Re:War "Your Favorite Activity Here"
on
War Kayaking
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
<extreme war...>
I already haul way too much crap doing these things, with photo gear my day pack is >25 lbs and I'm afraid to weigh the 7 day pack or think about how much the trad rack and ropes add. There's no f*** way I want to drag along more delicate, battery dependant gear. OTOH, the geek in me wonders how many Colorado 14'ers can I surf from... Thanks, you've planted the seed...
I think it's bold, and a move in the right direction,
It's my opinion that it's neither. The way to fix a problem is remove it, not keep patching it up. Bad laws, the DMCA is a prime example, need to be removed. Patching it here and there will give us the same mess we have with the nightmare of drug laws.
Currently, drugs are against the law, except for some drugs, and unless you're in some states and have a medical condition, except that isn't recognized by the federal govt nor every state. Let's throw in the decriminalization movement which leaves the laws entact for certain amounts and certain other drugs, but doesn't outright permit the legal use of drugs. Follow all that? Now, do you really want fair use to look like that?
Either support the DMCA or work to abolish it entirely. This half-assed approach will, in the long run, leave us worse off than we are now, subject to a patchwork of laws and most certainly guilty of something. The only people who benefit from this is the lawyers.
An CPA once told me that audits do not uncover fraud.
How about the always popular "it depends". The company has written down sales that never occured, the auditor's better uncover it and either force a correction or resign. This should be a trivial matter to detect (See Parmalat). OTOH, if the AP clerk is making off with extra money than your CPA is right, it's up to the company's staff to identify the problem. What's the difference you ask?
The CPA's role is to make sure the statements are accurate - cash as listed on the books was actually in the bank, all sales are actually sales, etc. In the first case, sales were written down but no cash came in while in the second, cash went out but not to whom the AP clerk said it did. In the first case the bank balance and sales are wrong, in the second the balance is "correct". Clear as mud?
For those who are new here: basically, any time a government program is shown to be wasteful
Actually, many of us feel that all government programs are wastefull and should be thrown out.
, way too many people on SlashDot are more than happy to suggest throwing out all federal programs because "taxes are evil" and all that
po-TATE-to, po-TAW-to. It's my opinion that way too many people on slashdot are like sheep, all too willing to hand over 30 - 45% of their income with no accountability.
Basically, they like having all their teeth pulled when one gets a cavity so that it never happens again.
Basically, we like getting something for the money we've worked to earn. Basically, we don't trust things done "for our own good". And basically, we would like to be free to determine our own destinies.
usually suggest switching to Libertarianism, a form of government in which planning doesn't exist
What can I say... welcome to a web forum where half the people think that roads, police, water service and so on appear out of thin air when they're needed.
If that isn't an example of socialism, I don't know what is. Libertarians favor use taxes or private ownership of roads and water and a minimal police force to protect civil liberties. Want water? Open your wallet. Want to drive? Ditto. These things don't come free. The statists I've met, on the other hand, have this faerie tale "the state will provide" mentality, usually by making sure "the rich" pay "their fair share", neither of which are clearly defined.
e.g. if your community can afford internet access for its schools, great, while if your community can't afford schools at all, that's just
It can be a harsh world, but maybe with a little incentive to improve your position in it, you might just make a little effort.
That's why I refuse to buy a house. I don't have any kids, and really don't care to pay out to send your kids (not yours, personally) to skool so they can cut class and talk about how teh new hiphob album is teh best(typos intentional).
I'm not refusing to buy - you're either paying it directly or their charging the landlord and he's passing it along in the rent bill - but property taxes are a huge consideration. Good thing I love rural areas.
I'm sure that the schools wouldn't turn down some helpful (& free gratis) advice...
And if the schools weren't picking my pocket for thousands of dollars each year, I might be inclined to help. I've donated thousands of dollars and many more hours to groups, I'm more than willing to give voluntarily. I refuse to assist, and will work to actively bring down, any group which claims some sort of right to my earnings.
The article and parent post are both talking about government waste. A little elaboration on the libertarian philosphy would have been nice, but the poster is dead-on.
If school districts had to spend their own money, based on *local* taxation, this sort of careless purchasing would not happen.
Sure it would, schools are notorious for misspending money no matter how they get it. As long as it comes from mandatory taxes, this kind of waste will continue.
