Europeans created most of the messes here on earth, so you can start making amends by cleaning up outer space.
And, yes, I want all my space debris cleaned. No one wants to look at old, cruddy, nasty trash floating around in space. Wax and buff, and make it PRETTY!!
I think GP's point might have been that Google would be a valuable tool to a police state, or something like that. And, in fact, Google is resisting government's attempt to turn it into such a tool. Google cooperates with some government requests, and denies others. It seems they actually look at those requests, individually, trying to weed out overbearing bullshit - unlike some other corporations that honor every request, no matter how plainly overbearing.
The government does a lot of crap that I disagree with. And, in fact, I see a lot of their crap as unconstitutional. But - the concept that all taxes are unconstitutional is pretty insane.
The federal income tax clearly has a lot of constitutionality issues surrounding it. Social security has some. Sales taxes? No way. Local governments are largely funded by sales taxes. They have to be funded from SOMEWHERE, so they are funded by local sales. When the internet was new, internet sales were exempted from local sales tax. Now, congress is going to change that. How is it unconstitutional? If anything, the exemption was unconstitutional, because it interfered with local government's ability to generate legitimate revenues.
Lighten up dude - not all taxes are unconstitutional. Taxes suck, but they are a necessary evil. Concentrate on those taxes that are actually unconstitutional, or at least very controversial.
As for which jurisdiction collects taxes on internet sales - the purchaser's home address serves as a point of contact, for billing purposes, mailing purposes, and for tax purposes.
It would be very easy to argue that we are moving toward collectivism. All the clueless little people get together, argue and fuss, hammering out new laws for every trivial bit of nothing, then scream at their representatives to 'DO SOMETHING'. As a result, little children are arrested for wearing or making depictions of pistols, rifles, or anything that could conceivably be considered dangerous.
Collectivism, that results in fascist-like laws. Imagine that.
Obviously his comment is generating further conversation. Yeah - it gets modded up, despite the fact that I disagree with him. That's how things work. The comment isn't exactly "informative" IMHO, but the mod system only has so many choices.
"A camera" is nothing, really. But, from what I read of the UK, there isn't "a camera" anywhere. Cameras are everywhere. If I'm to believe what I read of the UK, you are almost never out of range of a camera, unless on your own private property. And, that is questionable.
But, even with all those cameras, we still don't have 1984. Orwelle's vision starts to come true when police can confiscate any and all private video, add those to government video, and move forward and backward in time, to locate a suspect, and follow his actions.
The vision becomes clearer when all those videos can be added to databases, and saved indefinitely.
So, I agree with your basic premise - a camera doesn't mean much at all. The questions are, how many cameras, where are they located, and what happens to the data recorded?
In a nation where ever traffic light has a recorder, every speed limit sign has another, every business has one or more, and random cameras are set up wherever an agency feels the need, then 1984 isn't all that far off. Maybe the title of the book should have been 2024?
The US lags behind the UK in surveillance, but even so, the Boston Marathon bombing was solved very damned quickly, thanks to video cameras being everywhere. Businesses and private citizens contributed almost all of the video, I think, but there were cameras everywhere.
As far as I know - Google isn't running prescription services on their search engine servers. Do you know something that I don't?
Are you suggesting that all medical services are run on IBM servers? I find that a bit hard to believe. Those hospitals and doctor's offices that I've been in seem to run Windows on Dell machines, almost exclusively. I've seen a couple of computers with something that looked like it might be Solaris, but I didn't actually have access to the machines, and couldn't investigate.
I suspect that the computers used to run various scanning equipment might run versions of Linux, but I have nothing to base that suspicion on - other than the fact that all of the embedded equipment at work is based on Linux.
Yeah - I'm perfectly aware that what I've seen is NOT THE SERVERS - but the fact that everyone seems to opt for Windows-centric Dell equipment at the front offices might indicate that they run the same stuff out back.
Philip Paradis answered quite well. In fact, that question has been addressed multiple times by congress. The offspring of military parents, born anywhere in the world while on active duty, is "naturally born". Further - the offspring of two American parents, born anywhere in the world is "naturally born". An American mother quite naturally gives birth to an American child.
A child born overseas, who spends his entire youth outside the United States is still just as much a citizen as anyone, unless and until he renounces his citizenship. But, in that case, I might not claim him as "home grown". If he never enters the United States, he isn't exactly part of mainstream American life.
