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Oh wow, guess I should have kept reading. The previous articles are from: LA times, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, the fucking Voice of America. This is in order, motherfucker! Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek! Not one fucking article that wasn't written by an old school media outlet!

Independent journalism my ass.

But why did you mention Europe? The parent post was talking about Russia and the economic situation there. You may as well have said, "Not quite as tough a spot as those starving Ethiopians!" Maybe if you went somewhere with it, but you didn't... just left it at "Europe is worse off," which even if true isn't at all on topic.

I had assumed that the situation vis-à-vis Europe, Russia, the Ukraine, and natural gas was relatively common knowledge, even to Americans such as myself. Further information may be obtained by googling; a quick rundown can be found at http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-29-voa33.cfm/

Also, objects such as Jupiter, Saturn, and the rest of the Milky Way Galaxy let off enormous amounts of radiation. You can read more about problems encountered by the Galileo probes for Jupiter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(spacecraft)#Other_radiation_related_anomalies

And other sources about radiation on Mars:
http://www.space.com/spacenews/archive07/undergroundmars_0205.html

http://www.lip.pt/events/2006/ecrs/proc/ecrs06-s0-141.pdf

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2003-03/a-2003-03-14-11-Mars.cfm

"Expect to see more Sorny goods if this goes ahead!"

Maybe not. Maybe: "Expect to see a lot of counterfeit products labeled Sony, in the same kind of packaging Sony uses."

Ever since the days of the DOS operating system, when it was only the Taiwanese who supplied computer parts, the Chinese have been extremely dishonest. They would deliver computer parts until a distributor got established. They would get paid when a load was delivered to a ship in Taiwan. But, the would eventually deliver a huge load of junk, stuff that had failed testing but had been saved for that purpose. That would put the U.S. distributor out of business.

At the same time, there would be a Chinese distributor in town that just began doing business, selling the same items.

Now that everyone has paid to build factories and complicated procedures in China, they are very vulnerable to Chinese control.

Here are a few stories, chosen from thousands. The Chinese governments, in Taiwan and mainland China, have always pretended to be interested in stopping counterfeiting:

FBI and Chinese seize $500 million of counterfeit software.

Dangerous Fakes: How counterfeit, defective computer components from China are getting into U.S. warplanes and ships.

YouTube videos about Chinese counterfeiting

The World's Greatest Fakes: Chinese Copies Are Making Their Way Back To U.S.

Heparin Find May Point to Chinese Counterfeiting

Chinese Product Counterfeiting Causes US Job Layoffs

And the same survey shows that 92% of made-up statistics without sources are made-up on the spot to support conclusions that are similarly made-up.

Oh really, well guess what asshole, you should be careful about throwing around disinformational talking points. Bite this one bitch, from the Voice of America:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-09-10-voa59.cfm/> [voanews.com]

Feel better? Oh wait! This just in, whoa... it says one hundred percent of the people sitting in your chair, are self-delusional asshats. You really made the grade, pal. What is it, a full Moon tonight? Seems to be a lot more mental midgets on the loose, somehow.

Pirates are considered divine beings and the decrease in the number of pirates in the word (acording to followers of the FSM) id the true cause of global warming

Avast, ye scurvy scallywag! Who did tell ye our numbers be decreasing?

Something that causes the loss of actual lives and goods. But nope the lords of IP must be served.

http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2008-05-15-voa5.cfm
"The United States is very concerned about the increasing number of acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea, especially off the Somali coast," according to the U.S. Department of State. Piracy and armed robbery have disrupted trade in east Africa and threatened the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Somali people.

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

Strains are showing in a variety of areas. And that is at current population levels. We intend to double our population as a species.

Desertification
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-gathering-sandstorm-encroaching-desert-missing-water-399653.html

China is losing a million acres a year to desertification. In Dunhuang, a former Silk Road oasis in the Gobi, the resulting water shortage has become critical. By Clifford Coonan (this in 2007 after reports in 2000 said they had turned the corner and were reducing desertification)

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/desertific/

Fishing stock collapse
http://www.mpl.ird.fr/suds-en-ligne/ecosys/ang_ecosys/intro2.htm
From years of "miraculous fishing" to stock collapse

Although the oceans were considered inexhaustible in the last century, many fisheries today show signs of senescence. ... But numerous observations contradict this idea [that stopping fishing after collapse helps]. Only 7% of collapsed populations have recuperated their numbers after one generation. The example of codfish in Newfoundland is renowned. Despite a moratorium on codfishing following the collapse of stocks in 1992, the biomasss level remains still lower than that of 20 years ago, and no recovery has been observed.

