Problem is, this could go right up next to the "common folks'" belief in "common sense over so-called science", and derision of "experts" of any sort. Degrees and certificates do not necessarily impart wisdom; many without degrees or certificates have wisdom; and neither paperwork nor wisdom are necessarily combined with an ability to instruct others, in either positive or negative correlation. OTOH, the Youtube attitude that "lots of people can make an entertaining performance video" does not mean that all of them are of good quality (either the video or the performance or both), and certainly does not mean that "anybody can make an instructional video too". Most Americans profess to speak English, but an immigrant seeking to learn English would get wildly varying results picking one at random as an instructor.

The center of the storm was off by only 35 to 50 miles. If the snow dumped on Long Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts had fallen more directly on NYC, the Jersey coast to the west, and the two northern counties up the Hudson, it would have been a much higher population density. This could easily have been a wintertime Hurricane Sandy, rather than Hurricane Irene (which also shifted to Long Island).

That's not "false flag", that's "backfired shortsighted policy".

The sweetheart deals should have been considered regulated utilities. But that would be socialism, or some other hysteria-inducing buzzword. Somehow it was obvious years ago that it would be inefficient to have multiple water companies with multiple sets of pipes, or multiple power companies with multiple sets of wires, so it became a monopoly - but regulated. By the time we got around to cable, the politics had changed - not the economic realities.

Jeremy, on Top Gear, is so fond of the "symphony of power" and comparisons to fighter planes. The idea that external sound represents wasted power is so . . . . abstract.

It is obvious that nobody would install a brand new system with such old technology. It should be equally obvious, though, that just as one expects old buildings to "just stay up" (with a little maintenance), there are plenty of old technology systems still up and running just fine for whatever they do. Lots of people in big cities have 75-year-old telephone wiring which works fine for what it always did (though it can't handle DSL), and the same thing will happen to the brandy-newest fiber optic cable when someone comes up with an LED laser frequency that needs a different glass with different chromatic aberration. There are lots of industrial and scientific devices out there that never got updated drivers past (whatever release of whatever system), and they cost a lot of money at the time, and they still work. (Though I admit that, while they may be worth maintaining, at some point one has to give up on trying to update them.)

"Round up the usual suspects!" So the school will require everyone's passwords . . . in a sealed envelope, of course, "just for emergencies". And then they'll get lost or misplaced or stolen. Or even better, some prankster will set up a fake account in someone else's name. Hey, what are people supposed to do if they don't have accounts? Of course the school won't believe that.

Doesn't have to be evil. Could be more along the lines of, "Hey, we have to treat our waste water in the US and Europe, but our competitors are cheaper partly because they don't have to spend on that treatment, and look at the mess they're making!" Not "We need subsidy and protection", more like "They're cheating!"

You may not be aware of an "Experiment in Television" by Jim Henson (of Muppet fame) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt02... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...

Why are we here?
Because we're here
Roll the bones
Why does it happen?
Because it happens
Roll the bones

I might not be. :-) Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. :-) :-)

... which I remember was a post on Slashdot when Radio Shack failed to modernize to some *previous* definition of modern.

Past behavior is not necessarily a guarantee of future behavior, but it's certainly a useful starting point . . .

Mod parent up (if only I had mod points at the moment)