If someone set up a site such as the one above, more free speech, rather than less, would probably render it impotent -- those opposed to it could express their concern, and the groups who directly benefit from the site would probably lose more in public support/legislative power than they would gain from trying to create a culture of fear.
It seems that you don't grasp the nature of religious fanaticism. The people who bomb clinics or shoot doctors don't give a shit about "public support/legislative power". They don't even care about Scripture ("Blessed are the peacemakers.").
Expecting a mad bomber to act rationally is absurd.
k. --
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Re:Another quickie: Clinton gave out his passphras
on
1.21 Quickiewatts
·
· Score: 1
He inserted a card encoded with his signature into a computer and entered the code name 'Buddy'
You were expecting him to type monica?
I wonder if anyone's tried to get/etc/passwd from whitehouse.gov released under the Freedom of Information Act?
k. -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Samizdat was a way of distributing forbidden materials back then, things that weren't available anywhere else.
As far as I can tell, buying a CD of a band's music is not forbidden right now. In fact, it's ridiculously easy, unlike trying to get a copy of Gulag Archipelago in Vladivostok in 1974. If you don't want to pay the record industry's inflated prices, just say so. Don't use "freedom" as a justifcation for your greed.
If you feel that the artists' rights infringe upon your own, perhaps you should reconsider the role that their music plays in your life.
k. -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Proposal: reform the patent and copyright system so that it pays an up-front fee out of taxes in exchange for putting IP into the public domain. This would only be payable to the original creator, of course (corporations need not apply).
Just my $0.02:
Centralizing this creates not just a single-point-of-failure, but would facilitate censorship. It need not be formal policy; merely a quiet sandbagging of "unpopular" works.
Who would define the pay scale? What is the relative worth of a Harry Potter book when compared with an Esperanto translation of Proust?
What about intellectual properties that have literally dozens of creators (like film: producers, directors, screenwriters, script doctors, cinematographers, sound designers, etc.)? Corporations can create, too.
Doesn't this buck the trend of privatization that's been going on for the last couple of decades? I mean, there are private prisons in Texas, fer chrissake.
k. -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Two years of planning went into Normandy: the Dieppe raid in August, 1942 was a dress rehearsal. There was also the Torch landings in North Africa in '42, and the invasions of Sicily and Italy in '43 and '44. Oh, and the 8th, 9th, and 15th Air Forces in the skies over Europe.
Even before that, billions of dollars of aid (Lend-Lease) was shipped to the UK and the USSR, in US-flagged merchant ships, escorted by USN destroyers, as early as 1940. Our violations of our own Neutrality Act were flagrant, intentional, and meant to goad Hitler into attacking a generally isolationist USA.
As for the fear of a Soviet influence, that took a distant second to fear of Nazi domination. Before WWII, the USSR was seen by the US much in the same way China is viewed today: a closed society more concerned with consolidating the gains of its own revolution and restructuring its society and industrial base than with external conquest.
k. -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
As I have said it many times, US behavior in WWII in Europe was extremely selfish, bordering on being a traitor to other allies.
Yeah, I'll say. What the fuck was the US thinking, sending hundreds of thousands of troops to liberate France?
All those white crosses at Normandy, that's a monument to American selfishness, right?
On the other hand, US foreign policy in the Pacific before the war was selfish, not to mention incredibly short-sighted. We wanted to rape China just like the Europeans.
k. -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Additional Features: 18" McCulla[sic] retractable pneumatic saw blades. U.S. Navy PX18 periscope. Airtronics remote control homing pigeon. Pneumatic auto jacks for jumping.
Homing pigeon? Oh, right: that mechanical thing.
Okay, first of all, the 327 is probably a small-block Chevy. Saginaw is a GM plant; these days they make tilt-wheels for obese Caddy owners. It looks like someone took the engine, drivetrain, and brakes from a Corvair and stuck it in a tube frame covered with plastic. Drum brakes in the rear? Sixties tech, along with the air suspension.
I think I remember seeing this at an auto show back in the '60s, along with the Muenstermobile, the Batmobile, and other George Barris Kalifornia Kustom Kar Kreations.
Hell, throw in the girl, the kid, and the chimp, and it's a deal.
k., who wants the Jaguar hearse from Harold and Maude -- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Three years ago,when I had to renew my license to operate a motor vehicle, the people at the RMV used a device called a "camera" to record the distinctive pattern of my facial features. This was digitized and a copy was incorporated into the plastic identification card I was issued.
