I read the parent's post, agreed with it fully and then, as a socialist, got slapped in the face by yours. Again, an excellent observation.
If you are so narrow minded that the mere association with fascism determines your decisions, its going to be a rough life ahead of you.
Fascists made very valid criticisms and accurately predicted many of the problems of our modern world. Perhaps you don't agree with their solutions, but it is unwise to not even consider their criticisms de facto.
As I said in another post, fascism was really just a modern implimentation of the society presented in Plato's Republic. Are you going to completely ignore Plato because he was a fascist???
So the apparent lack of cultural values in capitalism, is just a reflection of the lack of cultural values in the public.
Thats true, but democracy is always based on the lowest common denominator. Capitalism will always reflect the worst of man, not the best.
What you value as a "finer thing" is not the same as theirs.
Well, of course. The question is should cultural values be subject to mob rule? Culture means nothing if every person can do whatever he or she wants. Further, the inherent restrictions of our interdependence makes that freedom quite illusionary for the most part.
You can let the masses continue without a unified direction, or you can impose guidelines. I think the best way is to have different guidelines in each community, in each country. If you didn't like the way it was done in one community, you could apply to join another.
The community has the right to create its own standards.
Re:2 reasons for the West's dominance
on
Human Accomplishment
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· Score: 3, Funny
I don't know if you realize this, but you just about quoted Mussolini there. This is exactly the Fascist critique of socialism and liberal democracy -- they are solely materialistic and therefore soulless.
This is not a flame, by the way -- I in no way am suggesting you would agree with any other fascist ideas.
Yes, I do realize it. Mussolini had some interesting ideas, but failed to impliment them very well. In reality, it is easy to identify the problem of modernity. It is much more difficult to find a reasonable solution.
And, no need to apologize. I admit that I am a fascist, in that I believe in the leadership principle, cultural standards, and I disagree with egalitarianism.
Out of curiosity, what would your `third path' be? How would your antimaterialist order work? Is it simply traditional conservatism (of the throne-and-altar type), or something different?
I believe in a system of social organization similar to that of Plato's Republic. It involves a hierarchical social structure based on philosophical education and eugenics. The best must be allowed to lead, not because they are popular or powerful, but because they are the most wise and the most excellent. The right to rule wouldn't come from God or popularity, but ethical superiority. This wouldn't be a dictatorship per se, but a new kind of aristocracy. Democracy and popular elections, along with the media structure which maintains such a system, must end however. Especially when the democracy is clearly a fraud, what advocate is simply honesty, and a leadership driven by clear ideals.
Further, any political system of class warfare must end. The purpose of the state is to facillitate class cooperation for the betterment of all. Artisans need to be allowed to flourish , and only when they are not treated as second class citizens can cultural art truly exist again. In some cases, it will be difficult. There are few stonemasons left in this world, but that is one trade I want to see improve. The economic system I advocate is very close to that suggested by the Green Party, which I look at as something of an intermediate step to a fully idealistic state. Without cultural unity or standards however, none of it matters.
As far as cultural renewal, this would be done on a local scale. Each culture should be allowed to thrive and exclude that which does not conform with its culture. In the US, after years of cosmopolitanism, this would very difficult... but I believe it could happen. It would probably be less like an actual state, and more like seperate districts within a state. You could even create a zone for the so called non-conformists where they could non-conform with each other, but visit other unified cities when it suits them.
Another important aspect of the future leaders would be the furthering and appraising of technological innovations. Technology is changing the world far more quickly than current bureaucratic governments can react. A prime role of the future leaders would be to ensure that technology is not abused, both in ways which harm people or the environment. Society must be careful that technological innovation does not weaken our people by reducing the impact of natural selection, thus eugenics is a necessary part of this future society.
I also believe that the warrior ethic should be a major part of this future society. Military service should be mandatory, and combat training should be a part of life from a very young age. In addition to standard militarism, a return to dualing as a legal means of conflict resolution would be beneficial.
Life should be centered around ordered art, combat, honorable behavior, personal excellence, technological innovation, and exploring the unknown.
thats all I can think of at the moment...
