They haven't cared about their employees since they started referring to workers as 'human resources'.
I got into a discussion last week with some friends at a bar, basically saying that corporations are just another flavor of a feudalistic system of government. Of course they nodded, but they didn't understand my point: we went to war with the British to get rid of feudalistic control over the American colonies, and yet we didn't think that a feudalistic system in the workplace was going to be a problem. Well, it is.
Corporations now own politicians. Some corporations make more money than entire countries. These corporations have no checks or balances; if a nation's government doesn't like something the corporation is doing, they can try to bring them to justice, but with corrupt politicians and the money the corporations hold, they can either buy themselves out of trouble, or simply move their operation to another country.
What we really need is a competing system of workplace governance that is democratically operated. These exist now in some parts of the world, such as the Moondragon Cooperative Corporation in Spain. These 'corporations' are owned and operated by their workers, with management and executives being voted into office by those workers.
If you believe in democracy, then you should be against the feudalistic system that corporations embrace, just as you would be against a feudalistic form of government in Iraq or Sudan.
They've been rebuilding tolls here in Illinois to use what's called "open road tolling", which works with the I-Pass RFID tolling system. Above every single one of the open tolls there's a sign that reads "Open Road Tolling - Governor Rod R. Blagojevich". Each one of these signs costs $15,000, and are made by a company that made large contributions to the gov in the last race.
I mean, to me, a sign like that is basically nothing more than using tax dollars to promote yourself and your office. Government shouldn't be using tax dollars for self-marketing.
If you knew anything about science, you'd understand that for something to be considered a 'theory' it has to be experimentally tested. If it's not experimentally tested, then it's a hypothsis.
Scotty: No, actually I went to Craignewton but I was worried that you wouldn't have heard of it so I put the Federation Academy instead, because they're both schools, right, and we're all in this together, and I wanted to put across the general idea rather than the details, yeah? People get all hung up on details, but what's the point? Like which school? Does it matter? Why? When? Where? Or how many O grades did I get? Could be six, could be one, but that's not important. What's important is that I am, right? That I am.
MAN 1: Mr. Scott, do you mean that you lied on your application?
Scotty: Only to get my foot in the door. Showing initiative, right?
MAN 1: You were referred here by the Department of Engineering. There's no need for you to get you "foot in the door", as you put it.
Scotty: Hey. Right. No problem. Whatever you say, man. You're the man, the governor, the dude in the chair, like. I'm merely here. But obviously I am. Here, that is. I hope I'm not talking too much. I don't usually. I think it's all important though, isn't it?
MAN 2: Mr. Scott, what attracts you to the engineering industry?
Scotty: In a word, pleasure. My pleasure in other people's leisure.
WOMAN: What do you see as your main strengths?
Scotty: I love people. All people. Even people that no one else loves, I think they're OK, you know. Like Klingons.
WOMAN: Hostile people?
Scotty: No, not hostile people. Beggars, James Kirk -- one of my mates. I wouldn't say my best mate, I mean, sometimes the boy goes over the score, like one time when we -- me and him -- were having a laugh and all of a sudden he's fucking gubbed me in the face, right --
WOMAN: Mr. Scott, do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?
Scotty: No. Well, yes. I have to admit it: I'm a perfectionist. For me, it's the best or nothing at all. If things go badly, I can't be bothered, but I have a good feeling about this interview. Seems to me like it's gone pretty well. We've touched on a lot of subjects, a lot of things to think about, for all of us.
The dominant audience for Big Brother is the 12-14 year old teen market. Do you think it's appropriate for young teens to see a bunch of dimwitted Big Brother contestants teabagging a female contestant who was being held down against her will? I don't.
Guess who's fault it is if the major demographic for Big Brother is 12-14 year olds? That's right; the kids parents. Have you noticed that nobody on Big Brother is 12-14 years old? How the fuck does that seem like it would be a good show for young teens to watch? If the show had 12-14 year olds on as the contestants, you might have an point, but since it's intended for the 18 to 35 demographic your entire argument goes right out the window.
Let me clue you in on something: You don't have to watch so-called 'inappropriate material', and neither do your kids! If you see something that offends your sensibilities, you have three choices:
1. Change the channel.
2. Turn the television off and read a fucking book.
3. Overcome your weak sensibilities and learn to enjoy the filthy broadcasts.
Let the government govern, and you raise your own damn kids.
There's a long line of cars
And they're trying to get through
There's no single explanation
There's no central destination
But this long line of cars
Is trying to get through
And this long line of cars
Is all because of you...
Dino Monk: I'll go into the herd and gain aggression from the brontos.
Dino Warrior: Ok, when you get to about halfway back here, fall down and play dead.
Dino Wizard: They'll think you died of a heart attack or something!
