Europeans may put up with more government intervention into their lives, however they at least have a social welfare state to show for their trouble. We are heading to the point where we have the worst of both - all the social controls of the nanny state with none of the social benefits. Like it or not, the Europeans have created their social contract with their govnerments - subsidized universal healthcare, retirement, the dole, all at the price of a more intrusive government. The US formerly had the opposite, no real government social support network, but a laissez-faire attitude towards individual freedom.
Soon we will have neither individual liberty nor any social welfare system. We will be free to starve in a police state.
The FBI has ruled that unverified infomration may now be included in the National Crime Information Center . This database is restricted to law enforcement use only - citizens are not allowed to view their own records. Background checks for employement in many cases rely on this database. Formerly, only information known to be accurate was to be included. This requirement has been lifted because "it is administratively impossible to ensure compliance." (e.g. too damn hard for us..)
...I guess maybe I'm less concerned with rights regarding, say, how I get out of having drugs in my car once I am hauled into jail for it.
The naive believe that police would never, ever plant drugs on someone just to set them up. Setting up political dissidents on drug charges did in fact occur many times at one point about 30 years ago. Then it was opposition to US government foreign policy. Perhaps now being too vocal about owning deadly weapons and demanding the right to do so.
This is one reason criminal defense attorneys advise folks to never allow police into your home, even if you are sure you are innocent of any crime. This is a reason innocent people should support the rights of the accused.
I'd vote for the IBM mainframe. First released in oh about 1964. Declared dead many times (first the DEC VAX, then PC LANs, then UNIX,...). Still around doing what they were always best at - high volume transaction processing. Possibly given a new life by the need for stable reliable systems to host Web-based electronic commerce. An assembly language program written in 1965 will still compile and execute properly.
How much of current American properity is due to military dominance? If this dominance ceases to matter (or just plain fades) will we continue to be properous?
Consider..
The UK was once the world's economic and military powerhouse.
Its dominance was challenged in the late 19th century by Germany. The practical arts of manufacture and commerce were not valued in British society at the time - not the case in Germany. German advances in chemical engineering and aircraft made it a formidable adversary in WWI.
Growing military importance of aircraft dimished the importance of the British fleet in maintaining world domination - a technical advance passed by this great empire and removed its monopoly on military power.
Despite this, in 1950 UK was still a major exporter of durable goods, a surprising portion of autos and consumer goods were still made there. This soon vanished.
By the 1960's, the premier UK businesses were service oriented - advertising, finance, etc. They had lost all real edge in "goods" manufacture.
Sometime in the 1980's the former world power found its GDP surpassed by former defeated WWII opponent Italy.
Control over an empire may have masked deficiencies in how the UK innovated and marketed innovations. Once the empire dissolved in the 1950's a serious decline began.
If I had mod points, you'd get one for "funny". I've personnaly known some grad students who seemed like they'd spent way too much time in outer space.....
I would suggest that all psychopaths learn to control their violent tendencies. By doing so, they ensure themselves successful careers at the pinnacle of American business.
It shows you are an honest person, yes. This is good.
It also means the prospective employer does not have to go through the trouble of doing a background check before sending your resume to the circular file.
And if they don't ask, but the information comes out anyway?
Or would you claim that the city of Washington, DC has elements of American Indian culture because those peoples once lived there before being displaced?
Absurd.
So who was it that named the "Potomac" river? Sounds like an element of American Indian culture to me.
The problem isn't thre record itself - the sole fact of being arrested is usually enough to lose your job.
By the time the record is purged, the damage to your life has already been done.
Besides, this only purges it from the PUBLIC records database. A reference check with prior roomates, the employer who fired you for getting arrested, talkative relatives, the ex who wants to see you rot - these will all turn up the arrest even if the public record says you are clean. I mean, how do you explain the absence from the labor market? An unexplained gap in your job history alone will get you deep-sixed from many employment offers.
I thought you were making a statement about "equality" turned to "bone". I looked up "bonified" in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and found the following:
The word you've entered isn't in the dictionary. Click on a spelling suggestion below or try again using the Dictionary search box to the right.
May be of interest, but there is a vendor, Cybernetics, that offers a tape drive that encrypts backup media in hardware. See this article.
Keys are stored in smart cards. Reading backup tapes requires a Cyberntics drive and the correct key. Obviously you need to manage this very well to avoid being SOL during an actual recovery situation.
Of course, consider how vulnerable your backup media really is. I don't need to hack your network, just show up in an Iron Mountain uniform with forged ID maybe 30 minutes before the real Iron Mountain guy shows up. I then drive off with ALL you data.
With the war in Europe over, Stalin ahd begun the process of occupying Japan. The dropping of the bomb was designed to initimidate Stalin. The dropping of a second bomb was to show we had a whole arsenal of the things and not just one. Stalin was quite serious about this - even spoke about re-taking Alaska. We knew Japan would surrender soon enough. We knew WWII was over, and the Cold War had begun.
