I agree that the customized peices limit you too much. Granted they look pretty but when I was a kid the generic pieces allowed me to build pretty much anything. I built models of the capital building, sailing ships, bridges between furniture, etc. Now if you buy a kit you get the thing on the box and little else. You're better off getting generic block sets.
The other kits I really loved were the advanced kits. They allowed you to building "working" piston engines, rack-and-pinion steering systems, etc. They were great and really let you try some complex things. Perfect for older kids with an engineering knack.
Deer don't sleep in dens and they are considered yummy by lots of preditors. My wife is another example of a mammal that is completely oblivious to external stimuli during sleep.
Schering-Plough has just annouced the first prescription drug on the market to eliminate the need to go to the can. The drug, "Excretefree", will allow people to work and play continuously without the need for potty breaks. The drug causes the anus and urethra to close tightly preventing waste products from leaving the body. There is no chance of accidental or voluntary release for 24 hrs.
Side affects include internal rupture, massive swelling of the abdomen, oral (reversed) flatulence, abdominal pain, and epic post-medication trips to the bathroom.
I've always wondered about the need for sleep. For an animal to allow itself to go into an extremely vulnerable state every day for hours it must have a VERY good reason for doing so. The fact that sleep has been passed along in our genes even in the face of natural selection (sorry creationist museum) shows this. I think we've barely penetrated the real reasons for sleep.
I'd add that listening to a show on the radio or TV is a one-way channel. You aren't debating. I'd happily debate someone. But to be on the receiving end of a monologue with no ability to retort is just an exercise in stress building. It isn't even the same as a well written editorial, it is just a diatribe. Of course there is always going to be someone who disagrees with you somewhere but I don't consider a talk show host's opinions to be any more relevant just because he happens to be in the bully pulpit.
Since the far right has equated stem cells with abortion, then anti-cancer treatments and research must be banned because they kill the unborn. Save the tumors!
I wish I knew why they could do that in the first place. It has always struck me as totally bizarre that completely unrelated items can get folded into the same bill. At the very least we need a line item veto power added to the Constitution. It was tried once but killed for being unconstitutional.
I did read it. That is why I pointed out that you can't stop someone from making an ad for a candidate because they are protected under the constitution. If I choose to stick a sign up in my yard saying "Vote for Quimby" you can't stop me because I have the right to free speech. Now just extend that to the airwaves.
The military analogy is flawed because you can claim safety/national security limits.
Believe me, I have tried to think of a way to do the same thing you are considering but you can't get around the "I'm acting independently and it is my right" response.
Yah I'm naive but doesn't Microsoft get millions of people to take OS patches via the forced upgrade? Aren't they getting ready to prod people into taking Vista? Things would break for a while but things look pretty broken now.
After reading the comments here I wonder if anyone here would want to run for office. I sure wouldn't. Everyone automatically assumes you are a crook, puts your past under a microscope and every decision you makes pisses off some group.
They think there is a media conspiracy (no, it is just a ratings conspiracy) and we think they all have a corruption conspiracy simply by being in office.
The problem with your proposal is one you see today.
"Once qualified by signature count to run, govt supplies X dollars from the pool, which you can use any way you like. Every candidate gets the same amount."
The problem here is that a 2nd party, say a PAC or the party's national committee go out and raise their own funds for your election. They can say they have the right of free speech to advertise on your behalf. This ultimately is the same as if you'd gotten the money yourself. "Support our project and we'll give $X dollars to the 'Citizens for You' PAC"
"Screw your constituency? Go to jail for a long time."
What about congressmen who bring home pork for their district at the expense of the rest of the country? Like Alaska's bridge to nowhere. Their constituency is probably happy with it.
It is time to rebuild the email protocol. It needs to be redesigned to cope with modern systems and security needs. The pain of the transition would be worth it. It is just too easy to spoof header info now.
There should be a version of Godwin's Law that states the increasing likelyhood of someone calling someone else a "fag" in a game or on-line conversation (triple the odds for each person under 21).
Slashdot Mirror
I agree that the customized peices limit you too much. Granted they look pretty but when I was a kid the generic pieces allowed me to build pretty much anything. I built models of the capital building, sailing ships, bridges between furniture, etc. Now if you buy a kit you get the thing on the box and little else. You're better off getting generic block sets.
The other kits I really loved were the advanced kits. They allowed you to building "working" piston engines, rack-and-pinion steering systems, etc. They were great and really let you try some complex things. Perfect for older kids with an engineering knack.
Ah, another attempt to dictate the natural evolution of language. Let me be the first to say, Legos, Legos, Legos, Legos, Legos!
Does the game include having the enemy using weapons the US sold them in the decades before?
For extra realism it doubles your tax bill to pay for all of it.
