Ack. "You're" not "your." I blame reading too much on the internet.

Your probably right. Between Victorian literature and biology, he probably was talking about sexual preference.

Makes me think of this: http://xkcd.com/189/

But monitored by some wearable computer(s), I don't know how good current technology would have for accurately sensing and represnting various body types (plenty of critism of BMI for example) but I could see how turning excercise into a sort of game could have a future. If they can, more power to them, obesity has sadly become a significant problem and excercise is a necessary tactic for reducing it.

Yes, I do know that. But I'm not asking that the appointment be blocked. Not only do I think that in most cases a president should have a staff of his choosing (again, excepting serious circumstances), but in this case I don't expect that anyone better or worse would be nominated in his place. Indeed, I know little about the nominee himself. What I want is for the opposition to complain loudly in front of the whole Senate, putting themselves on the record doing so. Then I should like the Democrats to save face by putting themselves on the record as ever more pro-civil rights and liberties (i.e. pro-4th amendment). I should like any chance for all these cynical opportunists to get caught in a loop, outdoing one another in their claims to be support the bill of rights, to be increased.

Above all, I want more news cycles to be consumed with the NSA, even if that requires some grandstanding and filibustering. Election cycles are far longer than new cycles, as the continual presence of the TSA demonstrates. And once people begin to forget about the Snowden revelations, they'll be no more angry at them than they were about the Patriot Act.

Yeah, I don't understand the mods sometimes. In point of fact, Democrats did not filibuster so often in the past but, then, neither did Republicans under former Democractic presidents. And, yes, Democrats will come to regret the rules change but politics is a short term game (too short, indeed, for consideration of the common good). Even so, I agree with GP's sentiments. Even if I didn't, they aren't unreasonable. The mod was unfair and should be corrected.

This suddenly makes me rather sad that the filibuster rules were changed for appointment confirmations. The Republicans had been using the filibuster against appointments far too frequently (traditionally one only goes after appointments if there is a serious problem), but this is precisely the kind of appointment where it might be useful. Even if I think most of them are cynical opportunists, I should very much like the opposition use this chance to put more pressure on the security state.

[...] louder than a Mach truck [...]

I looked at that and thought, "That's not right." It's actually "Mack Truck", but my mind first went to "Mac Truck" which left me with a horrible vision:

We'd like to show you something new today, for the first time. And we call it, the iSlab.

Let me show it to you now. This is what it looks like; I happen to have one right here. That's what it looks like. Very thin. Just give you a little overview. Very thin. The bed is a large, Retina display which you can change to personalize anyway you want. And what this device does, is extraordinary. You can drive the roads with it; it is the best driving experience you've ever had. It's phenomenal, the whole bed in front of you acts as a console that you can manipulate with your fingers. It's really great; way better than a steering wheel. Way better than a gear stick.

And you can turn iSlab anyway you want. Up, down, sideways. It has smooth edges and no unsightly cab, so it automatically adjusts anyway you want to use it. It's an incredible experience. Phenomenal for transporting cargo. I wanna fit more stuff on it, again just turn iSlab sideways, there's no cab to get in the way of what you want to do. And we've simplified iSlab beyond anything that's come before. It's a perfect rectangle with edges so rounded that you can slide it along the road without having to rely on outdated technology like wheels.

Plus, it looks great. You won't find its equal. The brushed metal exterior and aluminum frame means that it will slide away with little damage if impacted. In case of a wreck, the iSlab will do less harm to you than any other vehicle since it has no steering column, seats, or windshields to concuss the driver. It will simply slide smoothly away and you can rest easy knowing that your investment will remain safe.

At Apple, we continue to innovate, coming up with new ideas exactly as we did when the late Steve Jobs of blessed memory was alive. By removing confusing input options and ridding stagnant tools such as trucks of legacy features, we hope to show that we can continue to revolutionize whole new product categories.

[A]re you honestly not smart enough to believe [...]

Intelligence is not a function of one's beliefs. I have very different beliefs about religion, philosophy, and politics from a great many people, including people on Slashdot, but I would be rather stupid to assume that they were stupid on this account. Indeed, someone could have views diametrically opposed to my own on the all most important questions and I wouldn't think them less smart for the fact.

Now, how one arrives at beliefs, that can tell a thing or two about intelligence. But that's not what you asked about. If you'd honestly like to know my views on Russia, and aren't just making an assertion in the form of a question, then the old article I linked comes close.

But, when you run off to our biggest political rivals [...]

Mitt? Is that you?

and tell the world the details of how we spy [...]

If we're to have an open and democratic system, the American people must be told when their laws are being violated by their supposed servants. In an open system, you cannot tell the people without telling the world.

And, for what purpose did it serve? It did nothing to help the American people.

Nothing?

[...] he revealed some shady intelligence gathering programs the US was running against its own people [...]

That's not nothing.

Welcome to the internet. Just yesterday, there was an article about Kentucky and most of the initial comments were bigoted nonsense. Blame nationalism if you like, but understand that such comments come from people who are just as likely to denigrate their own countrymen. If you value your sanity, please don't take such behavior personally.

Actually we, (almost uniquely), tend to say, "you all" as often as anything else. This is especially true in Louisville. The most important thing to understand about KY is that it's an Appalachian border state. OH and IN say, "You guys" while TN and VA say, "Y'all." We try to steer between that Scylla and Charybdis. But the shine and bluegrass, yeah, some stereotypes have a basis in reality.

It's like a straw-man has just been burned at the stake. The notion of religion you're citing seems to be derived from Jack Chick tracts (and the like). Read what he has to say about evolution sometime. I can assure you that his knowledge of historical Christianity goes no deeper.

Yes. Exactly. Now, why do you suppose someone would write that while sitting on a toilet?

Yep. It read:

HIC IN PATRIA MEA NIHIL UMQUAM FACTUM EST

Incidentally, one of the most disturbing bits of bathroom graffiti I've ever read was at a classics library. I was in the stall and looked up to see, scribbled on the tiles, the following:

Peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere.
Spiritus promptus est, caro autem infirma.

I really and truly didn't want to know what had been done on that toilet before I'd arrived.

\dot? Isn't that the pro-Windows/DOS site where everyone complains endlessly about Linu$ the Locutus, they all say that Gnome shell and Ubuntu Unity are improvements because they comes closer to Windows 8's superior interface, they complain that piracy is undermining creativity, they say that DRM's are the way of the future, and everyone wears a goatee.