I am a huge fan of Java, even with some of it's shortcomings, and after the Oracle acquisition would have dumped it right then and there if there were an alternative.
I doubt I am the only one who thinks this way, but we need a 'drop-in' alternative and if possible one that will completely detach the next-best-Java from any oracle-poisonous tentacle.

Because we gotta be honest, a LOT of Java based systems exist in the professional markets and they will not just re-programm their entire systems because of Oracles antics (though many do see the writing on the wall and are worried).

I would see Google + Gosslin (SP?) as ideal candidates to create such a new Java. Their Dalvik-VM being a prime example of a possible future replacement.

When I was in 1st grade I fell off the top of a slide and was knocked out after the less-then-soft landing.
I firmly blame myself for the accident and would never think of blaming it on the slide.
It was an accident, I fell off, got hurt, got medical attention and came out with little damage and a LOT of experience in what not to do on a slide.

Though to be honest, I am split between pro and contra.
On one side really think this nanny state crap is going to far! Living life is dangerous. Deal with it.
On the other side, I do see some constructions that are just insane and are asking for trouble.

So in summary, such constructions should be created with safety in mind, but only to a certain degree.
f.i. non-slip steps up to the slide, high side walls ...
The rest is just up to you to take chances. aka living life.

If everything is true (sorry this is the internet and ./) I would mod you up, if I could.
I also agree whole heartedly with everything you say.

Sadly, when defending from one bastard, simply because he is the enemy of your enemy, you often wind up supporting another bastard.
And yet we are surprised that the people that get caught up in the center of it do not trust us ...

I also 100% agree with the statement about the internet. Freely available information is the WORST enemy of any government.
We should not boycott countries, we should actively promote getting the tech they need.
This helped North Africa rebel (though the results might not turn out to be what we hope).

The thing with torture is, you get what you want to hear.
I guarantee you, torture anyone and you can get them to admit anything, really ANYTHING!

It is like when we were kids and some bully would twist your arm to get you to say uncle. Now only imagine it a million times worse!

And this creates a twisted sell-fulfilling prophecy scenario. You 'know' someone did/knows something and you will torture them to get that information out of them.
And the victim will give you the information you want. Hence your presumptions were correct.
Regardless if the information turns out to be total bullshit or not, torture 'works'.

But civilized people should not commit nor support nor condone torture ...

Well, considering the size of the sun (not to mention the 'comet') it is quite big.
Though I am not geek enough to know much about astrophysics, I wonder what would happen if that splash would be oriented at our little blue planet?

But I find the size of the 'comet' even more frightening. That thing must have been huge and if they are floating around in our star system, that is quite scary.

Like in Vietnam where you stayed and supported the oppressive & fake government?

You do know that after the Soviets left Afghanistan the US supported the Taliban and not the other groups? Maybe the others were to 'communist'?
Same thing when you put a Bush Oil buddy in charge, who forced the tribes to force their people to vote for him. The agreement was, I will look away on your drug sales (with the token field burning, you know, have to keep the face) and for that I can give all the oil fields to my US and British oil company sponsors.
Iraq? See above.

On the back of every Dictator there must be a label: 'Install, topple, repeat'. Yet at the same time claiming to be the fighter for freedom.

Is it still denial when you get it wrong so many times and still think you can solve the worlds problems?

To your last point: Yes, if space is sparse you could just put in a stop sign.
OR, what I have considered seen often is a 'fake' roundabout that will use the topology of the streets around an intersection to reduce the load on the one intersection.

Also, you might just redirect traffic. Far to often, it is not the people driving straight or turning right that will cause a jam, it is people turning left.
What you could do is direct left turners off to a side road that will lead to a less congested part of the road where turning left can be easier. And at the same time removing the congestion at the intersection.

Maybe it would have been better to make one large multi-laned roundabout out of the southern one.
Often some of the roundabouts will have dedicated routes (or tunnels) that will bypass them if you only want to take the next exit anyway.

