I think we all need to remember that our federal government is on the brink of war with possibly some other nations (Afganistan et al). In times of war, our liberties sometimes go away for a time. But they always return. I don't think there's anyone who can say "boy, America was a lot more free before Hitler". Relax, folks. America will return to the "free" society we all love and admire once we've overcome terrorism at its worst.
This is the exact same argument that the U.S. Supreme gave when it handed down its decision in Korematsu vs United States. I'm afraid its always easy to talk about sacrificing rights for the sake of security, as long as it's someone else's rights.
Not only was decision upheld, the legal precident is still on the books. This precident states that the government may bypass the 5th and 14th amendments out of military necessity. Once those are bypassed, freedom of speech doesn't matter because no one will hear you.
"The Gospel of the Monarchical Patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: 'Our Country, right or wrong!'"
"I would teach patriotism in the schools, and teach it this way: I would throw out the old maxim, 'My country, right or wrong,' etc., and instead I would say, 'My country when she is right.'"
You're right. It's very unlikely that the US government will order the evacuation of Arab or Muslim Americans. However, the only thing acutally preventing it is the court of public opinion. IANAL, but the US government has this legal precident with which it can justify any future exclusion orders. And if you think only people who look "different" are subject to this kind of thing, think again. This is some scary shit.
I haven't seen much coverage of this in the major US news sources, but both Globe and Mail and BBC have stories of senseless attacks on Arabs and Muslims in North America. One of my co-workers had to keep his kids from school because of bomb threats.
Sixty years ago, out of fear and anger, members of my family, along with thousands of other Canadians and Americans of Japanese descent were put in internment camps. I say this to remind people that, the road from finger pointing and mindless reprisals to invasion of privacy, censorship and suspension of individual freedom is very short indeed. With all the recent media comparisons to Pearl Harbor, I fear that history may be heading in a very disturbing direction.
Vigilance is paramount now, not in looking for scapegoats or suspects, but in watching for government abuses. Don't look back twenty years from now and think "I can't believe such an abuse of civil liberties happened in this country". It may be happening already.
Like everyone else, I've been watching the events of the last two days in shock, disbelief, anger, anxiety and sadness. We've seen the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights to which it can rise. We hope that the world never has to endure something like this again. We know that it probably will. I want to leave this discussion with a final thought.
In Vancouver's Stanley Park, behind the aquarium, is a column with the dates 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, as well as some names. They are names of Japanese Canadians who died in the service of their country. One of the names belongs to my grandfather's cousin. He served with the 50th Battalion, 4th Canadian Infantry division (Alberta Regiment) in WWI. He died on Friday, 26th October, 1917 and was buried near the town of Ypres in West Flanders.
Twenty-four years later members of his family (my family) are sitting in horse stalls awaiting relocation to a camp in the interior.
Please, please, please, do no take your anger and frustration out on your fellow citizens. They are not your enemy. They are your fellow countrymen and patriots. And they are hurting. Do not act out of rage, fear or paranoia. Don't look back twenty years from now and say "I can't believe something like that happened here". The time to prevent injustice is now.
Peace.
Re:What can be done about terrorism?
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More On Tragedy
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· Score: 1
The first thing I think we can do is stop calling this an "act of war". Although these terrorists may train in military tactics, they are not soldiers. They are murderers, pure and simple. Calling their actions an "act of war", firing missiles at their camps, etc, only makes them think that they're warriors taking on the most powerful nation on Earth. They most certainly are not. We have to see them and their actions for what they are: crimes committed by criminals. This is matter of law enforcement, not military retaliation. I don't think the U.S. military should be in the business of trying to assassinate criminal leaders. Imagine a SEAL team hit on a Mafia don. I don't think so. The perpetrators should be hunted down, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced like criminals. We may not get the viceral satisfaction of blowing things up in retaliation, but it will put these terrorist in their place.
A lot of good games have been suggested. However, you might want to try leaving a few of the PCs blank. Get some Linux CDs and let the kids have at it. Let them install and configure the PCs themselves and let them simply explore or develop their own games. Place restrictions on the types of games they can develop if you have to. You mentioned low literacy rates. Perhaps this will give them an incentive to improve their reading ability. It will help develop their technical and analytical skills and it will give them an alternative to just racking up high scores.
