It sucks to be nothing more than a mere citizen in these situations, and have to endure watching these manipulators use everyone else for their own purposes, doesn't it? We here in the U.S. know how it feels, lately because of Bush and Cheney, but personally I don't think it's over with Obama in office....
I think indeed I'm seeing the whole thing a bit better than most. I suggest that you read the post "I am a Honduran citizen" elsewhere in the replies here (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1307779&cid=28752917). Since he actually lives in Honduras (at least so he says), he is qualified to give a much more accurate account of it than any of us outsiders.
As it so happens, though, his account justifies my skepticism.
I suggest that you read the post "I am a Honduran citizen" elsewhere in the replies here (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1307779&cid=28752917). Since he actually lives in Honduras (at least so he says), he is qualified to give a much more accurate account of it than any of us outsiders.
As it so happens, though, his account justifies my skepticism.
How do you know so much about who Zelaya wants to be? Who are you to say that I "hate" a man I've never even met? Perhaps I should ask you: do you "hate" everyone with whom you disagree about ideology?
Don't actually answer; the questions were rhetorical. You already answered them when you presumed I would think and behave exactly as you do, and then told me how you'd think and act.
Sorry, could you point out specifically where he did that? I must have missed something, because that didn't come up in anything I read. He wanted to have a referendum to debate changes to the Constitution, and asked that the voice of the people be heard on the matter. That doesn't sound like "dismantling democratic rule" to me. There were ACCUSATIONS that he wanted to specifically try to change the section that would allow him to be reelected, but that reelection would still require the assent of the citizens, wouldn't it? If, during a referendum, it was clear that citizens wanted a change to term limits, who the fuck are these other people in the courts and the military to stand in the way of that and say no, and then carry it a step further and stage a coup, exile the President, and then say it was all done for the good of the people and saving the Constitution?
You're ignoring the bigger point: there is clearly more than one bad guy in play here, and no one wearing white hats. What I've read thus far doesn't detail any genuine criminal or treasonous actions that Zelaya committed; what I have seen mentioned doesn't even rise to the level of criminality of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and we can't even get those bastards impeached here. Whereas in Honduras, on the other hand, they'll stage a coup because they don't like what the guy had for breakfast. Maybe we should ship Bush and Cheney to Honduras, let these people exact a little frontier justice.
Well, I just "looked into" what happened. Wikipedia, for one, notes:
"On June 28, 2009, President Zelaya was seized by soldiers, acting on the orders of the Honduran Supreme Court,[42] and taken to an air force base.[43][44] Honduran radio station HRN reported that Zelaya had been sent into exile. He has been taken to Costa Rica, a neutral country.[45] Article 102 of the Honduran Constitution states that no Honduran can be expatriated or handed over to a foreign State. [46][47][48]"
So lemme get this straight: by forcibly shoving Zelaya across the border, the country's own Supreme Court violated the very Constitution they allegedly want to preserve? And there was at least one other obvious Constitutional violation in their handling of this. Who exactly is the bad guy here? It appears to me there might be many more than one... which is, frankly, typical of that region. Even the good guys have blood-stained skeletons in their closets.
Don't go accusing me of being a Wikipedia fanboi, either... I read a Bloomberg article and numerous other commentaries and articles, and came away with the distinct impression that there is more a battle of wills and competing self-interest involved here, rather than an obvious singular Bad Guy.
Yeah... if one desires to be called a skeptic, it helps to actually think like one, eh? Just too little damned information about this to be certain who's really done what and why. Evidence is so easily manufactured these days, you're either a skeptic or a patsy.
Senator Dorgan: Do you know what happens to some well-intentioned people working for the common good when the stress of the effort overwhelms them and they feel unappreciated? They often retreat to worrying about themselves and their own well-being, and stop being so concerned about doing good for others.
Humor and "goofing around" on occasion is one thing that can help those people avoid that breakdown. Way to go, Senator Dorgan, for making sure these people do wind up resorting to inward focus to save their sanity.
Taking my tongue out of my cheek for a moment, I have to ask, why the hell do you think those behaviors are specifically limited to a single global government? Do you honestly think everything will all suddenly change for the worse if that were to come about? WE HAVE ALL THOSE BEHAVIORS NOW, in every single government that already exists. Do you honestly think the United States government can be considered "ethical"? It is, I might concede, but only barely; it's not even close to being the pinnacle of ethics we trumpet to the rest of the world.
