"Have you spoken with anyone from Nagasaki about this question? "
They asked for what they got, and don't forget it.
The Japs butchered their way through Asia and the Pacific in spectacular fashion, negating any opinion of the survivors of the just punishment their nation and people so richly deserved.
There was no "trust" issue in the Total War of WWII. The Japanese were trying to enslave Asia. They got spanked for the trouble. Afterward, the Allied occupation of Imperial Japan was so benevolent that it shaped Japan into the modern democracy the weaboos who snivel about Hiroshima and Nagasaki so admire. The US demonstrated that it was "trustworthy" by protecting Japan from the Communist menace in the East with the "nuclear umbrella" borne of the WWII atomic weapons program.
"This country would be farther ahead if we carved off a section and let you have your own space. I'd be all for that"
That idea has been obsolete since the War Between the States, when Washington decided that Americans have no right to secede. The only alternative left was for those forcibly retained to expand their political base, so they did.
People will behave as they wish. If you let anyone into your country who wants in, expect them to make your society in their image to the extent they have the power to do so.
If you forcibly incorporate or retain people in your country, expect them to make your society in their image to the extent they have the power to do so.
Chicago is famously corrupt, and since I have no interest in visiting it as an American (having seen enough of urban blight and the people who live in it) I can see why the Olympics are being hosted elsewhere. Rio is exotic, Chicago is not. Rio can clear whatever area is needed for the Olympics, while US law exists to obstruct. Labor costs will be lower in Rio. End of story.
"The disconnect in moral reasoning is getting ridiculous."
US drug policy is driven by Christian fanaticism. Chemical pleasure competes with Gawd, hence the insane punitive attitude. Foreigners need not bother visiting the US. It is a culture-free zone.
If you want wide open spaces, go to Canada instead. There is no reason to want to visit US cities (BTW I'm an American who grew up around NYC.) They are large, that is all. European cities are much more interesting.
"Hosting the Olympics might be an honour on the national level, but locally... you've got to figure out which city you can afford to disrupt over the long term."
Excluding people prosperous enough to afford air travel while failing to control the poor variety at our southern border is stupid.
Too bad the 9/11 hijackers didn't cross the Rio Grande.
BTW, we were never a "melting pot". That has always been a lie to amuse the simple. What we DID have was aggressive rejection of people who didn't assimilate and play by house rules, which was healthy. The idea that we should blindly let everyone in as if we owed them something is as silly as blind xenophobia.
"Sad to see the great American nation turn from something I was once very proud of to one that I've considered, quite a few times, to up and leave."
If you were serious, you'd be gone already. There are fun and profitable reasons to be an expat, BTW, and those are the most common. It's a fascinating world, go enjoy some of it! Don't get the idea that leaving in protest makes anyone else give a shit, because losing those who won't fight is no loss at all.
"No one is suggesting going out and purchasing a 20 year-old laser printer for its original sticker price. That's why there's eBay. And pawn shops. And Craigslist. Etc"
"If this news is accurate, I don't doubt a lot of users are going to be pretty vocal."
So will some non-users.
I vote with my wallet and because of this I refuse to buy their shit, I will not recommend their shit (as we know, geeks can influence what others buy especially when we refuse to support it), and I will express my opinion regarding their shit.:)
"On the day when an American is no longer able to buy a book, read it, and then resell it to somebody else, I'm moving to Russia where freedom still lives."
Freedom in America was bought with violence.
The willingness to skewer British troops with sword and bayonet, send musket ball and cannon shot into their ranks, tar and feather their officials, burn their facilities,and sink their ships is what secured America for Americans. We should remember this and savor it, for it reflects fundamental truths about man.
What freedom man has is because he is willing to kill for it, and killing for freedom is as noble as sacrifice for freedom (not to mention more effective).
Pacifism is submission (Ghandi wasn't playing against a serious opponent, any such would have killed him early) and does not work against serious people. What does is to kill and maim enough (or all) of them until victory is seized.
