I was actually thinking about biological weapons the other day, and how useless they tend to be. The US has smallpox cultures somewhere (which are often cited as one possible biological weapon), and yet when I pondered things, I came to the conclusion that a new strain of TB would be the most effective biological weapon one can use: 1.) we know it works, 2.) it's not hard to culture a drug resistant strain, and 3.) plausible deniability is there.
I'd be greatly interested to see if the strains from all three regions were comparable. Perhaps someone is testing out a new weapon on various populaces, tinkering with it until they get it just right. Hmm. Mostly brown people are being infected (arguably, a Sicilian's Mediterranean skin color could find itself in this grouping). Interesting. And testing on a diverse set of people: Asian, Middle-Eastern, and Mediterranean / European to ensure that no individual group confers an evolutionary advantage that might stunt the plague's process if / when it is released on a worldwide scale. Perhaps they are trying to cook up an evolved Black Plague? All we need is a breakout in Africa, and someone would have a weapon to set humanity back several hundred years.
Has anyone seen a dirigible flying around in an odd place?
Random guess? Many of the more advanced antibiotics in use today are variants of earlier antibiotics. They're just tweaked versions, to get around the latest adaptation of bacteria. So, adaptation to a more advanced antibiotic confers immunity to the bacteria for both the advanced antibiotic and its predecessor. It's an evolutionary arms-race, in which the only way to 'win' is to find an adaptation that doesn't let bacteria grow on or in human beings. Good luck with that.
However, I will point out that while it may take only 3 months to put out a programmer, it takes several years to produce one worth hiring. To put it another way, it only take 3 months of chemistry to put out a Chemist, but it takes several years of working with chemistry to put out a Chemist worth hiring. Or an 'introduction to English' class to put out someone who speaks English. What you are looking for is someone who can handle the task fluently, which is an all-together different category.
We all remember the confusion that the fly-by-night IT companies caused during the dotcom boom, in which people with no understanding of computers took 3 week courses, and believed that was all they needed to get a good job in IT. These actions had the nasty side-effect of sabotaging wages for other IT people, as an inferior product was mixed in with a superior product, forcing wages downwards. Since programming is a fair amount more difficult than building a computer / maintaining a network, I do not think a 'gold rush' will result from people trying to get into programming jobs. Why? Because the bar is that much higher, and it's fairly obvious to your future boss (who is a programmer) that you know nothing about programming after two questions. From a conspiracy standpoint, jobs for programmers have been flowing back into the United States, after business's recent attempt to outsource fell on its face; as programmers once again are in demand, the wages for them are expected to rise; hence, someone may be making a belated attempt to (put charitably) increase supply of programmers to the market (and possibly scam people in the process by blowing smoke up their asses about attaining a six or seven-figure job with minimal training), or more realistically, to attempt to mingle inferior products (programmers knowing only one language, with 3 months experience) with superior products (programmers knowing at least 3 languages, with several years experience), to lower the cost of superior products (drive programmer wages down into the ocean, right as businesses need to hire local programmers).
The same could be said of the forefathers of the United States. Perhaps George Washington just wanted to be president (your political end-game)? His writings suggest otherwise.
I don't think the music industry wants to go there (set foot in Ireland, that is). The British, who had their own empire ("the sun never sets on the British Empire"), who are well-known for their ability to 'deal' with indigenous populations of almost any nationality, have been trying, for centuries now, to effectively deal with the Irish.
That's the British, of all people. The previous empire that the US uses as a yardstick to gauge its current success. I'd love to know what the music industry is drinking that has them thinking that this will end well.
I mean, come on, it's not like the Irish know how to fight guerrilla wars in ways that make various infamous groups in the Middle East look like pacifists in comparison.;-)
Actually, one of those recent science articles (again, somewhat unsubstantiated) seemed to indicate that the laws of physics, that we know and understand, are somewhat local. Observations of remote regions of this universe indicate that these laws may vary.
Interesting. I've run across that posting before (thank you reddit), but would like to hear some confirmation on it.
And I'm not worried about various people knowing where I stand, so I post with my username. The day that things become bad enough that I am 'disappeared' is the same day that life will probably take a turn for the worse for the majority of the populace. To paraphrase Death's line from Good Omens, "I'd think of it as leaving work early to beat the traffic." Which reminds me, Discworld is a fricking awesome series. What happens to Rincewind after Sourcery? Does he find a way back?
