did *you* read the report? most of the subsidies specifically target oil and gas recovery and processing.

however, the POINT is that the GOP constantly whines about picking winners and losers when that has been the standard practice for decades. government gives economic benefits to favored industries who have successfully lobbied for them. this has happened since the Constitution was ratified. the government picks winners and losers all the damn time. it's an empty argument that does nothing to address the problems of pollution, climate change, job creation, and economic growth.

oh i'm aware. sometimes i forget sarcasm doesn't translate well on the interwebs :P

in my estimation, we should be pushing for research and investment in alternative fuel and energy tech. the U.S. should be at the forefront, creating new industries and manufacturing jobs in the process. of course, the current status quo and current companies have a problem with losing their "privileged" status, and their political proxies foist it off as "picking winners and losers".

"Tort Reform" is a red herring foisted by insurance companies. reducing the ability for patients to protect themselves when medical practitioners screw up does nothing to reduce costs and does everything to undercut the little guy.

healthcare costs so much in the U.S. because primary and preventative care are lacking, and the "market" has emphasized high-cost hospital care and pharmaceuticals. in short, capitalistic greed is unchecked. sad, but unsurprising, really.

government is needed to step in and counter this trend. left to their own devices, the healthcare industry and pharmaceutical companies will just continue to jack up prices, while our population does little to increase overall health.

this is not just knowledge for knowledge's sake. this is part of efforts to observe planetoids and asteroids to determine if there's risk of collision with Earth, determining feasibility of mining asteroids for resources, or even plain and simple adding to data sets observing how planetoids and asteroids interact with space

a lot of basic science isn't about finding groundbreaking stuff all the time. in fact, if you're doing research only looking for the "groundbreaking stuff", you're doing science wrong. much of science is straight observation. and it is USEFUL.

are...are you suggesting we be tolerant of a person who actively promotes intolerance?

how do you function with those mental acrobatics?

it's not about separating art from the creator, it's about not giving money or publicity to someone who still actively fights against equality. Card was on the board of the National Organization for Marriage and is still (afaik) a member.

quite bluntly, i don't want to give him any of my money, because that money is being used to deny human rights to millions of people merely because they love someone of the same gender.

Sections 23123 and 23123.5 of the California Vehicle Code prohibit use of a mobile phone while driving unless "the electronic wireless communications device is specifically designed and configured to allow voice-operated and hands-free operation" or "that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving."

According to Google Glass' product page, ALL control is done via voice command: http://www.google.com/glass/start/what-it-does/

There's a specific provision disallowing drivers under 18 years of age from using mobile devices at all, but that's not the case here.

HOWEVER, the ticket in the article says in part that the charge was under Section 27602 of the Vehicle Code, which says that "A person shall not drive a motor vehicle if a television receiver, a video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications, is operating and is located in the motor vehicle at a point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or is operating and the monitor, screen, or display is visible to the driver while driving the motor vehicle."

the main problem is that the vehicle code does not even contemplate devices that have multiple uses, like smartphones, that can act as phones, texting devices, GPS devices, AND potential video streaming devices.

i'd say the person's best legal recourse is to argue that Google Glass is a mobile phone device and should be considered under Section 23123, rather than a "television" or "video monitor" under Section 27602. and while i'm angry at the police officer for issuing such a charge, the officer also is not in the position of determining what the law is. that's going to have to be a judge.

the ticket also charges the person with generic speeding, so, really, she kinda screwed up to begin with. my guess is that a traffic judge will dismiss the 27602 charge and fine her handily for speeding.

I think Valve actually wants to approach this by introducing a number of different machines at different spec levels, but all running Steam OS. Then, like how Steam operates now, they sell licenses to a wide variety of games (and possibly applications) that have different levels of system requirements.

The end goal is to reach out into a wide audience of different levels of gamers, from the casual to the hardcore, from puzzle game fans to FPS fans, etc., and to provide different kinds of devices geared towards each audience.

There's a danger of segmentation, of course. But I think the way Valve is approaching this is quite brilliant. The PS4, XBone, and Wii platforms have the advantage of being "do-it-all" machines, but they're also prohibitively expensive (at least in the cases of the PS4 and XBone) and might not be interesting to casuals, fans of games requiring lesser resources, or even hi-end gamer enthusiasts. Valve is taking a page from Android and casting a wide net.

this is a MYTH.

this is nothing but a red herring argument foisted by fiscal conservatives to continue to destroy the public school system and to concentrate resources in elite public schools. for a nation whose economic engine relies on advanced knowledge and high literacy, we should be treasuring our teachers. teaching should be one of the highest-paid professions, and people should be beating down the doors to try to become a teacher.

instead, people have bought the line that teachers are "overpaid" and don't bother to realize that teachers earn incredibly low salaries for the education and professional level of their work. that is insane.

at the very least, please stop repeating the blatant lie that teachers are overpaid. there could be nothing farther from the truth.

i wish i had mod points right now to rate this as flamebait/troll.

alright AC, where's your proof.

"Sending yourself pilfered code through your company email account is probably not the wisest plan."

apparently sending ANYTHING through e-mail period is not the wisest plan, either.