As a taxpaying citizen, if my hired protectors can't protect me without infringing my rights, then they're fucking FIRED. The People can find someone else who will. These assholes forget who they're working for. The government is for the people, by the people. Their right to govern comes from MY consent to be governed. Do the job you're given, or get the fuck out of the way for someone else who can.
This just pisses me off. Some rights must be eroded? Bullshit!
That's really the neat part; that it shows that this idea of "survival of the dumbest" is apparently not what has been happening.
I tend to believe that this has been a factor only in the past 100-150 years or so, as population growth has exploded with industrialization and post-industrialization. Civilization's best and brightest, most often choose 0-2 children. That's just a fact. The rest have 3, 5, 10, 15 kids. Whether the factors that set these two groups apart are social, economic, or genetic, is a point of dispute. I would accept that it's a mix of all three, with genetic not being an insignificant proportion. Through sheer numbers, it's hard not to feel as if the latter group is winning out in the evolution "game". The fact is, we're all the same species, so winning or losing are really meaningless abstractions. What this means for the future of our species is unknown.
Ever condsider they might be good at rebiulding oil and gas infrastructure, and might actually be a good choice for a contract?
Ever consider that this is because Halliburton gets the lions share of contracts, and their competition has been starved out of the industry by cronyism?
In fifty years, when the historians can make a disinterested assessment and the consequences of Bush's choices are know, it would be a sensible discussion.
Assuming: 1. There are any academic historians left in 50 years after Cato and Heritage (etc.) get through gutting science and academics in this country. 2. Assuming "executive privilege" protected documentation is ever made available. Bush's first official duty was to make sure Bush I's records and documents were never released. Same with Bush II's gubenatorial administration.
I like NASA and think they should be funded, but they don't really add much to the national bottom line.
Fortunately, a lot of Americans disagree with you.
Think how many more people the world could comfortably hold if people could live under our oceans
Think how quickly our species will become extinct in a global plague, nuclear war, evironmental degradation, asteroid impact, or when our sun runs out of fuel to burn, or when another species in our infinite universe figures out how to spread and colonize other worlds.
I am not talking about how to solve the problem of housing 10 billion human beings for the next 100 or 1000 years. That problem is as easy to solve as making enough condoms. That does nothing to address the problem of long term (10,000-100,000-etc. years) survival of the human species. "National Bottom Line" does not come into play here. Plenty of human endeavors have had benefits that span well beyond the current fiscal year. But such endeavors generally occur only to those who think big. Most animals spend their day wondering where their next meal comes from. I like to think that humans are different. But that's just me.
YES! Jesus. Why don't they invent a mouse that can sit in a charge-cradle, and use rechargable batteries. Disposable batteries are one of the great banes of our civilization.
I'm aware that there are some really great Manga titles (and that there are some distinct subgenres).
I'm just saying that the typical person going into a typical comic store or bookstore is unlikely to find the good stuff buried in with all the crap. That goes for American too.
I've seen some really great European stuff, what the European (French) scene does not seem to have the same problem (incredible diversity of crap).
This is more of a problem for the typical american potential comic consumer, than, I suppose for the fanboi type, who knows how to dig for what he or she likes.
South Central Florida is also known as Okeefenokee.
This is like Christopher Columbus coming to queen Isabella asking for money to finance a voyage to the new world. Only shipbuilding has not yet advanced to the dugout canoe stage.
Both the Anime, and American comics world are innundated with crap.
The difference with Manga/Anime is, the quality of the art is typically far better - but unfortunately, still VERY rigidly standardized on the Manga style, which was cool back in 1982, but now just makes me nauseous. Even worse; the Manga Style has infected a lot of American comics as well.
What I see on the American comics side, is a whole lot of crap. Art drawn by people who should have their hands cut off. Especially buttloads of Frank Miller imitators, who think that the essence of good comic drawing is to be mindlessly messy and gritty.
I think that American comics were, in the 1980's fairly interesting, they had a vibrant independent scene. But that seemed to kind of fade away towards the end of the decade, when DC and Marvel caught on, and decided they needed to cash in on the trend, and flooded the market with their own faux-independent crap.
European comics, particularly French, have always intrigued me, having really cut my comics teeth on Heavy Metal magazine in the 1970's and 1980's. Cheval Noir was a breath of fresh air - but very costly to buy every issue, as a college student.
I don't think that the appeal of these movies has anything to do with this, of course. It's just more Hollywood trying to cash-in on retro nostalgia culture. Nothing more. When they're making movies of comics like Ant-man, how (culturally) irrelevant do you think things can get?
