Additionally, I've read about research that seems to suggest that predilections to science/math or arts, etc. can be linked to conditions that when gone to a far exent are detremental. For example: those who have a predilection to science have a subtle form of autism or some fear of social situations. If autism or a similar "defect" can be tied to a gene and we splice out that gene...might we also loose some of the ability to excel in math? This is a bit far fetched but I think we need a greater understanding of the interworkings of genes, etc. before we go mucking around with them. Science driven by capitalism has a terrible track record of causing more hurt than good. Oil power, IC engines, Nuclear power, agri-business, and now genetics.
One poster said we need to adopt similar resolutions so that we are not ehind Japan in the next big industry...I say to this, someone has to take a stand for careful, progressive-yet-non-detremental, science. Of course, I don't think the US is "behind" Japan because of some sort of ideology...
Capitalism in its current iteration is anti-human...thus to argue that anything driven by Capitalism will be positive for humanity is foolish.
"If the experiments are able to produce human-like creatures without coitus and traditional conception, the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that the "soul" does not exist"
Um....how does that work out? The Bible says that man looks like God and like God we have power over those below us and the power to create life. But there is still a God and he is vastly different than us...in that he is perfection and omnipotence. Now, I'm an agnostic, but that IS the belief. By your reasoning, the fact that we are not perfect but exhibit God-like characteristics proves that perfection does not exist...wrong!
Is it not possible that perhaps a perfect God exists OUTSIDE our conception of creation? Calvin believed that God existed out of space-time...this out of the realm of human understanding. Cannot a soul exist resident in men, but not be measurable by earthly instruments?
Also, there is nothing in Christianity (apparently what you mean by "religious) that the Soul is evidenced by emotions. Any idiot can see that an animal can be afraid. The crux is that while animals and man BOTH share emotions only man has any sort of conception of God and thus has a soul.
I think that what Christianity and religions in general will have a problem with (if this works) is the question of what these animals are...and what we are. They are abominations religiously but more importantly they are abominations according to nature. Men and animals are not supposed to create offspring...because we cannot do it. There are a host of dangerous possibilities these animals pose, the most obvious of which is the introduction f pathogens into human populations.
Whatever happened to those transistors with six legs? I rmember reading about them in Wired several years ago...before that magazine turned into a cathedral for every idiot who had a new idea about marketing. Anyway, aparently, they redirect power usually lost into another gate and thus increase speed without a comparable increase in power consumption. I don'e remember exactly how they work though.
I wonder just how much interaction you have had with foreigners or living abroad? Many of my friends are from other countries (many from Asia) and I've lived and worked in both China and Japan. With that, let me embark on a critique (not criticism) of parts of your argument. Indeed, I agree with much of what you said both here and in the original post.
I've thought about this, as well. What I always come up with is this: Why doesn't China have an immigration problem? True, China has no immigration problem....well, they have many illegals entering Hong Kong and Macau but those places are a bit different than the Mainland. It seems to me that the immigration situation in China is effected more by the economic situation than their lack of human rights protections. If China were as affluent (or even half as afluent) as the US or Japan, people would not leave and many would want to enter. Think about this...the US has "protections" for human rights, but those protections are routinely ignored in the case of illegal immigrants. Unlawful detention, retention of rights and violation of those rights are commonplace. Yet thousands still risk life and limb to enter the US , live as illegals, live in poor neighborhoods and recieve sub-standard wages.
"Ask Asians in America if they want to move to China. You'll get a resounding "no"." Which "Asians" did you ask? Perhaps if they were Korean, Thai, Japanese, Laotian or Phillipino they might not want to live in China. Assuming that "Asians" reffers to Chinese living in America, your staement might have some validity. True, many American-born Chinese are not clamboring to return...but that is because America is their home, not China. Additionally, I know of many Chinese-Americans who d want to live in China. But it is diffcult to move from middle-class American life to middle or upper-class Chinese life. A lack of human rights has nothin to do with it.
The people visiting the U.S. and living like an American will probably want to stay. My girlfriend is an exchange student from Japan living in America. She has no desire to live here after graduation. She is interested and not-unhappy to live here, but she would rather live in her homeland. In addition to her, I know and interact daily with MANY exchange students from Korea, China, Kenya, Malaysia, etc. None (even those living in China or other "oppresive" countries) wish to live in America regardless of the fact that we have "better" human rights than their countries of origin. Their reasons are varied, but many site the cultural ignorance and apathy of the average American and the rabid insistence by many Americans that our way is the best way and neccessarily is better than another. American's tend to have a mindset of "other cultures are good so long as they sufficiently conform to our standards of comfort and accepptible conduct." This is both culturally insensitive and imperialistic, though understdable considering the position into which they are born. Just look at Roman cultural xenophobia if you want historical prescedent...or Chinese...or Japanese...or French...depending on the time.
