As others have commented, Neo is already a superman. He can discover his powers, but he's not going to get better.
He may not get better, but he can always discover more powers. Not that he would need to, he got to be pretty godlike there at the end.
Keanu can't act -- he has only one expression, confused befuddlement. The director of Matrix used that perfectly. It's not appropriate now that he's superman.
They can teach him a new expression. They just need to decide on one that is appropriate to the second movie and he can practice it in a mirror every day. Then when they start shooting, he can just use that expression throughout the movie. It worked for the first, it can work again.
The Matrix's best feature was the Unknown. It's not there anymore. Don't pretend it is!
We know only what they told us in the first. They could go deeper with the second. They could open new doors. The situation inside Zion could be the source of a really good story. I'm sure they've been reading a lot of the opinions and critiques of the movie. Let's just wait and see what they do with it.
We obviously don't want the kid to have been made to feel like he was an outcast, or violated some thought code...
Well, since teachers are going to do things like this now anyway, they might as well show at least a little restraint. If you've decided to do something to the kid, it seems like counseling would be a much better choice than jail. Especially considering the fact that he was writing the scary story at the request of the teacher. By counseling the student, they would have at least shown that they tried to get him help, whether he actually needed it or not. Instead, he is tossed in jail, which would probably do a lot more to alienate and anger him than any amount of counseling. Especially when he didn't actually commit a crime. If a counsellor thinks he needs real professional help, then his parents should see that he gets it. Nobody needs to go to jail when no crime has been committed.
Do you really want someone who says "I'm going to kill Bill Clinton" to be free from any questioning?
That depends on the context of the statement. In the case of the kid who wrote the story, he was asked to write a fictional story, which he did. Why then was it taken as a "terrorist threat?"
In this case, a kid wrote an essay that was genuinely disturbing. While throwing him in jail may have been a bit much, I think asking him about it, counseling him for it, etc. were entirely appropriate!
Disturbing to whom? I read many such stories when I was in school. Kids wrote stuff like that sometimes. It's immature, but not really disturbing. Sure, if they're really worried, get the kid some counseling. Their reaction was a lot more criminal than the kid's story.
The problem isn't Texas culture. People here aren't that much different than people in other places in the country. Of course there are some exceptions, people who take things too far, but you can find those kinds of people anywhere.
Texas will always be about 100 years behind most states
What are you yammering about here? Give an example at least. Generalizing about something that you obviously don't know much about just makes you look stupid.
So we should say nothing unless we have first-hand experience of incident? I doubt it. We respond based on the facts as they were presented to us. If those facts turn out to be incorrect, as they did in Littleton, we will then respond to the updated version of the facts. Nobody is believing everything they read or see on tv. The net, newspapers, and tv just happen to be the best methods of getting news from other places. If the facts are sometimes wrong, then so be it. We'll just have to revise our thinking and opinions when the actual facts come in.
You make me laugh. As soon as you're tossed in jail for 20 years or more for a crime you didn't commit, then you can talk about how it's a necessary thing because we don't live in a perfect world. Until then, your opinion carries very little weight.
As for dealing with bullies, your experience is your own and not indicative of anything. If you were actually able to beat other people up, then I can assure you that your experience was not the same as mine. There were many times when I wished I had a gun. I wouldn't have wanted to actually kill anyone, (although there were a couple of people who I am pretty sure aren't really human... they couldn't be...) but I would have liked to shoot them in the shoulder or leg or something like that. It wasn't because I'm a violent person, it's just that I would have liked to see them understand what it's like to have someone else hurt you and not be able to do anything about it.
Don't fall into the delusion that just because something is true for you, it is true for everyone.
I'd like to ask you to take your own advice as well. You are probably no more representative of the people here than I am, or anyone else is. We've all had our own experiences and while some of us may have a lot in common, we're all different.