You're not addressing what I said at all. I stated that these are immigrants, and that they are not "home grown". I might be from Zimbabwe, or Canada, or Mars, - if I wasn't born and raised in Moscow, then I can't claim to be a "home grown" Muscovite, now can I? It wouldn't matter how many times the successors of the KGB interviewed me - I still wouldn't be a native Muscovite.
I can deliver witching sticks for less than ten dollars each. THEN, I can train agents to use those sticks for less than a hundred dollars each!
Or, if you prefer, I can supply magic wands, with or without pixie dust, for less than fifty dollars each. I don't offer training for magic wands though - it will be the government's responsibility to locate and/or train qualified wizards.
Two immigrants go on a murder spree - and you call it "homegrown"? I don't. Maybe you missed the fact that one brother is a NATURALIZED citizen of this country, and the other never bothered or made any attempt to become a citizen. Maybe you should familiarize yourself with a dictionary, and the English language. Or, even horticulture. You can't buy an apple tree sapling in a pot, bring it home to sit on your patio, then claim that it is "homegrown".
The specific questions asked prior to reading him his rights, involved the immediate safety and security of the individuals making the arrest. Those questions are published - I think it was on ABC's website, not real sure now.
"Do you have any more bombs or weapons?" That sort of thing. "Is there anyone with you?" "Are you going to blow up if we approach you?"
There weren't any "Why'd you do it, boy?" kind of questions asked before he was Mirand-ized.
What Black Parrot already stated. Terrorism is accepted as a violent means of persuading or intimidating people to take your preferred course of action, or political views. Mass murder, in and of itself, is just mass murder. Adam Lanza seems to have committed his murders for revenge. (the last I heard, he had been bullied while attending that school, and apparently held some irrational grudge against first graders in that school)
Covering fire can be quite valuable. I may be at a range, or in a position, where I have almost zero chance of hitting the target. But, I can lay down some fire to distract the bad guy, while my partner maneuvers for position.
"Effective" can have multiple meanings.
I wonder how a tazer would work for providing covering fire.
"It wasn't even unusual. Storms like Sany shaped the Eastern Seaboard. Why the continued moronic assumptions history began with European settlers?"
Two thumbs up.
We're supposed to believe that before Europeans arrived, the Americas were an idyllic paradise, that suffered no storms, no earthquakes, no wars, no famine. Ehhh - Europeans brought all those evils here, along with smallpox and polio.
That might be true. I hadn't really thought about stun grenades. Lemme think a few seconds.
Waco, Texas. A big old compound, with a leader who was wanted for questioning. Lot's of stupid stuff happened there, with that leader locked inside with his followers. After days of negotiations, someone decided to flush them out with tear gas. Oooops - the canisters started a fire, everyone inside died.
Alright - I have to admit, stun grenades aren't tear gas canisters. Maybe they won't cause a fire anywhere, I can't say for sure.
Still - stun grenades in crowds could be pretty damned bad publicity. A stun grenade in closed quarters might be lethal. Could even be lethal to the cops themselves.
I just dunno about stun grenades. I'd have to see some studies. I don't now how to get the best use out of a stun grenade. I could be trained, I suppose. But, I already KNOW how to use most small arms. If you were to hand me a firearm that I wasn't familiar with, it shouldn't take more than sixty seconds for you to explain that firearm's unique features, or requirements. How long would it take for me to learn about these stun grenades?
What is the effective range of a tazer? And, what is the effective range of a.38 Police Special? A 9mm? A.44? How about a.45?
Given that some guy is shooting at me, I don't think I want to stroll up to him, to hit him with a tazer. Especially considering that the dead guy was wearing a bomb jacket or vest. I'd prefer to stand back several yards, and empty a few magazines in his direction, while my buddies did the same.
A man stopping round is pretty much synonymous with a man killing round. Not precisely, but pretty much so. In point of fact, many lethal rounds are not man stoppers. That was the very reason for the Army's solicitations for a man stopper, that ultimately resulted in the M1911.45 Automatic Colt Pistol. The.45 ACP is very definitely a man stopper.
If you don't like firearms, I suppose you could recruit Godzilla, and arm him with a giant fly swatter.
Slashdot Mirror
That "White Man's Burden" probably gets heavy after awhile, doesn't it?
Europeans created most of the messes here on earth, so you can start making amends by cleaning up outer space.
And, yes, I want all my space debris cleaned. No one wants to look at old, cruddy, nasty trash floating around in space. Wax and buff, and make it PRETTY!!
