To be fair, those kinds of roadblocks are illegal in certain states. If I stay in the US for much longer I would very much like to move to one of them. Stopping and interrogating people who have done nothing wrong is true police state behavior. An absolutely disgusting human rights violation.
Judges, cops, the people in the the press and national security apparatus actually view the world in the same way you do.
ROFLMAO. This is quite demonstrably untrue for cops. To them you are the enemy. Yes. Even though you see yourself as being on their side. One day you may be in the unfortunate position of understanding what I am talking about.
While the fact that such procedures can result in high levels of radiation is certainly interesting do you really believe the police should pull over every patient who has undergone radioisotope tracer procedures? Does such a patient not already have enough worries without having to worry that they will be pulled over, interrogated, and possibly arrested due to emitting a detectable level of ionizing radiation?
Due to my rather intense (and quite justified) fear of American police I would refuse to undergo any procedure that would result in detectable radiation for fear of being stopped by a police cruiser with a Geiger counter. Is that really what we want? Citizens who are afraid to get a medical procedure because it would result in contact with angry bullies who are armed to the teeth and looking for any excuse to use their toys and who regard you as the enemy? Who are the terrorists again?
Only a true wacko would regard stopping and interrogating every single person in the country who has just had a radioisotope tracer procedure as reasonable. I also guarantee that at least 1 out of every 100 patients who gets pulled over and harassed will be arrested on some kind of charge. In some cases contempt of cop. Not everyone welcomes being interrogated by the police when you are 100% innocent of any crime. A bad vibe of disrespect or annoyance (quite understandable when you are pulled over on the suspicion that you are terrorist) is all a cop needs to make an arrest.
They can ask you questions, but you are under no legal obligation whatsoever to answer them. The fact is whether or not undergoing a medical procedure that uses radio-isotopes is sufficient reasonable suspicion to detain you has yet to be determined by a judge. Your assertion that it does qualify as reasonable suspicion is irrelevant. I, for instance, would disagree that it is reasonable. There is no law against radioactivity. If I want to carry a piece of uranium ore in my car for instance that is perfectly legal. Mass paranoia and fear are destroying this country. This adds yet another reason for the police state to harass innocent people. Yet another weapon the police can use to abuse their power.
Yes. I tried talking to a police officer. He threw me down with my hands behind my back so that my head slammed into the pavement hard enough to give me a serious concussion and some lingering memory problems. Then he fractured half my ribs, dislocated my shoulder, and strangled me until I was nearly dead, leaving lingering damage to my larynx such that the next day I again almost choked to death from it while just sitting in front of my computer. So thank you for the advice, but I think I will abstain from ever talking to the police under any circumstance. Cops are very dangerous thugs except that they are 100% above the law and can easily get away with anything up to and including murder. Talking to them is like playing Russian roulette. You never know when you are going to run into a psycho cop who will kill you just for looking at him in a way that he doesn't find sufficiently meek or respectful. Best thing to do with American cops is to stay far away. Don't ever forget that they are not your friends. They see you as their enemy regardless of how you see them.
If a cop had pulled me over and started asking me questions I would exercise my right to remain silent. Can you guess what would have happened if this person had not meekly given his full cooperation? He would have been arrested. Simply because he had a standard medical procedure he would have to spend time in jail, hire an attorney, and fight the charges against him in court. What do you think would have happened if instead of replying to the pig's questions he had simply started counting down from 10?
Right. Because a ship that can travel at 0.95c is too slow to ever make it to Alpha Centauri. Therefore it is not a star ship. Only a ship that is able to violate the laws of physics can truly be called a starship.
What gives the government the right to my labor? To my work? What is so great about slavery? I believe slavery is wrong no matter how great my master. Why should I work for free for a bunch of evil guys with guns? You know what? You have a slave mentality and you want to be a slave. You don't speak for all of us. Fuck them and fuck you.
I shouldn't have to spell it out for you. Did you study American history at all in school? Have you read John Locke or maybe Voltaire or Rousseau? Like the French revolution, it was the ideas of the so called Enlightenment that were really behind the revolt of the British colonists against their king. It was a kind of tax revolt, but it was also a kind of social experiment. A naive attempt at utopia where human beings had "natural rights" and the government had virtually no rights at all. It lasted for a while, but it was always doomed. The masses are greedy, jealous, short-sighted, and very, very stupid. When you give such people the power to fundamentally change your noble little experiment what do you expect to happen? Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Our country was founded on the idea of natural rights, human rights, and freedom. The sort of freedom that was more than just an empty word. Real freedom. The kind with consequences that are both good and bad. Ideas which seem awfully inconvenient to most people now. Human rights is about more than just not torturing people. It's particularly pathetic that our government cannot even manage to ignore violating that most shallow interpretations of "human rights".
