"But I'm sure politicians don't want this sort of thing, and so this is unlikely to happen."
That's the dreadful proposition in the whole deal... "politicians don't want this sort of thing". The voting methods suits the large parties... and they can use "it" to influence both the turnout and result.
Gore Vidal said, in a interview about change in US voting methods after the Florida voter disenfranchisement debacle:
"Did you ever here of a burglar throwing away the ladder after he gained access to a first story window? Of course not..."
Right now you have a choice of "Yes" or "No" for some candidates but not a choice of "Yes" or "No" for ALL candidates.
You need a "None of the above" choice on all ballots.
"[Jerking record sound, freeze frame on the kid looking reproachful.] Announcer: Are your children more concerned with their civil rigths than you are ? Make a difference, donate to the EFF. We're looking out for you."
Great one... they should think about a campaign like this... even the ACLU could use it.
1946 M44 Soviet rifles? Dime-a-dozen...
on
Great Surplus Stores?
·
· Score: 2, Informative
1946 M44 Soviet rifles? They are a dime-a-dozen. Either N.I.W. (gun speak for New In Wrap) or used. Honestly. I've spotted slightly used models for $49.95 at local gun shows.
Bolt action surplus rifles tend not to be priced too high on the "desirable" lists. Of course you can see rare Mausers and such going for the occasional mega-buck but the Military bolt action rifles of the past two World Wars were manufactured in their millions. It takes a lot more than just N.I.W condition to command higher prices (unsual stampings/markings, rare modifications etc).
People die. You know this. People die. People die all the time. It's part of the great game called life.
More people die and will die by other causes (such as road traffic accidents) in the USA this month than in all the terrorist attacks on the USA ever.
When people die civilisations move on. They evolve.
Civilisations need history and artifacts to survive... otherwise they die.
If you destory the literature and the history and the libraries and the museums and all the archelogical evidence to remove just one tyrant from power then you are losing.
In one hundred years we will all be dead (baring a miracle) and Saddam Hussein will be as distant a memory and as relevant to our descendants as Napolean or Kubla Khan are to most of us now.
Yet the "battery" will be AS relevant to our descendants as it is to us. A look back into the past and a glimpse of the ancients, their lives and civilisations... and a definite reason to look forward into the future.
"but I think there'll be a public outcry here in the UK"
Public outcry in the UK rarely changes things unless it is accompanied by violent demonstrations in Trafalgar Square (Poll Tax demonstration). When the right-to-silence was removed by the British Parliament a few years back, the public outcry did nothing to change the situation.
The current crop of British politicians have recently decided to do whatever the US government tells them. If the US government tells them to include biometric data on UK passports then the British politicians will include it. The usual "post 9-11" anti-terrorist security reasons will be hauled out... a few "looney-left" politicos will raise some civil rights issues, the media will come down firmly on the side of the Home Office and you will not be needing a visa to enter the United States at all.
You may be "interested to see how this turns out" but I'm wondering why the result is not obvious to you...
"The Block family is the Rupert Murdoch of Toledo, Ohio. The company controls several major area newspapers (including The Toledo Blade), one of the area's television stations (TV5 Toledo), a dial up provider, Buckeye Cable, and much more. As such, their control over the political system in the area is considerable, a fact that may under-ride the horrifying journey several individuals are taking through the area's legal gauntlet because they uncapped their cable modems."
I quote at length as this is very important. To be described as the "Murdoch" of anything means, to me, that you are a despot. A despot rules without any regard of their subjects.
The quotation mentions that because the Block family has it's fingers in various media pies that it is active politically. That may be stating the obvious but look deeper.
Media control increasingly means people control in the USA. Don't even bother to argue against that point.
The Block family may have sat down at their Thanksgiving dinner a few years back and looked at a strategy for gaining more control in Ohio. One of them, probably the brightest one, decided that the family should look at the "new media" or the "information highway" as a means to directly pipe their influence into homes of the people.
