riddler

Marijuana is already legal in Denver. But the cops will bust you on state charges if they want. Usually, they don't care, as long as you don't have a giant outdoor party with it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Here are the comparisons I see: David Letterman: independent comedian. Made a joke about baseball player A-Rod impregnating one of Sarah Palin's daughters. Personally, I thought the joke was in bad taste, but I also think preaching abstinence is a failed ideology. IMO, Letterman can make all the sexist, teen-pregnancy jokes he wants, and the network will update his contract or not, if they feel he is out of bounds. It's not for us to decide if he gets fired - if he offends you, stop watching, and the network will decide his contract based on their morals and Letterman's viewer numbers. Ted Rall: creator of the Condoleezza Rice cartoon. Independent cartoonist. Personally I think calling an intelligent woman with a PhD a house-n.... is extremely racist and in poor taste. IMO, Rall can make all the racist cartoons he wants, and his syndication will decide if he's racist or not. It's not for us to decide if he gets fired or not - if you're offended, write to the newspapers that publish him, and maybe they will stop printing his work. Same for whoever created this “Historical Keepsake Photo” (if anyone finds the author, please post it, I can't find the author of the cartoon). Sherri Goforth: A staffer of the Republican party in Tennessee. This, IMO is very obviously a racist cartoon, and every online poll I see agrees with me. Here's the difference. She is a member of the political opposition to the current POTUS. She is not an independent comedian or cartoonist. Therefore, if the Republicans want to be seen as embracing racial equality, they need to do something about it. Again, it's not for us to decide if she gets fired, but if she does not, then I think the Republicans can't count on ANY minority vote in the next election. Should Goforth be fired? I don't think so - the problem with racism is that those that are racist rarely know it. Get her in a few racial sensitivity courses, and maybe she will come to understand what the big deal is. So far, it doesn't look like she gets it. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Can you be more specific? I remember that the unemployment was promised to be 11% by the economists, but now they're only saying 10%. Is that the promise you were referring to? Still, 10% is pretty high. I guess all the promises of the Bush administration didn't work out so well. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I love to read about Roman History, because I think the U.S. has followed much of the same historical course as the Romans did, albeit on a larger scale, and a shorter time-line. But even the Roman empire took several hundred years to decline into relative obscurity, and I think the U.S. will share the same long-winded shakespearean death. It's likely that one or two more generations of Americans will be a part of Pax-Americana, and their children may live to see a more balanced global power base. Sadly, I think American historians will talk more about Madonna and Shatner than Lincoln and Einstein. As far as America being bankrupt - that's nothing new, that started about 20 years ago. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

There are many reasons for hating homosexuals, and one of them is religion. Many religions denounce homosexuality in the name of God, but what happens when we find out that some animals exhibit homosexuality? Does this mean that God screwed up? Or does it mean that he/she has different rules for animals? Having been raised in the Baptist church, I learned this about God - he is absolute. If he didn't want mankind to allow for homosexuals, he wouldn't have allowed animals to do it, either. This doesn't justify homosexuality for humans, but it does remove the "don't do it because God said so" argument, at least for me. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Everyone that flies wing-suit needs to see Gypsy Moths - what did they call it? The "bat-suit"?? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

This thread SOOO belongs in the Women's Only forum. Even the replies are mostly women ... and turtle ... Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Chuck Norris doesn't swoop - the Planet Earth swoops Chuck just to look cool. That shit never gets old for me Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I actually didn't have a problem with W until he invaded Iraq two years into his presidency. Really, I thought his dad was a pretty good POTUS, for the most part, and I hoped that there would be some guidance and advice-seeking from/to the elder Bush. How long did you give Obama? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think anyone really cares about Bristol. Talking about her un-wed pregnancy is an easy way to confront one Republican value that doesn't work. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I support Obama, but I agree that the language is troubling. At some point, it went from "creating" new jobs, to "saving or creating". That OR added a lot of ambiguity, IMO, and opened the door for a bit of cheating on the numbers. But all of this is speculative, anyway. Why don't we wait until the actual timeline is up (June of 2011), and see how the job situation is then, instead of assuming the programs will fail, and the politicians will lie about it? I feel that the right wing hasn't even given Obama a chance (did anyone expect everything would be rosy after less than five months?), especially, considering they bear responsibility for bank deregulation, oil speculation loopholes and stark auto sales that started the whole financial meltdown. I think things are slowly improving in nearly every sector (certainly not autos). Just look at home lending rates, which have gone from 4.8 to 5.5% in the last three weeks - if the mortgage crises was the beginning of the financial mess, then we may be able to say that improvements there may be the beginning of the recovery. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

More junk science. Any article that promotes an idea, then says "they are working on it now", isn't anything more than science fiction. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

