The Off Topic Topic

[garbon]

Women be uptight.

It's not necessarily that; it's more that they know - consciously or unconsciously - that they have all the cards.

I'm not sure what that has to do with whether or not you'd have sex with a stranger you found attractive.

[fhdz]

Women be uptight.

It's not necessarily that; it's more that they know - consciously or unconsciously - that they have all the cards.

I'm not sure what that has to do with whether or not you'd have sex with a stranger you found attractive.

I think they say no just because they can

[CountDeMoney]

I think they say no just because they can

MAH MARKET FORCES

[fhdz]

I think they say no just because they can

MAH MARKET FORCES

[Ideologue]

I think they say no just because they can

MAH MARKET FORCES

POTM.

[HVC]

I think they say no just because they can

MAH MARKET FORCES

POTM.

theres only one CdM POTM and it involves his love of rabbits in Mexico.

[Syt]

Colorised New York, ca. 1900:

http://www.retronaut.com/2013/07/colorised-new-york/

[Syt]

Fox News Claims Solar Won't Work in America Because It's Not Sunny Like Germany

Thanks to Fox News and its expert commentators, millions of Americans now understand the real, hidden reason why Germany's solar-energy industry is so much further along than ours. Turns out it has nothing to do with the fact that Germany's government has long supported the industry far more generously, withpolicies like feed-in tariffsthat stimulate investment in green technologies. No, the real reason is much simpler, explained a trio of journalists on Fox & Friends: It's always sunny in Germany!

"The industry's future looks dim," intoned host Gretchen Carlson at the beginning of the segment, which was preserved for posterity bythe liberal blog Media Matters for America. She and her co-host went on to ridicule Obama's "failed" solar subsidies, adding, "The United States simply hasn't figured out how to do solar cheaply and effectively.

You look at the country of Germany, it's working out great for them." Near the end of the segment, it occurred to Carlson to ask her expert guest, Fox Business reporter Shibani Joshi, why it might be that Germany's solar-power sector is doing so much better. "What was Germany doing correct? Are they just a smaller country, and that made it more feasible?" Carlson asked.


Joshi's jaw-dropping response: "They're a smaller country, and they've got lots of sun. Right? They've got a lot more sun than we do." In case that wasn't clear enough for some viewers, Joshi went on: "The problem is it's a cloudy day and it's raining, you're not gonna have it." Sure, California might get sun now and then, Joshi conceded, "but here on the East Coast, it's just not going to work."

Gosh, why hasn't anyone thought of that before? Wouldn't you think that some scientist, somewhere, would have noticed that the East Coast is far less sunny than Central Europe and therefore incapable of producing solar power on the same scale?

You would—if it were true. As Media Matters' Max Greenberg notes, it isn't. Not even remotely. According to maps put out by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, virtually the entirety of the continental United States gets more sun than even the sunniest part of Germany. In fact, NREL senior scientist Sarah Kurtz said via email, "Germany's solar resource is akin to Alaska's," the U.S. state with by far the lowest annual average of direct solar energy.

[Josquius]

Duh. Every country gets the same set amount of sun. Its just common sense that smaller countries won't have to spread it so thin.

[garbon]

Duh. Every country gets the same set amount of sun. Its just common sense that smaller countries won't have to spread it so thin.

[Razgovory]

Duh. Every country gets the same set amount of sun. Its just common sense that smaller countries won't have to spread it so thin.

[Valmy]

Women be uptight.

Yeah approaching them was no fun.  Some of them would respond with weird paranoia and/or hostility when I was just being polite.  It probably made sense in the context of their experiences, or whatever, but it was not what I would call fun.  Hopefully my wife will outlive me so I never have to do that again.

[MadImmortalMan]

Germany gets less sun than Ohio? Crap I feel sorry for you guys.

[Valmy]

I am rather floored they thought Germany got alot of  sun if they are considered knowledgable about Photovoltaics.  The fact that Germany has sunk tons of money into it despite being one of the worst places in the world for it is pretty well known to anybody with even basic familiarity.

