I'm pretty sure doctors have been going to the cinema every decade from they invented movies up until they they invented pagers, how about you have time on call (where you can't get smashing drunk, go hiking in the mountains or if this is done, go to the cinema) and real time off like in a civilized work relationship. That you in a real emergency might try calling anyway is fine, but nobody should ever really be on 24x7 call, even if you're the CEO you should have some kind of second in command that could step in if you for any reason is indisposed. If things would go that wrong without you the business is a disaster waiting to happen when you really can't be reached.

I think they mostly became atheists, that the universe existed entirely without some form of divine creator was too radical for the time. But in practice it means exactly the same, if there's no god or an absent god there's no point in churches, priests or prayers, no heaven or hell, either way there's simply no point in religion. For all practical intents and purposes a deist lives life exactly like an atheist, probably even more than an agnostic who might hedge their bets and not offend god because it might be true. And really here we're heading into foggy territory anyway, Big Bang violates pretty much every law of nature as we know it. God? Nature? Big question mark? Doesn't really matter, if there's no god here and now it's just for the history books.

But also because we want more money to do more things. I've thought about the idea of asking for a 80% position - four day week - because I'd do fine on 80% of my current salary but I'd have a three day weekend every weekend. In the end I don't because it seems strange to me not to have a "full" job for no other reason that I don't feel like working that much and because there's always stuff you can spend extra money on. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just being silly and I'd be happier just cutting back and "cashing out" in time instead, but on some level I think doing productive work is healthy and 40 hours a week is hardly that much.

And also markets that aren't artificially manipulated

And there's your fundamental flaw: since property is itself an artificial creation, there can be not exchange of it, no market, that does not involve artifice.

That's odd. K12 isn't a term that's really used in either Australia or New Zealand, as far as I'm aware. (Born and grew up in NZ, have now lived in Australia for 20 years).

But then again, my involvement in the school system has only ever been as a student and a parent. Maybe it's a common term internally.

Overall, the vaccines are saver.

It depends on the vaccine, the disease and the patient.

The seasonal flu vaccine is pretty useless in healthy people, can have significant to serous side effect, and probably is not worth the risk in the general population. OTOH vaccines for polio, measles, and whooping cough are certainly safer for most folks than going unvaccinated.

I think warning systems are one of the best new technologies for dealing with earthquakes.

The technology is pretty straightforward. You network seismic sensors together and create a system that can detect oncoming (and usually unnoticed) P-waves which have a higher velocity than the destructive S-waves that follow anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds later.

The distributed nature of the system ensures that any result is the product of multiple sensors producing the same data.

30 to 90 seconds is a lot of time. You could deploy receivers set accept the existing SAME codes and automatically send building systems into "Earthquake Mode" via simple relays. Virtually everything that would need to happen is already part of the programming of each affected system. In a lot of cases, you wouldn't even need to modify them in any significant way as they already accept inputs from external relays.

Once the alert goes out:

- Emergency messages are sent to all cell phone users - This system exists and is used for other emergencies.
- Fire station doors roll-up. - Add a simple sounding device and momentary contact to the existing door-opening circuit and you're done.
- Earthquake alarms sound in homes and small businesses - Weather radios that accept SAME codes are already programmed to do this.
- Earthquake alarms sound in major buildings - Fire alarm systems with voice evac are already customized and can accept new initiating devices and announcements with a software update.
- Emergency generators and fire pumps spin-up. Smoke handling systems activate. Stairwells are pressurized. - See above.
- Elevators go into "Fire Mode". All cars go to their recall floor, hold the doors open and refuse input. - This programming exists in every elevator installed in the past few decades. Activating a building fire alarm system will trip this anyway.
- Gas main valves are closed. - This is cheap and simple tech.
- Halt surgery - Voice evac / weather radios that accept SAME codes.
- Shut down industrial processes - Some combination of the above.

Evi has been my closest contact at CU over the years. She was always a good friend and administered the scholarship I set up there. I am very sad but hoping to hear good news from my NZ friends. Evi was a very important person when it comes to Unix and Internet routing.

In the USA, driving privileges are rarely revoked permanently.

It's a consequence of our public policy about development and mass transit. It is practically impossible for most of the population to remain gainfully employed without driving "privileges". We can tighten driving laws when and only when we improve mass transit and reduce sprawl.

Oh yeah, and he didn't support gay marriage a year ago...

He still doesn't. "Leave it to the states" is as unconstitutional and as evil in same-sex marriage as it would be in interracial marriage.

Why? Shouldn't everyone be able to exercise freedom of thought and speech as long as they don't commit any actual crimes?

Making a threat is an actual crime.

In some contexts, a public statement that "I'm going to do X!" is a threat. In others, it's not. To determine that context, you have to investigate.

There is a cost of business calculation in here that makes the fines look ineffectual, along with a generally sleazy business plan that simply reboots the business in a new office under a new name within days.

What needs to happen is a RICO prosecution which would drag in all the service providers involved with this. ISPs, financial institutions, and all the other generally legitimate businesses that enable this kind of fraud.

When these guys are ALSO getting $100,000k personal fines + 20 years in jail, along with the principal perpetrators of these frauds, it'll get to be a lot harder to run these frauds.

The term "WMD" was intended to distinguish certain weapons of "mass destruction" from other conventional weapons, for instance conventional bunker-busting bombs. With respect to military weapons, a convention explosive bomb capable of leveling a three story building is not considered a WMD. WMD was meant to describe weapons such as thermonuclear bombs, mass chemical and biological agents, etc.

It appears we no longer have a useful term to refer to weapons which cause "mass destruction." Apparently, a couple of ounces of low-velocity explosive packed inside a metal container one can acquire at Walmart now meet the qualification. This is ludicrous.