"The House debate included frequent references to the attacks earlier in the day, two weeks after larger London blasts that killed 56, including four suicide bombers." Hmmm... could it be that THIS is what the London blasts were about?
Prudent, sensible political analysis of the kind only Democrats can come up with. Reminds me of a radio jingle I *think* I heard the other day://JINGLE//
Are you a "felon", "rapist" or "terrorist"*? Do you have trouble with The Man, Consensusnormativity or perhaps The Great Infidel Satan? No worries! - The Democrats(TM) are on the case! We are working tirelessly around the clock to shorten your sentence, restoring your voting rights, and getting your ass out of Gitmo! No matter what kind of antisocial freak you are, The Democrats (TM) will always be there for you!
And remember: It's not your fault - It's the fault of a wealthy white male! Vote Democrat!//JINGLE//
*: DISCLAIMER: One man's "terrorist" is another man's Freedom Fighter.
This is a great idea - but why limit this to the USA PATRIOT act?
Let's really get accountability back into the legislative process: If there are any murders or shopliftings in the next ten years, let's repeal murder and theft statutes and refund, say, 20 percent of tax revenues to the people!
The article states that this is intended for cases where the normal drugs-'n-therapy route doesn't work. So, I wouldn't get too Cruise-ish about this whole thing, really...:)
Of course, therapy is also about inducing electrical-biological changes to the brain, only using a different interface method.
You, sir - are a trolling genius. Really. You have the race-obsessed, stick-inserted-in-anus Liberal routine down better than most.
Em / Bows
PS.
For those thinking this is serious, enjoy this sample from poster's recent history: "GNAA FP MOTHERFUCKERS"
DS.
"The content providers have got it backward. They're not going to find their panacea with a completely-secure, uncrackable DRM scheme."
True, but that is not what they are looking for. Rather, their solution lies in DRM schemes that create significant barriers to copying, either in terms of effort, and / or quality-of-service deterioration.
Their aim is not to shut down Joe-L33t. Rather, they just have to keep Joe-schmoe buying their stuff rather than downloading. It might not be possible to snuff out copying entirely (if it can be viewed / listned to it can be copied, after all...) - instead they will aim to use a mix of DRM and enforcemen.
This means raids on the largest distributors, scare tactics against common copiers "pour encourager les autres", DRM on all content sold, etc. - combined with developing "official" digital distribution channels. In the end, it will probably work pretty well.
Sure, there will probably be cracks, workarounds, etc. available, but Joe-Schmoe isn't going to spend hours trawling obscure websites full of porn popups to find them.
Erm, if video performance is not a problem, I assume we are talking about running MS Office + a mail app here? So, to sum up your argument:
1) You don't need dedicated video memory for a cheapo office computer to be viable... (My comment: No argument there)
2)...but you do need a 3 GHz or so Celeron D / P4 and at least 512 megs / 1 GB or RAM to run the aforementioned Office package + mail app. (My comment: Eh?)
Two points: (I never, ever thought I'd become a SW apologist, but here goes...)
1.) Who says the Empire can't track interstellar communications? They should have some pretty impressive listening systems, methinks.
2.) As long as the recharge time of the deathstar beam-o-death is longer than 30 minutes, it makes sense to hold off firing. IIRC, that is far from impossible.
There, George - do I get a check or something? Please?
First: Does US public education "suck"? Looking at international tests such as the TIMSS, it is certainly true that many countries score above the US. Still, in 8:th grade maths for instance (a "hard" dicipline), the US beats out my native Sweden slightly. (504 vs. 499)
In any case, while I am certain many excellent suggestions will be voiced in this thread, here are some less conventional and more controversial ways of improving public education:
1.) Cut all non-skilled immigration (illegal and legal) drastically. (This step mostly applies to high-immigration regions in the US, mainly California)
Having a massive influx of uneducated people who do not speak the national language is hardly conduitive to creating good schools.
2.) Focus on minorities. (I.e: Blacks and latinos.) While the average US TIMSS score for grade 8 is 504, white US students on average score 525. White american 8:th graders taken as a (fictional) nation thus score in the international top 10. Blacks score 448 and latinos 465, more in line with various middle-eastern countries.
Suggested remedy: Martial law + immidiate jailing of every single gangsta rapper should be a good start.
3.) Sorting. Making high-IQ high-achievers with low levels of assertiveness outcasts is a poor way of going about business. Thus, aggressive and relatively early sorting can boost performance. It will, however, reduce social cohesiveness. Thus, this is an optimization problem - apply your preferences at will.
"Architecture changes that mean the XBOX II won't be able to run XBOX games"
FUD! FUD! FUD!