...try studying some history instead of just whining...
Yes, true manly men don't question their leaders using weapons of mass destruction. We worship the use of force. We glory in our opponent's destruction.
Oral and implied contracts are perfectly enforceable in many (all?) states
Oh great, just what I need. A talking software package.
Dear customer, you just just picked up this package of software xyz for purchase. Please listen carefully while I explain the End User Licensing agreement. Please state "yes" or "no" clearly after I explain each term...
OK, if citizens are expected to dies, then citizens better be given a damn good reason, at least in a democracy.
If democratic governments are accountable to their citizens for anything, then asking these citizens to give their lives requires accountability.
Slaves on the other hand, do as their masters say. Slaves are their master's property, and as such have no rights.
Your idea that governments have to right to send their citizens to death without explanation, and to expect the citizenry to unquestioningly accept as reason "we can't tell you - it's a secret" is interesting. Mussolini? Stalin perhaps?
So now we are forced to publicly show evidence on Iraq, and potentially lose another advantage in the war of information, all to appease the peaceniks who say there's no reason to invade Iraq.
So here we have the most dramatic possible action a government can take (declaring war) and you believe we have no right to see the justification for this? "Don't question the government - they have their reasons"? Are we not supposed to live in a democracy? Or has that changed somewhow?
Our government has a history of lying to the public to sucker people into fighting wars. The cult of government secrecy has long distorted our public policy.
If someone expects me to die for them, they better give me a damn good reason, not "trust me. I know some secrets that I can't tell you."
The culture of entitlement isn't satisfied with this arrangement, though. The culture of entitlement says that it's every American's God-given right to play CD's on his computer, and that it's every American's God-given right to make MP3's. The culture of entitlement can get stuffed.
Issues of access to culture, of its reproduction and distribution have always been central to freedom of speech. In many cases, the individuals or organizations pushing the issue have been famously unpopular and have pushed issues with which the population at large have had strong disagreements. Consider Henry Miller, Lenny Bruce, even Larry Flint.
Once, the printing press was a new technology. Publishing the Bible in the vernacular was illegal. For this crime William Tyndale paid dearly:
Tyndale's king, Henry VIII, banned the English Bible, destroyed every copy he could get his hands on, and demolished scores of monasteries throughout the country. Then, for good measure, he had Tyndale burned at the stake.
The issues discussed in Slashdot about rights of publication, rights to access material, rights to participate in culture in ways not officially approved go to the very heart of freedom. The access to this culture determines how and when we may discuss all other issues.
This is true even if the folks downloading MP3s are not very sympathetic. The changes wrought by the printing press were due to the efforts of criminal heretics like Tyndale. The changes that will be wrought by digital replication are being wrought by other folks considered equally criminal and unsavory.
This issue also exists with common Web site blocking strategies. Attempting to block Web sites (actually entire IP addresses) inevitably restricts some sites that are innocuous or even useful. The difference is that the blocked site can't complain about it - the sender of email that is mistakenly blocked can.
As various forms of "content filtering" become widespread, expect more of this in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
"libre" as in speech, and "gratis" as in beer?
Yes, and if they ever thaw out a long frozen Viking, they could have him playing "Tux Rider" in no time!
(Icelandic supposedly being very close to Old Norse)
Today Andalucia, tomorrow Catalonia!
Europeans may put up with more government intervention into their lives, however they at least have a social welfare state to show for their trouble. We are heading to the point where we have the worst of both - all the social controls of the nanny state with none of the social benefits. Like it or not, the Europeans have created their social contract with their govnerments - subsidized universal healthcare, retirement, the dole, all at the price of a more intrusive government. The US formerly had the opposite, no real government social support network, but a laissez-faire attitude towards individual freedom.
Soon we will have neither individual liberty nor any social welfare system. We will be free to starve in a police state.
Expect now all sorts of rumor and innuendo to be included, such as results of police activity spying on lawful political groups.
The naive believe that police would never, ever plant drugs on someone just to set them up. Setting up political dissidents on drug charges did in fact occur many times at one point about 30 years ago. Then it was opposition to US government foreign policy. Perhaps now being too vocal about owning deadly weapons and demanding the right to do so.
This is one reason criminal defense attorneys advise folks to never allow police into your home, even if you are sure you are innocent of any crime. This is a reason innocent people should support the rights of the accused.
I think it was maybe 1968....
I'd vote for the IBM mainframe. First released in oh about 1964. Declared dead many times (first the DEC VAX, then PC LANs, then UNIX, ...). Still around doing what they were always best at - high volume transaction processing. Possibly given a new life by the need for stable reliable systems to host Web-based electronic commerce. An assembly language program written in 1965 will still compile and execute properly.
How much of current American properity is due to military dominance? If this dominance ceases to matter (or just plain fades) will we continue to be properous?
Consider..
The UK was once the world's economic and military powerhouse.
