An American judge order the splitting of the HONG KONG SHANGHAI BANK OF CHINA? Yes, that's what HSBC means.

So if I say "everyone is going to die anyway" I can just start killing people? Great to know!

Medical waste is not nearly as hazardous as people think it is, for a start.

(Environmental) Fanatics saying anything to get people's attention and dollars? Who would have thought.

I can think of a few reasons. A device whose sole purpose is to bombard you with ads, which can be used to track you, which destroys the privacy of anyone around you, and that costs well over $1000 and that Google thinks it still retains the ownership of it? No thanks.

Not entirely true. They are still making money. Rather, they blame any dent in their optimistically inflated projections of future earnings on piracy.

You misunderstand me. It's not about being "snooty", it's about professionalism. And I only speak for myself. Whether I am biased or not stays outside the exam room but first I have to realize that such bias is possible. If I was "snooty" and "special" then I could do no wrong in my own eyes anyway. That's not true. I know I am very human, so I make a special effort NOT to be biased in any way. All patients deserve the best medical care no matter what shape or size. I fail to see what is "snooty" about that attitude.

Compassion is supposed to be a hallmark trait of the medical profession. Any doctor who lets his personal beliefs get in the way of his practicing medicine in the best possible way to ANY patient - be s/he fat, thin, muslim, atheist, black, green, prisoner, retarded, or just an average joe - is a bad doctor. If a patient is obese then yes, it poses a serious health risk and a problem. My job as a doctor is not to lecture that patient or make fun of them, but to try to help them as much as I can with the tools I have at my disposal. The same for alcoholics, drug addicts, and anyone else. Because at the end of the day said behavior is usually just a symptom of a different, underlying problem.

Only because government ignored actual laws designed for those situations and decided to make it up as they went along. I have no idea why people let them get away with it.

Or put caterpillar treads on it and have the world's first underwater tank!

It's "only" 5% of the total weight.... /sarcasm

When private enterprise screws up it doesn't come out of your pocket. Unless of course you're a shareholder - but then again, you knew there was risk involved in buying shares. When government screws up it comes out of your pocket whether you agree or not. And government screws up a lot more, and a lot bigger, than private companies - they can afford to! There are no consequences.

You joke but just the other day on TVE (spanish tv) the news anchor mentioned that Spain was the country with the greatest "sunken patrimony" in the world. She seemed rather proud of that fact...

I think this is a great example of government "efficiency", underlining the fact for all those people who love to carry on about how vital "government spending" is. I simply can't believe that contracts are awarded without any sort of penalty clause that covers errors like this, delays in completion dates, etc. Years ago this would be considered high treason and someone would swing. Now, thanks to corrupt and decadent government, nothing will happen. In fact, the contractor will probably get more contracts.

Want to bet? I'm sure Microsoft firmly believes that they are licensing the console to you.