Come on over to Holland some time. Everyone has a bike, and only the tourists wear helmets. Yet somehow you never hear a thing about what you mentioned. Guess it's some sort of conspiracy by brain surgeons to stay business.
I still feel there's a distinct difference in the Dutch way of seeing things and the American way of seeing things.
I sort of felt the same way, till I saw a news report on alchol abuse by teenagers in Friesland. The report pretty much stated that the gov had to take care of it because more than half of the parents involved had just "given up". Now this isn't so much a matter of PC as it is of tough love when needed, but seriously, how can you "give up"?
Why don't we give the governance of internet stuff to somebody like Switzerland? They look like they could do a good job, they have the money and good reasons to do a good job on worldwide internationalization of internet.
Who, those crazy CERN folks that invented it? Are you nuts? What do they know?
Still, I can't help but like the system as Heinlein portrayed it in Starship Troopers, where the right to vote is earned by spending a certain amount of time serving your fellow man. Perhaps having to work as a nurse for 2 years would make people feel different about the value of their vote, whereas their apathetic brethren unwilling to spend 5 minutes to investigate what their candidate is actually about would suddenly no longer be in the picture, leaving the future of the country/world/community/whatever in the hands of those who've proven they actually can be bothered to give a damn.
Any rational evaluation of the mass starvations and outright idealistic purges that mark communism can only conclude that it's wrong and evil.
So the only possible explanation for these atrocities is the political-economic system in use at the time, and has nothing to do with other factors, such as the people actually in charge of said system? Sounds really rational to me.
Wrong exists. Evil exists. Both existed and still exist outside and regardless of the then Soviet Union.
Why do you feel it necessary to somehow compare the US and the SU, instead of, rationally as you claim, consider each as a separate entity under different circumstances?
Yet shared property is a feasible concept. Does it make sense to declare that fishing rod as "yours" when you spend your days working the land while your neighbour who has no farming skills can't go out and fish?
In small communities where everyone knows everyone it's doable. Think a family, a kibbuts-like concept, etc.
And yes, dogs understand property rights. Dogs will also do pretty much anything to get their next meal. Human beings, on the other hand, are capable(in theory anyway) to set aside their primary desires and make a choice on an intellectual level to prioritize other things. Just because the vast majority of folks don't seem able to turn of the "mine! mine!" part doesn't make it a human right by default.
There is a good solution to this. Do not buy music, films, games and commercial software. Use open source instead of copying. If everyone do this, the media producers and software companies will lick our feet.
I've got an even better one...start electing some half-decent people into public office for a change! And if you can't find any, convince a half-decent person to run and then vote for him.
It's not as though the Dutch bother to learn 1, or 2, or 3+ foreign languages...I mean, surely we'd have been too occupied with our windmills to be able to read a mail in Engrish;-)
C) Geeks that having an ubercool toy will get them sex with a non-geek.
Are those still around? Lately it seems all the women in my social circle have taken up watching stargate, giving up on helpdesks and configuring their own wireless networks and other traditionally geek-related activities. Heck, you know shit has hit the fan when you find out your PHB has started playing WoW and wants your advice on whether to go for an SLI setup or not(and actually makes some sort of sense when using the terminology involved).
Time for internet2 to open up to the old incrowd i guess;-)
Sounds like a brilliant move to me. Instead of getting worldwide criticism for the way they handle the overpopulation problem, the chinese government has figured out a way to accomplish the same objective while letting private businesses take the flak instead.
If you play the prisoner set out to save the world, I'll happily take on the role of the Daedroth intent on stopping you(and dragging the whole place into Oblivion while I'm at it);-)
Hmm, I distinctly recall buying FFVIII a long long time ago without having a clue what it was about, and being completely blown away by a lot of the movies and their quality.
We both know Microsoft will continue to endeavor to maintain maximum synergy with the various heavy users of e-mail throughout Nigeria. A spokesperson was quoted as saying "We believe Exchance is the perfect solution forr the bulk amounts of e-mail commonly found in Nigeria's main industries".
