Meanwhile we have turned the majority of Western humans from independent men into chair-warming consumers singing in lockstep for trinkets. We've made up for the opportunity to live a life of leisure surrounded by virtually infinite resources by blasting our population beyond 6 billion.
Since when were the majority of both Western and Eastern humans not "chair-warming consumers singing in lockstep for trinkets", except when they were looking for a way to help in "blasting our population beyond 6 billion".
You have a strange view of the history of the peasant. I think you should read a little less of the "things were so great in the past" propaganda.
"The good ol' days weren't good for anybody but the rich." -- my father.
How about the government retaining all control of and maintenance responsibility for any service which requires the power of eminent domain or enforced easements to implement. This would include the road systems, sewer systems, power systems, cable and telephone networks, etc. In the 1790 timeframe, roads were basically the only thing that were required for transportation and commerce. The Federal government was given responsibility for the roads, because it made sense for the people to own the infrastructure that all the people used. It still makes sense.
some 230 union workers locked out by the company since last June take turns picketing and warning of possible toxic releases into the community while they're not at their jobs. Even in better times, the plant has been a source of concern.
Logic check: The summary laments how terrible it is that some union workers with a bad safety record are locked out of a plant, and are being replaced by workers with a bad safety record.
Except maybe the tiny fact that these 230 workers are being locked out of a nuclear plant with a less than stellar safety record. Who's monitoring the radioactive materials during this lockout?
Obviously it isn't any of the 230 union workers responsible for the bad safety record.
Unions: We make the country strong...but we don't cause any environmental damage.
I agree with you, except in the case where the company built the network using the government's power of eminent domain to lay lines, and then used a monopoly agreement with the government to keep competitors out of the market.
Wait a minute! That company doesn't exist. Oh, damn!
President Obama's version of net neutrality would be a joke, if it weren't so damaging. Giving the government the power to decide who gets to be a journalist destroys any pretense of freedom of speech.
Spun, thank you for inserting a bit of sanity here. I call myself a libertarian, but believe strongly that the government is a necessity. If not for the rule of law, we would have rule of the mob. The problem is that a democracy can quickly devolve to the rule of the mob.
Net neutrality can be boiled down to whether or not an entity is to be considered a common carrier. A simple rule stating that manipulating the network results in forfeiting common carrier status would fit on a single page of paper and settle the issue in a sane manner. Instead, we get hundreds of pages of rules that allow for all sort of shenanigans and power grabs. People get upset over government intrusion and over-regulation, because most problems can be solved with the former but most of the laws turn out looking like the latter (earmarks, special exemptions, tax credits, tax breaks, etc.)
Not everything is so simple, but very few things are as complicated as the law books would indicate.
But what happens when you give the government so much power that they control everything most people hear, and your vote is effectively nullified?
I'm all for net neutrality, REAL net neutrality, not "government has control over who gets to say what"-ality. I don't want to be herded around by corporate overlords wielding a monopoly they bought at the public expense, but neither do I want a small cadre of bureaucrats deciding what I should be able to hear.
I do think that the police detained my wife at a license checkpoint after she left my older son's graduation ceremony. That was about 20 months ago. They kept accusing her of being a prostitute and running drugs.
She is a personal trainer and asked her client who is a policeman about it. He said they were trying to make her cry. He said they make bets on that sort of thing.
You claim that ALL policemen are courteous and professional. I've provided several examples of my own experience that completely disproves that assertion. It only takes ONE example to prove the point. I think you watch to much "Andy Griffith". Your worship of the police is
Yes, I am assuming that other first world countries do not torture. They no longer invade other sovereign nations. They do not kidnap sovereign citizens of other nations in 'extraordinary rendition.' They do not launch drone attacks into neutral nations. They do not overthrow democratically elected governments.
You, more than likely, haven't the slightest clude what you are talking about. It's not an ultralight, defined by the FAA as an airplane weighing less than 253lbs, limited to one occupant and 5 gallons of fuel. And it isn't a kit. It's a plans built Dyke Delta, with a gross weight of 2100lbs.
I could build an airplane of up to 12,500lbs gross weight of my own design in my garage. The only requirement is that it is properly registered.
And about Yves Rossy. I said, "The government oversight and rules in other countries are outright ridiculous and invasive." You might want to look into that before making a fool of yourself again.
