If you can override the device when you need to run the AC to cool down, then why not take it and get that monthly $10 discount off your Baltimore Gas and Electric bill?
I have never in my life uploaded a song to 150,000 people. My radio on demonoid hovers around 3.0, so the most they can *logically* claim against me is that I illegally made 3 copies of their the song. So $1 times 3 times however many songs they can prove I infringed (say 20) == $60 fine plus the record company's associated court costs.
That would be logical. But Congress forgot to include logic when they passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Tyranny. (Probably didn't read it either.)
Nothing significant. I have a PowerMeter that I use to measure various devices like my TV, computer, or air conditioner and I was curious to see how much energy the gadget uses, and it was unmeasurable. Probably 0.1 watt or so. Even if I had 10 of these power-monitoring devices in my applicances, that's only 1 W * 24 hours * 30 days == 0.7 kilowatt-hours, or 79 cents added to my bill.
My DTV converter is also unmeasurable when put in "standby" mode. It doesn't take much energy to run embedded CPU devices in a low-power state.
Using these devices to monitor & limit appliance power usage certainly makes more sense than trashing the reliable Incandescent bulb for the mercury-filled, ugly, dim POS crap called the Compact fluorescent that saves me only a few pennies per month. (IMHO)
"or the [mega]corporation acting on the govt's behalf" - Also known as fascism (old term) or Corporatism (new term) where the government motto moves from "We the People" to "We the Corporations".
So the Government (or the egacorporation acting on the govt's behalf) can turn off your appliance, and only let you use it during certain predetermined times. i.e. Rationing of electricity usage.
Yeah I know..... you think I'm a nutter for saying that, but then again I've studied government history. If they CAN do a thing, they will do that thing. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.
I can not lay my hand on any part of the Constitution that gives the Supreme Court power to nullify laws passed by Congress and signed by the president.
AND even if such a power existed, I don't see any reason why it should be limited to just 9 people who are unelected and therefore may ignore the ultimate authority (the people). The power to declare laws "unconstitutional" can certainly be shared with the State Legislators, who directly represent the People and their wish to strike down stupid laws that violate the People's Rights (such as the patriot act).
There are a few U.S. States that are federations (i.e. with local governments that are independent of the state government), so my example was not as far off as you think. Just off the top of my head: Pennsylvania is a federation, which is part of a bigger confederation.
As for the EU, I think Italy already discovered their place within the EU is now subservient. Italy tried to ignore an EU Parliament directive and the Court of First Instance slapped the Italian government into submission. I fail to see how this is any different from how the US operates among its various member states.
Not the same thing. Oracle doesn't have to offer a company "the lowest price". Oracle is free to charge XYZ Company twice as much as ABC Company, and XYZ can not sue Oracle because of it. It's just the way it is. But government can because government is not bound by contractual obligations. The paper means nothing.
BTW you're right. I don't know how you can study the last 3000 years of history, and conclude government is not evil. More citizens have been killed by their OWN government, than by foreign invasion, even inside Democracies.
The new masters will be the same as the old masters (we know - the new guys still renewed the Patriot Act). A wiser course would be a lawsuit saying the central government was never given the power to store private citizens' records, therefore the law violates the Australian constitution.
I don't see any difference. If there's a real or fake dick being inserted in a hole, or a pussy being licked, then it's sex and qualifies as "porn" for me. i.e. Not something I'd show children under age 13.
On the other hand nudity is just that - a body without clothes. Lots of cultures think nudity is acceptable, and a photo of that nudity is not "porn" (or evil as some Puritan-americans claim). I don't care if my kid sees it.
I agree with you 100%, but per usual Congress already spent the "millions saved" from this lawsuit. They just passed another healthcare bill costing 50 billion dollars to test and certify doctors as "doctors", and the Congressional Budget Office announced an "ooops" in their calculations. The deficit-neutral Pelosicare bill will now cost $110 billion more, per year, than originally projected. (In other words it won't save money as advertised; it will drive us deeper into debt.)
Maybe we can sue a few more Oracles to offset these extra expenditures. 160 billion / 100 million == 1600 companies need to be sued.
Yeah. That won't work. I'm glad I run my family budget better than Congress has run the last..... oh, 100 years of government budget.
This is why most companies don't like dealing with the government - too many restrictions. Oracle wanted to give a great deal to attract a new customer(s), most probably at a loss (as is common practice), but they didn't want to share that same deal with the government since it would end-up costing them millions in losses.