Re:2 reasons for the West's dominance
on
Human Accomplishment
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
yet the idea of free market is quite young. Adam Smith published Wealth of Nation in 1776. How do you explain all the innovations during the reneissance when merchantilism ruled? Or perhaps during the height of Greeks?
Thats easy.
Capitalism and Communism both fail because they measure value in materialistic terms only. When a society is directed by dedicated leaders, value is imposed. Florence doesn't have such beautiful architecture because the free market encouraged it, but because the leaders of the city demanded it. To a capitalist and a communist, ornate architecture is inherently inefficient and serves no real purpose. It isn't necessary for survival, but it feeds the soul. This cannot be quantified by a capitalist accountant, or a banker, or a communist bureaucrat. It is outside their realm of understanding.
When you realize this, it makes perfect sense that culture is destroyed by capitalism and communism.
Re:A nit on the "dead white males" section...
on
Human Accomplishment
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· Score: 1
I strongly suspect that it has to do with some sort of societal pressure, though, that explains the decline of overall per capita achievement. The world has simply become an easier place to live in. You can walk through parks at night in many major cities, for example, without being part of an armed party.
I tell you, I feel like I am living in opposite-land today. Do you really believe this??? What city do you live in???
My god, people used to sleep in Central Park at night during the summer to stay cool. Now, that would be asking for trouble if not death. People stay out of Prospect Park after sunset as some pretty savage crimes have occurred lately.
In the pre-WWII world, parks were a major part of urban life and they WERE safe. We haven't had that in this country since those times. Things have improved since the dark days of the 1970's, but I would be very careful if I was going to stroll through Prospect Park at 10:00 PM. I would probably be armed too.
But that could, of course, help account for the slowing of progress between 1800 and 1950.
My god man, that was the period of time where human civilization changed the most. Life today is scarcely different than it was in 1950 except now we have television and personal computers. Our work is the same, our homes are the same, our military is the same. The post-war world has been about refinement of technology invented in the time period you mention. I would argue that there haven't been ANY ground breaking inventions SINCE WWII. Nothing we have today would surprise anyone living in 1945. It was all expected.
No, I would say technological progress has slowed very much since WWII. Progress implies innovaction, revolution, change for the better... Not mere refinement.
"I would love to see recreational drugs that aren't bad for you and that aren't addictive."
The man just doesn't understand drugs or the human body. Not surprising for someone who is a vegan... All substances are toxic, it just depends on how much. Drink enough water, it will kill you. Eat a big enough salad, and your stomach will explode from all the gas being released by bacterial decomposition of the plant fiber. Many intoxicating drugs ARE relatively safe, at least safer than alcohol. Safety really isn't the issue when it comes to drugs of abuse. Amphetamine overdoses are rarely fatal, even when someone takes 100+ times the recommended dosage (which is at minimum 5 mg).
Further, he obviously doesn't understand addiction. Addiction is our body's way of conditioning us to behave in ways which are beneficial to us. What is good for life is pleasurable, what is bad is painful. We are hard wired to crave pleasure and avoid pain. It is impossible for anything pleasurable to NOT be addictive, especially when it is a foreign substance mimicing naturally occuring ones in our body.
That being said, there are some good ideas for minimizing addiction and death. It is entirely possible for instance to create a narcotic drug which only reduces pain and causes pleasure, but does not cause respiratory suppresion. Addiction would still result, but at least you couldn't overdose.
But, such hedonists always make me remember this Nietzsche quote:
"You want, if possible - and there is no more insane "if possible" - to abolish suffering. And we? It really seems that we would rather have it higher and worse than ever. Well-being as you understand it - that is no goal, that seems to us an end, a state that soon makes man ridiculous and contemptible - that makes his destruction desirable. The discipline of suffering, of great suffering - do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far?"
I have never seen a case where the US government was able to politically sustain devaluing existing citizens' property on a mass basis.
Umm, they do it to your currency all the time... They don't give a shit what the value you of anything is. To the government, value is an arbitrary number that they are free to change when it suits them.
If it was as easy as you say there would be no obesity (who chooses to be fat?) nor smokers.
