We live in Cape Town
We really hope some of the short-term mitigation plans (small-scale desalination plants that can be completed before we run out of water, ground-water extraction etc.) are sufficient to get us to Winter (and rain), but we if the trend of the last 3 years continues, we may not make it to Dec.
Isn't December summer in Cape Town?
Winter is the traditional rainy season in Cape Town, although not so much in recent years... it's known as the green season.
Versus when others chose to divest portfolios: Harvard University activists were an early proponent of divesting from companies associated with fossil fuels, but the wheels of change moved so slowly, the legendary portfolio actually lost money from fallling oil prices before the pressure to sell off these assets reached a crescendo.
After finally winning the divestment prompted the sell off of petroleum and coal assets at a time of market downturn.
I'm without a dog in the fight, and reluctant to pick one, but; at the very least, this smacks of grandstanding, and at its worst interpretation, it is a shameless money grab by a taxing entity run amok.
Yeah, I think the fact that it was filed by a huge class action law firm tells the story pretty clearly. They've probably taken it on contingency and are looking for a huge payday. Which will of course fix everything they claim to be wrong.
Ah yes... the theoretical right of the least important and influential to redress the wrongs of society in court in David vs. Goliath fashion.
If only we lived in a society where the lawsuits were driven by a desire to fix the wrongs, rather than simply profit from them. But then, we'd need to fill the Congress with farmers, convenience store clerks, and IT workers instead of lawyers.
I don't know if your timeline estimation is accurate, but it doesn't smell like the tobacco lawsuits.
Governors using the courts and statutes for the extortion of for-profit corporations via lawsuit and fines... it does resemble a revenue stream used by some European nations, though they seem to specialize in taxing non-domestic companies.
I'm without a dog in the fight, and reluctant to pick one, but; at the very least, this smacks of grandstanding, and at its worst interpretation, it is a shameless money grab by a taxing entity run amok.
I don't want to be that poster, but it certainly appears that the middle hail stone is much softer than the other two, and fruit of the poisoned tree forces me to at least remain suspect of the hardness of the other two hail stones...
You know, instead of passing a law to order the FCC to enforce arbitrary policies set by a commission, they could use the opportunity to pass actual consumer protection type Net Neutrality rules.
Leave it to Congress to not do anything right.
To be fair, a law would be like texting your intentions to a partner in a sketchy relationship versus promising something verbally with neither witnesses nor readily available recording equipment.
A reversible Presidential proclamation has the ambiguity necessary for those in power to get behind vigorously until the test proves out.
Yeah, the glass solar roof will do great against golf and baseball size hail.
No roofing materials do. In the event electricity-generating shingles reach a reasonable price point, insurance premiums will adjust to accommodate them.
Insurance companies already reluctantly absorb the replacement cost of cedar shingles, metal roofing, and architectural shingles by premium adjustment... they are engineered not to lose money.
The Germans, the French, and the Americans have notably stepped forward in support of the protesters... and nearly every western democracy would issue an opinion if asked.
Whether or not this aids the ruling Islamic regime is an interesting point for debate, but the shutdown of the internet and ongoing suppression of the freedom of speech will either snuff out the spark of revolution or kindle it. Either way, those in power will try to blame outside influence, rather than internal unrest, for the dissent.
Like the previous administration didn't meddle in overseas affairs too... They may have had a different perspective on when it was appropriate and in the USA's interest, but they meddled a LOT in various things going on overseas. It's pretty much been the case since the USA came into existence in the 1700's where we got involved in various conflicts that didn't directly involve us.
Yes. Like every influential nation ever, and much like the French and British meddling in the affairs of the fledgling American nation.
For Mengele, and the researchers who would use the blossoming gene editing technology to the detriment of humankind, the enemy of their goals is the dissemination of the newest discoveries. Much like nuclear age technology and weaponization, the only way to keep it potentially safe is to achieve a level of balance among competing and cooperating factions (nation-states).
Tribalism, our predisposition to conformity, and an innate distrust of those who are different are best overcome by balanced detente, at least in our present state of evolution as a species.
Take heart. We've had the ability to end human existence on earth for 70+ years, and it hasn't happened yet!
I'm an EE, and love technology but the Internet has turned to fucking shit and much of it needs pulling the plug on now, permanently. Good luck and much love.
20 years ago, give or take a season, there was much less available internet content and there were far fewer users. Of the users in the wild, wild west of '98, I'd say it's a fair gambit a much larger portion of the crowd had tech or computer backgrounds.
There is no surviving 20+ years on a fickle internet without some compromise to cover the bills. Sad and not very idealistic, but it's the World the internet has grown into.
A decent system allows for innocent people to be confused and not comply instantly, without getting executed on the spot.
A police officer could carry a shield to protect himself, instead of a finger on the trigger.
Great points.
Nonetheless, the reality in police confrontation in America is that your life is in genuine jeopardy. You don't even have to be a minority to be at risk, although being a black American may eventually become a survival advantage, since you're already more likely to fear the confrontation.
A death had already been reported at the residence, with future deaths eminent. The poor bastard who opened the door did not comply instantly with their instructions, as he was righteously confused... but he does appear to make some ill-advised quick movement with shaky spotlights and police rifles trained on him.
