Might does make right. Don't forget, the winners write the history books, and the losers don't even get to put their rationalizations for war into the footnotes. I'm aware of that, and the jihadists are also aware of that. Might makes right.
The question is, are we stronger than the jihadists? Is Islam stronger than the jihadists? You know, if the jihadists win, and get their way, it's not going to matter what you or I think, and it's not going to matter what the mainstream Muslim thinks either.
I have almost no desire to be politically correct. But, you're full of shit.
Let's look at the numbers. There are about a billion Muslims. You seem to claim that mainstream Muslims go around killing people who disagree with their religion. Okay, so we'll dismiss the fringes of our mainstream bell curve, and say that there are half a billion mainstream Muslims. Roughly 1/4 of those are probably military aged males. 1/4 of half a billion would be something like 125 million.
Mainstream, you say. Average Muslims. If 125 million Muslims have killed a nonbeliever in the past decade, or even the past two or three decades, it's been a well kept secret.
How about we just accept the fact that those rat bastards are just as violent as we are, and leave it at that? I mean - we ARE a violent bunch. Why should it be so shocking that they are as violent as we are? Violence doesn't bother us in our entertainment. It doesn't bother us that a dozen or more people are murdered in each of our larger cities, each and every night. We barely flinch when we hear of yet another child abuse down the road.
Are we really that horrified that another people can be as violent as we are?
The Koran is just a few new chapters added to the Old Testament, when you get down to it. Any Muslim will readily acknowledge that his religion is an offshoot of Judaism and Christianity. The major difference is, the Muslims have their warrior prophet, whereas the Christians have their turn-the-other-cheek saviour. The Jews are still waiting for their messiah - it's anyone's guess what happens when their arrives.
"strong fresh brew tea" you say? I wonder what kind of tea it is. There are some teas that really pack the caffeine, but most of it is just watered down dishwater. If you're doing orange or black pekoe, just give it up, and brew some coffee. 99.999999% of tea sold in the USA is for women with hormonal problems, children, or just plain sissies. So, get yourself a good cup of java, slurp half of it down, then try reading it again. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup of something like Folger's or Maxwell House, slightly heaping, for the standard 12 cup pot (actually only 12 x 6 ounces, which is only 9 cups, but hey, when you run out you can make another 9 cups, who's counting anyway?)
"Why do you think your scribbling on the agreement has the force of law? "
Obviously, my scribbling was preserved, and entered into my file. My scribbling has been tacitly accepted by that action. This tacit acceptance would be brought up in any civil or criminal dispute in the future.
I bet they could turn off my power any time they like, you're right there. But, I refuse to surrender my rights under coercion. There ARE alternatives to accepting the dictates of the power company. Some of those alternatives may be inconvenient, but there are alternatives.
I assumed that he was referring to the agreement between the US and the UK. The US is not supposed to spy on US citizens. The UK supposedly doesn't spy on UK citizens. But, they long ago agreed to permit each other to spy on the other nation's citizens, then share what they know.
So, yeah, every time a UK citizen identifies to a UK business or agency via PayPal, the US is going to see it, and report it, assuming that one or both nations has an "interest" in that citizen.
I don't think so. If all those white boys choose to be peter puffers, while all the rest of the world is screwing the women, then the white boys deserve to die off. Get it on, Adam and Steve, don't worry about all those brown folk. Give it another couple generations, and you'll be forgotten.
PPLXLULL XXX PAYPAL EUROPE, S.A R.L ET CIE, S.C.A. LUXEMBOURG LU
That's cool and all - I've learned how to look up a bank in Europe. Now, what can a guy do with that code? Is it what we would call a "routing code" here in the states? A routing code would prefix your account number on a check, or deposit slip, ensuring that the money was deposited or withdrawn from the correct account, no matter where in the world you might make the deposit or withdrawal.
LMAO - those who would give up essential liberties for some imagined security deserve neither. I need "a job", but I don't need any specific job.
I guess that I'm valuable enough that the boss puts up with my shit. Imagine that (to borrow from a stupid internet meme) - "I haz VALUE!"
