Where you are working probably has a huge impact on the level of security being exercised. I hope airports look at it and consider putting their employees through tighter security instead of just their passengers. The car search seems a bit over the top, especially if they've searched your person upon leaving the building. If they have guards on the parking lots themselves then the most they should have to do is a light search upon entering the property.
We're currently under a bio-terror panic that is being fueled, for the most part, by the media. It's understandable that businesses, especially those in medical research and healthcare, are trying to cover their own rear ends. Under these circumstances I think you'd have a hard time proving that the searches are "unreasonable". I think the current body count is possibly three, if the two postal workers they discovered yesterday prove to be the result of anthrax. Dozens have tested positive for exposure, but they are not ill. A handful has tested positive for the disease itself. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's tragic. No, it's not yet an epidemic, in spite of what the media says.
Anthrax is hard to catch. It's all around us every day, but few actually get ill from it. People who work in the wool industry are exposed to hundred of anthrax spores per hour and may never get ill. It takes a high dose in the right form at one time to actually get sick and it is very treatable with antibiotics. Still, you shouldn't run out and take Cipro as a preventative, or we're likely to end up having Super Anthrax, just like we're now beginning to see Super Tuberculosis. On top of that, it's getting into flu season. With the current panic level in the US and the fact that the first symptoms of Anthrax are similar to those of the flu, do you realize the nightmare physicians are about to face? I'm glad I work off campus and not in the hospital proper. I wouldn't want to be caught up in that fuss.
Everyone, keep your heads screwed on straight. Things aren't likely to really start floating back to something resembling normalcy until after the Super Bowl (think stadium full of people plus airliner, you know the FAA probably has). Maybe not until after bin Laden is either locked up or buried. We'll all be subjected to some major pains in the hindquarters for a while yet. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and be prepared to pitch a bitch if the ruling powers really start stomping on our rights.
It is an ugly thing, war. I truly wish that we could have avoided this, but I don't see what other option we had. If we do not strike back in response to the September 11 attack, then they will say "See? America is a country of cowards! They will not even defend themselves! Watch, we can do it again!" Then another set of planes will be hijacked and flown into buildings, or truck bombs will be used or perhaps even something worse. Living in a major overland trucking hub for the United States brings the threat of truck bombs very close to me, and it's not a pleasant thought.
Of course, the strikes will not stop terrorism either. We struck, so they will strike. The difference is that by taking military action we have a better chance of putting an end to the attacks more quickly.
There are some that are saying the 9/11 attacks were a crime, and therefore military action is uncalled for. The OKC bombing would have been declared an act of war if it hadn't been for the fact that it was a local boy who did it, not a well disciplined, highly organized group of people with backing and support from governments. The Taliban regime is not even officially recognized by some world governments, so perhaps this isn't a "war" at all.
To those who think peace is possible, I truly hope you are right. OBL despises us, as do his people. The Taliban despises our freedoms and us. We are allowed to speak our minds, to criticize our government. Our daughters are allowed to attend school and become doctors, lawyers and astronauts. Our way of life is seen as decadent and corrupt and there are those that fear the people of Afghanistan may look over and see what we have and want it for themselves. This is not a war based on actions we have taken against the Afghan peoples; this is a war based on a way of life and a difference of religions. OBL makes no bones about the fact he would like to see the US destroyed, or at the very least eradicated of Christianity and the Islamic faith the official religion. If he succeeded (which he will not) he would then move on to other countries, one by one, until all that was left would be the more conservative Islamic countries who frown on his actions. Then those he would try to conquer as well. It's his way or the highway.
Yes we've made some bonehead maneuvers regarding Palestine. That's not up for debate. How many times in the past decade, though, have we sent our sons and daughters overseas with the very real possibility of death to defend or protect Muslims? My cousin could probably tell you, she's getting sick and tired of her husband being shipped out for every mission that rolls around.