And in the parent's examples, online banking, a thin client would be the only thing needed. You could net boot a minimal OS; kernel, tcp stack, lightweight X client, and the desktop app, complete your translation securely, and reboot to whatever OS you run normally.
Excuse me a second. But aren't the diagnostic codes already available if you shell out the money for the aftermarket code readers?
They used to be. A family friend who turns wrenches for the local Chrysler dealer was telling us that now they hook the car up to the computer, it sends the trouble code data to detroit, and an "engineer" in detroit sends the fix back to the dealership. They don't even release the codes to the local mechanics, as they would rather not have a mechanic open his own shop with the codes.
I personally do not have a computer in my kitchen, yet.
You know, I keep thinking about moving my recipe notes and wine cellar inventory into a DB and resurrecting the old HP box as a kitchen workstation. It wouldn't take that long to build a kitchen inventory and recipe file. Add in the nutritional info (trying to drop a few pounds) a menu planner/shopping list generator, Hrmm...
.... could be used in learning how to make real food.
Cooking is like UNIX, invest the right amount of time and you'll be thanking yourself for the next few lifetimes.
Exactly, repeat after me "Life is too short to eat crap".
Anyone who can follow basic directions can learn to cook. Cooks Illustrated was a huge help in this process for me.
If you end up being able to replicate the smell of a good wine by mixing a couple of chemicals together (like you would with toner), I'm sure that many wineries would like the recipe. After all, they could cut costs by just using some non-toxic additive to their wine as well, right?
That part has been tried and failed repeatedly. They can identify all the components of a given wine, catalog them and create the basic scent of a 1998 Bordeaux for example, but creating "wine" from the base compounds yields something not quite wine.
Interesting. So I don't suppose you object to those savages decapitating Berg.
After all, in your book, it's better to take the pawns out and leave the King and Queen to prosper. It's safer that way. And you make a statement alright...
Can you separate logic from emotion? If not you'll probably want to skip this...
From an emotional point of view, you're right, it sucks. That was a fucked up thing, executing him and distributing the video. It's bad enough when it happens to a stranger, I can't imagine seeing it happen to someone I cared about. On an emotional level, hell yes I object.
From a logical standpoint, it was brilliant, though still a distant second to flying fuel laden planes into buildings: Shock and Awe baby, pure shock and awe... The goal of any competive endeavor is to win and one way is to completly demoralize your opponent. Isn't war the ultimate competition? How better to demoralize your opponent than executing his people and feeding it to his populace. All the easier if they'll search it out for themselves.
I don't think it's a better tactic, it's certainly a valid one. It is prone to backfiring, enraging the people you're trying to frighten off. Back to China, a massive decapitation would require way more organazation, arms, and manpower than taking out all the pawns.
This is almost certain to get me modded troll, but what the hell, i'm not posting AC just because people don't like the truth.
F*** 'em, stand up and shout it if you believe in it.
Current Capitalist societies lean no more prevalently to Freedom than do communist ones.
That's a bit of an overstatement. We have money taken from us at gunpoint (taxes at all levels), have accepted obscene restrictions on our behaviour (sex, drugs, alcohol, speach, lifestyle,...) and possessions (firearms, vehicles,...) but relatively few of us are press-ganged into military service, shot in the streets, sold into slavery or quietly executed for minor offences like citizens of China, the former USSR, or any number of African and Middle Eastern nations.
Hell, compared to the UK or France, the US is libertarian paradise where one can defend oneself from harm, carry a simple pocketknife or walk freely without ID.
choice between A & B is not a choice at all when A & B have the same opinion of subject X, and I disagree and want to vote for C, who represents my opinion.
It's my opinion that to force a change in the government will require forcing a change in the populace. The fear-mongers we've elected to congress tell the herd they must give up freedoms x, y, and z to achieve some goal. What's needed isn't a 3rd party shouting them down, but rather
a rational debunking of this garbage. Someone who can encourage people to live their own lives, take their own risks, and stop squealing for a suckle at the public teat.
This is my biggest gripe with the libertarian party. I see them at every gun show, surrounded by supporters, but when the time comes to preach to the masses I hear only silence. Their failing is my own as well, I'm guilty of the same crime.
