>>>>>Using Open-source software doesn't make you a "pirate" but it does make you a Special 301 Suspect who may have tendencies towards piracy (oh no). It's kinda similar to police profiling black drivers as potential criminals, except minus the racial overtones. >>>>> >>I'd like to see some evidence of that. Because I run open source means that I don't have to pirate software.
I';d like to see evidence too, but this is politics we're discussing. Evidence isn't necessary... just enough money to bribe the Congressman's reelection campaign and convince him to listen to your OSS User == "probably a pirate" argument.
But without law to protect your property, then "possession" of the toothbrush, radio, et cetera means nothing. Anybody can come along, take your possessions, and face no legal consequences.
>>>"WhyOhWhyOhWhy does it seem like everyone is on some sort of "economic system purity" rampage?!?"
Good question. Last night when I suggested govt-created monopolies like Comcast or Baltimore G&E should be regulated, I was called a liberal. I'm not even close to being liberal (pro-government). I hate government.
>>>the government retained onerous market access barriers......all central and provincial government offices including State-owned enterprises, endorsing the use and adoption of open source software within government organizations. >>>
Well that technically IS a market barrier to U.S. products like Windows 7 and OS X.
You've forgotten that government is a monopoly, and it's the worst kind of monopoly because it has the power to FORCE obedience. It is why we have a Constitution to shackle the government with only a few select powers, and for you to suggest giving this dangerous monopoly unlimited power seems rather foolish.
And "capitalism" need not be complicated. It's one neighbor helping another neighbor. I want a shed, so I ask the carpenter down the street to build one for me. In exchange I give him money. Or maybe he has a broken computer and asks me to fix it. In either case, we both win in this exchange.
The problem comes when the neighbor uses government to *force* me to buy a shed... or worse: just takes the money without giving me anything. Again, this is the purpose of a Constitution so that government does not have that power.
>>>On the contrary. I consider the very concept of private property to be fundamentally evil. To support private property is to think of a pile of plastic and steel as though it were a part of your self >>>
Well..... yes. If I do a job for someone over many months, and my reward is a "pile of plastic and steel" known as a car, then why shouldn't I be able to claim it as part of myself? I gave my body's labor and the car is my claim.
The alternative is that I give my body's labor and get *nothing* in return, and we've already tried that system (slavery from circa 1700 to 1868) (and feudalism from circa 400 to 1400). I'll pass.
Bad article summary. It doesn't make you a "pirate" but it does make you a Special 301 Suspect who may have tendencies towards piracy (oh no). It's kinda similar to police profiling black drivers as potential criminals, except minus the racial overtones.
I wonder why Russia is not on this list? They encourage open source software as the preferred option for schools. Maybe we don't want to annoy our new ally.
In the privacy of your home, yes, but not in public. And police officers also make the same mistake, when they try to force camcorder users to stop recording. Whatever happens in public is public domain, unless you're claiming copyright and you can only do that for books, music, movies, not people.
"These days we are inundated with bloated web browsers that overcomplicate our lives."
Well they do have a point. I have to close and reopen my browser at least two times a day in order to clear-out the RAM, due to modern browsers ridiculous bloat. I thought this was funny though: "You have been mislead by a vocal minority and are using opera, which is clearly an inferior web browser to IE6."
Opera 10.10 is actually very friendly to machines with limited memory. Or limited dialup/cellphone speeds (Opera Turbo).
My laptop stopped booting last week, so I reached for my old XP Restore CD to bring it back to life. Then I clicked on the default browser on my freshly-revived computer - the little blue "e" - and waited for it to open up.
"INTERNET EXPLORER 6"
Hello old friend. This machine also has Netscape on it - remember Netscape? Ironically my Netscape ISP doesn't work with the Netscape browser. How weird is that. It keeps telling me that it only "web accelerator only works with" IE.
I like the generalized book that gets me up to speed on a new subject (web design), and yet if I wanted more detail I could buy a second or third book on those chapters. It's like how you take a Physics 101 class first, and then if you want to know more about Thermodynamics or Relativity or Statics/Dynamics, you take those classes later.
Anyway...
How come I can't find this book on amazon? I want to buy it.
