"I tend to believe that people's descriptions of what is going on inside high schools -- severe beatings, muggings, abuse, etc. -- is largely exaggerated."
Really. So, then, I'm a liar? I'm schizo because I'm making this shit up? Did I beat myself up?? Oh, wait, I'm schizo(remember?)! Obviously, my other personalities were spitting on me! Ahhh, now I know the truth!
"I just graduated high school a couple years ago and saw none of that during my stay. I don't believe my experience was unique."
No, it wasn't. I doubt the other Jocks and Cheerleaders in your cliques saw it either.
The German people didn't see the death camps until *after* the war...
"Slashdot's readership lost a lot of credibility in my book when so many people wrote in with their horror stories of high school and understanding of the Littleton killers' motives instead of describing those kids as what they were: weak-willed chickenshits."
Ahh, right, you're morally superior. Forgot for a second, Boss. Won't let it happen again, Boss.
"First, put yourself in the shoes of the school officials."
Ok...
"If the school you're in charge of just locked itself into closets because some asshole with a machine gun who had a bad Quake day decided to kill everybody, you'd be pretty paranoid too."
Number one, when did this happen? I don't seem to recall that little detail in the press releases from Littleton.
Number two, since you describe the shooters as "weak-willed chickenshits", then this must obviously apply to the administrators, too. I mean, if they aren't big enough to treat *everyone* fairly and just harrass anyone resembling the aforementioned "weak-willed chickenshits", then they must be a problem as well.
"Second, take off the fucking trenchcoat for a month or two until things calm down. Why is that so hard?"
Because not everyone is as rich as you are, motherfucker. If a trenchcoat is all you have, and it's cold outside, will you wear said trenchcoat? Or will your high moral standards force you to take it off and freeze?
Why don't you walk a mile in my shoes? Or could you not live without your precoius cliques and vapid consumerism? Why don't you starve(yes, I did, and yes, I lived in the fucking 'burbs) and get beat on and get spit on and be told you are worthless day in and day out.
"You can find out more by joining the Navy and becomming a CT (Cryptological Technician) or looking around at some museums dealing with cryptologic activities (or by just finding a site with some text and not theorizing off obscure pictures)."
Yeah, but this is much more fun for all of us technothriller types (with reguards to Mr. Clancy)
Check the photos again. There is *no*, repeat NO shadow on those circles. If you don't believe me, check the terrain around it. I would guess that the photo was taken mid-morning or mid-afternoon. That would make them flat. Cleared land (water??). As far as having towers in the center for sigintercept, possible, but not likely. Again, no shadow. A tall, skinny tower would produce a tall, skinny shadow; easily visible. Same with a large MW tower. A very small, short tower *might* not cast enough of a shadow. Maybe.
"No; after disappearing down the back of the sofa/into the depths of the washing machine/through the lining of your coat pocket, those things actually appear as antisocks and antipens in a parallel universe. Down the back of some sofa in some universe there must be a fortune in anticoins."
Close, but no cigar. Most of these items are short-lived exotic things. i.e.Socks with negative energy mass. This means that they are destroyed fairly quickly after they are lost (on the order of a few milliseconds). Man, if only we could collect exotic matter socks... warp drive would be possible...
Y'know, I've seen this, and I got a good laugh out of it. I thought (at the time) that it was a joke, that there could not be anyone that stupid out there. Well, serves me right for assuming...
-$0.75 -1 mint Atari 2600 -includes pong, warfare, paddles, and joysticks -a miniature foam VW SuperBeetle -a PDP -11(minus computer, just the rack) -an old O'Reilly's catalog -a copy of Frogger for the 80286 -7,486 3.5 floppies(of which exactly two work) -an inflatable miniature Typhoon from 'Hunt For Red October' -half a pound of dryer lint -one Star Trek TNG comm badge -and one toothbrush(slightly used)
Also willing to throw in: -one handfull of dirt and a can of Spam
"sick of kids complaining that their schools or parents are being nosey...you children have no 'rights'"
Stop right there. To say that kids have no rights is to condone child labor. To say that kids have no right to privacy _at all_ is to open the gates and let Big Brother(tm) walk right on in for the rest of us. If a child can have no expectation of privacy or rights at all, then they will simply become more clever at hiding things. I know I did. If a child has no expectation of rights at all, then how will they learn to stand up for their rights as an adult?
"your parents are responsible for your actions"
Apparently not in this situation. Also, that premise is faulty. Why are there 16 year olds on death row?
"Get off of your high horse and come down to earth Mr. Katz, yes some of these things are a bit extreme, but if it saves lives then it's all for the best."