They spend a rake of money setting up their venture... and along come the criminals to thwart their carefully laid plans. It does not matter what the criminals did... they went against the Block agenda.
A few favours were called in, the word "hacker" (and even maybe "cyber-terrorist") was used and the local FBI Director agreed with the family... in went the Armed Agents...
The Block family are going to get away with this. Maybe a comparison could be drawn with the railway baron "families" and oil baron "families" of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Now we have the "bandwidth barons"...
Just in case you think I'm sqawking conspiracy theories here take a read of the last paragraph in the article:
"When the Block family first came to Toledo, Paul Block was rumored to have said he was going to "rip down Toledo and rebuild it in his image"."
"Where are the guns?" SOP for Federal BI Agents in ALL circumstances is to be armed... and ready.
The firearms were most likely in holsters on their hips. If you are referring to an "Elian" style raid (with said Agents brandishing MP5s and wearing balaclavas) then you are most likely correct that the article sensationalises the situation.
However... any armed Agent wandering around anyones house in search of a frigging uncapped modem, and evidence to such, is a serious liability in any age. In other words, the alleged crime does not fit the method of search and seizure involved. This matter could be more easily, and less expensively to the taxpayer, dealt via private litigation.
As well as the water they supposedly get "for free"
my friend they also get an amount of flouride, chlorine, and arsenic in the same "free" water.
Not so in the bottled water (spring water, mineral water call it what you will).
Any short search on Google will bring up various pages by concerned groups interested in just what is in our "free" water... and why filtering it from your home or buying bottled water is a better idea than drinking straight from the tap.
One such article... about Arsenic levels in the "free" water of the USA:
" Of course its in Kansas (yeah I know, I'm in michigan, whats the difference, right?)"
Maybe because you're not in Kansas anymore?
(Can anybody believe that I got that post in so early... fff me I must be drunk).
cheers
front
Mister Tito and his American Flag patch.
on
Tito In Space
·
· Score: 2
Howdy
Looking at a Sky News (U.K.) broadcast of Mister Tito heading out... I did notice that he is wearing a U.S.A. Flag emblem on his left shoulder.
Does this mean that all American citizens heading outwards whether this be from the continental United States or domimions or territories are also allowed to wear the Flag on their left shoulder to wherever they go or for whatever reason and whenever?
(Not being a prick here about this... I thought that the wearing of the "flag" on the left shoulder denoted an "official" responsibility...? maybe I am wrong).
Michigans current status as a State within the Union seems, to me at least, a part of Englers next "Presidential Race plus two" race.
I posted on late 12th Feb this year in a thread the post Michigan=Scotland where I was concerned if Michiganders thought that their State was up for grabs in the 'experimental issue' stakes.
Mark this post. Engler is going to try for the Executive position. These attempts by him are his early testing grounds. Who knows what the "Net" economy will be like 8 years down the pipe... Governer Engler is looking at ALL the options.
Slashdot Mirror
Wait a minute! So YOU were the one who bought Daikatana... I always wondered who that person was!
cheers
front
"But I'm sure politicians don't want this sort of thing, and so this is unlikely to happen."
That's the dreadful proposition in the whole deal... "politicians don't want this sort of thing". The voting methods suits the large parties... and they can use "it" to influence both the turnout and result.
Gore Vidal said, in a interview about change in US voting methods after the Florida voter disenfranchisement debacle:
"Did you ever here of a burglar throwing away the ladder after he gained access to a first story window? Of course not..."
Right now you have a choice of "Yes" or
"No" for some candidates but not a choice of "Yes" or "No" for ALL candidates.
You need a "None of the above" choice on all ballots.
cheers
front
"[Jerking record sound, freeze frame on the kid looking reproachful.]
Announcer: Are your children more concerned with their civil rigths than you are ? Make a difference, donate to the EFF. We're looking out for you."
