The test that cost Landis his victory and title is actually very well calibrated - he got tripped up by the amount of testosterone in his blood that is not produced by his own body, as identified by carbon-isotope markers.
That said, legalized doping will still lead to issues, as there will always be something that is unsafe and illegal to take, and which will be taken by unscrupulous athletes. Sadly, there is no way to prevent cheating, unless you simply say "no rules". And then I expect someone to show up with an aircraft carrier at a water polo game.
Good grief. Finally some decent assessment of the situation, and it sits at "Interesting".
For some reason, every discussion on the topic of South Ossetia is currently reading like Nashi is trying to astro-turf Slashdot, and has gotten a hold of massive mod points.
Wow, I haven't seen a reference to the International Committee for the Fourth International in Ages - ever since I didn't get commercials for the French Communist Party. You could also get your news from The Economist (http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11893699) or even Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1831857,00.html?cnn=yes). Or pretty much any other news source that covers international events. Anything will have more and better analysis than what is essentially a worldwide organ for Russian-style communists.
I read your other posts on science, and they strike me as little more than semantic arguments. Judging from your initial sentence, this is exactly your goal.
Semantics is fine and dandy, but completely irrelevant in the end. To mangle a Zen phrase, arguing semantics is like arguing the finger that points at the stars.
Here's why I think you have no clue how Science works (as in, scientists doing stuff). Everything is indeed up for debate, and everything is regularly investigated. Spend a few years doing research in Astrophysics, and your head will spin with all the different things that are being investigated. Your argument that the Big Bang theory is religion is completely unfounded.
Ridicule is generally reserved for those who argue form rather than substance - though I will not deny that there are assholes everywhere who will ridicule you because you disagree with them. That, however, is human nature, and has nothing to do with Science vs science.
I don't know. I used to think that, too. Then I saw GW get elected. Twice. And various other congress critters who have really done nothing but kickback earmarks and take bribes (sorry, sponsored fact-finding missions). It seems to me that accountability in a democracy is highly relative, and that a better word might be usefulness: people get (re)elected based on how useful they are to others.
I do agree that the government needs to fear the people. However, it seems to me that the government (US and many others) has figured out how to game the system. Which means that wrath over incompetence has been replaced by wrath over bread and circus.
All in all, I tend to agree with your thought on this - it just seems to me that Democracy in its current form has been gamed to death, and needs a large patch.
Personally, I'd argue that lack of good information is the problem. It's that the good information is buried under mountains of crap, and that the easy American sources (nightly news, local newspaper) are indeed crap. It took me a while, but I've collected a set of news sources over time that are pretty damn accurate in their news reporting, and whose commentary and predictions are pretty spot on.
I'd say that if you don't like the American media, there are plenty of other information sources out there. You just need to find them.
Which is fine and dandy. I agree that anyone who inadequately stores large quantities of stuff in their house that can present a significant danger to neighbours ought to be fined, reprimanded, told to shape up. Not necessarily in that order.
What bothers me about this story though is the comment from the code enforcement officer: "This is not what we would consider to be a customary home occupation."
I don't give a rats ass what she thinks is a customary home occupation. If I can build a nuclear reactor in my basement that is properly shielded and up to code for nuclear reactors, I don't see what business it is for her or anyone else. If I decide to store every chemical known to man in my basement, and said basement is properly reinforced and secured, I still don't see the problem. I can see that someone might want to take a look and check that everything is on the up and up. But that comment has no place in something that should be strictly about fire hazards and improper storage of flammable chemicals.
Not to mention that as others have pointed out, heavy training can stunt the growth of the body.
However, I find the odds that some of the gymnasts are 16 to be vanishingly small. Especially since I doubt that only the Chinese team trains so hard as to stunt body growth.
I'd say that the way the system is set up, it is impossible to discredit by a creditable source. Any creditable source will be muzzled, and any official documents will show the "right" age.
I know that asian women look younger than caucasian ones. There were at least 2 gymnasts on that team that couldn't have hit puberty yet.
And every last bit of that stuff was known to the US beforehand - largely because WE SOLD IT to Saddam. Not to mention that all that stuff dated from before the previous Gulf War.
