I think this post wins the "Best Comment" award. Prior to reading this, I had no idea that Blockbuster, VOD, and Enron were intertwined like this AT ALL.

D'oh, should have put quote tags on the first paragraph in my post.

Did you notice the part where (Heinlein) states matter-of-fact that the United States was destroyed because they ended corporal punishment in schools, and that the only way to instill a moral compass in a child is to beat it into him?

The combination of mandatory attendance and no corporal punishment in public schools HAS ruined them. A child can be disruptive all day, getting sent to the principal's office and then bouncing right back into the classroom an hour or two later. That child will know that teachers' hands are tied and that he will face no real consequences for keeping everyone else from staying on task. Put just two or three of these kids in a classroom and that classroom will be in chaos damn near 100% of the time.

We need to either start beating schoolkids again OR make attendance optional. I favor the latter.

Yeah, for years now, my boyfriend has been beating me up when he comes home drunk. And it's touch-and-go for a few days after that, but then he gets back to normal for a good while.

I don't know why he can't understand that beating me up isn't acceptable to me.

So with a class size of 31, and a $30k salary bump for the teacher, that works out to spending an increased $967.74 per student per year.

That totals $11,613 over a student's 12-year public school career. Imagine if schools just gave that $11,613 to students as a graduation present: "Congratulations on graduating. Here's eleven grand and change to help you get started with your life." Any group of four graduating friends, rich or poor, would be able to pool their graduation gifts to start a business partnership with $46k in capital and no loans whatsoever .

I'm guessing most people's first reaction to that idea would be, "WHAT? JUST GIVE THE KIDS ALL THAT MONEY? They wouldn't spend it responsibly!"

Well, if the kids don't know to handle a responsibility like money by age 18, maybe there are bigger problems in the school system besides a lack if iPads.

That CBS story is infotainment. It's low on details and high on emotionality. CBS throws in a reference to the Trayvon Martin case, which kicks the emotional temperature up a notch (there are 962 comments... cha-ching!)

Here's an actual court document from the prosecution arguing that "stand your ground" didn't apply to this woman's case.

+6 Correct.

One of my aunts recently told me that Michael Bloomberg is her hero. It broke my heart.

Sweden tries rape cases in secret courts.

Thanks for playing!

OHMYGOD I hate this so much. I have noticed this for a while, and whenever I point it out to other people in my car, they say, "What are you talking about? I don't notice anything strange."

Am I especially photosensitive, or are my friends just imperceptive slobs?

From TFS: "The constant, biting wind may have stunted the growth of Lulea's tourism industry..."

If they just build the datacenter a little ways outside town, I imagine the people there wouldn't notice a significant change in temperature.

My next console will be my current one - a Wintendo.

I thought Gmail was free because Google's robots scanned the contents of your emails to determine what advertisements to display next to your inbox. If Google can't read your email, they could only show users random advertisements, or maybe ask them to complete some questionnaire to tick off their interests.

Either way, I think Google makes less money if they can't read people's Gmail messages, so I doubt we'll see it.

USian here, where graffiti is promptly removed, thankfully, because it's usually awful. But I think I know what you mean about Berlin, though I haven't been there personally. I have, however, been to Athens, Greece (around 2007). I swear, that city is just about the ideal environment for graffiti artists:

a. Nearly every building is made from concrete; my tour guide told me that there is a large concrete industry in Athens and that it is basically always the most economical building material.
b. Generally, plain concrete is irrepressibly bland, drab and awful to look at.
c. It's a "Mediterranean country", apparently; I asked a few of the locals, young and old, about the graffiti and their attitudes ranged from indifference to mild appreciation. Even the cops didn't seem to care - I asked one for directions once, and he encouraged me to check out some good graffiti a couple streets away from my destination. I was surprised at how relaxed the locals were about the whole thing.

Practically every wall of every building was screaming "I AM A BLANK CANVAS". Simple tags and anarchy signs were everywhere. Many city blocks had at least one elaborate spray-painted mural. Oddly, nobody seemed to spray-paint over one another's work; I guess there was just so much free space...

But at any rate, I took way more photos of the graffiti I encountered than of the Parthenon or any other famous landmarks. I'm glad I visited the place before all the riots started.

Chasing the upgrade dragon is a luxury, not a curse. Console games often do not render at 1080p and they often have a target framerate around 30 fps, which I find atrocious. Most PC gamers, myself included, prefer 60+ fps.

I've saved a lot of money by buying mid-range PC hardware and playing games that are one or two years old. Of course, this would not work so well with multiplayer games...

I think if you buy a mid-range PC a year or two after this next generation of consoles is released, you'll be set for a good 4-5 years at least.

Bravo, dear sir or madam. This is exactly how it should be done.