I assume you just forgot to type the last 0, because when I got a speeding ticket (just a simple speeding ticket! Not racing, not "super speeding," not reckless driving, just plain two-points-on-your-license speeding) I called literally almost a dozen lawyers, and none of them were willing to help me for much less than $1000. Every single one of them wanted to charge more than the maximum penalty (fine + court fee + driver's safety class fee) for the offense.
It was far more cost effective to preemptively take the safety class and then negotiate with the damn prosecutor myself.
But I ask you, How would you propose to make this fair but still enforce the law?
To start with, court procedure should be designed such that pleading not guilty does not cost more than pleading guilty -- at the very least, it ought to allow defendants to mail in their not guilty plea and skip the arraignment!
Second, they should abolish the concept of "plea bargaining." Either the defendant deserves the charge, in which case the prosecutor should not be reducing it, or the defendant doesn't deserve the charge, in which the prosecutor should not have levied it in the first place. Piling on bullshit extra charges in an attempt to bully or scare the defendant into pleading guilty to "something" is unethical, full stop.
The best reform would be that every offense should be tried by a jury. If there are so many people breaking the law that this is impractical, that should be your first clue that THE GODDAMN LAW ITSELF IS WRONG!
O.C.G.A. SS. 40-6-1 (a) It is unlawful and, unless otherwise declared in this chapter with respect to particular offenses, it is a misdemeanor for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in this chapter.
Oh! No, not at all. I was responding strictly to the GP's claim that [in the general case] "when you are in criminal court, the rules are skewed to favor the defendant."
In this particular case, the system actually worked.
But don't you see, that's part of the problem! If you get accused of speeding, you will be punished whether you're guilty or not.
If you plead guilty, you pay (e.g. $300 fine + a $100 traffic safety class + points that will jack up your insurance rate).
If you try to plea bargain, you have to have already spent money on a traffic safety class to get a decent deal (e.g. a $100 traffic safety class + $200 fine for the lesser offense).
If you try to go to trial without a lawyer, you will lose and therefore have to pay (e.g. $??? + court costs + $100 class + points).
If you hire a lawyer, you pay (e.g. $500+ for a lawyer).
If you get merely accused, your choices are to pay, pay, pay, or pay!
The legal system doesn't really care who you pay -- the court itself, its private defense lawyer cronies, or its moonlighting-cop traffic school teacher cronies -- but the system extracts its pound of flesh regardless.
And that's not all! The less willing you are to submit to the system, the more just jumping through the procedural hoops will cost you. If you want to plead guilty, all you have to do is mail in the fine. If you want to try to get a plea bargain, you have to take off work to show up for the arraignment. And if you want to actually plead not guilty? Ha! Then you have to show up for the arraignment, show up again for the second arraignment (because 'uppity' people who want to exercise their rights have their cases upgraded from recorder's court to state court) and then show up again for the trial! (Having never actually gotten that far, I might even be underestimating.) That's at least three days of missed work -- $174 for someone making minimum wage, or a whole lot more for the typical IT-worker Slashdotter -- just to exercise your right to plead not guilty!
No, you're wrong. Speeding is a criminal offense. It may be a misdemeanor rather than a felony (which might be what confused you), but even misdemeanors are still criminal and are still [theoretically] held to the same "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard of proof.
Have you ever actually been in a criminal court? Defending yourself against even an offense as trivial as a speeding ticket is enough to make it blatantly obvious how defendants get railroaded in this country.
Why? The market will sort it all out. After all, the only thing suspending the corporate charter does is remove undue governmental influences from the market anyway (since that's what incorporation is: government meddling to give special status).
A: an under-served market. Most likely because the costs of providing service are too high to support more than one player.
An "under-served market," huh? Alright then: the market I'm talking about is in almost the middle of the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States, about four miles from the middle of downtown (which, in Atlanta, is not very far at all). If that's not dense enough to support more than one provider, then where the fuck is?!
