Now tell me what incentives Germany and Belgium have to oppose war?
And while you're at it, tell me why Sadam needs to be off the country, if not for US control of oil. US don't need oil from Iraq, they get most of theirs from Venezuela and Kuwait (you didn't believe the USA helped kuwait out of good will back in '91, do you?). It's not about getting oil, it's about CONTROLLING oil.
Something everyone seems to forget...
For the time being at least, software patents exist (afaik) only in the USA, mono could still live very well in europe if microsoft decides to sue...
OSX Mail isn't a perfect mail client. It isn't aware of the blockquote HTML tag, for instance. And I hate how it uses a drawer that isn't resizable for its folders.
Just for your information, you can resize the folder drawer by clicking on its outer edge (horizontal, not vertical).
What I hate most about it, and I know it's off topic, is that when you press the "maximize" button, it doesn't take the drawer into account, and also that single clicking to view an email marks it as read and no way to change that behavior in the preferences
In terms of pounds of mass per gray-- meaning the amount of radiation that can be absorbed in a given unit of mass-- water is a better radiation shield than lead. Dual-purpose, too.
Not only that, but you can freeze-dry it to take it up there, saves a lot of space...
No, 15,000kg = 15 Tonnes = ~16.5Tons.
If you're going to bitch about metricity, the least you can do is not to confuse the two systems.
The metric ton is also refered to as tonne, you're right, but it is also a ton.
The ton you are refering to is called the british ton or the long ton and is equal to 1016.047 Kg as opposed to the US ton or short ton which is 907.185 Kg. the metric ton (still called ton or tonne) is 1000Kg. the three are right.
i always thought a ton was 2000 lbs. does that mean a kilogram is exactly 2 lbs?
And right you are, but we're not talking about the same ton. There are (at least) 3 tons. The metric, the US and the english one.
The metric ton (also called tonne) is 1000 Kg (2204.623 pounds)
The english ton (also refered to as the long ton) is 2240 pounds (1016.047 Kg)
The US ton (also refered to as the short ton) is 2000 pounds (907.185 Kg)
So no, the ton that is 2000 lb is not equal to 1000Kg, you thus can't say that 1Kg = 2lbs.
I don't think it is informative, and for my part, this post of mine could go at -1 for all I care.
The thing is, when I saw this story appear, I went to read the article and the website seemed very slow. So I copy/pasted the article here just in case the website went *poof*. There's no way to tell morons to go read the article if they can't read it, heh:-)
(and just FYI, I hit Karma 50 (or whatever it's called these days) a long time ago. I'll post anonymously next time though...)
The website looks very slow, article copied here just in case.
Open IT: Govt to rewrite source code in Linux
SUDHA NAGARAJ
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2002 01:29:29 AM]
NEW DELHI: If the Chinese have IT, get it. The Indian government seems to be taking a leaf out of China's operating system, and is planning a countrywide drive to promote the open source operating system, Linux, as the 'platform of choice' instead of 'proprietary' solutions.
For proprietory, read Microsoft, which controls over 90% of the desktop software market.
The Department of Information Technology has already devised a strategy to introduce Linux and open source software as a de-facto standard in academic institutions, especially in engineering colleges through course work that encourages use of such systems.
Research establishments would be advised to use and develop re-distributable toolboxes just as Central government departments and state governments would be asked to use Linux-based offerings.
DIT is in talks with leading industry players like IBM and HCL to get a feel of their work in the area and invite proposals for joint projects. "As a first step we are persuading all government institutions to offer courses on Linux and programming for Linux environment. We would also set up Linux Resource Centres in academic institutes (with co-funding from government and industry)," said a senior government official.
Though India has made a name for itself selling solutions, software as a product is expensive within the country. And the cost will bite once India starts implementing IPR protection in earnest, as it has committed itself to.
While redistribution of proprietary software is restricted through a licence agreement, the licensing terms for Linux grants the right to obtain and redistribute copies. Many analysts believe that China's growing dominance in the IT space is fuelled by its low cost open source bias.
The Chinese government has consistently promoted its local software based on Linux, both for cost reasons, and reportedly for 'security' concerns as well.
The source code for proprietory software is not revealed, and this, it is believed, has not found favour with the Chinese, especially in defence and security related applications.
Microsoft, in what many observers and reports say is an attempt to soften the Chinese government's stand, recently committed to investing $750m in China in three years to help set up a software college and put its money into Chinese education.
