I would think that a forum still full of people pissed at monopolistic abuse in the computer industry would not be a place to get away with a more basically evil abuse of the biosphere and its food supply.

First, while genetically modifying things isn't inherently evil, it's tremendously risky to cross genes between kingdoms and phylums for the purpose of corporate profit.

Second, they're using a tactic we should recognize: "How is Europe going to be *competitive*?! How are you going to feed 7 billion people?" A good answer to those questions doesn't involve Monsanto's profit margins. There are plenty of good answers, and those who know the actual options can easily spot this sham for what it is.

Here's a good answer: for a ton of food production even in urban settings, there's aquaponics, something that gardeners and gadget geeks can both love. Come on, do you want to grow an adult human's entire vegetable produce requirement in 25 square feet? It's possible.

http://www.growingpower.org/aquaponics.htm

Having these close to the kitchen not only systemically eliminates the pesticides (the fish aren't down for that) and slashes overall water consumption, it also kills the built-in transportation costs. Also, if it's fresh and right there, you just pick it. No refrigeration necessary. You can do it for yourself in an apartment or on a large scale for the town.

Monsanto's GMOs are a stupid, wrong answer for everyone except Monsanto itself.

I feel that the elementaryos.org project is actually crafting the kind of experience I have wanted. I went Mac because I got tired of trying to make laptops sleep consistently, device drivers work just so - but with carefully chosen hardware and Ubuntu customized with the elementary UI on top, I think the lean, carefully crafted interface has finally arrived.

Even if they change elementary to resemble OSX less, and I think they should consider that, the framework has been extremely well thought out. They're using Vala instead of anything virtual machine-based for standard apps. Things feel light and fast. I approve.

My desktops have been Linux-only for years. I can run any games I care about in Wine, easily, and unlike a Windows system, I can transplant my hard drives into any x86 box Linux supports and it will just work.

I don't think you apprehend the scale of the problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

What about moons orbiting gas giants in the habitable zone of red dwarves - any reason to pass that up?

Because you pay for the cost of keeping oil supply under control not at the gas pump, but through taxes, yet you pay for it all the same, because other energy supplies would not oblige the military to defend the interests of oil companies.

You don't need a geothermal vent. A large number of mirrors and a receiver filled with molten salts is itself already a proven technology. Concentrated solar thermal chimneys are actually part of the basis of this design, and they've been generating megawatts for decades in sunnier parts of the world.

We should have been using this technology already, but skewed money comparisons that ignore pollution and military expenditures make oil *seem* cheaper than these, which it really isn't overall.

http://www.csp-world.com/tags/khi-solar-one

Three cents for a kilowatt hour, and that's *without* externalized costs like oil spills, oil wars, blown up mountains, and polluted air and water. You could even use concentrated solar thermal heat to drive this thing.

Anyone who says renewables aren't ready isn't paying attention.

There is no higher order brain function in the embryo until the fifth to sixth month, long after a freely choosing woman would have had an abortion.

What does that matter? Well, what do you suppose is our way of judging the end of life? If brain-death is the end, it follows that getting higher level brain waves would be the beginning of personhood. It doesn't make sense to me to push for it sooner.

We're talking about rape in a country which legally defines failure to use a condom as requested as rape, and the accounts indicate failure to keep a condom on during *consensual* sex, something that would be a problem but not what we think of when we think of rape. The women involved are actively refusing to cooperate with the prosecution by now.

So, how much do you want to bet that this isn't a smear tactic and a hook to round up a political dissident?

Just when I'm really, really tired of the acronyms, there's SCSI over USB. What's next, orange juice out of apples? Kia to Tesla conversion kits? Vegan outback steakhouses? Elegant Perl code?!

Not to worry. They typically outgrow these flamewars about ten to fifeen years after they're done with "My dad can beat up your dad."

Do a little checking into Dow before you deem this the pinnacle of evil.

Slashdot: where messing with Playstations and mp3 stashes is the worse possible crime. ;)

Sounds to me like a small stirling engine would do ya right.

That's why greywater recycling systems *don't* spray greywater. You pipe it at least twenty-two inches underground and distribute it to deeper root systems. An orchard is the typical endpoint for a three-way valve system diverting water from a laundry machine to the outdoors - and it works very well. The extra contents, provided you don't use salt-producing washing compounds, are actually very good for plants.

This green stuff that works isn't your typical suburban stuff with a few tweaks, it's a deep re-design. Question your assumptions.

I hate to break this to you: Every drop of water you've ever drank or bathed in has at one point been dinosaur piss. It's true. And all that great soil? Microbe or worm offal. And you can't live without it!