It's still uncertain whether or not a virus is an organism that evolves in response to external pressure or is itself an external pressure causing organisms to evolve. Really hard to call viruses an organism in the first place.

This is literally the problem with desensitization.

Specifically a radio broadcast is one way communication, so using it to plot an insurrection would be limited and litigated as, "just an opinion," rather than incitement.

Depending on what you actually say, of course.

> I'd trade less influence for not having to carry the world.

But in doing so we lose influence in how the world carries itself. Did it ever occur to anybody that the WHO caters more to China not based on how much money China can give them and create an economic health effect but instead based on how much the Chinese population actually does affect world physiological health?

For me it wasn't about love and hate it was fear and loathing. I feared that I'd not be able to afford a cell phone, and I loathed the reason why. Cell phones are damn handy. Almost nobody sells a phone anymore, it's all about smart phones. And they're expensive when adding up the monthly charges. I want a dumb phone. I don't use all the features of a smart phone, so why pay smart phone prices? That's dumb. I had AT&T ever since I bought my RAZR outright because AT&T was the first carrier I got who gave me a phone that didn't work. I really like my RAZR, it just works. As a phone. I tried explaining this all to AT&T and they wanted nothing to do with me unless I handed over spendy ducats every month in usage fees for things I don't use. Why should they care, all other carriers charged about the same if you wanted just a phone. Except T-Mobile. I saved $20 a month by shutting off internet, texting, and even got my RAZR to work with their service after going round and round with AT&T about it being my phone bought much, much longer than 2 years ago and, no, I'm not interested in any bundle or new phone just unlock mine thank you.

If you want to talk about my love/hate with AT&T I'd have to talk about how Comcast won't do (cable upstairs wonky) for TV or internet and AT&T is charging about the same, bundled or otherwise, with Comcast but again, $20 more per month than a local DSL provider than just now is able to offer line *and* service for the same price rather than just an add-on to a required AT&T line.

To those who say less competition means better service, maybe. I doubt it, maybe in sports it's a level of performance competition, but business? I don't doubt that competition means better price competition and more choices competing for my selection, and will be hard pressed to believe otherwise.

No, the timing is not surprising. I gave up Comcast cable internet because the cable in my bedroom wasn't clear enough for TV and the second bedroom only barely so - only place I could get reliable TV and internet was in the living room and while I know I can just throw wireless onto the modem, which I already have, I don't have wireless in all my computers especially the one that has to go upstairs where TV is not and internet *might* work on a good day and I can't risk it not only for Netflix but also for VoIP. So I went with AT&T DSL for internet and satellite for TV. Way cheaper than either Comcast or AT&T bundled services, even if I threw in the phone. Now I'm not so sure. I mean, how does my Netflix compete with DSL? I can see a thin argument about UVerse, since that's the TV end of "network" function, but... really thin. At least I can look into another DSL provider and kick AT&T to the curb of just a phone line (which I had hoped to renegotiate for just DSL no phone that I don't use kinda service).

"If people regularly get free slightly older movies over the air, why bother with netflix?"

Because it's neat. I prefer movie surfing over channel surfing, anyway.

It's the Laughing Man. (again/soon/was)

Ya, I suppose Native American sounds too much like African American which, when my friend retorts when called that, "I'm not from Africa, I'm from Florida." Recently I've encountered a trend of referring to all American Indians as a single ethnic group, too (like saying Native European or something); so I'm not sure how to address the different regional aspects of the Americas. Myself I've got a varied background that includes an unspecified and undocumented tribe from colonial era America, as well as three or more groups of Europeans of which only Swedish and German ancestry is known for certain - tho I'm all Californian (if that means anything). The folk I know who are either still a member of a local tribe or have roots to one prefer to be called either Indian or by their first name.

Yup. That's what I was trying to articulate. Not all slaves were Negroes, and not all Negroes were slaves. Words used during the time the book was written and the time the book depicts are as accurate as Twain wanted them to be, which was for the effect and intent of emotional impact not historical record. The cure is worse than the disease when it comes to this type of "retroactive censoring" of words and ideas expressed in art.

From wikipedia:

Tom announces that Jim has been free for months: Miss Watson died two months earlier and freed Jim in her will, but Tom chose not to reveal Jim's freedom so he could come up with an elaborate plan to rescue Jim.

Were the characters in the book slaves, or is that just the new politically correct term for African American and Native American? How about excising the icky bits from our past by calling everywhere and everyone someplace and someone instead of Africa or America or Lawyer, Butcher, etc... That'd be oh so easy to understand what the past is, ay? Convincing ourselves that the past wasn't something that it was is called delusion, not reality or health. Words spoken in the past cannot be removed even with a time machine any more than smacking someone in the nose doesn't hurt if you say you're sorry.

Ebay? Craigslist?

The mistrial is a non-story, I agree. Highlighting the WikiLeaks as having disrupted justice is *not* a non-story, it's propaganda. IMO.

I see it as systemic of the privatization disease, since the latest leaks were more about the money men and CEOs than the politicos and soldier men. Kind of like being a union worker that learns the company has outsourced at a higher rate of pay, not lower.