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Which world would you rather live in?
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Graduate life: It's not just a job. It's an indenture.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Thursday December 26 2019, @05:42PM (1 child)
I'll take a maxed out BC-304 and some replicators.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by RandomFactor on Wednesday January 01 2020, @06:33PM
Those aren't Star Trek replicators...
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Touché) by Rupert Pupnick on Thursday December 26 2019, @09:25PM (1 child)
As a check-in agent at one of those nice, bright, clean recycling centers.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday January 08 2020, @10:23PM
How about being in Deep Sleep instead.... so long as you are a Sandman.
This sig for rent.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Ethanol-fueled on Thursday December 26 2019, @10:19PM (36 children)
DS9 in particular so that I can sticky up the floors of the holosuites. Just gotta watch out, being a bar guy, for Quark trying to Space-Jew me all the time and make me try shitty brightly-colored bitch drinks nobody else wants to buy.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Friday December 27 2019, @02:54AM (34 children)
From funny to troll in 0.2 ms. Lame
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Friday December 27 2019, @07:25PM
Par for the course.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2, Disagree) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday December 28 2019, @12:43AM (29 children)
Nah, it's still funny. You just gotta understand that the whole offend everyone thing is part of his shtick. Think Triumph the insult comic dog or Archie Bunker.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Joe Desertrat on Sunday December 29 2019, @12:25AM (19 children)
I didn't have my glasses on and read that as "Trump" the insult comic dog. Funnier, and it explains so much.
(Score: 3, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday December 29 2019, @02:55AM (18 children)
Trump's got a little more trolling talent.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 02 2020, @09:07PM
You're an idiot
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Friday January 03 2020, @11:54PM (16 children)
I don't know, it almost seems random at times. The sort of things posted by an intoxicated frat boy.
(Score: 4, Touché) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 04 2020, @06:48AM (15 children)
You know many random frat boys who can make as many people as Trump can go into fits of frothing at the mouth rage?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 07 2020, @01:04PM (14 children)
Oh, wow! Until now I didn't realize how stupid the reason Trump was elected can be.
Straight into the stupid category of the story [archive.org] behind "Cut the nose to spite the face"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 11 2020, @03:22AM (13 children)
That you believed it when you were told he's THE WORST PRESIDENT EVAR!!!!1!!!111!ONE don't make it so. He's fucked the nation up a lot less than most so far. Of course you're not going to look at what's actually been done during his administration because you can't get past ORANGE MAN BAD. Classic Trump Derangement Syndrome. I still don't like the guy, aside from his trolling, but you folks are losing your entire fucking minds over shit that doesn't even matter.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday January 11 2020, @03:31AM (12 children)
Nobody tells me either way. As such, I can make my own ideas.
And the idea that I made about it's that he's the worst POTUS that I remember.
Well, when you insult me by presenting me as an idiot that can't reason by himself, the only answer you'll get from me is "Fuck you too, buddy".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 11 2020, @04:52PM (11 children)
Take a lesson from grade school and show your work then. Without it it appears that you in fact are just another idiot.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday January 11 2020, @10:58PM (10 children)
What work? Show to who exactly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 12 2020, @12:09AM (9 children)
If you want to assert that the guy's shit you have to lay out a case as to why, otherwise you're just talking out your ass like everyone else who knows fuck all about what any presidents have actually done but has amazingly strong feelings on the matter.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday January 12 2020, @02:47AM (5 children)
I've done it, otherwise wouldn't have reach the idea "worst president that I can remember".
Exposing it it's a matter of cost/benefit for me and my assessment against "laying out the case" is too long, with many factors based on my personal experience.
Start from the "Politics - the art of the possible" and the foolishness in thinking that he can make a deal in any circumstances only because he's Trump.
I beg to disagree, but that's another inconsequential matter.
Still doesn't make me (or anyone doing so) an idiot.
Now, homework for you: go back to my remark (the one with 'a stupid reason to elect Trump or anyone') and tell me what in there lead you to believe I'm sharing blindly a partisan belief (even more, in a game I have no stake).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 12 2020, @04:00AM (4 children)
That one comment was just the latest in a longass line of snarked up shit without even bothering to explain what he's done that makes him worse than any other president. If you have actual substantial beefs, air them. If not, the line for the idiot club membership cards forms to the left.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday January 12 2020, @04:27AM (3 children)
Incidentally, my first on the thread and addressing one point and one point only.
So I did, in regards with the reason for electing Trump or anyone else.
Well, fuck you too, buddy.
