It's the same with all cartels, be they drugs, media, or internet service: the true bad guy is the government for failing to properly regulate the market.
I think we should make the U.S. Attorney General an elected position. That way when the population sees criminal activity in a corporation we can vote for the guy who says he's going to prosecute them for it. In the current system we just have to hope that the guy the president picks for the job is on the side of the people. Of course this isn't a perfect fix but I think it's a step in the right direction.
The problem we have is that as soon as the corporation thought this might happen, the whole operation could dissolve and be reincorporated practically unchanged in a different country. As much as I hate to say it, in a world with global markets and global corporations we need a global government to keep them in check.
I for one would be willing to sacrifice a gambling company to bankruptcy in exchange for first contact. Naturally the owners of said company may feel differently.
Buddy, I think you need to lay off the drugs, you're not making any sense.
With drugs illegal you have a thriving black market which does nothing to restrict children's access to drugs. If you don't want kids to do drugs, get them off the streets and behind the counter at convenience stores or pharmacies where somebody will check ID before selling it.
I'm 25 now and I remember being underage, I could get cannabis, cocaine, LSD, etc easier than I could get a bottle of vodka. And no this isn't in some big evil city, I grew up in a medium size southern town.
As for all that shit about the government preventing people hurting themselves... FUCK YOU. YOU GOD DAMNED AUTHORITARIAN SHITBAG. IT'S MY FUCKING BODY AND IF I WANT TO BREAK IT IT'S MY GOD DAMNED RIGHT TO DO SO.
Fucking idiots like you have been ruining my fucking country for more than 60 years now and I'm fucking sick of it.
I try to avoid shouting like this (you can look at my posting history to confirm this) but lately I've seen too much harm done in the name of the war on drugs. I have several friends who have been in terrible accidents and then after being given painkillers for months or years so they can live something like a normal life, they get cut off overnight because the fucking DEA has started telling doctors how to do their jobs. Honest hard-working people who then lose their jobs because they're in too much pain. Not to mention having to go through the absolute horror of a forced opiate withdrawal. All because they smoked a little pot or took some other painkiller (because the DEA won't let the doctors give them enough to begin with).
So, in conclusion, fuck the war on drugs, fuck the DEA, and fuck you.
So you would rather buy from the guy you've known is an asshole who provides shitty service rather than the guy you just found out is an asshole who provides good service? How long do you have to know they're an asshole before you get over it and do business with them? Or do you have to wait for their service to suck first?
Several possible advantages as I see it: 1. Other people in your immediate vicinity can't overhear your conversation (at least not without looking over your shoulder which is generally a bit more obvious than eavesdropping). 2. Many people have unlimited texting plans without unlimited talk minutes. 3. You can converse with multiple people at one time 4. It's an asynchronous medium. You don't have to maintain the flow of conversation. You can take a minute or two to think about your response without lots of "ummm, uhhh, hold on.."s.
Personally I find texting annoying as hell, and yet find myself doing it more and more often.
Where in the hell did you people get the idea that "if it's not a government doing it, it's not censorship." It may not be illegal or constitutionally prohibited censorship, but if anybody stops you from communicating anything anywhere, it is censorship. You can argue whether it is legal, ethical, necessary, etc., but it is still censorship.
I'm not defending the status quo at all. And I like the basic premise for your system here. I just think it would need a bit more polish, maybe some sort of competency exam to keep out the truly stupid/malicious/insane.
And there is the small problem of the bloody revolution we would need to have in order to throw out the current rulers and get it implemented.
My understanding is that it's even worse than a default password. It's a back-door account hard coded into the software that the users don't have the option of disabling.
I doubt your finger would cool down much in the couple seconds it takes to shoot you and then stick your hand on the scanner. You could maybe check for a pulse, but I would think that that could potentially be defeated by massaging the dead hand.
Let us not conflate living ethically and living legally. I won't go into specifics on a public forum for obvious reasons, but it is not uncommon in todays legal environment to find oneself in situations where doing the right thing is not doing the legal thing.
Yeah, as soon as I can avoid any interaction with law enforcement for around 15 years and then drop a couple hundred dollars (at least) on a lawyer to do it for me. While I hope I'll be in the position to do this one day for many it is not an option.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not disagreeing with our overall point, but around here (central NC) all the chick-fil-as dispense ALL of their beverages in styrofoam cups.
A caveman? What was the tagline for this marketing campaign? "Donate to our church and help keep ethics in the stone age!"?
It's the same with all cartels, be they drugs, media, or internet service: the true bad guy is the government for failing to properly regulate the market.
Why do you have to get all the oil out? Why not just cover the inside of the tanks with a liner?
Thanks to xpnd.it I don't have to rely on being warned. Just have to hover over any shortened link to see where it ends up.