Meanwhile, I'll continue being my old cantankerous self, and do things my own way. If the electric company disconnects my electricity, I'll just run my generator, and eventually buy a bigger, more powerful generator, and/or switch off to solar power. I can get by without the electric company, just as I can get by without my boss. It's just a business relationship, after all.
I may not have a wheelbarrow full of balls, but I do have a pair!
We can adapt. People can learn to count change again, instead of relying on computers. People can learn to write and take notes again, to mail letters. Banks can just go to all the trouble of sorting out our finances, manually, again. Everything that is done by computer today, was done manually as recently as twenty years ago. People might bitch. Businesses might bitch. The government might bitch. But, we could, and we would, sort it all out.
Computers are cool, I like them. People are stupid, and rely on computers to much.
BTW - my workplace uses computers too, but I'm 99.99999% certain that they are insulated from this threatened digital doomsday. And, if I'm wrong - well, we'll relearn how to do stuff like it was done a mere seven years ago, in our plant. Only seven years ago, did we start the turnover from ancient dinosaur era plastic intrusion machines to the computerized models we run today. We still have the technicians who made production on the dinosaur machines. We still have some of the same maintenance people. Management has seen an 80% turnover since then, but we don't NEED no steenking management to produce. The only purpose they serve, is to get new contracts.
In 1986, I married my wife, and we moved onto property that her daddy owned. We needed (or at least we badly wanted) electricity to the house. The rural electric cooperative took my application for service, and at the same time, told me that I must sign this little bitty sheet of paper. I read the paper, while the lady at the desk told me that it was "just a routine" necessity, no need to read it. I read it anyway. Had I signed that "agreement", then I could never put a generator on my property. No generators, none. By the strictest interpretation, I couldn't own either a tractor, or a truck which had a generator on it. An alternator would be alright, but not a generator. Nor could I install a generator on the property to supply electricity when the occasional ice storm knocks out electrical service. Nor could I erect a wind turbine, and sell electricity to the electric company.
I laughed at the lady, and scribbled a note on their "agreement", stating that I did indeed own a tractor with a generator, that I owned a pickup truck with a generator, and that I owned a generator with which I was building on to our home, in lieu of the electric service that I was "applying" for. I also noted that I may or may not purchase more generators in the future.
The lady took that "agreement", and filed it with all the rest of my paperwork. I saw it about six years ago, when I went down to complain about three consecutive bills that were exorbitant.
You can't be forced to "agree" to something that restricts your rights. You can't be denied service for that refusal. I was certain of my position, and the electric company was uncertain of their position. Needless to say, the meter loop was installed within a week. All they needed was for one hard headed sumbitch from outside the region to tell them how things are in the bigger world outside their little pond.
The only time in my life that I have ever signed anything that I didn't really like signing, was while on active duty in the military. And, even there, I eventually learned that I was not obligated to sign anything which I felt was wrong, inaccurate, immoral, or unethical. That's what officers are for - to sign that they are responsible for whatever.
My current boss has demanded that I sign documents in the past. It took about ten minutes for us to reach an understanding. My signature means that I take ownership of whatever the document pertains to. I WILL NOT take ownership of someone else's screwups. If something doesn't get it's preventive maintenance, it's not MY screwup, it's HIS screwup - and he needs to sign it, not me.
Don't like a document? Don't sign it. Simple as that. You cannot be legally punished for refusal to sign on the dotted line.
Those were pretty much my thoughts. Kaspersky and company simply take themselves to seriously. I'd be upset if computers stopped working tomorrow, but I'd get over it. Withdrawal pains would only last several days, or a few weeks.
Now, bombs are a whole different story. Most people don't get over it. And, arguably, the ones who die are the lucky ones.
Salutes, to experience. 60/40 was likely close enough to 50/50 to fool me. On the other hand, the wife has brought home some "hamburger meat" that may well have been 50/50. I could see the fat content as I formed it into a patty, it felt nasty. As it cooked, it shriveled like crazy.
She still tries to save money on the shopping, but it's been a long time since she brought home meat that was THAT nasty!