Re:Probably this is just a trick by Merrill Lynch.
on
A $251 Million Typo
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Hey, you didn't provide a link to a book that proves that there is no corruption! There! He said you had to! You stooge of the system you!
It should also be added that this type has spammed similar posts on several threads, promoting the same site. It's more a case of making the topic fit the post than the other way round...
Powerful indictment, that - a list of 3 (three - count 'em!) anti-Bush movies (Including F/911, no less!), and every anti-Bush screed published. Who could possibly fail to be swayed by such an authoritative argument?
There is one good point in there - the Bush administration committed a huge fuckup with regards to Iraq. (Read: WMD, WMD, WMD) It alone should have been enough to warrant a change of administration, but alas...
The rest is the usual conjecture, and it hardly makes much of a case for "widespread corruption" or the like, as the term is usually understood.
"When the largest nation on earth (US) has just a few media outlets owned by right-wing Bushites"
Rupert Murdoch and...? (Plus, most Journalists vote Dem all the way)
"pumping out their awful crap; it's good to have a diametrically opposite media outlet - even if some think it's biased."
Of course it's biased. All news outlets are biased. There is not necessarily something wrong with that.
"The Supreme Court, for all the current right-wing majority's nascent authoritarian learnings"
Heh, I wish. As things stand, things are very unpredictable with this court - It has hardly been getting many attaboys from us on the right lately...
Of course, interpreting his point in that manner (I.e. - the fanaticism of the army should be the absolutely only factor to take into account) requires a not insignificant degree of bad faith on behalf of the reader.
It's an important factor - if you feel that it's insufficient, it's better to build on it, rather than to tear it down just because it alone does not have an R-squared of 100%.
"to extrapolate from individual characteristics (even culturally shared ones) to political/military outcomes, or even aggregate behaviour, is a fallacy."
Since when? I'm getting plain tired of this ever-expanding and ever-fuzzier list of "fallacies".
Of course, any absolutist treatment of one factor as being the sole determinant of complex chains of events is not to be advised.
Still, that doesn't mean that a single fact cannot be illuminating.
The fact that there was a long-standing hypermilitarism and fanaticism ingrained not only into the common soldier of the IJN/IJA, but into the military leadership as well certainly should be part of the equation when you try to figure out the chances of Japanese surrender. This is especially so as it was largely the military that controlled the government of Japan.
Hell, when the government tried to surrender *after* Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military launched an all-out coup attempt, seizing the imperial palace and launching a wave of assassination attempts on government officials.
For more information on Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan scheduled for November 1, 1945, there are many sites on the net, such as this one:
This isn't an issue about "rights" (well, you can make it one, but that's not very helpful) - it's an issue of who you trust.
If you are fine with our friend Kim Yong Il and the nice Mullahs of Theran getting the bomb, so be it. Still, that really tells the rest of us all we need to know about you and your alliegances.
Arguments about "rights" are useful in communities where there is some level of mutual trust and reciprocity - they aren't very useful when dealing with entities such as those mentioned above.
If those bootlegs can stop anyone from having to undergo the suffering that is Episode III, I am all for 'em!
Seriously though, my expectations for Episode III were low, but I didn't really expect it to be as craptastic as it was. Still, the CGI was good. (Albeit massively overused...)
"The Patriot Act is so fucking unpatriotic that George and Tom are still rolling in their graves. 200 years ago we went to war over such intrusions into our private lives and yet now we idly sit by and watch as slowly but surely the bill of rights becomes eroded with each new act of congress."
I would be really thrilled if you specified which part of the Patriot Act it is that scares you so. What is it about the Act that intrudes into your personal life? Just a straight answer, please.
"You know what the "24" in the show title really stands for?"
"Nah"
"It's the number of people in SoCal Jack Bauer hasn't tortured yet"
Still, this season is tame compared to season 2, where Bauer shoots a a guy who is unrelated to the investigation, and proceeds to saw his head off. (for the greater good!):P
Erm, yes - this season especially has been a cringe-a-thon deluxe (or something along those lines...). Nuclear Meltdown initiation in 80-something Nuclear Power Plants using 'teh intraweb', anyone? (They managed to crack Nuke-Net's Firewall using a huge bot net, you see!)
" one of the reasons was that Islam was a lot more progressive at the time than Christianity."
Primarily, it was because the Arabs were very good at organizing in large, very mobile groups, in order to kill other people.
Slashdot Mirror
"The House debate included frequent references to the attacks earlier in the day, two weeks after larger London blasts that killed 56, including four suicide bombers." Hmmm... could it be that THIS is what the London blasts were about?
