Slashdot Mirror

OK. Corporations are not human beings. Yes, of course, the law states they are people, blah, blah, but ultimately they are NOT human beings.
A psychological analysis of a Corporation as revealed in the book by same name states they are pathological liars, cheats and worse criminals who have no sense of honor, truthfulness, and honesty.
I don't blame them for it. Its their nature.
Why else would AIG want the money it donated to charity back to pay bonuses to its management?
Why else would Monsanto try to override local laws that prevent GMO foods from being grown locally?
Why does Exxon STILL fight paying compensation for the Valdez disaster and get it overturned even after all these years?
Why do you think Time-Warner and others want to overturn municipalities from providing broadband to their cities and towns where Corporates have refused to set up shop?
Am not paranoid or crazy, and am not part of the left-wing alliance stating ALL corporations are evil, etc.
Am just saying this is their nature: Selfish, Loathsome, cheat, liar and a thief if they can get away with it.

Look up Thomas Szasz, one of the great critics of psychiatry. His arguments are well thought out, and most slashdotters could probably respect them (even if they don't agree).

    I first heard of him on a series of "All in the Mind" podcasts from the ABC (the Australian national broadcaster). This program is on the mind, brain and behaviour :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2530830.htm (part 1)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2536966.htm (part 2) ...and a response from some psychologist (who rebut some arguments, but also admit that the evolution of the psych disciplines actually owe a debt to Szasz) :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2544843.htm

Look up Thomas Szasz, one of the great critics of psychiatry. His arguments are well thought out, and most slashdotters could probably respect them (even if they don't agree).

    I first heard of him on a series of "All in the Mind" podcasts from the ABC (the Australian national broadcaster). This program is on the mind, brain and behaviour :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2530830.htm (part 1)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2536966.htm (part 2) ...and a response from some psychologist (who rebut some arguments, but also admit that the evolution of the psych disciplines actually owe a debt to Szasz) :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2544843.htm

Look up Thomas Szasz, one of the great critics of psychiatry. His arguments are well thought out, and most slashdotters could probably respect them (even if they don't agree).

    I first heard of him on a series of "All in the Mind" podcasts from the ABC (the Australian national broadcaster). This program is on the mind, brain and behaviour :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2530830.htm (part 1)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2536966.htm (part 2) ...and a response from some psychologist (who rebut some arguments, but also admit that the evolution of the psych disciplines actually owe a debt to Szasz) :
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2544843.htm

In case you were all wondering, this
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/05/21/2576569.htm
is what I was referring to.

you're stuck travelling parallel to the vehicle next to you with oncoming traffic coming up fast and...

...and then, with the flick of a switch, you override the speed limiter and keep on going just as fast as you want to.

Because, naturally, you read the article. You didn't have to read very much of it, just the headline would have been enough. Here, I'll even show you where.

'Flick of a switch' to override speed limiter

The effectiveness of new anti-speeding technology to be trialed in New South Wales has been questioned, because drivers will be able to override the system. [...]

"There is a capability for the device to be switched off quickly with the flick of a switch," Mr Daley said.

Now how hard was that?

Will people pay for well-reasoned, researched, and written commentary and opinion columns?

Indeed, but for un-researched, ill-thought out, completely biased tripe based entirely on the opinions of the owner and carefully edited so that anything resembling fact or a rational thought process is completely removed, that, that had best remain free.

Or in other words, I wouldn't pay a cent for what is currently called a "newspaper". We are fortunate in Australia (and the UK and Canada) we have one of those [scarcasm]evil socialised[/scarcasm] publicly funded news agencies that has more of an interest in reporting the facts then trying to boost profits by writing inflammatory garbage, stalking celebrities and then having the gall to charge for it. A subscription model from Packer or Murdock would not work here.

"you can feel morally repulsed by that diea, but the human stomach outweighs your moral compass when push comes to shove, and famine was not an uncommon thing in human history"

In the immortal words of nineteenth century Australias most infamous convict escapee:

"A full belly is prerequisite to all manner of good. Without that, no man knows what hunger will make him do. " - Alexander Pearce.

Eight convicts escaped into the Tasmanian wilds together. As they wandered around for weeks and starved they started killing off the injured and sick members of the group, then the weak, then the ones nobody liked, until only two remained. Mr Pearce obviously won that fight.

Unfortunately he seemed to gain a taste for human flesh as on his next escape attempt he killed his mate before they had even run out of food...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/21/2426730.htm

Direct link to the ABC video report: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200704/r138101_470962.asx

In Australia we have recently had the fire ant invade our island nation with some very nasty environmental results. After years of study the CSIRO have discovered an inherent weakness with the fire ants colonies. The queen is the only ant able to breed in a colony so if you disable her the colony dies. So what we do here in the land of the sun and over sized rabbits called kangaroos is put the fire ant the queen on the pill, so far it has worked very well but like everything needs to be managed.

