The spirit of the Nobel Prize can be extracted from Alfred Nobel's will: "The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind."
Economic forces are probably one of the major ones that modify the quality of life of every human being in this planet, and have a definite impact on poverty, hunger, health and global peace. I'm a mathematician myself; I know what a "hard" science is and by that logic, mathematics should have its Nobel Prize as well. And I agree, Economics is less hard than most economists pretend it to be. But in any case, that's not what is in question. The fact that Economics is a major agent in the way we understand "human laws" and its effect on humankind, it warrants its place in the Nobel Prizes, I firmly believe.
The electoral college is fine. The problem is the Winner Takes All system. The founding fathers never intended that.
Ugh, I'm sorry, but I cringe every time somebody says "our founding fathers never intended that". They couldn't possibly foresee the state and needs of the country almost two centuries later, and the social, technological, and environmental complexities of this new globalized world. They were not infallible saints sent from God. We are the ones who have the responsibility of adjusting our laws and systems to cope with the new problems we face.
4th amendment protects you against unreasonable search. Seems like it would apply at the airport. TSA claims that you are contractually obligated to put up with search when you enter the secure area and that your air travel ticket states this and as such is a contract. But, you aren't able to sign away your constitutional rights implying, at least, that this component of the air travel contract is illegal. How does this all square up?
Yeah, right, they get *GROPED*. What an exaggeration. It's just a damn inspection. If you're having those kind of fantasies perhaps you're too repressed or watch too much porn (or both).
If they don't want to get touched, then they shouldn't object to the scans.
The patdowns are not responsible for any deaths. These reactions are caused by the irrational fear and exacerbated prudery of the TRAVELERS.
I have absolutely no problems being scanned or getting a deep patdown. One is in the same situation when you get a physical examination from your doctor. We have no problems with that because we don't want to risk our health. Why can't we do the same for our security?
These officers deal with so many people that I would doubt they would find it pleasurable after the 10,000th traveler. And even if they find pleasure off of it, what's the big frickin' deal? What if I like going to work because there's somebody good-looking in my office? (totally hypothetical, because it's sadly not my case, ha) Does that make me a bad employee? Pff!
You know what pisses me off the most at airports? Not hightened security, but the lack of electric outlets and free (or cheap) wifi. That aggravates me to no end.
...they would be able to say "hey this guy doesn't like Pr0n showing up on his search history, lives in (insert town, state, and address here), must have had a divorce last year, oh there it is his lawyer's email is xxxx@gmail.com, is a student, has kids, frequently uses google for spelling help...
Dude, you forgot to post anonymously... now you've given your secrets away. Well, now you shouldn't worry about logging out when you search for porn.
As a US citizen, I agree completely, but you must understand the cultural forces at work here.
I see your point, but I think America, and also the whole world, must understand that it just not sustainable to have everybody in this planet living as an average American. There has to be some conscious changes, or something will happen.
As an international student currently living in the US, it is quite shocking to see how Americans waste electric power. It is simply not logical why people have to bring sweaters to be comfortable during the scorching summer (because the thermostat is set too low) whereas in winter, buildings become furnaces.
I won't even get started on the obscene generation of trash.
Hopefully these crises well force Americans to find ways of making themselves more efficient.
A bit offtopic, but the article is not very interesting anyway...
Why say '4 dozen services'? When I see that there are '48 processes' running in my computer, I think of 'almost 50', or if I feel geeky I might think of approximately 64.
Honestly, who counts in multiples of twelve, when your not buying eggs?
Actually, Japan is ranked fourth -- beaten by Andorra, San Marino, and Singapore. And their life expectancy is only about 3.9 years greater than the average US citizen.
Dude, calm down. It was a sarcastic joke... don't make a big fuss about it. I respect every country, but I don't think you can give so much weight to Andorra's and San Marino's population of 69,150, and 28,119, respectively. Secondly, Singapore matches Japan's by less than one year. Thirdly, it has long been known that Japan's life expectancy is among the highest in the world.
If the Big Bang isn't a big enough picture that you must be a hard person to satisfy!
