1. That it's a redefinition of the word "marriage" to mean something it never meant before. It's true. Marriage always meant something involving a man and a woman. Anything else is an extension of the meaning.
No. In many places, including the territory of Utah, polygamy has been practiced, so it was not between a man and a woman.
2. That you did have the exact same rights as heterosexual people, including, yes, the right to a heterosexual marriage.
Would you say that blacks had the same right in 1940's Alabama: they could park their white butt in the front of the bus. What's that? You don't have a white butt? Too bad.
3. Passing laws and granting new rights is a privilege of congress, not of a judge legislating from the bench.
No. If a judge finds that the laws are on conflict with the US Constitution (federal courts and state courts) or the state Constitution (state courts), then the judges are obligated to rule that the discriminatory law is not valid. This is what happened in Massachussets.
Libertarians are about freedom without
harms- if it harms everyone other than the given individual, then it's a problem.
I agree with your sentiment, but it does not reflect Libertarian belief*. Libertarians oppose environmental laws against dumping toxins in rivers*. The Libertarian view is that an individual who can prove that they have been harmed must come forward and sue in civil court*. Preventive laws are not permitted in their view.
* My understanding of this comes from debating (privately) a Libertarian Party candidate for state senate in the state of Florida. If his views are not 'official' Libertarian views, then whose are?
Nevermind the fact that Libertarians are in favor of civil lawsuits against companies that poison the environment (assuming that poisoning actually causes any harm, if it doesn't then you have no right to restrict me
So if I think that I have been harmed by the mercury that you dumped, I have prove that I was harmed not only by mercury, but by the molecules of mercury that you dumped. And if I was harmed by your mercury but can't prove that it was yours and not your neighboors mercury that harmed me, I can just screw off while you and your neighboor get to keep dumping mercury. Isn't it enough for us to know that mercury is bad for people. What a stupid system you propose.
Vote with your choices and your feet. Don't buy RIAA music.
Or go one step further. Find backing (one rich individual, or tens of thousands of small shareholders) to start a new record company. This company will not join the RIAA, and will enter into a 'Fair Trade' contract with its artists (and its customers). You will need to be able to offer to the artists, the same services and benefits that are offered by the major record labels (minus the screwing-over service). The biggest hurdle will probably be your inability to get commercial radio stations to play your music, but maybe iPod+internet can be as effective as commercial radio?
Forget newspapers and magazines as the target for ePaper. I want a small-ish 300 page (ePaper) hardcover book with 2GB of flash in the spine. Put a simple membrane keyboard inside the front cover to choose Titles (and Chapter(s) for works > 300 pages). Dock it into a PC to transfer Project Gutenberg titles, and daily slurps of your favorites blogs and news sites.
You pre-suppose that every mystery can yeild to science. Consider this: it is very likely that the Big Bang was an informational event horizon. No shred of information as to the state of the Universe prior to the Big Bang survived the explosive transformation. If this is the case, then we can never have a 'scientific' explanation as to what came before. It could be the Christian God snapping His fingers. It could have been a Tolkien-esque universe. It could fit a 'Cyclic Universe' theory, where there used to be a Universe like our own. Any conjecture about what came before relates to the 'supernatural' (if the informational event horizon is correct).
Assume for a moment that the Christian God is real, as described by Christians, and created the Universe. Surely this is a transcendent rather than an immanent deity, and therefor supernatural. I am not saying that such a creature exists, but we can delineate natural from supernatural, at least in extreme cases.
I would submit that you CAN have a scientific mindset about 'religious' topics - whatever that is - and everything else, because the scientific method is the only 'mindset' that has proven to be explanatory AND predictive.
But a scientific mindset can only be 'explanatory and predictive' about the natural world. How are you going to conduct experiments involving the supernatural. How can you falsify a non-scientific 'theory' based on magic? You can't.
2: kids learning the fundamentals of math has nothing to do with how many times they are forced to repeat the same basic operations. But the point isn't worth fighting.
