Ah, the blissful European countries with cultural homogeneity. Perhaps they don't argue internally, I can't say I pay that much attention. I do recall hearing once or twice of the occasional war between one or two of them, and I note that they've attempted to form overarching economic and political structures in hopes of making such wars less common in the future than they've been in the past.
No doubt the internal arguments in the United States would be fewer if Utah, for example, were its own country. But the thought of a nuclear armed Utah doesn't strike me as an improved geopolitical situation.
Well, of course, if you don't believe in democracy then it wouldn't bother you that a population of 15 million or so can effectively veto the desires of 315 million persons. The protection of minority rights is vested in the courts, and in the idea of equal justice under law. The Senate is hardly a protector of minority rights -- it is a protector of the huge resource extraction entities and agricultural businesses that dominate rural state politics.
Well, if this http://www.peakbagger.com/pbgeog/histmetropop.aspx#tables is correct, the largest city at the time of the constitutional convention would have had 40,000 persons. I'm not sure the rural/urban divide was the dividing issue -- I think it was much more a concern that the small population colony-states would not be well represented in the House, and so needed a check in the Senate. Not the same thing, especially when used as justification for mis-matched representation in states between states that were never independent.
Yes, that is its political effect, and it is extremely anti-democratic. But the reason it exists is simply that independent states varied in size at the time of the Constitutional convention. There was no intention at that Convention to give rural people a political check over those living in cities.
It's sad that an artifact of the nation's early history results in a Senate where a few square post-independence states with tiny populations are effectively able to veto ideas supported by very large majorities of Americans. Splitting states to provide relatively equal populations per Senate district would go a long way towards eliminating the existing gridlock in American politics.
There is simply no reason beyond historical accident why the 40 million people of California have two senators, while the combined 3 million people of the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana have eight senators.
Offhand, I think the libertarians should be free to purchase as many incandescent light bulbs as they wish, but they should be bundled with the bulbs average lifetime kWh of electricity when given typical use. Then you should get a monthly rebate for the electricity as you use it. So you could buy your incandescent bulb for $20 (or whatever), and get a dime back each month. Or you could buy an LED bulb for $15 (or whatever) and get a nickel back each month.
Computer science is a poor substitute for teaching logical argument and mathematical logic. But if they're going to teach computer science, I hope that doesn't mean "how to use Excel."
Yes, it's exactly the stupidest thing they could possibly do, with the possible exception of burning all issues of The Guardian for the next week or two.
But thugs just can't resist being thugs, just like snakes can't resist being snakes. Sure, there are copies, but that's all the more reason to smash this drive to smithereens.
People coming from different backgrounds bring different perspectives to the Trayvon Martin shooting. Everyone feels they are right, and everyone feels strongly. Is it possible for commenters to keep that in mind? I see an early post opportunity, so I figure I'll offer the proposal.
One of the things that has bugged (oops) me about the NSA news is the assumption that non-US citizens aren't entitled to privacy. Here the NSA doesn't even need a warrant if it guesses (50%+1) that one of the people communicating is non-US. Why any foreign company would want to use a product from a company that can be forced to feed all info to the NSA is beyond my ability to understand but, then again, those paying for the privilege of using Microsoft products have always been a mystery to me.
Yes, Anonymous Coward is an appropriate name for you. Someone who signed up for the military following 9/11 certainly does not need to justify their actions.
Was the Iraq war a "good war?" No, not in my opinion. But that war wasn't started by the military. It was started by the unprosecuted war criminals who were almost voted into positions of power, men like George W "Decider" Bush, Dick "Dick" Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
It does seem a bit unfair to build a Department of Snooping, Lying, and Cheating and then complain when it snoops, lies, and cheats. It's so sad that the United States government is now (and has been for at least fifty years) the most frightening enemy of the United States Constitution.
Really, what you want is a layout of chairs on the train that can easily be moved onto a plane's fuselage by a device that needn't fly. You don't want to make the train into a plane, you just want a convenient way to move people and their carryons into the fuselage without making them lift their buttocks an extra time.
The reason New Hampshire is functional is Boston. Yes, Boston is in Massachusetts, but southern New Hampshire is an easy commute to Boston and its northern suburbs. Massachusetts taxpayers provide all the high tech jobs and cultural amenities that the libertarians of New Hampshire want to have but don't want to pay for.
Google could charge a monthly fee for the service, or a "don't be evil" company could start a competitive service and try to eat Google's afternoon snack. The interesting thing about the computer industry has always been how rapidly product loyalties shift.
Keep in mind that you'll get a better group of people choosing to use an encrypted service than those choosing to leave their laundry out for others to observe at will, so you could probably charge a premium if you decided to sell them non-targeted advertising crap as an additional source of revenue.
The other aspect of this is that, if/when it turns out that the companies DO know and HAVE known about PRISM, user trust in corporate assertions is likely to decline substantially. Why base your business plan on cooperation with a known liar?
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People such as myself?
Ah, the blissful European countries with cultural homogeneity. Perhaps they don't argue internally, I can't say I pay that much attention. I do recall hearing once or twice of the occasional war between one or two of them, and I note that they've attempted to form overarching economic and political structures in hopes of making such wars less common in the future than they've been in the past.
No doubt the internal arguments in the United States would be fewer if Utah, for example, were its own country. But the thought of a nuclear armed Utah doesn't strike me as an improved geopolitical situation.
