artp 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: DailyDirt: Better Biofuels To Save The Day

    artp ( profile ), 06 Sep, 2013 @ 09:09am

    Re: Make alcohol from plant waste aren't new

    In the USA, gasohol is made from corn. The kernels, not the stalks. The leftover protein is sold to feed cattle to market weight. Sort of like cereal makers selling waste sweetened cereals to fatten cattle. It isn't healthy, but they can make a buck doing it.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Better Biofuels To Save The Day

    artp ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 07:06pm

    It isn't plant WASTE

    It is organic matter that needs to go back into the soil to keep the organic content of the soil up, to preserve the soil fertility and to increase the soil's water-carrying capacity. Water-carrying capacity is important to help plants be more drought-resistant, and to provide more moisture holding capacity in the soil in order to reduce and slow down runoff from heavy rains.

    Even better, the "plant waste" should lay on the top of the soil over winter to protect it from erosion, and then be plowed under in the spring. This has not been done because large modern farms are "more efficient", thus requiring them to plow in the fall, plant so early in the spring that fungus-preventing coatings are required for the seeds, and use equipment so huge that the basic conservation practice of contour plowing is now impractical.

    Engineering 101 taught me to check my assumptions. Modern farming needs to have its assumptions checked. Do not accept everything you hear on face value. You will destroy the planet.

  • On the post: Embrace The Hate: One ICE Employee's Quest For A Race War

    artp ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2013 @ 04:06pm

    He wants to kill the President?

    And DHS not only didn't have him on a dangerous list, but they even hired him? So much for the effectiveness of spying powers......

    To what lengths will DHS go to prove to us that they are totally, irretrievably, incontrovertibly incompetent????

  • On the post: Latest Leak: NSA Can Spy On Almost Anything, Gets To Set Its Own Filters

    artp ( profile ), 20 Aug, 2013 @ 09:21pm

    Only 75%?

    Well, that's OK then. I'll just send 4-5 copies of every email, and one of them ought to get through unmonitored, right?

    Sheesh!

  • On the post: That's Not Oversight: Head Of FISC Admits He Relies On NSA's Statements To Make Sure They're Obeying The Law

    artp ( profile ), 15 Aug, 2013 @ 08:07pm

    But it looks good!

    Form over function. Everything looks like it ought to work, and nobody can figure out why it doesn't work!

    And the paperwork is done, so the job must be done, too.

  • On the post: Annoyed NY Mayor Attacks Court Decision On Stop And Frisk With Condescension And Hyperbole

    artp ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2013 @ 09:19pm

    Re:

    From Wikipedia on "Gun laws in New York"

    Of all the states that issue carry pistol licenses, New York State has arguably the strictest handgun licensing policies in the nation.[9] New York City, which is effectively a "no-issue" jurisdiction for carry pistol licenses,[10] has even stricter laws, including those regulating handguns exclusively kept at home, thereby making it difficult to virtually impossible for ordinary citizens to obtain, possess, or carry firearms lawfully within New York City.[11] Permits have been issued, however, to a small number of celebrities, politicians, attorneys and other well-connected individuals.


    Apparently, the criminals are not observing these gun laws. What now? Please do not reply "Extend these laws to the edge of the universe."

    Gun laws make no more sense than Prohibition did in the 30s. Anybody can make alcohol. And anybody can make a gun. It is impossible to prohibit weapons, even projectile weapons.

  • On the post: Annoyed NY Mayor Attacks Court Decision On Stop And Frisk With Condescension And Hyperbole

    artp ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2013 @ 07:12pm

    It's just a matter of time

    Until Bloomberg says something like this:

    "We had to destroy the neighborhood (village) in order to save it."

    He is dividing people into two groups: good & bad. But just like Vietnam, it's not that simple, and atrocities WILL be committed.

    I hope he doesn't have that much time.

  • On the post: Government Considers Dissatisfaction With US Policies To Be A 'High Threat'

    artp ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 07:48pm

    Re: Re: Re: Version 2

    The first two lines in the Wikipedia entry say:

    McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. It also means "the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism.


    There seem to be some similarities.

  • On the post: Government Considers Dissatisfaction With US Policies To Be A 'High Threat'

    artp ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 07:29pm

    Re: Re: Re: Version 2

    It has always been hard for me to tell the two apart. ;-)

    Now more than ever.

  • On the post: Sen. Feinstein During 'Shield' Law Debate: 'Real' Journalists Draw Salaries

    artp ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 07:24pm

    Drawing a salary

    That kind of leaves out those poor souls who love journalism so much, or who are so passionate about the issues that they start their own newspaper/magazine/blog and print all sorts of stories.

    Having been a business owner, the "salary" for a small business owner is "whatever part of what's left over at the end of the month that you won't need for the business in the next two weeks".

    Feinstein needs to get a job!

  • On the post: Government Considers Dissatisfaction With US Policies To Be A 'High Threat'

    artp ( profile ), 08 Aug, 2013 @ 09:44am

    Re: Version 2

    I was wondering when someone would make this connection.