In the future Oracle might decide government sales aren't worth it, and refuse future GSA deals.
>>>Upholding the constitution is the duty of Congress, not the states,
Upholding the constitution of anybody who swore an oath, including myself, and including the State Legislators and government employees. Besides the Constitution was a creation of the state, is amended by the States, and can be abolished (via convention) by the States. It is entirely logical to give the Creators, authors, and potential abolishers the power to nullify U.S. laws they consider to be a breach of the contract they created.
I would also make the same argument in respect to the Member States of the EU and their constitution (Lisbon Treaty). They too should have the right to nullify by 1/2 vote any EU Laws they consider a breach of that treaty.
>>>you brought back nullification, you do remember how that turned out last time don't you?
Quite well. The Northeast states (Maine, Massachusetts, New York, etc) nullified the U.S. Fugitive Slave Act, because it was unconstitutional, and thereby gave blacks (like Harriet Tubman) a place of asylum during the age of slavery. If the northeast states had not used nullification, those blacks would have been rounded-up by police and shipped back to the south, most probably to be put to death. So I say nullification worked great, because it acted as a "check and balance" against overreaching central government, and also protected millions of black lives.
Damn straight. A friend of mine asked my advice on satellite service to save money. I told him you can get Dish Network for $20 a month, plus $5 if you want local stations. He said that's good. I then offered to help him with the ordering but he said he was waiting until his next paycheck.
About two weeks later my friend calls me and says, "I ordered DirecTV for $25 a month but it shoots up to $60 in December! You lied to me. You said it would it would only be $25!" I said I did not lie. DISH is $25 a month but you ordered the wrong damn thing. I told you I'd help you, but I'm sorry now you're stuck with DirecTV. I then asked WHEN he ordered this. "After work. I was tired and I ordered on the spur of the moment."
This story is a near-perfect example of a person NOT making an informed decision. He made an impulse buy and screwed himself. Of course I don't think it's the government's job to protect us from making dumb decisions like these. You order DirecTV by mistake, instead of Dish, then you simply have to take responsibility. .
>>>Would you blame someone for failing to read all the available research on a particular medicine before taking it, instead of just relying on what their doctors tell them
No not at all, but I do blame people for not questioning their doctors. I don't let any doctor give me medicine or a procedure until he explains what it's for. If he can't explain to my satisfaction, then I'll tell him the same thing I tell telemarketers: "No. Not interested." (Of course if I'm unconscious and dying, then the doctor can just do what he/she thinks is best.)
>>>Using a doctor to handle 911 calls is an incredible waste of resources.
I thought I was speaking in English. Was I not speaking in English? *In my last post* I clearly said that France does exactly that (doctors handle 911 calls), and it's saved them a shitload of money. Of course these French doctors only handle the medical 911 calls, not the fire or police calls, but still it sounds like an effective, cost-saving system.
No actually it isn't. Right-wing (meaning small government supporter) doesn't object to STATES exercising various powers, such as regulating the roads and providing 911 services.
Plus having doctors on the line who could treat medical conditions immediately, instead of sending an ambulance to every person who has a minor ailment (a cold or scraped knee), would SAVE money over the long term. No need to raise taxes.
Describe them as a grocer.:-) I think that's an apt analogy. My grocer might not let me buy Edy's Low-Fat Cookies'n'Cream, but that's not because he's a bad person. He simply chose not to carry that flavor.
And so instead I drive another block to the other grocer to get my cookies-n-cream.
It sounds like diversion to me. Argue over this silly cellphone law instead of water pipes or clogged roadways. What an incredible waste of resources (money, time).
"Sun is dangerous. Do not wear this bikini unless trying to attract a mate with your firm stomach and big breasts. Otherwise cover up." - California General Surgeon
I hope they are better than the stories I've come out of NICE (aka nasty). Over in the State of France they have a screening service, where doctors answer emergency calls directly and can provide medical care immediately, or else send an ambulance if the sick person needs hospital treatment. It has saved the State Government a lot of money by eliminating un-necessary ambulance/hospital visits.
This seems a good idea for the US Member States to copy, hiring actual doctors to handle 911 calls, rather than some minimum wage person. If I was a politician I would shove it through the Legislature, but of course I'm a nobody say I have no say whatsoever. Oh well.
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If you can override the device when you need to run the AC to cool down, then why not take it and get that monthly $10 discount off your Baltimore Gas and Electric bill?
