I have dealt with a number of DRY fanatics who seem to think perfect adherence to the acronym outweighs even having a program that does what it is supposed to do. People sometimes forget that their job is to solve problems rather than writing perfect programs.

Pork has nothing to do with it and the science isn't all that bad.
The problem is that SPOT is a diet-version of Israel's behavioral screening program, which is what makes it a waste of money.

SPOT leaves out the naked profiling that Israel uses and it also completely neglects the intrusive (and lengthy) questioning of travelers.
Basically, the two pieces that make it at all effective.

To summarize, the Israeli system could never be fully transplanted into the USA because
1. It profiles based on race, religion, and country of origin
2. It is manpower intensive
3. It puts security before anything, including your family of 5 missing their flight.

Oh come on, give The Heartland Institute some credit.
They were also big players in the "tobacco doesn't give you cancer" and "taxes will give you cancer" movements.

You may be correct. The sort answer is that it is difficult to know. I think the common perception, which may or may not jive with reality is that the rich are treated more leniently. I have a few personal anecdotes but I'm not going to introduce them; I acknowledge they may warp my own perception. It's just that many people have similar anecodes which makes them more difficult to ignore.

Is the case you described the common case, and do you think it precludes the other? There is still a perception that the rich are reasonably untouched by laws :

Look at outliers like the 'affluenza' case http://www.slate.com/blogs/the... or the case of the crook judge who owed lots of taxes and put the screws on poor people who could not pay their fines. http://crooksandliars.com/2015....

Those just cement the popular perception that justice is a luxury item.

The detail you're missing is "free"
Facebook either pays the mobile operator or creates a (advertising) revenue sharing partnership so that mobile access to Facebook is free to that telecom company's customers.

Pretty much exactly what the concept of Net Neutrality is intended to quash.

++

So true, so true. It applies to any sort of power structure organization.

I think the idea is that is supposed to be more an incentive to not get a ticket, so that the sting hurts everyone equally. It would have to be carefully implemented to not be abusive.

It is probably an emotional response to seeing some rich **** flaunt the law with zero consequence to themselves, where a ticket like that could destroy someone scraping by : see http://www.slate.com/articles/.... I have sympathy for the idea and when I was in Germany, there were similar laws.

The standard is 1064 nm infrared and 532 nm green (actually 1064nm doubled).
The IR is absorbed by water, hence the inclusion of a 532nm wavelength laser.

With a high enough pulse rate, you can penetrate multiple layers of canopy and get excellent resolution.

Fixed wing solutions are neither better nor worse than any other solution.
Planes need a plane, an airfield, a mechanic, fuel, a pilot, and an operator for the LIDAR system.

The benefit of using an octo-copter is that all you need is electricity to charge it.

I think it's important that a possible change of heart internally is seen by any of the other members. A lot of time when I read about instances where people get sucked into, say, a Nigerian money scam or worse Scientology, it often becomes a serious issues because they were first tricked into giving a little bit of money and then a little more until it's a sizable sum in total. At that point it's very hard to get out because you're mentally holding yourself prisoner there with the logic that if you quit now, you've lost that investment and you're going to look like an idiot. But, through inaction, you maintain the outward appearance of knowing what you are doing and your investment is still good -- hell, it's even growing because they need another small to medium sized payment. And down down down you go into the trap. It takes a lot to not chase your bets and to say, "I fucked up by giving them the $99 applicant fee but better quit now than waste anymore time and resources. Lesson learned."

And I think the fact that a DOCTOR (no matter what kind or what validity) says, "I paid the money, I saw they were preparing me for the biggest snuff film ever and I got out." Well, now the average person involved in this project can say, "He is right, I came to the same realization, I'm no stupider than this academic." This is why there are support groups out there for gambling problems and cults escapees. The ideafication of your exit is sometimes important than your ability to make your own decision ... because without that your decision only has one option and it's the wrong option.

I'm not talking about your humorous Sarah Silverman satire video but the actual people who misappropriate a joke for their own. I've seen it on Facebook where someone reads a joke on Reddit or XKCD or SMBC and just rehashes it as their own idea in a post knowing that no one else out there could possibly be wasting their time on something like SMBC. Do you see this as frequently as I do? In all honesty does this bother you or merely flatter you? Is it just a natural unavoidable quality of memes or do you think it's more sinister?

How do you respond to the criticism that by widely distributing your single use monocles to teenagers and adults, you'll be making highbrow socializing safer and therefore increase it to immoral levels?

Have there been any times you feared you went too far with your humor? If not, when have you received the most mail asserting that you did?

Past performance is not an indication of future returns.
China is embarrassed by the choking pollution from its coal plants and is either replacing them with cleaner energy or moving them to the middle of no where.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/05/us-china-parliament-ndrc-idUSKBN0M108V20150305
Mar 5, 2015

Which is interesting that China is still pursuing the Nicaraguan canal so it can more easily access South America's resources.
Before the canal, China was considering building a railway across Columbia as an alternative to the Panama Canal choke point.