I don't think you can really compare a college student with a seveth grader. Unless Beamon was told not to use real names in his story, I don't think he did anything wrong. There is also the point that he was told to write a scary story, rather than just writing and posting it on his own. The situations are not the same and I don't think they are even comparable.
1) the kids were asked to write a scary story about being home alone and hearing noises.
I'm sure he wasn't the only one to change the premise of the story. Happened all the time when I was in school.
2) the kid has been a "disciplinary problem" for a while.
There are always kids who are "disciplinary problems." That doesn't mean they should be tossed in jail. He was asked to write a fictional story. He did that. Somehow they decide that it's not really a fictional story, but a terrorist threat. Who made that leap of logic?
3) the essays were not graded
This hardly matters.
Sounds like a jerk of a kid trying to cause trouble.
You're probably right. Usually kids like that spent a lot of time in detention, not jail.
What I'd like to see is something useful in my area (Texas). We need something to take care of our little fire ant problem. Maybe a robo-anteater or a miniature bug-like critter that could run around invading ant mounds and assassinating the queen ants. The fire ant problem has spread from Texas to halfway up California and everywhere in between in the west. It's gone all the way to Florida and as far north as South Carolina (IIRC) in the east. There are some patches where they haven't gotten to yet, but it's not looking good.
I'd love to see a robo-critter created to help fight these nasty imported bugs. At least those bullet ants haven't made it here yet. If they ever do, I think I'll be moving farther north.
I think it's probably too late. The way they've already hyped DVD, it would generate some serious hostility towards the studios. You think people will just forget that the studios told them how great DVD was so that they would go out and buy a 500 dollar player, and then dropped them because they changed their mind? Lawsuits would probably fly if that happens.
I think it was a British company that was outbid. I read that it was Boeing and AirBus that were involved. I agree though, that if this is what is happening, things are definitely not under control. Congress has tried to look into this. Unfortunately, the NSA doesn't want to cooperate, and Congress doesn't seem to have the authority to force them to.
Do you honestly believe that the soldiers of country X would be more likely to be defeated after that?
No, I don't think they would. But that wasn't my point. The point is that the threat of such a strike would deter country X from invading in the first place. In that sense, I think the missiles are quite effective at keeping country Y secure.
Sounds like you want something more like a PalmVII (for wireless Internet Access) with color and probably a lot more memory. Doubt you'll find what you want for $300. Not for a while anyway.
But using your scenerio, lets say prior to country Y firing missile one, country X invades country Y--how effective are those missiles now?
Still quite effective. What are those soldiers invading for? Their families and lives are about to be nuked into oblivion. Might make everyone a bit less eager to invade each other, huh?
Well, that several thousands $$$ is an investment in a multi-purpose entertainment device.
Umm.. it's just a tv with a nice picture. I thought my PC was a multi-purpose entertainment device. I can play music on it, games, surf the web, watch tv, watch a movie, and even do real work! And it costs less than an HDTV. (although the picture is a few inches smaller)
Hmm.. so they want a cheap 'puter, but they'll shell out several thousand for an HDTV? It's probably not an immediate problem for Intel. Not for a few more years at least.
Does anyone know if anyone is putting out an Athlon MB with ATA/66 connectors on it? I've looked around, but haven't found one yet. For some reason I haven't been able to boot to my ATA/66 drive with a Promise ULTRA66 card. They couldn't figure it out either. So, I figure I'll just buy a new MB with ATA/66 onboard. Since I'm definitely interested in the Athlon, I thought I'd look for an Athlon board while I'm at it. Anyone seen what I'm looking for?
You missed the point (or the important point, anyway). He stated, correctly, the religious experience is proof to the person who experiences it. Whether it can be proof to others is not at issue: it can't be, at least not directly.
