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Comment Re:They're just avoiding liability (Score 4, Insightful) 332

Obviously, the government is covering something up . . .

. . . maybe the guy dumped a oil drum full of pure LSD into the water, before pausing to take a leak. The authorities are not mentioning the LSD to avoid panicking the public. You don't want to panic the public, while they are tripping their balls off.

. . . or they spotted the Loch Ness Monster, and are draining the reservoir, to catch it in the shallows.

. . . or maybe the guy showed signs of being a zombie, and they need to wait to see if he morphs into one.

Ya gotta try to see through the headlines these days . . . the government is out to stuff you with disinformation . . . and they're always up to something not good . . .

If you're in Portland, I would suggest just drinking pure grain alcohol . . .

Comment Re:Sick Society (Score 2) 253

Grand Arts High School was formerly known as Ramon C. Cortines School for Visual and Performing Arts . . . apparently, lowly science is not a "Grand Art". It doesn't sound like the place you would send your kid to prepare to study Physics at Princeton or Electrical Engineering at MIT. I pity the poor teacher of science or math in a school full of kids from "pushy" parents, determined that their offspring is destined for stardom.

Kinda weird . . . normally we expect the anti-science crowd to come from the religious corner off the ring . . . and low and behold . . . they get upstaged by a "Grand Arts" school staffed by administrators confounded by the entire concept of what "science" is.

"Grand Farts High School", indeed . . .

Comment Re:paper...pencil (Score 1) 170

Plus . . . I haven't seen a Snowden press release yet that the NSA has technology for snooping in pencils and paper. When they come knocking on your door, you can eat your notes. A USB stick will not digest.

Maybe there is some kind of edible rice based paper that would dissolve quickly in the stomach . . . ? In old spy movies, folks used to munch down secret notes all the time.

Comment Re:How is this different than christianity? (Score 1) 186

Imagine if the christian church charged admission for services.

Imagine if a christian church ran a vast real estate and financial empire, built palaces with 15,000€ bathtubs for Bishops of Bling, and systemically obstructed justice in cases of sexual abuse of minors.

Oh, yeah . . . no need to imagine. They should be hit with RICO charges.

I can't see any difference between political action committees and churches. The NRA spends money supporting a pro-gun political platform. Churches spend money promoting their own religious beliefs in political platforms.

Like it or not, those Tea Party folks could probably register themselves as a religion. All those Ayn Rand Objectivism rants, like, "Altruism is evil" sounds like religious beliefs to me.

I think all folks should be free to practice whatever religion they choose, or not choose. However, when their religion is organized into something that walks, talks and acts like a business . . . they have no right to escape the taxman than any other folks.

Comment Re:Excuse me for one moment. (Score 1) 207

I'd like to super-size that with side orders of Tesla, Google Glasses and Global Warming . . .

"I'm driving my Tesla, which I bought with bitcoins, wearing Google Glasses, wielding a 3D printed gun, and polluting the atmosphere by using coal produced electricity . . ."

Can anyone beat that . . . ?

Comment Re:What is an H-1B worker? (Score 1) 220

Gast = Guest, Arbeiter = Worker . . . so Gastarbeiter = Guest-worker. If you liked playing with Lego, you'll love German.

"Lieber Kinder statt Inder!" means, Rather children instead of Indians! Which meant that the government should pay more attention to social programs encouraging working women to have children, and investing more in tech training for German students . . . instead of importing (cheap) foreign talent.

Of course, the whole plan was a ruse by companies who wanted to drive down the wages of IT workers.

Comment Re:There will be an inevitable reaction against th (Score 1) 55

And the idea of internet enabled toasters and refrigerators are absurd.

A lot of stuff that I read on the Internet . . . looks like it has been posted by toasters an refrigerators.

The problem with tech these days, is that too many people are jumping in because they think it is a gold mine. All they need to do, is throw a bit of money and time at it, and they will be the next Gates, Bezos or, aptly named, Zuckerberg ("pile of sugar", in German). I think there will be some very excellent ideas in there with all the trash and gimmicks. But the ratio of crap to good will be about 1000:1.

Submission + - The Science of the Crucifixion

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Each year, Cahleen Shrier, associate professor in the Department of Biology and Chemistry at Azusa Pacific University, presents a special lecture on the science of Jesus' crucifixion detailing the physiological processes a typical crucified victim underwent based on historical documentation of crucifixion procedures used during that time period. According to Dr. Chuck Dietzen, the Romans favored it over hanging because it was a slow death — taking as long as two days — making it quite effective for quelling dissent. "It is important to understand from the beginning that Jesus would have been in excellent physical condition," says Shrier. "As a carpenter by trade, He participated in physical labor. In addition, He spent much of His ministry traveling on foot across the countryside."

Evidence suggests that Jesus dreaded his fate. The New Testament tells of how he sweated blood the night before in the garden of Gethsemane. A rare medical condition known as hematohidrosis may explain this phenomenon, Dietzen says. In this condition, extreme stress causes the blood vessels around the sweat gland to rupture into the sweat ducts. While few of these cases exist in the medical literature, many of those that do involve people facing execution.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians in 300-400 BC. It was developed, during Roman times, into a punishment for the most serious of criminals and is quite possibly the most painful death ever invented by humankind. The Romans would tie or nail the accused to the cross being sure to avoid the blood vessels. While many people envision the nail going into a person's palm, it was placed closer to the wrist. The feet were nailed to the upright part of the crucifix, so that the knees were bent at around 45 degrees. "Once the legs gave out, the weight would be transferred to the arms, gradually dragging the shoulders from their sockets. The elbows and wrists would follow a few minutes later; by now, the arms would be six or seven inches longer," says Alok Jha. "The victim would have no choice but to bear his weight on his chest. He would immediately have trouble breathing as the weight caused the rib cage to lift up and force him into an almost perpetual state of inhalation." Suffocation would usually follow, but the relief of death could also arrive in other ways. "The resultant lack of oxygen in the blood would cause damage to tissues and blood vessels, allowing fluid to diffuse out of the blood into tissues, including the lungs and the sac around the heart," says Jeremy Ward.

Eventually the person being crucified would go into shock and die after organs failed. Medical science can also explain why blood and water spurted out of Jesus's body when a Roman stabbed him with a spear. That was likely a pleural effusion, in which clear lung fluid came out of his body as well as blood. Shrier says Jesus' stamina and strength were, most likely, very well developed so if the torture of the crucifixion could break a man in such good shape, it must have been a horrific experience. "I am struck every time with the stunning realization that as a flesh and blood human, Jesus felt every ounce of this execution," concludes Shrier. "What greater love than this can a man have for his friends?"

Comment Re:Then Fox News... (Score 1) 34

Actually, that would be Canada's prerogative. And Canada is taking steps to enhance its presence in the Arctic Circle . . . precisely because they are concerned that Russia plans to lay claim to the emerging shipping lanes there.

And Obama has never seen "Ice Station Zebra": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I...

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