Comment Re:What party was that again... (Score 2, Interesting) 234
Imagine how NPR would cover the ongoing (Executive branch) changes to the ACA if Bush were President.
Comment JD Salinger (Score 1) 276
Hmm, very similar to JD Salinger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger)
For all of you arguing that college requirements for non-technical courses are BS, this is a great counter-example. If you have no idea of what _Catcher in the Rye_ is, nor who Salinger is, then you are at a disadvantage vs. the Harvard (etc) graduates.
For all of you arguing that college requirements for non-technical courses are BS, this is a great counter-example. If you have no idea of what _Catcher in the Rye_ is, nor who Salinger is, then you are at a disadvantage vs. the Harvard (etc) graduates.
Comment Groupies! (Score 1) 480
Realizing most nerds are men, do you ever have she-nerds (or, why not? he-nerds) throw themselves at you? Has anybody met you after a talk and invited you up to their hotel room? Do ever get fan mail offering wild sex or proposing marriage?
Comment Re:First blacks, (Score 1) 917
Is there a connection between homosexuality and anal sex, where if you are gay you are predisposed to it? Or is it a "second best" option that allows two men to experience intimacy, and thus is welcomed?
Similarly to what rearden said, no, there is no direct connection. Some people like some things, others are disgusted by those things. It's the same as everything else; what is it about women that is attractive to a straight man? It depends on the man.
For an unrelated comparison, do you prefer Coke or Pepsi? Personally I don't drink much cola, but when I do, it's RC
Comment Have the golf courses been shut down? (Score 2) 362
I will take this seriously when they cease watering golf courses. Until then, it is just theater.
"...each course each day in Palm Springs consumes as much water as an American family of four uses in four years. "
http://www.npr.org/templates/s...
"...each course each day in Palm Springs consumes as much water as an American family of four uses in four years. "
http://www.npr.org/templates/s...
Comment Old School (Score 1) 669
I play Nethack, FreeCiv and Morrowind (and very rarely, Oblivion). I rotate them out as I get bored with each game. For the Oblivion series, the player add-ons are what kept me hooked - there are some truly awesome player expansions out there, where the player is able to make a contribution in the first place.
Oil Companies Secretly Got Paid Twice For Cleaning Up Toxic Fuel Leaks 113
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Mica Rosenberg reports at Reuters that major oil companies including Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and Sunoco were paid twice for dealing with leaks from underground fuel storage tanks — once from government funds and again, secretly, from insurance companies. Court documents show many of the cases and settlement agreements follow a similar pattern, accusing the oil companies of 'double-dipping' by collecting both special state funds and insurance money for the same tank cleanups. Some states say any insurance payouts should have gone to them since they covered the cost of the work. 'It appears this was a really common practice and it's very disconcerting,' says Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. 'Basically the companies were defrauding the state.' Approximately 40 states and the District of Columbia have special funds to cover the costs of removing and replacing the old tanks, excavating tainted dirt and pumping out dirty groundwater. Since 1988, there have been more than half a million leaky tanks reported across the country. Nearly 80,000 spills still are waiting to be cleaned up. The lawsuits against the oil companies allege fraud or other civil, not criminal, claims, which have a lower burden of proof and do not lead to jail time. Companies are largely cooperating to forge settlement deals and were interested in partnering with the states to clean up the legacy of petroleum leaks. For example Phillips 66 paid Utah $2 million to resolve allegations that the oil company defrauded a state fund to the tune of $25 million for cleanups associated with leaking underground tanks. Phillips sued myriad insurers over coverage for contamination arising from leaking tanks around the country and Phillips 66 wound up collecting $286 million from its insurers to resolve these disputes, but it never divulged any of this to Utah officials, the suit alleged. 'When I first saw these cases, I thought this is kind of incredible,' says New Mexico assistant attorney general Seth Cohen, who handled the lawsuit for the state. 'The oil companies have, in effect, profited off polluting.'"
