It has always been standard that for arranging things like roommates, dates, marriages, etc, that being able to not only select the gender and sexual orientation of the other party or parties is normal
It used to be standard to stone women - not men - when one man accused the woman of adultery - even if she was innocent.
It also used to be standard to allow slave owners to break into our houses in pursuit of escaped slaves, even if we lived in states where slavery was illegal.
Don't like the law? Fine. Change it. But don't ask a judge to rule against the law.
Me, I refuse to rent to people who aren't Pastafarians.
How far does this law go? In California Alcoholism can be considered a protected class. Can I not kick out (or screen) a roommate because he's an alcoholic?
Well, you are confusing Behavior with Status.
An alcoholic is an alcoholic even when they don't drink.
You can refuse to permit drinking in your house, or loud parties. But if someone is an alcoholic and is, say, in AA, then they should be able to rent from you. Just like I can refuse to rent to someone who smokes in my house, but not refuse to rent to someone who smokes - if they want to smoke in their car or at work or at bars, this is none of my business.
Again, you are subject to the laws of the state, county, and municipality you reside in.
If you don't like the law, change it. But many counties, states, and municipalities have expressly made laws making such discrimination illegal.
For example, in my city and county (but not the state owned university) it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of someone's gender and sexual preference, no matter what your objection may be.
Don't like it? Fine, change the law, but don't ask a judge to rule otherwise.
I don't like renting to bigots, but sadly, should I rent a room where I live, I would have to do so, if it was their religion.
But I can refuse to rent to people who listen to country music, for example, which is a much more effective screen.
But a judge rules on the law, not what you want the law to be.
Just because you have good reasons to discriminate, doesn't change the basic fact that you want to discriminate, nor does it change the law which states you can't do it.
Don't like it? Fine, you know where city hall is - or at least how to Google it.
Pardon me for being educated in British Columbia (BC) since the age of 11. I used the common English language spelling of the word flourescent, not the American dialect variant of florescent.
Instead of listing 26 reasons that global warming is real and caused by humans, wouldn't we all be better served by a list of 26 things that a single person can do to improve our quality of life and the health of the environment (that just so happen to also reduce global warming) that aren't prohibitively expensive or that demand levels of sacrifice that we all know Joe Blow won't make?
Exactly. In fact, if you read the article, you would have noticed a few that specifically are What Can I Do issues.
Let's break it down:
First, Primary, Big Impact: your cars, SUVs, trucks. This accounts for probably 50 percent of your lifestyle choices that impact global warming (or cataclysmic global climate change, since it oscillates like crazy when pushed).
What can you do?
A. Easy - take your vehicle(s) in for regular tuneups. Keep the tires PROPERLY inflated. Amazingly, this can affect 10 percent of your impact from vehicles.
B. Moderate - next vehicle(s) you buy, new or used, just get one that gets 5 mpg BETTER than your last.
C. Real Change - increase transit use, walking, and bicycling instead of car/SUV/truck use. Switch from a low mpg class like an SUV that you use for in-city driving to a passenger car with twice the mpg. Carpool. Move closer to where you work. Have fewer cars in your family (for example, drop the kids off en route and make them take the bus home).
Second. Flying. If you visit Europe, consider only flying to the first destination, and using their high-speed passenger rail system (same time as a jet) to travel from one city to the next, and then using local transit once you arrive. This will save you money, and sometimes time. If travelling to Germany, but wanting to see London, consider flying to London and then taking the train the rest of the way, stopping along the way to see other spots. Or use one of the new Boeing low-fuel plane models on a flight leg if you can (they use 50 percent as much jet fuel, a MAJOR impact on global warming, and it cost YOU the SAME or less to fly on it).
Third. Lightbulbs. Seriously. Just consider replacing lights as they burn out with high-quality inexpensive 4 or 6 packs of Compact Flourescent Lights (CFL) at Home Depot - usually I can get 4 for about $6 or 6 for $9. Worth a trip. This will SAVE YOU MONEY. Each lasts five to seven years, they use 1/8 as much energy. Or consider the slightly expensive LED lights - they use 1/20th the energy - new ones are WHITE light. These should be as cheap as CFLs by 2008, and will be required in most US states and all of Canada, so it's not like you have a choice anyway.
Everyone who, like my entire shop, buys One Linux License and installs the same configuration on all 100 servers, counts as One Sale.
Everyone who buys a Windows laptop and then installs Ubuntu Linux on top of it, counts as a Windows install, but NOT as an Ubuntu sale (since most just got the disks from cheapbytes.
Everyone who buys a Mac laughs at the Windows installs, since they live virus-free anyway.
Those who believe statistics without analyzing the underlying precepts, are doomed to live in an artificial world that does not resemble reality. Have fun with your pretty unicorns, but don't be upset if I harsh your mellow.