    Any nominees for Charlie? I tend to forget names of unpleasant people, so I can't provide any for you. :-(

  • On the post: Dear Hollywood: Giving Identical Scripts To Congress Reveals That You're Feeding Them Talking Points

    artp ( profile ), 07 Aug, 2013 @ 05:20pm

    Having to issue your own DMCA takedown notices is so unfair

    I am waiting for some sympathy for having to monitor my own farm boundaries for trespassers. I am almost surrounded by corporate farms, some of whom sell "trespasser's permits" for access to their land, with no posting notifying people when they are LEAVING their land.

    South - 30,000 acres
    NE - 5-10,000 acres
    NW 10-20,000 acres

    Yeah, I need some DMCA relief! But I'm not in the Big Leagues and don't expect that anyone will be interested in keeping MY costs down.

  • On the post: Rep. Mike Pompeo Says NSA's Metadata Program Is A Result Of The Way 'Government Is Supposed To Operate'

    artp ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2013 @ 09:42am

    makes it perfectly clear for everyone to know and understand


    You missed one, Tim. But there were so many to choose from!

    The problem with this quote, of course, is that nobody in Congress has been told anything that they can "know and understand". There is no oversight, there is no information, there is no knowledge of what the NSA is doing, even among those in Congress who are appointed as oversight. And now that we have been gifted with enough information that we DO know and understand what the NSA is doing, we are told more lies.

    Fear. It must be fear. Nothing else makes people act like such idiots as fear - fear of enemies, fear of being wrong, fear of being exposed, fear of losing power, fear, fear, fear!

  • On the post: Eli Lilly Raises Stakes: Says Canada Now Owes It $500 Million For Not Granting A Patent It Wanted

    artp ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2013 @ 12:58pm

    Re: Re: Eli Lilly and ethics

    There must be a pill for that!

  • On the post: Irony Alert: Obama Opposes Amash Amendment Because It's A 'Blunt Approach' And Not A Product Of 'Open' Process

    artp ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2013 @ 07:41pm

    Or...

    Or we could just start following the [public] law, not the private ones, and then have the dialogue after.

    We'd still have the dialogue.

  • On the post: NSA Defenders In The Senate Flip Out Over Amash Amendment To Stop Dragnet

    artp ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2013 @ 01:58pm

    The highest bidder

    If I did what Feinstein is doing to support my positions, I would be charged with treason.

    Hey, not a bad idea if you flip the positions. Treason for Feinstein? Remember, you heard it here first.....

    But then, I really like using treason charges against someone who is selling the country down the river. Our enemies are not just foreign countries, you know. There are some who would purchase our liberties.

  • On the post: Eli Lilly Raises Stakes: Says Canada Now Owes It $500 Million For Not Granting A Patent It Wanted

    artp ( profile ), 23 Jul, 2013 @ 12:42pm

    Eli Lilly and ethics

    Eli Lilly, of course, is one of many pharmaceutical corporations whose quality assurance programs, dictated by law under the Food & Drug Act, was so abominably bad that the FDA stepped in and took control of their QA department themselves. I would be ashamed to show my face in public after that, but Lilly has apparently gotten over the shock, and determined that their honor was only "mostly dead".

    I also note that the "free trade treaty" adherents want anything in the world OTHER than free trade. If they really did, then anybody could make those life-saving and life-changing drugs. Thank God we finally have THAT issue settled.

  • On the post: Microsoft Fires Off Rebuttal To Latest Leak; Angry Letter To Eric Holder

    artp ( profile ), 17 Jul, 2013 @ 08:52am

    Except that...

    Microsoft is claiming to have done what no other company has done, to our knowledge - it claims to have kept control of its customers' data and is keeping the government at arms' length.

    This quote absolutely stinks to high heaven, and is totally unbelievable to me:

    If a government wants customer data ? including for national security purposes ? it needs to follow applicable legal process, meaning it must serve us with a court order for content or subpoena for account information.

    We only respond to requests for specific accounts and identifiers. There is no blanket or indiscriminate access to Microsoft?s customer data. ....

    All of these requests are explicitly reviewed by Microsoft?s compliance team, who ensure the request are valid, reject those that are not, and make sure we only provide the data specified in the order. While we are obligated to comply, we continue to manage the compliance process by keeping track of the orders received, ensuring they are valid, and disclosing only the data covered by the order.

    This hasn't worked for Google. It hasn't worked for Yahoo. Indeed, Yahoo had to fight to let us know that they got forced into this. It hasn't worked for any company that has resisted this. Only a few companies aren't in this situation, and that is because they entered into it whole-heartedly.

    So why do we accept this current version of Microsoft's spin-doctoring and think that they are the only company out there whoa re able to resist government spy requests? How did they get the power, or privilege, or moxie to stand up against the police state? I, for one, am not buying it.

  • On the post: Myriad Mocks Supreme Court's Ruling On Gene Patents; Sues New Competitors Doing Breast Cancer Tests

    artp ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2013 @ 09:20am

    The old double standard

    If I did this, I would end up in jail for fraud, blackmail, antitrust and littering. (Don't underestimate the power of a littering charge. See Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m57gzA2JCcM)

    If a corporation does it, the saga goes on forever.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

  • On the post: Sen. Dick Durbin: Journalists Deserve Protection But We'll Decide Who's Actually A Journalist

    artp ( profile ), 02 Jul, 2013 @ 10:23am

    So you have to get paid to do it

    Only "professionals" qualify for protection. One more step towards cementing the corporate stranglehold on political action.

    What other activity is singled out only if you get paid for doing it? Hhhhmmm???

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