>In both cases, you 'mericans only showed up a couple of years later...
I hear you mate. Although I'm amazed at how many people died for little Belgium, I'm more amazed at how the Yanks went from "no wars just or not" to "any war any time"
I have a feeling I agree with what you're saying, but not what you think.
The critical distinction for free speech is between speech as an extension of though vs speech as the result of thinking. You should be allowed to say "Jews suck" if that's what you think, (or you can say you hate me, all Canadians, white people, non-jews) as we should never limit your ability to think. However, speaking can also be an action, and just as we limit your ability to call people and threaten their lives, it's wrong to incite people with "Let's go kill some Jews".
The system is supposed to work because an abundance of information causes statements like "the Jews drink baby blood" to look stupid. The cheif problem arises when people confuse you stating your (if not great, at least truthful) opinion that you don't like jews with you actively hindering them.
I'll be the first to admit that even after 200 years we're still ironing out the details though.
All languages in natural use adopt bits of the languages they're exposed to (English is ridden with French words, and is adopting slang and geek-speak at almost alarming rates). Acadia is free from the dictates of the Academie (which lowered the barriers to entry), and was abandoned in a sea of English (or forcibly exiled there), that any french is spoken at all is mostly a testament to Acadian resilience.
There's a similar situation in Switzerland where they speak an incomprehensible Swiss-German to each other but can get on just fine in regular German (and usually English). All the Acadians know can speak properly in English AND French.
I guess I should say my language is just as valid as yours.
The University of Waterloo teaches both, starting in CS 241. That would be in the second or third term of a Computer Science degree, and it's only an introduction - but from how much trouble classes have with it, I'm not suprised they wait.
"University of Waterloo is has a pedagogical philosophy more along the lines of a community college and scimps on theory"
I'm loving the fact that half the readers of slashdot are from Waterloo. The fact is the single largest complaint in the CS Department (yes, They aren't the same, I know) is that CS at waterloo has too much theory (including Calc, Stats, Alg). Mostly because you guys are stuck on the rump end of the much better Math Faculty.
The second largest complaint is, of course, that the comfy stinks, but I think that's your own fault.
I was one of the protesters in this particular protest. The reason was largely that in Canada, there is nothing resembling a national opposition party, and probably won't be for the next 5 years.
I understand that it caused a good deal of inconvenience, as we intended. But... I'm a geek, and I value far, far more the fact that people are up in arms and actually talking about issues that haven't ever been discussed publicly before. I'm inconvenienced too, all the time, by teacher strikes and TTC strikes, corrupt politicians (we have them) and under motivated bureaucrat -- The damage that was caused, will always be less than what you see on TV because violence sells, it'll always be more interesting than my take on Bretton Woods. In the protest here, there was littering (in Ottawa this is nothing new) and more graffiti than usual (though much of it was chalk) and a few windows broken -- always belonging to organizations (like McDonalds) that could swallow the loss in a heartbeat.
I don't want to ramble, but the point is that if you belive what many of us do -- that corporate behaviour is actually killing people, than I would sooner condemn them for staying at home when they could make the slightest difference. If you disagree with the reasons they are acting then, by all means, lets argue, let's talk. But we don't, rather we hadn't. There are people (in this thread) who claim that violence never solves anything. First off, if vandalism is violent, most crimes are, that's a word I like to reserve for times when people are hurt. But secondly, we can't always appease. There will always be people willing to take things by force who will need to be repelled by force. We let Hitler walk all over us, then (at tremendous cost) pushed him back to end in triumphant cries of "never again." Then we ignored Rwanda, and it happened again.
We aren't claiming to have a perfect solution, but we have and will continue to push for an imperfect discussion.
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>In both cases, you 'mericans only showed up a couple of years later...
I hear you mate. Although I'm amazed at how many people died for little Belgium, I'm more amazed at how the Yanks went from "no wars just or not" to "any war any time"
From what I remember of the three of them:
NY: They aren't joking about the rats, I've ridden it only 3 times and saw a half meter long one last time.