You can't, and shouldn't, be able to legally strongarm true facts about yourself out of the public discussion, should they come to light. Otherwise, every person's reputation is moot-- it's just a positive-spun PR that's worthless in aiding any decisions at all. If your unsavory reputation precedes you, then you shouldn't engage in unsavory practices. If you would argue that your practices aren't unsavory, then be proud of them.
So what you're saying is that if someone somehow manages to find out what your favorite wanking material is you would be totally ok with said information becoming available everywhere?
This is correct, and largely this is a result of the common sentiment of "never that again" in europe concerning what happened in WWII. Is this a restriction on the freedom of speech? Yes, most definitely. Do I feel it is a necessary one? Yes, most definitely. People are stupid and will believe whatever crap you shovel down their throat. This is one kind of crap we will not tolerate again.
What does the US produce which requires 10 times more energy than consumed in China, per person? Most computers and electronic goods are actually manufactured in China; even those consumed in the US. Most of America's wealth is actually services, not manufacturing.... and it's been like this for decades now.
Hot air? Informed sources tells me it takes a lot of energy to sustain.
Nope. But the world can in fact severely hamper the USA's ability to do business. And yes, if you take that scenario all the way the end result might indeed involve clattering(or god forbid, usage) of weapons. I wonder if any of the countries that make sure the american fleet of cars, ships, trucks etc. keep running by providing fuel are in this group of countries.
Slashdot Mirror
Come on over to Holland some time. Everyone has a bike, and only the tourists wear helmets. Yet somehow you never hear a thing about what you mentioned. Guess it's some sort of conspiracy by brain surgeons to stay business.
I still feel there's a distinct difference in the Dutch way of seeing things and the American way of seeing things.
I sort of felt the same way, till I saw a news report on alchol abuse by teenagers in Friesland. The report pretty much stated that the gov had to take care of it because more than half of the parents involved had just "given up". Now this isn't so much a matter of PC as it is of tough love when needed, but seriously, how can you "give up"?
Why don't we give the governance of internet stuff to somebody like Switzerland? They look like they could do a good job, they have the money and good reasons to do a good job on worldwide internationalization of internet.
Who, those crazy CERN folks that invented it? Are you nuts? What do they know?
Still, I can't help but like the system as Heinlein portrayed it in Starship Troopers, where the right to vote is earned by spending a certain amount of time serving your fellow man. Perhaps having to work as a nurse for 2 years would make people feel different about the value of their vote, whereas their apathetic brethren unwilling to spend 5 minutes to investigate what their candidate is actually about would suddenly no longer be in the picture, leaving the future of the country/world/community/whatever in the hands of those who've proven they actually can be bothered to give a damn.
Any rational evaluation of the mass starvations and outright idealistic purges that mark communism can only conclude that it's wrong and evil.
So the only possible explanation for these atrocities is the political-economic system in use at the time, and has nothing to do with other factors, such as the people actually in charge of said system? Sounds really rational to me.
Wrong exists. Evil exists. Both existed and still exist outside and regardless of the then Soviet Union.
Why do you feel it necessary to somehow compare the US and the SU, instead of, rationally as you claim, consider each as a separate entity under different circumstances?
Some folks however, are hung like another thing.
Yet shared property is a feasible concept. Does it make sense to declare that fishing rod as "yours" when you spend your days working the land while your neighbour who has no farming skills can't go out and fish?
In small communities where everyone knows everyone it's doable. Think a family, a kibbuts-like concept, etc.
And yes, dogs understand property rights. Dogs will also do pretty much anything to get their next meal. Human beings, on the other hand, are capable(in theory anyway) to set aside their primary desires and make a choice on an intellectual level to prioritize other things. Just because the vast majority of folks don't seem able to turn of the "mine! mine!" part doesn't make it a human right by default.
*waves hand*
:-)
There is no crisis. These are not the dollar devaluations you are looking for.
