I agree that the conservative statement is as much bullshit at the anti-liberal statement is bullshit.
I should have made clear that the conservative statement -- "sleeping on the sidewalk" -- is such patent bullshit that I took it for sardonic irony. Granted, the original poster might not have sardonic irony in mind. But if I use the phrase in conversation, I'll make the sardonic irony patently obvious.
I shouldn't have commented in the first place. Broke my own rule: don't comment on politics on Slashdot (or pretty much any place else, for that matter). I am primarily committed to sharing information, not opinion. Commenting on politics is rarely informative, always opinionated. One is reduced to sardonic irony, or worse.
On reflection, the part that speaks to me is: "Conservatives are for equal treatment. For instance, a law against sleeping on the sidewalk should be enforced equally on both millionaires and homeless vagrants." The part about liberals, I'm not impressed by that.
In any case, I have no use for either label -- "liberal" or "conservative" -- and prefer to avoid them altogether. To paraphrase John Brunner -- don't trust people who hate others based on generalities; only trust those who hate based on specifics. (Sorry, I don't have the actual quote at hand (from Stand on Zanzibar).)
I'm reminded of Neal Stephenson's description of Shanghai banks on the eve of World War 2:
Here you've got the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank of course, City Bank, Chase Manhattan, the Bank of America, and BBME and the Agricultural Bank of China and any number of crappy little provincial banks, and several of those banks have contracts with what's left of the Chinese Government to print currency. It must be a cutthroat business because they slash costs by printing it on old newspapers, and if you know how to read Chinese, you can see last year's news stories and polo scores peeking through the colored numbers and pictures that transform these pieces of paper into legal tender.
As every chicken-peddler and rickshaw operator in Shanghai knows, the money-printing contracts stipulate that all of the bills these banks print have to be backed by such-and-such an amount of silver; i.e., anyone should be able to walk into one of those banks at the end of Kiukiang Road and slap down a pile of bills and (provided that those bills were printed by that same bank) receive actual metallic silver in exchange.
Now if China weren't right in the middle of getting systematically drawn and quartered by the Empire of Nippon, it would probably send official bean counters around to keep tabs on how much silver was actually present in these banks' vaults, and it would all be quiet and orderly. But as it stands, the only thing keeping these banks honest is the other banks.
Four lampreys are native to the Michigan Great Lakes region. Two are parasitic; two not. The two parasitic species, while they cause deep wounds, rarely kill their hosts.
The Sea Lamprey is the relatively recent invader (1930s-40s) which has caused ecological havoc.
Space dust may store information as a double helix.
A new computer simulation shows that dust immersed in ionized gas (i.e., dusty plasmas) can organize itself into double helixes. The simulations suggested that under conditions commonly found in space, the dust particles first form a cylindrical structure that sometimes evolved into helical structures. Along some spirals, the radius of the helix was seen to change abruptly from one value to another and then back again, providing a mechanism for storing information in terms of the length and radius of a section of a spiral.
I am reminded of a passage from Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light (1967):
He did not move his head, but reached out to crush a beetle that stood near his hand. The tip of a small crystal and two tiny wires protruded through the broken chitin of its back.
An excellent novel, one of my favorites.
Sadly, the Avon edition that I used to own was the absolute worst example of typographical errors I have ever seen: at least a dozen cases of misplaced or duplicated lines. Bad enough that I could no longer enjoy re-reading a book so grievously mangled by the publisher.
Don't say it -- stop -- I'll say it myself: the book was full of bugs.
Hell, we can't even get food to people going hungry in the US without a political shit storm happening from people who think it's the same thing as communism.
Too true. We could be the heroes of mankind, or at least heroes of a proud and healthy nation: so doable, yet so not done. It hurts.
... the inefficiency of producing phones solely for California means the kill switch is expected to be adopted by phone makers on handsets sold across the U.S. and around the world.
First they tempt you with California legislation.
Next thing you know, you're hooked on NAFTA, ACTA, and God knows what other Profit-Seeking Acronyms (PSA's).
I suppose we should feel lucky that Amazon is not using United Nations Black Drones to deliver tracking devices (such as your new phone) to your door... or wherever they know you are....
"One of the most important advances in casino technology comes from facial recognition systems, where guests entering the gambling area are photographed and their visages are compared with an ever-growing database of known cheaters and suspicious people."
"Carrier bees wait for favourable breezes. If a storm arises, they steady themselves with the weight of a little pebble held in their feet; some
authorities say that it is placed on their shoulders...."
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks, I do appreciate the heads-up.
I agree that the conservative statement is as much bullshit at the anti-liberal statement is bullshit.
