No, not using ISO units. English is a much bigger language than Chinese, regardless of what the myth says.
Last I heard, there were more Chinese people learning English than the entire population of the United States including our illegals. That's an implicit admission that English is the current lingua franca of the industrialized world.
How can we expect them to not repeat our actions when we've never shown sufficient remorse or reparations for those actions? This article sounds a bit like the ex-Hippie parent trying to convince their child not to try LSD.
{sigh} enough with the complaints about hypocrisy and what the hell... remorse? What has that got do with anything? This is completely irrelevant and clouds any meaningful discussion. You're also demeaning the untold millions of human beings affected by the poor decision-making of China's leaders. They don't care one whit about your whining: all they know is that they can't see the Sun and their kids are sick. These are real problems: sitting around deciding who should say they're sorry is just stupid.
Fact is, we aren't talking about hippies or kids or LSD. We're talking about the effects of an unregulated industrial economy which has already caused immeasurable harm to the population that runs it, and is poised to caused even more death and infirmity.
Another factoid for you, America has done more to clean up its industrial and manufacturing output than pretty much anyone else. Yes, we're still polluting, but there haven't been too many Love Canals lately (look that up if you want to see how far we've come.) I deal with companies working to comply with EPA (State and Federal) regulations all the time: they're strict and compliance is expensive. Non-compliance is even more expensive. China has nothing on the U.S. when it comes to environmental regulation and enforcement. Period.
We're not going to deal with what's going on unless people face a few facts: America got past its period of unregulated industry, and the consequences of the period are plain for all to see. China deliberately chose to ignore our history, our example, and they have no-one but themselves to blame.
You do understand the China sells to everybody on the planet? If you want to take your somewhat irrational argument to its logical conclusion, everybody is responsible for the mess China is in. The U.S. buys a lot of Chinese goods, but given that dozens and dozens of other countries are selling their industrial self-sufficiency for a song, I won't allow you to lay all the responsibility at our feet.
The reality is that China's government doesn't give a single goddamn about the lives of its people (neither does ours, but at least we have some influence.) China's rulers made a deliberate trade-off... rapid industrialization at the expense of Chinese lives. Period. End of statement. They knew what they were doing and they did it anyway, and the consequences are on the collective heads of China's ruling class.
Your displaced guilt trip is really kind of hard to take.
I'm quite confident this have been the case of say NY and London back in the days as well. Things will clear up, literary.
Irrelevant. Stop making excuses. Everyone here wants to point fingers at the U.S., but they seem to want to let China off the hook. Sorry, I'm not going to let you compare an early 20th century American city with a modern one, nor am I going to let you excuse China's excesses because we were like that once. No sir.
Furthermore, things just don't "clean up" by themselves. It generally takes some serious regulation (with teeth in it) to make the private sector do what need to be done, environmentally speaking. When China's government decides that, gee, maybe a few hundred thousand dead and compromised human beings each year is not an acceptable price to pay for industrialization, matters will improve. I don't see it happening because they don't give a fuck.
The USA are poisening the atmosphere with their pollution and were for decades the global "number one" and if you relate pollution to number of people, the USA is still the fat pig - and now the chinese pollution impact on the USA is measured!?
Twit. If you bought any American made products or food in that time, you have no right to complain much. We were also the world's largest exporter of manufactured goods, so we generated a lot of pollution, and made a lot of product which people around the world bought like hotcakes. Just like we're buying Chinese goods now. And like I said in another post, we've cleaned up our act. China has a long way to go.
To be fair to China, America had it's own "setting rivers on fire" stage during our industrial revolution, and that stage lasted decades, no doubt affecting China with our pollution. It's a bit of "pulling the ladder up after us" to insist that China take a harder path than we did during their industrial revolution.
Nonsense. We were the first nation to go into heavily into manufacturing after the Brits started the ball rolling, and yes, we went through some difficult times before we figured out a few things. Then again, we didn't know what we were doing, but we managed to get with the program and clean things up before it was too late.