*stops waving hand*
On a sidenote, for us europeans who have their websites and irc servers with US hosts things are getting better and better every day
I've been seeing this kind of thing on Discovery for quite a while, for example on the plant used to refit US tanks.
Ofc tank parts aren't as sensitive to first in-first out as foodstuffs, but still, not all that sensational, is it?
Just out of curiosity, are you planning on taking any steps concerning the above? Would love to hear the rest of the story tbh, if there is one.
There is a good solution to this. Do not buy music, films, games and commercial software. Use open source instead of copying. If everyone do this, the media producers and software companies will lick our feet.
I've got an even better one...start electing some half-decent people into public office for a change! And if you can't find any, convince a half-decent person to run and then vote for him.
It's not as though the Dutch bother to learn 1, or 2, or 3+ foreign languages...I mean, surely we'd have been too occupied with our windmills to be able to read a mail in Engrish ;-)
C) Geeks that having an ubercool toy will get them sex with a non-geek.
;-)
Are those still around? Lately it seems all the women in my social circle have taken up watching stargate, giving up on helpdesks and configuring their own wireless networks and other traditionally geek-related activities. Heck, you know shit has hit the fan when you find out your PHB has started playing WoW and wants your advice on whether to go for an SLI setup or not(and actually makes some sort of sense when using the terminology involved).
Time for internet2 to open up to the old incrowd i guess
Revolution? It's the reason ya'all got your asses kicked out of europe in the first place :P
Sounds like a brilliant move to me. Instead of getting worldwide criticism for the way they handle the overpopulation problem, the chinese government has figured out a way to accomplish the same objective while letting private businesses take the flak instead.
If you play the prisoner set out to save the world, I'll happily take on the role of the Daedroth intent on stopping you(and dragging the whole place into Oblivion while I'm at it) ;-)
Hmm, I distinctly recall buying FFVIII a long long time ago without having a clue what it was about, and being completely blown away by a lot of the movies and their quality.
There's some good mods around to fix that, do a bit of googling. After a while the levelling system becomes a bore as well tbqh.
We both know Microsoft will continue to endeavor to maintain maximum synergy with the various heavy users of e-mail throughout Nigeria. A spokesperson was quoted as saying "We believe Exchance is the perfect solution forr the bulk amounts of e-mail commonly found in Nigeria's main industries".
You can't, and shouldn't, be able to legally strongarm true facts about yourself out of the public discussion, should they come to light. Otherwise, every person's reputation is moot-- it's just a positive-spun PR that's worthless in aiding any decisions at all. If your unsavory reputation precedes you, then you shouldn't engage in unsavory practices. If you would argue that your practices aren't unsavory, then be proud of them.
So what you're saying is that if someone somehow manages to find out what your favorite wanking material is you would be totally ok with said information becoming available everywhere?
This is correct, and largely this is a result of the common sentiment of "never that again" in europe concerning what happened in WWII. Is this a restriction on the freedom of speech? Yes, most definitely. Do I feel it is a necessary one? Yes, most definitely. People are stupid and will believe whatever crap you shovel down their throat. This is one kind of crap we will not tolerate again.
Not to mention they're linked to by slashdot on The Funnies, which has been part of my /. homepage for the last 7 years or so.
Then again, so is Helen, which has been discontinued for ages...
Error: insufficient data. Please provide destinations for both trains.
What does the US produce which requires 10 times more energy than consumed in China, per person? Most computers and electronic goods are actually manufactured in China; even those consumed in the US. Most of America's wealth is actually services, not manufacturing.... and it's been like this for decades now.
Hot air? Informed sources tells me it takes a lot of energy to sustain.
Nope. But the world can in fact severely hamper the USA's ability to do business. And yes, if you take that scenario all the way the end result might indeed involve clattering(or god forbid, usage) of weapons. I wonder if any of the countries that make sure the american fleet of cars, ships, trucks etc. keep running by providing fuel are in this group of countries.