IMO things aren't nearly bad enough yet to require drastic measures, but no American should rule them out. The National Anthem isn't obsolete. We were once a country of revolutionaries willing to kill for revolution. Now we are comfortable sheep. It needn't stay that way.
The thing about letting in absolutely anyone is that it doesn't protect the benefits of exclusivity. It also doesn't reinforce the cultural and social preferences of those people a country belongs to.
With culture comes religious and political baggage. For example, Muslims tend to bring Islam with them when they arrive in a Western country. Religion is bad, primitive religion is worse, and there is every reason for Westerners who value personal freedom to keep out religious enemies just as they would reject political enemies (religion is merely superstitious politics).
It's a bit of a wrench when people raised on simplistic, very blind idealism find that other people can use their naive ideals against them. To the extent that you allow a population of social primitives into your home, they will make it over in the image of the societies they left, especially when their religion is predatory. People cherish the idea that their ideals will magically protect them (rather a secular religion IMO) but are coming up against reality.
Europe belongs to Europeans. They should decide if there is a moral obligation to turn it into Arabia and Africa, or not. I would think they suffered enough getting Christianity off their backs, but it appears Euros don't remember history any better than Yanks.
"I have to seriously wonder why so many people here are so passionate about not needing an education."
Many geeks are autodidacts and will learn much more when less impeded by conventional formal education. We may show up to get the certificate, but what drives learning is passion.
Many of them (self included) were bored by school and despised many of the people they were forced to go to school with. A system that would help such folk would work less well for the torrent of retards that make up most of the public.
"Unfortunately, segregating students based on ability is an unpopular idea because it does not reinforce the idea that we are all equal."
It's extremely unpopular, which is why mechanisms that facilitate economic segregation (not ideal, but much better than nothing) such as school choice legislation should be used to help rescue the children of more accomplished parents from the mob.
We can't help the poor against their will but we can seek to facilitate education and intellectual exploration for those whose circumstances allow them to study outside the public school conformity-enforcement system.
"If anything, shorten the school day/year so our people can go back to acquiring trade skills and progressing the nation;"
No, keep it the same but offer vocational classes without prejudice and don't use them as a dumping ground. An auto mechanic or weldor or plumber can have a very profitable career path and eventually own their own business, but this is largely ignored nowadays.
"Doesn't that mean that the problem is not how long US kids are in school?"
The problem is American popular culture, which exalts stupidity and is savagely anti-intellectual.
No public education system changes will affect this, and the solution is to facilitate school choice so the parents who appreciate the superiority of private education can rescue their children. We can't have an educated public, but we can and should cultivate an educated. self-aware counter-culture from which we can groom future leaders.
Instead of wasting the time of gifted students in order push the herd through a longer school year, we should spend money on more programs to help the high achievers. We don't need to waste more time on the many who amount to nothing, but we do need to nurture the intelligent and motivated, for it is they who move society forward.
We also need more school choice legislation so people can rescue their kids from the public school system and the thug trash that often infests it.
Communists who are really Chinese nationalists are quite capable of rationality. They rationally guided China to economic and social change that has had tremendous positive effects.
Superstitionists are completely different. You can't talk these insane people out of their homicidal fairy tale.
Slashdot Mirror
"Have you spoken with anyone from Nagasaki about this question? "
They asked for what they got, and don't forget it.
The Japs butchered their way through Asia and the Pacific in spectacular fashion, negating any opinion of the survivors of the just punishment their nation and people so richly deserved.
There was no "trust" issue in the Total War of WWII. The Japanese were trying to enslave Asia. They got spanked for the trouble. Afterward, the Allied occupation of Imperial Japan was so benevolent that it shaped Japan into the modern democracy the weaboos who snivel about Hiroshima and Nagasaki so admire. The US demonstrated that it was "trustworthy" by protecting Japan from the Communist menace in the East with the "nuclear umbrella" borne of the WWII atomic weapons program.
