When I was in the Navy we would have a briefing about culture / risks before entering any port. When we went to Singapore we had a long discussion about 'Outraging the Modesty of a Lady'...punishable with fines, prison or caning.
Essentially it was illegal in Singapore to do something which would outrage the modesty of a lady - and at the time it was ENTIRELY up to the lady to determine what / when her modesty had been outraged...made for an interesting and awkward visit.
Later same trip visited Jordan and actually found that the admonishment there to not make eye contact with any women to be less onerous
I was in a hiring role at my present software design company for 2 years and went through dozens of interviews and never once had a female candidate apply.
I am an atheist and don't try to convert anyone to my opinion; I'm perfectly willing to 'live and let live'. However, I feel I have the right or obligation to speak up when political and social decisions which affect me directly or indirectly are made based on a faith I don't agree with.
I think you'd find a great many atheists feel the same way...most of us wouldn't care what you do in your church if it were not for the fact that what you do in your church can keep my kids from being educated in basic science in a public school, can keep me from getting stem-cell based treatments for spinal or other injuries etc. etc. etc...
Pretty sure this is the work of the Plutonians and the Bad Replicant. They were already seen working on crustacean enlargement and training...
Emory: Okay, look, if you see him, could you just tell him to get going on the crab-training project? And he'll know what you're talking about. It's cool.
Frylock Okay, we'll pass that on.
Oglethrope: Danke.
Emory: Hey, uh, do you know anything about crustacean enlarging or training?
Oglethrope: Oh, forget it, Emory! Your pathetic fanged mouth has ruined my plans once again!
A young trainee is flying a helicopter with an instructor in Seattle. Suddenly a thick fog blows in and the student begins to panic and they lose their bearings. The instructor takes control and flies around for a few minutes until they come to a hover outside a large office building. The instructor pulls out some paper and writes a sign which says 'where are we?' and shows it through the window to the workers in the building; the workers huddle up for a moment or two and write up a sign which says 'in a helicopter' and displays it to the pilot.
The instructor immediately banks left and flies directly to the airport. The student is amazed and asks 'how did you know from that sign where we were?'
The instructor replied 'that answer was technically correct but completely useless. I knew we must have been outside the Microsoft building.'
In the PC EA sports titles (Madden, NHL) for the past few years they pop up a small windows in the lower left with the band and song name when you're in the menus and the music changes. They have a few good popular songs every year and I actually went out and bought a CD to get a song I heard first in Madded '06.
The only thing that sucks is that window frequently pops over the top of a "back" or "done" button so you have to guess where it is.
OK, OK, he's not new, but I'd give the old Robert E. Howard stories a read. His original Conan stories are awesome! (I'd stay away from Conan by the newer authors, though; L. Sprague de Camp and the others tend to be very repetitive). Also, speaking of Conan authors, you could try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Book 10 just came out this month and he's still going strong.
As for pure Sci-fi, you could try C.J. Cherryh; the Otherland series is pretty good (I think CIty of Golden Light is book one; but I might be wrong; there are 4 books total) and Cyteen started off good but I don't think there's been a sequel published yet.
If you're into a bit alternative; try Harlan Ellison. Again, he's not the newest author out there, but he has some REALLY good stories; my personal volume of his was The Deathbird Stories.
Good luck!
I got to go to a Christmas party we all were required to kick in to fund (nevermind that I'm athiest) and next week I get a frozen turkey. (better than nothing, though)
I think that the point he was trying to make is simply that if you control the language used to describe an event, you can control the way that people actually think about that event.
In 1984, the Party created a new language (Newspeak) with such a restricted vocabulary that it was theoretically impossible to even THINK of anything that was not approved by the ruling party.
Whether or not 'Daisy Cutter' is a good name for a bomb or not is irrelevant.
Unfortunately, force reductions are a great way for people to get rid of people they don't like without fear of legal repurcussions.
You don't have to worry about people sueing you for wrongful termination or discrimination if it is in the guise of a force reduction. Be aware of your rights, though; if they drop you as part of a force reduction but then hire someone else to do fundamentally the same job you were removed from, you have the same rights you would normally have when you're fired.
I used to be a happy and productive systems administrator; I spent my days working on our websites and EDI system. Then they laid off the help desk staff and I spend my days now clearing paper jams, telling people that NO, I DON'T know what your password is and telling my manager that NO, I haven't gotten the changes made on the website yet since I was busy with the daily trivialities.
When they laid off your peers, did your managers tell you that they were going to 'pitch in' and not to worry about the extra work? Was it a lie?
