observe a chiken some time, really look into it's eyes.
When permitted to do so, chickens are capable of complex behavior that is suggestive of an internal experience. Obviously, in battery cages the potential for mental development is rather limited.
Vegetarians are usually quite happy to wear leather shoes, belts and coats etc. After all, the defitition of a vegitarian is just someone who doesn't eat meat.
Most ethical vegetarians (people who are vegetarian for ethical reasons, not vegetarians with ethics - as opposed to people who avoid meat for health or ecological reasons) avoid the use of leather. There are many in this category who are not vegan. (I need a Venn diagram here...) I was one for about seven years, before I learned about the factory farm conditions under which eggs and dairy products are produced. Indeed, because it was a slow process for me (this was the early 80s, there was much less information available then and I was all of twelve) I stopped using leather while I was still eating fish.
So seeing that the girl in the story called herself a vegitarian, such an observation would be perfectly valid.
Her speech made it clear that she was an ethical vegetarian. If she were were wearing leather, either:
Of course, those "synthetics" are usually made from petrochemicals, which come from oil.
Leather production is resource intensive - besides the energy and toxic chemicals used to tan hides, a lot of petrochemicals and are used to fuel farm equipment and to grow animal feed. (Same applies to most cotton production.)
Synthetics are also resource intensive. (Of course, most of them could in theory be made from plant oil feedstocks rather than petrochemicals.)
As usual, it's not a perfect world. Everything we do has an impact - even suicide leaves a mess for others to clean up, possibly with petrochemical-based cleaners.
So while saving the animals, lots of people are suffering the horrid conditions of nike sweatshops.
Just to be clear - I wasn't advocating Nikes. Don't buy them myself, for just that reason. However, there's probably someone out there who agress with me on not wanting to use leather, but also beleives that megacorps like Nike bringing (low-paying, no room for advancement, race-to-the-bottom) jobs to third world countries is ok.
What did you major in puddinghead, modern (BLEACH!) art?
I was a double major in Comp. Sci. and physics for 3 years. (My brain started to melt and I only finished the Comp. Sci., then went on to an M.S. in the field.) I had friends who were majoring in EE, art, theatre, and many different subjects. None had it easy.
The person who had to toughest road, IMHO, was a music major. Not only the tremendous skill required, but the heavy load of theory, would have burned me out in no time.
Many organisms do not have central nervous systems but do respond to stimuli that are harmful to them.
But it takes a somewhat complex nervous system to be possessed of consciousness. I can wire a very simple circuit to respond to stimuli, but that's not sentience.
But even if there were such a thing as plant "suffering", a vegetarian diet would still be preferable - after all, all those cows eat a lot of plants.
A quick look at the human physiology (eye placement for binocular vision, types of teeth in the jaw - canines and incisors as well as molars and bicuspids, etc.) all indicate that humans are omnivorous by design.
Uh, gorillas have binocular vision and similar dentation (indeed, larger canines and incisors IIRC), but are herbivorous. Chimps and humans are the only higher primates that eat meat at all; chimps get only about 5% of their food from predation, and that's mostly insects. Humans, unaided by tools, could catch and eat an occasional small mammal, but that's about it. You couldn't even bite your way into larger animals.
I wonder what the vegetarian community thinks of the Atkins Diet
There are a few who follow it (it is possible). Most, however, know enough about nutrition (having been told for years by ignorant people how we're going to die any day now from lack of protein, vitamin B-12, or whatever, we learn in self-defense) to realize that its a sophmoric, health-endangering fad diet. Protein is for building tissue, not for burning. It makes a dirty fuel. Eat complex carbohydrates for fuel, dammit.
I thought the punchline was going to be the usual observations about leather shoes, belt, purse, jacket etc.
Uh, you do realize that many of us vegetarians have non-leather shoes, belts, purses, jackets, etcetera? Indeed that there are companies (like this, this, and this) that specialize in the production of high-quality synthetic leather goods? That one can get synthetic leather Doc Martens, Birkenstocks, Nikes, and other well-known brands of footwear?
So that such a "usual observation" will often leave you looking like a jackass?
Which is not to justify asinine PCness - while I am a leftist vegan in favor of diversity, as a straight white gun-owning whisky-drinking male who likes dirty jokes, my very existence is considered non-PC by some extremists.
exactly what are you planning to do all day to earn your bread if machines can do anything you can do more cheaply?