Population growth in rich societies.
http://rickbutts.com/83/is-england-becoming-a-muslim-nation/
The average birth rate for native Englishwomen is 1.1 children per, while the Muslim women's birth rate [in England] is 3.4, or more than triple. By all measures and accounts England will become Muslim in the not to distant future.
This is in England. I.e., this population is resistant to lower birth rate effect.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-05/2008-05-01-voa19.cfm?CFID=1180756&CFTOKEN=83044121
Hispanics Fastest Growing Minority Group in US
This is in the U.S. I.e., this population is resistant to lower birth rate effect.

I'm not saying islamic or hispanc are bad people. If it were not them, some other population would be the fastest growing one-- and it would become a larger and larger portion of the population over time.

"I was bullied as a child, but only ever once by each bully - they soon learned the lesson once I broke noses and fingers."

Taken one step further, you're basically saying 'an eye for an eye'. Personally I'm seeing that as we raise yet another generation of "unique snowflakes" we're straying farther from where we need to be. Personal esteem is a great thing, however I don't understand this concept of stepping on one to raise another. Little Johnny scraped his knee at school because of the bad wood chips on the playground, so mommy sues on her little angel's behalf and now we have nerf playgrounds.(Be thankful kid, I had cement and pea gravel!) Some people don't like it when people smoke around them, so they just ban smoking. Law-makers now actually cater to special interests so they can pick up the donations from those groups. People have strayed so far from personal responsibility now it's almost unreal. We've got corporations that are making billions of dollars in profit while at the same time demanding relief in the form of additional millions of tax abatements. Patent law is quickly becoming a joke, and extremist views are becoming the norm.

Personally, if you can't take responsibility for your own actions, and the consequences of those actions, I don't think you should be able to hold society responsible and force them to change to suit your own individual (or small group for that matter.) tastes. Laws are there to keep others from immediate danger or harm, or, to keep business fair (at least that's what they tell me ;-) ). If businesses are screwing their customers, then we need to take action (such as the anti-trust laws) to make sure it stops occurring. If individuals or small groups are causing undue harm or duress, then steps need to be taken to alleviate that. Sadly, even that line of thinking is prone to extremism... and I just don't have a solution to that part yet.

Simply put, don't hold society responsible for your personal problems. As more people populate the planet, each individual gets less of the finite resources. That's simply the way it is. If you don't like it, research ZPG.

I have no idea if those artificial legs are an advantage or disadvantage, and I'm not sure it's relevant. He is differently abled. Where does the line get drawn? Can a specially designed prosthetic arm be used for javelin or shot-put? If he won a race, would there forever be an asterisks by his name? In a competitive world that considers using your own previously-drawn red blood cells as "doping," how can this be considered "fair?"

Could a "normal" marathoner use running stilts? I doubt anyone, anywhere, would accept that. How are these prosthetics different? How much length could he add to his stride before it would break the rules?

Are performance "modifiers" allowed or not?

This puts a different twist on the LZR Swimsuit Controversy. When use of a specialized, passive fabric causes a stir and calls of "technological doping" there have to be serious questions about the use of entirely artificial limbs.

can think of no law that needs to be passed quickly

for some values of no-one

And what "horrors of history" would those be? Frankenstein's Monster? Inhabitants of the island of Dr Moreau? Mind quoting a non-science-fiction example of your strawman? But here is what your enlightened leaders do to those that they *do* recognize as humans, based on your "definition" :

Cluster bombing innocent civilians as collateral damage in a war waged over fake reasons and imaginary threats? Making laws to torture and imprison them without trials? No problem! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/fogofwar/index/cdamage.htm

Proceeding to support *another* nuclear proliferating dictator while waging the above war, and assisting in trampling human and civil rights of others and trampling on their right to have a democracy? No problem! http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-11-21-voa1.cfm

