I can't see why a smaller country would have less corruption than a large one. Proportionally, of course. It seems more likely to me corruption would flourish in a small country, where everyone (who is anyone, at least) knows everyone.
If you actually look at the corruption ranking you'll see that there are plenty of small countries at the bottom, including Haiti at the very last position.
I don't think the "left" and "right" labels have much value at all. If Milton Friedman and Adolf Hitler, who hold diametrically opposing views on pretty much every issue, both are classified as "far right", the label is very close to meaningless. The huge difference between free market capitalism and fascism was my main point.
I have no interest in redefining these labels, and would be far more inclined to get rid of them and discuss actual ideas and policies instead.
The Nazis were backed by corporate interests and were good Fascists.
If that's you definition of "right", they were certainly that.
If you define it as being for a free market economy, they were no closer to that than the communists. So by that definition Hitler was definitely "left".
Also remember that only some corporate interests backed them. The big number of Jewish owned corporations that they felt unfairly dominated the German economy didn't get any favorable treatment.
It seems to me that you only know young and healthy people. Nothing wrong with that, but let me just remind you that a lot (25% or more) of the driving population is too infirm in one way or another to have any realistic chance of travelling by bike.
The interesting question here is what they'll do about homegrown/open source systems. If I write VoIP software and talk to my friends through it, will I/it be considered a provider and forced to supply this tapping service?
If no, it is so easily circumvented that it will only catch stupid and careless criminals. Note that this may well be a large portion of the target population and ebough to make this worthwhile.
If yes, it seems extremely intrusive, and since I would be my own provider in this case, also fairly useless. When they order me to implement the tap on my self, it will probably make me more careful what I talk about.
I don't know if inviting is necessary, but part of the definition of democracy is that the whole election process can be observed and verified by independent observers. That's the "open" part of "Free, fair and open elections".
This is nothing US specific.
If you can't personally go down to the election office and make sure for yourself that your and others votes are being counted, there is little chance that your vote actually counts.
This is a linguistic pet peeve, and has nothing to do with the issue.
wheelbarrow wrote:
Comparing the USA vs. China in this arena of the freedom of expression is ridiculous.
Which I find very odd considering that the entire point of the post was to compare these two things. The result of that comparision being that China is much worse than USA in this arena.
I feel better now.
Those numbers are doctored everywhere...
on
The Jobs Crunch
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· Score: 2, Insightful
The unemployment numbers are political dynamite in any country, so they're pretty heavily doctored everywhere.
My native Sweden has fairly low official numbers, but they are achieved by having some 10% or 20% (*) of the working age population that is not working being classified in other categores. The big ones are long term sickness, early retirement and "education". Some of that education is no doubt useful in the way you describe, but most is little more than long term people storage, and everybody involved knows it.
In all these categories you are getting paid fairly well by the government, to a much larger extent than in the US, which you may or may not think is a good thing.
So where is the unemployment really highest? Who lies the most and the best? I don't have that information, though I'm sure there are plenty of studies someone can look up. But as a Swede living in California I have no doubt at all that there are far more Americans gainfully employed, and that it's much easier to get a job here.
(*) I haven't seen actual numbers in a long time, and these things are very hard to measure precisely anyway, but that's the range.
The US (not to mention many other countries) have a long and rich history of election officials tampering with the results. What says that that has suddenly ended in 2004?
A different way than "election officials are corrupt" of framing the issue is to point out that corrupt people who want to influence results will want to become election officials. Especially if there are no checks on their power.
Obviously the apex of the biggest speculation bubble in one industry for a century is the minimal baseline that all other times and circumstances must be measured against.
Any deviation from that state of supreme normality is evidence both of evil and massive conspiracies, and the need for massive government support of the Entitled IT Masses.
The real reason for the extreme left/right elected officials we see is gerrymandering. Since most districts are drawn up to be either solidly democrat or republican, extreme candidates are favored. Also, once elected, they are assured of reelection, and are best off courting their most fanatical base for donations.
Non gerrymandered possitions, like president and senators, are much less extreme than representatives.
Unlimited resources are normally free. Only limited resources are valuable enough that people bother trading them. Pretty much anything that is traded is a limited resource.
So why would you think thatspectrum being limited is an argument against trading it? As far as I can tell it is really a precondition for trade in it.
Given that "own" is a synonym to "control", what does it mean that something "belongs to all"? If it belongs to an individual, the answer is simple. That individual can do whatever he wants with it, and nobody else can. This case is much less clear.
These are all the interpretations I can think.
A. Anyone can do anything with X.
B. X is controlled by a government body that 'all' have the opportunity to vote for.
C. The speaker has never thought about what the words mean, but they sure sound pretty.
"Our security cameras showed that you spent no time staring directly at Ms. Jones' chest in the last month. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go since we do not as a matter of policy employ gays. Have a nice day."
Slashdot Mirror
I can't see why a smaller country would have less corruption than a large one. Proportionally, of course. It seems more likely to me corruption would flourish in a small country, where everyone (who is anyone, at least) knows everyone.
If you actually look at the corruption ranking you'll see that there are plenty of small countries at the bottom, including Haiti at the very last position.
There is not that exact feature, but you can get to see if the show is being rebroadcast soon much easier.
If you actually press record, you can select Season Pass and other options. And in the following screen you can select View upcomning episodes. Done!