I have never in my life uploaded a song to 150,000 people. My radio on demonoid hovers around 3.0, so the most they can *logically* claim against me is that I illegally made 3 copies of their the song. So $1 times 3 times however many songs they can prove I infringed (say 20) == $60 fine plus the record company's associated court costs.
That would be logical. But Congress forgot to include logic when they passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Tyranny. (Probably didn't read it either.)
Nothing significant. I have a PowerMeter that I use to measure various devices like my TV, computer, or air conditioner and I was curious to see how much energy the gadget uses, and it was unmeasurable. Probably 0.1 watt or so. Even if I had 10 of these power-monitoring devices in my applicances, that's only 1 W * 24 hours * 30 days == 0.7 kilowatt-hours, or 79 cents added to my bill.
My DTV converter is also unmeasurable when put in "standby" mode. It doesn't take much energy to run embedded CPU devices in a low-power state.
Using these devices to monitor & limit appliance power usage certainly makes more sense than trashing the reliable Incandescent bulb for the mercury-filled, ugly, dim POS crap called the Compact fluorescent that saves me only a few pennies per month. (IMHO)
Correction:
"or the [mega]corporation acting on the govt's behalf" - Also known as fascism (old term) or Corporatism (new term) where the government motto moves from "We the People" to "We the Corporations".
So the Government (or the egacorporation acting on the govt's behalf) can turn off your appliance, and only let you use it during certain predetermined times. i.e. Rationing of electricity usage.
Yeah I know..... you think I'm a nutter for saying that, but then again I've studied government history. If they CAN do a thing, they will do that thing. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.
I can not lay my hand on any part of the Constitution that gives the Supreme Court power to nullify laws passed by Congress and signed by the president.
AND even if such a power existed, I don't see any reason why it should be limited to just 9 people who are unelected and therefore may ignore the ultimate authority (the people). The power to declare laws "unconstitutional" can certainly be shared with the State Legislators, who directly represent the People and their wish to strike down stupid laws that violate the People's Rights (such as the patriot act).
There are a few U.S. States that are federations (i.e. with local governments that are independent of the state government), so my example was not as far off as you think. Just off the top of my head: Pennsylvania is a federation, which is part of a bigger confederation.
As for the EU, I think Italy already discovered their place within the EU is now subservient. Italy tried to ignore an EU Parliament directive and the Court of First Instance slapped the Italian government into submission. I fail to see how this is any different from how the US operates among its various member states.
Well I see the Asshole Mod is back, and going-round marking all my posts as "troll". Why? They don't fit the description.
Not the same thing. Oracle doesn't have to offer a company "the lowest price". Oracle is free to charge XYZ Company twice as much as ABC Company, and XYZ can not sue Oracle because of it. It's just the way it is. But government can because government is not bound by contractual obligations. The paper means nothing.
BTW you're right. I don't know how you can study the last 3000 years of history, and conclude government is not evil. More citizens have been killed by their OWN government, than by foreign invasion, even inside Democracies.
The new masters will be the same as the old masters (we know - the new guys still renewed the Patriot Act). A wiser course would be a lawsuit saying the central government was never given the power to store private citizens' records, therefore the law violates the Australian constitution.
>>>porn and erotica
I don't see any difference. If there's a real or fake dick being inserted in a hole, or a pussy being licked, then it's sex and qualifies as "porn" for me. i.e. Not something I'd show children under age 13.
On the other hand nudity is just that - a body without clothes. Lots of cultures think nudity is acceptable, and a photo of that nudity is not "porn" (or evil as some Puritan-americans claim). I don't care if my kid sees it.
I agree with you 100%, but per usual Congress already spent the "millions saved" from this lawsuit. They just passed another healthcare bill costing 50 billion dollars to test and certify doctors as "doctors", and the Congressional Budget Office announced an "ooops" in their calculations. The deficit-neutral Pelosicare bill will now cost $110 billion more, per year, than originally projected. (In other words it won't save money as advertised; it will drive us deeper into debt.)
Maybe we can sue a few more Oracles to offset these extra expenditures. 160 billion / 100 million == 1600 companies need to be sued.
Yeah. That won't work. I'm glad I run my family budget better than Congress has run the last..... oh, 100 years of government budget.
This is why most companies don't like dealing with the government - too many restrictions. Oracle wanted to give a great deal to attract a new customer(s), most probably at a loss (as is common practice), but they didn't want to share that same deal with the government since it would end-up costing them millions in losses.
In the future Oracle might decide government sales aren't worth it, and refuse future GSA deals.