Get it out of your head that this is an issue of "fairness", that we owe them anything. This is an issue of survival. China had our example to go by, and they refused to heed that lesson. Consequently, the onus is on them to fix their own problems, much as we have done. If they prove unwilling or unable to do so, the rest of the world may have to take steps (what those might be, I don't know.) I don't think you people realize the damage an unregulated, unmonitored manufacturing economy can do, but China is doing it and on a massive scale.
And you, my friend, are not only a hypocrite but an irrational one. We aren't discussing atomic weapons, warfare, or our form of government. We're discussing pollution being generated by China.
So fine. You want to talk about us? Here's some information for you. The fact is (yes, fact) that America has spent one metric fuckton of hard-earned taxpayer cash on environmental cleanup and maintenance, and has some of the strictest regulations on the books. I know, I work in the petroleum industry and I have a pretty damn good idea what U.S. environmental requirements cost our industrial base. A HELL of a lot more than it costs China, which has nothing comparable.
So far as the U.S. being the greatest polluter... we'll, we're still the greatest manufacturer. That comes with a price. That's true when you buy products made by any industrialized nation. We've done more than most when it comes to cleaning up our act, and I suggest you educate yourself before you speak out in such an ignorant fashion again.
Probably because most people are clueless about their rights as credit card customers. People simply aren't aware that they can call their credit card company and get instant action on any fraudulent charge.
Yes and no. Last January I had a substantial amount in fraudulent charges racked up on a credit card. All car rentals (same $45.80 charge over and over) at three car rental places, same company but in other states, all on the same day. So, I call up and explain the situation, got through to a fraud officer. He was very cooperative, had no problem admitting the charges were obviously fraudulent or erroneous (I mean, I'd have had to have rented about fifty cars to have been responsible for them.) Now, about a year earlier they'd had an (ahem) "security problem" and had proactively sent me a new card with a new number. What amazed this guy was that all the rental charges had been made with the old number which (as he said) "should have been impossible." So he wrote them off just like that. At this point, all is fine.
Six months later, after what they called a "reasonable investigation", these bastards put all the charges back on my card without warning, including a whole bunch of penalties. So my card is way the hell above its limit now, and they go and charge me overlimit and late fees. I'm completely unaware of this until I tried to pay for dinner one evening, and the thing came back "denied". Then I get a letter saying that they'd put the charges back because I had "activated my new card from my home address in Iowa (I haven't been to Iowa since 1973) at some phone number I've never heard of, because I was "obviously trying to defraud the company." That did it for me... I called up and told them that they had one, and only one chance to make good on this before I sued them for everything they owed me plus the damage to my credit rating because they'd already reported me. I then found out that the rental company's auditing system had already reversed all the charges anyway!
After multiple conversations with their fraud department, they agreed to perform another investigation. In the meantime, I got issued another card and a new number. I'd been a fifteen year customer of this particular card, and never had a problem before. To say I was pissed off is an understatement.
After a few weeks, they completed their second investigation (I think performed by someone not in India this time, like the first one was.) Needless to say, I don't use that card anymore. Not that I expect any better from other issuers: how can you tell how a company handles their internal security, and how they treat customer relations, until something bad happens?
China can do this crap because they make a trillion a year surplus
That, of course, won't last forever either. They're heading for one Biblical-sized crash. Now that's to be expected, after a thirty-year boom... the problem is the we've got our economy and financial systems tied very closely with theirs. When they go, we go.
However high fuel prices are starting to open people's eyes to the cost of this method of transport in sheer wasted fuel.
Yes, but what is the true measure of waste? Who do you want to pin the responsbility for that waste? The fact that I want to drive myself to the grocery store... or the fact that the antiquated Carnot-cycle engine in my car throws away 85% of the fuel energy?
True innovation in the context of the U.S. should involve a more efficient use of our petroleum resources. If we managed to build a vehicle engine that only threw 5% of the heat energy of gasoline out the tailpipe, we wouldn't be having this dialog.
