"The biggest problem is that our society would collapse from corruption. It's a pretty simple formula. Powerful people maintain their power by maintaining the status quo... The only serious mechanism for social change is the death of the powerful. If death stopped being inevitable, then the rich and powerful would be the first ones to get that technology."
Have we learned NOTHING from Highlander? The Immortal One brings peace, prosperity and really bad sequels to the human race.
I, for one, welcome our new bitchin'-sword-wielding immortal masters.
It's been fun watching the SCOX hover around the $5 mark. I only hope they stay alive long enough for IBM and Redhat to be able to drive the stake through their undead hearts.
Now for the REAL question - with evidence that Microsoft was behind the feeding of SCO, will the DoJ find the balls to actually investigate? Perhaps if the SEC launches action against the SCOzos...
An anonymous coward wrote: "No, just that O'Reilly is a moderate on a centrist network falsely proclaimed as being right-wing just because it isn't left-wing like CNN is."
Fascinating. Perhaps you can share with us some examples of what you consider to be conservative news outlets, as well as another example or two of "centrist" outlets?
"So much for any intelligent discussion. You are a liberal loon who can't talk about Bush without insulting him."
No, actually I'm a conservative (small government, fiscal responsibiltiy, personal freedom, personal responsibility and accountability) who simply cannot ignore the facts. Bush Sr. I was all for, until he hosed up the domestic agenda. Lack of "the vision thing" as you may recall. You, on the other hand, appear to be one of those individuals who can't grasp the nuances of a shades-of-grey world.
So tell us, are you a conservative? Do you believe in small government, fiscal responsibiltiy, personal freedom, personal responsibility and accountability? If so, who are you voting for this year and why?
"They always have been."
Please cite examples where Fox News presented views critical of the Bush administration prior to the painfully obvious discovery that there was no imminent threat "smoking gun" of WMD in Iraq.
"Ah yes, the old myth about Fox News being conservative. The same Fox News that has as its main figurehead the angry moderate Bill O'Reilly, who bashes Cheney for secrecy and bashes the Bush administration for bungling things."
So you're claiming that conservatives never bash conservatives? That's one funky world you live in. O'Reilly is bashing Dubya because he was forced to apologize (or as close as he'll ever get). George Will is bashing this administration. Plenty of conservatives are beginning to so. Do you know why?
Because this unimaginably inept administration is causing the conservative movement irreparable damage. Conservative Republicans are supposed to be "small government, fiscally responsible, personal freedom". That's the EXACT opposite of what this administration has done. What a tragic joke. And it will haunt the GOP with a taint for many years to come.
Even Robert Novak is now finding himself criticizing Dubya and crew. Because Dubya and crew are doing THAT MUCH damage to the conservative movement.
Fox News is extremely conservative, to the point of farce. How bad must if be if even THEY are beginning to raise questions?
"What will the good American people do with the 120,000 bad American people, in order to restore the nation to decency?"
Well in the past the "good" people have hearded the "bad" people into giant camps. Somtimes to be exterminated actively (WWII Germany), semi-actively (Soviet gulags) or passively (US internment camps for Japanese in WWII).
Sorry, not in MY America.
Oh wait. Camp X-Ray, PATRIOT Act, indefinite secret detention of American citizens without charge or right to cousel, laws that themselves are secret so that even challenging them makes the case itself... secret
Seisint's Proposed Questionnaire for next stage of study:
Are you or have you ever been a member of any of the following (check all that apply):
- Amnesty International - ACLU - Nature Conservancy - National Academy of Sciences - Any non-GOP political party - Any GOP group that has ever disagreed with the White House - Any non-Christian religion - Any Christian sect that fails to see that creating all-out war in
the Middle East that melts down Jerusalem will invoke the
Second Coming.
