If you don't pay attention, it's nobody's fault but your own if you get surprised this way.
Luis and Walter Alvarez proposed the asteroid-impact theory in 1980, not as speculation, but because of the global evidence of iridium enrichment at the K-T boundary. This was reinforced by the discovery of the Chicxulub crater in 1990. To me, that's somewhat more than 5-6 years ago, but you might be using a different calendar... Or a chronosynclastic infundibulum as a proxy server.
Actually France has a pretty good plan here. The state pays artists to create.
I fail to see any possible way in which this could be considered a good thing.
Allow me to rephrase: The state takes my money and gives it to "artists" to "create"... whatever the hell it is they "create". Even if I think the artist in question has less talent than a meth-addicted polecat.
You can create whatever you like, and give it away. No problem at all; I love you for pursuing your goals even if your art stinks. You can charge for it, charge all the market will bear, and more power to you if you end up a multi-millionaire. You earned it.
But if you think you can suck down my hard-earned cash while you sit around on your lazy butt and "create", then I suggest you emigrate to France, and good riddance.
Might not be bad to have a similar system for Open Source programmers--Just enough money to keep them off the streets and happily coding away.
As above, only more so.
"The state" doesn't pay for anything. Ever. You do.
Closed source by it's very expensive nature only serves to keep people down.
Except when it's, y'know, useful, and provides them with a tool that makes them more productive. Or when it's entertaining, and they pay for it just like any other entertainment.
Closed software doesn't keep people down, and open source doesn't raise people up. Bad software, bad anything, keeps people down. Good software, like good anything else, raises people up.
What really keeps people down, beyond anything else, though, is the zero-sum theory of economics.
Listen to any of the Islamic leaders or the Arab dictators ranting any day of the week.
They do hate us for our freedom. Or at least, incite their people to do so, so they don't rise up and hang their corrupt and incompetent governments en-masse.
And what about this ominous free speech all those americanos seem to be so hang up upon? Well, good riddance to that travesty of a human right. Everytime a fat american doesn't like it to be told to shut up, he comes with the free speech mace to club all opposition into submission.
How did this get modded "insightful"?
Freedom of speech is the single most fundamental human right. You are free to tell me to shut up; I am free to ignore you completely.
If you don't like the fact that Americans have freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, that's your problem. That you try to reverse the position of rights and protest the "free speech mace" indicates to me that you have zero comprehension of the nature or importance of human rights to begin with.
Why else do you think the USA rank only on place 22 in the Freedom of the press index while most European countries with a much saner approach to personal freedoms come first.
If you read the accompanying text, you would know why. I think the reasons given are so hopelessly misguided as to make a laughingstock of the entire survey; nevertheless, your suggestion that freedom of speech is antithetical to freedom of the press is, to put it mildly, deranged.
In America - I cannot speak for whatever your home country may be - in America you are free to make such claims. And I am free to point out that you are a lunatic.
Simply put: take the combined budget of the US and Europe on military spending for ONE year, and you already have the money to fund half a century of all programs on acknowledged "big" problems like poverty, disease, education, clean water, most environmental issues etc etc etc. on a world scale, yes sir.
Tried that. Didn't work.
Problem is, even saying this is deemed political, liberal etc etc etc. So, while most problems are easily solved, we think it makes more sense to invest in a better club to hit our neighbor with.
No.
Take Africa, for example. It would be easy to make sure that every child in Africa had enough to eat. There's more than enough food left over in America and Europe to do that.
But if you ship that food to Africa, it ends up rotting on the docks, or stolen by thieves, or armed rebels, or the government (if you can even tell the difference). These people are profiting by making other people's lives a misery. Sending more aid just results in more theft. You could send in troops to protect the food, but (a) that would cost far more than the food itself, (b) the countries in question won't let you, and (c) hey, you just spent the entire military budget on rice.
Thank you! At least someone here knows what's going on.
It's not as if the NYT doesn't know that, either, so their reporting is disingenuous at best. ECHELON has been in operation for decades, which would kind of blunt the point of the article... So they quietly neglect to print that little fact.
Neither piece of legislation is event remotely similar to the way you present it. Either you are completely ignorant of what the bills actually say, or you are lying.
Slashdot Mirror
Doctors and medical researchers, like those in any other scientific field, have been taught a certain paradigm for understanding health and disease.
Yes, and that paradigm is: Examine the evidence.
Anything not explainable within that framework tends to be overlooked or ignored
Yep. When there's no evidence, doctors and medical researchers tend to ignore you, as do scientists and indeed all sane people.
just look at the battles the homeopathic community has to fight; some of them are wackos perhaps
And the remainder are frauds.
but many of them have treatments superior to those of "modern" medicine.
No. Modern medicine can provide sugar pills and distilled water just as well as any homeopath.
Ah, so Colbert is another unfunny leftist boor who can't tell the difference between comedy and an incoherent political rant.
Gotcha.
Good luck on getting rid of both the Republicans and the Democrats.
If you don't pay attention, it's nobody's fault but your own if you get surprised this way.
Luis and Walter Alvarez proposed the asteroid-impact theory in 1980, not as speculation, but because of the global evidence of iridium enrichment at the K-T boundary. This was reinforced by the discovery of the Chicxulub crater in 1990. To me, that's somewhat more than 5-6 years ago, but you might be using a different calendar... Or a chronosynclastic infundibulum as a proxy server.
