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New Bill Would Ban Public NOAA Weather Data
ckokotay writes "Here we go again. Apparently for-pay weather companies (specifically Accuweather) have lobbied Senator Rick Santorum to introduce a bill to ban the National Weather Service from 'competing.' The NOAA just made data available for free on the internet in XML format. Essentially, that means no more free data, and the possible elimination of the NOAA web presence all together. Nothing like being able to buy off a clueless Senator - lets hope the rest do not fall in line, as I for one, do not like to pay for my information twice." This debate picks up where the last one left off. According to the article, the bill's biggest critics are complaining of the bill's vague wording which makes it unclear what exactly is being banned.
Liberté, egalité, fraternité - choose 1.6, tops.
Durt, Durt, GOP evil, Durt, Durt
I am not a Republican, but I hate snide comments like that above (About GOP loving private businesses). I am sorry someone disagrees with you. They believe what they are saying is right, just as you believe you are right.
I don't like this bill either, if they are going to take my tax money to pay for NOAA, then I should be able to access the data.
The front page post on /. links to an article, and yet gives a completely lopsided summary of the article.
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Also from the article:
"But Barry Myers, AccuWeather's executive vice president, said the bill would improve public safety by making the weather service devote its efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers, rather than duplicating products already available from the private sector.
"The National Weather Service has not focused on what its core mission should be, which is protecting other people's lives and property," said Myers, whose company is based in State College, Pa. Instead, he said, "It spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year, every day, producing forecasts of 'warm and sunny.'"
Whether or not you agree with the opposing viewpoint, you should make some effort to report it. Michael Moore would be proud of this lopsided reporting that he claims is documentary work, and now apparently passes for news on
Vote for Pedro
He is absolutely right. Mercenaries have no vested interest in peace. If there was peace mercenaries would have no jobs.
Now I don't know who your friends were but I imagine it takes one hell of a twisted motherfucker to get paid for killing. Whether you are a hitman or a mercenary or a sniper in the military you can't possibly serially kill one human after another without it making you sick in the head or dead inside.
Do they care about peace? My guess is not all that much, my guess is that these people are dead inside, they don't really care that much about anything at all.
So far nobody has ever explained who these guys were, why they were in iraq and why they were going to falujjah in the first place. Maybe you could enlighten me because I really want to know.
Finally I think you can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that in retaliation for your dead friend a soccer field was turned into a mass grave outside fallujah, hundreds of people were brutally killed by the US military, the intact bodies were gathered up and buried like they show in WWII movies. Of course that was the first run at fallujah, the second run was much worse. According to the BBC 75% of the city was destroyed and thousands of bodies littered the streets. What was their crime? Well they objected to the US occupation that's all.
Nice business your friend was in. Real nice.
evil is as evil does