That's easy, we just ban well shielded dirty bombs. *rimshot*

Exactly. The point was, even if we didn't know all that, altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere is a mindbogglingly stupid thing to do.

It does feel good to have it stated though... a nice warm fuzzy feeling...

I wish this was more obvious to more people.

If there is no relationship between atmospheric CO2 levels and global temperatures then that means we have absolutely no idea how planetary ecosystems work at all.

If we don't understand our atmosphere does it make any sense to be modifying as a side effect of industrialization?

My only hope is we actually figure out how all this works and become environmentally neutral before it's too late.

There you go again, bringing logic and reason to an emotional argument. Won't somebody think of the delusional paranoids!

I disagree.

I think we have proven that there is a point at which all people are "too drunk to drive", the only question is what is that limit.

I think that's it's high time we considers zero tolerance.

I realize that my own physical alcohol tolerance is quite low, and that one person does not constitute evidence, but that said:

If I consume any normal serving of alcohol, a pint of beer, a glass of wine, a shot of something stronger, I am probably not fit to drive immediately. I must consume food and plan any driving carefully. Can I have a beer at lunch with the guys? Yes, ONE... if it's more than one drink it's going to be a long "lunch".

Everyone is different, however the standard being bandied about is four drinks in an hour, even with food that leaves me incapable of driving safely. I have observed myself and others in these scenarios and as a result I do not believe (and again this is about belief and personal experience) that driving with 0.08 levels is safe, consequently I would be strongly in favor of reducing the legal limits.

For me the calculus is very simple, either restrict consumption to a bare minimum or just don't drive.

(Now this may make me sound boring, but when I don't have to go anywhere, say a nice cottage party where the stagger home is 200 feet, I do drink enough to make the most alcohol resistant at least tipsy... )

The upside of low alcohol tolerance? Drinking all evening is very cheap if you're only downing a drink or two per hour.

Ah well... like dey sey, de nile is not a river in Africa...

If I wanted something as reliable as Bitcoin I'd do all my investing in Las Vegas.

I may be overly cynical today, but my guess is that the Bitcoin crowd are so clued out that the tulip reference goes right over their heads.

Let's not forget about operation Poutine.

They did it yet again before? They're on at least 5 times, so.

I'm systems librarian at an academic library, and at most places you can get full access if you can use a computer on the university campus. The publishers grant access based on IP ranges, and it only make sense to give them the whole campus range so that faculty can use the databases from their offices. So if you can use a campus computer, you can get the library's digital holdings.

At my own library, we have a policy of allowing unlimited guest access for library research. If you walk up to the reference desk and say "I'm conducting research on Topic X and I need to use Database Y," we'll happily issue you a guest account for the campus network. The guest account lasts a week, but we'll renew it as long as you're still doing research.

The harder part is off-campus access. Our guest accounts won't work for logging in from off campus, due to ITS policy. Also, our contracts with the publisher place pretty severe restrictions on who is allowed off-campus access. We can't even give it to our alumni. Not even if they offer to pay a fee. It annoys the heck out of me.

The whole current academic publishing model is lousy for everyone but the publishers. Access is limited, the licensing is expensive and prices go up every freaking year. Meanwhile library budgets aren't even close to keeping pace. It's pretty common to have to cut something in order to retain access to something else. Makes me long for the days when we just bought physical books and journals -- you pay for them once, and then you have them. This paying year-after-year-after-year thing is for the birds.

I may be a cynic, but I expect Bitcoin to have spiraled into the sun long before more than 1% gives a flying anything about virtual currency.

You're my hero today. Perhaps my growing supply of nieces and nephews can get me in early on this game.

(I wonder if we could get seashells back on the international currency exchanges.)

Well played sir, well played indeed.