Right or wrong is, unfortunately, for later discussion... if living through the ordeal is your goal, just put your fracking hands up and move slowly.
To say that they just rolled up and shot the first person they saw is only showing your bias and not what was reported.
Essentially, they did just that, shooting the 1st person to come to the door... bad luck he fit the physical description of the reported assailant. From the footage, it appears the police are hundreds of feet from the front door, so in exchange for placing themselves at a relatively safe distance, discerning a sudden move as harmful intent or honest-to-goodness surprise was near impossible.
Moral of the story? When the police have weapons trained on you, hopefully you don't need to sneeze...
"... scrambling to curtail (some of) the manipulation he now acknowledges exists"
facebook founder, users, employees, and critics, all seem to live in a bubble, spouting nonsense back and forth, about a non-incident, backed with no independently verifiable evidence, made up entirely of unverified allegations about, relatively minuscule ad spending by unidentified americans with, fuzzy at best, connections several nodes removed from anything real named kremlin.
sad.
Hmmm. Perhaps Zuckerberg is Presidential material.
That The Facebook needs saving is encouraging news... that seems to indicate its popularity and influence is waning.
Even if this is true, it's sad to realize the genie is out of the bottle on this type of social media platform, and something else will replace or compete with Zuck's digital progeny.
Here's to hoping we don't get a replacement that's actually worse, on the order of trading Saddam Hussein for ISIS.
Myth. US prisons are not full up with people for marijuana convictions, especially not for simple possession.
Of the 750K annual US marijuana arrests:
About 40,000 inmates of state and federal prison have a current conviction involving marijuana, and about half of them are in for marijuana offenses alone; most of these were involved in distribution. Less than one percent are in for possession alone.
There are 2.2 million US prisoners at the state and federal level, so less than 2%. It's such a small % that the keepers of the keys (do they use keys anymore?) can keep their prisons full by delaying parole releases.
But yes, ethnicity still plays too large a role in sentencing, so you're not completely wrong.
Slashdot Mirror
Much of the quarantine attempts actually failed in Africa, as many carriers preferred the state of denial versus being outed as sickened.
The rather obligatory teaching theme ought to be:
If you enter your genuine personal information into a porn site's data base, you're taking a silly risk.
We live in Cape Town We really hope some of the short-term mitigation plans (small-scale desalination plants that can be completed before we run out of water, ground-water extraction etc.) are sufficient to get us to Winter (and rain), but we if the trend of the last 3 years continues, we may not make it to Dec.
Isn't December summer in Cape Town?
Winter is the traditional rainy season in Cape Town, although not so much in recent years... it's known as the green season.
Versus when others chose to divest portfolios: Harvard University activists were an early proponent of divesting from companies associated with fossil fuels, but the wheels of change moved so slowly, the legendary portfolio actually lost money from fallling oil prices before the pressure to sell off these assets reached a crescendo.
After finally winning the divestment prompted the sell off of petroleum and coal assets at a time of market downturn.
I'm without a dog in the fight, and reluctant to pick one, but; at the very least, this smacks of grandstanding, and at its worst interpretation, it is a shameless money grab by a taxing entity run amok.
Yeah, I think the fact that it was filed by a huge class action law firm tells the story pretty clearly. They've probably taken it on contingency and are looking for a huge payday. Which will of course fix everything they claim to be wrong.
Ah yes... the theoretical right of the least important and influential to redress the wrongs of society in court in David vs. Goliath fashion.
If only we lived in a society where the lawsuits were driven by a desire to fix the wrongs, rather than simply profit from them. But then, we'd need to fill the Congress with farmers, convenience store clerks, and IT workers instead of lawyers.
Governors using the courts and statutes for the extortion of for-profit corporations via lawsuit and fines... it does resemble a revenue stream used by some European nations, though they seem to specialize in taxing non-domestic companies.
I'm without a dog in the fight, and reluctant to pick one, but; at the very least, this smacks of grandstanding, and at its worst interpretation, it is a shameless money grab by a taxing entity run amok.
Tesla price right now, with no adjustments for eventual deflation versus premium metal after generations of use.
I don't want to be that poster, but it certainly appears that the middle hail stone is much softer than the other two, and fruit of the poisoned tree forces me to at least remain suspect of the hardness of the other two hail stones...
You know, instead of passing a law to order the FCC to enforce arbitrary policies set by a commission, they could use the opportunity to pass actual consumer protection type Net Neutrality rules.
Leave it to Congress to not do anything right.
To be fair, a law would be like texting your intentions to a partner in a sketchy relationship versus promising something verbally with neither witnesses nor readily available recording equipment.
A reversible Presidential proclamation has the ambiguity necessary for those in power to get behind vigorously until the test proves out.
Yeah, the glass solar roof will do great against golf and baseball size hail.
No roofing materials do. In the event electricity-generating shingles reach a reasonable price point, insurance premiums will adjust to accommodate them.
Insurance companies already reluctantly absorb the replacement cost of cedar shingles, metal roofing, and architectural shingles by premium adjustment... they are engineered not to lose money.
Disagree.