About a year ago cops executed a no-knock search with a militarily-armed SWAT. The homeowner inside was scared to death, and ran into his bedroom when he heard a bunch of men storm inside his house. He then pulled-out his pistol ad waited, hoping the criminals would take whatever and then leave.
Well they didn't. The homeowner saw his bedroom door slam open, he shot an dkilled two men, and then was subdued.
Turns-out the cops entered the wrong house (they wanted the house exactly one block down), and therefore had conducted an illegal entrace, but that doesn't matter. The homeowner is still being drug through the court system for murdering two cops.
Any reasonable judge (or prosecutor) would say the homeowner was merely acting in self-defense against illegal intruders/criminals, but reasonableness no longer exists in the American Union.
>>>The original Separation of Powers is still respected
The State Legislatures and the U.S. Legislature (Congress) *are* separated powers.,.. just the same as the UK Parliament or the French Parliament are separated from the EU Parliament. Anyway...
It makes logical sense for the 50 to oversee the 1 central legislature, and nullify the 1's laws when it oversteps it constitutional authority granted by the 50. Checks and balances.
>>>The only problem is, that of course States means state governments, meaning: not the dickheads (judges) themselves, but instead their best friends, shall make the descision >>>
Change "States" to "State legislatures" which of course act on behalf of the people (the ultimate authority).
.
>>>Split the country / states into smaller units, so that common views and laws are at all possible
Nice idea, but not really possible, because you would have to physically extract Baltimore(D) from Maryland(R) or Philadelphia and Pittsburgh(D) from Pennsylvania(R) and Boston(D) from Massachusetts(R), and so on.
You see the Democrats control the cities. The Republicans control the surrounding suburbs/countryside. So there's really no practical way to subdivide these two areas from one another.
>>>>>if one-half of the States declare the Law to be "unconstitutional" it shall be null and void. >> >>And how will this be determined?
The same guy who tracks Amendments, and determines if they have acquired 3/4 of the states approval, would also be responsible to track how many State Legislatures declared a law unconstitutional. i.e. The U.S. Secretary of State and the people inside his office.
>>>Determining if a law is unconstitutional is a matter for the judiciary
First off the judiciary was never given the power to nullify Congressional laws. They *usurped* that power. Second, the judiciary isn't doing their job, which is why Congress now has the power to tell us how much food we're allowed to grow in our own backyards, how much electricity we can use via smart meters, limit our speech, and spy on us via our Telephone, internet and credit cards.
The judiciary is not enough. We need more. We need the power of the States to declare the U.S. laws are in violation of the constitution *in addition* to the courts that can't do the job properly.
>>>Passing it off to elected officials is silly, particularly in a two-party system where laws are likely to be struck down just based on who's in power at any given moment. >>>
Given how many bad laws are still on the books (did you know you still pay a tax to fund the Spanish-American war of 1898???), I think that sounds like a good idea. Nullify this crap. If Congress wants to reinvoke a law, they can just pass it again (which is what usually happens after the SCOTUS declares a law unconstitutional).
Plus I don't think it would be as easy as you suggest. Getting 25 States to agree on anything is very, very difficult, and while several laws would be declared unconstitutional, a lot would simply sit there due to not enough states agreeing to nullify them. 25 is a big enough hurdle that your concern about 2-party battles is unfounded.
>>>As repealing bad laws is already a function of the legislative branch, it would be redundant to give them the power to also rule a law unconstitutional... >>>
This is where you're mistaken. A state legislature does not have the power to repeal a Congressional law. A State legislature can only nullify a law (by the amendment I listed in my original post).
Not correct. "The question whether the judges are invested with exclusive authority to decide on the constitutionality of a law has been heretofore a subject of consideration with me in the exercise of official duties. Certainly there is not a word in the Constitution which has given that power to them more than to the Executive or Legislative branches." - Thomas Jefferson to W. H. Torrance, 1815
AND: "The ultimate arbiter is the people of the Union, assembled by their deputies in convention, at the call of Congress or of two-thirds of the State Legislatures. Let them decide to which they mean to give an authority claimed by two of their organs. And it has been the peculiar wisdom and felicity of our Constitution, to have provided this peaceable appeal, where that of other nations is at once to force." Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823
I go just one step further than Jefferson via my "Protect the 9th and 10th" Amendment. I give the Legislatures, acting on behalf of the people, the power to nullify unconstitutional laws. And that is logical, because the Constitution was *created* by the legislatures..... just the same as the European Union's Lisbon Treaty was created the its ~25 members.
