My wedding ring is Titanium. It was the most amazingly shiny and sparkly piece of metal when I got it but that didn't last long - it dulled down to a "brushed steel" look through thousands of tiny scratches within two weeks. So "No" titanium is not scratch-resistant.
et, in spite of the fact that We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, there is uncertainty over whether the illegality of torture applies to non-citizens. This would suggest that non-citizens are not all men, but something else. Indeed, this wholly undermines any claims that the outlawing of torture are based on moral considerations. How can it be moral not to torture me, but to torture my neighbour?
There is a problem with the "all men are created equal" part. The Founding Fathers of the USA did not actually mean that all human beings are equal. They meant that all white, male, christians of a certain seniority, income and social standing are created equal. The 'equality' part has been gradually extended over the years to include young, poor white males, women (sheesh!) and non-whites. If one wants to be picky, the line should read "all men are created equal except..."
This culture of exception to the rule is still prevalent. The US is obliged to adhere to the Geneva Convention except, says the administration, in Guantanamo. The administration is obliged to adhere to the US Constitution except, says the administration, when that makes things awkward. The US prizes Free Speech except, says the American People, where that speech is used to criticise the US (case in point the firing of the blogger for criticising the administration's torture policy
I find it odd that in a nation that was born in a struggle for self-determination and to hold its rulers accountable, people are so ready to abrogate that responsibility. The citizens of the US have a constitutional obligation to hold their government to account and to make that government justify its actions.
Lastly I agree with your comment about comparison. My wife does the same. Whenever she has been caught doing something wrong, her response is to find something that can make the accuser 'even wronger' thus forcing THEM to apologise so she doesn't have to. This also seems to work on a global scale - "If it wasn't for whiny, liberal people like you we wouldn't need to break the Constitution - you made us do it"
Those of you who have watched University Challenge will recognise that the Open University regularly fields series-winning teams. These are not idiots taking an easy online course. I thought about taking an online master's through the University of Liverpool but the fees put me off (£14,000!!!)
Most of the work required for a degree takes place at home or in a library - not in a classroom.
Most of the work - whether for Russian, Physics or Psychology - will be done on a computer.
What is the difference between emailing your tutor when s/he's in the same town as you and doing the same when s/he's 1000 miles away?
I'm not American so this is news to me.
Does Wal-Mart really censor stuff? I'd have thought it was none of their beeswax what was on a CD or DVD (or book even) as long as it did not contravene Federal or State law and had the necessary age restrictions in place. Hurray for Mr Judge Whatshisname and his astute legal brain.
I imagine that the Wal-Mart version of Sin City must be very very short.
Yes the "Enduring Renewal + Whatever" is the engine but the Ornithopter is the fuel. You can use either of the other two zero-cost artifacts or even Kobolds and get the same effect but Ornithopters are better for your deck because they make excellent flying blockers if you haven't got the other combo components ready. You could use a 1 cost creature for the mana loop as long as its toughness was greater than 1. If it was 1 then there'd be no point. Sui Chi works quite well too but you need 4 mana to get the ball rolling, after that you get Sui Chi's mana back when it (briefly) hits the graveyard and can then re-cast it.
When I was at school one of the Biology teachers (let's call him Mr Mudie) was covering the topic of "Birds 'n Flight 'n Stuff" and he borrowed a quail from the city university. Quail tend to be more on the 'flutter' rather than 'soar' end of the flight scale. So, Mr Mudie has this quail in his hands and says (I paraphrase) "..and of course quail don't fly so well" and launches the bird high into the air...
It went up........and came down. With a thud and without a single solitary flap. Stone dead. Ooops.
Of course, he proved his point - they don't fly so well
Ya gotta wonder, if it's just a honeypot then how can you be charged for breaking into it?
..and in a breaking story it appears that Winnie The Pooh has been arraigned on charges relating to the 1999 Grossman Farm break-in. Pooh, who goes by the Internet alias 'p00h_834r' is charged on three counts of Grand Theft Honey and one of Mussing Up The Place. Pooh's extradition from the Hundred Acre Wood is expected to be completed before tea-time.
