Kudos to the Scottish people for wanting to get rid of nukes in a principled fashion. As for an unprincipled British government (which is not the same as the British people), they should be constantly reminded by the media, human rights groups, and foreign diplomats NPT is not about just about preventing nukes in countries that don't currently have them. It's about getting nukes entirely.. If the countries that hypocritically continue to have nukes don't get rid of them, every nation that is part of NPT should eventually withdraw and start planning their own nuclear arsenals to act as a deterrent against countries with WMDs. (the BS argument that government's currently with WMDs use to justify having them 20 years post cold war). Perhaps if more nukes are pointed at the capital cites of nations currently with nukes, the governments of those nations will once again remember that they too are bound by NPT.

My understanding is according to the modern alleged "Macedonians" (former Yugoslav republic) ancient Macedonians, founders of the Hellenistic period, were not Greeks but actually Slavic. Does this mean Greece now gets dibs on Yuri Gagarin?

Granted most comments are useless but usually there are few gems mixed in. Comments next to an article are a a convenient method to pick apart journalistic claims. Its no big secret the editorial boards of large news organizations massage stories to push larger political agendas rather than stick to objective reporting of relevant facts . Comments will give the side of the story that the editors didn't want to push. It's not that the journalists are always wrong but its important to understand... a. News sources are made up of people b. People can have biases Given most news site now have a comment section arguing they should be moved to blogs is absurd. Won't happen. The real issue censorship of comments. Go to the "the Guardian" or "New York Times" and start slamming leftists. Go to Foxnews and start slamming the right. Watch is yoru comments either get removed or your account does. What's amazing is both organizations claim to be for freedom and against censorship but both constantly do it on when its in their power to do so. Unless someone has broken some law, (e.g. violent personal threat) , spam, or some sort of niche market news outlet (e.g. posting oft topic items harms the quality of service) --- comments should be allowed to stay. Period. By protecting the free speech rights of bigots, sadists, and general all-round -ssholes, we are also protecting our own rights.

Precisely. Ulbricht is probably guilty but there seems be unpunished crimes going on by the government as well. The claim as to how they found him seems like a cover story. Given Snowden revelations its obvious the government little concern for the law when it comes to privacy these days. If the constitution was being actually followed, those that engaged in mass surveillance would be facing a judge and jail time. Unfortunately because lawmakers are the one's authorizing it, they give themselves a get-out-jail card. If the government was serious about privacy -- it would be putting government officials that violate citizens privacy in prison. *ONLY* prison sentences (to any NSA officials and politicians that violated people's privacy without due process) will show the government is getting serious about privacy. It will make any public official think twice before violating the constitution again. Until then, we will all live in fear of what we do and say using various forms of telecommunication. The government was supposed to protect us against Orwillian threats. Not institute 1984. The people that claim its for our "protection" are not only totalitarian thugs but they are killing American I/T exports. What government of foreign corporation that wants to protect their secrets would be stupid enough to by US technology.

American government officials: It's wrong for the Chinese government to engage in mass surveillance Chinese government officials It's wrong for the American government to engage in mass surveillance. Principled people with actual ethics: It's wrong for *any* government to engage in mass surveillance.

China is right to not trust American tech products but unfortunately China also acts like big brother when it comes to privacy. Chinese citizens are heavily spied on by the Chinese government. All this spying is achieving is balkanizing the tech industry. At the moment If someone wants privacy it's a nobrainer one doesn't buy tech from countries that behave in wholesale spying i(i.e. US, China, GB, and possibly a few more).

NSA spies on everyone to "protect" us from tyrants that would spy on everyone. Makes sense. As a bonus the NSA has also done a fantastic job trimming down American tech industry jobs. Given the rampant unrepentant Orwellian spying surely every foreign government and corporation is eager to buy American technology products now.

Electromagnitism is usually considered the best understood of the four forces but the lack of real progress in room temperature superconducting suggests we have a way to go to understanding even that. It's plausible its not possible but if we really understand EM then the mathematics for its impossibility should exist.

Gathering Yahoo webcam images of random naked people isn't enough for the GCHQ and NSA. This technology will ensure they see us naked all the time.