Oh how I wish the faithful would leave it at this. Unfortunately many religions see fit to condemn those who do not share their beliefs and experiences. They seek to either convert people to their beliefs or impose their beliefs on others in the form of laws based on their morality or their beliefs in what their god tells them should be done. Perhaps if more religious people would acknowledge that not everyone shares their beliefs and experiences, we'd have a lot less war, violence, hate, etc., in this world. Maybe not. But at those things would be for a different reason, and probably one that's a bit easier to address than religious beliefs that are held on the basis of a personal experience that cannot be verified or duplicated by anyone else.
I have long held the belief (even during my days as an agnostic) that all human beings have a powerful desire to believe in something unprovable.
While I see what you're getting at, and I agree with you for the most part (I said something similar in another post about this article), I think grouping belief in extraterrestrial life with belief in God(s) is incorrect. I'm not a UFO watcher or an amateur astronomer or any such thing. I just believe that given that incredibly vast number of star systems out there, that it's very probable that life, and more to the point, intelligent life, exists someplace other than on our own planet. Now, this is not as farfetched as you seem to think it is. I do not pretend that they do exist, or that there is a conspiracy to hide that fact from us. I simply think it's a good idea to try to find out.
It's not the same as looking for proof of God. If there is life out there somewhere, it's a physical thing that can be verified. It's not an inner thing or a spiritual thing, we're talking about little green men that you can see with your own eyes. We thought for years that black holes existed. We couldn't prove it though. That doesn't mean they don't exist or that we shouldn't bother to look for them. We've just recently been able to gather more significant evidence in an effort to prove their existance. It's the same idea when we're looking for other life.
Maybe we get lucky and find something. Maybe it takes centuries. Maybe we never find it. Maybe all life on our planet perishes just as life comes into being on another planet somewhere. There's only one way to find out and that is to look for it. Since it isn't something that has any real influence on my life, I don't think it really compares with religion.
Slashdot Mirror
He did make an abrupt jump from waiting at home for his drugs and killing 20 people. That's sort of a red flag.
I thought it was "only" 4 people. Either way, I agree that it could be indicative of a problem. Even if it is, jail is definitely not the solution.
As others have commented, Neo is already a superman. He can discover his powers, but he's not going to get better.
He may not get better, but he can always discover more powers. Not that he would need to, he got to be pretty godlike there at the end.
Keanu can't act -- he has only one expression, confused befuddlement. The director of Matrix used that perfectly. It's not appropriate now that he's superman.
They can teach him a new expression. They just need to decide on one that is appropriate to the second movie and he can practice it in a mirror every day. Then when they start shooting, he can just use that expression throughout the movie. It worked for the first, it can work again.
The Matrix's best feature was the Unknown. It's not there anymore. Don't pretend it is!
We know only what they told us in the first. They could go deeper with the second. They could open new doors. The situation inside Zion could be the source of a really good story. I'm sure they've been reading a lot of the opinions and critiques of the movie. Let's just wait and see what they do with it.
We obviously don't want the kid to have been made to feel like he was an outcast, or violated some thought code...
Well, since teachers are going to do things like this now anyway, they might as well show at least a little restraint. If you've decided to do something to the kid, it seems like counseling would be a much better choice than jail. Especially considering the fact that he was writing the scary story at the request of the teacher. By counseling the student, they would have at least shown that they tried to get him help, whether he actually needed it or not. Instead, he is tossed in jail, which would probably do a lot more to alienate and anger him than any amount of counseling. Especially when he didn't actually commit a crime. If a counsellor thinks he needs real professional help, then his parents should see that he gets it. Nobody needs to go to jail when no crime has been committed.
Do you really want someone who says "I'm going to kill Bill Clinton" to be free from any questioning?
That depends on the context of the statement. In the case of the kid who wrote the story, he was asked to write a fictional story, which he did. Why then was it taken as a "terrorist threat?"
In this case, a kid wrote an essay that was genuinely disturbing. While throwing him in jail may have been a bit much, I think asking him about it, counseling him for it, etc. were entirely appropriate!
Disturbing to whom? I read many such stories when I was in school. Kids wrote stuff like that sometimes. It's immature, but not really disturbing. Sure, if they're really worried, get the kid some counseling. Their reaction was a lot more criminal than the kid's story.