//JINGLE//
//JINGLE//
Prudent, sensible political analysis of the kind only Democrats can come up with. Reminds me of a radio jingle I *think* I heard the other day:
Are you a "felon", "rapist" or "terrorist"*? Do you have trouble with The Man, Consensusnormativity or perhaps The Great Infidel Satan?
No worries! - The Democrats(TM) are on the case! We are working tirelessly around the clock to shorten your sentence, restoring your voting rights, and getting your ass out of Gitmo!
No matter what kind of antisocial freak you are, The Democrats (TM) will always be there for you!
And remember: It's not your fault - It's the fault of a wealthy white male! Vote Democrat!
*: DISCLAIMER: One man's "terrorist" is another man's Freedom Fighter.
This is a great idea - but why limit this to the USA PATRIOT act?
Let's really get accountability back into the legislative process: If there are any murders or shopliftings in the next ten years, let's repeal murder and theft statutes and refund, say, 20 percent of tax revenues to the people!
Keep those sweet ideas coming!
"It a law was written with potential for abuse, then the law shouldn't be law."
I very much doubt there would be any laws at all left if that standard was applied.
The issue of Padilla (aka "Abdullah al-Muhajir")and the designation of enemy combatants has *nothing whatsoever* to do with the Patriot act.
The article states that this is intended for cases where the normal drugs-'n-therapy route doesn't work. So, I wouldn't get too Cruise-ish about this whole thing, really... :)
Of course, therapy is also about inducing electrical-biological changes to the brain, only using a different interface method.
You, sir - are a trolling genius. Really. You have the race-obsessed, stick-inserted-in-anus Liberal routine down better than most. Em / Bows PS. For those thinking this is serious, enjoy this sample from poster's recent history: "GNAA FP MOTHERFUCKERS" DS.
"The content providers have got it backward. They're not going to find their panacea with a completely-secure, uncrackable DRM scheme."
True, but that is not what they are looking for. Rather, their solution lies in DRM schemes that create significant barriers to copying, either in terms of effort, and / or quality-of-service deterioration.
Their aim is not to shut down Joe-L33t. Rather, they just have to keep Joe-schmoe buying their stuff rather than downloading. It might not be possible to snuff out copying entirely (if it can be viewed / listned to it can be copied, after all...) - instead they will aim to use a mix of DRM and enforcemen.
This means raids on the largest distributors, scare tactics against common copiers "pour encourager les autres", DRM on all content sold, etc. - combined with developing "official" digital distribution channels. In the end, it will probably work pretty well.
Sure, there will probably be cracks, workarounds, etc. available, but Joe-Schmoe isn't going to spend hours trawling obscure websites full of porn popups to find them.
Erm, if video performance is not a problem, I assume we are talking about running MS Office + a mail app here? So, to sum up your argument:
...but you do need a 3 GHz or so Celeron D / P4 and at least 512 megs / 1 GB or RAM to run the aforementioned Office package + mail app. (My comment: Eh?)
1) You don't need dedicated video memory for a cheapo office computer to be viable... (My comment: No argument there)
2)
Two points: (I never, ever thought I'd become a SW apologist, but here goes...) 1.) Who says the Empire can't track interstellar communications? They should have some pretty impressive listening systems, methinks. 2.) As long as the recharge time of the deathstar beam-o-death is longer than 30 minutes, it makes sense to hold off firing. IIRC, that is far from impossible. There, George - do I get a check or something? Please?
First: Does US public education "suck"? Looking at international tests such as the TIMSS, it is certainly true that many countries score above the US. Still, in 8:th grade maths for instance (a "hard" dicipline), the US beats out my native Sweden slightly. (504 vs. 499)
:P
In any case, while I am certain many excellent suggestions will be voiced in this thread, here are some less conventional and more controversial ways of improving public education:
1.) Cut all non-skilled immigration (illegal and legal) drastically. (This step mostly applies to high-immigration regions in the US, mainly California)
Having a massive influx of uneducated people who do not speak the national language is hardly conduitive to creating good schools.
2.) Focus on minorities. (I.e: Blacks and latinos.) While the average US TIMSS score for grade 8 is 504, white US students on average score 525. White american 8:th graders taken as a (fictional) nation thus score in the international top 10. Blacks score 448 and latinos 465, more in line with various middle-eastern countries.
Suggested remedy: Martial law + immidiate jailing of every single gangsta rapper should be a good start.
3.) Sorting. Making high-IQ high-achievers with low levels of assertiveness outcasts is a poor way of going about business. Thus, aggressive and relatively early sorting can boost performance. It will, however, reduce social cohesiveness. Thus, this is an optimization problem - apply your preferences at will.