Do you associate with anyone to whom the above may apply? (Yes/No)
Do you get your news from any media sources other than the White House Press Office, Fox News, or conservative talk radio? (Yes/No)
Do you associate with anyone to whom the above may apply? (Yes/No)
"So it gives its favorite students 'A's without reading, least favorite students 'F's, and the rest arbitrary grades somewhere in between to mimic a bell curve?"
The AI system replaces the venerably robotic system that would toss the essays down the stairs with its robotic arm and then visually scan for location, A's in the first 3 steps, B's in the next 3, etc.
"I'd love to know what the original arc was suppossed to have been with Sinclair in charge"
I'm with ya! And frankly I've always felt cheated by the lack of the promised shower scene between Ivanova and Talia. C'mon Straczynski, couldn't you have "jumped the shark" just that one time for us?:-)
"I think really only Babylon 5 went out on the perfect note, mainly because thats when it was supposed to happen."
Babylon 5 remains my hands-down favorite sci fi series of all time. Damn well done, wish we had more like it.
Now I'll no doubt be speedily corrected if wrong;-) but actually wasn't the push to retake Earth completely rushed due to Babylon 5 nearly being cancelled a year early?
My impression was that Sheridan's capture, interrogation/Psycorps torture, and Ivanova's leading the rebel forces to rescue Sheridan, defeat of Earth conspiracy was all meant play out over the better part of a season. Instead it all got wrapped up in warp gate time.
Then the damn network turned around and renewed the show, the whole "cancellation" seeming nothing more than a !$&%! bargaining ploy.
Which sucks, since I was rabidly awaiting that juicy thread of the plot arc to play out along Straczynski's usual beautifully orchestrated storytelling. Man, given the proper time to unfold, that plotline would have kicked serious ass!
tomdarch wrote:"Hmmm...can't get a good placement here - looks like there's a good spot 10 feet higher. Nope, no good, maybe a bit higher...nope. Where's my last piece? 30' down there? Uh oh.
Run it to the anchors!"
"Is there any sort of data to back up the claim that either rock climbing or bicycling is a popular among geeks?"
Anecdotal evidence makes poor statistics, but I climb (prefer outdoors) as does my wife (another geek) and many of our climbing partners are various incarnations of the Geek Genome as well.
I chalk it up (pardon the pun) to three things:
It's one of the very few activities that completely grabs your focus. And I mean completely. Had a really crappy week at work? Project falling apart? That weekend try being 80' up a cliff and finding that you're out of gear (placing protection) that will fit that narrow finger jam. Work doesn't exist. Poof. Gone.
Climbing is a fascinating exercise in center of gravity, friction and body placement problems. It's a great puzzle that also comes with an adrenaline rush.
And for those of us "trad" (traditional) climbers who place our own protection (cams, hexes, nuts, etc.), it's also a really fun (or terrifying...) exercise in gear management, and placement physics. You're only as safe as the protection you've successfully (or tragically incorrectly) placed. On multipitch climbing where you'll end up hundreds of feet above the ground (or even thousands), planning, forethought and hands-on situational reaction come into laser-tight focus. And if you placed wrong, your next fall is going to be your last.
Footnote: It's the shorter climbs that'll kill you. Folks simply don't realize the danger. Without a helmet, a 10 ft fall headfirst onto jagged granite shatters your grape like a fragile egg. Damn shame more folks don't wear helmets when climbing outdoors
And finally, unlike Tribes 2 or your favorite Jumping Cartoon Character game (which I also like;-) if you screw up on the rock, you stand a good chance of splattering your visceral goo in a very real and lasting way. Something about the stakes of Real Life Physics makes the reward of grokking the system all the more tangible and tasty.
mabhatter654 wrote:"Frankly, I oppose where this is going because one day very soon the pendulem is going to swing the other way and those "Conservitive Christians" are going to be Public Enemy #1 and We'll be the ones who actually get rounded up and shot...under these very rules we're passing to "protect" the country!!!"
This one paragraph of yours needs to be modded up to +5 Insightful, and I'd trade every point of/. karma I have to do so if I could. Too bad I'm coming into the thread so late...