The problem isn't Texas culture. People here aren't that much different than people in other places in the country. Of course there are some exceptions, people who take things too far, but you can find those kinds of people anywhere.
Texas will always be about 100 years behind most states
What are you yammering about here? Give an example at least. Generalizing about something that you obviously don't know much about just makes you look stupid.
So we should say nothing unless we have first-hand experience of incident? I doubt it. We respond based on the facts as they were presented to us. If those facts turn out to be incorrect, as they did in Littleton, we will then respond to the updated version of the facts. Nobody is believing everything they read or see on tv. The net, newspapers, and tv just happen to be the best methods of getting news from other places. If the facts are sometimes wrong, then so be it. We'll just have to revise our thinking and opinions when the actual facts come in.
You make me laugh. As soon as you're tossed in jail for 20 years or more for a crime you didn't commit, then you can talk about how it's a necessary thing because we don't live in a perfect world. Until then, your opinion carries very little weight.
As for dealing with bullies, your experience is your own and not indicative of anything. If you were actually able to beat other people up, then I can assure you that your experience was not the same as mine. There were many times when I wished I had a gun. I wouldn't have wanted to actually kill anyone, (although there were a couple of people who I am pretty sure aren't really human... they couldn't be...) but I would have liked to shoot them in the shoulder or leg or something like that. It wasn't because I'm a violent person, it's just that I would have liked to see them understand what it's like to have someone else hurt you and not be able to do anything about it.
Don't fall into the delusion that just because something is true for you, it is true for everyone.
I'd like to ask you to take your own advice as well. You are probably no more representative of the people here than I am, or anyone else is. We've all had our own experiences and while some of us may have a lot in common, we're all different.
I don't think you can really compare a college student with a seveth grader. Unless Beamon was told not to use real names in his story, I don't think he did anything wrong. There is also the point that he was told to write a scary story, rather than just writing and posting it on his own. The situations are not the same and I don't think they are even comparable.
1) the kids were asked to write a scary story about being home alone and hearing noises.
I'm sure he wasn't the only one to change the premise of the story. Happened all the time when I was in school.
2) the kid has been a "disciplinary problem" for a while.
There are always kids who are "disciplinary problems." That doesn't mean they should be tossed in jail. He was asked to write a fictional story. He did that. Somehow they decide that it's not really a fictional story, but a terrorist threat. Who made that leap of logic?
3) the essays were not graded
This hardly matters.
Sounds like a jerk of a kid trying to cause trouble.
You're probably right. Usually kids like that spent a lot of time in detention, not jail.
What I'd like to see is something useful in my area (Texas). We need something to take care of our little fire ant problem. Maybe a robo-anteater or a miniature bug-like critter that could run around invading ant mounds and assassinating the queen ants. The fire ant problem has spread from Texas to halfway up California and everywhere in between in the west. It's gone all the way to Florida and as far north as South Carolina (IIRC) in the east. There are some patches where they haven't gotten to yet, but it's not looking good.
I'd love to see a robo-critter created to help fight these nasty imported bugs. At least those bullet ants haven't made it here yet. If they ever do, I think I'll be moving farther north.
Actually, 1,500 was the cost of the prototype. They went on to say that a mass-produced version would cost a lot less.
I think it's probably too late. The way they've already hyped DVD, it would generate some serious hostility towards the studios. You think people will just forget that the studios told them how great DVD was so that they would go out and buy a 500 dollar player, and then dropped them because they changed their mind? Lawsuits would probably fly if that happens.
I think it was a British company that was outbid. I read that it was Boeing and AirBus that were involved. I agree though, that if this is what is happening, things are definitely not under control. Congress has tried to look into this. Unfortunately, the NSA doesn't want to cooperate, and Congress doesn't seem to have the authority to force them to.
If that was a troll, it was pretty decent even if it was rather blatant. If it wasn't a troll, I pity you.
