In some sense, these pre-assembled machines are better than traditional manufacturing techniques because you can build working items inside of sealed shells. There's no ship-in-a-bottle paradox because everything is built from the bottom up.
This last point is so very exciting! This process, if applied to metals or to reletively strong, low coefficient of friction substances (i.e. teflon, kevlar, etc.) would be absolutely ideal for bearings for this very reason. Imagine not having to heat-assemble ball bearings! Or being able to produce fully-sealed, bi-axially stable two-row angled roller bearings! This has ramifications, it does.
If you want to see capitalism in action, you're looking in the wrong place. Try some other, fictional, country that actually has a capitalist system of business governance.
Amen to this. If unpaid ads can capture a significant chunk of the political sway currently garnered by paid ads, we might even (GASP!) see a non-uber wealthy Third Party stand a chance of fielding a viable candidate!
Anything that takes the binary polarity out of politics is a good thing indeed.
See, this is why I'm for a graduated licensing program: Graduated not in the sense of "You get your license at 17 but have to drive with an adult until your 18" but in the sense of "If you've had X hours of certified training, you are entitled to a certain symbol on your license plate, drivers license, and registration that confirm that you are allowed to drive Y miles an hour over the posted speed limits." I think this would be a fantastic way to make sure that people who want to get places quickly and are the sort of people that should be trusted with operating a vehicle at a higher speed than normal can do so without the hassles of a radar detector, etc. And yes, there are other people on the road, but that's what evasive/defensive driving training and discretionary training are for (both included in the first official advanced licensing bracket training.)
Really, I'd rather just abolish the stupid things and hold people who fuck up responsible for their actions, but I think this progam has more current society appeal.
Find your local Libertarian Party representatives and start a grassroots. That's where all of us freedom-loving, smaller government folks went when the Republicans and then the Democrats turned on us.
Whoa, you've had your credit card stolen before?!? That's never happened to anyone else before!!!1one.
Newsflash: that happens all the time due to bad security on websites. Shit, my debit card number got yoinked a year or so ago and whoever it was reaped about 170 USD from me, directly. The company was nice about it when I called in and everything was replaced. The bank's the only one's hurtin' in this scenario; well, them and the theives, presuming they were caught. I just don't see how my finances being in minor jeapordy warrants breach of contract and the degradation of due process.
So, if someone has a list of credit card information in their house, the police don't need a warrant to go in and get it and take it away? What's wrong with you?
You ~DO~ realize that the term "assault weapon/rifle" wasn't invented until some politicians wanted to try to ban some more guns, right? An "assault weapon" is basically a semi-automatic rifle. You know, like the M1 Garand that civilians have owned since around 1901? Or every hunting rifle ever produced? The gun-grabbers generally just name scary looking black rifles like AR15s and Kalishnikovs "assault weapons" because they think they'll have better luck banning guns that they perceive as being underrepresented in ownership.
So, by your logic, since I own a Rock River Arms AR-15 in.223 Remington, I own an "assault rifle", just like I should be able to!
1) Some non-trivial percentage of the population doesn't have kids.
2) When I was growing up, there were always guns around. Generally speaking, they were unloaded, excepting the 9mm pistol my mom kept in her dresser, fully loaded. Regardless of the state (loaded, unloaded) of the firearms in question, my younger brother and I knew damn good and well that we were not to touch any of them without their express permission. We also knew safe gun-handling and firearms safety (which I advocate as the biggest preventer of gun violence and Accidental Discharges/Negligent Discharges. Knowing is 99% of the battle!). Example, to this day, if I pick up a gun, I open its breach, check it for clear, clear it if it is not clear, and decock the firing mechanism in a safe direction. Now the weapon is safe. Anyone who makes the decision to bring guns into their home has the responsibility to inform the other members of his or her household as to how to be safe with them. If I brought home a space heater, you bet I'd make sure my kids understood not to let it get too close to the walls, not to play near it, to make sure blankets and whatnot didn't end up near it, etc. I have this funny attachment to not having my property burn that makes me want to be safe and encourage others in the household to be just as safe. Same with guns. You make sure the kids understand them, you let them fire them at a range so they understand that they are VERY powerful and not toys, you instruct them in safety, and then you tell them not to touch them without you and never to discuss them with or around their friends. Your kids and yourself are now safe. In fact, all of you are a lot safer than you would be without a form of protection against that all-too-common-nowadays crime of home invasion.