In comparison, Microsoft has announced investments worth only $75m over a three-year time frame in India. Howver, the Chinese company Redflag Software, which was set up by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country's most prestigious research institute, has often come out with low-cost software based on Linux, in direct competition to Windows-based software.
The Indian government's plan, however, is not driven by security concerns, but by the far more simple arithmetic of costing. To put it simply, India being a developing country needs low cost solutions.
Unlike the Microsoft-developed Windows operating system, Linux code is free and downloadable from the internet. With the addition of special applications, it can be personalized to meet specific needs.
An industry-government-user-developer conference on the subject would be organised to throw up ideas for specific initiatives including funding, reliable sources told ET.
The only issue here is support and services, which Indian government sources feel is not likely to be an issue in a country known for its software support and service skills.
Like China, the government is also eyeing the increasingly lucrative global support and services market for the Linux environment may prove lucrative. While proprietary support agreements govern only the systems purchased (with licences), for free software support is independent of the number of copies owned.
"With applications in security being a focus area, inputs have been sought from the Defence on their experience with Linux. Indian-language based solutions, e-governance, embedded and high performance cluster solutions are other areas. But firstly we want to concretise the position on IPR issues in the use of Linux," the source said.
DIT is planning a three-tier mechanism, with itself as the first, industry, user groups and state governments as the second and a national apex committee headed either by a government representative, an industry expert or an academician to oversee manpower and skill development, applications development and deployment and public policy support, said sources.
According to IDC's figures for '00, Microsoft still controlled 94% of the desktop software market and while Linux is expected to overtake the number two -- Apple Mac OS -- by '03, it would still control less than 4% of the market.
In server software, it fares a little better and is expected to control around 30% of the market by '03, according to IDC. Linux, which has established itself in the server space, is an open reliable OS that runs on virtually any platform and was developd by Finnish technologist Linus Torvalds.
After developing the initial source code, Linus made it available on the Internet for use, feedback and further development.
If you have a bit of time on your hands, reading the briefs can be an englightening experience.
Both are written in "plain english" that any of the slashdot readers should be able to understand.
I'm not going to discuss them, the article on wired does that, partially...
I would rather get rid of him [saddam] now than wait 5 years when a missile is in the air and we all say, "damn, I guess he really did have a nuke."
[sarcasm]
I totally support that point of view:
Let's kill all the people who we think could kill someone in the future, then we'll be safe.
[/sarcasm]
The editor that comes with MSVC is usable without a book. What can VI/VIM do that it can't?
Easy: I can't run the MSVC editor from an SSH session.
The thing is, for the MSVC editor, all the commands are "hidden" in menus you reach with the mouse, and the keyboard shortcuts associated with them. vi just has different shortcuts.
If you don't like vi, just use a different editor. Just use what you like best, like all of us do. I don't like vi, I use joe, jed, pico or emacs. Do I complain that vi sucks? No, because it doesn't. It just doesn't fit the way I do editing.
Nice to see a lot of Europeans coming in with "what's wrong with this? We've had this for years"; or "you've got nothing to hide to your government"; or simply "get real!"
You may have noticed that I am not telling any of the above. Instead, I am sharing with you why I think a national ID card is good...
I do not see anything in your Belgian mandatory ID card system that is not covered by a simple state driver's license or a state ID card in the U.S. The only difference between dictatorship and freedom is that you have a choice (which gives at least an illusion of freedom) - it is not required in the U.S. in any state to have a state ID or a driver's license, but having and using it does make similar things you listed above easier.
You are partially right. What I do have on my ID card is also present on your driving license (on mine too, by the way) and on state ID cards. But like you mentionned, neither are mandatory nor are they practical (not all people drive). One of the points of having a nation wide ID card is clear and flawless ability of identification.
I have nothing against people who praise dictatorship and lack of privacy. But I guess to understand that you have to look beyond the boundaries of your personal life because dictatorship is the system, not just your personal "oh so cute" card in your wallet.
I am living in the constitutional kingdom of belgium. We have a democraticaly elected prime minister. And before you whine about King Albert II being a dictator, his role is "merely" to provide a check to keep balance in the system. Now, with regards to privacy. I think I enjoy more privacy than my american friends do. We have strict laws regarding privacy (they are enforced too). No one can check whether I got a speed ticket outside of police and justice. No one can have me do a piss test to see if I consume drugs prior to be hired. My freedom and privacy are protected, are yours?