99.99999% of the American public would treat the Founders of this country as terrorists or kooks. The sort of Republic that those guys in wigs wrote about with quill pens was one in which the vast majority of Americans would not want to live. That is why we are a country which despises its own roots. A country of brave and philosophical idealists became a country of bankrupt, cynical, pragmatists who believe in nothing except American Idol and Jesus. If Thomas Jefferson came to 2012 in a time machine he couldn't win an election for dog catcher and there is no question that he would believe that their little republic had failed utterly.
If you wish to no longer be bound by that contract, I suggest you leave the country, forfeit the priveleges of the civilized society
Are you sure it is the US that you are in? I can think of many adjectives to describe our sad republic, but "civilized" is not among them. Go do a "police brutality" search on youtube and then come back and boast about how civilized we are.
More like a country of poorly educated, spoiled, rich people who think we are much, much smarter than we really are or ever will be. We are a country with no shortage of self-esteem or confidence, but a huge shortage of real ability and intelligence. This discussion is a perfect example of that sort of empty arrogant nationalism with nothing at all behind it. We are a country that is great only in our own minds. Perhaps that is what really makes us unique. Nothing will ever convince us of our own ineptness and incompetence because we are so very certain of our inherent superiority and greatness. We are a country that renounces and hates the very thing we once stood for. The one thing that really did make us special. What could be more sad and pathetic than that?
Instead of being the place where you were free to do pretty much anything you wanted we are now just known as the neighborhood bully. And like most bullies we are cowards at heart. Unwilling to start any fight that would be even remotely fair, and yet still boasting to ourselves about how tough we are. As tough as those cops were who were beating Rodney King. So tough that the unexpected demolition of a couple of tall buildings is enough to change our entire way of life. If anything has ever proven the inherent cowardice of America it was 9/11. It has demonstrated our true character and we don't even have the insight to realize how pathetic it all is. The rest of the world is laughing, and they are not laughing with us.
You're just jealous. What is a "good" American anyway? Someone who is pro Police State, likes police brutality and an official policy of sexually assaulting all children who wish to travel by air? America certainly doesn't stand for liberty anymore. The last time the majority of Americans were Libertarian was back when horses and gas lanterns were high tech.
Aside from violence, stupidity, ignorance, and cruelty, America doesn't stand for very much anymore. Those of us who have spent time living abroad often find ourselves ashamed to admit our nationality. I've often been told that I "seem nice for an American". That's the kind of country we are now. Our country used to stand for something. A philosophy. An ideal. Sort of like Soviet Russia or Cuba. Now we don't stand for anything except brutish ignorance and violence and maybe fascism. When people think of America they think of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Of senseless sadism and torture for its own sake. I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who would jump at the chance to change their nationality from American to something else regardless of their tax bracket. Singapore is a sort of semi-benevolent dictatorship, but in many ways it's a nicer place to live than the U.S.
This is why I always leave my cell phone turned off unless I have to make a call. In addition to leaving the phone off I wonder if I also have to remove the battery and SIM card and then wrap the phone in aluminum foil.
So if they sell stuff to other countries do they have to abide by their laws as well? What if those laws contradict each other. If an American company were to ship a sex toy to Saudi Arabia would it be okay for the Saudis to send an agent to chop off the hands of all of those responsible for shipping it? Or how about life in prison in a Saudi jail? The US is treating US laws as though they are the laws of the world. They are not. The US government is only doing this because they can and probably due to corruption. Not because it is proper behavior.
Interesting experiment. Is your theory that your customers were lying or that mail carriers were swiping the packages or delivering them to the wrong address or all of these? I recently received someone else's UPS package in my mailbox. Instead of delivering it myself I just left it in the mailbox for a while. Eventually it disappeared. I figure aliens probably took it.
I think microwave ovens use magnetrons, not klystrons. Klystrons seem pretty expensive and accurate if all you want to do is heat some food. I think an IR laser would be a lot more effective than a maser for destroying the transmitters.
I have been waiting for this kind of thing for decades. I mean, ffs, it's the new millenium, past 2010 even, and we don't have replicants or HAL9000 computers or flying cars or hotels orbiting Jupiter. We don't even have a moonbase or space elevator to help get us there. No affordable household robots or holodecks or brain recording and playback devices. No ubiquitous true 3D hologram devices. No affordable head mounted displays for VR. It just doesn't feel like the future yet.