And don't understand the concept of liberated speech. "Prosecutors argued that Google should have sought the consent of all parties involved with the video before allowing it to go online." - If you first ask PERMISSION to speak (or post videos), then you are Serf not a free person.
One of the things I like about my Honda Insight Hybrid is the simplicity. It's basically the same as any other car, but with an electric motor strapped on to provide an extra burst of power.
Also if it did have a "runaway accelerator" problem like Toyotas are experiencing, the gearshift is mechanical. I can quickly and easily shift to neutral and disengage the engine from the wheels.
BTW:
Toyota is having more problems than just accelerators. They have a rash of engines that are dying early deaths (20,000 miles) or premature deaths (100,000 miles), but toyota refuses to acknowledge the problem, forcing customers to buy new engines instead of honoring the warranty for free replacement.
You're wrong. Many, many EE/CEs are out of work right now, and many more are getting laidoff even as I write this, due to companies lacking the finances.
I suspect the reason your students are getting jobs is because they are cheap (~$20/hour instead of $50) and therefore low risk from the company's perspective, and also inclined to work long hours of unpaid labor.
Slashdot Mirror
>>>>>Using Open-source software doesn't make you a "pirate" but it does make you a Special 301 Suspect who may have tendencies towards piracy (oh no). It's kinda similar to police profiling black drivers as potential criminals, except minus the racial overtones.
>>>>>
>>I'd like to see some evidence of that. Because I run open source means that I don't have to pirate software.
I';d like to see evidence too, but this is politics we're discussing. Evidence isn't necessary... just enough money to bribe the Congressman's reelection campaign and convince him to listen to your OSS User == "probably a pirate" argument.
But without law to protect your property, then "possession" of the toothbrush, radio, et cetera means nothing. Anybody can come along, take your possessions, and face no legal consequences.
>>>"WhyOhWhyOhWhy does it seem like everyone is on some sort of "economic system purity" rampage?!?"
Good question. Last night when I suggested govt-created monopolies like Comcast or Baltimore G&E should be regulated, I was called a liberal. I'm not even close to being liberal (pro-government). I hate government.
>>>the government retained onerous market access barriers......all central and provincial government offices including State-owned enterprises, endorsing the use and adoption of open source software within government organizations.
>>>
Well that technically IS a market barrier to U.S. products like Windows 7 and OS X.
>>>How long until America is deemed as irrelavant to the western capitalist world as the Roman Empire was to it's neighbours?
When the dollar collapses... and you need a wheelbarrow of them to buy a loaf of bread. Not too far off I think.
You cannot carry ~$130,000 governmental debt (per home) and rising $10,000 per year, and expect to create a viable society. That's just foolishness.
You've forgotten that government is a monopoly, and it's the worst kind of monopoly because it has the power to FORCE obedience. It is why we have a Constitution to shackle the government with only a few select powers, and for you to suggest giving this dangerous monopoly unlimited power seems rather foolish.
And "capitalism" need not be complicated. It's one neighbor helping another neighbor. I want a shed, so I ask the carpenter down the street to build one for me. In exchange I give him money. Or maybe he has a broken computer and asks me to fix it. In either case, we both win in this exchange.
The problem comes when the neighbor uses government to *force* me to buy a shed... or worse: just takes the money without giving me anything. Again, this is the purpose of a Constitution so that government does not have that power.
>>>On the contrary. I consider the very concept of private property to be fundamentally evil. To support private property is to think of a pile of plastic and steel as though it were a part of your self
>>>
Well..... yes. If I do a job for someone over many months, and my reward is a "pile of plastic and steel" known as a car, then why shouldn't I be able to claim it as part of myself? I gave my body's labor and the car is my claim.
