mp3.com is the kind of domain that people do just guess at, without knowing if it exists.
for those who don't know Australian ratings...
on
"Not a Mini-Spy"
·
· Score: 1
it's optional to be part of the ratings assessment. I was approached to be one of their lab rats, and was actually unable to participate (ya get free pay tv and stuff so your choices are valid) due to having a difficult roof to install through.
For those who find this sort of tracking disturbing (and I do understand why) it's a choice, not by force.
The traditional way of tracking though is filling out sheets, lots of people lie on them, forget to fill them in etc... so results are far less accurate...
Like most of the rest of you, I'd like to know more about how the detecting happens.
I ~love~ Alpha Centauri... I've loved Civilisation ever since I got the original version for my 68K Mac... I'd used all the newer Civs, but although I liked the improvements, I didn't feel the need to upgrade... Alpha Centauri on the other hand opened up a lot more story lines and thought processes... the only improvement I feel they could make with that, is having a technology chart inside the manual as well as on the poster.
disc media is cheap, mailable and also not a huge loss if it's broken or stolen (if you have a backup)... somehow I don't see anyone mailing their grandma a hard drive of her grandkids new photos/movies...
There's the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) based in Iowa, America and founded in 1975. They are particularly interested in "heirloom" seeds. You can become a member of Seed Savers and that gets you a bunch of publications every year.
This group alos has an organised arm called the Flower and Herb Exchange (FHE), which you can also purchase a membership for.
SSE has a Heritage Farm, a living historical museum of plan varieties. SSE also has a commercial store in Wisonsin, America.
Then there's Seed Savers Network (SSN) based in Byron Bay, Australia and founded in 1986. Their goal is to "preserve the diversity of our cultural plants". They have subscriptions of various kinds and have newsletters, seed exchange, a seed bank, workshops and they publish a handbook.
The SSN is setting up networks in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, The Caribbean and Cambodia. They also assisted the Southern African Seed Network (SASN) in setting up in Zimbabwe.
Then there's the Irish Seed Savers Association (ISSA), whose website is under construction. They are "dedicated to the location and preservation of traditional varieties of fruit, grain and vegetables".
The Seed Savers Aotearoa New Zealand (SSANZ), based in New Zealand and probably founded in the year 2000. Their goal is to "facilitate the sharing of information and resources between regional seed saving groups"
Seeds of Change (SOC) founded around 1989 in Sante Fe, New Mexico. SOC "is committed to improving the lives of this and future generations by preserving biodiversity and promoting the use of sustainable organic agricultural practices". They have a commercial store hosted at Yahoo, and a research arm close to Santa Fe. Their website has a lot of different sections and seems to be aimed at the average consumer.
Comox Valley Growers & Seed Savers (CVGSS), based in British Columbia, Canada. Their mission is "Conserve and preserve our plant heritage and diversity by encouraging participation in growing heritage and non-hybrid food crops and other plants". They have mail-order membership.
The Native Seed Savers Network (NSSN) is a Greening Australia project, based in New South Wales, Australia. Started in 1996, "the need for more detail on the appropriate use and management of dwindling areas of locally-native seed resources in the Sydney Basin prompted the development of this community-based native seed trading network"
Primal Seeds aims to:
- Inform and inspire people to take the protection of biodiversity and the creation of food security into their own hands.
- Support grassroots movements around the world who challenge agribusiness and promote food production based on diversity and community.
- Act as an information network.
- Promote seed saving, seed swaping, heritage, open-pollinated, rare, local and illegal seeds.
- Oppose the encroaching model of agriculture based on commodification, which leads to biotechnology, biopiracy, mass mechanisation, heavy chemical inputs and threatens the livelihood of the worlds farmers
in Australia with GM canola crops, being grown for commercial, not scientific use. These crops are being grown in "secret" locations, and may be polluting the neighbourhood crops (with windblown pollen), but since their locations are not public, we won't really know. This has really pissed off anti-GM and organic crop growers, who feel that their business is at risk.
