So, in the end, while their cause is just and I think all of us can agree that child pornography is an abomination, the fact is that laws have been passed stating the circumstances required for a company to avoid being charged with a crime for promoting child pornography, and Google is complying. Whether you agree with how the law is worded is a separate issue. This is a lot of wasted time and effort. Hopefully this lawsuit will be struck down and the anti-child-porn people can get back to helping children who are victims of this and hunting down the assholes who make it available and do these despicable things.
Is the cause just? is child pornography an abomination? You might think so. personally, there are 2 classes of child pornography:
pictures depicting people who have not yet reached puberty either nude, or performing sexual acts. The nude ones, to me, don't reach the level of pornography in that they don't turn me on. The sexual acts thing is pretty shamefull, and should probably be outlawed, but its really not my business.
The second type of "child pornography" is really not child pornography at all. Its a question of where do you draw the line. 18 years old? 16? 14? 20? As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what the age of the model is in the picture as long as she(he?it?) gets well paid for the service and gets to use that money the way she wants. The argument that says, "girls under 18 are not mature enough to make intelligent decisions about their bodies" are using an arbitrary number which was made up to make people believe that there is a certain age where girls suddenly stop being stupid enough to pose naked. This is not true, as the "Girls Gone Wild" craze and the "MILF" craze has shown us, girls will expose themselves at age 19 or age 39.
Am I being callous? would I want MY kids to be in a porn video? No and no. But my kids have no interest in that kind of thing. I know this because I ask them about sex. Repeatedly. Why? because when kids get interested in sex they go look for answers. From me or from porn (hopefully from me first, but hey, better late than never). Hell, if my 16 year old wants to look at porn, I'd rather he look at naked pictures of 14-17 year old girls than naked pictures of 60 year old women, or even worse, pictures of women who are the age of his mother. (but, then again, is it my place to judge?)
The problem is that child pornography isn't the problem. Its child abuse. Its not abuse to take a picture of a naked child. Its abuse to shove vegetables (or penises) up his/her ass. Once that distinction is made then we can stop hunting around blindly and start catching the people who purpetuate violence against children (be it sexual violence or harmfull violence).
first off, child Porn is no more or less rampant than it ever was. whats worse, it is LEGAL in many countries.
secondly, its not so easily found. as long as you don't put things like "rape" and "children" in your search bars, you probably won't find it. I myself, have never seen it on the web in over 10 years of web surfing.
thirdly, images are only considered erotic if you are aroused by the image. Many things which are termed "pornograph" I do not find erotic, hence there is no danger. Unless you are predisposed to finding pre-pubescents attractive, you wouldn't think that naked pictures of them are arousing. I see my pre-puescent children naked on occasion, and it does nothing for me. My wife, naked, is a different story.
for Battletech, its even gotten better. thanks to the guys at Heavy Metal Pro there is a windows application which allows you to not only get access to all mechs from all of the books (even some of the really obscure ones) but also allows you to customize them and then print them out. No more am I using coversheets and dry erase markers to perserve sheets, now, just mark the damage and throw them away at the end....
Switzerland, like many other countries, has MANDATORY military service of 260 days for ALL males upon turning age 18. its possible to get out of it, but if you do, you have to pay 3% more in your income tax for the next year AND must join the Civil Defense Patrol (basically police or fire or other civil services) for that time period.
We could adopt that, thereby saving ourselves a bunch of money on Military recruitment ads.
first: the federal government does not receive money from sales tax. that is divided between the states, counties, and local municipalities. some of that state money is used for roads, others for state enforcement arms (Highway Patrol, CHiPs, Texas Rangers, etc) and the rest is wasted on our educational system. The Local money is also used for roads, local law enforcement and fire, and also wasted on our educational system. County money usually goes for roads and other large county infrastructures (like stadiums and the like).
