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Comment Leprechauns (Score 1) 179

In other news, the UK PM Sir Mortimer Chris (played by David Cameron) said:
"It's all because of the invisible leprechauns. It's true, because I saw it in a film. We have to be much tougher on everything and everybody in order to eradicate this terrible pest. The Snooper's Charter is just the beginning; I'm now working on the draft Wear Your Underpants On The Outside For Hygiene Law (WYUOTOFH law).

Most of my cabinet ministers have agreed with me, and those who haven't (because the leprechauns subverted them) have agreed to be publicly crucified in Wembley stadium to atone for their weirdness and sins.

I have instructed our nuclear submarines to go to code Red. Death to leprechauns. God will save us!"

Comment Re:What could possibly go wrong? (Score 1) 364

You're doing it wrong.. Of course the car will only be able to drive *as long as it keeps receiving the official "you're allowed" signal*.

Reminds me of FlexLM license manager program in the '90s. Look at it wrong, and it decides you're trying to tamper with its functions, and kills all legitimate paid for use of the licensed program.

Comment Re:Hacker Extortion Target (Score 2) 364

newspaper article:

"In other news, this morning during rush hour there was a random glitch in the Car Safety System, not caused by anything like blackmail at all (how dare you suggest such a thing!) which stopped every other car on the autobahn until .. the situation was resolved. Spokespeople said the CSS is very safe, and such glitches will not happen very often again. Possibly."
Government

Edward Snowden and the Death of Nuance 388

Trailrunner7 writes "As the noise and drama surrounding the NSA surveillance leaks and its central character, Edward Snowden, have continued to grow in the last few months, many people and organizations involved in the story have taken great pains to line up on either side of the traitor/hero line regarding Snowden's actions. While the story has continued to evolve and become increasingly complex, the opinions and rhetoric on either side has only grown more strident and inflexible, leaving no room for nuanced opinions or the possibility that Snowden perhaps is neither a traitor nor a hero but something else entirely."

Comment Re: Get Ready (Score 1) 383

There was IIRC one senator or somebody who called for W. Bush to be impeached; I think his name was Kuchinich(sp?). It was on the news (in Europe).
I was a bit surprised that there didn't seem to be any actual impeachment process, almost like
"yeah, but Congress is not *really* going to impeach the president for starting a war--that was just for laughs! silly rabbit! Impeachment is only for shoving your <[censored]> in immoral places"

Comment Bucky to the rescue! O.M.f.S.E. (Score 1) 267

Earth is already a spaceship. The problem is, we have no control over where it's going.

The famous inventor and architect R. Buckminster Fuller has already written a (sufficiently loony) essay/book about this in 1968:
Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth.

It has pirates in it, too. And the original coining of the word "synergy". But it is much weirder than you may think (IMHO).

Space

The Human Body May Not Be Cut Out For Space 267

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "The human body did not evolve to live in space, and the longest any human has been off Earth is 437 days. Some problems, like the brittling of bone, may have been overcome already. Others have been identified — for example, astronauts have trouble eating and sleeping enough — and NASA is working to understand and solve them. But Kenneth Chang reports in the NY Times that there are some health problems that still elude doctors more than 50 years after the first spaceflight. The biggest hurdle remains radiation. Without the protective cocoon of Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, astronauts receive substantially higher doses of radiation, heightening the chances that they will die of cancer. Another problem identified just five years ago is that the eyeballs of at least some astronauts became somewhat squashed. 'It is now a recognized occupational hazard of spaceflight,' says Dr. Barratt. 'We uncovered something that has been right under our noses forever.' NASA officials often talk about the 'unknown unknowns,' the unforeseen problems that catch them by surprise. The eye issue caught them by surprise, and they are happy it did not happen in the middle of a mission to Mars. Another problem is the lack of gravity jumbles the body's neurovestibular system (PDF) that tells people which way is up. When returning to the pull of gravity, astronauts can become dizzy, something that Mark Kelly took note of as he piloted the space shuttle to a landing. 'If you tilt your head a little left or right, it feels like you're going end over end.' Beyond the body, there is also the mind. The first six months of Scott Kelly's one-year mission are expected to be no different from his first trip to the space station. Dr. Gary E. Beven, a NASA psychiatrist, says he is interested in whether anything changes in the next six months. 'We're going to be looking for any significant changes in mood, in sleep, in irritability, in cognition.' In a Russian experiment in 2010 and 2011, six men agreed to be sealed up in a mock spaceship simulating a 17-month Mars mission. Four of the six developed disorders, and the crew became less active as the experiment progressed. 'I think that's just an example of what could potentially happen during a Mars mission, but with much greater consequence,' says Dr. Beven. 'Those subtle changes in group cohesion could cause major problems.'"

Comment I've been thinking about it (Score 1) 383

I've been thinking about it, and I think even more punishment needs to be dealt out:
The senators or whatever on the security services oversight committee have done the American public a great disservice by increasing Clapper's budget instead of starting an impeachment against him; therefore, they're clearly not up to their task, and their seats at the oversight committee should be given to different senators (probably replace each senator by another one from the same political party is easiest).

Comment Re:Congressmen Say Clapper Lied To Congress (Score 1) 383

No.. I'm a bit unclear about American politics, but I thought that Clapper was an *appointed* official, not an *elected* official. The *elected* officials are supposed to have more power, including the power of oversight and supervision of the *appointed* officials (directors of government organs).

I could be wrong though.. maybe it's different in the USA. Please correct.

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