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User: smooth+wombat

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Comments · 3,915

  1. Re:Liberty on Privately Owned Armored Trucks Raise Eyebrows After Dallas Attack · · Score: 1

    The difference is the shooting in Sydney was one, isolated incident. Compare that incident to the daily shootings in the U.S.

    The rinky dink city I live just outside of (less than 50K people) has had shootings almost every day this week.

    One could argue any law won't stop someone from doing something (murder in general, theft, rape) but that does not mean we should get rid of all laws and let people do what they want.

    What should happen is more strict enforcement of current laws and more severe punishment. That includes the death penalty for murder and rape. Once you start getting rid of the criminals on a regular basis, people will start to think twice about committing the crime, not to mention if you get them early enough they won't have a chance to reproduce and pass along their defective genes.

  2. Re:Or hey, maybe we need on As Drought Worsens, California Orders Record Water Cuts · · Score: 1

    Reminds me of the argument for why I'm supposed to pay for someone else's medical bills because of their stupid decisions.

    The smokers, the obese, drug users and alcoholics all want to continue doing what they're doing without having to enable conditions which are more suitable to a healthy life.

  3. Re:Money on Self-Driving Cars To Transform Insurance and Other Industries · · Score: 1

    Which is completely irrelevant to the discussion. What someone does with the money they earn is their business. If they choose to give it to someone, that's fine, but the government forcing them to hand over money whether they want to or not is wrong. On many levels.

    Considering how often people on here rail against government intrusion in their personal lives, it's amazing how those same folks have no problem with the government poking into people's private lives in this situation.

  4. Re:Insurance companies suffer? on Self-Driving Cars To Transform Insurance and Other Industries · · Score: 0

    Why should I have to pay because some dumbass was texting and crunched my ride?

    Why should I have to pay because some dumbass has smoked most of their life, is obese or does drugs and now wants me to pay for their medical bills?

    According to some on here, BECAUSE. To them, it's not your money so you have no right to not pay.

  5. Re:I'm waiting for the equilibrium rage. on Google Releases Report On Autonomous Vehicle Accidents · · Score: 1

    To streams of traffic can just spread out a little and interlace as they go through an intersection,

    So you mean like this?

    Though this might be a better way to drive.

  6. Re:Parents should be liable on Diphtheria Returns To Spain For Lack of Vaccination · · Score: 1

    No, I'm not punishing anyone. The parents are the ones doing the punishing.

    Unless of course you're suggesting it's up to everyone to watch out for everyone else in which case I get to yank cigarettes out of people's mouths since I'm footing their medical bills, get to post their faces at bars and liquor stores so the alcoholics can't but more and tie drug users down until they detox since, again, I'm the one footing their insurance and medical bills.

    Or are you saying people should be forced to pay for the stupidity of others rather than making the people more responsible for their own actions? In essence, completely abandoning personal responsibility in favor of socialism.

  7. Re:Parents should be liable on Diphtheria Returns To Spain For Lack of Vaccination · · Score: 1

    No, don't touch the touch nor the child. By that I mean it was the choice of the parent(s) to not get their children vaccinated, it should not be up to the state (i.e. taxpayers) to foot the bill to take care of the kid.

    Let nature take its course since that is what the parents wanted. If the kid survives they got lucky. If the kid survives but is disabled, the parents take care of everything. If they die that's one less we have to worry about and the parents will have to live with their decision for the rest of their life.

  8. Just remember. . . on Typing 'http://:' Into a Skype Message Trashes the Installation Beyond Repair · · Score: 1

    these are the programmers getting paid the big bucks because of their supposed skills.

    People on here can whine all they want about companies not paying programmers more, but when you have situations like this it's clear why those companies aren't doing so.

  9. Lack of technical expertise on Third Stage Design Problem Cause of Most Recent Proton Failure · · Score: 3, Interesting

    With Russia's invasion of Ukraine not going quite as planned, and Russia now building up another invasion force on its border with Ukraine, the trained specialists who would have caught this error have been rerouted to help produce more advanced rockets for the military.

    The problem is the sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion are hurting its ability to pay its people. Some have gone as long as four months without pay and even when they are paid, it's not the full amount. Since there is no money to be made working on their space program, these people go to the military side which Putin continues to pour money into while grocery shelves start to go bare around the country.

    Expect to see more such accidents until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and there is cooperation with the West who can provide technical guidance in these matters.

  10. What a shocker on Land Art Park Significantly Reduces Jet Engine Noise Near Airport · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who would have thought having trees, shrubs and other natural barriers between an airport and the people would reduce noise levels?

    It's as if clear cutting was found not to work.

  11. Re:Who is this jerk? on Neil DeGrasse Tyson Urges America To Challenge China To a Space Race · · Score: 1

    If you can't afford kids, don't have them in the first place.