Next: its my belief that there should be no income tax. ESPECIALLY at the state level. federal income tax is stupid enough. fortunately I live in a state where there is no state income tax. of course, I pay higher property taxes than other states. (as a percentage).
your statements about public transportation have merit, and there is always corruption in the system. I hearken back to the Monorail episode of the Simpsons. The problem is that every town wants to be like New York, and New York has a subway, so they have to have one. But tell me, did Dallas REALLY need commuter rail? does LA really need a subway? BART? I will say this on behalf of busses. the theory here is that poor people need a way to get around. therefore busses. ok?
going back to it is as follows: Sales tax is a tax on businesses to allow governments to provide the infrastructure to allow those businesses to operate. Call it protection money, or the reason that every store doesn't have to have a big goon hanging out in front of it. The reason you see it on your charge slips is that businesses hate it and so they show you, the customer, that they are paying it by calling attention to it. They don't really have to, though at this point if they didn't, people would notice.
Personally, I found myself suprised when I bought a gallon of milk that the price I paid was the price of the milk since there's no tax on milk. I'd grown so accustomed to paying tax on everything that I had forgotten that there's no tax on some staples. (of course, this no longer makes any sense..... )
You find 100 gold coins. IRS collects 5 of them.
oh, 5, that's not so bad. IRS collects 5 more of them.
wait, he did that already, no. He did it again! hey! IRS collects 5 more of them.
STOP THAT! IRS collects 5 more of them. You hit IRS for 1275 points of damage. IRS collects 5 more gold coins.
I'LL DO YOU FOR THAT! You critically hit IRS for 3498 points of damage. IRS laughs and runs away.
then, later.... You find 1000 gold coins. IRS collects 50 of them. You stun IRS, immobilizing it. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. You hit IRS. IRS has died.
Hmmmm... I wonder what I'll find on his corpse? You find 1000 gold pieces. IRS collects 50 of them.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you think his character on Stuart Little is bad, go watch some old Black Adder episodes. sometimes I think he gets his inspiration from remembering Rowan Atkinson.
He may have not had 1337 typing skillz, but he did have one skill that the director didn't have, nor anyone else on the set.
The computer in David's room is actually an IMSAI 8080. The person who supplied the computer for the film tells how Matthew Broderick saved a shooting day by figuring out a programming sequence for the keyboard on his own after instructions were lost.
you are mistaken. Honda is talking about cutting back on production of Accord Hybrids. The Civic Hybrids and Insight Hybrids are doing fantastically, but the Accord sales are not. Toyota is now making an Lexus Hybrid, and Nissan and Saturn have new Hybrids on the way as well. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/honda_may_ cut_a.php
wow! I couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, I used to be a big fan of Robert Aspirin's work, and now I just can't bring myself to read it.
I'm also a huge fan of Heinlein. though I have a feeling I'd get along very well with him. from my readings of his I find I share alot of his philosophies. (scary though that is).
ok, I have 4 cars in my house (that's for 3 drivers with 2 more going to be driving VERY soon)
65 Mustang: seats 5, MPG 13, Passenger-MPG 65, not normally used. 02 Windstar: seats 7, MPG 19, Passenger-MPG 143, normally used by one going back and forth to work. 87 Z: seats 2, MPG 23, Passenger-MPG 46, normally used by one going back and forth to work. 96 Suburban: seats 8, MPG 15, Passenger-MPG 120, normally used 2-3 times a week for groceries, park, etc.
Some notes: The Windstar is great, and you can carry 4x8 sheets of either plywood or drywall in it (but you have to take all he seats out.) You can do this in the suburban too. The suburban can still carry 2 bicycles inside with 8 people, something the Windstar can't do with 7 people. Oh, and Passenger-MPG is a crock, as being fuel efficient and only carrying 2 people is fine if 99.9% it only carries one person.
However, the Minivan is the best overall ride in the house, as my Z is not terribly comfortable.... But at the same time, there ain't no people-mover like a Suburban.
