That's what I thought. You'd like to be arbiter of good speech. Well, I think your speech sucks and ought to be prohibited, on account of being brain-damaging.
What? That's not right? I see. You get to judge, but others cannot - or only for as long as they agree with you. You don't understand why free speech is so damn important to Freedom. Get the fuck out of my country.
PS: Buttfucking is an action, not speech. I have no idea how that got into the discussion. Wow! You insulted me and then agreed with me. WTF? Did you even read the post?
What I said was that when "speech" includes "expression", then it's not all good. You can SAY whatever you want. By SAY, I mean open your mouth and make works or write/type words down. That's all OK (minus the yelling "fire" in a theater thing and so on). My beef comes in when people start saying that ACTIONS are protected under freedom of speech because those actions are "free expression". I disagree. In the US, the First Amendment protects Freedom of Speech, not Freedom of Expression.
Also, I find it ironic that you defend free speech and then "order" me out of "your" country because of something I said. Classic!
A) Do you have evidence for this? So far, this is a hypothetical scenario. B) Why forbid access to everyone then? Because the plausible course of action - forbidding access to rape pictures to potential rapists - is what thought crime and pre-crime is all about. So we're either stuck with thought crime, or we're stuck with a reduction in free speech, privacy and what is allowed between consenting adults. My point was to refute the ridiculous assertion that eating bread and drinking water were somehow the same as watching rape porn. I do not intend to support or reject the proposed law in any way. And her is why:
First, I think that "rape porn" is hideous. You have to be a sick fuck to enjoy that sort of thing and really should get help, in the form of a bullet induced head wound. Now with that said, I don't think that rape porn causes rape. I think that people who don't see a problem with rape (read: likely rapists) are the only ones who would enjoy this sort of trash. However, it may cause a desensitization to rape, making it seem like no big deal. This is why it should be illegal. The problem comes in writing the law. What if a movie shows a rape as part of the plot? Does that movie get classified as rape porn? I guess you could write the law to state that the rape can not be purpose of the film, but then all these rape-pornographers would have to do is to write some sort of half-assed plot around the rape scene and the law is circumvented. There are many movies with scenes like in one particular Bond film where the guy tries to kiss a girl, she says, "no" and he forces himself on her, only to have her give in and kiss back. Is that rape porn? How about cartoon rape-porn drawn with stick figures?
Anyway, THAT is why it should NOT become law. I see no way to write the law to make it enforceable and not overreaching.
Finally, not all free speech is good speech. Well, speech itself is OK. The problem is that "freedom of speech" is often confused with "freedom of expression". Butt-fucking little boys may be how a NAMBLA member expresses himself, but that's hardly "free speech" and should be 100% illegal.
You speak of "reduction in free speech, privacy and what is allowed between consenting adults". Well, rape is not between consenting adults. Sure, the actors making a film and acting out a rape may be consenting, but the "characters" are not and the message of the film is not about "consenting" adults. If it were, it would just be porn. The fact that it is on film pretty much negates any "privacy" concerns. Hell, if you want something to be private, don't fucking film it and release it to the public! If you and your wife/partner want to act out a rape in your bedroom, that's private and should remain so. If you film it and release it, you've given up your privacy voluntarily. As for it being freedom of speech... like I said, speech is not the same thing as expression.
I agree that a substantial number of rapists and molesters and whatnot probably do get off on "violent" porn. But so do quite a few very normal people who will never rape someone. Consensual kink is a gorgeous thing, an expression of incredible trust. The fact that some rapists get off on it is insufficient to justify banning it, after all, last I heard quite a few rapists drink water and eat bread. You are comparing apples to oranges here. First, eating a drinking is the ACTION of eating and drinking. Looking at pictures or video of something is looking at pictures of an action. So to correct you analogy, I present the following:
When hungry and/or thirsty people look at pictures of bread and water, it becomes more difficult to NOT eat bread and drink water. It's like sending a person who is dieting to a bakery. Even if they can't eat what behind the glass in a bakery, they are much more likely to leave the bakery and go directly to a grocery store to buy baked goods. This person was already hungry, or predisposed to eating baked goods before going to the bakery. Had they not entered the bakery, they may have been able to resist the temptation to buy baked goods. Now take someone who is predisposed to rape. They may be able to resist the temptation and live a normal life, hurting no one. However, making rape content available to this person will make them more likely to commit the crime in much the same way that showing a dieter cake will make them more likely to cheat on their diet.
Or, the more likely option, that what I'm reading is incomprehensively stupid. Nice one!
Since when has Germany been equated with the whole of Europe ? Most of the rest of Europe was busy fighting Hitler, with varying degrees of success, long before the US ever showed up so to claim that all of Europe are guilty of running aggressive dictatorships is, quite frankly, idiotic. WWI had nothing to do with Hitler or even totalitarian regimes for that matter. However, the result of WWI gave Hitler a stage to launch and an environment to flourish. Either way, Europe has been at the heart of starting two world wars while the US is guilty only of finishing them. It's that "industrial-military complex" that ended both wars and has defended Europe for over 70 years. To bad mouth it is extremely hypocritical, and quite frankly shows a complete lack of understanding of history.