The only reason humans behave in a similar fashion to both substances is that addictive chemicals are added to both.
If you take an animal, and feed it natural, uncooked food, it will not overeat until it explodes. The only animals who get fat are fed animal food, which also has addicted chemicals added to it.
Wheat and milk both contain opioid peptides which function just like all other opioid peptides. They cause fatigue, respiratory suppression, constipation, subjectively affect pain perception and mood, and are ADDICTIVE. That is why pizza and bread smells so good. Today however, these substances are chemically altered and added to all sorts of processed foods. Even look at dog food, it will have whey on there (milk protein). Dogs only eat that crap because of it. They do not tell you when these substances are in their natural form or chemically altered.
There are many synthetic beta-carbolines which are produced as flavor enhancers. There is a whole industry devoted to producing these chemicals. They are all psychoactive. Of course, they choose the ones which are most addictive. These are the same chemicals tobacco companies are accused of adding to cigarettes. This makes sense. Would Philip Morris not add these chemicals to every consumable they sell after spending a fortune developing them? Of course not. Maybe their former ownership of Nabisco makes a lot more sense now. To them, there wasn't a big difference between Marlboro and Cheese Nips.
There is also the ever popular monosodium glutamate. It is also addictive.
Also sad to say, cooking meat can result in the formation of psychoactive amines, but randomly.
If you just eat fruit and raw meat, you will not get fat.
Never been to Montreal? Would you drive 80MPH through the streets of Lower Manhattan? Downtown Chicago?
You know, I have to admit I drive 75-80 on a regular basis. In fact, its second nature. I drive 75 on the east side and west side highway in manhattan when traffic permits it. I used to drive 60-70 on the major avenues back when the lights easily allowed it.
I used to live in Chicago and drove 75 on lake shore drive all the time, sometimes faster. Got a few tickets too though. I would drive 80-85 on Lower Wacker all the time. Back in the mid 90's, when it was bum central down there, you could easily do this. It was like flying down the trench on the Death Star. It was AWESOME.
I was driving 75 on highways in Montreal too just a month ago. They were shit, and crumbling, but I still did it. I would drive 50-60 on Sherbrooke on the way back to my hotel. Hell, I was driving 100mph on the highway all the way to Montreal.
Christ, parts of downtown Montreal have cobblestoned streets. Wet cobblestones are insanely slippery, and you still can stand at an intersection and watch some idiot who thinks his MacPherson-strut equipped front-wheel-drive Acura Integra with tinted windows can take him around any corner safely at twice - let alone four times - the posted speed limit.
A very small portion of Seaport district has cobblestone streets. I didn't see any in the true downtown area by McGill. I should have driven 100+ down St Catherine and maybe hit some of those crazed freaks.
You know, I was a little surprised to hear this, so I checked Dell's website. The cheapest unit they have is $230, it has a 300 mhz Xscale and only 32 megs of ram, with NO wifi.
Not bad, I have an old Casio E125 with a 150mhz MIPS and 32 megs of ram.. I get by.
They have a model with wifi that is the same for $266. If you want the "standard" configuartion today, 400 mhz Xscale and 64 megs of ram plus wifi, it costs $340. Still a good price.
It isn't $200, but other manufacturers were trying to keep the price points at $350 for the low end and $500 for the high end...
VMWare is great, but it really only works with unix and windows. VirtualPC works great with old OS's like OS/2 and DOS.
This is especially important if you want to play old DOS games... everything works perfectly with Virtual PC, including the sound. I couldn't get OS/2 to install under VMWare, and DOS support was very limited if I recalll. Its been a while.
One IBM's slogans for OS/2 was "crash protection".
You think things were bad with NT4? You have no idea how bad it was in the Windows 3.1 days. Back then, it made absolutely no sense to me why anyone would use windows... It was truly horrible.
The point is, its ALWAYS been this way. Microsoft had incrimental improvements in quality every year... It just took them a decade to have a reasonably stable OS. Windows XP IS stable... now they just can't handle security issues. THat will take another decade surely.
