What all aspiring Christian theocrats need to understand is that there cannot be freedom of religion unless there is also freedom from religion. Do you think that in your wonderful theocracy being a bible-carrying Christian is going to make you part of the ruling class? Are you certain that you'll be on the winning side when the interdemoninational power struggles break out? Or are you flexible enough to modify your religious beliefs and allegiances when the winds blow the wrong way, and Church and State are one of the same?
Any sincerely religious person should be horrified at the prospect of this. Maybe those who aren't are merely using religion as a path to power?
This is what happens when reason no longer dependably supports the political interests of powerful elites. Liberal technocracy can work very efficiently, but ultimately the commitment to base policy on science and reason becomes an intolerable constraint on power. That's precisely why we've been put on this track to "faith-based" politics, and why the republicans are fighting their ongoing War on Reason. Unlike reason, faith imposes no limits to power.
You know that God - even the Republican one - has a sense of humor when it's the conservatives that end up getting us deep in hock to a communist dictatorship to finance our ballooning deficits...
you're going to get people who campout on their laptops and take up table space for hours at a time.
I'm guessing that most people (myself included) go to coffee shops mainly to hang out there. Anyone who owns/runs a coffeeshop knows that table space is their critical asset, and they probably measure revenue in $/table-hour rather than by the product they sell. Therefore, why not rent the table space, and sell your coffee at a reduced or nominal fee? That way, anything that people do there is paid for, WiFi access included.
Of course, you'd have to resolve the sensitive issue of how to gently remind people that their time is up (or to pay for an additional hour). Perhaps an electric shock of progressive severity, or metal spikes rising out of the chair, would do nicely...
Civil rights? The conservatives out there aren't going to be moved until you start talking about threats to property rights. As in, "your property rights don't mean jack once your civil rights are gone."
just so long as we can yell and scream and blame every problem in the country on Bush and Judge Roberts, why would you want to fill our kids' heads with crap like science?
Especially when we're already the undisputed #1 in Creation Science...
We will be able to blame the Bush administration for the state of things for a long long time.
Quite the contrary! Now that his political operatives have shown themselves able to edit and rewrite scientific reports, his administration has demonstrated that we don't really need real scientists anymore...
I understand the sentiment, but that would basically be like handing over the country to these lunatics, a declaration of defeat. Why should we be the ones to be pushed out, and not them? The Republicans feel that they are above the law right now and - via their avowed close ties to God Almighty - above all human decency and ethics as well. They are very close to taking their War on Reason a bridge too far, if they haven't already.
I wonder if this guy is one of the many Texas politicians who were installed by Karl Rove? If not, he's certainly at least learned from the Master, because this kind of tactic has Rove written all over it.
Gee... For once I'm just too angry to respond in a reasonably civil and polite manner. Since all I can think of right now is some off-label uses for a baseball bat in a dark alley, I'd better stop here...
Let them expend their time, energy and money tracking and targetting me, I don't care; why should I? What can they actually *do*?
So why should it bother you that so many other people don't feel the same way, and do in fact object to being tracked in this way? You sound like one of those idiots who say that they have no need for civil rights and liberties because they aren't dissidents and therefore have nothing to fear...
they're like the girl that loves the 'bad guy' and figures they'll be the one to change him.
That's not why the girl likes the "bad guy", though. The girl likes the bad guy simply because he's not afraid of her, and she'll be able to relax and have a good time without having to make all of the decisions...
Being able to produce hydrogen in a way that does not use fossil fuels "at all" is a huge step in the right direction.
Or it would be, except that the sodium metal used (and consumed) by this process has to be produced electrolytically, which requires a great deal of energy...
laugh in the faces of morons who bring court cases like this
I would argue that under our (U.S.) new "faith-based" regime, it will be stupid to be rational. The final answer to all questions will be, "because We tell you so."
Maybe it isn't wildly successfull among the people, but it seems to attract som wildly successfull people.
Keep in mind that they have a special "Celebrity" branch whose members are treated to a completely different experience than the regular rank & file...