Yes, Saddam was a psycho, and the world is a better place with him gone. No, none of the previous reasons Bush and Cheney gave were true. To top it off, thanks to their incompetence, Iraq and the world is a less safe place than under Saddam.
Actually, it will be the cleanest keys that are most used. Why? Because frequent use removes/prevents the gradual accumulation of dirt and dust on the surface of keys.
Take a look at your keyboard. Where's the grime on the space bar? Where is it clean? Which keys are nice and clean, but have their numbers worn off? Which ones are grimy and dirty?
The problem with this approach though is that you still have more numbers than you can try without arousing suspicion. Yeah, it cuts down the search space dramatically, but when a try takes about 5-10 seconds, 100 tries still take 10-20 minutes.
Russia doesn't want to damage it now. That's too easy. It wants CONTROL over it - to shut it off at politically convenient times, or to extract maximum cash from the dependent nations.
This war has nothing to do with Ossetia, and all to do with Russia wanting to become a world power through the use and abuse of energy distribution.
A) Got a source? And Russian news doesn't count here. B)I'm fairly familiar with the Grad-1 MRLS (I presume that's what you're referring to). Not sure what using a slightly updated Katyusha in the context of an actual war has to do with Russian empire (re-)building.
Where'd you get your news from? Interfax? Russian peacekeeping forces were as much peacekeepers as the Chinese military in Tibet.
There was no support of territorial integrity whatsoever. Unless you call the de facto annexation of South Ossetia by the generic handing out of Russian passports to everybody "preservation of territorial integrity".
20 years ago, my house used to have a 3D-key - in other words, it had teeth all-around its central axis. Why? Because it is much harder to manipulate the tumblers that way. Not to mention that just photocopying the key won't work - or won't work as easily.
I'm surprised a high-security key has its teeth still on a line.
I selected a random TV provider after providing my zip code. I'm currently watching Women's Field Hockey, Australia vs Japan. I'm sure I could have even entered a random zip code.
This is actually quite an improvement over how it normally works, where I can't watch an event because someone decided that broadcasting it over the Internet is somehow a bad idea.
And if you'd have followed the story for a bit longer, you'd realize that this was a damn near inevitable outcome of Russia's approach to "protecting" South Ossetia from Georgia. I was always wondering when the war would start. I'm just surprised it happened so quickly.
If you think this is about anything other than Russia's power politics-driven goals, you're a fool.
Interestingly enough, his experiment confirms what is currently known - that too much phosphorus is bad for fresh water systems, and too much nitrogen is bad for salt water systems.
Considering that videogames have been around for about one generation, then yes, this is the first generation to overcome that stereotype. Or are you so young that for you, videogames have always existed? In which case, don't worry, every generation thinks the same thing.
But you can support American Motors, Kodak, IBM, and Haliburton?
Strawman. Don't put words in my mouth. Don't assume, either. You have no idea what I've been through.
The housing bubble didn't prop up the economy, the credit crunch is creditors suddenly getting stingy, and people are reaching their spending limits because wages aren't keeping up with the price of goods, all of which are rapidly rising due to the rising price of iol, which everything depends on.
Then you didn't pay attention to economists in the past 5 years, or to economic news.
The money being invested in VC is money that can't be invested in banks.
That doesn't even make sense. Not to mention that it is completely unrelated to the point I was making.
Sorry, but you're making zero sense. On top of that, you're insulting. My lack of empathy, which was based on the rational assessment that I can't personally help everybody, is turning to an emotional assessment that you might deserve what you got.
ACtually, I wouldn't mind seeing all politicians take a 4 year vacation. I don't think the country would be any worse off than it is with them working to wiretap everything, search everything and tax everybody to "protect the children/defeat terrorism/protect your right to an SUV".
However, searching has generally meant "stand there while I take a looksie through your bags". 5 minutes of idle time, 30 minutes tops if you have a large bag with more containers inside.
Now, they're actually seizing your property. Don't give me the crap that that's necessary to search - I have some rights too, you know. Taking a laptop for years just so that they can brute force any password they find on there is the same as complete appropriation.
I've got friends who don't want to go into the US anymore, and I'm starting to agree. If I want a business friendly environment, China is pretty good at that too.
Slashdot Mirror
The test that cost Landis his victory and title is actually very well calibrated - he got tripped up by the amount of testosterone in his blood that is not produced by his own body, as identified by carbon-isotope markers.