More info can be found here

"The tarantulas are fatal to dogs and cats; they bite people quite regularly; they're quite a painful bite."
No one is believed to have been harmed during the recent unusually high presence of the arachnoid in Bowen.

Source is from the ABC report on the story
The thing is, I live in Sydney, and I only herd about this story when I checked /.

Here in Australia we used to have a TV/Radio license similar to what the UK have. The problem is that the licenses are beuracratically costly and difficult to enforce. We dumped the 1920's idea of licenses decades ago in favor of funding the ABC, SBS, Radio Australia, etc, via general revenue. The ABC/SBS have some great shows, the ABC make thier shows available on the net for a week after broadcasting.

As with the BBC they are funded by the government as opposed to run by the government and IMHO it's worth my $0.08/day to maintain the wonderfull tradition of taking the piss out of the government of the day, however I don't want to pay an extra $0.10/day just to support a goverment department that issues bits of paper to those who pay their $0.08/day.

A US veteran recalls his commander telling him to machine-gun a group of about 50 refugees. "I said, 'we can't kill all these people,' and he pulled out his handgun, a .45, and pointed it at my head, he said, 'Kill 'em, you're directly disobeying a direct order in combat'."

Well, this idiot strongly disagrees with the notion that war simulation games represent any form of art more significant than a Dwayne Johnson Film. Make a game that rivals this, then get back to me.

You should play Earthbound for the SNES. It's artistic expression is all kinds of cracked out.

Well, this idiot strongly disagrees with the notion that war simulation games represent any form of art more significant than a Dwayne Johnson Film. Make a game that rivals this, then get back to me.

The study was based on work on done at one Antarctic base and assumes massive Antarctic ice loss which is, at the present time, not happening at all ...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/23/2550456.htm

Moreover, the study focused purely on the Emperor penguin populations in Antarctica which means these guys ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Penguin ... are not included.

You've got to read this interview with Dr Robert H Lustig MD who is Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco.
Trust me, it's very insightful and informative!

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2007/1969924.htm

Exactly, in fact exercise is the best treatment. The question is why does exercise work in obesity? Because it burns calories? That's ridiculous. Twenty minutes of jogging is one chocolate chip cookie, I mean you can't do it. One Big Mac requires three hours of vigorous exercise to work that off, that's not the reason that exercise is important, exercise is important for three reasons exclusive of the fact that it burns calories.

The first is it increases skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity, in other words it makes your muscle more insulin sensitive, therefore your pancreas can make less, therefore your levels can drop, therefore there's less insulin in your blood to shunt sugar to fat. That's probably the main reason that exercise is important and I'm totally for it.

How did this get modded up?

Because Conroy was talking it up on National TV less than a fortnight ago.

I've read ten times more on this on non-AU websites than AU ones, and the AU coverage was very late to the mix

let me guess, you read more non-au websites than au websites. December 2007, one month after the current government was elected. that is when it was announced, that is when it first appeared in the news. that is when people first started complaining. late to the mix my ass, you're being modded up when you're just talking out your arse

my Aus friends knew nothing about it before I pointed it out

if your friends fail to read the news, they dont fucking count. you could probably ask them again in a month and they'll look at you blankly and not know what they're talking about. sounds like the problem is you're friends with morons

What I'm questioning is the lack of hindrances up until this point.

politicians dont know jack about technology and refuse to take advice from those who do

What I'm pointing out is the lack of opposition to it BEFORE it got on the news.

this isnt america, we dont rely on fox for our political news. the day it was announced in parliament, it was on the news. it's hard to oppose something that hasnt been announced.

This is actually the Q&A episode with Conroy: http://abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2521164.htm

Yep, I've seen it. It's a masterpiece, example quote...

"A Rudd Labor Government will require ISPs to offer a 'clean feed' internet service to all homes, schools and public internet points accessible by children, such as public libraries".

The government already provides several "mandatory clean feed" broadcast channels and media sites similar to the BBC, it's like our telcos having mandatory universal service obligations to provide phones. Nowhere does it say ISP's can't continue to offer a "dirty feed" to adults.

He was also on Q&A (another show like Insight, but on ABC http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/) last week saying the same thing. Pretty much he's merely using this to support his denial that the list leaked was a real list.

He even states the list is only 1300 sites big, rather than the 1600 that ACMA state. Pretty much it's not a backdown so much as a side step.

Chink in the armour, but not the beast defeated.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/video.htm?pres=20081002&story=1

Conroy also Featured on Q and A last week. I also spent a great deal of Yelling at the TV watching this. He makes so many conflicting statements, it's hard to know what's really going on.

