A political leader, whom I can trust to take both Mrs. and Mr. Fourtou and execute them both without a trial, would get my vote. Jefferson said that "The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants", but I think blood of corrupt thieves is just as necessary.
Yes, such cure is as dangerous as the illness, but the democratic system of checks and balances simply doesn't work fully. Eventually it is corrupted by people who game the system. The only solution, IMHO, is to have an outside shock from time to time. It's like Starcraft - you can rely on in-game anti-cheat systems only for so long, but at some point you simply need to disable some cd-keys permanently and irreversibly.
An even better solution would be to block all offending ports and leave only web (80 and 80-something), POP3, SMTP (ISP server only, with or without traffic limits) and may be some IM ports. This would make these pwned boxen harmless to the rest of the Net, while still perfectly functional for most practical purposes. Let's face it, your grandma doesn't care if her private e-mail and grandkids' photos are exposed to evil haxors.
If you are still worried about security, then your quarantined sub-net default page should allow the user a choice between using crippled access if he is too lazy/doesn't care and cleaning the machine with explicit instructions.
P.S. I once messed up e-mail forwarding filters at home and they started recursively forwarding spam with addresses in C? field (more and more copies of the same spam, which targeted a number of ISP users). I was not cut off, I was sent an e-mail from the tech. support and relatively quickly fixed the problem on my side.
You enter the voting booth. You demonstrate to the camera/scanner your ID/face/fingerprints/unique code/etc. (all of the above) The system recognizes you. It then says on the screen: "You are John Doe from Main Str., 67-2-3". This is your photo. This is a photo of your house. This is a photo of your kids, whose names are. If any of this information is wrong, the chances are I fucked up the recognition. If you see any errors, please press this big red button." The button engages a big-ass siren that attracts attention of an assistant, who helps you. If there are no errors, you are given a correct list of candidates (which already means we didn't fuck up the ballot), neatly arranged in a table (or vertical list). You press on the candidate table cell, the cell highlights, blinks and flashes. In the bottom a text appears: "If you are not satisfied with the selection, please presse the big red button". Pressing the button resets selection and you are given another attempt. Once you are satisfied and press the green button for "OK", you are shown a screen with a photo of the candidate, with his name, affiliation, party, description and election slogans. The text says: "If this is not the candidate you want to vote for, please press the big red button". The button summons an assistant, who helps you (or a corrective psychiatrist, who tests you for IQ). At any point, if the red button was engages, the doors are locked (so that you can't leave the precinct) and any input to machine is disabled (until the assistant inserts a special key) so that you can't fuck it up even more.
This should neatly solve all problems with most errors.
For professional assessment of risks, there is a Usenet group for RISKS Digest (Google groups) that describes all kinds of situations where technology has gone wrong.
True, I do value social interaction somewhat. But there are levels of interaction one is willing to accept. I would be perfectly happy even without Slashdot. Extrapolating from personal experience, I can be reasonably sure that I will be able to happily live for at least a few months, probably as much as a year without watching/reading news, without seeing humans or talking to them (face to face, by phone or online), without playing multiplayer games or interacting with them in any other way. The only thing I would need is a relatively comfortable apartment, food, computer and enough things to occupy me (books, games, movies, Internet connection).
There is no single human activity that exist in isolation. None. I assume you never tried masturbating?:)
As a side note, I usually (there are exceptions) don't care about my online interlocutors, I take every comment at face value. So it is not really social interaction, as some form of interactive reading.
define "concerned" I knew that regardless of how well I thought about the job I did, there was always a chance it would have errors or be outright wrong. And so I never ignored [informed] criticism and had either to admit I was wrong or admit it AND fix what I did.
May be this part of the grandparent's comment is important: the praise culture that develops in gifted classrooms leads to egomania among the students I almost never encountered this and would expect an isolated smart student to receive more praise than he would get in a class full of equally talented kids. But then, may be the environment was simply different in Russian and American schools...