The citizens of the United States really need to get over this "Land of the Free" bullshit
While we're on the subject, I'd like to see "home of the brave" stricken until we start living up to it.
I like how you slipped in the nice pro-gun statement...
I've learned that lesson from the Brady bunch, take any opportunity to show the usefullness of firearms, as opposed to the "evil" that's so often proclaimed.
in there even when it's totally irrelevant
Irrelevant? Aren't we discussing deposing fascist states? Unless one is ruled by a "moral enemy", the British in India for example, there are two options for escaping the situation: First, hope the government goes away. Think of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Be patient and maybe it will end in your lifetime. The second option is a full-on armed revolt, like we've seen through-out history, and is not feasible without privately owned weaponry.
Those kids should have been beating up the government officials that made the law, not the cafe workers who are forced to enforce it.
Very true, but beating up government officials is always hazardous to one's health, especially in a disarmed society. It may be possible to take out cafe workers with impunity and still make a statement.
Authoritarianism vs. Free Speach is more accurate. Communist societies are not necessarily authoritarian, nor vice-versa but they frequently lean that way. On the other hand, capitalist societies aren't always free but again, they often lean in that direction.
The abolition of intellectual property laws would be a violation of legal rights in itself. IP laws exist for a reason - to ensure that people are protected when it comes to their intangible property.
IMHO (also, IANAL), that's not necessarily true. In the absence of IP laws, everything could be distributed (whether sold, rented, or viewed) under contracts. Want to buy that latest Robbie Williams CD or Tom Clancy's latest read? Sure, just sign this here contract that you won't copy or redistribute it. See a movie in the theatre or rent a dvd for home? Sign here. It could become cumbersome beyond belief, and may preclude kids from buying things (IIRC minors can not enter into binding contracts without their guardians' sign off). Enforcement would leave the criminal realm and become just like any other contract, prove damages and collect. Best of all for the FSF zealots, if you want to distribute something freely or restrict it in any way, either don't write a contract or specify it.
OTOH, I think the mariage laws could be replaced with the same system ending the gay marriage debate, maybe I'm just a crackpot...
These parents did not realize that automotive technicians are really computer technicians (as most modern vehicles are computer controlled)
Not quite... At least with chrysler, the computers are black boxed, the tech plugs a cable in, sends the data off to detroit and the diagnosis is returned. This was discussed briefly on/. in the last couple months (IIRC, it was GM not releasing service codes) and is done to keep a rogue tech from starting his own shop somewhere, keeping the service codes in the dealership.
...I can certainly point out that you've covered less than 1/1000 of Europe with yours.
14% by land mass, 13% by population or 7% by number, which metric are you using? France is the only country I'm intimatly familiar with, though I know that Germany and Spain are in the same boat due to overextended social welfare systems and a declining population.
In fact, you may enjoy reading commonly employed devices in disinformation campaigns.
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I already haul way too much crap doing these things, with photo gear my day pack is >25 lbs and I'm afraid to weigh the 7 day pack or think about how much the trad rack and ropes add. There's no f*** way I want to drag along more delicate, battery dependant gear. OTOH, the geek in me wonders how many Colorado 14'ers can I surf from... Thanks, you've planted the seed...
It's my opinion that it's neither. The way to fix a problem is remove it, not keep patching it up. Bad laws, the DMCA is a prime example, need to be removed. Patching it here and there will give us the same mess we have with the nightmare of drug laws.
Currently, drugs are against the law, except for some drugs, and unless you're in some states and have a medical condition, except that isn't recognized by the federal govt nor every state. Let's throw in the decriminalization movement which leaves the laws entact for certain amounts and certain other drugs, but doesn't outright permit the legal use of drugs. Follow all that? Now, do you really want fair use to look like that?
Either support the DMCA or work to abolish it entirely. This half-assed approach will, in the long run, leave us worse off than we are now, subject to a patchwork of laws and most certainly guilty of something. The only people who benefit from this is the lawyers.
How about the always popular "it depends". The company has written down sales that never occured, the auditor's better uncover it and either force a correction or resign. This should be a trivial matter to detect (See Parmalat). OTOH, if the AP clerk is making off with extra money than your CPA is right, it's up to the company's staff to identify the problem. What's the difference you ask?
