants, not oil, is emerging"
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/2008-12-25-biodegradable-plastic_N.htm

"Why luxury safer electric cars should be free-to-the-user"
http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/msg/09eb7f4c973349f2?hl=en

"More energy goes into making gasoline from electricity and natural gas than it would take to make electric cars go the same distance"
http://www.evnut.com/gasoline_oil.htm

See also:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittle_Power
"Brittle Power: Energy Strategy for National Security is a 1982 book by Amory B. Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, prepared originally as a Pentagon study, and re-released in 2001 following the September 11 attacks. The book argues that U.S. domestic energy infrastructure is very vulnerable to disruption, by accident or malice, often even more so than imported oil. According to the authors, a resilient energy system is feasible, costs less, works better, is favoured in the market, but is rejected by U.S. policy.[1] In the preface to the 2001 edition, Lovins explains that these themes are still very current. [2]"

Other approaches to all renewables:
http://www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/books/pb3/pb3_table_of_contents
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan

Given the exponetial growth of renewable energy, and how PV solar panels are about to reach grid parity and the prices will continue to drop, I think we will be all renewables by about 2030 from market forces alone at this point. (Unless cold fusion pans out, or if small scale nuclear like Hyperion gets popular.)

Three quarters of US agricultural production also just goes to produce livestock, and the health consequences of too much animal products are harming people's health, too, so we really don't need most of the fertilizer we produce.
http://www.westernwatersheds.org/watmess/watmess_2002/2002html_summer/article6.htm
http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/11/the-subsidized-food-pyramid.html
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/diet-myths-the-food-pyramid-of-the-insane.html
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/foodpyramid.aspx
http://www.ravediet.com/preview.html

How to deal with the economic consequences of all this increased efficiency:
http://www.journal-of-nuclear-physics.com/?p=360&cpage=6#comment-20270
http://econfuture.wordpress.com/2011/02/15/more-on-the-future-implications-ibm-watson-technology/#comment-534

Yes.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-02-01-facebook-inflight-wifi_N.htm

It is possible that this is the reason behind some of the cold weather that the northern hemisphere has been experiencing this winter.

The thing is, the northern hemisphere /hasn't/ been all that cold --- just parts of it. For example, the arctic is experiencing record warm temperatures:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/02/record-low-arctic-sea-ice-in-january/1

As opposed to when cigarettes were illegal? Except they weren't. In your theory, the higher the taxes, the lower the smoking, but this is just another form of punishment. Empirically, if your theory were correct, European countries with high taxes on cigarettes would have low smoking rates, and yet they don't.

I did some googling on this after reading your post and this was the first hit (PDF warning). Figure 1 shows a pretty clear inverse correlation between tax rate and cigarette consumption. Other studies say the same thing. I think your error may be in that you're comparing smoking rates between countries - countries which undoubtedly have different social views of smoking. So their smoking rates are inherently different for reasons other than tax rate. Most of the studies I found which saw no decrease in smoking rates from increased taxes only found this to be the case for older smokers who already had a habit. The higher taxes were successful at deterring younger people from starting to smoke, thus lowering the overall smoking rate.

It's a fallacy to think that 100% of a tax gets passed down. If that were true, in 1946, when the top tax rate was 94%, then the government would have gotten around 94% of the money. And yet, it only got 20% of GDP or so. Check it out, these figures are easily available on the web.

It took me a while to figure out what you were trying to say because it didn't make sense. You're conflating a percentage with the amount that's passed down. OP's claim was that when the top tax rate was 94%, then only 94% of the income of top taxpayers would be passed down as extra expenses for everyone else. This works out to a lot less money than 94% of GDP. If the 94% rate applied to (say) just the top 1% of income earners who earned (say) 10% of the country's income, then their taxes would amount to just 9.4% of GDP.

Google, maybe you've heard of it, pulls up this when I query for "amtrak subsidies": http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-10-27-amtrak-passenger-subsidies_N.htm

WASHINGTON — U.S. taxpayers spent about $32 subsidizing the cost of the typical Amtrak passenger in 2008, about four times the rail operator's estimate, according to a private study.

Leading the list was the train traveling between New Orleans and Los Angeles — the Sunset Limited — which lost $462 per passenger. Taxpayers subsidize the losses to keep the passenger train service running.

Many Airports are run by the government and funded by the states or cities. Not to say that's unconstitutional, though. Plus the FAA and TSA together oversees a great amount of its operation.

So we should continue to let the existing situation rot and do nothing about it.

Transportation is so obviously important to the development of a nation that it's specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

Link to a credible source, please -- The Constitution I read does NOT mention transportation anywhere, all it allows for is the creation of "post roads" which is how we got the interstate highway system built.

What do you build the road for? Let me guess, transportation?

Google, maybe you've heard of it, pulls up this when I query for "amtrak subsidies": http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2009-10-27-amtrak-passenger-subsidies_N.htm

WASHINGTON — U.S. taxpayers spent about $32 subsidizing the cost of the typical Amtrak passenger in 2008, about four times the rail operator's estimate, according to a private study.

Leading the list was the train traveling between New Orleans and Los Angeles — the Sunset Limited — which lost $462 per passenger. Taxpayers subsidize the losses to keep the passenger train service running.