Should the Taliban be booted out of Afghanistan? The woman in me says "Hell Yes!" Wives and daughters are treated little better than animals there, and that doesn't sit well with me. They cannot even get decent health care because no man other than their husbands is allowed to look upon them, and since women cannot be educated it's highly unlikely they'd have access to a female doctor. Women have been beaten within an inch of death and beyond for daring to seek medical care or for violating some rule of dress. Men have even been beaten and worse for something so simple as the length of their beards. If the newspapers are to be believed, refugees fleeing over the border into Pakistan are saying the Taliban is conscripting men by force, even down to boys as young as 11 and 12. Coming into their homes and dragging them away. We know why they are doing it, but that doesn't make it right.
Do we have the right to strip out the Taliban and put our own puppet government in it's place? No, we do not. Our forefathers fought a bloody and hard war for the right to govern themselves. We should give no less to any we wish to help. Just because a representative republic works for us does not mean that it is the right government for everyone.
Since TNG I've noted that the Star Trek series all have that problem at first. It seems to take the actors a bit to take the parts and make them their own. Go back and view some tapes of TNG Season One. The acting is often clumsy and uncomfortable, but good story lines, fx and directing saved them in a lot of places. Give the kids a chance to grow into it, and the characters will emerge.
Christopher and I noticed that as well. The ship was just a bit too smooth when you consider what the ship from the original series looked like. There were a few instruments that roughly resembled the old bridge, but that was about it.
I did, however, like the medical bay. The use of a species of eel to treat an injury was a quaint addition, harping back to when physicians used leeches. I'm probably off base, but I likened it to the newbies in space taking their first stab at using what they find elsewhere to benifit themselves before they have time to find a technological substitute.
Good Lord... I can't believe I'm actually going to risk my life by typing this:
Okay, in my slightly humble opinion, MS isn't exactly a monopoly. I do have problems with their business practices and the way they bundle their various application software, but there are other options in operating systems out there if you have the gumption to learn them.
MS took something that was often too expensive and too cryptic for the average person and made it more available. Apple made (and still makes) a good product, but it was out of the price range for most folks. Working with a computer was the stuff of science fiction and was seen as something only a true genius was able to do. MS put lines of code and connected them to bright, colorful, shiny buttons and flashy pictures anyone could understand. It made dumb chicks (like me) or people with too much on their plates to learn how to actually work with raw code (also like me) able to take advantage of the growing popularity of computers and the internet.
As for their business practices, I don't approve of the way their operating system is installed on almost any computer system you buy. I may not be a geek, but I have many friends who are and who would rather use one of the various flavors of Linux. It irks them, rightfully so, that they can't get a system without Windows. Unless I'm mistaken, and I could be, this seems to be due to the liscensing agreements between MS and the PC companies. You should be able to get a system with nothing but the info and drivers for the hardware or with the operating system of your choice installed if that is your desire. There's no real reason why should have to pay the "MicroSoft Tax".
As for GW telling Ashcroft to drop the push for dividing up MS, that's probably not what happened. Contrary to what people want to believe, the President doesn't have time to micromanage everything his people do. If he's smart, he picks people who can do their jobs without his looking over their shoulders and just checks in from time to time to make sure they're not going power hungry.
Most likely it was a lack of understanding in computers. Some very beautiful work has been done with computer graphics, even outside the recent use of them in movies and television. Next time you want to do a show in Arkansas, come up here to Fayetteville. The UofA is based here and has a successful computer science and engineering program. We have plenty of people who will not only understand your hardware, but will appreciate your artwork.
Coming from an area with quite a few corporations, I'm for the tax cut. Rich people don't sit on extra money, they invest it, and those investments mean jobs for other people.
As for the estate tax, let's get rid of that one. My parents aren't rich. They may make about $30k USD a year, but I doubt it. What my father has done, however, is save for his retirement since he was in his twenties. What people don't seem to realize is that the estate tax isn't just on cash monies left to your children, it's on everything from your parents' home to that 300-year-old piano that has been passed down from generation to generation. All of that is the estate. Under those guidelines, my father's estate could easily reach the $675k limit. So is my mother supposed to give up her financial security, forking over the investments and savings in order to keep the roof over her head? HELL no! Why should she be punished because her husband had the presence of mind to prepare for his future so that he wouldn't have to rely on Social Security to put food on his table or Medicare to pay his hospital bills?
