Want an opinion from a bioethicist? Flip a coin. Their opinions have little to do with fact and more to do with which arguments sound convincing. At least, this is my experience after taking a bioethics course taught by a professor who wrote bioethics policy for Clinton in one weekend while he was still a grad student--make it up as you go along, and as long as it sounds convincing, people will believe you are an expert.
Re:It's not like they EVER landed there anyway!
on
Back to the Moon
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· Score: 2, Funny
"WHY the hell HAVEN'T they been back there YET?"
I guess you could say that the public interest in a given topic does not LET'S RIDE BIKES!!
"Let me put it this way: I'm a conservative, but I'd take Hillary Clinton over Jeb any day. I hope and pray it doesn't come to that."
Hillary v. Jeb '08 seems like the ideal situation for a random person with $100,000 to make some primetime TV ads asking people to write in their vote for him, and become elected president. Really, what is the point to the two parties anymore, besides to keep the public busy dividing themselves?
"Joke all you want at the small size of the 'tech' crowd, but enthusiasts hold a great deal of sway over the general public.
If someone doesn't know which tv to buy, they'll ask their techie friend about what he/she recommends. And go into any electronics store(NOT best buy) and you'll see passionate people who won't recommend a POS."
You're joking, right? Maybe that's how it works in your inner circle of internet friends, but the tech crowd has little or no sway over the general public. Most people just buy whatever looks nice (ie, whichever one has a shinier box) or, more likely, whatever they think is "saving" them the most money. "Wow, $200 off this $1200 TV (that only cost $50 to make)! Now I can go out and buy $200 in lottery tickets! Yay!!!"
"Maryland did not go for Bush in the last election, despite using Diebold machines."
The difference is that Maryland didn't matter one bit to the election, whereas Ohio was seen as crucial. So, anyone with a conspiracy theory would see Maryland's results as the Diebold folks covering their asses.
The speed of light in vacuum is constant regardless of how fast you move, whether it's 20 miles per hour or 20 million miles per hour. A person travelling at 99.9999999% of the speed of light in vacuum (c), who shines a flashlight in the opposite direction of his motion, will still see that light travelling at c, NOT at (c+.999999999c).
This is nothing new. Materials with negative indexes of refraction have been used in experiments before. Here is the abstract of their article in Science:
"Simultaneous Negative Phase and Group Velocity of Light in a Metamaterial"
"We investigated the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses through a metamaterial that has a negative index of refraction for wavelengths around 1.5 micrometers. From the interference fringes of a Michelson interferometer with and without the sample, we directly inferred the phase time delay. From the pulse-envelope shift, we determined the group time delay. In a spectral region, phase and group velocity are negative simultaneously. This means that both the carrier wave and the pulse envelope peak of the output pulse appear at the rear side of the sample before their input pulse counterparts have entered the front side of the sample."
"Even if, say, global warming increased the temperature of the oceans, other factors (such as perhaps increased vertical wind shear) or a change in the location of the ITCZ (probably shifting poleward in a warmer planet) would affect the climatology of tropical cyclones."
I said nothing about the location of the hurricanes, or their number. That would be impossible to predict. It's a simple fact that hurricanes and similar cyclonic storms are more powerful when they are over warmer water. This is what causes the regular "November gales" that can be very lethal (such as in 1913) over the Great Lakes. Feel free to label me a troll, however.
"I was always taught by my geography teacher that there as so many variables concerned, and all fairly random - that even a reasonably accurate prediction of climate changes over any length of time would be only ever be wildly inaccurate."
Global warming causes hurricanes to be more powerful. There is nothing vague or uncertain about that.
"G'day, Flipper... Hello Flipper... how are you, Flipper? Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce a chap from pommie land... Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper. Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper... and Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper."
"Is your name not Flipper, then?"
"No, it's Michael."
"That's going to cause a little confusion. Mind if we call you 'Flipper' to keep it clear?"
"I'm not saying Ethanol is bad, just that it isn't as great as GM wants you to believe."
But... but... those commercials, that highly optimistic, squeaky voice telling us to GO YELLOW... you're saying that's not a realistic portrayal of the situation?!?
You seriously have no understanding of the situation. I suggest you actually watch the video I linked to. Go ahead, spend the 99 cents. It'll stop you sounding like an idiot.
"Despite this astonishingly low number Charlie Rose, news media in general and you carry on about the inescapable bird flu pandemic that is 'certain to kill us all'. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"
The threat is not from the current form of bird flu. The threat is if/when bird flu mutates into a form that can be transmitted between humans. Then we're looking at devastation, unless we prepare ourselves. The 50-100 people who got it now don't have a human-to-human strain, so it doesn't matter. They are just unfortunate to have to come into contact with a lot of birds, for whatever reason. But, feel free to keep quoting this low number as if it has anything to do with the actual threat.