It is not a government-enforced monopoly, it is a defacto monopoly
Yes, and a de-facto monopoly is still a monopoly.
It doesn't change the fact that one of those players (AT&T) got huge government subsidies to wire it up in the first place and then more huge subsidies to upgrade it for "broadband" (money it simply pocketed instead of performing the upgrade, by the way), and the other player (Comcast) actually is a de jure monopoly for services delivered over coaxial cable (it has a franchise agreement with the City of Atlanta, which prohibits other cable providers such as Charter from coming in).
Q: What is it called when you can only get high-speed Internet within a particular geographic area from one company?
A: a monopoly.
In my area (within the Atlanta city limits), there are three alleged choices for high-speed home Internet (i.e., Internet with a large enough data cap to be usable for things like video, gaming and software updates): Clear Wi-Max, AT&T DSL, and Comcast cable. Clear Wi-Max doesn't work (literally, at all) because the towers are too far away. AT&T DSL doesn't work (literally, at all) because the telephone infrastructure is too old. And yes, I did personally try to use both those services before resorting to Comcast -- if either of them had worked, even marginally, I'd still be using it. However, Comcast cable is literally the only choice, and is therefore a monopoly.
I have seen one website where some guy rebuilt his Toyota Prius battery pack himself; the problem wasn't the cells, it was the connections, which had corroded I believe. I think he spent maybe $10-20, plus labor, when the new pack was going to cost a few thousand. If problems like this become common, we'll probably see a lot of remanufacturing services popping up for EV battery packs.
I've seen a website where a first-gen Insight owner rebuilt his battery pack, where fixing the problem actually did involve replacing a few cells that had gone bad. Even then, apparently it was less complicated or expensive than you might expect.
A crate motor direct from the OEM can be pretty damn expensive, which is why those (third-party) specialist companies exist. Similarly, I'd fully expect a third-party remanufactured battery to cost a whole lot less than a new one from Tesla (i.e., a lot less than $20k).
How would you feel about, say, 10% of the cars on the road running custom software by the next door kid?
How would you feel about the food you eat being prepared at home by a mere lay "cook" without any formal food service training (shock, horror!) instead of on a McDonalds assembly line?
How would you feel about playing sports with friends instead of having it be prohibited except for "professionals" because somebody might get hurt?
How would you feel about wiping your ass yourself, rather than having to hire a Certified Asswipe to do it for you because you're apparently so fucking incompetent that you might miss a spot and get sick?
You're comparing apples (code) to oranges (break pads). Third party manufactured break pads will be subject to some oversight and regulation, especially as you can't just whip up break pads in your garage. On the other hand you are suggesting that anyone who really wants to can modify and install software without oversight or regulation - and that is not something I'd like to see in safety critical systems.
Bullshit. Sure, brake pads in particular might end up with oversight and regulation (in the sense of regulating the operations of the factory, but not necessarily in the sense of their suitability for the application) because they're hard for one person to make himself, but there are plenty of other things on a car that are almost as essential but completely unregulated. There's nothing whatsoever stopping a random guy with a welder from fabricating his own suspension parts, engine parts, the entire car body, etc. He could even weld a big spike on the front of the car if he wanted. The police would probably look at him funny, but they wouldn't stop him.
And if the people writing the code have to get it certified before it can be used, then that puts them on the level of car manufactures right now
If you're a car manufacturer -- which means somebody who builds more than X cars a year, where X is a pretty big number -- then you need to meet regulations. However, home-built cars are exempt from most (if not all) of it.
Better yet, let's hypothesize that the place you needed to go was too far away to reasonably walk to without this device, so you drove a car there instead. Now, with the device, you can walk farther than you were willing to walk before, causing a net increase in exercise (and a more eco-friendly commute).
Truecrypt lets you pick which encryption algorithm (and key generation mechanism, IIRC) that you want to use. So just pick one that the NSA didn't compromise!