Honestly, I think that the field in America is just plain dominated by "the majors" - and they DO make some excellent stuff, because they attract very good talent. (ie. Sandman). But it's been years since I've seen anything that would compell me to buy one issue, let alone follow a series. They're content to flood the market with crap, flinging their feces against a wall, hoping some will stick. Same with the movie industry, and it's media connection with the book publishing industry. Seems to me that it's driven by high-risk investment strategies, and that's a good thing, because a lot of people are employed producing the crap, which creates a larger pool of skilled people which can cultivate better talent, over time. But it seems that even crap can succeed - there's no accounting for taste anymore.
In fact, Dennis (I take money from Al Qaeda-affiliated Turks) Hastert, who first famously said New Orleans should not be rebuilt, also suggested that LA and SF should likewise be abandoned if struck with disasterous earthquakes.
Actually, one of the biggest complaints I remember against Office from the 1990's was that there was just too much shit in the menus. People were annoyed at having to dig through the zillions of menus to find the function they want.
I think personalized menus was a response to that. It was a good idea, and I remember hearing about it and thinking it would be cool.
But actually using them is NOT cool. First thing I do on a new Office install is disable it.
I try to think of what the right solution to this problem is, and it's probably something along the lines of either "menu standardization" or better organization and abstraction of menu functions.
My pet peeve is: Where the fuck is Preferences? Edit->Preferences? Tools->Options? File->Preferences?
Your examples ignore the fact that "gouging" occurs when there is insufficient competition, or when there is collusion.
When there's a competitive marketplace, and prices skyrocket due to a common supply bottleneck, then there's no collusion or lack of competition, and it's not gouging. But when all of the sellers are owned by one company, and they jack up the prices, claiming there's a shortage, when there isn't, then that's "gouging" - and that's the situation the laws cover. That's not stupid. It's survival.
The supply is the same whether you impose rationing, or allow the free market to ration a supply of a critical commodity (like say, food, or gasoline). When you let the free market rations a commodity, some people can afford it, and typically hoard it, and the rest go without. Those who go without food, quite simply, die. If 50,000 people in a town of 250,000 die, then the survival of the other 200,000 is imperilled. People are tied to eachother economically more than most people think. When you impose rationing, then everybody gets a share - and nobody dies, and you get through the crisis.
The truth is, there are some commodities, and some situations that demand rationing, everybody benefits more in these cases. Likewise, there are situations where a Free Market approach is best (not that there is such a thing, it's a theoretical construct which is approximated, but never very closely, in the real world) - for exactly the reasons you cite. Reward is a key motivator of human behavior. Neither extreme ideology to the exclusion of middle ground is healthy, or even survivable.
Heh - reminds me of a time when I used to work at a startup back in the early 90's, P?????????? Software.
When we decided to put together a training/certification program for our resellers and field reps, and it was decided to call it the P????????? Enterprise Network Integration Specialist program. When you completed it, you were a PENIS. It was a joke, made in a meeting, but the Tech Writer who took the minutes didn't get it, and drafted the whitepaper and plan under that title, until she presented it to the CEO.
The program eventually ended up just copying Novell, and the certification was "PNE".
Well, the end of a major waterway that cuts across the heart of the North American Continent, a waterway that connects most of America's major industry and agriculture, seems to be a pretty good place for a seaport if you ask me.
Not having contingencies in place for the flooding? Sure. Bad idea. Can't disagree with any of that.
Try naming some "realistic drama" type shows where the female characters are the smarter/in-charge/competent characters.
Profiler, Dark Angel, Firefly, Xena.
Then again, I haven't had my satellite hooked up in about two years, so I don't know how shows are trending these days. All the above shows are "archaic".
I suspect that when women get frustrated with men for "just not knowing" things, it is because they (the women) are used to being easily able to pick up these subtle hints themselves at a subconscious level, and therefore they take having that skill for granted and expect that everyone should be able to do it.
Either that, or a lot of women are just fucking passive-agressive.
Slashdot Mirror
Erode this. And the horse you rode in on, bitch.
As a taxpaying citizen, if my hired protectors can't protect me without infringing my rights, then they're fucking FIRED. The People can find someone else who will. These assholes forget who they're working for. The government is for the people, by the people. Their right to govern comes from MY consent to be governed. Do the job you're given, or get the fuck out of the way for someone else who can.
This just pisses me off. Some rights must be eroded? Bullshit!
When I am made emporer, I will make ringtones a capital offense.
