That quote is the most flogged and abused line of speech on Slashdot. Do you think that Franklin wouldn't have agreed to temporary wartime restrictions on liberties in pursuit of the greater good (that being victory)? Do you think FDR was a tyrant for censoring newspapers, radio, and postal mail in WW II? How about severly limiting the right to purchase everything from meat to tires? How about going as far as drafting his opponents in the press into the Army? Did you mean THAT kind of trading liberty for security? How about Lincoln suspending Habeus Corpus? That was a minor inconvienience, eh?
We keep hearing about how we're being oppressed, how our liberties have been taken away, how Bush is an iron-fisted tyrant.
And yet, here you are, criticizing him on Slashdot. And fancy that, you're not in prison. And look at the newspapers and tv....here's the NY Times ripping W a new one, and look, over there at Slate, they're calling him a moron and a crook.
Hmmm. And no one is being dragged off to jail for criticizing the Dreaded Tyrant Dubya. In previous wars, once the shooting started, calling the Prez a War Criminal was good for a quick trip to the pokey, after being a guest of J. Edgar Hoovers interogations. Opposing the War? Eugene Debs went to prison for encouraging troops not to go to Europe. Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore are now feted as heroes in various media for doing the same thing.
In short, we haven't traded much freedom, and we are astonishingly unshackled compared to previous wars.
That seems to be more the opionion of the poster than NASA.
"We're delaying some missions," he told the committee, "but we're not abandoning them."
It appears the Shuttle replacement costs (and ongoing Shuttle costs) are more than was thought. And if we're going to get rid of the Shuttle, clearly there has to be a replacement. So unless Congress wants to increase the budget to make up the difference, then these missions will just have to wait a while longer.
Know what TCO studies and IT White Papers remind me of? Expert Witnesses in courtrooms. The prosecution and plaintiff attorneys will both bring in highly qualified experts in a given field to testify on something. Remarkable that these expert witnesses agree exactly with thier side on the issue. You can get an expert witness to testify on your behalf in just about any area, as long as the price (or agenda) is right. Same thing with these reports and TCO studies. They always exactly reflect the views of their sponsors.
Ehhhh, the ports deal is not a killer yet; on the GOP side, Bush is lining up more support. The fact that the Navy really really wants this deal (DPW runs the UAE facilities that our fleet uses there, and the Navy says it's the best, and best run, port in the world. The Navy doesn't want anything threatening the use of that port, especially domestic politics) is going to help Bush press his case on it. I think the only real potential deal killer is possible Israeli opposition, as the UAE doesn't officially do business with them (though there are indications that its all just for show, and that the UAE does indeed provide some port services to Israelis).
In short, I think this issue has a ways to go before we can label it DOA or a success yet.
I don't think income will be a problem, as most schools that heavily encourage laptops will help you get one if you don't already have one. Huntingdon College, close to where I live, gives them out to every student, putting the cost into the overall bill so the student pays it off over time, just like tuition. It's basically just another expense, like tuition or books or dorm. So if you're poor, financial aid would cover it.
The crew vehicle is named after the god of war. I always suspected that, deep down, the only interest of the current administration in space is as a way of increasing US military dominance.
Wow, this makes how many politics articles this week? And all of them attacking either the GOP or the Bush Administration. The editors don't even know how to be subtle about their political prejudices anymore. And doing a story from a political blog?
Can we just go ahead and put a DNC icon in the Slashdot logo now? Just be honest and get it over with, eh?
Seriously, editors...are you trying to drive conservatives away from the site? Is it intentional?
...at least you're saying what you really think. I might believe that line of thought is totally batshit, but hey, you do indeed get points for honesty, bud. None of this "I support the troops but not the war" horsehockey. You came right out and said that you think 9/11 was a big fraud, a fakeout. You're just saying what some people here believe but won't admit to believing. Points for that...
Look, if you think it's all an elaborate fraud, then nothing I can say is going to convince you otherwise. I believe the accepted version of events, and support the efforts to go after any and all people related to that event. I believe in what we're doing. You don't. We'll just have to part ways on that.
But it is fair to ask first, and I am curious, why is it that you believe in the Televised version of events?
Well, Osama fessing up to it kind of colors my thinking on the whole deal... and I don't believe in large goverment conspiracies anymore, mainly because of three things...