The people visiting China and living like the average Chinese citizen will be counting the days to get home. I lived in China. Because I brought money with me, I could afford more things than the average Chinese, but my housing, food and working situation was the same (actually, on occasion I splurged for a nice dinner at a hotel, something MANY Chinese can do). I was not counting the days to return. Several other Ameicans were though. Why? Beause Americans are spoiled. Those who hated China didsn't like it because they had to adapt to different food, culture and living standards. They were insensitive to the extreme! They were actually angry that Chinese didn't conform enough to America, that there were no McDonald's and that the food was gross, etc. Basically, they wanted to return because things were different and poorer. And not American enough. Besides me, there were hundreds of foreigners that respected and enjoyed the ancient Chinese culture and food. While we all missed America, it was for homesickness not because we were being oppressed or were lacking human rights.
I think if people are exposed both to cultures that grant or restrict human rights, they will choose overwhelmingly to live in the culture that promotes individual freedom. First of all, there is no neccessary correlation between individual freedom and human rights. Also, most people prefer to live in cultures that do not promote individual freedom over duty to society or to the whole. Take the example of my girlfriend (but many other foreigner from Asia and Europe have expressed, to me, the same sentiment) again. Her culture (though rapidly being Americanized) promotes homogenity and duty to other before duty to the self. Oh, and her country has human right protections. Yet she does not wish to stay here. But let's assume you meant "I think if people are exposed both to cultures that grant or restrict human rights, they will choose overwhelmingly to live in the culture that promotes [human rights]." Now it makes sense right? No! The fact of the matter is that the average Chinese is no more effected by his "lack" of human rights than the average American is by his having them. When was the last time you had to appeal to the freedom of religion protections because of persecution? When was the last time your Chinese counterpart did? Sure, Falon Gong is being suppressed....but so are Voodoo/Hoodoo and non-standard religions in America. The basic fact is that economy drives how happy people are, not rights. We are presently signing awa our civil rights right and left but there is no mass exodus...why? Because we still have Cheetos and Football.
I think before you start making claims about the validity or superiority of one system over another you should:
I) Take time to interact with people of that system and even that system itself.
II) Rid yourself of your apparent insistence on the greatness of the American system. In fact, many people, even after having tasted our system and it's rights choose to return home. Some of those who do not, remain for economic reasons and some stay ecause they truly LIKE our society better. But that is predilection, not a value judgement.
III) Try as hard as possible not to imperialize other cultures. Our culture is only two hundred years old and only fifty years old in it's present form. Chinese culture is thousands of years old...can't they teach us anything? Some things that make sense in one value-system don't make sense in another. It is innapropriate to create a value judgement based on that. Your perverted Hegelianism is quite distressing and dangerous.
Your facts are right, but I think your analysis is wrong. I don't think you are stupid, just uninformed and guided too much by preconcieved notions. Actually, almost everything after "freedom" and most of the original article I agree with. I hope you take this rebuttal as constructive criticism, not as some sort of attack. Of course, I welcome any further comments you may hav on the subject and any counter-analysis of my post. Evolution requires interaction.
I agree, except fo the buttons. I bought a portable MD player direct from Japan....it is damn sweet. But the buttons are so incredibly small I have to press them with my fingernail (or use the remote on the earphone cord). I guess the Japanese have nimble fingers.
So I just started reading the SSSCA and came across section 103, subsection (a) which states that to "transmit or make available to the public any copyrighted material or other protected content where the security measure associated with a certified security technology has been removed or altered" is a crime. But what about parties? If I play my favorite copyrighted security system enabled digital music file, the security system is not present in the signal leaving my speakers. Have I broken the law? Are we all supposed to walk around with headphones on? Or what about mix tapes/CD's? Often I'll make a mix CD of files, CD's, MD's by plugging the out of my devicces to the in on my sound card and recording. Is this illegal under the SSSCA? I mean, I'm not selling the CD's, just giving them to friends for gifts, or using them myself. I don't know, maybe I should read the whole draft before I ask questions.
Big deal. So they copy-protect the CD. Maybe I can't just boot up CD Duplicator Delux and make a fresh copy, but I can still rip the data. Perhaps they have barred that some way, I can nab the data stream as it leaves my soundcard, record on MD then back to the computer. OR, I can take the out from my CD player (in the case of the CD's that won't play on computers) and plug it in the in of my computer. Or if I want to be REALLY anal, I can take the digital out of my CD player (most newer ones have them) and plug it into the digital in on my Creative Live Drive (I bought one because I'm a gadget nut).
Now I just shunt the album off to a few thousand of my friends and viola! The point is that there are myriad ways to get around this. Nice try record companies, but you are about ten years behind the technology.
Universities do offer a place to learn those skills. At mine it is called the Career Resource Center. You go in, they help with your resume and give you tips on interviewing....incidentally these are not difficult skills to learn. All they take is decent social skills and the ability to read and write competently. They are hardly worth spending a semester learning. If you need help, get out of the house more.