First, I don't know how they arrest people in Belgium but if police just have the name of a criminal, and then go out and jail everybody by that name then there's lot more problems than you realize.
You misread my comment. A national ID card would have prevented the lady from being arrested in the US, as her national ID number would not have matched that of the criminal they were looking for. The thing you describe is what happened in the USA to an american lady, not in belgium.
And second, why don't you give people a choice if you are so kind-hearted with good will. Why don't you make any kind of ID system voluntary?
Because one of the points of having a national ID card is that it is mandatory. If it isn't, then you can't rely on it for identification.
Being the principal interested, I will respond to your message. I don't post with the +1 bonus so as not to bother other people reading who want to avoid your flamebait.
The point of having a discussion board is that everyone can express himself. As long as your comment brings something to the discussion at hand, you will get moderated up. People who flame or who post pointless ideas without anything to back up their "facts" or who, more simply, do not contribute anything to the discussion are modded down.
You may consider my reasons for having a national ID "simple-minded", but at least I do have an argument and defend it in a way that (can) make other people think or counter my arguments with other arguments. That's why I got modded up (I'm already at max karma, so I don't really care btw).
The fact that other comments than mine bring different points (be they opposite or identical to mine) is what makes discussion and progress possible. I have clear ideas on the subject, being a citizen who benefits from the possession of a national ID card. I would have appreciated you actually answering my arguments instead of declaring them "simple-minded" and pointing the readers to other posts in the thread (they already do read other posts, no need to point them at them).
I really did feel a shiver of apprehension run through my body when I realized yet again that most people are so ignorant on these sorts of issues
If you feel that it is so important to make people aware of the issues, then express your thoughts in a well organized manner instead of sounding like a whining 12 year old kid.
Enough time spent, please share your throughts on the issue, instead of just saying how wrong I am without saying why.
Tax avoidance and evasion cost welfare states money
A responsible citizen should pay his taxes, if not with pleasure, at least knowing it is (should be) for the greater good. (I will leave aside the argument that tax money is not well spent, as it is off topic).
Taxes should be paid, but I don't think a national ID number is going to help the RSI track people, it should already have the means to do so, and if not, then it should IMNSHO.
Since when was it my government's job to know anything about me?
My government's job is to offer services to the public -- law enforcement, fire protection, roads, public education, that sort of thing. Good government is the servant of the people, not their master. Anything which upsets this order is dangerous in the extreme.
Examples of needs to know where and who you are: - You didn't pay your taxes and left the place you lived in. As a responsible citizen, you're supposed to. The government needs to know where you are. - You're elligible for a tax rebate: Where does the government send it to? - A criminal decided to kill you. He does but the governement doesn't know where you are. - A fire in the woods is coming near your house, you live in the basement of your hut in the forest, the fire brigade needs to know to warn you. - You just turned 100 (congratulations, by the way). You don't have to pay any taxes anymore, you weren't aware of that, but you receive a letter in the mail from the gov to inform you of that nice situation. - You kidnapped 7 girls, the FBI finds traces of your DNA on the location the rapts were made. Now they know where you (used to) live to start looking for clues as to where the girls are. The list goes on, there are plenty of cases where the government needs to know about you...
The job of the government is to serve you, but to do that, the government needs to be aware of your existence and your whereabouts. If you don't trust your governement, maybe is it a sign that you need another one...
Maybe the point here is that Europeans trust their governments more than Americans do...
I hate to sound like a troll, but americans can have a government they trust too. The easiest way is to remember that the congresscriters are elected by the people. A general trend among american friends of mine is a total disinterest in politics. The reason is lack of trust obviously. I'm not telling changing the system is easy, but the least they can do, as responsible citizen is to GO VOTE and express their opinion. If you don't want to leave the system as it is, go vote for an outsider with already an established voter base, like nader. If that guy manages to get in the 10%, people who usually vote for the respublicrats will start to see him (or his party) as an viable alternative instead of the "vote trashcan" people made him to be.
There can hardly be a democratic government when there are only 2 near identical options. Summary: GO VOTE.
There's way too much fuss over something very legitimate, IMHO.
As a belgian citizen, I've been living with a mandatory national ID card for all my life (well, from age 12 anyway). This card holds my names, adress, name of wife and kids, a national ID number (birth date + some digits) and a picture. Is that national ID card an infringement on my privacy? NO!