But this technology is more like it. If/when this becomes affordable commercial tech I'll definitely be in line for one. Those of you who are seeing this as merely an improved touchscreen I think are missing the point. This is Future Tech.
Did an alien spaceship land at Disney or something? I mean, Disney of all people. It would be bizarre if almost immediately after this invention they come up with a small fusion reactor, a warp drive engine, anti-gravity boots, artificial animals, and direct brain to computer interfaces with the ability to record and playback thoughts and emotions.
If we abolished the TSA what are all the pedophiles and peeping toms going to do with themselves? They'd probably end up getting in trouble. With the TSA they have a 100% legal outlet for their sexual urges and cravings.
PedoBob's schedule: 9am-12am: Man the peep booth and exercise the fleshlight and anal vibrator. 1pm-3pm: Fondle little boys' dicks and balls and slide your fingers down their ass crack, pausing for a nice feel up of the anus. Don't forget to enjoy the sensual scalp message. Carefully remember the sensations for later wanking session at home. 3pm-5pm: Get the now sticky fleshlight out of the hiding place and get ready for some more 'work' wanking to all the naked boys and girls. Tell yourself how you are keeping the public safe from terrorists. Then have another wank.
Most AGWers act like AGW is as proven as gravity. So well proven that skepticism is deemed irrational. Given that I would have to assume that every year would be the hottest year on record. At least on a global scale. Was this assumption on my part of a continuously rising average global temperature every year incorrect? To me, even if global temperatures did rise steadily every year it wouldn't prove AGW. It would merely prove TGW or Temporary Global Warming. But I have to admit I am surprised at the implication that every year is not hotter than the one before. Surely there must be an obvious trend like that or people wouldn't be so convinced of the reality of AGW.
Slashdot Mirror
To be fair, those kinds of roadblocks are illegal in certain states. If I stay in the US for much longer I would very much like to move to one of them. Stopping and interrogating people who have done nothing wrong is true police state behavior. An absolutely disgusting human rights violation.
Judges, cops, the people in the the press and national security apparatus actually view the world in the same way you do.
ROFLMAO. This is quite demonstrably untrue for cops. To them you are the enemy. Yes. Even though you see yourself as being on their side. One day you may be in the unfortunate position of understanding what I am talking about.
While the fact that such procedures can result in high levels of radiation is certainly interesting do you really believe the police should pull over every patient who has undergone radioisotope tracer procedures? Does such a patient not already have enough worries without having to worry that they will be pulled over, interrogated, and possibly arrested due to emitting a detectable level of ionizing radiation?
Due to my rather intense (and quite justified) fear of American police I would refuse to undergo any procedure that would result in detectable radiation for fear of being stopped by a police cruiser with a Geiger counter. Is that really what we want? Citizens who are afraid to get a medical procedure because it would result in contact with angry bullies who are armed to the teeth and looking for any excuse to use their toys and who regard you as the enemy? Who are the terrorists again?
Agreed. But there is a very good chance that the officer would have arrested him anyway and let the courts sort it out.
Only a true wacko would regard stopping and interrogating every single person in the country who has just had a radioisotope tracer procedure as reasonable. I also guarantee that at least 1 out of every 100 patients who gets pulled over and harassed will be arrested on some kind of charge. In some cases contempt of cop. Not everyone welcomes being interrogated by the police when you are 100% innocent of any crime. A bad vibe of disrespect or annoyance (quite understandable when you are pulled over on the suspicion that you are terrorist) is all a cop needs to make an arrest.
And if he refused to answer any questions as he had every right to do? How do you think this story would have ended then?
They can ask you questions, but you are under no legal obligation whatsoever to answer them. The fact is whether or not undergoing a medical procedure that uses radio-isotopes is sufficient reasonable suspicion to detain you has yet to be determined by a judge. Your assertion that it does qualify as reasonable suspicion is irrelevant. I, for instance, would disagree that it is reasonable. There is no law against radioactivity. If I want to carry a piece of uranium ore in my car for instance that is perfectly legal. Mass paranoia and fear are destroying this country. This adds yet another reason for the police state to harass innocent people. Yet another weapon the police can use to abuse their power.
