A very good implementation of Multiplayer roguelike is tomenet http://www.tomenet.net/ Give it a try!
Once you are used to the quasi real-time gameplay it's very addictive!
Nice post. Your experience has deeper connotations relating to commercial vs communal economic systems.
Also I put forward the notion that your communal sysetm was actually more authoritarian than the commercial one. The group with authority decided that no one should be responsible for paying the bills.
A less authoritarian system would be based on free trade. That meaning that while someone can buy services, the buyers and seller(s) have a free choice in the process. Free choice is freedom and that is less authoritarian. Yes you got more authority over the system but overall, your commercial venture was less authoritarian than the communal one.
Read the below news story. You are again incorrect. "Complacency" is specifcally named and not under funding. Greedy begs for more money to be forced from other people's wallets and put into NASA's corrupt budjet is absurd and your request for that is likewise. --- We get point on safety, says NASA
By Caroline Overington New York August 29, 2003
NASA's senior managers have admitted that a culture of complacency within the organisation contributed to the Columbia space shuttle disaster in which seven astronauts died.
Sean O'Keefe, who has been NASA's administrator since 2002, said on Wednesday that NASA welcomed a report by an independent accident investigation board, which found NASA had ignored concerns about the safety of the shuttle, even after eight warnings that it might have been damaged when a piece of foam flew off and hit the wing.
"We get it," Mr O'Keefe said, in response to those findings. "We clearly got the point."
He said NASA expected the White House, Congress and the American public to debate the future of space travel, but said NASA planned to send another shuttle aloft, perhaps as early as March.
He said the recommendations made by the accident review board would be implemented before space flight resumed.
Yes I suppose you did call his (TB) lines. I think those Rand quotes are ideal goals for which to continually strive. I think they are difficult to attain but don't think that they are innately contrary to how things can and do work. Granted, most countries are far worse than ours but that's no justification for NASA fiscal woes.
Not sure if I want to be a 'freebooter' as you put it. I don't think the state has to give me the right for a line item veto of my tax support. However I do feel that the income tax is inordinately complex and only gets worse. That's a separate topic, of sorts. I think protesting taxes is justifiable, certainly.
What I mean by saying that ''m a human being in this world' is referred to in this great quote:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315
Notice that he uses the word "abolish". Has NASA become destructive to these pursuits? I say it's certainly possible and likely. This however can be applied to our modern federal government as a whole. There are many examples of our government taking advantage of their authority these days to secure their own gains against our own individual freedoms and rights. I'll leave that to you to research and come to your own answers about.
You are correct in that there is something real to fear in the IRS with regards to tax protesters. Doesn't that say something about the country in which we live? Is that also contrary to many of the fundamental ideals of the founding and founders of this great country?
I remember in the 1980s when we thought China and Russia were backwards because their people feared their governments extremely. We are becoming our own enemy, in a sense because as you point out, the IRS is to be feared.
If someone speaks out against NASA fiscal policy and also the very idea that the government should be taking our income taxes for NASA corruption and incompetence, that person should fear government surveillance and blacklisting or other (I don't know IRS retribution tactics) reprisals. Land of the free and the brave! Just not free to protest taxes or brave enough to do it 'en masse any longer.
Just because I can go out & protest taxes doesn't mean I'm 'free' to do it because as you point out, they have a Earth-bound Hell (hatred, desire and means for vengeance?) for that level of so-called 'free speach'.
Search google for "nasa culture shuttle disaster" and you will see many references.
You lead the argument into areas that are unrelated and misleading. Your logic is flawed. I suggest your motive is continued NASA existence and greater funding. You want more money. What's new? You are another leech on the public coffers. I'm sick of the government taking my money and wasting it and also of hearing from people like you never stop crying for more! When will it stop! When will the people of the United States demand full accountability?! When will We The People question the competence of NASA to do their job well? Can We The People stop NASA? I hope so but I fear not. We have lost control and that is loss of freedom and the ability to keep a check on excesses of Government.
Here's an idea: Full accountability means that a punishment needs to be carried out for broken rules! NASA must be punished, not rewarded with more money for not doing their job! Maybe part of the solution that you may like is that they could be rewarded for successes.
NASA should not be rewarded with more money after never fixing the problems in seventeen years since the first shuttle crash in 1986. It was publicly announced and a congressional trial/hearing was held about this.