I assume you have never tried Everything. While not as educating as an encyclopedia, an average visit to that site leaves my Opera with 50+ open pages that caught my eye from the softlinks.
And most encyclopedia sites should have some "random entry" or "article of the day" features that are almost as good as randomly flipping pages.
Another related factoid relates to Columbus. It was sometimes said that his opponents did not believe that one could sail around the globe (implying they were flat-Earth believers), but he in his great intelligence did.
The truth is that everyone knew the Earth was round, but the opinions differed on the circumference. The critics were actually correct, saying that India is too far from Spain. Columbus mistakingly believed that Earth is much smaller than it actually is and India is very close. He was lucky, though, to find another continent (though it would be impossible to miss), or he would undoubtly die on the long way to India.
People rag on MS when they include shitty software to kill competition from better production, and the rag on them when they include shitty software, just because they don't have anything better. To summarise, people rag on MS when they include shitty software.
Frankly, the only parts of Microsoft OS that I find suitable for use are the Volume Control, Taskbar and Calculator.:) Everything else, including the keyboard layout indicator, system clock and solitire are third-party. So to me all "added value" of Windows is actually "wasted value" and is worth precisely 0$. The only advantage of MS is the wealth of 3rd party programs, for which it is only indirectly responsible. But Linux (and others) is a better OS and if not for MS monopoly, all software would be compatible with Linux a long time ago.
Piracy is neither a punishment, nor a protest. It is simply the optimal strategy. History has shown that piracy does not have a negative effect on software availability. This may sound like bullshit, but consider that Russia and China have and always had a prospering industry of dictionary, translation, OCR and localisation software. While the piracy rates are 99-100% (modern China and early 90-s Russia), while the market is miniscule, the software companies has still managed to turn in a profit. When there is demand, there will be a supply. Again, consider accounting software in Russia in late 80-s/early 90-s. The market is extremely small, the copyright enforcement is nil, the piracy is blatant and the competition is fierce. Tens of companies sprang out with their products.
There are a few exceptions, but overall it was proven again and again that even overwhelming piracy does not mean the end of software industry.
And so, pirate when you want to, not when you want to make a statement. I don't care about software makers, I care about doing most with the computer I have. If they are forced out of business, so be it, we'll manage it somehow. Humans are very adaptable, you know...
The truth is that even manufacturers of hardware and software ignore the licenses and suggest their users do the same. There was a story here about a year ago about a user who was required to read the license before continuing the installation (Dell?), but was unable to do so, since he would either be forced to open the shrink-wrapped box to read the license inside (and automatically accept the license) or to finish the installation to read the electronic one (and automatically accept the license). Needless to say, the technical support was unware of this problem and suggested they simply click accept, like they always do.
EULAs are like masturbation. Everyone does it and everyone knows that everyone does it, but everyone is still afraid to admit it is so.:) I sometimes read the EULAs, because I can easily find out whether the program is spyware, but otherwise I don't care about them. Most of my software is pirated anyway.
Humans are what we want to be. It is folly to argue that genes do not play a role, but a human can overcome any limitations he has and become what he wants to become.
There is no reason why a human today must be a social creature. Fortunately, it is now possible (for those who want it) to live for years without ever seeing a live person.:) This is extreme, but, taken in moderation, sociopathy can be a good thing.
I think humbleness is sorely lacking amongst people with talent.
Bullshit. This is your own experience in a fucked up "gifted class". I was a "gifted" kid since I was 3 years old. My grandpa always called me a genius. I was the smartest kid in my school(s) till the 7th grade. Then I moved to a phisics and math school (arguably the best in the country) where I was in the best class and for a while I was the best in math and always one of the smartest overall (I'd say THE smartest).
And so what? I don't give a shit about praise, I was always too humble (I was able to overcome this deficiency, though) and I was always concerned about criticism. Kinda different from what you experienced...
