Can you imagine the shit that would fly if the shoe was on the other foot and some american lecturer in russia got sent to a siberian prison?
If our government's (nonexistent) actions regarding the detention of Li Shaomin and other American citizens for "spying" by China are any indication, I'd predict that the shit wouldn't even make it off the ground.
I have to nitpick here... Blade Runner is a decent movie on its own, but it diverged so much from the plot of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? that I can't seriously call it an adaptation. It's like the writer of the script and the director said, "That was a pretty good book, but it really should have happened like this."
The guy who mumbles "something something gotta end it something something" while floating near the airlocks.
Yeah, that would definitely give the phrase "things generally suck" a literal meaning... Or would it be "things blow"? Either way, lots of air movement involved.
Hehehehehehe! That does sound like fun... Or even better, what if you're a disgruntled employee? "Don't piss me off, I've got the BSA on speed-dial..."
I know my desktop box would cause problems... I wanted Win '98, but it came from the OEM with NT on it...
Wow. These people have never watched the World Cup, have they?
Face it, American Football players are pansies. They wear a suit of padded armor to take the same hits that a soccer player takes on a tackle wearing only shinguards and a cup. Soccer safer than football? Hah!
Professional-level gambling is all about how much you're prepared to lose. It's taking the long view instead of short-term "win-lose" tracking. I don't gamble meself, but I have a friend who has aspirations to go pro at poker. But then, I guess "professional" and "fun" are mutually exclusive. --Fesh
I dunno about "logical use"... After all, the guy does say "We created a strategy that others thought was nuts at the time..." A lot of your individual inventors get the same treatment until they start making money on their invention. Then everybody that was laughing originally suddenly want a slice of the action.
Think Xerox. The guy that invented electrostatic printing went to Kodak with a nifty new way to make pictures. When he got laughed out of the office, he started his own company and proceeded to change the world.
If you do something fairly obvious that everyone thinks is nuts and it works, don't you deserve to be rewarded for taking the risk? This is different from the "One-click" scenario in that Amazon patented a process which was being developed concurrently by just about everyone at the same time in order to stifle competition.
Holy cow. That's how this sort of thing should be used. Yeah, the politician gets the benefit of being elected (as cynical as I am about that whole process), but the voters get the recognition that their opinions do indeed matter. This sort of thing would cause me to totally re-evaluate my "my vote doesn't count" and "politicians don't care about representing their constituents, they just milk them for votes" attitude... And if I could get past that, I would no doubt take the time to be one of the "Super Voters" you describe.
Only question is... Does this create a political elite in the voting pool? In other words, do these "Super Voters" represent a special interest that has a lock on the power to get politicians into office, or is it just the apathy of everyone else that makes catering to them so effective? If the former, then the situation is questionable, but in the latter it's pretty much everyone else's fault (including mine) that they have as much sway as they do.
You just supported my point. Thank you for playing. Once again, I ask, what is one to do when favoring legalization tends to get one marginalized and left out of the whole decision making process? What does one do when government makes more money off trying to stop the drug trade than the drug lords do trying to keep it going (never mind police departments that are actively involved in distribution)? If I'm going to be paying for a "War on Drugs" with my taxes, I want a real war, not an excuse to follow me around with cameras everywhere I go. Isn't going to happen, though. Too many people on this side of the border have a vested interest keeping things just the way they are.
Now, after looking at that article, I really want the one with the bipod
A bipod on a water gun has to be one of the most useless things I can think of... You get it set up and you're guaranteed to be standing still. Need I remind anyone how poor a tactic that is in a watergun fight? I think not...
I've got the double-barreled model (forget what the number is offhand)... Was wondering if you could put a fuel in one tank and a strong oxidizer in the other, so they go off when they hit the target and mix. Come to think about it, methanol and decently concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide'd probably work... Or maybe RFNA and whatever you happen to have on hand?
But then again, the oxidizer would probably burn the tank it was in, along with the plastic plumbing... I hear that bleach and brake fluid work though...
Of course the farmers aren't the problem. My point was that growing narcotics is not a "subsistence" activity. If you're dependant on subsistence farming for your survival, keep the plot that's feeding your family well away from the narcotics plot. That way at least you might still be able to eat when the crop-duster flies by.
What are we supposed to do, anyway? Pull a Clear and Present Danger on the drug barons' asses? I'd argue yes, since that would make it a real war on drugs instead of a war on the personal freedoms (Norte Americano and otherwise). But unfortunately, if we were to try, we'd see an international backlash like you wouldn't believe. What to do? Do keep in mind that to get legalization, its advocates would have to stoop to similarly distasteful tactics. Politicians and law enforcement have a cash cow on the line here, and they won't give it up without bloodshed.... Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
There was also an idea to make gigantic ships out of ice... Well, actually a frozen slurry of wood fiber called "Pycrete" after it's invntor, Jeoffery Pyke. The plan was to build a gigantic (for the time anyway) aircraft carrier out of the stuff. Here's a Google search if anybody's intereste in reading up on it further.
Poses the question... If they could do it then, why hasn't it been resurrected now that we've got better technology?
I'm not sure yet that I agree or disagree with the death penalty... But that's certainly one take on it. Here's mine (along the same line):
The level of security needed to positively insure that a convict can never get the chance to repeat the crime they were convicted of (and in the cases of people like Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy, their behavior pretty much indicated that they'd do it again if given the chance) would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. That's right, there's no such thing as an escape-proof cell, and the security that would be necessary for even a paltry attempt at desiging one would amount to cruel and unusual treatment of the convict. So by this logic, execution is the only humane (to the convict) way to keep such offenders from hurting others again. Compare that to the treatment of the one guy in Alcatraz who was locked in solitary confinement in total darkness for so long that he had memorized every world series game play by play in a failed attempt to keep his sanity.