Two months ago, when I had to renew my gun permit, my fingers were pressed on an ink pad and an impression was made on a piece of paper.
I expect that, in a few years, a plastic swab will be used to harvest cells from the inside of my mouth, to be entered into a DNA database.
So, with biometric identification getting more specific and more invasive, now I'm being told that the trend is reversing? I don't think so.
I would love to see these biometric identifiers become "web-enabled", because my next driver's license will have a picture of a Labrador Retriever and my fingerprint record will be a cat's paw print.
Oh, and I got yer DNA sample right here, pal.
k.
-- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Classical music and any of the early 20th century music that do not fall under copyright due to expiration. Many people download MP3 of those categories of music.
That may be true for the music itself, but the sound recording is still under copyright, unless it's ripped from an Edison wax cylinder or one of the earliest lacquer 78s.
But, hey: those orchestra musicians and soloists are just spending their millions on drugs, whores, and gold-plated Jeep Cherokees. Fuck 'em.
Musicians might have to go back to making money via performance, teaching, and patronage by the wealthy! Oh no! That system would never produce any good music, would it?
Would it? Were slavery and serfdom really good for agriculture?
k.
-- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
So why would Monsanto take an interest in forcing genetically engineered crops on the people of Africa?
Because the seeds Monsanto sells are sterile, producing plants with no offspring. You have to keep going back to Monsanto and buy more seeds every planting season.
That's why they're the MICROS~1 of agribusiness.
MONSAN~1.
k.
-- "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Slashdot Mirror
It seems that you don't grasp the nature of religious fanaticism. The people who bomb clinics or shoot doctors don't give a shit about "public support/legislative power". They don't even care about Scripture ("Blessed are the peacemakers.").
Expecting a mad bomber to act rationally is absurd.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
You were expecting him to type monica?
I wonder if anyone's tried to get
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Stop whining and learn to love the Bomb, citizen. It's the Right Thing to do.
By the way, when you say "Randite social policies", is that Ayn Rand, RAND Corporation, or Randy of the Redwoods? Just curious.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Lemme see those moves, boy. Take your best shot with that there metal toothpick you're holding.
k., with a full mag of 7.62 FMJ.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
That is a terrible analogy.
Samizdat was a way of distributing forbidden materials back then, things that weren't available anywhere else.
As far as I can tell, buying a CD of a band's music is not forbidden right now. In fact, it's ridiculously easy, unlike trying to get a copy of Gulag Archipelago in Vladivostok in 1974. If you don't want to pay the record industry's inflated prices, just say so. Don't use "freedom" as a justifcation for your greed.
If you feel that the artists' rights infringe upon your own, perhaps you should reconsider the role that their music plays in your life.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Just my $0.02:
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
I hear Elton John singing "Hold me closer, Tiny Napster" in my head.
Please shoot me now.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Two years of planning went into Normandy: the Dieppe raid in August, 1942 was a dress rehearsal. There was also the Torch landings in North Africa in '42, and the invasions of Sicily and Italy in '43 and '44. Oh, and the 8th, 9th, and 15th Air Forces in the skies over Europe.
Even before that, billions of dollars of aid (Lend-Lease) was shipped to the UK and the USSR, in US-flagged merchant ships, escorted by USN destroyers, as early as 1940. Our violations of our own Neutrality Act were flagrant, intentional, and meant to goad Hitler into attacking a generally isolationist USA.
As for the fear of a Soviet influence, that took a distant second to fear of Nazi domination. Before WWII, the USSR was seen by the US much in the same way China is viewed today: a closed society more concerned with consolidating the gains of its own revolution and restructuring its society and industrial base than with external conquest.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Are we talking about Chechnya here? Or Russia?
I'm sure whatever "uncivilized" aspects of Chechen society have been cleansed by bombing the shit out of Grozny.
Don't forget to leave some of those brightly-colored, little plastic land mines before you leave. The children love to play with them.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Yeah, I'll say. What the fuck was the US thinking, sending hundreds of thousands of troops to liberate France?
All those white crosses at Normandy, that's a monument to American selfishness, right?
On the other hand, US foreign policy in the Pacific before the war was selfish, not to mention incredibly short-sighted. We wanted to rape China just like the Europeans.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
This page has been intentionally left blank.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Homing pigeon? Oh, right: that mechanical thing.