Just because it uses the same cabling doesn't mean it's the same system.
Regardless, you both knew what the OP meant. We use the internet for our media and communications.
s/landlines/POTS
make sense now?
I think we should make the U.S. Attorney General an elected position. That way when the population sees criminal activity in a corporation we can vote for the guy who says he's going to prosecute them for it. In the current system we just have to hope that the guy the president picks for the job is on the side of the people. Of course this isn't a perfect fix but I think it's a step in the right direction.
The problem we have is that as soon as the corporation thought this might happen, the whole operation could dissolve and be reincorporated practically unchanged in a different country. As much as I hate to say it, in a world with global markets and global corporations we need a global government to keep them in check.
I for one would be willing to sacrifice a gambling company to bankruptcy in exchange for first contact. Naturally the owners of said company may feel differently.
Buddy, I think you need to lay off the drugs, you're not making any sense.
With drugs illegal you have a thriving black market which does nothing to restrict children's access to drugs. If you don't want kids to do drugs, get them off the streets and behind the counter at convenience stores or pharmacies where somebody will check ID before selling it.
I'm 25 now and I remember being underage, I could get cannabis, cocaine, LSD, etc easier than I could get a bottle of vodka. And no this isn't in some big evil city, I grew up in a medium size southern town.
As for all that shit about the government preventing people hurting themselves... FUCK YOU. YOU GOD DAMNED AUTHORITARIAN SHITBAG. IT'S MY FUCKING BODY AND IF I WANT TO BREAK IT IT'S MY GOD DAMNED RIGHT TO DO SO.
Fucking idiots like you have been ruining my fucking country for more than 60 years now and I'm fucking sick of it.
I try to avoid shouting like this (you can look at my posting history to confirm this) but lately I've seen too much harm done in the name of the war on drugs. I have several friends who have been in terrible accidents and then after being given painkillers for months or years so they can live something like a normal life, they get cut off overnight because the fucking DEA has started telling doctors how to do their jobs. Honest hard-working people who then lose their jobs because they're in too much pain. Not to mention having to go through the absolute horror of a forced opiate withdrawal. All because they smoked a little pot or took some other painkiller (because the DEA won't let the doctors give them enough to begin with).
So, in conclusion, fuck the war on drugs, fuck the DEA, and fuck you.
I would say the other interesting question is how the heck do we fix it.
Sadly our generation contribution to posterity is more in the class of Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail.
I haven't yet, but think I've got one coming up in the next half hour.
Wait, I thought we were supposed to be doing this on Twitter not Slashdot....?
So you would rather buy from the guy you've known is an asshole who provides shitty service rather than the guy you just found out is an asshole who provides good service? How long do you have to know they're an asshole before you get over it and do business with them? Or do you have to wait for their service to suck first?
Several possible advantages as I see it:
1. Other people in your immediate vicinity can't overhear your conversation (at least not without looking over your shoulder which is generally a bit more obvious than eavesdropping).
2. Many people have unlimited texting plans without unlimited talk minutes.
3. You can converse with multiple people at one time
4. It's an asynchronous medium. You don't have to maintain the flow of conversation. You can take a minute or two to think about your response without lots of "ummm, uhhh, hold on.."s.
Personally I find texting annoying as hell, and yet find myself doing it more and more often.
Where in the hell did you people get the idea that "if it's not a government doing it, it's not censorship." It may not be illegal or constitutionally prohibited censorship, but if anybody stops you from communicating anything anywhere, it is censorship. You can argue whether it is legal, ethical, necessary, etc., but it is still censorship.
I'm not defending the status quo at all. And I like the basic premise for your system here. I just think it would need a bit more polish, maybe some sort of competency exam to keep out the truly stupid/malicious/insane.
And there is the small problem of the bloody revolution we would need to have in order to throw out the current rulers and get it implemented.
My understanding is that it's even worse than a default password. It's a back-door account hard coded into the software that the users don't have the option of disabling.
While this sounds nice theoretically, you would be amazed at the amount of horrible damage one idiot could cause in a single year.
Or if you're not doing it for the money, but for ideological reasons.
I doubt your finger would cool down much in the couple seconds it takes to shoot you and then stick your hand on the scanner. You could maybe check for a pulse, but I would think that that could potentially be defeated by massaging the dead hand.
Let us not conflate living ethically and living legally. I won't go into specifics on a public forum for obvious reasons, but it is not uncommon in todays legal environment to find oneself in situations where doing the right thing is not doing the legal thing.
And if I ever got caught with it I would lose my kids and spend a few years in a federal penitentiary.
Yeah, as soon as I can avoid any interaction with law enforcement for around 15 years and then drop a couple hundred dollars (at least) on a lawyer to do it for me. While I hope I'll be in the position to do this one day for many it is not an option.