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User: bluefoxlucid

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  1. Re:Bribery fines are funny on IBM Charged With Bribing Korean, Chinese Officials · · Score: 1

    It's also the eyes and milky skin. American girls go for so much "beauty product" that their skin is tan, leathery, pockmarked by nasty aggressive soaps and constant tanning.

  2. Re:Bribery fines are funny on IBM Charged With Bribing Korean, Chinese Officials · · Score: 1

    WTF are you talking about, Doc? We do have "those laws", and this article is about them being enforced.

    It's called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/

    More laws for shit not our jurisdiction. Just like how if you're 18 and you go to Europe and drink a beer, you can be extradited and the USA will criminally charge you for underage drinking. This is a huge problem for American foreign exchange students, who when caught drinking (legally in the country they're studying in) are sent back to America under legal penalty and lose their scholarships and are forced to pay back all the money they got for free sometimes etc.

  3. Re:Bribery fines are funny on IBM Charged With Bribing Korean, Chinese Officials · · Score: 1

    China is too full of people and they need to start emmigrating. America needs more sweet Chinese girls, too many asshole Americans here and plus they're cuter.

  4. Re:Bribery fines are funny on IBM Charged With Bribing Korean, Chinese Officials · · Score: 1

    Seriously, doesn't it seem like the US SEC just wanted in on the deal?

    Yes, it does. This is not the business of the US, it's an SEC money grab. China and Korea should be fining IBM; they've done nothing wrong in the US and the SEC just wants some fast cash.

  5. Re:Cheating? on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    Religious texts tend to be semi-literal: if they say "god took a rib from [first man] to create [woman]," they mean it's permanently gone forever. That's the nature of being all-powerful: when you do shit it damn well stays that way. Besides, we're already suggesting conjuring a woman from man meat and dust, so don't complain about the details.

    The only literal missing rib is on a chromosome; it's not an X chromosome minus one rib either, it's completely different in genetic material. Still, XX vs XY. It's an effective way to disseminate and encode useful knowledge through stupid people.

  6. Re:Japan Does Have a National Power Grid on Legacy From the 1800s Leaves Tokyo In the Dark · · Score: 1

    They should just be linked up with HVDC lines anyway, but eh. Same problem.

  7. Re:Cheating? on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    I have no idea who Art Bell is and I don't watch TV or listen to the radio. My news source is Wikinews, Schneier.com, and Slashdot; not to mention lots of Wikipedia.

  8. Re:Cheating? on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    If the male is supposed to be missing a rib...

  9. Re:Cheating? on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    You try dragging a 55 tonne block up an inclined plane using only a wheel. Personally I think the pyramid's stones aren't cut; they're quarried rock milled down and then re-sedimented, like a type of cement. Mostly I think this because someone found a tool inside one of them, also human hairs and the like.

    By the way, we did find an extremely complex mechanical device on par with 19th century technology, but dated around 150BC.

    Education is a well-known point of failure for civilization. It's not so far-fetched to think that certain people were very intelligent and educated at one point, and wrote stories that loosely translate to fact somewhere but are basically nonsense. Then the idiots took over, like politicians are doing today.

  10. Re:Not really ridiculous on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    I like this response. Where is +1 Like? CmdrTaco?

  11. Re:Not really ridiculous on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    Really? REALLY??? If an "ark" was found on a mountain (almost zero likelihood) and shown to have belonged to some biblical character (even less likely), I will publicly eat my copy of Hitchens' "God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" and renounce Pastafarianism.

    Several "arks" have been found. Which in some way makes sense, given how big the damn thing has to be: you'd want at least two or three. As to what was on them at the time, probably pens for sheep, cows, ducks, and pigs; and lots of food (besides the sheep).

  12. Re:Not really ridiculous on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1

    I would be most amused if someone managed to prove it was *that* Jesus though, because the bible claims he ascended bodily shortly after the resurrection - thus leaving no remains. If the artifact is real, it actually proves the bible was wrong.

    No, he ascended, then reappeared to his followers in recreated flesh, then was crucified again by Stalone in shiny red armor on a motorcycle. 8)

  13. Re:Not really ridiculous on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 1, Informative

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_theory

    This was on the History Channel.

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100428-noahs-ark-found-in-turkey-science-religion-culture/

    Big ass boats are found in places they don't belong all the time. The one I was referring to was in 2002 or so, also on the History Channel.

    The point is we're not discussing a "global" flood in the first place; think about it for a minute, why would that happen?

  14. Re:Cheating? on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: 0

    Actually, it's amusing but, if you read the bible you start to wonder just how much these people knew. We find solid artifacts of ancient civilizations' advanced technology all the time (pyramids, extremely complex mechanical clocks, etc), not to mention legends of places like Atlantis with flying machines and solar resonant crystals supplying tons of power. There actually is an extremely old (BC) Egyptian hieroglyph of what looks frighteningly like a helicopter (the page that's from says this is not a helicopter and gives an explanation, with the linked image as the "original, unaltered version," which still looks like a helicopter and submarines....)