An Ignobel prise was given for research that demonstrated negative correlation between ability and self-assesment. At least in some areas gifted people overestimate the capabilities of others and underestimate their own.
If he is not interested in girls/friends, how exactly is his loneliness a problem? I had a girlfriend once, but even though the experience was mostly pleasant, I found out that I am not really interesting in spending so much time pointlessly. Unless I can get Maria Curie, I prefer to stay lonely, thank you very much.:)
I have good social skills and have no problem socialising... other than the lack of interest. I love interacting with people if that involves working together on something I am interested in (that includes many things) or discussing it, but other than that I am perfectly happy not seeing a human being for months (years?). And I don't want anyone trying to fix me.:)
Why does this have to come from sports? Math, other sciences, acting, anything else can be competitive and teach the same lessons quite well. And anyway, I am surprised that someone can get through his school without participating in sports at all. Isn't PE mandatory?
It is rarely a problem (though sometimes it is) for anyone to socialise with their peers. If you are a math geek, you can easily communicate with other math geeks. If you are a programmer, talking with other programmers (about programming) is easy. While this is not always the best solution, may be he doesn't need to spend his time with people he doesn't like/understand/care about.
I was replying to a poster who purposefully misunderstood the grandparent, whose point was that certain forms of violence can be expected in the USA. Personally I think I have a relatively realistic image of the US and I don't base it on GTA games.:)
Still, in some other countries (not in all, and not even in all European) certain forms of violence (especially murder) is less prevalent than in the US. A notable example is Japan, where murder is extremely rare. Scandinavian countries are another example. It doesn't mean violence doesn't exist there, but it means I would be extremely surprised to hear on the news that 2 Norwegian kids machinegunned their classmates in the school.
P.S. This is not to be taken as an attack on the US or an insightful comment about guns, or violence, or murders, or anything else. This is primarily just a matter of perceptions, which are often wrong. Here are some stats on murder per capita rates
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap
The United States is on the 23rd place in the world (0.05 per 1000), following some really wacky countries from third world and the former USSR. The United States has the highest murder per capita rate out of all developed countries. BTW, my country occupies a not so proud 5th place with 4 times as many murders (0.2 per 1000) as in the US.
Very surprisingly, Finland is 29th with 0.03 per 1000 murders. France, Canada and Australia have 0.02 per 1000. Other developed countries appear to have 0.01 or lower.
Acts of unmotivated violence prevalent across society is one thing. Extremely rare and unfortunate incidents are another. The killing of the Swedish PM by a menthally ill person with a long clinical history proved exactly the point the parent was making, that such violence is extremely uncommon in Sweden. Ditto for Finland that was shocked by the mall bombing in Helsinki last year.
The USA is not the safest place in the world, whatever metric you choose. Far from the safest, actually...
I just stopped reading this thread because it became pointless. Some argue that bogus lawsuits are problem, some argue they aren't. What I would like to see is some statistics about the scope of the bogus lawsuits. How many lawsuits for malpractice are filed every year, how many are won, how many are settled, what is the average settlement and award, etc. And on top of that, how many of these are supposedly bogus. Without that I can't answer the simple question of whether personal injury attorneys are scumbags or useful members of society...
Sue Your Boss Ad: Male Voice: "Is your job affecting your health? Do you become fatigued? Does working take time away from family and social events like watching wrestling? There's an easy solution! Sue your boss!! See, the great thing about this country is you can sue anyone for pretty much anything! And you'll probably win! Or at least get a settlement At the firm of Rakin and Ponzer personal injury attorneys, we can show you how falling down and howling like a sissy can result in a large damage award from your employer. We also specialize in awards for injuries suffered in auto, bus and train accidents! And can even train you to throw yourself in front of a bus and pretend to be injured. Hey, that's why they pay for insurance! Call the law offices of Rakin and Ponzer, and get ready to enjoy a life of luxury!"