While we turn out a generation of hollow conformist shells. You obviously thought this one out...
"You want a solution to this problen, lets start with school uniforms and strict curfews."
Boundries are good. Still kinda tough when both parents work late. By your standards, I would have been a troublemaker in high school. I got to school at 6:30 in the morning and usually didn't get picked up at night until 8:00, oft-times later. But, still a good start...
I am unclear as to where your ideas end and the sarcasm begins...
"parents need a tighter rein on kids these days, quit blaming guns, games, internet, and movies. The fault can be laid directly at the feet of the parents and the school."
Verily. Let's just not go overboard and create (note I do not say raise here) a leigon of young'uns that are seen and not heard, do not speak out of turn, and always do what they are told. Hell, while we're at it, let's hobble 'em like they do women in China. That should help.
"So on a serious note kiddies, your parents have a right to anything you "own" or that you put in writing, you have no right to privacy."
See earlier in this post.
In conclusion, I whole-heartedly agree with the idea of discipline and parental involvement. I _do not_ agree with the concept that kids are property, which is what you have implied. Ever stop to think that maybe that concept got parents into trouble in the first place? 'Oh, it's a cute little possession. I hope I don't have to take care of it.'
When we start treating our young like young adults, not new machines, not toys, not trophies, then maybe we can start to fix this problem. Hysteria and knee jerk reactions (in either direction) will not help. Check my sig; I believe in what I say...
Only if the teachers in your school were smart enough to understand what you were saying. Most of mine would have responded with blank stares. 'Course, you could have blown a hole in the person's head in front of you, and they still would have responded with blank stares (and this is in _private_ school).
"and by the end of middle school, 15 had been arrested (mostly for misdemeanor drug use, a few for resale), and, to the surprise to everyone, several pregnancies occurred."
#scarcasm mode ON
Obviously, all of these kids played D&D and listened to Metallica, right? What else could explain this kind of behavior?
"Actually, I never sugested making guns illegal, just large capacity magazines and assault weapons."
Aren't 'assault weapons' like semi-auto rifles already illegal? And, how do you make something like a Glock 9mm illegal when half the police forces in the country use them?
"If these 2 kids' parent had gone "fascist" and raided their bomb factory, there'd be 15 teenagers still alive today in my hometown."
Um, the neighbors knew something was up. I've read that at least two different people in the neighborhood heard the kids building and breaking glass and such. So if the neighbors heard stuff, why didn't the parents? The parents didn't need to be fascist, they needed to go into their own garage. Again, not an invasion of privacy.
Maybe it ought to be 'if the parents had an ounce of brains to go into the garage and notice their kid was making a pipe-bomb, there'd be 14 teenagers and a teacher still alive today in my hometown'.
Does that mean that my parents should have looked through all of my books? I read quite a bit of Tolkien when I was younger and those books deal very graphically with war in a fantasy land. Did I not have the right to read that? Should my parents have become suspicious whan I became fascinated with Rennaisance warfare? Maybe we should legislate weekly Child Checks, where parents go through everything in a kid's room and computer and remove everything 'objectionable'. Hmmm?
#Asbestos suit ON
To a point, I have to blame the killers themselves. I'm really sorry they were 'persecuted'. So was I. I was discriminated against, spit on, beat up, ignored, taunted, made fun of, and generally in a much worse (IMO) situation then these two. Yet I have killed no one. Hell, I've never even been in a fist-fight (yet). And now our fine country is going to blame everyone and everything _but_ these two. That is the sick and twisted part.
Slashdot Mirror
"nonprogrammers rarely grok this,"
;-)
Non-Geeks rarely grok the word "Grok".
As for the Haiku...
As I document
This ellegant object
They make me change it
again
Well, almost
...this is a Bad Thing(tm).
And to think, TX (where I am) has been doing it for years.
"I tend to believe that people's descriptions of what is going on inside high schools -- severe beatings, muggings, abuse, etc. -- is largely exaggerated."
Really. So, then, I'm a liar? I'm schizo because I'm making this shit up? Did I beat myself up?? Oh, wait, I'm schizo(remember?)! Obviously, my other personalities were spitting on me! Ahhh, now I know the truth!
"I just graduated high school a couple years ago and saw none of that during my stay. I don't believe my experience was unique."
No, it wasn't. I doubt the other Jocks and Cheerleaders in your cliques saw it either.
The German people didn't see the death camps until *after* the war...
