I'd like to see the CIA claim credit for the "Flying earthenware vessel" spotted over Edo Japan in 1180 AD.

I guess they were doing really early recon for WWII. Just to make sure the Japanese weren't hiding anything...

LK

I saw something in the early 80s. I'm not trying to ascribe them to an extraterrestrial origin but they were peculiar.

What I saw wasn't a group of U2 planes in formation. I suppose it could have been A-12 Avenger IIs, but there's no evidence that they ever fielded airworthy aircraft. So, they're still unknown to me and thus it's accurate to call them UFOs.

What's funny to me is that even though I didn't know it at the time, they were moving away from an area with a nuclear research facility that employs a fair number of people in the area. I was a kid, I didn't know anything about the lab or what they did there so the significance of their path didn't occur to me until I was an adult.

LK

And here, mass shootings tend to only take place in areas that prohibit or have severely curtailed the carrying of firearms.

LK

I suppose that it depends on the employer. I'm salary so I get no overtime but if I work over 40 hours in a week, I can take time off during the next week.

I like that arrangement. I make a good salary so I don't care about earning slightly more money and having it taxed at a higher rate. I'd rather reclaim some time during the next work week.

If the need arose, occasionally, I'd be willing to put in an 80 hour week in exchange for having the next week off.

LK

I don't care what most commuter routes are like. Where I live, that's how they are.

No thank you. I have an automobile.

LK

That makes me feel better about the traffic situation in my city. I live 15 miles from the heart of downtown and on evenings, it's a 20-25 minute trip. Though, I only really go downtown for work.

In the morning it's a 35-45 minute drive. If I took the bus, it would be come a 75-90 minute trip. I have no desire for that nonsense.

LK

I can read quite well, I'm just not going to do it on a bus full of strangers. I read to learn and relax, I can't focus on learning or relax when I'm surrounded by screaming children, unshowered hipsters and the downtown oddballs who frequent public transportation in this area.

LK

Public transit is a necessary evil.

It turns an 8:30 work day into a 10-12 hour work day.

LK

A couple of years ago, I met the guys from thedailywtf.com and as the only black guy at the table, I was asked my opinion on what should be done to get more "diversity" in technology. My answer was "Nothing. The last thing we need is to have more people getting into this field if they don't have a love of it."

There are two problems, as I see it.

First, there is the racism that exists in western society.
Second, there is the anti-intellectual facet to some parts of African American culture.

Racism is complex. It takes many forms, on one hand you have the outwardly hostile racist who just plain doesn't like people of #Race and then you have what Michael Gerson dubbed "the soft bigotry of low expectations". That is manifest where many people, who think they're progressive, automatically assume that a black person is less skilled than his white or asian counterpart. I have a very Anglicized name. It's not Demetrialis or some other ridiculous nonsense like that. When people get emails from me and speak to me on the telephone, they almost never assume that I'm black.

Occasionally, when I meet someone who has only seen my resumè or spoken to me of the phone, I can see the surprise in their face when instead of a skinny white guy, they find a 6'2" 250 pound black dude.

In September, there was a teacher strike at the local district and I addressed the school board. You wouldn't believe how many left-handed compliments I received about "how well spoken" I am.

The anti-intellectualism present in African American culture is extremely destructive. I have experienced it. In large parts of the US, any black kid who is smart, who achieves academically, who has college and career aspirations is derided as acting white. I have been accused of "thinking that[I'm} white". Fortunately, I had strong parents who gave me a much different message at home and reinforced it constantly.

I traveled in different circles, I had many groups of friends, all of them distinct. Of the core group of black guys with whom I hung out when we were growing up, two of us have never been to prison; three have and one is still there. Of the white guys who were my friends, none of them have been to prison.

We all grew up in the same area. At most, five miles separated all of the various neighborhoods. There's a reason why there's such a high rate of incarceration among the black guys. There's a reason why most of the white guys went to college. We were all middle-class. None of us had particularly wealthy parents. The white guys usually heard the message that education or training was important. It was necessary to go out there and be the best person you can be. A lot of the black guys, not all and certainly not most but a lot, were primarily concerned with getting money and bitches. Fast money and lots of bitches.

These things have consequences that last far beyond childhood.

I have a M.S. degree and I work a good job in tech. I'm the only black guy in my department. I was the only black guy in my last department and the one before that(I replaced the previous only black guy when he went back to school for his Doctorate) and the one before that and the one before that. It's not the industry's fault. It's mostly not the fault of racism. It's mostly the fault of a society, subculture and families that don't impress upon young black people, the value of education.

I love tech. I love the people. I love spending my entire day surrounded by geeks.

I find far more camaraderie in that than I do among people who share none of my interests or life experiences beyond being black.

LK

You either misunderstand or are mischaracterizing the situation.

Virtually no one says that all white people are racists.

There is an element of racism in western society and in general white people benefit from it.

I'm not saying that it's an excuse for failure or that it makes certain bad decisions any less bad but let's not kid ourselves about the fact that it's reality.

LK

How do you prove standing unless you disclose the identity of the client?

I can't sue to assert your rights.

LK

Message Jon Katz,
Maybe he'll tell him how to get in touch with Junis to install linux on his old Commodore.

LK

People need to understand that when law enforcement invokes the images of drug traffickers, money launderers and international criminals to demonstrate a "need" for new powers, those people aren't really the targets.

Regular, every day, citizens are who they want to go after.

Remember how they sold the USAPATRIOT act as an anti-terrorism measure? Remember how they sold CALEA as a tool to enforce the laws?

Law enforcement powers are intended to be abused, that's why they're always so broad and with no oversight.

LK

Call the Ubuntu specific version PwnCloud...

Thank you, I'll be here all week.

LK

Most of the people out there shooting people aren't exactly what you'd call marksmen. They're still getting pretty close most of the time.

That's precisely why guns are important. A 90 pound woman is not going to be able to fight off a 250 pound man with her bare hands. She'll be able to do it with a pistol.

LK