I couldn't agree more. This nanny-state "we are doing this to PROTECT you" bullshit has gone on long enough. Frankly I am kind of sick of it. "We need to put GPS on your phone, and in your car, so we can be right there to help you if you crash, or need other assistance". "What? No no, the GPS chip in your phone isn't tracking your every movement. That's just crazy!" "Cash for clunkers....trade in your non-GPS enabled vehicle, for a new fully GPS-enabled hyper-computerized vehicle". Never mind the fact that we are "getting rid of" your old vehicle (not trying to recover some of the investment on the second-hand parts market...just "getting rid of"). Can't have people repairing non-GPS enabled vehicles for too long... Just remember that GPS is a two-way (more like seven-way, but you get the point) street. In order for them to tell you how to get to where you are going, they have to know where you are!
Although I am sure many have said it, for me the most memorable instance of it was by Robert Anton Wilson: "Government organizations never die, they simply change names".
"There is some of the real stuff growing along the roads out west too, but the THC content is so low that you would probably only get a headache, but if you pick it or go near it on a road side, then the cops will definitely arrest you."
Funny thing is, what you are talking about is "feral hemp" (left-overs from the 200 years that Hemp served as one of this country's most successful textiles) and when you hear about large "large grow-ops" being discovered and eradicated, 80% of the time, that is what they are pulling out of the ground!
I find the lack of outrage over this really surprising. Seems like we are drifting closer and closer to a time when texts found online will be changed globally without anyone knowing the difference. All "bad" news (stories not conforming to the party line) will suddenly disappear. All apps that do things Apple or any other company don't like will just disappear off of your phone (no matter how much you paid for it, or where you bought it from). Now you know why they are trying to kill the written word in all it's non-digital forms. You simply can't change a story on the fly if people have a solid printed copy of what it use to say.
Sorry I am not partaking of the same kool-ade as you. When I here the man speak in specifics, I will start to think he is actually saying something. Until then it all looks like smoke and mirrors to this cynic. So yeah I am serious (I was kind of joking until you insinuated that there is something "to feel sorry for" because you and I don't share the same perspective about Obama). Since Clinton I have watched our elected officials with a questioning mind, and I feel healthier for it. I am not sucked in by socially-biased characterizations, because frankly I don't give a damn what color you are, where you were born, what ethereal being you worship, or what you do with your genitalia. Hence, when I hear Obama speak, it often dawns on me that I have never heard a world leader say less with so many words.
"If you love your country, pick independent candidates who resonate with your "thinking" and vote for THEM in 2010!"
They say that an auto mechanic often has the worse sounding/running vehicle. They don't tell you why though. A mechanic listens to a motor with an entirely different vocabulary of expectations...Is it dripping/burning fluids? If dripping, is it water, oil, trany fluid, or gas? If burning, is it oil. water, or just gas? If not running, does it have spark, air, and fuel? The fact is that an engine will run well enough to reliably get you where you want to go even if it fits most of the above described conditions. A mechanic knows this intuitively. So unless it is belching flames, or clunking badly, it will be classified in the mechanic's mind as "just a flesh wound". As such it gets relegated to "of less importance"-by comparison to the repair demands placed on them by their customers.
The same reason applies to "why virtually no one grows their own tomatoes or strawberries". We aren't all gifted with amazing hands that can intuitively grow or fix things. The point being that just because people will be able to diagnose their automotive problems via print-outs from fancy in-board computers, does not mean that EVERYONE will go out tomorrow and start their own shops. Rather it merely means that when the mechanic gives you an estimate as to how long, or what parts/ materials will be needed to fix your ride, that they will have to TELL YOU THE TRUTH!!! Otherwise you could point to the print out and say "That isn't what the CAR says is wrong"! "It says nothing here about my "Kyptonite" being low, or my interocitor being out of alignment!"
"We will remove all Green Dam software from computers in the school as it has strong conflicts with teaching software we need for normal work," said one school while another claimed 'It had seriously influenced our normal work.'"
Really means:
"We (the teachers and staff) were no longer able to watch porn during recess and testing periods."
Have you ever heard of Photosynthesis? In modern terms it could be considered "carbon sequestration". Also trees help retain ground moister. The increase in airborne water traps particulate matter and grounds it, that is why one sees no smog coming from forests.
When I was saying "footprint", I mean that you, I, and the next guy can't have one on our roofs. Meaning that you, I, and everyone else will say "Yes massa, I WILL pay $2.00 per kilowatt hour for electricity from you!" Personally I think we need to get away from monopolistic market models. Inevitably they all end up looking a lot like extortion (see "smart-phone data-pack plans" by any wireless carrier for proof).