I use the card to identify with state services such as when I want a copy of an official document, when I go vote, etc.; when requested by the police, for banking purposes: I have to show my ID card before doing a withdrawal at the bank, to create a new bank account,... But NOTHING besides that.
Does my governement keep all this data in a database. Sure they do. What do they do with that? Most certainly nothing.
I fail to understand how you all people see this as an end to privacy. It's your government after all, they're supposed to know who's living where, who voted (voting is mandatory here). There's no pretending you're someone else than you, because that ID card is mandatory and there's a picture of you on it. So you can't pose as someone else (and someone can't pose as you).
Do you remember the story of that wife who kept being arrested because she shared the same name as a wanted criminal? That could never happen with a national ID card, because all she'd have to do was present it and be left alone.
While the ideas the person develops in the article are really interesting and IMO, true, he (IMO again) suprisingly restricts his definition too much. For instance:
What unites these highly disparate commons [snip] is their legal and moral ownership by the American people.
The commons he describes are as much the commons of the american people as that of the european, nigerian or eskimoo though.
I admit I'm nitpicking a bit, but these things he decribes (go read the article) are the commons of mankind, not just of those so-called "industrialized" countries...
Under this law - who is liable for the spam - the _sender_ or the _client_ of the service?
I don't really know the answer, but my guess would be both. My logic is the following: It is illegal to kill. Both the hit man and the person who paid him to kill are liable.
I think a basis is that you cannot shield yourself from the law by having someone else break the law in your stead.
Slashdot Mirror
And while you're at it, tell me why Sadam needs to be off the country, if not for US control of oil. US don't need oil from Iraq, they get most of theirs from Venezuela and Kuwait (you didn't believe the USA helped kuwait out of good will back in '91, do you?). It's not about getting oil, it's about CONTROLLING oil.
Something everyone seems to forget...
For the time being at least, software patents exist (afaik) only in the USA, mono could still live very well in europe if microsoft decides to sue...
What I hate most about it, and I know it's off topic, is that when you press the "maximize" button, it doesn't take the drawer into account, and also that single clicking to view an email marks it as read and no way to change that behavior in the preferences
Just my .02
The metric ton (also called tonne) is 1000 Kg (2204.623 pounds)
The english ton (also refered to as the long ton) is 2240 pounds (1016.047 Kg)
The US ton (also refered to as the short ton) is 2000 pounds (907.185 Kg)
So no, the ton that is 2000 lb is not equal to 1000Kg, you thus can't say that 1Kg = 2lbs.
Not only French people but english people too, if they could spell the french expressions they use properly (like déjà vu)
The thing is, when I saw this story appear, I went to read the article and the website seemed very slow. So I copy/pasted the article here just in case the website went *poof*. There's no way to tell morons to go read the article if they can't read it, heh :-)
(and just FYI, I hit Karma 50 (or whatever it's called these days) a long time ago. I'll post anonymously next time though...)
Open IT: Govt to rewrite source code in Linux
SUDHA NAGARAJ
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 09, 2002 01:29:29 AM]
NEW DELHI: If the Chinese have IT, get it. The Indian government seems to be taking a leaf out of China's operating system, and is planning a countrywide drive to promote the open source operating system, Linux, as the 'platform of choice' instead of 'proprietary' solutions.
For proprietory, read Microsoft, which controls over 90% of the desktop software market.
The Department of Information Technology has already devised a strategy to introduce Linux and open source software as a de-facto standard in academic institutions, especially in engineering colleges through course work that encourages use of such systems.
Research establishments would be advised to use and develop re-distributable toolboxes just as Central government departments and state governments would be asked to use Linux-based offerings.
DIT is in talks with leading industry players like IBM and HCL to get a feel of their work in the area and invite proposals for joint projects. "As a first step we are persuading all government institutions to offer courses on Linux and programming for Linux environment. We would also set up Linux Resource Centres in academic institutes (with co-funding from government and industry)," said a senior government official.
Though India has made a name for itself selling solutions, software as a product is expensive within the country. And the cost will bite once India starts implementing IPR protection in earnest, as it has committed itself to.
While redistribution of proprietary software is restricted through a licence agreement, the licensing terms for Linux grants the right to obtain and redistribute copies. Many analysts believe that China's growing dominance in the IT space is fuelled by its low cost open source bias.
The Chinese government has consistently promoted its local software based on Linux, both for cost reasons, and reportedly for 'security' concerns as well.
The source code for proprietory software is not revealed, and this, it is believed, has not found favour with the Chinese, especially in defence and security related applications.
