Random News Stories

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9985757/Iranian-scientist-claims-to-have-invented-time-machine.html#disqus_thread

Iran Invents time machine.

Razeghi said his latest project has been criticised by friends and relatives for "trying to play God" with ordinary lives and history. "This project is not against our religious values at all. The Americans are trying to make this invention by spending millions of dollars on it where I have already achieved it by a fraction of the cost," he said. "The reason that we are not launching our prototype at this stage is that the Chinese will steal the idea and produce it in millions overnight."

Does Iran feel like Best Korea's getting all the attention this month? I think so.

"Random Whackjob Registers Latest Quackdoodle "Invention".

Seriously, why is anyone even reporting on this? And why can't I find ANYTHING about the allegedly State-run "Centre for Strategic Inventions" outside of this article?

Because he went back and destroyed it.  Duh.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I swear, you can get ANYTHING reported as news these days.

Except, you know, news.

I guess they need to fill up all the empty space left over when they're done not reporting on anything relevant.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Here we go:

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/04/iran-time-machine-scientist/64183/

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I swear, you can get ANYTHING reported as news these days.

Except, you know, news.

I guess they need to fill up all the empty space left over when they're done not reporting on anything relevant.

Or scaring the VD scabs off of people with stories about how DPRK missiles "could deliver a nuke".  Fucking bombs they have are primitive, they weigh TONS.  But we're GOING to have this little war, whether or not Lil Kim is serious or not.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I swear, you can get ANYTHING reported as news these days.

Except, you know, news.

I guess they need to fill up all the empty space left over when they're done not reporting on anything relevant.

Or scaring the VD scabs off of people with stories about how DPRK missiles "could deliver a nuke".  Fucking bombs they have are primitive, they weigh TONS.  But we're GOING to have this little war, whether or not Lil Kim is serious or not.

Yeah, I figured that "Oh wait, Um, yeah they totally DO actually have a delivery system after all!" piece of "new intelligence" was essentially an excuse to go liberate them.

Which I would be all for, except it's going to be ugly.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Maryland will now tax you for rain that falls on your property

[Pergamos]

Maryland will now tax you for rain that falls on your property

Phrasing it as taxing rain is rather deceptive. It taxes impervious surfaces, which makes sense since the goal is to cut down on the amount of rain that washes into the bay off of those surfaces.  This actually strikes me as a pretty well designed tax since attempts to reduce the tax bill, by reducing the amount of impervious surfaces, will also reduce the required expenditure to deal with the problem.  It would be better if there was some sort of tax credit for cachement systems though.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I swear, you can get ANYTHING reported as news these days.

Except, you know, news.

I guess they need to fill up all the empty space left over when they're done not reporting on anything relevant.

Or scaring the VD scabs off of people with stories about how DPRK missiles "could deliver a nuke".  Fucking bombs they have are primitive, they weigh TONS.  But we're GOING to have this little war, whether or not Lil Kim is serious or not.

Yeah, I figured that "Oh wait, Um, yeah they totally DO actually have a delivery system after all!" piece of "new intelligence" was essentially an excuse to go liberate them.

Which I would be all for, except it's going to be ugly.

I don't think the excuse "liberation" is going to come up, this time.

I think it's going to be sort of bald-faced asskicking.  Which I am against, on account of heaps of dead people.

I don't see a reason for war here, unless the DPRK actually attacks.  I no longer trust the concept of pre-emptive warfare.  Never did, come to think of it.

[Junkenstein]

I no longer trust the concept of pre-emptive warfare.  Never did, come to think of it.

It kind of makes sense if you think of world politics like prison inmate politics. Bes way to show everyone you're serious is to beat the shit out of anyone who looks at you wrong.

Turns out the Triads and Mafia aren't taking too much shit though so gangs occur.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I no longer trust the concept of pre-emptive warfare.  Never did, come to think of it.

It kind of makes sense if you think of world politics like prison inmate politics. Bes way to show everyone you're serious is to beat the shit out of anyone who looks at you wrong.

Turns out the Triads and Mafia aren't taking too much shit though so gangs occur.

Except that I don't buy them as a credible threat.  And even if they were, the USSR was a credible threat for 45 years, and they never felt the need to jam their collective dicks in the radioactive meatgrinder.

I see no reason to once AGAIN appease the American public's desire for war porn by killing a bunch of people for a bit of posturing.  The fact that we're making such a big deal over these jackasses makes us look like we're worried

We can afford to wait this out more than they can.  If they launch, we shoot them down - and we CAN do that - THEN we kick their arses.  Otherwise, I'm for "wait and see".

