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User: KiahZero

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  1. Re:The 4th isn't enough? on Password Protection Act: Bans Bosses Asking For Facebook Passwords · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, the Fourth Amendment only covers state action; it doesn't address searches by third parties (unless they are being used as agents of the state).

  2. Re:Which "NDAA"? on VA Court To Review "Official" Email Rules · · Score: 1

    "In all criminal prosecutions. . ."

    That introductory clause is important. These detentions aren't criminal prosecutions; they're justified (shakily) premised on "the law of war." Anyhow, my point was merely that there is judicial review in the NDAA detention authorization, and so there does have to be a showing before a court that a person is subject to the detention authority.

  3. Re:Which "NDAA"? on VA Court To Review "Official" Email Rules · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There isn't a trial (in the sense of adjudicating guilt or innocence) but there is initial and triennial judicial review of the detention, so it would be rather difficult to imprison random Americans under this authority (unless you're assuming falsification of evidence like birth records, in which case there's not a damn thing that can stop the imprisonment of anyone).

  4. Re:Just turn off the car? on Mandatory Brake-Override Proposed For All Cars · · Score: 1

    Man, it's a good thing mods don't know any more about this than you do, otherwise you might not be modded insightful.

    The only one of those things actually promulgated by the Department of Transportation is a ban on texting by drivers of commercial motor vehicles (such as semis and buses). Bans on texting generally are a state level thing. Bans on using cellphones while driving without a hands free device are a state level thing. There is no ban on using cell phones even with a hands free device (unless a state I'm not aware of has passed one); the NTSB doesn't have rulemaking authority, made a recommendation, and isn't even in DOT (it's independent). There is no ban on GPS displays; NHTSA put out guidance with recommendations, but they lack force of law.

  5. Re:Statistical Games Disqualify You As A Scientist on Virginia High Court Rejects Case Against Climatologist Michael Mann · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "If your experiment needs statistics, you ought to have done a better experiment." - a stupid sentiment, regardless of who said it.

    Anyhow, your assertions have been investigated and found to be false.

  6. Re:Thrown out on a technicality on Virginia High Court Rejects Case Against Climatologist Michael Mann · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The real takeaway is "Don't do research that irritates Republicans, or they might conduct partisan witch-hunts devoid of any actual basis."

  7. Re:Statistical Games Disqualify You As A Scientist on Virginia High Court Rejects Case Against Climatologist Michael Mann · · Score: 2

    I'm sure CERN will be thrilled to know that they're disqualified from being scientists.

  8. Re:personhood on Virginia High Court Rejects Case Against Climatologist Michael Mann · · Score: 1

    It's not that it's a university, it's that UVA is an agency of the Commonwealth.

  9. Re:Difference between law and policy. on State Legislatures Attempt To Limit TSA Searches · · Score: 1

    There's no "may be" about it. Regulations have the force of law and can preempt state law.

  10. Re:States can't legislate to the federal governmen on State Legislatures Attempt To Limit TSA Searches · · Score: 1

    Regulations promulgated by agencies under the authority delegated to them by Congress have the force of law, including preemptive effects.

  11. Re:Acronym on Is the OMB Trying To End Planetary Exploration? · · Score: 1

    Not well known, maybe. OMB is ridiculously significant, especially its subagency, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which has to approve every significant regulation promulgated by an agency within the executive branch hierarchy.

  12. Re:Market value? on WoW To Add Avenue For Real-Money Gold Buying · · Score: 1

    And yet, if those expectations are higher than the function of supply of the item and demand for it, you'll either be stuck without your $10 and nothing to show for it, or you'll adjust your expectations downward to realize some gain.

    I imagine you'll see the same kind of sinusoidal price movements for this as you see for other WoW items, with high prices inducing more people to get one and list it on the AH, quickly overwhelming the demand and tanking the price.

  13. Re:But should it be illegal? on Judge Rules Boss's "Firing Contest" Created a Hostile Work Environment · · Score: 1

    It's not illegal. It just means that employees leaving the company in this specific situation are treated as if the employer terminated their employment for the purposes of unemployment insurance, which means the employees get benefits and they are counted when determining the employer's contribution rate.

  14. Re:The importance of being Ernst on Judge Rules Boss's "Firing Contest" Created a Hostile Work Environment · · Score: 3, Informative

    Indirectly, through unemployment insurance contribution rates. Companies with higher turnover rates pay more into the fund that is used to pay out benefits. Accordingly most (all?) states deny benefits to individuals who "voluntarily" leave their job, though I suspect most use this same definition of "hostile work environment" to catch when an employer tries to push people into quitting rather than firing the employees.

  15. Re:Then Why Are We Seeing the Same Negative Effect on Debt Deal Reached · · Score: 1

    The debt ceiling needed to be moved through to 2013 to prevent another potentially catastrophic game of chicken. It's an issue that's easy to demagogue, with an impact of triggering a larger depression if the ceiling isn't lifted in a timely manner.

    No one is projecting trillion dollar deficits indefinitely. The reason the deficit spiked is because revenues plummeted when the economy plummeted, along with comparatively small automatic stabilizers and fiscal stimulus.

    I hold some treasuries as part of my retirement, and will continue to do so. The debt of the US has been and remains the safest in the world, notwithstanding the insanity of a few members of Congress.