No kidding. I live in Atlanta and have Comcast internet. If they roll out 2 gigabit service to me for any sort of reasonable price before Google Fiber becomes available, I'll eat my hat.
Slashdot Mirror
In Georgia, even "speeding by itself" is a misdemeanor -- see O.C.G.A. SS. 40-6-1 (a)
I assume you just forgot to type the last 0, because when I got a speeding ticket (just a simple speeding ticket! Not racing, not "super speeding," not reckless driving, just plain two-points-on-your-license speeding) I called literally almost a dozen lawyers, and none of them were willing to help me for much less than $1000. Every single one of them wanted to charge more than the maximum penalty (fine + court fee + driver's safety class fee) for the offense.
It was far more cost effective to preemptively take the safety class and then negotiate with the damn prosecutor myself.
To start with, court procedure should be designed such that pleading not guilty does not cost more than pleading guilty -- at the very least, it ought to allow defendants to mail in their not guilty plea and skip the arraignment!
Second, they should abolish the concept of "plea bargaining." Either the defendant deserves the charge, in which case the prosecutor should not be reducing it, or the defendant doesn't deserve the charge, in which the prosecutor should not have levied it in the first place. Piling on bullshit extra charges in an attempt to bully or scare the defendant into pleading guilty to "something" is unethical, full stop.
The best reform would be that every offense should be tried by a jury. If there are so many people breaking the law that this is impractical, that should be your first clue that THE GODDAMN LAW ITSELF IS WRONG!
O.C.G.A. SS. 40-6-1 (a) It is unlawful and, unless otherwise declared in this chapter with respect to particular offenses, it is a misdemeanor for any person to do any act forbidden or fail to perform any act required in this chapter.
Oh! No, not at all. I was responding strictly to the GP's claim that [in the general case] "when you are in criminal court, the rules are skewed to favor the defendant."
In this particular case, the system actually worked.
But don't you see, that's part of the problem! If you get accused of speeding, you will be punished whether you're guilty or not.
If you get merely accused, your choices are to pay, pay, pay, or pay!
The legal system doesn't really care who you pay -- the court itself, its private defense lawyer cronies, or its moonlighting-cop traffic school teacher cronies -- but the system extracts its pound of flesh regardless.
And that's not all! The less willing you are to submit to the system, the more just jumping through the procedural hoops will cost you. If you want to plead guilty, all you have to do is mail in the fine. If you want to try to get a plea bargain, you have to take off work to show up for the arraignment. And if you want to actually plead not guilty? Ha! Then you have to show up for the arraignment, show up again for the second arraignment (because 'uppity' people who want to exercise their rights have their cases upgraded from recorder's court to state court) and then show up again for the trial! (Having never actually gotten that far, I might even be underestimating.) That's at least three days of missed work -- $174 for someone making minimum wage, or a whole lot more for the typical IT-worker Slashdotter -- just to exercise your right to plead not guilty!
No, you're wrong. Speeding is a criminal offense. It may be a misdemeanor rather than a felony (which might be what confused you), but even misdemeanors are still criminal and are still [theoretically] held to the same "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard of proof.
Have you ever actually been in a criminal court? Defending yourself against even an offense as trivial as a speeding ticket is enough to make it blatantly obvious how defendants get railroaded in this country.
What? You mean the Randian tea party bullshit I posted was wrong? I'm shocked -- shocked!
(My previous post was an experiment in satire. Thanks for playing along.)
A llama ate it.
Why? The market will sort it all out. After all, the only thing suspending the corporate charter does is remove undue governmental influences from the market anyway (since that's what incorporation is: government meddling to give special status).
IIRC, it was a "you can fork it, but you can't call the fork 'TrueCrypt'" kind of deal -- which is why the new versions in TFS have different names.