And look! Here's a report suggesting that bats are the reservoir for Ebola infection - from 1996.
Wake up and join us in the 21st century. It's lovely and warm here.
Actually France has a pretty good plan here. The state pays artists to create.
I fail to see any possible way in which this could be considered a good thing.
Allow me to rephrase: The state takes my money and gives it to "artists" to "create"... whatever the hell it is they "create". Even if I think the artist in question has less talent than a meth-addicted polecat.
You can create whatever you like, and give it away. No problem at all; I love you for pursuing your goals even if your art stinks. You can charge for it, charge all the market will bear, and more power to you if you end up a multi-millionaire. You earned it.
But if you think you can suck down my hard-earned cash while you sit around on your lazy butt and "create", then I suggest you emigrate to France, and good riddance.
Might not be bad to have a similar system for Open Source programmers--Just enough money to keep them off the streets and happily coding away.
As above, only more so.
"The state" doesn't pay for anything. Ever. You do.
No.
If you want the government to pay for your health care, you need the card. Right now, you need your Medicare card anyway. So what's the difference?
No.
You need the card to get government health and welfare benefits.
If you have private health insurance or money, you don't need the card.
If you don't like having to carry an ID card, don't rely on government benefits.
Closed source by it's very expensive nature only serves to keep people down.
Except when it's, y'know, useful, and provides them with a tool that makes them more productive. Or when it's entertaining, and they pay for it just like any other entertainment.
Closed software doesn't keep people down, and open source doesn't raise people up. Bad software, bad anything, keeps people down. Good software, like good anything else, raises people up.
What really keeps people down, beyond anything else, though, is the zero-sum theory of economics.
See also: 18th Amendment.
Some countries are just slow learners.
Nope. Sales were handled Russia, China and France. America never made significant weapons sales to Iraq.
That's why they had such crappy equipment.
Have you any idea how many people would have died if we invaded Japan?
Best estimates are 200,000 Allied troops and two million Japanese soldiers and civilians.
Yes.
Listen to any of the Islamic leaders or the Arab dictators ranting any day of the week.
They do hate us for our freedom. Or at least, incite their people to do so, so they don't rise up and hang their corrupt and incompetent governments en-masse.
How did this get modded "insightful"?
Freedom of speech is the single most fundamental human right. You are free to tell me to shut up; I am free to ignore you completely.
If you don't like the fact that Americans have freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment, that's your problem. That you try to reverse the position of rights and protest the "free speech mace" indicates to me that you have zero comprehension of the nature or importance of human rights to begin with.
If you read the accompanying text, you would know why. I think the reasons given are so hopelessly misguided as to make a laughingstock of the entire survey; nevertheless, your suggestion that freedom of speech is antithetical to freedom of the press is, to put it mildly, deranged.
In America - I cannot speak for whatever your home country may be - in America you are free to make such claims. And I am free to point out that you are a lunatic.
State of Fear is science fiction.
Yes. So is Guns, Germs and Steel.
Were you often dropped on your head as a child?
Which part of So shut the fuck up and read it before you jump to conclusions. did you not understand?
Lower 5 digit UID + one girlfriend (who happens to be WoW addict) = old single nerd living in his parents' basement.
It's a good thing I don't play WoW then!
'Cause my parents don't have a basement...
News that isn't balanced is propoganda.
Nope. News doesn't need balance. News needs accurate reporting.
Yes every issue has sides, often more than two. if it didnt have sides it wouldnt be an issue.
Who cares about "issues"? We can leave that to te editorials.
All the news needs to do is report the facts.
Simply put: take the combined budget of the US and Europe on military spending for ONE year, and you already have the money to fund half a century of all programs on acknowledged "big" problems like poverty, disease, education, clean water, most environmental issues etc etc etc. on a world scale, yes sir.
Tried that. Didn't work.
Problem is, even saying this is deemed political, liberal etc etc etc. So, while most problems are easily solved, we think it makes more sense to invest in a better club to hit our neighbor with.
No.
Take Africa, for example. It would be easy to make sure that every child in Africa had enough to eat. There's more than enough food left over in America and Europe to do that.
But if you ship that food to Africa, it ends up rotting on the docks, or stolen by thieves, or armed rebels, or the government (if you can even tell the difference). These people are profiting by making other people's lives a misery. Sending more aid just results in more theft. You could send in troops to protect the food, but (a) that would cost far more than the food itself, (b) the countries in question won't let you, and (c) hey, you just spent the entire military budget on rice.
Nah. Z4 burned down, fell over, and sank into the swamp.
I'm not arguing for using China as our labor force.
You have to admit that it's working out a hell of a lot better for them than that whole agrarian thing, though.
I don't have that sort of problem at all, because I am my company's IT department.
The downside of that is... That I am my company's IT department.
The program is decades old, and it's already well known. The NYT didn't report anything new.
What did you think the NSA was for?
Thank you! At least someone here knows what's going on.
It's not as if the NYT doesn't know that, either, so their reporting is disingenuous at best. ECHELON has been in operation for decades, which would kind of blunt the point of the article... So they quietly neglect to print that little fact.
Neither piece of legislation is event remotely similar to the way you present it. Either you are completely ignorant of what the bills actually say, or you are lying.