So, yeah, my kids would know where it was, they'd know it was a pump and a safet selector away from being able to do horrific things to whatever it was pointed at, and they'd know they were most certainly not to touch it. In addition, they'd know that if they did HAVE to touch it, for whatever reason, to 1) open the breach, 2) work the action until all the shells were out of the tube and loader (this all presumes a pump-action), and 3) dry fire the weapon in a safe direction (usually the floor) and then either leave the breach closed and carry it muzzle-up, or lock the breach open and carry it muzzle-up. Yay safety, yay knowledge, yay no one innocent gets hurt.
Alarm systems notify the police. The police come to the house. This process will almost certainly take far longer than the process of Break-and-Enter, Rape-and-Pillage, Then Haul Ass that the criminals in any given breaking and entering situation will be using. If you don't believe me, check the home invasion response times on the FBI's website. Nearly all calls (real live actual person calls, not automated alarm triggers!) take 5+ minutes, and a shocking amount have longer response times.
Also, just so you're aware of this next time you rely on the police to protect you/your rights:
It has been upheld three times (to my knowledge, there may have been more, more recent cases that uphold this as well) that a police department and its officers and employees are not responsible for providing for the personal protection or safety of any private citizen's health, life, welfare, or property and that none of these have any obligation to place themselves at any risk to protect any of those. A friend of mine who was a SWAT member on the Indianapolis PD for 20+ years (and spent the last 2 as an entry leader) has mentioned that doing a response to a home invasion call by the book according to many agencies and departments involves showing up and then checking your watch. You sit in the car for 5 minutes. THEN, you go see what's going on. The departments don't want their officers going in where there might still be criminals. So, yeah, the police probably won't be anything like as helpful to you in the defense of your life and property (and the lives and property of your loved ones) as a firearm that you have some skill with. A gun rarely has "very little effect" unless you're storing it improperly for defense (i.e., not near you/on you, not loaded, locked; most of your hunting weapons which stay locked in the safe wouldn't help, but the pistol you carry on a daily basis and the 12-gauge you keep loaded behind the bed would) or are completely unskilled in its use or unwilling to use it as intended (i.e., to fire upon in an attempt to incapacitate an intruder/threat).
Again, this has been a public service announcement for the instruction of all people interested in their own welfare.
Not even the Freemasons are that litigious wrt: their secret whatnots. That could be because, like, all the major players in Scientology are apparently rich and litigious Hollywood-types anyway...
I attend one of the many Universities where DOD research is currently being conducted. Portions of our graduate student body and faculty are working on the powered armor concept in conjunction with UC-Berkley (they're doing the frame and kinematics, we're doing the control theory/system and power supply). We're actually making quite a bit of progress in the field of alternative batteries (the current iteration is a peroxide-fueled hydraulic hybrid-type system widget) and mechanical interface control theory application. So, while God knows we won't see cap' troopers in 'suits any time soon, we are at least progressing towards that end while developing widely applicable technologies along the way (this is, if I may remind you, the way many technologies we love dearly were spun off from the space program et. al).
You're right! Lets get out there and elect some Libertarians! You know, that party whose platform basically is individual liberties? Yeah, those guys. Elect them.
Have you ever heard of a concept called "the letter of the law"?
It basically says that if the law says something, that's what it means. No ifs, ands, or buts. That's what Grandparent was referring to. Do we need to change the letter of the shield laws to provide for such situations, or should we change the letter to specifically allow a Judge's interpretation of te applicability of the law in any given situation? Note, please, that this last option is a great opportunity for corruption, evil, and discriminatory selective enforcement.