Many Airports are run by the government and funded by the states or cities. Not to say that's unconstitutional, though. Plus the FAA and TSA together oversees a great amount of its operation.

Transportation is so obviously important to the development of a nation that it's specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

Link to a credible source, please -- The Constitution I read does NOT mention transportation anywhere, all it allows for is the creation of "post roads" which is how we got the interstate highway system built.

Verizon stopped taking pre-orders in less than a day because they couldn't handle the volume. How can you claim this is a peak day of sales when it's just pre-orders? The phone isn't even available in retail stores yet, it won't be until Thursday. Just wait and see what the sales figures are after then, and in the days/weeks to follow.

Oh yeah, and the 1.4 billion number you mentioned is world-wide. Last I checked, Verizon isn't a global phone provider. If there had been 1.4 billion phones sold just in the USA then every man, woman, and child in the country would have 4.5 mobile phones. Try comparing the sales figures to just US sales and it's just a little bit more impressive.

Standardization is the thief of creativity and creativity robs standardization.

It seems that no one is ever happy. The countries with high graduation rates and high standardization like South Korea have a low dropout rate. However the annual standardized test in South Korea always coincides with massstudent suicides.

Education is the USA is moving to a point where there is no depth, no love of learning, and no respect for the transormative power of education. Much of this is a direct result of standardized tests and limited teacher autonomy and resources. The weekly cycle of cover the standard: Powerpoint Lecture -> Read the Chapter -> Do your worksheet -> Scantron on Friday. move on to next state standard then rinse and repeat crushes any love of learning.

I would rather see a USA where we foster a love of learning, go deep on interesting topics then work on them in a meaningful project based way rather than the drive-by, inch-deep mile wide education system that we have become. If we work in a meaningful way the questions about math and science will come and apply to a realworld situation instead of being taught in abstract isolation.

When the USA can not longer produce innovators with a love for learning and/or attract innovators from foreign countries, we will become the low-cost labor market for those who do innovate. I implore everyone who reads this to help stop this madness. When George W. Bush was in office, he had a plan to take the Perkins-IV funding and shift it away from career and technical learning programs (nursing, welding, computer programming, cad, autobody) and shift that money to fund more standardized testing. If that would have happened, programs would have ceased to exist and dropout rates would have soared even higher.

According to NFL Films president Steve Sabol, it is the first since Super Bowl II.

Well, what I would see happening is a serious civil "unrest". It would be when the people take back their power from the government, and act in ways the people want.

Consider what has happened in the past. Not only in the short past of the United States of America, but all around the world.

Those with the ability organize and do things for change. That isn't misguided attempts drawn from the rantings of a horrible example of a pseudo-leader.

It is all of us, forming to stand up against what is wrong. "Legal" methods may not be enough. A letter writing campaign, and a few hundred of your friends standing on the sidewalk in front of the Congressional buildings with signs and chanting the slogan of the moment obviously has no effect. The 60's style protests didn't work in the 60's. They are, and always will be, an ineffective form of protest.

I have to say the following disclaimer. Assume it's in huge bolt text, flashing at you. I AM NOT RECOMMENDING, SUGGESTING, OR OTHERWISE INCITING ANY ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES.

Before anyone reads any farther, go read that statement again. If you still don't get it, put down your gun and your beer, sober up, and read it again until it makes sense.

So what would it take to bring change?

60's sit-ins, peaceful protests, peaceful assemblies, petitions, letter writing campaigns, and free-love-ins, just won't work. Well, I'm still for the free-love-ins, but we'll save those for another conversation. :)

The "Rally to Restore Sanity" brought about 250,000 people to Washington DC, and countless others who couldn't attend who supported from home. I was one of the later, as I couldn't afford to drive, fly, or walk to DC.

With 250,000 people standing there wanting to make change, they made speeches, and went home. The folks in power may have noted that something happened, but really their appearance didn't do anything except raise the total tourism dollars for DC by a little for 2010.

If you have 250,000 people who believe in your side enough to even show up, you have an army. Imagine those people walking into the US Capitol Building (and other assorted buildings).

I would personally be proud to walk to the front of the group, stand in front of the representatives who are doing wrong and say "Sir, I represent these people, citizens of the United States of America. We do not believe that you are representing the needs, wants, and beliefs of the constituents who you have sworn to represent. We as the representatives of your constituents we respectively ask you to resign immediately and exit this building."

There are plenty of people among us, who would be excellent leaders. We wouldn't accept corruption. We have better morals than to take bribes in any form.

That sir, is how you make change in a totally non-violent way. Not one shot is fired. Not one person is injured (except for maybe the occasional trip and fall hazard). The only violence would come from the law enforcement professionals who some may take an unconstitutional stand against the people.

It is said that we have the "Four boxes of liberty", the soap, ballot, jury, and ammo boxes. There is no need to go to the fourth, unless the powers that be decide to use it against the citizens standing up for their rights. In reality, a couple hundred thousand people standing there saying "we want change", and really meaning it, do not have any reason to use violence. Well, except for possibly gently moving anyone who may try to block their way. You can be assured that someone in a uniform will