A vision comes to mind, of three fellows entering some business premises, with dark suits, fedoras, pencil moustaaches and violin cases under their arms. The first speaks to the proprietor:
First visitor: Morning squire/ (Looks around.) Very flammable looking Internet Radio Station, this.
Second and third visitors (Cracking knuckles): Yeah!
First visitor: Could go off any minute, know what I mean?
It does seem to me that, to nearly quote Shakespeare, there is something rotten in the state of Ohio.
Looking deeper (i.e., following-up a few other sources), it seems to me that this is merely the latest manifestation of an endemic problem. Throughout American history, various forms of ballot fraud have been common (both parties) and that while many of the recent problems have centred around the use of voting machines (innumerable/. stories could be cited) the problem runs deeper.
Here in the UK voting has always been a purely manual affair, as well as being fully open and scrutible. Registration for voting is an annual (and compulsary) affair, with every household being required to list each member with an eligeability to vote. The resultant records are freely available to all. Counts are carried out openly with full media coverage. Counts can be (and usually are) scrutinised by representatives of all the candidates. Furthermore the rules are universal, not determined locally, so that (with the usual variations in Scotland (minor) and Northern Ireland (less minor)) everyone from Lands' End to John o' Groats follows the same procedures.
Because of this and other factors election fraud is a very minor problem here. I won't say that it never happens, or that there aren't loopholes (eg registration forms sent to tenement buildings, where this only one point of delivery for the post, being incorrectly completed by the landlord, thus disenfranchising some for the next year) but they are minor.
IANAV (I am not a vulcanologist), and don't want to seem alarmist to the good people of Washington state, but doesn't this look worryingly like the prelude to a pelean type eruption?
(Named after the eruption in 1902 of Montaigne Pelee on the island of Martinique, which killed some 20,000 people.)
One point in the BBC story caught my eye. Referring to the directive, they say "It also says all batteries must be clearly labelled to show how long they will last, from 2009 onwards."
When I put a pair of AAA pen cell batteries in my remote control they last forever, or at least longer than they do in my noise-cancelling headphones. These, in turn, last longer than in a Minidisc player, and longer still than in an MP3 player, or a torch. How, then, do they propose that batteries should be labelled? Any meaningful measure of longevity (say by expected life at a given current drain) would be incomprehensible to the average person in the street.
In light of this and many other recent stories, I don't believe that we can believe ANY US government agencies any longer when it comes to scientific subjects.
If even the most eminent (or immanent?) scientists in a field can be censored in this way I need a whole new salt shaker (to take pinches from.)
I recall that the Soviets used to send off dissenters to spend a little holiday in the gulags. The White House seems more civilised about it, but they strive for the same effect.
Does this sound familiar? Stupid patents have been around for a long time.
Older British readers (and perhaps others) may remember a radio comedy show - The Goon Showhttp://www.thegoonshow.co.uk/ - in which the scriptwriter, Spike Milligan, poked his barbed wit at topical news stories, films or the cast's wartime experiences.
Many of the shows reflected a topical item of news. One such was the show entitled 'The Great Regent's Park Swim' in which the hero (Neddie Seagoon), having been administered a sinister green liquid, discovers that he now floats when he falls into water. He therefore attempts to patent 'swimming.'
Regrettably for him, the villain (Hercules Grytpype-Thynne) has invented, and patented, the word 'Help' for use by those who are drowning, and has set a fee of £250 for each use of the word.
Slashdot Mirror
First visitor: Morning squire/ (Looks around.) Very flammable looking Internet Radio Station, this.
Second and third visitors (Cracking knuckles): Yeah!
First visitor: Could go off any minute, know what I mean?
It does seem to me that, to nearly quote Shakespeare, there is something rotten in the state of Ohio.
/. stories could be cited) the problem runs deeper.
Looking deeper (i.e., following-up a few other sources), it seems to me that this is merely the latest manifestation of an endemic problem. Throughout American history, various forms of ballot fraud have been common (both parties) and that while many of the recent problems have centred around the use of voting machines (innumerable
Here in the UK voting has always been a purely manual affair, as well as being fully open and scrutible. Registration for voting is an annual (and compulsary) affair, with every household being required to list each member with an eligeability to vote. The resultant records are freely available to all. Counts are carried out openly with full media coverage. Counts can be (and usually are) scrutinised by representatives of all the candidates. Furthermore the rules are universal, not determined locally, so that (with the usual variations in Scotland (minor) and Northern Ireland (less minor)) everyone from Lands' End to John o' Groats follows the same procedures.
Because of this and other factors election fraud is a very minor problem here. I won't say that it never happens, or that there aren't loopholes (eg registration forms sent to tenement buildings, where this only one point of delivery for the post, being incorrectly completed by the landlord, thus disenfranchising some for the next year) but they are minor.
Perhaps there is a lesson here.
IANAV (I am not a vulcanologist), and don't want to seem alarmist to the good people of Washington state, but doesn't this look worryingly like the prelude to a pelean type eruption?
(Named after the eruption in 1902 of Montaigne Pelee on the island of Martinique, which killed some 20,000 people.)
One point in the BBC story caught my eye. Referring to the directive, they say "It also says all batteries must be clearly labelled to show how long they will last, from 2009 onwards."
When I put a pair of AAA pen cell batteries in my remote control they last forever, or at least longer than they do in my noise-cancelling headphones. These, in turn, last longer than in a Minidisc player, and longer still than in an MP3 player, or a torch. How, then, do they propose that batteries should be labelled? Any meaningful measure of longevity (say by expected life at a given current drain) would be incomprehensible to the average person in the street.
"Sorry, hadn't had my coffee yet this morning, and double posted this one." Looks like Cowboy Neal may be Zonked!
Too late - it's been done. ISTR a story about just this on /. a few months ago.
In light of this and many other recent stories, I don't believe that we can believe ANY US government agencies any longer when it comes to scientific subjects.
If even the most eminent (or immanent?) scientists in a field can be censored in this way I need a whole new salt shaker (to take pinches from.)
I recall that the Soviets used to send off dissenters to spend a little holiday in the gulags. The White House seems more civilised about it, but they strive for the same effect.
Do you mean Saccharin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharin, which does taste horrible, or Aspartame?
It said:
Older British readers (and perhaps others) may remember a radio comedy show - The Goon Show http://www.thegoonshow.co.uk/ - in which the scriptwriter, Spike Milligan, poked his barbed wit at topical news stories, films or the cast's wartime experiences.
Many of the shows reflected a topical item of news. One such was the show entitled 'The Great Regent's Park Swim' in which the hero (Neddie Seagoon), having been administered a sinister green liquid, discovers that he now floats when he falls into water. He therefore attempts to patent 'swimming.'
Regrettably for him, the villain (Hercules Grytpype-Thynne) has invented, and patented, the word 'Help' for use by those who are drowning, and has set a fee of £250 for each use of the word.
And all this was nearly fifty years ago.