neonfrog wrote a fairly long and heartfelt piece taking issue with my tagline, "Voters are citizens; all others are residents."
neon, you wrote that the implication is that voting somehow makes me better than non-voters or gives me some enhanced status in society. I don't see it that way at all. I see citizenship as a series of obligations; a social contract. I see voting as an obligation that is part of good citizenship.
If you see no difference in the Presidential candidates, and none are to your liking, fine. I am certain that in your home town, there are many more offices on the ballot where your individual vote really does count and where the outcome affects you personally, to say nothing of initiative referenda. Local school board seats, water district board seats, town council, local judges are all elected in most places, and unless you live in a really big city, it doesn't take more than a few votes to change the outcome. The candidates are people you can meet personally, and their decisions matter where you live. If you leave a blank after "President" and consider it a vote for "None of the above", great. Voting in a contested school board election where only 300 total votes are cast matters much more.
I will cast a vote for President, even though the Electoral College system makes my vote meaningless when you consider the state I live in. I consider it a personal responsibility.
Our county uses optical scan ballots, and they work fine. They are fast to count. There is a physical backup that can be hand counted if need be. They require no fancy equipment and the polling place. And, if you can't figure out how to mark them correctly, you really are too stupid to have your vote counted.
I am totally at a loss to understand this rush to some sort of electronic voting. I regard voting as the one, true sacrament of citizenship. I have no problem with it taking a little bit of time. After lying to pollsters for months, the ritual of going into the booth and casting my secret ballot is very satisfying.
Remember, voters are citizens; all others are residents.
From the FCC website:
"The Federal Communications Commission first established rules in 1965 for cable systems which received signals by microwave antennas. In March 1966, the Commission established rules for all cable systems (whether or not served by microwave). The Supreme Court affirmed the Commission's jurisdiction over cable in United States v. Southwestern Cable Co., 392 U.S. 157 (1968). The Court ruled that "the Commission has reasonably concluded that regulatory authority over CATV is imperative if it is to perform with appropriate effectiveness certain of its responsibilities." The Court found the Commission needed authority over cable systems to assure the preservation of local broadcast service and to effect an equitable distribution of broadcast services among the various regions of the country.
In March 1972, new rules regarding cable television became effective. These rules required cable television operators to obtain a certificate of compliance from the Commission prior to operating a cable television system or adding a television broadcast signal. The rules applicable to cable operators fell into several broad subject areas -- franchise standards, signal carriage, network program nonduplication and syndicated program exclusivity, nonbroadcast or cablecasting services, cross-ownership, equal employment opportunity, and technical standards. Cable television operators who originated programming were subject to equal time, Fairness Doctrine, sponsorship identification and other provisions similar to rules applicable to broadcasters. Cable operators were also required to maintain certain records and to file annual reports with the Commission concerning general statistics, employment and finances."
>[T]his is really no different from the New York Times endorsing a candidate for president
The NY Times, or any other newspaper, doesn't use the publicly owned airwaves to distribute its copy and doesn't need a government license to publish. Sinclair, and all other teevee stations do and are subject to the FCC Fairness Doctrine and its implementing regulations. If this is OK, them I'm sure all our neo-con pals will be OK with Turner Broadcasting airing Farenheit 911 on Monday November 1, followed, of course, by a fair and balanced panel discussion at 11 pm PST.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing.
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-William Shakespeare - Othello the Moor of Venice (Iago at III, iii)
>When was the last time *you* checked them for proper torque?
Last month. Eight lug alloy rims on a Dodge Ram 2500. Spec is 125 lb-ft. I check regularly, every 90 days, or all wheels every time one has been off, whichever is more often. Same with the wheels on my horse trailer.
>You say that now, but once you start working with that type of equipment every day, you get lazy.
Familiar -> Complacent -> Lazy -> Dead
>They had used the TOC a few days prior, and there was no documentation that the bolts had been removed, so they assumed that it was fine. If some that other project team hadn't forgotten the documentation this wouldnt've happened.
[Fred] OK Bob, let's run through the checklist and fire this 747 up.
[Bob] Don't bother with the checklist. Some guys flew it back from Tokyo a couple of days ago. Everything should still work, and I don't see any trouble tickets. They probably fueled it up, too.
If I was "repositioning" a $239,000,000.00 piece of hardware, I would visually check the bolts before starting the rotation. I would also check every other piece of safety equipment... twice. If the bolts were there, I would probably check the torque on them, if I hadn't tightened them myself.
Jeeeez, people, this isn't rocket science. Well actually it is rocket science, but that's the difference between rocket science and stuff that blows up on the pad.
James Ussher (1581-1656) Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, etc. established the first day of creation as Sunday, October 23, 4004 B.C. He did this through calculation of the many "begats"in the Bible as well as correlation with Middle Eastern history. His calculations were actually incorporated into an authorized version fo the Bible published in 1701. If you google his name be sure to spell it "Ussher".
>Take a look at Darwin on Trial or Darwin's Black Box, both written by credible scientists, not religious fanatics.
