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Comment Re:Sort of (Score 1) 249

It's not a long list and most are pretty marginal. But performance and security are better. Task manager gives useful information. Not enough that I would bother upgrading to Win8. But Classic Shell makes it enough like Windows 7, I'm quite happy not downgrading on a new laptop that has a downgrade rights.

So if you're looking for a compelling valid list, yeah, there ain't one.

Comment Re:Yawn.... (Score 2) 143

No, they ruled the patent owner always has the burden of proof. It so happens, that's the defendant. It is the "always" that was the important part of the ruling.

Until fairly recently, if you licensed a patent, you gave up the right to contest it. That changed, but there was still some grey.

In this case, the Plaintiff had licensed for one product but wanted a judgement concerning a newer product. The Defendant asserted the burden of proof was on the Plaintiff since they had licensed it and now wanted to contest it. The Supreme Court disagreed: patent owner always has the burden of proof.

Comment Re:Stories (Score 4, Interesting) 120

I remember reading stories like that as a kid. Never thought I'd see it. Then we moved to a neighborhood where it was common. Yes, common.

When there were dry thunderstorms, ball lightening would form above a tree down the street. One or two at a time, but dozens during a storm. About 30 to 60 cm in dia, they would drift down from the tree, changing colors until they popped.

My brother and I would watch it from behind a screen door during at least 3 different storms I can think of. Wild to think it was common enough to recognize the sound and say "The ball lightning is back, let's go watch!"

The great irony was we were living in family housing at a large research university. The never knew what they had happening on their own campus. I figured they wouldn't believe some kid.

Comment Re:A question on food availability (Score 1) 1043

I was curious about that. Here's a bit of quick googling: http://www.fb.org/index.php/index.php?action=newsroom.fastfacts

For good or bad, US farmers are incredibly efficient. EU numbers show that EU farmers outnumber US farmers 6 to 1. Meanwhile, the EU is a net importer of food and the US exports a third of production.

Comment Re:A question on food availability (Score 1) 1043

Thanks for posting the link. I took a look at the table you are referring to. There isn't a simple pattern. Farmers intrinsically have better food security and few could be said to be in poverty. Economically, they are small business owners and have to be reasonably successful or they don't stay farmers for very long. But they only make up less than 2% of the US population. Even in a rural state such as Wyoming, most people are not farmers or ranchers.

Rather, compare it to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_quintiles and this: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/income-rules-income-limits

You'll see that states that have lower median income (more precisely, more people in the first quartile) have more people on SNAP. The cause for all the variation is due to a thousand different reasons.

One of the reasons so many people qualify for SNAP is that you don't have to be extremely poor to qualify. A family of 4 can earn $30,000 a year and qualify. Being poor in the US is not like being poor in 90% of the world.

I've had to make ends meet here on that kind of income, and it's not easy. My wife and kids qualified for a state food program for a while (bread, beans, milk). But even though they got the food, and it helped our budget, we would have survived without. Others might not.

Yes, we have federal, state, local, community, and even church programs that help people. These are independent of welfare benefits. Much of the fight you are seeing is due to there being so many programs. Many disagreements as to efficiency and efficacy. What is the right delivery mechanism, how much funding for each, who is in control, etc, etc.

Like many American things, it's a mess, we enjoy arguing about it, and things manage to work.

Comment Re:This is the problem with religious people. (Score 1) 903

Which may not be an argument you want to make. It's a pretty finite list of what employers cannot fire someone for. Behavior is generally not one of them. You can be legally fired for belonging to the wrong political party. Contraception might be legal grounds for termination. So can you work for someone who can fire you for buying contraception, but force them to pay for it?

Comment Re:This is the problem with religious people. (Score 1) 903

Just so we are clear, you do understand that the objection isn't to taxes that are used to pay for subsidies under ACA, right? The contributions to the Treasury aren't at issue. They don't have to make the same contribution either way. Some companies are choosing to not offer any health coverage. A tiny fraction of those that want to also have moral qualms.

Right or wrong, I'd be disappointed if they didn't stand up for what they believe. e.g. I may not agree, but will defend their right to say it.

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