It costs more money to convict someone and sentence them to die than it does to convict them and pay for them to have life in prison. Capitol cases are more expensive, last longer, and generate more appeals. It's usually just cheaper to put them away for life. Now you could address the issues that make capitol cases more expensive but that would also have an effect on the death penalty being applied fairly and it's imperfection.
I consider myself quite sane and I would be all for legalizing coke, heroin, and meth. I think the problems it would cause would be less than the problems we have now, and their solution could be found by using funds made off of new taxes.
So are you going to take responsibility when someone doped up on marijuana/LSD/coke/your_drug_here decides they want to drive while under the influence or do something that affects the life/well-being of another person? Give me a break.
Of course driving doped up on Xanax, Valiumm, Prozac, Oxy-Contin, Lortab, and Paxil are all ok? Alcohol impairs you much more than coke or marijuana does, yet that's still legal.
Some people consider themselves environmentalists but welcome Nuclear Power. I would count myself among them. Those of us with a brain realize that a coal power plant actually releases more radiation into the enviornment than a nuclear plant will. However with the coal plant we can't collect it and dispose of it properly and we're releasing tons of other toxins as well.
Isn't that the same thing you have to do to get a DRM free file from iTMS? Just because something makes DRM available isn't necessairly evil. It's the application of it that's evil. In this case it's the record companies that should be blamed not MS.
they bit rate you encode at is irrelevant. You see both AAC and MP3 are lossy compression. The problem comes about because they are different algorithms and hence throw away different things. So lets say you have an original signal made up of wxyz. AAC decides w and z are meaningless, and discards them. When you burn the audio CD, you don't get them back they are gone. Now lets say that MP3 decides that you really need wyz to reproduce the signal. That's all find and dandy, except you don't have w and z anymore so your audio signal now consists of just y. If you can't hear a difference you're either not listening to music that was recorded at a high quality or you're deaf.
Well, I'm again willing to bet you/can't/ burn a audio cd with the new service, given the MS track record on this.
Excuse me. MS has a track record here? I was under the impression this was their first attempt at a music delivery system. MS could care less about what you do with the music you download from them. The only thing they're worried about is keeping the record companies happy enough to keep them supplied with music. The record companies have already demonstrated that they will let you burn a CD (iTMS), so why would microsoft be any less willing to negotiate a similar deal?
If you're talking about converting AAC -> CD Audio and then ripping the MP3's from the CD's; you're loosing an awful lot of quality. Besides, if you can burn a CD with the service, what's going to stop you from doing the same thing?
It doesn't really matter if it's human caused CO2 emissions, volcanoes, increased radiation from the sun, or gamma rays from planet X. What matters is that we find a way to adapt. Even if the global warming is caused by human activity, it's probably beyond the ability of an intentional effort to change it back.
That's a fucking copout. Sure global warming may be partly natural, but there is plenty of evidence that we are having an effect. To say that we can't reverse, or slow our effect so we shouldn't bother is just stupid. This also completly ignores the fact that most everything we can do to help reverse it are good things in other ways. Even if it doesn't slow global warming please tell me how using less fossil fuel, more renewable energy, planting more trees, etc. is bad?
We have glaciers in washington state. A couple just 70 miles outside seattle. I would imagine Finland, Sweden and Norway have plenty of glaciers. They have mountains don't they? There are also glaciers in France, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Big mountains = Glaciers.
I agree, but the problem is that it adds some legitimacy to abortion: "Well, at least some good comes out of it." The fear is that by having this extra "excuse", more people will find reason to choose abortion as opposed to other options (raising the child, adoption, etc.)
That might have an effect on whether someone decided whether or not abortion should remain legal, but I gurantee that it rarely if ever enters the mind of someone contemplating an abortion themselves. That is going to be the least of things on a woman's mind when she is considering an abortion.
Stem-cell research is questionable due to the source of the material: abortions. While not composing all of the source of stem-cells, it certainly is a contributor. In this country where close to half of the population opposes abortion, I think it is reasonable to restrain public money from going toward something that so many find objectionable.
I would agree if people were having abortions just to provide stem cells, but that isn't the case. No one is repeatedly getting pregnant and having abortions just to provide stem cells for research. The abortions are going to happen anyway. It just doesn't make sense to throw away the stem cells when they have value.
Not exactly true. I worked in texas and was a software engineer. I was not however a proffessional engineer. To do that you have to take a test and become certified by the state. Most states recognize each other's licensing, texas being the exception.