Your point that "funny accounting is endemic today" is ridiculous in that it implies that it's okay for this behavior. So should we turn a blind eye to criminal behavior and government corruption? No! I think this fiasco is worse than Watergate. Your implying that it is not, in way says this is not such a bad thing that NASA has done. I challenge that notion!
To think for yourself you must question authority! In this case, NASA and the feds!
You hardly seem like a non-biased person when it comes to criticizing a non-rocket technology for launch assists into space! Spout your pro rocketry propaganda but I question your motives! I also find it odd you are posting here considering this is a big news event that questions much of the fiscal policy in your industry! I question your credability.
Growlaw you changed the subject to Bush and Toiletmonster never mentioned support for Bush. Toiletmonster was referring to Libertarian ideals and Bush is very far from Libertarian. You implication that Toiletmonster supports Bush is not founded. Libertarians are disgusted with the Iraq war. Liberty from the US government does not mean we invade other countries. You changed the subject and the reason Toiletmonster may not reply is because all you've done is complicate the argument drastically. Stick to the point!
Toiletmonster is right for the most part. You pointed out some information also that -might- be true about the NASA budget. Frankly though, I don't believe the government's numbers and this press story confirms that there is reasonable cause to question what the government is doing with my money and the accuracy of their numbers. You quoting questionable government financial data shows that you are trusting a possibly untrustworthy entity.
Incidentally, Toiletmaster is mostly right, the ideals you espouse are somewhat similar to those of the common thief. Your secrecy of thievery is hidden in the details as this press story shows. I am a human being in this world and if I don't want to pay for government pork programs then I should be heard and my rights respected. If someone didn't respect your right to free speech but others denounced your right to free speech, who is right? You would be. Freedom must be respected otherwise we are serfs or slaves, subject to the growing whims of authority (in this country). Think about that please.
I suspect you are an employee of NASA who is profiting directly from this fiasco in some sort or another.
I disagree with you, grolaw. In effect you are saying that NASA needs more money but I today's news clearly demonstrates that they haven't responsibly managed the moneies the have already used. Your implied solution would make the problem much worse by rewarding poor fiscal respnosibility of NASA!
You note problems with their specific missions but instead of questioning the competance of NASA you blame under funding. I have never heard a government agency complain that it is over funded! It is the nature of humans to demand more money. The problem isn't the amount of money NASA recieves. Perhaps the problem is that they got the money in the first place. Who says only government can do science and space exploration? Fact is many private companies build and maintain space equipment for themselves and NASA.
When one thing fails, try something else or at least have an alternate system in place and see which works better!
Holding NASA as accountable as companies is called Rule Of Law. If you want companies to be accountable you must also insist that the government also be accountable. Remember that the government forcibly takes our money but corporations can't. This is a big difference between companies cooking books and government.
When companies cook books or act curruptly, they are much easier to expose and hold accountable than government. Please don't sit idle while our money is wasted. This is a crime against the people of the United States and should be treated as such. Also, it is important to question our Federal Government's ability to manage large agencies like NASA. They seem to consistently make a huge mess out of whatever they touch.
Many politicians don't want to cut taxes because they'll be demonized by people like you. The government spends/wastes huge amounts of money on all sorts of sketchy programs, not just your sketchy health and education. Why do you talk about health and education as if only government can do them. That's the trap the government loves you to think so we can all be robbed by them.
I don't think that 2,500 years is long enough to show that the ecosystem is entirely separate. Just because the system is frozen in ice doesn't even mean that it is isolated. Organisms can move through and live in ice. This isn't news either. I applaud the scientific interest here and the lake is surely very interesting but I think conclusions are being made too soon.
This is well said. Unfortunately most poeple won't see the your logic because they are blind sighted by their own special benefits they are getting from the government. They believe the lies of government that they will get their part of the pie. When that fails, they will blame the other political party, not the entire system as you have. My hats off to you, I agree with you.
Corruption is the natural result of more governmental authority in any country. People not paying their taxes is one example. There are many others. It gets worse and our country is headed that way. Both main parties are contributing to this. They both believe the ideals that more government can and does do better. Well, they don't believe it but they certainly benefit from it. How come it is greedy to want to keep your own income? I thought greed was wanting to take something from someone else, such as taxes.
Slashdot Mirror
A very good implementation of Multiplayer roguelike is tomenet http://www.tomenet.net/ Give it a try! Once you are used to the quasi real-time gameplay it's very addictive!
conradp that was a great post. Outstanding.