Causing deaths of millions of babies by withholding medicines and food, and claiming that the "price(killing these babies) was worth it"! No problem with that either! Those were non-american babies and thus not "really" alive or really "human". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK_QshS2EW8

Inciting a war in another uninvolved country and driving it to ruins and in hands of radical Islami c zealots, just to give a cold-war rival "its vietnam"... perfectly okay and ethical! http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html

Actually nuking millions of innocent civilians ... sure! Again non-americans and therefore not really "humans" or "alive". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

But God forbid that someone aborts an unborn fetus they are not ready for. God forbid that scientists do valuable research that can actually cure diseases and reduce suffering! *Then* the esteemed leaders become so very "ethical" and "religious".

You are both non-persuasive *and* stupid.

And you are a hypocrite!

The Republic of China is under a persistent threat of a (Mainland) Chinese attack. United States has long ago promised to defend them, so we have to listen carefully (and take notes!), when the current rival — and an unlikely-but-possible future enemy — talks about any kind of war.

Sooner or later China may also decide to begin solving its (over)population issues by expanding into Siberia, whose population density was always far smaller (orders of magnitude smaller) than China's and is now shrinking dramatically. In 10-30 years China will either be purchasing or conquering that land from Russia — if there are any Russians left to notice that is...

Then, of course, there is a long-simmering tension with India, which has resulted in an all-out war as recently as in 1962. And then there is Vietnam, which lost a piece of territory to China, who invaded to, pretty much, punish it for interfering with the Khmere Rouge earlier — a "family dispute" among the Communist thugs.

And last, although not necessarily least, is the continuing (and officially regulated) hatred towards Japan — "justified" or not, it may well escalate into an armed conflict in a decade or two, when an internal crisis inside China may lead its leaders to seek an external war to unify the country. It may be harder for its neighbors to repel, than it was to deal with the desperate Argentinian regime in a similar situation...

Unfortunately, the facts don't back up your statements. American workers are the most productive in the world.

http://voanews.com/english/2007-08-04-voa2.cfm

Legislation sought by President Bush to revise U.S. law regarding anti-terrorist electronic surveillance overseas has failed a vote in the House of Representatives.

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
04 August 2007

But VOA told a different story: http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-07-24-voa23.cf m

Here's the challenge: identify the carrier with the most torque applied to the story.

It would have been nice to know about this a few days ago; the festival started Thursday and today is the last day. I'm not exactly close but I'm not too far; a road trip would not have been out of the question. The Washington Post article makes it sound like the 50,000 are "expected" to show up -- making it seem as if this thing will go on for a few more days. But according to this article, it ends today.

...are already buying Japanese cars and Chinese TVs with your "pay enough" attitude. I wouldn't know- I watch a Zenith and drive a Ford.

>That in five minutes you COULDN'T care less about. Don't use a phrase if you don't know how to use it.

You fail it.

If you don't understand the language completely, you don't get to complain.

Both are perfectly valid turns of phrase. One American, one British.

Could care less: I am so uninterested that while I could care less about the subject, I'm not even bothered to that point. Also, I am so interested that I care about the subject, therefore proving I could care less.

Couldn't care less: I am so uninterested that my caring level is at zero. Also, I am so interested that caring less would be physically impossible.

Both are correct and incorrect at the same time.

Yes, it's on the list of English errors. That in itself is an error, as the author is American. He needs to read up on his English history a bit, perhaps? alt.usage.english beat him to the punch on this one. Oddly enough, this clearly prescriptive English teacher is pro ending sentences in prepositions. How contradictory. He does agree he is fighting a losing battle on it (One he lost BEFORE he put up the website, ironically).

Irregardless, I ain't wrong. Here's some more references on the matter. Cheap at half the price, I tell you!

BTW: This topic truly is important to me, I couldn't care less about it, so don't ask me to. I could care less for rants about it, though, but sometimes I miss them. :-P

Teach, where's my gold star?

My oppologies, but Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is up to 1700%.
Last year's Zimbabwe dollar is worth 18 of them today.
IMarv

"How the hell does Jacko correlate the skill of properly aiming and discharging a firearm with moving a thumbstick and pressing a button on a control-pad? There is no link there! "

Oh, I wouldn't say that.

