Because it is. Nowhere did I say any of the things you listed weren't problems, but that you said that everyone one of a large group - hundreds of millions of people - were guilty of it. That's like saying in the 1940's "Americans are bigots, they lynch Negroes, and the police do nothing about it". In the English language that means all Americans. Funny, my parents weren't bigots, and they never lynched anybody. Maybe they were just lying to me.
You wrote "Indians take license to be violent if they hear anything that denigrates any of their gods". If you didn't mean all Indians, then why didn't you write that?
You also wrote "Muslims, who we know reserve license to be violent if they hear something THEY deem offensive". If you didn't mean all Muslims, then why didn't you write that?
Lastly you wrote "in India, men also assume license to violent gang rape any time they find a woman alone, without defense". If you didn't mean all Indian men, then why didn't you write that?
The freedom to hate... The only freedom no one seems interested in taking away from people in the US.
It's called Freedom of Speech. The reason it has to be Constitutionally protected is not because anybody ever had to protect popular speech. Without it there would have been a time when saying "Negroes should be equal to white people" would have been censored because it would incite hatred.
Has it ever occurred to you that there are things the Indian government does to try and prevent ill treatment of the Dalit castes? What you're saying is like going back to the 1960's and saying the US government does nothing to try to prevent ill treatment of black people.
P.S. The people I've met who most hate the caste system are Indians. I know one fellow who talked about the clashes he had with his grandparents because he brought home friends who were from "lower castes". It's exactly like the way it took generations for racial attitudes to change in this country (which obviously still aren't completely resolved).
It seems that Indians take license to be violent if they hear anything that denigrates any of their gods... India is also host to a number of Muslims, who we know reserve license to be violent if they hear something THEY deem offensive... in India, men also assume license to violent gang rape any time they find a woman alone, without defense
Generalize much? With over a billion people, there may be some minor variations amongst their attitudes and actions. Your generalizations about Indians, as though they were all the same, is precisely the sort of prejudice that leads to the problems you list.
India certainly has its problems, and I've always been amazed that with such a variety of languages, cultures, religions, etc. they manage to keep the place glued together at all. Most of the things you hear about because of the outrage in the Indian press. Do you really think American news organizations put much effort into reporting specific domestic incidents in India? Unsurprisingly, the people I hear most loudly decry these problems are Indians themselves.
I'm glad the US is refusing to serve the summons. Hypocritical? Not really. The US government is busy wiping its ass with much of the Bill of Rights (4 and 5 are claimed to be obsolete), and contends that the president has the authority to assassinate US citizens at will, but it's actually pretty good about not censoring speech. Even Noam Chomsky thinks so. More thanks to the judiciary than the legislative or executive branches, but the US government nonetheless.
So are knives, but you can't carry one onto a plane unless you get it from one of the numerous restaurants that are past the security checkpoints. Make sure you order a tough steak so you can get a big steak knife, of just have your accomplice in the kitchen give you a carving knife. Heck, maybe you can get 'em at the gift shop.
Security theater marches on! Apparently the Boston bombers actually used black powder, which just goes to show that (fortunately) they weren't better bomb makers. Smokeless powder is also perfectly legal (used largely by ammo reloaders) and much more powerful. Detecting black powder is not of much use, because somebody able to smuggle a bomb on an airplane would almost certainly use something better. I've never heard of black powder being used in such a bomb.
the idea behind an IMS (ion mobility spectrometer), is that you ionize
Thank you. That's a hell of lot more interesting and informative than the bazillionth gun pedant pointing out the difference between a clip and a magazine.
As long as we're being pedantic, "Smokeless powder" should be "smokeless powder" since it's a generic term, and "tannerite" should be "Tannerite" since it's a trade name. Obviously Tannerite is an explosive, since it can be made to explode, but it's a tertiary explosive like ANFO. Lastly, ammunition is a very generic term that can include artillery shells, amongst other things, so (assuming you're the OP AC) it would make a lot more sense to talk about "cartridges and bullets" rather than "ammunition and bullets".
Sheesh, any time firearms are discussed some gun-loving pedant points out, amongst other things, the difference between a magazine and a clip. That's probably the least important distinction I can think of in most such discussions.
all of this "smart" gear is tied into the internet, using default or no passwords. It will probably take some hacker shutting down a large section
At which point we should realize that neither the Internet nor the power grid is worth the trouble. I know being a neo-Luddite makes my day job as an EE seem hypocritical, but I gotta make a living somehow.