Because nothing in the world matters except America. Just ask almost* any American, he'll tell you!
* I did say "almost" - a few of us have a clue.
Fix this crap, slashdot!
I think GP's point might have been that Google would be a valuable tool to a police state, or something like that. And, in fact, Google is resisting government's attempt to turn it into such a tool. Google cooperates with some government requests, and denies others. It seems they actually look at those requests, individually, trying to weed out overbearing bullshit - unlike some other corporations that honor every request, no matter how plainly overbearing.
Does Japan still have an emperor?
Should we just outlaw politics?
The government does a lot of crap that I disagree with. And, in fact, I see a lot of their crap as unconstitutional. But - the concept that all taxes are unconstitutional is pretty insane.
The federal income tax clearly has a lot of constitutionality issues surrounding it. Social security has some. Sales taxes? No way. Local governments are largely funded by sales taxes. They have to be funded from SOMEWHERE, so they are funded by local sales. When the internet was new, internet sales were exempted from local sales tax. Now, congress is going to change that. How is it unconstitutional? If anything, the exemption was unconstitutional, because it interfered with local government's ability to generate legitimate revenues.
Lighten up dude - not all taxes are unconstitutional. Taxes suck, but they are a necessary evil. Concentrate on those taxes that are actually unconstitutional, or at least very controversial.
As for which jurisdiction collects taxes on internet sales - the purchaser's home address serves as a point of contact, for billing purposes, mailing purposes, and for tax purposes.
It would be very easy to argue that we are moving toward collectivism. All the clueless little people get together, argue and fuss, hammering out new laws for every trivial bit of nothing, then scream at their representatives to 'DO SOMETHING'. As a result, little children are arrested for wearing or making depictions of pistols, rifles, or anything that could conceivably be considered dangerous.
Collectivism, that results in fascist-like laws. Imagine that.
Obviously his comment is generating further conversation. Yeah - it gets modded up, despite the fact that I disagree with him. That's how things work. The comment isn't exactly "informative" IMHO, but the mod system only has so many choices.
"A camera" is nothing, really. But, from what I read of the UK, there isn't "a camera" anywhere. Cameras are everywhere. If I'm to believe what I read of the UK, you are almost never out of range of a camera, unless on your own private property. And, that is questionable.
But, even with all those cameras, we still don't have 1984. Orwelle's vision starts to come true when police can confiscate any and all private video, add those to government video, and move forward and backward in time, to locate a suspect, and follow his actions.
The vision becomes clearer when all those videos can be added to databases, and saved indefinitely.
So, I agree with your basic premise - a camera doesn't mean much at all. The questions are, how many cameras, where are they located, and what happens to the data recorded?
In a nation where ever traffic light has a recorder, every speed limit sign has another, every business has one or more, and random cameras are set up wherever an agency feels the need, then 1984 isn't all that far off. Maybe the title of the book should have been 2024?
The US lags behind the UK in surveillance, but even so, the Boston Marathon bombing was solved very damned quickly, thanks to video cameras being everywhere. Businesses and private citizens contributed almost all of the video, I think, but there were cameras everywhere.
As far as I know - Google isn't running prescription services on their search engine servers. Do you know something that I don't?
Are you suggesting that all medical services are run on IBM servers? I find that a bit hard to believe. Those hospitals and doctor's offices that I've been in seem to run Windows on Dell machines, almost exclusively. I've seen a couple of computers with something that looked like it might be Solaris, but I didn't actually have access to the machines, and couldn't investigate.
I suspect that the computers used to run various scanning equipment might run versions of Linux, but I have nothing to base that suspicion on - other than the fact that all of the embedded equipment at work is based on Linux.
Yeah - I'm perfectly aware that what I've seen is NOT THE SERVERS - but the fact that everyone seems to opt for Windows-centric Dell equipment at the front offices might indicate that they run the same stuff out back.
Philip Paradis answered quite well. In fact, that question has been addressed multiple times by congress. The offspring of military parents, born anywhere in the world while on active duty, is "naturally born". Further - the offspring of two American parents, born anywhere in the world is "naturally born". An American mother quite naturally gives birth to an American child.
A child born overseas, who spends his entire youth outside the United States is still just as much a citizen as anyone, unless and until he renounces his citizenship. But, in that case, I might not claim him as "home grown". If he never enters the United States, he isn't exactly part of mainstream American life.
