"In 1997, the Group of 7, plus Russia, the European Union and Ukraine, set up the Chernobyl Shelter Fund with the European reconstruction bank in charge. The bank established a shelter implementation plan, estimated the project cost at $768 million, and funded it with donations from 28 nations, ranging from $170 million from the United States to Iceland's $10,000."
Interesting: far too expensive for the Ukraine, but the consequences are global, therefore countries around the world share the expense. This gives me a modicum of hope that people will put aside their national differences for the sake of planetary survival.
(1) The best argument doesn't always win. Sometimes the lawyer who wins is the one who gets the ideologically sympathetic judge.
Worse: in some systems, the lawyer who wins is the one who makes the biggest payoff to the judge... or makes the most persuasive case that the judge's life hangs in the balance. Maybe these things don't happen (much) in America, but they do happen around the world (e.g. Colombia vs. Medellin cartel) and throughout history (e.g. late Roman republic).
(2) What makes lawyers so deserving of Big Money? A living wage, sure... but Big Money? To my thinking, it's teachers and garbage collectors who deserve the Big Money -- try running a civilzation without those professions, see how ugly things get real quick.
Of course, some lawyers work pro bono for the causes in which they believe. That's not good capitalism, but it's truly heroic.
That said, I agree with your point: better a free market legal system than a bloated bureaucracy.
The difference between the Clinton years and the Bush years is not history: it's merely current events.
History is bigger, it spans generations: for example, pre-World War Two versus post-World War Two.
For most of America's history, the War Department was considerably smaller than today's Defense Department.
I'm not saying we don't need big armies. Because America geared up for World War Two, we saved the world from fascism.
But bigger armies are bigger government. Politicians who call for both "smaller government" and "increased defense spending" are hypocrites.
William Tynsdale translated the Bible into English, at a time when the Church didn't want -- didn't permit -- wide readership of the Good Book.
Tynsdale fled for his life, only finding a publisher for his work after much persecution. For his trouble, he was hunted down, abducted, returned to England -- then strangled and burned at the stake (1535 AD).
Before the invention of the printing press, Tynsdale's translation would not have threatened the Church, because hand-copied manuscripts were scarce and expensive, their readership limited to scholars and a few wealthy collectors.
When the cannon was invented, it was condemned as the Devil's invention, for cheating footsoldiers out of their jobs.
Indeed, firearms overall have been attributed to the Devil:
"... I overtook the sheikh, who had preceded me, and asked him many questions about the tribes of the Jordan. In the course of the conversation showed my sword and revolver -- the former with pistol barrels attached near the hilt. He examined them closely, and remarked that they were the 'devil's invention.'"
First they wanted to taste my urine, searching for traces of that whiskey I chugged last night. So I bought an herbal supplement guaranteed to decontaminate my pee.
Now they want to sniff my pheromones. Guess I'll have to pick up a pair of Odor Eaters....
Only a police state regulates the actions of potential victims of crimes to "protect" them.
What about suicide? The criminal and the victim are one and the same. The state intervenes: you must not kill yourself. Police state, or state of mandatory benevolence?
Remember oliver, the electronic personality extender predicted by Alvin Toffler in "Future Shock"...?
There's an interesting passage about olivers in John Brunner's excellent novel, "The Shockwave Rider":
"... so-called olivers, electronic alter-egos designed to save the owner the strain of worrying about all his person-to-person contacts. A sort of twenty-first-century counterpart to the ancient Roman nomenclator, who discreetly whispered data into the ear of the emperor and endowed him with the reputation of a phenomenal memory." (pp. 41-42)
More than a few of those emperors went crazy from all that power, which makes me wonder:
What happens when tens of millions of 21-century citizens have their personalities extended -- and some of them already crazy?
Well, for a start... I predict that The Sims will fuse with Counter-Strike into a new game where heavily-armed psychopaths massacre hapless suburban clones....
I don't know why, but that's the word from researchers -- prions don't denature in an autoclave. There are documented cases where Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease was transmitted via autoclaved surgical instruments. Consequently, Researchers are EXTREMELY cautious about working with prion-related diseases.
Very strange proteins indeed: they don't denature under autoclave heat/pressure... and they cause normal proteins to convert into the abnormal prion form (characterized by spongy holes in brain tissue).
Slashdot Mirror
"In 1997, the Group of 7, plus Russia, the European Union and Ukraine, set up the Chernobyl Shelter Fund with the European reconstruction bank in charge. The bank established a shelter implementation plan, estimated the project cost at $768 million, and funded it with donations from 28 nations, ranging from $170 million from the United States to Iceland's $10,000."
Interesting: far too expensive for the Ukraine, but the consequences are global, therefore countries around the world share the expense. This gives me a modicum of hope that people will put aside their national differences for the sake of planetary survival.
Is there anything to the rumor that Bechtel does CIA work, is a CIA front company, etc??
(1) The best argument doesn't always win. Sometimes the lawyer who wins is the one who gets the ideologically sympathetic judge.
... or makes the most persuasive case that the judge's life hangs in the balance. Maybe these things don't happen (much) in America, but they do happen around the world (e.g. Colombia vs. Medellin cartel) and throughout history (e.g. late Roman republic).