The definitions of "rich" and "wealthy" have become far too liberal in this country. It's time we gave them a closer look.
Something else that should be taken into account is that children are more likely to judge beauty by what is more important in their lives. Mother's are always beautiful to their young children and Dad can slay dragons. If the school is over 90% white, then the children have white parents. The white Barbie is more like Mom, so it must be prettier. Adults, on the other hand, have grown up (hopefully) and learned to base beauty on other criteria.
Actually, that was Jonesboro, Arkansas, the site of a really bad school shooting some years back. They're all shell shocked over there, but suspending a kid for playacting is a bit over the top. And, yes, I do find this a wee bit embarrassing, being from Arkansas.
But banning guns will do little to no good when most of those who use them in violent crimes don't have them through legal means in the first place. All you'll succeed in doing it taking them out of the hands of law abiding citizens. After all, the federal government can't keep drugs out of this country, we're really supposed to trust them to keep guns out? Yeah... right.
On another note, however, there probably should be closer attention paid to children. Not spying or smothering, but getting them involved more so that any difficulties they have in getting along with others can be addressed before things get out of hand. Youth activities didn't stop me from growing up a royal bitch (which I am) but they did teach me tolerance for others and not to fly off the handle.
Believe it or not, this is not as stupid as it sounds. We also do referrals and pre-certs at this office, and more than once we've had people call in trying to pre-cert the hospital ER while they're bleeding from a deep cut or experiencing pain so severe they can hardly talk straight. We've even had someone call in to pre-cert a delivery while in hard labor!
Speaking as someone who works in a medical insurance office, I would suggest that, along with being able to access their charts and appointment information (and I'm assuming they'll also be able to find out test results that don't require face to face meetings with their physicians) that patients also be able to see their billing information. Most importantly, patients would probably like being able to confirm that bills have been sent to their insurance company. Several instances we have gotten calls from upset members wanting to know why we haven't paid a bill from four months ago, only to find that the bill has never arrived at our office because the provider's office hasn't sent it yet. I myself would have enjoyed an online option to find out where my hospital bills from where I broke my ankle back in November were. Since I work in this office, I know they had never arrived, I would have been the first person to see them.
Has anyone else had trouble pulling up any of 2600's sites? I've tried every variation I am aware of this weekend, both from home and work (two different providers) and can't reach them.
Here's hoping that Arkansas's just having a flibbertygibbet again.
Now comes the hard part: Waiting for a decision. I'm keeping an optimistic outlook and hoping that, thanks to the excellent witnesses the defense brought forward, the judge will make the right choice.
Sadly, however, computers and the programs that run on them are a mystery to many people who are not actively working with them other than word processors and games. This includes many, if not most, judges and allows for fast talking lawyers to sneak one past them. Now we can just hope that Kaplan has enough experience with lawyers that he doesn't fall for their bull. I also want to applaud the defense lawyers for taking this case on. It takes guts to defend the little guy against a large corporate entity such as the MPAA.
On a less happy note, this whole trial is a mystery to most people who do not read Slashdot or know to check 2600.org for updates. Blame it on a lazy media who all to often fails to do accurate follow ups. A good example is Jon Johansen. The press was all too eager to point out that DeCSS got him arrested, but how many actually went back and reported that he was never formally charged and even complimented on his work and on being a good student? Add to that the lamentable fact that people are all too willing to lable 2600.org and the people who keep it as being evil. It's shocking how a newspaper article can stamp a person as a "hacker" or a "cracker" and suddenly that person is public enemy #1.
Sorry to get off point there. The bottom line is that this trail, as I see it, is about journalistic rights and the sharing of information. It's not as though Goldstein set up an underground DVD pirating operation. He wrote a story and allowed the people who read it to have access to the proof of the story. What's so bad about that? I wish more journalists would do the same so we didn't have to take their word for it. In my eyes, it only serves to increase his credibility. Of course, big companies don't want you to have anything they think may cut into their profits in the long run, but if they were so concerned about profits, they would have encouraged the creation of a Linux DVD player to begin with.
The only people who appreciate change are wet babies
I'll most likely get horribly flamed for this post, but I always did have more guts than brains. Please bear with me.