The Gallup poll of the Muslim World found wide support for sharia among Muslims worldwide. Gallup, as I'm sure you know, is non-partisan. A simple Google search "Muslim poll sharia" would get you many others.

Did you know that polls on people named Christopher showed that a disturbingly large percent of them use unsourced statistics to spread a message of intolerance?

Funny how you accuse me of intolerance when the ultimate targets of Islamist terrorism and the institutionalization of sharia are the real victims of intolerance: homosexuals, Jews and other ME religious minorities, and women.

Also, the government would not have to pay for airtime. Who would it pay, anyway?

Finally, the U.S. government already runs a TV and radio station. With content in 44 languages! You may also have heard of the BBC.

I live a lot closer to Bhutan than most people here on /. , and I call typical bullshit leftist (it is the guardian after all) scaremongering on this article.

The violence, corruption and crime that's rising in Bhutan is quite natural. Any society that is completely free of crime, poverty and corruption is too totalitarian and oppressive for me to live in.

Bhutan has been a country with an extremely poor record of ethnic/religious tolerance and freedom. The "Druk" aristocracy in Bhutan were a bunch of bigoted assholes that would have given the Ku-Klux-Klan and Taliban a run for their money. Hindus in Bhutan who (mainly descended from Nepalese immigrants) were pretty much treated like untermenschen by the Druks. The Tek Nath Rizal government passed "sumptuary laws" against the Hindu minority (special "dress codes" based on ethnic/religious denomination, think anti-Semitic yellow badge of Nazi Germany for a comparison).Some 103,000 Hindus were ethnically cleansed by the Buddhist Fundamentalists in Bhutan and sent back to India and Nepal (and you thought Americans had draconian immigration laws). Bhutan is widely known as one of the most racist and xenophobic countries in South Asia.Dunno abt you, but this is not a country that I would want to live in, even if it meant no crime/corruption/whatever.

All this oppression stems from their inbred isolationist culture, which creates suspicion of all "foreign elements". It may seem like an "idyllic paradise" to the clueless observer, but so would Apartheid South Africa to a Boer.

The introduction of television,internet etc. will teach them about the world outside in some form, expose them to novel ideas and the complexities of other cultures. This will, in the long run, help create a more egalitarian society, though arguably a more violent one (join the club). The rise in crime etc. is merely people learning about new things and new possibilities from TV and expressing themselves accordingly. No surprise that with the modernization of Bhutan came the government introducing reforms that would help alleviate the problem.

References:
http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/archive/2006-10/20 06-10-19-voa1.cfm?CFID=96985519&CFTOKEN=24717708
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendo c.htm?tbl=PUBL&id=4444d3c93e
http://web.archive.org/web/20030408101642/http://w ww.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.27/Bhutan. doc

Save that now VOA News is available online. But even when it wasn't I don't see that as a flaw seeing as how the VOA news was provided free of charge when asked for not later "resold" to other news companies.

Carbon is what plants are made of. They get carbon from CO2. global warming (in this context) implies greater levels of CO2 (that's the theory for the cause after all, and wht some people would like to see reduced). Hence global warming would naively lead to better plant growth and hence better crop yields.

It's essentially the default theory - it has been studied for decades and everytime someone increases the CO2 levels in a greenhouse the plants grow better than the control greenhouse. It's been done thousands of times. Do you require people to provide references when they claim the Earth orbits the sun due to gravity as well? When people say a larger force will result in a higher acceleration on a given body? When people claim better nutrition results in healthier people?

Of course while it's the default theory, it can crumble if further evidence is found such as: http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-06/200 6-06-30-voa64.cfm?CFID=31128799&CFTOKEN=70212074

And wasn't it Rumsfeld who said that he had no intention of quitting and that Bush had given him his full support and would decide if and when Rumsfeld should leave? Oh yeah, here it is.

So let's see, first we lie about the invasion of Iraq being tied to the September 11th attacks. Then we lie that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction. Then we lied that Iraq was tied to Al Qaeda. Throw in that we lied about not being the world's policeman, that we wouldn't be involved in nation building, that we would hold it to the Saudis in regards to our supply of oil, that the government isn't reading people's emails or searching their homes without warrants, and now this, and you have an entire administration built on lies.

