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Randomness thread, part two.

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  1. #12751
    Renton's Avatar
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  2. #12752
    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Hi. So there's this waltz I'm trying to find, but can't remember what it's called, or who composed it. I think it's Strauss but it might not be.

    It goes -

    Dur-dur-dur dur
    Dur dur dur dur dur dur dur dur durrrrr durrrr
    Dur-dur-dur dur
    Dur dur dur dur dur dur dur dur durrrrr durrrr
    Dur-dur-dur dur
    Dur dur dur dur dur dur dur dur durrrrr durrrr
    Dun dun dun diddly diddly dun diddly diddly dun dun durrr
    Dun dun dun diddly diddly dun diddly diddly dun dun durrr

    etc

    Can anyone help?
    FOUND IT!!!

    Now listen to this and tell me that I didn't nail it in my post above...

    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  3. #12753
    a500lbgorilla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla View Post
    When he wiggles his little hips, whatever he is, I grin.
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  4. #12754
    Lukie's Avatar
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    I don't watch a ton of college football but I can't remember any two games in the same day ever being as close to as good as OSU vs Michigan and 'Bama vs Auburn.
  5. #12755
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    WTF Paul Walker is dead!

    RIP man, you'll be missed
    My dream... is to fly... over the rainbow... so high...


    Cogito ergo sum

    VHS is like a book? and a book is like a stack of kindles.
    Hey, I'm in a movie!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYdwe3ArFWA
  6. #12756
    bigred's Avatar
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    I'm a terrible person but I can't keep from smirking. Seriously? In a car crash? Too fast, too furious...
    LOL OPERATIONS
  7. #12757
    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer View Post
    RIP man, you'll be missed
    I don't think I will miss him, tbh didn't even realise he existed untill you posted that.
  8. #12758
    Dappy from N-Dubz got kicked in the face by his horse. That made me smile for two days solid.

    This F&F guy, yeah I too had never heard of him until he died. I like how people who never met him will miss him, but not the random guy who was also in the car that wasn't in any films.

    In other news, there was a helicopter crash on a pub in Glasgow, killing 8. I'm gonna miss the guy who was ordering a pint while watching the band. Not sure what his name is.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  9. #12759
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    I see your point.

    The phenomenon is so ubiquitous, though, that I don't see why you would ridicule it.
  10. #12760
    rpm's Avatar
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    because it's dumb?
  11. #12761
    a500lbgorilla's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rpm View Post
    because it's dumb?
    Super dumb.
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  12. #12762
    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    I see your point.

    The phenomenon is so ubiquitous, though, that I don't see why you would ridicule it.
    Becuase if I'm not ridiculing stuff on the internet, I'm losing money playing poker. Ridiculing stuff is +ev.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  13. #12763
    bigred's Avatar
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    Shut up ong, you're stupid.

    (saving money for you bro!)
    LOL OPERATIONS
  14. #12764
    fuck all this time I've been saving bonga manies
  15. #12765
  16. #12766
    What does it say about me that I see joke shops/gifs of the twin towers, and I never thought "too soon." Yet, Paul Walker dies, and my knee jerk reaction to the above gif is, "too soon."
  17. #12767
    rong's Avatar
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    I'm the king of bongo, baby I'm the king of bongo bong.
  18. #12768
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    Quote Originally Posted by boost View Post
    What does it say about me that I see joke shops/gifs of the twin towers, and I never thought "too soon." Yet, Paul Walker dies, and my knee jerk reaction to the above gif is, "too soon."
    Too soon, yes, but he enjoyed life and lived a full life whether it was doing serious work or during times of relaxation.