You're storing raw DV and 7MB imagery? Face it: You're probably a data hoarder. You'll never look at this stuff again, because you'll always be too busy collecting & storing the new stuff. Maybe you need to step back and re-evaluate your real needs.
This is the pot calling the kettle black, though. Is there a support group out there?
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Any sincerely religious person should be horrified at the prospect of this. Maybe those who aren't are merely using religion as a path to power?
This is what happens when reason no longer dependably supports the political interests of powerful elites. Liberal technocracy can work very efficiently, but ultimately the commitment to base policy on science and reason becomes an intolerable constraint on power. That's precisely why we've been put on this track to "faith-based" politics, and why the republicans are fighting their ongoing War on Reason. Unlike reason, faith imposes no limits to power.
You know that God - even the Republican one - has a sense of humor when it's the conservatives that end up getting us deep in hock to a communist dictatorship to finance our ballooning deficits...
I'm guessing that most people (myself included) go to coffee shops mainly to hang out there. Anyone who owns/runs a coffeeshop knows that table space is their critical asset, and they probably measure revenue in $/table-hour rather than by the product they sell. Therefore, why not rent the table space, and sell your coffee at a reduced or nominal fee? That way, anything that people do there is paid for, WiFi access included.
Of course, you'd have to resolve the sensitive issue of how to gently remind people that their time is up (or to pay for an additional hour). Perhaps an electric shock of progressive severity, or metal spikes rising out of the chair, would do nicely...
Not so sure. Is it a violation for a library to circulate a book after it's gone out of print? Or for a bookstore to sell one?
What makes him so good?
Civil rights? The conservatives out there aren't going to be moved until you start talking about threats to property rights. As in, "your property rights don't mean jack once your civil rights are gone."
Especially when we're already the undisputed #1 in Creation Science...
Quite the contrary! Now that his political operatives have shown themselves able to edit and rewrite scientific reports, his administration has demonstrated that we don't really need real scientists anymore...
I understand the sentiment, but that would basically be like handing over the country to these lunatics, a declaration of defeat. Why should we be the ones to be pushed out, and not them? The Republicans feel that they are above the law right now and - via their avowed close ties to God Almighty - above all human decency and ethics as well. They are very close to taking their War on Reason a bridge too far, if they haven't already.
I wonder if this guy is one of the many Texas politicians who were installed by Karl Rove? If not, he's certainly at least learned from the Master, because this kind of tactic has Rove written all over it.
Gee... For once I'm just too angry to respond in a reasonably civil and polite manner. Since all I can think of right now is some off-label uses for a baseball bat in a dark alley, I'd better stop here...
So why should it bother you that so many other people don't feel the same way, and do in fact object to being tracked in this way? You sound like one of those idiots who say that they have no need for civil rights and liberties because they aren't dissidents and therefore have nothing to fear...
That's not why the girl likes the "bad guy", though. The girl likes the bad guy simply because he's not afraid of her, and she'll be able to relax and have a good time without having to make all of the decisions...
It is, however, pretty standard military pricing. You can save a life for less than half the cost of a toilet seat!
Anybody else getting the feeling that these guys are just trying to stay out of jail now?
Since he's the main guy behind funding it with U.S. tax dollars, that would be more of an argument for keeping things as they are...
Or it would be, except that the sodium metal used (and consumed) by this process has to be produced electrolytically, which requires a great deal of energy...
I would argue that under our (U.S.) new "faith-based" regime, it will be stupid to be rational. The final answer to all questions will be, "because We tell you so."
Keep in mind that they have a special "Celebrity" branch whose members are treated to a completely different experience than the regular rank & file...
This is the pot calling the kettle black, though. Is there a support group out there?
...they paid $80,000 to one of these companies for "work" that someone's secretary using Google could have done in an afternoon...
I would argue that if you told everyone your name is Frank, then for all practical purposes your name really is Frank.
So what exactly is a "% per million"? Is that one per hundred million (10e8)? The original post quotes "percent per million" as well...
I think that's why the parent post refered to it as "satire"...