I've met my share of SF writers (and some other writers in general). There were some good ones and some bad. For example, Robert Aspirin WAS (I stress was because its been a long time) a drunkard and a womanizer. He used his fame to get into women's pants as often as possible, and I find that horribly objectionable. Pat Elrod is a very sweet woman, but some people can't stand her which I don't understand. RL Stein seemed to be very nice and relaxed, but of course, I didn't really call him out on anything. Maybe that's the way to handle these kinds of guys.
got one of those too, and my roomate drives it to work. on weekends we often take the minivan for groceries. We have one other car too. But it combines bad gas mileage, lots of emissions, doesn't carry more than 4 people plus stuff in the back, isn't very comfortable with not being very fast. So why have it? Well, 1965 Mustangs still turn heads.:)
oh, and as far as why a Suburban? well, if my wife, roomate, his kid, and all our kids all want to travel together, the 8 of us barely fit into the suburban, usually with either someone squeezed in, or someone riding in the trunk, and that's if we don't bring any friends. 15 MPG is cheaper than driving 2 cars which get 20 MPG.
ps. if you drive a suv and drive it alone to get to your office which 2km away and you take a 10km route to do it, i still hate you:)
I have an SUV. a Suburban. A Big one. and I drive alone to work every day. but not in that. at $3 per gallon it sits in the driveway for those times when my wife must go to the store dragging kids (which isn't more than 2 or 3 times a week) I drive an old 300 ZX that gets >20 mpg (sorry, can't afford a better car w/ better mileage). And I drive 55 miles to work each direction.
Personally, it's up to them. If they want to discriminate, they need to clearly document that stance so that everyone understands that they are a "private" club which does not allow sexual orientation or shall we say, pro-gay statemnents. Which is their right, however, they are also liable for anything that their system is used for, be it child-pornography, someone planing murder/illegal activities on-line, etc.
Damn, and just the other day, I was playing wow and I heard a bunch of people getting together and planning a murder. Murder I say. They were going to get together and kill this guy. I'm not sure what the guys first name is, but his last name is actually two names, and it starts with a "V". "V" and "C". that's right. Van Cleef. They were going to go and kill some guy named Van Cleef.
ignoring your comments about the transgendered (who in some cases you probably wouldn't spot), I'd like you, AC, to clarify your statement about bisexuals.
When you say that Bisexuals do not exist, are you saying that anyone who has ever had a homosexual experience is homosexual, or that anyone who has ever had a heterosexual experience is heterosexual or what? I'm confused.
Slashdot Mirror
yeah, like, say, Minesweeper. after all, you hit a mine, you explode!
pictures depicting people who have not yet reached puberty either nude, or performing sexual acts. The nude ones, to me, don't reach the level of pornography in that they don't turn me on. The sexual acts thing is pretty shamefull, and should probably be outlawed, but its really not my business.
The second type of "child pornography" is really not child pornography at all. Its a question of where do you draw the line. 18 years old? 16? 14? 20? As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what the age of the model is in the picture as long as she(he?it?) gets well paid for the service and gets to use that money the way she wants. The argument that says, "girls under 18 are not mature enough to make intelligent decisions about their bodies" are using an arbitrary number which was made up to make people believe that there is a certain age where girls suddenly stop being stupid enough to pose naked. This is not true, as the "Girls Gone Wild" craze and the "MILF" craze has shown us, girls will expose themselves at age 19 or age 39.
Am I being callous? would I want MY kids to be in a porn video? No and no. But my kids have no interest in that kind of thing. I know this because I ask them about sex. Repeatedly. Why? because when kids get interested in sex they go look for answers. From me or from porn (hopefully from me first, but hey, better late than never). Hell, if my 16 year old wants to look at porn, I'd rather he look at naked pictures of 14-17 year old girls than naked pictures of 60 year old women, or even worse, pictures of women who are the age of his mother. (but, then again, is it my place to judge?)