In a sane society, machine labor would make us all rich, not just a plutocratic minority; and I'd be writing poetry and doing recreational hacking all day while the machines made the bread. (This, obviously, ain't such a society.)
If someone can design a computer that comes up with totally new thoughts, it is intelligent in my book.
Problem is, a large percentage of the human race doesn't fit your definition. Truly new thoughts (as opposed to a scrambled remix of existing ones) are rare; even the creative minority of humans don't have them often.
Even better are Sterilite's locking storage boxes. Also excellent for camping for keeping stuff dry. (Car camping like festivals, not backwoods obviously.)
The only way to be sure that your vote is recorded is by looking it up in a ledger somewhere or a newspaper that prints it or on a website that lists it.
That can still be anonymous. All my ballot needs is a number; I write down my number (or the ballot has a tear-off tag), and look up my vote by that number the next day.
Just make sure the ballots aren't numbers consecutively, and that the number is concealed (maybe under that scratch-off stuff they use on lottery tickets) from the poll workers when they give me my ballot; then I'm the only one who can know that ballot #1723 was mine.
Everything is virtual, making it easier, cheaper, and more exact to duplicate, safeguard, recount, and reprocess the votes.
Please explain exactly how you come to the conclusion that electronic data is easier and cheaper to safeguard than paper records. You make a strong assertation, but provide no argument.
If I have a piece of paper signed by you (note that "signed" can still be a digital signature), all I have to do it keep it physically safe. If I have your input into a computer system, I have to verify all of the hardware and software that is ever involved with your record, as well as keeping the media (which is much more fragile than paper) physically safe.
The Supreme Court did not appoint him. The Electoral College did, however, through the usual process of election.
And the Supreme Court - acting in violation of federal, state, and international law, as well as judicial rules of procedure - selected Florida's electors.
All the Supreme Court did was refuse to bother with a frivolous appeal filed with them. They in effect did nothing and let the real results of the election stand.
Your recall of events is hazy. If they'd done nothing, the recount would have continued.
whitespace is one of those things that was actually intentionally added (it was more work to cleanly whitespace), so it would actually be less work to have skipped it.
During development, people have to look at the generated HTML. To preserve their sanity, they use whitespace. Removing whitespace would be extra work (and it would end up being put back in by the next fellow who had to work on that code).
The EULA says you can't install more servers than you have support seats for. That sounds a hell of a lot like a license to me.
Such a EULA would be forbidden by the GPL. If true, RedHat would be in big legal trobule, so I'm curious about what exactly it says. Can you quote the revelant section?
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When permitted to do so, chickens are capable of complex behavior that is suggestive of an internal experience. Obviously, in battery cages the potential for mental development is rather limited.
Most ethical vegetarians (people who are vegetarian for ethical reasons, not vegetarians with ethics - as opposed to people who avoid meat for health or ecological reasons) avoid the use of leather. There are many in this category who are not vegan. (I need a Venn diagram here...) I was one for about seven years, before I learned about the factory farm conditions under which eggs and dairy products are produced. Indeed, because it was a slow process for me (this was the early 80s, there was much less information available then and I was all of twelve) I stopped using leather while I was still eating fish.
Her speech made it clear that she was an ethical vegetarian. If she were were wearing leather, either:
Be careful how you say that...if someone mutters "With fava beans, and a nice chianti"...
Leather production is resource intensive - besides the energy and toxic chemicals used to tan hides, a lot of petrochemicals and are used to fuel farm equipment and to grow animal feed. (Same applies to most cotton production.)
Synthetics are also resource intensive. (Of course, most of them could in theory be made from plant oil feedstocks rather than petrochemicals.)
As usual, it's not a perfect world. Everything we do has an impact - even suicide leaves a mess for others to clean up, possibly with petrochemical-based cleaners.
Just to be clear - I wasn't advocating Nikes. Don't buy them myself, for just that reason. However, there's probably someone out there who agress with me on not wanting to use leather, but also beleives that megacorps like Nike bringing (low-paying, no room for advancement, race-to-the-bottom) jobs to third world countries is ok.
One issue at a time. :-)
I was a double major in Comp. Sci. and physics for 3 years. (My brain started to melt and I only finished the Comp. Sci., then went on to an M.S. in the field.) I had friends who were majoring in EE, art, theatre, and many different subjects. None had it easy.
The person who had to toughest road, IMHO, was a music major. Not only the tremendous skill required, but the heavy load of theory, would have burned me out in no time.