Take yer tinfoil-hat anxieties to some other thread, m'kay? Thanks.
... some subscriber's rickety RAID 0 volume goes belly-up? How many other users' data goes with it? Where's the redundancy and backup? Can Joe Schmoe be trusted to care for someone else's data when push comes to shove? For that matter, could GGF be trusted to care when push comes to shove?
Ummm, tongue in cheek? I took systems analysis course in college, too, ya know, and one of the things discussed was how networks - human ones - scale. In other words: they don't scale well at all. I got the same problem in all my favorite 4X games, dammit, poor scalability! I always laugh at the silly self-proclaimed Libertarians who claim that "business" is always more efficient than "government", as if they are completely dissimilar hierarchies or something! What they fail to grasp is the illogic of their claim: show me a corporation that functions on the same SCALE as, say, the U.S. government with 400+ million "customers", and I'll show you a corporation that is every bit as inefficient. It's not "government" that is the problem, stupid, it's the scale!
Still, this balancing act we play between anarchy and hierarchy is one that deserves continued discussion and investigation, yes?
Hmmmm... it seems that maybe the Borg solved the issue of scalability? Maybe we could copy them!
... by affiliates in certain states that just can't resist the temptation to wield the law in ways unfavorable to Amazon and the rest of its customers, huh? Sound vaguely familiar?
It's appears that you assume that he wants to compare images for which he himself is the source? What if the images he actually wants to compare are pr0n, of the same hi-res glamour photo sets obtained from different sources? He needs to decide which is the "best" pron to keep, right? (Never mind that he can probably jack off equally well to either/any... he's a COLLECTOR so it matters.:-)
Such images will almost always have the EXIF data scrubbed from them, so your technique wouldn't work at all for racy hi-res stuff. I'm deliberately not naming example sources, because I don't want them to know they're a topic.:-)
Slashdot Mirror
... until the fat lady sings.
It sucks to be nothing more than a mere citizen in these situations, and have to endure watching these manipulators use everyone else for their own purposes, doesn't it? We here in the U.S. know how it feels, lately because of Bush and Cheney, but personally I don't think it's over with Obama in office....
I think indeed I'm seeing the whole thing a bit better than most. I suggest that you read the post "I am a Honduran citizen" elsewhere in the replies here (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1307779&cid=28752917). Since he actually lives in Honduras (at least so he says), he is qualified to give a much more accurate account of it than any of us outsiders.
As it so happens, though, his account justifies my skepticism.
I suggest that you read the post "I am a Honduran citizen" elsewhere in the replies here (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1307779&cid=28752917). Since he actually lives in Honduras (at least so he says), he is qualified to give a much more accurate account of it than any of us outsiders.
As it so happens, though, his account justifies my skepticism.
You did WHAT to Mount Rushmore!? Your roots won't keep very long when Lincoln's face falls off!
How do you know so much about who Zelaya wants to be? Who are you to say that I "hate" a man I've never even met? Perhaps I should ask you: do you "hate" everyone with whom you disagree about ideology?
Don't actually answer; the questions were rhetorical. You already answered them when you presumed I would think and behave exactly as you do, and then told me how you'd think and act.
I think crapping OUT is the action one wants of a commode on a space station, no? Can you imagine the hilarity if it were to crap IN?
Sorry, could you point out specifically where he did that? I must have missed something, because that didn't come up in anything I read. He wanted to have a referendum to debate changes to the Constitution, and asked that the voice of the people be heard on the matter. That doesn't sound like "dismantling democratic rule" to me. There were ACCUSATIONS that he wanted to specifically try to change the section that would allow him to be reelected, but that reelection would still require the assent of the citizens, wouldn't it? If, during a referendum, it was clear that citizens wanted a change to term limits, who the fuck are these other people in the courts and the military to stand in the way of that and say no, and then carry it a step further and stage a coup, exile the President, and then say it was all done for the good of the people and saving the Constitution?
I call bullshit on this whole thing.
You're ignoring the bigger point: there is clearly more than one bad guy in play here, and no one wearing white hats. What I've read thus far doesn't detail any genuine criminal or treasonous actions that Zelaya committed; what I have seen mentioned doesn't even rise to the level of criminality of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and we can't even get those bastards impeached here. Whereas in Honduras, on the other hand, they'll stage a coup because they don't like what the guy had for breakfast. Maybe we should ship Bush and Cheney to Honduras, let these people exact a little frontier justice.