The island state of Tasmania here would like to be a GM free zone, which if it can be enforced legally, would provide them with a lot of protection, as they are not close to many landmasses.
There has also been dumping of a GM crop into a commercial rubbish tip.
Both Douglas and Isaac did put elements of their personality into their books, and these books have changed a lot of lives. I regret not saying thank you to them earlier, and I think I'll spend some time emailing my favourite authors, who are still alive.
Then there's nothing stopping the doctors from publishing the same information about their own "trackers".
Maybe if they had their own little group of stalkers they might think twice.
I'm not suggesting return violence, but I'm sure these people would not like to have their personal details available to the public either.
A slighty political tv show here in Australia once displayed an international phone number of someone who has criminal charges waiting for them here whenever they return. He had been taking advantage of a lack of crossover laws to escape trial there, and in the process was wide open for harassment from within Australia, because there are no crossover laws.
While he probably just got a few phonecalls at 4am calling him an asshole, and they would hardly make him return to face criminal charges, he's made other people's lives difficult, and it gave them a chance to return the favour, personally.
Some forms of social protest aren't about results, they're about showing there is an objection.
I've read this argument many times, and each of the authors harkens back to days of his youth when 'everybody' watched the same TV shows last night, and when you went to school or work the next day you all had something to talk about. Or, you all watched the same news shows, so people had a common reference as a framework for discussion.
Memories of "better days gone by" are usually contaminated with nostalgia...
We're not missing common reference points now, they are just different. Current affairs, whether that be politics or entertainment, or old fashioned news. With so much content being delivered in date-important format (including/.), subject is often becoming less important in delivery. So while on tv your sport news may always come last, online it's often dependant on when the winning goal was scored.
I love the Slashdot moderation system. While there are definitely some common themes that get moderated up or down -- causing some bias (biases that agree with mine for the large part) moderation has the intended effect of letting you see well-written or at least well-reasoned points of view.
I too love the Slashdot moderation system. If you don't like the bias of moderation, you can simply have your information delivered without it. Personally I like it for the highlighting of well written posts. The Moderation class of "Interesting" often yeilds very different viewpoints, as does "Insightful". And of course the rubbish is removed from view.
While this is customisation, and maybe I am close-minded when it comes to goatcx links, filtering, in general, does not work 100%.
If all your customised information is filtered, something that slips through the ever present cracks is rather noticeable. I don't think we need to worry about people never seeing an opposing view. Humans are opinionated little things, even the ones who don't vote.
People who aren't open to another point of view will usually ignore it when it's offered, so are they missing out? But even if you do want to remove all material you don't support, you won't succeed... while there are porn filter programs that block political sites and breast cancer information sites, they also fail to block porn 100%.
Although it is something we should be aware of for the future, right now, computers simply don't have the intelligence that we do to make certain connections. And until they do, blocking or customisation will never be 100%
One of the biggest misconceptions going around about Linux is that it needs to be easy to install for people to use it. As stated below, the majority of end users aren't even aware that their OS is installed like any other program. More realistically, they believe that elves descended from the magical kingdom of Euripides and installed Windows on their machine:)
I have found Windows to be much more difficult to install than Linux, furthermore most people who want to e-mail a photo of their cat to a relative have never installed Windows before in their life. They simply had it preinstalled for them at the factory where the computer was built, or the store from which they bought it.
And so for the clueless, it does need to be easy to install, because they have Windows pre-installed already.
Linux can be as pretty as and even more pretty than Windows (Checked themes.org recently?) and a majority of the themes cater to the Windows-style button layout, which means people used to Windows can effectively navigate it.
mum and dad need to know about themes.org
Also, if all people want to do is use e-mail, then Linux is a perfect solution. I have a Linux box set up for my mother who is totally ignorant when it comes to computers, but she knows how to use apps like Word and such.
