The previous story on /. about the low morale at NSA? It's not low enough in my opinion. The employees need to start feelin' shitty enough that they stop doing all this bullshit.

I think the distinction between the two is pretty blurred. I'm too lazy to look, but there have been plenty of stories just on /. about law enforcement agencies that have totally ignored laws and/or acted without regard for morals. I almost think this whole discussion is moot due to this situation.

Science asks questions. It is skeptical. This means being skeptical of authority too. This will make the government nervous. They would probably prefer official "scientists" to a bunch of "hacks". This doesn't mean they are right. The government is great at bureaucracy and officiousness, especially if it means they can then exclude otherwise able people who don't toe the party line.

I was thinking the same. Instantaneous gratification probably played a hand in this. People are getting used thinking everything is a 24/7 operation and there can't ever be a hiccup.

I don't want to work on Thanksgiving or New Year's or any other major holiday and I feel bad for people who have to because there are customers to satisfy. I'm not talking about police or fire department. But does someone really need to go shopping or to see a movie on a holiday?

I'm not sure it will go as smoothly as you think. I think what would probably happen instead is that Google would lobby states (or probably feds, they got enough pull) to pass laws similar to hate crimes, i.e. punch someone wearing Google glass and the prosecutor will throw an additional charge at you specifically intended to punish would-be glassassins. Google can't have a sub-population threatening the cachet of their new shiny.

can NOT be comfortable on that thing. Imagine all the little lego impressions on your bum.

Still, that's a pretty nifty project, imho.

Let's see, 3 out of 4 of those species were also revived by humans. So it seems to me that you've opened your mouth to put in your foot.

Humans have altered the environment in myriad ways. And attempted to alleviate some of the worse changes. Cats on the other hand? I don't see a defense for letting them seriously threaten, possibly eradicate, several species; not just birds. Amphibians, reptiles, small mammals.

If you don't see my point, look at where the "wanton killing" is happening by reading the paper I linked to. Then if you still don't, go ahead and make another personal attack, since you don't seem capable of much else.

Right now, we pump - oh sorry "inject"- our wastewater from fracking underground. That water contains heavy metals and radioactive components. (Nothing like just making the problem 'go away'.)

Now that these large potential sources are revealed, what's the implications for their purity with that waste being underground also? There is no way to be sure that the wastewater won't find a channel or crack that will let it flow into those reserves.

I don't think those people need to commit suicide. I don't feel any sympathy for them at all if they feel like crap.

However, they could start to redeem themselves in my eyes if they PUBLICLY revealed all the wrong-doing. And made it a point to get our public officials to fix the agency and legal system, i.e. courts, that permitted this b.s. in the first place. That'd be a start.

I was at an air force base where I saw a bumper sticker that said "I read your email". How is that for power tripping?

If these people are as good as all the stories say they are, and I'm not saying they aren't, you have to wonder, and worry a little, where they will end up. Are they just moving over to a former contracting company and doing the same thing? If so, would that really hamper the NSA? It probably means that former NSA employee, now NSA contractor, is doing the same thing, only getting more money. That doesn't really do anything to rein in the NSA's activity via attrition.

I doubt those former employees will leave the field altogether, since they're probably aces in the field. I'm sure they have ND clauses and other restrictions, but that doesn't mean the security apparatus will shrink a whole lot.

There are actual endangered birds that the writers could have used to make the point that turbines might cause some population problems among birds. Whooping Cranes in the Central Flyway (Texas) for example. Or the proposed listing for Red Knot in the Atlantic Flyway (Maryland).

I'm not aware of any whoopers colliding with a turbine yet. Beside the birds that are listed. there are still several species of birds that are declining.

And lots of songbirds migrate at night. I know winds seem to die down at night, but if there is enough of a breeze, especially along a coast, a slow-turning turbine might possibly be quite harmful.

I'm not arguing your bigger point about other sources killing birds. I'm writing more about why worry about eagles, when they're not listed or declining as quickly?

Cats are an non-native species. The animals native to North America haven't had the time to adapt to predation by cats. And cats have had a huge impact on the bird life on the North American continent. Just because you think it's "an animal" and thus "natural", doesn't mean it actually is.