It was my understanding that DeCSS was made available on 2600 as both part of a journalistic story and so that Linux users could have a way to view DVDs on their machines. What's so wrong with that? I see nothing wrong with freedom of information, and I certainly see nothing wrong with someone searching for a resource that would allow them to use a product that they've already spent a good chunk of change on.
Okay, for those who are willing, how about this: Since the program seems to be the problem, and the program is meant to allow you to view DVDs on your Linux machines, then not wanting you to have the program must mean that the MPAA doesn't want you to use DVDs. Why not send any qualifying DVDs, along with receipts, if you have them, to the courthouse. I'm sure the address can be found somewhere. Send them overnight and with a return receipt requested, along with a letter respectfully requesting of the attorneys that they see to it their clients purchase the DVDs from you for the orginal price you paid plus any sales taxes. After all, if they're not willing to allow customers the right to seek a method that would allow them to view the DVDs, then they must not be very interested in your business. Of course, normally you would send a product back to the manufacturer, but they're not the ones in court.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh my... is this available on a T-Shirt?
love,
me
We're currently under a bio-terror panic that is being fueled, for the most part, by the media. It's understandable that businesses, especially those in medical research and healthcare, are trying to cover their own rear ends. Under these circumstances I think you'd have a hard time proving that the searches are "unreasonable". I think the current body count is possibly three, if the two postal workers they discovered yesterday prove to be the result of anthrax. Dozens have tested positive for exposure, but they are not ill. A handful has tested positive for the disease itself. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's tragic. No, it's not yet an epidemic, in spite of what the media says.
Anthrax is hard to catch. It's all around us every day, but few actually get ill from it. People who work in the wool industry are exposed to hundred of anthrax spores per hour and may never get ill. It takes a high dose in the right form at one time to actually get sick and it is very treatable with antibiotics. Still, you shouldn't run out and take Cipro as a preventative, or we're likely to end up having Super Anthrax, just like we're now beginning to see Super Tuberculosis. On top of that, it's getting into flu season. With the current panic level in the US and the fact that the first symptoms of Anthrax are similar to those of the flu, do you realize the nightmare physicians are about to face? I'm glad I work off campus and not in the hospital proper. I wouldn't want to be caught up in that fuss.
Everyone, keep your heads screwed on straight. Things aren't likely to really start floating back to something resembling normalcy until after the Super Bowl (think stadium full of people plus airliner, you know the FAA probably has). Maybe not until after bin Laden is either locked up or buried. We'll all be subjected to some major pains in the hindquarters for a while yet. Just keep your eyes and ears open, and be prepared to pitch a bitch if the ruling powers really start stomping on our rights.
It is an ugly thing, war. I truly wish that we could have avoided this, but I don't see what other option we had. If we do not strike back in response to the September 11 attack, then they will say "See? America is a country of cowards! They will not even defend themselves! Watch, we can do it again!" Then another set of planes will be hijacked and flown into buildings, or truck bombs will be used or perhaps even something worse. Living in a major overland trucking hub for the United States brings the threat of truck bombs very close to me, and it's not a pleasant thought.
Of course, the strikes will not stop terrorism either. We struck, so they will strike. The difference is that by taking military action we have a better chance of putting an end to the attacks more quickly.
There are some that are saying the 9/11 attacks were a crime, and therefore military action is uncalled for. The OKC bombing would have been declared an act of war if it hadn't been for the fact that it was a local boy who did it, not a well disciplined, highly organized group of people with backing and support from governments. The Taliban regime is not even officially recognized by some world governments, so perhaps this isn't a "war" at all.
To those who think peace is possible, I truly hope you are right. OBL despises us, as do his people. The Taliban despises our freedoms and us. We are allowed to speak our minds, to criticize our government. Our daughters are allowed to attend school and become doctors, lawyers and astronauts. Our way of life is seen as decadent and corrupt and there are those that fear the people of Afghanistan may look over and see what we have and want it for themselves. This is not a war based on actions we have taken against the Afghan peoples; this is a war based on a way of life and a difference of religions. OBL makes no bones about the fact he would like to see the US destroyed, or at the very least eradicated of Christianity and the Islamic faith the official religion. If he succeeded (which he will not) he would then move on to other countries, one by one, until all that was left would be the more conservative Islamic countries who frown on his actions. Then those he would try to conquer as well. It's his way or the highway.