Punishable by beheading.
Vibrate, people.
Vibrate, and a sense of public decency.
How could it's future be cloudy? I thought Hubble was a space telescope. You know? Above the clouds?
The Mac interface *will not* execute even files that are marked as executable!
Not true. You're forgetting AppleScript.
love the sig though. Was that a Dubya quote?
That's really the neat part; that it shows that this idea of "survival of the dumbest" is apparently not what has been happening.
I tend to believe that this has been a factor only in the past 100-150 years or so, as population growth has exploded with industrialization and post-industrialization. Civilization's best and brightest, most often choose 0-2 children. That's just a fact. The rest have 3, 5, 10, 15 kids. Whether the factors that set these two groups apart are social, economic, or genetic, is a point of dispute. I would accept that it's a mix of all three, with genetic not being an insignificant proportion. Through sheer numbers, it's hard not to feel as if the latter group is winning out in the evolution "game". The fact is, we're all the same species, so winning or losing are really meaningless abstractions. What this means for the future of our species is unknown.
Ever condsider they might be good at rebiulding oil and gas infrastructure, and might actually be a good choice for a contract?
Ever consider that this is because Halliburton gets the lions share of contracts, and their competition has been starved out of the industry by cronyism?
In fifty years, when the historians can make a disinterested assessment and the consequences of Bush's choices are know, it would be a sensible discussion.
Assuming:
1. There are any academic historians left in 50 years after Cato and Heritage (etc.) get through gutting science and academics in this country.
2. Assuming "executive privilege" protected documentation is ever made available. Bush's first official duty was to make sure Bush I's records and documents were never released. Same with Bush II's gubenatorial administration.
Apparently, the contract was already awarded in 2004.
I like NASA and think they should be funded, but they don't really add much to the national bottom line.
Fortunately, a lot of Americans disagree with you.
Think how many more people the world could comfortably hold if people could live under our oceans
Think how quickly our species will become extinct in a global plague, nuclear war, evironmental degradation, asteroid impact, or when our sun runs out of fuel to burn, or when another species in our infinite universe figures out how to spread and colonize other worlds.
I am not talking about how to solve the problem of housing 10 billion human beings for the next 100 or 1000 years. That problem is as easy to solve as making enough condoms.
That does nothing to address the problem of long term (10,000-100,000-etc. years) survival of the human species. "National Bottom Line" does not come into play here. Plenty of human endeavors have had benefits that span well beyond the current fiscal year. But such endeavors generally occur only to those who think big. Most animals spend their day wondering where their next meal comes from. I like to think that humans are different. But that's just me.
The problem is that NASA is hugely inefficient.
Compared to what?
Enron?
Ford?
Comcast?
Your argument grossly oversimplifies the problem of instantiating a spacelaunch infrastructure and industry.
YES! Jesus. Why don't they invent a mouse that can sit in a charge-cradle, and use rechargable batteries. Disposable batteries are one of the great banes of our civilization.
I'm aware that there are some really great Manga titles (and that there are some distinct subgenres).
I'm just saying that the typical person going into a typical comic store or bookstore is unlikely to find the good stuff buried in with all the crap. That goes for American too.
I've seen some really great European stuff, what the European (French) scene does not seem to have the same problem (incredible diversity of crap).
This is more of a problem for the typical american potential comic consumer, than, I suppose for the fanboi type, who knows how to dig for what he or she likes.
Cape Canaveral is in Northeast Florida.
South Central Florida is also known as Okeefenokee.
This is like Christopher Columbus coming to queen Isabella asking for money to finance a voyage to the new world. Only shipbuilding has not yet advanced to the dugout canoe stage.
. . . I have an opportunity for you to invest in some land in south-central Florida. . .
Both the Anime, and American comics world are innundated with crap.
The difference with Manga/Anime is, the quality of the art is typically far better - but unfortunately, still VERY rigidly standardized on the Manga style, which was cool back in 1982, but now just makes me nauseous. Even worse; the Manga Style has infected a lot of American comics as well.
What I see on the American comics side, is a whole lot of crap. Art drawn by people who should have their hands cut off. Especially buttloads of Frank Miller imitators, who think that the essence of good comic drawing is to be mindlessly messy and gritty.
I think that American comics were, in the 1980's fairly interesting, they had a vibrant independent scene. But that seemed to kind of fade away towards the end of the decade, when DC and Marvel caught on, and decided they needed to cash in on the trend, and flooded the market with their own faux-independent crap.