Consumers seem to think in simple dualities. There is the iconic brand... and then there is the one that is the anti-brand.
I think part of it is human nature. Before civiliation arose, humans lived in tribes... the only real benefit of loyalty was in the preservation of the tribe. Thus, the most basic instinct is "us" versus "them". The benefit of modern cosmopolitanism is that "us" is no long predefined. The idea behind our modern anti-culture is that you have to figure out for yourself which group you belong to.
Thus, almost all advertising seeks to persuade the prospective customer that the group to which they will belong by paying for said goods/services is the one they REALLY want to belong to.
The sort of society we have where cultural unity is taboo is a necessity for our economy to function. Advertisers basically appeal to our instinct to belong to a tribe, just as a dog desires to belong to a pack. If we had deep, lasting unity amongst our people they desire to belong would already be satisfied and advertisers would have to radically change their strategy.
You're funny. The US is one of the few western countries where you can (and people often do) get convicted based on circumstantial evidence.
Umm, have you ever heard of the Bill of Rights? It is not possible to be convicted of a crime on circumstantial evidence alone. There must be a witness to the crime or there is no conviction. This is why traffic tickets are thrown out if a police officer doesn't show up for trial. No witness, no case.
Here is the Sixth Amendment:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
Furthermore, this would be civil court, where the requirements for a conviction is much lower -- to the point where you can get a judgment against you because of a belief of likelihood.
It is not "much lower". There is also no such thing as "conviction" in civil court. You pay money, nothing more. The reason the standard of proof is lower is that you are not losing life or freedom in civil court, you are resolving a dispute.
Its nothing more than "beyond a resonable doubt" versus "clear and convincing". It is a matter of degree nothing more.
Yes, justice is blind, especially after she got a blanket thrown over her head by Mr. Ashcroft...
How does a cabinet member have the power to alter common law practices again? Is he personally bribing all the jury members?
This isn't a dictatorship... one man has far less influence than you think.
A parkway is a highway which is maintained by the parks department. It has nothing to do with trees, etc
This may be unique to your locality, it is certainly not the case in the New York tri-state area. The FIRST parkway was in fact the Hutchinson/Merritt Parkways from New York to Stratford, CT It was constructed during the depression, so in order to employ many artisans at the time, all sorts of ornate bridges and decorative structures were built. It also was intentionally created to resemble a park, with landscaping and trees planted all around. It is in the National Register of Historic Places.
If you haven't gotten the chance to drive it, I would highly recommend it as it really is beautiful and vastly different from the rest of the Interstate System.
The Hutchinson Parkway is operated by the New York State government, and the Merritt Parkway is operated by the State of Connecticut, in both instances the respective departments of transportation. Here is a link to the Meritt Parkway Conservancy, which contains info on the parkway, as well as links to organizations like the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
CA-87 from Santa Clara to southern San Jose is a real highway, though, but it's called Guadelupe Parkway.
Just curious, but what exactly is a parkway in California? In the northeast, we have many parkways. They are nothing more than limited access highways with more landscaping and are restricted to passenger cars only. No commercial vehicles of any kind.
They are generally the best for commuting, as trucks are the biggest obstacle to driving 75mph to work.
Of course there is the old "Why do we drive on a parkway but park on a driveway????" line...
It's called a free market economy, folks, and it's the best thing we (humans) ever invented.
Someone has been reading a little too much Ayn Rand lately... Do you really believe this? The best thing? I don't know, I would take Venice from 1500-1600. That was no free market, but human existence was raised to a level quite unique and beautiful. In fact, purely materialistic social orders like capitalistism and communism have both resulted in very sterile and inhuman communities. I think you are shockingly ignorant of history if you honestly believe free market economics is the best human invention ever.
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I read the parent's post, agreed with it fully and then, as a socialist, got slapped in the face by yours. Again, an excellent observation.
If you are so narrow minded that the mere association with fascism determines your decisions, its going to be a rough life ahead of you.
Fascists made very valid criticisms and accurately predicted many of the problems of our modern world. Perhaps you don't agree with their solutions, but it is unwise to not even consider their criticisms de facto.
