The bill leaves intact surveillance programs conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency
the average age of a congress critter is 62. These politicians still believe things like communism and the war on drugs are legitimate aspects of foreign and domestic policy, not just ginned up talking points from the administrations they floated.
and levies high penalties against those offering "material support" to terrorists.
Queue the age range again. at 62 the greyhairs on the senate and house floors respond more to "isms" like communism, socialism, and terrorism than they do independent research from political and social scientists. To them, politics is established cannon and they discern that which is sacrosanct and true from that which is patently false over a medium rare tenderloin.
It also renews the expiring parts of the Patriot Act through 2019.
Blame George Bush, but really blame politicians for making a bill thats toxic to democracy but even more toxic to repeal. Im certain you could find more than half of the house or senate willing to repeal a bill called the "spy on all people forever and build a torture prison" act, but you wont find so much as a ball of pocket lint in the carpet willing to touch "patriot" act. We've built a genuine third-rail that isnt getting dismantled until it zaps the ever-loving fuck out of someone with more brass than sense.
Im sure fellow readers are concerned about the $10,000 version of the apple watch, and as an early adopter I am truly livid. If the watch comes into contact with my tattoo of the spirit of extacy riding a diamond into tattooine astride a golden dove the sensors stop working entirely. The watch is also difficult to locate as im sure most people have undoubtedly found out. I had to search all five bedrooms on the yacht just to find the darn thing! Also the watch has difficulty determining if or when I am wearing the rare jade oriental pendant of everlasting immortality, and just last weekend I had to buy a new one after I bumped into the caviar chafing dish and spilled lemon rochette truffle remoulade on the band.
Its not that apple doesnt make an excellent product, they truly do! But I for one am getting tired of having to take the same bently to the same helicopter every other week to send my manservant into the apple "store" as the common people call it to have it replaced. A man can only tolerate so much car champagne before the aftertaste of the lox comingling with the alsace vintage becomes too much to bear.
Rand Paul: I want to be president...whats a guy gotta do? Republican Party: We're glad you asked rand and happy to hear youve considered being a republican brand president. In order to best serve the interests of our constituents, their yachts, and various institutions named in their honour, we're going to ask you to toe-the-line with our conservative fiscal policy and principal of small government. Please select from one or more of the following principles we believe assists in small government and lower taxes:
1. Repealing affordable healthcare for millions of americans and replacing it with a faint mumbling noise.
2. Outlawing homosexual marriage
3. Outlawing abortion
4. obstruct or repeal a meaningful federal regulation: EPA, FDA, FCC.
5. Funnel billions of dollars into a foreign war with no clear objective other than amorphous freedom/patriotism/democracy
6. oppose decriminalization of marijuana and/or prison reform.
as a bonus you may call for a government shutdown but only while affirming 'in god we trust' on the currency.
IBM isnt your fathers supercomputing company anymore, and cutthroat capitalism has led it to where it stands today to a large extent. 3 very public layoffs, a newfound reliance on 3-6 month contract jobs, and no tangible innovation for major consumer markets. Marketing that pushes AI supercomputing during the superbowl is great, but at the end of the day the PHB that watched that commercial is going to weigh her next desktop or server purchase in terms of Dell and Silicon Mechanics. That is to say she will certainly place a premium on the visible discounts shes already seeing in the market, instead of relying on IBM's brand name to justify the cost.
Power doesnt run things like it used to, and while IBM is pushing it for virtualization you can do the same thing big iron touts with more hardware and lower cost. Where IBM isnt challenged is in SAP and JDEdwards, markets where its written itself in as defacto hardware provider. IBM supports linux, true, and fought valiantly in its name, but what IBM represents is a client server sales model that doesnt scale to a world where even the toaster is expected to run an apache or memcache instance.
Im sure most of these companies feel like its worth the PR, until they realize shipping through an unregulated, unlicensed, un-insured third party is a great way to watch $12,000 worth of shoes and purses go from the back of a prius to a roaring bonfire on youtube.
Do we really need a story about ham radio after every disaster?
Yes, because its an efficient indicator of the immediate scope and nature of a disaster. if the most critical and arguably resillient communications systems have finally failed, Ham is your red-flag indicator that the situation is dire.
I'm sure it's being used, but not to the extent of official radio communication.
Thats exactly the point. Ham is being used because Official or commerical communications systems are either damaged, destroyed, or overwhelmed beyond inteded or effective capacity. If you're in the united states the equivalent official communication would be the Emergency Alert System over a VHF repeater, if ones still standing. If not, Hams take everything from presidential to local law enforcement messages to where they need to go in a structured, orderly manner.
"People communicating by any means possible," is not news.
People communicating by any means possible is a normal society with twitter, cellphones, and wifi. People reliant upon analog and digital communication outside thestructure of a commercial ecosystem and in lieu of direct government correspondance is news. Ham operators build and run antennas, configure messaging relay and repeater systems, repair existing infrastructure, assist in dispatching emergency services and handle every communication thats needed in an emergency from local to state and even international SOS for emergency assistance. The point is when you're now reliant on Ham in any context to assist in a rescue effort, the outlook for existing infrastructure is very bad.
Skeptic implies the science isnt overwhelmingly concentric on the nature and cause of climate change as a science. What we mean when we say 'skeptic' is overpaid corporate shit-lord who learned grant funding for snake oil 'research' means trading your honda hatchback for a BMW and making your student loans disappear.