She has a Slackware box running a Windows-like theme for Icewm, and uses Netscape, Netscape Mail and WordPerfect without any problems what-so-ever, and without having to come and ask me questions about the interface or about Linux in general. When Evolution is finally released, this gap will be bridged even more so.
I know so many people who've set up boxes for others. Is this doing Linux a favour or not?
On the one hand it increases users, on the other it removes them from the actual process.
Now I know most of you know how to run Linux. But don't forget a large number of people do not, and never will.
You can say it's an investment to learn Linux, but some of these people can't program their VCR.
If you want Linux to replace Windows, it has to cater for those who don't know how to program, who can't program their VCR and just want to email their grandkids a photo of the cat.
As a dummy myself I know I couldn't install Linux without help from techie friends. It needs to be simple, just point and click.
It also has to be at least as pretty as Windows, because when you don't know anything about something, you tend to choose the most "professional" looking thing.
So while you run this down for it's pretty colours, and cite examples of programs that do exactly the same thing, remember you could be looking at the future of Linux.
most of the soul aspects have been covered already, but would a clone have any legal rights?
does a gene pattern belong to someone? is a clone your property? would illegal clones be steralised or otheriwse treated in an inhuman manner?
if clones have reduced lifespans, will they have the same access to medical care as non-clones? if clones breed with clones will clone children have rights?
Seaquest has covered some amazing theories in genetics...
will clones be genetically altered? to breathe water? to survive on less oxygen? to become armies? will they be able to procreate? will we have a Dark Age of Genetics? if cloning technology is commonplace, will DNA samples and fingerprints be admissable in legal proceedings? will genetically engineered lifeforms revolt? will genetic engineering be outlawed due to abuse? if so will remaining clones be locked up in seperation camps?
some more mundane questions... would a clone of someone with a genetic defect be entitled to health insurance? what would a clone do to a royal line of succession? would churches or politial groups encorage followers to engineer a certain type of child, maybe with blue eyes and blonde hair?
Even with laws in place, discrimination does occur, especially when laws are not enforced.
I collected the emails by hand, trawling through the government website.
Federal politicians need to take an interest in laws regarding the internet. As it is, it's hard to have different laws in each country for it, let alone in each bloody state.
Thanks for your comments. You are right, the article overstates. When I was in politics we always said journalists are really fight promoters! NO we do not want to shut down libraries. They are great customers. We do want to be sure a thriving literary community continues to thrive and I think Librarians want this also. We need to work together to do it. Pat Schroeder
Congratulations Jon Katz on writing something worth reading, especially on such a worthwhile topic. You kind of lost it towards the end though. An unbiased article is a much better article. Offer both sides, but let the reader make the decision.
Actual reply:
She did, quoting a classmate as saying: "We want to kill people; we're sick of them." (If I or anyone reading this called the police everytime we came across that comment online, a lot of teenage boys would be in jail.) She said the boy later threatened her for reporting his remarks.
He was immediately charged with making terrorist threats and intimidating a witness, and a juvenile court judge ordered him to serve six months' probation, according to the Times.
Maybe it's a culture difference... but what I find the most disturbing is the lawsuit aspect.
Schools have been asking kids to dob in other kids for years and years, they rely on it to some extent as a way of knowing what's going on.
But when did bad social behaviour in school lead to a lawsuit? I doubt the girl in question would have been sued if the boy in question had not been legally charged.
Here in Australia I am guessing that the boy *might* have been reported to the police, merely as a precaution, would definately have had detention or possibly suspension. If the police are so worried, counselling may have more effect than a legal charge.
People who are going to kill people don't actually worry about it being against the law.
Can you sue someone who provides evidence against you in the US? who pressed the charges... the school, the girl's parents or the State?
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge threw out his suit, but not before the girl's family had spent $40,000 in legal fees defending her.