I worked in a finance department for a large hotel chain and was what passed for "the guy who knows about computers 'n stuff". I got called upstairs to the office of the hotel's second-in-command because all her spreadsheets were suddenly screwed. I went up and sure enough her screen was filled with crap. She'd been opening her Excel files in Word 97.
Two friends of mine set up a new PC for one of their friends: a 50+ yr old woman who'd never used one before. A couple of days later they got a call from her to say that everything was going wrong so they went round to her house to see what was up. She'd decorated the case with cat fridge magnets.
This is an adaptation of the "Intensive Care Bed Of Death" story where there is a spate of deaths in a hospital ICU - all on Fridays. Turns out that Friday is when the floors get polished and the cleaner has to unplug a machine (that goes "ping") in order to plug in her floor-polisher.
While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense. -A Kellerman, et al. Journal of Trauma, August 1998; Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. "The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries." Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)
The issue of "home defense" or protection against intruders may well be misrepresented. Of 626 shootings in or around a residence in three U.S. cities revealed that, for every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides (Kellermann et al, 1998). Over 50% of all households in the U.S. admit to having firearms (Nelson et al, 1987). It would appear that, rather than being used for defense, most of these weapons inflict injuries on the owners and their families. -Exerpt from a tutorial on firearms for medical students at the University of Utah
Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the 8-year Vietnam War. -Based on data from CDC National Center for Health Statistics
He was edged out - he still controls 49% of the Italian parliament and he has huge clout in the Italian business community. He controls the majority of the Italian media and is in an excellent position to launch an anti-removal-of-copyright campaign.
Very Interesting.
I'm not sure how the mish-mash of EU and national laws handle copyright. If it goes like most EU things then there is an overall EU regulation that sets a minimum acceptable standard but the nations are free to elaborate upon that standard as they see fit. In that case it wouldn't be up to any of the EU bodies (Commission or Parliament) to remove copyright protection. It would be up to the member states themselves. Getting THEM to strip copyright protection would be tricky. There would be too many vested interests screaming bloody murder at their tamed political puppets for that to happen. Can you imagine Silvio Berlusconi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlusconi/) agreeing that copyright protection be removed from monopolies?
Most nations outlaw guns because they are used for murdering (and robbing and raping) people. There are notable exceptions where you are constitutionally guaranteed the right to be killed with your own loaded handgun that you kept in your bedside drawer where the burglars can easily find it.
If the parents have 100% perfect genes, the children will have as well. No matter how close the parents are related. Your above conclusion is completely wrong, a mildly genetic defective Vietnamese (let's say red/green colour blind defect on one chromosome, not on both) and a mildly defective Eskimo (Inuit) (let's say mongolism on one chromosome) will have: 25% completely healthy children (neither red/green colour blindness nor mongoloism got transfered but the healthy parts of the parents chromosome sets), 25% will only have the colour blindness genes from one parent but the healthy set of the Eskimo (which results in a not colour blind offspring, but he carries the defect,)25% will only have one chromosome set defected by mongolism, but be healthy as the chromosomes from the other parent will fix it, 25% will have both defects, but the opposing set of the other parent will fix it, so they appear not ill. Bottom line all offsprings appear healthy but 75% of them carry the defect genes.
I took the liberty of correcting the grammer
There are several points to note concerning your rather bastardised approach to Mendelian genetics.