I am not a doctor, I am a patient. When you sue the hospital for 40 mln dollars, these dollars are taken from me. As a result I get cheaper food, less effective cheaper drugs, overworked nurses and no chance to have a necessary expensive operation.
I understand the frustration when a doctor fucks up yet another operation, amputating the wrong leg. But suing the hospital for money is wrong. There are other options, which are more effective and do not harm other patients. Demand that the doctor is fired and banned from medical profession. Demand that the hospital administrator is fired and fined and jailed and what not. But don't try to extort millions from the hospitals.
You may say that you deserve a compensation for your disability. Well, in a perfect world you would. But as long as your oversized compensation comes at the expense of our hospital care, you don't deserve it sorry. Even if that Ricardo Romero guy wasn't a useless illiterate latinos, I would still say that his now lost health was not worth 40 million. Again, I repeat, the money is ultimately taken from the patients, because the hospital needs to somehow compensate for the loss of cash (I don't think the government will pay the fines for it).
P.S. I am aware that the 40 mln was appealed in this particular case. The principle still holds - don't sue the hospitals for money.
What invention do we need for world peace? A feeling-projection device from Lem's books that would force everyone to feel what everyone else feels? Ignoring sci-fi for a second, I think we have everything in place. It's just that the leaders should concentrate on building the framework for global cooperation, for realising that problems of every country are our common problems. We don't need technology for that, we only need better understanding and ethics. And better leaders, of course... You say that a social revolution is needed - I totally agree. The realisation that we need to spend resources on making Earth a better place would actually be that revolution (or evolution).
As for Vikings, I am not calling them evil. As CaptainAvatar noted, they did, in fact commit all the acts that are attributed to them, but of course, not every Viking did it. Still, a large fraction (but not the majority) of Vikings was driven by the desire to conquer new territories. People from other nations did it too, Vikings simply were the most prominent at some point. Such actions had a point then, but right now it would be (it is) a bad strategy.
As for the literacy, I am kind of an arrogant elitist.:) I want peace, but I don't think people are currently equal and thus should have equal rights (e.g., most people should not have a right to vote). I don't think the majority of people are worthy even a conversation with me (i.e. a few minutes of my time). I am not saying that all people without college education are stupid, I am simply saying that if a person today has an education of a Viking warrior, generally I would have little respect for them. I may like them, like I would like a puppy (if they are cute, attractive or funny), but I would not respect them. Unfortunately, this applies to many people, for example, to students I am trying to teach...:(((
Atrahasis, I think I understand your metaphor quite well. But, first of all, most people advocating Mars exploration do not have a clear understanding of what to do there, relying on their "instincts" of expansion. And, second, even if we pretend that Mars exploration is only concerned with finding answers and stuff, like Arctica and Antarctica, there is little point in going to Mars, other than just raise a flag there. Yes, I understand that there is a lot of science to be done, but it is very minor, compared with the effort needed today. I argued that we can further the human progress much more if we spend these resources here to reach the very specific goals, such as world peace. The fact that man has the urge to expand his physical horisons stems directly from our animal past. We are genetically programmed to acquire new territory (this is the basis of our behaviour, of course there are additional levels of complexity).
As for Vikings, my main point was that they were quite aggressive explorers. You choose to use the word "colonists", but to colonise a new place you need (to put it bluntly) to kill the natives, just like the English colonists later did... The details are irrelevant, what matters is that their motivation to expand is a bit out of date today. Same for the illiteracy. It was allright for their time, but today we would not respect a person as illiterate as they were. And we should have just as little respect to someone motivated primarily by territorial expansion.
Slashdot Mirror
A political leader, whom I can trust to take both Mrs. and Mr. Fourtou and execute them both without a trial, would get my vote. Jefferson said that "The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants", but I think blood of corrupt thieves is just as necessary.