Good show! I couldn't agree more. The purpose of a well-rounded education is to have an arsenal of rhetorical and logical weapons on hand for every situation. AND IT WORKS. Unfortunately there are a lot of uneducated folks running around touting the glories of a paractical education. One that prepares the student for a job....we used to have that type of school. It was called the guild system and was eventually replaced by the better, more adaptive school system we have now. It is interesting that on a message board with so many smart people, there are still idiots who don't think learning about art or language or history is important. Granted, it is LESS important if you are a CS major than if you are a history major but education has intrinsic value of its own far removed from the dollar sign.
Studying many things does NOT make one ignorant of all of them (as the lead stories writer so erroneously pointed out) it makes one well informed and gives one a broad bas from which he can draw knowlege and expand in many directions. A person who is trained in one thing only will not be able to synthesize information from many sources, will not be able to branch out and will be continually trapped into whatever their "practical" education gave them. Furthermore, it isn't as if there is no specialization in college....did the original writer graduate, I wonder?....once one declares his major, that becomes his focus. In the first two years I was "well rounded" taking foreing language, history, english, astronomy, psychology, chemical biology among other things. I declared as a history major and that become my primary (though not singular) focus.
A University education is meant to make one EDUCATED! The purpose is not to make one a great job candidate. To elevate the human race as a whole, and rescue our culture from the gutter, it is neccessary for each one of us to become as enlightened and educated about as many subjects as possible while maintaining a core sbject we are excellent in. For those who want practicality to come from their after-high-school education:
Get your second rate education at Devry and shut the fuck up.
I hear ya. My heatsink failed at the same time that my case fan did. I didn't notice it until my computer started acting strangely and I entered the bios....I saw my processor running at 75 degrees celsius! It was a major problem as it was the only means of writing papers, watching movies, watching TV and playing music in my dorm room.
The solution:
I found an old "industrial fan" opened the case of my box, and put the sucking end of the fan towards teh cards and the processor. Then I opened the ther side of the case and put a large basin of water next to it. I constructed a tunnel of cardboard connecting the basin to the CPU. Part of the roof was cut away to allow moisture to escape....why it would go up, I don't know....and teh result was a high velocity cool air stream constantly enveloping my machine. The tunnel was a nice coffee table too!
Christ almighty. I realize that it is convenient for people to assign the label "evil"...but this is rediculous. Assigning this "face" teh label of "Devil" assumes that Christianity is the truth...what about Hindus? Or Bhuddists? Obviously this is just like looking at shapes in the clouds.
You know, when I was 15 we played Nixon's farewell speech backwards...it sounded like he was giving orders to people he called "beaver men". Who are these Beaver Men? Henchmen? Politically active porn stars? WHO? The answer: I was just a stupid kid looking to validate my belief that Nixon was a scumbag.
Exactly how does this increase security? Because whenever there is someone who looks like a mugshot a cop will be sent to check him out? That won't help security...that will just make the police chase a bunch of false-alarms. Let's also examine the constitutionality of this issue. Even assuming a positive match, there is no guarantee that the person will commit a crime. It is illegal, therefore, to detain him IN ANY WAY. The only reason the police have the right to stop anyone is IF a crime has been commited by or there are outstanding warrants on a certain individual that fits their description. Of course, this requires that a law has been broken...thus security has not been increased. I beleive Benjamin Franklin said, "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."
"try living off of crops grown in your back yard from seeds you could barely afford"
So...seeds that require a lab, technicians, scientists and God knows what else will be cheaper? I do agree that eco-terrorists often make HUGE mistakes. The one you reported is at the top of my list of bonehead moves by the eco-terror movement.
The plight of those farmers will not be solved by entrenching them in agribusiness, nor will it help their soil. The agribusiness model in teh 3rd world is hardly about conservation and help, it is about exploitation at all costs. Farmalnd in the Amazon is farmed until it cannot support plant life, then left. In Jamaica, the excellent Blue Mountain coffee crop is routinely degraded by foreing agrbusiness investors so create higher yields at cheaper prices. The result is coffee that tastes like Folgers or garbage water (the two are equivalent) but with the good Blue Mountain name.
Farmers may be able to benefit by biotech, but when was the last time you EVER came across big-business doing something to BENEFIT the general public welfare?
While I'm a strong advocate of biotech in fields like cancer research and ecologically sound fibers or other materials, I find the subject of biologically engineered foodstffs quite frightening. Not only because of the possible health problems which we cannot predict, but also because of the potential for big companies (Dupont, Monsanto) to use thir patents ON the food too ill ends. Already the engineered corn on the market needs MORE care, not less, than regular corn. Unfortunately for farmers, the chemicals needed to help the plants cannot be found...oh, wait, they can. The producing companies are more than happy to sell the farmers specialized fertilizer. My family is full of farmers. They used to be able to farm fresh cow pies and horse droppings (among other waste) an use it to help fertilize thier fields...and save money. That is no longer an option.