Government secrets are the shortest lived secrets of all
The larger an organization is, the harder it is to cover things up
I simply don't think human beings as a group are competent enough to pull off that large and elaborate a hoax
ooh ooh big man can threaten violence over the internet
Thank you Gandhi. Here's a flower.
I've never ever done such a thing before. Maybe I should have said sticks and stones and waived it off. But the virulence of his comments got to me. And while it might not be the right thing to do, frankly, I think it would be satisfying to beat the shit out of him. Not right, satisfying. You get no such threat, because...
Shut up you freedom-hating bush-ball-sucking coward
That was just sad, Kazan. Pathetic, really. At least the other guy is really hateful and enraged. He honestly wasn't trying to be a troll. You, on the other hand, might as well take your hairy ass back under the bridge before Billy Goat Gruff knocks it off again.
ball sucking? Repeating coward? What are you, a fifth grader? I wouldn't kick your ass, Kazan. I'd send you home to your mommy.
Even the Democrats say we are. You can rant all you want about that, and it's not going to change.
Maybe they are citizens who donated to Kerry's election fund
The entire American intelligence community would revolt if that was the case, unless you think every single NSA agent is part of a vast Republican conspiracy.
this is the government intentionally breaking the law and spying on its own citizens during peacetime.
Peacetime ended on 9/11. You can say it wasn't an act of war all you want. You can cry to the heavens that it was just a criminal act. But you'd be wrong, and thankfully, even the Democrats think so.
You cowards make me sick
I sincerely wish you could be here to say that to my face, because sir, I would cram those words down your throat.
Why don't you just move while those of us who still believe in freedom and courage stay here and face all these big, bad terrorists.
Why don't you go fuck yourself? No? I'm not taking your recommendation either. As for courage, you have no idea what the word means. You understand anger and bluster, clearly. Perhaps you're not a coward yourself, but judging from your last words, you don't take what we're facing seriously, and thus you are most certainly a fool.
We are at war with a stateless foe that moves from place to place easily.
We are at war with a foe that uses modern communications technologies to do their damage.
The NSA is tracking calls from this foe. This foe calls American phone numbers, and in some cases, American citizens.
With that in mind...will some of you learned people please tell me why it was good for FDR to monitor communications between Nazi and Imperial Japanese intelligence, and their assets here? All without a warrant, simply because wartime national security took precedence? And why can't Bush do the same?
As for the Times...yet again, the fourth estate has become a fifth column.
Perfect to oppress people, anathema to a democracy
You can apply that same principle to tanks or fighter planes. And it would be just as invalid. Possesion of these tools, whether they be bombs or data mining software, does not make the government a tyranny. How and WHY they're used will determine that. You can't deny the nation the use of them, nor automatically label the government despotic by the mere posession of them. National Security is a legitimate function of any government. What is both ironic, and even a touch hypocritcal, is that many of the same people here bitching about data sweeps from the government, have absolutely no probably giving out their info willy nilly across the web, from porn sites to blogs. But when the government uses the technology to try and protect citizens? Nope, can't have that...
The GPL creates freedom for users of software by putting restrictions on developers. The BSD license destroys freedoms for users because it wants to empower second generation developers. Very different purpose.
How the hell does the BSD license "destroy freedom"? It's not like code released under the BSD license can be hijacked and and the original source kept from the public once released. You're free to fork it and do whatever you want with it, but the original stays available. In no way can that be called "destroying freedom". You can call it an affront to RMS, but your statement was rediculous. Back under the bridge with thee...
Even in the "peaceful" protests in Denmark and Britain, when you carry signs saying "behead the infidel", you're aiding and abetting violence. And tell Salman Rushdie, Miss Ali, and Mr. Van Goh how peaceful the Muslims of Europe are. If Van Goh could pull that knife out of his chest, he's probably want to dispute you....And did you miss the riots in France? Those were Arab rioters, not Frenchmen...
While there are peaceful strains of Islam, they are fast becoming the minority, and Europe has invited a mass of the other kind....as they're finding out
...I like discussing issues with others that have different points of view, but in a civil manner, and I don't want a bunch of flamewars. Anything political though, inevitably starts with the "McChimpyBushHitler" paranoid raving that's so fashionable here. I'm beginning to think Taco and other editors support that point of view and basically think "screw the others".
Al Jazeera has taken sides in the war. Whatever they may have once been, they're now partners with Al-Queada in the war against the West. No one can, with a shred of honesty, call them a truly unbiased news agency now.