Yes. I tried talking to a police officer. He threw me down with my hands behind my back so that my head slammed into the pavement hard enough to give me a serious concussion and some lingering memory problems. Then he fractured half my ribs, dislocated my shoulder, and strangled me until I was nearly dead, leaving lingering damage to my larynx such that the next day I again almost choked to death from it while just sitting in front of my computer. So thank you for the advice, but I think I will abstain from ever talking to the police under any circumstance. Cops are very dangerous thugs except that they are 100% above the law and can easily get away with anything up to and including murder. Talking to them is like playing Russian roulette. You never know when you are going to run into a psycho cop who will kill you just for looking at him in a way that he doesn't find sufficiently meek or respectful. Best thing to do with American cops is to stay far away. Don't ever forget that they are not your friends. They see you as their enemy regardless of how you see them.
If a cop had pulled me over and started asking me questions I would exercise my right to remain silent. Can you guess what would have happened if this person had not meekly given his full cooperation? He would have been arrested. Simply because he had a standard medical procedure he would have to spend time in jail, hire an attorney, and fight the charges against him in court. What do you think would have happened if instead of replying to the pig's questions he had simply started counting down from 10?
Starship Enterprise implies FTL capability.
Right. Because a ship that can travel at 0.95c is too slow to ever make it to Alpha Centauri. Therefore it is not a star ship. Only a ship that is able to violate the laws of physics can truly be called a starship.
What gives the government the right to my labor? To my work? What is so great about slavery? I believe slavery is wrong no matter how great my master. Why should I work for free for a bunch of evil guys with guns? You know what? You have a slave mentality and you want to be a slave. You don't speak for all of us. Fuck them and fuck you.
I shouldn't have to spell it out for you. Did you study American history at all in school? Have you read John Locke or maybe Voltaire or Rousseau? Like the French revolution, it was the ideas of the so called Enlightenment that were really behind the revolt of the British colonists against their king. It was a kind of tax revolt, but it was also a kind of social experiment. A naive attempt at utopia where human beings had "natural rights" and the government had virtually no rights at all. It lasted for a while, but it was always doomed. The masses are greedy, jealous, short-sighted, and very, very stupid. When you give such people the power to fundamentally change your noble little experiment what do you expect to happen? Of course hindsight is 20/20.
Our country was founded on the idea of natural rights, human rights, and freedom. The sort of freedom that was more than just an empty word. Real freedom. The kind with consequences that are both good and bad. Ideas which seem awfully inconvenient to most people now. Human rights is about more than just not torturing people. It's particularly pathetic that our government cannot even manage to ignore violating that most shallow interpretations of "human rights".
99.99999% of the American public would treat the Founders of this country as terrorists or kooks. The sort of Republic that those guys in wigs wrote about with quill pens was one in which the vast majority of Americans would not want to live. That is why we are a country which despises its own roots. A country of brave and philosophical idealists became a country of bankrupt, cynical, pragmatists who believe in nothing except American Idol and Jesus. If Thomas Jefferson came to 2012 in a time machine he couldn't win an election for dog catcher and there is no question that he would believe that their little republic had failed utterly.
If you wish to no longer be bound by that contract, I suggest you leave the country, forfeit the priveleges of the civilized society
Are you sure it is the US that you are in? I can think of many adjectives to describe our sad republic, but "civilized" is not among them. Go do a "police brutality" search on youtube and then come back and boast about how civilized we are.
More like a country of poorly educated, spoiled, rich people who think we are much, much smarter than we really are or ever will be. We are a country with no shortage of self-esteem or confidence, but a huge shortage of real ability and intelligence. This discussion is a perfect example of that sort of empty arrogant nationalism with nothing at all behind it. We are a country that is great only in our own minds. Perhaps that is what really makes us unique. Nothing will ever convince us of our own ineptness and incompetence because we are so very certain of our inherent superiority and greatness. We are a country that renounces and hates the very thing we once stood for. The one thing that really did make us special. What could be more sad and pathetic than that?
Instead of being the place where you were free to do pretty much anything you wanted we are now just known as the neighborhood bully. And like most bullies we are cowards at heart. Unwilling to start any fight that would be even remotely fair, and yet still boasting to ourselves about how tough we are. As tough as those cops were who were beating Rodney King. So tough that the unexpected demolition of a couple of tall buildings is enough to change our entire way of life. If anything has ever proven the inherent cowardice of America it was 9/11. It has demonstrated our true character and we don't even have the insight to realize how pathetic it all is. The rest of the world is laughing, and they are not laughing with us.
and put 'em on a no-fly list
You sir are a true American. The New American. When the rest of the world thinks of Americans you are the kind of person they are thinking of.
You're just jealous. What is a "good" American anyway? Someone who is pro Police State, likes police brutality and an official policy of sexually assaulting all children who wish to travel by air? America certainly doesn't stand for liberty anymore. The last time the majority of Americans were Libertarian was back when horses and gas lanterns were high tech.