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Maryland will now tax you for rain that falls on your property

That actually sounds like a perfectly reasonable tax to me. Not only that, but as a homeowner it could benefit me, because some of the money is going to grants that help abate runoff.

Living in an area as rainy as Portland, runoff is a huge issue here, and we all pay the consequences. You may not be able to relate because you live in a dry area.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Maryland will now tax you for rain that falls on your property

That actually sounds like a perfectly reasonable tax to me. Not only that, but as a homeowner it could benefit me, because some of the money is going to grants that help abate runoff.

Living in an area as rainy as Portland, runoff is a huge issue here, and we all pay the consequences. You may not be able to relate because you live in a dry area.

That's a fair assessment, I guess. It just seems absurd to tax me based on how much rain my city receives, but admittedly it's absurd at first thought and I'm unmotivated to put more than that first thought into it.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Maryland will now tax you for rain that falls on your property

Phrasing it as taxing rain is rather deceptive. It taxes impervious surfaces, which makes sense since the goal is to cut down on the amount of rain that washes into the bay off of those surfaces.  This actually strikes me as a pretty well designed tax since attempts to reduce the tax bill, by reducing the amount of impervious surfaces, will also reduce the required expenditure to deal with the problem.  It would be better if there was some sort of tax credit for cachement systems though.

Yep, and the beauty of the way the tax is designed is that if you, as a property owner, take measures to abate your runoff, not only will they be funded (at least in part) by revenue generated by  the bill, but you then qualify for a reduced tax or full exemption (I assume based on the amount of runoff you are able to divert from the street).

We REALLY need something like that here. I would go for a gutterless roofline and bioswales in a heartbeat if I could afford it. I think a lot of people would (gutterless runoff systems are maintenance-free), and it would save countless thousands of gallons of contaminated water from flooding the river, and cut way back on sewage overflow.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I swear, you can get ANYTHING reported as news these days.

Except, you know, news.

I guess they need to fill up all the empty space left over when they're done not reporting on anything relevant.

Or scaring the VD scabs off of people with stories about how DPRK missiles "could deliver a nuke".  Fucking bombs they have are primitive, they weigh TONS.  But we're GOING to have this little war, whether or not Lil Kim is serious or not.

Yeah, I figured that "Oh wait, Um, yeah they totally DO actually have a delivery system after all!" piece of "new intelligence" was essentially an excuse to go liberate them.

Which I would be all for, except it's going to be ugly.

I don't think the excuse "liberation" is going to come up, this time.

I think it's going to be sort of bald-faced asskicking.  Which I am against, on account of heaps of dead people.

I don't see a reason for war here, unless the DPRK actually attacks.  I no longer trust the concept of pre-emptive warfare.  Never did, come to think of it.

The theoretical reasons I would support an invasion have to do with the horrible reports of famine, forced labor camps, and mass death I have heard happening there. Whether those are true, we have no way of knowing, but can you imagine if we had intervened with the Khmer Rouge instead of supporting it?

[Junkenstein]

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/lethal-secret-georgias-unusual-effort-to-supply-its-executions-90035.html?hp=r7

Georgia has a drug problem. The state is taking extraordinary steps to find a new dealer to feed its execution habit. A bill awaiting Gov. Nathan Deal's signature would provide extraordinary protection to companies supplying lethal chemicals for use in Georgia's execution chamber. It also would shield their identities as a "state secret."
The legislation is controversial — and born of ironies. Georgia's supply of lethal chemicals, 13 vials of them, passed their expiration date on March 1. Those vials cannot legally be injected into a human being, even to cause death, and will be destroyed.

The normal supply chain has dried up. Two years ago, manufacturers stopped making one of the drugs that had been key to the three-drug "cocktail" used for lethal injections throughout the country since 1982, and the Denmark maker of pentobarbital, the barbiturate used in single-drug executions, has refused to supply it for executions. The 13 vials were Georgia's last dose.
The state's legislation could involve potential copyright and patent infringements in copying chemical formulations — but in sanctioned stealth. We're talking "state secrets" here: The drug suppliers would be legally anonymous. They would also be working in the deep shadows of the compounding pharmacy industry, the same folks who brought you spinal meningitis from Massachusetts. In this case, however, death would be the drugs' planned outcome.

Never really considered the logistics of killing prisoners.