So you mean to tell me that the lazy fucks who have made a family tradition out of Welfare and Food Stamps are giong to get up off of their asses and form together and attack the government? If they're that motivated, why aren't they employed right now instead of wasting my tax money?
OR, we could rely on the consumers to research the titles they are interested in purchasing before they buy them. How many game reviewing websites exist? Tell me it's difficult to Google a title and read a couple of reviews before you plunk down hard-earned cash for it.
This is especially true for parents seeking to purchase games for their children. Any responsible parent should check out the stuff they're going to be allowing into their childrens' minds. Sorry it can't be as convenient as glancing at the lower right hand corner of the box, but it's certainly not difficult and is definitely a small price to pay for the benefit.
This also helps circumvent the problems of people having different moral standards for what is appropriate material. Some parents may be ok with their 10 year old hearing the word "shit" where another may find even "crap" completely unnacceptable. If you read through a few reviews of the game (or even play it for a while yourself / sit down with your child and play it with them instead of using video games as surrogate parents) you can better find out if a particular title conforms to the standards of what you want your child exposed to.
Come on, people, quit your lazy griping and take responsibility for the content you buy, the production companies etc. that you support, and the material you want your children exposed to! The government is not the solution!
And lead wasn't even really "banned" so much as "suggested not to be used any longer". If you want ROHS compliance, you have to use lead-free solder, but some places don't really require that (yet). I worked at a place that made their own motor coils and soldered the ends and they are still in the process of transitioning to ROHS-compliant materials to this day.
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This last point is so very exciting! This process, if applied to metals or to reletively strong, low coefficient of friction substances (i.e. teflon, kevlar, etc.) would be absolutely ideal for bearings for this very reason. Imagine not having to heat-assemble ball bearings! Or being able to produce fully-sealed, bi-axially stable two-row angled roller bearings! This has ramifications, it does.
I'd like to follow this up further:
If those criminals have been duly convicted, WHY ARE THEY AT THE SUPERBOWL INSTEAD OF IN JAIL?
If you want to see capitalism in action, you're looking in the wrong place. Try some other, fictional, country that actually has a capitalist system of business governance.
Amen to this. If unpaid ads can capture a significant chunk of the political sway currently garnered by paid ads, we might even (GASP!) see a non-uber wealthy Third Party stand a chance of fielding a viable candidate!
Anything that takes the binary polarity out of politics is a good thing indeed.
See, this is why I'm for a graduated licensing program: Graduated not in the sense of "You get your license at 17 but have to drive with an adult until your 18" but in the sense of "If you've had X hours of certified training, you are entitled to a certain symbol on your license plate, drivers license, and registration that confirm that you are allowed to drive Y miles an hour over the posted speed limits." I think this would be a fantastic way to make sure that people who want to get places quickly and are the sort of people that should be trusted with operating a vehicle at a higher speed than normal can do so without the hassles of a radar detector, etc. And yes, there are other people on the road, but that's what evasive/defensive driving training and discretionary training are for (both included in the first official advanced licensing bracket training.)
Really, I'd rather just abolish the stupid things and hold people who fuck up responsible for their actions, but I think this progam has more current society appeal.
Find your local Libertarian Party representatives and start a grassroots. That's where all of us freedom-loving, smaller government folks went when the Republicans and then the Democrats turned on us.
Whoa, you've had your credit card stolen before?!? That's never happened to anyone else before!!!1one.
Newsflash: that happens all the time due to bad security on websites. Shit, my debit card number got yoinked a year or so ago and whoever it was reaped about 170 USD from me, directly. The company was nice about it when I called in and everything was replaced. The bank's the only one's hurtin' in this scenario; well, them and the theives, presuming they were caught. I just don't see how my finances being in minor jeapordy warrants breach of contract and the degradation of due process.
So, if someone has a list of credit card information in their house, the police don't need a warrant to go in and get it and take it away? What's wrong with you?
You ~DO~ realize that the term "assault weapon/rifle" wasn't invented until some politicians wanted to try to ban some more guns, right? An "assault weapon" is basically a semi-automatic rifle. You know, like the M1 Garand that civilians have owned since around 1901? Or every hunting rifle ever produced? The gun-grabbers generally just name scary looking black rifles like AR15s and Kalishnikovs "assault weapons" because they think they'll have better luck banning guns that they perceive as being underrepresented in ownership.
.223 Remington, I own an "assault rifle", just like I should be able to!
So, by your logic, since I own a Rock River Arms AR-15 in
Amen.
1) Some non-trivial percentage of the population doesn't have kids.
2) When I was growing up, there were always guns around. Generally speaking, they were unloaded, excepting the 9mm pistol my mom kept in her dresser, fully loaded. Regardless of the state (loaded, unloaded) of the firearms in question, my younger brother and I knew damn good and well that we were not to touch any of them without their express permission. We also knew safe gun-handling and firearms safety (which I advocate as the biggest preventer of gun violence and Accidental Discharges/Negligent Discharges. Knowing is 99% of the battle!). Example, to this day, if I pick up a gun, I open its breach, check it for clear, clear it if it is not clear, and decock the firing mechanism in a safe direction. Now the weapon is safe. Anyone who makes the decision to bring guns into their home has the responsibility to inform the other members of his or her household as to how to be safe with them. If I brought home a space heater, you bet I'd make sure my kids understood not to let it get too close to the walls, not to play near it, to make sure blankets and whatnot didn't end up near it, etc. I have this funny attachment to not having my property burn that makes me want to be safe and encourage others in the household to be just as safe. Same with guns. You make sure the kids understand them, you let them fire them at a range so they understand that they are VERY powerful and not toys, you instruct them in safety, and then you tell them not to touch them without you and never to discuss them with or around their friends. Your kids and yourself are now safe. In fact, all of you are a lot safer than you would be without a form of protection against that all-too-common-nowadays crime of home invasion.
So, yeah, my kids would know where it was, they'd know it was a pump and a safet selector away from being able to do horrific things to whatever it was pointed at, and they'd know they were most certainly not to touch it. In addition, they'd know that if they did HAVE to touch it, for whatever reason, to 1) open the breach, 2) work the action until all the shells were out of the tube and loader (this all presumes a pump-action), and 3) dry fire the weapon in a safe direction (usually the floor) and then either leave the breach closed and carry it muzzle-up, or lock the breach open and carry it muzzle-up. Yay safety, yay knowledge, yay no one innocent gets hurt.
Hey, just FYI:
Alarm systems notify the police. The police come to the house. This process will almost certainly take far longer than the process of Break-and-Enter, Rape-and-Pillage, Then Haul Ass that the criminals in any given breaking and entering situation will be using. If you don't believe me, check the home invasion response times on the FBI's website. Nearly all calls (real live actual person calls, not automated alarm triggers!) take 5+ minutes, and a shocking amount have longer response times.
Also, just so you're aware of this next time you rely on the police to protect you/your rights:
It has been upheld three times (to my knowledge, there may have been more, more recent cases that uphold this as well) that a police department and its officers and employees are not responsible for providing for the personal protection or safety of any private citizen's health, life, welfare, or property and that none of these have any obligation to place themselves at any risk to protect any of those. A friend of mine who was a SWAT member on the Indianapolis PD for 20+ years (and spent the last 2 as an entry leader) has mentioned that doing a response to a home invasion call by the book according to many agencies and departments involves showing up and then checking your watch. You sit in the car for 5 minutes. THEN, you go see what's going on. The departments don't want their officers going in where there might still be criminals. So, yeah, the police probably won't be anything like as helpful to you in the defense of your life and property (and the lives and property of your loved ones) as a firearm that you have some skill with. A gun rarely has "very little effect" unless you're storing it improperly for defense (i.e., not near you/on you, not loaded, locked; most of your hunting weapons which stay locked in the safe wouldn't help, but the pistol you carry on a daily basis and the 12-gauge you keep loaded behind the bed would) or are completely unskilled in its use or unwilling to use it as intended (i.e., to fire upon in an attempt to incapacitate an intruder/threat).
Again, this has been a public service announcement for the instruction of all people interested in their own welfare.
Not even the Freemasons are that litigious wrt: their secret whatnots. That could be because, like, all the major players in Scientology are apparently rich and litigious Hollywood-types anyway...
I attend one of the many Universities where DOD research is currently being conducted. Portions of our graduate student body and faculty are working on the powered armor concept in conjunction with UC-Berkley (they're doing the frame and kinematics, we're doing the control theory/system and power supply). We're actually making quite a bit of progress in the field of alternative batteries (the current iteration is a peroxide-fueled hydraulic hybrid-type system widget) and mechanical interface control theory application. So, while God knows we won't see cap' troopers in 'suits any time soon, we are at least progressing towards that end while developing widely applicable technologies along the way (this is, if I may remind you, the way many technologies we love dearly were spun off from the space program et. al).
"...because a Marine will never use a three-syllable word when a three-letter one will do."
Neal Stevenson, Cryptonomicon
You're right! Lets get out there and elect some Libertarians! You know, that party whose platform basically is individual liberties? Yeah, those guys. Elect them.
Heinlein would agree with this solution...
Amen to that. Viva la libertarians!
CoUlDn'T yOu HaVe At LeAsT uSeD iNtErCaPs?!?!/!?1!oneslash1!?
Have you ever heard of a concept called "the letter of the law"?
It basically says that if the law says something, that's what it means. No ifs, ands, or buts. That's what Grandparent was referring to. Do we need to change the letter of the shield laws to provide for such situations, or should we change the letter to specifically allow a Judge's interpretation of te applicability of the law in any given situation? Note, please, that this last option is a great opportunity for corruption, evil, and discriminatory selective enforcement.
But 33% is still a hell of a lot of people. You only need a couple hundred motivated ex-Military types to stage a highly effective coup de tat...
So you mean to tell me that the lazy fucks who have made a family tradition out of Welfare and Food Stamps are giong to get up off of their asses and form together and attack the government? If they're that motivated, why aren't they employed right now instead of wasting my tax money?
OR, we could rely on the consumers to research the titles they are interested in purchasing before they buy them. How many game reviewing websites exist? Tell me it's difficult to Google a title and read a couple of reviews before you plunk down hard-earned cash for it.
This is especially true for parents seeking to purchase games for their children. Any responsible parent should check out the stuff they're going to be allowing into their childrens' minds. Sorry it can't be as convenient as glancing at the lower right hand corner of the box, but it's certainly not difficult and is definitely a small price to pay for the benefit.
This also helps circumvent the problems of people having different moral standards for what is appropriate material. Some parents may be ok with their 10 year old hearing the word "shit" where another may find even "crap" completely unnacceptable. If you read through a few reviews of the game (or even play it for a while yourself / sit down with your child and play it with them instead of using video games as surrogate parents) you can better find out if a particular title conforms to the standards of what you want your child exposed to.
Come on, people, quit your lazy griping and take responsibility for the content you buy, the production companies etc. that you support, and the material you want your children exposed to! The government is not the solution!
Ah, but the three "different" things all do the same thing: Increase security.
So, the analogy is more apt than it may at first seem.
And lead wasn't even really "banned" so much as "suggested not to be used any longer". If you want ROHS compliance, you have to use lead-free solder, but some places don't really require that (yet). I worked at a place that made their own motor coils and soldered the ends and they are still in the process of transitioning to ROHS-compliant materials to this day.