We've dramatically cleaned up our environment ...

Really? Out of sight, out of mind. A garbage tip in the ocean twice the size of the continental United States and getting bigger.

I know you probably won't read it because it's buried under a lot of other comments, but it may well change the statement you made above.

Yes, they are. A proposed plan from the Motor Trader's Association for the Australian Government to provide a $3000 voucher towards the purchase of a new car, if you take your vehicle (which is more than 10 years old) to the wreckers.

Nick Xenophon has gone a little bit past having "lost interest" previously stating his opposition to the filter. He has also stated he isn't convinced the trial should go ahead in its current form:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/27/2503830.htm?site=local

"But I think the means of doing it really are very problematic and when ISP after ISP [are] saying that this won't work, it will slow down the internet for everyone, and it won't deal with the issue of the peer to peer networks that paedophiles use, then I think we really need to rethink this."

More importantly though, you seem to be under the impression that Conroy doesn't understand the political problem here. The last sentence from the above article states it quite nicely:

"A spokesman for Senator Conroy says the Minister is still looking into whether the filter would require legislation, or could be implemented through another means."

He's very aware that this isn't going to get through the legislative process. There are obviously other agendas involved that prevent common sense prevailing.

Stephen Conroy, Australia's Minister for Censorship to appear on ABC's Q&A on Thursday March 26.

Submit your questions people, Thrust

Conroy and ISPs implementing the blacklist confirm that this is a fake: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520929.htm

Would they say anything else? Also Conroy appears to be a "career politician" so it's probably wise to take anything he says with a few kg of salt :)

For those who follow such things, Senator Conroy is going to be on the panel for next Thursday night's Q&A on the ABC. I think it's high time the Senator took some questions on the subject in front of a live studio audience and on national TV, since he's spent the better part of 15 months ignoring everyone and accusing people of equating free speech with child pornography.

For those who follow such things, Senator Conroy is going to be on the panel for next Thursday night's Q&A on the ABC. I think it's high time the Senator took some questions on the subject in front of a live studio audience and on national TV, since he's spent the better part of 15 months ignoring everyone and accusing people of equating free speech with child pornography.

Don't forget you can watch this show via ABC's awesome iView service. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/iview/

Q&A is available under the "CatchUp" section.

Conroy and ISPs implementing the blacklist confirm that this is a fake:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520929.htm

I read about this earlier today; news media really have to check WikiLeaks out carefully before reporting it.

I think the black-list is absurd, it's baffling that we can actually have censorship here in Australia, and my reps know how I feel at least. But I don't think stunts like this help :-(

"There are some common URLs to those on the ACMA blacklist. However, ACMA advises that there are URLs on the published list that have never been the subject of a complaint or ACMA investigation, and have never been included on the ACMA blacklist," he [the minister] said.

Also, one of the ISPs involved in the testing confirmed that this list is not the ACMA list. More news coverage here on the ABC

After noticing the ABC report (3 hrs after published at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/19/2520591.htm), wikileaks is currently not accessible. AFAIK, my ISP is not part of the recent filtering trials, so dont know why I am being blocked. Will need to do a little digging. In the meantime, it would be interesting to know if others can reach the site, and especially the AU blacklist page.

A few years ago on the Australian version of "Big Brother" a failure in the vote counting process resulted in them "evicting" the wrong person... the evictee went back in, the votes were recounted and the "right" person was evicted: here. The company involved - Legion - is also responsible for Australian Idol SMS voting.

All this resulted in more hype and publicity and advertising dollars for the show, of course.

If you want to understand the origins of 'interent closing', read
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s1358912.htm
"Family First: A Federal Crusade"

"Because basically we know we have to be as wise as a snake but gentle as a dove, because if we've got to get out there to the world and try and change values, we can't go out there being a Christian party cause most of the world will wipe us off."

A lot religious moves in the background, hidden, whispers to mainstream left and right politics.

TeleConference!

But they're not the only ones likely to be tele-
conferencing... many of their senior colleagues
will (and - I feel - should) be queuing for the
teleconferencing room / line, as well.

In fact, here in AU, there are serious proposals
that tax payers fund teleconferencing systems -
rather than costly overseas "study trips" for MPs.

It's part of a long list of better ways to reduce
AU's rates of carbon emissions -and- improve our
cost per Km travelled (even when driving a car),
listed and discussed here:

    Melbourne computer programmer, Geoff Hudson's
      "The Manhattan Project for climate change"

    Transcript:
      http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2514433.htm#transcript

    PodcastMP3:
      http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/03/orr_20090315.mp3

Audio runs about 13 min; its podcase ~6.3 MB
well worth a listen... if we could only get
Aussie MPs to consider it, we'd be right.