I don't think you understand the original poster. The Big Bang does not answer the question about origin the Universe. It is only a good model of the first stages of the Universe. It doesn't answer the ultimate question: why does the Universe, as a whole, the everything, exist? Believing that the Big Bang or evolution is a good explanation is just being near-sighted.
The big picture is about existance itself. Why does "existance" exist? It's a depressing question because I don't think it'll ever be answered, and I can't keep thinking about it.
How do you know those who post in English are native English speakers?
I'm not a English native speaker and I still correct my American friends' spelling. The problem with the English language, as it has been pointed out, is that you have to learn both oral English and written English separately.
An reform of the English spelling would solve this problem. It has been proposed many times before, but without any real success. However, it would add the problem of backward compatibility as well as losing the etymology of the words.
From my point of view, knowing the etymology of a word is very important, but sometimes I think that English could use some reforms. Its oral form has evolved way too far from the written form. Somewhere I read that it's considered to be the language with hardest spelling, after Irish Gaelic.
Isn't it close to La Estación de Atocha, where the terrorists attacked? I was in Madrid five years ago, so I can't remember very well, but I think it's about right. Perhaps somebody can verify/correct.
Slashdot Mirror
The spirit of the Nobel Prize can be extracted from Alfred Nobel's will:
"The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind."
Economic forces are probably one of the major ones that modify the quality of life of every human being in this planet, and have a definite impact on poverty, hunger, health and global peace. I'm a mathematician myself; I know what a "hard" science is and by that logic, mathematics should have its Nobel Prize as well. And I agree, Economics is less hard than most economists pretend it to be. But in any case, that's not what is in question. The fact that Economics is a major agent in the way we understand "human laws" and its effect on humankind, it warrants its place in the Nobel Prizes, I firmly believe.
The electoral college is fine. The problem is the Winner Takes All system. The founding fathers never intended that.
Ugh, I'm sorry, but I cringe every time somebody says "our founding fathers never intended that". They couldn't possibly foresee the state and needs of the country almost two centuries later, and the social, technological, and environmental complexities of this new globalized world. They were not infallible saints sent from God. We are the ones who have the responsibility of adjusting our laws and systems to cope with the new problems we face.
4th amendment protects you against unreasonable search. Seems like it would apply at the airport. TSA claims that you are contractually obligated to put up with search when you enter the secure area and that your air travel ticket states this and as such is a contract. But, you aren't able to sign away your constitutional rights implying, at least, that this component of the air travel contract is illegal. How does this all square up?
"Unreasonable" is such a sharp, unambiguous word.
Yeah, right, they get *GROPED*. What an exaggeration. It's just a damn inspection. If you're having those kind of fantasies perhaps you're too repressed or watch too much porn (or both).
If they don't want to get touched, then they shouldn't object to the scans.
Forget that. Wonder about the odds of dying from a car crash, since you and millions of Americans decided to avoid flying this year because of the patdowns and since driving is much, much more dangerous than flying. The TSA kills Americans.
The patdowns are not responsible for any deaths. These reactions are caused by the irrational fear and exacerbated prudery of the TRAVELERS.
I have absolutely no problems being scanned or getting a deep patdown. One is in the same situation when you get a physical examination from your doctor. We have no problems with that because we don't want to risk our health. Why can't we do the same for our security?
These officers deal with so many people that I would doubt they would find it pleasurable after the 10,000th traveler. And even if they find pleasure off of it, what's the big frickin' deal? What if I like going to work because there's somebody good-looking in my office? (totally hypothetical, because it's sadly not my case, ha) Does that make me a bad employee? Pff!
You know what pisses me off the most at airports? Not hightened security, but the lack of electric outlets and free (or cheap) wifi. That aggravates me to no end.
What about plain German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese.... ?
I was prompted me to look at the wikipedia and found this interesting article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_communications_cable
I particularly found very interesting the map with all the undersea cables in the world. Pretty cool.