Again, maybe this is a difference in where I live, but if someone sues you and loses, don't they have to pay your legal fees?
As for the parents of the boy, if it was said in jest, and he's just on probation, why not let it go? do juvenile crime records effect the rest of your life in the USA?
What sort of lesson did these parents teach their boy about making threats? that if you have a good lawyer you can get away with it? that it's socially acceptable?
I know these school shootings have effected Americans quite heavily, but please remember behind the crime, behind the gun, there's a person with a problem.
I sent an email to Ms Schroeder, giving my point of view, and bringing up a few points that were mentioned in/.
Her email response is as follows:
Thanks for your comments. You are right, the article overstates. When I was in politics we always said journalists are really fight promoters! NO we do not want to shut down libraries. They are great customers. We do
want to be sure a thriving literary community continues to thrive and I think Librarians want this also. We need to work together to do it.
Pat Schroeder
Slashdot Mirror
mp3.com is the kind of domain that people do just guess at, without knowing if it exists.
it's optional to be part of the ratings assessment. I was approached to be one of their lab rats, and was actually unable to participate (ya get free pay tv and stuff so your choices are valid) due to having a difficult roof to install through.
For those who find this sort of tracking disturbing (and I do understand why) it's a choice, not by force.
The traditional way of tracking though is filling out sheets, lots of people lie on them, forget to fill them in etc... so results are far less accurate...
Like most of the rest of you, I'd like to know more about how the detecting happens.
why don't you have one or want one?
for me a Palm is not so useful, I'd prefer a laptop, it's bigger to carry around, but I can have everything I want.
I've seen a lot of posts where Palm users don't feel the need to upgrade, but I'm curious as to the reasons other people don't want Palms.
I ~love~ Alpha Centauri... I've loved Civilisation ever since I got the original version for my 68K Mac... I'd used all the newer Civs, but although I liked the improvements, I didn't feel the need to upgrade... Alpha Centauri on the other hand opened up a lot more story lines and thought processes... the only improvement I feel they could make with that, is having a technology chart inside the manual as well as on the poster.
disc media is cheap, mailable and also not a huge loss if it's broken or stolen (if you have a backup)... somehow I don't see anyone mailing their grandma a hard drive of her grandkids new photos/movies...
There's the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) based in Iowa, America and founded in 1975. They are particularly interested in "heirloom" seeds. You can become a member of Seed Savers and that gets you a bunch of publications every year.
This group alos has an organised arm called the Flower and Herb Exchange (FHE), which you can also purchase a membership for.
SSE has a Heritage Farm, a living historical museum of plan varieties. SSE also has a commercial store in Wisonsin, America.
Then there's Seed Savers Network (SSN) based in Byron Bay, Australia and founded in 1986. Their goal is to "preserve the diversity of our cultural plants". They have subscriptions of various kinds and have newsletters, seed exchange, a seed bank, workshops and they publish a handbook.
The SSN is setting up networks in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, The Caribbean and Cambodia. They also assisted the Southern African Seed Network (SASN) in setting up in Zimbabwe.
Then there's the Irish Seed Savers Association (ISSA), whose website is under construction. They are "dedicated to the location and preservation of traditional varieties of fruit, grain and vegetables".
The Seed Savers Aotearoa New Zealand (SSANZ), based in New Zealand and probably founded in the year 2000. Their goal is to "facilitate the sharing of information and resources between regional seed saving groups"
Seeds of Change (SOC) founded around 1989 in Sante Fe, New Mexico. SOC "is committed to improving the lives of this and future generations by preserving biodiversity and promoting the use of sustainable organic agricultural practices". They have a commercial store hosted at Yahoo, and a research arm close to Santa Fe. Their website has a lot of different sections and seems to be aimed at the average consumer.
Comox Valley Growers & Seed Savers (CVGSS), based in British Columbia, Canada. Their mission is "Conserve and preserve our plant heritage and diversity by encouraging participation in growing heritage and non-hybrid food crops and other plants". They have mail-order membership.