Yes, such cure is as dangerous as the illness, but the democratic system of checks and balances simply doesn't work fully. Eventually it is corrupted by people who game the system. The only solution, IMHO, is to have an outside shock from time to time. It's like Starcraft - you can rely on in-game anti-cheat systems only for so long, but at some point you simply need to disable some cd-keys permanently and irreversibly.
An even better solution would be to block all offending ports and leave only web (80 and 80-something), POP3, SMTP (ISP server only, with or without traffic limits) and may be some IM ports. This would make these pwned boxen harmless to the rest of the Net, while still perfectly functional for most practical purposes. Let's face it, your grandma doesn't care if her private e-mail and grandkids' photos are exposed to evil haxors.
If you are still worried about security, then your quarantined sub-net default page should allow the user a choice between using crippled access if he is too lazy/doesn't care and cleaning the machine with explicit instructions.
P.S. I once messed up e-mail forwarding filters at home and they started recursively forwarding spam with addresses in C? field (more and more copies of the same spam, which targeted a number of ISP users). I was not cut off, I was sent an e-mail from the tech. support and relatively quickly fixed the problem on my side.
Here is a nearly 100% reliable e-voting system.
You enter the voting booth. You demonstrate to the camera/scanner your ID/face/fingerprints/unique code/etc. (all of the above) The system recognizes you. It then says on the screen: "You are John Doe from Main Str., 67-2-3". This is your photo. This is a photo of your house. This is a photo of your kids, whose names are. If any of this information is wrong, the chances are I fucked up the recognition. If you see any errors, please press this big red button." The button engages a big-ass siren that attracts attention of an assistant, who helps you. If there are no errors, you are given a correct list of candidates (which already means we didn't fuck up the ballot), neatly arranged in a table (or vertical list). You press on the candidate table cell, the cell highlights, blinks and flashes. In the bottom a text appears: "If you are not satisfied with the selection, please presse the big red button". Pressing the button resets selection and you are given another attempt. Once you are satisfied and press the green button for "OK", you are shown a screen with a photo of the candidate, with his name, affiliation, party, description and election slogans. The text says: "If this is not the candidate you want to vote for, please press the big red button". The button summons an assistant, who helps you (or a corrective psychiatrist, who tests you for IQ). At any point, if the red button was engages, the doors are locked (so that you can't leave the precinct) and any input to machine is disabled (until the assistant inserts a special key) so that you can't fuck it up even more.
This should neatly solve all problems with most errors.
Slashdot had a discussion about Programming Gone Wrong in the past.
It mentioned, among others, the Ariane 5 Failure, the infamous Therac-25 accidents, loss of Mars Orbiter, Hi-tech toilet swallowing woman, AT&T Switch failure, a bunch of things literally crashing, etc. And here is yet another article on miserable Patriot failure.
For professional assessment of risks, there is a Usenet group for RISKS Digest (Google groups) that describes all kinds of situations where technology has gone wrong.
True, I do value social interaction somewhat. But there are levels of interaction one is willing to accept. I would be perfectly happy even without Slashdot. Extrapolating from personal experience, I can be reasonably sure that I will be able to happily live for at least a few months, probably as much as a year without watching/reading news, without seeing humans or talking to them (face to face, by phone or online), without playing multiplayer games or interacting with them in any other way. The only thing I would need is a relatively comfortable apartment, food, computer and enough things to occupy me (books, games, movies, Internet connection).
:)
There is no single human activity that exist in isolation. None.
I assume you never tried masturbating?
As a side note, I usually (there are exceptions) don't care about my online interlocutors, I take every comment at face value. So it is not really social interaction, as some form of interactive reading.
It can mean other things, such as people stopped sharing their books and going to libraries as much... Scary?
define "concerned"
I knew that regardless of how well I thought about the job I did, there was always a chance it would have errors or be outright wrong. And so I never ignored [informed] criticism and had either to admit I was wrong or admit it AND fix what I did.