And now I'm modded "Offtopic"...that's just rich. The only way the mod could have been any more blatant is to do an "overrated", the universal method of taking down a foe's rating with low risk. Sweet. Don't like what the peasants with pitchforks are saying, so mod 'em down...
Slashdot Mirror
That quote is the most flogged and abused line of speech on Slashdot. Do you think that Franklin wouldn't have agreed to temporary wartime restrictions on liberties in pursuit of the greater good (that being victory)? Do you think FDR was a tyrant for censoring newspapers, radio, and postal mail in WW II? How about severly limiting the right to purchase everything from meat to tires? How about going as far as drafting his opponents in the press into the Army? Did you mean THAT kind of trading liberty for security? How about Lincoln suspending Habeus Corpus? That was a minor inconvienience, eh?
We keep hearing about how we're being oppressed, how our liberties have been taken away, how Bush is an iron-fisted tyrant.
And yet, here you are, criticizing him on Slashdot. And fancy that, you're not in prison. And look at the newspapers and tv....here's the NY Times ripping W a new one, and look, over there at Slate, they're calling him a moron and a crook.
Hmmm. And no one is being dragged off to jail for criticizing the Dreaded Tyrant Dubya. In previous wars, once the shooting started, calling the Prez a War Criminal was good for a quick trip to the pokey, after being a guest of J. Edgar Hoovers interogations. Opposing the War? Eugene Debs went to prison for encouraging troops not to go to Europe. Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore are now feted as heroes in various media for doing the same thing.
In short, we haven't traded much freedom, and we are astonishingly unshackled compared to previous wars.
Out of sheer curiousity....were you to really leave America (c'mon, we know you won't), where would you go? Canada? France? Maybe New Zealand?
And it surprises you that it turned up at Slashdot?
Double-Plus-Ungood Troll
It appears the Shuttle replacement costs (and ongoing Shuttle costs) are more than was thought. And if we're going to get rid of the Shuttle, clearly there has to be a replacement. So unless Congress wants to increase the budget to make up the difference, then these missions will just have to wait a while longer.
Know what TCO studies and IT White Papers remind me of? Expert Witnesses in courtrooms. The prosecution and plaintiff attorneys will both bring in highly qualified experts in a given field to testify on something. Remarkable that these expert witnesses agree exactly with thier side on the issue. You can get an expert witness to testify on your behalf in just about any area, as long as the price (or agenda) is right. Same thing with these reports and TCO studies. They always exactly reflect the views of their sponsors.
Ehhhh, the ports deal is not a killer yet; on the GOP side, Bush is lining up more support. The fact that the Navy really really wants this deal (DPW runs the UAE facilities that our fleet uses there, and the Navy says it's the best, and best run, port in the world. The Navy doesn't want anything threatening the use of that port, especially domestic politics) is going to help Bush press his case on it. I think the only real potential deal killer is possible Israeli opposition, as the UAE doesn't officially do business with them (though there are indications that its all just for show, and that the UAE does indeed provide some port services to Israelis).
In short, I think this issue has a ways to go before we can label it DOA or a success yet.
Misreading like that happens a lot to me lately...of course, I'm 37 now, and I like to tell my wife that I'm becoming "partially dyslexic".
I don't think income will be a problem, as most schools that heavily encourage laptops will help you get one if you don't already have one. Huntingdon College, close to where I live, gives them out to every student, putting the cost into the overall bill so the student pays it off over time, just like tuition. It's basically just another expense, like tuition or books or dorm. So if you're poor, financial aid would cover it.
Is everything here a conspiracy by Karl Rove?
Wow, this makes how many politics articles this week? And all of them attacking either the GOP or the Bush Administration. The editors don't even know how to be subtle about their political prejudices anymore. And doing a story from a political blog?
Can we just go ahead and put a DNC icon in the Slashdot logo now? Just be honest and get it over with, eh?
Seriously, editors...are you trying to drive conservatives away from the site? Is it intentional?
Look, if you think it's all an elaborate fraud, then nothing I can say is going to convince you otherwise. I believe the accepted version of events, and support the efforts to go after any and all people related to that event. I believe in what we're doing. You don't. We'll just have to part ways on that.
Well, Osama fessing up to it kind of colors my thinking on the whole deal... and I don't believe in large goverment conspiracies anymore, mainly because of three things...
Glad to hear your thoughts on that...
Thank you Gandhi. Here's a flower.