I don't think the "left" and "right" labels have much value at all. If Milton Friedman and Adolf Hitler, who hold diametrically opposing views on pretty much every issue, both are classified as "far right", the label is very close to meaningless. The huge difference between free market capitalism and fascism was my main point.
I have no interest in redefining these labels, and would be far more inclined to get rid of them and discuss actual ideas and policies instead.
The review keeps talking abot Parker as responsible for the film. Aren't Parker and Stone equal partners? Does CmdrTaco know something I don't??
The Nazis were backed by corporate interests and were good Fascists.
If that's you definition of "right", they were certainly that.
If you define it as being for a free market economy, they were no closer to that than the communists. So by that definition Hitler was definitely "left".
Also remember that only some corporate interests backed them. The big number of Jewish owned corporations that they felt unfairly dominated the German economy didn't get any favorable treatment.
At least blatant strawmEn are alive and modded +5. Yet does that ole Slashdot heart beat!
It seems to me that you only know young and healthy people. Nothing wrong with that, but let me just remind you that a lot (25% or more) of the driving population is too infirm in one way or another to have any realistic chance of travelling by bike.
The big irony about the "Mac is a toy" myth is that the one field where Macs really do have a shortage of apps is games.
So the one thing the Macintosh is really not suitable for is as a toy.
At last we will now be safe...
At last we will now be safe...
The hassle of keeping them free from fingerprints may make it not worth it.
If they find several very similar bills that all have your prints on them, you're in deep trouble.
The interesting question here is what they'll do about homegrown/open source systems. If I write VoIP software and talk to my friends through it, will I/it be considered a provider and forced to supply this tapping service?
If no, it is so easily circumvented that it will only catch stupid and careless criminals. Note that this may well be a large portion of the target population and ebough to make this worthwhile.
If yes, it seems extremely intrusive, and since I would be my own provider in this case, also fairly useless. When they order me to implement the tap on my self, it will probably make me more careful what I talk about.
I don't know if inviting is necessary, but part of the definition of democracy is that the whole election process can be observed and verified by independent observers. That's the "open" part of "Free, fair and open elections".
This is nothing US specific.
If you can't personally go down to the election office and make sure for yourself that your and others votes are being counted, there is little chance that your vote actually counts.
No one came over to monitor the 1880 election after the 1876 election
How do you know? It was interesting to hear about the 1876 election, but what is the source of there being no observers at the 1880 election?
This is a linguistic pet peeve, and has nothing to do with the issue.
wheelbarrow wrote:
Comparing the USA vs. China in this arena of the freedom of expression is ridiculous.
Which I find very odd considering that the entire point of the post was to compare these two things. The result of that comparision being that China is much worse than USA in this arena.
I feel better now.
The unemployment numbers are political dynamite in any country, so they're pretty heavily doctored everywhere.
My native Sweden has fairly low official numbers, but they are achieved by having some 10% or 20% (*) of the working age population that is not working being classified in other categores. The big ones are long term sickness, early retirement and "education". Some of that education is no doubt useful in the way you describe, but most is little more than long term people storage, and everybody involved knows it.
In all these categories you are getting paid fairly well by the government, to a much larger extent than in the US, which you may or may not think is a good thing.
So where is the unemployment really highest? Who lies the most and the best? I don't have that information, though I'm sure there are plenty of studies someone can look up. But as a Swede living in California I have no doubt at all that there are far more Americans gainfully employed, and that it's much easier to get a job here.
(*) I haven't seen actual numbers in a long time, and these things are very hard to measure precisely anyway, but that's the range.
Why would you trust election officials?
The US (not to mention many other countries) have a long and rich history of election officials tampering with the results. What says that that has suddenly ended in 2004?
A different way than "election officials are corrupt" of framing the issue is to point out that corrupt people who want to influence results will want to become election officials. Especially if there are no checks on their power.
Obviously the apex of the biggest speculation bubble in one industry for a century is the minimal baseline that all other times and circumstances must be measured against.
Any deviation from that state of supreme normality is evidence both of evil and massive conspiracies, and the need for massive government support of the Entitled IT Masses.
The real reason for the extreme left/right elected officials we see is gerrymandering. Since most districts are drawn up to be either solidly democrat or republican, extreme candidates are favored. Also, once elected, they are assured of reelection, and are best off courting their most fanatical base for donations.
Non gerrymandered possitions, like president and senators, are much less extreme than representatives.
By US law, you have to carry your drivers license when driving, whetether you break laws or not.
One common instance of having to show it without breaking any law is when you're involved in an accident.
When will the US synch up with the rest of the world and use red for left and blue for right??
Why do Americans think the Soviet flag was red?
This will end up with the wrong country being invaded some day. Change while it's not too late!!
Unlimited resources are normally free. Only limited resources are valuable enough that people bother trading them. Pretty much anything that is traded is a limited resource.
So why would you think thatspectrum being limited is an argument against trading it? As far as I can tell it is really a precondition for trade in it.
These are all the interpretations I can think.
"Our security cameras showed that you spent no time staring directly at Ms. Jones' chest in the last month. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go since we do not as a matter of policy employ gays. Have a nice day."
Tivo's are really hard to beat on price. As the article mentions, a new Tivo costs $79.
I don't expect a PC to get significantly cheaper than that for quite a while, even if you don't consider the price for a monitor and remote control.