"Because I recently got a Drobo, and I've had nothing but problems, but New egg has largely positive reviews."
A useful method is to give a bad product an outstanding rating which won't get looked at then slag it in the comments section.
Just stop crossing the border. Choose a country, live there. It really is that simple.
Rio has a murder rate a bit more than that of Detriot, but with enough money the problem areas can be cordoned off or simply destroyed by demolition.
"after all the nasty border control security the one terrorist act that actually occured was performed by a domestic terrorist."
Not to mention that the cops hounded an innocent man, while the perp went on to commit more attacks!
"This country would be farther ahead if we carved off a section and let you have your own space. I'd be all for that"
That idea has been obsolete since the War Between the States, when Washington decided that Americans have no right to secede. The only alternative left was for those forcibly retained to expand their political base, so they did.
People will behave as they wish. If you let anyone into your country who wants in, expect them to make your society in their image to the extent they have the power to do so.
If you forcibly incorporate or retain people in your country, expect them to make your society in their image to the extent they have the power to do so.
"You're must not be from Chicago. Because if you were, you'd know that there's nothing better than a summer day downtown and along the lake front."
Too bad summer is fleeting. :)
Chicago is famously corrupt, and since I have no interest in visiting it as an American (having seen enough of urban blight and the people who live in it) I can see why the Olympics are being hosted elsewhere. Rio is exotic, Chicago is not. Rio can clear whatever area is needed for the Olympics, while US law exists to obstruct. Labor costs will be lower in Rio. End of story.
"The disconnect in moral reasoning is getting ridiculous."
US drug policy is driven by Christian fanaticism. Chemical pleasure competes with Gawd, hence the insane punitive attitude. Foreigners need not bother visiting the US. It is a culture-free zone.
If you want wide open spaces, go to Canada instead. There is no reason to want to visit US cities (BTW I'm an American who grew up around NYC.) They are large, that is all. European cities are much more interesting.
"Hosting the Olympics might be an honour on the national level, but locally... you've got to figure out which city you can afford to disrupt over the long term."
Detroit.
Excluding people prosperous enough to afford air travel while failing to control the poor variety at our southern border is stupid.
Too bad the 9/11 hijackers didn't cross the Rio Grande.
BTW, we were never a "melting pot". That has always been a lie to amuse the simple. What we DID have was aggressive rejection of people who didn't assimilate and play by house rules, which was healthy. The idea that
we should blindly let everyone in as if we owed them something is as silly as blind xenophobia.
"Sad to see the great American nation turn from something I was once very proud of to one that I've considered, quite a few times, to up and leave."
If you were serious, you'd be gone already. There are fun and profitable reasons to be an expat, BTW, and those are the most common. It's a fascinating world, go enjoy some of it! Don't get the idea that leaving in protest makes anyone else give a shit, because losing those who won't fight is no loss at all.
"Unlike, say, the massive socialist US interstate system."
Which facilitates massive movement of goods and people in a way rail never can.
"No one is suggesting going out and purchasing a 20 year-old laser printer for its original sticker price. That's why there's eBay. And pawn shops. And Craigslist. Etc"
Not to mention refurbs.
"Of course my neighbors can monitor when I have sex and how good it is,"
Those IBM Model Ms ARE rather loud...
"If this news is accurate, I don't doubt a lot of users are going to be pretty vocal."
So will some non-users.
I vote with my wallet and because of this I refuse to buy their shit, I will not recommend their shit (as we know, geeks can influence what others buy especially when we refuse to support it), and I will express my opinion regarding their shit. :)
"On the day when an American is no longer able to buy a book, read it, and then resell it to somebody else, I'm moving to Russia where freedom still lives."
Freedom in America was bought with violence.