    God took a rib from Adam and made Eve.

    Take a closer look. Men have the same number of ribs as women... closer than that then.

    The X chromosome has 4 ribs; the Y chromosome has 3, and a stump where one is abridged.

    Did these people know about genetics? O_o

  15. Re:Not really ridiculous on Texas Bill Outlaws Discrimination Against Creationists In Academia · · Score: -1, Troll

    The ark was actually found on top a mountain, albeit broken in half. We know that the Mediterranean basin cracked open and flooded the desert a while back, in the area where all that shit happened.

  16. Re:why would I pay for news? on NYTimes Unveils Online Subscription Plan · · Score: 1

    Good job, but most people don't know how to jockey cars like that. The car industry is made to screw you.

    I don't know what you get out of lower rolling resistance, but I always go for some serious tires... Goodyear TripleTred, Michelin Pilot Sport AS-Plus, Continental DWS, something with serious traction on wet/dry and actual workable snow traction. If you're not an all-season fan, good, performance wet/dry summer tires + second set of wheels with snow tires is even better; but we don't have a huge snow season here and I'm not pushing UHPAS tires to their limit (except when braking, I guess).

    I've always been wary of "fuel saver" tires. Tires are more important than brakes: if I lose steering I can stop, if I lose brakes I can steer for a soft bush or something, but if my tires fail road contact I can't stop or steer. They are usually the lowest common denominator too: you skid to a stop (or ABS kicks in), hydroplane, or you lose traction and spin out of control precisely because your tires don't have grip. Threshold braking stops you much faster than skidding, and your stopping distance will be far lower with much better tires than with poor tires. I've never looked at fuel economics vs tires for these reasons; to me it'd be like removing the doors and throwing out the heavy seatbelt assemblies to save weight.

  17. Re:Simply Put on Judge Lets Sony Access GeoHot's PayPal Account · · Score: 1

    Don't mean to stop the two minutes hate

    Total win.

  18. Re:Looks like they'll have my name... on Judge Lets Sony Access GeoHot's PayPal Account · · Score: 1

    What buddhist proverb is this?

  19. Re:why would I pay for news? on NYTimes Unveils Online Subscription Plan · · Score: 1

    And the housing industry, and Wal-Mart.

    I've said this a lot, and I'll say it again: I spend $30 on Lands' End pants and $25 on their shirts because I like the style AND because they're nearly brand new 2 years later, while $22 Wal-Mart pants lose buttons in a month or three and $18 Wal-Mart shirts fade in the first wash and start to fray in a month or three. Wal-Mart sells 8 pairs of crew socks for $8, but after the first washing they're flat and paper-like, and 2 months in they're full of holes; Lands' End sells 3 pairs for $20 (!), but 2 or 3 years later they're losing a little of their cushion, and starting to yellow.

    So $8 every 2 or 3 months (about $40/year) for socks that are not cushioning and not absorbent, vs $60 every 2 or 3 years for socks that keep your feet dry and comfortable...see it? As for my shirts and pants, still great after 2 or 3 years, but the pants have had the lower hem ground off (heel, I kick my shoes off; another reason I've switched to combat boots) and need ironing. Comparatively, there's holes in the pockets of my Wal-Mart pants, some of them have threads of fabric missing (you see rings in places) or holes in them, and the buttons break off within a month or three.

    Lands' End isn't the only quality clothing manufacturer (yes, they're Chinese sourced, but they have strict quality standards and won't accept Chinese factory work below those standards), it's just a favorite of mine. You also find expensive designer manufacturers that produce utter garbage, but with an expensive name tagged to it (see: $1000 Gucci boots that are ugly and won't hold up under daily use like $150 Belleville military combat boots that are less stylish, yet somehow less ugly).

    These are two types of scams: brand-name worth not $5 (like Wal-Mart garbage, but it says "Old Navy" or "Ambercrombie" on it) or brand-name worth a good $30 (like Lands' End but it says "Old Navy" or "Ambercrombie" on it) selling for $50-$150 (or $1000 because it says Gucci on it); and generic worth not $5 but sold just $10 cheaper than decent stuff, so you wind up paying $20 "to save money" over buying something that costs $30, but you pay that $20 3 times as often.

    It's all set up to screw the poor into staying poor. I always see street beggers with one of two articles of footwear: Brand new Nikes or old Nikes. If they spent that $100 on ... nothing ... and saved another $50 and bought some military surplus combat boots (by the way, I've seen beggars in the standard tan issue ones recently... only a few; they've smartened up), they wouldn't be buying new ones every year after the mud and the rain and the snow and the constant trekking of a homeless hobo destroyed footwear never made to leave dry pavement. Non-beggars are the same way: they'll sometimes get $40 Converses (these can be painful, but if you put in a gel insole that costs $6 you're good), often $80 or $100 shoes, while living in poverty in a tiny apartment.

    I'm considering giving a class on this stuff, but I don't want it to effectively be "don't buy from Wal-Mart; buy good boots, not shitty shoes." I need something more general. I guess I could say something about boots as a lead-in, but there's a lot more to living within tiny means besides "buy better clothes and don't get screwed on a car loan."