More recently the US has shown its self to act totally in its own interests and it's not surprising that Europe doens't want to rely on the goodwill of US foreign policy for vital GPS services which isn't to say the US is doing anything wrong, it's perfectly entitled to act in its own interests, but is to say it's good to have an alternative. Trust me, the US doesn't want its military to be in Europe. However, it was necessary to protect Europe and its people. Granted, the US has interests in Europe, but nothing that warrants 70 years and trillions of dollars worth of defense. US interests in Europe are simply not worth it. What makes it worth it are the lives and freedoms of our allied countries and their populations. The US could not stand by and watch as the European people, our friends and allies were forced to live under a brutal, totalitarian Communist regime. The US GPS, much like the Internet was created by and for the US military. They has been released to the public around the world much as a gift. Such systems help better mankind, not just the US. To assume that the US is only looking out for its own interest is to be blind of the facts. However, I agree that Europe should release it's own navigational satellite system. Self sufficiency is a good thing!
I'm sure I remember discussions with you previously where you were sure the WMD were going to be turning up any day now, how are you getting on with that ? First, WMD's and WMD programs have been found in Iraq, just not the stockpiles we were expecting. Next, I have always maintained that the number one reason for liberating (or invading if you will) Iraq was for the people of Iraq and the region. We want to see the middle east become another Democratic region of the planet. We truly want to see the people there enjoying freedom and choosing how to live their lives, much like the good people of Europe. We would have preferred that the UN take on that job, as it is what the UN was created for, but after trying that for several years, we took matters into our own hands. It's a shame that more European nations do not share our vision and care so little about the freedoms of people outside their own borders.
Well congratulations, the US isn't quite as bad a Nazi Germany was under the control of a crazed dictator. I guess you deserve an award for that ?
Anyway I don't think joining in at the end of a couple wars really gives you any right to comment on European matters so kindly STFU about what the Europeans choose to do with Galileo. Actually, we've been in Europe SINCE the 1940's, so I'd hardly claim that we just entered at the end of a conflict. And for a European to claim he's worried about the US abusing power is kinda hypocritical, don't you think?
The point was the GP stating he was nervous about the US being in control of the GPS and had nothing to do with Galileo. I don't give a frack what Europe does with Galileo. That wasn't the point of my post. I kindly pointed out that it was not the US he should be worried about as the US does not have a history of abusing power like the Europeans. The fact that I had to explain that to you shows the sad state of the European education system or that your are just too stupid to comprehend what you read.
I'm not comfortable with a critical infrastructure like GPS in the hands of the US. The current administration has shown that it is incapable of handling the power and responsibilities that come with being a superpower. Why? Did the current administration take the entire world to war... twice?!!?!? Has the US arrested and gassed millions of its own citizens who fit a particular religious group? Has the US gassed so many civilians that it ran out and had to invade other countries to keep the crematoriums humming?
No? Then I guess you or anyone else in Europe really has no room to criticize the US. When you compare the current US administration or any other, for that matter, to European ones, the US is small potatoes when it comes to mishandling power and responsibilities.
Sorry to have to point this out to you, but Fascism and Communism are truly European ideas that have cost the lives of hundreds of millions of civilian lives.
Former US presidents warned for the influence of the Military-Industrial complex, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten, No, the US just learned better of it. You know... after needing such a Military-Industrial complex to free Europe of fascism and all, fighting two world wars there and finally keeping the entire continent from falling under the control of the OTHER great Military-Industrial complex led by the likes of Stalin... we figured that a Military-Industrial complex is just what was needed. Of course, we would have preferred free health care and a train system that runs on time, but we had to pay to destroy Fascism and keep the rest of the continent from falling under the control of Communism. Ask those in Eastern Europe how much fun they had under Soviet control. Be sure to ask them if they could speak freely or what it's like to vote in an election with only one candidates.
...resulting in "Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East". Think of how many lives could have been saved if we (or YOU) had that attitude in 1935. Think of how many more lives would have been lost if we never had that attitude.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like Europe owes the US or anything. Only an mobster or other asshole would demand payment for a gift. However, don't knock that military-industrial complex that has saved your ass repeatedly for the better part of the last century. Don't give me shit about how you don't trust the US to handle the GPS. Frankly, it appears that Europeans are the ones who have trouble handling power. Maybe we in the US should be nervous that you guys are building a system of your own. History has repeatedly shown what can happen when Europeans get too much power.
So until the US starts two world wars that kill tens of millions of soldiers AND civilians... Europeans need STFU!
Flamebait is not a substitute for an inability to handle the truth.
I'm not comfortable with a critical infrastructure like GPS in the hands of the US. The current administration has shown that it is incapable of handling the power and responsibilities that come with being a superpower. Why? Did the current administration take the entire world to war... twice?!!?!? Has the US arrested and gassed millions of its own citizens who fit a particular religious group? Has the US gassed so many civilians that it ran out and had to invade other countries to keep the crematoriums humming?
