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Comment Re: Section 230 is the First Amendment of the Inte (Score 0) 72

You are wrong. After years of idiots on /. saying the same stupid shit as you, and having all the posts showing how they are wrong, /. still has a problem with assholes who can't seem to learn a fucking thing. Learn what you're talking about before you spout shit.

Submission + - Chinese Scientists Synthsized Starch from Carbon Dioxide (phys.org) 1

Submitted by AltMachine
AltMachine writes: Chinese scientists recently reported a de novo route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) for the first time. Relevant results were published in Science on Sept. 24. The new route makes it possible to produce starch, a major component of grains, by industrial manufacturing instead of traditional agricultural planting and opens up a new technical route for synthesizing complex molecules from CO2. The artificial route can produce starch from CO2 with an efficiency 8.5-fold higher than starch biosynthesis in maize, suggesting a big step towards going beyond nature. It provides a new scientific basis for creating biological systems with unprecedented functions. "If the overall cost of the process can be reduced to a level economically comparable with agricultural planting in the future, it is expected to save more than 90% of cultivated land and freshwater resources," said MA Yanhe, corresponding author of the study. In addition, it would also help to avoid the negative environmental impact of using pesticides and fertilizers, improve human food security, facilitate a carbon-neutral bioeconomy, and eventually promote the formation of a sustainable bio-based society.

Submission + - Pfizer and Flynn accused of overcharging UK NHS for anti-epilepsy drugs (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Sunil Sood
Sunil Sood writes: Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Flynn have been accused by the UKâ(TM)s competition watchdog of illegally overcharging the NHS for vital anti-epilepsy drugs by abusing their dominance in the market to raise prices overnight.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed its 2016 finding that the pair exploited a loophole to charge unfairly high prices for phenytoin sodium capsules by debranding the drug, known as Epanutin, in 2012 so it would not face price regulation.

The watchdog began reassessing the case after Pfizer appealed against the CMAâ(TM)s 2016 fine of £84.2m â" a record at the time â" for raising the cost of the anti-epilepsy drug by up to 2,600%. Flynn Pharma, a drugs distributor, faced a fine of £5.2m for charging excessive and unfair prices for phenytoin sodium capsules.

The CMA said that after carefully assessing further evidence it believed the pair were able to abuse their dominant position to overcharge the NHS, by debranding the capsules which are used by an estimated 48,000 epilepsy patients in the UK to prevent and control seizures.

Pharmaceutical companies have been accused of exploiting a loophole in controls designed to curb the price of drugs bought by the NHS. The cost of patent protected drugs is controlled by caps that restrict how much profit a company is allowed to make. Unbranded drugs do not face the same restrictions because, in theory, the competition between rival unbranded generic products should keep prices down. By debranding, drug companies producing medicines with limited competition can side-step the controls and demand steep price hikes.

According to the CMAâ(TM)s provisional findings the overnight price rise meant the NHS spending on the drug soared from £2m a year in 2012 to about £50m in 2013. For over four years, Pfizerâ(TM)s prices were between 780% and 1,600% higher than it had previously charged. Pfizer then supplied the drug to Flynn which charged prices between 2,300% and 2,600% higher than those they had paid previously.

"Thousands of patients depend on this drug to prevent life-threatening seizures as a result of their epilepsy,â the CMA chief executive, Andrea Coscelli, said. âoeProtecting these patients, the NHS and the taxpayers who fund it, is our priority.â

Pfizer and Flynn have an opportunity to respond to the CMAâ(TM)s provisional findings before the regulator reconsiders whether they broke the law.

Submission + - Can the Internet be a tool for civilized and thoughtful discussions? (theverge.com) 3

Submitted by shanen
shanen writes: Yes, I deliberately worded the Subject question in such a way as to risk triggering the headline rule, but I've become deeply skeptical these years. The negativist, anarchist, or even nihilist dynamics of the Internet do not seem to be making us smarter. Maybe it's an entropy thing, and you can't beat entropy, even with a 10-foot pole.

Trying to reword it more positively, "It's a poor craftsman who blames his tools." That would mean it's our own fault, but I have an extension: "It's a worse craftsman who doesn't know the differences between the tools and who doesn't want the best tool for the task at hand." Maybe this Polemix really is a better mousetrap? Plus by way of proof-of-concept I still think Slashdot is sometimes a useful tool for helping me figure out what I'm thinking. Not so useful for discussions, however. Even Nomad wouldn't try to repair it?

Oh yeah. I should try to say something directly about the story, shouldn't I? Sounds like a nice idea, but I'm skeptical of the video monologue foundation. Real communication has to be more interactive than that. Basically it's difficult and tedious to figure out and respond to the mental state of your audience even if you are talking to them over lunch. Broadcasting into the luminiferous ether? Color me unlikely.

Comment Re:It's real simple. (Score 1) 657

by meglon (#61612733) Attached to: Most Unvaccinated Americans Don't Want Shots: AP-NORC Poll
Are you a fucking moron, or are you just playing one here and now? Anyone who refuses to get vaccinated is opting to potentially die instead. We should let them because that's obviously what they want. This isn't a skin color issue, it's a fucking brain damage issue.... so i don't know what the fuck you're talking about, other than being some racist piece of shit idiot.

https://imgur.com/gallery/iUAh...

Comment Re:It's real simple. (Score 1) 657

by meglon (#61612577) Attached to: Most Unvaccinated Americans Don't Want Shots: AP-NORC Poll
Awww, are your panties in a bunch because i suggest people take a little bit of fucking responsibility for themselves? Too fucking bad. If they can't be responsible enough to get vaccinated, no one else should have to suffer because they're fucking idiots. They want to die, let them.... that's the freedumb they want.

Comment Re:Yeah, I call B.S. (Score 1) 254

The companies are not subject to the first amendment, only government actors are. If you're going to make a constitutional argument, at least read and understand the constitution first, instead of just saying really incredibly stupid shit.. The only BS here is whoever the morons who voted your bullshit as "interesting" instead of "stupider-than-fuck."

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