Until I finally moved out on my own (a few decades ago), I hadn't realized food was supposed to have so much actual flavor

Those who routinely eat extremely spicy food also don't realize that food is supposed to have so much actual flavor.

Replying to undo a fat-fingered moderation.
A law is not a theory. A scientific law is based on observation, but it is more akin to an assumption or premise, taken as a 'given', while a theory is an attempt to give an understanding of reality that explains observations and allows predictions.

The current building code in St Louis is written with earthquakes in mind, it's ust that there are a lot of older buildings that are still vulnerable.

Didn't vote, since I don't drink lattes, you insensitive clod.

false, the Sun and insolation drives climate and climate change, greenhouse gas effects are secondary

Invalid, that does not contradict TFS or TFA. The point being made is not that solar activity is a minor influence, but that that changes in solar isolation cannot account for the patterns of climate change over the last millennium in the northern hemisphere, and that effects of volcanism and greenhouse gases fit the data better.

Except of course for the fact that the words themselves . . . actually do mean a form "raises the question".

Maybe if the phrase was something like ".. which begs to ask the question. . . ", otherwise, the "plain English" meaning of words themselves is that you are talking to a question, begging for something from it. (please, Mr. Question, may I have a dollar for a cup of coffee?)

People forget that the NSA has actually done a _lot_ over the past century that has been of extreme benefit

The NSA has only been in existence about 60 years. Yes, it had it's precursors in code-breaking military intelligence units in WW1 & WW2, but it was President Truman who secretly established the NSA (known as "No Such Agency")

Except with Obamacare, it's the law that you have to use the 1.0 buggy release.

It seems like you are conflating the website with the law. You do have to get insurance, but you do not have to use the website.

IIRC, the separate "core" CPI that leaves out food and energy is for short term comparisons since food and energy can be very volatile. Large short term swings in those commodities can mask the "real" inflation rate in monthly reports. Of course, prices of food & energy are still part of the cost of living, and are considered in the CPI.

I don't know that it is entirely clear that without clean room BIOS, IBM would have dominated.

That is not what the GP was saying. GP was making the point that in a more heterogeneous hardware environment, MS would not have been able to build a monopoly based on a single dominant operating system.

Let's avoid the battle over "originality" and "creativity" and note that the issue at hand is actually whether the code in question is expressive or functional.

You can only get a copyright on an original work

You can only get a copyright for original expression, it does not cover the functionality expressed.

"But of course nobody in the US seems to actually give a shit about this part of Jesus' teachings or else you would not have the death penalty."

Excuse me Euroweenie. The death penalty is about as direct eye for an eye and you are likely to see.

Excuse me Anonytestes, but did you read the post you responded to?

Sweden hasn't been genetically and socially homogenous in a long time. They have Sami minority in the north, Finnish, Danish and Norwegian across the country and they have been taking refugees

You may have a valid point, I don't know the demographics. I'm from Chicago, where you can (I have) eat at a Swedish restaraunt owned by a Greek, served by an African, food cooked by a Swedish chef, with your table bussed by an Hispanic. As an American of Swedish and Danish descent, I don't think Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians are really that diverse from each other.

Surely chess is a game, not a sport.

Then why did my brother need to pass a physical in order to be on his high school chess team?
(OK, the answer is stupid bureaucratic rules, but still)
More seriously (or more pedantically, really), Sports and Athletics don't mean the same thing. If you're doing it for fun, it's a sport. If it requires athletic ability, it's athletics.