As I said in another post, fascism was really just a modern implimentation of the society presented in Plato's Republic. Are you going to completely ignore Plato because he was a fascist???
So the apparent lack of cultural values in capitalism, is just a reflection of the lack of cultural values in the public.
Thats true, but democracy is always based on the lowest common denominator. Capitalism will always reflect the worst of man, not the best.
What you value as a "finer thing" is not the same as theirs.
Well, of course. The question is should cultural values be subject to mob rule? Culture means nothing if every person can do whatever he or she wants. Further, the inherent restrictions of our interdependence makes that freedom quite illusionary for the most part.
You can let the masses continue without a unified direction, or you can impose guidelines. I think the best way is to have different guidelines in each community, in each country. If you didn't like the way it was done in one community, you could apply to join another.
The community has the right to create its own standards.
I don't know if you realize this, but you just about quoted Mussolini there. This is exactly the Fascist critique of socialism and liberal democracy -- they are solely materialistic and therefore soulless.
This is not a flame, by the way -- I in no way am suggesting you would agree with any other fascist ideas.
Yes, I do realize it. Mussolini had some interesting ideas, but failed to impliment them very well. In reality, it is easy to identify the problem of modernity. It is much more difficult to find a reasonable solution.
And, no need to apologize. I admit that I am a fascist, in that I believe in the leadership principle, cultural standards, and I disagree with egalitarianism.
Out of curiosity, what would your `third path' be? How would your antimaterialist order work? Is it simply traditional conservatism (of the throne-and-altar type), or something different?
I believe in a system of social organization similar to that of Plato's Republic. It involves a hierarchical social structure based on philosophical education and eugenics. The best must be allowed to lead, not because they are popular or powerful, but because they are the most wise and the most excellent. The right to rule wouldn't come from God or popularity, but ethical superiority. This wouldn't be a dictatorship per se, but a new kind of aristocracy. Democracy and popular elections, along with the media structure which maintains such a system, must end however. Especially when the democracy is clearly a fraud, what advocate is simply honesty, and a leadership driven by clear ideals.
Further, any political system of class warfare must end. The purpose of the state is to facillitate class cooperation for the betterment of all. Artisans need to be allowed to flourish , and only when they are not treated as second class citizens can cultural art truly exist again. In some cases, it will be difficult. There are few stonemasons left in this world, but that is one trade I want to see improve. The economic system I advocate is very close to that suggested by the Green Party, which I look at as something of an intermediate step to a fully idealistic state. Without cultural unity or standards however, none of it matters.
As far as cultural renewal, this would be done on a local scale. Each culture should be allowed to thrive and exclude that which does not conform with its culture. In the US, after years of cosmopolitanism, this would very difficult... but I believe it could happen. It would probably be less like an actual state, and more like seperate districts within a state. You could even create a zone for the so called non-conformists where they could non-conform with each other, but visit other unified cities when it suits them.
Another important aspect of the future leaders would be the furthering and appraising of technological innovations. Technology is changing the world far more quickly than current bureaucratic governments can react. A prime role of the future leaders would be to ensure that technology is not abused, both in ways which harm people or the environment. Society must be careful that technological innovation does not weaken our people by reducing the impact of natural selection, thus eugenics is a necessary part of this future society.
I also believe that the warrior ethic should be a major part of this future society. Military service should be mandatory, and combat training should be a part of life from a very young age. In addition to standard militarism, a return to dualing as a legal means of conflict resolution would be beneficial.
Life should be centered around ordered art, combat, honorable behavior, personal excellence, technological innovation, and exploring the unknown.
thats all I can think of at the moment...
yet the idea of free market is quite young. Adam Smith published Wealth of Nation in 1776. How do you explain all the innovations during the reneissance when merchantilism ruled? Or perhaps during the height of Greeks?
Thats easy.
Capitalism and Communism both fail because they measure value in materialistic terms only. When a society is directed by dedicated leaders, value is imposed. Florence doesn't have such beautiful architecture because the free market encouraged it, but because the leaders of the city demanded it. To a capitalist and a communist, ornate architecture is inherently inefficient and serves no real purpose. It isn't necessary for survival, but it feeds the soul. This cannot be quantified by a capitalist accountant, or a banker, or a communist bureaucrat. It is outside their realm of understanding.