You've just nailed on the head the EXACT problem that the self-righteous, the self-annointed never seem to freakin' get! Listen up folks - YOU will not always be in power! Your only hope for fair treatment when others take the helm is to ENFORCE EQUALITY FOR ALL WHEN YOU ARE IN CHARGE!
Pardon the yelling, but so few people seem to actually undertand that.
-MooseByte, Marine Corps veteran, Stunned, ashamed and disgusted beyond words that 27% of fellow Americans polled felt the torture at Abu Graibe was actually justified. 1/4 of our population are no better than Saddam himself.
I'm just saying we can't paint the Chinese population as universally passive in the face of authority. Things are changing, else the Chinese government wouldn't be so worried.
"What I found particularly amazing, was that the culture has taught people not to question things."
I'm not sure we can chalk that up to Chinese culture per se as much as decades of brutal repression of dissidents who dared question authority.
I realize history vs. culture is not a clean distinction to make, but thought it might be worth clarifying that many have dared to speak out. Those prone to do so were and continue to be dealt with harshly.
Those not imprisoned learn to shut up. Yet even today, knowing the penalties and risks, some still continue to protest.
Slashdot Mirror
"The biggest problem is that our society would collapse from corruption. It's a pretty simple formula. Powerful people maintain their power by maintaining the status quo
Have we learned NOTHING from Highlander? The Immortal One brings peace, prosperity and really bad sequels to the human race.
I, for one, welcome our new bitchin'-sword-wielding immortal masters.
"You actually expect any arm of the government to actually do something against Microsoft?"
Maybe if we all start making large donations to enviro groups in Bill G's name....
A fool and his financiers are soon parted.
It's been fun watching the SCOX hover around the $5 mark. I only hope they stay alive long enough for IBM and Redhat to be able to drive the stake through their undead hearts.
Now for the REAL question - with evidence that Microsoft was behind the feeding of SCO, will the DoJ find the balls to actually investigate? Perhaps if the SEC launches action against the SCOzos...
Gaaaaaah! Only Godzilla has the power to fight this menace!
The Smog Monster was no match for him. We can only hope he escapes Monster Island in time to save the day!
Now that's some damn good trolling, AC. Gotta hand it to you. You tipped your hand with the Buchanan reference though. Other than that, not bad.
Cognitive dissonance is more than just a buzzword.
An anonymous coward wrote: "No, just that O'Reilly is a moderate on a centrist network falsely proclaimed as being right-wing just because it isn't left-wing like CNN is."
Fascinating. Perhaps you can share with us some examples of what you consider to be conservative news outlets, as well as another example or two of "centrist" outlets?
"So much for any intelligent discussion. You are a liberal loon who can't talk about Bush without insulting him."
No, actually I'm a conservative (small government, fiscal responsibiltiy, personal freedom, personal responsibility and accountability) who simply cannot ignore the facts. Bush Sr. I was all for, until he hosed up the domestic agenda. Lack of "the vision thing" as you may recall. You, on the other hand, appear to be one of those individuals who can't grasp the nuances of a shades-of-grey world.
So tell us, are you a conservative? Do you believe in small government, fiscal responsibiltiy, personal freedom, personal responsibility and accountability? If so, who are you voting for this year and why?
"They always have been."
Please cite examples where Fox News presented views critical of the Bush administration prior to the painfully obvious discovery that there was no imminent threat "smoking gun" of WMD in Iraq.
"Ah yes, the old myth about Fox News being conservative. The same Fox News that has as its main figurehead the angry moderate Bill O'Reilly, who bashes Cheney for secrecy and bashes the Bush administration for bungling things."
So you're claiming that conservatives never bash conservatives? That's one funky world you live in. O'Reilly is bashing Dubya because he was forced to apologize (or as close as he'll ever get). George Will is bashing this administration. Plenty of conservatives are beginning to so. Do you know why?