The Native Seed Savers Network (NSSN) is a Greening Australia project, based in New South Wales, Australia. Started in 1996, "the need for more detail on the appropriate use and management of dwindling areas of locally-native seed resources in the Sydney Basin prompted the development of this community-based native seed trading network"
Primal Seeds aims to:
- Inform and inspire people to take the protection of biodiversity and the creation of food security into their own hands.
- Support grassroots movements around the world who challenge agribusiness and promote food production based on diversity and community.
- Act as an information network.
- Promote seed saving, seed swaping, heritage, open-pollinated, rare, local and illegal seeds.
- Oppose the encroaching model of agriculture based on commodification, which leads to biotechnology, biopiracy, mass mechanisation, heavy chemical inputs and threatens the livelihood of the worlds farmers
Some other resources are:
Seeds of Texas' Vegetable Seed-Savers Handbook
Seed Savers Around The World
in Australia with GM canola crops, being grown for commercial, not scientific use. These crops are being grown in "secret" locations, and may be polluting the neighbourhood crops (with windblown pollen), but since their locations are not public, we won't really know. This has really pissed off anti-GM and organic crop growers, who feel that their business is at risk.
The island state of Tasmania here would like to be a GM free zone, which if it can be enforced legally, would provide them with a lot of protection, as they are not close to many landmasses.
There has also been dumping of a GM crop into a commercial rubbish tip.
Both Douglas and Isaac did put elements of their personality into their books, and these books have changed a lot of lives. I regret not saying thank you to them earlier, and I think I'll spend some time emailing my favourite authors, who are still alive.
It's hard enough without Asimov...
Anyone used these predictive phones? are they intuitive? autocomplete? do you have to click too many times?
If predictive is not the answer, maybe we need a new type of keypad for mobiles, maybe not with all 26 keys, but more than 10.
Ergonomically, it would be easier if only one hand was needed. But would this create left handed and right handed phones?
*needs coffee*
Then there's nothing stopping the doctors from publishing the same information about their own "trackers".
Maybe if they had their own little group of stalkers they might think twice.
I'm not suggesting return violence, but I'm sure these people would not like to have their personal details available to the public either.
A slighty political tv show here in Australia once displayed an international phone number of someone who has criminal charges waiting for them here whenever they return. He had been taking advantage of a lack of crossover laws to escape trial there, and in the process was wide open for harassment from within Australia, because there are no crossover laws.
While he probably just got a few phonecalls at 4am calling him an asshole, and they would hardly make him return to face criminal charges, he's made other people's lives difficult, and it gave them a chance to return the favour, personally.
Some forms of social protest aren't about results, they're about showing there is an objection.
I've read this argument many times, and each of the authors harkens back to days of his youth when 'everybody' watched the same TV shows last night, and when you went to school or work the next day you all had something to talk about. Or, you all watched the same news shows, so people had a common reference as a framework for discussion.
/.), subject is often becoming less important in delivery. So while on tv your sport news may always come last, online it's often dependant on when the winning goal was scored.
Memories of "better days gone by" are usually contaminated with nostalgia...
We're not missing common reference points now, they are just different. Current affairs, whether that be politics or entertainment, or old fashioned news. With so much content being delivered in date-important format (including
I love the Slashdot moderation system. While there are definitely some common themes that get moderated up or down -- causing some bias (biases that agree with mine for the large part) moderation has the intended effect of letting you see well-written or at least well-reasoned points of view.
I too love the Slashdot moderation system. If you don't like the bias of moderation, you can simply have your information delivered without it. Personally I like it for the highlighting of well written posts. The Moderation class of "Interesting" often yeilds very different viewpoints, as does "Insightful". And of course the rubbish is removed from view.
While this is customisation, and maybe I am close-minded when it comes to goatcx links, filtering, in general, does not work 100%.