The willingness to skewer British troops with sword and bayonet, send musket ball and cannon shot into their ranks, tar and feather their officials, burn their facilities,and sink their ships is what secured America for Americans. We should remember this and savor it, for it reflects fundamental truths about man.
What freedom man has is because he is willing to kill for it, and killing for freedom is as noble as sacrifice for freedom (not to mention more effective).
Pacifism is submission (Ghandi wasn't playing against a serious opponent, any such would have killed him early) and does not work against serious people. What does is to kill and maim enough (or all) of them until victory is seized.
IMO things aren't nearly bad enough yet to require drastic measures, but no American should rule them out.
The National Anthem isn't obsolete. We were once a country of revolutionaries willing to kill for revolution. Now we are comfortable sheep. It needn't stay that way.
The thing about letting in absolutely anyone is that it doesn't protect the benefits of exclusivity. It also doesn't reinforce the cultural and social preferences of those people a country belongs to.
With culture comes religious and political baggage. For example, Muslims tend to bring Islam with them when they arrive in a Western country. Religion is bad, primitive religion is worse, and there is every reason for Westerners who value personal freedom to keep out religious enemies just as they would reject political enemies (religion is merely superstitious politics).
It's a bit of a wrench when people raised on simplistic, very blind idealism find that other people can use their naive ideals against them. To the extent that you allow a population of social primitives into your home, they will make it over in the image of the societies they left, especially when their religion is predatory. People cherish the idea that their ideals will magically protect them (rather a secular religion IMO) but are coming up against reality.
Europe belongs to Europeans. They should decide if there is a moral obligation to turn it into Arabia and Africa, or not. I would think they suffered enough getting Christianity off their backs, but it appears Euros don't remember history any better than Yanks.
"I have to seriously wonder why so many people here are so passionate about not needing an education."
Many geeks are autodidacts and will learn much more when less impeded by conventional formal education. We may show up to get the certificate, but what drives learning is passion.
Many of them (self included) were bored by school and despised many of the people they were forced to go to school with. A system that would help such folk would work less well for the torrent of retards that make up most of the public.
"Unfortunately, segregating students based on ability is an unpopular idea because it does not reinforce the idea that we are all equal."
It's extremely unpopular, which is why mechanisms that facilitate economic segregation (not ideal, but much better than nothing) such as school choice legislation should be used to help rescue the children of more accomplished parents from the mob.
We can't help the poor against their will but we can seek to facilitate education and intellectual exploration for those whose circumstances allow them to study outside the public school conformity-enforcement system.
"Then we are screwed. No democratic republic will stand long if the population is ignorant. "
They have always been ignorant and always been led by the upper classes, who perpetuate the very popular myth that this is not so.
"If anything, shorten the school day/year so our people can go back to acquiring trade skills and progressing the nation;"
No, keep it the same but offer vocational classes without prejudice and don't use them as a dumping ground. An auto mechanic or weldor or plumber can have a very profitable career path and eventually own their own business, but this is largely ignored nowadays.
"Doesn't that mean that the problem is not how long US kids are in school?"
The problem is American popular culture, which exalts stupidity and is savagely anti-intellectual.
No public education system changes will affect this, and the solution is to facilitate school choice so the parents who appreciate the superiority of private education can rescue their children. We can't have an educated
public, but we can and should cultivate an educated. self-aware counter-culture from which we can groom future leaders.
Instead of wasting the time of gifted students in order push the herd through a longer school year, we should spend money on more programs to help the high achievers. We don't need to waste more time on the many who amount to nothing, but we do need to nurture the intelligent and motivated, for it is they who move society forward.
We also need more school choice legislation so people can rescue their kids from the public school system and the thug trash that often infests it.
'Could we stop sucking up to women just because they're a bit techy?"
No, but thanks for asking!
Communists who are really Chinese nationalists are quite capable of rationality. They rationally guided China to economic and social change that has had tremendous positive effects.
Superstitionists are completely different. You can't talk these insane people out of their homicidal fairy tale.