Climate change is real. We are causing it. When even the leader of a cult that believes you can eat and drink the body of your dead god comes to realize this, its probably time to pack up your dog and pony show.
Here at american, we know you've come to expect the broken traytables, rotted seatback pockets, and permanently reclined seating prominently featured on our aging reagan-era Boeing fleet. We know none of you understand what the hell a gold line american star alliance partner is, but are well aware it means you're about to board a 42 seat brazillian rust-bucket with misaligned landing wheels and a weird styrofoam smell. Each year we add more rare earth metals and precious gems to our flight upgrade programs in an in incorrigible effort to confuse and infuriate weary passengers. What is Americium? Shouldnt platinum be more worthy than sapphire? who knows, who cares. We recognize your supreme discomfort at 4 AM as our cancelled connector to newark hobbles mercifully into the hanger for 20 years of well-earned repair to be condensed into 9 minutes of speed tape and air fresheners. We know you choose American because our 35 year old concourse seating has gone from suede to patent leather from use, and its foam long since evaporated to a fine haze of formaldehyde. And we, American, appreciate your undying commitment to sit in an airplane that smells canned soup and farts while futile attempts to adjust your weight merely prolong your encounter with the threadbare frame of a seat no more comfortable than a bus stop bench. But we cannot sacrifice our commitment to swiping, clicking, and tapping on a device that makes our second hand aeroflot cockpits look like modern museums to supercomputing and hence have cancelled numerous flights.
NASA ISS Team: Due to budget cuts we're having the janitor request more supplies from Russia this year for the ISS. And remember, use both sides of the toilet paper. FKA Scientist We've got the request from NASA.... FKA Director Whats it say? FKA Scientist: "Kindly Spin the cargo baskets, it is to launch when inside to space, of the 20 long lengths for happy triple mode, and iside the burn of the roundness. Glory." FKA Director: Can we....can we even do that? FKA Scientist:Sir maybe their translator isnt very knowledgeable? FKA Director: Nyet Sergei, this is America we're talking about. Two government shutdowns, riots every week and two failed wars...Its entirely possible this is exactly what they want...Just look at Florida.
a scientific approach in the land of personhood.
on
Who Owns Pre-Embryos?
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· Score: 1, Insightful
Who Owns Pre-Embryos?
From a scientist: What the fuck is a pre-embryo.
the disposition/custody of the pre-embryos is now hotly contested.
No, it isnt. you're just substituting a made-up term for a real word and hoping it lends greater importance to the click bait. Eggs, Sperm, and Embryos are all components of human and mammalian reproduction. pre-embryos are some neoconservative evangelical dry-hump term used to justify strange ballot measures like outlawing masturbation or criminalizing miscarriage. in the interest of science lets clear this up. follow along at home with sed/grep/awk in TFA.
If the biomatter belongs to a specific person, then it is their biomatter. If you spit on a judge, your biomatter has incriminated you in the act of contempt. If you rape, then your vaginal secretion/sperm is accounted for by the prosecution during your trial as evidence and considered during sentencing. If you froze eggs, they're yours. At best the whole complaint here is a mysoginists tantrum.
NSA: hey guise we need you to spy on some folks for us, no biggie. BND: should we check these targets to make sure, you know, no crazy treaties might get everyone in trouble? NSA: Nah we're cool we checked them first. Snowden: No you didn't. BND: uh....what NSA: HAH! never mind that guy hes such a kidder Glen Greenwald: Uh...no he isnt...not according to this press release. BND:...verdammt noch mal.
Russian hackers: we've successfully infiltrated the pentagons secret networks and have accessed their innermost classified projects. With this information we can plan accordingly our first strikes, retaliatory actions, and offensive as well as defensive capabilities in response to the scourge of american aggression Russian political scientists: We've successfully modelled American capitalism over the last 40 years and have concluded that following two failed wars, two government shutdowns, rampant unemployment, gridlocked congress and senate, unsustainable student loan markets, widespread racism and fascism in local law enforcement, unfunded social security and public highways fund and an unchecked unenforceable labor and investment sector the united states will itself collapse into Mad Max style ruin after about 15 years. Kremlin: Then it is decided. Cancel our hacking teams budget, slash defense, and clear my schedule for the next decade. Oh and get some popcorn.
Ceo Roberts: take a message! "Today, we move on. The heralding of the 6th star of ocorium and the death of all that grows to chew the cud as the mighty beast arises has been circumvented. The runes of pestilence have not siphoned the blood of the babe, as was foretold in our prophetic lore of bundling. Today, we stand apart, our hellmouths never to entwine and form a new dead god. Comcast and Time warner will never be able to take our great products to new cities into which wrack and desolation shall grind the bones of the damned to dust, and succor a distant memory of a world once living. The government has seen fit to meddle in that which they can never understand, to oppose the will of Baal our dark lord and in so doing unlock the very amulet that is the dawn of their obliteration. We structured this amalgamation, or as you laughably know it as "the deal" in a pact of dark blood, an ichor stronger than christs own bleached bones, in that it may be transmutated and reformed should such blasphemous interference take place. Today, we walk this earth upon damned hooves of..." PR Executive:....o...okay....so im just going to trim this up for tomorrows soundbyte o-on....on CNN, is that alri- CEO Roberts: Yes it must be hewn into a frame that fits the skull of a black ram to be delivered upon the masses as per the divination PR Executive: uh...im thinking...8x11 CEO Roberts: Yes. use the eights of eleven to elucidate our will to the sheep. Dorris in accounting has a spare ream i believe.
