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User: amohat

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  1. Re:Habeas Corpus not "revoked" on US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus · · Score: 1

    Ok, dude, you win. US soldiers and agents are butchering prisoners by the thousands, right now, even as we speak. Happy?

    Now what?

    Huh, something tells me the response will be something vague and ineffective. Also interesting that if you really think we have 80's Central American death squad action going on, you'd best keep your fucking mouth shut, too.

    I should take my own advice...good luck, comrade!

  2. Re:Habeas Corpus not "revoked" on US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus · · Score: 1

    Oooh, flame on!

    You are sort of that wild-eyed, crazy reactionary aren't you? I'm making that assumption because I don't think many of our soldiers or government agents are capable of such messy wet work. So when they outsource it, by shipping folks off to countries with real monsters, are they just as guilty? That would be a more productive dialog than questioning my citizenship.

    Ironic that you put me playing a position of defending the government, past and present, apparently. But also a common mistake to default to being divisive towards people who might be allies if you took the time to look deeper.

    Any proof that we are directly doing previously mentioned heinous acts to those in Gitmo? Where's all this evidence you speak of?

    I remember two NYPD officers shoving a broken broomstick up a black man's ass while in custody, until a third officer walked in and freaked out. There's some proof, and thankfully not every NYPD is a sadistic butcher with repressed homosexual tendencies. Beatings, simulated and real drownings, and the like I've read about going on in Gitmo. But not that real horrible shit. That's my point. There are levels of hell, right?

    Besides, for the record, any good student of history should distrust the US government, to say the least. But that doesn't mean automagically assuming there are hastily dug mass graves of charred and dismembered bodies of dissidents scattered around military bases. Welcome back to reality, my friend, we missed you.

  3. Re:Habeas Corpus not "revoked" on US Senate Fails To Reinstate Habeas Corpus · · Score: 1

    Tough question. Well, we will shove a tube down their throats to make sure they are healthy enough to respond to our other "interrogation techniques".

    That means we are better, right?

    Seriously, I have to assume that we aren't blowtorching, amputating, skin peeling, anal assaulting, eye gouging, etc. There are different levels of horrible. I would like to see a chart, actually...that's good barroom talk!

  4. Re:Larry's had that for a while on A Coveted Landing Strip for Google's Founders · · Score: 1

    Resources are not infinite.

    There are limits, and so despite some magic-wand macro-economic wacko theories, for one person to become rich (say in land or oil or water, etc) others must be deprived.

    To say otherwise is silly. And no, printing more money does not change this. There are special circumstances that might seem that "the tide lifts all boats" for awhile but in the end, all told, yes it's a zero sum game.

  5. Re:This was clever on Apple Gives $100 Store Credit To iPhone Customers · · Score: 1

    T-Mobile has excellent customer service, AT&T sucks ass.

    Also, they both use the same tech, so they ought to be compatible.

    Did I mention AT&T sucks ass?

  6. Re:Google wireless on Google Ready to Bid on 700 MHz · · Score: 1

    I'll pay $50 a month for that. Or $75.

    Shit, I pay $100 for it now!

  7. Re:I think it's good on Free Tuition for Math, Science, and Engineering? · · Score: 1

    Of all the ways to respond to that, you managed to stay pretty positive...bravo.

  8. Re:Yeah... So? on NYT Confirms Movie Studios Paid to Support HD DVD · · Score: 1

    I think they spend plenty on talent...too much, even...on the same handful of talented people producing the same schlock.

    The problem is that they don't risk their money...ok well they risk that people will go see $100 million movies that are pretty schlocky. But they should bank on NEW, FRESH talent!

    You could trip over a dozen very talented actors, technicians, screenwriters, etc on the way to work every day in LA. I hope to never see Hanks, Kidman, Cruise, Willis, etc, in another movie ever again. Hang it up folks, you are no longer believable.

    That fat kid in Superbad? Oh, man, I don't know him from squat and so he IS that character, and so there is good acting and so a good movie.

    Fuck super stars. By the time that happens, time to retire. Go into politics or something.