They maybe sharp. But they're light and flimsy. Now my Henckles chefs knife on the other hand is heavy, and because of that much more useful. It can chop much faster, slice, dice and crush. Try mincing garlic without a heavy chefs knife sometime. Sure it needs to be taken care of (a quick honing every time you wash it), and it does loose it's edge (most seafood dept's in grocery stores will sharpen it for free), but the thing will last a life time.
And if I'm going to grill inside, I use my handy dandy lodge cast iron grill pan. It may only cook one side at a time, but it has the uncanny ability to be able to sear the outside, and then finish the cooking in a preheated oven. Lets see the george foreman do that!
big difference between your laptop and a handheld mp3 player. First, look at the difference in battery size. Second, look at all the other stuff your laptop is running (HD, CDROM, Monitor, wifi, CPU, etc). A better example would be to think about a palm or windows CE device and how much power wifi suck on those.
Actually, I said that regulations are useless because the people who follow it don't *need* regulating, and the people who don't follow it don't care what the regulation is.
That's not true. If we suddenly deregulated driving I bet hundreds of people who now don't drive would start driving. Parents might start letting their kids on the road at 14. The elderly might start driving again. I know what you said, as you stated again, however, I feel the reality is much different.
It's not the black market that makes guns so available, it's the grey market. Flea markets, gun shows, 'collector' sales, all these can be used to obtain a handgun with no registration and no wait time, and it is quasi-legal. I'm not *just* referring to the black market, although it is certainly there. As I said, anyone who wants to badly enough will find out. Flea markets and gun shows advertise in many newspapers and on tv and radio as well.
In my opinion we should close those loopholes. The problem is not that we are trying to regulate guns, its that we are only doing a half-assed job. They're simply trying to apease the NRA and the anti-gun groups at the same time.
Unenforceable laws are stupid, and undermine the entire legal system. They should be removed. This includes driver's licenses as well as insurance laws, alcohol, tobacco, and drug laws, hunting limits, gun registration, speed limits (at least on highways, those are the least enforceable), in fact, most licenses that are required by law (that do not directly involve other people) should be eliminated.
What makes those laws unenforceable? I have in my lifetime either known someone who has been ticketed or arrested or been so myself for every one of those things. That means that they are enforcing them. I might get away with murder too, but that doesn't mean it's an uneforceable law.
The states which have insurance laws for driving (mine included) should do away with those laws, yes. You are and should be required to be liable for any damage you cause, but that should only include an insurance company if you wish it to.
That's all fine and dandy if you're a millionaire. But what happens if you do $100,000 damage to me an my property? How are you going to compensate me? If the law was changed to state that you either had to carry insurance, or show the finacial ability to cover the minimum requirements by law then I would have no problem. However, I was recently hit by someone with no insurance. Getting the money out of her was a hard fight, and I almost had to resort to a lawsuit. I wouldn't want to go through that again.
I'm hardly a democrat. If I had my druthers, voting and signing petitions would be a very hard thing to do in this country. I think it should be a privlage and not a right, and you should prove that you know what you're doing first. The populace is too stupid to make most of these decisions.
To truly be fair, once he is recalled there should be a new election. The the one with the most votes becomes governor. Because there is only one vote it stops being fair. Sure more than 50% of the people want him gone, but if they can't pick someone they like more why should the new guy get to be governor?
Well you seem to be under the impression that a regulation is worthless unless everyone actually follows it. I would say that is just stupid. Does everyone driving a car right now have a valid license? Not by a long shot. Does that mean we should stop licensing drivers? No way. Does everyone driving have valid insurance. Nope. Does that mean we should do away with the law? Nope.
Is there a black market for guns. Sure. Can criminals get a gun without going through loopholes. Sure. Does that mean we should stop regulating guns? That's a tricker issue. I say no. If regulation has saved one life, I think it's worth it. Just remember, not everyone knows how to get a black market gun.
I admit there are people who break the laws with regards to licensing. But we can't shouldn't make our laws based on what the screwups do. The laws should be based on what a reasonible person does. That's why I think the drug laws are screwed up. They are based on what the dumbest people do when they're on pot, not the average person.
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It costs more money to convict someone and sentence them to die than it does to convict them and pay for them to have life in prison. Capitol cases are more expensive, last longer, and generate more appeals. It's usually just cheaper to put them away for life. Now you could address the issues that make capitol cases more expensive but that would also have an effect on the death penalty being applied fairly and it's imperfection.