Re: Teleconferencing

If it's good enough for TV news and current
events, it's ready to be brought our, dusted
off & used in corporate & gov't circles...

ie, after suitable security enhancements are
added to otherwise fine models from the past.

TeleConference!

But they're not the only ones likely to be tele-
conferencing... many of their senior colleagues
will (and - I feel - should) be queuing for the
teleconferencing room / line, as well.

In fact, here in AU, there are serious proposals
that tax payers fund teleconferencing systems -
rather than costly overseas "study trips" for MPs.

It's part of a long list of better ways to reduce
AU's rates of carbon emissions -and- improve our
cost per Km travelled (even when driving a car),
listed and discussed here:

    Melbourne computer programmer, Geoff Hudson's
      "The Manhattan Project for climate change"

    Transcript:
      http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2514433.htm#transcript

    PodcastMP3:
      http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2009/03/orr_20090315.mp3

Audio runs about 13 min; its podcase ~6.3 MB
well worth a listen... if we could only get
Aussie MPs to consider it, we'd be right.

Re: Teleconferencing

If it's good enough for TV news and current
events, it's ready to be brought our, dusted
off & used in corporate & gov't circles...

ie, after suitable security enhancements are
added to otherwise fine models from the past.

Really?

A closed mouth gathers no feet. I suggest you heed this advice.

Recall Electron and Phoenix? http://www.abc.net.au/tv/documentaries/stories/s853348.htm
"and the first time computer data had been recorded and used as evidence in Australia."

As a first step, the cops should target one of their own for secret investigation. Will they do it?

I agree with you, However there are two issues that come to mind

1) the mind set : police in australia will not arrest there own. http://blogs.news.com.au/news/crime/index.php/news/comments/policing_the_police/

2) Investigations into police can bring up more dirt then they can handle . http://www.theage.com.au/national/police-watchdog-sacks-own-investigator-20090304-8oic.html

How would Peter Costello or Nathan Rees react if they were targeted for such an investigation?

The investigators would be told to cease. The powers that be know that the damage would be too great.

Why don't the politicians confiscate the super annuation of corrupt politicians ? What prevents them passing such a law?

[sarcasm warning] What are you suggesting that they get denied there right? every politician knows that if they serve the time they get the rewards.

Also for a lot of politicians its there retirement fund, imagine if they got caught doing something naughty and they had to go into a nursing home with the great unwashed - (the horror)

And last of all, why are politicians around the world so intent on destroying the last shred of privacy of the Common man under the guise of terrorism? First USA (thanks Bush), UK, Australia, Germany and lastly even Canada. Why?

there bastards

This is a positive step AFAIK.

Oh really? If you were a New South Welshman, would you rethink that knowing these tidbits?

From the first article:

These powers are more powerful than those available to the federal police when dealing with terrorism suspects," NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy said. "These are exactly the types of laws that led to a huge police corruption problem in NSW in the past. It is going to lead to more police corruption. Why would the NSW Police need more power in dealing with ordinary criminals than the federal police does in dealing with terrorists?

And from the second:

Police have welcomed the new laws but Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman says they are open to abuse.

"Clearly, if the police are able to search a person's home without anyone being present, the police will be in the position to plant evidence," he said.

If you think this is just tinfoil hat paranoia, perhaps you haven't heard of the Wood Royal Commission. There's good reason to be wary of the police of NSW, and I say that despite being someone who might not be alive today were it not for a detective's hard work.

As a first step, the cops should target one of their own for secret investigation. Will they do it?
How would Peter Costello or Nathan Rees react if they were targeted for such an investigation?
Why don't the politicians confiscate the super annuation of corrupt politicians?
What prevents them passing such a law?
And last of all, why are politicians around the world so intent on destroying the last shred of privacy of the Common man under the guise of terrorism?
First USA (thanks Bush), UK, Australia, Germany and lastly even Canada.
Why?

Actually, Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki has already won the ignobel prize from 2002 for a very similar belly button lint study.

See here.

Man, he REALLY wasted 3 years. Australia's Dr Karl Kruszelnicki accepted an Ig Nobel award in Boston for just such a study back in 2002...

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/ .

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki won an Ignoble Prize in 2002 for his great Belly Button Lint Survey

I refer you to the theories page for prior research in this area.

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki won an Ignoble Prize in 2002 for his great Belly Button Lint Survey

I refer you to the theories page for prior research in this area.

The actual survey, from 2002, is at http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/

This is old news. Dr Karl completed a survey and concluded the same result back in 2002. Ref: http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/

No they make up headlines that will grab your attention obese children should be taken from parents http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=obese+children+to+be+taken+from+parents the real story the doctor never said that http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2499114.htm