Its dominance was challenged in the late 19th century by Germany. The practical arts of manufacture and commerce were not valued in British society at the time - not the case in Germany. German advances in chemical engineering and aircraft made it a formidable adversary in WWI.
Growing military importance of aircraft dimished the importance of the British fleet in maintaining world domination - a technical advance passed by this great empire and removed its monopoly on military power.
Despite this, in 1950 UK was still a major exporter of durable goods, a surprising portion of autos and consumer goods were still made there. This soon vanished.
By the 1960's, the premier UK businesses were service oriented - advertising, finance, etc. They had lost all real edge in "goods" manufacture.
Sometime in the 1980's the former world power found its GDP surpassed by former defeated WWII opponent Italy.
Control over an empire may have masked deficiencies in how the UK innovated and marketed innovations. Once the empire dissolved in the 1950's a serious decline began.
Any lessons here?
If I had mod points, you'd get one for "funny". I've personnaly known some grad students who seemed like they'd spent way too much time in outer space.....
I would suggest that all psychopaths learn to control their violent tendencies. By doing so, they ensure themselves successful careers at the pinnacle of American business.
All right, you win. I should have used another example.
It also means the prospective employer does not have to go through the trouble of doing a background check before sending your resume to the circular file.
And if they don't ask, but the information comes out anyway?
Absurd.
So who was it that named the "Potomac" river? Sounds like an element of American Indian culture to me.
By the time the record is purged, the damage to your life has already been done.
Besides, this only purges it from the PUBLIC records database. A reference check with prior roomates, the employer who fired you for getting arrested, talkative relatives, the ex who wants to see you rot - these will all turn up the arrest even if the public record says you are clean. I mean, how do you explain the absence from the labor market? An unexplained gap in your job history alone will get you deep-sixed from many employment offers.
I thought you were making a statement about "equality" turned to "bone". I looked up "bonified" in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary and found the following:
So is it the bonefish or the bonfire that you believe should have "equality of use"?
Keys are stored in smart cards. Reading backup tapes requires a Cyberntics drive and the correct key. Obviously you need to manage this very well to avoid being SOL during an actual recovery situation.
Of course, consider how vulnerable your backup media really is. I don't need to hack your network, just show up in an Iron Mountain uniform with forged ID maybe 30 minutes before the real Iron Mountain guy shows up. I then drive off with ALL you data.
Ah lawyers...
Watching Ally McBeal and waiting for the episode where she has a nervous breakdown because she's not making her weekly billable hours quota.
Where brand-new associates get an office with a view, instead of a rennovated broom closet.
And nobody is cursing the crappy work the secretaries do.
And the young attorneys are never abused about not billing enough (see point number 1)
TV lawyers make depictions of hackers in Swordfish look realistic....
Yes, true manly men don't question their leaders using weapons of mass destruction. We worship the use of force. We glory in our opponent's destruction.
If you are a customer of DirecTV, however (IANAL) reverse engineering their cable decoder can't be a trade secret violation.
That's the difference.
Oh great, just what I need. A talking software package.
Dear customer, you just just picked up this package of software xyz for purchase. Please listen carefully while I explain the End User Licensing agreement. Please state "yes" or "no" clearly after I explain each term...
If democratic governments are accountable to their citizens for anything, then asking these citizens to give their lives requires accountability.
Slaves on the other hand, do as their masters say. Slaves are their master's property, and as such have no rights.
Your idea that governments have to right to send their citizens to death without explanation, and to expect the citizenry to unquestioningly accept as reason "we can't tell you - it's a secret" is interesting. Mussolini? Stalin perhaps?
So here we have the most dramatic possible action a government can take (declaring war) and you believe we have no right to see the justification for this? "Don't question the government - they have their reasons"? Are we not supposed to live in a democracy? Or has that changed somewhow?
Our government has a history of lying to the public to sucker people into fighting wars. The cult of government secrecy has long distorted our public policy.
If someone expects me to die for them, they better give me a damn good reason, not "trust me. I know some secrets that I can't tell you."
Issues of access to culture, of its reproduction and distribution have always been central to freedom of speech. In many cases, the individuals or organizations pushing the issue have been famously unpopular and have pushed issues with which the population at large have had strong disagreements. Consider Henry Miller, Lenny Bruce, even Larry Flint.
Once, the printing press was a new technology. Publishing the Bible in the vernacular was illegal. For this crime William Tyndale paid dearly:
The issues discussed in Slashdot about rights of publication, rights to access material, rights to participate in culture in ways not officially approved go to the very heart of freedom. The access to this culture determines how and when we may discuss all other issues.
This is true even if the folks downloading MP3s are not very sympathetic. The changes wrought by the printing press were due to the efforts of criminal heretics like Tyndale. The changes that will be wrought by digital replication are being wrought by other folks considered equally criminal and unsavory.
As various forms of "content filtering" become widespread, expect more of this in the future.