Paris: Vomit everywhere. (it's a pretty good system though, Lyons' is better).
London: Posters to the effect of "Please stop assaulting ambulance attendants/subway staff/etc..." everywhere.
But the subway in my town goes nowhere useful, which is worse
If nothing else, this shows that they're doing at least a little better than the Nazis. I think they were less than eager to tolerate dissent.
I have a feeling I agree with what you're saying, but not what you think.
The critical distinction for free speech is between speech as an extension of though vs speech as the result of thinking. You should be allowed to say "Jews suck" if that's what you think, (or you can say you hate me, all Canadians, white people, non-jews) as we should never limit your ability to think. However, speaking can also be an action, and just as we limit your ability to call people and threaten their lives, it's wrong to incite people with "Let's go kill some Jews".
The system is supposed to work because an abundance of information causes statements like "the Jews drink baby blood" to look stupid. The cheif problem arises when people confuse you stating your (if not great, at least truthful) opinion that you don't like jews with you actively hindering them.
I'll be the first to admit that even after 200 years we're still ironing out the details though.
The way I see it, we're ahead of the curve.
All languages in natural use adopt bits of the languages they're exposed to (English is ridden with French words, and is adopting slang and geek-speak at almost alarming rates). Acadia is free from the dictates of the Academie (which lowered the barriers to entry), and was abandoned in a sea of English (or forcibly exiled there), that any french is spoken at all is mostly a testament to Acadian resilience.
There's a similar situation in Switzerland where they speak an incomprehensible Swiss-German to each other but can get on just fine in regular German (and usually English). All the Acadians know can speak properly in English AND French.
I guess I should say my language is just as valid as yours.
The University of Waterloo teaches both, starting in CS 241. That would be in the second or third term of a Computer Science degree, and it's only an introduction - but from how much trouble classes have with it, I'm not suprised they wait.
But UW math girls kick ass.
UW has the hottest CS girls. Period.
I'm loving the fact that half the readers of slashdot are from Waterloo. The fact is the single largest complaint in the CS Department (yes, They aren't the same, I know) is that CS at waterloo has too much theory (including Calc, Stats, Alg). Mostly because you guys are stuck on the rump end of the much better Math Faculty.
The second largest complaint is, of course, that the comfy stinks, but I think that's your own fault.
I was one of the protesters in this particular protest. The reason was largely that in Canada, there is nothing resembling a national opposition party, and probably won't be for the next 5 years.
I understand that it caused a good deal of inconvenience, as we intended. But... I'm a geek, and I value far, far more the fact that people are up in arms and actually talking about issues that haven't ever been discussed publicly before. I'm inconvenienced too, all the time, by teacher strikes and TTC strikes, corrupt politicians (we have them) and under motivated bureaucrat -- The damage that was caused, will always be less than what you see on TV because violence sells, it'll always be more interesting than my take on Bretton Woods. In the protest here, there was littering (in Ottawa this is nothing new) and more graffiti than usual (though much of it was chalk) and a few windows broken -- always belonging to organizations (like McDonalds) that could swallow the loss in a heartbeat.
I don't want to ramble, but the point is that if you belive what many of us do -- that corporate behaviour is actually killing people, than I would sooner condemn them for staying at home when they could make the slightest difference. If you disagree with the reasons they are acting then, by all means, lets argue, let's talk. But we don't, rather we hadn't. There are people (in this thread) who claim that violence never solves anything. First off, if vandalism is violent, most crimes are, that's a word I like to reserve for times when people are hurt. But secondly, we can't always appease. There will always be people willing to take things by force who will need to be repelled by force. We let Hitler walk all over us, then (at tremendous cost) pushed him back to end in triumphant cries of "never again." Then we ignored Rwanda, and it happened again.
We aren't claiming to have a perfect solution, but we have and will continue to push for an imperfect discussion.