Thanks for the info. This will allow me to complete the reactor on schedule. Now, if can only get the weather machine and germ warfare divisions going I'd be set.
Spending 12 hours a day as a drone in a small enclosed space, surrounded by other drones in their small enclosed spaces? Add a Luminglass to your cube to complete the effect.
On a spaceship that sends trained monkeys out in pods rather than risking humans, Capt Davidson's favorite, Pericles, gets lost in a nebula. It's a neat sequence, with Davidson defying orders to set out after him. Strange space storms wreck his navigation systems, though, and he crash lands on the nearest planet. Leo barely hits the ground, though, before vicious ape soldiers out to capture and sell humans into slavery are after him and his kind.
Hmm... was it just me, or did anyone else think "Rimmerworld" when they read this?
WT News: "Chinese Red Flag Virus targets White House."
NYT News: "Whitehouse.gov target of Internet Worm."
WT Ed: none.(WT will not have an editorial about the worm)
NYT Ed: "Microsoft's Continuing Security Woes."
Caffeine is a diuretic. Drinking large quantities of it after a workout will do nothing for rehydration. In fact it will dehydrate you further. Mixing it with alchohol and engaging in physical activity (dancing at a club for instance) is just asking for trouble.
You have to remember that back then, the primary reason for going into space was for national prestige and oneupsmanship between the US and the Soviet Union. In an evironment like that, the countries involved are, of course, going to work hard to turn their astronauts and cosmonauts in superstars. That climate no longer exists and space is now a business. So space missions are more boring and practical and astronauts and cosmonauts are reduced to, well, drivers.
I agree. The fact that the series will be a prequel might have some advantages. No holodecks will be a big plus.
One of the problems I had with Voyager was that even after seven years in the Delta Quadrant the ship still looked like it just left the shipyards. With the stories set in the proto-Federation time period hopefully the new Enterprise with have a less spit-and-polish feel and a more held-together-by-wishful-thinking-and-duct-tape feel to it. Unfortuately, with less than state-of-the-art transporters and warp engines we might end up with more episodes involving transporter accidents (ugh) or warp malfunction/space-time anomolies (double ugh!).
Everyone knows global warming is a conspiracy hatched by the Canadian Tourism Board to boost tourism by turning Manitoba into "Mazatlan North". Damn Canadian winters.
I work for the IT wing of a regonal telco. Our training budgets are fairly generous. We get two weeks paid training time per year, plus we have access to a company wide computer based training over our intranet. The CBT is fairly lightweight and not too useful for any hardcore technical information. However, we're required to go through an equivalent CBT course first (if available) before we apply for offsite training.
Every time I see a story about Loch Ness it reminds me of the following story.
Up here in Canada there's a national lottery called the 6/49. The odds of hitting the jackpot is approximately 1 in 14 million, yet thousands of people buy tickets every week.
Anyway, about 6 years ago I heard a story on the radio about how London bookies sets odds for weird things happening. I can't remember the exact odds but they went something like this:
Elvis being found alive - 400:1
Loch Ness monster being captured - 600:1
A UFO landing on the White House lawn - 1000:1
And the biggest of all
A UFO driven by Elvis crashing into Loch Ness and killing the monster - 14 million to 1
which are the same odds as hitting the 6/49 jackpot.
Kinda puts things into perspective.
If both CS and CIS degrees lead you to the same types of jobs then the actual degree becomes irrelevant. Your choice then becomes what you want out of your education. I went into CS rather than MIS because that's what I was interested in. If you just want to get a degree and start working as soon as possible then go CIS. However, keep in mind that there are alot of topics in CS that you probably won't learn in CIS:
Computer graphics. This was the most fun computer course I ever took. This was the only time I ever had to actually use linear algebra.
Programming language theory. Not very practical, I know, but still good to know.
Hardware. Gives you a different set of mental tools to work with. Great for simplifying complicated logic.
Artificial intelligence. Explodes a lot of myths about the capabilities of AI systems. Programming in lisp or prolog will give you a different perspective. Modeling neural nets using a spreadsheet was fun too.
None of this stuff is vey practical in my working life. However, I still find those topics fascinating even if I don't use them every day. Remember that you'll have the rest of your life to grind VB or cobol for some corporation. Most of us go through school only once so make the most if it. If you choose CIS do it because that's what you're interested in, not because it's expedient.