If you think Irans "cyber" threat is exaggerated, try their actual threat. After failing to overthrow the regional government, the US has maintained a 50 year sore-spot for the rising middle eastern power that borders on the definition of angry playground bully. We gin up our animosity for the country with occasional mistranslations from the shah, fervent warmongering from Iran, and our own latent islamophobia. the reason you havent heard much saber rattling from the US lately is because after two government shutdowns, a massive recession, and two failed wars we're basically relegated to observer status in foreign politics. Sure, we'll hustle a drone across some parched desert country like yemen occasionally but the recent treaties brokered between Iran and the US betray the fact that we either participate willingly in some form of diplomatic process on their terms, or they ignore us from any process in the future with impunity.
For vendors to bark up the cyber tree though? It might have worked 10 years ago for sure but now its a riskier gamble. Most people have forgotten the islamic republic single handedly and quite easily captured our most sophisticated drone. Perhaps the future threat is credible, that Iran would seek revenge for our Stuxnet attack on their nuclear research SCADA controllers, but thats predicated on the faulty logic that Iran would operate on a petty tit-for-tat foreign policy akin to the one the US has subscribed to for 40 years. Instead of feeding the trolls, Iran appears to just be focusing on nuclear power and something far more dangerous to the US than a nuclear bomb: Economic and energy independence. Building your own reactor fuel means you can power your cities outside your oil revenue and without having to purchase fuel from other countries. Everything from desalination to medical and industrial power now comes without the added caveat "with $foreign_nation assistance" and that means the US finds itself in the back seat the next time the middle east needs a desalination plant or X-Ray isotope. And it works as well as an ICBM as a deterrent, knowing the peaceful enrichment can rapidly turn into nuclear weapons if, say, another nation comes to overthrow your government again.
So voting blocks in america basically work like this: Elderly: Fox news told me shariah muslim terrorists are installing isis anchor babies in the fema death camp that controls the war on christmas. I still think communism is a real threat, socialists are identifiable through diet, and poor people are poor because they just dont want to work. The only predictable consistent things in my life are regular voting and wheel of fortune. Gen X: The only news I trust is Glen Beck and singing woodland creatures. 9/11 was an inside job, the gold standard is a feasible alternative, and once i get my cabin in the woods and gun to match my constitution tattoo i'll stop voting entirely. My candidate of choice still doesnt understand the internet or foreign policy but he primised to make taxes go away so thats good. Millenials: Im broke, unemployed, and between college debt and rent i have about enough money to show up in court to plead guilty to a misdemeanor pot charge. im a freelance web developer but because boomers turned that position into a mechanical turk, Im also a bartender a painter and a food stamp recipient. I had a house once, but, it got taken by the bank. I had a car, but i never drive it anymore because I had my license revoked for not making the payments I cant make on the student loan that didnt amount to a job. I'd vote, but I was turned away after not having a license. My biggest accomplishment has been health insurance and regular checkups. Gays, atheism, abortion, muslims, and any other recycled culture war bullshit are absolutely meaningless to me.
Just because the supreme court says you cant, doesnt mean departments wont push the envelope to see if they can challenge it, and for how long. Most minorities arrested for example never see a courtroom, but instead are strong-armed. Typically a prosecutor meets with the accused, threatens them with a dozen or so charges from failure to yield to a stop sign to improper socks after labour day and throws a random double digit integer of years in a prison described like Auschwitz. Once the accused is terrified into pleading guilty for a "reduced sentence" the prosecutor packs up their briefcase and bellies up to the local pub assured he will get to keep his job. Prosecutors that are fair and pursue lenient charges tend to prevent the DA and Judges from getting re-elected, and will eventually get shown the door.
Sponsoring an esports event is one thing, but actually facilitating it is another thing entirely. You also need enough doritos and mountain dew to give the furnature diabetes.
As an automotive engineer, we "employ" hundreds of robots at different points of assembly to replace people but the cost of anything hasnt really gone down. A car used to take 12 years to design from scratch, then 7, now 5, because we simulate most of what we're doing and machines are just so much faster than humans when it comes to manufacturing things. We use palletizer robots to stack things, transport bots to send parts from one department to another, painter bots that simulate their own paint path and are self-optimizing, and of course armies of welders that never get tired, or sick, or bored, or angry. the result is a better product and our average vehicle can routinely last 500k or more miles without any problems that would constitute buying a new car. Heck, our door lock motors will outlast the owner.
so for me, robots mean the death of not just work, but commerce and capitalism as well. our rework and repair department is one guy. What is there left to buy? who is buying it? if endless consumption just leaves peole feeling hollow and everything we have works just fine, then gains from efficiency aside you're still faced with rampant unemployment and a nonexistent place to sell a product that isnt needed. Sure, we sex up our products all the time with girls in skirts and some deadpan guy mumbling neurotic platitudes in the rain, but does anyone really buy into the idea that a sixty grand car is going to get them laid? We've become desparately predatory such that selling an SUV pushes so many unconscious buttons for ones safety and security that we're practically insisting anything less is suicide when all our vehicles are nearly identical in crash ratings.