  12. Re:Showing once again how worthless insurance is on Insurer Won't Pay Out For Security Breach Because of Lax Security · · Score: 0

    A) Insurance NEVER pays to replace a car, even if it is totaled. They give you 80% of the current value.

    B) I have 40K to replace MY car which the other guy totaled but which HIS insurance won't pay anything near what it costs me. I could sue him in court for damages to recover the rest of the money but insurance companies have seen to it that you really can't sue in court any more because they would have to do what people are paying them to do.

    C) Your donation of a kidney is your choice. That is completely different than someone plowing into me which has happened with every car I have every owned. Mainly as I'm the last guy in line.

  13. Showing once again how worthless insurance is on Insurer Won't Pay Out For Security Breach Because of Lax Security · · Score: 0, Troll

    Insurance is the biggest scam ever perpetrated in the history of mankind. You pay and pay and pay some more, then, when you need to use it you're given every excuse possible why the coverage you've been paying for doesn't apply.

    When one takes into consideration the thousands of dollars each year the average person pours down the drain for insurance, it's no wonder people are going broke. That money could be used for more productive endeavors such as food, housing, education or transportation.

    Instead, the money is lost in the ether, used only to enrich a few while the many bleed from a thousand cuts.

  14. Re:The basics on Ask Slashdot: What Tech Skills Do HS Students Need To Know Now? · · Score: 1

    WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, the most perfect word processing program ever developed. The amount of work one could easily accomplish with that program still surpasses anything we have today.

    Those shortcut keys were fantastic and the guy(s) who thought of allowing 'Reveal Codes' should be given free beers whenever they are out.

  15. Re: Battle to Regulate Free Market on Battle To Regulate Ridesharing Moves Through States · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Auctions. They are they ultimate free market. People bid on something up to the point they believe the product is worth. No government interference or price controls.

  16. To quote Alton Brown. . . on Here Comes the Keurig of Everything · · Score: 2

    "There is only one uni-tasker in the kitchen."

    A fire extinguisher.

  17. Re:It can run Doom on MenuetOS, an Operating System Written Entirely In Assembly, Hits 1.0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Finally, a web site which doesn't try to overrun your browser with unnecessary rotating images and the latest and greatest shiny because some web designer said, "Why not?"

    In other words, a web site which is useful.

  18. Re:Allowing your mind to close. on What Happens To Our Musical Taste As We Age? · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's the reason why I still seek new bands in my 40s... (scandinavian metal rules!)

    Speaking of which, I was listening to DragonForce on YouTube and decided to check out one of the suggested bands. Imagine my surprise when I selected Sonata Arctica and heard almost the exact same music. Stylistically they were identical, even many of the chords were the same.

    Made me wonder. . .

  19. If you look at Colorado, they had temperatures in the 70s in February. They, along with Alaska, were warmer during the month than almost anywhere in the mid Atlantic to northeastern U.S.:

    Link

  20. Re:The Onion? on Bill Gates Still Trying To Buy Some Common Core Testing Love · · Score: 1

    Which is why studies have shown people who watched The Daily Show and Colbert Report were, on the whole, more informed about world events than those who watched Fox.

  21. Re:Can I have some Prozac with that? on California Gets Past the Yuck Factor With "Toilet To Tap" Water Recycling · · Score: 1

    The simple solution would be to boil the water as Prozac, birth control medication and the other chemicals we dump wholesale into the water system wouldn't be a problem.

    Once you get enough built up crud you would scrape it off and burn it to help produce the energy necessary to boil the water.

  22. Re:OT: Dogs on Will Robot Cars Need Windows? · · Score: 1

    Let's see a damned cat do that. You can't, because cats are stupid pets.

    Cats aren't dumb enough to stick their heads out the window of a moving vehicle where it can get whacked by bugs or stones and keep doing it over and over.

    Also, my cat was smarter than most humans I had do deal with and listened a whole lot better.

  23. Re:Because ... crowd source? on Google Shuts Down Map Maker Following Hacks · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or, and I'm just spitballing here, people could be adults and not think they're being cool and edgy by putting a dick somewhere on a map. Personal responsibility and all that.

    This is why we can't have nice things.

  24. Re:So like Japan? on Psychologist: Porn and Video Game Addiction Are Leading To 'Masculinity Crisis' · · Score: 1

    So it's like what happened to Bart Simpson:

    Link

  25. So like Japan? on Psychologist: Porn and Video Game Addiction Are Leading To 'Masculinity Crisis' · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The comments from the article sound eerily similar to those coming from Japanese men. More and more they are playing video games and watching porn rather than interacting with other people, most especially women.

    It might have something to do with control. When you're playing a game, you are in control of your character. You are still at the whim of your surroundings and other players, but you are in control of "yourself".

    Not so when approaching others and most especially women. With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

    It's easier to not bother than deal with asshats.