However, I think that the standard used today for applying the death penalty is pretty warped. It amounts to petty retribution, not any sort of regard for the possibility of rehabilitation. I think most death sentences are handed down purely on the basis of emotion, not on any sort of scientific evaluation of any future threat that an individual poses.
...or will it explode as a bloody revolt when The People's pent up anger is released?
I'd go easy on the assumptions there... I've seen no evidence whatsoever that the average Chinese citizen is a lit firecracker. Are you sure you're not basing that on a Western-centric view which says "they must be pissed off because I'd be pissed off if I had to live like that"? Different cultures, different values. If the vast majority of the Chinese populace were truly upset about the way things are going, they'd have done somtehing that couldn't be stopped by a few hundred tanks by now.
Slashdot Mirror
If it's right for one person or group to do it, it's right for every person or group.
Q.E.D.
--Fesh
If our government's (nonexistent) actions regarding the detention of Li Shaomin and other American citizens for "spying" by China are any indication, I'd predict that the shit wouldn't even make it off the ground.
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
(Yeah, I'm joking, but I noticed the email addy...)
--Fesh
Yeah, that would definitely give the phrase "things generally suck" a literal meaning... Or would it be "things blow"? Either way, lots of air movement involved.
--Fesh
Sadly, this was my prompt on the Sun box in college for a while...
--Fesh
I know my desktop box would cause problems... I wanted Win '98, but it came from the OEM with NT on it...
--Fesh
--Fesh
Face it, American Football players are pansies. They wear a suit of padded armor to take the same hits that a soccer player takes on a tackle wearing only shinguards and a cup. Soccer safer than football? Hah!
--Fesh
--Fesh
Thanks for bringing that to my attention.
--Fesh
Professional-level gambling is all about how much you're prepared to lose. It's taking the long view instead of short-term "win-lose" tracking. I don't gamble meself, but I have a friend who has aspirations to go pro at poker. But then, I guess "professional" and "fun" are mutually exclusive.
--Fesh
Think Xerox. The guy that invented electrostatic printing went to Kodak with a nifty new way to make pictures. When he got laughed out of the office, he started his own company and proceeded to change the world.
If you do something fairly obvious that everyone thinks is nuts and it works, don't you deserve to be rewarded for taking the risk? This is different from the "One-click" scenario in that Amazon patented a process which was being developed concurrently by just about everyone at the same time in order to stifle competition.
--Fesh
Only question is... Does this create a political elite in the voting pool? In other words, do these "Super Voters" represent a special interest that has a lock on the power to get politicians into office, or is it just the apathy of everyone else that makes catering to them so effective? If the former, then the situation is questionable, but in the latter it's pretty much everyone else's fault (including mine) that they have as much sway as they do.
--Fesh
--Fesh
--Fesh
To quote the Dr. Rev. Dennis Leary:
"Duuude! I made a bong out of my head!!! Put the pot in this ear, suck on the other! Give it a hit, man!"
Or something to that effect...
--Fesh
A bipod on a water gun has to be one of the most useless things I can think of... You get it set up and you're guaranteed to be standing still. Need I remind anyone how poor a tactic that is in a watergun fight? I think not...
--Fesh
But then again, the oxidizer would probably burn the tank it was in, along with the plastic plumbing... I hear that bleach and brake fluid work though...
--Fesh
What are we supposed to do, anyway? Pull a Clear and Present Danger on the drug barons' asses? I'd argue yes, since that would make it a real war on drugs instead of a war on the personal freedoms (Norte Americano and otherwise). But unfortunately, if we were to try, we'd see an international backlash like you wouldn't believe. What to do? Do keep in mind that to get legalization, its advocates would have to stoop to similarly distasteful tactics. Politicians and law enforcement have a cash cow on the line here, and they won't give it up without bloodshed.... Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
--Fesh
The link.
--Fesh
Poses the question... If they could do it then, why hasn't it been resurrected now that we've got better technology?
--Fesh
The level of security needed to positively insure that a convict can never get the chance to repeat the crime they were convicted of (and in the cases of people like Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy, their behavior pretty much indicated that they'd do it again if given the chance) would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. That's right, there's no such thing as an escape-proof cell, and the security that would be necessary for even a paltry attempt at desiging one would amount to cruel and unusual treatment of the convict. So by this logic, execution is the only humane (to the convict) way to keep such offenders from hurting others again. Compare that to the treatment of the one guy in Alcatraz who was locked in solitary confinement in total darkness for so long that he had memorized every world series game play by play in a failed attempt to keep his sanity.
However, I think that the standard used today for applying the death penalty is pretty warped. It amounts to petty retribution, not any sort of regard for the possibility of rehabilitation. I think most death sentences are handed down purely on the basis of emotion, not on any sort of scientific evaluation of any future threat that an individual poses.
--Fesh
I'd go easy on the assumptions there... I've seen no evidence whatsoever that the average Chinese citizen is a lit firecracker. Are you sure you're not basing that on a Western-centric view which says "they must be pissed off because I'd be pissed off if I had to live like that"? Different cultures, different values. If the vast majority of the Chinese populace were truly upset about the way things are going, they'd have done somtehing that couldn't be stopped by a few hundred tanks by now.
--Fesh