Unfortunately, even with the Democrats taking control of the House, they've already said they don't have the balls to impeach the liar so we're stuck with another two years worth of lies.

yay

...there's no way in hell that august body is gonna rule against Prez...

Skin is flat tissue, but has multiple layers. I suppose what they grow in labs is only the epidermis.

But what about the bladders that they've been growing in labs? Isn't that organ a combination of tissue types and more than simply 2D, i.e. muscle and the lining? See some info about it here. These replacement bladders are in people right now.

Great. A page of PDFs. What's in the PDFs? Overly optimistic assessments?

Let me show you some data that points to the US getting out of Iraq as soon as politically palatable:

USA TODAY/Gallup poll results, note question #7.

What does it all mean? Here's what VOA says.

Oh and regarding Visa restrictions impacting foreign student enrollment, it's not just my opinion.
Although apparently, enrollment improved in 2005 after three years of decline as a result of efforts made on behalf of the departments of Homeland Security and State to streamline the visa process. So if anybody is spouting subjective bull, it's you, Mr. Reactionary Weenie.

You are conveniently leaving out the possible correlation between debilitating gold rush era diseases (such as the cholera and inappropriate teen-2- peer choice behaviors.

It's too early to tell, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that those college kids that have come down with the mumps had engaged in littering, loitering, latering, lootering, and other things that cause inappropriate teen-2-peer choice behaviors.

Iraq agreed to comply with certain requirements, and failed to do so for the better part of a decade. They continued to possess banned weapons - including WMDs - and in general refused to cooperate with UN inspectors. Even Hans Blix said that the Iraqis were hiding things, and the onus was on Iraq to provide documenation.

If you can't see the difference between Bush, Rumsfeld, and Saddam you simply are blind... Two answer to the people (whom seem to have voted Bush, and by proxy Rumsfeld into power twice), one only to his whims. Two played by the world's rules and those of the UN; the other bribed his way through the UN to try to get what he wanted.

I haven't heard of too many US citizens being bathed in acid, or shredded alive, or getting your ankles drilled through, among other things...

Yeah, Bush and Rumsfeld are JUST LIKE Saddam... The US is one big dictatorship with no personal freedoms and we're all just being used like cattle...

Actually, France has the best healthcare system in the world. The World Health Organization rates France as the best nation for health care. Despite spending half of what the US does on health care, France has a higher average lifespan and much lower infant mortality rates. In fact, France beats the US on just about every health statistic. See http://www.nationmaster.com/ for an online reference.

The US ranks #37 in the world in terms of health care, though it ranks #1 in both total and per-capita spending on health care. The second fact is the reason that Americans fly to India to have heart surgery. See http://www.voanews.com/burmese/archive/2005-04/200 5-04-09-voa10.cfm?CFID=35543148&CFTOKEN=24153006 and many other references.

If I had an acute health problem, I'd take the US over Mexico, but I'd take France over the US too.

1980's : Ooooh, the Japanese cars are coming, they will take over our whole country .... we are doomed!

All 10 of the top 10 best cars in Consumer Reports' 2006 Cars issue are Japanese-made.

1990's : NAFTA, oh my God, Mexicans will take over all our manufacturing jobs ... we are doomed!

Just today, US-based auto parts maker Dana filed for bankruptcy protection. This is a bombshell event, in addition to the ongoing malaise at GM and Ford. Billions of dollars in losses for the year ($1 billion of losses for GM in Q4'05 alone).

2000-01 : Outsourcing software, call centres ... Indians running amok, taking over all our service jobs .. we are doomed!

Just wait. There will be something to fill in this space soon.

It is supposed to be illegal for Voice of America, as a federally-funded military psyops tool, targetting American citizens...yet somehow, I can browse the VOA website.

1. I don't see where the article says the government is "surprised" by anything. In fact, it's a planning document, not a report, so there are no revelations. Since it was declassified only 3 years after it was written it's clearly not an important document.

2. Having been in the military for many years, I'm not surprised that the document does not contain specifics. It's a strategic overview (and pretty high level since Rumsfeld signed off on it). The details are left to those who handle the implementation (at the tactical level).

