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Comment Re:Democracy needs smart people (Score -1, Troll) 1138

Let me guess, you went to a liberal arts school? Or all your teachers were Marxists?? And you now believe nonsense such as man-made global warming, unions are responsible for the increased standards of living in this country, redistribution of wealth will make us all better off, diversity is strength, the economic problems in the US and Europe are due to capitalism and not the welfare/cradle-to-grave socialist states. Good for you, from one wonderland to another.

Comment Re:Can someone explain to me .. (Score 5, Insightful) 473

I guess it's much better to outlaw it and make these compulsive gamblers go underground, likley run by organized crime. And prohibition has worked out fantastically well every time it's been tried in the US. Look at how much safer we are thanks to the war on drugs, compared to say Holland or Canada.

Comment Can someone explain to me .. (Score 5, Interesting) 473

why "Republicans" are against this?? Aren't they supposed to be in favor of small goverment and fewer regulations? This is exactly why the tea parties are becoming so big, we should be able to do what we want with our own money in a free society, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson Who cares? "It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

Comment Of course (Score 2) 303

This will not likely reduce carbon, what will likely happen is coal plants in other states to will increase capacity while the ones in Minnesota will likely shut down. This is the same thing that is happening with the US and China. Companies in the US can't afford to meet all the environmental regulations, so they move to China, and continue to pollute. The end result is the same amount of pollution, and increased unemployment in the state/city/country with the strict regulations.

Comment Progressivism (Score -1, Offtopic) 408

Big Brother is slowly limiting the activities they allow you to do. We already have a decent legal system, there is no need for more laws, if someone is found to be doing something dangerous, then let the legal system work. It starts with something simple like talking on the phone, or seat-belts, but it won't end until the gov't dictates everything you do!

Comment Very Easily (Score 1) 899

Americans will become interested in Science again if they know they or their children can have a future perusing it.
That will only happen if America stops outsourcing its R&D and limits the number of scientists it imports.

Dropping no child left behind, and actually promoting achievements instead of preventing failures wouldn't hurt either.

Comment Except (Score 1) 834

The number of swedish women hasn't really increased much, but the number of women from the rest of the world has increased substantially, so the ratio of beautiful women to average is much much much lower than 20 years ago
Politics

How Can Nerds Make a Difference In November? 950

Scott Aaronson offers an intriguing call for ideas on how nerds can supercharge the political process this year. He's clearly an Obama admirer and phrases his challenge this way: "What non-obvious things can nerds who are so inclined do to help the Democrats win in November?" But the question itself is not inherently partisan. The analogy Aaronson gives is to the Nadertrading idea in 2000 (which we discussed at the time). What's the Nadertrading for 2008? "The sorts of ideas I'm looking for are ones that (1) exploit nerds' nerdiness, (2) go outside the normal channels of influence, (3) increase nerds' effective voting power by several orders of magnitude, (4) are legal, (5) target critical swing states, and (6) can be done as a hobby."
Privacy

As of October, FBI To Allow Warrantless Investigations 574

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Attorney General Michael Mukasey has agreed to allow Congressional hearings, but not to delay, the implementation of new FBI regulations that would allow them to spy on American citizens who are not suspected of any crime. As an editorial in the New York Times points out, this is a power that has a history of abuse. In times past, it was used to wiretap Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to spy on other civil rights and anti-war protesters." As Dekortage points out, "Several senators have formally complained that citizens could be investigated 'without any basis for suspicion,' which the Justice Department denies."
The Almighty Buck

Measuring the "Colbert Bump" 674

An anonymous reader writes "Democratic politicians receive a 40% increase in contributions in the 30 days after appearing on the comedy cable show The Colbert Report. In contrast, their Republican counterparts essentially gain nothing. Moreover, even a cursory analysis demonstrates that despite being a comedy program The Colbert Report appears to exercise 'disproportionate real world influence' — likely due to the 'elite demographic' of its audience." In my home we refer to Stephen as "Loud Daddy" because my child would scream bloody murder when we paused him (and only him) on screen. Even at 8 months old the kid has strange taste.
Games

African Americans and the Video Game Industry 646

An anonymous reader writes "African Americans spend more money and time playing video games than whites, yet only 2% of game developers are black. This past week, MTV's Multiplayer blog interviewed five black game industry professionals for their perspective on race in the industry. Intelligent Gamer summarizes and highlights portions of this lengthy series of interviews."

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