No, Iraq is not current and relevant in a discussion about high speed trains in China.
Cripes. And Nazi Germany is certainly relevant in discussions involving a totalitarian state such as, oh, I don't know... China? Much more relevant, in fact, that any discussion about Iraq, since the U.S. is not totalitarian and Iraq isn't anymore.
It's not a troll, it's true. The unfortunate fact is that while the Iraq is expensive, the U.S. Federal Government led by an errant Congress wastes far more funds on all the other crap it blows my tax dollars upon. If you want to register a legitimate complaint against Federal expenditures, follow blhack's proposed rule and find something else. Constant bitching about Iraq is pointless and boring.
The expense of upgrading now would be extremely expensive.
Prohibitive, you mean, but only in the context of our current spendthirsty Congress. However, one has to look at this in terms of the payback period. If we stop squandering money on bridges to nowhere, we might find that this could be a worthwhile national project, akin to space program in terms of its ROI.
Honestly, we'd probably be better off building a subshuttle. Use nuclear-powered subterrenes to carve a vast network of glass-lined vacuum tunnels across the U.S., with electromagnetic bullet trains traveling through the near-frictionless tunnels at enormous velocity.
I guess we'd really have "the Intertubes" then. The airlines would hate it to pieces though.
While what you say is true, I would further point out that most people make the mistake of thinking that the "environmentalists" they see on TV and who want constant donations are the real environmentalists.
Real environmentalists work behind the scenes with government and especially industry, helping them find ways to make industrial processes more efficient, less environmentally harmful, and in a surprising number of cases more profitable. Such people may be outsiders who devote their lives to making all of our lives better, they may be in-house scientists and engineers who tirelessly promote a better way to their bosses, they may be enlightened bureaucrats who work to find some balance between environmental concerns, and the needs of We the People.
Those are the people I respect, unfortunately you never see their faces on the tube, so they don't really get credit for their work. I couldn't care less about the media hounds.
The truth is that they're operating below capacity as it is
Common misconception, I'm afraid.
Look, there's capacity and there's capacity. Refineries used to be shut down periodically for scheduled maintenance on the cracker and other critical equipment. There's a reason for that.
Problem is, we are short on capacity (we still haven't recovered all that was lost in Katrina) and the existing plants are being run hard, 24/7/365 in many cases, with little or no time for maintenance downturns. Canadian refineries haven't succumbed to that pressure yet, so they still shut down each year for a few weeks so they can take their time doing proper repairs.
So technically you're correct, but in practice we're pushing it. Really pushing it. Sooner or later there's going to be some serious EPA paperwork being filled out.
Because the right-of-way was granted a long time ago, back when most of that land was farms or just wide-open space. Now we're way too built-up in areas where public transportation would be most useful to build an additional transport system.
Jane told the truth. Why mod her -1 Troll? Are you American moderators really that stupid?
Are you foreign posters really that limited in scope? Do you really feel the need to justify everything in military terms? Get a grip. Truth is, if we were on a quest to build an empire and needed lots of guns and tanks and bombs and things, our economy would be booming. Unemployment would be nil. As it happens, we dramatically reduced our force levels since the ending of the Cold War (too far, I'd say.)
America has some serious issues, but economic progress (or otherwise) is dependent upon a myriad of factors having nothing to do with Iraq. I assume that is what Jane Q. is referring, since I'm unaware of any other nations currently being bombed for profit (of course, a good carpet-bombing or two might improve the quality of posts here on Slashdot.)
If we want to start improving our economic outlook there are, at a minimum, going to have to be some serious changes to the patent system and our schools. Proper incentives will have to be made to encourage investment. We'll need real broadband and major telecommunications upgrades. Lots of stuff.
None of which has anything to do with bombing anyone.
"Guilty till proven innocent" is the new mantra of the "Bush regime" apparently
Would even that much were true. I mean, that's how French law has always operated (Napoleonic Code and all): the burden of proof is on the accused. Granted, to an American they appear to have it exactly backwards.