Because this unimaginably inept administration is causing the conservative movement irreparable damage. Conservative Republicans are supposed to be "small government, fiscally responsible, personal freedom". That's the EXACT opposite of what this administration has done. What a tragic joke. And it will haunt the GOP with a taint for many years to come.
Even Robert Novak is now finding himself criticizing Dubya and crew. Because Dubya and crew are doing THAT MUCH damage to the conservative movement.
Fox News is extremely conservative, to the point of farce. How bad must if be if even THEY are beginning to raise questions?
/dev/trash wrote: "What if they are still waiting for the signal?"
(Cut to mysterious Evil Island HQ of bin Laden, patrolled by sharks with freakin' lasers on their heads)
"Evil One! We have sent the signal, but they do not hear!
"Gaaaaaar! The hats! Those damn tinfoil hats are blocking the signals! (Throws VHS copy of Telefon into trash.) Drat! Foiled again! (Doh!)"
(Cut back to a smiling Tinfoil Safety Hat Man giving the thumbs-up, who mouths out of sync:)
"For great justice!"
"I hope you realise that being seen wearing a tin-foil hat will immediately add 15,000,000,000 points to your Terrorist Quotient"
Well sure, if you don't wear the INVISIBLE tinfoil hat. Mine's been working great for years now. Just watch out for cosmic dust, it dampens the field.
"What will the good American people do with the 120,000 bad American people, in order to restore the nation to decency?"
Well in the past the "good" people have hearded the "bad" people into giant camps. Somtimes to be exterminated actively (WWII Germany), semi-actively (Soviet gulags) or passively (US internment camps for Japanese in WWII).
Sorry, not in MY America.
Oh wait. Camp X-Ray, PATRIOT Act, indefinite secret detention of American citizens without charge or right to cousel, laws that themselves are secret so that even challenging them makes the case itself... secret
Fuckers. I want my country back.
Karma be damned....
Seisint's Proposed Questionnaire for next stage of study:
Are you or have you ever been a member of any of the following
(check all that apply):
- Amnesty International
- ACLU
- Nature Conservancy
- National Academy of Sciences
- Any non-GOP political party
- Any GOP group that has ever disagreed with the White House
- Any non-Christian religion
- Any Christian sect that fails to see that creating all-out war in
the Middle East that melts down Jerusalem will invoke the
Second Coming.
Do you associate with anyone to whom the above may apply? (Yes/No)
Do you get your news from any media sources other than the White
House Press Office, Fox News, or conservative talk radio? (Yes/No)
Do you associate with anyone to whom the above may apply? (Yes/No)
"What if 120,000 Americans are latent (or blatent) terrorists? What then?"
Then we'd have been seriously screwed LONG ago.
"So it gives its favorite students 'A's without reading, least favorite students 'F's, and the rest arbitrary grades somewhere in between to mimic a bell curve?"
The AI system replaces the venerably robotic system that would toss the essays down the stairs with its robotic arm and then visually scan for location, A's in the first 3 steps, B's in the next 3, etc.
"I'd love to know what the original arc was suppossed to have been with Sinclair in charge"
I'm with ya! And frankly I've always felt cheated by the lack of the promised shower scene between Ivanova and Talia. C'mon Straczynski, couldn't you have "jumped the shark" just that one time for us? :-)
"Rats don't have a union and get paid 1/10th the food dogs do..."
That's OK, just wait 'til those damn rats get outsourced to IT workers, who don't have a union and get paid 1/10th of the rats.
"I think really only Babylon 5 went out on the perfect note, mainly because thats when it was supposed to happen."
Babylon 5 remains my hands-down favorite sci fi series of all time. Damn well done, wish we had more like it.
Now I'll no doubt be speedily corrected if wrong ;-) but actually wasn't the push to retake Earth completely rushed due to Babylon 5 nearly being cancelled a year early?