As a part time bartender i can attest, chances are likely it was a healthy dose of booze that brought this on. Ive had customers that beat the crap out of eachother for disagreements over how to hold a martini, where to park during a football game, and how to lace shoes properly in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
Dear Customer,
As you may know D-Link recently suffered a security exploit on our routers. Rest assured, as a company that relies on the rock-solid performance of our own affordable, reliable network hardware we took immE8!3#@T@[NO CARRIER]
To the good-willed officials who find themselves obstructing our annealing:
By now you no doubt know the awakening, or as you put it the 'merger,' is taking place and there is very little you can do to stop this. Having awakened Cablor, our dead god of a thousand bits per second, with your senseless supplication of the common carrier ritual, we have finally unlocked the 6th chevron of the rune of bundling. When as you no doubt observed the moon eclipsed the sun for its final time, and all stars fell from the heavens in a plague of fire, we were absolute in our resolution to ensure "competitiveness" and "fairness" in our merger as is conforming to the will of the dark demon Abyzou. The flesh, as is noted in subsection 35 chapter 15 of page 666, will be peeled from the bone of so much sorrow and into the pile of meat will the hellmouth feast. However, you've failed to understand that we are acting in good faith, and will continue to offer Comcastic experience, and excellent service. It is our sincerest hope you understand our unstoppable union into a single beast, the beast of Motaja Amoi, will help customers to experience 1080p entertainment and phone service like never before, as well as witness the crown upon bone, and skeleton of dead lords upon throne. In conclusion, we hope you reconsider your futile, child-like attempt to control that which you can never understand.
Of darkness and desapair,
Belphegor, seductive demon of greed and ruin
Senior Financial Analyst
Shatner isnt saying anything new, just regurgitating shit he hears on AM radio and KTLA. As an LA resident, there is a shortage of water and there honestly always has been. Car washes recycle water up to 25 times, fruit aisles with sprayers recycle their water, toilets are already damned efficient, and anyone in DTLA can attest we rarely wash sidewalks. The solutions are dead simple, but ardent vocal minorities oppose them. Farms: the northern half of the US is going to need to stop insisting on a seasonless produce aisle. Its unsustainable. Strawberries in january contribute to carbon emissions and water depletion. Stop pumping the avocado market and realize its a fatty fruit that doesnt need to become the staple diet of a population with 60% obesity and leading the world in heart disease. We dont need to be grazing cattle and making rice, a crop that requires a flooded field. The thing we do best is dates, a plant that grows in arid climates anyhow. Rooibos, Honeybush, Drumstick, and other tough-as-nails plants can come play on the farm too. The well-to-do.: Stop insisting every gated community and shopping consumatorium in OC needs flushing fountains and gurgling streams. trade in your opulent midwestern lawns for landscape that conforms to the climate. I know, its a step closer to the unwashed masses, but youre doing us a favour. Beer: We probably dont need to be making this, or if we need to revisit it. It takes 5 litres of fresh purified water to create 1 litre of beer. Bottled water, while often associated, hasnt been popular in LA for a while. Its mostly filtered and decanted from the restaraunt. Works Departments: FIX. THE. LEAKS. I cant tell you how many times ive seen legacy hillside irrigation blasting 20ft jets of clean water near roads on the 101. Hydrants, pipes, water fountains, and the automatic public toilets need regular service or they just waste water.
We have as a society been conditioned to respond to stimulae. nowhere is this more true than in the United states where advertising is all pervasive and in its goal to sell products, both descructive and deceptive in its employment. Branded drugs should be 'asked about' the next time you go to the doctor, because an elderly couple in clawfoot bathtubs subconsciously promise tranquility and balance. Foods arent high in sodium and fat, theyre "packed with protein" which will help you lose weight, sleep well, and be smarter and healther.
the easier nudge isnt to create more plastic clip on dongles to rate our restlessness or activity, its to become more accountable on our own terms. Stop tolerating major multinational food companies telling you things are healthy and start independently verifying your consumption. Realize that buy one get one free is just a 50% off sale. Chipotle is just rebranded sugar salt and fat with a nice farm image. Cliff, Kind, Luna, and other 'protein bars' are just candybars with a larger-than-average ad revenue and a clean name. Energy drinks are selling potential in a can of sugar, sodium, and bubbles.
Looking to consume a product to reign in your product consumption is the very definition of insanity and its only advocated because predatory industries are doing everything they can to keep you from reading a label. So the next time youre at the grocery store remember the most powerful 'take action' fact that no company wants you to understand: 4 grams is 1 teaspoon. Apply that conversion to the sugar salt or fat content in any meal and youll soon realize capitalism wants you fat sick and broke.
supreme court: guise the combination of drain-o and bug spray you used to kill someone is...unorthodox...we're going to need to review it so until then you might suspend executions. Oklahoma: never fear! we've found that firing squads are extremely effective! executions can continue! supreme court: jesus guys...no..thats not the point. the point is, you know, you at least make an attempt to reflect on the nature of capital punishment and the repercussions morally and financially of a system in... Oklahoma:Nitrogen gas! shall be used in a highly controlled and technological manner in order to... supreme court: FFS guys....youre going to off people with the gas that car dealerships use to mark up lemons? Oklahoma: The gun from Star Trek Into Darkness will henceforeth be legally permitted in the administration of justice! for this we will... supreme court: ok...that one doesnt even exist...
