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Not here in the good ole "feel lucky to have a job slaveboy" USA. You get 6 weeks of unpaid leave in which there are really no guarantees. I know so many self sufficient 6 week olds, that this makes total fucking sense. Add to this the fact that in the US:

Child care workers are some of the most poorly paid workers in the country
Chlid care costs tend to run more than a mortgage (about $300-$400)
The housing market has been driven in part by 2 income households and an aging population, so the choice of a mother leaving work is often followed by a decision to raise junior in a storage shed

Once you think of it in terms of the US being the agar for Social Darwinism, it all becomes a little clearer.

This is fairly old news. I remember reading about these devices in the Chicago Tribune over a year ago. There is a little more info here. I don't know what the current status of it is in Illinois, though. Hell, Chicago cops will take you out and beat you for a lot less, so use at your own risk.

Of course it's not foolproof, as they'll always be accidents that aren't on camera. If nothing else though, it makes for fun viewing when you're bored out of your mind on a Friday afternoon.

Coleman did NOT win because his opponents were horrible. Two things happened to allow him to win the election:

1) Wellstone (who would have likely won re-election) was killed in a plane crash 1 week before the election.

2) A few days later, at Wellstone's wake, some asshat giving a speech turned it into a political rally. This little stunt really offended a lot of Democrat voters that would have voted for Mondale otherwise. It also galvanized many GOP voters to get out and vote for Coleman.

As I recall, there was a record turnout of voters, which was impressive when you consider the fact that it was not a Presidental election. Coleman won with 49.53% of the vote to Mondale's 47.34%. Hell, there was 11,381 people who voted for Wellstone!

2002 MN Senate Election Results

I like the idea of sharing files by musicians who give you permission. Besides promoting the right people, you make it harder for these dummies to do their impossible job. Shutting down all such alternate distribution is what this all about anyway. Give them exactly what they don't want.

If you are in the west coast, you have to stop by a Fry's Electronics (for some who mentioned Fry's only thinking it was not nessisary to add the electronics part, there is a chain of Supermarkets in Arizona called "Fry's").

And if you are in Minnesoda, you have to stop by the Soudan Under Ground Mine. Why? Because they got one cool High Energy Physics Lab down there, and they give tours too!

If you are in the west coast, you have to stop by a Fry's Electronics (for some who mentioned Fry's only thinking it was not nessisary to add the electronics part, there is a chain of Supermarkets in Arizona called "Fry's").

And if you are in Minnesoda, you have to stop by the Soudan Under Ground Mine. Why? Because they got one cool High Energy Physics Lab down there, and they give tours too!

Except here in the state of hockey, where a check is something you give someone when you really want the puck. Major difference between cheque and check.

Those of us in Minnesota always pay taxes on goods purchased over the internet or otherwise. It is called Use tax, and the idea is it protects our local business - while generating revenue for the state as an after thought... (I don't buy it either)

Nothing here to see - move along...

In my state, the Revisor of Statutes claims a copyright on the law. They started doing this right after Jesse Ventura left office.

I bet the press would eat that up

If you mean the press would swallow the evidence to hide it from the public, you're probably right. Who do you think 'they' are anyway?

Plural never gets an apostrophe.

Unless they are acronyms, other abbreviations, or numbers where adding a simple 's' may cause confusion: http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/bill_drafting_m anual/Chapter%2012.htm#a1203

A charge of murder requires premeditation of the act of murder.

I think you, and several other posters, are confused about the charge (and degrees) of "Murder".

The dictionary definition of murder indicates "The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice." (emphasis added). Note that premeditation is not a mutually inclusive condition.

Some definitions, according to state statutes that I could find handily, but are essentially portable to most states in America, and quite similar to Canada's laws (if I can find them, I'll follow-up with them)

1. Murder in the First Degree
2. Murder in the Second Degree
3. Murder in the Third Degree

Additionally, there are manslaughter charges, which tend to be lesser. I believe you'll find that the minimum charge applicable to this case is Murder in the Third Degree, with Second Degree a definite possibility depending on the prosecutor and judge/jury.

You are correct, however, that drunk driving does not equate to premeditation, in that the driver does not, by virtue of consuming alcohol in and of itself, predetermine the taking of a specific human life. I'm sure there have been first degree murders committed while intoxicated, likely some comitted with a motor vehicle, but that's a whole nother kettle of fish.

Premeditation could be anything from I planned for three weeks that I was going to kill someone to I decided 5 seconds before I pulled the trigger.