Okay, first of all, the 327 is probably a small-block Chevy. Saginaw is a GM plant; these days they make tilt-wheels for obese Caddy owners.
It looks like someone took the engine, drivetrain, and brakes from a Corvair and stuck it in a tube frame covered with plastic. Drum brakes in the rear? Sixties tech, along with the air suspension.
I think I remember seeing this at an auto show back in the '60s, along with the Muenstermobile, the Batmobile, and other George Barris Kalifornia Kustom Kar Kreations.
Hell, throw in the girl, the kid, and the chimp, and it's a deal.
k., who wants the Jaguar hearse from Harold and Maude
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
How do I shoot myself in the foot with it?
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
It's obvious that the Academy wishes to avoid the following:
NATALIE: And the winner is...Signal 11!
V/O: This is Signal 11's first Oscar.
[SIGNAL 11 stumbles on the steps leading to the podium and clumsily accepts his statuette.]
SIGNAL 11: Wow. I'd like to thank the members of the Academy for this honor, and the moderators, and Taco and Hemos for taking a chance, and...
[MUSIC UP AND OVER]
SIGNAL 11 [TEARFULLY]: You like me! You really, really like me!
V/O: Coming up next, the nominees for best long-form banner ad.
[COMMERCIAL]
[COMMERCIAL]
[COMMERCIAL]
[STATION ID]
[COMMERCIAL]
[COMMERCIAL]
k., taunting the Lameness Filter with a pointed stick.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Well, when I turn on the news I see a Texan and a man from Tennessee competing for a Presidency currently occupied by a man from Arkansas.
You were saying?
k., who thinks you have a purdy mouth.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Three years ago,when I had to renew my license to operate a motor vehicle, the people at the RMV used a device called a "camera" to record the distinctive pattern of my facial features. This was digitized and a copy was incorporated into the plastic identification card I was issued.
Two months ago, when I had to renew my gun permit, my fingers were pressed on an ink pad and an impression was made on a piece of paper.
I expect that, in a few years, a plastic swab will be used to harvest cells from the inside of my mouth, to be entered into a DNA database.
So, with biometric identification getting more specific and more invasive, now I'm being told that the trend is reversing? I don't think so.
I would love to see these biometric identifiers become "web-enabled", because my next driver's license will have a picture of a Labrador Retriever and my fingerprint record will be a cat's paw print.
Oh, and I got yer DNA sample right here, pal.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Wow. This is one time I'm actually glad that I have a thing for albinos.
k.
p.s.: Not you, Nick. You lack the proper topology.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Damn, Seebs. You're weird.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
That may be true for the music itself, but the sound recording is still under copyright, unless it's ripped from an Edison wax cylinder or one of the earliest lacquer 78s.
But, hey: those orchestra musicians and soloists are just spending their millions on drugs, whores, and gold-plated Jeep Cherokees. Fuck 'em.
"Yo biotch! Cash monee boyeez! -- Luciano "Phat Boy" Pavarotti
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
GRAMMERSoft is the acceptable spelling among Filipino script kiddies who, as we all know, own the Internet.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
The payment for art comes from celebrity.
LANDLORD: What's up with the rent? You're two weeks late.
ARTIST: Well, my cash flow's hurtin' cuz th' Internot killed my business model. But, hey: peoples be downloadin' my tunez. I be mad famous an' shit.
LANDLORD: Fuck you. Pay me.
ARTIST: Yo, yo, yo, I'm gettin' mad propz from all over! I'm a celebrity! King of da World!
LANDLORD: Fuck you. Pay me.
ARTIST: Um, how 'bout a hummer.
LANDLORD: [pauses for thought] Deal.
That's right, kids: you can eat fame. It tastes like chicken.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Would it? Were slavery and serfdom really good for agriculture?
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Well, if we're at war, I'd like to post some helpful hints for my fellow musicians:
That is all.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
/* This is the default interrupt "handler" :-) */
Those cutesy little emoticons remind me of teenage girls who dot their Is with hearts or smiley faces.
Linux, the operating system of choice for alt.cuddle.
>>>
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank
Because the seeds Monsanto sells are sterile, producing plants with no offspring. You have to keep going back to Monsanto and buy more seeds every planting season.
That's why they're the MICROS~1 of agribusiness.
MONSAN~1.
k.
--
"In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart." - Anne Frank