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Felt isn't exactly a boon to society because we had clothing already. And we're specifically talking about HATS, dude.

And no, I'm not uninformed about DDT.
The whole egg-shell thinning thing is bullshit.
As was the whole cancer thing, which the WHO has finally admitted, and now allows DDT for use in houses. Too bad it doesn't work anymore.)

http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.html#ref6

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_35_16/ai_65493894/

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jun/22/after-decades-ddt-still-poisoning-animals-sand/

Notice the date. DDT was banned in 1972, and guess what, it doesn't persist for decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT

Notice the ol' half-life in water of about 2 years, and 15 in soil. And we're talking about a beach here!

But go ahead and believe the green!

"Among Mr. Bradbury's passions, none burn quite as hot as his lifelong enthusiasm for halls of books..."

Whoever wrote that article has a great taste for irony.

Anyway, if Ray Bradbury wants to hate the internet, that's fine, but I think he's missing the good parts that are in between the bad parts. For example, it's a much more interactive and creative medium than the passive one he derides all the time (i.e. TV). For that matter, it's much more interactive than the "author writes books, everyone else reads" mode of communication he prefers. I can also search the collections of most libraries online, and then request the books -- at far less cost and trouble than the traditional paper ways allowed. It is great for people who can't physically get to a library easily. The internet is great for doing research -- not comprehensive, but useful as a start. Finally, it is the way to find and buy the most obscure used books from anywhere in the world, and a great means for making books available FOR FREE once their copyright expires to the public domain. Even for his favorite thing in the world -- books -- the internet is really useful.

He's an elderly gentleman and apparently set in his ways. Maybe he just hasn't thought enough about it.

Heck, I'm living in a different country and across the continent. Without the internet, there was nearly a zero chance I'd ever have read the article about him in the New York Times or in the Ventura County Star, and thus learned about financial situation at the H.P. Wright Ventura County Library. And, look, I can find all the details about what goes on at that library.

The Internet by itself doesn't matter so much. It's the people that are connected to it that matter and what they can do en masse. I'm tempted to make donation to his beloved library, and send them a note saying "Please let Ray Bradbury know the Internet does matter!" (They accept donations by credit card and paypal there). Maybe if he saw a demonstration of why the internet mattered, it might sink in?

From a different article, also in the internet: "Donations also can be sent to Save Wright Library, P.O. Box 403, Ventura, CA 93002. Checks should be made out to Save Wright Library."

You're joking, right? Regardless of the merit of the federal spending program, or the current state of the Californian government's books, you ought to care if an entire state of people fell out of the union. Particularly California. It's a major sea trade center, the site of a historical gold rush, and the center of America's modern movie industry. Think of all the money the Californian citizens generate and try to consider that objectively outside of the state government deficit, the actions of the fed and your own political slant.

While Schwarzenegger's administration has estimated the gap between state income and outgo over the next 18 months at $40 billion, California is responsible for 13% of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP). The state's GDP is at about $1.7 trillion (as of 2006).

Regardless of what's going on right now in the government and the economy, you'd be right fucked if California dropped off the face of the map. Or, better yet, if we gave it back to Mexico. It was kinda theirs to begin with before we shot a bunch of Mexicans and called it ours.

Including the Simi Valley fire, there have been four incidences of fires in California linked to solar panels, Kateley said. One was caused by a homeowner-installed panel, she noted. 'It does happen' ... "It's a rare occasion, but like any kind of electricity there are going to be instances where it does happen," Dowd said.

Yes it's rare, but that doesn't mean it can't happen if either the solar panel was made or installed improperly. I'm not quite sure how you were modded Insightful when you're clearly an idiot.

Left wingers are the ones that are always worried about "offending" people, remember?

You have confused decency and manners with fear, and mainstream society with "left wingers."

And who voted for the Patriot Act?

Only Congress. What do you think would have been the result if that was put to a referendum?

Yep, both sides of the aisle.

Yep, Congress approved it and Dubya signed it, and that's what matters, not that it effectively neutralizes the Fourth Amendment, and only 42% of survey respondents could even identify a description of it from 4 choices.. Since probability gives the right answer to 25% of those who take a random guess, all we can reasonably assume is that 22 2/3% of citizens want to allow the Executive Branch to demand a wiretap from your phone company, and to leave you no legal recourse, even if the gov't had no reasonable suspicion, and your phone company never had any reason to believe they did. But that is what we have, not because we want it, but because most of us don't know what laws we have and thus no way to know why no reasonable person wants to be subjected to the Patriot Act. That's why they had to make so much noise at Alberto Gonzales' show trial, that only "foreign" communications would be subject to unlimited spying.

When though, will the laws end? It's as if the politicians think that by 2010 we'll not have some NEW fancy way to communicate with each other (mind control?) I think there is also a responsibility on cell services to provide "passive input" devices, I feel it's a responsibility on our police to set a good example (which, unfortunately I more often than not see them speeding down the road, talking on their cell phones...) and most importantly I feel the responsibility lies on the individual.
I agree with finding fault in distractions, but I think making the "someone texting vs. someone not texting" argument is futile, because it's really only a patch, not a solution.