May be this part of the grandparent's comment is important:
the praise culture that develops in gifted classrooms leads to egomania among the students
I almost never encountered this and would expect an isolated smart student to receive more praise than he would get in a class full of equally talented kids. But then, may be the environment was simply different in Russian and American schools...
I assume you have never tried Everything. While not as educating as an encyclopedia, an average visit to that site leaves my Opera with 50+ open pages that caught my eye from the softlinks.
And most encyclopedia sites should have some "random entry" or "article of the day" features that are almost as good as randomly flipping pages.
Another related factoid relates to Columbus. It was sometimes said that his opponents did not believe that one could sail around the globe (implying they were flat-Earth believers), but he in his great intelligence did.
The truth is that everyone knew the Earth was round, but the opinions differed on the circumference. The critics were actually correct, saying that India is too far from Spain. Columbus mistakingly believed that Earth is much smaller than it actually is and India is very close. He was lucky, though, to find another continent (though it would be impossible to miss), or he would undoubtly die on the long way to India.
People rag on MS when they include shitty software to kill competition from better production, and the rag on them when they include shitty software, just because they don't have anything better. To summarise, people rag on MS when they include shitty software.
:) Everything else, including the keyboard layout indicator, system clock and solitire are third-party. So to me all "added value" of Windows is actually "wasted value" and is worth precisely 0$. The only advantage of MS is the wealth of 3rd party programs, for which it is only indirectly responsible. But Linux (and others) is a better OS and if not for MS monopoly, all software would be compatible with Linux a long time ago.
Frankly, the only parts of Microsoft OS that I find suitable for use are the Volume Control, Taskbar and Calculator.
Piracy is neither a punishment, nor a protest. It is simply the optimal strategy. History has shown that piracy does not have a negative effect on software availability. This may sound like bullshit, but consider that Russia and China have and always had a prospering industry of dictionary, translation, OCR and localisation software. While the piracy rates are 99-100% (modern China and early 90-s Russia), while the market is miniscule, the software companies has still managed to turn in a profit. When there is demand, there will be a supply. Again, consider accounting software in Russia in late 80-s/early 90-s. The market is extremely small, the copyright enforcement is nil, the piracy is blatant and the competition is fierce. Tens of companies sprang out with their products.
There are a few exceptions, but overall it was proven again and again that even overwhelming piracy does not mean the end of software industry.
And so, pirate when you want to, not when you want to make a statement. I don't care about software makers, I care about doing most with the computer I have. If they are forced out of business, so be it, we'll manage it somehow. Humans are very adaptable, you know...
The truth is that even manufacturers of hardware and software ignore the licenses and suggest their users do the same. There was a story here about a year ago about a user who was required to read the license before continuing the installation (Dell?), but was unable to do so, since he would either be forced to open the shrink-wrapped box to read the license inside (and automatically accept the license) or to finish the installation to read the electronic one (and automatically accept the license). Needless to say, the technical support was unware of this problem and suggested they simply click accept, like they always do.
:) I sometimes read the EULAs, because I can easily find out whether the program is spyware, but otherwise I don't care about them. Most of my software is pirated anyway.
EULAs are like masturbation. Everyone does it and everyone knows that everyone does it, but everyone is still afraid to admit it is so.
Windows is worth a thousand Words.
Humans are social creatures.
:) This is extreme, but, taken in moderation, sociopathy can be a good thing.
Humans are what we want to be. It is folly to argue that genes do not play a role, but a human can overcome any limitations he has and become what he wants to become.
There is no reason why a human today must be a social creature. Fortunately, it is now possible (for those who want it) to live for years without ever seeing a live person.
I think humbleness is sorely lacking amongst people with talent.
Bullshit. This is your own experience in a fucked up "gifted class". I was a "gifted" kid since I was 3 years old. My grandpa always called me a genius. I was the smartest kid in my school(s) till the 7th grade. Then I moved to a phisics and math school (arguably the best in the country) where I was in the best class and for a while I was the best in math and always one of the smartest overall (I'd say THE smartest).