No? Then I guess you or anyone else in Europe really has no room to criticize the US. When you compare the current US administration or any other, for that matter, to European ones, the US is small potatoes when it comes to mishandling power and responsibilities.
Sorry to have to point this out to you, but Fascism and Communism are truly European ideas that have cost the lives of hundreds of millions of civilian lives.
Former US presidents warned for the influence of the Military-Industrial complex, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten, No, the US just learned better of it. You know... after needing such a Military-Industrial complex to free Europe of fascism and all, fighting two world wars there and finally keeping the entire continent from falling under the control of the OTHER great Military-Industrial complex led by the likes of Stalin... we figured that a Military-Industrial complex is just what was needed. Of course, we would have preferred free health care and a train system that runs on time, but we had to pay to destroy Fascism and keep the rest of the continent from falling under the control of Communism. Ask those in Eastern Europe how much fun they had under Soviet control. Be sure to ask them if they could speak freely or what it's like to vote in an election with only one candidates.
...resulting in "Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East". Think of how many lives could have been saved if we (or YOU) had that attitude in 1935. Think of how many more lives would have been lost if we never had that attitude.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like Europe owes the US or anything. Only an mobster or other asshole would demand payment for a gift. However, don't knock that military-industrial complex that has saved your ass repeatedly for the better part of the last century. Don't give me shit about how you don't trust the US to handle the GPS. Frankly, it appears that Europeans are the ones who have trouble handling power. Maybe we in the US should be nervous that you guys are building a system of your own. History has repeatedly shown what can happen when Europeans get too much power.
So until the US starts two world wars that kill tens of millions of soldiers AND civilians... Europeans need STFU!
Ehm, no, I think he meant 100% what he said. Personally, I consider the US dangerous too these days. I'm from Europe and I'm not alone in thinking that. The problem in itself isn't the military force, but the government behind it.
He said:
Yes because GPS is owned and controlled by the most dangerous army in the world ! If that is EXACTLY what he meant, then he's an idiot. I believe space is controlled by the Air Force, not the Army.
Besides, the Army trains every day to be dangerous. That is their job!
It all depends, if you are an US Citizen it would be a moot point since you would not recognize any geographical location outside your backyard. My backyard? You mean Canada?
2) High tech stuff like this creates jobs for academics and skilled workers, who'll be part of India's growing middle class. I believe that creating wealth top-down, by having wealth trickle down from an affluent and productive middle class to the poor, works a hell of a lot better than forever "giving that man a fish to eat". Good point! I can't really think of anytime in history where wealth has been built from the bottom up!
Does it run on linux. That is actually a good question and the first thing I thought of. While I'm not worried about my little webserver being hacked as it runs on Linux without MySQL, I am worried about my browser.
If I run Firefox on Linux without NoScript, is there a danger?
So I'm not sure what your problem is with the description of us being descended from apes. I'd have hoped you'd have realized I wasn't saying that we were descended from a modern ape (such as ourself)! That is exactly what I thought you were saying. There is a difference between being a decedent of a homo-something-or-other and apes.
From a few clicks off your Wiki article:
A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes"), including the extinct and extant humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. Saying we are in the same family as apes and saying we are descended from them are two different things. My brother and I are in the same family, but we are certainly not descendants of each other.
While imaging machines are far too big and complex to be used in workplaces to monitor the brain activity of people engaged in important tasks... Thank God!
The pollution from my four-banger car is not causing people in underdeveloped countries to starve to death. Over reactions from GW Doomsday predictions are. Actually, it is. Their is no doubt that temps are going up. If GW is caused by man (and all the evidence says it is), then yes, you are contributing to the war in dafur (fighting over water/land) and numerous other issues. But, I agree with you about the overreaction. The idea of converting food to energy had to be one of the stupiest ideas that I have seen. W. only did his stunt on ethanol to try and buy farmers. Most of the farmers here in Colorado say that this is the dumbest idea that has come out of washington, but they are still going to take the money. Then you have indonesia that coverted items that were to be exported into energy. Most of the bio-fuels are going into cars, which even in indonesia is building geo-thermal power generators. They love that cheap power.
We need to get intelligent ppl into politics. Well, I don't agree that my fourbanger is causing GW since GW happened before fourbangers were invented. However, it looks like we agree on the over reaction. I don't have a problem driving a four-banger. I like the idea of saving money on gas and not giving money to those that want to kill me. I don't do it, however, because I think that NY is going to be under water in 10 years.
I guess what kills me the most is the refusal to allow for any oil exploration here in the US. At first, it was because it may harm caribou or some endangered grub worm. Now they've latched on to GW as the excuse. In the mean time, I'm spending $3.50 a gallon and I'm can't buy my little girl that playhouse my wife wants her to have. Why? I'm driving the four-banger. WTF more do they want?!!?
The DDT ban was one of the most successful examples of environmental policy in our history.