European comics, particularly French, have always intrigued me, having really cut my comics teeth on Heavy Metal magazine in the 1970's and 1980's. Cheval Noir was a breath of fresh air - but very costly to buy every issue, as a college student.
I don't think that the appeal of these movies has anything to do with this, of course. It's just more Hollywood trying to cash-in on retro nostalgia culture. Nothing more. When they're making movies of comics like Ant-man, how (culturally) irrelevant do you think things can get?
Honestly, I think that the field in America is just plain dominated by "the majors" - and they DO make some excellent stuff, because they attract very good talent. (ie. Sandman). But it's been years since I've seen anything that would compell me to buy one issue, let alone follow a series. They're content to flood the market with crap, flinging their feces against a wall, hoping some will stick. Same with the movie industry, and it's media connection with the book publishing industry. Seems to me that it's driven by high-risk investment strategies, and that's a good thing, because a lot of people are employed producing the crap, which creates a larger pool of skilled people which can cultivate better talent, over time. But it seems that even crap can succeed - there's no accounting for taste anymore.
The Tick?
Already inspired two TV series. . .
In fact, Dennis (I take money from Al Qaeda-affiliated Turks) Hastert, who first famously said New Orleans should not be rebuilt, also suggested that LA and SF should likewise be abandoned if struck with disasterous earthquakes.
Actually, one of the biggest complaints I remember against Office from the 1990's was that there was just too much shit in the menus. People were annoyed at having to dig through the zillions of menus to find the function they want.
I think personalized menus was a response to that. It was a good idea, and I remember hearing about it and thinking it would be cool.
But actually using them is NOT cool. First thing I do on a new Office install is disable it.
I try to think of what the right solution to this problem is, and it's probably something along the lines of either "menu standardization" or better organization and abstraction of menu functions.
My pet peeve is: Where the fuck is Preferences? Edit->Preferences? Tools->Options? File->Preferences?
Your examples ignore the fact that "gouging" occurs when there is insufficient competition, or when there is collusion.
When there's a competitive marketplace, and prices skyrocket due to a common supply bottleneck, then there's no collusion or lack of competition, and it's not gouging. But when all of the sellers are owned by one company, and they jack up the prices, claiming there's a shortage, when there isn't, then that's "gouging" - and that's the situation the laws cover. That's not stupid. It's survival.
The supply is the same whether you impose rationing, or allow the free market to ration a supply of a critical commodity (like say, food, or gasoline). When you let the free market rations a commodity, some people can afford it, and typically hoard it, and the rest go without. Those who go without food, quite simply, die. If 50,000 people in a town of 250,000 die, then the survival of the other 200,000 is imperilled. People are tied to eachother economically more than most people think.
When you impose rationing, then everybody gets a share - and nobody dies, and you get through the crisis.
The truth is, there are some commodities, and some situations that demand rationing, everybody benefits more in these cases. Likewise, there are situations where a Free Market approach is best (not that there is such a thing, it's a theoretical construct which is approximated, but never very closely, in the real world) - for exactly the reasons you cite. Reward is a key motivator of human behavior. Neither extreme ideology to the exclusion of middle ground is healthy, or even survivable.
Heh - reminds me of a time when I used to work at a startup back in the early 90's, P?????????? Software.
When we decided to put together a training/certification program for our resellers and field reps, and it was decided to call it the P????????? Enterprise Network Integration Specialist program. When you completed it, you were a PENIS. It was a joke, made in a meeting, but the Tech Writer who took the minutes didn't get it, and drafted the whitepaper and plan under that title, until she presented it to the CEO.
The program eventually ended up just copying Novell, and the certification was "PNE".
Ah, the good old days.
Well, the end of a major waterway that cuts across the heart of the North American Continent, a waterway that connects most of America's major industry and agriculture, seems to be a pretty good place for a seaport if you ask me.
Not having contingencies in place for the flooding? Sure. Bad idea. Can't disagree with any of that.
Don't a lot of drives have a Read-Only jumper these days?
Try naming some "realistic drama" type shows where the female characters are the smarter/in-charge/competent characters.
Profiler, Dark Angel, Firefly, Xena.
Then again, I haven't had my satellite hooked up in about two years, so I don't know how shows are trending these days. All the above shows are "archaic".
I suspect that when women get frustrated with men for "just not knowing" things, it is because they (the women) are used to being easily able to pick up these subtle hints themselves at a subconscious level, and therefore they take having that skill for granted and expect that everyone should be able to do it.
Either that, or a lot of women are just fucking passive-agressive.