Except for the USA where they are still highly common because it is cheaper to stick wires on poles.
Or because they were built a log time ago. On Long Island a lot of the grid is post-WWII, when the great suburban build out occurred. In my part of it, much of the grid dates from the 60's or earlier and is all overhead. Newer development (last 10-20 years?) is mostly underground.
We had a lot of trouble after Sandy. I lost power for 10 days. It's not just because it's overhead though. The secret to reasonable reliability w/ overhead lines is constant tree trimming, and that's the first thing they cut back on. Many people are too young or forgetful to remember it, but the situation was almost identical to what happened after Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Twenty seven years and no progress. Back then the utility was the private LILCO, now it's the LIPA "public authority" (though most work is contracted out). No difference. The only thing I'll say is that a "public authority" is not a true government utility. Public authorities are popular in NYS and are the worst of both worlds - all the power of government and none of the accountability.
At the time, the authorities didn't have to worry about whether you were planning on killing people with your contraption.
Why's that, because in the old days you didn't have terrorists killing people w/ bombs? I'm afraid I'm ignorant of Australian history, but in this Wikipedia article alone mentions:
1920 Wall Street bombing
1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Time
large black powder bomb that killed nine policemen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1917
1932 bomb attack targeting Webster Thayer, the presiding judge in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial
But 1919 was really a bumper year, it gets its own article: 1919 United States anarchist bombings
Not to mention that the largest slaughter in a school in America was a bombing in the 1920's.
After a baby is born, the dad is less functional at work for the first 2 months or so. Sleep time is hard, and adjustments at home mean he's got other things on his mind.
You've never been the father of a newborn, have you? You go to work so that you can get some sleep.
The boy had no intent. It was an ACCIDENTAL shooting.
And you're not mentioning that the mother and the boyfriend aren't being charged with endangering the life of a child by letting a 10 y.o. and a 13 y.o. shoot BB guns at each other.
In the real world you need permission to do things that will explode
But you don't need permission to shoot someone in the head?
Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware that in Florida it's legal to kill someone if it's on your own private property.
affecting somebody (the brother) who as far was we know gave consent
Some people are skeptical of the idea of a 10 year old giving informed consent.
You're also overlooking the fact that the mother and her boyfriend weren't charged. You know, something like reckless endangerment of children by letting a 10 y.o. and a 13 y.o. fire BB guns at each other.
One was doing it on school property, affecting people who did not (as far as we know) give consent for her to do this.
They didn't give consent to do something that did them no harm. If it had harmed anyone, it would probably have harmed the "perpetrator".
If the school didn't think it was that big of a deal, they could have just left the legal system out of it.
They might have been required to. While allowing no judgement in these matters is ridiculous, it's not that bad. But there is no doubt that the DA has the prosecutorial discretion to drop the charges. Hmmm... maybe having rules that don't allow the "authorities" to use their judgement isn't such a bad idea. Look at what they do with it when they have it.
just as important is an intelligent, critically-thinking brain
If the Texas GOP had its way, schools would discourage that amongst students too. A plank of their platform is that critical thinking skills should not be taught in school. You can't make this stuff up.
If she's that good a student as portrayed, suspension will be enough.
Even if she were an academically poor student, it would be enough. The fact that she's a good student adds to the absurdity and tragedy of the "authorities" actions, but even C- students shouldn't have a helping hand to turn them into tomorrow's deadbeats and criminals.
Juvie? Even that's a nice way to turn a teenager who did a dumb thing, but caused and meant no harm, down the wrong road. The punishment shouldn't cause more harm than the offense. And they're giving her permanent expulsion, not a temporary suspension. Is it their goal to turn today's teenagers into tomorrow's deadbeats and criminals?
Slashdot Mirror
You call it generalizing if you wish.
Because it is. Nowhere did I say any of the things you listed weren't problems, but that you said that everyone one of a large group - hundreds of millions of people - were guilty of it. That's like saying in the 1940's "Americans are bigots, they lynch Negroes, and the police do nothing about it". In the English language that means all Americans. Funny, my parents weren't bigots, and they never lynched anybody. Maybe they were just lying to me.
