> "he used to describe leaker Edward Snowden as a "defector""

He is a defector. Away from the rogue near-nation of the NSA and toward the United States' Constitution.

6 days.

On the seventh day he ate pasta, probably noodly.

> "He also said the program, far from being unnecessary, could prevent the next 9/11."

Why stop there? If you put everyone in jail you'll prevent attacks too.

And give us all tracking collars and big bonuses for yourself and your crony pals for the contracts to fulfill all the work.

As long as we don't consider unintended consequences, history, or conflicting interests like the Constitution and public opinion, expanding surveillance makes a lot of sense.

Then again, the slightest thought to any of these things makes him sound like a total idiot, if not a traitor.

I think this is a case where whoosh! applies.

Where do you keep these candidates and why not let them have some sunlight even if you don't hire them?

I read the comment not as scapegoating someone but as applying the law to everyone and attaching responsibility and accountability to decisions people make. If nothing else, Clapper lied to Congress. NSA programs have been found illegal. If behavior like that doesn't at least lead to a trial, why won't others follow suit? They certainly benefit from growing their bureaucracies so they have motivation to.

First, patents allow you to prevent other companies from doing what you patented, which lowers competition and the threat of new entrants, so just sitting on them, perhaps writing "Patented" on your product or marketing materials to alert potential competitors, can add value to a company.

Second, they can be assets, but they have costs too, which can be significant, so they can be liabilities too.

The NSA self-reporting 12 incidents is like finding 12 cockroaches in your pantry. You know there are uncountably more scurrying around.

Except for one thing. The cockroaches aren't nearly as disgusting.

The climate and terrain may have more to with it than you think. They probably both account for the greater potential for prosperity and why Europeans were able to recreate social structures successfully there. They tried elsewhere in Africa, but failed. Same with southern Australia. Nobody created the climate and terrain, they were already there.

From Wikipedia: "The extreme southwest has a climate remarkably similar to that of the Mediterranean with wet winters and hot, dry summers, hosting the famous Fynbos biome of shrubland and thicket. This area also produces much of the wine in South Africa... With more than 20,000 different plants, or about 10% of all the known species of plants on Earth, South Africa is particularly rich in plant diversity... The Fynbos biome, which makes up the majority of the area and plant life in the Cape floristic region, one of the six floral kingdoms, is located in a small region of the Western Cape and contains more than 9,000 of those species, making it among the richest regions on earth in terms of plant diversity..." ... not sure how much credit Europeans can take for that.

Supply and demand aren't exactly on their side either, as there are a lot of people making music out there.

It's tough to fight supply and demand for pricing.

On top of that, a lot of guys in bands get groupies, which probably motivates many of them. Throw in free beer and free admission to the clubs they play in and you're going to have a hard time decreasing the supply of music.

Yes, none of them is a legal person. Monsanto, however, is.

Figure that out and what it means about the values of our legal system.

Most posts so far are comparing chimpanzees to other animals, like humans and rats, ignoring that we've already given person status to entities that have no physical body, let alone a brain.

Actually, given the simultaneous problem of expensive meat and people dying, Jonathan Swift had a modest proposal almost 300 years ago that would solve both problems in a single, delicious, soylent step.

George W. Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'

From http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/07/iraq.usa:

> One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

> Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

Invading nations for religious beliefs seems serious. I don't think Bush was talking about Allah. Westboro Baptist Church isn't in his league.

"You're going to need a bigger shark."