...they would be able to say "hey this guy doesn't like Pr0n showing up on his search history, lives in (insert town, state, and address here), must have had a divorce last year, oh there it is his lawyer's email is xxxx@gmail.com, is a student, has kids, frequently uses google for spelling help...
Dude, you forgot to post anonymously... now you've given your secrets away. Well, now you shouldn't worry about logging out when you search for porn.
As a US citizen, I agree completely, but you must understand the cultural forces at work here.
I see your point, but I think America, and also the whole world, must understand that it just not sustainable to have everybody in this planet living as an average American. There has to be some conscious changes, or something will happen.
As an international student currently living in the US, it is quite shocking to see how Americans waste electric power. It is simply not logical why people have to bring sweaters to be comfortable during the scorching summer (because the thermostat is set too low) whereas in winter, buildings become furnaces.
I won't even get started on the obscene generation of trash.
Hopefully these crises well force Americans to find ways of making themselves more efficient.
Dude, I bet they call you the joke assassin.
What the hell is salt going to do with that?
Dude, he meant to take a story with a grain of salt, despite Reuters being a very reputable source of news.
The server is beginning to be sluggish...
i l-beta-impressions/
Try the snappy Coral link:
http://patcavit.com.nyud.net:8090/2005/09/14/y-ma
A bit offtopic, but the article is not very interesting anyway...
Why say '4 dozen services'? When I see that there are '48 processes' running in my computer, I think of 'almost 50', or if I feel geeky I might think of approximately 64.
Honestly, who counts in multiples of twelve, when your not buying eggs?
$250,000 sounds like very little money compared to other NASA projects. Why can't my tax dollars go to these projects instead of the military?
Actually, Japan is ranked fourth -- beaten by Andorra, San Marino, and Singapore. And their life expectancy is only about 3.9 years greater than the average US citizen.
Dude, calm down. It was a sarcastic joke... don't make a big fuss about it. I respect every country, but I don't think you can give so much weight to Andorra's and San Marino's population of 69,150, and 28,119, respectively. Secondly, Singapore matches Japan's by less than one year. Thirdly, it has long been known that Japan's life expectancy is among the highest in the world.
... Japanese people aren't that much longer lived than Americans, are they?
No, they're just the country with the highest life expectation in the world.
Does there need to be a why? As history has shown us, hows are all there is, why are often superflous questiosn we ask because we're bored.
There needs to be a why because we need meaning. Otherwise, what's the difference between existing and not existing?
If the Big Bang isn't a big enough picture that you must be a hard person to satisfy!
I don't think you understand the original poster. The Big Bang does not answer the question about origin the Universe. It is only a good model of the first stages of the Universe. It doesn't answer the ultimate question: why does the Universe, as a whole, the everything, exist? Believing that the Big Bang or evolution is a good explanation is just being near-sighted.
The big picture is about existance itself. Why does "existance" exist? It's a depressing question because I don't think it'll ever be answered, and I can't keep thinking about it.
How do you know those who post in English are native English speakers?
I'm not a English native speaker and I still correct my American friends' spelling. The problem with the English language, as it has been pointed out, is that you have to learn both oral English and written English separately.
An reform of the English spelling would solve this problem. It has been proposed many times before, but without any real success. However, it would add the problem of backward compatibility as well as losing the etymology of the words.
From my point of view, knowing the etymology of a word is very important, but sometimes I think that English could use some reforms. Its oral form has evolved way too far from the written form. Somewhere I read that it's considered to be the language with hardest spelling, after Irish Gaelic.
and the corresponding Coralized link:
/ downloads/drops/R-3.1-200506271435/eclipse-news.ht ml
http://download.eclipse.org.nyud.net:8090/eclipse
It became eclipsed, perhaps??
(Evil grin)
Yes, and use that huge amount of electricity to power several bigass ACs to cool down the Earth!!!
:D
We're geniuses dude!
Isn't it close to La Estación de Atocha, where the terrorists attacked? I was in Madrid five years ago, so I can't remember very well, but I think it's about right. Perhaps somebody can verify/correct.
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-14.725971,-75.1421 93&spn=0.108318,0.168743&t=k&hl=en
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_lines