Not quite. Premeditation, by nature, requires that you commit an act with the specific intention of carrying out a particular objective. If you've already got the gun in the store and kill someone as a side-effect of the armed robbery, the murder was not premeditated. You'd have to plan to kill a patron or the clerk and carry out the robbery with that intention in mind to be considered for premeditation. Of course, the prosecutor has to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that you did, in fact, premeditate the murder, otherwise the charge would be lesser.

Of course, you can take all of this with a suitable quantity of NaCL, due to the IANAL factor.

A charge of murder requires premeditation of the act of murder.

I think you, and several other posters, are confused about the charge (and degrees) of "Murder".

The dictionary definition of murder indicates "The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice." (emphasis added). Note that premeditation is not a mutually inclusive condition.

Some definitions, according to state statutes that I could find handily, but are essentially portable to most states in America, and quite similar to Canada's laws (if I can find them, I'll follow-up with them)

1. Murder in the First Degree
2. Murder in the Second Degree
3. Murder in the Third Degree

Additionally, there are manslaughter charges, which tend to be lesser. I believe you'll find that the minimum charge applicable to this case is Murder in the Third Degree, with Second Degree a definite possibility depending on the prosecutor and judge/jury.

You are correct, however, that drunk driving does not equate to premeditation, in that the driver does not, by virtue of consuming alcohol in and of itself, predetermine the taking of a specific human life. I'm sure there have been first degree murders committed while intoxicated, likely some comitted with a motor vehicle, but that's a whole nother kettle of fish.

Premeditation could be anything from I planned for three weeks that I was going to kill someone to I decided 5 seconds before I pulled the trigger.

Not quite. Premeditation, by nature, requires that you commit an act with the specific intention of carrying out a particular objective. If you've already got the gun in the store and kill someone as a side-effect of the armed robbery, the murder was not premeditated. You'd have to plan to kill a patron or the clerk and carry out the robbery with that intention in mind to be considered for premeditation. Of course, the prosecutor has to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that you did, in fact, premeditate the murder, otherwise the charge would be lesser.

Of course, you can take all of this with a suitable quantity of NaCL, due to the IANAL factor.

A charge of murder requires premeditation of the act of murder.

I think you, and several other posters, are confused about the charge (and degrees) of "Murder".

The dictionary definition of murder indicates "The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice." (emphasis added). Note that premeditation is not a mutually inclusive condition.

Some definitions, according to state statutes that I could find handily, but are essentially portable to most states in America, and quite similar to Canada's laws (if I can find them, I'll follow-up with them)

1. Murder in the First Degree
2. Murder in the Second Degree
3. Murder in the Third Degree

Additionally, there are manslaughter charges, which tend to be lesser. I believe you'll find that the minimum charge applicable to this case is Murder in the Third Degree, with Second Degree a definite possibility depending on the prosecutor and judge/jury.

You are correct, however, that drunk driving does not equate to premeditation, in that the driver does not, by virtue of consuming alcohol in and of itself, predetermine the taking of a specific human life. I'm sure there have been first degree murders committed while intoxicated, likely some comitted with a motor vehicle, but that's a whole nother kettle of fish.

Premeditation could be anything from I planned for three weeks that I was going to kill someone to I decided 5 seconds before I pulled the trigger.

Not quite. Premeditation, by nature, requires that you commit an act with the specific intention of carrying out a particular objective. If you've already got the gun in the store and kill someone as a side-effect of the armed robbery, the murder was not premeditated. You'd have to plan to kill a patron or the clerk and carry out the robbery with that intention in mind to be considered for premeditation. Of course, the prosecutor has to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that you did, in fact, premeditate the murder, otherwise the charge would be lesser.

Of course, you can take all of this with a suitable quantity of NaCL, due to the IANAL factor.

I'd say about 50% of poor people are poor because they're stupid, and the other 50% are poor because they're oppressed

What the heck does this mean? The poor are no more "oppressed" than the rich are. If a rich guy doesn't pay his bills, you can bet that people are going to go after them just as much as a poor man that doesn't pay.

I'd also say that about 20% of rich people are rich because they're shrewd, and the other 80% are rich because they're priveleged...it's not WHAT you know, it's WHO you know

And I'd say that you are full of crap. If knowledge had absolutely no bearing on your wealth, why is it that a college graduate earns 60% more on average than somebody with a high school diploma? While I don't deny that some people are rich because of a priveleged position that they were in, it is certainly not a limiting factor. Some of the richest people in the world started out without knowing anybody (think of the Sam Waltons and Bill Gates of the world).

while another man - with just as much talent and integrity - is forced to work at McDonalds and get nickeled-and-dimed to death...