Yes we've made some bonehead maneuvers regarding Palestine. That's not up for debate. How many times in the past decade, though, have we sent our sons and daughters overseas with the very real possibility of death to defend or protect Muslims? My cousin could probably tell you, she's getting sick and tired of her husband being shipped out for every mission that rolls around.
Should the Taliban be booted out of Afghanistan? The woman in me says "Hell Yes!" Wives and daughters are treated little better than animals there, and that doesn't sit well with me. They cannot even get decent health care because no man other than their husbands is allowed to look upon them, and since women cannot be educated it's highly unlikely they'd have access to a female doctor. Women have been beaten within an inch of death and beyond for daring to seek medical care or for violating some rule of dress. Men have even been beaten and worse for something so simple as the length of their beards. If the newspapers are to be believed, refugees fleeing over the border into Pakistan are saying the Taliban is conscripting men by force, even down to boys as young as 11 and 12. Coming into their homes and dragging them away. We know why they are doing it, but that doesn't make it right.
Do we have the right to strip out the Taliban and put our own puppet government in it's place? No, we do not. Our forefathers fought a bloody and hard war for the right to govern themselves. We should give no less to any we wish to help. Just because a representative republic works for us does not mean that it is the right government for everyone.
Since TNG I've noted that the Star Trek series all have that problem at first. It seems to take the actors a bit to take the parts and make them their own. Go back and view some tapes of TNG Season One. The acting is often clumsy and uncomfortable, but good story lines, fx and directing saved them in a lot of places. Give the kids a chance to grow into it, and the characters will emerge.
I did, however, like the medical bay. The use of a species of eel to treat an injury was a quaint addition, harping back to when physicians used leeches. I'm probably off base, but I likened it to the newbies in space taking their first stab at using what they find elsewhere to benifit themselves before they have time to find a technological substitute.
Okay, in my slightly humble opinion, MS isn't exactly a monopoly. I do have problems with their business practices and the way they bundle their various application software, but there are other options in operating systems out there if you have the gumption to learn them.
MS took something that was often too expensive and too cryptic for the average person and made it more available. Apple made (and still makes) a good product, but it was out of the price range for most folks. Working with a computer was the stuff of science fiction and was seen as something only a true genius was able to do. MS put lines of code and connected them to bright, colorful, shiny buttons and flashy pictures anyone could understand. It made dumb chicks (like me) or people with too much on their plates to learn how to actually work with raw code (also like me) able to take advantage of the growing popularity of computers and the internet.
As for their business practices, I don't approve of the way their operating system is installed on almost any computer system you buy. I may not be a geek, but I have many friends who are and who would rather use one of the various flavors of Linux. It irks them, rightfully so, that they can't get a system without Windows. Unless I'm mistaken, and I could be, this seems to be due to the liscensing agreements between MS and the PC companies. You should be able to get a system with nothing but the info and drivers for the hardware or with the operating system of your choice installed if that is your desire. There's no real reason why should have to pay the "MicroSoft Tax".
As for GW telling Ashcroft to drop the push for dividing up MS, that's probably not what happened. Contrary to what people want to believe, the President doesn't have time to micromanage everything his people do. If he's smart, he picks people who can do their jobs without his looking over their shoulders and just checks in from time to time to make sure they're not going power hungry.
Most likely it was a lack of understanding in computers. Some very beautiful work has been done with computer graphics, even outside the recent use of them in movies and television. Next time you want to do a show in Arkansas, come up here to Fayetteville. The UofA is based here and has a successful computer science and engineering program. We have plenty of people who will not only understand your hardware, but will appreciate your artwork.