Functionally it doesn't apply to previous politicians (they tend to be well-insulated, even after losing office, except in rare cases). From a legal standpoint, however, it mostly applies to sitting politicians.
Outgoing dictatorships always tap the military as their last play.
I'm curious how many of our Generals / Admirals would comply with an order to fire on US citizens...the way things are currently going, we shall have a chance to test them soon.
Nonsense. Our politicians are some of the best liars and scam artists known to man. They will simply not be beaten, even when the markets are dealing out punishing blows.
Which reminds me./., I think I am willing to help code an 'edit' function for slashcode, if only so I can correct my sleep-deprived writings to some level of 3rd grade spelling and grammar.
Maybe we're the ones with the problem. Think about it -> the rest of the populace is willing to be treated as common peasants, and do not offer so much as an iota of resistance against the perpetual on-slaught of legislation aimed at reducing them to pauper status with the rights of more often associated with indentured servants than real citizens.
I'm having a hard time justifying my Lockian approach to life these days; perhaps I should trade it up for some megalomaniac Machiavellian fun. Given the TSA's current understanding of what is and is not a weapon, I should be able to hold up the Pentagon with a toothbrush (and quite possibly a roll of toothpaste -> mint-flavored). "Oh my God, he's brushing his teeth! That's dental hygiene! He might be a terrorist!", "Yes, YES, and I plan to gargle with mouthwash next if my demands are not met." "But what do you want?" "Call NASA, I want all the astronaut ice-cream." "He's mad, why won't someone stop him?"
But first, the legislature. I will throw a fundraiser for a group of reps / senators, at some rented, but posh Alaskan / Canadian lodge that's enjoying an off season, and leave a suitcase filled with platinum bullion in plain sight, with a remark that I'd be back in a minute, I must have left the other suitcases on the plane. I figure that none of them will be willing to leave the room (even for a bathroom break), for fear the bullion might be disappear by the time they got back (a fear that is probably more than justified). It should take a week or two for them to slowly die of starvation, less so if I can think of a decent plan to lure away the pages -> "Have you ever wrestled a bear? No? Well, today you will."
And the judicial branch can be handled by a choice application of medication, and dropping them off at various retirement homes. Slip the guy some money to help deal with "my uncle / aunt who is suffering from dementia, and thinks, get this, that he / she is a Supreme Court Justice." You know as well as I do that the guy working the counter had no idea who our current Justices are, let alone what they look like. I may have to pay off the law clerks to ensure this part runs smoothly, but judging from some of the opinions that have been issued by this lofty court, it is safe to say that there is at least a handful of clerks who are open to bribery.
The executive branch is the only one I haven't figured out yet, to my satisfaction. ^_^
Unlikely. The current administration sees Facebook as a useful ally, and I'm fairly certain that in the event of a complaint, the NSA would be willing to file a "friend of the court" to help get Facebook back up on its legs. Plus, Facebook has enough money to rent a few senators, if not buy them outright.
Whether or not it's out on the 'open' (a term I'd take notice with), SOPA needs to die. The entire idea encapsulated in this legislation needs to be stricken from the register, and quietly buried somewhere out near the NJ turnpike.
And once this thing passes, it'll be impossible to remove. Certain provisions will be overturned, over time, but not before they gut the economy, and make the citizenry hate itself (even more than right now, if at all possible). The proper response to SOPA passing into law is the immediate and permanent removal of every incumbent from office. No exceptions, not even from your sometimes favorite rep / senator. Reintroduce the concept of living under the very laws they passed.
I know, it's a crazy concept. Holding the (laughable) legal system's ass to the flame, as it has held everyone else's. But this won't happen, if for a while -> "Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make proud."
Slashdot Mirror
I was actually thinking about biological weapons the other day, and how useless they tend to be. The US has smallpox cultures somewhere (which are often cited as one possible biological weapon), and yet when I pondered things, I came to the conclusion that a new strain of TB would be the most effective biological weapon one can use: 1.) we know it works, 2.) it's not hard to culture a drug resistant strain, and 3.) plausible deniability is there.