Colour-blindness is a sex-linked trait. Is is, and always will be, carried on the X chromosome which is why there are many more colour-blind males than females
In general, colour-blind individuals are male. This means that they are extremely unlikely to have any colour-blind offspring. If they pass on their Y chromosome then they rely on their partner carrying the relevant gene for any sex-linked traits. If they pass on their X chromosome then they again rely on their partner to match it with another 'defective' X chromosome
All male children of a colour-blind female will be colour-blind
Mongolism is not a carried genetic "disease", it is a condition whereby an extra chromosome 21 (trisomy 21) has been carried into a gamete due to an error in meiosis (the process of creating egg and sperm cells)
When meiosis occurs in a person with Down's Syndrome, half the gametes will be normal, half will contain an extra chromosome 21 meaning that 50% of all children born to a Down's-Not Down's couple would be 'normal' and that 33.33% of all live births born to a Down's-Down's couple would be 'normal'
If your Vietnamese R-B colour-blind male were to have children with an Inuit female with Down's Syndrome then one would expect that the offspring would break down into four groups: Females with Down's that carry the CB gene, Females that carry the CB gene but do not have Down's, Males with Down's and Males without Down's. All females will carry the CB gene and half of all children will have Down's
It would need the World's Tiniest Helium Balloon to work - and that's an altogether different scientific experiment/Human advance/complete waste of time.
Slashdot Mirror
I like Pluto sooooo much I think that all the tiny ice "planets" should be called 'Plutoids'
My wedding ring is Titanium. It was the most amazingly shiny and sparkly piece of metal when I got it but that didn't last long - it dulled down to a "brushed steel" look through thousands of tiny scratches within two weeks. So "No" titanium is not scratch-resistant.
A fanthom is an SI unit of depth equal to 6 Trekkies.
To clarify, these are vertical Trekkies - 'cos Trekkies are never laid....
I agree with the substance of your post There is a problem with the "all men are created equal" part. The Founding Fathers of the USA did not actually mean that all human beings are equal. They meant that all white, male, christians of a certain seniority, income and social standing are created equal. The 'equality' part has been gradually extended over the years to include young, poor white males, women (sheesh!) and non-whites. If one wants to be picky, the line should read "all men are created equal except..."
This culture of exception to the rule is still prevalent. The US is obliged to adhere to the Geneva Convention except, says the administration, in Guantanamo. The administration is obliged to adhere to the US Constitution except, says the administration, when that makes things awkward. The US prizes Free Speech except, says the American People, where that speech is used to criticise the US (case in point the firing of the blogger for criticising the administration's torture policy
I find it odd that in a nation that was born in a struggle for self-determination and to hold its rulers accountable, people are so ready to abrogate that responsibility. The citizens of the US have a constitutional obligation to hold their government to account and to make that government justify its actions.
Lastly I agree with your comment about comparison. My wife does the same. Whenever she has been caught doing something wrong, her response is to find something that can make the accuser 'even wronger' thus forcing THEM to apologise so she doesn't have to. This also seems to work on a global scale - "If it wasn't for whiny, liberal people like you we wouldn't need to break the Constitution - you made us do it"
If I had mod points I'd mod you up.
Those of you who have watched University Challenge will recognise that the Open University regularly fields series-winning teams. These are not idiots taking an easy online course. I thought about taking an online master's through the University of Liverpool but the fees put me off (£14,000!!!)
Most of the work required for a degree takes place at home or in a library - not in a classroom.
Most of the work - whether for Russian, Physics or Psychology - will be done on a computer.
What is the difference between emailing your tutor when s/he's in the same town as you and doing the same when s/he's 1000 miles away?
I'm not American so this is news to me.
Does Wal-Mart really censor stuff? I'd have thought it was none of their beeswax what was on a CD or DVD (or book even) as long as it did not contravene Federal or State law and had the necessary age restrictions in place. Hurray for Mr Judge Whatshisname and his astute legal brain.
I imagine that the Wal-Mart version of Sin City must be very very short.
Yes the "Enduring Renewal + Whatever" is the engine but the Ornithopter is the fuel. You can use either of the other two zero-cost artifacts or even Kobolds and get the same effect but Ornithopters are better for your deck because they make excellent flying blockers if you haven't got the other combo components ready. You could use a 1 cost creature for the mana loop as long as its toughness was greater than 1. If it was 1 then there'd be no point. Sui Chi works quite well too but you need 4 mana to get the ball rolling, after that you get Sui Chi's mana back when it (briefly) hits the graveyard and can then re-cast it.
