Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password


Sasha Disses Barack on Snapchat

Posted by takyon on Thursday October 27 2016, @05:02PM (#2119)
4 Comments
/dev/random

I'm taking away your Air Force One privileges.

President Obama ridiculed on Snapchat by daughter Sasha

The president also mentioned that his own iPhone was limited to receiving emails and browsing the internet, and would not take photos, play music or make calls. "My rule has been throughout my presidency, that I assume that someday, some time, somebody will read this email," he said. "So, I don't send any email that at some point won't be on the front page of the newspapers."

US election 2016: Indians' verdict on Donald Trump's Hindi

An uncanny mixture: God, alcohol and even cannabis

A Stray: Finding and filming the real Somali immigrant experience

The Skype sex scam - a fortune built on shame

In pictures: Living off-grid

Posted by takyon on Tuesday October 25 2016, @11:27PM (#2117)
11 Comments

John Oliver Pinpoints Fake Opioid Crisis Statistic

Posted by takyon on Tuesday October 25 2016, @07:52AM (#2115)
0 Comments
News

John Oliver Pinpoints A Fake Statistic That Fueled The Opioid Crisis

In John Oliver’s latest segment on opioids during Last Week Tonight, he pulled up one of the key statistics pharmaceutical salespeople used to market prescription opioids to doctors in the 1990s: Less than 1 percent of patients taking opioids become addicted to painkillers. That figure is completely inaccurate, of course, and as Oliver points out, it has a disturbing origin story.

386BSD 2.0 Sources Uploaded

Posted by butthurt on Monday October 24 2016, @12:11PM (#2114)
1 Comment
Code

A poster on lobste.rs notes that source code comprising 386BSD version 2.0 was uploaded to Github in August by someone using the name Ben Jolitz.

The operating system, based on the University of California's reimplementation of AT&T UNIX, was created by Lynne and William Jolitz. Previously, version 2.0 had not been released; 386BSD 1.0 was released in 1994. Tags indicate that the 2.0 sources had been checked into a revision control system in January 1995.

NetBSD and FreeBSD
were based upon 386BSD (ASCII version).

Facebook Employees Argued for Censorship of Mr. Trump

Posted by takyon on Saturday October 22 2016, @09:58PM (#2112)
6 Comments
Digital Liberty

Somebody got triggered.

Facebook Employees Pushed to Remove Trump’s Posts as Hate Speech

Some of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s posts on Facebook have set off an intense debate inside the social media company over the past year, with some employees arguing certain posts about banning Muslims from entering the U.S. should be removed for violating the site’s rules on hate speech, according to people familiar with the matter.

The decision to allow Mr. Trump’s posts went all the way to Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who ruled in December that it would be inappropriate to censor the candidate, according to the people familiar with the matter. That decision has prompted employees across the company to complain on Facebook’s internal messaging service and in person to Mr. Zuckerberg and other managers that it was bending the site’s rules for Mr. Trump, and some employees who work in a group charged with reviewing content on Facebook threatened to quit, the people said.

Facebook employees argued Trump's posts should be banned as hate speech

32% Globally Think Gay Marriage Should Be Legal

Posted by takyon on Tuesday October 18 2016, @07:49PM (#2108)
5 Comments
/dev/random

One in Three People Globally Think Gay Marriage Should Be Legal

Only 19 percent of respondents in Africa and 26 percent in Asia said they approved of same-sex marriage, against 35 percent in the Americas, 41 percent in Europe and 56 percent in Oceania the online survey found.

These divisions reflect that rights advocates in Africa and Asia have focused on more pressing issues, such as fighting discrimination against gays rather than promoting acceptance of same-sex marriage, said study co-author Aengus Carroll.

"This is so far off the agenda for Africa and Asia," Carroll told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

UFO "expert" dies after giving mum cryptic warning

Posted by takyon on Monday October 17 2016, @09:14PM (#2107)
2 Comments

Attack on Hillsborough, NC Republican Office

Posted by takyon on Sunday October 16 2016, @08:12PM (#2106)
5 Comments
News

Republican office in North Carolina hit with flammable material: authorities

Someone also spray-painted graffiti including a swastika and the words "Nazi Republicans leave town or else" on an adjacent building, the town of Hillsborough said on its website.

Orange County Republican Party Headquarters Vandalized

“This highly disturbing act goes far beyond vandalizing property; it willfully threatens our community’s safety via fire, and its hateful message undermines decency, respect and integrity in civic participation,” Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens said. “I believe I speak for the overwhelming majority of people who make Hillsborough their home: Acts like this have no place in our community. Our law enforcement officials are responding quickly and thoroughly to investigate this reprehensible act and prosecute the perpetrators.”

Podesta email: Would have been better if San Bernardino shooter was named Christopher Hayes

"Better if a guy named Sayeed Farouk was reporting that a guy named Christopher Hayes was the shooter," Podesta wrote in a Dec. 2, 2015, email to Karen Finney, a Clinton campaign spokeswoman.