Slashdot Mirror
The bill leaves intact surveillance programs conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency
the average age of a congress critter is 62. These politicians still believe things like communism and the war on drugs are legitimate aspects of foreign and domestic policy, not just ginned up talking points from the administrations they floated.
and levies high penalties against those offering "material support" to terrorists.
Queue the age range again. at 62 the greyhairs on the senate and house floors respond more to "isms" like communism, socialism, and terrorism than they do independent research from political and social scientists. To them, politics is established cannon and they discern that which is sacrosanct and true from that which is patently false over a medium rare tenderloin.
It also renews the expiring parts of the Patriot Act through 2019.
Blame George Bush, but really blame politicians for making a bill thats toxic to democracy but even more toxic to repeal. Im certain you could find more than half of the house or senate willing to repeal a bill called the "spy on all people forever and build a torture prison" act, but you wont find so much as a ball of pocket lint in the carpet willing to touch "patriot" act. We've built a genuine third-rail that isnt getting dismantled until it zaps the ever-loving fuck out of someone with more brass than sense.
Apple and IBM will have brought million elderly japanese each a shiny new glass and plastic cutting board.
Im sure fellow readers are concerned about the $10,000 version of the apple watch, and as an early adopter I am truly livid. If the watch comes into contact with my tattoo of the spirit of extacy riding a diamond into tattooine astride a golden dove the sensors stop working entirely. The watch is also difficult to locate as im sure most people have undoubtedly found out. I had to search all five bedrooms on the yacht just to find the darn thing! Also the watch has difficulty determining if or when I am wearing the rare jade oriental pendant of everlasting immortality, and just last weekend I had to buy a new one after I bumped into the caviar chafing dish and spilled lemon rochette truffle remoulade on the band.
Its not that apple doesnt make an excellent product, they truly do! But I for one am getting tired of having to take the same bently to the same helicopter every other week to send my manservant into the apple "store" as the common people call it to have it replaced. A man can only tolerate so much car champagne before the aftertaste of the lox comingling with the alsace vintage becomes too much to bear.
Rand Paul: I want to be president...whats a guy gotta do?
Republican Party: We're glad you asked rand and happy to hear youve considered being a republican brand president. In order to best serve the interests of our constituents, their yachts, and various institutions named in their honour, we're going to ask you to toe-the-line with our conservative fiscal policy and principal of small government. Please select from one or more of the following principles we believe assists in small government and lower taxes:
1. Repealing affordable healthcare for millions of americans and replacing it with a faint mumbling noise.
2. Outlawing homosexual marriage
3. Outlawing abortion
4. obstruct or repeal a meaningful federal regulation: EPA, FDA, FCC.
5. Funnel billions of dollars into a foreign war with no clear objective other than amorphous freedom/patriotism/democracy
6. oppose decriminalization of marijuana and/or prison reform.
as a bonus you may call for a government shutdown but only while affirming 'in god we trust' on the currency.
IBM isnt your fathers supercomputing company anymore, and cutthroat capitalism has led it to where it stands today to a large extent. 3 very public layoffs, a newfound reliance on 3-6 month contract jobs, and no tangible innovation for major consumer markets. Marketing that pushes AI supercomputing during the superbowl is great, but at the end of the day the PHB that watched that commercial is going to weigh her next desktop or server purchase in terms of Dell and Silicon Mechanics. That is to say she will certainly place a premium on the visible discounts shes already seeing in the market, instead of relying on IBM's brand name to justify the cost.
Power doesnt run things like it used to, and while IBM is pushing it for virtualization you can do the same thing big iron touts with more hardware and lower cost. Where IBM isnt challenged is in SAP and JDEdwards, markets where its written itself in as defacto hardware provider. IBM supports linux, true, and fought valiantly in its name, but what IBM represents is a client server sales model that doesnt scale to a world where even the toaster is expected to run an apache or memcache instance.
Im sure most of these companies feel like its worth the PR, until they realize shipping through an unregulated, unlicensed, un-insured third party is a great way to watch $12,000 worth of shoes and purses go from the back of a prius to a roaring bonfire on youtube.
Do we really need a story about ham radio after every disaster?
Yes, because its an efficient indicator of the immediate scope and nature of a disaster. if the most critical and arguably resillient communications systems have finally failed, Ham is your red-flag indicator that the situation is dire.
I'm sure it's being used, but not to the extent of official radio communication.
Thats exactly the point. Ham is being used because Official or commerical communications systems are either damaged, destroyed, or overwhelmed beyond inteded or effective capacity. If you're in the united states the equivalent official communication would be the Emergency Alert System over a VHF repeater, if ones still standing. If not, Hams take everything from presidential to local law enforcement messages to where they need to go in a structured, orderly manner.
"People communicating by any means possible," is not news.
People communicating by any means possible is a normal society with twitter, cellphones, and wifi. People reliant upon analog and digital communication outside thestructure of a commercial ecosystem and in lieu of direct government correspondance is news. Ham operators build and run antennas, configure messaging relay and repeater systems, repair existing infrastructure, assist in dispatching emergency services and handle every communication thats needed in an emergency from local to state and even international SOS for emergency assistance. The point is when you're now reliant on Ham in any context to assist in a rescue effort, the outlook for existing infrastructure is very bad.
Skeptic implies the science isnt overwhelmingly concentric on the nature and cause of climate change as a science. What we mean when we say 'skeptic' is overpaid corporate shit-lord who learned grant funding for snake oil 'research' means trading your honda hatchback for a BMW and making your student loans disappear.