I would say this other man is most definately not as talented, otherwise he wouldn't be working for McDonalds. It doesn't take any talent at all to sit around and bemoan the great injustices that have been heaped upon you, while blaming the rich or privileged for all of your problems. A truly talented person would find a way to use his skills constructively, regardless of this position.

There's gotta be a better way.

Well, thats fine and dandy. A typical leftist approach is to find fault with anything they disagree with, but when it comes to actually providing a constructive alternative, they suddenly fall silent.

I'll give you a hint. Currently, there is not a better way than the way we do things. Capitalism is the only system that has shown constant success over the past 200+ years. Note that the alternatives have all been dismal failures.

You assume the sensor is "dead," but these traffic management systems set ramp meters based on conditions further down the road. Traffic may be rushing towards a stop. Minneapolis-St. Paul has had these sensors and ramp meters for years now. One of State Senators got a bug up his backside about them and forced MnDOT to do a "study" (well, it was a real study) that involved shutting down all the ramp meters for weeks. The results? A disaster. Congestion increased severly on most roads. Most trips *increased* in drive time (yes, even when you include time spent being an "asshat" at a ramp meter).

The interesting thing was that this was not 100% true. Some routes got better. And drive times improved over the course of the study, although they didn't come back to anywhere near as good (on average) as they were before metering. In other words, people found alternate routes.

One outcome of this was the appearence of lighted arrow signs along side streets of the most congested highways that come on to point motorists on to alternate routes when congestion is severe. Unlike the ramp meters, these are mere suggestions. But it seems to have improved things.

Transit is a huge political issue here. The Republicans took over Minnesota government last election largely by promising massive road building instead of public transit. That's pretty remarkable for MN which has long been considered a Democratic stronghold. People get "het up" about traffic.

Traffic metering WORKS. Sure, you get annoyed waiting on the ramps, but they really do improve travel time.

Oh yeah, the study did improve their meter rates. They were able to speed some meters up and slow some others down and *improve* travel times over the pre-study metering system. It didn't stop me cursing that senator every time I commuted during the study! BTW, in 2001, when the study was done, there were 233 metered ramps in the metro area during the morning rush, and 283 metered ramps in the afternoon rush. I don't really know how many meters exist now, although MnDOT's web site could probably tell you. They have data on the study and its aftermath on their web site.

We've had the traffic mapping info for a long time Here!

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/tmc/trafficinfo/map/ref reshmap.html Though it seems that only central Minneapolis/St. Paul is working right now.. could it be the mounds of snow?

Super-black

here's a pic of a frog with 6 legs

Use tax protects Minnesota businesses from unfair competition. If tax is not paid on items brought into your community, the local businesses are at a competitive disadvantage.

"It will put the white box manufacturers out of business, that's why HP is doing it"

"doubt that companies that get their PC's manufactured in Taiwan will have to pay the fee."

aws like this do nothing but raise costs for consumers. Does anyone in their right mind think HP, etc., will simply eat the cost of this? No. The only reason they're doing it is because it's in California (home base of American liberalism), and if they don't, they'll be totally demonized by militant environmentalists and human rights activists playing on your emotions rather than hard, scientific data.

I love posters that can't think about the consquences of their actions. Once you have kids you begin wondering about the type of legacy you leave behind. I guess we can just tell our kids "Sorry the environment is toxic but some slashdotter wanted to save $35." Get real

Check out Kennecott Copper Mine near Salt Lake City, UT. Don't worry, you'll be able to find it. It's purportedly one of two man-made features on Earth visible from space with the naked eye, the other being the Great Wall of China. (I don't think they're counting reservoirs.) If you arrive at the right time of day, you can watch them blast away the hillside using tons of explosives. The entire site is crawling with huge trucks and steamshovels, trains, pipelines and the like. The complex stretches for miles and miles, and there's a lot of interesting industrial stuff to see around the area in addition to the tour itself.

Another cool tour is the Soudan Underground Mine State Park in Soudan, MN. They run you deep, deep underground in an old iron mine, and show you what it was like working a mile below the surface. That's also where the University of Minnesota built their cosmic ray detection lab.

I think that at this point in the development of capitalism, every inhabitant of the planet is born in the sucker list. And there are fewer ways out each day...

Some places are doing something about the telemarketing problem. For example, Minnesota recently created a list for residents who don't want to be cold-called by for-profit companies. Said companies are required to re-purchase fresh copies of the list a few times a year if they want to do telemarketing in the state. Something like 30% of the state had signed up in the first few weeks.