Just an advice, offered free - don't believe for a second that you appear anything different than an idiot, no matter the hand side you queue on. I have a hunch the you may not be an actual idiot, but I can't be sure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 13 2020, @02:46AM (2 children)
He's one of those walking illustrations of the INT/WIS stat split, that's his issue. He's not unintelligent, he's *stupid,* willfully so. That's worse somehow, because it's a choice.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 13 2020, @09:15PM (1 child)
Yeah, I figured you'd be next in line.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 14 2020, @03:25PM
Just giving credit where it's due :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 19 2020, @06:27PM (2 children)
No they don't. If you want to assert that everyone owes you an explanation for their opinions you will have to lay out a case as to why first.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 20 2020, @02:05PM (1 child)
Because they're not going to convince anyone otherwise unless they do. Which is the point of arguing, unless you're just doing it to fling metaphorical shit at people for fun.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 26 2020, @12:06AM
He says without the slightest hint of irony
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 05 2020, @04:14PM (8 children)
Racism isn't ever funny.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday January 05 2020, @07:34PM
Only to people without a sense of humor. I've traded $race jokes for indian jokes with $race guys many times and we both had a good laugh. It just requires you not be a whiny little bitch who's looking to be butthurt.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 06 2020, @04:38PM (6 children)
Racism jokes are only funny if they avoid mentioning any actual race by using variables such as ${race} or ${ethnicity} in the body of the joke.
Otherwise, no racism jokes.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06 2020, @04:51PM (1 child)
I had a professor who avoided the issue by replacing the joke's ethnic target with that of some long dead civilization. His favorite ones started out: "So these two Carthaginians - Sven and Ole - were out hunting..."
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday January 09 2020, @04:11AM
The only funny joke about Carthage
So these two Carthaginians---- OH WAIT THERES NO CARTHAGE
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam
Nunquam obliviscar Nunquam propitius eris
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 06 2020, @06:48PM (3 children)
Thank you. Come again.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 06 2020, @10:08PM (2 children)
Indian convenience store stereotype or hooker?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday January 07 2020, @01:09PM
My guess?
If you paid upfront, the latter. If you paid at exit (or not at all), the former.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 15 2020, @09:19PM
Behold the power of "and"
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday January 10 2020, @04:34PM (2 children)
Eh, I didn't find it funny to start with. I've never really understood why some people just can't get over themselves when it comes to masturbation.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 11 2020, @03:26AM (1 child)
There's a reason dick and fart jokes get called lowest common denominator humor. They're funny to damned near everyone.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Tuesday January 14 2020, @02:40PM
I'll have to take your word for it.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 04 2020, @10:58PM
New year. Same old stupid.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Friday December 27 2019, @03:03AM (76 children)
Star Trek is sort of a utopian vision of socialism and meritocracy blended together leading to a sort of high level liberty. In my younger days I though it was possible. As I age, and see just who rises to the top of our meritocracy (insert whoever you want from Zuckerberg to Trump, Pelosi to Gates), and watch how people get really opinionated and superior when talking about nothing more than healthcare (let alone all the other types of sharing Star Trek requires), and how they don't want to be "paying" for other peoples' choices (fuck you smokers, fuck you runners, fuck you meat eaters, fuck you skiiers, fuck you desk jockeys, fuck you mountain climbers, fuck you couch potatoes, fuck you vegans, etc. etc.) -- I think it really is just science fiction and unattainable. It is however, the society I would choose if it could be.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 27 2019, @09:53AM
Seems to work in most nations around the world.
Maybe what Americans forget is that *WE* are in all of this together, not separate, but together. *WE* are all born and die the same, no matter what. *WE* will get sick and get into accidents. If all you think is "fuck you smokers" and then you get lung cancer that you thought was impossible.
Kids are born and get cancer at 3 years old. People get injured by a drunk driver with no insurance. And in prime of your life, when you are at the top of the world, a measly ameba can eat your brain and leave you drooling for rest of your life. If all you have is "fuck you, got mine", then sucks to be you.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by acid andy on Friday December 27 2019, @10:46AM (34 children)
I marked you insightful but I think it's worth noting that people's attitudes are easily led first by the media and then in turn by their peers. If the media are paid to promote greed, self-interest and resentment of other groups then those values will take route in a society. It's a bit of a chicken and egg thing though, because you could say the reason the media are promoting those things are because those with power over them already have that greed, self-interest and resentment. Some of it is probably down to survival instincts. We haven't got free energy and replicators yet. The post scarcity of Star Trek (including even post scarcity of land with the easy interstellar travel) I think is a necessary ingredient for such a utopia.