That said, legalized doping will still lead to issues, as there will always be something that is unsafe and illegal to take, and which will be taken by unscrupulous athletes. Sadly, there is no way to prevent cheating, unless you simply say "no rules". And then I expect someone to show up with an aircraft carrier at a water polo game.
Good grief. Finally some decent assessment of the situation, and it sits at "Interesting".
For some reason, every discussion on the topic of South Ossetia is currently reading like Nashi is trying to astro-turf Slashdot, and has gotten a hold of massive mod points.
Wow, I haven't seen a reference to the International Committee for the Fourth International in Ages - ever since I didn't get commercials for the French Communist Party. You could also get your news from The Economist (http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11893699) or even Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1831857,00.html?cnn=yes). Or pretty much any other news source that covers international events. Anything will have more and better analysis than what is essentially a worldwide organ for Russian-style communists.
I read your other posts on science, and they strike me as little more than semantic arguments. Judging from your initial sentence, this is exactly your goal.
Semantics is fine and dandy, but completely irrelevant in the end. To mangle a Zen phrase, arguing semantics is like arguing the finger that points at the stars.
Here's why I think you have no clue how Science works (as in, scientists doing stuff). Everything is indeed up for debate, and everything is regularly investigated. Spend a few years doing research in Astrophysics, and your head will spin with all the different things that are being investigated. Your argument that the Big Bang theory is religion is completely unfounded.
Ridicule is generally reserved for those who argue form rather than substance - though I will not deny that there are assholes everywhere who will ridicule you because you disagree with them. That, however, is human nature, and has nothing to do with Science vs science.
I don't know. I used to think that, too. Then I saw GW get elected. Twice. And various other congress critters who have really done nothing but kickback earmarks and take bribes (sorry, sponsored fact-finding missions). It seems to me that accountability in a democracy is highly relative, and that a better word might be usefulness: people get (re)elected based on how useful they are to others.
I do agree that the government needs to fear the people. However, it seems to me that the government (US and many others) has figured out how to game the system. Which means that wrath over incompetence has been replaced by wrath over bread and circus.
All in all, I tend to agree with your thought on this - it just seems to me that Democracy in its current form has been gamed to death, and needs a large patch.
Personally, I'd argue that lack of good information is the problem. It's that the good information is buried under mountains of crap, and that the easy American sources (nightly news, local newspaper) are indeed crap. It took me a while, but I've collected a set of news sources over time that are pretty damn accurate in their news reporting, and whose commentary and predictions are pretty spot on.
I'd say that if you don't like the American media, there are plenty of other information sources out there. You just need to find them.
Which is fine and dandy. I agree that anyone who inadequately stores large quantities of stuff in their house that can present a significant danger to neighbours ought to be fined, reprimanded, told to shape up. Not necessarily in that order.
What bothers me about this story though is the comment from the code enforcement officer: "This is not what we would consider to be a customary home occupation."
I don't give a rats ass what she thinks is a customary home occupation. If I can build a nuclear reactor in my basement that is properly shielded and up to code for nuclear reactors, I don't see what business it is for her or anyone else. If I decide to store every chemical known to man in my basement, and said basement is properly reinforced and secured, I still don't see the problem. I can see that someone might want to take a look and check that everything is on the up and up. But that comment has no place in something that should be strictly about fire hazards and improper storage of flammable chemicals.
Not to mention that as others have pointed out, heavy training can stunt the growth of the body.
However, I find the odds that some of the gymnasts are 16 to be vanishingly small. Especially since I doubt that only the Chinese team trains so hard as to stunt body growth.
I'd say that the way the system is set up, it is impossible to discredit by a creditable source. Any creditable source will be muzzled, and any official documents will show the "right" age.
I know that asian women look younger than caucasian ones. There were at least 2 gymnasts on that team that couldn't have hit puberty yet.
Wrong. Temperatures in the last 8 years have been under the all-time recorded high. That's not the same thing as cooling.
I don't like Carbon credits the way they work right now, but your entire argument is flawed right from the get-go.
And every last bit of that stuff was known to the US beforehand - largely because WE SOLD IT to Saddam. Not to mention that all that stuff dated from before the previous Gulf War.