6: only if those schools are required to teach the same cirriculum, and be held to the same testing standards as public schools. And the total tuition must be less than or equal to the amount provided by government voucher. Otherwise, the price of existing, quality private schools will go up by the amount of the voucher, and you are only subsidizing the rich to keep sending their kids to private school.
8: our kids' knowledge of social studies, geography, etc. are at least as bad as their knowledge of science and math. If you want to know where the money is going that should be used to teach math and science, look out the window at the football field.
Furthermore, Catholic schools teach evolution. Because Catholics are not fundamentalist (not believing in the absolute and literal correctness of the Bible), evolution is not inconsistent with Catholic belief.
when someone can document a series of reactions starting with non-organic, naturally-occurring compounds that results in an organism capable of...
You have completely misunderstood the term 'Origin of Species'. No one is suggesting that evolution explains the origin of Life! After you have life (through divine creation or big fat spark hitting primordial soup), then evolution kicks-in. Evolution explains how the world's different species evolved from early life.
The "religious right" doesn't do anything to stop people from researching.
The members of the religious right who are running our government have removed funding from some research, and coerced other scientists into changing the results of their research to suit political and religious ends.
Having a religious mindset and having a scientific mindset are polar opposites.
I disagree. You can have a scientific mindset about science and a religious mindset about religious topics, without being in conflict. The problem is when you have a religious mindset when dealing with scientific topics (age of the earth, etc.)
Oddly, you cannot have a scientific mindset about religious topics. If you try to (for instance) deny the existence of a deity because of your 'scientific' mindset, then you are not in fact exhibiting a scientific mindset. Science has nothing to do with the supernatural, for or against. Science by definition deals with the natural world (and would that people restricted their religious views to the supernatural!)
Doctors (and yes, nurses) who in theory work for a 'boss', are both entitled and required to tell their boss "No!" if the boss tries to order them to do something that is dangerously incorrect to a patient. The classic case is a doctor ordering a nurse to administer a drug that is counterindicated for a patient (like in the case of the patient taking a different medicine which would trigger a bad reaction). The nurse can be held liable if they administer the drug.
So, if developers are to be reclassified to be a profession like doctors and nurses, then I will have the ability to tell my boss: "We are going to do a 3-week QA cycle. I don't care what it costs; this is not your call."
If you 'jiggle the handle' on my software, everything works fine. If you apply 2,000 lbs of torque to the handle (lets say opening a spreadsheet with > 1k rows), then it fails. If a burgler applies 2,000 lbs of force to a door handle and it yeilds, is the lock manufacturer liable?
Actually, the real impact of this kind of law would be that there would never again be a 'release' of a software package. Every 'release' would be marked "Beta 16", "Beta 17", etc. Then the software company is not liable, because there are supposed to be bugs in Beta software.
Almost all adults in Level 1 can read a little but not well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child. Adults in Level 2 usually can perform more complex tasks such as comparing, contrasting, or integrating pieces of information, but usually not higher level reading and problem-solving skills. Adults in levels 3 through 5 usually can perform the same types of more complex tasks on increasingly lengthy and dense texts and documents. ...
How literate is the adult population?
Very few adults in the US are truly illiterate. Rather, there are many adults with low literacy skills who lack the foundation they need to find and keep decent jobs, support their children's education, and participate actively in civic life. Between 21 and 23 percent of the adult population, or approximately 44 million people, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), scored in Level 1 (see description above). Another 25-28 percent of the adult population, or between 45 and 50 million people, scored in Level 2. Literacy experts believe that adults with skills at Levels 1 and 2 lack a sufficient foundation of basic skills to function successfully in our society.
So 46%-51% of our population "lack a sufficient foundation of basic skills to function successfully in our society".
But Boxer is a sentor from California. She is supposed to be representing the interests of her constituents (Californians). So when she works to pump more money into an industry that employs a lot of her constituents, she is honoring one of her 'proper' obligations at the cost of the rest of us. When someone from Tennessee votes this way, they are screwing their constituents (and us) in a manner that screams 'corruption'.