If all your customised information is filtered, something that slips through the ever present cracks is rather noticeable. I don't think we need to worry about people never seeing an opposing view. Humans are opinionated little things, even the ones who don't vote.
People who aren't open to another point of view will usually ignore it when it's offered, so are they missing out? But even if you do want to remove all material you don't support, you won't succeed... while there are porn filter programs that block political sites and breast cancer information sites, they also fail to block porn 100%.
Although it is something we should be aware of for the future, right now, computers simply don't have the intelligence that we do to make certain connections. And until they do, blocking or customisation will never be 100%
*LOL*
One of the biggest misconceptions going around about Linux is that it needs to be easy to install for people to use it. As stated below, the majority of end users aren't even aware that their OS is installed like any other program. More realistically, they believe that elves descended from the magical kingdom of Euripides and installed Windows on their machine :)
I have found Windows to be much more difficult to install than Linux, furthermore most people who want to e-mail a photo of their cat to a relative have never installed Windows before in their life. They simply had it preinstalled for them at the factory where the computer was built, or the store from which they bought it.
And so for the clueless, it does need to be easy to install, because they have Windows pre-installed already.
Linux can be as pretty as and even more pretty than Windows (Checked themes.org recently?) and a majority of the themes cater to the Windows-style button layout, which means people used to Windows can effectively navigate it.
mum and dad need to know about themes.org
Also, if all people want to do is use e-mail, then Linux is a perfect solution. I have a Linux box set up for my mother who is totally ignorant when it comes to computers, but she knows how to use apps like Word and such. She has a Slackware box running a Windows-like theme for Icewm, and uses Netscape, Netscape Mail and WordPerfect without any problems what-so-ever, and without having to come and ask me questions about the interface or about Linux in general. When Evolution is finally released, this gap will be bridged even more so.
I know so many people who've set up boxes for others. Is this doing Linux a favour or not?
On the one hand it increases users, on the other it removes them from the actual process.
You can say it's an investment to learn Linux, but some of these people can't program their VCR.
If you want Linux to replace Windows, it has to cater for those who don't know how to program, who can't program their VCR and just want to email their grandkids a photo of the cat.
As a dummy myself I know I couldn't install Linux without help from techie friends. It needs to be simple, just point and click.
It also has to be at least as pretty as Windows, because when you don't know anything about something, you tend to choose the most "professional" looking thing.
So while you run this down for it's pretty colours, and cite examples of programs that do exactly the same thing, remember you could be looking at the future of Linux.
most of the soul aspects have been covered already, but would a clone have any legal rights?
does a gene pattern belong to someone? is a clone your property? would illegal clones be steralised or otheriwse treated in an inhuman manner?
if clones have reduced lifespans, will they have the same access to medical care as non-clones? if clones breed with clones will clone children have rights?
Seaquest has covered some amazing theories in genetics...
will clones be genetically altered? to breathe water? to survive on less oxygen? to become armies? will they be able to procreate? will we have a Dark Age of Genetics? if cloning technology is commonplace, will DNA samples and fingerprints be admissable in legal proceedings? will genetically engineered lifeforms revolt? will genetic engineering be outlawed due to abuse? if so will remaining clones be locked up in seperation camps?
some more mundane questions... would a clone of someone with a genetic defect be entitled to health insurance? what would a clone do to a royal line of succession? would churches or politial groups encorage followers to engineer a certain type of child, maybe with blue eyes and blonde hair?
Even with laws in place, discrimination does occur, especially when laws are not enforced.
I collected the emails by hand, trawling through the government website. Federal politicians need to take an interest in laws regarding the internet. As it is, it's hard to have different laws in each country for it, let alone in each bloody state.