[CountDeMoney]

Ah...Federal law enforcement, you never cease to amaze.

Student locked in room at DEA facility for 5 days to get $4.1 million
In a settlement, Daniel Chong, 25, will receive $4.1 million from the government after he was mistakenly left in a DEA interrogation room without food or water.

SAN DIEGO— A college student mistakenly left in a Drug Enforcement Administration interrogation room for five days without food or water will receive $4.1 million from the federal government to settle his claim for maltreatment.

The settlement, approved by the Department of Justice, was announced Tuesday in San Diego by the student, Daniel Chong, 25, and his lawyer, Eugene Iredale.

"It was an accident, a really, really bad, horrible accident," Chong said.

Iredale said Chong has undergone intensive psychotherapy and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

What happened to Chong, Iredale said, "should never happen to any human being on the face of the planet."

The bizarre event began on the afternoon of April 20, 2012 — a traditional counterculture day of celebration for smoking pot. Chong, then an engineering student at UC San Diego, went to a house near campus to smoke marijuana with friends and found himself swept up in a DEA raid.

Officers from several police agencies raided the house and found large quantities of ecstasy pills and hallucinogenic mushrooms, plus weapons and ammunition, according to court documents. Unknown to Chong, the house had been under surveillance for days.

Chong and eight suspects were taken into custody for interrogation. After being questioned briefly at the DEA facility in San Diego, he was told he would soon be released.

But, for reasons that remain unclear, Chong was left for five days in a 5-by-10-foot windowless room without food, water or toilet facilities. He quickly lost weight and was able to slip out of a pair of handcuffs.

He suffered hallucinations. He tried to break a fire sprinkler to get water but failed. Instead he said he had to drink his own urine to survive. He screamed for help but soon became too weak. For the final two days, Chong was in the dark, Iredale said.

Fearing that he would die, Chong broke his glasses and scrawled the message, "Sorry, mom," on his arm.

When he was discovered by DEA employees, Chong was covered in his own feces and severely dehydrated. He was rushed to a hospital, close to kidney failure and breathing with difficulty. He spent five days in the hospital.

The Department of Justice's Office of Inspector General is investigating the incident.

Several theories have been advanced on how Chong could have been forgotten. One is that the officer who questioned him that Friday afternoon was not from the DEA but another agency. When that officer left at day's end, he thought that someone else would release Chong.

The next two days were Saturday and Sunday, when fewer employees are on duty. By Monday, Chong's cries may have been too weak to be heard through the thick door of the interrogation cell, located down a narrow hallway and isolated from the rest of the DEA facility.

Chong said that he did not scream at first, believing that he would soon be released. "It seemed impossible for them to forget me," he said.

He remembers the shocked look on the faces of employees who finally opened the door and saw him, exhausted, starving, possibly near death. His body, he said, was shutting down.

Days later, a top DEA official apologized to Chong and ordered an "extensive review" of DEA procedures.

"I extend my deepest apologies [to] the young man and want to express that this event is not indicative of the high standards that I hold my employees to," said William R. Sherman, who was then acting special agent in charge of the DEA's San Diego Division.

No charges were filed against Chong. Iredale filed a claim with the agency, usually the first step toward a lawsuit. But in this case, officials immediately began negotiating a settlement and listened to a local psychologist who said that Chong was in worse shape than many combat veterans he has treated, Iredale said.

The DEA review of its procedures for interrogations is not yet complete, a spokesman for the agency said Friday.

Iredale said he is confident that the agency has taken steps to ensure that nothing similar happens at any of its 21 field stations. The government has "recognized the profound suffering that David underwent and the damages they caused."

Chong still receives therapy and has returned to finish his degree at UCSD. He has changed his major to economics. He said he is glad to have his life "back to normal."

Neither the DEA nor the Department of Justice had a comment on the settlement.