I presume that you love America? And perhaps by extension that you love our national symbol, the bald eagle? Well the only reason you can see them in the wild today is because of the DDT ban. They are one of the few species to ever come back after being placed on the endangered species list, and it's directly due to environmental action. So I'd hope you'd show a little gratitude. The worldwide DDT ban has caused the deaths of millions worldwide. Even if DDT were to make the bald eagle extinct, which is highly doubtful, the lives of millions of men, women, and children is more important to me.
Other than that... Global Cooling was not actually a mainstream theory. Pollution/Smog was a serious problem, ask anyone who lived in L.A. in the 80s and now compared to now thanks to their emissions regulations. The ban of CFCs has had a demonstrably positive effect on the condition of the ozone layer. The Global Cooling theory was actually fairly accurate. It just came at the end of a cold spell. But much like the GW theories of today, people look at a graph and see it going in a particular direction and draw a straight line in that same direction to predict the future. Today, it's called the "hockey stick" graph, because that's what it looks like. Pollution/Smog was a problem in LA. Not so much in Raleigh NC. The problem is that people who never left LA assumed the whole country was like that made predictions based on what they saw. Many of the global cooling theories was based on this (smog blocks the sun and leads to GC). Pollution controls have helped LA. They've done nothing for Plano TX. The Ozone layer was shown to be "growing back" even before any ban on CFC's could have an effect. Then it shrank again. Then it grew back again. It's a cycle. The problem is that we discovered it during the shrinking phase and freaked out, much like today.
So you're basing your decision to not believe in Global Warming based on a series of things which mostly turned out to be completely true? No. You have it all wrong. My decision not to freak out of global warming is due to an understanding of all the freaking out that has been done in the past when people discover something and over react, before the cyclical nature of the even is fully understood.
The climate changes... always. It is either going up or down 100% of the time. If it were going down, we'd be freaking out over global cooling and blaming pollution and smog and putting all kinds of limitations on "pollution contributing substances", like fossil fuels!
he global cooling issue was a 1 time tabloid issue. It was never in the science world other than 1 article. Only idiots point to that. Is Newsweek a tabloid? How about Time Magazine? How about the NY Times?
Do not buy it. Just quit polluting and forcing your shit on me and mine. The pollution from my four-banger car is not causing people in underdeveloped countries to starve to death. Over reactions from GW Doomsday predictions are.
I'm beginning to tire of people who refuse to take global warming seriously as a threat to the well-being of the human species and the larger environment. How can I take it seriously when we supposed to be dead already, if you believed the predictions that have been made throughout recent history.
In the 1960's it was over population/starvation (and DDT!) In the 1970's it was Global Cooling/Ice Age In the 1980's in was Pollution/Smog In the 1990's it was the Ozone Layer Now, it's Global Warming.
I'm beginning to tire of global warming catastrophe claims. Here are just a few (follow the link for actual links to these claims:
fashion disaster, fever,figurehead sacked, fir cone bonanza, fish catches drop, fish downsize, fish catches rise, fish deaf, fish get lost, fish stocks at risk, fish stocks decline, five million illnesses, flesh eating disease, flood patterns change, floods, floods of beaches and cities, flood of migrants, flood preparation for crisis, Florida economic decline, flowers in peril, food poisoning, food prices rise, food prices soar, food security threat (SA), footpath erosion, forest decline, forest expansion, frog with extra heads, frostbite, frost damage increased, frosts, fungi fruitful, fungi invasion, games change, Garden of Eden wilts, genetic diversity decline, gene pools slashed, giant oysters invade, giant pythons invade, giant squid migrate, gingerbread houses collapse, glacial earthquakes, glacial retreat, glacial growth, glacier wrapped, global cooling, global dimming, glowing clouds, god melts, golf Masters wrecked, Gore omnipresence, grandstanding, grasslands wetter, Great Barrier Reef 95% dead, Great Lakes drop, greening of the North, Grey whales lose weight, Gulf Stream failure, habitat loss, Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, harmful algae, harvest increase, harvest shrinkage, hay fever epidemic, health affected, health of children harmed, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (Australia), heat waves, hibernation affected, hibernation ends too soon, hibernation ends too late...
I believe that the final design was man and the ecosystem to support us. As for man finally evolving to something else, the Bible states that the world will end long before that happens.
Why pick and choose? If you believe we're descended from apes then you've already thrown out one chunk of the Bible as well as any notion of us being anything other than animals... So why do you choose to believe the Bible on the end game if you reject it on the beginning? Seems kinda arbitrary ! Evolution doesn't make the claim that man is a descendant of apes. Evolution claims that man and apes have a common ancestor, but then again, EVERY species has a common ancestor!
Note: I believe in ID. I just believe that in order to reach the "Design", evolution was used.
1) Surely you mean "is being used", not "was used". Evolution hasn't stopped, not can be expected to ever stop (evolving to not evolve would be mal-adaptive). Conceivably there's an attractor that life will eventually circle, but we're not looping yet! I stand corrected.