I'd pay ten bucks for a DVD with all of Atari's old games on it. It could lie around on a shelf, and when I got bored, I'd browse through the library, and play something. But, I can't imagine actually BUYING a game in the store for twenty bucks. They weren't worth that much back in 1980's!
Personally, I've been in a Chuckie's exactly two times. The first time was due to ignorance. I didn't like the food, and I damned sure didn't like the kids squealing all around me. It was just to juvenile, and unsupervised. The second time, I was pretty much dragged in, and the experience was even worse.
I guess it's been 25 years since I've been in one, and there is no nostalgia or any similar emotion that might make me venture in again. Some kind of serious money offer might induce me to walk through their doors again. Serious, I said. I'm not going in for a hundred bucks, thank you very much.
No company has the ability to force you to sign an NDA. And, if you felt forced when you signed it, then it's a contract signed under coercion, and unenforceable. I'm so sick of NDA's. They are meaningless shit, not even good for wiping your nasty ass with.
When someone offers you an NDA, tell them to stuff it up their ass.
Ahhh, but you're no longer talking about a published game, so much as a "service". But, I don't much like that distinction, because companies like Steam are purposely moving away from published content, toward services. I'm not real sure how to deal with that - except that I don't subscribe. I have only one subscription, it's pretty cheap, and if something happens to it, I'll be a bit pissed, but I'll get over it quickly.
People who have several hundreds, or even thousands of dollars "invested" in Steam don't seem real bright to me. They play at Steam's whim, with absolutely no guarantees that the content will be available tomorrow.
Berkeley. Maybe you've never heard of Berkeley before. You should google them. They are not anarchists, but they have a good deal in common with anarchists. They are not democrats, but they have some things in common with democrats. They're not libertarians, but they share some libertarian ideas. What Berkeley is NOT - most definitely NOT - is conservative and/or republican. Berkeley. This is about the last place the Cock Brothers would go in search of "scientific" support for their views. Ooops, I misspelled Koch? My bad! LMAO
My Grandma started with a gallon of milk. She usually made the first gallon of ice cream while all of us were out playing, then as we wandered in, she would start a second batch, keeping secret the fact that there was a gallon already in the freezer. That second batch was hand cranked by all of us kids, and finished off by one of the adults. When it was finished, everyone would get a bowl of goodness, and if there wasn't enough for everyone to get a good sized serving, then that first gallon would come out of the freezer.
Actually, I think you get a LITTLE more than one gallon of ice cream from a gallon of milk, but it isn't much. Solids dissolving into a liquid simply don't yield much more in volume.
Well, a survey wasn't necessary to determine that RIAA and MPAA lie through their teeth. If we were to believe THEIR lies, they and all their member corporations would have been bankrupted with the advent of the internet. They've already lost more money from the year 2000 to the year 2005 than they've made between the years 1990 and 2010. WTF?
Nope. People who support SANE copyright laws aren't brainwashed. We are willing to reward artists for original stuff. Give them their copyright for a decade or so, give or take a little.
Life plus 100 years (or any variation on that theme) is just insane.
Ohh, good idea. Give away shit copies of your work, then no one will want to steal your real work.
That's just batfuck crazy. Let's go back to "entertainment". If/when you entertain the people, the people will reward you. When you stop being entertaining, the people will stop rewarding you. Sing and dance, then at the end of the day, you can count the coins in your money bowl. If the money isn't adequate to your needs, then you need to learn how to sing and dance in an entertaining way. The world doesn't owe you a living just because you sing and dance to the tune of some corporate big shot.
Does not compute. Theft of a physical, tangible asset != making a duplicate of that asset. The so-called "theft" of digital goods = making a duplicate of that good, which in no way detracts from anyone's inventory, assets, or ability to continue selling those goods.
That is perfectly true. And, that is why everyone should own a weapon, unless they have been disqualified due to mental defect, or due to antisocial behaviour such as murder, rape, robbery, etc.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." - Thomas Jefferson quoting Ceaser Beccria.