Microsoft, in what many observers and reports say is an attempt to soften the Chinese government's stand, recently committed to investing $750m in China in three years to help set up a software college and put its money into Chinese education.
In comparison, Microsoft has announced investments worth only $75m over a three-year time frame in India. Howver, the Chinese company Redflag Software, which was set up by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country's most prestigious research institute, has often come out with low-cost software based on Linux, in direct competition to Windows-based software.
The Indian government's plan, however, is not driven by security concerns, but by the far more simple arithmetic of costing. To put it simply, India being a developing country needs low cost solutions.
Unlike the Microsoft-developed Windows operating system, Linux code is free and downloadable from the internet. With the addition of special applications, it can be personalized to meet specific needs.
An industry-government-user-developer conference on the subject would be organised to throw up ideas for specific initiatives including funding, reliable sources told ET.
The only issue here is support and services, which Indian government sources feel is not likely to be an issue in a country known for its software support and service skills.
Like China, the government is also eyeing the increasingly lucrative global support and services market for the Linux environment may prove lucrative. While proprietary support agreements govern only the systems purchased (with licences), for free software support is independent of the number of copies owned.
"With applications in security being a focus area, inputs have been sought from the Defence on their experience with Linux. Indian-language based solutions, e-governance, embedded and high performance cluster solutions are other areas. But firstly we want to concretise the position on IPR issues in the use of Linux," the source said.
DIT is planning a three-tier mechanism, with itself as the first, industry, user groups and state governments as the second and a national apex committee headed either by a government representative, an industry expert or an academician to oversee manpower and skill development, applications development and deployment and public policy support, said sources.
According to IDC's figures for '00, Microsoft still controlled 94% of the desktop software market and while Linux is expected to overtake the number two -- Apple Mac OS -- by '03, it would still control less than 4% of the market.
In server software, it fares a little better and is expected to control around 30% of the market by '03, according to IDC. Linux, which has established itself in the server space, is an open reliable OS that runs on virtually any platform and was developd by Finnish technologist Linus Torvalds.
After developing the initial source code, Linus made it available on the Internet for use, feedback and further development.
Both are written in "plain english" that any of the slashdot readers should be able to understand.
I'm not going to discuss them, the article on wired does that, partially...
For those interested, the links are:
Reply Brief for the Petitioners and
Government Response Brief
What country do you live in? I'm never gonna go live there...
[sarcasm]
I totally support that point of view:
Let's kill all the people who we think could kill someone in the future, then we'll be safe.
[/sarcasm]
Easy: I can't run the MSVC editor from an SSH session.
The thing is, for the MSVC editor, all the commands are "hidden" in menus you reach with the mouse, and the keyboard shortcuts associated with them. vi just has different shortcuts.
If you don't like vi, just use a different editor. Just use what you like best, like all of us do. I don't like vi, I use joe, jed, pico or emacs. Do I complain that vi sucks? No, because it doesn't. It just doesn't fit the way I do editing.
You may have noticed that I am not telling any of the above. Instead, I am sharing with you why I think a national ID card is good...
You are partially right. What I do have on my ID card is also present on your driving license (on mine too, by the way) and on state ID cards. But like you mentionned, neither are mandatory nor are they practical (not all people drive). One of the points of having a nation wide ID card is clear and flawless ability of identification.I am living in the constitutional kingdom of belgium. We have a democraticaly elected prime minister. And before you whine about King Albert II being a dictator, his role is "merely" to provide a check to keep balance in the system.
Now, with regards to privacy. I think I enjoy more privacy than my american friends do. We have strict laws regarding privacy (they are enforced too). No one can check whether I got a speed ticket outside of police and justice. No one can have me do a piss test to see if I consume drugs prior to be hired. My freedom and privacy are protected, are yours?
You misread my comment. A national ID card would have prevented the lady from being arrested in the US, as her national ID number would not have matched that of the criminal they were looking for. The thing you describe is what happened in the USA to an american lady, not in belgium.
Because one of the points of having a national ID card is that it is mandatory. If it isn't, then you can't rely on it for identification.
The point of having a discussion board is that everyone can express himself. As long as your comment brings something to the discussion at hand, you will get moderated up. People who flame or who post pointless ideas without anything to back up their "facts" or who, more simply, do not contribute anything to the discussion are modded down.