Dino Warrior: Right. Then, when the majority of the brontos chasing you turn around and head back to the herd, I'll run to you and wave my ass at the one in the back. He'll be so pissed he won't call for backup and he'll come alone.
It's no different than scientists discovering T-Rex and having one or two of them think "Hey, maybe this critter was a scavanger, not a predator". It's conjecture; until they find evidence to support the claim, that's all it'll be.
I think the point of this research is to develop systems that surpass natural systems in specific ways; for example, bionic eyes might have a zoom feature, something that biotech companies would have problems creating from your DNA.
Eventually biotech will surpass bionics, but at that point we won't be "human" anymore. We'll have designed ourselves into a new species.
I have a feeling that the Serenity dvds will sell like hotcakes. I mean, I got a copy for Christmas, and I didn't even ask for it; my parents knew I liked sci-fi, so they picked it up.
If the dvd does well, then I could see Universal being interested in a direct-to-video sequel, which would be fine by me.
Wouldn't rolling down into a big hole sort of be the point? I mean, if you want to explore a possible cave system, you're going to want to know where the cave leads, how far down it goes, how much area it covers, and so on. Seems like rolling and bouncing probes would be a good way to map a cave.
I think a better means of transportation would be something like a dandelion seed; something that was light enough to have the wind pick it up and blow it around, but could anchor itself (grow roots) if an area proved to be worthy of more investigation.
I'm waiting for the "National Space Lottery" to come about. Buy a ticket, and you've got a chance at going up. Of course, you'd have to get a background check by the FBI, a few hundred medical exams, and sign an agreement that you won't sue NASA if their ship explodes, but I know lots of people that would blow their entire paycheck for a chance to go into orbit. I'm tired of hearing about rich bastards blowing millions of dollars to go up; give the average Joe (or Jane) a shot.
When you take a long road trip, how do you get back? You don't carry hundreds of gallons of fuel in your car, you fill up when you need to.
Same idea with the Mars mission; you send a bunch automated chemical equipment to Mars, and it makes fuel out of CO2 and Hydrogen. When the astronauts get to Mars, they have their own filling station in order to get them back home.
Slashdot Mirror
Where's George Carlin when you need him?
Here ya go:
The planet is fine. The people are fucked.
Dude, the Lantians used zero point modules to power their automobiles, not internal combustion engines!
So, um, "Buy Central American!"
They haven't cared about their employees since they started referring to workers as 'human resources'.
I got into a discussion last week with some friends at a bar, basically saying that corporations are just another flavor of a feudalistic system of government. Of course they nodded, but they didn't understand my point: we went to war with the British to get rid of feudalistic control over the American colonies, and yet we didn't think that a feudalistic system in the workplace was going to be a problem. Well, it is.
Corporations now own politicians. Some corporations make more money than entire countries. These corporations have no checks or balances; if a nation's government doesn't like something the corporation is doing, they can try to bring them to justice, but with corrupt politicians and the money the corporations hold, they can either buy themselves out of trouble, or simply move their operation to another country.
What we really need is a competing system of workplace governance that is democratically operated. These exist now in some parts of the world, such as the Moondragon Cooperative Corporation in Spain. These 'corporations' are owned and operated by their workers, with management and executives being voted into office by those workers.
If you believe in democracy, then you should be against the feudalistic system that corporations embrace, just as you would be against a feudalistic form of government in Iraq or Sudan.
I'm not a big fan of Blagojevich either.
They've been rebuilding tolls here in Illinois to use what's called "open road tolling", which works with the I-Pass RFID tolling system. Above every single one of the open tolls there's a sign that reads "Open Road Tolling - Governor Rod R. Blagojevich". Each one of these signs costs $15,000, and are made by a company that made large contributions to the gov in the last race.
I mean, to me, a sign like that is basically nothing more than using tax dollars to promote yourself and your office. Government shouldn't be using tax dollars for self-marketing.
If you knew anything about science, you'd understand that for something to be considered a 'theory' it has to be experimentally tested. If it's not experimentally tested, then it's a hypothsis.
INT. OFFICE. DAY
The team are interviewing Scotty.
Scotty: No, actually I went to Craignewton but I was worried that you wouldn't have heard of it so I put the Federation Academy instead, because they're both schools, right, and we're all in this together, and I wanted to put across the general idea rather than the details, yeah? People get all hung up on details, but what's the point? Like which school? Does it matter? Why? When? Where? Or how many O grades did I get? Could be six, could be one, but that's not important. What's important is that I am, right? That I am.
MAN 1: Mr. Scott, do you mean that you lied on your application?
Scotty: Only to get my foot in the door. Showing initiative, right?
MAN 1: You were referred here by the Department of Engineering. There's no need for you to get you "foot in the door", as you put it.