3. You needed some document to tell you this? Telegraph wires were tapped or cut back in the day. Radio jamming has been around for as long as there's been radio. VOA has been around for nearly 70 years. The surprise here is that you are surprised the Internet is of interest as well.

The Iron Curtain was not brought down by gunfire, but by faxes, copiers, telephones, and other ways of getting forbidden ideas to people in their totalitarian regimes. China will ultimately fail to keep out the forbidden ideas, and will utimately fail in its attempts to keep its own people from being able to compare notes -- the one thing the Chinese government fears more than anything else. The Government dread of secret meetings between its people is the main reason for their hysterial fear of Falon Gong (which would be a fairly unlikely source of revolution if not for the active repression; an oxymoron which the ruling party fails to comprehend). The Internet is facilitating the ability of the people to communicate with each other (and outsiders) on a scale that China simply will not be able to effectively control (despite the rumored half-million people that are supposedly hired to do just that). I have seen stories about code phrases and steganography being used in ways that bypass the many filters in place on the Chinese internet, and unless the Chinese government is willing to spend more on internet control than on everything else combined, they haven't got a chance.

Just the same, I'm careful not to discuss anything controversial with my Chinese suppliers of violins and musical accessories, just because I don't want them to get into trouble.

I think Google realizes what is going on, and what the likely outcome will be, and has decided that it is better to "go along to get along" for now so that they will be in the driver's seat when the inevitable finally happens. Possibly this is a dangerous game, but I would not fault them for trying.

I've been watching the news coming out of China for a while now (because of my import business), and I see definite signs of political unrest. The Chinese government put down more than 87,000 riots in 2005. There are a number of systemic problems which will continue to fester, such as the 21,000,000 young males that can't find wives because of the 50 years of government policies that led to the systmatic murder of female babies (that's 21,000,000 men of military age, many with some military training).

The presence of Google in China, especially with the way that they are informing searching of why the forbidden searches failed, can only hasten the demise of the totalitarian despots currently running China.

If you don't want to login to NYT, heres my "Top Ten List of New Cool Crap for 2005":

1. Curious Georges new free Wiretap program
2. Birdflu v.2.0
3. Boxing Day sans Tsunami
4. European CIA Jail System
5. Removal of Marti Gras from your travel ideas
6. A (great) Daily Show spinoff
7. The spread of Scientology
8. Marines shooting at and killing escaping hostages
9. Adoption Press Release Kits
10. Stem Cell Magicians

They are doing something about it.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-12-11-voa20.cf m

Indeed, some of the solutions to water and food supply have come from locals implementing low-tech solutions.

The designs or sources for these solutions are being disseminated on the web via the usual aid channels (I.e. a charity/UN worker reads the info, then goes out to places to tell them how to do it.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.04/lowtech.h tml
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-03/200 5-03-22-voa12.cfm

Access to these laptops at a family/village level will give these communities direct access to low tech designs, as well as medical/logistical resources.

Is it really wise to turn it over? I mean, everyone is angry (with justification) for 2-3 B$ in kickbacks to Saddam over a decade via Oil For Food (note: not 10-20B - that includes smuggling, which was not related to the 661 (Oil For Food) committee). However, the Iraqi Oil and Defense ministries, largely headed by US administrators, Chalabi and Pals, SCIRI thugs, et al, hemorrhaged 8.8B$ in 14 months ((2) (3). You know, doing things like paying the salaries of 602 guards as 8,250 guards. Enron would have loved these people.

Are these *really* people we want to entrust yet *another* service to? I mean, seriously, that's worse than Nigeria - half the government's entire budget went to embezzling.

For something to enter the public domain today, it must've been created around the early part of last century.

Not true. Consider this, or this, or this.

If you're implying that works without a copyright symbol attached are in the public domain, you are mistaken.

No, I'm implying that works that are explictly placed into the public domain or are produced by an employee in the US government as part of her duties is in the public domain.

How about this: "Hey Mr. FEMA director, why don't you get some planes with food and water ready. And we'll probably need some troops to maintain order." Sounds REASONABLE to me since that's EXACTLY what previous presidents have done in the exact same situation.

You mean like EXACTLY what Bush, in fact, actually did.

The President is the head of the federal government. The government's primary purpose is to maintain law and order. They FAILED. Bush failed.