When you realize this, it makes perfect sense that culture is destroyed by capitalism and communism.
I strongly suspect that it has to do with some sort of societal pressure, though, that explains the decline of overall per capita achievement. The world has simply become an easier place to live in. You can walk through parks at night in many major cities, for example, without being part of an armed party.
I tell you, I feel like I am living in opposite-land today. Do you really believe this??? What city do you live in???
My god, people used to sleep in Central Park at night during the summer to stay cool. Now, that would be asking for trouble if not death. People stay out of Prospect Park after sunset as some pretty savage crimes have occurred lately.
In the pre-WWII world, parks were a major part of urban life and they WERE safe. We haven't had that in this country since those times. Things have improved since the dark days of the 1970's, but I would be very careful if I was going to stroll through Prospect Park at 10:00 PM. I would probably be armed too.
But that could, of course, help account for the slowing of progress between 1800 and 1950.
My god man, that was the period of time where human civilization changed the most. Life today is scarcely different than it was in 1950 except now we have television and personal computers. Our work is the same, our homes are the same, our military is the same. The post-war world has been about refinement of technology invented in the time period you mention. I would argue that there haven't been ANY ground breaking inventions SINCE WWII. Nothing we have today would surprise anyone living in 1945. It was all expected.
No, I would say technological progress has slowed very much since WWII. Progress implies innovaction, revolution, change for the better... Not mere refinement.
"I would love to see recreational drugs that aren't bad for you and that aren't addictive."
The man just doesn't understand drugs or the human body. Not surprising for someone who is a vegan... All substances are toxic, it just depends on how much. Drink enough water, it will kill you. Eat a big enough salad, and your stomach will explode from all the gas being released by bacterial decomposition of the plant fiber. Many intoxicating drugs ARE relatively safe, at least safer than alcohol. Safety really isn't the issue when it comes to drugs of abuse. Amphetamine overdoses are rarely fatal, even when someone takes 100+ times the recommended dosage (which is at minimum 5 mg).
Further, he obviously doesn't understand addiction. Addiction is our body's way of conditioning us to behave in ways which are beneficial to us. What is good for life is pleasurable, what is bad is painful. We are hard wired to crave pleasure and avoid pain. It is impossible for anything pleasurable to NOT be addictive, especially when it is a foreign substance mimicing naturally occuring ones in our body.
That being said, there are some good ideas for minimizing addiction and death. It is entirely possible for instance to create a narcotic drug which only reduces pain and causes pleasure, but does not cause respiratory suppresion. Addiction would still result, but at least you couldn't overdose.
But, such hedonists always make me remember this Nietzsche quote:
"You want, if possible - and there is no more insane "if possible" - to abolish suffering. And we? It really seems that we would rather have it higher and worse than ever. Well-being as you understand it - that is no goal, that seems to us an end, a state that soon makes man ridiculous and contemptible - that makes his destruction desirable. The discipline of suffering, of great suffering - do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far?"
I have never seen a case where the US government was able to politically sustain devaluing existing citizens' property on a mass basis.
Umm, they do it to your currency all the time... They don't give a shit what the value you of anything is. To the government, value is an arbitrary number that they are free to change when it suits them.
If it was as easy as you say there would be no obesity (who chooses to be fat?) nor smokers.
The only reason humans behave in a similar fashion to both substances is that addictive chemicals are added to both.
If you take an animal, and feed it natural, uncooked food, it will not overeat until it explodes. The only animals who get fat are fed animal food, which also has addicted chemicals added to it.
Wheat and milk both contain opioid peptides which function just like all other opioid peptides. They cause fatigue, respiratory suppression, constipation, subjectively affect pain perception and mood, and are ADDICTIVE. That is why pizza and bread smells so good. Today however, these substances are chemically altered and added to all sorts of processed foods. Even look at dog food, it will have whey on there (milk protein). Dogs only eat that crap because of it. They do not tell you when these substances are in their natural form or chemically altered.
