Comment Re:As a voter who normally leans Democrat... (Score 1) 1128
The process can be perverted?!?
Comment Re:Obligatory (Score 1) 419
1,$ s/you/ewe/g
Comment a natural reaction (Score 1) 372
Sieg Heil!!!
Comment the cell-phone set (Score 1) 836
Most of the younger people in this landlineless subpopulation do not bother to vote. As a result, the fact that they are not counted in polls is inconsequential.
I see an awful lot of people who say "voting is of no use." The amount of it in these forums is disconcerting. It is little wonder that Obama, the president facing a nation in the worst condition on taking office of most any modern president, is about to have the rug yanked out from under him. This after two years in office trying to do battle with problems that have been created by the legislative excesses of the past decade or so.
You need to vote for candidates you believe will be responsible; failing to do this, you abet the irresponsible. Our zero-attention span attitude towards politics has brought us to the buffoonish specacle we now see of plutocrats with piles of money buying media time and space for lie-filled ads. These cynical individuals are doing this to keep their tax burden low. That means that you, Mr. and Ms. Professional Class, will be borrowing money from the Chinese to fill the gap. Meh, let your kids pay it off.
Americans don't want to be bothered educating themselves about the state of their nation. So they believe a lot of this made-up crap. Election season features enough straw men to choke the Wizard of Oz, and enough red herrings to keep Cannery Row going for millenia.
In America we all expect someone else to do the right thing (not litter, give money to worthy causes, vote responsibly, support our schools and social institutions. pay lawfully due taxes, etc) but we're all too entitled to pick up any of the burden ourselves.
As a result, Americans will get the national decline they deserve. By the way, that means your standard of living is going to fall.
Too goddamned bad.
Collision of Two Asteroids Spotted For the First Time 31
sciencehabit writes "Astronomers report that a small asteroid located in the inner asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter took a major hit early last year. Previously rendered only in artists' conceptions, the first asteroid collision known in modern times revealed itself in a tail of debris streaming from what astronomers at first assumed was a comet. Instead of a steady stream of dust, however, they found boulders near the object with dust moving away from them."
Girls Bugged Teachers' Staff Room 227
A pair of enterprising Swedish schoolgirls ended up in court after they were caught bugging their teachers break room. The duo hoped they would hear discussions about upcoming tests and school work, allowing them to get better grades. It worked until one of them decided to brag about it on Facebook, and the authorities were called in. The girls were charged with trespassing and fined 2,000 kronor ($270) each in Stockholm District Court.
Zombie Ants and Killer Fungus 125
nibbles2004 writes "An article in the Guardian newspaper shows how parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control ants they infect, ultimately leading the ant to its death. The fungus controls the ant's movements to a suitable leaf and causes the ant to grip onto the leaf's central stem, allowing the fungus to spore, which will allow more ants to become infected."
Comment sympathy for these people? (Score 1) 650
These people who have surreptitiously built pools are in the wrong on two counts. Firstly, if the pools are not properly inspected when built, a corner cutting contractor [Nah.... these don't exist... ] could omit key items that could be critical for structural or electrical safety.
Secondly, they are enjoying a valuable piece of property whilst not paying property tax on it. Since I pay property taxation on the full value of my house, I resent this sort of cheating. It forces up the millage for the rest of us.
Since the town can now find these scofflaws at minimal cost, I expect as a taxpayer that it do so.
School District Drops 'D' Grades 617
Students in one New Jersey school district will no longer be able to squeak by in class after the Morris County School Board approved dropping the D grade. Beginning in the fall students who don't get a C or higher will get an F on their report card. "I'm tired of kids coming to school and not learning and getting credit for it," said Superintendent Larrie Reynolds in a Daily Record report.
Comment Dell's Attitude (Score 5, Insightful) 473
I don't know why Dell thinks I am a second-class citizen because I use open-source programs. Boo and hiss.
ESA Releases Lutetia Flyby Images 48
The European Space Agency has released images from yesterday's close approach of asteroid 21 Lutetia by the Rosetta probe. At its closest, the probe was a mere 3,162 km from the asteroid, passing at 15 km/s and snapping photos sharp enough to make out features as small as 60 meters.
"Rosetta operated a full suite of sensors at the encounter, including remote sensing and in-situ measurements. Some of the payload of its Philae lander were also switched on. Together they looked for evidence of a highly tenuous atmosphere, magnetic effects, and studied the surface composition as well as the asteroid’s density. ... The flyby marks the attainment of one of Rosetta's main scientific objectives. The spacecraft will now continue to a 2014 rendezvous with its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will then accompany the comet for months, from near the orbit of Jupiter down to its closest approach to the Sun. In November 2014, Rosetta will release Philae to land on the comet nucleus."
There is also a replay of the media event webcast on the ESA's website.
Comment for sale, cheap (Score 1) 431
You can buy a congressman for cheap and get anything passed. Betcha you could make it illegal not to eat your own faeces in all 50 states on a daily basis for a couple of hundred thou. We have a parliament of whores for a legislature.
Comment summary judgement (Score 1) 699
'M' is for meritless.
Research Suggests Brain Has a 2-Task Limit for Multitasking 257
suraj.sun writes with a story from LiveScience about just how much attention you can devote to each of the tasks on hand that scream for it: "The brain is set up to manage two tasks, but not more, a new study suggests. That's because, when faced with two tasks, a part of the brain known as the medial prefrontal cortex (MFC) divides so that half of the region focuses on one task and the other half on the other task. This division of labor allows a person to keep track of two tasks pretty readily, but if you throw in a third, things get a bit muddled. 'What really the results show is that we can readily divide tasking. We can cook, and at the same time talk on the phone, and switch back and forth between these two activities,' said study researcher Etienne Koechlin of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. 'However, we cannot multitask with more than two tasks.'"
Comment churls beget churls (Score 1) 709
I'm sure the parents of these predators have been repeatedly informed of their kids' outrageous behavior. The likely reaction: they abetted it. Now laugh as they cut huge checks to lawyers to defend felony raps. Sometimes, the karma wagon makes a delivery at a correct address.