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When I was in the Navy we would have a briefing about culture / risks before entering any port. When we went to Singapore we had a long discussion about 'Outraging the Modesty of a Lady'...punishable with fines, prison or caning. Essentially it was illegal in Singapore to do something which would outrage the modesty of a lady - and at the time it was ENTIRELY up to the lady to determine what / when her modesty had been outraged...made for an interesting and awkward visit. Later same trip visited Jordan and actually found that the admonishment there to not make eye contact with any women to be less onerous
I was in a hiring role at my present software design company for 2 years and went through dozens of interviews and never once had a female candidate apply.
I am an atheist and don't try to convert anyone to my opinion; I'm perfectly willing to 'live and let live'. However, I feel I have the right or obligation to speak up when political and social decisions which affect me directly or indirectly are made based on a faith I don't agree with. I think you'd find a great many atheists feel the same way...most of us wouldn't care what you do in your church if it were not for the fact that what you do in your church can keep my kids from being educated in basic science in a public school, can keep me from getting stem-cell based treatments for spinal or other injuries etc. etc. etc...
My oven's broken...so my pizza will remain frozen.
The Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison - each individually is thought provoking; together they are hard to beat
I grew up in a town of 3,000 and I can honestly say that the rural people are in more need of entertainment options...
I was in the Naval ROTC in college and they made us learn to navigate using a sextant...
Pretty sure this is the work of the Plutonians and the Bad Replicant. They were already seen working on crustacean enlargement and training... Emory: Okay, look, if you see him, could you just tell him to get going on the crab-training project? And he'll know what you're talking about. It's cool. Frylock Okay, we'll pass that on. Oglethrope: Danke. Emory: Hey, uh, do you know anything about crustacean enlarging or training? Oglethrope: Oh, forget it, Emory! Your pathetic fanged mouth has ruined my plans once again!
You must be trying to win a Rory...
wish I had a mod point...
A young trainee is flying a helicopter with an instructor in Seattle. Suddenly a thick fog blows in and the student begins to panic and they lose their bearings. The instructor takes control and flies around for a few minutes until they come to a hover outside a large office building. The instructor pulls out some paper and writes a sign which says 'where are we?' and shows it through the window to the workers in the building; the workers huddle up for a moment or two and write up a sign which says 'in a helicopter' and displays it to the pilot. The instructor immediately banks left and flies directly to the airport. The student is amazed and asks 'how did you know from that sign where we were?' The instructor replied 'that answer was technically correct but completely useless. I knew we must have been outside the Microsoft building.'
I went outside yesterday to escape the ads and a plane flew over my house towing a geico banner. WTF?
In the PC EA sports titles (Madden, NHL) for the past few years they pop up a small windows in the lower left with the band and song name when you're in the menus and the music changes. They have a few good popular songs every year and I actually went out and bought a CD to get a song I heard first in Madded '06. The only thing that sucks is that window frequently pops over the top of a "back" or "done" button so you have to guess where it is.
OK, OK, he's not new, but I'd give the old Robert E. Howard stories a read. His original Conan stories are awesome! (I'd stay away from Conan by the newer authors, though; L. Sprague de Camp and the others tend to be very repetitive). Also, speaking of Conan authors, you could try Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Book 10 just came out this month and he's still going strong. As for pure Sci-fi, you could try C.J. Cherryh; the Otherland series is pretty good (I think CIty of Golden Light is book one; but I might be wrong; there are 4 books total) and Cyteen started off good but I don't think there's been a sequel published yet. If you're into a bit alternative; try Harlan Ellison. Again, he's not the newest author out there, but he has some REALLY good stories; my personal volume of his was The Deathbird Stories. Good luck!
I got to go to a Christmas party we all were required to kick in to fund (nevermind that I'm athiest) and next week I get a frozen turkey. (better than nothing, though)
I think that the point he was trying to make is simply that if you control the language used to describe an event, you can control the way that people actually think about that event. In 1984, the Party created a new language (Newspeak) with such a restricted vocabulary that it was theoretically impossible to even THINK of anything that was not approved by the ruling party. Whether or not 'Daisy Cutter' is a good name for a bomb or not is irrelevant.
Actually, it isn't really. There's a Strait Dope on this: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/001103.html
Unfortunately, force reductions are a great way for people to get rid of people they don't like without fear of legal repurcussions. You don't have to worry about people sueing you for wrongful termination or discrimination if it is in the guise of a force reduction. Be aware of your rights, though; if they drop you as part of a force reduction but then hire someone else to do fundamentally the same job you were removed from, you have the same rights you would normally have when you're fired.
I used to be a happy and productive systems administrator; I spent my days working on our websites and EDI system. Then they laid off the help desk staff and I spend my days now clearing paper jams, telling people that NO, I DON'T know what your password is and telling my manager that NO, I haven't gotten the changes made on the website yet since I was busy with the daily trivialities. When they laid off your peers, did your managers tell you that they were going to 'pitch in' and not to worry about the extra work? Was it a lie?