Recent Posts
I gather that all US presidents are/were "Commander in Chief", but I'm not sure if that necessarily means they have/had a uniform.-IainB (May 27, 2013, 12:22 PM)
Yes, we are the idiots.
On the subject of insect control and DDT:
If fly spray has chemicals in it that are apparently fatally toxic to insects and potentially toxic to humans to some degree, and if the same is true of DDT, then I would not want either substance in my environment. They are potentially hazardous. For this reason I would NOT recommend spraying fly spray or DDT around the home and I would avoid exposing my family to either of these toxins/poisons.-IainB (May 26, 2013, 09:23 PM)
^ Hahaha. Thanks. Well spotted. I hadn't realised I had repeated that. Always difficult to spot your own mistakes. Corrected now.
Is there a word in English that describes that as a figure of speech - I mean, describes a description of an error which itself contains an example of the selfsame error?
It has often puzzled me - what is that sentence exactly? Is it a figure of speech?
Yes, I know it might be a reflective joke on oneself, but is it something else besides?
Is there a word in English that describes it, for example, like "oxymoron", which is "...a figure of speech or expressed idea in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction"?-IainB (May 26, 2013, 08:14 PM)
Well, I guess it's the money. $200 is a lot more than $60. But then if it's the CPU, that CPU is running $70 when I can even find it... bringing the cost up to $130 for two year old tech. And the fact that the CPU isn't available anywhere for rush shipping at a reasonable price.-wraith808 (May 26, 2013, 12:57 PM)
The original first sentence is very awkward and contains contains several redundant words.-IainB (May 26, 2013, 01:02 AM)
Funny, most of mine are ambisextrous ... they'll screw up (non-directional) regardless which hand I use.-barney (May 26, 2013, 01:06 AM)
Sounds confusing, how can you tell if you're coming or going?-pilgrim (May 26, 2013, 05:09 AM)
A MINORITY VIEW
BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS
RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2013
We Are the Idiots
Dr. Henry Miller, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Gregory Conko, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, in their Forbes article “Rachel Carson’s Deadly Fantasies” (9/5/2012), wrote that her 1962 book, "Silent Spring,” led to a world ban on DDT use. The DDT ban was responsible for the loss of “tens of millions of human lives -- mostly children in poor, tropical countries -- have been traded for the possibility of slightly improved fertility in raptors (birds). This remains one of the monumental human tragedies of the last century.” DDT presents no harm to humans and, when used properly, poses no environmental threat. In 1970, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences wrote: "To only a few chemicals does man owe as great a debt as to DDT. ... In a little more than two decades, DDT has prevented 500 million human deaths, due to malaria, that otherwise would have been inevitable." Prior to the DDT ban, malaria was on the verge of extinction in some countries.
The World Health Organization estimates that malaria infects at least 200 million people, of which more than a half-million die, each year. Most malaria victims are African children. People who support the DDT ban are complicit in the deaths of tens of millions of Africans and Southeast Asians. Philanthropist Bill Gates is raising money for millions of mosquito nets, but to keep his environmentalist credentials, the last thing that he’d advocate is DDT use. Remarkably, black congressmen share his vision.
Wackoism didn’t end with Carson’s death. Dr. Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist, in his 1968 best-selling book, "The Population Bomb," predicted major food shortages in the United States and that “in the 1970s ... hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death.” Ehrlich saw England in more desperate straits, saying, “If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000.” On the first Earth Day, in 1970, Ehrlich warned: “In ten years all important animal life in the sea will be extinct. Large areas of coastline will have to be evacuated because of the stench of dead fish.” Ehrlich continues to be a media and academic favorite.
Then there are governmental wacko teachings. In 1914, the U.S. Bureau of Mines predicted our oil reserves would last 10 years. In 1939, the U.S. Department of the Interior revised the estimate, saying that American oil would last 13 years. In 1972, the Club of Rome's report "Limits to Growth" said total world oil reserves totaled 550 billion barrels. With that report in hand, then-President Jimmy Carter said, "We could use up all proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade." He added, “The oil and natural gas we rely on for 75 percent of our energy are running out.” As for Carter’s running-out-of-oil prediction, a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office and private industry experts estimate that if even half of the oil bound up in the Green River formation in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado is recovered, it would be "equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves." That’s an estimated 3 trillion barrels, more than what OPEC has in reserve. Fret not. Carter, like Ehrlich, is still brought before the media for his opinion.