Slashdot Mirror
I think we all need to remember that our federal government is on the brink of war with possibly some other nations (Afganistan et al). In times of war, our liberties sometimes go away for a time. But they always return. I don't think there's anyone who can say "boy, America was a lot more free before Hitler". Relax, folks. America will return to the "free" society we all love and admire once we've overcome terrorism at its worst.
This is the exact same argument that the U.S. Supreme gave when it handed down its decision in Korematsu vs United States. I'm afraid its always easy to talk about sacrificing rights for the sake of security, as long as it's someone else's rights.
Not only was decision upheld, the legal precident is still on the books. This precident states that the government may bypass the 5th and 14th amendments out of military necessity. Once those are bypassed, freedom of speech doesn't matter because no one will hear you.
Quotes from Mark Twain:
"The Gospel of the Monarchical Patriotism is: "The King can do no wrong." We have adopted it with all its servility, with an unimportant change in the wording: 'Our Country, right or wrong!'"
"I would teach patriotism in the schools, and teach it this way: I would throw out the old maxim, 'My country, right or wrong,' etc., and instead I would say, 'My country when she is right.'"
-- Mark Twain
You're right. It's very unlikely that the US government will order the evacuation of Arab or Muslim Americans. However, the only thing acutally preventing it is the court of public opinion. IANAL, but the US government has this legal precident with which it can justify any future exclusion orders. And if you think only people who look "different" are subject to this kind of thing, think again. This is some scary shit.
I haven't seen much coverage of this in the major US news sources, but both Globe and Mail and BBC have stories of senseless attacks on Arabs and Muslims in North America. One of my co-workers had to keep his kids from school because of bomb threats.
Sixty years ago, out of fear and anger, members of my family, along with thousands of other Canadians and Americans of Japanese descent were put in internment camps. I say this to remind people that, the road from finger pointing and mindless reprisals to invasion of privacy, censorship and suspension of individual freedom is very short indeed. With all the recent media comparisons to Pearl Harbor, I fear that history may be heading in a very disturbing direction.
Vigilance is paramount now, not in looking for scapegoats or suspects, but in watching for government abuses. Don't look back twenty years from now and think "I can't believe such an abuse of civil liberties happened in this country". It may be happening already.
Like everyone else, I've been watching the events of the last two days in shock, disbelief, anger, anxiety and sadness. We've seen the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights to which it can rise. We hope that the world never has to endure something like this again. We know that it probably will. I want to leave this discussion with a final thought.
In Vancouver's Stanley Park, behind the aquarium, is a column with the dates 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, as well as some names. They are names of Japanese Canadians who died in the service of their country. One of the names belongs to my grandfather's cousin. He served with the 50th Battalion, 4th Canadian Infantry division (Alberta Regiment) in WWI. He died on Friday, 26th October, 1917 and was buried near the town of Ypres in West Flanders.
Twenty-four years later members of his family (my family) are sitting in horse stalls awaiting relocation to a camp in the interior.
Please, please, please, do no take your anger and frustration out on your fellow citizens. They are not your enemy. They are your fellow countrymen and patriots. And they are hurting. Do not act out of rage, fear or paranoia. Don't look back twenty years from now and say "I can't believe something like that happened here". The time to prevent injustice is now.
Peace.
The first thing I think we can do is stop calling this an "act of war". Although these terrorists may train in military tactics, they are not soldiers. They are murderers, pure and simple. Calling their actions an "act of war", firing missiles at their camps, etc, only makes them think that they're warriors taking on the most powerful nation on Earth. They most certainly are not. We have to see them and their actions for what they are: crimes committed by criminals. This is matter of law enforcement, not military retaliation. I don't think the U.S. military should be in the business of trying to assassinate criminal leaders. Imagine a SEAL team hit on a Mafia don. I don't think so. The perpetrators should be hunted down, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced like criminals. We may not get the viceral satisfaction of blowing things up in retaliation, but it will put these terrorist in their place.