There are many synthetic beta-carbolines which are produced as flavor enhancers. There is a whole industry devoted to producing these chemicals. They are all psychoactive. Of course, they choose the ones which are most addictive. These are the same chemicals tobacco companies are accused of adding to cigarettes. This makes sense. Would Philip Morris not add these chemicals to every consumable they sell after spending a fortune developing them? Of course not. Maybe their former ownership of Nabisco makes a lot more sense now. To them, there wasn't a big difference between Marlboro and Cheese Nips.
There is also the ever popular monosodium glutamate. It is also addictive.
Also sad to say, cooking meat can result in the formation of psychoactive amines, but randomly.
If you just eat fruit and raw meat, you will not get fat.
They may have a lock on morning news, but ABC had a lock on afternoon and evening news. Of course, that was before Rush Limbaugh's drug problems...
Never been to Montreal? Would you drive 80MPH through the streets of Lower Manhattan? Downtown Chicago?
You know, I have to admit I drive 75-80 on a regular basis. In fact, its second nature. I drive 75 on the east side and west side highway in manhattan when traffic permits it. I used to drive 60-70 on the major avenues back when the lights easily allowed it.
I used to live in Chicago and drove 75 on lake shore drive all the time, sometimes faster. Got a few tickets too though. I would drive 80-85 on Lower Wacker all the time. Back in the mid 90's, when it was bum central down there, you could easily do this. It was like flying down the trench on the Death Star. It was AWESOME.
I was driving 75 on highways in Montreal too just a month ago. They were shit, and crumbling, but I still did it. I would drive 50-60 on Sherbrooke on the way back to my hotel. Hell, I was driving 100mph on the highway all the way to Montreal.
Christ, parts of downtown Montreal have cobblestoned streets. Wet cobblestones are insanely slippery, and you still can stand at an intersection and watch some idiot who thinks his MacPherson-strut equipped front-wheel-drive Acura Integra with tinted windows can take him around any corner safely at twice - let alone four times - the posted speed limit.
A very small portion of Seaport district has cobblestone streets. I didn't see any in the true downtown area by McGill. I should have driven 100+ down St Catherine and maybe hit some of those crazed freaks.
You know, I was a little surprised to hear this, so I checked Dell's website. The cheapest unit they have is $230, it has a 300 mhz Xscale and only 32 megs of ram, with NO wifi.
Not bad, I have an old Casio E125 with a 150mhz MIPS and 32 megs of ram.. I get by.
They have a model with wifi that is the same for $266. If you want the "standard" configuartion today, 400 mhz Xscale and 64 megs of ram plus wifi, it costs $340. Still a good price.
It isn't $200, but other manufacturers were trying to keep the price points at $350 for the low end and $500 for the high end...
A single kilogram of heroin will get you at least $50K. Remember, a typical dose is only 5-10 milligrams.
You get 20 kilos, thats a cool million right there...
VMWare is great, but it really only works with unix and windows. VirtualPC works great with old OS's like OS/2 and DOS.
This is especially important if you want to play old DOS games... everything works perfectly with Virtual PC, including the sound. I couldn't get OS/2 to install under VMWare, and DOS support was very limited if I recalll. Its been a while.
you better have been jacked up on speed when you wrote this. try and get some valium next time you blow down the meth.
Also, there are those who have suffered severe burns. Scar tissue doesn't give a usable result, either.
The other aspect of your argument is a good warning to criminals:
Burn your finger tips severely so that your fingerprints are destroyed. Your chances of getting caught in the future will be severely diminished.
One IBM's slogans for OS/2 was "crash protection".
You think things were bad with NT4? You have no idea how bad it was in the Windows 3.1 days. Back then, it made absolutely no sense to me why anyone would use windows... It was truly horrible.
The point is, its ALWAYS been this way. Microsoft had incrimental improvements in quality every year... It just took them a decade to have a reasonably stable OS. Windows XP IS stable... now they just can't handle security issues. THat will take another decade surely.
Consumers seem to think in simple dualities. There is the iconic brand... and then there is the one that is the anti-brand.