  9. 2 points on Pressure Is On IBM To Forgive Millions In IT Debt · · Score: 1

    1) I never heard of this "Costa School District". Contra Costa, though is real. Wow. Never thought I'd be shitting on the editors, too. I feel silly.

    2) Perhaps this is the result of some coke-fueled 80's shenanigans, with pushy IBM salesmen and wimpy school administrators. Unless IBM can come up with compelte records of who ordered and signed for and installed what and when, this should be thrown out.

    Surely IBM can't be saying that they don't have complete records! That's their business! Maybe they should have stored it in some sort of trusty mainframe.

    Reminds me of fiascoes of crushing debt of 3rd-world countries. The West had no business cutting deals with the usually inept, often brutal governments in power at the time. Some sort of conscience not "close the deal at any cost" should have won out. And expecting the countries to pay this ill-gotten debt decades after the dictators and idiots have been stripped of their power is galling.

    Which reminds of the stories I used to read of how the Japanese would take out home loans and the banks would contractually expect the children to pay it off once they grew up long after the parents were dead.

    Which reminds me of the "aid relief" the West gave to some Tsunami communities, like irregular down jackets and wool sweaters. They have warehouses of crap they couldn't use, though some mothers tried to cut stuff up to use as diapers. Companies got the credit/tax break all the same.

    Which reminds me of how terrible and pervasive corruption is, and usually the people who pay the price are the ones at the bottom of the ladder. In this case, students.

    I say IBM makes them pay, but actually gives them $5 million of useful services and supplies.

  10. Re:understandable... on Is Videotaping the Police a Felony? · · Score: 1

    You're joking, right?

    There is no way any state will allow you to do armed anything, no less try to overthrow the government!

    And sure you can vote. Vote your heart out, it doesn't change a damn thing. You are bragging about the illusion of choice the state pretends to give you.

    So silly, so naive. And for the record, it's kind of nice not to have armed rebels trying to take over all the time. Much safer that way, and makes my commute slightly easier.

    China's got plenty of problems and the US has enough reasons we are/might be better, there's no need to start talking madness.

  11. Re:All I want in SCX on SimCity 5 Passed Off From Maxis · · Score: 1

    That's basically my beef with SimCity 4.

    They went for ultra city simulation but:

    a) I don't agree with their politics of how the city needs to evolve. They programmed the city to require that it start as a little farm town, heavy industry, financial center, etc.

    But at each stage it has to suffer growing pains to get to the next with crime, pollution, terrible schools, etc.

    In fact, they reject the utopian premise. They require a city to have ghettos and chronically underfunded schools and police and the like. Which leads me to:

    b) I want to create my utopian city! Fine, inject your scurrilous agenda into the sim. But give me an arcade option. Like the driving games that will cut slack on all the too-realistic physics and just have fun careening around like a madman.

    Yes, checkbox for unlimited money. Turn off all your advanced forced-poverty algorithms. Give me a simple formula to work with, like the previous versions, no incessant micromanaging required. Mark it as such, so competitions aren't skewed.

    I want to play God, godammit, on my lunch break and not suffer the stress and indignities of an real-life mayor!

    How could Maxis/EA miss this?!? No wonder version 4 tanked, my whole family have been SimCity nuts since day 1 and through the years but we completely reject v.4.

    (ps: Please, if there is a god, don't integrate The Sims with SimCity in any way, shape, or form? Please?)

  12. Re:So does that mean on 'Pirates' Outsells 'Matrix' in High-Def Showdown · · Score: 1

    They call him "Token" on Southpark. Seriously, I'm not impressed. They had more gonzo alien humanoids than people of color.

  13. Re:So does that mean on 'Pirates' Outsells 'Matrix' in High-Def Showdown · · Score: 1

    Watching the Animatrix shed much light on the story for me...

  14. Re:So does that mean on 'Pirates' Outsells 'Matrix' in High-Def Showdown · · Score: 1

    So now the story is fine, just too similar to some ancient texts. If only someone would invent a plot line that has never been done before!

    And you don't like the actors...any of them. Worst actors ever, huh?