"Slashdot's readership lost a lot of credibility in my book when so many people wrote in with their horror stories of high school and understanding of the Littleton killers' motives instead of describing those kids as what they were: weak-willed chickenshits."
Ahh, right, you're morally superior. Forgot for a second, Boss. Won't let it happen again, Boss.
"First, put yourself in the shoes of the school officials."
Ok...
"If the school you're in charge of just locked itself into closets because some asshole with a machine gun who had a bad Quake day decided to kill everybody, you'd be pretty paranoid too."
Number one, when did this happen? I don't seem to recall that little detail in the press releases from Littleton.
Number two, since you describe the shooters as "weak-willed chickenshits", then this must obviously apply to the administrators, too. I mean, if they aren't big enough to treat *everyone* fairly and just harrass anyone resembling the aforementioned "weak-willed chickenshits", then they must be a problem as well.
"Second, take off the fucking trenchcoat for a month or two until things calm down. Why is that so hard?"
Because not everyone is as rich as you are, motherfucker. If a trenchcoat is all you have, and it's cold outside, will you wear said trenchcoat? Or will your high moral standards force you to take it off and freeze?
Why don't you walk a mile in my shoes? Or could you not live without your precoius cliques and vapid consumerism? Why don't you starve(yes, I did, and yes, I lived in the fucking 'burbs) and get beat on and get spit on and be told you are worthless day in and day out.
Fuck you.
"didn't Zefram Cochrane make the first warp flight in 2061?"
I thought he invented the warp drive in 2062.
Hrmmm... well, there's your proof that FTL travel causes time travel as well...
Pope John Paul disagrees with contraception (while millions die). And when the Pope says something, people listen...
IOW, so what?
Was Einstien ever prooven wrong??
And since when is Hawking the highest, undisputed authority on space-time?
"You can find out more by joining the Navy and becomming a CT (Cryptological Technician) or looking around at some museums dealing with cryptologic activities (or by just finding a site with some text and not theorizing off obscure pictures)."
Yeah, but this is much more fun for all of us technothriller types (with reguards to Mr. Clancy)
Check the photos again. There is *no*, repeat NO shadow on those circles. If you don't believe me, check the terrain around it. I would guess that the photo was taken mid-morning or mid-afternoon. That would make them flat. Cleared land (water??). As far as having towers in the center for sigintercept, possible, but not likely. Again, no shadow. A tall, skinny tower would produce a tall, skinny shadow; easily visible. Same with a large MW tower. A very small, short tower *might* not cast enough of a shadow. Maybe.
"No; after disappearing down the back of the sofa/into the depths of the washing machine/through the lining of your coat pocket, those things actually appear as antisocks and antipens in a parallel universe. Down the back of some sofa in some universe there must be a fortune in anticoins."
Close, but no cigar. Most of these items are short-lived exotic things. i.e.Socks with negative energy mass. This means that they are destroyed fairly quickly after they are lost (on the order of a few milliseconds). Man, if only we could collect exotic matter socks... warp drive would be possible...
//end humor
How about something a bit more like this:
var Me = new Object(cents);
Me.cents = 2;
Hmmm??
Y'know, I've seen this, and I got a good laugh out of it. I thought (at the time) that it was a joke, that there could not be anyone that stupid out there. Well, serves me right for assuming...
:p
"and Packet Internet Groper (Ping), which hackers use to disable networks by overloading them with a
command."
'hackers'
When will they learn...sigh
Hmmmm...
Well, lessee, I got:
-$0.75
-1 mint Atari 2600
-includes pong, warfare, paddles, and joysticks
-a miniature foam VW SuperBeetle
-a PDP -11(minus computer, just the rack)
-an old O'Reilly's catalog
-a copy of Frogger for the 80286
-7,486 3.5 floppies(of which exactly two work)
-an inflatable miniature Typhoon from 'Hunt For Red October'
-half a pound of dryer lint
-one Star Trek TNG comm badge
-and one toothbrush(slightly used)
Also willing to throw in:
-one handfull of dirt and a can of Spam
heh heh...:)
Phtphtphtpht!!!!!!!!
Still /.ed
Patience, grasshopper. We're working on it...
:)
"Only then do they kill you. The bullet always comes in the back of the head. "
Da, Tovaritch.
Here's my copy of DeCSS. Where's yours?
Please, please, PLEASE be careful what you say!
"sick of kids complaining that their schools or parents are being nosey...you children have no 'rights'"
Stop right there. To say that kids have no rights is to condone child labor. To say that kids have no right to privacy _at all_ is to open the gates and let Big Brother(tm) walk right on in for the rest of us. If a child can have no expectation of privacy or rights at all, then they will simply become more clever at hiding things. I know I did. If a child has no expectation of rights at all, then how will they learn to stand up for their rights as an adult?