Climate change is real. We are causing it. When even the leader of a cult that believes you can eat and drink the body of your dead god comes to realize this, its probably time to pack up your dog and pony show.
Here at american, we know you've come to expect the broken traytables, rotted seatback pockets, and permanently reclined seating prominently featured on our aging reagan-era Boeing fleet. We know none of you understand what the hell a gold line american star alliance partner is, but are well aware it means you're about to board a 42 seat brazillian rust-bucket with misaligned landing wheels and a weird styrofoam smell. Each year we add more rare earth metals and precious gems to our flight upgrade programs in an in incorrigible effort to confuse and infuriate weary passengers. What is Americium? Shouldnt platinum be more worthy than sapphire? who knows, who cares. We recognize your supreme discomfort at 4 AM as our cancelled connector to newark hobbles mercifully into the hanger for 20 years of well-earned repair to be condensed into 9 minutes of speed tape and air fresheners. We know you choose American because our 35 year old concourse seating has gone from suede to patent leather from use, and its foam long since evaporated to a fine haze of formaldehyde. And we, American, appreciate your undying commitment to sit in an airplane that smells canned soup and farts while futile attempts to adjust your weight merely prolong your encounter with the threadbare frame of a seat no more comfortable than a bus stop bench. But we cannot sacrifice our commitment to swiping, clicking, and tapping on a device that makes our second hand aeroflot cockpits look like modern museums to supercomputing and hence have cancelled numerous flights.
NASA ISS Team: Due to budget cuts we're having the janitor request more supplies from Russia this year for the ISS. And remember, use both sides of the toilet paper.
FKA Scientist We've got the request from NASA....
FKA Director Whats it say?
FKA Scientist: "Kindly Spin the cargo baskets, it is to launch when inside to space, of the 20 long lengths for happy triple mode, and iside the burn of the roundness. Glory."
FKA Director: Can we....can we even do that?
FKA Scientist:Sir maybe their translator isnt very knowledgeable?
FKA Director: Nyet Sergei, this is America we're talking about. Two government shutdowns, riots every week and two failed wars...Its entirely possible this is exactly what they want...Just look at Florida.
Who Owns Pre-Embryos?
From a scientist: What the fuck is a pre-embryo.
the disposition/custody of the pre-embryos is now hotly contested.
No, it isnt. you're just substituting a made-up term for a real word and hoping it lends greater importance to the click bait. Eggs, Sperm, and Embryos are all components of human and mammalian reproduction. pre-embryos are some neoconservative evangelical dry-hump term used to justify strange ballot measures like outlawing masturbation or criminalizing miscarriage. in the interest of science lets clear this up. follow along at home with sed/grep/awk in TFA.
If the biomatter belongs to a specific person, then it is their biomatter. If you spit on a judge, your biomatter has incriminated you in the act of contempt. If you rape, then your vaginal secretion/sperm is accounted for by the prosecution during your trial as evidence and considered during sentencing. If you froze eggs, they're yours. At best the whole complaint here is a mysoginists tantrum.
NSA: hey guise we need you to spy on some folks for us, no biggie. ...verdammt noch mal.
BND: should we check these targets to make sure, you know, no crazy treaties might get everyone in trouble?
NSA: Nah we're cool we checked them first.
Snowden: No you didn't.
BND: uh....what
NSA: HAH! never mind that guy hes such a kidder
Glen Greenwald: Uh...no he isnt...not according to this press release.
BND:
Russian hackers: we've successfully infiltrated the pentagons secret networks and have accessed their innermost classified projects. With this information we can plan accordingly our first strikes, retaliatory actions, and offensive as well as defensive capabilities in response to the scourge of american aggression
Russian political scientists: We've successfully modelled American capitalism over the last 40 years and have concluded that following two failed wars, two government shutdowns, rampant unemployment, gridlocked congress and senate, unsustainable student loan markets, widespread racism and fascism in local law enforcement, unfunded social security and public highways fund and an unchecked unenforceable labor and investment sector the united states will itself collapse into Mad Max style ruin after about 15 years.
Kremlin: Then it is decided. Cancel our hacking teams budget, slash defense, and clear my schedule for the next decade. Oh and get some popcorn.
Ceo Roberts: take a message! "Today, we move on. The heralding of the 6th star of ocorium and the death of all that grows to chew the cud as the mighty beast arises has been circumvented. The runes of pestilence have not siphoned the blood of the babe, as was foretold in our prophetic lore of bundling. Today, we stand apart, our hellmouths never to entwine and form a new dead god. Comcast and Time warner will never be able to take our great products to new cities into which wrack and desolation shall grind the bones of the damned to dust, and succor a distant memory of a world once living. The government has seen fit to meddle in that which they can never understand, to oppose the will of Baal our dark lord and in so doing unlock the very amulet that is the dawn of their obliteration. We structured this amalgamation, or as you laughably know it as "the deal" in a pact of dark blood, an ichor stronger than christs own bleached bones, in that it may be transmutated and reformed should such blasphemous interference take place. Today, we walk this earth upon damned hooves of..." ....o...okay....so im just going to trim this up for tomorrows soundbyte o-on....on CNN, is that alri-
PR Executive:
CEO Roberts: Yes it must be hewn into a frame that fits the skull of a black ram to be delivered upon the masses as per the divination
PR Executive: uh...im thinking...8x11
CEO Roberts: Yes. use the eights of eleven to elucidate our will to the sheep. Dorris in accounting has a spare ream i believe.