Slashdot Mirror
Might does make right. Don't forget, the winners write the history books, and the losers don't even get to put their rationalizations for war into the footnotes. I'm aware of that, and the jihadists are also aware of that. Might makes right.
The question is, are we stronger than the jihadists? Is Islam stronger than the jihadists? You know, if the jihadists win, and get their way, it's not going to matter what you or I think, and it's not going to matter what the mainstream Muslim thinks either.
I have almost no desire to be politically correct. But, you're full of shit.
Let's look at the numbers. There are about a billion Muslims. You seem to claim that mainstream Muslims go around killing people who disagree with their religion. Okay, so we'll dismiss the fringes of our mainstream bell curve, and say that there are half a billion mainstream Muslims. Roughly 1/4 of those are probably military aged males. 1/4 of half a billion would be something like 125 million.
Mainstream, you say. Average Muslims. If 125 million Muslims have killed a nonbeliever in the past decade, or even the past two or three decades, it's been a well kept secret.
How about we just accept the fact that those rat bastards are just as violent as we are, and leave it at that? I mean - we ARE a violent bunch. Why should it be so shocking that they are as violent as we are? Violence doesn't bother us in our entertainment. It doesn't bother us that a dozen or more people are murdered in each of our larger cities, each and every night. We barely flinch when we hear of yet another child abuse down the road.
Are we really that horrified that another people can be as violent as we are?
The whip and the .38 were extraneous. Jones had one hot babe. Without the babe, Jones would have been a nobody.
The Koran is just a few new chapters added to the Old Testament, when you get down to it. Any Muslim will readily acknowledge that his religion is an offshoot of Judaism and Christianity. The major difference is, the Muslims have their warrior prophet, whereas the Christians have their turn-the-other-cheek saviour. The Jews are still waiting for their messiah - it's anyone's guess what happens when their arrives.
"strong fresh brew tea" you say? I wonder what kind of tea it is. There are some teas that really pack the caffeine, but most of it is just watered down dishwater. If you're doing orange or black pekoe, just give it up, and brew some coffee. 99.999999% of tea sold in the USA is for women with hormonal problems, children, or just plain sissies. So, get yourself a good cup of java, slurp half of it down, then try reading it again. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup of something like Folger's or Maxwell House, slightly heaping, for the standard 12 cup pot (actually only 12 x 6 ounces, which is only 9 cups, but hey, when you run out you can make another 9 cups, who's counting anyway?)
"Why do you think your scribbling on the agreement has the force of law? "
Obviously, my scribbling was preserved, and entered into my file. My scribbling has been tacitly accepted by that action. This tacit acceptance would be brought up in any civil or criminal dispute in the future.
I bet they could turn off my power any time they like, you're right there. But, I refuse to surrender my rights under coercion. There ARE alternatives to accepting the dictates of the power company. Some of those alternatives may be inconvenient, but there are alternatives.
I assumed that he was referring to the agreement between the US and the UK. The US is not supposed to spy on US citizens. The UK supposedly doesn't spy on UK citizens. But, they long ago agreed to permit each other to spy on the other nation's citizens, then share what they know.
So, yeah, every time a UK citizen identifies to a UK business or agency via PayPal, the US is going to see it, and report it, assuming that one or both nations has an "interest" in that citizen.
I don't think so. If all those white boys choose to be peter puffers, while all the rest of the world is screwing the women, then the white boys deserve to die off. Get it on, Adam and Steve, don't worry about all those brown folk. Give it another couple generations, and you'll be forgotten.
PPLXLULL XXX PAYPAL EUROPE, S.A R.L ET CIE, S.C.A. LUXEMBOURG LU
That's cool and all - I've learned how to look up a bank in Europe. Now, what can a guy do with that code? Is it what we would call a "routing code" here in the states? A routing code would prefix your account number on a check, or deposit slip, ensuring that the money was deposited or withdrawn from the correct account, no matter where in the world you might make the deposit or withdrawal.
LMAO - those who would give up essential liberties for some imagined security deserve neither. I need "a job", but I don't need any specific job.
I guess that I'm valuable enough that the boss puts up with my shit. Imagine that (to borrow from a stupid internet meme) - "I haz VALUE!"
