"The 'right to bear arms' has nothing to do with protecting the nation. The sole reason for that amendment was to guarantee the citizens the right to bear arms, so that a citizen's rebellion against an out-of-hand government would be a guaranteed option."
Get this on the network news ASAP. It's a sympathetic human interest story. Real people were involved that they can interview. They should LOVE this stuff. Get her on Oprah. Make people hate the copyright regime tonight.
But then I realized that the line "the union is irrelevant" is actually a quote from one of the union-busting lawyers in the article linked above. So I suspect that the parent post is actually just propaganda/astroturfing.
"[I]t is a violation of the Agreement and this AUP to[...] (b) transmit uninvited communications, data or information"
I'd say this is pretty Pythonesque. I can't send you data until you invite me. Of course, you sending me an invitation is prohibited unless I invited you to do that. But I can't do that unless you invited me first. Etc.
"Obviously lesson plans produced at government funded public schools should be kept free and open so that they can be effectively refined and tailored for specific environments. A shared resource granting a community benefit in creating and maintaining the best possible lesson plans."
Most lesson plans are actually crafted at the teacher's home, after hours, on their own equipment. Furthermore, lesson plans are very idiosyncratic, tailored to a particular school, sequence, course, and environment.
I'm an enormous proponent of free and open textbooks, available to everyone. There should be a program that entices and rewards teachers for work of that nature. But the parent's implied plan of "obviously" forcing all teachers to give up ownership of their lesson plans is at once objectionable, unhelpful, and likely unworkable.
"Freedom of speech, in the United States at least, is not given to citizens so that they can harm other people's reputations or hold them accountable for their actions. It is there so that actions by the government can be openly criticized and constructive dialog be established between (and amongst) citizens and the government, without fear of reprisal. It is there for the betterment of everyone. If there is no benefit to society, no protection is granted."
This is perhaps the biggest pile of bullshit I've read on Slashdot in quite some time. This is not remotely how the U.S. constitution reads. This is complete fabricated nonsense.
"And I certainly wouldn't torpedo a company that is providing employment to my community just so that the BSA and Microsoft can earn a couple thousand dollars."
Bullshit arguments like this are the best case I've yet seen in FAVOR of calling the BSA.
I'll reiterate some important points made by others above. (a) Most teaching faculty today are not full-time professors, but rather part-timers with no job security and no benefits and working at multiple schools (i.e., no guarantee that any work put into lectures won't be completely wasted effort when they get let go in the next semester). This has been done in the last 20 years so as to skirt union membership and therefore pay them a lot less. (b) Frequently teaching assignment are given with a few days before the semester, and such part-time faculty are in a desperate straight to use any pre-published aids to get the class up and running. (c) Full-time research faculty are themselves neither hired, assessed, nor rewarded for good teaching.
In fact, I had one job interview for a full-time teaching position and I made the mistake of saying, "I'm a really good teacher and all my student evaluations are very high". The response from the dean across the table at that was, "All I hear is a bunch of bullshit."
So those things above are all probably the most important, but here's one more log for the fire. Same dean as above (for whom I worked part-time) has a "support" meeting and one of they things he did was make a really heavy-handed push to use PowerPoint. See, administration really loves capital improvements (new building, pricey new lab, new equipment, etc.). One example was this expensive laser setup that no one had any use for and was just pushed in a corner under a tarp for years. Likewise, both schools I've taught at go in the direction of removing chalkboards to buy expensive computer video projection setups in the classrooms (from some given vendor).
Any here's what the dean said: "People love technology. We have all this great new technology, use it, somehow. We have video projectors in the classrooms, so use PowerPoint or browse the Web or something to show that off to people."
Anyway, I took a poll in my classes to see if students like PowerPoint lectures, it came back about 2/3 negative, so I don't do that.
"Any Americans care to extend the info on this controversy for all us non-Americans?"
Glenn Beck is jaw-droppingly insane and has a distressingly large and devoted following here in the U.S., every day on radio and TV. I was just saying the other day that he (and his ilk on Fox News TV) are giving me this very unpleasant "Weimar Republic" vibe here in the U.S. these days.
Here's my answer: Because the U.S. has always used "first-past-the-post" voting, whereas most European parliamentarian governments use "proportional voting". First-past-the-post voting necessarily results in a static 2-party system (Duverger's Law), and it's effectively impossible to elect 3rd-party representatives that, say, have as a priority the quality of our internet connections. IMO it's the biggest weakness in U.S. governance, and I can't imagine how it could get changed.
"Which is a pretty sad commentary. For all everyone's complaining here, did he really do anything that negatively impacted your lives?"
You miss the point. Presumably he's lying about all that stuff -- gun, guard, lecture, phone calls, everything. That's what people like him do. On the day they actually came to take his position away he slunk off quietly, like a whipped dog.
"Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed body guard protected him at Harvard Law School when he gave a speech last month."