Those sound like really good suggestions. One modification: don't make the X.509v3 certificate mandatory. Don't even make logging-in mandatory. Let casual users make effortless edits, and depend on the rest of your suggestions to keep the quality high. Where would you set the default (not-logged-in) profile for browsing? 'unpolluted', 'validated'? If you go too strict, then you are damaging the wiki nature.
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No. In many places, including the territory of Utah, polygamy has been practiced, so it was not between a man and a woman.
2. That you did have the exact same rights as heterosexual people, including, yes, the right to a heterosexual marriage.
Would you say that blacks had the same right in 1940's Alabama: they could park their white butt in the front of the bus. What's that? You don't have a white butt? Too bad.
3. Passing laws and granting new rights is a privilege of congress, not of a judge legislating from the bench.
No. If a judge finds that the laws are on conflict with the US Constitution (federal courts and state courts) or the state Constitution (state courts), then the judges are obligated to rule that the discriminatory law is not valid. This is what happened in Massachussets.
Yes. Hitler was a marvelous painter, and we should praise his creativity. Maybe put up a statue, or contribute to a memorial fund in his name.
You can't mod me down for this. Godwin's Law must be followed.
I agree with your sentiment, but it does not reflect Libertarian belief*. Libertarians oppose environmental laws against dumping toxins in rivers*. The Libertarian view is that an individual who can prove that they have been harmed must come forward and sue in civil court*. Preventive laws are not permitted in their view.
* My understanding of this comes from debating (privately) a Libertarian Party candidate for state senate in the state of Florida. If his views are not 'official' Libertarian views, then whose are?
So if I think that I have been harmed by the mercury that you dumped, I have prove that I was harmed not only by mercury, but by the molecules of mercury that you dumped. And if I was harmed by your mercury but can't prove that it was yours and not your neighboors mercury that harmed me, I can just screw off while you and your neighboor get to keep dumping mercury. Isn't it enough for us to know that mercury is bad for people. What a stupid system you propose.
Or go one step further. Find backing (one rich individual, or tens of thousands of small shareholders) to start a new record company. This company will not join the RIAA, and will enter into a 'Fair Trade' contract with its artists (and its customers). You will need to be able to offer to the artists, the same services and benefits that are offered by the major record labels (minus the screwing-over service). The biggest hurdle will probably be your inability to get commercial radio stations to play your music, but maybe iPod+internet can be as effective as commercial radio?
Yeah, because Bush and Gore stand on the same side on all of these issues:
- Abortion Rights
- Prayer in Schools
- The Environment
- Free Trade
- Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
- Gun Control
- Teaching Intelligent Design in Schools
- etc
You have drunk the Nader Koolaid that says that there is no difference between Democrats and Republicans.What about the freedom to:
Forget newspapers and magazines as the target for ePaper. I want a small-ish 300 page (ePaper) hardcover book with 2GB of flash in the spine. Put a simple membrane keyboard inside the front cover to choose Titles (and Chapter(s) for works > 300 pages). Dock it into a PC to transfer Project Gutenberg titles, and daily slurps of your favorites blogs and news sites.
Geeks don't need to RTFA on this one. We know the history of Windows. It's the triumph of hope over experience (apologies to Samuel Johnson).
Assume for a moment that the Christian God is real, as described by Christians, and created the Universe. Surely this is a transcendent rather than an immanent deity, and therefor supernatural. I am not saying that such a creature exists, but we can delineate natural from supernatural, at least in extreme cases.
But a scientific mindset can only be 'explanatory and predictive' about the natural world. How are you going to conduct experiments involving the supernatural. How can you falsify a non-scientific 'theory' based on magic? You can't.
1,3,4,5,7 are great.
2: kids learning the fundamentals of math has nothing to do with how many times they are forced to repeat the same basic operations. But the point isn't worth fighting.
6: only if those schools are required to teach the same cirriculum, and be held to the same testing standards as public schools. And the total tuition must be less than or equal to the amount provided by government voucher. Otherwise, the price of existing, quality private schools will go up by the amount of the voucher, and you are only subsidizing the rich to keep sending their kids to private school.