I bet that 50% don't smoke pot now. But how many have smoked pot? I bet the % of people who have smoked pot may be even higher than 50%.
I consider myself quite sane and I would be all for legalizing coke, heroin, and meth. I think the problems it would cause would be less than the problems we have now, and their solution could be found by using funds made off of new taxes.
So are you going to take responsibility when someone doped up on marijuana/LSD/coke/your_drug_here decides they want to drive while under the influence or do something that affects the life/well-being of another person? Give me a break.
Of course driving doped up on Xanax, Valiumm, Prozac, Oxy-Contin, Lortab, and Paxil are all ok? Alcohol impairs you much more than coke or marijuana does, yet that's still legal.
I didn't know the FDA had healthy animal requirements? When did they start doing this?
Some people consider themselves environmentalists but welcome Nuclear Power. I would count myself among them. Those of us with a brain realize that a coal power plant actually releases more radiation into the enviornment than a nuclear plant will. However with the coal plant we can't collect it and dispose of it properly and we're releasing tons of other toxins as well.
Don't blame all the enviornmentalists. I would consider myself one, but am totally in favor of building more nuclear power plants.
Isn't that the same thing you have to do to get a DRM free file from iTMS? Just because something makes DRM available isn't necessairly evil. It's the application of it that's evil. In this case it's the record companies that should be blamed not MS.
Do half of all homes even have a DVD player?
they bit rate you encode at is irrelevant. You see both AAC and MP3 are lossy compression. The problem comes about because they are different algorithms and hence throw away different things. So lets say you have an original signal made up of wxyz. AAC decides w and z are meaningless, and discards them. When you burn the audio CD, you don't get them back they are gone. Now lets say that MP3 decides that you really need wyz to reproduce the signal. That's all find and dandy, except you don't have w and z anymore so your audio signal now consists of just y. If you can't hear a difference you're either not listening to music that was recorded at a high quality or you're deaf.
/can't/ burn a audio cd with the new service, given the MS track record on this.
Well, I'm again willing to bet you
Excuse me. MS has a track record here? I was under the impression this was their first attempt at a music delivery system. MS could care less about what you do with the music you download from them. The only thing they're worried about is keeping the record companies happy enough to keep them supplied with music. The record companies have already demonstrated that they will let you burn a CD (iTMS), so why would microsoft be any less willing to negotiate a similar deal?
If you're talking about converting AAC -> CD Audio and then ripping the MP3's from the CD's; you're loosing an awful lot of quality. Besides, if you can burn a CD with the service, what's going to stop you from doing the same thing?
It doesn't really matter if it's human caused CO2 emissions, volcanoes, increased radiation from the sun, or gamma rays from planet X. What matters is that we find a way to adapt. Even if the global warming is caused by human activity, it's probably beyond the ability of an intentional effort to change it back.
That's a fucking copout. Sure global warming may be partly natural, but there is plenty of evidence that we are having an effect. To say that we can't reverse, or slow our effect so we shouldn't bother is just stupid. This also completly ignores the fact that most everything we can do to help reverse it are good things in other ways. Even if it doesn't slow global warming please tell me how using less fossil fuel, more renewable energy, planting more trees, etc. is bad?
We have glaciers in washington state. A couple just 70 miles outside seattle. I would imagine Finland, Sweden and Norway have plenty of glaciers. They have mountains don't they? There are also glaciers in France, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Big mountains = Glaciers.
I agree, but the problem is that it adds some legitimacy to abortion: "Well, at least some good comes out of it." The fear is that by having this extra "excuse", more people will find reason to choose abortion as opposed to other options (raising the child, adoption, etc.)
That might have an effect on whether someone decided whether or not abortion should remain legal, but I gurantee that it rarely if ever enters the mind of someone contemplating an abortion themselves. That is going to be the least of things on a woman's mind when she is considering an abortion.
Stem-cell research is questionable due to the source of the material: abortions. While not composing all of the source of stem-cells, it certainly is a contributor. In this country where close to half of the population opposes abortion, I think it is reasonable to restrain public money from going toward something that so many find objectionable.
I would agree if people were having abortions just to provide stem cells, but that isn't the case. No one is repeatedly getting pregnant and having abortions just to provide stem cells for research. The abortions are going to happen anyway. It just doesn't make sense to throw away the stem cells when they have value.