An "under-served market," huh? Alright then: the market I'm talking about is in almost the middle of the ninth largest metropolitan area in the United States, about four miles from the middle of downtown (which, in Atlanta, is not very far at all). If that's not dense enough to support more than one provider, then where the fuck is?!
Yes, and a de-facto monopoly is still a monopoly.
It doesn't change the fact that one of those players (AT&T) got huge government subsidies to wire it up in the first place and then more huge subsidies to upgrade it for "broadband" (money it simply pocketed instead of performing the upgrade, by the way), and the other player (Comcast) actually is a de jure monopoly for services delivered over coaxial cable (it has a franchise agreement with the City of Atlanta, which prohibits other cable providers such as Charter from coming in).
Q: What is it called when you can only get high-speed Internet within a particular geographic area from one company?
A: a monopoly.
In my area (within the Atlanta city limits), there are three alleged choices for high-speed home Internet (i.e., Internet with a large enough data cap to be usable for things like video, gaming and software updates): Clear Wi-Max, AT&T DSL, and Comcast cable. Clear Wi-Max doesn't work (literally, at all) because the towers are too far away. AT&T DSL doesn't work (literally, at all) because the telephone infrastructure is too old. And yes, I did personally try to use both those services before resorting to Comcast -- if either of them had worked, even marginally, I'd still be using it. However, Comcast cable is literally the only choice, and is therefore a monopoly.
Look, you sick fuck, we're tired of your totalitarian bullshit. Just go fuck off and die already, won't you?
I've seen a website where a first-gen Insight owner rebuilt his battery pack, where fixing the problem actually did involve replacing a few cells that had gone bad. Even then, apparently it was less complicated or expensive than you might expect.
My Miata gets about the same fuel economy as your GTI, but the tank only holds about 8 gallons. You do the math.
A crate motor direct from the OEM can be pretty damn expensive, which is why those (third-party) specialist companies exist. Similarly, I'd fully expect a third-party remanufactured battery to cost a whole lot less than a new one from Tesla (i.e., a lot less than $20k).
If your life depends on not running out of battery power, I think you can probably stand to roll down the damn windows!
(Note: I live in the South, and I know how hot it gets. My point stands anyway.)
How would you feel about the food you eat being prepared at home by a mere lay "cook" without any formal food service training (shock, horror!) instead of on a McDonalds assembly line?
How would you feel about playing sports with friends instead of having it be prohibited except for "professionals" because somebody might get hurt?
How would you feel about wiping your ass yourself, rather than having to hire a Certified Asswipe to do it for you because you're apparently so fucking incompetent that you might miss a spot and get sick?
Bullshit. Sure, brake pads in particular might end up with oversight and regulation (in the sense of regulating the operations of the factory, but not necessarily in the sense of their suitability for the application) because they're hard for one person to make himself, but there are plenty of other things on a car that are almost as essential but completely unregulated. There's nothing whatsoever stopping a random guy with a welder from fabricating his own suspension parts, engine parts, the entire car body, etc. He could even weld a big spike on the front of the car if he wanted. The police would probably look at him funny, but they wouldn't stop him.
If you're a car manufacturer -- which means somebody who builds more than X cars a year, where X is a pretty big number -- then you need to meet regulations. However, home-built cars are exempt from most (if not all) of it.
Unfortunately, so is trying to use a dependent clause as a complete sentence.
Better yet, let's hypothesize that the place you needed to go was too far away to reasonably walk to without this device, so you drove a car there instead. Now, with the device, you can walk farther than you were willing to walk before, causing a net increase in exercise (and a more eco-friendly commute).
Truecrypt lets you pick which encryption algorithm (and key generation mechanism, IIRC) that you want to use. So just pick one that the NSA didn't compromise!
No kidding. I live in Atlanta and have Comcast internet. If they roll out 2 gigabit service to me for any sort of reasonable price before Google Fiber becomes available, I'll eat my hat.
Wait, you say that in response to an APK post, and a misattributed quote is the part you're worried about?!