Meanwhile, I'll continue being my old cantankerous self, and do things my own way. If the electric company disconnects my electricity, I'll just run my generator, and eventually buy a bigger, more powerful generator, and/or switch off to solar power. I can get by without the electric company, just as I can get by without my boss. It's just a business relationship, after all.
I may not have a wheelbarrow full of balls, but I do have a pair!
We can adapt. People can learn to count change again, instead of relying on computers. People can learn to write and take notes again, to mail letters. Banks can just go to all the trouble of sorting out our finances, manually, again. Everything that is done by computer today, was done manually as recently as twenty years ago. People might bitch. Businesses might bitch. The government might bitch. But, we could, and we would, sort it all out.
Computers are cool, I like them. People are stupid, and rely on computers to much.
BTW - my workplace uses computers too, but I'm 99.99999% certain that they are insulated from this threatened digital doomsday. And, if I'm wrong - well, we'll relearn how to do stuff like it was done a mere seven years ago, in our plant. Only seven years ago, did we start the turnover from ancient dinosaur era plastic intrusion machines to the computerized models we run today. We still have the technicians who made production on the dinosaur machines. We still have some of the same maintenance people. Management has seen an 80% turnover since then, but we don't NEED no steenking management to produce. The only purpose they serve, is to get new contracts.
In 1986, I married my wife, and we moved onto property that her daddy owned. We needed (or at least we badly wanted) electricity to the house. The rural electric cooperative took my application for service, and at the same time, told me that I must sign this little bitty sheet of paper. I read the paper, while the lady at the desk told me that it was "just a routine" necessity, no need to read it. I read it anyway. Had I signed that "agreement", then I could never put a generator on my property. No generators, none. By the strictest interpretation, I couldn't own either a tractor, or a truck which had a generator on it. An alternator would be alright, but not a generator. Nor could I install a generator on the property to supply electricity when the occasional ice storm knocks out electrical service. Nor could I erect a wind turbine, and sell electricity to the electric company.
I laughed at the lady, and scribbled a note on their "agreement", stating that I did indeed own a tractor with a generator, that I owned a pickup truck with a generator, and that I owned a generator with which I was building on to our home, in lieu of the electric service that I was "applying" for. I also noted that I may or may not purchase more generators in the future.
The lady took that "agreement", and filed it with all the rest of my paperwork. I saw it about six years ago, when I went down to complain about three consecutive bills that were exorbitant.
You can't be forced to "agree" to something that restricts your rights. You can't be denied service for that refusal. I was certain of my position, and the electric company was uncertain of their position. Needless to say, the meter loop was installed within a week. All they needed was for one hard headed sumbitch from outside the region to tell them how things are in the bigger world outside their little pond.
The only time in my life that I have ever signed anything that I didn't really like signing, was while on active duty in the military. And, even there, I eventually learned that I was not obligated to sign anything which I felt was wrong, inaccurate, immoral, or unethical. That's what officers are for - to sign that they are responsible for whatever.
My current boss has demanded that I sign documents in the past. It took about ten minutes for us to reach an understanding. My signature means that I take ownership of whatever the document pertains to. I WILL NOT take ownership of someone else's screwups. If something doesn't get it's preventive maintenance, it's not MY screwup, it's HIS screwup - and he needs to sign it, not me.
Don't like a document? Don't sign it. Simple as that. You cannot be legally punished for refusal to sign on the dotted line.
Those were pretty much my thoughts. Kaspersky and company simply take themselves to seriously. I'd be upset if computers stopped working tomorrow, but I'd get over it. Withdrawal pains would only last several days, or a few weeks.
Now, bombs are a whole different story. Most people don't get over it. And, arguably, the ones who die are the lucky ones.
Salutes, to experience. 60/40 was likely close enough to 50/50 to fool me. On the other hand, the wife has brought home some "hamburger meat" that may well have been 50/50. I could see the fat content as I formed it into a patty, it felt nasty. As it cooked, it shriveled like crazy.
She still tries to save money on the shopping, but it's been a long time since she brought home meat that was THAT nasty!