The "Bush regime" has a mantra more along the lines of "you're guilty if we say you are, and you stay that way until we say you're not." Yes, Mr. Bush, the Constitution is only a piece of paper, but the significance of that paper to a quarter of a billion people seems to be completely lost on you. Or maybe it isn't, maybe you do know precisely what you're doing. In either case, your Oath of Office is broken.
So this is a lot worse then either "Innocent until proven guilty" or "Guilty until proven innocent", both of which are legal constructs used throughout the world. It hasn't affected many of us yet, but if something isn't done to derail this trend I fear that it will. Let's face it, nations do go bad, sometimes the rot spreads. Are we a totalitarian state yet? Are we a Communist Russia or a Red China? An East Germany? No, of course not, in spite of what you America-bashers would like to think.
That doesn't mean I like where we're going, or that as an American I can't perceive my government's missteps.
If I had to make a guess (and I don't have to but I will anyway) I'd say maybe Qwest. As telecom providers go, they were the only ones that told the Feds to screw off at the start of the illegal wiretapping fiasco, and about the only major provider that didn't require immunity from prosecution.
Unless they have created some industrial strength Miracle Grow
Well, there's always Gibberellin. I bought a quantity of that stuff from Edmund Scientific back in the seventies, and grew some giantass vegetables. Of course, they weren't safe to eat, but as an experiment it was pretty cool.
They can do anything they want until they get caught and called to account. Now, see, that's the fundamental issue with any society. Do people act honorably towards their fellow citizens because, well, that's what good people do... or do they just do whatever the hell they want so long as they don't get caught? Seriously, our government is taking a very Asian view of matters lately.
Slashdot Mirror
No, not using ISO units. English is a much bigger language than Chinese, regardless of what the myth says.
Last I heard, there were more Chinese people learning English than the entire population of the United States including our illegals. That's an implicit admission that English is the current lingua franca of the industrialized world.
How can we expect them to not repeat our actions when we've never shown sufficient remorse or reparations for those actions? This article sounds a bit like the ex-Hippie parent trying to convince their child not to try LSD.
... remorse? What has that got do with anything? This is completely irrelevant and clouds any meaningful discussion. You're also demeaning the untold millions of human beings affected by the poor decision-making of China's leaders. They don't care one whit about your whining: all they know is that they can't see the Sun and their kids are sick. These are real problems: sitting around deciding who should say they're sorry is just stupid.
{sigh} enough with the complaints about hypocrisy and what the hell
Fact is, we aren't talking about hippies or kids or LSD. We're talking about the effects of an unregulated industrial economy which has already caused immeasurable harm to the population that runs it, and is poised to caused even more death and infirmity.
Another factoid for you, America has done more to clean up its industrial and manufacturing output than pretty much anyone else. Yes, we're still polluting, but there haven't been too many Love Canals lately (look that up if you want to see how far we've come.) I deal with companies working to comply with EPA (State and Federal) regulations all the time: they're strict and compliance is expensive. Non-compliance is even more expensive. China has nothing on the U.S. when it comes to environmental regulation and enforcement. Period.
We're not going to deal with what's going on unless people face a few facts: America got past its period of unregulated industry, and the consequences of the period are plain for all to see. China deliberately chose to ignore our history, our example, and they have no-one but themselves to blame.
You do understand the China sells to everybody on the planet? If you want to take your somewhat irrational argument to its logical conclusion, everybody is responsible for the mess China is in. The U.S. buys a lot of Chinese goods, but given that dozens and dozens of other countries are selling their industrial self-sufficiency for a song, I won't allow you to lay all the responsibility at our feet.
... rapid industrialization at the expense of Chinese lives. Period. End of statement. They knew what they were doing and they did it anyway, and the consequences are on the collective heads of China's ruling class.
The reality is that China's government doesn't give a single goddamn about the lives of its people (neither does ours, but at least we have some influence.) China's rulers made a deliberate trade-off
Your displaced guilt trip is really kind of hard to take.