Dicky Bird was running into issues, because the streamlined tube specified for the rear spar of the Dyke Delta was no longer available. The only company in the world making the stuff, stopped making it with.035" thick walls due to cracking issues on the minor radius. Dicky was afraid that he was going to have to go through an extensive revalidation process in order to use.049" thick walls. A pointless idiocy.
figuring out the ways to aggregate all of its parts into a finished product is what makes things happen
The idea leads to figuring things out, but it is ONLY the second step that produces anything. I literally just yesterday had a guy approach me with a GREAT idea. He wanted to design and mass produce a DIY ignition controller for cars. He was going to make a MINT he said. He just needed someone to design it for him. This guy had not bother to even do a google search to see what the landscape of the market looked like. FAIL!! (Megasquirt has been out for years, and isn't setting anybody up for retirement.) He just needed someone to design it for him, and had not the slightest clue of how daunting a task an engine controller can be.
I have been dealing with managers lately who DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT! Oh, they've got ideas. But because they're unfamiliar with the cyber landscape, they're wrongheaded, inefficient, or just plain STUPID ideas. I'm telling them that I can triple production on the same hardware while cutting human workload in half, and improving quality to boot, and all it will take is a few hundred lines of shell script (Prototype implementation was done before I opened my big mouth. I hate being wrong, especially professionally wrong.)
Of course, they've got IDEAS, and it has taken me months to get the system rolled out, when it should have taken a week. Had to fight them every step of the way, with the conversation usually going something like this: "We need to the system to do X." "It's not possible to do X in software with our resources. If you can't break the decision tree down to an 'if x do y', then it is a judgement call and needs human input. We could do what you ask, but it would amount to implementing AI in a shell script. What I've done is make it easy for a human to make a judgement call." "A least try to make the system do X." "OK" --a week passes with several, well documented approaches tried to make the system do X. Of course, they all fail, but finally the conversation continues: "Well, if we can't do X, then we need to make it easy for a human to make a judgement call." "I'll get right on that."
I mean, seriously, who gives a fuck if it is or isn't the best country ever?
From the number of posts you have in this thread, I would be lead to believe that you do.
I care if this is the best country ever, because if it isn't, I want to work to make it so. I may not ever get there, but I'm guaranteed not to if I don't try.
I'm building an airplane in my garage. I know of Britain in particular (a builder from there came to visit me and my project). From the experience, I would have to say that the average individual in America today most definitely has more power to control his destiny than his counterparts in other first world nations. The government oversight and rules in other countries are outright ridiculous and invasive.
Abu Grhaib happened, was exposed, and this country had that internal dialog you so nonchalantly dismiss. People then went to jail for their abusive actions.
More to the point, I welcome these Wikileaks, and hope to see several more people wind up in jail. Hillary Clinton among them. (Spy on CANADA?! Really?) "It had my signature, but I didn't know about it.", means that someone needs to do time for treason, forgery, and ridiculous, gawd-awful douch-baggery of the highest degree.
Home of the brave, Land of the free, Judge not who I am, But who I'm trying to be.
Because, everything except the "reservations" are actually "occupied territory"? I know. I know. The Indians aren't getting their damn land back. White people (mostly) waged a war of aggression, occupied their lands, and moved what remained of them onto "reservations". Lands that were "reserved" for the Indians, ie, "we took all the good land, but we'll let you keep your little nation on this worthless piece of scrub land...provided you succumb to our oversight."
And now you want to get pissy that these people will allow you to come onto their land and buy yourself some gambling enjoyment. Now, ain't that a bitch.
That's funny, fredjh. Really, dude. You need to get out more.
A co-worker posted a message on one of our mail lists just last week. He was cut off while waiting at a stoplight, and the other person hit his car. Policeman responded, and wouldn't write a report because he didn't think the damage was enough to report to insurance. After the estimates were in and Kha tried to collect from the other party's insurance, they pushed back because there wasn't a police report. He contacted the responsible policeman who said that they do not write reports from memory.
A coworker from about 15 years ago had his radio stolen from his car. Called the police. A fat guy in a blue suit shows up, hears the guys complaint and says, "So? What do you expect me to do about it?" I kid you not. Those exact words came out of that lame excuse for a policeman. The only database of stolen goods the police keep is the database that goes to the police auction.