As for the estate tax, let's get rid of that one. My parents aren't rich. They may make about $30k USD a year, but I doubt it. What my father has done, however, is save for his retirement since he was in his twenties. What people don't seem to realize is that the estate tax isn't just on cash monies left to your children, it's on everything from your parents' home to that 300-year-old piano that has been passed down from generation to generation. All of that is the estate. Under those guidelines, my father's estate could easily reach the $675k limit. So is my mother supposed to give up her financial security, forking over the investments and savings in order to keep the roof over her head? HELL no! Why should she be punished because her husband had the presence of mind to prepare for his future so that he wouldn't have to rely on Social Security to put food on his table or Medicare to pay his hospital bills?
The definitions of "rich" and "wealthy" have become far too liberal in this country. It's time we gave them a closer look.
Something else that should be taken into account is that children are more likely to judge beauty by what is more important in their lives. Mother's are always beautiful to their young children and Dad can slay dragons. If the school is over 90% white, then the children have white parents. The white Barbie is more like Mom, so it must be prettier. Adults, on the other hand, have grown up (hopefully) and learned to base beauty on other criteria.
Well that explains why it might hit computer related businesses, but how the heck did it end up on our server? We don't have any computer geeks guys.
Actually, that was Jonesboro, Arkansas, the site of a really bad school shooting some years back. They're all shell shocked over there, but suspending a kid for playacting is a bit over the top. And, yes, I do find this a wee bit embarrassing, being from Arkansas.
On another note, however, there probably should be closer attention paid to children. Not spying or smothering, but getting them involved more so that any difficulties they have in getting along with others can be addressed before things get out of hand. Youth activities didn't stop me from growing up a royal bitch (which I am) but they did teach me tolerance for others and not to fly off the handle.
ChelleyBean
ChelleyBean
Here's hoping that Arkansas's just having a flibbertygibbet again.
ChelleyBean
Sadly, however, computers and the programs that run on them are a mystery to many people who are not actively working with them other than word processors and games. This includes many, if not most, judges and allows for fast talking lawyers to sneak one past them. Now we can just hope that Kaplan has enough experience with lawyers that he doesn't fall for their bull. I also want to applaud the defense lawyers for taking this case on. It takes guts to defend the little guy against a large corporate entity such as the MPAA.
On a less happy note, this whole trial is a mystery to most people who do not read Slashdot or know to check 2600.org for updates. Blame it on a lazy media who all to often fails to do accurate follow ups. A good example is Jon Johansen. The press was all too eager to point out that DeCSS got him arrested, but how many actually went back and reported that he was never formally charged and even complimented on his work and on being a good student? Add to that the lamentable fact that people are all too willing to lable 2600.org and the people who keep it as being evil. It's shocking how a newspaper article can stamp a person as a "hacker" or a "cracker" and suddenly that person is public enemy #1.
Sorry to get off point there. The bottom line is that this trail, as I see it, is about journalistic rights and the sharing of information. It's not as though Goldstein set up an underground DVD pirating operation. He wrote a story and allowed the people who read it to have access to the proof of the story. What's so bad about that? I wish more journalists would do the same so we didn't have to take their word for it. In my eyes, it only serves to increase his credibility. Of course, big companies don't want you to have anything they think may cut into their profits in the long run, but if they were so concerned about profits, they would have encouraged the creation of a Linux DVD player to begin with.
The only people who appreciate change are wet babies
-Anon
It was my understanding that DeCSS was made available on 2600 as both part of a journalistic story and so that Linux users could have a way to view DVDs on their machines. What's so wrong with that? I see nothing wrong with freedom of information, and I certainly see nothing wrong with someone searching for a resource that would allow them to use a product that they've already spent a good chunk of change on.
Okay, for those who are willing, how about this: Since the program seems to be the problem, and the program is meant to allow you to view DVDs on your Linux machines, then not wanting you to have the program must mean that the MPAA doesn't want you to use DVDs. Why not send any qualifying DVDs, along with receipts, if you have them, to the courthouse. I'm sure the address can be found somewhere. Send them overnight and with a return receipt requested, along with a letter respectfully requesting of the attorneys that they see to it their clients purchase the DVDs from you for the orginal price you paid plus any sales taxes. After all, if they're not willing to allow customers the right to seek a method that would allow them to view the DVDs, then they must not be very interested in your business. Of course, normally you would send a product back to the manufacturer, but they're not the ones in court.
That's just my $0.02.