    Finally, our economic situation will only end in disaster if we collectively allow it to do so. We need to bring our revenues and spending into line in the medium-long term, but austerity measures in the short term only make that harder. We need to get the economy moving again, and we need to curb health-care spending in the medium-long term (perhaps with less demagoguery about "death panels"), neither of which will be helped by wasting human capital in the name of fiscal self-flagellation.

  16. Re:Then Why Are We Seeing the Same Negative Effect on Debt Deal Reached · · Score: 1

    As I explained above, they're saying that *now*. As recently as six months ago, they were saying that we needed to come up with a plan (note, that's come up with, not implement) in the next five years. Our fiscal outlook hasn't changed significantly in the past six months. The ratings agencies are reacting to political change, not economic change.

  17. Re:Hello IRS on Blizzard Reveals Diablo 3 (Real Money) Auction House · · Score: 1

    I'm no tax attorney (thank the heavens), but my understanding is that virtual items will be treated as assets, so the IRS would only get involved if a player cashes out those assets and realizes a gain. The upside is that, if I understand correctly, gamers making money off of playing Diablo would be treated like hedge fund managers and be taxed on that income at the 15% capital gains rate rather than ordinary income tax levels.

  18. Re:Then Why Are We Seeing the Same Negative Effect on Debt Deal Reached · · Score: 4, Informative

    Adding on to what skids just said, Ezra Klein did a pretty good job of summarizing S&P's movement over the past year, so I'll let him do the work:

    But what was it, precisely, that changed S&P’s view?

    In [David Beers, director of Standard Poor’s sovereign-debt division]'s telling, it was primarily politics. The growth outlook wasn’t any better than it had been in April, but it wasn’t substantially worse. Nor had the debt burden increased with unexpected speed. It was Washington that had unsettled them. The update was clear about this. The title was “United States of America ‘AAA/A-1+’ Ratings Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Rising Risk Of Policy Stalemate” — italics mine.

    “What we’re saying now,” explains Beers, “is we question whether despite all the discussions and intense negotiations, if they can’t reach this agreement, will they be able to reach it after the election?”

    In short, our debt/GDP ratio is not what's driving the potential downgrade; rather, it's the concern that we won't be able to make the decisions necessary to eventually get our debt/GDP ratio stable. As I said, the amount the US owes has little to do with our credit rating (note: not "nothing," but "little"), since we are financially able to repay our obligations and any likely new obligations for the foreseeable future.

  19. Re:Most economists think this isn't enough? on Debt Deal Reached · · Score: 1

    It reduces aggregate demand (just as increasing taxes in a bad economy would do). Given that we have persistent high unemployment as a result of insufficient demand, the correct policy response is to run deficits until the recovery is solidly under way (GDP growing faster than, say 2.5%, unemployment below 6%), then ease off of spending and ease on some higher taxes (not necessarily income taxes) to bring down the debt to sustainable debt/GDP levels,

  20. Re:Then Why Are We Seeing the Same Negative Effect on Debt Deal Reached · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The potential downgrade has little to do with the amount of debt owed - rather, it is a reflection of the rating agencies' assessment of how likely we are to repay our bonds. Originally, simply raising the debt ceiling would have been sufficient to satisfy the rating agencies. However, now that Republicans have made clear that raising the debt ceiling is an opportunity to extract concessions with the nation's credit rating on the line, some of the rating agencies wanted to see that Congress was capable of reaching agreements without blowing up the world economy.

  21. Re:Software does not offend on When Software Offends · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's possible that someone can be offended by requests not to offend others: a kind of second-ordered offense, if you will. However, such second-order offense is a result of an individual's self-defense against an offender, and under the framework I've discussed here and elsewhere is therefore justifiable.

    Also, we're not talking censorship here, since no one's talking about government intervening to restrict the original offensive speech. We're not even talking about private censorship, because TFA doesn't even call on the community managers to ban the offensive speech. Rather, TFA is engaging in the classic anti-censorship response to harmful speech: more speech.

    Finally, you didn't answer my question. Your prior posts take the position that there is nothing morally wrong with intentionally causing harm or discomfort to others (or perhaps even that you are morally entitled to do so) when there is an action those others could take that could protect them from you. Does your dodge indicate that you are backing away from that position?

  22. Re:Software does not offend on When Software Offends · · Score: 1

    Do I understand you correctly then, that you believe that there is nothing morally wrong in you directly and intentionally causing discomfort or harm to others if there is something those others could do to stop you?

  23. Re:Well.. on When Software Offends · · Score: 1

    Perhaps I've missed it, but is anyone talking about taking away the liberty of the douche in question to be a douche, or the freedom of the Python community to exile or not exile said douche from the community?

    It seemed to me like the article was raising an issue, not calling for the particular remedy of censoring the name of the package. If any response was suggested in TFA, it seemed to me to be the thoroughly non-censorship response of more speech as a solution to bad speech.

  24. Re:Software does not offend on When Software Offends · · Score: 1

    You proposed the ass-stick analogy, so let's stick with it.

    If you know someone else has a stick up their ass, and you go and intentionally wiggle it about, how are you not responsible for that person's resulting discomfort?

  25. Re:FCK Editor, anyone? on When Software Offends · · Score: 1

    Quite the opposite: a slippery slope implies that, after taking an initial step, one will tumble helplessly down to the bottom of the hill without being able to stop one's self. The multitude of copyright extensions are far from a slippery slope, in as much as it took 218 Representatives, 51 Senators, and a President all deciding that extending copyrights was the right thing to do in order for it to happen, each time an extension was passed. That's not a slope, let alone a slippery one: that's a series of stairs.