CLEARLY YOU DIDN'T READ THE ARTICLE!! Dammit why does that post get a 5 - insightful! absurd!
Insightful my ass. That uncoverer is a typical whine anti-producer, pro regulation and dogmatic butt wipe. You authoritarian douche bag.
Nice post. Your experience has deeper connotations relating to commercial vs communal economic systems. Also I put forward the notion that your communal sysetm was actually more authoritarian than the commercial one. The group with authority decided that no one should be responsible for paying the bills. A less authoritarian system would be based on free trade. That meaning that while someone can buy services, the buyers and seller(s) have a free choice in the process. Free choice is freedom and that is less authoritarian. Yes you got more authority over the system but overall, your commercial venture was less authoritarian than the communal one.
Read the below news story. You are again incorrect. "Complacency" is specifcally named and not under funding. Greedy begs for more money to be forced from other people's wallets and put into NASA's corrupt budjet is absurd and your request for that is likewise.
---
We get point on safety, says NASA
By Caroline Overington
New York
August 29, 2003
NASA's senior managers have admitted that a culture of complacency within the organisation contributed to the Columbia space shuttle disaster in which seven astronauts died.
Sean O'Keefe, who has been NASA's administrator since 2002, said on Wednesday that NASA welcomed a report by an independent accident investigation board, which found NASA had ignored concerns about the safety of the shuttle, even after eight warnings that it might have been damaged when a piece of foam flew off and hit the wing.
"We get it," Mr O'Keefe said, in response to those findings. "We clearly got the point."
He said NASA expected the White House, Congress and the American public to debate the future of space travel, but said NASA planned to send another shuttle aloft, perhaps as early as March.
He said the recommendations made by the accident review board would be implemented before space flight resumed.
Yes I suppose you did call his (TB) lines. I think those Rand quotes are ideal goals for which to continually strive. I think they are difficult to attain but don't think that they are innately contrary to how things can and do work. Granted, most countries are far worse than ours but that's no justification for NASA fiscal woes.
Not sure if I want to be a 'freebooter' as you put it. I don't think the state has to give me the right for a line item veto of my tax support. However I do feel that the income tax is inordinately complex and only gets worse. That's a separate topic, of sorts. I think protesting taxes is justifiable, certainly.
What I mean by saying that ''m a human being in this world' is referred to in this great quote:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." --Declaration of Independence as originally written by Thomas Jefferson, 1776. ME 1:29, Papers 1:315
Notice that he uses the word "abolish". Has NASA become destructive to these pursuits? I say it's certainly possible and likely. This however can be applied to our modern federal government as a whole. There are many examples of our government taking advantage of their authority these days to secure their own gains against our own individual freedoms and rights. I'll leave that to you to research and come to your own answers about.
You are correct in that there is something real to fear in the IRS with regards to tax protesters. Doesn't that say something about the country in which we live? Is that also contrary to many of the fundamental ideals of the founding and founders of this great country?
I remember in the 1980s when we thought China and Russia were backwards because their people feared their governments extremely. We are becoming our own enemy, in a sense because as you point out, the IRS is to be feared.
If someone speaks out against NASA fiscal policy and also the very idea that the government should be taking our income taxes for NASA corruption and incompetence, that person should fear government surveillance and blacklisting or other (I don't know IRS retribution tactics) reprisals. Land of the free and the brave! Just not free to protest taxes or brave enough to do it 'en masse any longer.
Just because I can go out & protest taxes doesn't mean I'm 'free' to do it because as you point out, they have a Earth-bound Hell (hatred, desire and means for vengeance?) for that level of so-called 'free speach'.
You are incorrect. Both shuttle disasters have been blamed on NASA culture and not under funding. Here is a link for you to jog your short memory:
6 16 63791292.html
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/26/10
Search google for "nasa culture shuttle disaster" and you will see many references.
You lead the argument into areas that are unrelated and misleading. Your logic is flawed. I suggest your motive is continued NASA existence and greater funding. You want more money. What's new? You are another leech on the public coffers. I'm sick of the government taking my money and wasting it and also of hearing from people like you never stop crying for more! When will it stop! When will the people of the United States demand full accountability?! When will We The People question the competence of NASA to do their job well? Can We The People stop NASA? I hope so but I fear not. We have lost control and that is loss of freedom and the ability to keep a check on excesses of Government.
Here's an idea: Full accountability means that a punishment needs to be carried out for broken rules! NASA must be punished, not rewarded with more money for not doing their job! Maybe part of the solution that you may like is that they could be rewarded for successes.
