The problem as I see it is that Americans, or at least American politicians, would rather pander to the portion of the religious right who claim that evolution isn't real, the rapture is near, the Bible contains everything man is meant to know, and science is an instrument of the Satan. It isn't just the right either. The only way I see the US getting into science is if there's money in it. We have been shutting down basic science for years in favor of things like biotech that make big money for business. Not that I have a problem with biotech but come on, if the basic science is done elsewhere then the engineering will follow. You can't just keep suing everybody for "stealing" your 20 year old ideas; you need to keep coming up with new ones. That's where basic research comes in.
This is just more of the security theater we have all come to love. First of all I think we should question why most of these secret documents were secret in the first place. Is it really a surprise to anyone that Iran’s neighbors don’t want them to have nukes. I’m sure Canada and Mexico would be happier if the US didn’t have huge stockpiles of nukes and God knows what else. Wikileaks and Julian Assange are not doing anything wrong, the government officials just don’t like to be seen as fools. How much trouble would it be to just not say things that might be insulting to people, or at least not to write them down. If I did something like this I would be called unprofessional, they scream about being caught and how some “traitor” has betrayed the country. I agree that some things need to be kept under wraps for a time, but when you make everything a secret people are bound to open their mouths up, particularly when the things you are trying to hide make you look foolish or if the person judges them to be immoral. Wikileaks is performing a valuable service bringing these things to the forefront. As to the sexual allegations against Mr. Assange, I seem to recall several US Presidents being accused of promiscuity.
So when did reporting secrets become illegal Reporters do it all the time, it's their job. Half the time it's the politicians who leak the information in the first place. I really didn't see much in the stuff that everyone didn't already know or suspect anyway. Anyone remember the Pentagon Papers?
Why don't we just give them direct access to our bank accounts and keys to the front door. Maybe they would be happy if they could just erase every movie from your mind after viewing then charge you extra if you want to remember it. Of course, with many movies this would be a benefit, perhaps they will charge extra fees to remove those.
I'm less concerned with chemistry sets than I am with the loss of access to many once common chemicals. Even competent adults find it difficult to impossible to obtain many chemicals just because someone "might" use them for something illegal or dangerous. In general people are not encouraged and sometimes not even permitted to perform experiments without a "proper" vocation. I guess the backyard scientist or inventor is becoming a lost breed. It's not just chemicals either, anything potentially dangerous seems prone to excessive regulation or prohibition. We just need to be protected from ourselves.
Try to make sure you don't have negative pressure in the room as this just tends to pull in dust, particularly from above suspended ceilings. As for cats, I'd try Nair. My cats like to nest on the nice warm fuzzy computers (when they aren't walking on the keyboard and/or getting online).
Good Luck, pts
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-- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
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Our company still uses Win 2000 and NT 4 on most of their machines. Whats an upgrade?
The problem as I see it is that Americans, or at least American politicians, would rather pander to the portion of the religious right who claim that evolution isn't real, the rapture is near, the Bible contains everything man is meant to know, and science is an instrument of the Satan. It isn't just the right either. The only way I see the US getting into science is if there's money in it. We have been shutting down basic science for years in favor of things like biotech that make big money for business. Not that I have a problem with biotech but come on, if the basic science is done elsewhere then the engineering will follow. You can't just keep suing everybody for "stealing" your 20 year old ideas; you need to keep coming up with new ones. That's where basic research comes in.
This is just more of the security theater we have all come to love. First of all I think we should question why most of these secret documents were secret in the first place. Is it really a surprise to anyone that Iran’s neighbors don’t want them to have nukes. I’m sure Canada and Mexico would be happier if the US didn’t have huge stockpiles of nukes and God knows what else. Wikileaks and Julian Assange are not doing anything wrong, the government officials just don’t like to be seen as fools. How much trouble would it be to just not say things that might be insulting to people, or at least not to write them down. If I did something like this I would be called unprofessional, they scream about being caught and how some “traitor” has betrayed the country. I agree that some things need to be kept under wraps for a time, but when you make everything a secret people are bound to open their mouths up, particularly when the things you are trying to hide make you look foolish or if the person judges them to be immoral. Wikileaks is performing a valuable service bringing these things to the forefront. As to the sexual allegations against Mr. Assange, I seem to recall several US Presidents being accused of promiscuity.
Illegal detention.
So when did reporting secrets become illegal Reporters do it all the time, it's their job. Half the time it's the politicians who leak the information in the first place. I really didn't see much in the stuff that everyone didn't already know or suspect anyway. Anyone remember the Pentagon Papers?
Why don't we just give them direct access to our bank accounts and keys to the front door. Maybe they would be happy if they could just erase every movie from your mind after viewing then charge you extra if you want to remember it. Of course, with many movies this would be a benefit, perhaps they will charge extra fees to remove those.
I'm less concerned with chemistry sets than I am with the loss of access to many once common chemicals. Even competent adults find it difficult to impossible to obtain many chemicals just because someone "might" use them for something illegal or dangerous. In general people are not encouraged and sometimes not even permitted to perform experiments without a "proper" vocation. I guess the backyard scientist or inventor is becoming a lost breed. It's not just chemicals either, anything potentially dangerous seems prone to excessive regulation or prohibition. We just need to be protected from ourselves.
Try to make sure you don't have negative pressure in the room as this just tends to pull in dust, particularly from above suspended ceilings. As for cats, I'd try Nair. My cats like to nest on the nice warm fuzzy computers (when they aren't walking on the keyboard and/or getting online).
Good Luck,
pts
The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.
-- Andrew S. Tanenbaum
Not