And so what? I don't give a shit about praise, I was always too humble (I was able to overcome this deficiency, though) and I was always concerned about criticism. Kinda different from what you experienced...
An Ignobel prise was given for research that demonstrated negative correlation between ability and self-assesment. At least in some areas gifted people overestimate the capabilities of others and underestimate their own.
If he is not interested in girls/friends, how exactly is his loneliness a problem? I had a girlfriend once, but even though the experience was mostly pleasant, I found out that I am not really interesting in spending so much time pointlessly. Unless I can get Maria Curie, I prefer to stay lonely, thank you very much. :)
:)
I have good social skills and have no problem socialising... other than the lack of interest. I love interacting with people if that involves working together on something I am interested in (that includes many things) or discussing it, but other than that I am perfectly happy not seeing a human being for months (years?). And I don't want anyone trying to fix me.
Why does this have to come from sports? Math, other sciences, acting, anything else can be competitive and teach the same lessons quite well. And anyway, I am surprised that someone can get through his school without participating in sports at all. Isn't PE mandatory?
It is rarely a problem (though sometimes it is) for anyone to socialise with their peers. If you are a math geek, you can easily communicate with other math geeks. If you are a programmer, talking with other programmers (about programming) is easy. While this is not always the best solution, may be he doesn't need to spend his time with people he doesn't like/understand/care about.
I was replying to a poster who purposefully misunderstood the grandparent, whose point was that certain forms of violence can be expected in the USA. Personally I think I have a relatively realistic image of the US and I don't base it on GTA games. :)
Still, in some other countries (not in all, and not even in all European) certain forms of violence (especially murder) is less prevalent than in the US. A notable example is Japan, where murder is extremely rare. Scandinavian countries are another example. It doesn't mean violence doesn't exist there, but it means I would be extremely surprised to hear on the news that 2 Norwegian kids machinegunned their classmates in the school.
P.S. This is not to be taken as an attack on the US or an insightful comment about guns, or violence, or murders, or anything else. This is primarily just a matter of perceptions, which are often wrong. Here are some stats on murder per capita rates
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/cri_mur_cap
The United States is on the 23rd place in the world (0.05 per 1000), following some really wacky countries from third world and the former USSR. The United States has the highest murder per capita rate out of all developed countries. BTW, my country occupies a not so proud 5th place with 4 times as many murders (0.2 per 1000) as in the US.
Very surprisingly, Finland is 29th with 0.03 per 1000 murders. France, Canada and Australia have 0.02 per 1000. Other developed countries appear to have 0.01 or lower.
Okay, twit. I'll bite back.
Acts of unmotivated violence prevalent across society is one thing. Extremely rare and unfortunate incidents are another. The killing of the Swedish PM by a menthally ill person with a long clinical history proved exactly the point the parent was making, that such violence is extremely uncommon in Sweden. Ditto for Finland that was shocked by the mall bombing in Helsinki last year.
The USA is not the safest place in the world, whatever metric you choose. Far from the safest, actually...
I just stopped reading this thread because it became pointless. Some argue that bogus lawsuits are problem, some argue they aren't. What I would like to see is some statistics about the scope of the bogus lawsuits. How many lawsuits for malpractice are filed every year, how many are won, how many are settled, what is the average settlement and award, etc. And on top of that, how many of these are supposedly bogus. Without that I can't answer the simple question of whether personal injury attorneys are scumbags or useful members of society...
Any numbers, anyone? Please...
Sue Your Boss Ad:
Male Voice: "Is your job affecting your health? Do you become fatigued? Does working take time away from family and social events like watching wrestling? There's an easy solution! Sue your boss!! See, the great thing about this country is you can sue anyone for pretty much anything! And you'll probably win! Or at least get a settlement At the firm of Rakin and Ponzer personal injury attorneys, we can show you how falling down and howling like a sissy can result in a large damage award from your employer. We also specialize in awards for injuries suffered in auto, bus and train accidents! And can even train you to throw yourself in front of a bus and pretend to be injured. Hey, that's why they pay for insurance! Call the law offices of Rakin and Ponzer, and get ready to enjoy a life of luxury!"