You wrote "Indians take license to be violent if they hear anything that denigrates any of their gods". If you didn't mean all Indians, then why didn't you write that?
You also wrote "Muslims, who we know reserve license to be violent if they hear something THEY deem offensive". If you didn't mean all Muslims, then why didn't you write that?
Lastly you wrote "in India, men also assume license to violent gang rape any time they find a woman alone, without defense". If you didn't mean all Indian men, then why didn't you write that?
The freedom to hate ... The only freedom no one seems interested in taking away from people in the US.
It's called Freedom of Speech. The reason it has to be Constitutionally protected is not because anybody ever had to protect popular speech. Without it there would have been a time when saying "Negroes should be equal to white people" would have been censored because it would incite hatred.
Has it ever occurred to you that there are things the Indian government does to try and prevent ill treatment of the Dalit castes? What you're saying is like going back to the 1960's and saying the US government does nothing to try to prevent ill treatment of black people.
P.S. The people I've met who most hate the caste system are Indians. I know one fellow who talked about the clashes he had with his grandparents because he brought home friends who were from "lower castes". It's exactly like the way it took generations for racial attitudes to change in this country (which obviously still aren't completely resolved).
It seems that Indians take license to be violent if they hear anything that denigrates any of their gods ... India is also host to a number of Muslims, who we know reserve license to be violent if they hear something THEY deem offensive ... in India, men also assume license to violent gang rape any time they find a woman alone, without defense
Generalize much? With over a billion people, there may be some minor variations amongst their attitudes and actions. Your generalizations about Indians, as though they were all the same, is precisely the sort of prejudice that leads to the problems you list.
India certainly has its problems, and I've always been amazed that with such a variety of languages, cultures, religions, etc. they manage to keep the place glued together at all. Most of the things you hear about because of the outrage in the Indian press. Do you really think American news organizations put much effort into reporting specific domestic incidents in India? Unsurprisingly, the people I hear most loudly decry these problems are Indians themselves.
I'm glad the US is refusing to serve the summons. Hypocritical? Not really. The US government is busy wiping its ass with much of the Bill of Rights (4 and 5 are claimed to be obsolete), and contends that the president has the authority to assassinate US citizens at will, but it's actually pretty good about not censoring speech. Even Noam Chomsky thinks so. More thanks to the judiciary than the legislative or executive branches, but the US government nonetheless.
Coded message for Google and Facebook?
Ok, what's the message?
Wonder what this means for the hobby of model rocketry?
Nothing bad - they have a wonderful model rocketry range at Gitmo.
Blackpowder is legal....
So are knives, but you can't carry one onto a plane unless you get it from one of the numerous restaurants that are past the security checkpoints. Make sure you order a tough steak so you can get a big steak knife, of just have your accomplice in the kitchen give you a carving knife. Heck, maybe you can get 'em at the gift shop.
Security theater marches on! Apparently the Boston bombers actually used black powder, which just goes to show that (fortunately) they weren't better bomb makers. Smokeless powder is also perfectly legal (used largely by ammo reloaders) and much more powerful. Detecting black powder is not of much use, because somebody able to smuggle a bomb on an airplane would almost certainly use something better. I've never heard of black powder being used in such a bomb.
the idea behind an IMS (ion mobility spectrometer), is that you ionize
Thank you. That's a hell of lot more interesting and informative than the bazillionth gun pedant pointing out the difference between a clip and a magazine.
using Smokeless powder
As long as we're being pedantic, "Smokeless powder" should be "smokeless powder" since it's a generic term, and "tannerite" should be "Tannerite" since it's a trade name. Obviously Tannerite is an explosive, since it can be made to explode, but it's a tertiary explosive like ANFO. Lastly, ammunition is a very generic term that can include artillery shells, amongst other things, so (assuming you're the OP AC) it would make a lot more sense to talk about "cartridges and bullets" rather than "ammunition and bullets".
Sheesh, any time firearms are discussed some gun-loving pedant points out, amongst other things, the difference between a magazine and a clip. That's probably the least important distinction I can think of in most such discussions.
all of this "smart" gear is tied into the internet, using default or no passwords. It will probably take some hacker shutting down a large section
At which point we should realize that neither the Internet nor the power grid is worth the trouble. I know being a neo-Luddite makes my day job as an EE seem hypocritical, but I gotta make a living somehow.