Philip Johnson is a lawyer and not a scientist of any kind. Behe may have been a "credible scientist" at some point, but he is certainly not one now, at least not in relation to his advocacy of Inteligent Design (tm) and what he tries to articulate as "Irreducible Complexity," a concept for which he has yet to provide an example. Both Johnson and Behe qualify as "ultra religious". Behe at one time made a pretense of scientific objectivity, at least when speaking in front of non-religious groups,but lately has dropped that altogether.
Johnson's argument boils down to the fallacy of false dichotomy: if I can prove evolution wrong, then Genesis must be litterally true. Behe at least makes an effort to provide some sort of positive argument. However, he has so far failed to actually articulate it in any testable fashion.
Sometimes it matters what your friends think. They might have a different perspective on things, being not so close to them. Lots of times, listening to your friends can save you a lot of grief. Years ago, a friehd was going to marry the Wrong Girl, Really Wrong. You didn't need to be psychic to see the huge train wreck coming. After several deep conversations and some excellent herb, we decided that one of us had to tell him. Short straw has to do it, and thank all of the gods it wasn't me. It was a bad scene, and the marriage happened on schedule, as did the train wreck divorce a year later. Time heals all wounds, and our friend started talking to us again, but a lot of misery could have been avoided. If most of Europe thinks the US is making a mistake, it might be a good idea to listen to the reasons why they think so.
Most people want an MP3 player to play music. A few play audio books, true, but music is the thing. AM radio is truly Lo-Fi, staticy and monophonic. That's why music stations moved to FM in the 60's. AM is suited to voice-only programming like talk radio and news. Why bother with it on a relatively expensive device that is primarily a music player? My suggestion is that if you want to listen to talk radio while jogging, buy a cheap armband radio and leave the expensive MP3 palyer at home.
Slashdot Mirror
>boont? mmm...amber..
Good stuff, that. I'm also partial to Eye of the Hawk. Eight Ball Stout from just up the road a bit is also excellent.neonfrog wrote a fairly long and heartfelt piece taking issue with my tagline, "Voters are citizens; all others are residents."
neon, you wrote that the implication is that voting somehow makes me better than non-voters or gives me some enhanced status in society. I don't see it that way at all. I see citizenship as a series of obligations; a social contract. I see voting as an obligation that is part of good citizenship.
If you see no difference in the Presidential candidates, and none are to your liking, fine. I am certain that in your home town, there are many more offices on the ballot where your individual vote really does count and where the outcome affects you personally, to say nothing of initiative referenda. Local school board seats, water district board seats, town council, local judges are all elected in most places, and unless you live in a really big city, it doesn't take more than a few votes to change the outcome. The candidates are people you can meet personally, and their decisions matter where you live. If you leave a blank after "President" and consider it a vote for "None of the above", great. Voting in a contested school board election where only 300 total votes are cast matters much more.
I will cast a vote for President, even though the Electoral College system makes my vote meaningless when you consider the state I live in. I consider it a personal responsibility.
Our county uses optical scan ballots, and they work fine. They are fast to count. There is a physical backup that can be hand counted if need be. They require no fancy equipment and the polling place. And, if you can't figure out how to mark them correctly, you really are too stupid to have your vote counted.
I am totally at a loss to understand this rush to some sort of electronic voting. I regard voting as the one, true sacrament of citizenship. I have no problem with it taking a little bit of time. After lying to pollsters for months, the ritual of going into the booth and casting my secret ballot is very satisfying.
Remember, voters are citizens; all others are residents.
The equal time rule provisions still apply.
From the FCC website:
"The Federal Communications Commission first established rules in 1965 for cable systems which received signals by microwave antennas. In March 1966, the Commission established rules for all cable systems (whether or not served by microwave). The Supreme Court affirmed the Commission's jurisdiction over cable in United States v. Southwestern Cable Co., 392 U.S. 157 (1968). The Court ruled that "the Commission has reasonably concluded that regulatory authority over CATV is imperative if it is to perform with appropriate effectiveness certain of its responsibilities." The Court found the Commission needed authority over cable systems to assure the preservation of local broadcast service and to effect an equitable distribution of broadcast services among the various regions of the country. In March 1972, new rules regarding cable television became effective. These rules required cable television operators to obtain a certificate of compliance from the Commission prior to operating a cable television system or adding a television broadcast signal. The rules applicable to cable operators fell into several broad subject areas -- franchise standards, signal carriage, network program nonduplication and syndicated program exclusivity, nonbroadcast or cablecasting services, cross-ownership, equal employment opportunity, and technical standards. Cable television operators who originated programming were subject to equal time, Fairness Doctrine, sponsorship identification and other provisions similar to rules applicable to broadcasters. Cable operators were also required to maintain certain records and to file annual reports with the Commission concerning general statistics, employment and finances."