Make a phone call to your local police station and enquire as to what happens with unclaimed stolen goods. NO EFFORT is expended trying to contact the appropriate owners in any jurisdiction in North Carolina that I know of.
I have no citation. This is a personal anecdote, and is simply meant to reflect what I know of the US "justice" system.
My wife's nephew was hit by a car outside of a police station approximately two weeks ago. HIT by a CAR. DIRECTLY outside the POLICE STATION. He was there to pay a parking ticket. The car drove off. Said nephew went inside the POLICE STATION to report the crime, which would have presumably been caught by the camera mounted on the corner of the POLICE STATION BUILDING. He was told that filing a report would cost him $30. HE would have to PAY for the POLICE to look at their OWN cameras to track down a FELON (hit and run involving a pedestrian is a felony offense here).
Meanwhile, yesterday I got a fine through the mail for running one of our rigged red-light cameras.
And Janet would be SO happy if you did. That's all she would need to say, "See? I told you so. We need to increase security even more to keep you all safe."
In American, people are afraid of the government attempting to help them. People riot in the streets because the government wants to tax the rich and corporations, and give them health care.
In Europe, the government is afraid of the people lynching them for not helping them. People riot in the streets because the government wants to allow people to work 50 hours a week.
A large amount of Americans are total fucking idiots.
I'm sorry to have to say it, and I hate playing into the 'the left hates America' meme, because I really don't, it's one of the few countries actually founded for the purpose of liberty
Do you have any clue, any whatsoever, what liberty means? How can you have LIBERTY when the government is writing laws to direct any decision you would ever make?
Maybe you should participate and make your voice heard? Their slogans are all about smaller government. They are actively fighting for smaller government. They are being resisted by the established Republican leadership, mainly because of their uncompromising call for smaller government. If you feel the way you claim, just calling out the bullshitters should be enough to get them tarred and feathered by their own supporters.
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Meanwhile we have turned the majority of Western humans from independent men into chair-warming consumers singing in lockstep for trinkets. We've made up for the opportunity to live a life of leisure surrounded by virtually infinite resources by blasting our population beyond 6 billion.
Since when were the majority of both Western and Eastern humans not "chair-warming consumers singing in lockstep for trinkets", except when they were looking for a way to help in "blasting our population beyond 6 billion".
You have a strange view of the history of the peasant. I think you should read a little less of the "things were so great in the past" propaganda.
"The good ol' days weren't good for anybody but the rich." -- my father.
How about the government retaining all control of and maintenance responsibility for any service which requires the power of eminent domain or enforced easements to implement. This would include the road systems, sewer systems, power systems, cable and telephone networks, etc. In the 1790 timeframe, roads were basically the only thing that were required for transportation and commerce. The Federal government was given responsibility for the roads, because it made sense for the people to own the infrastructure that all the people used. It still makes sense.
some 230 union workers locked out by the company since last June take turns picketing and warning of possible toxic releases into the community while they're not at their jobs. Even in better times, the plant has been a source of concern.
Logic check: The summary laments how terrible it is that some union workers with a bad safety record are locked out of a plant, and are being replaced by workers with a bad safety record.
Hmmm?
So?
Except maybe the tiny fact that these 230 workers are being locked out of a nuclear plant with a less than stellar safety record. Who's monitoring the radioactive materials during this lockout?
Obviously it isn't any of the 230 union workers responsible for the bad safety record.
Unions: We make the country strong...but we don't cause any environmental damage.
I agree with you, except in the case where the company built the network using the government's power of eminent domain to lay lines, and then used a monopoly agreement with the government to keep competitors out of the market.
Wait a minute! That company doesn't exist. Oh, damn!
President Obama's version of net neutrality would be a joke, if it weren't so damaging. Giving the government the power to decide who gets to be a journalist destroys any pretense of freedom of speech.
Spun, thank you for inserting a bit of sanity here. I call myself a libertarian, but believe strongly that the government is a necessity. If not for the rule of law, we would have rule of the mob. The problem is that a democracy can quickly devolve to the rule of the mob.
Net neutrality can be boiled down to whether or not an entity is to be considered a common carrier. A simple rule stating that manipulating the network results in forfeiting common carrier status would fit on a single page of paper and settle the issue in a sane manner. Instead, we get hundreds of pages of rules that allow for all sort of shenanigans and power grabs. People get upset over government intrusion and over-regulation, because most problems can be solved with the former but most of the laws turn out looking like the latter (earmarks, special exemptions, tax credits, tax breaks, etc.)