I agree with you though about seeing the kind of people that rise to the top. Maybe the selfish, destructive human instincts are just too strong to overcome, short of a huge change in evolutionary pressures or large scale gene (Roddenberry?) therapy. I don't think that would go down too well, though.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday December 27 2019, @07:12PM (33 children)
The tendency of Americans to engage in superiority thinking runs pretty deep and I see it on both the left and the right (though admittedly, most of the people I know drift leftward). I'm not sure I believe that this is media driven and would tend to think that our cultural inclination to look down on others who live and/or believe differently has a greater impact. I should say I have no experience living in other cultures so whether this superiority-complex is uniquely American (or at least expressed more blatantly here).
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday December 27 2019, @07:17PM (32 children)
Let me finish my sentence:
"... whether this superiority-complex is uniquely American (or at least expressed more blatantly here), is something I don't know."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Friday December 27 2019, @07:29PM (31 children)
In America we can yell crap at the sky, rage about how awful a sitting president is, and other things; without being thrown in jail. So, I'd like to think that this particular brand of superiority-complex comes from the freedom to be ourselves. Unfortunately, a lot of ourselves are full of ourselves.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by gtomorrow on Saturday December 28 2019, @03:33AM (29 children)
Like Americans have exclusivity on this?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 28 2019, @04:26PM (24 children)
Of course not. You can rage against the machine, and we won't even shoot you for it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by gtomorrow on Saturday December 28 2019, @05:49PM (23 children)
Are you sure about that? Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm thinking it's one of the places on this planet where it's most likely to happen, raging or not.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 28 2019, @06:21PM (2 children)
I won't shoot you for raging against the machine, despite what Aristarchus may have told you. I shot him for shagging the livestock.
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Sunday December 29 2019, @12:53AM (1 child)
Good to know, even if I don't share that particular proclivity...for the livestock, that is.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:23PM
It's the proclivity for gun stock that's the issue though...
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Freeman on Tuesday December 31 2019, @04:10PM (19 children)
Yeah, no, it's not as bad as some would have you believe. Also, go figure, a country who's citizens can readily buy guns has more gun violence; than a country where the average person can't put his/her hands on one. That doesn't mean there is a significant difference with regard to violence. Sure, it's harder to go on a mass shooting spree, but impinging on the rights of everyone due to a few disturbed individuals isn't freedom. Disturbed people will find ways to kill lots of people, if that's what they are set on doing.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-26402367 [bbc.com]
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/outside-americas-knives-are-often-weapon-choice-homicides-180949953/ [smithsonianmag.com]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mass_stabbings [wikipedia.org]
^-- And those are just about knives.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday December 31 2019, @06:32PM (9 children)
Here's the thing: Yes, you can kill people with a knife. On average, when someone tries to kill people with a knife, the body count is a lot lower than when they have a semi-auto rifle or even a pistol. We know guns are useful for killing people, because otherwise no military would bother issuing them to the troops and training their troops in their use.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday December 31 2019, @07:08PM (8 children)
Quite true, which is why the right to bear arms is rested with the people. Otherwise, the government is too full of itself to protect the interests of the people. The power should be with the people.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday December 31 2019, @07:33PM (7 children)
You have an AR-15. The government has drone-mounted guided missiles that will hit and destroy your home moving at mach 5. You won't even hear it coming.