I've never ever done such a thing before. Maybe I should have said sticks and stones and waived it off. But the virulence of his comments got to me. And while it might not be the right thing to do, frankly, I think it would be satisfying to beat the shit out of him. Not right, satisfying. You get no such threat, because...
That was just sad, Kazan. Pathetic, really. At least the other guy is really hateful and enraged. He honestly wasn't trying to be a troll. You, on the other hand, might as well take your hairy ass back under the bridge before Billy Goat Gruff knocks it off again.
ball sucking? Repeating coward? What are you, a fifth grader? I wouldn't kick your ass, Kazan. I'd send you home to your mommy.
Even the Democrats say we are. You can rant all you want about that, and it's not going to change.
The entire American intelligence community would revolt if that was the case, unless you think every single NSA agent is part of a vast Republican conspiracy.
Peacetime ended on 9/11. You can say it wasn't an act of war all you want. You can cry to the heavens that it was just a criminal act. But you'd be wrong, and thankfully, even the Democrats think so.
I sincerely wish you could be here to say that to my face, because sir, I would cram those words down your throat.
Why don't you go fuck yourself? No? I'm not taking your recommendation either. As for courage, you have no idea what the word means. You understand anger and bluster, clearly. Perhaps you're not a coward yourself, but judging from your last words, you don't take what we're facing seriously, and thus you are most certainly a fool.
Let's review ...
We are at war.
We are at war with a stateless foe that moves from place to place easily.
We are at war with a foe that uses modern communications technologies to do their damage.
The NSA is tracking calls from this foe. This foe calls American phone numbers, and in some cases, American citizens.
With that in mind...will some of you learned people please tell me why it was good for FDR to monitor communications between Nazi and Imperial Japanese intelligence, and their assets here? All without a warrant, simply because wartime national security took precedence? And why can't Bush do the same?
As for the Times...yet again, the fourth estate has become a fifth column.
The question stands....why is the Times willing to sue now, but not under those two administrations? The question is legitimate...
You can apply that same principle to tanks or fighter planes. And it would be just as invalid. Possesion of these tools, whether they be bombs or data mining software, does not make the government a tyranny. How and WHY they're used will determine that. You can't deny the nation the use of them, nor automatically label the government despotic by the mere posession of them. National Security is a legitimate function of any government. What is both ironic, and even a touch hypocritcal, is that many of the same people here bitching about data sweeps from the government, have absolutely no probably giving out their info willy nilly across the web, from porn sites to blogs. But when the government uses the technology to try and protect citizens? Nope, can't have that...
How the hell does the BSD license "destroy freedom"? It's not like code released under the BSD license can be hijacked and and the original source kept from the public once released. You're free to fork it and do whatever you want with it, but the original stays available. In no way can that be called "destroying freedom". You can call it an affront to RMS, but your statement was rediculous. Back under the bridge with thee...
Even in the "peaceful" protests in Denmark and Britain, when you carry signs saying "behead the infidel", you're aiding and abetting violence. And tell Salman Rushdie, Miss Ali, and Mr. Van Goh how peaceful the Muslims of Europe are. If Van Goh could pull that knife out of his chest, he's probably want to dispute you....And did you miss the riots in France? Those were Arab rioters, not Frenchmen...
While there are peaceful strains of Islam, they are fast becoming the minority, and Europe has invited a mass of the other kind....as they're finding out
Yeah, because Denmark and Western Europe is famous for political repression...
...I like discussing issues with others that have different points of view, but in a civil manner, and I don't want a bunch of flamewars. Anything political though, inevitably starts with the "McChimpyBushHitler" paranoid raving that's so fashionable here. I'm beginning to think Taco and other editors support that point of view and basically think "screw the others".
I hope you get your tinfoil hats at a discount. Tell me, was the Mossad and the CIA behind 9/11?
Guys like this are living proof that Slashdot has become nothing but a DailyKos.com with a tech focus...
If you honestly believe that, no words in all the world will sway you. There doesn't seem to be a cure for Bush Derangement Syndrome.
Al Jazeera has taken sides in the war. Whatever they may have once been, they're now partners with Al-Queada in the war against the West. No one can, with a shred of honesty, call them a truly unbiased news agency now.
And now I'm modded "Offtopic"...that's just rich. The only way the mod could have been any more blatant is to do an "overrated", the universal method of taking down a foe's rating with low risk. Sweet. Don't like what the peasants with pitchforks are saying, so mod 'em down...