Not everything is so simple, but very few things are as complicated as the law books would indicate.
But what happens when you give the government so much power that they control everything most people hear, and your vote is effectively nullified?
I'm all for net neutrality, REAL net neutrality, not "government has control over who gets to say what"-ality. I don't want to be herded around by corporate overlords wielding a monopoly they bought at the public expense, but neither do I want a small cadre of bureaucrats deciding what I should be able to hear.
Why does everything have to be so complicated?
abortion victim
http://www.100abortionpictures.com/Aborted_Baby_Pictures_Abortion_Photos/Enlargement.cfm?ID=37> abortion victim
I do think that the police detained my wife at a license checkpoint after she left my older son's graduation ceremony. That was about 20 months ago. They kept accusing her of being a prostitute and running drugs.
She is a personal trainer and asked her client who is a policeman about it. He said they were trying to make her cry. He said they make bets on that sort of thing.
You claim that ALL policemen are courteous and professional. I've provided several examples of my own experience that completely disproves that assertion. It only takes ONE example to prove the point. I think you watch to much "Andy Griffith". Your worship of the police is
almost wholly displaced.
Yes, I am assuming that other first world countries do not torture. They no longer invade other sovereign nations. They do not kidnap sovereign citizens of other nations in 'extraordinary rendition.' They do not launch drone attacks into neutral nations. They do not overthrow democratically elected governments.
Does the word 'Somolia' shake your memory?
Hopefully, the Wikileaks will provide the smoking gun that will expose those with enough power to have their fingerprints hidden.
You, more than likely, haven't the slightest clude what you are talking about. It's not an ultralight, defined by the FAA as an airplane weighing less than 253lbs, limited to one occupant and 5 gallons of fuel. And it isn't a kit. It's a plans built Dyke Delta, with a gross weight of 2100lbs.
I could build an airplane of up to 12,500lbs gross weight of my own design in my garage. The only requirement is that it is properly registered.
And about Yves Rossy. I said, "The government oversight and rules in other countries are outright ridiculous and invasive." You might want to look into that before making a fool of yourself again.
Dicky Bird was running into issues, because the streamlined tube specified for the rear spar of the Dyke Delta was no longer available. The only company in the world making the stuff, stopped making it with .035" thick walls due to cracking issues on the minor radius. Dicky was afraid that he was going to have to go through an extensive revalidation process in order to use .049" thick walls. A pointless idiocy.
Wrong. Ideas are still a dime a dozen.
figuring out the ways to aggregate all of its parts into a finished product is what makes things happen
The idea leads to figuring things out, but it is ONLY the second step that produces anything. I literally just yesterday had a guy approach me with a GREAT idea. He wanted to design and mass produce a DIY ignition controller for cars. He was going to make a MINT he said. He just needed someone to design it for him. This guy had not bother to even do a google search to see what the landscape of the market looked like. FAIL!! (Megasquirt has been out for years, and isn't setting anybody up for retirement.) He just needed someone to design it for him, and had not the slightest clue of how daunting a task an engine controller can be.
Preach it, Junta.
I have been dealing with managers lately who DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT! Oh, they've got ideas. But because they're unfamiliar with the cyber landscape, they're wrongheaded, inefficient, or just plain STUPID ideas. I'm telling them that I can triple production on the same hardware while cutting human workload in half, and improving quality to boot, and all it will take is a few hundred lines of shell script (Prototype implementation was done before I opened my big mouth. I hate being wrong, especially professionally wrong.)
Of course, they've got IDEAS, and it has taken me months to get the system rolled out, when it should have taken a week. Had to fight them every step of the way, with the conversation usually going something like this:
"We need to the system to do X."
"It's not possible to do X in software with our resources. If you can't break the decision tree down to an 'if x do y', then it is a judgement call and needs human input. We could do what you ask, but it would amount to implementing AI in a shell script. What I've done is make it easy for a human to make a judgement call."
"A least try to make the system do X."
"OK"
--a week passes with several, well documented approaches tried to make the system do X. Of course, they all fail, but finally the conversation continues:
"Well, if we can't do X, then we need to make it easy for a human to make a judgement call."
"I'll get right on that."
