I know that the parent comment seems racist, but there really is a devaluation of education in many minority communities. Bill Cosby took a lot of heat for bringing that theory up.

A lot of the problem comes down to income inequality, and fewer minority students being able to afford college outright. There are tons of scholarships available to minority students, but many qualified young men and women don't even know what opportunities are available to them because they don't know how the system works.

So there is a schism in the US about what to do about these minority populations. One side says we need to give disadvantaged people more money so that they can gain parity with wealthier people. Another side says that it's not money that's needed, but hard work and ambition. Both sides are wrong, because giving money to someone who is uneducated in how to spend it wisely will lead to those people becoming disadvantaged again; and on the other front, jobs that offer decent pay for many hours of unskilled work are simply not available.

America is in a real Catch-22, and our political leaders, instead of trying to solve the problem, spout out polarizing language that promotes division and hate. Republicans have their problems, but Democrats need to realize that they are part of the problem, too. President Obama has constantly used intense rhetoric in a bid to sway public opinion towards his side. BBC News quotes him as saying that conservatives are trying to use "coercion," "extortion," and many other high-stakes words that we associate with negativity when debating what to do about our debts.

Every time he does that, he creates more animosity between the "haves" and the "have nots." He purposely does it for political gain, because it wins him and his party votes. The Republicans need no explaining, as they aren't as difficult to figure out. All of this bickering is bad for all Americans, not just poor and middle class people---and it's not going to stop until, by some miracle, we get another person like Bill Clinton, who will reach across the aisle and not have a built-in vendetta against the other side.

People are so worried about proving the "other side" wrong that they are missing the bigger goal of fixing a nation with a lot of income disparity. Two simultaneous conditions are required to fix the income gap: more income for lower earning people, and a shift in culture among those same people towards investing in education.

Just walking around a university campus, you can tell the difference between the black guy from America and the black guy from Burkina Faso, Just the same, you can tell the difference between the latino guy from America and the latino from Columbia. The issue is economic and cultural, and both aspects need to change for there to be any progress.

Please, vote for a third party. Or write in the name of your cat on the ballot when you vote. Just do something to keep get our leaders to recognize that they are dumb-asses.

^^This.

This guy is a sociopath. Autism and sociopathy are completely different conditions. The former is a brain disorder, the latter is a personality disorder.

To use "autism" or "mentally ill" as a defense for a crime, you must be defined as mentally insane at the time of the crime. Having autism does not make you insane. Being a sociopath or a psychopath (which has absolutely has nothing to do with severe metal illnesses like schizophrenia) is not an excuse and does not meet the legal definition for insanity. Furthermore, having a low IQ or EQ (for any reason) does not absolve anyone of a crime.

This guy is a self-obsessed sociopath and he needs to be locked away.

When one party is allowed in power for too long, backstabbing will happen regardless of party affiliation. In other words, it's a human problem.

Certain personality types are attracted to power, and power corrupts people very easily. That's what the one ring in LoTR is about--the intangible allure of power seduces and corrupts people for no more than the purpose that it exists.

I'm sorry sir, I think you just condemned his behavior.

If you are in a vegetative state during high school, you can still get a diploma, you'll just be in the bottom half of your class. Hell, the pot heads on the debate team will have a higher class rank, assuming you are actually a vegetable.

Source: (Personal experience, and no, that's not just a pun on my user name)
Pedants: I know a "kiwi" is not a vegetable, but try to have some fun with language once in awhile.

The current DOJ is good at making sure that no rich people get in trouble---after all, the Feds are the ones who decide what trouble is.

That said, I think you meant to say something regarding morality and ethics---don't worry, I would have made the same mistake.

As an Electrical Engineer who designed UI elements with an industrial design department, I can confidently say that most engineers will ruin the experience. While I'm a bit of an exception creatively, most of the engineers on our team had no clue how to make a polished interface. Working with them is difficult when all you want to do is slap them and say, "Design it this way!" For whatever reason, most engineers don't get it, and they are so abrasive to the graphic designers that the designers don't want to talk to them anyway. Honestly, it's like an exercise in pulling teeth.

I know I will take a karma hit on this one, but having worked on a team that developed sophisticated UIs for Android tablets, Google's native elements feel hacked together (I'm looking at you DatePicker and TimePicker and CalendarView!). UI elements are not optimized and run slowly with complicated layouts--the types of layouts you would expect to have with an iPad. You need a ton more processor power on a Google device just to get the same look and feel as an iOS device. Elements are mostly, but not completely, implemented. For example, you can make a CalendarView that shows one week, but if you swipe up in that view your app will crash. Having two ListViews in the same fragment can also cause problems if you're adding and deleting elements from one view and tap on the other. We used Jelly Bean to make sure we had all the latest stuff, and developing with Google's components was still a nightmare.

I love Android as a concept/idea (freedom, sharing, and equal access for all), and it works well in basic cases. Google's own apps are generally pretty good since Google has the talent to develop their own custom stuff. What's left for the most programmers is not a good solution.

In the project, I ended up building my own custom components to get the look, feel, and responsiveness I needed. I've never had to make the same accommodations in an iOS app. The process was extremely time consuming, which also makes me angry at Apple because their lack of openness means we can't use their APIs instead of Google's.

YMMV.

Hey, don't knock Kim Jong-Un's gangnam style!

From "There ain't nobody here but us chickens":

"So calm yourself and stop that fuss, there ain't nobody here but us. So kindly point that gun the other way and hobble hobble hobble hobble–hit the hay! Hey boss man... what do you say, huh? It's easy pickins, there ain't nobody here but us chickens"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain't_Nobody_Here_but_Us_Chickens

The band Trapezoid made a good version (circa 1981)

Definitely a national security risk.

Kids are getting their LuLz from a very serious problem with their parents, and "OMG APPLE EVIL SAMSUNG GOOD... ARTICLE BIASED" is all you can come up with?

That's kind of the way it works in most places.

One international body overseeing the biggest markets would probably help, too.

I think regulated FRAND patents would be necessary if you had any patents on genes at all. Unfortunately, that means there will be special interest groups that will try to carve exceptions in to the regulations (and the laws supporting them). However, managed properly, FRAND could work for genes that are deemed patentable because the government can make sure the barrier to entry is low enough so that there's no Apple/Samsung/Motorola crap going on.

It's not hard to do... just target the bridge deflector shield (as seen on right of the bridge superstructure in the GP's picture) generator and fire a proton torpedo into the bridge. Like Beggar's Canyon back home...

At least OMG PONIES!!! was colorful...