If you live in the Boston area I strongly recommend this store: You-Do-It, Needham MA
I think Graham Chapman answered this question well in the movie "The Meaning of Life"
Devo - "Freedom of Choice"
A victim of collision on the open sea
Nobody ever said that life was free
Sank, swam, go down with the ship
But use your freedom of choice
Ill say it again in the land of the free
Use your freedom of choice
Your freedom of choice
In ancient Rome there was a poem
About a dog who found two bones
He picked at one
He licked the other
He went in circles
He dropped dead
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom of choice!
Then if you got it you dont want it
Seems to be the rule of thumb
Dont be tricked by what you see
You got two ways to go
Ill say it again in the land of the free
Use your freedom of choice
Freedom of choice
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom of choice!
In ancient Rome
There was a poem
About a dog
Who found two bones
He picked at one
He licked the other
He went in circles
He dropped dead
Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom from choice
Is what you want
(repeat)
Deer don't sleep in dens and they are considered yummy by lots of preditors. My wife is another example of a mammal that is completely oblivious to external stimuli during sleep.
Schering-Plough has just annouced the first prescription drug on the market to eliminate the need to go to the can. The drug, "Excretefree", will allow people to work and play continuously without the need for potty breaks. The drug causes the anus and urethra to close tightly preventing waste products from leaving the body. There is no chance of accidental or voluntary release for 24 hrs.
Side affects include internal rupture, massive swelling of the abdomen, oral (reversed) flatulence, abdominal pain, and epic post-medication trips to the bathroom.
I've always wondered about the need for sleep. For an animal to allow itself to go into an extremely vulnerable state every day for hours it must have a VERY good reason for doing so. The fact that sleep has been passed along in our genes even in the face of natural selection (sorry creationist museum) shows this. I think we've barely penetrated the real reasons for sleep.
I'd add that listening to a show on the radio or TV is a one-way channel. You aren't debating. I'd happily debate someone. But to be on the receiving end of a monologue with no ability to retort is just an exercise in stress building. It isn't even the same as a well written editorial, it is just a diatribe. Of course there is always going to be someone who disagrees with you somewhere but I don't consider a talk show host's opinions to be any more relevant just because he happens to be in the bully pulpit.
Why would anyone consider feeling pissed off enjoyable? If I strongly disagree with someone on TV I change the channel.
If I want to see gamers being slandered on TV I think South Park did a far better job.
Next on Fox News, war is peace! Ignorance is strength! Freedom is slavery!
Since the far right has equated stem cells with abortion, then anti-cancer treatments and research must be banned because they kill the unborn. Save the tumors!
I wish I knew why they could do that in the first place. It has always struck me as totally bizarre that completely unrelated items can get folded into the same bill. At the very least we need a line item veto power added to the Constitution. It was tried once but killed for being unconstitutional.
I did read it. That is why I pointed out that you can't stop someone from making an ad for a candidate because they are protected under the constitution. If I choose to stick a sign up in my yard saying "Vote for Quimby" you can't stop me because I have the right to free speech. Now just extend that to the airwaves.
The military analogy is flawed because you can claim safety/national security limits.
Believe me, I have tried to think of a way to do the same thing you are considering but you can't get around the "I'm acting independently and it is my right" response.
Yah I'm naive but doesn't Microsoft get millions of people to take OS patches via the forced upgrade? Aren't they getting ready to prod people into taking Vista? Things would break for a while but things look pretty broken now.
After reading the comments here I wonder if anyone here would want to run for office. I sure wouldn't. Everyone automatically assumes you are a crook, puts your past under a microscope and every decision you makes pisses off some group.
They think there is a media conspiracy (no, it is just a ratings conspiracy) and we think they all have a corruption conspiracy simply by being in office.
The problem with your proposal is one you see today.
"Once qualified by signature count to run, govt supplies X dollars from the pool, which you can use any way you like. Every candidate gets the same amount."
The problem here is that a 2nd party, say a PAC or the party's national committee go out and raise their own funds for your election. They can say they have the right of free speech to advertise on your behalf. This ultimately is the same as if you'd gotten the money yourself. "Support our project and we'll give $X dollars to the 'Citizens for You' PAC"
As Zippy the Pinhead once said "Utopia isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's nothing to complain about!"
"Screw your constituency? Go to jail for a long time."
What about congressmen who bring home pork for their district at the expense of the rest of the country? Like Alaska's bridge to nowhere. Their constituency is probably happy with it.
It is time to rebuild the email protocol. It needs to be redesigned to cope with modern systems and security needs. The pain of the transition would be worth it. It is just too easy to spoof header info now.
"It's NOT a violation of the notion of free trade to ban or restrict items from other countries that are ALREADY banned or restricted domestically."
They banned gambling in the US? Oh, only gambling OVERSEAS. I think that is the issue.
There should be a version of Godwin's Law that states the increasing likelyhood of someone calling someone else a "fag" in a game or on-line conversation (triple the odds for each person under 21).