"your parents are responsible for your actions"
Apparently not in this situation. Also, that premise is faulty. Why are there 16 year olds on death row?
"Get off of your high horse and come down to earth Mr. Katz, yes some of these things are a bit extreme, but if it saves lives then it's all for the best."
While we turn out a generation of hollow conformist shells. You obviously thought this one out...
"You want a solution to this problen, lets start with school uniforms and strict curfews."
Boundries are good. Still kinda tough when both parents work late. By your standards, I would have been a troublemaker in high school. I got to school at 6:30 in the morning and usually didn't get picked up at night until 8:00, oft-times later. But, still a good start...
I am unclear as to where your ideas end and the sarcasm begins...
"parents need a tighter rein on kids these days, quit blaming guns, games, internet, and movies. The fault can be laid directly at the feet of the parents and the school."
Verily. Let's just not go overboard and create (note I do not say raise here) a leigon of young'uns that are seen and not heard, do not speak out of turn, and always do what they are told. Hell, while we're at it, let's hobble 'em like they do women in China. That should help.
"So on a serious note kiddies, your parents have a
right to anything you "own" or that you put in writing, you have no right to privacy."
See earlier in this post.
In conclusion, I whole-heartedly agree with the idea of discipline and parental involvement. I _do not_ agree with the concept that kids are property, which is what you have implied. Ever stop to think that maybe that concept got parents into trouble in the first place? 'Oh, it's a cute little possession. I hope I don't have to take care of it.'
When we start treating our young like young adults, not new machines, not toys, not trophies, then maybe we can start to fix this problem. Hysteria and knee jerk reactions (in either direction) will not help. Check my sig; I believe in what I say...
Here's my copy of DeCSS. Where's yours?
Only if the teachers in your school were smart enough to understand what you were saying. Most of mine would have responded with blank stares. 'Course, you could have blown a hole in the person's head in front of you, and they still would have responded with blank stares (and this is in _private_ school).
"well, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I agree with you... :-) "
;-)
Damn straight!
"I think the girls have it a bit worse. reminds me of the witch trials in europe a few centuries back..."
Exactly my point! Call it what you will, but this is (probably) a call to an all out witch-hunt.
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it...
"I'm quite glad I'm in college right now and missing the witchhunt... "
Interesting double entandra(sp?), 'specially from a geekgrrrl. We would all do well to notice this...
"and by the end of middle school, 15 had been arrested (mostly for misdemeanor drug use, a few for resale), and, to the surprise to everyone, several pregnancies occurred."
#scarcasm mode ON
Obviously, all of these kids played D&D and listened to Metallica, right? What else could explain this kind of behavior?
"Actually, I never sugested making guns illegal, just large capacity magazines and assault weapons."
Aren't 'assault weapons' like semi-auto rifles already illegal? And, how do you make something like a Glock 9mm illegal when half the police forces in the country use them?
"If these 2 kids' parent had gone "fascist" and
raided their bomb factory, there'd be 15 teenagers
still alive today in my hometown."
Um, the neighbors knew something was up. I've read that at least two different people in the neighborhood heard the kids building and breaking glass and such. So if the neighbors heard stuff, why didn't the parents? The parents didn't need to be fascist, they needed to go into their own garage. Again, not an invasion of privacy.
Maybe it ought to be 'if the parents had an ounce of brains to go into the garage and notice their kid was making a pipe-bomb, there'd be 14 teenagers and a teacher still alive today in my hometown'.
Does that mean that my parents should have looked through all of my books? I read quite a bit of Tolkien when I was younger and those books deal very graphically with war in a fantasy land. Did I not have the right to read that? Should my parents have become suspicious whan I became fascinated with Rennaisance warfare? Maybe we should legislate weekly Child Checks, where parents go through everything in a kid's room and computer and remove everything 'objectionable'.
Hmmm?
#Asbestos suit ON
To a point, I have to blame the killers themselves. I'm really sorry they were 'persecuted'. So was I. I was discriminated against, spit on, beat up, ignored, taunted, made fun of, and generally in a much worse (IMO) situation then these two. Yet I have killed no one. Hell, I've never even been in a fist-fight (yet). And now our fine country is going to blame everyone and everything _but_ these two. That is the sick and twisted part.
"I can't think of a single government agent being killed..."
You must not be thinking too hard...how many ATF folks died near an old farmhouse in Waco???
...I hope that's sarcasm...