Great one... they should think about a campaign like this... even the ACLU could use it.
cheers
front
There is a parallel universe in which your comment above was modded as "Moronic".... not "Funny".
cheers
front
This page:
http://www.mackido.com/EasterEggs/HW-840AV.html
has the images of the beach party and boat.
cheers
front
1946 M44 Soviet rifles? They are a dime-a-dozen. Either N.I.W. (gun speak for New In Wrap) or used. Honestly. I've spotted slightly used models for $49.95 at local gun shows.
Bolt action surplus rifles tend not to be priced too high on the "desirable" lists. Of course you can see rare Mausers and such going for the occasional mega-buck but the Military bolt action rifles of the past two World Wars were manufactured in their millions. It takes a lot more than just N.I.W condition to command higher prices (unsual stampings/markings, rare modifications etc).
cheers
front
People die. You know this. People die. People die all the time. It's part of the great game called life.
More people die and will die by other causes (such as road traffic accidents) in the USA this month than in all the terrorist attacks on the USA ever.
When people die civilisations move on. They evolve.
Civilisations need history and artifacts to survive... otherwise they die.
If you destory the literature and the history and the libraries and the museums and all the archelogical evidence to remove just one tyrant from power then you are losing.
In one hundred years we will all be dead (baring a miracle) and Saddam Hussein will be as distant a memory and as relevant to our descendants as Napolean or Kubla Khan are to most of us now.
Yet the "battery" will be AS relevant to our descendants as it is to us. A look back into the past and a glimpse of the ancients, their lives and civilisations... and a definite reason to look forward into the future.
cheers
front
"but I think there'll be a public outcry here in the UK"
Public outcry in the UK rarely changes things unless it is accompanied by violent demonstrations in Trafalgar Square (Poll Tax demonstration). When the right-to-silence was removed by the British Parliament a few years back, the public outcry did nothing to change the situation.
The current crop of British politicians have recently decided to do whatever the US government tells them. If the US government tells them to include biometric data on UK passports then the British politicians will include it. The usual "post 9-11" anti-terrorist security reasons will be hauled out... a few "looney-left" politicos will raise some civil rights issues, the media will come down firmly on the side of the Home Office and you will not be needing a visa to enter the United States at all.
You may be "interested to see how this turns out" but I'm wondering why the result is not obvious to you...
cheers
front
I don't know, and I am only speculating, but consider for a minute...
A RIAA/MPAA individual notices the vast amount of "stable server bots" running on DALNet, sharing out the movies and mp3s by the thousands.
"Got to stop this." they think. In comes the "code expert" and the irc network gets stomped.
Any takers for this bit of conspiracy?
cheers
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Ban the Two Towers now!
Two Towers Protest.org
Just say no to Osama Bin Tolkien!
cheers
front
"It's a good book and it's going to make a great movie."
So 'in some ways' this is just a glorified, expanded screenplay? A good book but a great movie? ALL of Crichton's books are like that! 'In a sense'.
(Well maybe not Congo... certainly not Congo... Tim Curry running around blathering on about "Zinge" (or whatever) still makes me cringe))
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front
"Hint: if you don't have IE handy, you might not find this service very friendly. "
Does the BBC know?
cheers
front
The article makes this point:
"The Block family is the Rupert Murdoch of Toledo, Ohio. The company controls several major area newspapers (including The Toledo Blade), one of the area's television stations (TV5 Toledo), a dial up provider, Buckeye Cable, and much more. As such, their control over the political system in the area is considerable, a fact that may under-ride the horrifying journey several individuals are taking through the area's legal gauntlet because they uncapped their cable modems."
I quote at length as this is very important. To be described as the "Murdoch" of anything means, to me, that you are a despot. A despot rules without any regard of their subjects.
The quotation mentions that because the Block family has it's fingers in various media pies that it is active politically. That may be stating the obvious but look deeper.
Media control increasingly means people control in the USA. Don't even bother to argue against that point.