So, did he ever get use that gun against the people who terminated him, I wonder?
"This means that at some point the Referee (or DM or whatever you call him/her) will want to 'cheat', hopefully in favour of the players, or more specifically 'in favour of a good story'."
"Hey, I have a better idea. Let's take just 1% of that trillion dollars per year, and use it to feed EVERY SINGLE !@## STARVING KID THE WORLD OVER. Yes, that's all it would take. A Billion dollars per year could by a handful of rice, corn, or wheat to put into the hands of every single starving kid in the world. Can you imagine just how much goodwill this would cause?"
Ouch. While I'm enormously sympathetic and entirely on the same side of the political fence as you, your numbers here are tremendously screwed up. Pretty embarrassing, actually.
(a) 1% of a trillion dollars is not "a billion" -- it's 10 billion. (b) U.S. already donates over $22 billion per year in foreign aid *. (c) Highly skeptical that another billion (or 10) could feed all starving children -- citation needed. (d) Many locations are documented as not allowing US/UN personnel in, and/or have confiscated food donations in the past from the poor to the army, etc. -- would you be willing to force that with military action?
Get your facts straight and it will strengthen our campaign for social justice in the world.
"Yet when the STATISTICS are presented to you, you claim that it is "ire and denial"... Again, when 1.5% of the developers are women, and only 0.1% of the comments are sexist, what is the REAL problem that you are trying to "solve"?"
These "statistics" sound made-up. Where are you getting them from?
Made-up numbers are not "statistics". Perhaps they are "conjectures".
Slashdot Mirror
"The 'right to bear arms' has nothing to do with protecting the nation. The sole reason for that amendment was to guarantee the citizens the right to bear arms, so that a citizen's rebellion against an out-of-hand government would be a guaranteed option."
[Citation needed]
Get this on the network news ASAP. It's a sympathetic human interest story. Real people were involved that they can interview. They should LOVE this stuff. Get her on Oprah. Make people hate the copyright regime tonight.
"I'll field that one: Unions are irrelevant."
Now, I was going to respond thusly -- If that's true, then:
(a) Why do about half of Americans approve of labor unions?
http://www.gallup.com/poll/122744/Labor-Unions-Sharp-Slide-Public-Support.aspx#1
(b) Why is there a multi-billion dollar union-busting legal industry?
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3326/unionbusting_confidential/
But then I realized that the line "the union is irrelevant" is actually a quote from one of the union-busting lawyers in the article linked above. So I suspect that the parent post is actually just propaganda/astroturfing.
"[I]t is a violation of the Agreement and this AUP to[...] (b) transmit uninvited communications, data or information"
I'd say this is pretty Pythonesque. I can't send you data until you invite me. Of course, you sending me an invitation is prohibited unless I invited you to do that. But I can't do that unless you invited me first. Etc.
Hello Rumpelstilskin, you've been asleep for 9.5 years.
But what if I'm my own worst enemy?
Last I checked: You have a right to remain silent.
News Corp = Guy slipping over icy precipice.
Microsoft = A second guy tied to that first guy.
"That's just dandy... where is Clark Kent supposed to change now?"
You realize that gag was actually on film in the Superman I movie over 30 years ago, right?
"Obviously lesson plans produced at government funded public schools should be kept free and open so that they can be effectively refined and tailored for specific environments. A shared resource granting a community benefit in creating and maintaining the best possible lesson plans."
Most lesson plans are actually crafted at the teacher's home, after hours, on their own equipment. Furthermore, lesson plans are very idiosyncratic, tailored to a particular school, sequence, course, and environment.
I'm an enormous proponent of free and open textbooks, available to everyone. There should be a program that entices and rewards teachers for work of that nature. But the parent's implied plan of "obviously" forcing all teachers to give up ownership of their lesson plans is at once objectionable, unhelpful, and likely unworkable.
"Freedom of speech, in the United States at least, is not given to citizens so that they can harm other people's reputations or hold them accountable for their actions. It is there so that actions by the government can be openly criticized and constructive dialog be established between (and amongst) citizens and the government, without fear of reprisal. It is there for the betterment of everyone. If there is no benefit to society, no protection is granted."
This is perhaps the biggest pile of bullshit I've read on Slashdot in quite some time. This is not remotely how the U.S. constitution reads. This is complete fabricated nonsense.
"And I certainly wouldn't torpedo a company that is providing employment to my community just so that the BSA and Microsoft can earn a couple thousand dollars."
Bullshit arguments like this are the best case I've yet seen in FAVOR of calling the BSA.
Document, CYA, think about finding a new job (under the principle that this is one symptom of management that is likely poor in lots of ways).
I'll reiterate some important points made by others above. (a) Most teaching faculty today are not full-time professors, but rather part-timers with no job security and no benefits and working at multiple schools (i.e., no guarantee that any work put into lectures won't be completely wasted effort when they get let go in the next semester). This has been done in the last 20 years so as to skirt union membership and therefore pay them a lot less. (b) Frequently teaching assignment are given with a few days before the semester, and such part-time faculty are in a desperate straight to use any pre-published aids to get the class up and running. (c) Full-time research faculty are themselves neither hired, assessed, nor rewarded for good teaching.