  19. #12769
    was over at a family gathering yesterday, brother and boyfriend was making jokes about paul walker dude. went along with the obvious jokes that he was too fast to live. boyfran said "he lived too fast." brother followed up with "and too furiously." they had laughs, and i tried not to laugh, because i'm weird.

    also - holy fucking fuck, my niece is 2 yrs old, and i'm pretty sure she has more rage than she has cuteness, which is saying a lot, because this girl looks like a little doll. example -

    like, imagine a cute sweet looking doll screaming and kicking. but the next minute if you have food trying to get you to sit down so you can feed her YOUR food. i fell for the trick, she was like pointing at the couch for me to sit down and im like wat and finally sat down. then she sat down beside me and was trying to get a piece of my chocolate pie. this little girl is the sweetest evil kid i've ever met.
    I will destroy you with sunshine and kittens.
  20. #12770
    rong's Avatar
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    So, when the parking ticket company threaten court action, does that mean they jump straight to a county court judgement being issued against me or do I get to go to court?
    I'm the king of bongo, baby I'm the king of bongo bong.
  21. #12771
    JKDS's Avatar
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    I dont know enough about agency law, but it seems unlikely they could get a court judgment without providing you notice of an actual complaint.

    It seems like theyre just threatening you, which is cheaper than going to court and has no downside.
  22. #12772
    JKDS's Avatar
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    Why on earth would Amazon invest in their flying doohikie? Like, did no one think this through? Unless the thing can imitate R2D2 and zap people, I dont see how it could possibly defend against thieves/vandals.
  23. #12773
    rong's Avatar
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    J, just read your response. If you have nothing else to add you may wanna just ignore my pm.
    I'm the king of bongo, baby I'm the king of bongo bong.
  24. #12774
    Quote Originally Posted by JKDS View Post
    Why on earth would Amazon invest in their flying doohikie? Like, did no one think this through? Unless the thing can imitate R2D2 and zap people, I dont see how it could possibly defend against thieves/vandals.
    Because they're awesome!

    Seriously, Amazon is tip top business brilliance. As for the thieves thing, they're obviously only setting it up in places where that isn't a problem. Additionally, it's probably at a proprietary cost where the receiver signs off on the package before arrival and are expected to be on the ball at destination time. Also, it's about cutting edge, getting in on ground floor, innovation. Something like this may only have marginal benefits right now but unforeseen substantial benefits down the road

    Given the way Amazon works (and most other truly brilliant companies), this is probably a sunk cost that they'll lose money on over a long period, but will rake in the investments from it due to growth and brand and the eventual juggernaut the practice becomes
  25. #12775
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKDS View Post
    Why on earth would Amazon invest in their flying doohikie? Like, did no one think this through? Unless the thing can imitate R2D2 and zap people, I dont see how it could possibly defend against thieves/vandals.
    So many potential insurance nightmares.

    I wonder what makes them think these things wont be shot at by BB guns and sling shots all through suburbia. Also, anyone who's driven through small-town America knows that people will shoot at any target... the road signs are pocked full of holes.

    The history of transporting dynamite by train is pretty illustrative of this phenomenon. People could see the moving target on the train in the distance and would take pot shots at it, not realizing the target was a sign that read "danger explosives".
  26. #12776
    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    So many potential insurance nightmares.

    I wonder what makes them think these things wont be shot at by BB guns and sling shots all through suburbia.
    They're not slated to be used in suburbia. It only works in certain areas for many reasons like time and safety
  27. #12777
    Amazon is probably the last company I'd ever bet against. Those ballers don't even make money, but get so much investment capital because they grow so rabidly and innovate so well
  28. #12778
    Quote Originally Posted by boost View Post
    What does it say about me that I see joke shops/gifs of the twin towers, and I never thought "too soon." Yet, Paul Walker dies, and my knee jerk reaction to the above gif is, "too soon."
    When I die, I hope the first thing people say is a joke.

    The "too soon" idea is false and probably detrimental. People believe it because they feel it detracts from the mourning, but it doesn't. It probably enhances the mourning. I can joke about something and mourn it all in the same lifetime. All in the same minute, even
  29. #12779
    bikes's Avatar
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    Hi ---------------

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  30. #12780
    Just get someone you trust to log in and play a few hands if they allow that
  31. #12781
    bikes's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jyms View Post
    Just get someone you trust to log in and play a few hands if they allow that

    they obviously don't =(
  32. #12782
    Quote Originally Posted by rong View Post
    Yeah I've been reading about this too. Epigenetic inheritance is such a novel idea. It's likely that this is really happening, that you inherit certain emotional responses from your parents, but it is unclear to what degree and how it works in humans.
  33. #12783
    What, this is new is it? How the fuck do you suppose kids know to suck on nipples? Of course memories are passed down through generations, we can see this in the animal kingdom where animals low down in the food chain have a natural fear of predators they might never have seen. I even thought we had a word for it - instinct.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  34. #12784
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    What, this is new is it? How the fuck do you suppose kids know to suck on nipples? Of course memories are passed down through generations, we can see this in the animal kingdom where animals low down in the food chain have a natural fear of predators they might never have seen. I even thought we had a word for it - instinct.
    Instinct is a scientist's way of waving his hands while saying, "I don't know."