... but Big Money? To my thinking, it's teachers and garbage collectors who deserve the Big Money -- try running a civilzation without those professions, see how ugly things get real quick.
Worse: in some systems, the lawyer who wins is the one who makes the biggest payoff to the judge
(2) What makes lawyers so deserving of Big Money? A living wage, sure
Of course, some lawyers work pro bono for the causes in which they believe. That's not good capitalism, but it's truly heroic.
That said, I agree with your point: better a free market legal system than a bloated bureaucracy.
It's the friction, man -- the goddamned friction!
Friction is great for sex, but terrible for computing.
Moving parts: barbaric.
What I really want is a RAM drive the size of a Monolith.
In Philip K. Dick's Novel The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, there's a robot psychiatrist called Dr. Smile, the size and shape of a suitcase.
Carry on luggage? Could save a lot of panic-induced heart attacks.
The ancient Chinese system:
* a healthy patient makes payments to the doctor
* a sick patient receives payments from the doctor
The difference between the Clinton years and the Bush years is not history: it's merely current events. History is bigger, it spans generations: for example, pre-World War Two versus post-World War Two. For most of America's history, the War Department was considerably smaller than today's Defense Department. I'm not saying we don't need big armies. Because America geared up for World War Two, we saved the world from fascism. But bigger armies are bigger government. Politicians who call for both "smaller government" and "increased defense spending" are hypocrites.
Having sex, of course.
William Tynsdale translated the Bible into English, at a time when the Church didn't want -- didn't permit -- wide readership of the Good Book.
Tynsdale fled for his life, only finding a publisher for his work after much persecution. For his trouble, he was hunted down, abducted, returned to England -- then strangled and burned at the stake (1535 AD).
Before the invention of the printing press, Tynsdale's translation would not have threatened the Church, because hand-copied manuscripts were scarce and expensive, their readership limited to scholars and a few wealthy collectors.
When the cannon was invented, it was condemned as the Devil's invention, for cheating footsoldiers out of their jobs.
Indeed, firearms overall have been attributed to the Devil:
Source: NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES' EXPEDITION TO THE RIVER JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA, BY W. F. LYNCH, U. S. N., COMMANDER OF THE EXPEDITION, WITH MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS A NEW AND CORRECTED EDITION. PHILADELPHIA:LEA AND BLANCHARD, 1849.Biggest military ever. That's not "small government".
I'm pretty sure Jack Valenti wasn't around in Gutenberg's day. But Strom Thurmond might have been ....
Next: All-Star Core Wars ....
K.W. Jeter described a spherical balloon relay called Small Moon
in his novel Farewell Horizontal.
Most of the novel's action takes place on the outer face of a miles-high cylinder.
The curvature of the cylinder made Small Moon a virtual necessity.
Agreed: Software is Art.
... even if they know nothing about Art.
Unfortunately, people who fund the Arts usually expect to manage the Arts
Drinking and smoking and watching porn -- at the same time -- whoa! Sin city!
Sex in front of my parents?
....
Not as bad as my parents having sex in front of me
First they wanted to taste my urine, searching for traces of that whiskey I chugged last night. So I bought an herbal supplement guaranteed to decontaminate my pee.
....
Now they want to sniff my pheromones. Guess I'll have to pick up a pair of Odor Eaters
Only a police state regulates the actions of potential victims of crimes to "protect" them.
What about suicide? The criminal and the victim are one and the same. The state intervenes: you must not kill yourself. Police state, or state of mandatory benevolence?
Awesome! Engineering meets poetry in motion! Check out the videos -- a bit blurry, but incredible!
Directed by Alex Proyas? I'm so there -- Dark City is an awesome movie!
... he's okay, that's about it.
Starring Will Smith? I so don't care
Get the car from Spy Hunter into Frogger. Now's there roadkill waiting to happen!
Remember oliver, the electronic personality extender predicted by Alvin Toffler in "Future Shock" ...?
... I predict that The Sims will fuse with Counter-Strike into a new game where heavily-armed psychopaths massacre hapless suburban clones ....
There's an interesting passage about olivers in John Brunner's excellent novel, "The Shockwave Rider":
"... so-called olivers, electronic alter-egos designed to save the owner the strain of worrying about all his person-to-person contacts. A sort of twenty-first-century counterpart to the ancient Roman nomenclator, who discreetly whispered data into the ear of the emperor and endowed him with the reputation of a phenomenal memory." (pp. 41-42)
More than a few of those emperors went crazy from all that power, which makes me wonder:
What happens when tens of millions of 21-century citizens have their personalities extended -- and some of them already crazy?
Well, for a start
I don't know why, but that's the word from researchers -- prions don't denature in an autoclave. There are documented cases where Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease was transmitted via autoclaved surgical instruments. Consequently, Researchers are EXTREMELY cautious about working with prion-related diseases.
... and they cause normal proteins to convert into the abnormal prion form (characterized by spongy holes in brain tissue).
Very strange proteins indeed: they don't denature under autoclave heat/pressure