>[T]his is really no different from the New York Times endorsing a candidate for president
The NY Times, or any other newspaper, doesn't use the publicly owned airwaves to distribute its copy and doesn't need a government license to publish. Sinclair, and all other teevee stations do and are subject to the FCC Fairness Doctrine and its implementing regulations. If this is OK, them I'm sure all our neo-con pals will be OK with Turner Broadcasting airing Farenheit 911 on Monday November 1, followed, of course, by a fair and balanced panel discussion at 11 pm PST.> If someone wants to spend a TON of money on a bike, there ARE expensive bikes out there....
Indeed, a new Ducati would be way more fun.From the article:
"First of all, we should try to recover the compound to ambient temperature and pressure", Eremets says.
Translation: "It spontaneously goes poof (or kaboom) when we release the pressure in the machine."
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing.
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
-William Shakespeare - Othello the Moor of Venice (Iago at III, iii)
Bush has hired judges. That wins every time.
>When was the last time *you* checked them for proper torque?
Last month. Eight lug alloy rims on a Dodge Ram 2500. Spec is 125 lb-ft. I check regularly, every 90 days, or all wheels every time one has been off, whichever is more often. Same with the wheels on my horse trailer.>You say that now, but once you start working with that type of equipment every day, you get lazy.
Familiar -> Complacent -> Lazy -> Dead>They had used the TOC a few days prior, and there was no documentation that the bolts had been removed, so they assumed that it was fine. If some that other project team hadn't forgotten the documentation this wouldnt've happened.
[Fred] OK Bob, let's run through the checklist and fire this 747 up.[Bob] Don't bother with the checklist. Some guys flew it back from Tokyo a couple of days ago. Everything should still work, and I don't see any trouble tickets. They probably fueled it up, too.
If I was "repositioning" a $239,000,000.00 piece of hardware, I would visually check the bolts before starting the rotation. I would also check every other piece of safety equipment... twice. If the bolts were there, I would probably check the torque on them, if I hadn't tightened them myself.
Jeeeez, people, this isn't rocket science. Well actually it is rocket science, but that's the difference between rocket science and stuff that blows up on the pad.
>Stupid FIFA
This is redundant.>has a contract with an American beer producer. Guess which.
Coors, Bud, who cares, it's all swill.>That means we can only buy American beer in the stadion.
In my experience, you're all pissed before you get there anyway.Stewart is great. O'Reilly is a one-dimensional asshole. What I really miss is "Politically Incorrect".
James Ussher (1581-1656) Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, etc. established the first day of creation as Sunday, October 23, 4004 B.C. He did this through calculation of the many "begats"in the Bible as well as correlation with Middle Eastern history. His calculations were actually incorporated into an authorized version fo the Bible published in 1701. If you google his name be sure to spell it "Ussher".
>Take a look at Darwin on Trial or Darwin's Black Box, both written by credible scientists, not religious fanatics.
Philip Johnson is a lawyer and not a scientist of any kind. Behe may have been a "credible scientist" at some point, but he is certainly not one now, at least not in relation to his advocacy of Inteligent Design (tm) and what he tries to articulate as "Irreducible Complexity," a concept for which he has yet to provide an example. Both Johnson and Behe qualify as "ultra religious". Behe at one time made a pretense of scientific objectivity, at least when speaking in front of non-religious groups,but lately has dropped that altogether.Johnson's argument boils down to the fallacy of false dichotomy: if I can prove evolution wrong, then Genesis must be litterally true. Behe at least makes an effort to provide some sort of positive argument. However, he has so far failed to actually articulate it in any testable fashion.
>Vmay be another town in California.
Arcata, home of Humboldt State University.>> Is DNF finally a reality?
>No.DNF is DNF. Or, can you be DNF if you are DNS?
> I want to see what GraphicConverter does with this.
I'm not cruising the alt.binaries.erotica.* groups for the p0rn, I'm doing field research on this new trojan.Sometimes it matters what your friends think. They might have a different perspective on things, being not so close to them. Lots of times, listening to your friends can save you a lot of grief. Years ago, a friehd was going to marry the Wrong Girl, Really Wrong. You didn't need to be psychic to see the huge train wreck coming. After several deep conversations and some excellent herb, we decided that one of us had to tell him. Short straw has to do it, and thank all of the gods it wasn't me. It was a bad scene, and the marriage happened on schedule, as did the train wreck divorce a year later. Time heals all wounds, and our friend started talking to us again, but a lot of misery could have been avoided. If most of Europe thinks the US is making a mistake, it might be a good idea to listen to the reasons why they think so.
>obvious that GEMS is running in Windows
I thought GEM ran on Atari STs.Actually, it's still around
Most people want an MP3 player to play music. A few play audio books, true, but music is the thing. AM radio is truly Lo-Fi, staticy and monophonic. That's why music stations moved to FM in the 60's. AM is suited to voice-only programming like talk radio and news. Why bother with it on a relatively expensive device that is primarily a music player? My suggestion is that if you want to listen to talk radio while jogging, buy a cheap armband radio and leave the expensive MP3 palyer at home.