The CPA's role is to make sure the statements are accurate - cash as listed on the books was actually in the bank, all sales are actually sales, etc. In the first case, sales were written down but no cash came in while in the second, cash went out but not to whom the AP clerk said it did. In the first case the bank balance and sales are wrong, in the second the balance is "correct". Clear as mud?
Shit, you're never too old. I'm 35 and keep threatening to do the same ;-)
For those who are new here: basically, any time a government program is shown to be wasteful
Actually, many of us feel that all government programs are wastefull and should be thrown out.
, way too many people on SlashDot are more than happy to suggest throwing out all federal programs because "taxes are evil" and all that
po-TATE-to, po-TAW-to. It's my opinion that way too many people on slashdot are like sheep, all too willing to hand over 30 - 45% of their income with no accountability.
Basically, they like having all their teeth pulled when one gets a cavity so that it never happens again.
Basically, we like getting something for the money we've worked to earn. Basically, we don't trust things done "for our own good". And basically, we would like to be free to determine our own destinies.
usually suggest switching to Libertarianism, a form of government in which planning doesn't exist
You're confusing Libertarianism with anarchism, a common mistake.
What can I say... welcome to a web forum where half the people think that roads, police, water service and so on appear out of thin air when they're needed.
If that isn't an example of socialism, I don't know what is. Libertarians favor use taxes or private ownership of roads and water and a minimal police force to protect civil liberties. Want water? Open your wallet. Want to drive? Ditto. These things don't come free. The statists I've met, on the other hand, have this faerie tale "the state will provide" mentality, usually by making sure "the rich" pay "their fair share", neither of which are clearly defined.
e.g. if your community can afford internet access for its schools, great, while if your community can't afford schools at all, that's just
It can be a harsh world, but maybe with a little incentive to improve your position in it, you might just make a little effort.
I'm not refusing to buy - you're either paying it directly or their charging the landlord and he's passing it along in the rent bill - but property taxes are a huge consideration. Good thing I love rural areas.
And if the schools weren't picking my pocket for thousands of dollars each year, I might be inclined to help. I've donated thousands of dollars and many more hours to groups, I'm more than willing to give voluntarily. I refuse to assist, and will work to actively bring down, any group which claims some sort of right to my earnings.
SlashJames, may I introduce you to Ron Paul, R-TX. Sadly, he may very well be the only one.
The article and parent post are both talking about government waste. A little elaboration on the libertarian philosphy would have been nice, but the poster is dead-on.
Sure it would, schools are notorious for misspending money no matter how they get it. As long as it comes from mandatory taxes, this kind of waste will continue.
And in the parent's examples, online banking, a thin client would be the only thing needed. You could net boot a minimal OS; kernel, tcp stack, lightweight X client, and the desktop app, complete your translation securely, and reboot to whatever OS you run normally.
They used to be. A family friend who turns wrenches for the local Chrysler dealer was telling us that now they hook the car up to the computer, it sends the trouble code data to detroit, and an "engineer" in detroit sends the fix back to the dealership. They don't even release the codes to the local mechanics, as they would rather not have a mechanic open his own shop with the codes.
You know, I keep thinking about moving my recipe notes and wine cellar inventory into a DB and resurrecting the old HP box as a kitchen workstation. It wouldn't take that long to build a kitchen inventory and recipe file. Add in the nutritional info (trying to drop a few pounds) a menu planner/shopping list generator, Hrmm...
Exactly, repeat after me "Life is too short to eat crap". Anyone who can follow basic directions can learn to cook. Cooks Illustrated was a huge help in this process for me.
That part has been tried and failed repeatedly. They can identify all the components of a given wine, catalog them and create the basic scent of a 1998 Bordeaux for example, but creating "wine" from the base compounds yields something not quite wine.
"Strange game Professor Falkan, it seems the only way to win is not to play..."
Exactly, though what you're responding to was my typo: The "Current Capitalist..." was something I was replying to, not my own line.
Can you separate logic from emotion? If not you'll probably want to skip this...
From an emotional point of view, you're right, it sucks. That was a fucked up thing, executing him and distributing the video. It's bad enough when it happens to a stranger, I can't imagine seeing it happen to someone I cared about. On an emotional level, hell yes I object.