Our continued acceptance of environmentalist manipulation, lies and fear-mongering has led Congress to establish deadly public policies in the name of saving energy -- such as Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which downsize autos and cause unnecessary highway fatalities. That’s on top of the stupid 1970s 55 mph laws. The next time an environmentalist warns us of a pending disaster or that we are running out of something, we ought to ask: When was the last time a prediction of yours was right? Some people are inclined to call these people idiots. That’s wrong. They have been successful in their agenda. It’s we who are the idiots for listening to them and allowing Congress to let them have their way.
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
Can you people resize your images to sane resolutions? IMO these images don't need to be larger than, say, 800x600 or so. The thumbnails are a bit too small, but the fullsize are just way too huge.
(Didn't notice there was a new page where Stephen actually posted sanely sized images until after I submitted this)-Deozaan (April 26, 2013, 03:17 AM)
Thanks for the comments. It's not that I am scared of the other 23 screws but how long it would take to undo them and then later do them up, it took 20 minutes for the first 7!
It would have been alright when I could still use my right hand but I can't do that any more and I don't have a left-handed screwdriver.-pilgrim (May 25, 2013, 05:00 AM)
Proposed law would make reprogramming cellphone IDs a crimehttp://www.techhive....one-ids-a-crime.html
05.24.2013 12:46 PM
Reprogramming the identification number of a cellphone could be punishable with a prison sentence of up to five years under the terms of a proposed law announced Friday.
THE CRADLE OF ENGLISH: Police constables in England's Avon and Somerset
Constabulary say they're "baffled" by the advice given to them by
superiors ahead of the annual Problem Orientated Partnerships "problem-
solving competition" to be held in the United States. One officer
charged the document was "murder of the English language," while a
spokesman for the Plain English Campaign called the language
"Ploddledygook." Sample passage: "Coherent evaluation with sound
evidence of whether the aim was achieved along with what worked well
and why, and conversely, what didn't work so well and why How were the
outcomes of initiative shared? i.e.; if you addressed an issue arising
from PACT, how have you responded to the 'you said' by promoting 'we
did'?" (RC/London Telegraph) ...In rank they may be superior. In other
measures, not so much.
[Taken From "This Is True"]
I don't trust the story at all.-Curt (May 24, 2013, 11:32 AM)
I dont see any reason *not* to trust it (but I didnt follow any of the links...)
I would have thought it not that suprising by EU standardsalthough usually they're more bogged down with practical things like whether to ban open containers of olive oil on your restaurant/cafe tables.
-tomos (May 24, 2013, 12:02 PM)
I was going to wash my old PB keyboard last weekend, until I took it apart.
The base is held on by 7 screws and when I removed that I was faced with a metal plate about 1/8" thick that covers everything to within 1/2" of the outer edge (which explains why it is so heavy), that is held in by 23 screws, at which point I put it back together.
I'm trying to think of a way to hold it upside down or at a sharp enough angle so that if I wash the keys using a wet brush any water will not get right inside.
(I should never have sacked the housekeeper.)-pilgrim (May 24, 2013, 03:54 AM)
My old HP keyboard was a heavy one too, with the metal back-panel like you described. The reason for so many screws is to make even pressure around the rubber key mat. As long as you don't over-torque them when re-installing you should be OK. Also, tighten the middle screws first and work your way outward to prevent buckling of the metal plate and/or key mat. If you buckle it, some keys will refuse to work because they can't make contact with the circuit board.U.S. urged to let companies 'hack-back' at IP cyber thieves
05.23.2013 1:20 PM
U.S. companies should be allowed to take aggressive countermeasures against hackers seeking to steal their intellectual property, contends the private Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property.