Could they switch to old style corn? Sure. But then they would have a lower yield making it hard to compete because of the neccessary increase in price. Farmers become caught in a terrible trap, they either shell out loads of cash to biotech companies, or face losing their wherewithall to live comfortably.
Then of course, there is the problem of engineered crops that do not produce viable seeds. Also, the fast growing crops take more nutrients from the top soil, adding to the catastrophic trend becomming apparent in places like California an the plains, in which soil that used to be rich and good for farming is rapidly becomming barren, forcing the farmers to use more chemical fertilizer that is absorbed into food.
These problems persist in developed countries...they can only have more disastrous effects in the 3rd world where farmers are uneducated as to the dangers or engineered crops.
I saw an ad the other day promoting biotech, saying that engineered rice ("golden rice") can help erase childhood blindness in under-developed countries. The children are going blind because of malnutrition caused by the corrupt global food supply chain...not because of an deficiencies in crops. Growing "golden rice" won't help the kids if they don't have access to it. Or will this magic rice also magically shirk the reigns or corporate agribusiness and become cheaply available to poor children? These kids can also be helped by feeding them...oh, what are those things called? Oh yeah, carrots.
Let's not even mention the problem of biodiversity.
"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a homicidal maniac." --Einstein
Personally I hate Toonami. Why are American's too lazy to read subtitles? More often than not, subtitled series/movies have a better grasp of the plot AND far superior voice acting to their ubbed counterparts. In addition to the fact that dubbing is possibly the worst thing to happen to moving pictures in their history another thing bothers me about Toonami. It is contributing to the whole "asian=cool" thing going on now. Everywhere I turn there are fools with Kanji on their hats and shirts or people who have tatooed themselves with "bug" when they were going for "fierce dragon". I'm still going to the source (Japan) for good anime, and if that means I have to pay more then I will. Four years ago I predicted that Asian would become the next cool fad...it is here and it is here to stay. Not bad, but American's have a way of co-opting cultures who come in force and that IS bad. This recent anime fad is just another symptom. Too all you fools who watch dubbed movies and have Kanji on your shirts (if you don't know how to read it) I say get off your lazy asses and read some subtitles or learn Japanese. Nothing good ever came of the path of least resistence.
Seriously, this is possibly the worst written article I have ever read. Now, if one were to post the article from "Foundations of..." I would be much happier. I mean, is it too much to ask for some punctuation?
Does Russia really need to take a step back from space? Besides this most recent incident the only "failure" of theirs in recent memory has been Mir. Mir itself is not even that much of a failure considering it was built so long ago. It is a joke to believe that an American space station built at the same time would not suffer the same fate. The media, so caught up in it's propaganda wars, is only too happy to comment profusely on Russia and it's space based failures. But do they make more than a cursory remark when America suffers similar fate? A few years back we lost a $5 million satellite. Skylab had problems. DS1 is a mess and the new Space Station is horribly behind schedule. Were these on the evening news? Not so much, but Mir certainly was. Again. If anyone has a "horrible inferiority conplex" (sic)--Anonymous, it is us for not facing our failures and needing so badly to embarass an old foe.
I agree. It seems that NASA (and for that matter even the DOD) is too concerned with public opinion when desgning its craft, etc. I mean, their budget has been cut, they are loosing prestige among politicians and they nolonger have such a monopolistic control of space. One would think under these circumstances they would try and make successful missions. Even though DS1 is an experimental craft, isn't it more prudent to conduct basic experiments that lead to more complex, outlandish ones? I mean, the "AI" aboard is pretty damn cool in and of itself, did they have to tack on an ion engine too? Especially if they have rutinely failed both on earth AND on satellites? NASA needs to wake up and stop reaching so far...at least until they are ready. The whole thing reminds me of the new Missle Defence fiasco.
Re:CA nearly power plant free! Now wants to steal
on
The Quest For Fusion
·
· Score: 1
Lord! Now I understand why wish to remain anonymous. But seriously, why revel in cowardice? Are you really too much a of a pussy to take responsibility for your views/comments? I mean, I'm not publishing my real name or e-mail address either but at least one can get ahold of me if one really tries. Oh, and yes, we do have many Mexicans. I say let them come. Along with the Chinese, Koreans and everyone else. Unlike Texans I choose to embrace all cultures even when it is inconvenient (reference: George W.).
Re:Your clean cars are not affordable. End of stor
on
The Quest For Fusion
·
· Score: 1
Naturally they are too expensive at present. Name me one technology of the past hundred years that was totally affordable when it came into existence. Electric appliances, computers and yes, even cars were property of only the very rich until they had enough research to make them cheaper.
Re:CA nearly power plant free! Now wants to steal
on
The Quest For Fusion
·
· Score: 1
"Visionary look at the future" eh? How about the fact that we have an Oxygen bar in San Francisco RIGHT NOW. How about the fact that we (everyday) are breathing an average of 40% of the oxygen we were thirty years ago? If the rest of the country(not to mention the rest of the world--I'm looking at you Asia) does not take California's example we will end up with no fuel, no clean air or water and food that is less nutritious than crude oil.