2) Even if evolution did, unexpectedly, arrive at some final "Design" (even if a dynamic rather than fixed one), we're not there yet, nor is there much chance that anything resembing man or anything described in the Bible will be a part of it. Time will take care of that. In a few tens/hundreds of millions of years Homo Sapiens will be nothing but a random species far back on the evolutionary tree - no more priviliged than any other point in our own current evolutionary history. Most branches of the evolutionary tree are dead ends, and only a few keep growing... there's no guarantee that our branch (or maybe mammals as a whole) will not eventually be a dead end, and it may well be that in 100,000,000 or so years time there's no species left with the intelligence to even ponder how insignificant our own species proved to be. I believe that the final design was man and the ecosystem to support us. As for man finally evolving to something else, the Bible states that the world will end long before that happens. I guess we'll find out in 100,000,000 years or so!:-)
Instead of yelling at those of us that are sick of most IDers saying evolution can't exist, why don't you yell at the nutjobs that also believe in ID but don't believe evolution. Because *MOST* ID'ers (Christians, Jews, Muslims and whatever else) don't have a problem with evolution.
Besides, I haven't found any of those "nutjobs" here on slashdot. Those of you that are "sick of most IDers saying evolution can't exist" and post it here on slash are just yelling at the choir, so to speak.
Outside of slashdot, in many of the churches I've attended, I haven't met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution in some shape or form. I even read a Creationist book that claimed that God put animal categories on Earth and let evolution take over from there. For example, God made a bird, a fish, a cow, a lizard and so on and let evolution take over from there and make parakeets, catfish, jersey cows, iguanas and so on. I don't buy that, but it shows how even hard core creationists accept evolution on some level.
Now the problem that Creationists have is that some teach evolution as *proof* that God does not exist. This is why the "nutjobs" you refer to are so against evolution being taught. If evolution is taught as having nothing to do with religion, neither proving or disproving it, then nearly everyone can be happy with it. When I was taught evolution in Jr. High school many years ago, my teachers started it by saying "evolution does not prove or disprove the existence of higher being. It has nothing to do with it. You can believe what you want and I will never argue with that, but for the purpose of this class, you must learn what we are teaching you." No one had a problem learning evolution when it was introduced that way. I grew up in the "Bible-Belt", BTW.
An extension of that problem is people like those here on slash that call anyone religious and idiot or "dumb shit" for believing in ID. That statement is just as ignorant as the few "nutjobs" that feel threatened by evolution.
when we have internet that is as fast as cpu response times c and c++ will go the way of the dinosaur and the internet will be your main application platform and gaming platform, meaning game over for c and c++. As long as computers need an OS, C/C++ will be in wide use. All major OS's are written in C/C++ and will be for the foreseeable future.
Well, except global warming, obviously. That just gets accepted as is, since anyone who suggests otherwise is probably an oil company shill. Um, we have decades of direct testing and thousands of years of indirect data supporting global warming. It has been and continues be heavily tested. How many of those thousands of years worth of data found that GW is attributed to SUV's or the burning of fossil fuels for industry?
How many of those thousands of years worth of data include data on solar cycles?
Note to all ID supporters, this is how real science works. Propose a theory which can be tested, then go about trying to disprove the theory. Or you can present a theory and then set about trying to PROVE it. Many times, it leads to other theories. Take, for example this story:
Premise: God created the Universe, as stated in the Old Testament. Theory: The Universe had a beginning. Test: Use Einstein's formula's to track time back until you find a beginning. New Theory: Big Bang.
Note: I believe in ID. I just believe that in order to reach the "Design", evolution was used. Please don't assume that religion is a rejection of science. Many religious scientists use science to find out HOW God works.
(I know that it is off topic, but I was responding to another OT post)
Slashdot Mirror
That's what I thought. You'd like to be arbiter of good speech. Well, I think your speech sucks and ought to be prohibited, on account of being brain-damaging.
What? That's not right? I see. You get to judge, but others cannot - or only for as long as they agree with you. You don't understand why free speech is so damn important to Freedom. Get the fuck out of my country.
PS: Buttfucking is an action, not speech. I have no idea how that got into the discussion. Wow! You insulted me and then agreed with me. WTF? Did you even read the post?
What I said was that when "speech" includes "expression", then it's not all good. You can SAY whatever you want. By SAY, I mean open your mouth and make works or write/type words down. That's all OK (minus the yelling "fire" in a theater thing and so on). My beef comes in when people start saying that ACTIONS are protected under freedom of speech because those actions are "free expression". I disagree. In the US, the First Amendment protects Freedom of Speech, not Freedom of Expression.
Also, I find it ironic that you defend free speech and then "order" me out of "your" country because of something I said. Classic!
B) Why forbid access to everyone then? Because the plausible course of action - forbidding access to rape pictures to potential rapists - is what thought crime and pre-crime is all about. So we're either stuck with thought crime, or we're stuck with a reduction in free speech, privacy and what is allowed between consenting adults. My point was to refute the ridiculous assertion that eating bread and drinking water were somehow the same as watching rape porn. I do not intend to support or reject the proposed law in any way. And her is why:
First, I think that "rape porn" is hideous. You have to be a sick fuck to enjoy that sort of thing and really should get help, in the form of a bullet induced head wound.