The problem is that child pornography isn't the problem. Its child abuse. Its not abuse to take a picture of a naked child. Its abuse to shove vegetables (or penises) up his/her ass. Once that distinction is made then we can stop hunting around blindly and start catching the people who purpetuate violence against children (be it sexual violence or harmfull violence).
Ira
um.... no.
first off, child Porn is no more or less rampant than it ever was. whats worse, it is LEGAL in many countries.
secondly, its not so easily found. as long as you don't put things like "rape" and "children" in your search bars, you probably won't find it. I myself, have never seen it on the web in over 10 years of web surfing.
thirdly, images are only considered erotic if you are aroused by the image. Many things which are termed "pornograph" I do not find erotic, hence there is no danger. Unless you are predisposed to finding pre-pubescents attractive, you wouldn't think that naked pictures of them are arousing. I see my pre-puescent children naked on occasion, and it does nothing for me. My wife, naked, is a different story.
Ira
Mod Parent Up!!!
As a parent I just cannot condone our US societies attude of, "AAAAA, NOOO, STOP!!! KIDS CAN'T SEE TITTIES!!!!" I think its stupid and pointless.
Ira
fun fun!
Ira
Switzerland, like many other countries, has MANDATORY military service of 260 days for ALL males upon turning age 18. its possible to get out of it, but if you do, you have to pay 3% more in your income tax for the next year AND must join the Civil Defense Patrol (basically police or fire or other civil services) for that time period.
We could adopt that, thereby saving ourselves a bunch of money on Military recruitment ads.
Ira
first: the federal government does not receive money from sales tax. that is divided between the states, counties, and local municipalities. some of that state money is used for roads, others for state enforcement arms (Highway Patrol, CHiPs, Texas Rangers, etc) and the rest is wasted on our educational system. The Local money is also used for roads, local law enforcement and fire, and also wasted on our educational system. County money usually goes for roads and other large county infrastructures (like stadiums and the like).
Next: its my belief that there should be no income tax. ESPECIALLY at the state level. federal income tax is stupid enough. fortunately I live in a state where there is no state income tax. of course, I pay higher property taxes than other states. (as a percentage).
your statements about public transportation have merit, and there is always corruption in the system. I hearken back to the Monorail episode of the Simpsons. The problem is that every town wants to be like New York, and New York has a subway, so they have to have one. But tell me, did Dallas REALLY need commuter rail? does LA really need a subway? BART? I will say this on behalf of busses. the theory here is that poor people need a way to get around. therefore busses. ok?
going back to it is as follows: Sales tax is a tax on businesses to allow governments to provide the infrastructure to allow those businesses to operate. Call it protection money, or the reason that every store doesn't have to have a big goon hanging out in front of it. The reason you see it on your charge slips is that businesses hate it and so they show you, the customer, that they are paying it by calling attention to it. They don't really have to, though at this point if they didn't, people would notice.
Personally, I found myself suprised when I bought a gallon of milk that the price I paid was the price of the milk since there's no tax on milk. I'd grown so accustomed to paying tax on everything that I had forgotten that there's no tax on some staples. (of course, this no longer makes any sense..... )
Ira
I'd be happy with just a freaking bridge from Feralas to Feathermoon Stronghold. That ferry sucks beans.
Ira
You find 100 gold coins. IRS collects 5 of them.
oh, 5, that's not so bad.
IRS collects 5 more of them.
wait, he did that already, no. He did it again! hey!
IRS collects 5 more of them.
STOP THAT!
IRS collects 5 more of them.
You hit IRS for 1275 points of damage.
IRS collects 5 more gold coins.
I'LL DO YOU FOR THAT!
You critically hit IRS for 3498 points of damage.
IRS laughs and runs away.
then, later....O OOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You find 1000 gold coins. IRS collects 50 of them.
You stun IRS, immobilizing it.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
You hit IRS.
IRS has died.
Hmmmm... I wonder what I'll find on his corpse?