NASA should not be rewarded with more money after never fixing the problems in seventeen years since the first shuttle crash in 1986. It was publicly announced and a congressional trial/hearing was held about this.
Your point that "funny accounting is endemic today" is ridiculous in that it implies that it's okay for this behavior. So should we turn a blind eye to criminal behavior and government corruption? No! I think this fiasco is worse than Watergate. Your implying that it is not, in way says this is not such a bad thing that NASA has done. I challenge that notion!
To think for yourself you must question authority! In this case, NASA and the feds!
You hardly seem like a non-biased person when it comes to criticizing a non-rocket technology for launch assists into space! Spout your pro rocketry propaganda but I question your motives! I also find it odd you are posting here considering this is a big news event that questions much of the fiscal policy in your industry! I question your credability.
Growlaw you changed the subject to Bush and Toiletmonster never mentioned support for Bush. Toiletmonster was referring to Libertarian ideals and Bush is very far from Libertarian. You implication that Toiletmonster supports Bush is not founded. Libertarians are disgusted with the Iraq war. Liberty from the US government does not mean we invade other countries. You changed the subject and the reason Toiletmonster may not reply is because all you've done is complicate the argument drastically. Stick to the point! Toiletmonster is right for the most part. You pointed out some information also that -might- be true about the NASA budget. Frankly though, I don't believe the government's numbers and this press story confirms that there is reasonable cause to question what the government is doing with my money and the accuracy of their numbers. You quoting questionable government financial data shows that you are trusting a possibly untrustworthy entity. Incidentally, Toiletmaster is mostly right, the ideals you espouse are somewhat similar to those of the common thief. Your secrecy of thievery is hidden in the details as this press story shows. I am a human being in this world and if I don't want to pay for government pork programs then I should be heard and my rights respected. If someone didn't respect your right to free speech but others denounced your right to free speech, who is right? You would be. Freedom must be respected otherwise we are serfs or slaves, subject to the growing whims of authority (in this country). Think about that please. I suspect you are an employee of NASA who is profiting directly from this fiasco in some sort or another.
I disagree with you, grolaw. In effect you are saying that NASA needs more money but I today's news clearly demonstrates that they haven't responsibly managed the moneies the have already used. Your implied solution would make the problem much worse by rewarding poor fiscal respnosibility of NASA! You note problems with their specific missions but instead of questioning the competance of NASA you blame under funding. I have never heard a government agency complain that it is over funded! It is the nature of humans to demand more money. The problem isn't the amount of money NASA recieves. Perhaps the problem is that they got the money in the first place. Who says only government can do science and space exploration? Fact is many private companies build and maintain space equipment for themselves and NASA. When one thing fails, try something else or at least have an alternate system in place and see which works better!
Holding NASA as accountable as companies is called Rule Of Law. If you want companies to be accountable you must also insist that the government also be accountable. Remember that the government forcibly takes our money but corporations can't. This is a big difference between companies cooking books and government. When companies cook books or act curruptly, they are much easier to expose and hold accountable than government. Please don't sit idle while our money is wasted. This is a crime against the people of the United States and should be treated as such. Also, it is important to question our Federal Government's ability to manage large agencies like NASA. They seem to consistently make a huge mess out of whatever they touch.
Many politicians don't want to cut taxes because they'll be demonized by people like you. The government spends/wastes huge amounts of money on all sorts of sketchy programs, not just your sketchy health and education. Why do you talk about health and education as if only government can do them. That's the trap the government loves you to think so we can all be robbed by them.
I don't think that 2,500 years is long enough to show that the ecosystem is entirely separate. Just because the system is frozen in ice doesn't even mean that it is isolated. Organisms can move through and live in ice. This isn't news either. I applaud the scientific interest here and the lake is surely very interesting but I think conclusions are being made too soon.
This is well said. Unfortunately most poeple won't see the your logic because they are blind sighted by their own special benefits they are getting from the government. They believe the lies of government that they will get their part of the pie. When that fails, they will blame the other political party, not the entire system as you have. My hats off to you, I agree with you.
Corruption is the natural result of more governmental authority in any country. People not paying their taxes is one example. There are many others. It gets worse and our country is headed that way. Both main parties are contributing to this. They both believe the ideals that more government can and does do better. Well, they don't believe it but they certainly benefit from it. How come it is greedy to want to keep your own income? I thought greed was wanting to take something from someone else, such as taxes.