You may consider my reasons for having a national ID "simple-minded", but at least I do have an argument and defend it in a way that (can) make other people think or counter my arguments with other arguments. That's why I got modded up (I'm already at max karma, so I don't really care btw).
The fact that other comments than mine bring different points (be they opposite or identical to mine) is what makes discussion and progress possible. I have clear ideas on the subject, being a citizen who benefits from the possession of a national ID card. I would have appreciated you actually answering my arguments instead of declaring them "simple-minded" and pointing the readers to other posts in the thread (they already do read other posts, no need to point them at them).
If you feel that it is so important to make people aware of the issues, then express your thoughts in a well organized manner instead of sounding like a whining 12 year old kid.
Enough time spent, please share your throughts on the issue, instead of just saying how wrong I am without saying why.
As you rightfully pointed in your post:
A responsible citizen should pay his taxes, if not with pleasure, at least knowing it is (should be) for the greater good. (I will leave aside the argument that tax money is not well spent, as it is off topic).
Taxes should be paid, but I don't think a national ID number is going to help the RSI track people, it should already have the means to do so, and if not, then it should IMNSHO.
Examples of needs to know where and who you are:
- You didn't pay your taxes and left the place you lived in. As a responsible citizen, you're supposed to. The government needs to know where you are.
- You're elligible for a tax rebate: Where does the government send it to?
- A criminal decided to kill you. He does but the governement doesn't know where you are.
- A fire in the woods is coming near your house, you live in the basement of your hut in the forest, the fire brigade needs to know to warn you.
- You just turned 100 (congratulations, by the way). You don't have to pay any taxes anymore, you weren't aware of that, but you receive a letter in the mail from the gov to inform you of that nice situation.
- You kidnapped 7 girls, the FBI finds traces of your DNA on the location the rapts were made. Now they know where you (used to) live to start looking for clues as to where the girls are.
The list goes on, there are plenty of cases where the government needs to know about you...
The job of the government is to serve you, but to do that, the government needs to be aware of your existence and your whereabouts. If you don't trust your governement, maybe is it a sign that you need another one...
I don't know about the soviet-style thing, but the thing I have to say about authorities checking your ID "anytime" is "what's the problem???".
If you're who your national ID card says you are, then no problem, you're checked, you're clear, you move along, it took 2 minutes of your time.
Compare this with the potential benefit to ease the tracking of criminals or simply prevent people from posing as you...
A general trend among american friends of mine is a total disinterest in politics. The reason is lack of trust obviously. I'm not telling changing the system is easy, but the least they can do, as responsible citizen is to GO VOTE and express their opinion. If you don't want to leave the system as it is, go vote for an outsider with already an established voter base, like nader. If that guy manages to get in the 10%, people who usually vote for the respublicrats will start to see him (or his party) as an viable alternative instead of the "vote trashcan" people made him to be.
There can hardly be a democratic government when there are only 2 near identical options. Summary: GO VOTE.
Just my 2 Eurocents.
Sorry to reply to my own post, but this is the kind of thing that a national ID card would prevent.
As a belgian citizen, I've been living with a mandatory national ID card for all my life (well, from age 12 anyway). This card holds my names, adress, name of wife and kids, a national ID number (birth date + some digits) and a picture. Is that national ID card an infringement on my privacy? NO!
I use the card to identify with state services such as when I want a copy of an official document, when I go vote, etc.; when requested by the police, for banking purposes: I have to show my ID card before doing a withdrawal at the bank, to create a new bank account, ... But NOTHING besides that.
Does my governement keep all this data in a database. Sure they do. What do they do with that? Most certainly nothing.
I fail to understand how you all people see this as an end to privacy. It's your government after all, they're supposed to know who's living where, who voted (voting is mandatory here). There's no pretending you're someone else than you, because that ID card is mandatory and there's a picture of you on it. So you can't pose as someone else (and someone can't pose as you).
Do you remember the story of that wife who kept being arrested because she shared the same name as a wanted criminal? That could never happen with a national ID card, because all she'd have to do was present it and be left alone.
National ID cards are GOOD, not bad.
The commons he describes are as much the commons of the american people as that of the european, nigerian or eskimoo though.
I admit I'm nitpicking a bit, but these things he decribes (go read the article) are the commons of mankind, not just of those so-called "industrialized" countries...
Just my 0.2c
It is illegal to kill. Both the hit man and the person who paid him to kill are liable.
I think a basis is that you cannot shield yourself from the law by having someone else break the law in your stead.
Just my 2 Eurocents.