How does this make China better?
It makes them better because U.S-bashes say they're better.
I'm quite confident this have been the case of say NY and London back in the days as well. Things will clear up, literary.
Irrelevant. Stop making excuses. Everyone here wants to point fingers at the U.S., but they seem to want to let China off the hook. Sorry, I'm not going to let you compare an early 20th century American city with a modern one, nor am I going to let you excuse China's excesses because we were like that once. No sir.
Furthermore, things just don't "clean up" by themselves. It generally takes some serious regulation (with teeth in it) to make the private sector do what need to be done, environmentally speaking. When China's government decides that, gee, maybe a few hundred thousand dead and compromised human beings each year is not an acceptable price to pay for industrialization, matters will improve. I don't see it happening because they don't give a fuck.
The USA are poisening the atmosphere with their pollution and were for decades the global "number one" and if you relate pollution to number of people, the USA is still the fat pig - and now the chinese pollution impact on the USA is measured!?
Twit. If you bought any American made products or food in that time, you have no right to complain much. We were also the world's largest exporter of manufactured goods, so we generated a lot of pollution, and made a lot of product which people around the world bought like hotcakes. Just like we're buying Chinese goods now. And like I said in another post, we've cleaned up our act. China has a long way to go.
To be fair to China, America had it's own "setting rivers on fire" stage during our industrial revolution, and that stage lasted decades, no doubt affecting China with our pollution. It's a bit of "pulling the ladder up after us" to insist that China take a harder path than we did during their industrial revolution.
Nonsense. We were the first nation to go into heavily into manufacturing after the Brits started the ball rolling, and yes, we went through some difficult times before we figured out a few things. Then again, we didn't know what we were doing, but we managed to get with the program and clean things up before it was too late.
Get it out of your head that this is an issue of "fairness", that we owe them anything. This is an issue of survival. China had our example to go by, and they refused to heed that lesson. Consequently, the onus is on them to fix their own problems, much as we have done. If they prove unwilling or unable to do so, the rest of the world may have to take steps (what those might be, I don't know.) I don't think you people realize the damage an unregulated, unmonitored manufacturing economy can do, but China is doing it and on a massive scale.
And you, my friend, are not only a hypocrite but an irrational one. We aren't discussing atomic weapons, warfare, or our form of government. We're discussing pollution being generated by China.
... we'll, we're still the greatest manufacturer. That comes with a price. That's true when you buy products made by any industrialized nation. We've done more than most when it comes to cleaning up our act, and I suggest you educate yourself before you speak out in such an ignorant fashion again.
So fine. You want to talk about us? Here's some information for you. The fact is (yes, fact) that America has spent one metric fuckton of hard-earned taxpayer cash on environmental cleanup and maintenance, and has some of the strictest regulations on the books. I know, I work in the petroleum industry and I have a pretty damn good idea what U.S. environmental requirements cost our industrial base. A HELL of a lot more than it costs China, which has nothing comparable.
So far as the U.S. being the greatest polluter
Firstly, China hasn't been communist for a while. It's closest now to Italian Fascism out of anything, only with a bit more competition.
Fascist-capitalism, I'd say.
Probably because most people are clueless about their rights as credit card customers. People simply aren't aware that they can call their credit card company and get instant action on any fraudulent charge.
Yes and no. Last January I had a substantial amount in fraudulent charges racked up on a credit card. All car rentals (same $45.80 charge over and over) at three car rental places, same company but in other states, all on the same day. So, I call up and explain the situation, got through to a fraud officer. He was very cooperative, had no problem admitting the charges were obviously fraudulent or erroneous (I mean, I'd have had to have rented about fifty cars to have been responsible for them.) Now, about a year earlier they'd had an (ahem) "security problem" and had proactively sent me a new card with a new number. What amazed this guy was that all the rental charges had been made with the old number which (as he said) "should have been impossible." So he wrote them off just like that. At this point, all is fine.