Yes, Saddam was a psycho, and the world is a better place with him gone. No, none of the previous reasons Bush and Cheney gave were true. To top it off, thanks to their incompetence, Iraq and the world is a less safe place than under Saddam.
Actually, it will be the cleanest keys that are most used. Why? Because frequent use removes/prevents the gradual accumulation of dirt and dust on the surface of keys.
Take a look at your keyboard. Where's the grime on the space bar? Where is it clean? Which keys are nice and clean, but have their numbers worn off? Which ones are grimy and dirty?
The problem with this approach though is that you still have more numbers than you can try without arousing suspicion. Yeah, it cuts down the search space dramatically, but when a try takes about 5-10 seconds, 100 tries still take 10-20 minutes.
Russia doesn't want to damage it now. That's too easy. It wants CONTROL over it - to shut it off at politically convenient times, or to extract maximum cash from the dependent nations.
This war has nothing to do with Ossetia, and all to do with Russia wanting to become a world power through the use and abuse of energy distribution.
A) Got a source? And Russian news doesn't count here.
B)I'm fairly familiar with the Grad-1 MRLS (I presume that's what you're referring to). Not sure what using a slightly updated Katyusha in the context of an actual war has to do with Russian empire (re-)building.
Where'd you get your news from? Interfax? Russian peacekeeping forces were as much peacekeepers as the Chinese military in Tibet.
There was no support of territorial integrity whatsoever. Unless you call the de facto annexation of South Ossetia by the generic handing out of Russian passports to everybody "preservation of territorial integrity".
Nice try.
20 years ago, my house used to have a 3D-key - in other words, it had teeth all-around its central axis. Why? Because it is much harder to manipulate the tumblers that way. Not to mention that just photocopying the key won't work - or won't work as easily.
I'm surprised a high-security key has its teeth still on a line.
I selected a random TV provider after providing my zip code. I'm currently watching Women's Field Hockey, Australia vs Japan. I'm sure I could have even entered a random zip code.
This is actually quite an improvement over how it normally works, where I can't watch an event because someone decided that broadcasting it over the Internet is somehow a bad idea.
And if you'd have followed the story for a bit longer, you'd realize that this was a damn near inevitable outcome of Russia's approach to "protecting" South Ossetia from Georgia. I was always wondering when the war would start. I'm just surprised it happened so quickly.
If you think this is about anything other than Russia's power politics-driven goals, you're a fool.
Interestingly enough, his experiment confirms what is currently known - that too much phosphorus is bad for fresh water systems, and too much nitrogen is bad for salt water systems.
Considering that videogames have been around for about one generation, then yes, this is the first generation to overcome that stereotype. Or are you so young that for you, videogames have always existed? In which case, don't worry, every generation thinks the same thing.
You do realize what you're saying, right? That Americans are so gullible they can't differentiate between marketing and information.
Sadly, I find that to be the truth.
Strawman. Don't put words in my mouth. Don't assume, either. You have no idea what I've been through.
Then you didn't pay attention to economists in the past 5 years, or to economic news.
That doesn't even make sense. Not to mention that it is completely unrelated to the point I was making.
Sorry, but you're making zero sense. On top of that, you're insulting. My lack of empathy, which was based on the rational assessment that I can't personally help everybody, is turning to an emotional assessment that you might deserve what you got.
ACtually, I wouldn't mind seeing all politicians take a 4 year vacation. I don't think the country would be any worse off than it is with them working to wiretap everything, search everything and tax everybody to "protect the children/defeat terrorism/protect your right to an SUV".
I was just thinking the same thing.
GWB's sole shining moment (taking on Al-Qaeda after 9/11) was just another opportunity to royally fuck the US.
Everyone's so damn scared of the damn "towelheads" that they'd rather cower in fear than face a highly improbably death.
However, searching has generally meant "stand there while I take a looksie through your bags". 5 minutes of idle time, 30 minutes tops if you have a large bag with more containers inside.
Now, they're actually seizing your property. Don't give me the crap that that's necessary to search - I have some rights too, you know. Taking a laptop for years just so that they can brute force any password they find on there is the same as complete appropriation.
I've got friends who don't want to go into the US anymore, and I'm starting to agree. If I want a business friendly environment, China is pretty good at that too.