Aside from violence, stupidity, ignorance, and cruelty, America doesn't stand for very much anymore. Those of us who have spent time living abroad often find ourselves ashamed to admit our nationality. I've often been told that I "seem nice for an American". That's the kind of country we are now. Our country used to stand for something. A philosophy. An ideal. Sort of like Soviet Russia or Cuba. Now we don't stand for anything except brutish ignorance and violence and maybe fascism. When people think of America they think of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Of senseless sadism and torture for its own sake. I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who would jump at the chance to change their nationality from American to something else regardless of their tax bracket. Singapore is a sort of semi-benevolent dictatorship, but in many ways it's a nicer place to live than the U.S.
This is why I always leave my cell phone turned off unless I have to make a call. In addition to leaving the phone off I wonder if I also have to remove the battery and SIM card and then wrap the phone in aluminum foil.
Which is likely why people who grew up with black and white television dreamed in black and white.
When I grew up there were both black and white and color TVs. So did I dream in color or B&W? If I buy an HDTV will I start to dream in 1080p?
Math classes can certainly teach more interesting topics now that calculators have obviated the need to memorize logarithm tables.
For instance? I didn't realize that mathematics had changed all that much since the invention of calculators.
So if they sell stuff to other countries do they have to abide by their laws as well? What if those laws contradict each other. If an American company were to ship a sex toy to Saudi Arabia would it be okay for the Saudis to send an agent to chop off the hands of all of those responsible for shipping it? Or how about life in prison in a Saudi jail? The US is treating US laws as though they are the laws of the world. They are not. The US government is only doing this because they can and probably due to corruption. Not because it is proper behavior.
Interesting experiment. Is your theory that your customers were lying or that mail carriers were swiping the packages or delivering them to the wrong address or all of these? I recently received someone else's UPS package in my mailbox. Instead of delivering it myself I just left it in the mailbox for a while. Eventually it disappeared. I figure aliens probably took it.
Ah. Whack-a-mole. That most American of games. Such an excellent way to spend someone else's money.
I think microwave ovens use magnetrons, not klystrons. Klystrons seem pretty expensive and accurate if all you want to do is heat some food. I think an IR laser would be a lot more effective than a maser for destroying the transmitters.
I have been waiting for this kind of thing for decades. I mean, ffs, it's the new millenium, past 2010 even, and we don't have replicants or HAL9000 computers or flying cars or hotels orbiting Jupiter. We don't even have a moonbase or space elevator to help get us there. No affordable household robots or holodecks or brain recording and playback devices. No ubiquitous true 3D hologram devices. No affordable head mounted displays for VR. It just doesn't feel like the future yet.
But this technology is more like it. If/when this becomes affordable commercial tech I'll definitely be in line for one. Those of you who are seeing this as merely an improved touchscreen I think are missing the point. This is Future Tech.
Did an alien spaceship land at Disney or something? I mean, Disney of all people. It would be bizarre if almost immediately after this invention they come up with a small fusion reactor, a warp drive engine, anti-gravity boots, artificial animals, and direct brain to computer interfaces with the ability to record and playback thoughts and emotions.
If we abolished the TSA what are all the pedophiles and peeping toms going to do with themselves? They'd probably end up getting in trouble. With the TSA they have a 100% legal outlet for their sexual urges and cravings.
PedoBob's schedule:
9am-12am: Man the peep booth and exercise the fleshlight and anal vibrator.
1pm-3pm: Fondle little boys' dicks and balls and slide your fingers down their ass crack, pausing for a nice feel up of the anus. Don't forget to enjoy the sensual scalp message. Carefully remember the sensations for later wanking session at home.
3pm-5pm: Get the now sticky fleshlight out of the hiding place and get ready for some more 'work' wanking to all the naked boys and girls. Tell yourself how you are keeping the public safe from terrorists. Then have another wank.
So you are saying that before the 80s there were never any unusually warm or record warm years? Interesting. That seems awfully implausible to me.
Most AGWers act like AGW is as proven as gravity. So well proven that skepticism is deemed irrational. Given that I would have to assume that every year would be the hottest year on record. At least on a global scale. Was this assumption on my part of a continuously rising average global temperature every year incorrect? To me, even if global temperatures did rise steadily every year it wouldn't prove AGW. It would merely prove TGW or Temporary Global Warming. But I have to admit I am surprised at the implication that every year is not hotter than the one before. Surely there must be an obvious trend like that or people wouldn't be so convinced of the reality of AGW.