So they could could engage in private conversations, and feel free to express their true opinions. Eliminating all privacy for public employees might seem like a great idea at first, but it is likely to engender a culture where people toe the official line, and are afraid to report problems or concerns because their comments might later be misconstrued by a journalist or lawyer that is either ignorant or unconcerned about the context.

Why should a "news organization" be treated any differently than anyone else? Last time I read the Constitution, it appeared to apply to everyone equally, not just a select list of government approved organizations.

This was a small, 88lb (40kg) drone, not a Global Hawk. $2000 would be a significant chunk of its cost.

I would be willing to give them accurate information from free. That would be better than the inaccurate data they have now. Then they could compete to give me what I want, instead of what they think I want. A few months ago, I shopped online for a minivan. The marketers recognized this almost immediately, and I started getting web ads and even paper mail ads. But most of them were very poorly targeted. They tried to sell me SUVs, which I had no interest in, or vans with insufficient seats (I drive a car pool thrice a week for 7 people). Then a week later, I bought the van. Now, months later, I am still getting the ads for vans. I would be really slick if I could tell them the exact criteria I wanted, the best offer I had received so far, and when is my cut off for a final decision. Then they could tailor their offers to me. They would save marketing dollars, and I would save time and get a better deal.

NO! STOP!! WAIT!!! Lego is coming out with a major upgrade to Mindstorms. It is called EV3.I had a chance to play with it at a recent Maker Faire and it was really slick. It is definitely worth waiting a few months.

Also, if you are a "software guy" you will quickly outgrow the built in GUI programming environment. I used brixcc to help my son build a solar robot for his science fair project. Brixcc allows you to develop on Linux or Mac, and write code with any editor, and also gives you access to stuff like homebrew voltage sensors that the GUI can't handle (we needed this to keep the panels pointing at the sun). There are also APIs for java, python, etc.

That is NOT what happens with fingerprints. They are kept as permanent records. In some states, you may petition the court to have them expunged after an acquittal, but very few people do that, and it certainly isn't the default.

Nope. Any country without a monarch is a republic.

It is the same in America. Votes are cast in schools, fire stations, libraries, or other public locations. I have never heard of any polling place being rented. I have worked as a polling place volunteer, and I was not paid.

That is NOT what "democratic" means. Democratic just means elected by majority rule. It does not mean "fair trial" or anything else. So if someone is elected by a majority that wants the minority tortured and exterminated, that is the democratic outcome, and he is NOT a dictator, at least by the definition that you cite.

Incompetent != unethical

Get a grip. Back in those days politicians got away with far more than they do today. In fact, it was Watergate that caused a major shift in journalism. It was no longer acceptable to "look the other way" when people like Richard Daley stole elections or had the cops beat up their opponents. Many journalists knew about JFK's affairs, and there was little coverage of LBJ's wholesale cheating in the 1960 election, as well as his earlier campaigns for the senate. The current IRS flap is a joke compared to the way the IRS (and the FBI) were used politically prior to Watergate. There was never a "golden age" of ethical politicians.

A better solution might be to schedule minor, non-life-threatening surgeries on Friday. So the heart transplants would be done on Tuesdays, and Friday left open for the nose jobs.

Like most slashdotters, I am no expert in female anatomy, but I suspect that women would have even less need to look down. They don't even have to aim.

What would suggest they do instead? Go bankrupt? Fire the reporters and have the photographers write the stories? Most subscribers left before they made this change, so going back isn't going to reverse the readership decline. Sometime I take photos with my phone, other times I use a real camera. Is the difference noticeable? Sure. But not different enough to matter in a news story, and certainly not enough to make me buy a subscription. If sending only a reporter rather than reporter+photographer allows them to cut their costs in half, then they can cover more stories, which more likely to attract readers.

When you remove subscription paying readers from the equation, you get less money to pay professional photographers.