And the mayor of New Orleans, and the governor of Louisiana were briliant successes in that area?

I think China might qualify. China has been the hungry dragon for a long, long time. The U.S. will inevitably block some of its goals, and war within the next 50 years is likely.

1. Issue 1: Taiwan. The U.S. has supported the rights of Taiwan to de facto order its affairs. PRC has insisted on a one-China policy. When the time is right, the PRC will try to back its policy with force.
2. Energy. China's self-interest includes becoming a developing nation. Its citizens are just as interested in driving cars over there as soccer moms are interested in driving SUVs over here. The oil has to come from somewhere, and demand will surely ... no, has already ... driven the price of gas up; almost doubled it, in fact.
3. Korea. China has an uneasy relationship with North Korea, but it appears to be treating it as a kind of buffer state. If NK actually gets deliverable nukes (which is only a decade out or less), it will force a crisis.
4. Southeast Asia. That part of the world has cooled considerably in the last 30 years, but China still has trading interests there. In fact, it appears to be regrouping its strategy towards diplomatic influence.
5. South and Central America. For reasons that are unclear, China has made significant inroads into South and Central America: the purchase of the Panama Canal, and sweetheart deals with Venezuela.

As far as Iran, yes they are despotic. Do they have a right to be pissed with Israel? Perhaps seeing the way the Palestinians have been treated. Does either excuse our meddling in their internal affairs beforehand? No.

Regarding Mecca, this link
"Saudi Arabia has Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina. Many Muslims oppose the presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia. They say non-Muslims should not be welcome in land that is holy to Muslims."

And yes, Empire

Some choice reading

"The Air Force presence in the Gulf region is a vital one for US military strategy, and the United States should consider it a de facto permanent presence, even as it seeks ways to lessen Saudi, Kuwaiti and regional concerns about US presence"

"Reflecting the gradual shift in the focus of American strategic concerns toward East Asia, a majority of the US fleet, including two thirds of all carrier battle groups, should be concentrated in the Pacific. A new, permanent forward base should be established in Southeast Asia"

"As a supplement to forces stationed abroad under long-term basing arrangements, the United States should seek to establish a network of 'deployment bases' or 'forward operating bases' to increase the reach of current and future forces. Not only will such an approach improve the ability to project force to outlying regions, it will help circumvent the political, practical and financial constraints on expanding the network of American bases overseas"

read the thing yourself.

I'd say when the chief strategists go around saying "Pax Americana" (mentioned four times in the document above) yeah thats playing empire

The nice thing about ham is it's long range with little power and equipment requirements. In the event of a real emergency, it's nice to know that there are some extraordinary geeks with the ability to communicate quickly and clearly. In an emergency, things don't always work correctly. Microphones get lost or broken. Injuries result in a loss of the ability to speak. Who knows what might go wrong? Particularly due to the fact that Morse Code operators beat out the most popular method of handheld text-based communcation (short of e-mail or IM, anyway), I think this skill is highly undervalued. Personally, I like the idea of a bunch of knowledgable nerds out there, who can communicate almost as fast (or faster) with only pulses of noise than most of us could communicate with a microphone.

Amnesty International says the United States, by its actions, is sending out a permissive signal to abusive governments and that is leading to more torture worldwide.
Source

A mission to Mars

14 privately owned satellites in orbit

Experiments and payload aboard the International Space Station (and Space Shuttles when they fly again)

A worldwide GPS based tracking system

An independent worldwide wireless data network

No? Are you even still reading this? If so then ask yourself this, does your "hobby" provide emergency communications during disasters? Does it? DOES IT? Was it THERE during the TSUNAMIS like amateur radio was?

What about after the hurricanes? After Charlie tore trough Port Charlotte and knocked down all local sheriff and fire radio towers ham radio operators were there cranking up new towers, equipping the sheriff and first responders with new radios so they could save lives. They even used that tracking system I mentioned on all of the vehicles involved in rescue operations so that way the first responders could coordinate their vehicles more efficiently...

But you've probably stopped reading. Like I could care. All I want to do is enlighten those who read your comment, give them a different point of view. Show them that Amateur Radio DOES matter, is an important part of our lives and will be around a long, long time. BPL or no.