Now with that said, I don't think that rape porn causes rape. I think that people who don't see a problem with rape (read: likely rapists) are the only ones who would enjoy this sort of trash. However, it may cause a desensitization to rape, making it seem like no big deal. This is why it should be illegal.
The problem comes in writing the law. What if a movie shows a rape as part of the plot? Does that movie get classified as rape porn? I guess you could write the law to state that the rape can not be purpose of the film, but then all these rape-pornographers would have to do is to write some sort of half-assed plot around the rape scene and the law is circumvented. There are many movies with scenes like in one particular Bond film where the guy tries to kiss a girl, she says, "no" and he forces himself on her, only to have her give in and kiss back. Is that rape porn? How about cartoon rape-porn drawn with stick figures?
Anyway, THAT is why it should NOT become law. I see no way to write the law to make it enforceable and not overreaching.
Finally, not all free speech is good speech. Well, speech itself is OK. The problem is that "freedom of speech" is often confused with "freedom of expression". Butt-fucking little boys may be how a NAMBLA member expresses himself, but that's hardly "free speech" and should be 100% illegal.
You speak of "reduction in free speech, privacy and what is allowed between consenting adults". Well, rape is not between consenting adults. Sure, the actors making a film and acting out a rape may be consenting, but the "characters" are not and the message of the film is not about "consenting" adults. If it were, it would just be porn. The fact that it is on film pretty much negates any "privacy" concerns. Hell, if you want something to be private, don't fucking film it and release it to the public! If you and your wife/partner want to act out a rape in your bedroom, that's private and should remain so. If you film it and release it, you've given up your privacy voluntarily. As for it being freedom of speech... like I said, speech is not the same thing as expression.
When hungry and/or thirsty people look at pictures of bread and water, it becomes more difficult to NOT eat bread and drink water. It's like sending a person who is dieting to a bakery. Even if they can't eat what behind the glass in a bakery, they are much more likely to leave the bakery and go directly to a grocery store to buy baked goods. This person was already hungry, or predisposed to eating baked goods before going to the bakery. Had they not entered the bakery, they may have been able to resist the temptation to buy baked goods.
Now take someone who is predisposed to rape. They may be able to resist the temptation and live a normal life, hurting no one. However, making rape content available to this person will make them more likely to commit the crime in much the same way that showing a dieter cake will make them more likely to cheat on their diet.
The US GPS, much like the Internet was created by and for the US military. They has been released to the public around the world much as a gift. Such systems help better mankind, not just the US. To assume that the US is only looking out for its own interest is to be blind of the facts. However, I agree that Europe should release it's own navigational satellite system. Self sufficiency is a good thing! I'm sure I remember discussions with you previously where you were sure the WMD were going to be turning up any day now, how are you getting on with that ? First, WMD's and WMD programs have been found in Iraq, just not the stockpiles we were expecting.
Next, I have always maintained that the number one reason for liberating (or invading if you will) Iraq was for the people of Iraq and the region. We want to see the middle east become another Democratic region of the planet. We truly want to see the people there enjoying freedom and choosing how to live their lives, much like the good people of Europe. We would have preferred that the UN take on that job, as it is what the UN was created for, but after trying that for several years, we took matters into our own hands. It's a shame that more European nations do not share our vision and care so little about the freedoms of people outside their own borders.
Anyway I don't think joining in at the end of a couple wars really gives you any right to comment on European matters so kindly STFU about what the Europeans choose to do with Galileo. Actually, we've been in Europe SINCE the 1940's, so I'd hardly claim that we just entered at the end of a conflict. And for a European to claim he's worried about the US abusing power is kinda hypocritical, don't you think?
The point was the GP stating he was nervous about the US being in control of the GPS and had nothing to do with Galileo. I don't give a frack what Europe does with Galileo. That wasn't the point of my post. I kindly pointed out that it was not the US he should be worried about as the US does not have a history of abusing power like the Europeans. The fact that I had to explain that to you shows the sad state of the European education system or that your are just too stupid to comprehend what you read.
No? Then I guess you or anyone else in Europe really has no room to criticize the US. When you compare the current US administration or any other, for that matter, to European ones, the US is small potatoes when it comes to mishandling power and responsibilities.
Sorry to have to point this out to you, but Fascism and Communism are truly European ideas that have cost the lives of hundreds of millions of civilian lives. Former US presidents warned for the influence of the Military-Industrial complex, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten, No, the US just learned better of it. You know... after needing such a Military-Industrial complex to free Europe of fascism and all, fighting two world wars there and finally keeping the entire continent from falling under the control of the OTHER great Military-Industrial complex led by the likes of Stalin... we figured that a Military-Industrial complex is just what was needed. Of course, we would have preferred free health care and a train system that runs on time, but we had to pay to destroy Fascism and keep the rest of the continent from falling under the control of Communism. Ask those in Eastern Europe how much fun they had under Soviet control. Be sure to ask them if they could speak freely or what it's like to vote in an election with only one candidates.