    Too much action and special effects makes the movie boring...oh yeah, that's what everyone says.

    Sounds like you are one of those contrarian jerks that shits on everything you come across, makes you feel better. I hate watching movies with people like you.

    It's not a perfect series (though the first was mostly flawless). But taken as a whole, against the rest of the PG13 garbage out there (crap wars) it stands the test of time. The politics are still incredibly relevant. Special effects are still impeccable, and shattered the industry norm at the time. It speaks to and inspires a generation of disaffected youth, computer geeks, and hip old-timers. It projects an intriguing and complex possible future and ponders the notion of a dual reality right under our noses. It outright confuses all (to a fault) with too many layers to be fully appreciated the first time. And it took the time to tell the story as part of a epic saga.

    Not to mention, all the other good. What other movie in the genre has more color in the cast? You'd swear that all humans were white judging by Star Wars or LotR. Strong female roles as well. They didn't stretch out the sequels FOREVER like Lucas and Jackson did, either. I could go on...

    Don't shit in a vacuum. Put it up to something you think is better. What better sci-fi saga has been produced in our time? But mostly, stop being a dick.

  15. Re:uh boot camp still wins on Parallels 3.0 Announced, 3D Graphics Included · · Score: 1

    As others have said, so you can run all the other little windows apps in an incredibly convenient way, right inside your OSX session.

    Clearly, you don't use it, need it, understand it.

    For example:

    I have a Treo 700p and a little windows only app, PDAnet, that lets me connect to the net through my Sprint data connection. Works great.

    I have to connect to a few machines using another win-only app, radmin. Boom, so easy.

    I have a Dreamweaver plugin that doesn't work on Intel Macs yet from WebAssist.

    Fuck games. The massive amount of other Win-only software out there is now all mine for the using and it runs perfectly and easily.

    WinXP in Parallels opens and closes so quickly and easily, it's almost instant boot. It is an amazing piece of software, and I'm from a PC background working with VMware, which was/is groundbreaking itself.

    And at $80 it's much cheaper than VMware Workstation. Though I wish it could run clones of OSX for testing, so it's sort of apples vs oranges.

    Don't knock it, dude, it rocks.

  16. Re:So does that mean on 'Pirates' Outsells 'Matrix' in High-Def Showdown · · Score: 1

    Argh. You and the rest of the Matrix haters DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE STORY.

    I'm sure you folks are real smart and all, so why can't you understand it?

    I'll give you a hint: The machines are not the bad guys.

    Read that over a few times. Somehow understand that this is not the same old lame, cliche plot of bad vs good, where good overcomes all.

    Finally you get a well made saga that has layers, twists, paradoxes...you know, things for people who like to think.

    The last scene is a truce...duh, how else could it really end? Let me guess, the Isreal/Palestine conflict is only resolvable by one side completely destroying the other? And then you find that this is, in fact, not the first time such a truce has occurred, and each time it's the humans that were the aggressors.

    It's the humans that are genocidal. All the machines ever wanted is to live in peace, but will defend themselves and negotiate if possible. It's genius, and relevant, and classic.

    Really, how could you all have missed this? Compared to the childish binary of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc, what other saga compared at this level?

    Fools...

  17. Re:jhymn? on Apple Hides Account Info in DRM-Free Music · · Score: 1

    I keep telling the court the same thing for jury duty: The defendant is probably guilty because there he is in court. Innocent folks like me are never defendants.

    They shake their heads and release me. I don't understand why they even need a jury, just lock those guys up. What's the big deal?

  18. Re:$499 on Palm Unveils Foleo, Linux-Based "Mobile Companion" · · Score: 1

    If it does decent powerpoint, or reasonable alternative, they would go like hotcakes.

  19. Re:Why not just let us pay for the damn bandwidth? on Will ISPs Spoil Online Video? · · Score: 1

    haha you said "occasionally traffic jams"... You must live in Iowa. I've found that, occasionally, there is not that bad of a traffic jam. Usually you're doing 10mph on the freeway.

    Anyway, the analogy of a private, paid service and something provided by the government as the backbone of society is pretty flawed.