I hear alot of hot-heads preaching and freaking out about the evils of government intervention into data communications and the "public wireless net". What is the problem with having the government involved? Because the FBI or other agencies might spy on us? I would rather the government spy on me than some company and with the rampant anarchy free and open wireless would bring that is exactly what would happen. The fact of the matter is, without government regulation, the new internet would be something like the old west. It would be everyman for his own data, protecting it from those who would use it for ill ends and with the gov. out of the picture there would be no-one to fall back on when something wrong happened. The point of governments is to protect citizens from outside harm AND themselves. If one is to look through history,man has flocked to bigger and more expansive governments, not the other way around. Furthermore, all you anarchists out there have a similar problem: You seem to envision the free/public/unregulated internet as filled with the type of people you are, that is to say men with a code of ethics about data security etc. You think that clandestine groups won't have a hand? Do you think large corporations won't be there dicking you? GROW UP! Corporations have so much more to gain from deregulation and "anarchy" than you do. True, it might be a little more annoying to have governmental red-tape but it will also be a whole lot more secure for the every-day citizen.
Slashdot Mirror
One poster said we need to adopt similar resolutions so that we are not ehind Japan in the next big industry...I say to this, someone has to take a stand for careful, progressive-yet-non-detremental, science. Of course, I don't think the US is "behind" Japan because of some sort of ideology...
Capitalism in its current iteration is anti-human...thus to argue that anything driven by Capitalism will be positive for humanity is foolish.
Um....how does that work out? The Bible says that man looks like God and like God we have power over those below us and the power to create life. But there is still a God and he is vastly different than us...in that he is perfection and omnipotence. Now, I'm an agnostic, but that IS the belief. By your reasoning, the fact that we are not perfect but exhibit God-like characteristics proves that perfection does not exist...wrong!
Is it not possible that perhaps a perfect God exists OUTSIDE our conception of creation? Calvin believed that God existed out of space-time...this out of the realm of human understanding. Cannot a soul exist resident in men, but not be measurable by earthly instruments?
Also, there is nothing in Christianity (apparently what you mean by "religious) that the Soul is evidenced by emotions. Any idiot can see that an animal can be afraid. The crux is that while animals and man BOTH share emotions only man has any sort of conception of God and thus has a soul.
I think that what Christianity and religions in general will have a problem with (if this works) is the question of what these animals are...and what we are. They are abominations religiously but more importantly they are abominations according to nature. Men and animals are not supposed to create offspring...because we cannot do it. There are a host of dangerous possibilities these animals pose, the most obvious of which is the introduction f pathogens into human populations.
Whatever happened to those transistors with six legs? I rmember reading about them in Wired several years ago...before that magazine turned into a cathedral for every idiot who had a new idea about marketing. Anyway, aparently, they redirect power usually lost into another gate and thus increase speed without a comparable increase in power consumption. I don'e remember exactly how they work though.
I've thought about this, as well. What I always come up with is this: Why doesn't China have an immigration problem? True, China has no immigration problem....well, they have many illegals entering Hong Kong and Macau but those places are a bit different than the Mainland. It seems to me that the immigration situation in China is effected more by the economic situation than their lack of human rights protections. If China were as affluent (or even half as afluent) as the US or Japan, people would not leave and many would want to enter. Think about this...the US has "protections" for human rights, but those protections are routinely ignored in the case of illegal immigrants. Unlawful detention, retention of rights and violation of those rights are commonplace. Yet thousands still risk life and limb to enter the US , live as illegals, live in poor neighborhoods and recieve sub-standard wages.
"Ask Asians in America if they want to move to China. You'll get a resounding "no"." Which "Asians" did you ask? Perhaps if they were Korean, Thai, Japanese, Laotian or Phillipino they might not want to live in China. Assuming that "Asians" reffers to Chinese living in America, your staement might have some validity. True, many American-born Chinese are not clamboring to return...but that is because America is their home, not China. Additionally, I know of many Chinese-Americans who d want to live in China. But it is diffcult to move from middle-class American life to middle or upper-class Chinese life. A lack of human rights has nothin to do with it.
The people visiting the U.S. and living like an American will probably want to stay. My girlfriend is an exchange student from Japan living in America. She has no desire to live here after graduation. She is interested and not-unhappy to live here, but she would rather live in her homeland. In addition to her, I know and interact daily with MANY exchange students from Korea, China, Kenya, Malaysia, etc. None (even those living in China or other "oppresive" countries) wish to live in America regardless of the fact that we have "better" human rights than their countries of origin. Their reasons are varied, but many site the cultural ignorance and apathy of the average American and the rabid insistence by many Americans that our way is the best way and neccessarily is better than another. American's tend to have a mindset of "other cultures are good so long as they sufficiently conform to our standards of comfort and accepptible conduct." This is both culturally insensitive and imperialistic, though understdable considering the position into which they are born. Just look at Roman cultural xenophobia if you want historical prescedent...or Chinese...or Japanese...or French...depending on the time.