Any other outside-the box suggestions?
"Architecture changes that mean the XBOX II won't be able to run XBOX games"
FUD! FUD! FUD!
Hey, you didn't provide a link to a book that proves that there is no corruption! There! He said you had to! You stooge of the system you! It should also be added that this type has spammed similar posts on several threads, promoting the same site. It's more a case of making the topic fit the post than the other way round...
Powerful indictment, that - a list of 3 (three - count 'em!) anti-Bush movies (Including F/911, no less!), and every anti-Bush screed published. Who could possibly fail to be swayed by such an authoritative argument? There is one good point in there - the Bush administration committed a huge fuckup with regards to Iraq. (Read: WMD, WMD, WMD) It alone should have been enough to warrant a change of administration, but alas... The rest is the usual conjecture, and it hardly makes much of a case for "widespread corruption" or the like, as the term is usually understood.
Nah, when the dead vote, they vote Democrat! :)
"When the largest nation on earth (US) has just a few media outlets owned by right-wing Bushites" Rupert Murdoch and...? (Plus, most Journalists vote Dem all the way) "pumping out their awful crap; it's good to have a diametrically opposite media outlet - even if some think it's biased." Of course it's biased. All news outlets are biased. There is not necessarily something wrong with that.
"The Supreme Court, for all the current right-wing majority's nascent authoritarian learnings" Heh, I wish. As things stand, things are very unpredictable with this court - It has hardly been getting many attaboys from us on the right lately...
Of course, interpreting his point in that manner (I.e. - the fanaticism of the army should be the absolutely only factor to take into account) requires a not insignificant degree of bad faith on behalf of the reader.
It's an important factor - if you feel that it's insufficient, it's better to build on it, rather than to tear it down just because it alone does not have an R-squared of 100%.
"to extrapolate from individual characteristics (even culturally shared ones) to political/military outcomes, or even aggregate behaviour, is a fallacy."
w nfall.html
Since when? I'm getting plain tired of this ever-expanding and ever-fuzzier list of "fallacies".
Of course, any absolutist treatment of one factor as being the sole determinant of complex chains of events is not to be advised.
Still, that doesn't mean that a single fact cannot be illuminating.
The fact that there was a long-standing hypermilitarism and fanaticism ingrained not only into the common soldier of the IJN/IJA, but into the military leadership as well certainly should be part of the equation when you try to figure out the chances of Japanese surrender. This is especially so as it was largely the military that controlled the government of Japan.
Hell, when the government tried to surrender *after* Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military launched an all-out coup attempt, seizing the imperial palace and launching a wave of assassination attempts on government officials.
For more information on Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan scheduled for November 1, 1945, there are many sites on the net, such as this one:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/8141/do
This isn't an issue about "rights" (well, you can make it one, but that's not very helpful) - it's an issue of who you trust.
If you are fine with our friend Kim Yong Il and the nice Mullahs of Theran getting the bomb, so be it. Still, that really tells the rest of us all we need to know about you and your alliegances.
Arguments about "rights" are useful in communities where there is some level of mutual trust and reciprocity - they aren't very useful when dealing with entities such as those mentioned above.
worse than boring - it was pure frigging suffering to watch all that stilted dialogue, disjointed script... etc. etc. Nice CGI though...
If those bootlegs can stop anyone from having to undergo the suffering that is Episode III, I am all for 'em! Seriously though, my expectations for Episode III were low, but I didn't really expect it to be as craptastic as it was. Still, the CGI was good. (Albeit massively overused...)
"The Patriot Act is so fucking unpatriotic that George and Tom are still rolling in their graves. 200 years ago we went to war over such intrusions into our private lives and yet now we idly sit by and watch as slowly but surely the bill of rights becomes eroded with each new act of congress."
I would be really thrilled if you specified which part of the Patriot Act it is that scares you so. What is it about the Act that intrudes into your personal life? Just a straight answer, please.
"You know what the "24" in the show title really stands for?" :P
"Nah"
"It's the number of people in SoCal Jack Bauer hasn't tortured yet"
Still, this season is tame compared to season 2, where Bauer shoots a a guy who is unrelated to the investigation, and proceeds to saw his head off. (for the greater good!)
Erm, yes - this season especially has been a cringe-a-thon deluxe (or something along those lines...). Nuclear Meltdown initiation in 80-something Nuclear Power Plants using 'teh intraweb', anyone? (They managed to crack Nuke-Net's Firewall using a huge bot net, you see!)
" one of the reasons was that Islam was a lot more progressive at the time than Christianity." Primarily, it was because the Arabs were very good at organizing in large, very mobile groups, in order to kill other people.