    I dunno, try airlines overbooking.

    And if only the government would tell the telco lobbyists to piss off and actually allow the free market to innovate, we wouldn't be having this problem. Either crack it wide open or lock it down and be responsible for it like a governmental institution...not this half ass shit where they point finger at each other for the stagnating industry.

  20. Re:So the market sure is promoting innovation on The Man Who Owns the Internet · · Score: 1

    Oh quit bullshitting. There is no difference, really. Real estate is and always has been claimed, bought and sold in a predatory fashion.

    Folks who are whining about this domain-hoarding schmuck can't seem to admit the obvious parallels with their beloved notion of private property. You really trying to lionize real estate "developers" who buy huge swaths of land and milk their properties for all they are worth, in any way possible?

    They (usually) don't care about promoting innovation or what is good for the general public or other nonsense. They treat your precious land like a commodity and exploit it mercilessly. Always have, and are celebrated for it.

    So break your silly double standard and beat real estate moguls with one half and domain hoarders with the other. Or embrace this guy like a hero and give him his own tv show.

    Live by the sword, die by the sword.

  21. Re:But... on Broadband isn't Broadband Unless its 2Mbps? · · Score: 1

    Well, I suppose your uncontrollable urge for more porn might lead to more innovation, so....sure, all the porn you can obsess over, pal. Try to keep it clean, m'kay?

  22. We need a technocrat party! on Broadband isn't Broadband Unless its 2Mbps? · · Score: 1

    I'll vote for anyone who delivers the US into a leading high-tech position.

    Republicans, Democrats it doesn't matter. As an issue of national security, from the viewpoint of 10 to 100 years in the future, laying fiber to the home or whatever it takes to keep us at the forefront is imperative.

    I figure that we'll get the usual screwing on all the other issues, but this will easy to benchmark and enforce.

    And to anyone who cracks about "you just want more porn", let me say: you're an idiot and/or not funny.

  23. Re:Typical Microsoft response on Malware Hijacks Windows Update · · Score: 1

    WGA will not hide forever...it will pop back up even after you tell it not to. Eternal vigilance is needed. I'm just thankful that MS named it properly and doesn't get really shady.

  24. Re:In related news... on Toyota Going 100% Hybrid By 2020 · · Score: 1

    Where did you hear that? I heard it was the other way around. Toyota was licensing its older-gen tech to Ford since they are so behind, with the reasoning that it's better that Ford have something to show for itself rather than wait until their own tech develops enough to market.

    From: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/business/27toyot a.html?ex=1253595600&en=bb5d4805d21ff62c&ei=5035&p artner=MARKETWATCH

    "Toyota, the world's leader in hybrid-electric cars, licenses hybrid technology to Ford, which sells a hybrid version of the Ford Escape, a small sport utility vehicle.

    Ford has its own hybrid program, but it cut back on hybrid development this year, when it decided to place more emphasis on flexible fuel vehicles that can run on gasoline and another type of fuel, like ethanol.

    Ford buys parts for its hybrid vehicles from Aisin Seiki, a supplier partly owned by Toyota that is part of its global network of parts-making companies. In the past, Ford and Aisin have run into disputes over the number of parts Aisin was willing to make available for Ford vehicles."

  25. I loved the first season! on Final Season of Battlestar Galactica Confirmed · · Score: 1

    Then the 2nd season started and it hit me: Oh, wait, this is just another endless soap opera!

    Look, to all the writers to these shows, and I mean all of them, Heroes, Lost, Desperate Housewives, all of them:

    Wrap it up!

    It is impossible to sustain any coherence year after year. Impossible. Never done before and will never happen.

    Silly episodic shows like Simpsons? Er, maybe... But 2 more years of Lost? I'm done.

    Anyway, I get the feeling I'm preaching to the choir. Here's my/the solution: treat season like movies. Beginning and end. Everything must be wrapped up and folks satisfied, yet yearning more. Like Matrix 1.

    Heroes "creator" said in Wired he will do this. We will see. (Heroes rocks by the way, I thought they were fucking things up but they seem to have brought it back to the hotness)