The alternative is that I give my body's labor and get *nothing* in return, and we've already tried that system (slavery from circa 1700 to 1868) (and feudalism from circa 400 to 1400). I'll pass.
Bzzz.
Bad article summary. It doesn't make you a "pirate" but it does make you a Special 301 Suspect who may have tendencies towards piracy (oh no). It's kinda similar to police profiling black drivers as potential criminals, except minus the racial overtones.
I wonder why Russia is not on this list? They encourage open source software as the preferred option for schools. Maybe we don't want to annoy our new ally.
>>>Yes, and some of us remember the patent debacle with GIF. H.264 would be substantially worse
Then don't use it.
Simple as that.
>>>Excuse me, I hold the rights to my own image.
In the privacy of your home, yes, but not in public. And police officers also make the same mistake, when they try to force camcorder users to stop recording. Whatever happens in public is public domain, unless you're claiming copyright and you can only do that for books, music, movies, not people.
>>>will simply see a screen telling them they need to upgrade.
Why do that? Why not just simply treat IE6 users the same way you treat IE5 or IE4 users (give them the webpage, but it may not render properly).
Maybe they have a good reason for not upgrading (like owning a PowerMac or other old computer that won't anything but IE5 or IE6).
Netscape was always better than IE6. Or IE 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1. In fact it was so good, they ripped-out the core code and renamed it Firefox. :-)
"These days we are inundated with bloated web browsers that overcomplicate our lives."
Well they do have a point. I have to close and reopen my browser at least two times a day in order to clear-out the RAM, due to modern browsers ridiculous bloat. I thought this was funny though: "You have been mislead by a vocal minority and are using opera, which is clearly an inferior web browser to IE6."
Opera 10.10 is actually very friendly to machines with limited memory.
Or limited dialup/cellphone speeds (Opera Turbo).
My laptop stopped booting last week, so I reached for my old XP Restore CD to bring it back to life. Then I clicked on the default browser on my freshly-revived computer - the little blue "e" - and waited for it to open up.
"INTERNET EXPLORER 6"
Hello old friend. This machine also has Netscape on it - remember Netscape? Ironically my Netscape ISP doesn't work with the Netscape browser. How weird is that. It keeps telling me that it only "web accelerator only works with" IE.
I like both.
I like the generalized book that gets me up to speed on a new subject (web design), and yet if I wanted more detail I could buy a second or third book on those chapters. It's like how you take a Physics 101 class first, and then if you want to know more about Thermodynamics or Relativity or Statics/Dynamics, you take those classes later.
Anyway...
How come I can't find this book on amazon? I want to buy it.
About a year ago cops executed a no-knock search with a militarily-armed SWAT. The homeowner inside was scared to death, and ran into his bedroom when he heard a bunch of men storm inside his house. He then pulled-out his pistol ad waited, hoping the criminals would take whatever and then leave.
Well they didn't. The homeowner saw his bedroom door slam open, he shot an dkilled two men, and then was subdued.
Turns-out the cops entered the wrong house (they wanted the house exactly one block down), and therefore had conducted an illegal entrace, but that doesn't matter. The homeowner is still being drug through the court system for murdering two cops.
Any reasonable judge (or prosecutor) would say the homeowner was merely acting in self-defense against illegal intruders/criminals, but reasonableness no longer exists in the American Union.
>>>The original Separation of Powers is still respected
The State Legislatures and the U.S. Legislature (Congress) *are* separated powers.,.. just the same as the UK Parliament or the French Parliament are separated from the EU Parliament. Anyway...
It makes logical sense for the 50 to oversee the 1 central legislature, and nullify the 1's laws when it oversteps it constitutional authority granted by the 50. Checks and balances.
>>>The only problem is, that of course States means state governments, meaning: not the dickheads (judges) themselves, but instead their best friends, shall make the descision
>>>
Change "States" to "State legislatures" which of course act on behalf of the people (the ultimate authority).
.
>>>Split the country / states into smaller units, so that common views and laws are at all possible
Nice idea, but not really possible, because you would have to physically extract Baltimore(D) from Maryland(R) or Philadelphia and Pittsburgh(D) from Pennsylvania(R) and Boston(D) from Massachusetts(R), and so on.
