It's no shock if UK, France and Russia are as bad as the US, but that still leaves a lot of countries in Europe that might be less inclined to spy on their own citizens, starting with Germany, who do not wish to bring back the STASI.
Europe is not a country - who are you calling stupid again?
First, we kind of expect the US to behave better than China, otherwise this fuss would not have happened. Secondly, no, HK is not China, little more than it was previously England. Among other things, Hong Kong has its own hard currency, laws, passports, government, judicial independence, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. These freedoms are not merely theoretical, but frequently exercised in a way that may indeed have people sent off for reeducation if done in mainland China.
Beijing may well have forced HK to warn Snowden out, but that's better than the pressure that would have come from Washington on many other countries.
Frankly, Sparky.. I think he's a flippin' national hero, on a par with many of the heros of the first American revolution,
But the American revolutionaries were traitors by definition, waging war against their then nation and sovereign. They only escaped hanging by winning, thanks to France.
Snowden has not committed treason, so not quite on par.
Camembert was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983. It's a copyright violation.
It's only a matter of time before the Germans catch on to this, and McDonalds are forced to sell "American beef-byproduct sandwiches" instead of hamburgers. That is until the British lay claim trademark rights on that.
Because, like most conspiracy theories, believing in them makes you feel cleverer than the sheeple around you.
I don't accept that hypothesis. There are much easier beliefs to make you feel superior without being mocked so much. One could become a wine-buff / audiophile / art-lover, join a small religion, join a worthy political group, or even drive a Prius.
It's amazing that so many people preferred/prefer to believe that black holes or UFO's
I think it is an unfortunate side-effect of the religion gene. Evolution favoured certain kinds of irrational belief, and like religion, belief in aliens rarely occurs in isolation, but in geographical and social clusters.
I use a 30 amp-hour 12 volt battery when camping, it's about 20 pounds
Thats awful. Current mainstream Li-Ion cells get around 200Wh/kg, so 2kg (4lb) to replace yours. (Like a 36-40 cell battery used in electric bikes.)
LiS rigged demos in the lab claim 1200x1.8V= 2000Wh/kg (10 x current consumer Li-Ion) but TFA also says 4x, so lets realistically hope for a one pound LiS battery to replace your boat-anchor. That'll be ten years after they first appear in mobile phones and tablets, assuming not too many explode.
Way to miss the point. He was talking about Professor Farnsworth from Futurama. Racist asshole.
Really? I could have sworn he was talking about Philo Farnsworth, inventor of the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor that the kid constructed.
And what does race have to do with dumb names? Its not just blacks that give their kids mis-spelled and made-up names. Over here we call them "bogan baby names" - the kids are mostly white, but will still not likely be winning any science fairs.
Yes, we all noted the irony of having people in India monitor hygiene practices. But you don't need to be suck a dick about it. Oh wait, you're an AC, so yes, you do.
I'd say only 40% is fewer than the general population. In other news, 40% of police are biased against criminals, and 40% of dentists are biased against people who do not clean their teeth.
They already ban guns in Australia, no new laws are needed.
Not this again. We have millions of registered guns in Australia. We like our huntin' too. But handguns and automatic weapons have never been a part of the culture.
Of course, if the insurance company finds out your house burned down because of your dodgy electrical work, good luck making a claim. If someone died in the fire, good luck in gaol.
That has nothing do do with our silly laws. It would be the same in NZ or US - if you were negligent and did not follow required standards, your insurance would be lost. And in neither case would there likely be criminal charges, let alone jail. It would have to be arson for that.
(it's still illigal to change your own light bulb in victoria).
Maybe I missed a joke, but it is illegal to change you own light socket or switch in Australia, instead of calling a licensed electrician. But there is nothing to stop you buying the parts from the local hardware store, and I never heard of anyone being prosecuted.
Sure, we *might* go to France or Quebec someday, but odds are A) we won't
Really? Why not? I live on the other side of the world, and barely know anyone who has never been to France, aside from kids. Rich students, others having saved up from their first job for a months backpacking, older couples on bus tours when the kids finally grew up,... Its hard to imagine living just across the N Atlantic and never going to Europe. Or worse, going to Europe but not France!
Of course most of them speak better English than I will ever speak French. Still useful for Quebec, where they simply refuse to speak English:)
If people criticise the US, it is because we still expect a higher standard from the US than from the "corrupt, despotic, oppressive hell-hole", not because the US is worse. Nobody expects rule of law in central Asia, but we still get upset when American 3-letter agencies or others can ignore the law with no consequences. Is that unfair? "But mom, China did it first!" is no excuse.
It sounds like education in the US is a lot like heath care. The US governments spend about 8% of GDP on health care, more per capita than most other developed countries, but most people get little of no cover from that. Apparently the US spends an awful lot on education, more than many other countries where anyone can afford college without risking bankruptcy.
From TFA:
Neat fact: If the federal government were to take all of the money it pours into various forms of financial aid each year, it could go ahead and make tuition free, or close to it, for every student at every public college in the country.
Slashdot Mirror
It's no shock if UK, France and Russia are as bad as the US, but that still leaves a lot of countries in Europe that might be less inclined to spy on their own citizens, starting with Germany, who do not wish to bring back the STASI.
Europe is not a country - who are you calling stupid again?
It's been a long time since Britain attacked us.
They did in 1812, but the US invasion of Canada might be seen as extreme provocation.
I don't think the UK has ever initiated hostilities against the US, has it?
First, we kind of expect the US to behave better than China, otherwise this fuss would not have happened.
Secondly, no, HK is not China, little more than it was previously England.
Among other things, Hong Kong has its own hard currency, laws, passports, government, judicial independence, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
These freedoms are not merely theoretical, but frequently exercised in a way that may indeed have people sent off for reeducation if done in mainland China.