In short, you lost that one a long time ago.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Freeman on Tuesday December 31 2019, @08:08PM
It's true to a certain extent, but we're not in an iRobot kind of situation, yet. For it to get to that point, you'd be siding with the government getting full military support. I'm guessing, if it got to that point, the "unruly civilians/rebels" would have access to some things.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 01 2020, @02:30AM (1 child)
As I recall, the gubbermint passed a special law about weaponizing small, privately owned drones. A year or more ago, I watched a Youtube video of some young man who built and flew a drone with a weapon on it. How about 4 years ago? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBBC-xL_MTg [youtube.com]
Granted, that puny thing doesn't compare to a predator drone, but it demonstrates that the cops and the military don't have all the firepower.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday January 03 2020, @04:00PM
The drone-mount isn't what makes an AR-15 completely outclassed by a modern missile. The speed that means your first indication that it's coming is the explosion, the guidance system, and the fact that close is good enough to do the job is what makes the difference.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 02 2020, @09:50PM (2 children)
Gee.. I bet someone said the same thing with Vietnam and yet the Yanks got their assess handed to them.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Friday January 03 2020, @04:05PM (1 child)
The VietCong, by the time they were fighting the US at least, had tanks and other heavy weapons supplied by the Chinese.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday January 04 2020, @12:21AM
We made the early mistake of backing the Ngô family, a typically corrupt, self serving bunch of third world plutocrats whose sole concern was their own benefit. It was easy for the Việt Cộng, who in a large part were part of local populations, to win the battle for "hearts and minds". Your crops were in trouble? Your animals sick? The Việt Cộng were there to help. Help the Ngô family and their backers? The Việt Cộng were there to see and "reward" that as well. Too many officers (and reporters, who were allowed then to be embedded in troops) saw the truth and reported it, but their reports were ignored in favor of keeping the money flowing to where it did least good. By the time the Ngô family was deposed, the war was lost and it was just a long battle of attrition until the U.S. tired of the cost. The Chinese threw in support once they realized the situation, thinking they would capitalize on it in the end, but in the end, the Chinese (and Russians) made the same mistake the French and the U.S. did, believing it was a war of ideologies. To the Vietnamese people, it was always about independence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07 2020, @01:54AM
Yet they still have problems with keeping goat herders living in mudhuts in line. I'm sure in your mind, the government has several million missiles, tanks and drones stockpiled for such an occasion.
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Tuesday December 31 2019, @07:40PM (8 children)
How long did it take you to cherry-pick those examples? And how often do those incidents happen in one country?
I can turn on CNN anytime of the day to hear about some daily shooting in America, not to mention local news. Usually it's a report on some American "with a history of mental disorder" taking out more than one person (not crimes of passion) and usually with a semi-automatic. This is an exclusively American disease.
We are all bantering semantics about the symptoms while a cure goes undiscussed if not completely ignored.
In any case, Happy New Year, Mr Freeman.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday December 31 2019, @08:04PM (4 children)
Oh, it took me about 30 seconds of duck duck going mass murder knife attacks. No cherry picking needed when searching for that. Try turning on a different channel, then? One less biased / designed to specifically sell you on something.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Tuesday December 31 2019, @11:14PM (3 children)
Why am I wasting drinking/celebration time on this? Because I love you.
As of late, any examples/metaphors that I've mentioned recently (not just you...please) have unfortunately been interpreted far too literally. When I say "CNN" it's just as an example of 24-hour American news. I could have cited Al Jazeera, BBC, RTL, RaiNews24, France1 etc. Correct me if I'm wrong but my example still holds, especially when watching the Brian Eno-coined "firehose" of American local news.
You look specifically for "mass murder knife attacks" on DDG (my preferred search site, BTW), which immediately raises a red flag and make me laugh contemporaneously. MASS MURDER KNIFE ATTACKS? What, was the perpetrator Barry Allen? Then again, just days ago, there were the machete attacks against a Rabbi and his guests in New York. [cnn.com] But when I think of "mass murder" I think of "In Cold Blood" to "Hotel Rwanda" up to the Shoah and Hiroshima....please, the examples cited are illustrative, not literal...except the last.
In any case, you know as well as I do: your isolated knifings are not ANYWHERE near the same as the DAILY semi-automatic American massacres. Think "The Joker" gunning down moviegoers to Texas churches (to cite merely two 2019 examples)...I insist that we are still bantering semantics regarding the symptoms.
Again, HAPPY NEW YEAR, Mr Freeman. We'll take this up on January 2, 2020 if you wish...you know where to find me. Now, I have prosecco to pop open. CHEERS!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday January 02 2020, @04:27PM (2 children)
Mass murder firearms attacks and mass murder knife attacks are apples to apples comparisons. So, yeah, I DDG'ed that.
We're middle of the road as far as intentional homicides are concerned per capita: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate [wikipedia.org]
Still about 4.5 times more than the United Kingdom, but not horrendous.
We're #10 in the list of firearm-related death rates according to this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate [wikipedia.org]
This list is much less reliable than the intentional homicides list. Which may also may be fairly inaccurate.
Interestingly enough, though, we are #1 in guns owned per citizen by a Huge Margin. We have more guns per capita than the next three countries on the list combined. We have over 4 times as many guns per capita than the next country on the list.