The people visiting China and living like the average Chinese citizen will be counting the days to get home. I lived in China. Because I brought money with me, I could afford more things than the average Chinese, but my housing, food and working situation was the same (actually, on occasion I splurged for a nice dinner at a hotel, something MANY Chinese can do). I was not counting the days to return. Several other Ameicans were though. Why? Beause Americans are spoiled. Those who hated China didsn't like it because they had to adapt to different food, culture and living standards. They were insensitive to the extreme! They were actually angry that Chinese didn't conform enough to America, that there were no McDonald's and that the food was gross, etc. Basically, they wanted to return because things were different and poorer. And not American enough. Besides me, there were hundreds of foreigners that respected and enjoyed the ancient Chinese culture and food. While we all missed America, it was for homesickness not because we were being oppressed or were lacking human rights.
I think if people are exposed both to cultures that grant or restrict human rights, they will choose overwhelmingly to live in the culture that promotes individual freedom. First of all, there is no neccessary correlation between individual freedom and human rights. Also, most people prefer to live in cultures that do not promote individual freedom over duty to society or to the whole. Take the example of my girlfriend (but many other foreigner from Asia and Europe have expressed, to me, the same sentiment) again. Her culture (though rapidly being Americanized) promotes homogenity and duty to other before duty to the self. Oh, and her country has human right protections. Yet she does not wish to stay here. But let's assume you meant "I think if people are exposed both to cultures that grant or restrict human rights, they will choose overwhelmingly to live in the culture that promotes [human rights]." Now it makes sense right? No! The fact of the matter is that the average Chinese is no more effected by his "lack" of human rights than the average American is by his having them. When was the last time you had to appeal to the freedom of religion protections because of persecution? When was the last time your Chinese counterpart did? Sure, Falon Gong is being suppressed....but so are Voodoo/Hoodoo and non-standard religions in America. The basic fact is that economy drives how happy people are, not rights. We are presently signing awa our civil rights right and left but there is no mass exodus...why? Because we still have Cheetos and Football.
I think before you start making claims about the validity or superiority of one system over another you should:
I) Take time to interact with people of that system and even that system itself.
II) Rid yourself of your apparent insistence on the greatness of the American system. In fact, many people, even after having tasted our system and it's rights choose to return home. Some of those who do not, remain for economic reasons and some stay ecause they truly LIKE our society better. But that is predilection, not a value judgement.
III) Try as hard as possible not to imperialize other cultures. Our culture is only two hundred years old and only fifty years old in it's present form. Chinese culture is thousands of years old...can't they teach us anything? Some things that make sense in one value-system don't make sense in another. It is innapropriate to create a value judgement based on that. Your perverted Hegelianism is quite distressing and dangerous.
Your facts are right, but I think your analysis is wrong. I don't think you are stupid, just uninformed and guided too much by preconcieved notions. Actually, almost everything after "freedom" and most of the original article I agree with. I hope you take this rebuttal as constructive criticism, not as some sort of attack. Of course, I welcome any further comments you may hav on the subject and any counter-analysis of my post. Evolution requires interaction.
I agree, except fo the buttons. I bought a portable MD player direct from Japan....it is damn sweet. But the buttons are so incredibly small I have to press them with my fingernail (or use the remote on the earphone cord). I guess the Japanese have nimble fingers.
So I just started reading the SSSCA and came across section 103, subsection (a) which states that to "transmit or make available to the public any copyrighted material or other protected content where the security measure associated with a certified security technology has been removed or altered" is a crime. But what about parties? If I play my favorite copyrighted security system enabled digital music file, the security system is not present in the signal leaving my speakers. Have I broken the law? Are we all supposed to walk around with headphones on? Or what about mix tapes/CD's? Often I'll make a mix CD of files, CD's, MD's by plugging the out of my devicces to the in on my sound card and recording. Is this illegal under the SSSCA? I mean, I'm not selling the CD's, just giving them to friends for gifts, or using them myself. I don't know, maybe I should read the whole draft before I ask questions.
Big deal. So they copy-protect the CD. Maybe I can't just boot up CD Duplicator Delux and make a fresh copy, but I can still rip the data. Perhaps they have barred that some way, I can nab the data stream as it leaves my soundcard, record on MD then back to the computer. OR, I can take the out from my CD player (in the case of the CD's that won't play on computers) and plug it in the in of my computer. Or if I want to be REALLY anal, I can take the digital out of my CD player (most newer ones have them) and plug it into the digital in on my Creative Live Drive (I bought one because I'm a gadget nut).
Now I just shunt the album off to a few thousand of my friends and viola! The point is that there are myriad ways to get around this. Nice try record companies, but you are about ten years behind the technology.