Huge, wealthy multinationals are the only ones who can use L visas, and all they have to do to get an Indian engineer an L visa is give them a fake business card with the word "manager" on it somewhere.
I agree for corporations, but be advised we use L-1 and L-2 visas here at the University of Washington to bring in many foreign grads and post-grads. Perhaps corporate America is corrupt... but that is not the entire picture.
Exactly. You can get 100 mpg with a wind-power plug-in hybrid - in the Pacific Northwest more than 95 percent of the normal electricity supply is derived from hydro and wind alone, and is cheaper than even natural gas. Especially with the dynamic nature of the power supply, storing it in batteries for trips up to 300 miles makes a lot of sense.
The truth is that the entire H1-B visa program is intentionally used to provide cheap labor from overseas.
This is less true of L-1 and L-2 visas, except for firms engaged in active outsourcing.
If they would just make it easy (as in FAST, 6 months max time) to have people with legitimate Ph.D's move here - without any right of having their "family" move here, other than a spouse - the program might work.
I'd rather be able to see what's on, and select it, a week into the future, than be stuck with the MSFT version that rarely can see more than a day into the future.
So, yes, this is a Feature. Just as not getting Error -51 is a Feature.
Let's just hope they didn't patent menus built from databases (which as I recall, I built some of the first public domain versions of...) to bollix it up...
The original versions (before the MSFT version) used to see a week out. The current version frequently can't look out more than one day - and sometimes not even that.
I for one welcome our non-patent-overlording non-MSFT overlords.
It seemed to have no ability to look forward more than a day or two, failed to understand that when you search for shows, you might be interested in others with the same title, and fried out way too often.
This great news (dumping MSFT on my cable box), combined with the planned rollout of 400 Mbps cable modem service for the same price as I pay today, is fantastic!
No, the use of the fork as a standard place setting, with the standard number of tines we use now, is a distinctly American invention.
But you are correct in your description of the three-tined fork used for cooking (spearing) large chunks of meat (still in use in 2 and 3 tine versions in modern kitchens), and the two and three tine forks used in farming, and as weapons.
But only in America did they see fit to increase the number of tines and use them in place settings, as opposed to as serving implements.
Next thing you know you'll be denying the positive effects of songbirds cooked in flour for a good American breakfast...
[those who ignore history are doomed to invade the Fertile Crescent]
I told you, I read (in depth), the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, corporate presentations from my brokers, annual reports from the firms I own, and follow a number of economics subjects online in academic and corporate databases.
You go back to defending my employees, the CEOs and execs that rip me off, like a good Red Bushie. I'll be here laughing at your economic inefficiencies and the mental constructs you create to make you think you understand capitalism.
Well, so was Greece, Rome, and for that matter both the French and English empires.
Claiming that slavery trumps the FACT that we specifically had LOWER IP standards in America, and profited from intellectual piracy from the greater nations of the time, does not invalidate my claim that the IP standards existent at that time were better than the deeply flawed ones the corporate pirates - who used to pay MORE income tax as a share of revenue - would have us suffer under.
Information wants to be free. Just as Americans do. We are not chattel serfs of corporations, who do not even EXIST in our Constitution, and which have no rights in it.
Can someone explain why copyrights and patents should expire? I'm being serious.
For the reasons they always were supposed to expire:
A. To stop hereditary dynasties founded on the work of others, as opposed to the sweat of one's brow (note that if you died back then your spouse and children kept the rewards until expiry).
B. To promote the common good and acceleration of knowledge within society - just because someone invented the fork (an American invention), that shouldn't mean someone else can't invent a fork with a mustache protector, just as someone inventing a steam radiator didn't stop my grandfather from patenting improvements on steam radiators.
C. To return the rewards of invention to society - in the old days, many patents were public patents, owned by the state, used to pay for things like roads for the citizens. Same goes for works of fiction - you only had to make sure noone wrote it in the last 17 years, but no sense for a novel not to be reprinted after a reasonable length of time.
Yea, it's not good enough to just talk on your headset in the theater... it has to fucking blink with that damn bright as hell blue light the entire time. I use to eat Milk-duds... now they're ammo. Cause I'm afraid of confrontation.
I find gum works just as well. And then there's no blinky light...
Slashdot Mirror
It has always been standard that for arranging things like roommates, dates, marriages, etc, that being able to not only select the gender and sexual orientation of the other party or parties is normal
It used to be standard to stone women - not men - when one man accused the woman of adultery - even if she was innocent.
It also used to be standard to allow slave owners to break into our houses in pursuit of escaped slaves, even if we lived in states where slavery was illegal.
Don't like the law? Fine. Change it. But don't ask a judge to rule against the law.
Me, I refuse to rent to people who aren't Pastafarians.
