tvashtarkatena

no, we traversed the slab for p2.

I have no problem with patents in general. Their value depends on the value of what they're protecting and its corresponding competitive environment. Most are a waste of money, of course, but every now and then they provide either a deterrent or sanction against copycatting, which is, of course, rampant. I used to work for Fluke (electronic test tools) as a design engineer. Like any good design department, we regularly dissected competing products. We dissected on Asian made product (outsourced by a US company) and found that they copied our design to such an extent that they even included those injection molding design errors we'd deemed too minor to fix. One of our reps went to an Asian trade show and they had the copied multimeter there, complete with our manuals, printed by us...only with stickers printed with their company logo literally glued over the top of our logo wherever it appeared. We sued, won, and barred them from selling that product in the US. International protection? Yeah, good luck with that. It's hard to say whether such a sanction was worth it, given the time, effort, and cost of the suit. The deterrent value for future encroachment was probably worth more than the sanction itself. It's often not hard to circumvent many utility patents, particularly if they're not well written, and even if there is a little encroachment the cost of suit usually prohibits pursuing all but the most blatant cases. Most patents are minor perks for the folks named on them, and not much more.

You can't patent human DNA, but you could, until this decision, patent a gene; something that is not invented and that already exists in nature. you can't patent a newly discovered species, but you can a newly discovered, not invented, gene. Go figure. The patenting process is for invention, not identification. Patenting a therapy is great, patenting a way to identify genes is great, patenting the gene itself is hogwash. The fear that this will slow research is probably crap. The incentives for chasing after gene therapies are so enormous and lucrative that this won't even represent a minor hiccup. Rather, it will likely increase the pace of innovation by reducing the proprietary nature of this research. Funny that the integrated circuit was mentioned. A company that maintains a long term monopoly on a genetic test (due to gene patents) that is priced so high as to prevent most folks from getting it effectively maximizes overall health care costs down the road by acting as too tight a gate...much like an economic transistor. Much better to ease off on the filtering a bit and allow all willing research groups to come up with a cheapest, most accessible test possible.

That fully autonomous jug mounted cam worked great.

Private companies partnering with public research facilities seems to be today's most common model for basic research.

I'm not a soundbyte junkie either way. The Rfucks do so many patently stupid and dysfunctional things that I don't have to be.

It's probably obvious to others that Ivan's jugging the white static line, over the Kor Roof: a stout pitch he fixed the previous evening. I'm on red. Considering the boy's got barely a year in the aid saddle, his persistence is getting his sorry ass, and occasionally mine, up to some fucking amazing locales on some truly classic routes. Gotta start somewhere. Or not.

Never saw anybody rap on jugs before. Might be a bit hard on the rope n such.

What the hell does any of that have to do with gene patents?

Damn, those sure seemed like full pitches at the time.... Thanks for being a fan. It is our pleasure to share at least some of the essence of such a spectacular experience for those who can't be there themselves.

I didn't realize that wielding 2 years of high school Spanish could warrant so much awe and admiration, but hey, I'll take it.

Sorry, one soundbyte crafted to jump start a Right Wing circle jerk isn't exactly what I'd call useful data. I don't know the congressman's record, nor do I really care to, but this little clip probably doesn't provide much of a summary. Remember: Push the button, get the banana. Push the button, get the banana.

Cast irony, burners high.

The legislators I've met and talked with have all been pretty smart, talented, and hard working. I know there are exceptions to that rule, but there you have it. I don't go in much for 'popular wisdom'...I prefer first hand experience when forming an opinion if such experience is available. Sorry to disappoint. Politics is a tough business because every voting decision is a compromise, and every campaign for change is a long term project that can span years or decades. That's the only way to move the ball forward in an environment of competing and conflicting interests, and it often doesn't move forward very fast. Seems like those who denigrate it out of hand might secretly or not so secretly prefer a Strong Man who just Makes it All Happen Right Now. No thanks.

Call me crazy but reading the single largest entitlement program in the history of this country seams like a smart thing to do. I've no doubt that some or all of opposing votes didn't read the bill but that includes members of both the Republican and Democrat party. We deserve everything we got in that bill because we, as a nation, are more concerned with six second sound bites and shiny free trinkets. We truly are our own worst enemy. You mean like the six second soundbyte about Guam certain posters are going on and on about, like, right now? I love this site.

Perhaps, and I admit that I'm wildly speculating here, this congressman has done more than just flub a joke on camera during his multiple terms of office. Yeah, I know, their all a bunch of idiots and you're so damn much smarter. It's all so very beneath you, isn't it? Life is so terribly trying when you're hyper-talented. When is your next public speaking engagement, BTW? I wouldn't want to miss it.

This is one issue, the erosion of privacy is another, where we need not accept either the status quo nor current trends, despite how many talking heads tell us how irrelevant our values and beliefs are.

For the first time in the 20 years since the issue first came up, a federal district court has ruled that human genes may not be patented. Go....

Um...hate to break this to you, since you're so much smarter than alla them po-lee-tishunz, but passing bills without really reading them is not a new trend. I'm sure most who voted for healthcare read at least a summary, available within 1 minute of da googlez. I'm equally sure that many who voted against didn't bother do to even that much.

Yeah, makes you think that there just might be a few other criteria for getting elected beyond joke delivery, huh?

No. Your tactics were to offer rides to the polls and lend assistance contingent on a predetermined vote cast for Gregoire. And that is illegal. First of all, there is no such law. But we didn't offer rides contingent upon anything; we didn't even ask who the voter was going vote for, although we certainly could have legally. No real need...they were all registered democrats who'd voted in at least one out of 4 past elections (but not all 4...frequent voters don't get hassled). Public records, bitch. I provided a wee bit of spanish translation both in an out of the polls. Challenged by an Rfuck...and perfectly legal. The Rfuck challenging a voter in a polling place was actually the illegal part, but he quickly slinked back into his hole after a brief conversation with one of our legal poll watchers. Devil's in the details...you should learn them sometime. We won, you lost, fair and square. Rossi put up a good fight for a mental helium balloon.

1st?! What about the fever dream and phlem ascent and retreat of lower TRL?

OMG, you think 3rd times a charm in politics? It's not. He'll do even worse, this time.

Our tactics were to offer rides to the polls. It worked.

Dino Rossi; the Man with the...where's that plan again? He lost because my 3 precinct team got 137 infrequent Dem voters to cast for Gregoire...just enough to send him back to the political sump, where he belongs. Guess he'll need to find another state to fleece, thanks to good ole Uncle Trashie.