With the comparatively Huge number of guns compared to every other country, it seems that blaming the guns for the deaths is quite unreasonable. The fact of the matter is that guns are used to kill people and they do that quite well. Perhaps, we should focus on helping the average person and support their freedoms. Even better, focus on the areas with the most gun violence problems and fix the underlying problems. Instead of focusing on trying to reduce the freedoms of all the people.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 5, Touché) by Gaaark on Thursday January 02 2020, @08:41PM (1 child)
Whoa there a second:
in high income countries (ie: developed countries not tearing themselves apart by war and poverty), the US is #1 by a wide margin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate#/media/File:2010_homicide_suicide_rates_high-income_countries.png [wikipedia.org]
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday January 02 2020, @10:46PM
Be that as it may, the statistics can be played against each other to your heart's content.
The USA also has by far the highest GDP, and in fact has more GDP than the next 5 countries on the OECD combined. The USA also leads in GDP per capita when compared to those other 5 countries. While only having more population than the next 3. Sure, we don't have the highest GDP per capita, but we're still #5 on the list, if you sort it by GDP per capita. With a moderately high income inequality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD [wikipedia.org]
^-- From the infographic you posted: "Gun-related homicide and suicide rates in high-income OECD countries, 2010, sorted by total gun-related deaths (suicide plus intentional homicide, plus other)[84]"
Perhaps, the biggest difference is that in America, if you break into someone's home, you will likely be shot. Intentional homicide, doesn't mean illegal homicide. Though, I'm quite sure the illegal homicides are high. I still stand by the idea that, if we focused on the actual problem causing the violence, that those homicide numbers would come down.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 01 2020, @02:33AM (2 children)
Can't argue your statement about CNN. But, there is the fact that tens of thousands of reporters with an agenda sit on the edges of their seats, waiting for the opportunity to break such a story in the US. If it fits the narrative, it's splashed across TV screens around the world, in minutes.
Not so much knife violence in Europe.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Tuesday January 14 2020, @03:20AM (1 child)
Not sure where you're getting your information from, or if you're just making it up as you go along. Citation. [gatestoneinstitute.org]
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday January 14 2020, @03:19PM
I think my point stands. They aren't publicizing the knife violence, in fact, keeping details under wraps as much as possible. Knife wielding brown invaders from the south don't fit the progressive agenda.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday December 31 2019, @06:29PM (3 children)
Yeah, part of the American superiority complex is the false belief that it's the most "free" country on Earth. You compare your rights in the US to your rights even in Canada and you'll see it's not.
That said, I always liked this joke: An American and Soviet are hanging out in 1970, and the American says "I'm far more free than you. Why, I can go up to the White House holding a sign saying I don't like President Nixon." The Russian said "But I can go up to the Kremlin holding a sign saying I don't like President Nixon too!"
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by gtomorrow on Tuesday December 31 2019, @07:43PM
I LOVE THAT JOKE!
Happy New Year, Mr Thexalon.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday January 06 2020, @08:36PM
I recall reading somewhere recently, "In Poland you have freedom before speaking. In the U.S. you have freedom after speaking."
It's a lot harder to physically prevent somebody from speaking out (or it used to be, before everything went digital, anyway), than it is to make them afraid to speak out so they self-censor.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday January 08 2020, @10:55PM
I was just watching a video last night of Reagan telling Russian jokes and that was one of them, except he told it in the context of anyone is free to go to Congress and say, "I don't like President Reagan," and Gorbachev replied that anyone can go to the Politburo and say they don't like President Reagan either.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 07 2020, @01:37PM
And the rest are full of shit, yes.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday December 28 2019, @12:52AM (3 children)
You're right on the unpossibleness but I wouldn't choose it even if it were an option. The liberties they seem to enjoy are illusions, as shown in the Homefront and Paradise Lost episodes of DS9, among many others where Starfleet specifically or the Federation in general shows you clearly that the government is totally willing to trample individual rights for some Higher Purpose. They're just fascists without the strength to admit it to themselves.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Saturday December 28 2019, @01:59AM
It seems that in the face of war, or perceived war, it is traditional and futural (?) to suspend civil liberties. It would be interesting to imagine a world where that doesn't happen.
The episodes you not also emphasize a weakness in any governmental system -- the people who comprise it and the portion who will seek power at any cost.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday December 28 2019, @04:56AM
Yep, and even during times of relative peace, back in the TNG days we had the fascists at Starfleet try to claim Data as property in Measure of a Man and kangaroo courts in The Drumhead.
And before we knew what Section 31 even was, we had deep-state fuckery in The Pegasus.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday January 10 2020, @05:33PM
Totalitarian != Fascist. Words have meaning, and the meaning of "Fascist" is tied to identity politics, not necessarily overreach by the state.