You're not addressing what I said at all. I stated that these are immigrants, and that they are not "home grown". I might be from Zimbabwe, or Canada, or Mars, - if I wasn't born and raised in Moscow, then I can't claim to be a "home grown" Muscovite, now can I? It wouldn't matter how many times the successors of the KGB interviewed me - I still wouldn't be a native Muscovite.
I can deliver witching sticks for less than ten dollars each. THEN, I can train agents to use those sticks for less than a hundred dollars each!
Or, if you prefer, I can supply magic wands, with or without pixie dust, for less than fifty dollars each. I don't offer training for magic wands though - it will be the government's responsibility to locate and/or train qualified wizards.
+ + + + + wisdom
Telling your children that they should be brave, while acting like a wimpy douche is nothing short of hypocricy.
Two immigrants go on a murder spree - and you call it "homegrown"? I don't. Maybe you missed the fact that one brother is a NATURALIZED citizen of this country, and the other never bothered or made any attempt to become a citizen. Maybe you should familiarize yourself with a dictionary, and the English language. Or, even horticulture. You can't buy an apple tree sapling in a pot, bring it home to sit on your patio, then claim that it is "homegrown".
"You can change a government and still have the same people."
That's just SO obvious.
Mothers change diapers routinely, and they still have the same babies!
"why use them unless strictly necessary?"
The specific questions asked prior to reading him his rights, involved the immediate safety and security of the individuals making the arrest. Those questions are published - I think it was on ABC's website, not real sure now.
"Do you have any more bombs or weapons?" That sort of thing. "Is there anyone with you?" "Are you going to blow up if we approach you?"
There weren't any "Why'd you do it, boy?" kind of questions asked before he was Mirand-ized.
What Black Parrot already stated. Terrorism is accepted as a violent means of persuading or intimidating people to take your preferred course of action, or political views. Mass murder, in and of itself, is just mass murder. Adam Lanza seems to have committed his murders for revenge. (the last I heard, he had been bullied while attending that school, and apparently held some irrational grudge against first graders in that school)
Covering fire can be quite valuable. I may be at a range, or in a position, where I have almost zero chance of hitting the target. But, I can lay down some fire to distract the bad guy, while my partner maneuvers for position.
"Effective" can have multiple meanings.
I wonder how a tazer would work for providing covering fire.
"It wasn't even unusual. Storms like Sany shaped the Eastern Seaboard. Why the continued moronic assumptions history began with European settlers?"
Two thumbs up.
We're supposed to believe that before Europeans arrived, the Americas were an idyllic paradise, that suffered no storms, no earthquakes, no wars, no famine. Ehhh - Europeans brought all those evils here, along with smallpox and polio.
That might be true. I hadn't really thought about stun grenades. Lemme think a few seconds.
Waco, Texas. A big old compound, with a leader who was wanted for questioning. Lot's of stupid stuff happened there, with that leader locked inside with his followers. After days of negotiations, someone decided to flush them out with tear gas. Oooops - the canisters started a fire, everyone inside died.
Alright - I have to admit, stun grenades aren't tear gas canisters. Maybe they won't cause a fire anywhere, I can't say for sure.
Still - stun grenades in crowds could be pretty damned bad publicity. A stun grenade in closed quarters might be lethal. Could even be lethal to the cops themselves.
I just dunno about stun grenades. I'd have to see some studies. I don't now how to get the best use out of a stun grenade. I could be trained, I suppose. But, I already KNOW how to use most small arms. If you were to hand me a firearm that I wasn't familiar with, it shouldn't take more than sixty seconds for you to explain that firearm's unique features, or requirements. How long would it take for me to learn about these stun grenades?
What is the effective range of a tazer? And, what is the effective range of a .38 Police Special? A 9mm? A .44? How about a .45?
Given that some guy is shooting at me, I don't think I want to stroll up to him, to hit him with a tazer. Especially considering that the dead guy was wearing a bomb jacket or vest. I'd prefer to stand back several yards, and empty a few magazines in his direction, while my buddies did the same.
A man stopping round is pretty much synonymous with a man killing round. Not precisely, but pretty much so. In point of fact, many lethal rounds are not man stoppers. That was the very reason for the Army's solicitations for a man stopper, that ultimately resulted in the M1911 .45 Automatic Colt Pistol. The .45 ACP is very definitely a man stopper.
If you don't like firearms, I suppose you could recruit Godzilla, and arm him with a giant fly swatter.