    Don't be fooled into the notion that the word instinct explains anything at all. It's the word at the end of the road after all the explanations run out.
  35. #12785
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    Amazon is probably the last company I'd ever bet against. Those ballers don't even make money, but get so much investment capital because they grow so rabidly and innovate so well
    The critiques are pretty telling too.. "what about thievs!?"

    What about them? Not only will your package be there in a matter of hours, but there's no reason to think that you wouldn't at the very least receive ETA text updates-- but more than likely you could view a live ETA estimate clock by logging into your account or with an app. It's silly to think this would increase the thieves's ability to boost packages. On the contrary, it almost certainly would decrease package theft.
  36. #12786
    This is why technological and business innovation is amazing

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/...ownership.html

    The Amazon drones are just one piece of the puzzle that will eventually allow us to subscribe to services instead of buying things.
  37. #12787
    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    Instinct is a scientist's way of waving his hands while saying, "I don't know."

    Don't be fooled into the notion that the word instinct explains anything at all. It's the word at the end of the road after all the explanations run out.
    Have to disagree, it's the things that are nature rather than nurture. Which means it is encoded for in the genes and has been shaped by evolution (ie, random mutations). I know the daily usage of the word "instinct" is a bit broader though.

    And the epigenetic heritage is a novel idea because we never assumed that any information would be passed onto your offspring from experience. You can see that the scientific community is still hesitant to accept these new findings as new truth.

    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    This is why technological and business innovation is amazing

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/...ownership.html

    The Amazon drones are just one piece of the puzzle that will eventually allow us to subscribe to services instead of buying things.
    I think the world isn't going to go down this path though. Consumer aversion to being spied upon is going to keep increasing and this will end up in more shielded, private lives again. In the future we'll just all use 3D printers to print whatever we want. Your car, your furniture, your pc, a new kidney.
    Last edited by jackvance; 12-02-2013 at 08:48 PM.
  38. #12788
    Quote Originally Posted by jackvance View Post
    I think the world isn't going to go down this path though. Consumer aversion to being spied upon is going to keep increasing and this will end up in more shielded, private lives again. In the future we'll just all use 3D printers to print whatever we want. Your car, your furniture, your pc, a new kidney.
    I think the 3d printer future will still be a long ways off. Everything I've seen from those who work in the field suggests that the obstacles are huge and the media overrepresents what they can do so far. Eventually, things will be like this though

    As for the aversion to spying thing, I consider this more of a fad. The NSA stuff is based on a paranoid and specious understanding of the law and institutional behaviors. Usually those sentiments are more difficult to maintain than ones based in real world things with actual meaning

    This may sound like I'm blowing off the "spied upon" thing. I sorta am but also am not. My comments are more along the lines of how the NSA hasn't actually broken the law. People think they have, but they're wrong, and these things tend to play out like fads. As to what has been happening in peoples' lives, privacy is reducing at a rapid pace, without an end in site. People are choosing this too. Most don't understand the issue of privacy that well, and inadvertently sell themselves away even if they claim they don't
  39. #12789
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    My comments are more along the lines of how the NSA hasn't actually broken the law. People think they have, but they're wrong, and these things tend to play out like fads. As to what has been happening in peoples' lives, privacy is reducing at a rapid pace, without an end in site. People are choosing this too. Most don't understand the issue of privacy that well, and inadvertently sell themselves away even if they claim they don't
    It doesn't really matter if they've broken the law or not, they want to do this so they'll find a way to keep doing it.
  40. #12790
    Quote Originally Posted by d0zer View Post
    It doesn't really matter if they've broken the law or not, they want to do this so they'll find a way to keep doing it.
    Sure, among other things. My point has more to do with how public perception of this problem is more like a fad since there's little substantive that can keep it going. Nobody's getting substantively screwed over by the government. Nobody even knows what the government is doing except for what they hear about in the abstract. This isn't to say that what the government is doing isn't a problem, but that perceptions of it aren't as grounded as they otherwise would be.