I'd be greatly interested to see if the strains from all three regions were comparable. Perhaps someone is testing out a new weapon on various populaces, tinkering with it until they get it just right. Hmm. Mostly brown people are being infected (arguably, a Sicilian's Mediterranean skin color could find itself in this grouping). Interesting. And testing on a diverse set of people: Asian, Middle-Eastern, and Mediterranean / European to ensure that no individual group confers an evolutionary advantage that might stunt the plague's process if / when it is released on a worldwide scale. Perhaps they are trying to cook up an evolved Black Plague? All we need is a breakout in Africa, and someone would have a weapon to set humanity back several hundred years.
Has anyone seen a dirigible flying around in an odd place?
Debatable. From what I've read, regular soil has naturally occurring strains of drug-resistant TB growing in it. *shrugs*
Random guess? Many of the more advanced antibiotics in use today are variants of earlier antibiotics. They're just tweaked versions, to get around the latest adaptation of bacteria. So, adaptation to a more advanced antibiotic confers immunity to the bacteria for both the advanced antibiotic and its predecessor. It's an evolutionary arms-race, in which the only way to 'win' is to find an adaptation that doesn't let bacteria grow on or in human beings. Good luck with that.
I, for one, welcome the competition.
However, I will point out that while it may take only 3 months to put out a programmer, it takes several years to produce one worth hiring. To put it another way, it only take 3 months of chemistry to put out a Chemist, but it takes several years of working with chemistry to put out a Chemist worth hiring. Or an 'introduction to English' class to put out someone who speaks English. What you are looking for is someone who can handle the task fluently, which is an all-together different category.
We all remember the confusion that the fly-by-night IT companies caused during the dotcom boom, in which people with no understanding of computers took 3 week courses, and believed that was all they needed to get a good job in IT. These actions had the nasty side-effect of sabotaging wages for other IT people, as an inferior product was mixed in with a superior product, forcing wages downwards. Since programming is a fair amount more difficult than building a computer / maintaining a network, I do not think a 'gold rush' will result from people trying to get into programming jobs. Why? Because the bar is that much higher, and it's fairly obvious to your future boss (who is a programmer) that you know nothing about programming after two questions. From a conspiracy standpoint, jobs for programmers have been flowing back into the United States, after business's recent attempt to outsource fell on its face; as programmers once again are in demand, the wages for them are expected to rise; hence, someone may be making a belated attempt to (put charitably) increase supply of programmers to the market (and possibly scam people in the process by blowing smoke up their asses about attaining a six or seven-figure job with minimal training), or more realistically, to attempt to mingle inferior products (programmers knowing only one language, with 3 months experience) with superior products (programmers knowing at least 3 languages, with several years experience), to lower the cost of superior products (drive programmer wages down into the ocean, right as businesses need to hire local programmers).
Oh good. Now I've thought of a new "Insanity Wolf" meme: "Install Windows, don't install anti-virus."
The same could be said of the forefathers of the United States. Perhaps George Washington just wanted to be president (your political end-game)? His writings suggest otherwise.
Only if you have enough money. Taking on governments, in their own court of law, is usually a no-win situation.
Last I checked, the IRA is still around.
Thank you.
I don't think the music industry wants to go there (set foot in Ireland, that is). The British, who had their own empire ("the sun never sets on the British Empire"), who are well-known for their ability to 'deal' with indigenous populations of almost any nationality, have been trying, for centuries now, to effectively deal with the Irish.
That's the British, of all people. The previous empire that the US uses as a yardstick to gauge its current success. I'd love to know what the music industry is drinking that has them thinking that this will end well.
I mean, come on, it's not like the Irish know how to fight guerrilla wars in ways that make various infamous groups in the Middle East look like pacifists in comparison. ;-)
Actually, one of those recent science articles (again, somewhat unsubstantiated) seemed to indicate that the laws of physics, that we know and understand, are somewhat local. Observations of remote regions of this universe indicate that these laws may vary.
And thus, my lifelong pursuit to create a carbon-based life-form that does not need water is born.
Dude, there is tons of porn and movies at that IP address you gave me.
And as it just so happens, they also use my username / password for the login credentials. Keanu Reeves -> Whoa!
Interesting. I've run across that posting before (thank you reddit), but would like to hear some confirmation on it.