Your references point to a statist ideology of national security. I'm not aware of a good -ism for this ideology, but a quick Google search brings up this article from The American Conservative [theamericanconservative.com] asserting an American "Ideology of National Security" that 1) describes a motivation common to both mainstream America and the United Federation of Planets, and 2) backs up exactly the kind of secret-police-know-best mechanism of effecting a Higher Purpose.
There are fascists in Star Trek. Just not the Federation itself, not even Section 31. The Terran Empire [fandom.com] in the mirror universe and Terra Prime [fandom.com] from Enterprise (predating the foundation of the Federation) both come to mind.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday December 28 2019, @04:19PM (2 children)
Fuck 'em all, God can sort it out later. ;^)
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:29PM (1 child)
Geez, give Odin a break will ya? He's not as young as he once was! :P
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Monday January 13 2020, @05:53PM
That's probably why he wants him at a desk job :-|
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday December 28 2019, @11:08PM
In my younger days, I would've asked for Star Trek too. As I've aged, I realized it would be a lot more like Star Wars. I've also realized we already live in Idiocracy. Trump was the 1st President of this age, and we await President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. Personally, I can't wait for Buttfuckers, my bucket of chicken, and a hooker to go family style on :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by julian on Saturday December 28 2019, @11:35PM (9 children)
That is the LITERAL DESCRIPTION OF INSURANCE. This is what's so maddening to me. I work in healthcare, so I understand this stuff better than most people. The nightmare scenario where you have to pay for other people's bad choices by paying into a risk pool which pays out based on need is exactly the system we are living under right now. It's just that the way we currently do it, those risk pools are privately administered for profit. So not only do the books have to balance, they have to take in more than they pay out so that they can turn a profit. The government only has to break even (and can even borrow money from itself in an emergency). This is why the best and most efficient "insurance" in the USA today is Medicare. Also, the way risk pools work is that they get more efficient the larger they are. The most efficient insurance possible is a risk pool made up of the entire country, and run with the goal of breaking even.
With the ACA, the Democrats caved to the Republicans and adopted the conservative plan. The ACA (Obamacare) is a right-wing plan for insurance. That's just the truth, it came from the Heritage Foundation and was piloted in Massachusetts by Republican Governor Romney. But Republicans are spiteful shitheels, so anything the Democrats do, they have to move further to the right. But there is no insurance model further to the right. The only option is to go back to a pre-insurance world where healthcare is just done pay-as-you-go like consumers buy clothes, etc. Healthcare used to be done this way. It was so terrible we had to invent health insurance!
It's one thing to have an ideological disagreement on the best course of action for some policy. That's not what we are doing on healthcare in this country. One side simply doesn't have all the facts, is ignorant of history, ignorant of mathematics and statistics, and lacking basic compassion for people not in their immediate family or community. I can't negotiate with that. Who could? These people can't be beat at argument any more than I could beat a pigeon. It doesn't matter if I'm right and bring the receipts. They can't be pursuaded, they just have to be beaten. We have to get the plurality of this country that doesn't vote at all to actually come out for someone like Bernie Sanders. Everyone else is starting from a weak negotiating position of compromising on the first move.
Medicare for All!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday December 29 2019, @02:56AM (6 children)
That's one way of looking at it. Another is betting against your own health.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 30 2019, @08:34PM (2 children)
This did not deserve Troll mod.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday December 30 2019, @09:54PM (1 child)
No kidding. That's exactly what it is. A recurring wager that you will get sick. You put down your premium and if you win that month they pay your medical bills.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 02 2020, @11:02PM
Such an amazing basis for human health care!! /sarcsasm
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday January 06 2020, @05:20PM (2 children)
And car insurance is a bet against your driving ability, and homeowner's insurance is a bet against your home's continued value. The point of insurance is that if you're like most people a surprise $300,000 bill is not something you can solve by just writing a check and getting on with your life.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Monday January 06 2020, @09:48PM
It's okay if you play to lose.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday January 06 2020, @10:16PM
In most of the states I've lived in, you're not required to have car insurance if you're willing to keep roughly as much as the minimum coverage socked away in an account for that purpose alone. Me, I'd rather draw interest than pay for something I haven't used once in my entire life.