    Peoples' rights and lives aren't being violated, and this will have an effect of making people more easily forget about this as time goes on. Granted this is a bigger issue to people than most abstract things, because there is a cult of paranoia about being spied on in the country, but I suspect it's still fad-like

    It's somewhat ironic that we only know about this because of Snowden, but people think their rights are being violated. If our rights were being violated, wouldn't we see the effects of it without Snowden?
  41. #12791
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    I think the 3d printer future will still be a long ways off. Everything I've seen from those who work in the field suggests that the obstacles are huge and the media overrepresents what they can do so far. Eventually, things will be like this though
    Yeah I'm not expecting it in the near future but once some kinks are worked out and some bigger companies put heavy R&D into it might go faster than expected. Think iphone novelty super market penetration. However it's against the interests of the sellers to give everyone the ability to make whatever they want, we'd just be buying print plans and raw materials basically. So it's not going to heavily pursued atm, same as alternative fuels or inexpensive cancer treatment. (note: this is not out of malice, but simple economic principles - no one man or company can pour money into things that don't have an economic future for them)

    As for the aversion to spying thing, I consider this more of a fad. The NSA stuff is based on a paranoid and specious understanding of the law and institutional behaviors. Usually those sentiments are more difficult to maintain than ones based in real world things with actual meaning. (note: none of this is done out of malice, but simple economic principles that no one person or company can do anything about)

    This may sound like I'm blowing off the "spied upon" thing. I sorta am but also am not. My comments are more along the lines of how the NSA hasn't actually broken the law. People think they have, but they're wrong, and these things tend to play out like fads. As to what has been happening in peoples' lives, privacy is reducing at a rapid pace, without an end in site. People are choosing this too. Most don't understand the issue of privacy that well, and inadvertently sell themselves away even if they claim they don't
    All of these revelations have shown the world for the first time how easily all of their personal information is for grabs. The whole internet-smartphone-GPS-always-connected thing has hit us like a storm, never in history has technology been even close to advancing this fast. It's not something people know how to deal with because it's so new. But I'm seeing a lot of the signs that the awareness of the privacy problem under these new technological advancements is growing.

    Many specialists are already advocating not taking the computer-thing too strongly and focussing our society more on traditional means of time spending (I'm seeing this more and more, following psychological research into the actual effects on people). Reading books on your tablet for example was like many things hyped to replace printed books forever. Who would ever buy a book anymore right? But the results have shown this is far from the case, ebooks have never been more than a novelty among printed press.
    Last edited by jackvance; 12-02-2013 at 09:29 PM.
  42. #12792
    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    Instinct is a scientist's way of waving his hands while saying, "I don't know."

    Don't be fooled into the notion that the word instinct explains anything at all. It's the word at the end of the road after all the explanations run out.
    Ok so basically the way I'm seeing it is that I've been misunderstood about exactly what instinct is, but actually it turns out I was right before even scientists knew.

    Fuck me I'm a genius.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  43. #12793
    Another by Yglesias explaining the fundamental reason why Amazon is doing this

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/...s_undoing.html

    Staying ahead of the game, learning to not let incumbent advantages become weaknesses, may possibly be an emerging business model unlike we've seen before. I certainly hope so. Google does the same and I think Netflix is trying to. Of course, Musk puts these all to shame. Not sure about Microsoft. They may be trying but not yet have anything breakout. So far they're still playing catchup. Apple isn't doing shit because Apple is a piece of shit. Its shitty business model didn't work for 30 years or whatever nonsense it was, but then due to technology finally catching up to its philosophy of not separating software and hardware, Apple is now more successful than anybody. But they're doing fuckall with that success. They will eventually at the very least become like Microsoft currently is, and have to abandon their business model and play catchup, trying to find a new one
  44. #12794
    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Ok so basically the way I'm seeing it is that I've been misunderstood about exactly what instinct is, but actually it turns out I was right before even scientists knew.

