You pretty much have to use the middle button, because they've made the scrollbars so small they're difficult to hit.

We passed Idiocracy some time back. We're now in a region where satirists and humourists are simply no longer able to function without sounding saner.

True, but to be fair, the scientists, engineers, and scholars are largely fleeing the country, the tech industry is in a massive slump (agriculture is the only sector growing jobs according to the last reliable official figures), and there's a political need to create the impression that the country isn't in a bad way.

No, I'm not. I'm actually (slightly) strengthening the claim.
Originally I considered that he was the (nominal) head of state was significant. I removed that requirement, which makes the claim stronger. I will say that removing the head of state, whether or not valid, is a more extreme action, but even removing a resident by force is not legally justifiable.

This is the most hilarious comment made yet. The U.N. sucks on the U.S. governmentâ(TM)s teats more than any other entity.

Of course Russia and China are going to disapprove because they have lost a customer of their hand-me-down weapon systems.

But that's totally irrelevant. That he was a resident of Venezuela is sufficient to say that foreign governments have no right to arrest hime for acts committed within Venezuela. That he's the (perhaps) nominal head of state is just a cherry on top of the illegality.

There is no accepted legal principle that would allow the US to prosecute the head of a foreign country for acts in that country. That Venezuela might have grounds for the prosecution is irrelevant.

What is is, is a claim that "might makes right". It has no other real basis.

You give Trump too much credit. He is for sale to anyone with money. That a company isn't a US company would mean nothing to him, except as a talking point.

Calculation are done with a different system, a slower system, than is normal time recognition on an analog clock.

FWIW, I have no trouble reading an analog clock, but I strongly dislike using polar coordinates, even while I recognize that in some situations they are valuable. They aren't the same skill.

Even if it's explicitly taught, if it isn't used it will be forgotten...unless the teaching is continued for a long time.

E,g,, at one point I could read German with fair fluency. (Not good, but fair. It never became enjoyable.) These days, I could barely say "That is the oldest car around here.". And I couldn't spell it.

I had sort of felt that way, but if Microsoft is pushing that line it must be wrong. They've got a history.

He's only a small part of the problem. A very small part.

Yes, he benefits from the problem, but he didn't create it. It's been increasingly obvious and significant year by year for decades. The only solutions I've seen are "chain of provenance" solutions, and those are only practical for extremely limited uses. Remember the movies about things like giant squids tearing down the Golden Gate bridge, or giant tarantulas roaming around the country? Those are parts of the problem. And unless you want to get rid of "special effects" and even cosmetics, the problem still exists. And cosmetics goes back to before Babylon.

So the real question is "How should this be dealt with?". The obvious claim is "teach critical thinking", and that would help a lot, but it's both not practical and not going to be seriously attempted. (And it probably wouldn't work anyway.)

The one's I've heard being pushed are things like "watermarks", which don't do the casual observer any good.

This is horrifying, terrifying, and sadly well-known even to those who superficially monitor such things.

Popular media: More than one US film/tv studio has "lost" or "suffered a mysterious fire" in un-digitised archives, destroying the lot, during battles to preserve. The BBC sued Bob Monkhhouse for preserving material it destroyed. In Britain, it has been no better. Fans of the British TV series "The Avengers" can only see old episodes because armies of previous fans descended on rubbish tips and, at great risk to themselves, collected as much film as possible.

General history: Places like the John Ryland's Library and the British Library have suffered with rescuing archives at risk of becoming submerged or destroyed by mould. The Archimedes Palimpsest was partially destroyed by one collector filling in the pictures with coloured pens and by another collector allowing the book to be severely damaged by mould.

The National Archives have mysteriously "lost" a great many files over the years and are only digitising those they've retained at an incredibly slow rate. I know because I've personally forked out several hundred to get just two scanned, all because politicians far prefer frippery to archiving. We've absolutely no idea how many of the manuscripts held in other archives are still in usable condition because nobody bothers to check.

It's not just limited to archives, of course. The US has, over the last couple of decades, demolished numerous buildings within the US that are over 300 years old because malls produce profit and ancient structures don't. (They also then complain they have no history...) The Space Shuttle is to be taken to Texas for a PR stunt, which will require it being dismantled and those things aren't designed for that. There is no guarantee any of it will survive the journey. All because PR matters and preservation does not. Other countries? The Louvre... well... probably best not to talk about that utter disgrace. In Egypt, 3000 year old gold artefacts are routinely melted down so the conservators can pocket some extra cash.

It's at times like this that Kenny Everett's general comes to mind.

Yeah, but those are problems that could actually be solved. Difficult, but possible. I'd question the benefit, and see it as only reasonable as a research project. And I think the farside radio telescope more worthwhile. (Also easier.)