You did seem to miss the joke, but to answer your question, Sanders is an economic idiot. He really thinks that "too much" consumer choice for deodorants or sneakers causes hungry children.

If only those evil bastards hadn't forced Greece to borrow so much money!

Ah, the old "if only the government had more money, it wouldn't be bankrupt" idea. But of course it doesn't matter how high your revenue is, if you constantly spend more than that. See also: the United States.

Excellent point. Not only was Poland more devastated by WWII, they suffered from Communist rule for 44 years afterwards, and yet have recovered pretty darn well since 1989. Meanwhile, Greece has gotten themselves into this hole because they still cling to failed socialist economic thinking.

Very possible, given that Apple has already patented a flexible battery that looks like a watch strap.

She's going to faint once she sees some of the images in her art history class.

Commenters above have talked about the signal/noise problem, and they're right, but I don't think anyone has talked about why this problem exists. I have no direct evidence, but I'd bet that after 9/11, there was a high-level conversation in the administration something like this:

"There might be terror cells all over the US, and we might be hit again! Can the NSA watch the electronic communications of all Muslims in the US?"

"Sure, but we can't be sure of knowing who they all are. Besides, it would be considered discrimination to only surveil Muslims. If that ever got out, there would be charges of "racism" and it would complicate things with Saudi Arabia."

"Right, we can't admit that there's a religious war being waged against us. Better to just surveil everyone. Can you do that?"

"Um, sure, but we'll need a really big budget increase."

"Done."

"What use is a newborn baby?"

I shouldn't have to point this out to geeks, but the Apple Watch is only the start of something. It will be years before it really comes to fruition. And remember, unlike some companies (*cough* Samsung *cough*), Apple doesn't come out with a bazillion products and then sees what sticks. They tend to heavily research and internally test things beforehand. The size of the rollout tells me that they are pretty confident this is a worthwhile product (and product category) that will catch on.

About five years ago I discovered that a San Francisco hospital considers anyone who makes under $44,000/year to be a potential charity case. This is helpful when an overnight in intensive care costs $26,000.

Female authors have long used male pseudonyms. According to Wikipedia, "In 1934, she legally changed her name to Andre Alice Norton, a pen name she had adopted to increase her marketability since boys were the main audience for fantasy." Increasing one's marketability is not really evidence of "exclusionary" practices.

C.L. Moore and Leigh Brackett published science fiction and fantasy decades before Tiptree did. Did any other them get any flak for being women? Probably. But none of them were "excluded," and all were celebrated to one degree or another.

Except that science fiction and science fiction fandom has never been exclusionary of women or racial minorities or gays! That's what makes the SJW crusade in fandom so bizarre. They come up with bogus issues like "#racefail," which was the supposed scandal that most WorldCon committees consist of white people. Well, such committees are all entirely voluntary, and AFAIK there's never been a single instance of anyone ever been turned down as a volunteer because they're black or gay or whatever.

I've also read that fandom needs more minorities because some minorities feel uncomfortable at conventions because "there aren't enough people who look like them." Well, whose fault is that? Fans are there because of a love of the genre. Why make a big deal about your race? I've also read complaints about fans asking well-meaning but awkward questions about race, e.g. "What's it like to be black and into science fiction?" Stop the presses! A nerd asks a friendly but awkward question?!? That's never happened before!! And, of course, we have the contradiction that white fans are "supposed to" be more aware of race, but heaven help them if they say something in the wrong way, whatever their intentions.

That really doesn't mean anything. Science fiction has long been considered a ghetto, and so publishers avoid the label when they have a Big Name or a book they think they can sell to mainstream readers. They don't want to turn off mainstream audiences, and they figure the SF readers will find it, anyway. See also: all but the earliest Vonnegut books, The Lomokome Papers by Herman Wouk, and many others. I'd be willing to bet that the current bestseller The Martian by Andy Weir says that it's "fiction" or a "novel" and not "science fiction."