Not really, trees have been doing carbon-sequestration for millions of years. Personally I think the bump in "apparent" CO2 count in the air has more to do with the housing bubbles (and their associated deforestations) than my car.
The fact is that solar is the best option. None of the energy companies want it to be developed though because then they wouldn't be able to extort you for every dime possible....Nuclear isn't really an option. No matter how wonderful and safe reactors become, they A) have a fairly large permanent physical foot-print, B) require a local and constant supply of water for cooling, C) they are vastly expensive, and D) they are a limited resource (that is until we all have a homemade mini-fusion plant running each of our houses). Solar is almost everywhere for roughly 12 hours a day. Combining cheap highly-productive solar arrays with large rechargeable batteries and "smart-grid" technologies, and we could keep the globe lit up 24 hours a day for (almost) free!!!!!
As for oil and the drilling for it in CA and AK....It would last about 3 years after production started and then we'd be right back here, save for the loss of several hundred square miles of pristine habitat we had to sacrifice to get to the oil....
Hey now, my copy of Unreal Tournament 2k4 runs AWESOME on Ubuntu! If it were not for the fact that Stalker (SOC and CS...but could we hope for a Linux-release of Call of Pripyat?...not likely) won't run on Linux, I would never use a Windows variant again.
How about we do like the brits did with Australia? Send PRISONERS! Train them, (especially lifers) and send them to start building a moon launch-site, and luxury hotel. Cha Ching! New vacation hotspot! The Moon! Meanwhile, we could have them build a colony site for themselves.
I've never understood this. We should be out there en masse by now. You want to do something about world hunger? How about a way to shrink the populace? That's right folks! Train the homeless to live and work in SPACE!!!!! Then send them to places we might be interested in living, or can make money from exploiting! What a concept eh? Too bad it isn't original. The Americas, Australia, New Zealand, all started with prisoners, the homeless, and other social malcontents. I think we are due for yet another culling of this sort. You don't know how safe the mine is til you take a canary down it. We won't know what riches and wonders are out there, or how we will be able to use it for fun, knowledge, and profit until we get some more bodies up there!
I imagine that the 2010 elections will be entertaining enough. What I would really like to see is every single dem or repub who is up this cycle to be replaced by an Independent! The majority of American voters claim to be some variant of "Independent". If these people were to actually vote for "INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES"!!!! we probably wouldn't be in the current mess we are in. Not to say all Indies are by default "good", but more of them have no other political interest than to serve to the best interest of their constituents. And sadly we have yet to see that from about 60% of both the majority "political" parties. Most of them have become the result of the incestuous cycle dubbed "The Political Process" where they hop-scotch from political position, to business executive, to political position, to lobbyist. And we wonder why they don't seem to be listening to us.
Couldn't agree more. My only problem with that reasoning is when the other party is so intent to regulate that we descend into a nanny-state. Worse yet being that in order to provide even a perception of increased safety, the nanny-state has to tax ALL of us (not just the pussy-asses who don't know to jump upon the desk of their "oppressors" and bitch until the situation was rectified) have to be taxed 9-ways-to-Sunday in order to PAY FOR IT!!!!
Does it seem odd to anyone else that these people would consider selling off parts of the state government infrastructure BEFORE they would consider legalizing and taxing marijuana? Notice they don't bother to mention what happens if someone buys the debt from the holding company? What if the state brings in lower than expected tax funds for the year? If it works the way normal mortgages go, they get forclosed and kicked out!!! What then??? Arizona's state government has to find a room mate at a flat in the section-8 housing? Putting people in jail, feeding and clothing them, possibly re-training them, re-educating them, costs a LOT OF MONEY every year. Maintaining a virtually military-grade aresenal, and performing break-in exercises cost a LOT OF MONEY. Add to that cost the little contract kick-backs and icing and such and you are talking about a whole LOT OF MONEY!!! When you think about it, that money could most likely have been spent in many more productive ways than busting stoners. Add to the savings of not investigating, arresting, processing, trying, convicting and imprisoning people, the untold millions that could be made in Income tax, excise tax, leisure tax and sales tax, and we could probably afford to go back to a free public university system within 4 years. And best of all, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO CONSIDER SELLING OF "STATE" ASSETS TO DO IT!
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Brawndo has electrolytes!