Universities do offer a place to learn those skills. At mine it is called the Career Resource Center. You go in, they help with your resume and give you tips on interviewing....incidentally these are not difficult skills to learn. All they take is decent social skills and the ability to read and write competently. They are hardly worth spending a semester learning. If you need help, get out of the house more.
Studying many things does NOT make one ignorant of all of them (as the lead stories writer so erroneously pointed out) it makes one well informed and gives one a broad bas from which he can draw knowlege and expand in many directions. A person who is trained in one thing only will not be able to synthesize information from many sources, will not be able to branch out and will be continually trapped into whatever their "practical" education gave them. Furthermore, it isn't as if there is no specialization in college....did the original writer graduate, I wonder?....once one declares his major, that becomes his focus. In the first two years I was "well rounded" taking foreing language, history, english, astronomy, psychology, chemical biology among other things. I declared as a history major and that become my primary (though not singular) focus.
A University education is meant to make one EDUCATED! The purpose is not to make one a great job candidate. To elevate the human race as a whole, and rescue our culture from the gutter, it is neccessary for each one of us to become as enlightened and educated about as many subjects as possible while maintaining a core sbject we are excellent in. For those who want practicality to come from their after-high-school education:
Get your second rate education at Devry and shut the fuck up.
I hear ya. My heatsink failed at the same time that my case fan did. I didn't notice it until my computer started acting strangely and I entered the bios....I saw my processor running at 75 degrees celsius! It was a major problem as it was the only means of writing papers, watching movies, watching TV and playing music in my dorm room.
The solution:
I found an old "industrial fan" opened the case of my box, and put the sucking end of the fan towards teh cards and the processor. Then I opened the ther side of the case and put a large basin of water next to it. I constructed a tunnel of cardboard connecting the basin to the CPU. Part of the roof was cut away to allow moisture to escape....why it would go up, I don't know....and teh result was a high velocity cool air stream constantly enveloping my machine. The tunnel was a nice coffee table too!
Later I bought a new heatsink.
You know, when I was 15 we played Nixon's farewell speech backwards...it sounded like he was giving orders to people he called "beaver men". Who are these Beaver Men? Henchmen? Politically active porn stars? WHO? The answer: I was just a stupid kid looking to validate my belief that Nixon was a scumbag.
Exactly how does this increase security? Because whenever there is someone who looks like a mugshot a cop will be sent to check him out? That won't help security...that will just make the police chase a bunch of false-alarms. Let's also examine the constitutionality of this issue. Even assuming a positive match, there is no guarantee that the person will commit a crime. It is illegal, therefore, to detain him IN ANY WAY. The only reason the police have the right to stop anyone is IF a crime has been commited by or there are outstanding warrants on a certain individual that fits their description. Of course, this requires that a law has been broken...thus security has not been increased. I beleive Benjamin Franklin said, "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."
The plight of those farmers will not be solved by entrenching them in agribusiness, nor will it help their soil. The agribusiness model in teh 3rd world is hardly about conservation and help, it is about exploitation at all costs. Farmalnd in the Amazon is farmed until it cannot support plant life, then left. In Jamaica, the excellent Blue Mountain coffee crop is routinely degraded by foreing agrbusiness investors so create higher yields at cheaper prices. The result is coffee that tastes like Folgers or garbage water (the two are equivalent) but with the good Blue Mountain name.
Farmers may be able to benefit by biotech, but when was the last time you EVER came across big-business doing something to BENEFIT the general public welfare?
While I'm a strong advocate of biotech in fields like cancer research and ecologically sound fibers or other materials, I find the subject of biologically engineered foodstffs quite frightening. Not only because of the possible health problems which we cannot predict, but also because of the potential for big companies (Dupont, Monsanto) to use thir patents ON the food too ill ends. Already the engineered corn on the market needs MORE care, not less, than regular corn. Unfortunately for farmers, the chemicals needed to help the plants cannot be found...oh, wait, they can. The producing companies are more than happy to sell the farmers specialized fertilizer. My family is full of farmers. They used to be able to farm fresh cow pies and horse droppings (among other waste) an use it to help fertilize thier fields...and save money. That is no longer an option. Could they switch to old style corn? Sure. But then they would have a lower yield making it hard to compete because of the neccessary increase in price. Farmers become caught in a terrible trap, they either shell out loads of cash to biotech companies, or face losing their wherewithall to live comfortably. Then of course, there is the problem of engineered crops that do not produce viable seeds. Also, the fast growing crops take more nutrients from the top soil, adding to the catastrophic trend becomming apparent in places like California an the plains, in which soil that used to be rich and good for farming is rapidly becomming barren, forcing the farmers to use more chemical fertilizer that is absorbed into food. These problems persist in developed countries...they can only have more disastrous effects in the 3rd world where farmers are uneducated as to the dangers or engineered crops. I saw an ad the other day promoting biotech, saying that engineered rice ("golden rice") can help erase childhood blindness in under-developed countries. The children are going blind because of malnutrition caused by the corrupt global food supply chain...not because of an deficiencies in crops. Growing "golden rice" won't help the kids if they don't have access to it. Or will this magic rice also magically shirk the reigns or corporate agribusiness and become cheaply available to poor children? These kids can also be helped by feeding them...oh, what are those things called? Oh yeah, carrots. Let's not even mention the problem of biodiversity. "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a homicidal maniac." --Einstein
Personally I hate Toonami. Why are American's too lazy to read subtitles? More often than not, subtitled series/movies have a better grasp of the plot AND far superior voice acting to their ubbed counterparts. In addition to the fact that dubbing is possibly the worst thing to happen to moving pictures in their history another thing bothers me about Toonami. It is contributing to the whole "asian=cool" thing going on now. Everywhere I turn there are fools with Kanji on their hats and shirts or people who have tatooed themselves with "bug" when they were going for "fierce dragon". I'm still going to the source (Japan) for good anime, and if that means I have to pay more then I will. Four years ago I predicted that Asian would become the next cool fad...it is here and it is here to stay. Not bad, but American's have a way of co-opting cultures who come in force and that IS bad. This recent anime fad is just another symptom. Too all you fools who watch dubbed movies and have Kanji on your shirts (if you don't know how to read it) I say get off your lazy asses and read some subtitles or learn Japanese. Nothing good ever came of the path of least resistence.