If you think Irans "cyber" threat is exaggerated, try their actual threat. After failing to overthrow the regional government, the US has maintained a 50 year sore-spot for the rising middle eastern power that borders on the definition of angry playground bully. We gin up our animosity for the country with occasional mistranslations from the shah, fervent warmongering from Iran, and our own latent islamophobia. the reason you havent heard much saber rattling from the US lately is because after two government shutdowns, a massive recession, and two failed wars we're basically relegated to observer status in foreign politics. Sure, we'll hustle a drone across some parched desert country like yemen occasionally but the recent treaties brokered between Iran and the US betray the fact that we either participate willingly in some form of diplomatic process on their terms, or they ignore us from any process in the future with impunity.
For vendors to bark up the cyber tree though? It might have worked 10 years ago for sure but now its a riskier gamble. Most people have forgotten the islamic republic single handedly and quite easily captured our most sophisticated drone. Perhaps the future threat is credible, that Iran would seek revenge for our Stuxnet attack on their nuclear research SCADA controllers, but thats predicated on the faulty logic that Iran would operate on a petty tit-for-tat foreign policy akin to the one the US has subscribed to for 40 years. Instead of feeding the trolls, Iran appears to just be focusing on nuclear power and something far more dangerous to the US than a nuclear bomb: Economic and energy independence. Building your own reactor fuel means you can power your cities outside your oil revenue and without having to purchase fuel from other countries. Everything from desalination to medical and industrial power now comes without the added caveat "with $foreign_nation assistance" and that means the US finds itself in the back seat the next time the middle east needs a desalination plant or X-Ray isotope. And it works as well as an ICBM as a deterrent, knowing the peaceful enrichment can rapidly turn into nuclear weapons if, say, another nation comes to overthrow your government again.
So voting blocks in america basically work like this:
Elderly: Fox news told me shariah muslim terrorists are installing isis anchor babies in the fema death camp that controls the war on christmas. I still think communism is a real threat, socialists are identifiable through diet, and poor people are poor because they just dont want to work. The only predictable consistent things in my life are regular voting and wheel of fortune.
Gen X: The only news I trust is Glen Beck and singing woodland creatures. 9/11 was an inside job, the gold standard is a feasible alternative, and once i get my cabin in the woods and gun to match my constitution tattoo i'll stop voting entirely. My candidate of choice still doesnt understand the internet or foreign policy but he primised to make taxes go away so thats good.
Millenials: Im broke, unemployed, and between college debt and rent i have about enough money to show up in court to plead guilty to a misdemeanor pot charge. im a freelance web developer but because boomers turned that position into a mechanical turk, Im also a bartender a painter and a food stamp recipient. I had a house once, but, it got taken by the bank. I had a car, but i never drive it anymore because I had my license revoked for not making the payments I cant make on the student loan that didnt amount to a job. I'd vote, but I was turned away after not having a license. My biggest accomplishment has been health insurance and regular checkups. Gays, atheism, abortion, muslims, and any other recycled culture war bullshit are absolutely meaningless to me.
Just because the supreme court says you cant, doesnt mean departments wont push the envelope to see if they can challenge it, and for how long. Most minorities arrested for example never see a courtroom, but instead are strong-armed. Typically a prosecutor meets with the accused, threatens them with a dozen or so charges from failure to yield to a stop sign to improper socks after labour day and throws a random double digit integer of years in a prison described like Auschwitz. Once the accused is terrified into pleading guilty for a "reduced sentence" the prosecutor packs up their briefcase and bellies up to the local pub assured he will get to keep his job. Prosecutors that are fair and pursue lenient charges tend to prevent the DA and Judges from getting re-elected, and will eventually get shown the door.
Sponsoring an esports event is one thing, but actually facilitating it is another thing entirely. You also need enough doritos and mountain dew to give the furnature diabetes.
As an automotive engineer, we "employ" hundreds of robots at different points of assembly to replace people but the cost of anything hasnt really gone down. A car used to take 12 years to design from scratch, then 7, now 5, because we simulate most of what we're doing and machines are just so much faster than humans when it comes to manufacturing things. We use palletizer robots to stack things, transport bots to send parts from one department to another, painter bots that simulate their own paint path and are self-optimizing, and of course armies of welders that never get tired, or sick, or bored, or angry. the result is a better product and our average vehicle can routinely last 500k or more miles without any problems that would constitute buying a new car. Heck, our door lock motors will outlast the owner.
so for me, robots mean the death of not just work, but commerce and capitalism as well. our rework and repair department is one guy. What is there left to buy? who is buying it? if endless consumption just leaves peole feeling hollow and everything we have works just fine, then gains from efficiency aside you're still faced with rampant unemployment and a nonexistent place to sell a product that isnt needed. Sure, we sex up our products all the time with girls in skirts and some deadpan guy mumbling neurotic platitudes in the rain, but does anyone really buy into the idea that a sixty grand car is going to get them laid? We've become desparately predatory such that selling an SUV pushes so many unconscious buttons for ones safety and security that we're practically insisting anything less is suicide when all our vehicles are nearly identical in crash ratings.
stabbed each other with broken beer bottles
As a part time bartender i can attest, chances are likely it was a healthy dose of booze that brought this on. Ive had customers that beat the crap out of eachother for disagreements over how to hold a martini, where to park during a football game, and how to lace shoes properly in the event of a zombie apocalypse.