Scotty: Hey. Right. No problem. Whatever you say, man. You're the man, the governor, the dude in the chair, like. I'm merely here. But obviously I am. Here, that is. I hope I'm not talking too much. I don't usually. I think it's all important though, isn't it?
MAN 2: Mr. Scott, what attracts you to the engineering industry?
Scotty: In a word, pleasure. My pleasure in other people's leisure.
WOMAN: What do you see as your main strengths?
Scotty: I love people. All people. Even people that no one else loves, I think they're OK, you know. Like Klingons.
WOMAN: Hostile people?
Scotty: No, not hostile people. Beggars, James Kirk -- one of my mates. I wouldn't say my best mate, I mean, sometimes the boy goes over the score, like one time when we -- me and him -- were having a laugh and all of a sudden he's fucking gubbed me in the face, right --
WOMAN: Mr. Scott, do you see yourself as having any weaknesses?
Scotty: No. Well, yes. I have to admit it: I'm a perfectionist. For me, it's the best or nothing at all. If things go badly, I can't be bothered, but I have a good feeling about this interview. Seems to me like it's gone pretty well. We've touched on a lot of subjects, a lot of things to think about, for all of us.
MAN 1: Thank you, Mr. Scott. We'll let you know.
Where the 'h' is?
A forecast of the next Spiderman villan? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scorpion_(comics)
Wrong. Science has no ego at all; it's the scientists that have an ego.
Close... It was Copernicus who first said the Earth revolves around the sun, not Galileo.
Let me clue you in on something: You don't have to watch so-called 'inappropriate material', and neither do your kids! If you see something that offends your sensibilities, you have three choices:
1. Change the channel.
2. Turn the television off and read a fucking book.
3. Overcome your weak sensibilities and learn to enjoy the filthy broadcasts.
Let the government govern, and you raise your own damn kids.
Cake "Long Line of Cars"
There's a long line of cars
And they're trying to get through
There's no single explanation
There's no central destination
But this long line of cars
Is trying to get through
And this long line of cars
Is all because of you...
Will spam for spam?
Nah, this Ferguson is a the guy who played the boss on the Drew Carry show.
Looks like I wasn't the only person to catch the season premiere of Deadwood last night...
Dino Monk: I'll go into the herd and gain aggression from the brontos.
Dino Warrior: Ok, when you get to about halfway back here, fall down and play dead.
Dino Wizard: They'll think you died of a heart attack or something!
Dino Warrior: Right. Then, when the majority of the brontos chasing you turn around and head back to the herd, I'll run to you and wave my ass at the one in the back. He'll be so pissed he won't call for backup and he'll come alone.
Dino Monk: Right! feign death 4tw~!
It's no different than scientists discovering T-Rex and having one or two of them think "Hey, maybe this critter was a scavanger, not a predator".
It's conjecture; until they find evidence to support the claim, that's all it'll be.
Archeologists should share their findings under the GPL, so that other scientists may asses the data and draw their own conclusions.
That was called peer review last time I checked.
I think the point of this research is to develop systems that surpass natural systems in specific ways; for example, bionic eyes might have a zoom feature, something that biotech companies would have problems creating from your DNA. Eventually biotech will surpass bionics, but at that point we won't be "human" anymore. We'll have designed ourselves into a new species.
Only while on the putting green.
I have a feeling that the Serenity dvds will sell like hotcakes. I mean, I got a copy for Christmas, and I didn't even ask for it; my parents knew I liked sci-fi, so they picked it up.
If the dvd does well, then I could see Universal being interested in a direct-to-video sequel, which would be fine by me.
Wouldn't rolling down into a big hole sort of be the point? I mean, if you want to explore a possible cave system, you're going to want to know where the cave leads, how far down it goes, how much area it covers, and so on. Seems like rolling and bouncing probes would be a good way to map a cave.
I think a better means of transportation would be something like a dandelion seed; something that was light enough to have the wind pick it up and blow it around, but could anchor itself (grow roots) if an area proved to be worthy of more investigation.
I'm waiting for the "National Space Lottery" to come about. Buy a ticket, and you've got a chance at going up. Of course, you'd have to get a background check by the FBI, a few hundred medical exams, and sign an agreement that you won't sue NASA if their ship explodes, but I know lots of people that would blow their entire paycheck for a chance to go into orbit. I'm tired of hearing about rich bastards blowing millions of dollars to go up; give the average Joe (or Jane) a shot.
When you take a long road trip, how do you get back? You don't carry hundreds of gallons of fuel in your car, you fill up when you need to. Same idea with the Mars mission; you send a bunch automated chemical equipment to Mars, and it makes fuel out of CO2 and Hydrogen. When the astronauts get to Mars, they have their own filling station in order to get them back home.