Non-Minnesotans might consider asking their representatives for their own such list...

My educated guess would be that the PUC also oversees broadband as a "telecom" utility. I know they do oversee other public utilities I did not mention, such as your local water works. I suggest Googling for the PUC for your particular state, and start asking them questions. For instance, the MNPUC site has a complaint page where you can get more info, but you must file a complaint with the PUC in the state you live in.

The PUC is your best friend. I have a friend that had a subscription with T-Mobile. Their service was horrible and customer service was always jerking him around and billing was charging him for hundreds of text messages he never used. I kept telling him to threaten them with calling the PUC. One day he did it. They immediate dropped all the false charges and kissed his ass.

Each state has it's own PUC, for instance, this is Minnesota's. As you can see, they control telecom, electric, and gas. PUC really is your friend. For instance, PUC is responsible for penalizing Qwest for anti-competitive business practices.

I'm not sure what the point is - here in Minnesota you pay Use tax when you buy it out of state. If you bought it over the net or used a postcard, buy over $770 of hardware as an individual you (should) pay Use tax...

I'm sure every state is different - thus the proposal. But as a customer, now I need to know if the other state is charging taxes, what the rate is so I can get credit, blah... It just puts the burden right back on my sholders.

There's no great mystery; all of the chemicals are common

Have you ever put together a PC out of common components? But one component is not exactly compatible with the others? Guess what? It doesn't work. The fact that these are common components is completely irrelevant. That the components are common certainly helps. But that in itself does not guarentee anything! What is your point? That if I walk into a computer store full of 'common' components I should expect to see them randomly and magically assembling themselves into working systems? I don't think so.

The point here is that there is a very exact set of steps that must be followed in a very precise order with an exact set of components in a very exact environment to get the expected results. If any of these components is missing or has the wrong timing or is in the wrong order, at best nothing will happen, and at worst you could destroy the system.

Each component by itself accomplishes nothing! It has no evolutionary benefit in and of itself. It is only in the complex coordination with other components that the benefit occurs. And this is exactly where the problem lies. If none of these components, in isolation, provide any benefit to the creature, then how does natural selection occur?

Let me remind you that natural selection is the process whereby small random changes occur to the makeup of a species over many, many generations. Beneficial changes accrue over time and eventually produce a species which is stronger/better/faster then the original.

However, random variation can also produce random harmful changes as well. (Remember the deformed frogs in Minesota. If random variation is always so good, then why didn't super frogs result from these mutations instead of deformed frogs?) Any particular small random change competes with other beneficial or harmful random changes. If it is not immediately helpful, it is just as likely to benignly fade from the gene pool or, worse, be harmful the species.

In the case of the bombadier beetle, we have about a dozen components which must be arranged and used in a very precise configuration. None of these components, in isolation, provides any particular evolutionary benefit to the creature, and in fact, has the potential for being harmful to the creature if used in the wrong configuration. The assertion that you can randomly combine common components to get sophisticated behavior is patently absurd, especially when none of the components in isolation can support that complex behavior or when the components in the wrong combination could be harmful.

This is the problem of 'irreducible complexity' which Darwinists ignore by saying things like: "There's no great mystery here; all of the components are quite common." This completely misses the point.

Minnesota has a nice worksheet to calculate payoff here, on the 6th page of the document. The "example" appears to be a fairly reasonable case for their state, and that calculates out at 8.8 years. I note that it does not include the normal (modest) maintenance costs, but there's also no tax benefit column.

Want to use the Minnesota "payoff time" information to see whether you want to plant a windmill? Use National Renewable Energy Laboratory maps.

http://www.blockislandtimes.com/News/2001/0303/Fro nt_Page/01.html

http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/oct01/adtown11 101001a.asp

There are probably several statutes with similar prohibitions. I see that in MN also both state and local road authorities are prohibited from doing business with persons convicted of a contract crime.

Hmm. I don't have time to look into it very much, but MN state law has the word "must" in it... http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/arule/1230/3200 . tml

IANAL either, but for some reason I looked it up. From the Minnesota state site here.

609.59 Possession of burglary or theft tools.

Whoever has in possession any device, explosive, or other instrumentality with intent to use or permit the use of the same to commit burglary or theft may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than three years or to payment of a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.


So they would have to prove intent. If they pull you over for speeding, it would be hard to prove that you were in a hurry to commit a crime.

If you live in MN and want to talk to your reps (I know I do), find out who represents you.

If you live in MN and want to talk to your reps (I know I do), find out who represents you.