You might want to consider emailing the following government ministers, departments and other officals.
richard.alston@dcita.gov.au, W.Truss.MP@aph.gov.au, W.Tuckey.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.troeth@aph.gov.au, senator.ellison@aph.gov.au, Peter.McGauran.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.campbell@aph.gov.au, Peter.Reith.MP@aph.gov.au, Bruce.Scott.MP@aph.gov.au, B.Nelson.MP@aph.gov.au, D.Kemp.MP@aph.gov.au, T.Worth.MP@aph.gov.au, Tony.Abbott.MP@aph.gov.au, Mal.Brough.MP@aph.gov.au, Ian.Macfarlane.MP@aph.gov.au, S.Stone.MP@aph.gov.au, Larry.Anthony.MP@aph.gov.au, John.Fahey.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.abetz@aph.gov.au, P.Slipper.MP@aph.gov.au, A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au, Mark.Vaile.MP@aph.gov.au, Michael.Wooldridge.MP@aph.gov.au, Bronwyn.Bishop.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.tambling@aph.gov.au, senator.minchin@aph.gov.au, Jackie.Kelly.MP@aph.gov.au, Warren.Entsch.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.heffernan@aph.gov.au, John.Anderson.MP@aph.gov.au, senator.ian.macdonald@aph.gov.au, senator.boswell@aph.gov.au, senator.rod.kemp@aph.gov.au, Joe.Hockey.MP@aph.gov.au
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
That's something politicans will have a hard time ignoring with any sort of credibility.
stickers or other branding materials would also be valid, and help spread the word.
is here
and was as follows:
Thanks for your comments. You are right, the article overstates. When I was in politics we always said journalists are really fight promoters! NO we do not want to shut down libraries. They are great customers. We do want to be sure a thriving literary community continues to thrive and I think Librarians want this also. We need to work together to do it. Pat Schroeder
Congratulations Jon Katz on writing something worth reading, especially on such a worthwhile topic. You kind of lost it towards the end though. An unbiased article is a much better article. Offer both sides, but let the reader make the decision.
Actual reply:
She did, quoting a classmate as saying: "We want to kill people; we're sick of them." (If I or anyone reading this called the police everytime we came across that comment online, a lot of teenage boys would be in jail.) She said the boy later threatened her for reporting his remarks.
He was immediately charged with making terrorist threats and intimidating a witness, and a juvenile court judge ordered him to serve six months' probation, according to the Times.
Maybe it's a culture difference... but what I find the most disturbing is the lawsuit aspect.
Schools have been asking kids to dob in other kids for years and years, they rely on it to some extent as a way of knowing what's going on.
But when did bad social behaviour in school lead to a lawsuit? I doubt the girl in question would have been sued if the boy in question had not been legally charged.
Here in Australia I am guessing that the boy *might* have been reported to the police, merely as a precaution, would definately have had detention or possibly suspension. If the police are so worried, counselling may have more effect than a legal charge.
People who are going to kill people don't actually worry about it being against the law.
Can you sue someone who provides evidence against you in the US? who pressed the charges... the school, the girl's parents or the State?
A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge threw out his suit, but not before the girl's family had spent $40,000 in legal fees defending her.
Again, maybe this is a difference in where I live, but if someone sues you and loses, don't they have to pay your legal fees?
As for the parents of the boy, if it was said in jest, and he's just on probation, why not let it go? do juvenile crime records effect the rest of your life in the USA?
What sort of lesson did these parents teach their boy about making threats? that if you have a good lawyer you can get away with it? that it's socially acceptable?
I know these school shootings have effected Americans quite heavily, but please remember behind the crime, behind the gun, there's a person with a problem.
I miss Seaquest...
I sent an email to Ms Schroeder, giving my point of view, and bringing up a few points that were mentioned in /.
Her email response is as follows:
Thanks for your comments. You are right, the article overstates. When I was in politics we always said journalists are really fight promoters! NO we do not want to shut down libraries. They are great customers. We do want to be sure a thriving literary community continues to thrive and I think Librarians want this also. We need to work together to do it. Pat Schroeder