Insurance is never a good bet if you can at all avoid it. You're screwed if you lose, you're screwed if you win, and it cuts a big chunk out of your budget that you could otherwise be putting to work for you.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Tuesday January 14 2020, @02:22AM (1 child)
I agree. The problem is, for example, people like my mom who get a month prescription and they charge $1880.00US for it (this is a fact) because medicare pays $1800 of it and she pays $80 out of pocket. $1800 for a 30 day supply of pills? THAT is the problem with Medicare and the pharmaceutical companies. They massively overcharge because they can screw Medicare (i.e. the tax payers) over for it.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 25 2020, @01:09AM
The solution to that is Single Payer. With that in place the prices will be negotiated down to reasonable levels.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday December 31 2019, @05:42PM (1 child)
I mean, I don't think Star Trek is necessarily achievable, but by the rules of their universe they have:
- The replicator, which eliminates the "Why am I paying for someone else's crap?" problem.
- The holodeck, which eliminates the "I'm bored" problem.
- More energy than they need to fully meet the needs of humanity.
- Colonizing efforts for the people who crave adventure and excitement in their lives.
- Scientific research, exploration, and such for those who want to do that.
- A very active arts and cultural scene.
- Wineries and other low-tech agricultural life for those who want to do that.
That seems like a pretty nice setup to me. You can be some nobody schlub playing the holo-equivalent of WoW all day, and live and die totally unnotably. Or you can try to achieve as much as you can in whatever field you feel you're talented in.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday January 10 2020, @05:39PM
This. Star Trek posits technological solutions to all of our political problems. The politics of the Federation is just a way to equitably manage their abundance of free energy and technology. Since it's all essentially free, there's essentially no reason for people to be worried about all the "welfare" and "entitlements" everybody else is getting.
Star Trek is future Sweden, except if Sweden was rich enough to also provide their socialist state to the rest of the world, even all those "shithole countries" people seem to be so worried about.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday January 01 2020, @01:02PM (5 children)
Where exactly do you see a meritocracy in our world?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:33PM (4 children)
I'd say anywhere it takes ruthlessness, greed and arselicking to obtain power. Like, you know, everywhere?
We're a meritocracy of sociopathic, greedy arselickers from what I've seen.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Thursday January 09 2020, @07:37AM (2 children)
You're not describing a meritocracy. In a meritocracy you raise according to your merits, not according to your character flaws.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday January 09 2020, @10:11AM (1 child)
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 10 2020, @05:22PM
No, what you describe is simply a cultured version of violence. Those who refrain from murdering their neighbors are the ones who get murdered and have their posessions stolen. Savagery is not meritocracy when discussing human society. Being a cruel asshole who lies and manipulates to the top is similar, and the vast majority of humans are not like that which is why we have a functioning society.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 11 2020, @01:54PM
That's just when you work for others or get granted positions by others (e.g. politics).
I think we have a pretty decent meritocracy when it comes to entrepreneurship. Only problem is getting rid of the gazillion barriers to entry that stop more people from reaching anything remotely near their potential. Let people sell whatever they want (so long as the product itself is not illegal) wherever they want to whoever they want without mountains of paperwork, licensing, and fees - and the middle class would get a whole heck of a lot stronger.
If you're worried 'The Jungle' then set a requirement that this all goes out the window once you're grossing > $10 million at which point the mountains of paperwork and bureucrazy kick back in. Only difference is by that point you're like any other mid to large sized company and can just hand wave them away for a percent or two of your revenue.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Thursday January 02 2020, @09:13AM
That said, depending on the timeframe and circumstances, Star Wars is a much more interesting place to live with a far more plausible variety of races and locales, so I'd be heavily tempted to roll the dice. Also, other than a few exceptional races, Trek civilisations are not even Kardashev Type 1 yet, where as the main Star Wars civilisation arguably attains Type 1 by ANH and is undeniably Type 2 by the TFA, so despite the retro UI designs it's also much easier to get around and see some of it. A lifetime to get halfway across the galaxy in warp (barring any lucky wormholes, etc.) vs. a quick zip through hyperspace? Yeah, it might suffer from the same kind of Meritocracy issues you mention for our world, but it's not a hard choice if you want to boldly go and see somethinng of what's out there, is it?
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Thursday January 02 2020, @07:31PM
Misconception #1: we do not have anything close to a meritocracy. Resources, connections, free time and a safety net to pursue advancement/greatness, and pure dumb luck are all much more important factors in who "rises to the top" of our system than outright merit, skill, intelligence, ability, etc.
Our society is still running highly resource constrained - limited (desirable) real-estate, limited access to energy, so many processes still "done by hand" that only a few can direct that hand labor... Mr. Fusion + intelligent robots + access to offworld resources would change all of that dramatically - transporters not required.
Within our lifetimes, with the oil cartels/barons/czars/etc. actively suppressing progress in fusion research? Yep.