    Fuck me I'm a genius.
    Y'all talking about different things. You're saying people have instincts, which is true. Article is saying that it has now been demonstrated in mice (or whatever it was) that behaviors, which many describe as instincts, can be passed down epigenetically. This is fascinating since it wasn't too much long ago that biologists thought that nothing that happened in your parents lives except alteration of the DNA they give you would change your DNA. Now we know that what you do can change what you genetically pass on to your children in some ways
  45. #12795
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    Sure, among other things. My point has more to do with how public perception of this problem is more like a fad since there's little substantive that can keep it going. Nobody's getting substantively screwed over by the government. Nobody even knows what the government is doing except for what they hear about in the abstract. This isn't to say that what the government is doing isn't a problem, but that perceptions of it aren't as grounded as they otherwise would be.
    The public seems to have a 2-5 memory at most, and even if it remains a hot-button issue for long, a generation or two at most and apathy will take over as long as the plebs are placated with a reasonable standard of living. Ain't no stopping this intel goldmine for any and every player. The other countries are doing it too, but they don't have the access that 'merica does due to its roots. I'd be willing to be that future historians will credit that fact greatly for extending the duration of the American empire

    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    It's somewhat ironic that we only know about this because of Snowden, but people think their rights are being violated. If our rights were being violated, wouldn't we see the effects of it without Snowden?
    The way this data will be used to violate rights is typically going to be too targeted for the average person to feel it. It'll be used against specific 'subversives', but all it takes is one overzealous McCarthy type with that kind of power and it's going to suck for the collateral damage.
  46. #12796
    papa d0zerz been drinking
  47. #12797
    it's my berfday bitchez
  48. #12798
    shower me with meaningless praise for surviving another year immediately
  49. #12799
    Quote Originally Posted by d0zer View Post
    The way this data will be used to violate rights is typically going to be too targeted for the average person to feel it. It'll be used against specific 'subversives', but all it takes is one overzealous McCarthy type with that kind of power and it's going to suck for the collateral damage.
    I'm not sure I agree. The SCOTUS would absolutely step in and strike it down. If the NSA actually did break the law, they would get their shit shoved deep by the courts. I wish the NSA and some idiot prosecutors would read some of these emails and try to use them against a US citizen in court. God it would be so great to watch an instant 9-0 decision against the government. The institutions aren't stupid. They know they couldn't get away with it

    Everything people think the NSA is doing is actually super illegal and the law on it is super established. But we're not seeing it get struck down in court because the NSA isn't actually doing it and they're not using it against anybody. The same is true of the Patriot Act in all the ways it supposedly targets US citizens. If the government ever used warrantless material against a US citizen, the courts would be frothing at the mouth to cuntslap them then buttbang their moms and put it on liveleak for the whole world to see the bitches the courts made out of the NSA
  50. #12800
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    Y'all talking about different things. You're saying people have instincts, which is true. Article is saying that it has now been demonstrated in mice (or whatever it was) that behaviors, which many describe as instincts, can be passed down epigenetically. This is fascinating since it wasn't too much long ago that biologists thought that nothing that happened in your parents lives except alteration of the DNA they give you would change your DNA. Now we know that what you do can change what you genetically pass on to your children in some ways
    Yeah but my point is that what you're describing as new discoveries is pretty much what I've thought instinct is for years. It seems pretty obvious to me that something is being passed down the genes. It seems like the logical explanation, that there is code in your DNA that relates directly to the experiences and instincts of your parents.

    The point I'm making is that I came to this conclusion long ago, thinking it was widely considered the most likely process by which we get our instincts.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  51. #12801
    Quote Originally Posted by OngBonga View Post
    Yeah but my point is that what you're describing as new discoveries is pretty much what I've thought instinct is for years. It seems pretty obvious to me that something is being passed down the genes. It seems like the logical explanation, that there is code in your DNA that relates directly to the experiences and instincts of your parents.