The latest Blackberry Curve has a 3.2 MP camera, which you can use for both still and video. The new iPhones will have a 3 MP, and can also do video, so it's comperable. My older BB curve has a 2 MP and video, and the 1st gen iPhone doesn't match up. The BB has a flash on it, so relatively close photos will get better lighting, the iPhone does not. Photos on the 1st-gen iPhone are pretty dark, and the BB are much better. The photos are good enough to send to friends on computer, but you're not going to be blowing them up and hanging 8X10s on your wall. They would make fairly good 3X5s, but usually lighting with camera phones is poor, which makes for mediocre pictures, unless you are outside on a sunny day. The videos are OK, but won't compare to a hand-held video camera for quality. My guess is if you're hiking, the cameras on the newer phones will be fine - just make sure you have bright sunlight, or if you get the BB with flash, it needs to be a closer shot. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Go Blackberry for this. The battery life is longer (this is based on my experience of two years with iPhone and seven years of experience with Blackberry, and not on what the manufacturers say). The physical keys on the BB are going to let you type faster, and you'll have a better experience with it. There are some things that the iPhone does better as well, but that's a different topic. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I have two 1st gen iPhones, and I'm looking to upgrade at the end of the year. I had to laugh about all the guided tour references to MMS, then on the specs, a tiny, off-color footnote that says "AT&T MMS support coming late this summer". I really am looking forward to true GPS, and I hope that it's easy to Voice Control the Voice Recorder and MMS it - that way my wife will stop texting while driving! Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Thanks for a fun weekend! 14 jumps, good vibes, thanks to manifest, Terry, SkyVenture Colorado gang, San Marcos regulars. And no one seriously hurt Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

I don't think he promised that Osama Bin Laden would love us That's the first person quoted in the article. I don't think he promised that Al-Qaeda would love us either. One of their leaders is the second person quoted. In fact, if Obama had suggested that we make peace with Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, do you really think he would have been elected? Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kung Fu, the original series, is my favorite television show of all time. Office Space: "I love Kung Fu!" Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

If the story is true, it would prove only how stupid the social workers are. Psychometrics can compare how good people score on a particular test, but that doesn't equate to intelligence. They are biased in many ways, culturally, sexually, racially, and many more. Even the APA, who is a strong advocate of psychometrics, says that they only predict performance related to school and work, but NOT parenting or other social indicators. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

June 4 is the anniversary of when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in 1989 and killed hundreds (more likely thousands) of Chinese protesters that represented a desire for more democracy in China. For those that don't remember (or are too young to remember), what started out as a remembrance of a pro-capitalistic leader of the PRC, Hu Yaobang, led 100,000 Chinese students to march on Tiananmen to demand that the government recognize more reforms towards capitalism. The Chinese government rattled sabres with the protesters, and after about seven weeks, used tanks and armored vehicles to bring the city back under control. Some estimates of the number of deaths are between two and three thousand, but the "official" number is 241 dead and 7,000 wounded. In some ways, it was the Chinese version of the Kent State shootings, but in typical Chinese tradition, hundreds or thousands died, compared to the 4 that died in Ohio. The theme was the same; young, passionate students with ideals challenging the establishment and dying for it. This was an incredible turning point for a major financial and military power, and it shaped world history. I can't help but think how different the world would be if the Chinese government had retreated and eventually fallen, nearly the same time as the Berlin Wall came down. To this day, there are no public records in China about this incident, and the average chinese citizen cannot find information about it in any Chinese media. It is a forbidden subject. One thing that strikes me, though, is the U.S. response to this event. Shortly after it unfolded, the world condemned the Chinese government, and U.S. President G.H.W. Bush suspended military sales and state visits to China. That was 1989. Today, 20 years later, the U.S. response from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to "urge" China to "come to terms" with the event, whatever that means Those words will probably have the same effect as "urging" China to get out of Tibet, and recognize Taiwan as a separate nation - in other words, the Chinese government will do absolutely nothing. So what is the difference that 20 years made? For one thing, the U.S. now owes about a trillion dollars in debt to China. Could that be the reason we move from condemnation and financial retribution to soft-spoken "urging"? Of course, the U.S. has a different party in power now, but I don't think the Democrats represent a major change in international affairs for the U.S. from the Republicans - foreign relations policies don't change as frequently as domestic policy, just because there is a different POTUS, and Bush Jr. didn't do all that much to affect a change in China. Even though I liked Clinton, I very much disagreed with his restoring of Most-Favored Nation trading status to China - I think it was the biggest mistake he made. The entire situation is disheartening to me. Hundreds or thousands of students died in China because they wanted to make a difference, and 20 years later, they are all but forgotten, and their deaths have, so far, been in vein. It makes me feel that we are at a point in the world where people no longer have any say in their government. There can no longer be change in the world that improves the lives ofpeople, because the governments and financial powers of the world now have such military, financial and media power, they they more or less dictate how we live our lives. Even the U.S. no longer stands for the hope of freedom around the world, we simply kowtow to whomever holds our banknotes. I hope I'm wrong Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Interesting point. I was there for a few weeks, and they had just started a chinese-style propoganda campaign about curbing government corruption. They arrested one mid-level government official, and charged him with taking a bribe of about $500. His sentence: 31 years in jail, no parole. I thought it was just about making money for the Singaporean government. I think there was a $1500 fine for jaywalking, something like a $1000 fine for not flushing a public toilet, $500 for spitting on the sidewalk, etc, etc. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

A fat, bald middle-aged man arrives with a ladder, and ascends only half-way to the balloon. "Who are you?" asks the manager. "I'm middle management," replies the man, "but don't worry, I used to do something similar to engineering, back when we were starting fires with rocks and sticks." "What do you do now?" "I just sit in meetings all day and eat donuts, but I can translate", replied the middle-manager. "What did that other guy say, exactly?", said the woman. "He said you should land your balloon in the middle of that lake that's surrounded by electrical wires. I'm very sure that's what he said." "What if I die?", asked the woman. "It's not my fault. The weather was the problem. Or you're balloon wasn't built to specifications, but you never told us." "And if I live and make my meeting?" "Then it was all my idea." Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Hey, at least it's house-broken. Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

Kinda - I was amazed at how everyone kept their own column of air and on-level, despite body position. All those guys must've been tunnel rats Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD