And by "only in America", you must have meant "Only in America, England, Canada, Australia, and every other English speaking nation in the world", right?:)
Besides which, let's not pretend that other languages don't have some messed up rules, too. I know it's popular to think that westerners are ignorant of other nations, but I speak two languages fluently, and can get along in two more. The German tendency to stick together words into huge uber-words is a heck of a lot stranger than any aspect of the English language, and French spelling seems to be every bit as arbitrary as English spelling.
Don't believe me and think it's just a troll? Please take a moment using your favorite search engine and look up "Prescott Nazi WWII". You might be surprised at the results.
Well if Alex Jones and Webster Tarpley said it, then it MUST be true!
BTW, a bit off topic here, but I think slashdot could be greatly improved with the addition of an eye-rolling emoticon....
I don't really agree with the GPP either, but I couldn't resist responding to this part:
Are you suggesting one party should be responsible for another parties actions?
Are we talking legally or morally? Legally speaking, it depends on where you live. Here in Canada, for instance, a bartender (or just a host at a party) who allows someone else to get hammered and then drive home is considered responsible if that person causes an accident. Similarly, if you sell a gun to someone who has made it clear that he wants to go murder his wife, you're going to be held partially responsible for his crime.
Do I think such laws are just? For the most part, no, but there certainly are exceptions. If you sell nuclear weapons to Osama Bin Laden, you bet your ass I'm going to want you held responsible for what he does with them.
I never advocated taking away anyone's rights. Do not confuse my contempt for certain types of individuals with an attempt to control them. As for the time-frame, pick one. The USA at the time of it's founding. England at the height of it's glory. The times when words like "honour", "duty", and "virtue" were more than just a punchline to a joke. Even in our modern societies, small sub-groups exist where such values survive, but as for society in general...I've long since given up hope.
I can see by your tone that the only appropriate response is "lol". Did you read that off a brochure?
As opposed to what? A "Stop Amerikkkan Imperiali$m" placard being carried by a guy smoking a massive blunt and wearing a "FUCK YOU!!" shirt?
You've got absolutely no business criticizing anyone else's opinions when it's so painfully clear that you've been brainwashed past any semblance of rationality.
Just because an organization has a budget doesn't imply that they are concerned with cost. Even the most lavish parties have a budget.
And even the most lavish parties are concerned with cost. It all depends on what the set limit is.
The government can't go broke because their buying power is not measured in dollars.
You may wish to read up on the history of the USSR.
With the most advanced inertial navigation software, image sensors, microprocessors being developed in other countries, they have to use open source and download it from other countries just to survive.
Sure, technically speaking, Intel's newest line of processors was developed and fabricated in Israel. Has this lead to all users of intel processors switching to OSS?
As an AC already pointed out, most of the development is being done by American companies, they're just outsourcing the research, development, or manufacturing to other nations. Wake me up when a company called Advanced Tehran Electronics is presenting any sort of market threat to American companies.
You've got a great point! In fact, let's take it a bit further. Why should we do ANYTHING to help the military? I say you start a campaign of civil disobedience aimed at destroying the US military's ability to wage any sort of warfare whatsoever. Don't stop until they're down to using shoelaces and plastic forks. I'm sure this will make the entire world a much safer place, and you'll have PLENTY of time to rebuild the military once foreign troops start rolling over your borders! Plus I'm sure it won't affect your global standing or your quality of life in the slightest! Yep, clearly we could achieve a true utopia if only we could disarm the US military!
For those that don't know SOSCoE is a closed source attempt (and failure) to allow application to actually talk to each other....your tax money being put to good use!
Well, thank you for your input! After all, what better place is there to get reliable information about classified military systems than from an Anonymous Coward?
Ah, I understand. It's a valid point, if you assume that the authorities are all corrupt, and the police are always up to no good. Of course, that's a pretty pessimistic way to look at your nation. If you're living in China or Iran, you might have cause for concern, otherwise I think you need to have a little more faith in the system.
The US Bill of Rights recognizes pre-existing, inalienable natural rights of the people and states that the government may not infringe on them.
Not that our government has been all that great on resisting the desire to infringe anyway.
Better than any other government in the world, or in history for that matter. Take freedom of speech as an example: here in Canada speech restriction is built into the charter of rights and freedoms in the form of "hate speech" regulations. The EU has similar restrictions built into it's charter. The US is the only nation on the planet today where the government does not regulate freedom of expression both in theory and in practice. Then there's things like your gun laws, self defence and defence of property laws, the relative dearth of economic controls, even things like the fifth amendment, which has no parallel in many civilized nations. The only exception seems to be this silly "war on drugs", which runs against your otherwise excellent record of personal freedoms and opportunities. Still, any time you think the US government is restrictive, all you have to do is look at the rest of the world.
... I actually lived long enough for the US Right to come full circle with the Communist Left!
What the hell are you going on about? I know this is a lot to ask of someone who can make such a comparison with a straight face, but how about a little context? Need me to teach you how the Blockquote tag works?
Chen must love his dog very much. Because my guess is that he's probably going to lose his life over this.
Unlikely. China's not quite THAT back-asswards. Although it wouldn't surprise me if he lost his dog, since he IS breaking the law, and he fully admits that the only reason he's able to own such a large dog is that the local police are lenient. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the local police suddenly got a phone call telling them to be a lot less lenient.
You put "man" in quotes, presumably to show that the referenced individuals are less than a real man. Does a woman ignoring the situation also qualify as less than a real woman?
Yes. "Less than a real human being" would be more accurate, if you want to be politically correct.
You apparently witnessed these occasions yourself. If "not a single person" stopped to help, does that include you?
The first time, yes. It's probably the only thing in my life that I'm ashamed of. The consequent times, no. Unlike most people, I learn from my failures.
You claim this is a sign of the times. Presumably this means that there was a previous time when things were better. When exactly was this?
Back when people understood that individual rights and freedoms hinge on the acceptance of personal responsibilities.
It's an experimental algorithm for Slashdot. Each potential moderator is given an IQ test, and a mod point awarded for each question they get wrong. I think they got the idea from the film "Idiocracy". Anyway, so far it's resulted in penis jokes being modded "+500 Funny", and anything even slightly intelligent being modded "-500 Boring". If the new moderation scheme is successfully implemented, the next step will be the banning of all accounts which do not have "Amerikkka Sux" in the their tagline.
Wrong. The wright brothers may have later used a catapult to make takeoffs easier, but their first flight certainly didn't employ one, nor was one necessary for any of their flights.
Seriously, what's with all the America-bashing these days? It's not bad enough that you're constantly blaming them for all the worlds problems, now you also want to re-write history to take their accomplishments away? Get a grip of yourself!
It does not take huge analytical powers nor a remarkable amount of historical information to see that the fact that Africa is as it is and that Mexico is as it is, is---while probably not directly caused by---very connected to the way what you call ``WHITE Americans'' are, along with what you'd probably call ``WHITE Europeans''...
Sure, if you believe that wealth is only created through the oppression of others, then yes, you would come to that conclusion. You would also, IMHO, be a frigging' moron. If America had never been "discovered", do you seriously believe that Aztecs would now be launching rockets to the moon? If Africa hadn't been exploited for it's natural resources, do you imagine that the Bushmen would have developed a cure for AIDS?
To pretend that all societies are created equal is the worst kind of foolishness. The Chinese had gunpowder for centuries, yet did little more with it than make fireworks. Europeans got their hands on it and a few decades later were making cannons and muskets. While race may not play a part in the development of technology and the improvement of the human condition, society and ideology certainly do. No amount of freedom and "opportunity" is going help an ass-backwards society to pull itself out of a rut, while a forward thinking people can create opportunity in the midst of oppression. As long as you keep blaming the White Man for everything that's wrong with all other societies, you're only creating excuses for the continued stagnation of those societies. If you tell a black inner-city child that he'll never amount to anything because whitey is keeping him down, is it any wonder when he grows up to be a bum or a criminal?
I think a more likely scenario is that the guy saw his face on a massive billboard, saw everyone around him staring at him, said "OH SHIT!" and turned himself in because he realized his situation was hopeless. That's the real, immediate benefit of such a plan - if you see your face plastered all over the walls of the city, how much faith are you going to have in your ability to get away?
Sadly, you're a sign of the times. I've seen numerous occasions where a person was being assaulted in broad daylight, or a criminal who had just stolen something was running down a crowded sidewalk, and not a single person stopped to help. Every "man" walking by would duck his head, hurry his pace, and pretend he didn't see what was going on. After all, it was just someone they didn't know attacking someone else they didn't know. I'm sure it made them very uncomfortable.
I wish. You know, when Survivor first came out, that was what I thought of: a bunch of hardened convicts armed with machetes, stranded on an island, fighting to the last man. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be a bunch of pussies whining about broken nails and frayed hair, and voting eachother off the island. A psychopath with an axe could have really livened up that show...
Slashdot Mirror
And by "only in America", you must have meant "Only in America, England, Canada, Australia, and every other English speaking nation in the world", right? :)
Besides which, let's not pretend that other languages don't have some messed up rules, too. I know it's popular to think that westerners are ignorant of other nations, but I speak two languages fluently, and can get along in two more. The German tendency to stick together words into huge uber-words is a heck of a lot stranger than any aspect of the English language, and French spelling seems to be every bit as arbitrary as English spelling.
BTW, a bit off topic here, but I think slashdot could be greatly improved with the addition of an eye-rolling emoticon....
Do I think such laws are just? For the most part, no, but there certainly are exceptions. If you sell nuclear weapons to Osama Bin Laden, you bet your ass I'm going to want you held responsible for what he does with them.
I'm so confused
I never advocated taking away anyone's rights. Do not confuse my contempt for certain types of individuals with an attempt to control them. As for the time-frame, pick one. The USA at the time of it's founding. England at the height of it's glory. The times when words like "honour", "duty", and "virtue" were more than just a punchline to a joke. Even in our modern societies, small sub-groups exist where such values survive, but as for society in general...I've long since given up hope.
Do or do knot, there is no twine.
Neat. We used the same idea for rappelling out of choppers - just drop the bag, attach your carabiner, and off you go.
You've got absolutely no business criticizing anyone else's opinions when it's so painfully clear that you've been brainwashed past any semblance of rationality. And even the most lavish parties are concerned with cost. It all depends on what the set limit is. You may wish to read up on the history of the USSR.
As an AC already pointed out, most of the development is being done by American companies, they're just outsourcing the research, development, or manufacturing to other nations. Wake me up when a company called Advanced Tehran Electronics is presenting any sort of market threat to American companies.
You've got a great point! In fact, let's take it a bit further. Why should we do ANYTHING to help the military? I say you start a campaign of civil disobedience aimed at destroying the US military's ability to wage any sort of warfare whatsoever. Don't stop until they're down to using shoelaces and plastic forks. I'm sure this will make the entire world a much safer place, and you'll have PLENTY of time to rebuild the military once foreign troops start rolling over your borders! Plus I'm sure it won't affect your global standing or your quality of life in the slightest! Yep, clearly we could achieve a true utopia if only we could disarm the US military!
Ah, I understand. It's a valid point, if you assume that the authorities are all corrupt, and the police are always up to no good. Of course, that's a pretty pessimistic way to look at your nation. If you're living in China or Iran, you might have cause for concern, otherwise I think you need to have a little more faith in the system.
I see. So your definition of "one better" is posting an entirely new rant which has nothing to do with the original question?
Interesting....
It's an experimental algorithm for Slashdot. Each potential moderator is given an IQ test, and a mod point awarded for each question they get wrong. I think they got the idea from the film "Idiocracy". Anyway, so far it's resulted in penis jokes being modded "+500 Funny", and anything even slightly intelligent being modded "-500 Boring". If the new moderation scheme is successfully implemented, the next step will be the banning of all accounts which do not have "Amerikkka Sux" in the their tagline.
Most criminals are.
Wrong. The wright brothers may have later used a catapult to make takeoffs easier, but their first flight certainly didn't employ one, nor was one necessary for any of their flights.
Seriously, what's with all the America-bashing these days? It's not bad enough that you're constantly blaming them for all the worlds problems, now you also want to re-write history to take their accomplishments away? Get a grip of yourself!
To pretend that all societies are created equal is the worst kind of foolishness. The Chinese had gunpowder for centuries, yet did little more with it than make fireworks. Europeans got their hands on it and a few decades later were making cannons and muskets. While race may not play a part in the development of technology and the improvement of the human condition, society and ideology certainly do. No amount of freedom and "opportunity" is going help an ass-backwards society to pull itself out of a rut, while a forward thinking people can create opportunity in the midst of oppression. As long as you keep blaming the White Man for everything that's wrong with all other societies, you're only creating excuses for the continued stagnation of those societies. If you tell a black inner-city child that he'll never amount to anything because whitey is keeping him down, is it any wonder when he grows up to be a bum or a criminal?
You, sir, are an idiot. I'm not trying to troll, but that's all the response that your comment deserves.
I think a more likely scenario is that the guy saw his face on a massive billboard, saw everyone around him staring at him, said "OH SHIT!" and turned himself in because he realized his situation was hopeless. That's the real, immediate benefit of such a plan - if you see your face plastered all over the walls of the city, how much faith are you going to have in your ability to get away?
Sadly, you're a sign of the times. I've seen numerous occasions where a person was being assaulted in broad daylight, or a criminal who had just stolen something was running down a crowded sidewalk, and not a single person stopped to help. Every "man" walking by would duck his head, hurry his pace, and pretend he didn't see what was going on. After all, it was just someone they didn't know attacking someone else they didn't know. I'm sure it made them very uncomfortable.
I wish. You know, when Survivor first came out, that was what I thought of: a bunch of hardened convicts armed with machetes, stranded on an island, fighting to the last man. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be a bunch of pussies whining about broken nails and frayed hair, and voting eachother off the island. A psychopath with an axe could have really livened up that show...