... I called up and told them that they had one, and only one chance to make good on this before I sued them for everything they owed me plus the damage to my credit rating because they'd already reported me. I then found out that the rental company's auditing system had already reversed all the charges anyway!
Six months later, after what they called a "reasonable investigation", these bastards put all the charges back on my card without warning, including a whole bunch of penalties. So my card is way the hell above its limit now, and they go and charge me overlimit and late fees. I'm completely unaware of this until I tried to pay for dinner one evening, and the thing came back "denied". Then I get a letter saying that they'd put the charges back because I had "activated my new card from my home address in Iowa (I haven't been to Iowa since 1973) at some phone number I've never heard of, because I was "obviously trying to defraud the company." That did it for me
After multiple conversations with their fraud department, they agreed to perform another investigation. In the meantime, I got issued another card and a new number. I'd been a fifteen year customer of this particular card, and never had a problem before. To say I was pissed off is an understatement.
After a few weeks, they completed their second investigation (I think performed by someone not in India this time, like the first one was.) Needless to say, I don't use that card anymore. Not that I expect any better from other issuers: how can you tell how a company handles their internal security, and how they treat customer relations, until something bad happens?
If I got scammed on something, I'd be livid, and I'd have the time, money, and skills to try to get the cops involved.
If I got scammed, I'd be mad at myself.
That said, I'd still go to the cops.
China can do this crap because they make a trillion a year surplus
... the problem is the we've got our economy and financial systems tied very closely with theirs. When they go, we go.
That, of course, won't last forever either. They're heading for one Biblical-sized crash. Now that's to be expected, after a thirty-year boom
However high fuel prices are starting to open people's eyes to the cost of this method of transport in sheer wasted fuel.
... or the fact that the antiquated Carnot-cycle engine in my car throws away 85% of the fuel energy?
Yes, but what is the true measure of waste? Who do you want to pin the responsbility for that waste? The fact that I want to drive myself to the grocery store
True innovation in the context of the U.S. should involve a more efficient use of our petroleum resources. If we managed to build a vehicle engine that only threw 5% of the heat energy of gasoline out the tailpipe, we wouldn't be having this dialog.
No, Iraq is not current and relevant in a discussion about high speed trains in China.
... China? Much more relevant, in fact, that any discussion about Iraq, since the U.S. is not totalitarian and Iraq isn't anymore.
Cripes. And Nazi Germany is certainly relevant in discussions involving a totalitarian state such as, oh, I don't know
It's not a troll, it's true. The unfortunate fact is that while the Iraq is expensive, the U.S. Federal Government led by an errant Congress wastes far more funds on all the other crap it blows my tax dollars upon. If you want to register a legitimate complaint against Federal expenditures, follow blhack's proposed rule and find something else. Constant bitching about Iraq is pointless and boring.
The expense of upgrading now would be extremely expensive.
Prohibitive, you mean, but only in the context of our current spendthirsty Congress. However, one has to look at this in terms of the payback period. If we stop squandering money on bridges to nowhere, we might find that this could be a worthwhile national project, akin to space program in terms of its ROI.
Honestly, we'd probably be better off building a subshuttle. Use nuclear-powered subterrenes to carve a vast network of glass-lined vacuum tunnels across the U.S., with electromagnetic bullet trains traveling through the near-frictionless tunnels at enormous velocity.
I guess we'd really have "the Intertubes" then. The airlines would hate it to pieces though.
Not to mention, how are you going to power this, and make sure it stays powered?
Why, Douglas-Martin power screens of course (e.g. Let There Be Light
While what you say is true, I would further point out that most people make the mistake of thinking that the "environmentalists" they see on TV and who want constant donations are the real environmentalists.
Real environmentalists work behind the scenes with government and especially industry, helping them find ways to make industrial processes more efficient, less environmentally harmful, and in a surprising number of cases more profitable. Such people may be outsiders who devote their lives to making all of our lives better, they may be in-house scientists and engineers who tirelessly promote a better way to their bosses, they may be enlightened bureaucrats who work to find some balance between environmental concerns, and the needs of We the People.