Artifact Land are restricted in all but Mirrodin block where they are banned. 'Cos they were just toooooo good.
Ornithopter + Enduring renewal + Life Chisel = Infinite Life
Ornithopter + Enduring renewal + Ashnod's Altar = Infinite Mana
Ornithopter + Enduring renewal + Fallen Angel = a creature with power/toughness = infinite/infinite
Ornithopters good!
A the risk of going off topic
...and came down. With a thud and without a single solitary flap. Stone dead. Ooops.
When I was at school one of the Biology teachers (let's call him Mr Mudie) was covering the topic of "Birds 'n Flight 'n Stuff" and he borrowed a quail from the city university. Quail tend to be more on the 'flutter' rather than 'soar' end of the flight scale. So, Mr Mudie has this quail in his hands and says (I paraphrase) "..and of course quail don't fly so well" and launches the bird high into the air...
It went up.....
Of course, he proved his point - they don't fly so well
If anyone's still reading this thread...
I worked in a finance department for a large hotel chain and was what passed for "the guy who knows about computers 'n stuff". I got called upstairs to the office of the hotel's second-in-command because all her spreadsheets were suddenly screwed. I went up and sure enough her screen was filled with crap. She'd been opening her Excel files in Word 97.
Two friends of mine set up a new PC for one of their friends: a 50+ yr old woman who'd never used one before. A couple of days later they got a call from her to say that everything was going wrong so they went round to her house to see what was up. She'd decorated the case with cat fridge magnets.
This is an adaptation of the "Intensive Care Bed Of Death" story where there is a spate of deaths in a hospital ICU - all on Fridays. Turns out that Friday is when the floors get polished and the cleaner has to unplug a machine (that goes "ping") in order to plug in her floor-polisher.
He was edged out - he still controls 49% of the Italian parliament and he has huge clout in the Italian business community. He controls the majority of the Italian media and is in an excellent position to launch an anti-removal-of-copyright campaign.
Very Interesting.
I'm not sure how the mish-mash of EU and national laws handle copyright. If it goes like most EU things then there is an overall EU regulation that sets a minimum acceptable standard but the nations are free to elaborate upon that standard as they see fit. In that case it wouldn't be up to any of the EU bodies (Commission or Parliament) to remove copyright protection. It would be up to the member states themselves. Getting THEM to strip copyright protection would be tricky. There would be too many vested interests screaming bloody murder at their tamed political puppets for that to happen. Can you imagine Silvio Berlusconi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlusconi/) agreeing that copyright protection be removed from monopolies?
Most nations outlaw guns because they are used for murdering (and robbing and raping) people. There are notable exceptions where you are constitutionally guaranteed the right to be killed with your own loaded handgun that you kept in your bedside drawer where the burglars can easily find it.
"It is better to keep one's mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."
To the citizens of the United States Of America: Could you please stop electing idiots?
I took the liberty of correcting the grammer
There are several points to note concerning your rather bastardised approach to Mendelian genetics.
...our new paper-thin flying overlords that can keep food fresh in the refrigerator for up to three days
It would need the World's Tiniest Helium Balloon to work - and that's an altogether different scientific experiment/Human advance/complete waste of time.
...will RULE THE WORLD!!!!
MIAA/RIAA/BSA = MRB?
Call them MRSA because its a nasty, virulent, killer superbug that just won't die
Dude! This is the Internet, best to assume that everyone is a spotty, 15yr old male with poor social skills, even if they say they're not.
Dude! This is the Internet, best to assume that someone is not a 13yr old girl, even if they say they are.
This is already in place on the various QXL auction sites although I think it's only 3 mins extension per bid
Other spelling errors aside, I like the misspelling of "superior" as "superiour" 'cos, being in her sig, that one's misspelt in ALL of her posts.