...resulting in "Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East". Think of how many lives could have been saved if we (or YOU) had that attitude in 1935.Think of how many more lives would have been lost if we never had that attitude.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like Europe owes the US or anything. Only an mobster or other asshole would demand payment for a gift. However, don't knock that military-industrial complex that has saved your ass repeatedly for the better part of the last century.
Don't give me shit about how you don't trust the US to handle the GPS. Frankly, it appears that Europeans are the ones who have trouble handling power. Maybe we in the US should be nervous that you guys are building a system of your own. History has repeatedly shown what can happen when Europeans get too much power.
So until the US starts two world wars that kill tens of millions of soldiers AND civilians... Europeans need STFU!
Flamebait is not a substitute for an inability to handle the truth.
No? Then I guess you or anyone else in Europe really has no room to criticize the US. When you compare the current US administration or any other, for that matter, to European ones, the US is small potatoes when it comes to mishandling power and responsibilities.
Sorry to have to point this out to you, but Fascism and Communism are truly European ideas that have cost the lives of hundreds of millions of civilian lives. Former US presidents warned for the influence of the Military-Industrial complex, but that lesson seems to have been forgotten, No, the US just learned better of it. You know... after needing such a Military-Industrial complex to free Europe of fascism and all, fighting two world wars there and finally keeping the entire continent from falling under the control of the OTHER great Military-Industrial complex led by the likes of Stalin... we figured that a Military-Industrial complex is just what was needed. Of course, we would have preferred free health care and a train system that runs on time, but we had to pay to destroy Fascism and keep the rest of the continent from falling under the control of Communism. Ask those in Eastern Europe how much fun they had under Soviet control. Be sure to ask them if they could speak freely or what it's like to vote in an election with only one candidates.
...resulting in "Bringing peace and democracy to the Middle East". Think of how many lives could have been saved if we (or YOU) had that attitude in 1935.Think of how many more lives would have been lost if we never had that attitude.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like Europe owes the US or anything. Only an mobster or other asshole would demand payment for a gift. However, don't knock that military-industrial complex that has saved your ass repeatedly for the better part of the last century.
Don't give me shit about how you don't trust the US to handle the GPS. Frankly, it appears that Europeans are the ones who have trouble handling power. Maybe we in the US should be nervous that you guys are building a system of your own. History has repeatedly shown what can happen when Europeans get too much power.
So until the US starts two world wars that kill tens of millions of soldiers AND civilians... Europeans need STFU!
Ehm, no, I think he meant 100% what he said. Personally, I consider the US dangerous too these days. I'm from Europe and I'm not alone in thinking that. The problem in itself isn't the military force, but the government behind it.
He said: Yes because GPS is owned and controlled by the most dangerous army in the world ! If that is EXACTLY what he meant, then he's an idiot. I believe space is controlled by the Air Force, not the Army.Besides, the Army trains every day to be dangerous. That is their job!
Wow! They are up to two satellites? Does this mean I can tell which hemisphere I'm on?
I can't really think of anytime in history where wealth has been built from the bottom up!
If I run Firefox on Linux without NoScript, is there a danger?
From a few clicks off your Wiki article: A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes"), including the extinct and extant humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. Saying we are in the same family as apes and saying we are descended from them are two different things. My brother and I are in the same family, but we are certainly not descendants of each other.
Actually, it is. Their is no doubt that temps are going up. If GW is caused by man (and all the evidence says it is), then yes, you are contributing to the war in dafur (fighting over water/land) and numerous other issues. But, I agree with you about the overreaction. The idea of converting food to energy had to be one of the stupiest ideas that I have seen. W. only did his stunt on ethanol to try and buy farmers. Most of the farmers here in Colorado say that this is the dumbest idea that has come out of washington, but they are still going to take the money. Then you have indonesia that coverted items that were to be exported into energy. Most of the bio-fuels are going into cars, which even in indonesia is building geo-thermal power generators. They love that cheap power.
We need to get intelligent ppl into politics. Well, I don't agree that my fourbanger is causing GW since GW happened before fourbangers were invented. However, it looks like we agree on the over reaction.
I don't have a problem driving a four-banger. I like the idea of saving money on gas and not giving money to those that want to kill me. I don't do it, however, because I think that NY is going to be under water in 10 years.
I guess what kills me the most is the refusal to allow for any oil exploration here in the US. At first, it was because it may harm caribou or some endangered grub worm. Now they've latched on to GW as the excuse. In the mean time, I'm spending $3.50 a gallon and I'm can't buy my little girl that playhouse my wife wants her to have. Why? I'm driving the four-banger. WTF more do they want?!!?
I presume that you love America? And perhaps by extension that you love our national symbol, the bald eagle? Well the only reason you can see them in the wild today is because of the DDT ban. They are one of the few species to ever come back after being placed on the endangered species list, and it's directly due to environmental action. So I'd hope you'd show a little gratitude. The worldwide DDT ban has caused the deaths of millions worldwide. Even if DDT were to make the bald eagle extinct, which is highly doubtful, the lives of millions of men, women, and children is more important to me. Other than that... Global Cooling was not actually a mainstream theory. Pollution/Smog was a serious problem, ask anyone who lived in L.A. in the 80s and now compared to now thanks to their emissions regulations. The ban of CFCs has had a demonstrably positive effect on the condition of the ozone layer. The Global Cooling theory was actually fairly accurate. It just came at the end of a cold spell. But much like the GW theories of today, people look at a graph and see it going in a particular direction and draw a straight line in that same direction to predict the future. Today, it's called the "hockey stick" graph, because that's what it looks like.