I'd pay ten bucks for a DVD with all of Atari's old games on it. It could lie around on a shelf, and when I got bored, I'd browse through the library, and play something. But, I can't imagine actually BUYING a game in the store for twenty bucks. They weren't worth that much back in 1980's!
Personally, I've been in a Chuckie's exactly two times. The first time was due to ignorance. I didn't like the food, and I damned sure didn't like the kids squealing all around me. It was just to juvenile, and unsupervised. The second time, I was pretty much dragged in, and the experience was even worse.
I guess it's been 25 years since I've been in one, and there is no nostalgia or any similar emotion that might make me venture in again. Some kind of serious money offer might induce me to walk through their doors again. Serious, I said. I'm not going in for a hundred bucks, thank you very much.
No company has the ability to force you to sign an NDA. And, if you felt forced when you signed it, then it's a contract signed under coercion, and unenforceable. I'm so sick of NDA's. They are meaningless shit, not even good for wiping your nasty ass with.
When someone offers you an NDA, tell them to stuff it up their ass.
Ahhh, but you're no longer talking about a published game, so much as a "service". But, I don't much like that distinction, because companies like Steam are purposely moving away from published content, toward services. I'm not real sure how to deal with that - except that I don't subscribe. I have only one subscription, it's pretty cheap, and if something happens to it, I'll be a bit pissed, but I'll get over it quickly.
People who have several hundreds, or even thousands of dollars "invested" in Steam don't seem real bright to me. They play at Steam's whim, with absolutely no guarantees that the content will be available tomorrow.
Berkeley. Maybe you've never heard of Berkeley before. You should google them. They are not anarchists, but they have a good deal in common with anarchists. They are not democrats, but they have some things in common with democrats. They're not libertarians, but they share some libertarian ideas. What Berkeley is NOT - most definitely NOT - is conservative and/or republican. Berkeley. This is about the last place the Cock Brothers would go in search of "scientific" support for their views. Ooops, I misspelled Koch? My bad! LMAO
Two cups of sugar and two of cream?
My Grandma started with a gallon of milk. She usually made the first gallon of ice cream while all of us were out playing, then as we wandered in, she would start a second batch, keeping secret the fact that there was a gallon already in the freezer. That second batch was hand cranked by all of us kids, and finished off by one of the adults. When it was finished, everyone would get a bowl of goodness, and if there wasn't enough for everyone to get a good sized serving, then that first gallon would come out of the freezer.
Actually, I think you get a LITTLE more than one gallon of ice cream from a gallon of milk, but it isn't much. Solids dissolving into a liquid simply don't yield much more in volume.
Well, a survey wasn't necessary to determine that RIAA and MPAA lie through their teeth. If we were to believe THEIR lies, they and all their member corporations would have been bankrupted with the advent of the internet. They've already lost more money from the year 2000 to the year 2005 than they've made between the years 1990 and 2010. WTF?
Nope. People who support SANE copyright laws aren't brainwashed. We are willing to reward artists for original stuff. Give them their copyright for a decade or so, give or take a little.
Life plus 100 years (or any variation on that theme) is just insane.
Ohh, good idea. Give away shit copies of your work, then no one will want to steal your real work.
That's just batfuck crazy. Let's go back to "entertainment". If/when you entertain the people, the people will reward you. When you stop being entertaining, the people will stop rewarding you. Sing and dance, then at the end of the day, you can count the coins in your money bowl. If the money isn't adequate to your needs, then you need to learn how to sing and dance in an entertaining way. The world doesn't owe you a living just because you sing and dance to the tune of some corporate big shot.
Does not compute. Theft of a physical, tangible asset != making a duplicate of that asset. The so-called "theft" of digital goods = making a duplicate of that good, which in no way detracts from anyone's inventory, assets, or ability to continue selling those goods.
That is perfectly true. And, that is why everyone should own a weapon, unless they have been disqualified due to mental defect, or due to antisocial behaviour such as murder, rape, robbery, etc.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." - Thomas Jefferson quoting Ceaser Beccria.