    The point I'm making is that I came to this conclusion long ago, thinking it was widely considered the most likely process by which we get our instincts.
    What you're saying is confusing, as we have known for a long time that instincts like this are genetic. What we haven't known is that your parents can change the genes they pass down to you through their behaviors. Forever this has been called Lamarckism, and has been considered false until just a couple years ago due to lack of evidence. It is, however, intuitive. We've just never had any evidence suggesting it wasn't false
  52. #12802
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    I'm not sure I agree. The SCOTUS would absolutely step in and strike it down. If the NSA actually did break the law, they would get their shit shoved deep by the courts. I wish the NSA and some idiot prosecutors would read some of these emails and try to use them against a US citizen in court. God it would be so great to watch an instant 9-0 decision against the government. The institutions aren't stupid. They know they couldn't get away with it
    Alternatively they're more creative than you and know how not to get busted, which historically has been pretty easy to do when you're in power. Remember the executive office's power expansion during the Bush years that Obama never repealed? Gettin' rid of those pesky checks and balances.
  53. #12803
    Quote Originally Posted by d0zer View Post
    Alternatively they're more creative than you and know how not to get busted, which historically has been pretty easy to do when you're in power. Remember the executive office's power expansion during the Bush years that Obama never repealed? Gettin' rid of those pesky checks and balances.
    If this was true, we would see it. So far, all we've seen is the government do stuff that the constitution never prohibited in the first place. They can't "sneakily" bypass this.

    Both Bush and Obama have gone to great lengths to not challenge the constitution. Not one single person who is covered by the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments have had their civil liberties thwarted. If they ever did, I'd cook some popcorn and get to munching. The SCOTUS wouldn't even go 8 to 1 or 7 to 2. It would be a full 9 to 0 smackdown against whichever government agency was foolish enough to challenge the constitution
    Last edited by wufwugy; 12-02-2013 at 11:04 PM.
  54. #12804
    I love how much faith you have in the system. Like you believe that we exist in an enlightened age that is ruled by law and due process. Arguably it's better yeah but I have a hard to believing we've got there in such a short period of time. Maybe we'll get there eventually, when we're long dead.
  55. #12805
    Yeah, wufwugy, your blind faith in the system is a bit concerning. And while I appreciate your insistence on clarity in accusations, whether or not what they are doing is legal is not really the issue. This is a new frontier for the intelligence sector, and the constitution wasn't written with social media/email/etc in mind.
  56. #12806
    Quote Originally Posted by boost View Post
    Yeah, wufwugy, your blind faith in the system is a bit concerning. And while I appreciate your insistence on clarity in accusations, whether or not what they are doing is legal is not really the issue. This is a new frontier for the intelligence sector, and the constitution wasn't written with social media/email/etc in mind.
    Knowing what the law says and how laws are treated by the three main branches of government is blind faith?

    So far, there are zero examples of the government violating constitutional rights on this issue. I don't know how else to treat this information. The court has an incredible track record of crushing violations of the constitution. In fact, it's one of the most consistent track records of anything in society. All of their bad decisions have been based on previous amendments that no longer apply or were a reflection of the popular opinion of the time. The judiciary is a unique branch that operates on legitimacy. It has no administrative power, and was originally believed to be powerless. Marbury v Madison changed everything, and established that the court has final say on legal matters, but this final say is only upheld through maintaining prestige. This is probably the main reason why the court doesn't side with the controversy that often. The jurists know they can't, else they damage the legitimacy of the court and render their decision worthless.

    This all helps explain why we have seen zero attacks against constitutional rights on the issue of privacy. The courts fucking love smacking up side the head anybody who tries to thwart those, and the people love watching it. The executive wouldn't dare challenge this. Can you imagine what would happen if the Obama administration could be caught violating privacy laws? He'd be impeached faster than Nixon. Like 80% of the country doesn't like this stuff, yet it hasn't even happened and the courts haven't ruled on it. But if a case did come and the courts did rule on it, that 80% would be screaming for Obama's head.