Seriously, this is possibly the worst written article I have ever read. Now, if one were to post the article from "Foundations of..." I would be much happier. I mean, is it too much to ask for some punctuation?
Does Russia really need to take a step back from space? Besides this most recent incident the only "failure" of theirs in recent memory has been Mir. Mir itself is not even that much of a failure considering it was built so long ago. It is a joke to believe that an American space station built at the same time would not suffer the same fate. The media, so caught up in it's propaganda wars, is only too happy to comment profusely on Russia and it's space based failures. But do they make more than a cursory remark when America suffers similar fate? A few years back we lost a $5 million satellite. Skylab had problems. DS1 is a mess and the new Space Station is horribly behind schedule. Were these on the evening news? Not so much, but Mir certainly was. Again. If anyone has a "horrible inferiority conplex" (sic)--Anonymous, it is us for not facing our failures and needing so badly to embarass an old foe.
I agree. It seems that NASA (and for that matter even the DOD) is too concerned with public opinion when desgning its craft, etc. I mean, their budget has been cut, they are loosing prestige among politicians and they nolonger have such a monopolistic control of space. One would think under these circumstances they would try and make successful missions. Even though DS1 is an experimental craft, isn't it more prudent to conduct basic experiments that lead to more complex, outlandish ones? I mean, the "AI" aboard is pretty damn cool in and of itself, did they have to tack on an ion engine too? Especially if they have rutinely failed both on earth AND on satellites? NASA needs to wake up and stop reaching so far...at least until they are ready. The whole thing reminds me of the new Missle Defence fiasco.
Lord! Now I understand why wish to remain anonymous. But seriously, why revel in cowardice? Are you really too much a of a pussy to take responsibility for your views/comments? I mean, I'm not publishing my real name or e-mail address either but at least one can get ahold of me if one really tries. Oh, and yes, we do have many Mexicans. I say let them come. Along with the Chinese, Koreans and everyone else. Unlike Texans I choose to embrace all cultures even when it is inconvenient (reference: George W.).
Naturally they are too expensive at present. Name me one technology of the past hundred years that was totally affordable when it came into existence. Electric appliances, computers and yes, even cars were property of only the very rich until they had enough research to make them cheaper.
"Visionary look at the future" eh? How about the fact that we have an Oxygen bar in San Francisco RIGHT NOW. How about the fact that we (everyday) are breathing an average of 40% of the oxygen we were thirty years ago? If the rest of the country(not to mention the rest of the world--I'm looking at you Asia) does not take California's example we will end up with no fuel, no clean air or water and food that is less nutritious than crude oil.
I hear alot of hot-heads preaching and freaking out about the evils of government intervention into data communications and the "public wireless net". What is the problem with having the government involved? Because the FBI or other agencies might spy on us? I would rather the government spy on me than some company and with the rampant anarchy free and open wireless would bring that is exactly what would happen. The fact of the matter is, without government regulation, the new internet would be something like the old west. It would be everyman for his own data, protecting it from those who would use it for ill ends and with the gov. out of the picture there would be no-one to fall back on when something wrong happened. The point of governments is to protect citizens from outside harm AND themselves. If one is to look through history,man has flocked to bigger and more expansive governments, not the other way around. Furthermore, all you anarchists out there have a similar problem: You seem to envision the free/public/unregulated internet as filled with the type of people you are, that is to say men with a code of ethics about data security etc. You think that clandestine groups won't have a hand? Do you think large corporations won't be there dicking you? GROW UP! Corporations have so much more to gain from deregulation and "anarchy" than you do. True, it might be a little more annoying to have governmental red-tape but it will also be a whole lot more secure for the every-day citizen.