From a logical standpoint, it was brilliant, though still a distant second to flying fuel laden planes into buildings: Shock and Awe baby, pure shock and awe... The goal of any competive endeavor is to win and one way is to completly demoralize your opponent. Isn't war the ultimate competition? How better to demoralize your opponent than executing his people and feeding it to his populace. All the easier if they'll search it out for themselves.
I don't think it's a better tactic, it's certainly a valid one. It is prone to backfiring, enraging the people you're trying to frighten off. Back to China, a massive decapitation would require way more organazation, arms, and manpower than taking out all the pawns.
F*** 'em, stand up and shout it if you believe in it. Current Capitalist societies lean no more prevalently to Freedom than do communist ones.
That's a bit of an overstatement. We have money taken from us at gunpoint (taxes at all levels), have accepted obscene restrictions on our behaviour (sex, drugs, alcohol, speach, lifestyle,...) and possessions (firearms, vehicles,...) but relatively few of us are press-ganged into military service, shot in the streets, sold into slavery or quietly executed for minor offences like citizens of China, the former USSR, or any number of African and Middle Eastern nations.
Hell, compared to the UK or France, the US is libertarian paradise where one can defend oneself from harm, carry a simple pocketknife or walk freely without ID.
choice between A & B is not a choice at all when A & B have the same opinion of subject X, and I disagree and want to vote for C, who represents my opinion.
It's my opinion that to force a change in the government will require forcing a change in the populace. The fear-mongers we've elected to congress tell the herd they must give up freedoms x, y, and z to achieve some goal. What's needed isn't a 3rd party shouting them down, but rather a rational debunking of this garbage. Someone who can encourage people to live their own lives, take their own risks, and stop squealing for a suckle at the public teat.
This is my biggest gripe with the libertarian party. I see them at every gun show, surrounded by supporters, but when the time comes to preach to the masses I hear only silence. Their failing is my own as well, I'm guilty of the same crime.
The citizens of the United States really need to get over this "Land of the Free" bullshit
While we're on the subject, I'd like to see "home of the brave" stricken until we start living up to it.
I've learned that lesson from the Brady bunch, take any opportunity to show the usefullness of firearms, as opposed to the "evil" that's so often proclaimed.
in there even when it's totally irrelevant
Irrelevant? Aren't we discussing deposing fascist states? Unless one is ruled by a "moral enemy", the British in India for example, there are two options for escaping the situation: First, hope the government goes away. Think of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Be patient and maybe it will end in your lifetime. The second option is a full-on armed revolt, like we've seen through-out history, and is not feasible without privately owned weaponry.
Very true, but beating up government officials is always hazardous to one's health, especially in a disarmed society. It may be possible to take out cafe workers with impunity and still make a statement.
Authoritarianism vs. Free Speach is more accurate. Communist societies are not necessarily authoritarian, nor vice-versa but they frequently lean that way. On the other hand, capitalist societies aren't always free but again, they often lean in that direction.
IMHO (also, IANAL), that's not necessarily true. In the absence of IP laws, everything could be distributed (whether sold, rented, or viewed) under contracts. Want to buy that latest Robbie Williams CD or Tom Clancy's latest read? Sure, just sign this here contract that you won't copy or redistribute it. See a movie in the theatre or rent a dvd for home? Sign here. It could become cumbersome beyond belief, and may preclude kids from buying things (IIRC minors can not enter into binding contracts without their guardians' sign off). Enforcement would leave the criminal realm and become just like any other contract, prove damages and collect. Best of all for the FSF zealots, if you want to distribute something freely or restrict it in any way, either don't write a contract or specify it.
OTOH, I think the mariage laws could be replaced with the same system ending the gay marriage debate, maybe I'm just a crackpot...
Not quite... At least with chrysler, the computers are black boxed, the tech plugs a cable in, sends the data off to detroit and the diagnosis is returned. This was discussed briefly on /. in the last couple months (IIRC, it was GM not releasing service codes) and is done to keep a rogue tech from starting his own shop somewhere, keeping the service codes in the dealership.
14% by land mass, 13% by population or 7% by number, which metric are you using? France is the only country I'm intimatly familiar with, though I know that Germany and Spain are in the same boat due to overextended social welfare systems and a declining population.
In fact, you may enjoy reading commonly employed devices in disinformation campaigns.
Maybe in the morning...