    The United States is unlike every other nation in that its constitution was founded on checks and balances. None of the European parliaments have that. If France's coalition wanted to make it illegal to be over 6'0" tall, they could. There's nobody stopping them except for the uprising of the populace. But in the United States, the Senate checks the House, the President checks the Senate, both chambers of Congress check the President, and the judiciary checks everybody. If Europe's parliaments, which have very little checks and balances, can operate just fine without violating their constitution, then the US can do it like a walk on the beach


    I don't mean to be long-winded here. It's just that all the evidence about how the government works shows that the court adores taking a giant shit all over the other branches if they try to thwart civil liberties. The court probably likes nothing more. And the other two branches never get caught doing it, because they're not doing it, because they know they'd get caught and subsequently curbstomped by the court
  57. #12807
    I think it's important to note that we live in a time where our channel to these topics is the same media which David Simon accurately declared, with the fall of newspapers and rise of sensationalism, as being devoid of insightful analyses of events. It has been so bad for so long that we take it for granted that the government has been violating civil liberties forever. The media continually tells us this, and we've gotten to the point where we all believe it even though there are zero documented cases for it
  58. #12808
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    The United States is unlike every other nation in that its constitution was founded on checks and balances
    And yet Watergate, McCarthyism, and J Edgar Hoover were still able to happen not that long ago in your country's history. Given that track record, and how people in power have acted historically since the beginning of power I think it's incredibly naive to say "Well they haven't been caught violating civil liberties yet so everything is fine!". What makes you think things have changed so much since then?

    I assume you've seen the headline about nsa monitoring porn habits of 'radicalizers'?
  59. #12809
    happy birthday d0zer
    I will destroy you with sunshine and kittens.
  60. #12810
    Quote Originally Posted by d0zer View Post
    And yet Watergate, McCarthyism, and J Edgar Hoover were still able to happen not that long ago in your country's history. Given that track record, and how people in power have acted historically since the beginning of power I think it's incredibly naive to say "Well they haven't been caught violating civil liberties yet so everything is fine!". What makes you think things have changed so much since then?

    I assume you've seen the headline about nsa monitoring porn habits of 'radicalizers'?
    If they're doing this in a way that any American has grievance, they can sue. Then the courts would rule on the constitutionality. It is pretty much that simple. The law is a very specific thing, and it is very consistently upheld. Just because people say the NSA is breaking the law doesn't mean they actually are, and if they actually are, the system is set up in such a way that it's really easy to catch them if they try to use what they have illegally obtained

    As for whether monitoring search habits or making copies of emails is illegal, they might not be. And they don't necessarily have to be because the constitution already grants liberties in all the areas where those things can't be used against you.
  61. #12811
    Wuf surely you can see the abuses this can lead to without having to wait for a disaster first?
  62. #12812
    Quote Originally Posted by jackvance View Post
    Wuf surely you can see the abuses this can lead to without having to wait for a disaster first?
    Some, I guess. I'm not exactly sure what they would be, though. The only benefit I can think of that the government could have now that they didn't use to is that if it's illegal for them to copy emails in transfer (it might be, but nobody knows yet), then they could store the information for use at some point after a warrant is already obtained on the individual. I'm not sure if law enforcement already does this in some areas, like wire-tapping. If they don't, then it's likely that if the NSA and FBI or whomever would try to use these emails in court, they'd get struck down for the same reason that they're not able to record phone calls even if they don't listen

    This stuff is not good for non-Americans, but I don't see any way it's used against Americans. For example, IIRC, an American was accidentally placed in Gitmo, but as soon as the administration found that out, they transferred him to a civilian facility. Don't quote me on this because I haven't sourced it recently, but even if it didn't happen, this is the type of thing that would happen. Violations of the constitution are one of the biggest deals there is, and the government knows the only way they can do it is if nobody ever knows about it, which means it isn't something they deliberately do, because if it is done to Americans, we will know about it and there will be tremendous legal ramifications
  63. #12813
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    If they're doing this in a way that any American has grievance, they can sue.
    Yeah I wonder why MLK jr didn't just sue the FBI when they blackmailed him. The wealthy and powerful are above the law, always have been, always will be.
  64. #12814
    JKDS's Avatar
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    Well, Section 1983, which allows people to sue the government when they do something like blackmail, didnt exist in that capacity while MLK was alive.