Source: GTA.
I am not a doctor, I am a patient. When you sue the hospital for 40 mln dollars, these dollars are taken from me. As a result I get cheaper food, less effective cheaper drugs, overworked nurses and no chance to have a necessary expensive operation.
I understand the frustration when a doctor fucks up yet another operation, amputating the wrong leg. But suing the hospital for money is wrong. There are other options, which are more effective and do not harm other patients. Demand that the doctor is fired and banned from medical profession. Demand that the hospital administrator is fired and fined and jailed and what not. But don't try to extort millions from the hospitals.
You may say that you deserve a compensation for your disability. Well, in a perfect world you would. But as long as your oversized compensation comes at the expense of our hospital care, you don't deserve it sorry. Even if that Ricardo Romero guy wasn't a useless illiterate latinos, I would still say that his now lost health was not worth 40 million. Again, I repeat, the money is ultimately taken from the patients, because the hospital needs to somehow compensate for the loss of cash (I don't think the government will pay the fines for it).
P.S. I am aware that the 40 mln was appealed in this particular case. The principle still holds - don't sue the hospitals for money.
What invention do we need for world peace? A feeling-projection device from Lem's books that would force everyone to feel what everyone else feels? Ignoring sci-fi for a second, I think we have everything in place. It's just that the leaders should concentrate on building the framework for global cooperation, for realising that problems of every country are our common problems. We don't need technology for that, we only need better understanding and ethics. And better leaders, of course... You say that a social revolution is needed - I totally agree. The realisation that we need to spend resources on making Earth a better place would actually be that revolution (or evolution).
:) I want peace, but I don't think people are currently equal and thus should have equal rights (e.g., most people should not have a right to vote). I don't think the majority of people are worthy even a conversation with me (i.e. a few minutes of my time). I am not saying that all people without college education are stupid, I am simply saying that if a person today has an education of a Viking warrior, generally I would have little respect for them. I may like them, like I would like a puppy (if they are cute, attractive or funny), but I would not respect them. Unfortunately, this applies to many people, for example, to students I am trying to teach... :(((
As for Vikings, I am not calling them evil. As CaptainAvatar noted, they did, in fact commit all the acts that are attributed to them, but of course, not every Viking did it. Still, a large fraction (but not the majority) of Vikings was driven by the desire to conquer new territories. People from other nations did it too, Vikings simply were the most prominent at some point. Such actions had a point then, but right now it would be (it is) a bad strategy.
As for the literacy, I am kind of an arrogant elitist.
Atrahasis, I think I understand your metaphor quite well. But, first of all, most people advocating Mars exploration do not have a clear understanding of what to do there, relying on their "instincts" of expansion. And, second, even if we pretend that Mars exploration is only concerned with finding answers and stuff, like Arctica and Antarctica, there is little point in going to Mars, other than just raise a flag there. Yes, I understand that there is a lot of science to be done, but it is very minor, compared with the effort needed today. I argued that we can further the human progress much more if we spend these resources here to reach the very specific goals, such as world peace. The fact that man has the urge to expand his physical horisons stems directly from our animal past. We are genetically programmed to acquire new territory (this is the basis of our behaviour, of course there are additional levels of complexity).
As for Vikings, my main point was that they were quite aggressive explorers. You choose to use the word "colonists", but to colonise a new place you need (to put it bluntly) to kill the natives, just like the English colonists later did... The details are irrelevant, what matters is that their motivation to expand is a bit out of date today. Same for the illiteracy. It was allright for their time, but today we would not respect a person as illiterate as they were. And we should have just as little respect to someone motivated primarily by territorial expansion.