8: our kids' knowledge of social studies, geography, etc. are at least as bad as their knowledge of science and math. If you want to know where the money is going that should be used to teach math and science, look out the window at the football field.
Furthermore, Catholic schools teach evolution. Because Catholics are not fundamentalist (not believing in the absolute and literal correctness of the Bible), evolution is not inconsistent with Catholic belief.
You have completely misunderstood the term 'Origin of Species'. No one is suggesting that evolution explains the origin of Life! After you have life (through divine creation or big fat spark hitting primordial soup), then evolution kicks-in. Evolution explains how the world's different species evolved from early life.
Not in America they don't. You are free to 'affirm' that you are going to tell the... You don't have to 'swear', or mention God.
The effect that you are describing is not limited to /.; Bush's approval rating is around 36%. Most of the country thinks that he's doing a bad job.
The members of the religious right who are running our government have removed funding from some research, and coerced other scientists into changing the results of their research to suit political and religious ends.
I disagree. You can have a scientific mindset about science and a religious mindset about religious topics, without being in conflict. The problem is when you have a religious mindset when dealing with scientific topics (age of the earth, etc.)
Oddly, you cannot have a scientific mindset about religious topics. If you try to (for instance) deny the existence of a deity because of your 'scientific' mindset, then you are not in fact exhibiting a scientific mindset. Science has nothing to do with the supernatural, for or against. Science by definition deals with the natural world (and would that people restricted their religious views to the supernatural!)
So, if developers are to be reclassified to be a profession like doctors and nurses, then I will have the ability to tell my boss: "We are going to do a 3-week QA cycle. I don't care what it costs; this is not your call."
If you 'jiggle the handle' on my software, everything works fine. If you apply 2,000 lbs of torque to the handle (lets say opening a spreadsheet with > 1k rows), then it fails. If a burgler applies 2,000 lbs of force to a door handle and it yeilds, is the lock manufacturer liable?
Actually, the real impact of this kind of law would be that there would never again be a 'release' of a software package. Every 'release' would be marked "Beta 16", "Beta 17", etc. Then the software company is not liable, because there are supposed to be bugs in Beta software.
Almost all adults in Level 1 can read a little but not well enough to fill out an application, read a food label, or read a simple story to a child. Adults in Level 2 usually can perform more complex tasks such as comparing, contrasting, or integrating pieces of information, but usually not higher level reading and problem-solving skills. Adults in levels 3 through 5 usually can perform the same types of more complex tasks on increasingly lengthy and dense texts and documents.
...
How literate is the adult population?
Very few adults in the US are truly illiterate. Rather, there are many adults with low literacy skills who lack the foundation they need to find and keep decent jobs, support their children's education, and participate actively in civic life. Between 21 and 23 percent of the adult population, or approximately 44 million people, according to the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), scored in Level 1 (see description above). Another 25-28 percent of the adult population, or between 45 and 50 million people, scored in Level 2. Literacy experts believe that adults with skills at Levels 1 and 2 lack a sufficient foundation of basic skills to function successfully in our society.
So 46%-51% of our population "lack a sufficient foundation of basic skills to function successfully in our society".
But Boxer is a sentor from California. She is supposed to be representing the interests of her constituents (Californians). So when she works to pump more money into an industry that employs a lot of her constituents, she is honoring one of her 'proper' obligations at the cost of the rest of us. When someone from Tennessee votes this way, they are screwing their constituents (and us) in a manner that screams 'corruption'.
Copyright infringement is not stealing! Oh wait, wrong topic.
Those sound like really good suggestions. One modification: don't make the X.509v3 certificate mandatory. Don't even make logging-in mandatory. Let casual users make effortless edits, and depend on the rest of your suggestions to keep the quality high. Where would you set the default (not-logged-in) profile for browsing? 'unpolluted', 'validated'? If you go too strict, then you are damaging the wiki nature.