Do you honestly believe that the soldiers of country X would be more likely to be defeated after that?
No, I don't think they would. But that wasn't my point. The point is that the threat of such a strike would deter country X from invading in the first place. In that sense, I think the missiles are quite effective at keeping country Y secure.
Yes! There should be a FAQ! If only to let us know what this person is talking about.
Sounds like you want something more like a PalmVII (for wireless Internet Access) with color and probably a lot more memory. Doubt you'll find what you want for $300. Not for a while anyway.
But using your scenerio, lets say prior to country Y firing missile one, country X invades country Y--how effective are those missiles now?
Still quite effective. What are those soldiers invading for? Their families and lives are about to be nuked into oblivion. Might make everyone a bit less eager to invade each other, huh?
Don't they get tax writeoffs for most of that stuff? I doubt promoting open source software gets many tax breaks.
Well, that several thousands $$$ is an investment in a multi-purpose entertainment device.
Umm.. it's just a tv with a nice picture. I thought my PC was a multi-purpose entertainment device. I can play music on it, games, surf the web, watch tv, watch a movie, and even do real work! And it costs less than an HDTV. (although the picture is a few inches smaller)
Hmm.. so they want a cheap 'puter, but they'll shell out several thousand for an HDTV? It's probably not an immediate problem for Intel. Not for a few more years at least.
Does anyone know if anyone is putting out an Athlon MB with ATA/66 connectors on it? I've looked around, but haven't found one yet. For some reason I haven't been able to boot to my ATA/66 drive with a Promise ULTRA66 card. They couldn't figure it out either. So, I figure I'll just buy a new MB with ATA/66 onboard. Since I'm definitely interested in the Athlon, I thought I'd look for an Athlon board while I'm at it. Anyone seen what I'm looking for?
You missed the point (or the important point, anyway). He stated, correctly, the religious experience is proof to the person who experiences it. Whether it can be proof to others is not at issue: it can't be, at least not directly.
Oh how I wish the faithful would leave it at this. Unfortunately many religions see fit to condemn those who do not share their beliefs and experiences. They seek to either convert people to their beliefs or impose their beliefs on others in the form of laws based on their morality or their beliefs in what their god tells them should be done. Perhaps if more religious people would acknowledge that not everyone shares their beliefs and experiences, we'd have a lot less war, violence, hate, etc., in this world. Maybe not. But at those things would be for a different reason, and probably one that's a bit easier to address than religious beliefs that are held on the basis of a personal experience that cannot be verified or duplicated by anyone else.
sorry.. had to be done :)
I have long held the belief (even during my days as an agnostic) that all human beings have a powerful desire to believe in something unprovable.
While I see what you're getting at, and I agree with you for the most part (I said something similar in another post about this article), I think grouping belief in extraterrestrial life with belief in God(s) is incorrect. I'm not a UFO watcher or an amateur astronomer or any such thing. I just believe that given that incredibly vast number of star systems out there, that it's very probable that life, and more to the point, intelligent life, exists someplace other than on our own planet. Now, this is not as farfetched as you seem to think it is. I do not pretend that they do exist, or that there is a conspiracy to hide that fact from us. I simply think it's a good idea to try to find out.
It's not the same as looking for proof of God. If there is life out there somewhere, it's a physical thing that can be verified. It's not an inner thing or a spiritual thing, we're talking about little green men that you can see with your own eyes. We thought for years that black holes existed. We couldn't prove it though. That doesn't mean they don't exist or that we shouldn't bother to look for them. We've just recently been able to gather more significant evidence in an effort to prove their existance. It's the same idea when we're looking for other life.
Maybe we get lucky and find something. Maybe it takes centuries. Maybe we never find it. Maybe all life on our planet perishes just as life comes into being on another planet somewhere. There's only one way to find out and that is to look for it. Since it isn't something that has any real influence on my life, I don't think it really compares with religion.