Well, of course, if you don't believe in democracy then it wouldn't bother you that a population of 15 million or so can effectively veto the desires of 315 million persons. The protection of minority rights is vested in the courts, and in the idea of equal justice under law. The Senate is hardly a protector of minority rights -- it is a protector of the huge resource extraction entities and agricultural businesses that dominate rural state politics.
Well, if this http://www.peakbagger.com/pbgeog/histmetropop.aspx#tables is correct, the largest city at the time of the constitutional convention would have had 40,000 persons. I'm not sure the rural/urban divide was the dividing issue -- I think it was much more a concern that the small population colony-states would not be well represented in the House, and so needed a check in the Senate. Not the same thing, especially when used as justification for mis-matched representation in states between states that were never independent.
Yes, that is its political effect, and it is extremely anti-democratic. But the reason it exists is simply that independent states varied in size at the time of the Constitutional convention. There was no intention at that Convention to give rural people a political check over those living in cities.
It's sad that an artifact of the nation's early history results in a Senate where a few square post-independence states with tiny populations are effectively able to veto ideas supported by very large majorities of Americans. Splitting states to provide relatively equal populations per Senate district would go a long way towards eliminating the existing gridlock in American politics.
There is simply no reason beyond historical accident why the 40 million people of California have two senators, while the combined 3 million people of the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana have eight senators.
Offhand, I think the libertarians should be free to purchase as many incandescent light bulbs as they wish, but they should be bundled with the bulbs average lifetime kWh of electricity when given typical use. Then you should get a monthly rebate for the electricity as you use it. So you could buy your incandescent bulb for $20 (or whatever), and get a dime back each month. Or you could buy an LED bulb for $15 (or whatever) and get a nickel back each month.
Computer science is a poor substitute for teaching logical argument and mathematical logic. But if they're going to teach computer science, I hope that doesn't mean "how to use Excel."
The rules of modern day America are pretty simple. You have liberty to do whatever you like, but DON'T FUCK WITH THE OWNERS.
Lawyers and lobbyists have come a long way since 1858; with enough lawyers and lobbyists today, ScrewCorp could patent a pencil colored yellow.
The United States government has never had better timing! I'd sign up now, but I figure you guys have got it covered already, OK?
Yes, it's exactly the stupidest thing they could possibly do, with the possible exception of burning all issues of The Guardian for the next week or two.
But thugs just can't resist being thugs, just like snakes can't resist being snakes. Sure, there are copies, but that's all the more reason to smash this drive to smithereens.
Nah, it's not Linux eating into UNIX's market share. It's stuff like the Debian, RedHat, Android and Ubuntu OS's.
Wow! What a great idea! Light field communication!
Didn't this used to be called "posting a sign?"
People coming from different backgrounds bring different perspectives to the Trayvon Martin shooting. Everyone feels they are right, and everyone feels strongly. Is it possible for commenters to keep that in mind? I see an early post opportunity, so I figure I'll offer the proposal.
One of the things that has bugged (oops) me about the NSA news is the assumption that non-US citizens aren't entitled to privacy. Here the NSA doesn't even need a warrant if it guesses (50%+1) that one of the people communicating is non-US. Why any foreign company would want to use a product from a company that can be forced to feed all info to the NSA is beyond my ability to understand but, then again, those paying for the privilege of using Microsoft products have always been a mystery to me.
Microsoft: (Violating) your privacy is our priority(, because who doesn't love a police state).
"At this rate, within the next five years the stack of DVDs could reach higher than the orbit of the International Space Station."
Use more than one stack. You're welcome.
Yes, Anonymous Coward is an appropriate name for you. Someone who signed up for the military following 9/11 certainly does not need to justify their actions.
Was the Iraq war a "good war?" No, not in my opinion. But that war wasn't started by the military. It was started by the unprosecuted war criminals who were almost voted into positions of power, men like George W "Decider" Bush, Dick "Dick" Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
It does seem a bit unfair to build a Department of Snooping, Lying, and Cheating and then complain when it snoops, lies, and cheats. It's so sad that the United States government is now (and has been for at least fifty years) the most frightening enemy of the United States Constitution.
So now, not only do Twinkies offer no nutrition, but the employees who make them get slave wages. Mmmm-mmm, sure makes that synthetic lard sweeter!
I'm all for METI as long as it's honest.
Really, what you want is a layout of chairs on the train that can easily be moved onto a plane's fuselage by a device that needn't fly. You don't want to make the train into a plane, you just want a convenient way to move people and their carryons into the fuselage without making them lift their buttocks an extra time.
The reason New Hampshire is functional is Boston. Yes, Boston is in Massachusetts, but southern New Hampshire is an easy commute to Boston and its northern suburbs. Massachusetts taxpayers provide all the high tech jobs and cultural amenities that the libertarians of New Hampshire want to have but don't want to pay for.
Google could charge a monthly fee for the service, or a "don't be evil" company could start a competitive service and try to eat Google's afternoon snack. The interesting thing about the computer industry has always been how rapidly product loyalties shift.
Keep in mind that you'll get a better group of people choosing to use an encrypted service than those choosing to leave their laundry out for others to observe at will, so you could probably charge a premium if you decided to sell them non-targeted advertising crap as an additional source of revenue.
The other aspect of this is that, if/when it turns out that the companies DO know and HAVE known about PRISM, user trust in corporate assertions is likely to decline substantially. Why base your business plan on cooperation with a known liar?