-Oz
I couldn't agree more. This nanny-state "we are doing this to PROTECT you" bullshit has gone on long enough. Frankly I am kind of sick of it. "We need to put GPS on your phone, and in your car, so we can be right there to help you if you crash, or need other assistance". "What? No no, the GPS chip in your phone isn't tracking your every movement. That's just crazy!" "Cash for clunkers....trade in your non-GPS enabled vehicle, for a new fully GPS-enabled hyper-computerized vehicle". Never mind the fact that we are "getting rid of" your old vehicle (not trying to recover some of the investment on the second-hand parts market...just "getting rid of"). Can't have people repairing non-GPS enabled vehicles for too long... Just remember that GPS is a two-way (more like seven-way, but you get the point) street. In order for them to tell you how to get to where you are going, they have to know where you are!
Sometimes good things can come from being lost.
-Oz
Although I am sure many have said it, for me the most memorable instance of it was by Robert Anton Wilson: "Government organizations never die, they simply change names".
-Oz
"There is some of the real stuff growing along the roads out west too, but the THC content is so low that you would probably only get a headache, but if you pick it or go near it on a road side, then the cops will definitely arrest you." Funny thing is, what you are talking about is "feral hemp" (left-overs from the 200 years that Hemp served as one of this country's most successful textiles) and when you hear about large "large grow-ops" being discovered and eradicated, 80% of the time, that is what they are pulling out of the ground!
-Oz
I find the lack of outrage over this really surprising. Seems like we are drifting closer and closer to a time when texts found online will be changed globally without anyone knowing the difference. All "bad" news (stories not conforming to the party line) will suddenly disappear. All apps that do things Apple or any other company don't like will just disappear off of your phone (no matter how much you paid for it, or where you bought it from). Now you know why they are trying to kill the written word in all it's non-digital forms. You simply can't change a story on the fly if people have a solid printed copy of what it use to say.
-Oz
What a discovery to be made. Especially now that we are considering returning head-long into the nuclear age.
-Oz..
Sorry I am not partaking of the same kool-ade as you. When I here the man speak in specifics, I will start to think he is actually saying something. Until then it all looks like smoke and mirrors to this cynic. So yeah I am serious (I was kind of joking until you insinuated that there is something "to feel sorry for" because you and I don't share the same perspective about Obama). Since Clinton I have watched our elected officials with a questioning mind, and I feel healthier for it. I am not sucked in by socially-biased characterizations, because frankly I don't give a damn what color you are, where you were born, what ethereal being you worship, or what you do with your genitalia. Hence, when I hear Obama speak, it often dawns on me that I have never heard a world leader say less with so many words.
"If you love your country, pick independent candidates who resonate with your "thinking" and vote for THEM in 2010!"
-Oz
They say that an auto mechanic often has the worse sounding/running vehicle. They don't tell you why though. A mechanic listens to a motor with an entirely different vocabulary of expectations...Is it dripping/burning fluids? If dripping, is it water, oil, trany fluid, or gas? If burning, is it oil. water, or just gas? If not running, does it have spark, air, and fuel? The fact is that an engine will run well enough to reliably get you where you want to go even if it fits most of the above described conditions. A mechanic knows this intuitively. So unless it is belching flames, or clunking badly, it will be classified in the mechanic's mind as "just a flesh wound". As such it gets relegated to "of less importance"-by comparison to the repair demands placed on them by their customers.
The same reason applies to "why virtually no one grows their own tomatoes or strawberries". We aren't all gifted with amazing hands that can intuitively grow or fix things. The point being that just because people will be able to diagnose their automotive problems via print-outs from fancy in-board computers, does not mean that EVERYONE will go out tomorrow and start their own shops. Rather it merely means that when the mechanic gives you an estimate as to how long, or what parts/ materials will be needed to fix your ride, that they will have to TELL YOU THE TRUTH!!! Otherwise you could point to the print out and say "That isn't what the CAR says is wrong"! "It says nothing here about my "Kyptonite" being low, or my interocitor being out of alignment!"
-Oz
"We will remove all Green Dam software from computers in the school as it has strong conflicts with teaching software we need for normal work," said one school while another claimed 'It had seriously influenced our normal work.'"
Really means:
"We (the teachers and staff) were no longer able to watch porn during recess and testing periods."
-Oz
Sounds strikingly like an Obama speech.
-Oz
Well it is true that you have to fail occasionally in order to learm, but releasing an OS prior to completion is just looking for trouble.
-Oz
"Brought to you by Carl's Jr."
-Oz
Have you ever heard of Photosynthesis? In modern terms it could be considered "carbon sequestration". Also trees help retain ground moister. The increase in airborne water traps particulate matter and grounds it, that is why one sees no smog coming from forests.
-Oz
When I was saying "footprint", I mean that you, I, and the next guy can't have one on our roofs. Meaning that you, I, and everyone else will say "Yes massa, I WILL pay $2.00 per kilowatt hour for electricity from you!" Personally I think we need to get away from monopolistic market models. Inevitably they all end up looking a lot like extortion (see "smart-phone data-pack plans" by any wireless carrier for proof).