Not exactly true. I worked in texas and was a software engineer. I was not however a proffessional engineer. To do that you have to take a test and become certified by the state. Most states recognize each other's licensing, texas being the exception.
They maybe sharp. But they're light and flimsy. Now my Henckles chefs knife on the other hand is heavy, and because of that much more useful. It can chop much faster, slice, dice and crush. Try mincing garlic without a heavy chefs knife sometime. Sure it needs to be taken care of (a quick honing every time you wash it), and it does loose it's edge (most seafood dept's in grocery stores will sharpen it for free), but the thing will last a life time.
And if I'm going to grill inside, I use my handy dandy lodge cast iron grill pan. It may only cook one side at a time, but it has the uncanny ability to be able to sear the outside, and then finish the cooking in a preheated oven. Lets see the george foreman do that!
of course. That why I don't really like democracy. What we need is an enlightened despotism.
big difference between your laptop and a handheld mp3 player. First, look at the difference in battery size. Second, look at all the other stuff your laptop is running (HD, CDROM, Monitor, wifi, CPU, etc). A better example would be to think about a palm or windows CE device and how much power wifi suck on those.
Actually, I said that regulations are useless because the people who follow it don't *need* regulating, and the people who don't follow it don't care what the regulation is.
That's not true. If we suddenly deregulated driving I bet hundreds of people who now don't drive would start driving. Parents might start letting their kids on the road at 14. The elderly might start driving again. I know what you said, as you stated again, however, I feel the reality is much different.
It's not the black market that makes guns so available, it's the grey market. Flea markets, gun shows, 'collector' sales, all these can be used to obtain a handgun with no registration and no wait time, and it is quasi-legal. I'm not *just* referring to the black market, although it is certainly there. As I said, anyone who wants to badly enough will find out. Flea markets and gun shows advertise in many newspapers and on tv and radio as well.
In my opinion we should close those loopholes. The problem is not that we are trying to regulate guns, its that we are only doing a half-assed job. They're simply trying to apease the NRA and the anti-gun groups at the same time.
Unenforceable laws are stupid, and undermine the entire legal system. They should be removed. This includes driver's licenses as well as insurance laws, alcohol, tobacco, and drug laws, hunting limits, gun registration, speed limits (at least on highways, those are the least enforceable), in fact, most licenses that are required by law (that do not directly involve other people) should be eliminated.
What makes those laws unenforceable? I have in my lifetime either known someone who has been ticketed or arrested or been so myself for every one of those things. That means that they are enforcing them. I might get away with murder too, but that doesn't mean it's an uneforceable law.
The states which have insurance laws for driving (mine included) should do away with those laws, yes. You are and should be required to be liable for any damage you cause, but that should only include an insurance company if you wish it to.
That's all fine and dandy if you're a millionaire. But what happens if you do $100,000 damage to me an my property? How are you going to compensate me? If the law was changed to state that you either had to carry insurance, or show the finacial ability to cover the minimum requirements by law then I would have no problem. However, I was recently hit by someone with no insurance. Getting the money out of her was a hard fight, and I almost had to resort to a lawsuit. I wouldn't want to go through that again.
I'm hardly a democrat. If I had my druthers, voting and signing petitions would be a very hard thing to do in this country. I think it should be a privlage and not a right, and you should prove that you know what you're doing first. The populace is too stupid to make most of these decisions.
don't bring up taxpayers money into this. It already is a waste of their money.
To truly be fair, once he is recalled there should be a new election. The the one with the most votes becomes governor. Because there is only one vote it stops being fair. Sure more than 50% of the people want him gone, but if they can't pick someone they like more why should the new guy get to be governor?
Well you seem to be under the impression that a regulation is worthless unless everyone actually follows it. I would say that is just stupid. Does everyone driving a car right now have a valid license? Not by a long shot. Does that mean we should stop licensing drivers? No way. Does everyone driving have valid insurance. Nope. Does that mean we should do away with the law? Nope.
Is there a black market for guns. Sure. Can criminals get a gun without going through loopholes. Sure. Does that mean we should stop regulating guns? That's a tricker issue. I say no. If regulation has saved one life, I think it's worth it. Just remember, not everyone knows how to get a black market gun.
I admit there are people who break the laws with regards to licensing. But we can't shouldn't make our laws based on what the screwups do. The laws should be based on what a reasonible person does. That's why I think the drug laws are screwed up. They are based on what the dumbest people do when they're on pot, not the average person.