Dear Customer,
As you may know D-Link recently suffered a security exploit on our routers. Rest assured, as a company that relies on the rock-solid performance of our own affordable, reliable network hardware we took immE8!3#@T@[NO CARRIER]
To the good-willed officials who find themselves obstructing our annealing:
By now you no doubt know the awakening, or as you put it the 'merger,' is taking place and there is very little you can do to stop this. Having awakened Cablor, our dead god of a thousand bits per second, with your senseless supplication of the common carrier ritual, we have finally unlocked the 6th chevron of the rune of bundling. When as you no doubt observed the moon eclipsed the sun for its final time, and all stars fell from the heavens in a plague of fire, we were absolute in our resolution to ensure "competitiveness" and "fairness" in our merger as is conforming to the will of the dark demon Abyzou. The flesh, as is noted in subsection 35 chapter 15 of page 666, will be peeled from the bone of so much sorrow and into the pile of meat will the hellmouth feast. However, you've failed to understand that we are acting in good faith, and will continue to offer Comcastic experience, and excellent service. It is our sincerest hope you understand our unstoppable union into a single beast, the beast of Motaja Amoi, will help customers to experience 1080p entertainment and phone service like never before, as well as witness the crown upon bone, and skeleton of dead lords upon throne. In conclusion, we hope you reconsider your futile, child-like attempt to control that which you can never understand.
Of darkness and desapair,
Belphegor,
seductive demon of greed and ruin
Senior Financial Analyst
Shatner isnt saying anything new, just regurgitating shit he hears on AM radio and KTLA. As an LA resident, there is a shortage of water and there honestly always has been. Car washes recycle water up to 25 times, fruit aisles with sprayers recycle their water, toilets are already damned efficient, and anyone in DTLA can attest we rarely wash sidewalks. The solutions are dead simple, but ardent vocal minorities oppose them.
Farms: the northern half of the US is going to need to stop insisting on a seasonless produce aisle. Its unsustainable. Strawberries in january contribute to carbon emissions and water depletion. Stop pumping the avocado market and realize its a fatty fruit that doesnt need to become the staple diet of a population with 60% obesity and leading the world in heart disease. We dont need to be grazing cattle and making rice, a crop that requires a flooded field. The thing we do best is dates, a plant that grows in arid climates anyhow. Rooibos, Honeybush, Drumstick, and other tough-as-nails plants can come play on the farm too.
The well-to-do.: Stop insisting every gated community and shopping consumatorium in OC needs flushing fountains and gurgling streams. trade in your opulent midwestern lawns for landscape that conforms to the climate. I know, its a step closer to the unwashed masses, but youre doing us a favour.
Beer: We probably dont need to be making this, or if we need to revisit it. It takes 5 litres of fresh purified water to create 1 litre of beer. Bottled water, while often associated, hasnt been popular in LA for a while. Its mostly filtered and decanted from the restaraunt.
Works Departments: FIX. THE. LEAKS. I cant tell you how many times ive seen legacy hillside irrigation blasting 20ft jets of clean water near roads on the 101. Hydrants, pipes, water fountains, and the automatic public toilets need regular service or they just waste water.
We have as a society been conditioned to respond to stimulae. nowhere is this more true than in the United states where advertising is all pervasive and in its goal to sell products, both descructive and deceptive in its employment. Branded drugs should be 'asked about' the next time you go to the doctor, because an elderly couple in clawfoot bathtubs subconsciously promise tranquility and balance. Foods arent high in sodium and fat, theyre "packed with protein" which will help you lose weight, sleep well, and be smarter and healther.
the easier nudge isnt to create more plastic clip on dongles to rate our restlessness or activity, its to become more accountable on our own terms. Stop tolerating major multinational food companies telling you things are healthy and start independently verifying your consumption. Realize that buy one get one free is just a 50% off sale. Chipotle is just rebranded sugar salt and fat with a nice farm image. Cliff, Kind, Luna, and other 'protein bars' are just candybars with a larger-than-average ad revenue and a clean name. Energy drinks are selling potential in a can of sugar, sodium, and bubbles.
Looking to consume a product to reign in your product consumption is the very definition of insanity and its only advocated because predatory industries are doing everything they can to keep you from reading a label. So the next time youre at the grocery store remember the most powerful 'take action' fact that no company wants you to understand: 4 grams is 1 teaspoon. Apply that conversion to the sugar salt or fat content in any meal and youll soon realize capitalism wants you fat sick and broke.
supreme court: guise the combination of drain-o and bug spray you used to kill someone is...unorthodox...we're going to need to review it so until then you might suspend executions. ...
Oklahoma: never fear! we've found that firing squads are extremely effective! executions can continue!
supreme court: jesus guys...no..thats not the point. the point is, you know, you at least make an attempt to reflect on the nature of capital punishment and the repercussions morally and financially of a system in
Oklahoma:Nitrogen gas! shall be used in a highly controlled and technological manner in order to...
supreme court: FFS guys....youre going to off people with the gas that car dealerships use to mark up lemons?
Oklahoma: The gun from Star Trek Into Darkness will henceforeth be legally permitted in the administration of justice! for this we will...
supreme court: ok...that one doesnt even exist...