  20. Re:Panic on The Quake Through Eyes of Slashdot Japan · · Score: 1

    Yes, but only off the end.

    10,000 dead from acute radiation exposure is 10,000 people who are dead.

    30,000 with a 1 year shortened lifespan is 30,000 people that are a little annoyed, then largely don't care, until they eventually die, but they only had a dozen or so months to live anyway so it's not that important at that point. There's much less left to fulfill.

  21. Re:why would I pay for news? on NYTimes Unveils Online Subscription Plan · · Score: 1

    GM cars are junk. The Chevy Camaro and the Pontiac GTO were good cars, but you can't even get a warranty on a 100,000 mile Cadillac because the insurance company backing the warranty seller knows the engine starts having serious problems after around 110,000-ish. They have statistics on this. Ford still makes good shit, but still old tech shit i.e. Ford Mustang is a well-built joke with a 1920s suspension; Dodge/Chrysler I won't go anywhere near, even GM is better (but Chrysler makes better engines... just puts them in even shittier cars than GM).

  22. Re:A different experience.. on The Quake Through Eyes of Slashdot Japan · · Score: 2

    Then someone should help her carry the water. She doesn't live on an island in a little box 30 miles away from anyone; she has neighbors, they can pool resources.

    Also, I have pitched a 70 year old Japanese woman over face first against her own twisted arm. Don't think that because they're that old they're not in better shape than you; she rolled out of it easy, easier than I can and that was a pretty fucking aggressive attack. She also corrected my throwing technique; apparently I had left myself a little vulnerable at one point and could have had my arm locked awkwardly mid-throw...

  23. Re:why would I pay for news? on NYTimes Unveils Online Subscription Plan · · Score: 0

    Well that actually depends.

    Cars are one of the biggest scams the United States has ever seen. Unsurprisingly, the scam is partly run by the banks.

    Consider a poor person. This person can't buy a $15,000 car outright. The banks will give them $10,000 but no less for a car loan, so they must buy something off the floor for $10,000. They could buy a $2000 used car but they're too poor, or too bad at picking out used cars to get one that's not a junker that'll die in 3 months or take $5000 of work to keep running for 1 year.

    So the poor person puts down $500, gets a $18000 loan after taxes, tire taxes, tags, titling, and warranty, at a 5% interest rate. 5 years in they've paid $25000, put down $4000/year in maintenance (3 years in these cheap GM cars start needing work left and right), and the car is now starting to die. It'll take $5000/year in maintenance to keep it going, or a big drop to rebuild the engine (after 100,000 miles, GM engines are considered "dead" or "likely to die without a rebuild," so say insurance companies that back extended warranty salesmen) and redo the suspension, fuel system, and electrical system. So the poor person sells the car for $1000-$2000, and buys another one.

    A rich guy instead buys a $50,000 Jaguar or Audi. It costs $2000-$3000/year to maintain, but it lasts longer, has a more graceful breakdown cycle, and of course well-tended the engine runs great 250,000 miles in (I had a Nissan KA24e engine that was ABUSED and ran decently at 210,000 miles, until dad fucked up replacing a seal and it leaked 3 quarts of oil and blew a rod running on the highway without oil! That specific engine model is known to be an outlier in cheap cars).

    The rich guy never does this, but does have the option to drop $50,000 straight, no bank loans, and keep the car for a good 20 years before selling it for around $5000 if it's in good working order. That means in 20 years the poor guy has spent $80,000 in maintenance and $100,000 on purchase, $180k; while the rich guy has spent $50,000 in maintenance and $50,000 on purchase, $100,000. And that's for an expensive Audi; a good Audi A4 costs around $30k, so yeah.

    Cars are a scam.

  24. Re:A different experience.. on The Quake Through Eyes of Slashdot Japan · · Score: 1

    This is not so bad, although there is a need for food. Water distribution is paramount and apparently there is enough clean, safe water, just not easy distribution, yes? Somebody definitely needs to air lift in some rice; it has enough energy density to keep you alive through this, and can be a primary staple mixed with some easily acquired Nori and dried fish... not great, but not bad. Those other things would come scarce, but eh, a little goes a long way and you will be thankful for the bits of flavor and color and the nutrients supplied by this.

    In the US, our emergency services would likely collapse. We'd call in the Red Cross, who would constantly complain about shortages, but never figure out how to organize a system on the spot to effectively handle the crisis even with the shortages. They'd say, "Well we can not effectively help anyone!" or "We can only effectively help 60% of the population!" People would not bicycle; they would look for a ride to hitch with. Many would die, wondering why nobody came to rescue them, when they could survive with some measure of hard work on hand-outs from those generous enough to help in what little way they can.

    Japan are a strong people. These things are an inconvenience, but they will pull through. It's in their nature.

  25. Re:Animals knew it was coming on The Quake Through Eyes of Slashdot Japan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Giant flashing sign at the bottom of the screen: "This is what PETAtologists actually believe"