Those are the people I respect, unfortunately you never see their faces on the tube, so they don't really get credit for their work. I couldn't care less about the media hounds.
The truth is that they're operating below capacity as it is
Common misconception, I'm afraid.
Look, there's capacity and there's capacity. Refineries used to be shut down periodically for scheduled maintenance on the cracker and other critical equipment. There's a reason for that.
Problem is, we are short on capacity (we still haven't recovered all that was lost in Katrina) and the existing plants are being run hard, 24/7/365 in many cases, with little or no time for maintenance downturns. Canadian refineries haven't succumbed to that pressure yet, so they still shut down each year for a few weeks so they can take their time doing proper repairs.
So technically you're correct, but in practice we're pushing it. Really pushing it. Sooner or later there's going to be some serious EPA paperwork being filled out.
Because the right-of-way was granted a long time ago, back when most of that land was farms or just wide-open space. Now we're way too built-up in areas where public transportation would be most useful to build an additional transport system.
Jane told the truth. Why mod her -1 Troll? Are you American moderators really that stupid?
Are you foreign posters really that limited in scope? Do you really feel the need to justify everything in military terms? Get a grip. Truth is, if we were on a quest to build an empire and needed lots of guns and tanks and bombs and things, our economy would be booming. Unemployment would be nil. As it happens, we dramatically reduced our force levels since the ending of the Cold War (too far, I'd say.)
America has some serious issues, but economic progress (or otherwise) is dependent upon a myriad of factors having nothing to do with Iraq. I assume that is what Jane Q. is referring, since I'm unaware of any other nations currently being bombed for profit (of course, a good carpet-bombing or two might improve the quality of posts here on Slashdot.)
If we want to start improving our economic outlook there are, at a minimum, going to have to be some serious changes to the patent system and our schools. Proper incentives will have to be made to encourage investment. We'll need real broadband and major telecommunications upgrades. Lots of stuff.
None of which has anything to do with bombing anyone.
"Guilty till proven innocent" is the new mantra of the "Bush regime" apparently
Would even that much were true. I mean, that's how French law has always operated (Napoleonic Code and all): the burden of proof is on the accused. Granted, to an American they appear to have it exactly backwards.
The "Bush regime" has a mantra more along the lines of "you're guilty if we say you are, and you stay that way until we say you're not." Yes, Mr. Bush, the Constitution is only a piece of paper, but the significance of that paper to a quarter of a billion people seems to be completely lost on you. Or maybe it isn't, maybe you do know precisely what you're doing. In either case, your Oath of Office is broken.
So this is a lot worse then either "Innocent until proven guilty" or "Guilty until proven innocent", both of which are legal constructs used throughout the world. It hasn't affected many of us yet, but if something isn't done to derail this trend I fear that it will. Let's face it, nations do go bad, sometimes the rot spreads. Are we a totalitarian state yet? Are we a Communist Russia or a Red China? An East Germany? No, of course not, in spite of what you America-bashers would like to think.
That doesn't mean I like where we're going, or that as an American I can't perceive my government's missteps.
If I had to make a guess (and I don't have to but I will anyway) I'd say maybe Qwest. As telecom providers go, they were the only ones that told the Feds to screw off at the start of the illegal wiretapping fiasco, and about the only major provider that didn't require immunity from prosecution.
Unless they have created some industrial strength Miracle Grow
Well, there's always Gibberellin. I bought a quantity of that stuff from Edmund Scientific back in the seventies, and grew some giantass vegetables. Of course, they weren't safe to eat, but as an experiment it was pretty cool.
They can do anything they want until they get caught and called to account. Now, see, that's the fundamental issue with any society. Do people act honorably towards their fellow citizens because, well, that's what good people do ... or do they just do whatever the hell they want so long as they don't get caught? Seriously, our government is taking a very Asian view of matters lately.