And I'm not worried about various people knowing where I stand, so I post with my username. The day that things become bad enough that I am 'disappeared' is the same day that life will probably take a turn for the worse for the majority of the populace. To paraphrase Death's line from Good Omens, "I'd think of it as leaving work early to beat the traffic." Which reminds me, Discworld is a fricking awesome series. What happens to Rincewind after Sourcery? Does he find a way back?
"Functionally it does apply to previous politicians" -> I need sleep.
Functionally it doesn't apply to previous politicians (they tend to be well-insulated, even after losing office, except in rare cases). From a legal standpoint, however, it mostly applies to sitting politicians.
This is...this is almost a story. Give us moar!
Yes, I believe he is. Many of our policies, while not word for word copies of the USSRs, are functionally taking on an identical nature.
And while I am not a tea-bagger (well, perhaps occasionally, when I play Halo), the man has a point.
Outgoing dictatorships always tap the military as their last play.
I'm curious how many of our Generals / Admirals would comply with an order to fire on US citizens...the way things are currently going, we shall have a chance to test them soon.
Nonsense. Our politicians are some of the best liars and scam artists known to man. They will simply not be beaten, even when the markets are dealing out punishing blows.
They'll find some way to stay in power...
Tell us the one about the tooth-fairy, again.
Which reminds me. /., I think I am willing to help code an 'edit' function for slashcode, if only so I can correct my sleep-deprived writings to some level of 3rd grade spelling and grammar.
Maybe we're the ones with the problem. Think about it -> the rest of the populace is willing to be treated as common peasants, and do not offer so much as an iota of resistance against the perpetual on-slaught of legislation aimed at reducing them to pauper status with the rights of more often associated with indentured servants than real citizens.
I'm having a hard time justifying my Lockian approach to life these days; perhaps I should trade it up for some megalomaniac Machiavellian fun. Given the TSA's current understanding of what is and is not a weapon, I should be able to hold up the Pentagon with a toothbrush (and quite possibly a roll of toothpaste -> mint-flavored). "Oh my God, he's brushing his teeth! That's dental hygiene! He might be a terrorist!", "Yes, YES, and I plan to gargle with mouthwash next if my demands are not met." "But what do you want?" "Call NASA, I want all the astronaut ice-cream." "He's mad, why won't someone stop him?"
But first, the legislature. I will throw a fundraiser for a group of reps / senators, at some rented, but posh Alaskan / Canadian lodge that's enjoying an off season, and leave a suitcase filled with platinum bullion in plain sight, with a remark that I'd be back in a minute, I must have left the other suitcases on the plane. I figure that none of them will be willing to leave the room (even for a bathroom break), for fear the bullion might be disappear by the time they got back (a fear that is probably more than justified). It should take a week or two for them to slowly die of starvation, less so if I can think of a decent plan to lure away the pages -> "Have you ever wrestled a bear? No? Well, today you will."
And the judicial branch can be handled by a choice application of medication, and dropping them off at various retirement homes. Slip the guy some money to help deal with "my uncle / aunt who is suffering from dementia, and thinks, get this, that he / she is a Supreme Court Justice." You know as well as I do that the guy working the counter had no idea who our current Justices are, let alone what they look like. I may have to pay off the law clerks to ensure this part runs smoothly, but judging from some of the opinions that have been issued by this lofty court, it is safe to say that there is at least a handful of clerks who are open to bribery.
The executive branch is the only one I haven't figured out yet, to my satisfaction. ^_^
Unlikely. The current administration sees Facebook as a useful ally, and I'm fairly certain that in the event of a complaint, the NSA would be willing to file a "friend of the court" to help get Facebook back up on its legs. Plus, Facebook has enough money to rent a few senators, if not buy them outright.
Whether or not it's out on the 'open' (a term I'd take notice with), SOPA needs to die. The entire idea encapsulated in this legislation needs to be stricken from the register, and quietly buried somewhere out near the NJ turnpike.
And once this thing passes, it'll be impossible to remove. Certain provisions will be overturned, over time, but not before they gut the economy, and make the citizenry hate itself (even more than right now, if at all possible). The proper response to SOPA passing into law is the immediate and permanent removal of every incumbent from office. No exceptions, not even from your sometimes favorite rep / senator. Reintroduce the concept of living under the very laws they passed.
I know, it's a crazy concept. Holding the (laughable) legal system's ass to the flame, as it has held everyone else's. But this won't happen, if for a while -> "Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make proud."