Ummm... my kiln is still on back-order from the Pottery Barn. But water impervious? Maybe water resistant....
Yeah, but my carbide-tipped scriber is busted!
Well, I just "looked into" what happened. Wikipedia, for one, notes:
"On June 28, 2009, President Zelaya was seized by soldiers, acting on the orders of the Honduran Supreme Court,[42] and taken to an air force base.[43][44] Honduran radio station HRN reported that Zelaya had been sent into exile. He has been taken to Costa Rica, a neutral country.[45] Article 102 of the Honduran Constitution states that no Honduran can be expatriated or handed over to a foreign State. [46][47][48]"
So lemme get this straight: by forcibly shoving Zelaya across the border, the country's own Supreme Court violated the very Constitution they allegedly want to preserve? And there was at least one other obvious Constitutional violation in their handling of this. Who exactly is the bad guy here? It appears to me there might be many more than one... which is, frankly, typical of that region. Even the good guys have blood-stained skeletons in their closets.
Don't go accusing me of being a Wikipedia fanboi, either... I read a Bloomberg article and numerous other commentaries and articles, and came away with the distinct impression that there is more a battle of wills and competing self-interest involved here, rather than an obvious singular Bad Guy.
Yeah... if one desires to be called a skeptic, it helps to actually think like one, eh? Just too little damned information about this to be certain who's really done what and why. Evidence is so easily manufactured these days, you're either a skeptic or a patsy.
Cuneiform tablets work well for me. Don't store them in a flood zone, though.
... would never plant such evidence to justify their coup, would they now?
Senator Dorgan: Do you know what happens to some well-intentioned people working for the common good when the stress of the effort overwhelms them and they feel unappreciated? They often retreat to worrying about themselves and their own well-being, and stop being so concerned about doing good for others.
Humor and "goofing around" on occasion is one thing that can help those people avoid that breakdown. Way to go, Senator Dorgan, for making sure these people do wind up resorting to inward focus to save their sanity.
Taking my tongue out of my cheek for a moment, I have to ask, why the hell do you think those behaviors are specifically limited to a single global government? Do you honestly think everything will all suddenly change for the worse if that were to come about? WE HAVE ALL THOSE BEHAVIORS NOW, in every single government that already exists. Do you honestly think the United States government can be considered "ethical"? It is, I might concede, but only barely; it's not even close to being the pinnacle of ethics we trumpet to the rest of the world.
Take yer tinfoil-hat anxieties to some other thread, m'kay? Thanks.
... some subscriber's rickety RAID 0 volume goes belly-up? How many other users' data goes with it? Where's the redundancy and backup? Can Joe Schmoe be trusted to care for someone else's data when push comes to shove? For that matter, could GGF be trusted to care when push comes to shove?
Have I got a case for you! :-)
Who opened the door and let a draft in?
Maybe you should read the OTHER discussion that followed before you reply? Nah, this is Slashdot and that would be too much like reading TFA, right?
Ummm, tongue in cheek? I took systems analysis course in college, too, ya know, and one of the things discussed was how networks - human ones - scale. In other words: they don't scale well at all. I got the same problem in all my favorite 4X games, dammit, poor scalability! I always laugh at the silly self-proclaimed Libertarians who claim that "business" is always more efficient than "government", as if they are completely dissimilar hierarchies or something! What they fail to grasp is the illogic of their claim: show me a corporation that functions on the same SCALE as, say, the U.S. government with 400+ million "customers", and I'll show you a corporation that is every bit as inefficient. It's not "government" that is the problem, stupid, it's the scale!
Still, this balancing act we play between anarchy and hierarchy is one that deserves continued discussion and investigation, yes?
Hmmmm... it seems that maybe the Borg solved the issue of scalability? Maybe we could copy them!
One World Government (and consistent laws and ethics maybe?) FTW!
... by affiliates in certain states that just can't resist the temptation to wield the law in ways unfavorable to Amazon and the rest of its customers, huh? Sound vaguely familiar?
It's appears that you assume that he wants to compare images for which he himself is the source? What if the images he actually wants to compare are pr0n, of the same hi-res glamour photo sets obtained from different sources? He needs to decide which is the "best" pron to keep, right? (Never mind that he can probably jack off equally well to either/any... he's a COLLECTOR so it matters. :-)
Such images will almost always have the EXIF data scrubbed from them, so your technique wouldn't work at all for racy hi-res stuff. I'm deliberately not naming example sources, because I don't want them to know they're a topic. :-)