Longer term, if we don't crash society before Mr. Fusion comes out, I think it might be possible, particularly in some splinter groups that go self-sufficient away from the billions of mud skippers who are mired in centuries of old ways of thinking and doing. Mind you, far more splinter groups will resemble Colonia Dignidad [wikipedia.org] than Enterprise, but if we manage to send out enough, I have faith that some will be "getting it right" - not that there is a single "right", but there are certainly more ways to "get it wrong" already demonstrated down here in the mud.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday January 05 2020, @11:30PM
You don't live in one of those.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday January 07 2020, @01:33PM (1 child)
All of the above are caused by an economy based on scarcity and control over resources.
The very anti-thesis of what would make StarTrek technology possible or benefit from that technology.
I think so too. Very like for a different reason, tho'. And the reason is the limitations of the matter (substance) as the stuff humans are made of and must use to live.
Consider this: the highest refractory metal the humans can use is tungsten, with melting point around 3600K. What thickness you think those conductors need to be to carry the energy needed to re-constitute in 2-3 seconds all the chemical bonds between elements that make up a teleported human body (making all the atoms from energy is ludicrous: 7.19×1018J the mc2 of an 80kg body - that's about the entire energy the Earth receives from Sun in about 40-50 seconds, try to contain that in 2 or 3 cubic meters and see what substance would be able to support that energy flux without vaporizing in sub-atomic particles).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:41PM
Well that's why they use EPS conduits instead. Duh. ;)
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Tuesday January 07 2020, @02:25PM (5 children)
Same.
Although I have to say, I'm with Dr. McCoy on the whole transporter issue. It's clear they destroy the current you and your duplicate picks up where you left off. No thanks.
--
Every once in a while declare peace. It confuses your enemies.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday January 08 2020, @01:43PM (4 children)
Meh. I lose continuity whenever I fall asleep. I'm still me, as far as a me exists. No biggie (until you start having multiple me around, at least).
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Wednesday January 08 2020, @05:39PM (3 children)
It's not a loss of continuity. You're gone.
--
Life without religion is like a fish without a bicycle.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Thursday January 09 2020, @01:27AM (2 children)
Well, true. But the me now lacks continuity past waking up (or possibly REM, if that's what I was doing just before waking up).
The point is though, you can't get too attached to yourself, because you don't get to keep it :)
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Thursday January 09 2020, @06:52PM (1 child)
Yes, your consciousness loses continuity, but that doesn't mean your subconscious does. Dreams, intuitive leaps, even just waking intervals and non-deep sleep... I suspect that limiting the view of continuity overall to consciousness may be glossing over your "who-ness" and "I-ness."
Anesthesia is another area where it is interesting to consider these issues.
--
You come from dust. You return to dust. That's
why I don't dust. Might have been a friend.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 13 2020, @05:39AM
Yeah just because you can't remember your dreams doesn't mean you didn't dream or weren't "kinda conscious" during them.
After all lots of drunk people have done lots of stuff that they can't remember the next day but they weren't really "unconscious".
Even if a computer's storage has been experiencing "write failure" or "indexing/read failure" (or "read only mode for fsck" ;) ) doesn't mean the CPU and RAM wasn't working during that time.
See also: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/01/02/1341207&markunread=1 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday January 08 2020, @11:03PM
The world of Star Trek has three major things with it though:
1) Stable antimatter reactors with the ability to channel the energy through "dilithium crystals." In short, the ability to harness far greater quantities of power in smaller packages.
2) Replicator technology. It has its limits (to avoid plot issues), but the ability to transform energy (or some form of proto-matter) into any number of useful things.
3) An economic system that isn't really detailed anywhere in canon that I'm aware of.
They seem to have nominally conquered scarcity on both the energy and material levels, but at the same time obscure the economics of the world.
I'd love to be able to have something like a runabout and just go where I wanted whenever I wanted and not have to worry about not having enough to eat or having shelter. Heck, I'd like to just have a van camper and cruise the roadways of the US for awhile. But one would have to solve #1 and #2 plus have a concrete idea of how #3 works before any of that is possible.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by Walzmyn on Saturday January 11 2020, @02:13AM
I think I voted against it for this very reason. Whilst I enjoyed the shows, if just never, in any way, seemed plausible to me.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday January 21 2020, @05:20PM
On one hand, we've fetishized multiculturalism, on the other hand we implement identity politics to demand infighting.
Someone said something a long time ago about "divide and conqueror" and that's the USA experience. Everything else is downstream of that. Divide and conqueror all the way...