My impression was that Sheridan's capture, interrogation/Psycorps torture, and Ivanova's leading the rebel forces to rescue Sheridan, defeat of Earth conspiracy was all meant play out over the better part of a season. Instead it all got wrapped up in warp gate time.
Then the damn network turned around and renewed the show, the whole "cancellation" seeming nothing more than a !$&%! bargaining ploy.
Which sucks, since I was rabidly awaiting that juicy thread of the plot arc to play out along Straczynski's usual beautifully orchestrated storytelling. Man, given the proper time to unfold, that plotline would have kicked serious ass!
"If their MONEY calculations are in such condition, how do their spaceships even rise off the ground?"
Apparently by the explosive combustion of billions of small, unmarked bills crammed into the fuel tank.
"Of course not. I alleged that you can get fresh air by going outside."
I nearly laughed half a Dew out my nose when I read that. :-)
"Why would anybody try to amuse themselves in a way that could kill them? [
Clearly you don't live in New York City...
tomdarch wrote:"Hmmm...can't get a good placement here - looks like there's a good spot 10 feet higher. Nope, no good, maybe a bit higher...nope. Where's my last piece? 30' down there? Uh oh.
Run it to the anchors!"
Hey, haven't we climbed together before...? *8-)
"Is there any sort of data to back up the claim that either rock climbing or bicycling is a popular among geeks?"
Anecdotal evidence makes poor statistics, but I climb (prefer outdoors) as does my wife (another geek) and many of our climbing partners are various incarnations of the Geek Genome as well.
I chalk it up (pardon the pun) to three things:
Footnote: It's the shorter climbs that'll kill you. Folks simply don't realize the danger. Without a helmet, a 10 ft fall headfirst onto jagged granite shatters your grape like a fragile egg. Damn shame more folks don't wear helmets when climbing outdoors
And finally, unlike Tribes 2 or your favorite Jumping Cartoon Character game (which I also like ;-) if you screw up on the rock, you stand a good chance of splattering your visceral goo in a very real and lasting way. Something about the stakes of Real Life Physics makes the reward of grokking the system all the more tangible and tasty.
mabhatter654 wrote: "Frankly, I oppose where this is going because one day very soon the pendulem is going to swing the other way and those "Conservitive Christians" are going to be Public Enemy #1 and We'll be the ones who actually get rounded up and shot...under these very rules we're passing to "protect" the country!!!"
This one paragraph of yours needs to be modded up to +5 Insightful, and I'd trade every point of /. karma I have to do so if I could. Too bad I'm coming into the thread so late...
You've just nailed on the head the EXACT problem that the self-righteous, the self-annointed never seem to freakin' get! Listen up folks - YOU will not always be in power! Your only hope for fair treatment when others take the helm is to ENFORCE EQUALITY FOR ALL WHEN YOU ARE IN CHARGE!
Pardon the yelling, but so few people seem to actually undertand that.
-MooseByte, Marine Corps veteran, Stunned, ashamed and disgusted beyond words that 27% of fellow Americans polled felt the torture at Abu Graibe was actually justified. 1/4 of our population are no better than Saddam himself.
"I can attest to the fact that Chinese culture is a patriarchal culture of not questioning. "
And yet we have those who stood up at Tiananmen Square. The younger generations are waking up.
I'm just saying we can't paint the Chinese population as universally passive in the face of authority. Things are changing, else the Chinese government wouldn't be so worried.
Or rather than monitor their citizens' Net activity, the Chinese government could take a cue from the Sinclair Broadcast Group and simply shut off the flow of all that "unhealthy" information.
"What I found particularly amazing, was that the culture has taught people not to question things."
I'm not sure we can chalk that up to Chinese culture per se as much as decades of brutal repression of dissidents who dared question authority.
I realize history vs. culture is not a clean distinction to make, but thought it might be worth clarifying that many have dared to speak out. Those prone to do so were and continue to be dealt with harshly.
Those not imprisoned learn to shut up. Yet even today, knowing the penalties and risks, some still continue to protest.