I mean, seriously, who gives a fuck if it is or isn't the best country ever?
From the number of posts you have in this thread, I would be lead to believe that you do.
I care if this is the best country ever, because if it isn't, I want to work to make it so. I may not ever get there, but I'm guaranteed not to if I don't try.
I'm building an airplane in my garage. I know of Britain in particular (a builder from there came to visit me and my project). From the experience, I would have to say that the average individual in America today most definitely has more power to control his destiny than his counterparts in other first world nations. The government oversight and rules in other countries are outright ridiculous and invasive.
Abu Grhaib happened, was exposed, and this country had that internal dialog you so nonchalantly dismiss. People then went to jail for their abusive actions.
More to the point, I welcome these Wikileaks, and hope to see several more people wind up in jail. Hillary Clinton among them. (Spy on CANADA?! Really?) "It had my signature, but I didn't know about it.", means that someone needs to do time for treason, forgery, and ridiculous, gawd-awful douch-baggery of the highest degree.
Home of the brave,
Land of the free,
Judge not who I am,
But who I'm trying to be.
Are you presuming that the other countries DON'T use coercive violence? If they do it, and we do it, we can still be "better".
Because, everything except the "reservations" are actually "occupied territory"? I know. I know. The Indians aren't getting their damn land back. White people (mostly) waged a war of aggression, occupied their lands, and moved what remained of them onto "reservations". Lands that were "reserved" for the Indians, ie, "we took all the good land, but we'll let you keep your little nation on this worthless piece of scrub land...provided you succumb to our oversight."
And now you want to get pissy that these people will allow you to come onto their land and buy yourself some gambling enjoyment. Now, ain't that a bitch.
That's funny, fredjh. Really, dude. You need to get out more.
A co-worker posted a message on one of our mail lists just last week. He was cut off while waiting at a stoplight, and the other person hit his car. Policeman responded, and wouldn't write a report because he didn't think the damage was enough to report to insurance. After the estimates were in and Kha tried to collect from the other party's insurance, they pushed back because there wasn't a police report. He contacted the responsible policeman who said that they do not write reports from memory.
A coworker from about 15 years ago had his radio stolen from his car. Called the police. A fat guy in a blue suit shows up, hears the guys complaint and says, "So? What do you expect me to do about it?" I kid you not. Those exact words came out of that lame excuse for a policeman. The only database of stolen goods the police keep is the database that goes to the police auction.
Make a phone call to your local police station and enquire as to what happens with unclaimed stolen goods. NO EFFORT is expended trying to contact the appropriate owners in any jurisdiction in North Carolina that I know of.
I have no citation. This is a personal anecdote, and is simply meant to reflect what I know of the US "justice" system.
My wife's nephew was hit by a car outside of a police station approximately two weeks ago. HIT by a CAR. DIRECTLY outside the POLICE STATION. He was there to pay a parking ticket. The car drove off. Said nephew went inside the POLICE STATION to report the crime, which would have presumably been caught by the camera mounted on the corner of the POLICE STATION BUILDING. He was told that filing a report would cost him $30. HE would have to PAY for the POLICE to look at their OWN cameras to track down a FELON (hit and run involving a pedestrian is a felony offense here).
Meanwhile, yesterday I got a fine through the mail for running one of our rigged red-light cameras.
I don't have much respect for the police anymore.
And Janet would be SO happy if you did. That's all she would need to say, "See? I told you so. We need to increase security even more to keep you all safe."
In American, people are afraid of the government attempting to help them. People riot in the streets because the government wants to tax the rich and corporations, and give them health care.
In Europe, the government is afraid of the people lynching them for not helping them. People riot in the streets because the government wants to allow people to work 50 hours a week.
A large amount of Americans are total fucking idiots.
I'm sorry to have to say it, and I hate playing into the 'the left hates America' meme, because I really don't, it's one of the few countries actually founded for the purpose of liberty
Do you have any clue, any whatsoever, what liberty means?
How can you have LIBERTY when the government is writing laws to direct any decision you would ever make?
Maybe you should participate and make your voice heard? Their slogans are all about smaller government. They are actively fighting for smaller government. They are being resisted by the established Republican leadership, mainly because of their uncompromising call for smaller government. If you feel the way you claim, just calling out the bullshitters should be enough to get them tarred and feathered by their own supporters.