If you live in MN and want to talk to your reps (I know I do), find out who represents you.

For those who are interested, here's a link to the bill itself: http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/cgi-bin/getbill . l?number=SF3272&session=ls82&version=latest&sessio n_number=0&session_year=2002. It doesn't say a whole lot more than the article, except that it defines the scope of "customer information" in more detail.

Are there any states that have great PUCs from the point of view of the consumer?

Great? No. But the PUCs are often the most effective resource a consumer has for ensuring quality service. They have the teeth to quickly (relatively) levy fines or requirements upon offending corps. On the other hand, the FCC, as a national policy making agency, is not very responsive to regional service issues, and its current management has a heavily laissez-faire attitude.

The telcos offering DSL know this, and that is why they have consistently argued that the PUCs have no authority to regulate online service, seeking to distinguish it from a utility such as normal telephone.

I am personally glad that the PUC in my state (MN) decided to extend its reach and require Qwest to quit its deceptive MSN transfer policy.

Any resource that a customer can employ to help in untenable service situations is currently a Good Thing, since the monopolistic telcos have felt no incentive to provide decent service.

This lack of incentive is due to the failure of deregulation to spurn competition. It has only served to provide temporarily higher profit margins (or rather, lower losses) for the already incumbent monopolies, who spend every last dime trying to build up entry barriers to their market.

Like the other poster said, there's plenty of nature to be found. Along the river is a great place, not just by the Stone Arch Bridge either. There's a trail system along both side of the river through most of the city. Then there's the Fort Snelling State Park, the lakes, and the Minnehaha Parkway. When I lived near downtown I rode by bike through the Grand Rounds nearly every day.

Every state does have its own unique domain, though: state.xx.us (e.g. state.pa.us, state.mn.us, and so on, though some are migrating to statename.gov). It's been that way for a long while.

I already have a champion against greed and extortion.

Heat is a terrible thing to waste. Mine will make coffee.

Many states have their own debt. I also live in MN, and thankfully, our public debt is almost all bond issues to spread the cost of infrastructure over its useful lifetime. According to the MN state treasurer, we have about $2.5 billion in outstanding bond payments.

Realize that the average background noise in a residential home *without* computers is about 50dB. That means 34dB is well below the noise floor in the average home.

Remember that your computer has fans. Fans produce noise. If you can produce only 34dB from your computer then you're doing pretty well.

specs for building roads in MN from MNDOT

Signs, Signals, and Pavement Markings from the Dept of Public Safety.

specs for building roads in MN from MNDOT

Signs, Signals, and Pavement Markings from the Dept of Public Safety.

If the law cannot be distributed freely, this might explain why I couldn't find a definition of Minnesota highway markings and sign standards. MN Statute 169.06 merely states that the Department of Transportation commissioner will adopt a uniform manual, and excludes that manual from several regulations -- including public notice publication. I wonder how many other such things are tucked away.

What a LOAD! If you are under 21 the only way you can have alcohol is in church (and that little thimble of wine is all you'll get there) or your parent's home (with their permission of course).

Unless there is some extension specific to Indiana or Fort Wayne that I don't know about, this sounds like a dad making excuses (or perhaps there are extenuating circumstances). Alcohol laws are vary state by state. Here the MN State Law that very clearly states that persons under 21 are allowed to drink in their parents' homes.

The government has been very loathe over the years (and you can thank the Republicans and their ideological type for this) to interfere with families, for better or worse. It's Democrats with their Nanny State that won't let parents be parents, but are all too willing to sue everyone in sight, including parents, when something goes wrong with kids whose parents were basically hog-tied.

Now obviously this does not extend to giving children large and dangerous doses of alcohol. That would be reckless and dangerous. But a glass of wine or beer with a meal? I've known parents who would cringe at the thought, but I think healthy families with normal chemical use patterns would see nothing amiss here (this is not intended to be a statement about you and your family in particular, please don't take offense).

To stay on topic, this law against certain video games sounds dumb as hell to begin with. Video games are a popular target right now since they have "arrived" as a mass media. But parents have every right in this case to forbid their minor children from even entering the arcade if they have a problem with the games. If an arcade owner can make a "clean" arcade which is profitable, this is surely a niche market worth tapping-- assuming that parents whose children spend enough time in arcades to be affected by the games there give enough of a shit about their child's well-being to begin with.

Typewriter ribbons and carbon paper have been used as a source of text during investigations for decades (plastic or film ribbons since 1959). The FBI teaches ribbon examination. There are cases with ribbons as evidence.