I should have made clear that the conservative statement -- "sleeping on the sidewalk" -- is such patent bullshit that I took it for sardonic irony. Granted, the original poster might not have sardonic irony in mind. But if I use the phrase in conversation, I'll make the sardonic irony patently obvious.
I shouldn't have commented in the first place. Broke my own rule: don't comment on politics on Slashdot (or pretty much any place else, for that matter). I am primarily committed to sharing information, not opinion. Commenting on politics is rarely informative, always opinionated. One is reduced to sardonic irony, or worse.
Granted; I see your point.
On reflection, the part that speaks to me is: "Conservatives are for equal treatment. For instance, a law against sleeping on the sidewalk should be enforced equally on both millionaires and homeless vagrants." The part about liberals, I'm not impressed by that.
In any case, I have no use for either label -- "liberal" or "conservative" -- and prefer to avoid them altogether. To paraphrase John Brunner -- don't trust people who hate others based on generalities; only trust those who hate based on specifics. (Sorry, I don't have the actual quote at hand (from Stand on Zanzibar).)
Well said. I'm adding this to my list of useful comments.
A client in the construction/demolition industry tells me that tablets are popular with those guys.
I'm reminded of Neal Stephenson's description of Shanghai banks on the eve of World War 2:
Continue reading ...
If I were a malevolent artificial intelligence, I would profile human sociopaths, and approach them with joint venture proposals.
Theater owners should look beyond movies, to some other technology.
The technology should be sufficiently expensive that it's not practical for home use. And, of course, it should be fun for people to do in crowds.
"Micro changes in air density, my ass."
-- Ripley
More like: Before brain stimulation makes it to the masses, it has plenty of technical and safety measures to override.
Don't be fooled into thinking that "kombucha leather" (aka SCOBY leather) is suitable for this application.
Kombucha/SCOBY is interesting stuff, and yes, the SCOBY mat can be dried out to make a "leather-like" substance.
That is -- SCOBY leather is "somewhat leather-like" when perfect dry.
It's also hygrophilic, meaning it has an affinity for moisture.
In other words, it's always kind of damp and sticky, even in a relatively dry environment.
Expose it to rain, and you've got a sloppy, slippery, un-leather-like mess on your hands. I say this from personal experience.
Also, it smells like cat urine.
Four lampreys are native to the Michigan Great Lakes region. Two are parasitic; two not. The two parasitic species, while they cause deep wounds, rarely kill their hosts.
The Sea Lamprey is the relatively recent invader (1930s-40s) which has caused ecological havoc.
THE FIVE LAMPREYS OF MICHIGAN' 5 GREAT LAKES
Space dust may store information as a double helix.
Hessdalen light
" ... a young man with a ponytail and an earring!"
Doesn't say "young white man", but one might infer as much from the ponytail.
I am reminded of a passage from Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light (1967):
An excellent novel, one of my favorites.
Sadly, the Avon edition that I used to own was the absolute worst example of typographical errors I have ever seen: at least a dozen cases of misplaced or duplicated lines. Bad enough that I could no longer enjoy re-reading a book so grievously mangled by the publisher.
Don't say it -- stop -- I'll say it myself: the book was full of bugs.
Evolutionary pressure will tend to select for individuals who can survive and resist these agents.
Five generations, maybe ten, and we'll have a sub-population of insurgents who drink incapacitant agents from breakfast.
Made me laugh! One more time:
Dogs only poop magnetic fields if you feed the dogs magnetized shavings. Which I do.
Slippery banana peels remind me of a favorite scene from The Wizard of Speed and Time.
Too true. We could be the heroes of mankind, or at least heroes of a proud and healthy nation: so doable, yet so not done. It hurts.
Under Capitalism, Man exploits Man.
Under Communism, it's the other way around.
First they tempt you with California legislation.
Next thing you know, you're hooked on NAFTA, ACTA, and God knows what other Profit-Seeking Acronyms (PSA's).
I suppose we should feel lucky that Amazon is not using United Nations Black Drones to deliver tracking devices (such as your new phone) to your door ... or wherever they know you are ....
"One of the most important advances in casino technology comes from facial recognition systems, where guests entering the gambling area are photographed and their visages are compared with an ever-growing database of known cheaters and suspicious people."
- Link
"Carrier bees wait for favourable breezes. If a storm arises, they steady themselves with the weight of a little pebble held in their feet; some authorities say that it is placed on their shoulders ...."
- Pliny the Elder: Naturalis Historia
"We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients. But we can't scoff at them personally, to their faces, and this is what annoys me."
- Jack Handey
"Security risks" from people self-subscribing to hotel door access?
Some would call this a "Profitable vulnerabilities" situation.