The Block family may have sat down at their Thanksgiving dinner a few years back and looked at a strategy for gaining more control in Ohio. One of them, probably the brightest one, decided that the family should look at the "new media" or the "information highway" as a means to directly pipe their influence into homes of the people.
They spend a rake of money setting up their venture... and along come the criminals to thwart their carefully laid plans. It does not matter what the criminals did... they went against the Block agenda.
A few favours were called in, the word "hacker" (and even maybe "cyber-terrorist") was used and the local FBI Director agreed with the family... in went the Armed Agents...
The Block family are going to get away with this. Maybe a comparison could be drawn with the railway baron "families" and oil baron "families" of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Now we have the "bandwidth barons"...
Just in case you think I'm sqawking conspiracy theories here take a read of the last paragraph in the article:
"When the Block family first came to Toledo, Paul Block was rumored to have said he was going to "rip down Toledo and rebuild it in his image"."
Citizane Kane anyone?
cheers
front
"Where are the guns?" SOP for Federal BI Agents in ALL circumstances is to be armed... and ready.
The firearms were most likely in holsters on their hips. If you are referring to an "Elian" style raid (with said Agents brandishing MP5s and wearing balaclavas) then you are most likely correct that the article sensationalises the situation.
However... any armed Agent wandering around anyones house in search of a frigging uncapped modem, and evidence to such, is a serious liability in any age. In other words, the alleged crime does not fit the method of search and seizure involved. This matter could be more easily, and less expensively to the taxpayer, dealt via private litigation.
cheers
front
Here:
0 ,4 596,2457975_200_2400440_stream____1___,00.smi
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/media/media_qt_smil/
Paste into the "Open URL in new player" field...
cheers
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No it's not. "also available at apple.com".. the 2 minute odd trailer is... this preview mentioned in the article is over 5 minutes long.
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Who the feck modded this comment to "Interesting"? The author is joking you morons!
cheers
front
Hehehe... good one. You must have been waiting to use a line like that in just the right place.
cheers
front
As well as the water they supposedly get "for free"
2 52
my friend they also get an amount of flouride, chlorine, and arsenic in the same "free" water.
Not so in the bottled water (spring water, mineral water call it what you will).
Any short search on Google will bring up various pages by concerned groups interested in just what is in our "free" water... and why filtering it from your home or buying bottled water is a better idea than drinking straight from the tap.
One such article... about Arsenic levels in the "free" water of the USA:
http://www.ecoworld.org/Home/articles2.cfm?TID=
cheers
front
Why do you say "damn akamai"?
cheers
front
" Of course its in Kansas (yeah I know, I'm in michigan, whats the difference, right?)"
Maybe because you're not in Kansas anymore?
(Can anybody believe that I got that post in so early... fff me I must be drunk).
cheers
front
Howdy
Looking at a Sky News (U.K.) broadcast of Mister Tito heading out... I did notice that he is wearing a U.S.A. Flag emblem on his left shoulder.
Does this mean that all American citizens heading outwards whether this be from the continental United States or domimions or territories are also allowed to wear the Flag on their left shoulder to wherever they go or for whatever reason and whenever?
(Not being a prick here about this... I thought that the wearing of the "flag" on the left shoulder denoted an "official" responsibility...? maybe I am wrong).
cheers
front
"What do you think is stored at Google? "
I reckon it is that huge cache of pages in html.
cheers
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Howdy
/. pessimists will but it's about time 'we' got going on connecting to the rest of "de galaxy":
Excellent. Say what you
Vernor Vinge
cheers
front
Michigans current status as a State within the Union seems, to me at least, a part of Englers next "Presidential Race plus two" race.
I posted on late 12th Feb this year in a thread the post Michigan=Scotland where I was concerned if Michiganders thought that their State was up for grabs in the 'experimental issue' stakes.
Mark this post. Engler is going to try for the Executive position. These attempts by him are his early testing grounds. Who knows what the "Net" economy will be like 8 years down the pipe... Governer Engler is looking at ALL the options.
cheers
front