-Oz
Not really, trees have been doing carbon-sequestration for millions of years. Personally I think the bump in "apparent" CO2 count in the air has more to do with the housing bubbles (and their associated deforestations) than my car.
-Oz
The fact is that solar is the best option. None of the energy companies want it to be developed though because then they wouldn't be able to extort you for every dime possible. ...Nuclear isn't really an option. No matter how wonderful and safe reactors become, they A) have a fairly large permanent physical foot-print, B) require a local and constant supply of water for cooling, C) they are vastly expensive, and D) they are a limited resource (that is until we all have a homemade mini-fusion plant running each of our houses). Solar is almost everywhere for roughly 12 hours a day. Combining cheap highly-productive solar arrays with large rechargeable batteries and "smart-grid" technologies, and we could keep the globe lit up 24 hours a day for (almost) free!!!!!
As for oil and the drilling for it in CA and AK....It would last about 3 years after production started and then we'd be right back here, save for the loss of several hundred square miles of pristine habitat we had to sacrifice to get to the oil....
-Oz
Hey now, my copy of Unreal Tournament 2k4 runs AWESOME on Ubuntu! If it were not for the fact that Stalker (SOC and CS...but could we hope for a Linux-release of Call of Pripyat?...not likely) won't run on Linux, I would never use a Windows variant again.
-Oz
How about we do like the brits did with Australia? Send PRISONERS! Train them, (especially lifers) and send them to start building a moon launch-site, and luxury hotel. Cha Ching! New vacation hotspot! The Moon! Meanwhile, we could have them build a colony site for themselves.
-Oz
Just like they are probably all using the same copy of Win98
-Oz
We NEED to hack the Gibson!
-Oz
I've never understood this. We should be out there en masse by now. You want to do something about world hunger? How about a way to shrink the populace? That's right folks! Train the homeless to live and work in SPACE!!!!! Then send them to places we might be interested in living, or can make money from exploiting! What a concept eh? Too bad it isn't original. The Americas, Australia, New Zealand, all started with prisoners, the homeless, and other social malcontents. I think we are due for yet another culling of this sort. You don't know how safe the mine is til you take a canary down it. We won't know what riches and wonders are out there, or how we will be able to use it for fun, knowledge, and profit until we get some more bodies up there!
-Oz
I imagine that the 2010 elections will be entertaining enough. What I would really like to see is every single dem or repub who is up this cycle to be replaced by an Independent! The majority of American voters claim to be some variant of "Independent". If these people were to actually vote for "INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES"!!!! we probably wouldn't be in the current mess we are in. Not to say all Indies are by default "good", but more of them have no other political interest than to serve to the best interest of their constituents. And sadly we have yet to see that from about 60% of both the majority "political" parties. Most of them have become the result of the incestuous cycle dubbed "The Political Process" where they hop-scotch from political position, to business executive, to political position, to lobbyist. And we wonder why they don't seem to be listening to us.
-Oz
Yeah, it was called "hemponol", and the first cars were designed to run on it.
-Oz
Couldn't agree more. My only problem with that reasoning is when the other party is so intent to regulate that we descend into a nanny-state. Worse yet being that in order to provide even a perception of increased safety, the nanny-state has to tax ALL of us (not just the pussy-asses who don't know to jump upon the desk of their "oppressors" and bitch until the situation was rectified) have to be taxed 9-ways-to-Sunday in order to PAY FOR IT!!!!
-Oz
Does it seem odd to anyone else that these people would consider selling off parts of the state government infrastructure BEFORE they would consider legalizing and taxing marijuana? Notice they don't bother to mention what happens if someone buys the debt from the holding company? What if the state brings in lower than expected tax funds for the year? If it works the way normal mortgages go, they get forclosed and kicked out!!! What then??? Arizona's state government has to find a room mate at a flat in the section-8 housing? Putting people in jail, feeding and clothing them, possibly re-training them, re-educating them, costs a LOT OF MONEY every year. Maintaining a virtually military-grade aresenal, and performing break-in exercises cost a LOT OF MONEY. Add to that cost the little contract kick-backs and icing and such and you are talking about a whole LOT OF MONEY!!! When you think about it, that money could most likely have been spent in many more productive ways than busting stoners. Add to the savings of not investigating, arresting, processing, trying, convicting and imprisoning people, the untold millions that could be made in Income tax, excise tax, leisure tax and sales tax, and we could probably afford to go back to a free public university system within 4 years. And best of all, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO CONSIDER SELLING OF "STATE" ASSETS TO DO IT!
-Oz .