A lot of good games have been suggested. However, you might want to try leaving a few of the PCs blank. Get some Linux CDs and let the kids have at it. Let them install and configure the PCs themselves and let them simply explore or develop their own games. Place restrictions on the types of games they can develop if you have to. You mentioned low literacy rates. Perhaps this will give them an incentive to improve their reading ability. It will help develop their technical and analytical skills and it will give them an alternative to just racking up high scores.
Xerox is a copier company, not a software company.
Thanks for the info. This will allow me to complete the reactor on schedule. Now, if can only get the weather machine and germ warfare divisions going I'd be set.
Finally, a place where I can buy business hammocks.
Spending 12 hours a day as a drone in a small enclosed space, surrounded by other drones in their small enclosed spaces? Add a Luminglass to your cube to complete the effect.
Interesting. I guess that's why Excalibur is the "sword in the stone". It was a stone mould.
Hmm... was it just me, or did anyone else think "Rimmerworld" when they read this?
Doh! The WT News should read
"Chinese Code Red Virus targets White House".
WT News: "Chinese Red Flag Virus targets White House."
NYT News: "Whitehouse.gov target of Internet Worm."
WT Ed: none.(WT will not have an editorial about the worm)
NYT Ed: "Microsoft's Continuing Security Woes."
Caffeine is a diuretic. Drinking large quantities of it after a workout will do nothing for rehydration. In fact it will dehydrate you further. Mixing it with alchohol and engaging in physical activity (dancing at a club for instance) is just asking for trouble.
New "Shimmer!"
It's a Floor Wax AND a Dessert Topping!
You have to remember that back then, the primary reason for going into space was for national prestige and oneupsmanship between the US and the Soviet Union. In an evironment like that, the countries involved are, of course, going to work hard to turn their astronauts and cosmonauts in superstars. That climate no longer exists and space is now a business. So space missions are more boring and practical and astronauts and cosmonauts are reduced to, well, drivers.
I agree. The fact that the series will be a prequel might have some advantages. No holodecks will be a big plus.
One of the problems I had with Voyager was that even after seven years in the Delta Quadrant the ship still looked like it just left the shipyards. With the stories set in the proto-Federation time period hopefully the new Enterprise with have a less spit-and-polish feel and a more held-together-by-wishful-thinking-and-duct-tape feel to it. Unfortuately, with less than state-of-the-art transporters and warp engines we might end up with more episodes involving transporter accidents (ugh) or warp malfunction/space-time anomolies (double ugh!).
Everyone knows global warming is a conspiracy hatched by the Canadian Tourism Board to boost tourism by turning Manitoba into "Mazatlan North". Damn Canadian winters.
for most calculations I do, except when I try to use it to run Doom in deathmatch mode, then slide rules really bog down.
I work for the IT wing of a regonal telco. Our training budgets are fairly generous. We get two weeks paid training time per year, plus we have access to a company wide computer based training over our intranet. The CBT is fairly lightweight and not too useful for any hardcore technical information. However, we're required to go through an equivalent CBT course first (if available) before we apply for offsite training.
Up here in Canada there's a national lottery called the 6/49. The odds of hitting the jackpot is approximately 1 in 14 million, yet thousands of people buy tickets every week.
Anyway, about 6 years ago I heard a story on the radio about how London bookies sets odds for weird things happening. I can't remember the exact odds but they went something like this:
Elvis being found alive - 400:1
Loch Ness monster being captured - 600:1
A UFO landing on the White House lawn - 1000:1
And the biggest of all
A UFO driven by Elvis crashing into Loch Ness and killing the monster - 14 million to 1
which are the same odds as hitting the 6/49 jackpot. Kinda puts things into perspective.
Computer graphics. This was the most fun computer course I ever took. This was the only time I ever had to actually use linear algebra.
Programming language theory. Not very practical, I know, but still good to know.
Hardware. Gives you a different set of mental tools to work with. Great for simplifying complicated logic.
Artificial intelligence. Explodes a lot of myths about the capabilities of AI systems. Programming in lisp or prolog will give you a different perspective. Modeling neural nets using a spreadsheet was fun too.
None of this stuff is vey practical in my working life. However, I still find those topics fascinating even if I don't use them every day. Remember that you'll have the rest of your life to grind VB or cobol for some corporation. Most of us go through school only once so make the most if it. If you choose CIS do it because that's what you're interested in, not because it's expedient.