Here in Germany the roundabouts have also been quickly increasing and I personally like them, as they really do reduce traffic jams and allow quicker transit times.
Most of the jams I have seen usually happen at the lights when cars flood the intersection or on single lane roads where the obligatory person wants to turn left into a busy street. Any lorry that tried to do similar, as this was a strategic intersection between, would take forever and completely block the road. Also to mention it was a 5 way intersection and also prone to accidents (I personally got rear-ended once). People would often take to driving through the 'residents only' roads just to bypass it. After it was transformed to a roundabout, jams have become a thing of the past and it is no longer an intersection one should avoid.

Also if people have problem with single lane roundabouts, my hometown had a 3-ring roundabout, with the outer lane also being a 'tangent' lane where it would be interrupted because of heavily used routes. Any driving instructor and tester enjoyed sending their students through that sucker. It was often very chaotic and confusing. And the most interesting thing was, I had NEVER seen an accident there. Maybe because people did not force their rights 'do or die'-style?

One thing that should also be mentioned next do UHC is the unemployment insurance and poverty support, as well as employee protection laws which go hand in hand with each other. F.i. maternity leave before and after giving birth, state support for children. Also a total lack of the concept of 'sick days', if you are sick, you go to the doctors and they will write you off sick. For the first n-days (dunno exact time, could be around 6 months) the employee has to pay, after that the health insurance takes over, but then you only get a reduced income. During the first days you are also protected from most kind of contract terminations (i.e. getting fired).

You might become sick, but the government won't let you hit rock bottom and will protect you.

Not to mention it is a slippery slope down to rock bottom.
You get sick, you not only have to pay for the treatment, you might even lose your job.
After you lose your job, you have less money for treatment and other necessities.
Thus you become MORE sick and less likely to get a new job.
In the end you are on the street.

Not to mention that the medication is WAY to expensive, anywhere from 50% - 200% then outside of Germany.
Thanks to the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Lobbies they basically dictate to the government what will be done.

FWIW I could do the private insurance thing but it does have major drawbacks. F.i. you have to pay for everything up front and then YOU have to get it back from your insurance. Also your family is NOT covered (it is in the public system, though let's not go into details) and (IIRC don't nail me on it) the parent with the most income MUST carry the children.

Not to mention the biggest drawback: The community paid into the public system and it covered me for most of my life, so I feel it is an obligation to do equal.
Dumb or not, that is just the way I am wired.

My body, my life, my choice!

Being a Buddhist I know what when my life is over, *I* will be forever gone. No heaven, no hell and I won't be smiling down at anyone. Sorry, no front row seats for me.
And while I do not look forward to that day, I accept it and cherish this life and hope to bring joy to others as well.
But when my time has come, they can take me apart and use every part of me as they (doctors) see fit.
I will no longer need this shell and happily donate it to (hopefully) allow others to live longer and possibly enjoy some of the highlights life can offer.

I honestly find it contradictory when those that claim to be 'pro life' only do so when it suits their needs. If you have the misfortune of being born in poverty and/or with some horrible health problems, well then that is somehow your own fault.
Guess when some God helps people, it is only for sporting events or lotteries ...

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
        George Orwell

Is the system possibly broken? We constantly hear of such actions, so It makes me wonder if this is 'unofficially supported' by the system?
If you know you can get by with stuff, you would tend to be more likely to do things, even if they were illegal.

Your chances of getting a slap on the wrist (aka 'lack of training' BS) or worse getting fired is slim because it is often the word of a cop (authority) vs that of a 'trouble maker' (public eye).

I agree. If you look at all the species you will see that if there was a creator, he either was not good or had a real bad sense of humor.
F.i. why give bats eyes, or why the fundamental flaw in the human throat where you can either breath or swallow?
There are cases like this in each and every animal out there.

Also the typical 'half an eye' example will come up, but if you look at the multitude of different types and development of eyes, it clearly shows

Now I am no biologist or anything, but I can see that there are imperfections in everything, and this leads me to believe in evolution (no one says it was perfect) rather in one superduper perfect god that seems to have gotten his 'education' the same way as George W Bush.
In fact it goes for any 'god'.

And if others will not or cannot critically evaluate everything and think on their own there is nothing you can do and trying is a waste of time.