    Also plenty of rich people go to prison and get in trouble. See white-collar crimes. Clinton was almost impeached for his shenanigans, and I expect that if Obama ever did anything which clearly violated the constitution that the republicans would pounce on him in a heartbeat. I fully expect that congress etc think they have the authority to spy with the NSA, and until the people stand up and scream at them or vote better its not gonna change.
  65. #12815
    Quote Originally Posted by JKDS View Post
    Also plenty of rich people go to prison and get in trouble. See white-collar crimes.
    You mean when the occasional rich fallboy gets sent to a country club prison for a short sentence they never fully serve?
  66. #12816
    JKDS's Avatar
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    Martha Stewart, Wesley Snipes, Lil Kim, Robert Downey Jr., the list goes on. Money doesnt keep you out of prison. It lets you buy better attorneys and many prisons allow you to buy cool rooms and things, but thats a whole different issue.

    It isnt that wealthy people are above the law, thats wrong. Its that wealthy people have advantages over poorer people, and I'm not sure that's wrong.
  67. #12817
    so i'm on the train. there's a couple with a child, maybe 2 years old. the mother and father have aisle seats, and an empty seat next to the father where the child was meant to go i suppose. instead the child is on the floor, in the fucking aisle, the whole fucking 1 hour 40 minutes i was on it. on the floor, rolling about, making loads of noise. both parents buried in their magazines, ignoring its offspring. at one point the child starts chanting "mamamamamamamamama..dada...mamamamamamamamamam..d ada....mamamamamamamamama" and this goes on for about oh I dunno, maybe 15, maybe 30 minutes. who knows, it felt like 10 years. eventually the child whacks itself in the head with his toy firetruck, starts going "wahhhh" and then finally the mother remembers that it has a fucking child to take care of. "ohhh baby did u hurt yourself?" child immediately stops crying 'cause LDO it's not actually hurt, it's just maybe trying to subty hint at the fact that he's been left alone in the aisle of a train where people are trampling past constantly WHAT THE FUCK
  68. #12818
    People should all be sterilized at birth. Then at the age of 20 they can take a test on common sense, basic parenting, etc. If they pass, they can get their junk reconnected.
    Some days it feels like I've been standing forever, waiting for the bank teller to return so I can cash in all these Sklansky Bucks.
  69. #12819
    Quote Originally Posted by eugmac View Post
    so i'm on the train. there's a couple with a child, maybe 2 years old. the mother and father have aisle seats, and an empty seat next to the father where the child was meant to go i suppose. instead the child is on the floor, in the fucking aisle, the whole fucking 1 hour 40 minutes i was on it. on the floor, rolling about, making loads of noise. both parents buried in their magazines, ignoring its offspring. at one point the child starts chanting "mamamamamamamamama..dada...mamamamamamamamamam..d ada....mamamamamamamamama" and this goes on for about oh I dunno, maybe 15, maybe 30 minutes. who knows, it felt like 10 years. eventually the child whacks itself in the head with his toy firetruck, starts going "wahhhh" and then finally the mother remembers that it has a fucking child to take care of. "ohhh baby did u hurt yourself?" child immediately stops crying 'cause LDO it's not actually hurt, it's just maybe trying to subty hint at the fact that he's been left alone in the aisle of a train where people are trampling past constantly WHAT THE FUCK
    ....has no children. Or headphones
  70. #12820
    are you condoning the inaction of the parents?
  71. #12821
    Not at all. Laughing at how it bothered you. When I see stuff like that I laugh at the parents. Do you have any idea what kind of child they will be dealing with when they get older? I've seen what inattentive parents end up with. They will pay for their lack of attention.
  72. #12822
    when it gave up with the chanting for its parents attention, the dejected lonely look it had on its face nearly damn broke my heart.
  73. #12823
    Which will soon turn into a 13 yr old daughter seeking the approval of men
  74. #12824
    it was a boy, but i suppose the same principle applies
  75. #12825
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
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    My vaporizer is awesome.

    I have a rebuildable, and have completed my most successful build so far.

    It's a 2-3 coil with ribbon wire, running ~0.8 Ohms. I'm using an 18650 battery w/ ~4.2 V.

    I get think white clouds now, with lots of flavor.

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