I think part of it is human nature. Before civiliation arose, humans lived in tribes... the only real benefit of loyalty was in the preservation of the tribe. Thus, the most basic instinct is "us" versus "them". The benefit of modern cosmopolitanism is that "us" is no long predefined. The idea behind our modern anti-culture is that you have to figure out for yourself which group you belong to.
Thus, almost all advertising seeks to persuade the prospective customer that the group to which they will belong by paying for said goods/services is the one they REALLY want to belong to.
The sort of society we have where cultural unity is taboo is a necessity for our economy to function. Advertisers basically appeal to our instinct to belong to a tribe, just as a dog desires to belong to a pack. If we had deep, lasting unity amongst our people they desire to belong would already be satisfied and advertisers would have to radically change their strategy.
You're funny. The US is one of the few western countries where you can (and people often do) get convicted based on circumstantial evidence.
Umm, have you ever heard of the Bill of Rights? It is not possible to be convicted of a crime on circumstantial evidence alone. There must be a witness to the crime or there is no conviction. This is why traffic tickets are thrown out if a police officer doesn't show up for trial. No witness, no case.
Here is the Sixth Amendment:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
Furthermore, this would be civil court, where the requirements for a conviction is much lower -- to the point where you can get a judgment against you because of a belief of likelihood.
It is not "much lower". There is also no such thing as "conviction" in civil court. You pay money, nothing more. The reason the standard of proof is lower is that you are not losing life or freedom in civil court, you are resolving a dispute.
Its nothing more than "beyond a resonable doubt" versus "clear and convincing". It is a matter of degree nothing more.
Yes, justice is blind, especially after she got a blanket thrown over her head by Mr. Ashcroft...
How does a cabinet member have the power to alter common law practices again? Is he personally bribing all the jury members?
This isn't a dictatorship... one man has far less influence than you think.
Actually, I think people buy swiss army knifes because it gives them a "cool" and "rugged" image.
Some of us are just permanently inspired by MacGyver.
How can you live WITHOUT a swiss army knife???
A parkway is a highway which is maintained by the parks department. It has nothing to do with trees, etc
This may be unique to your locality, it is certainly not the case in the New York tri-state area. The FIRST parkway was in fact the Hutchinson/Merritt Parkways from New York to Stratford, CT It was constructed during the depression, so in order to employ many artisans at the time, all sorts of ornate bridges and decorative structures were built. It also was intentionally created to resemble a park, with landscaping and trees planted all around. It is in the National Register of Historic Places.
If you haven't gotten the chance to drive it, I would highly recommend it as it really is beautiful and vastly different from the rest of the Interstate System.
The Hutchinson Parkway is operated by the New York State government, and the Merritt Parkway is operated by the State of Connecticut, in both instances the respective departments of transportation. Here is a link to the Meritt Parkway Conservancy, which contains info on the parkway, as well as links to organizations like the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
CA-87 from Santa Clara to southern San Jose is a real highway, though, but it's called Guadelupe Parkway.
Just curious, but what exactly is a parkway in California? In the northeast, we have many parkways. They are nothing more than limited access highways with more landscaping and are restricted to passenger cars only. No commercial vehicles of any kind.
They are generally the best for commuting, as trucks are the biggest obstacle to driving 75mph to work.
Of course there is the old "Why do we drive on a parkway but park on a driveway????" line...
Wow. $1272 for just the memory???
I haven't spent that much on a whole machine in ten years...
It's called a free market economy, folks, and it's the best thing we (humans) ever invented.
Someone has been reading a little too much Ayn Rand lately... Do you really believe this? The best thing? I don't know, I would take Venice from 1500-1600. That was no free market, but human existence was raised to a level quite unique and beautiful. In fact, purely materialistic social orders like capitalistism and communism have both resulted in very sterile and inhuman communities. I think you are shockingly ignorant of history if you honestly believe free market economics is the best human invention ever.
Are you referring to the Opteron? or the Itanium? They aren't that cheap, and they just came out.
There are some instances where 64-bit processors are absolutely necessary. The alpha was used in those instances.