"If the problem is peoples' immune systems, why don't they just give the victims some immunosupressants?"
I don't think you understand the situation. AIDS drops your immune system down so low that you die from common illnesses like the cold. While people with AIDS might be able to resist the bird flu, they're still going to die young. It might be that we would have to pump people with enough immunosupressants that they might as well have AIDS, unless the virus doesn't plan to stick around year after year like the human flu.
Nobody is claiming the current virus is the actual threat to humans. The actual threat comes if/when this virus mutates into a form that can be transferred between humans. Then you're talking about almost a hundred million possible deaths....
"Yes, yes, yes. People have died to bird flu, but the amount dead is comparable to the amount of children dying from hunger in like 2 minutes. So fuck the bird flu. It's just another scam to make someone really rich."
The threat isn't from the current form of bird flu. People only get that form if they live around chickens--swimming in chicken shit. The threat is if it mutates into a form that can be tranferred between humans. Care to inform yourself, so you don't sound so wrong? Watch this:
"ummm, yeah, 70 million people that's a lot right? wait, whats the total human population right now? >6Billion?"
Those 70 million won't be spread equally among the 6 billion, but be concentrated in cities. If it was spread equally, 1 in 85 people would die. That's about half as likely as you getting in a car accident, which is one of the most (or the most?) common dangers for people, at least in the U.S. If you yourself don't get the human-to-human bird flu, you would likely know several friends or relatives who have it.
"Till know aound 50 people worldwide had died of bird flu."
The threat is not from this form of bird flu. The threat is from a form that can be transferred from human to human. If that happens, predictions are that it could kill upwards of 70 million people. For informed opinions, as opposed to random/. opinions, see this extremely informative discussion with experts:
Slashdot Mirror
Want an opinion from a bioethicist? Flip a coin. Their opinions have little to do with fact and more to do with which arguments sound convincing. At least, this is my experience after taking a bioethics course taught by a professor who wrote bioethics policy for Clinton in one weekend while he was still a grad student--make it up as you go along, and as long as it sounds convincing, people will believe you are an expert.
"WHY the hell HAVEN'T they been back there YET?"
I guess you could say that the public interest in a given topic does not LET'S RIDE BIKES!!
"Let me put it this way: I'm a conservative, but I'd take Hillary Clinton over Jeb any day. I hope and pray it doesn't come to that."
Hillary v. Jeb '08 seems like the ideal situation for a random person with $100,000 to make some primetime TV ads asking people to write in their vote for him, and become elected president. Really, what is the point to the two parties anymore, besides to keep the public busy dividing themselves?
"Blessed be Jeb Bush your next american president"
I'm a liberal, but I'd take Jeb over Dubya any day. He is fluent in two more languages than his brother (Spanish and English).
"Joke all you want at the small size of the 'tech' crowd, but enthusiasts hold a great deal of sway over the general public. If someone doesn't know which tv to buy, they'll ask their techie friend about what he/she recommends. And go into any electronics store(NOT best buy) and you'll see passionate people who won't recommend a POS."
You're joking, right? Maybe that's how it works in your inner circle of internet friends, but the tech crowd has little or no sway over the general public. Most people just buy whatever looks nice (ie, whichever one has a shinier box) or, more likely, whatever they think is "saving" them the most money. "Wow, $200 off this $1200 TV (that only cost $50 to make)! Now I can go out and buy $200 in lottery tickets! Yay!!!"
"The results suggest that there may be a reversal of earth's magnetic field in about 2000 years."
As far as Christian fundamentalists are concerned, I guess this means 4th time's a charm.
"9. Terrorist go between calls his man Bin Laden."
Unless his cave has a repeater, I doubt Bin Laden is reaching anyone by cell phone in there.
"Maryland did not go for Bush in the last election, despite using Diebold machines."
The difference is that Maryland didn't matter one bit to the election, whereas Ohio was seen as crucial. So, anyone with a conspiracy theory would see Maryland's results as the Diebold folks covering their asses.
The speed of light in vacuum is constant regardless of how fast you move, whether it's 20 miles per hour or 20 million miles per hour. A person travelling at 99.9999999% of the speed of light in vacuum (c), who shines a flashlight in the opposite direction of his motion, will still see that light travelling at c, NOT at (c+.999999999c).