The Germans, the French, and the Americans have notably stepped forward in support of the protesters... and nearly every western democracy would issue an opinion if asked.
Whether or not this aids the ruling Islamic regime is an interesting point for debate, but the shutdown of the internet and ongoing suppression of the freedom of speech will either snuff out the spark of revolution or kindle it. Either way, those in power will try to blame outside influence, rather than internal unrest, for the dissent.
What others does the USA have?
Do you think we'd be using this one so frequently if we had another option?
Like the previous administration didn't meddle in overseas affairs too... They may have had a different perspective on when it was appropriate and in the USA's interest, but they meddled a LOT in various things going on overseas. It's pretty much been the case since the USA came into existence in the 1700's where we got involved in various conflicts that didn't directly involve us.
Yes. Like every influential nation ever, and much like the French and British meddling in the affairs of the fledgling American nation.
With the US request, and five dollars, you can still get a cup of Starbucks.
This is a dictatorial Islamic Republic, in crisis. The squelching of dissent alone guarantees these sites remain as closed as Jimmy Hoffa's eyes.
For Mengele, and the researchers who would use the blossoming gene editing technology to the detriment of humankind, the enemy of their goals is the dissemination of the newest discoveries. Much like nuclear age technology and weaponization, the only way to keep it potentially safe is to achieve a level of balance among competing and cooperating factions (nation-states).
Tribalism, our predisposition to conformity, and an innate distrust of those who are different are best overcome by balanced detente, at least in our present state of evolution as a species.
Take heart. We've had the ability to end human existence on earth for 70+ years, and it hasn't happened yet!
I'm an EE, and love technology but the Internet has turned to fucking shit and much of it needs pulling the plug on now, permanently. Good luck and much love.
20 years ago, give or take a season, there was much less available internet content and there were far fewer users. Of the users in the wild, wild west of '98, I'd say it's a fair gambit a much larger portion of the crowd had tech or computer backgrounds.
There is no surviving 20+ years on a fickle internet without some compromise to cover the bills. Sad and not very idealistic, but it's the World the internet has grown into.
Hope you'll reconsider.
A decent system allows for innocent people to be confused and not comply instantly, without getting executed on the spot.
A police officer could carry a shield to protect himself, instead of a finger on the trigger.
Great points.
Nonetheless, the reality in police confrontation in America is that your life is in genuine jeopardy. You don't even have to be a minority to be at risk, although being a black American may eventually become a survival advantage, since you're already more likely to fear the confrontation.
A death had already been reported at the residence, with future deaths eminent. The poor bastard who opened the door did not comply instantly with their instructions, as he was righteously confused... but he does appear to make some ill-advised quick movement with shaky spotlights and police rifles trained on him.
Right or wrong is, unfortunately, for later discussion... if living through the ordeal is your goal, just put your fracking hands up and move slowly.
To say that they just rolled up and shot the first person they saw is only showing your bias and not what was reported.
Essentially, they did just that, shooting the 1st person to come to the door... bad luck he fit the physical description of the reported assailant. From the footage, it appears the police are hundreds of feet from the front door, so in exchange for placing themselves at a relatively safe distance, discerning a sudden move as harmful intent or honest-to-goodness surprise was near impossible.
Moral of the story? When the police have weapons trained on you, hopefully you don't need to sneeze...
"... scrambling to curtail (some of) the manipulation he now acknowledges exists" facebook founder, users, employees, and critics, all seem to live in a bubble, spouting nonsense back and forth, about a non-incident, backed with no independently verifiable evidence, made up entirely of unverified allegations about, relatively minuscule ad spending by unidentified americans with, fuzzy at best, connections several nodes removed from anything real named kremlin.
sad.
Hmmm. Perhaps Zuckerberg is Presidential material.
That The Facebook needs saving is encouraging news... that seems to indicate its popularity and influence is waning.
Even if this is true, it's sad to realize the genie is out of the bottle on this type of social media platform, and something else will replace or compete with Zuck's digital progeny.
Here's to hoping we don't get a replacement that's actually worse, on the order of trading Saddam Hussein for ISIS.
It's difficult for me to admit, but this comment is lucid and downright Presidential compared to what comes out of the Oval Office currently.
I'm actually more surprised this data collection has gone on at the Library of Congress since 2010, than the news that it's ending.
Now if the story had started with "The NSA...", I would've been quite shocked at its termination.
Yes but you have to keep in mind that the U.S. imprisons more of its population than Russia. And almost 8x the rate of most civilized countries.
Well, sure, if you're willing to go full on apples-to-oranges with that comparison to civilized countries.
Myth. US prisons are not full up with people for marijuana convictions, especially not for simple possession.
Of the 750K annual US marijuana arrests:
About 40,000 inmates of state and federal prison have a current conviction involving marijuana, and about half of them are in for marijuana offenses alone; most of these were involved in distribution. Less than one percent are in for possession alone.
There are 2.2 million US prisoners at the state and federal level, so less than 2%. It's such a small % that the keepers of the keys (do they use keys anymore?) can keep their prisons full by delaying parole releases.
But yes, ethnicity still plays too large a role in sentencing, so you're not completely wrong.