Sorry, your rights are restricted by law.
Don't like the law, change it.
But don't complain if a judge properly rules that the law is what it is.
If you don't want to rent to certain people - including roommates - then live alone.
How far does this law go? In California Alcoholism can be considered a protected class. Can I not kick out (or screen) a roommate because he's an alcoholic?
Well, you are confusing Behavior with Status.
An alcoholic is an alcoholic even when they don't drink.
You can refuse to permit drinking in your house, or loud parties. But if someone is an alcoholic and is, say, in AA, then they should be able to rent from you. Just like I can refuse to rent to someone who smokes in my house, but not refuse to rent to someone who smokes - if they want to smoke in their car or at work or at bars, this is none of my business.
Again, you are subject to the laws of the state, county, and municipality you reside in.
If you don't like the law, change it. But many counties, states, and municipalities have expressly made laws making such discrimination illegal.
For example, in my city and county (but not the state owned university) it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of someone's gender and sexual preference, no matter what your objection may be.
Don't like it? Fine, change the law, but don't ask a judge to rule otherwise.
I don't like renting to bigots, but sadly, should I rent a room where I live, I would have to do so, if it was their religion.
But I can refuse to rent to people who listen to country music, for example, which is a much more effective screen.
Judges rule based on the law, not your desires.
If you don't like the law, change it.
But a judge rules on the law, not what you want the law to be.
Just because you have good reasons to discriminate, doesn't change the basic fact that you want to discriminate, nor does it change the law which states you can't do it.
Don't like it? Fine, you know where city hall is - or at least how to Google it.
Pardon me for being educated in British Columbia (BC) since the age of 11. I used the common English language spelling of the word flourescent, not the American dialect variant of florescent.
News flash, not everyone speaks your dialect.
Just because people want to know this information so that they can discriminate, doesn't mean they should be permitted to.
The rule of law - it's not always what you think, but it's something we need.
Instead of listing 26 reasons that global warming is real and caused by humans, wouldn't we all be better served by a list of 26 things that a single person can do to improve our quality of life and the health of the environment (that just so happen to also reduce global warming) that aren't prohibitively expensive or that demand levels of sacrifice that we all know Joe Blow won't make?
Exactly. In fact, if you read the article, you would have noticed a few that specifically are What Can I Do issues.
Let's break it down:
First, Primary, Big Impact: your cars, SUVs, trucks. This accounts for probably 50 percent of your lifestyle choices that impact global warming (or cataclysmic global climate change, since it oscillates like crazy when pushed).
What can you do?
A. Easy - take your vehicle(s) in for regular tuneups. Keep the tires PROPERLY inflated. Amazingly, this can affect 10 percent of your impact from vehicles.
B. Moderate - next vehicle(s) you buy, new or used, just get one that gets 5 mpg BETTER than your last.
C. Real Change - increase transit use, walking, and bicycling instead of car/SUV/truck use. Switch from a low mpg class like an SUV that you use for in-city driving to a passenger car with twice the mpg. Carpool. Move closer to where you work. Have fewer cars in your family (for example, drop the kids off en route and make them take the bus home).
Second. Flying. If you visit Europe, consider only flying to the first destination, and using their high-speed passenger rail system (same time as a jet) to travel from one city to the next, and then using local transit once you arrive. This will save you money, and sometimes time. If travelling to Germany, but wanting to see London, consider flying to London and then taking the train the rest of the way, stopping along the way to see other spots. Or use one of the new Boeing low-fuel plane models on a flight leg if you can (they use 50 percent as much jet fuel, a MAJOR impact on global warming, and it cost YOU the SAME or less to fly on it).
Third. Lightbulbs. Seriously. Just consider replacing lights as they burn out with high-quality inexpensive 4 or 6 packs of Compact Flourescent Lights (CFL) at Home Depot - usually I can get 4 for about $6 or 6 for $9. Worth a trip. This will SAVE YOU MONEY. Each lasts five to seven years, they use 1/8 as much energy. Or consider the slightly expensive LED lights - they use 1/20th the energy - new ones are WHITE light. These should be as cheap as CFLs by 2008, and will be required in most US states and all of Canada, so it's not like you have a choice anyway.
Remember, these are sales of OS versions.
Everyone who, like my entire shop, buys One Linux License and installs the same configuration on all 100 servers, counts as One Sale.
Everyone who buys a Windows laptop and then installs Ubuntu Linux on top of it, counts as a Windows install, but NOT as an Ubuntu sale (since most just got the disks from cheapbytes.
Everyone who buys a Mac laughs at the Windows installs, since they live virus-free anyway.
Those who believe statistics without analyzing the underlying precepts, are doomed to live in an artificial world that does not resemble reality. Have fun with your pretty unicorns, but don't be upset if I harsh your mellow.
