Now that we've finally detected the first of these, we have an excellent idea that this picture is the correct one: most planets in the Universe are homeless.

Now that we've finally detected the first of these, we have an excellent idea that this picture is the correct one: it appears that some planets in the local area where we can actually take a measurement are homeless. The broader aspect of our universe's distribution of homeless planets remains completely unknown, as does the explicit state of the local area.

FTF TFS and perhaps even for TFA.

How does that differ from our present system of government?

MSNBC claims to be extreme leftists, and you lap it up. Stop believing everything the television tells you, it will help.

Their memories are simply that short. That's how they forget that none of their interests have been served by their elected politicians, and proceed to re-elect them.

Here in California, however, we re-relected Jerry Brown. That's very like re-electing Marion Berry. Heh heh heh.

this is true anyway. Citibank is pure fucking evil. Sadly, they were my only choice for a lender when I got a student loan.

so just to be clear, you are in favor of oil pipelines? which commit a valdez or a deepwater every so many days or so?

FTFY. For every Warren Buffet there's a hundred fucks who won't cough up a dime unless you punch them in the gut.

And it is no different in that income is redistributed from the middle class instead of the rich.

And they continue to work well in a long term power outage/disaster.

the 'proud' crap is just pandering to a demographic

You're entirely missing the point. There are many people who feel that gay == shameful, the direct implication being that they want gay folk to feel ashamed. Proud is an in-their-face declaration that they are not ashamed.

That's all it is.

It's the same for any aspect of life for which there are detractors; some people think geekery is a bad thing; hence "geek and proud." Some people think prostitution is a bad thing; hence "sex worker and proud", and so on for a long list of "your prejudices do not define me" issues.

It's a very natural -- and correct -- reaction to a society where people are encouraged to coerce others into specific behavioral channels without regard for the consent or interest of those others.

The electronic doodads get shipped off to be broken down. The stuff made of paper gets turned into more paper. Even some of the stupid figurines are marked for recycling.

Okay, but isn't it keeping track of which MAC the IP was given to, anyway? So ultimately, isn't there a mapping of IP to CPE?

Yeah, what could we possibly learn from the rest of the world? We know everything!

You can't possibly believe that, can you? You must be trolling. Because if not, the alternative is that you are a gigantic idiot. Wait, I've seen your posting history. You may not be trolling. But if you aren't, your use of the word germane in this context may be the funniest thing I've seen all year.

Figure out before you try to get rid of them which knickknacks and giveaways are actually special somehow. Take all the other ones, put them into bags, and take them down to the your local landfill for recycling. Now put the valuable ones on eBay, perhaps in one or more lots divided by brand. Not expecting to get any notable money, but that would be a nice side effect. It's just a nice way to handle getting paid for shipping, really.

Nobody wanted most of that shit when it was new. It has never ceased to amaze me how an industry which literally creates XL and 2XL customers will have 2000 size M tee shirts made, and 200 size XL, and 0 size 2XL. I've had to see some horrifyingly hairy midriffs in various technical departments.