>>>Upholding the constitution is the duty of Congress, not the states,
Upholding the constitution of anybody who swore an oath, including myself, and including the State Legislators and government employees. Besides the Constitution was a creation of the state, is amended by the States, and can be abolished (via convention) by the States. It is entirely logical to give the Creators, authors, and potential abolishers the power to nullify U.S. laws they consider to be a breach of the contract they created.
I would also make the same argument in respect to the Member States of the EU and their constitution (Lisbon Treaty). They too should have the right to nullify by 1/2 vote any EU Laws they consider a breach of that treaty.
>>>you brought back nullification, you do remember how that turned out last time don't you?
Quite well. The Northeast states (Maine, Massachusetts, New York, etc) nullified the U.S. Fugitive Slave Act, because it was unconstitutional, and thereby gave blacks (like Harriet Tubman) a place of asylum during the age of slavery. If the northeast states had not used nullification, those blacks would have been rounded-up by police and shipped back to the south, most probably to be put to death. So I say nullification worked great, because it acted as a "check and balance" against overreaching central government, and also protected millions of black lives.
A lot of sites are nothing more than naked bodies. I'd estimate only about ~20% are actual porn (sex).
I wish people would stop confusing the two, because they are not the same.
Damn straight. A friend of mine asked my advice on satellite service to save money. I told him you can get Dish Network for $20 a month, plus $5 if you want local stations. He said that's good. I then offered to help him with the ordering but he said he was waiting until his next paycheck.
About two weeks later my friend calls me and says, "I ordered DirecTV for $25 a month but it shoots up to $60 in December! You lied to me. You said it would it would only be $25!" I said I did not lie. DISH is $25 a month but you ordered the wrong damn thing. I told you I'd help you, but I'm sorry now you're stuck with DirecTV. I then asked WHEN he ordered this. "After work. I was tired and I ordered on the spur of the moment."
This story is a near-perfect example of a person NOT making an informed decision. He made an impulse buy and screwed himself. Of course I don't think it's the government's job to protect us from making dumb decisions like these. You order DirecTV by mistake, instead of Dish, then you simply have to take responsibility.
.
>>>Would you blame someone for failing to read all the available research on a particular medicine before taking it, instead of just relying on what their doctors tell them
No not at all, but I do blame people for not questioning their doctors. I don't let any doctor give me medicine or a procedure until he explains what it's for. If he can't explain to my satisfaction, then I'll tell him the same thing I tell telemarketers: "No. Not interested." (Of course if I'm unconscious and dying, then the doctor can just do what he/she thinks is best.)
www.piratebay.com?
I put a question mark because I don't rely know but surely pirates have cracked the iPhone by now, so you can run any app you want?
>>>Using a doctor to handle 911 calls is an incredible waste of resources.
I thought I was speaking in English. Was I not speaking in English? *In my last post* I clearly said that France does exactly that (doctors handle 911 calls), and it's saved them a shitload of money. Of course these French doctors only handle the medical 911 calls, not the fire or police calls, but still it sounds like an effective, cost-saving system.
No actually it isn't. Right-wing (meaning small government supporter) doesn't object to STATES exercising various powers, such as regulating the roads and providing 911 services.
Plus having doctors on the line who could treat medical conditions immediately, instead of sending an ambulance to every person who has a minor ailment (a cold or scraped knee), would SAVE money over the long term. No need to raise taxes.
Describe them as a grocer. :-) I think that's an apt analogy. My grocer might not let me buy Edy's Low-Fat Cookies'n'Cream, but that's not because he's a bad person. He simply chose not to carry that flavor.
And so instead I drive another block to the other grocer to get my cookies-n-cream.
It sounds like diversion to me. Argue over this silly cellphone law instead of water pipes or clogged roadways. What an incredible waste of resources (money, time).
"Sun is dangerous. Do not wear this bikini unless trying to attract a mate with your firm stomach and big breasts. Otherwise cover up." - California General Surgeon
You could just say "no". When my dentist asks why I just say, "Costs too much"
I hope they are better than the stories I've come out of NICE (aka nasty). Over in the State of France they have a screening service, where doctors answer emergency calls directly and can provide medical care immediately, or else send an ambulance if the sick person needs hospital treatment. It has saved the State Government a lot of money by eliminating un-necessary ambulance/hospital visits.
This seems a good idea for the US Member States to copy, hiring actual doctors to handle 911 calls, rather than some minimum wage person. If I was a politician I would shove it through the Legislature, but of course I'm a nobody say I have no say whatsoever. Oh well.