Huge, wealthy multinationals are the only ones who can use L visas, and all they have to do to get an Indian engineer an L visa is give them a fake business card with the word "manager" on it somewhere.
... but that is not the entire picture.
I agree for corporations, but be advised we use L-1 and L-2 visas here at the University of Washington to bring in many foreign grads and post-grads. Perhaps corporate America is corrupt
Exactly. You can get 100 mpg with a wind-power plug-in hybrid - in the Pacific Northwest more than 95 percent of the normal electricity supply is derived from hydro and wind alone, and is cheaper than even natural gas. Especially with the dynamic nature of the power supply, storing it in batteries for trips up to 300 miles makes a lot of sense.
But that would be prudent.
The truth is that the entire H1-B visa program is intentionally used to provide cheap labor from overseas.
This is less true of L-1 and L-2 visas, except for firms engaged in active outsourcing.
If they would just make it easy (as in FAST, 6 months max time) to have people with legitimate Ph.D's move here - without any right of having their "family" move here, other than a spouse - the program might work.
I'd rather be able to see what's on, and select it, a week into the future, than be stuck with the MSFT version that rarely can see more than a day into the future.
...) to bollix it up ...
So, yes, this is a Feature. Just as not getting Error -51 is a Feature.
Let's just hope they didn't patent menus built from databases (which as I recall, I built some of the first public domain versions of
The original versions (before the MSFT version) used to see a week out. The current version frequently can't look out more than one day - and sometimes not even that.
I for one welcome our non-patent-overlording non-MSFT overlords.
It seemed to have no ability to look forward more than a day or two, failed to understand that when you search for shows, you might be interested in others with the same title, and fried out way too often.
This great news (dumping MSFT on my cable box), combined with the planned rollout of 400 Mbps cable modem service for the same price as I pay today, is fantastic!
Or perhaps you just want to divert the discussion away from the original topic ...
law school undergrad, huh?
In any case it seems that even owning property in country where I live (Canada) is impossible.
Then move. Noone is keeping you in your country where you live 10 years longer than we Americans.
No, the use of the fork as a standard place setting, with the standard number of tines we use now, is a distinctly American invention.
...
But you are correct in your description of the three-tined fork used for cooking (spearing) large chunks of meat (still in use in 2 and 3 tine versions in modern kitchens), and the two and three tine forks used in farming, and as weapons.
But only in America did they see fit to increase the number of tines and use them in place settings, as opposed to as serving implements.
Next thing you know you'll be denying the positive effects of songbirds cooked in flour for a good American breakfast
[those who ignore history are doomed to invade the Fertile Crescent]
I told you, I read (in depth), the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, corporate presentations from my brokers, annual reports from the firms I own, and follow a number of economics subjects online in academic and corporate databases.
You go back to defending my employees, the CEOs and execs that rip me off, like a good Red Bushie. I'll be here laughing at your economic inefficiencies and the mental constructs you create to make you think you understand capitalism.
Well, so was Greece, Rome, and for that matter both the French and English empires.
Claiming that slavery trumps the FACT that we specifically had LOWER IP standards in America, and profited from intellectual piracy from the greater nations of the time, does not invalidate my claim that the IP standards existent at that time were better than the deeply flawed ones the corporate pirates - who used to pay MORE income tax as a share of revenue - would have us suffer under.
Information wants to be free. Just as Americans do. We are not chattel serfs of corporations, who do not even EXIST in our Constitution, and which have no rights in it.
I regret that I have but one USB Flash Drive MP3 player to give for my country!
Can someone explain why copyrights and patents should expire? I'm being serious.
For the reasons they always were supposed to expire:
A. To stop hereditary dynasties founded on the work of others, as opposed to the sweat of one's brow (note that if you died back then your spouse and children kept the rewards until expiry).
B. To promote the common good and acceleration of knowledge within society - just because someone invented the fork (an American invention), that shouldn't mean someone else can't invent a fork with a mustache protector, just as someone inventing a steam radiator didn't stop my grandfather from patenting improvements on steam radiators.
C. To return the rewards of invention to society - in the old days, many patents were public patents, owned by the state, used to pay for things like roads for the citizens. Same goes for works of fiction - you only had to make sure noone wrote it in the last 17 years, but no sense for a novel not to be reprinted after a reasonable length of time.
That's just a start.
America was founded on piracy of intellectual property, after all, starting with textiles, and extending to many engineering marvels.
I for one miss the days of a single 17 year patent life, and a copyright that ended after 21 years.
And I say that as a published (paid) writer.
Yea, it's not good enough to just talk on your headset in the theater... it has to fucking blink with that damn bright as hell blue light the entire time. I use to eat Milk-duds... now they're ammo. Cause I'm afraid of confrontation.
...
I find gum works just as well. And then there's no blinky light