Except for the USA where they are still highly common because it is cheaper to stick wires on poles.
Or because they were built a log time ago. On Long Island a lot of the grid is post-WWII, when the great suburban build out occurred. In my part of it, much of the grid dates from the 60's or earlier and is all overhead. Newer development (last 10-20 years?) is mostly underground.
We had a lot of trouble after Sandy. I lost power for 10 days. It's not just because it's overhead though. The secret to reasonable reliability w/ overhead lines is constant tree trimming, and that's the first thing they cut back on. Many people are too young or forgetful to remember it, but the situation was almost identical to what happened after Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Twenty seven years and no progress. Back then the utility was the private LILCO, now it's the LIPA "public authority" (though most work is contracted out). No difference. The only thing I'll say is that a "public authority" is not a true government utility. Public authorities are popular in NYS and are the worst of both worlds - all the power of government and none of the accountability.
So you're saying that by using half the senses you use half the neurons?
No, he's saying that computers make you stupid. That's not news either.
At the time, the authorities didn't have to worry about whether you were planning on killing people with your contraption.
Why's that, because in the old days you didn't have terrorists killing people w/ bombs? I'm afraid I'm ignorant of Australian history, but in this Wikipedia article alone mentions:
But 1919 was really a bumper year, it gets its own article: 1919 United States anarchist bombings Not to mention that the largest slaughter in a school in America was a bombing in the 1920's.
Some of us think we have enough mouths to feed on this planet as it is.
Feel free to reduce that number by one, anytime you want.
After a baby is born, the dad is less functional at work for the first 2 months or so. Sleep time is hard, and adjustments at home mean he's got other things on his mind.
You've never been the father of a newborn, have you? You go to work so that you can get some sleep.
The boy had no intent. It was an ACCIDENTAL shooting.
And you're not mentioning that the mother and the boyfriend aren't being charged with endangering the life of a child by letting a 10 y.o. and a 13 y.o. shoot BB guns at each other.
In the real world you need permission to do things that will explode
But you don't need permission to shoot someone in the head?
One was doing it on their own private property
Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware that in Florida it's legal to kill someone if it's on your own private property.
affecting somebody (the brother) who as far was we know gave consent
Some people are skeptical of the idea of a 10 year old giving informed consent.
You're also overlooking the fact that the mother and her boyfriend weren't charged. You know, something like reckless endangerment of children by letting a 10 y.o. and a 13 y.o. fire BB guns at each other.
One was doing it on school property, affecting people who did not (as far as we know) give consent for her to do this.
They didn't give consent to do something that did them no harm. If it had harmed anyone, it would probably have harmed the "perpetrator".
the Boston marathon bomber is being charged with constructing and using a weapon of mass destruction
Gotta love our legal system. What was the problem, multiple murders are not considered a serious crime?
Or it could just be a case of two different prosecutors having different standards
RTFA. Same prosecutor in both cases.
If the school didn't think it was that big of a deal, they could have just left the legal system out of it.
They might have been required to. While allowing no judgement in these matters is ridiculous, it's not that bad. But there is no doubt that the DA has the prosecutorial discretion to drop the charges. Hmmm ... maybe having rules that don't allow the "authorities" to use their judgement isn't such a bad idea. Look at what they do with it when they have it.
just as important is an intelligent, critically-thinking brain
If the Texas GOP had its way, schools would discourage that amongst students too. A plank of their platform is that critical thinking skills should not be taught in school. You can't make this stuff up.
My Chemistry teacher sent me home with a soda bottle of liquid nitrogen.
Soda bottle? My father used to bring home dewars of the stuff.
If she's that good a student as portrayed, suspension will be enough.
Even if she were an academically poor student, it would be enough. The fact that she's a good student adds to the absurdity and tragedy of the "authorities" actions, but even C- students shouldn't have a helping hand to turn them into tomorrow's deadbeats and criminals.
send her to Juvenille detention if you have to
Juvie? Even that's a nice way to turn a teenager who did a dumb thing, but caused and meant no harm, down the wrong road. The punishment shouldn't cause more harm than the offense. And they're giving her permanent expulsion, not a temporary suspension. Is it their goal to turn today's teenagers into tomorrow's deadbeats and criminals?