Pollution/Smog was a problem in LA. Not so much in Raleigh NC. The problem is that people who never left LA assumed the whole country was like that made predictions based on what they saw. Many of the global cooling theories was based on this (smog blocks the sun and leads to GC). Pollution controls have helped LA. They've done nothing for Plano TX.
The Ozone layer was shown to be "growing back" even before any ban on CFC's could have an effect. Then it shrank again. Then it grew back again. It's a cycle. The problem is that we discovered it during the shrinking phase and freaked out, much like today. So you're basing your decision to not believe in Global Warming based on a series of things which mostly turned out to be completely true? No. You have it all wrong. My decision not to freak out of global warming is due to an understanding of all the freaking out that has been done in the past when people discover something and over react, before the cyclical nature of the even is fully understood.
The climate changes... always. It is either going up or down 100% of the time. If it were going down, we'd be freaking out over global cooling and blaming pollution and smog and putting all kinds of limitations on "pollution contributing substances", like fossil fuels!
In the 1960's it was over population/starvation (and DDT!)
In the 1970's it was Global Cooling/Ice Age
In the 1980's in was Pollution/Smog
In the 1990's it was the Ozone Layer
Now, it's Global Warming.
Sorry, but I ain't buying it this time!
Why pick and choose? If you believe we're descended from apes then you've already thrown out one chunk of the Bible as well as any notion of us being anything other than animals... So why do you choose to believe the Bible on the end game if you reject it on the beginning? Seems kinda arbitrary ! Evolution doesn't make the claim that man is a descendant of apes. Evolution claims that man and apes have a common ancestor, but then again, EVERY species has a common ancestor!
1) Surely you mean "is being used", not "was used". Evolution hasn't stopped, not can be expected to ever stop (evolving to not evolve would be mal-adaptive). Conceivably there's an attractor that life will eventually circle, but we're not looping yet! I stand corrected. 2) Even if evolution did, unexpectedly, arrive at some final "Design" (even if a dynamic rather than fixed one), we're not there yet, nor is there much chance that anything resembing man or anything described in the Bible will be a part of it. Time will take care of that. In a few tens/hundreds of millions of years Homo Sapiens will be nothing but a random species far back on the evolutionary tree - no more priviliged than any other point in our own current evolutionary history. Most branches of the evolutionary tree are dead ends, and only a few keep growing... there's no guarantee that our branch (or maybe mammals as a whole) will not eventually be a dead end, and it may well be that in 100,000,000 or so years time there's no species left with the intelligence to even ponder how insignificant our own species proved to be. I believe that the final design was man and the ecosystem to support us. As for man finally evolving to something else, the Bible states that the world will end long before that happens. I guess we'll find out in 100,000,000 years or so!
Besides, I haven't found any of those "nutjobs" here on slashdot. Those of you that are "sick of most IDers saying evolution can't exist" and post it here on slash are just yelling at the choir, so to speak.
Outside of slashdot, in many of the churches I've attended, I haven't met anyone who doesn't believe in evolution in some shape or form. I even read a Creationist book that claimed that God put animal categories on Earth and let evolution take over from there. For example, God made a bird, a fish, a cow, a lizard and so on and let evolution take over from there and make parakeets, catfish, jersey cows, iguanas and so on. I don't buy that, but it shows how even hard core creationists accept evolution on some level.
Now the problem that Creationists have is that some teach evolution as *proof* that God does not exist. This is why the "nutjobs" you refer to are so against evolution being taught. If evolution is taught as having nothing to do with religion, neither proving or disproving it, then nearly everyone can be happy with it. When I was taught evolution in Jr. High school many years ago, my teachers started it by saying "evolution does not prove or disprove the existence of higher being. It has nothing to do with it. You can believe what you want and I will never argue with that, but for the purpose of this class, you must learn what we are teaching you." No one had a problem learning evolution when it was introduced that way. I grew up in the "Bible-Belt", BTW.
An extension of that problem is people like those here on slash that call anyone religious and idiot or "dumb shit" for believing in ID. That statement is just as ignorant as the few "nutjobs" that feel threatened by evolution.
How many of those thousands of years worth of data include data on solar cycles?
Premise: God created the Universe, as stated in the Old Testament.
Theory: The Universe had a beginning.
Test: Use Einstein's formula's to track time back until you find a beginning.
New Theory: Big Bang.
Note: I believe in ID. I just believe that in order to reach the "Design", evolution was used. Please don't assume that religion is a rejection of science. Many religious scientists use science to find out HOW God works.
(I know that it is off topic, but I was responding to another OT post)