Posts by Bryce 2

I am not a climatologist but....

When a respected scientist says something like this, it makes you think...

"There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period."

"Okay. With this as a preparation, let's turn to the evidence, both graphic and verbal, for

global warming. As most of you have heard many times, the consensus of climate scientists

believes in global warming. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of

scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.

Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your

wallet, because you're being had. "

- Michael Crichton

If you haven't read the speeches, they are very interesting and can be found at http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/commentaries_essays/crichton_three_speeches.html

Granted, they were made some time ago, but it is my opinion that they are still relevant.

It's not all bad

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, not everyone on the net is a "scammer" or a manipulator.

I have been married for over 11 years to a woman I met over the internet. At the time we met, both of us had been living in different countries separated by the Atlantic.

And this was in the days of IRC.

So yes, while there are people out there who live in a fantasy world, or manipulate others, or who scam... keep in mind that not everyone is doing it.

Read the news release from Imperial College

And you can see where the guardian et al take the "overestimating" out of context.

From what I can tell, El Reg has it correctly written here.

Here's the news release at Imperial:

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_7-10-2010-11-45-24?newsid=93521

Wow

Look at all the hate here.

So the USA has done thing in it's past that aren't so great.

So the USA is currently doing things now that aren't so great.

How many countries can claim in their pasts never to have done something that isn't so great?

The USA is still a relatively young country compared to those on the other side of the atlantic. I'm sure that there are MANY things that some European countries wish they could shove under the rug and never look at again. Much less think about.

It's PC gone mad

I personally think the problem is "Political Correctness". I understand the point behind there being a certain level of "PC", but the distance the world has crossed that line is a bit crazy. You can see aspects of "PC gone Mad" everywhere.

Everyone is afraid of offending someone. You can't say anything with offending someone. If even one person complains, it's a Bad Thing!

As for Americans being stupid/dumb/lazy/etc. Every country has a portion of their population that is the same way, it's just that the American failings get broadcast out to the entire world.

It's also always the bad things that get transmitted to everyone as well, hardly ever the good things. Just the nature of the media beast I suppose.

What a shame

We could use more officers like him.

Even better are the catch phrases

The current trendy phrases around my workplace are "Do we have the bandwidth?" (For human resources) and "Let's take that offline" (For we'll discuss it later)

I wonder

I had thought the law was regarding sent messages... if he had sent this message to the airport, then I could see how they would take it the wrong way.

But to twitter? Isn't he basically talking to himself? He didn't "send" it to anyone.

Or am I wrong?

Seriously?!?

First off, let's get one thing straight. An image (whether real or a drawing) of a 16 year old doing the dance of the beast with two backs is not paedophilia. Paedophilia is the preference to have sexual relationships with PRE-pubescent children. Thus anyone who has gone through puberty cannot be the object of paedophilia (as long as said actions occur after puberty of course).

Second, you cannot "encourage" paedophilia. There is a certain percentage of the population (and I'm fairly sure it's a small percentage) that are paedophiles. John Q Public does not wake up one day and go... hmmmm, I think I'll go molest some pre-pubescent children today (or download kiddie porn). It just doesn't happen. The vast majority of people do not enjoy it. Simple as.

Third, all the crazy legislation that has taken place world wide with the moniker "Protect the Children" will not change anything in regards to paedophiles. You can't cure them, you can't rehabilitate them, it's just the way they're wired. What the government needs to be doing instead of wailing "think of the children" is to prevent these people from gaining easy access to children or materials. Ban them from the internet - for a start. Ban them from working with children. Stop sending people to jail for having a laugh over the Simpson cartoons and start doing something to actually prevent the people with the problem from gaining easy access to the sick stuff.