Beijing may well have forced HK to warn Snowden out, but that's better than the pressure that would have come from Washington on many other countries.
I probably would have flown to Laos.
Unlike HK or Moscow, the CIA would not think twice about illegally kidnapping him from Laos.
But what if you wanted to move into the air current? You'd have to wait for the direction to change. It'll never catch on.
Frankly, Sparky.. I think he's a flippin' national hero, on a par with many of the heros of the first American revolution,
But the American revolutionaries were traitors by definition, waging war against their then nation and sovereign. They only escaped hanging by winning, thanks to France.
Snowden has not committed treason, so not quite on par.
The house thought they had the funds already, but it turns out they were looking at the NSA budget, not NASA.
He says that if he's sent to Sweden, Sweden will extradite him to the U.S.. There's no actual evidence for that, and no real reason to believe it.
Sweden has handed over suspects to the CIA for torture before.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Agiza_and_Muhammad_al-Zery
Camembert was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983. It's a copyright violation.
It's only a matter of time before the Germans catch on to this, and McDonalds are forced to sell "American beef-byproduct sandwiches" instead of hamburgers.
That is until the British lay claim trademark rights on that.
Because, like most conspiracy theories, believing in them makes you feel cleverer than the sheeple around you.
I don't accept that hypothesis. There are much easier beliefs to make you feel superior without being mocked so much. One could become a wine-buff / audiophile / art-lover, join a small religion, join a worthy political group, or even drive a Prius.
It's amazing that so many people preferred/prefer to believe that black holes or UFO's
I think it is an unfortunate side-effect of the religion gene. Evolution favoured certain kinds of irrational belief, and like religion, belief in aliens rarely occurs in isolation, but in geographical and social clusters.
Could be worse. If the hackers had exposed government coverup of murders, they would be tortured and charged with a capitol crime.
Lets spare a though for Bradley Manning here, whose torture and trial have barely rated a mention in the US media, unlike Steubenville.
United States is NO LONGER the land of the free,
Was it ever? Highest imprisonment rate in the world now, even worse than Russia.
I use a 30 amp-hour 12 volt battery when camping, it's about 20 pounds
Thats awful. Current mainstream Li-Ion cells get around 200Wh/kg, so 2kg (4lb) to replace yours. (Like a 36-40 cell battery used in electric bikes.)
LiS rigged demos in the lab claim 1200x1.8V= 2000Wh/kg (10 x current consumer Li-Ion) but TFA also says 4x, so lets realistically hope for a one pound LiS battery to replace your boat-anchor. That'll be ten years after they first appear in mobile phones and tablets, assuming not too many explode.
In this case, the guy with the Ferrari has been stealing money from the druggies.
China's top Internet security official says he has "mountains of data" pointing to extensive U.S. hacking aimed at China
and their source is reliable - they got the evidence directly from the NSA computers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_vs._Spy
Way to miss the point. He was talking about Professor Farnsworth from Futurama. Racist asshole.
Really? I could have sworn he was talking about Philo Farnsworth, inventor of the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor that the kid constructed.
And what does race have to do with dumb names? Its not just blacks that give their kids mis-spelled and made-up names. Over here we call them "bogan baby names" - the kids are mostly white, but will still not likely be winning any science fairs.
Yes, we all noted the irony of having people in India monitor hygiene practices.
But you don't need to be suck a dick about it. Oh wait, you're an AC, so yes, you do.
I'd say only 40% is fewer than the general population.
In other news, 40% of police are biased against criminals, and 40% of dentists are biased against people who do not clean their teeth.
They already ban guns in Australia, no new laws are needed.
Not this again. We have millions of registered guns in Australia. We like our huntin' too. But handguns and automatic weapons have never been a part of the culture.
Of course, if the insurance company finds out your house burned down because of your dodgy electrical work, good luck making a claim.
If someone died in the fire, good luck in gaol.
That has nothing do do with our silly laws. It would be the same in NZ or US - if you were negligent and did not follow required standards, your insurance would be lost. And in neither case would there likely be criminal charges, let alone jail. It would have to be arson for that.
3d-printing of guns: the quickest way to create legislation regulating the sale of bullets.
Yeah, so quick it happened decades ago.
(it's still illigal to change your own light bulb in victoria).
Maybe I missed a joke, but it is illegal to change you own light socket or switch in Australia, instead of calling a licensed electrician.
But there is nothing to stop you buying the parts from the local hardware store, and I never heard of anyone being prosecuted.
Sure, we *might* go to France or Quebec someday, but odds are A) we won't
Really? Why not? I live on the other side of the world, and barely know anyone who has never been to France, aside from kids. ...
Rich students, others having saved up from their first job for a months backpacking, older couples on bus tours when the kids finally grew up,
Its hard to imagine living just across the N Atlantic and never going to Europe. Or worse, going to Europe but not France!
Of course most of them speak better English than I will ever speak French. Still useful for Quebec, where they simply refuse to speak English :)
If people criticise the US, it is because we still expect a higher standard from the US than from the "corrupt, despotic, oppressive hell-hole", not because the US is worse. Nobody expects rule of law in central Asia, but we still get upset when American 3-letter agencies or others can ignore the law with no consequences. Is that unfair? "But mom, China did it first!" is no excuse.
I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them J F Davisam.
It sounds like education in the US is a lot like heath care.
The US governments spend about 8% of GDP on health care, more per capita than most other developed countries, but most people get little of no cover from that.
Apparently the US spends an awful lot on education, more than many other countries where anyone can afford college without risking bankruptcy.
From TFA:
Neat fact: If the federal government were to take all of the money it pours into various forms of financial aid each year, it could go ahead and make tuition free, or close to it, for every student at every public college in the country.