You find 1000 gold pieces. IRS collects 50 of them.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Ira
Ira
if you think his character on Stuart Little is bad, go watch some old Black Adder episodes. sometimes I think he gets his inspiration from remembering Rowan Atkinson.
Ira
Ira
you are mistaken. Honda is talking about cutting back on production of Accord Hybrids. The Civic Hybrids and Insight Hybrids are doing fantastically, but the Accord sales are not. Toyota is now making an Lexus Hybrid, and Nissan and Saturn have new Hybrids on the way as well. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/honda_may_ cut_a.php
Well, my wife seems to find uses for my tongue. but she's no scientist.....
Ira
oddly, my local Wal-Mart has a giant wind turbine in the parking lot. http://www.irecusa.org/articles/static/1/112499699 1_1051597266.html
or just paint each of the turbines to look like gigantic flowers. of course, the environmentalists would scream about how we're confusing the bees....
Ira
MXE rocks!!!!! we want more people attempting to swing on ropes onto platforms, missing, and falling into puddles!
(not tomention the whole velcro suit thing)
Ira
wow! I couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, I used to be a big fan of Robert Aspirin's work, and now I just can't bring myself to read it.
I'm also a huge fan of Heinlein. though I have a feeling I'd get along very well with him. from my readings of his I find I share alot of his philosophies. (scary though that is).
Ira
ok, I have 4 cars in my house (that's for 3 drivers with 2 more going to be driving VERY soon)
65 Mustang: seats 5, MPG 13, Passenger-MPG 65, not normally used.
02 Windstar: seats 7, MPG 19, Passenger-MPG 143, normally used by one going back and forth to work.
87 Z: seats 2, MPG 23, Passenger-MPG 46, normally used by one going back and forth to work.
96 Suburban: seats 8, MPG 15, Passenger-MPG 120, normally used 2-3 times a week for groceries, park, etc.
Some notes: The Windstar is great, and you can carry 4x8 sheets of either plywood or drywall in it (but you have to take all he seats out.) You can do this in the suburban too. The suburban can still carry 2 bicycles inside with 8 people, something the Windstar can't do with 7 people. Oh, and Passenger-MPG is a crock, as being fuel efficient and only carrying 2 people is fine if 99.9% it only carries one person.
However, the Minivan is the best overall ride in the house, as my Z is not terribly comfortable.... But at the same time, there ain't no people-mover like a Suburban.
Ira
I've met my share of SF writers (and some other writers in general). There were some good ones and some bad. For example, Robert Aspirin WAS (I stress was because its been a long time) a drunkard and a womanizer. He used his fame to get into women's pants as often as possible, and I find that horribly objectionable. Pat Elrod is a very sweet woman, but some people can't stand her which I don't understand. RL Stein seemed to be very nice and relaxed, but of course, I didn't really call him out on anything. Maybe that's the way to handle these kinds of guys.
Ira
got one of those too, and my roomate drives it to work. on weekends we often take the minivan for groceries. We have one other car too. But it combines bad gas mileage, lots of emissions, doesn't carry more than 4 people plus stuff in the back, isn't very comfortable with not being very fast. So why have it? Well, 1965 Mustangs still turn heads. :)
oh, and as far as why a Suburban? well, if my wife, roomate, his kid, and all our kids all want to travel together, the 8 of us barely fit into the suburban, usually with either someone squeezed in, or someone riding in the trunk, and that's if we don't bring any friends. 15 MPG is cheaper than driving 2 cars which get 20 MPG.
Ira
Ira
Maybe I'll join them.
Ira
there is already a MMORPG like that. its called Disney's Toontown Online.
And its offensively fun.
Ira
ignoring your comments about the transgendered (who in some cases you probably wouldn't spot), I'd like you, AC, to clarify your statement about bisexuals.
When you say that Bisexuals do not exist, are you saying that anyone who has ever had a homosexual experience is homosexual, or that anyone who has ever had a heterosexual experience is heterosexual or what? I'm confused.
Ira