This is nothing new. Materials with negative indexes of refraction have been used in experiments before. Here is the abstract of their article in Science:
"Simultaneous Negative Phase and Group Velocity of Light in a Metamaterial"
"We investigated the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses through a metamaterial that has a negative index of refraction for wavelengths around 1.5 micrometers. From the interference fringes of a Michelson interferometer with and without the sample, we directly inferred the phase time delay. From the pulse-envelope shift, we determined the group time delay. In a spectral region, phase and group velocity are negative simultaneously. This means that both the carrier wave and the pulse envelope peak of the output pulse appear at the rear side of the sample before their input pulse counterparts have entered the front side of the sample."
Damn you random HBO special! All lies and simplifications!!
"Even if, say, global warming increased the temperature of the oceans, other factors (such as perhaps increased vertical wind shear) or a change in the location of the ITCZ (probably shifting poleward in a warmer planet) would affect the climatology of tropical cyclones."
I said nothing about the location of the hurricanes, or their number. That would be impossible to predict. It's a simple fact that hurricanes and similar cyclonic storms are more powerful when they are over warmer water. This is what causes the regular "November gales" that can be very lethal (such as in 1913) over the Great Lakes. Feel free to label me a troll, however.
"I was always taught by my geography teacher that there as so many variables concerned, and all fairly random - that even a reasonably accurate prediction of climate changes over any length of time would be only ever be wildly inaccurate."
Global warming causes hurricanes to be more powerful. There is nothing vague or uncertain about that.
"they all call each other Flipper!"
"G'day, Flipper... Hello Flipper... how are you, Flipper? Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce a chap from pommie land... Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper. Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper... and Michael Baldwin - this is Flipper."
"Is your name not Flipper, then?"
"No, it's Michael."
"That's going to cause a little confusion. Mind if we call you 'Flipper' to keep it clear?"
"I'm not saying Ethanol is bad, just that it isn't as great as GM wants you to believe."
But... but... those commercials, that highly optimistic, squeaky voice telling us to GO YELLOW... you're saying that's not a realistic portrayal of the situation?!?
"The Muslim fundamentalists are going to be pissed about this!"
There is no god but Allah, and Fat Tony Varisco is his cellmate!
The Muslim fundamentalists are going to be pissed about this!
You seriously have no understanding of the situation. I suggest you actually watch the video I linked to. Go ahead, spend the 99 cents. It'll stop you sounding like an idiot.
"Despite this astonishingly low number Charlie Rose, news media in general and you carry on about the inescapable bird flu pandemic that is 'certain to kill us all'. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"
The threat is not from the current form of bird flu. The threat is if/when bird flu mutates into a form that can be transmitted between humans. Then we're looking at devastation, unless we prepare ourselves. The 50-100 people who got it now don't have a human-to-human strain, so it doesn't matter. They are just unfortunate to have to come into contact with a lot of birds, for whatever reason. But, feel free to keep quoting this low number as if it has anything to do with the actual threat.
"If the problem is peoples' immune systems, why don't they just give the victims some immunosupressants?"
I don't think you understand the situation. AIDS drops your immune system down so low that you die from common illnesses like the cold. While people with AIDS might be able to resist the bird flu, they're still going to die young. It might be that we would have to pump people with enough immunosupressants that they might as well have AIDS, unless the virus doesn't plan to stick around year after year like the human flu.
Nobody is claiming the current virus is the actual threat to humans. The actual threat comes if/when this virus mutates into a form that can be transferred between humans. Then you're talking about almost a hundred million possible deaths....
"Yes, yes, yes. People have died to bird flu, but the amount dead is comparable to the amount of children dying from hunger in like 2 minutes. So fuck the bird flu. It's just another scam to make someone really rich."
8 689203314
The threat isn't from the current form of bird flu. People only get that form if they live around chickens--swimming in chicken shit. The threat is if it mutates into a form that can be tranferred between humans. Care to inform yourself, so you don't sound so wrong? Watch this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=234341498
"ummm, yeah, 70 million people that's a lot right? wait, whats the total human population right now? >6Billion?"
Those 70 million won't be spread equally among the 6 billion, but be concentrated in cities. If it was spread equally, 1 in 85 people would die. That's about half as likely as you getting in a car accident, which is one of the most (or the most?) common dangers for people, at least in the U.S. If you yourself don't get the human-to-human bird flu, you would likely know several friends or relatives who have it.
"I mean 5 or 6 people who like hearing themselves talk, and just happen to have some sort of degree/job that is vaugely relevant to the subect"
Ahh, can't afford the 99 cents to actually watch the video? Or were you just distracted by something shiny?
Are you done? Watch this:
8 689203314
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=234341498
"Till know aound 50 people worldwide had died of bird flu."
/. opinions, see this extremely informative discussion with experts:
8 689203314
The threat is not from this form of bird flu. The threat is from a form that can be transferred from human to human. If that happens, predictions are that it could kill upwards of 70 million people. For informed opinions, as opposed to random
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=234341498