You see the Democrats control the cities. The Republicans control the surrounding suburbs/countryside. So there's really no practical way to subdivide these two areas from one another.
>>>>>if one-half of the States declare the Law to be "unconstitutional" it shall be null and void.
>>
>>And how will this be determined?
The same guy who tracks Amendments, and determines if they have acquired 3/4 of the states approval, would also be responsible to track how many State Legislatures declared a law unconstitutional. i.e. The U.S. Secretary of State and the people inside his office.
>>>Determining if a law is unconstitutional is a matter for the judiciary
First off the judiciary was never given the power to nullify Congressional laws. They *usurped* that power. Second, the judiciary isn't doing their job, which is why Congress now has the power to tell us how much food we're allowed to grow in our own backyards, how much electricity we can use via smart meters, limit our speech, and spy on us via our Telephone, internet and credit cards.
The judiciary is not enough. We need more. We need the power of the States to declare the U.S. laws are in violation of the constitution *in addition* to the courts that can't do the job properly.
>>>Passing it off to elected officials is silly, particularly in a two-party system where laws are likely to be struck down just based on who's in power at any given moment.
>>>
Given how many bad laws are still on the books (did you know you still pay a tax to fund the Spanish-American war of 1898???), I think that sounds like a good idea. Nullify this crap. If Congress wants to reinvoke a law, they can just pass it again (which is what usually happens after the SCOTUS declares a law unconstitutional).
Plus I don't think it would be as easy as you suggest. Getting 25 States to agree on anything is very, very difficult, and while several laws would be declared unconstitutional, a lot would simply sit there due to not enough states agreeing to nullify them. 25 is a big enough hurdle that your concern about 2-party battles is unfounded.
>>>As repealing bad laws is already a function of the legislative branch, it would be redundant to give them the power to also rule a law unconstitutional...
>>>
This is where you're mistaken. A state legislature does not have the power to repeal a Congressional law. A State legislature can only nullify a law (by the amendment I listed in my original post).
>>>That is a function of the judicial branch.
Not correct. "The question whether the judges are invested with exclusive authority to decide on the constitutionality of a law has been heretofore a subject of consideration with me in the exercise of official duties. Certainly there is not a word in the Constitution which has given that power to them more than to the Executive or Legislative branches." - Thomas Jefferson to W. H. Torrance, 1815
AND: "The ultimate arbiter is the people of the Union, assembled by their deputies in convention, at the call of Congress or of two-thirds of the State Legislatures. Let them decide to which they mean to give an authority claimed by two of their organs. And it has been the peculiar wisdom and felicity of our Constitution, to have provided this peaceable appeal, where that of other nations is at once to force." Thomas Jefferson to William Johnson, 1823
I go just one step further than Jefferson via my "Protect the 9th and 10th" Amendment. I give the Legislatures, acting on behalf of the people, the power to nullify unconstitutional laws. And that is logical, because the Constitution was *created* by the legislatures..... just the same as the European Union's Lisbon Treaty was created the its ~25 members.
And don't understand the concept of liberated speech. "Prosecutors argued that Google should have sought the consent of all parties involved with the video before allowing it to go online." - If you first ask PERMISSION to speak (or post videos), then you are Serf not a free person.
One of the things I like about my Honda Insight Hybrid is the simplicity. It's basically the same as any other car, but with an electric motor strapped on to provide an extra burst of power.
Also if it did have a "runaway accelerator" problem like Toyotas are experiencing, the gearshift is mechanical. I can quickly and easily shift to neutral and disengage the engine from the wheels.
BTW:
Toyota is having more problems than just accelerators. They have a rash of engines that are dying early deaths (20,000 miles) or premature deaths (100,000 miles), but toyota refuses to acknowledge the problem, forcing customers to buy new engines instead of honoring the warranty for free replacement.
You're wrong. Many, many EE/CEs are out of work right now, and many more are getting laidoff even as I write this, due to companies lacking the finances.
I suspect the reason your students are getting jobs is because they are cheap (~$20/hour instead of $50) and therefore low risk from the company's perspective, and also inclined to work long hours of unpaid labor.