Big Pharma Presses US To Quash Cheap Drug Production In India 255
An anonymous reader writes "Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), are leaning on the United States government to discourage India from allowing the production and sale of affordable generic drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. India is currently on the U.S. government's Priority Watch List — countries whose practices on protecting intellectual property Washington believes should be monitored closely. Last year Novartis lost a six-year legal battle after the Indian Supreme court ruled that small changes and improvements to the drug Glivec did not amount to innovation deserving of a patent. Western drugmakers Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Roche Holding, Sanofi, and others have a bigger share of the fast-growing drug market in India. But they have been frustrated by a series of decisions on patents and pricing, as part of New Delhi's push to increase access to life-saving treatments in a place where only 15 percent of 1.2 billion people are covered by health insurance. One would certainly understand and probably agree with the need for for cheaper drugs. But don't forget that big pharma, for all its problems still is the number one creator of new drugs. In 2012 alone, the U.S. government and private companies spent a combined $130 billion (PDF) on medical research."
Greenland's Fastest Glacier Sets New Speed Record 136
vinces99 writes "The latest observations of Jakobshavn Glacier show that Greenland's largest glacier is moving ice from land into the ocean at a speed that appears to be the fastest ever recorded. Researchers from the University of Washington and the German Space Agency measured the speed of the glacier in 2012 and 2013. The results were published Feb. 3 in The Cryosphere, an open access journal of the European Geosciences Union. Jakobshavn Glacier, which is widely believed to be the glacier that produced the large iceberg that sank the Titanic in 1912, drains the Greenland ice sheet into a deep-ocean fjord on the west coast of the island. This speedup of Jakobshavn means that the glacier is adding more and more ice to the ocean, contributing to sea-level rise. 'We are now seeing summer speeds more than four times what they were in the 1990s, on a glacier which at that time was believed to be one of the fastest, if not the fastest, glacier in Greenland,' said lead author Ian Joughin, a glaciologist at the UW's Polar Science Center. The new observations show that in summer of 2012 the glacier reached a record speed of more than 10 miles (17 km) per year, or more than 150 feet (46 m) per day. These appear to be the fastest flow rates recorded for any glacier or ice stream in Greenland or Antarctica, researchers said."
Comment Re:rebranded? (Score 1) 138
Comment May I be pedantic? (Score 1) 138
I browsed at 4+ comments, and didn't see any responses like this:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Seems pretty simple?
I wonder when General Alexander will be facing charges?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Seems pretty simple?
I wonder when General Alexander will be facing charges?
Comment Google has already done this (Score 4, Informative) 444
I searched on 4+ comments, and didn't see anything, so here is Google's study> (they go through a lot of drives)
Comment Contract? (Score 1) 731
From the FA: "Viewing ads is part of the deal if users want content to be free, says Freitas. The use of ad blocking software breaks that implicit contract."
I love this argument. I recall a high-profile libertarian making the same argument (after which I stopped going to his site). Contract? Tell you what - put your site behind a password-protected page and I'd agree about the contract. But if your site is publicly accessible there is no contract and you know it.
I love this argument. I recall a high-profile libertarian making the same argument (after which I stopped going to his site). Contract? Tell you what - put your site behind a password-protected page and I'd agree about the contract. But if your site is publicly accessible there is no contract and you know it.
Thousands of Gas Leaks Discovered Under Streets of Washington DC 292
First time accepted submitter gallifreyan99 writes "Researchers from Duke revealed today that they had discovered nearly 5,900 gas leaks under the streets of Washington DC, including 12 that posed a serious risk of explosion. And it's not just Washington: a gas industry whistleblower who is part of the team showed this was happening in cities all over America."
Comment Nazi war criminals were treated better (Score 4, Interesting) 127
I posted this the last time this topic arose. Whereas Warg has not yet faced trial (thus guilt in doubt), convicted war criminal Albert Speer had access to books (and was allowed to write) after being convicted. Fascinating difference in treatment.