Podesta was referring to MSNBC host Christopher Hayes, who had tweeted at the time that a U.S. citizen named "Sayeed Farouk" was believed to be one of the people involved in the shooting.

How Howard Stern Owned Donald Trump

Posted by takyon on Saturday October 15 2016, @01:44AM (#2104)
11 Comments
News

How Howard Stern Owned Donald Trump

Lol.

Also, I can't keep up with all the new groping/sexual assault allegations against Trump. Was it two on Thursday and two on Friday (legit question, no joke)?

The perfect defense: Trump belittles accusers as unattractive, as more come forward
US election 2016: Presidential race goes down the drain
Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer’s Own Harrowing Story

Help me vote in CO! 02: Amendment 69 (universal healthcare)

Posted by DeathMonkey on Monday October 10 2016, @05:10PM (#2097)
5 Comments
Code

See the "Blue Book" for more information

Amendment 69 proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to:
 establish ColoradoCare, a statewide system to finance health care services for Colorado residents;
 create new taxes on most sources of income, redirect existing state and federal health funding to
pay for the services and administration of ColoradoCare, exempt ColoradoCare from constitutional
limits on revenue, and require approval by Colorado residents for future tax increases;
 establish a board of trustees, initially appointed and then elected, to oversee the operations of
ColoradoCare; and
 allow the board to terminate ColoradoCare if the waivers, exemptions, and agreements from the federal
government are not sufficient for its fiscally sound operation.

Arguments For
1) Amendment 69 creates a more equitable health care payment system that provides coverage for all
Coloradans. All people should have access to affordable health care regardless of their ability to pay. The
current health care system leaves many people uninsured or unable to access care due to insurance denials or
high deductibles. ColoradoCare prohibits deductibles and may reduce financial barriers to needed care. The
measure helps ensure that individuals and families will not face financial ruin when accessing needed health care
services.

2) Amendment 69 offers a means to control health care costs and improve patient outcomes. In the
United States, health care costs are higher than in any other industrialized country. Under Amendment 69, health
care costs could be controlled by lowering administrative costs, adjusting payment rates to health care providers,
and reducing the amount of unpaid care provided by health care providers. By creating a centralized system for
health care records, ColoradoCare may improve the coordination of care and create cost savings by more
efficiently sharing information between providers, monitoring medical conditions, and reducing diagnostic testing.

3) ColoradoCare provides a more transparent system that serves the interests of Coloradans, instead of the
interests of private corporations. The current private health insurance system is profit-motivated, which
contributes to rising health care costs. ColoradoCare offers an alternative that shifts incentives toward improving
patient care by allowing Coloradans to elect health care decision-makers. Under Amendment 69, Coloradans
also have control over tax increases for ColoradoCare, increasing local control over health care costs. Unlike
private insurance companies, ColoradoCare board meetings are subject to open meetings laws, which allows
Coloradans to monitor decisions made by the board.

Arguments Against
1) Amendment 69 imposes new taxes, which may harm the Colorado economy by burdening
taxpayers and eliminating jobs. The tax increases under this measure will nearly double state government
spending, which currently totals $27 billion for the entire state budget. In the initial years, taxpayers will pay
about $2 billion a year into a system without receiving any direct benefits. Many individuals and
businesses will pay more with the new taxes than they currently pay for health care. Additionally,
taxpayers must pay the new taxes even if they do not utilize the services offered through ColoradoCare.
Under Amendment 69, higher taxes and an uncertain economic climate could discourage businesses from
operating in Colorado. Finally, ColoradoCare may cause private health insurance businesses to downsize
or leave the state, leaving many people unemployed.

2) Amendment 69 offers no guarantee that ColoradoCare will improve patient care, expand access, or
reduce health care costs. Coloradans may never receive the benefits promised under ColoradoCare if
federal approval is not granted or revenues are not sufficient. The measure does not specify critical details of
how ColoradoCare will be implemented, and has no required implementation date. The measure concentrates
control for making important decisions and spending billions of taxpayer dollars in a 21-member board with limited
accountability and no required health industry experience. ColoradoCare may not solve fundamental problems of
rising health care costs and limited access. If the state fully transitions to ColoradoCare and it fails, it could take
years to re-establish a private health insurance market and government programs, and taxpayers will have paid
billions of dollars for a failed system.

3) ColoradoCare may limit consumer choice and strain the health care system. Health care providers may
be unwilling to serve ColoradoCare patients if reimbursements are too low, or they may choose to leave Colorado
due to uncertainties in the health care market. This could reduce options for patients and increase wait times to
receive services. Also, the health care system could be further burdened by people coming to the state to receive
health care without adequately contributing to the taxes that pay for their care. If the system fails to control costs,
health services covered by ColoradoCare may be reduced. Additionally, private health insurance may not be
available or affordable if Amendment 69 passes. This could leave people with limited options for accessing
alternative coverage or needed care, forcing some people to leave the state.

Personal take
Tentatively planning Yes on this one. Despite the costs we really need to move away from for-profit health insurance.

What say you Soylent?