But it takes a somewhat complex nervous system to be possessed of consciousness. I can wire a very simple circuit to respond to stimuli, but that's not sentience.
But even if there were such a thing as plant "suffering", a vegetarian diet would still be preferable - after all, all those cows eat a lot of plants.
Uh, gorillas have binocular vision and similar dentation (indeed, larger canines and incisors IIRC), but are herbivorous. Chimps and humans are the only higher primates that eat meat at all; chimps get only about 5% of their food from predation, and that's mostly insects. Humans, unaided by tools, could catch and eat an occasional small mammal, but that's about it. You couldn't even bite your way into larger animals.
There are a few who follow it (it is possible). Most, however, know enough about nutrition (having been told for years by ignorant people how we're going to die any day now from lack of protein, vitamin B-12, or whatever, we learn in self-defense) to realize that its a sophmoric, health-endangering fad diet. Protein is for building tissue, not for burning. It makes a dirty fuel. Eat complex carbohydrates for fuel, dammit.
Dude, you're made out of meat.
Anonymous Coward: it's what's for dinner.
Uh, you do realize that many of us vegetarians have non-leather shoes, belts, purses, jackets, etcetera? Indeed that there are companies (like this, this, and this) that specialize in the production of high-quality synthetic leather goods? That one can get synthetic leather Doc Martens, Birkenstocks, Nikes, and other well-known brands of footwear?
So that such a "usual observation" will often leave you looking like a jackass?
Which is not to justify asinine PCness - while I am a leftist vegan in favor of diversity, as a straight white gun-owning whisky-drinking male who likes dirty jokes, my very existence is considered non-PC by some extremists.
In a sane society, machine labor would make us all rich, not just a plutocratic minority; and I'd be writing poetry and doing recreational hacking all day while the machines made the bread. (This, obviously, ain't such a society.)
Problem is, a large percentage of the human race doesn't fit your definition. Truly new thoughts (as opposed to a scrambled remix of existing ones) are rare; even the creative minority of humans don't have them often.
Even better are Sterilite's locking storage boxes. Also excellent for camping for keeping stuff dry. (Car camping like festivals, not backwoods obviously.)
Since the Taliban was not our enemy when Lindh joined up with them to fight the Northern Alliance (in fact, U.S. relations with the Taiban were quite cozy until a few years ago), claims that he is a traitor have no basis in reason. He never took any action against the United States.
The audit trail must be fixed in some media. Are you suggesting burning everyone a CD-ROM of their vote?
Many experts have explained their call for voter verified paper audit trails:
Or: Or:You have yet to explain your reasoning.
Do you work for Diebold or something?
That can still be anonymous. All my ballot needs is a number; I write down my number (or the ballot has a tear-off tag), and look up my vote by that number the next day.
Just make sure the ballots aren't numbers consecutively, and that the number is concealed (maybe under that scratch-off stuff they use on lottery tickets) from the poll workers when they give me my ballot; then I'm the only one who can know that ballot #1723 was mine.
They provide a means of auditing the electronic system.
Doing the electronic thing properly implies that it's auditable! Preferably by any voter. That means paper audit trails.
Please explain exactly how you come to the conclusion that electronic data is easier and cheaper to safeguard than paper records. You make a strong assertation, but provide no argument.
If I have a piece of paper signed by you (note that "signed" can still be a digital signature), all I have to do it keep it physically safe. If I have your input into a computer system, I have to verify all of the hardware and software that is ever involved with your record, as well as keeping the media (which is much more fragile than paper) physically safe.
And the Supreme Court - acting in violation of federal, state, and international law, as well as judicial rules of procedure - selected Florida's electors.
Your recall of events is hazy. If they'd done nothing, the recount would have continued.
The "real results" are that:
Until the machines start building and programming themselves, humans are going to be in the loop.
I trust the little old ladies at my polling place to not fsck with the numbers a hell of a lot more than I trust Diebold.
So people with poor vision or motor control don't get to vote? Those with poor English reading skills?
And yes, even the very very stupid get a vote. (Hey, even the very very stupid can ascend to public office.)
During development, people have to look at the generated HTML. To preserve their sanity, they use whitespace. Removing whitespace would be extra work (and it would end up being put back in by the next fellow who had to work on that code).
Very interesting! Thanks.
Such a EULA would be forbidden by the GPL. If true, RedHat would be in big legal trobule, so I'm curious about what exactly it says. Can you quote the revelant section?