In fact, I had one job interview for a full-time teaching position and I made the mistake of saying, "I'm a really good teacher and all my student evaluations are very high". The response from the dean across the table at that was, "All I hear is a bunch of bullshit."
So those things above are all probably the most important, but here's one more log for the fire. Same dean as above (for whom I worked part-time) has a "support" meeting and one of they things he did was make a really heavy-handed push to use PowerPoint. See, administration really loves capital improvements (new building, pricey new lab, new equipment, etc.). One example was this expensive laser setup that no one had any use for and was just pushed in a corner under a tarp for years. Likewise, both schools I've taught at go in the direction of removing chalkboards to buy expensive computer video projection setups in the classrooms (from some given vendor).
Any here's what the dean said: "People love technology. We have all this great new technology, use it, somehow. We have video projectors in the classrooms, so use PowerPoint or browse the Web or something to show that off to people."
Anyway, I took a poll in my classes to see if students like PowerPoint lectures, it came back about 2/3 negative, so I don't do that.
"Any Americans care to extend the info on this controversy for all us non-Americans?"
Glenn Beck is jaw-droppingly insane and has a distressingly large and devoted following here in the U.S., every day on radio and TV. I was just saying the other day that he (and his ilk on Fox News TV) are giving me this very unpleasant "Weimar Republic" vibe here in the U.S. these days.
Watch one or two videos on YouTube of the guy. Here's just the first that popped up for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szlLM5lCNJg
"There's a doctrine called 'fair use', which we believe to be challenged in the courts and would bar it altogether... But we'll take that slowly."
That's pretty much the definition of FUD. "We can and will destroy you, but we choose not to for now." A.k.a. "bullshit".
"Why do you put up with this shit?"
Here's my answer: Because the U.S. has always used "first-past-the-post" voting, whereas most European parliamentarian governments use "proportional voting". First-past-the-post voting necessarily results in a static 2-party system (Duverger's Law), and it's effectively impossible to elect 3rd-party representatives that, say, have as a priority the quality of our internet connections. IMO it's the biggest weakness in U.S. governance, and I can't imagine how it could get changed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger%27s_Law
... a scratch-a-scratch.
"Which is a pretty sad commentary. For all everyone's complaining here, did he really do anything that negatively impacted your lives?"
You miss the point. Presumably he's lying about all that stuff -- gun, guard, lecture, phone calls, everything. That's what people like him do. On the day they actually came to take his position away he slunk off quietly, like a whipped dog.
"Darl McBride, chief executive of SCO Group Inc., says he sometimes carries a gun because his enemies are out to kill him. He checks into hotels under assumed names. An armed body guard protected him at Harvard Law School when he gave a speech last month."
So, did he ever get use that gun against the people who terminated him, I wonder?
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,595047068,00.html?pg=1
"This means that at some point the Referee (or DM or whatever you call him/her) will want to 'cheat', hopefully in favour of the players, or more specifically 'in favour of a good story'."
Yuck!!
http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/05/coddling-players.html
I entirely agree with you on all of those items (A, B, C, and D). But you hurt our cause by looking sloppy and dumb and lacking communication skills.
"Hey, I have a better idea. Let's take just 1% of that trillion dollars per year, and use it to feed EVERY SINGLE !@## STARVING KID THE WORLD OVER. Yes, that's all it would take. A Billion dollars per year could by a handful of rice, corn, or wheat to put into the hands of every single starving kid in the world. Can you imagine just how much goodwill this would cause?"
Ouch. While I'm enormously sympathetic and entirely on the same side of the political fence as you, your numbers here are tremendously screwed up. Pretty embarrassing, actually.
(a) 1% of a trillion dollars is not "a billion" -- it's 10 billion. (b) U.S. already donates over $22 billion per year in foreign aid *. (c) Highly skeptical that another billion (or 10) could feed all starving children -- citation needed. (d) Many locations are documented as not allowing US/UN personnel in, and/or have confiscated food donations in the past from the poor to the army, etc. -- would you be willing to force that with military action?
Get your facts straight and it will strengthen our campaign for social justice in the world.
* Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_policy_of_the_United_States#Foreign_aid
"Now, the question becomes: is this a good thing at all?"
No, it's stupid.
The slaughter will continue until play improves.
http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/2009/05/coddling-players.html
"Yet when the STATISTICS are presented to you, you claim that it is "ire and denial"... Again, when 1.5% of the developers are women, and only 0.1% of the comments are sexist, what is the REAL problem that you are trying to "solve"?"
These "statistics" sound made-up. Where are you getting them from?
Made-up numbers are not "statistics". Perhaps they are "conjectures".