Well if "special place" is another word for "prison", then why not? I don't know where you got the genetic testing part, though. If the defendant chose to use his genetics as a defense, then yes, s/he will have to submit to testing to make that case. If it is found that the genetics defense is reasonable, then yes, I think the defendant should be able to plead for a less-harsh environment, as long as it can be shown that a future incidence is being prevented.

That last part isn't as tricky as you might think. We already have separate jails for white collar criminals, and they're sociopaths. Why not do the same thing for someone who honestly doesn't want to be a monster?

-t.

Is that really the politically correct party line? I believe the socially liberal viewpoint is that
    a) capital punishment is wrong
    b) mental retardation is a defense
Both of which would say that a brain scan of a criminal defendant would indeed carry weight against the death penalty.

It sounds to me like you're using logic to extrapolate a political position. Your experience may vary, but I find that no existing political party is logically consistent, so you can't extrapolate.

Just my two cents,

-t.

Good point, but they're actually two separate animals. The ability to script applets came after the fact, and it's really an additional library, not the language itself.

-t.

Shift-F10 also is a right-click, context menu is redundant.

-t.

I think you don't get it. The problem with casually accepting jokes that stereotype is that people ARE influenced by such things. You're saying that you're making a joke based on a generalization and that nobody intelligent takes those jokes seriously. The problem is that many of those generalizations are based on extremely deep seated problems. It's the difference between joking about a good friend's mother being ugly, or joking that she has breast cancer and probably isn't going to make it.

Many of the stereotypes of black Americans were literally created, they didn't just arrive as observations. An enslaved population will naturally be considered unworthy, inferior, unintelligent, lazy, surly, 'uppity', overly-sensitive, etc. But how does a man stand up for himself and get recognized as an individual with all of that baggage, when the stereotypes keep getting reinforced? It's one thing when the stereotypes are about a people who have their own distinct homeland and groups, but black Americans are in a place where they always feel like outsiders. Consider that your friend who is ok with such jokes may just tolerate them because he considers it the price of your friendship.

-t.

"well, they haven't exactly sent any patches"

Untrue. RTFA.

-t.

Another previous comment said this as well.

If you actually read TFA, they are on the "lines of code contributed" list at .8%. Also, there's another list of 'sign-off patches', in which they are second only to Red Hat.

Linus is not even on the "lines of code contributed" list, but he is on the "sign-off patches" list.

-t.

FUD much?
Since you're currently at +5 Insightful, I have to point out that they're actually on the list, the poster above cut it off at 1%, they're .8%.

Also from TFA, there's another list of companies that do sign-off patches. Google is at 10.5% on that list, behind only Red Hat, above Novell, Intel, and IBM.

To put it in perspective, the list doesn't include Linus on the list of contributors (he doesn't make the cut), but it does list him on the sign-off patches list.

Just FYI,

-t.

Ethnic make-up of Switzerland:
German 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansch 1%, other 6%

-t.

I don't think Switzerland's 'foreigners' from France or Germany really disprove my point.

-t.

No common consensus is a source of societal decay? Really?

You remind me of my French friends, who talk endlessly about the superiority of their society. Yeah, it's great if you were born there and have white skin like most of your lily-white population. There is so little social mobility, you basically have to be born at a certain level, with rare exceptions. If you are born without property, you aren't going to get it.

My country (USA) is only a few hundred years old, but we've already gone through more social upheaval than most of Europe combined, in my personal opinion. You can point your finger at our failures all you want, but the fact that we've got such a heterogeneous population is our greatest strength, and we've earned it with a Civil War, endless struggles and compromises between immigrant populations, and thousands of civil-rights struggles. The moment you have increased immigration, let's see how enlightened you really are. Our 'nuts' on both sides aren't completely wrong, and the fact that we have such disparate opinions being shouted all the time, while it isn't efficient or convenient, that's why we have such great results over the long period. We are a dynamic country. Good luck being stale.

-t.

Well you can cite logic all you want, but when I go to the farmer's market, I pay significantly less for many items. Grocery stores have low margins: true. But not on everything. They know that if they can pull you in w/ bargains on big-name items, they can charge a lot for veggies. And they do.

Sure, you can also find expensive things at the farmer's market. In general though, I've noticed that farmers practically give veggies that are in season.

-t.

No, you misunderstand how bonds work. If there are no profits, the bondholders lose. Once the money is borrowed, and collateralized by the profits, it's no longer the responsibility of the tax payers.

-t.

Yeah, much better to be aloof and not to care about your job. When someone is working for me, I hate it when they act pleasant, or try to do their jobs better. Bunch of political ass-kissers. I prefer the 'cool' guys who are quiet except when they are complaining about the impossibility of doing their job. Those guys really keep it real.

-t.

I would say something about 'woosh!', but the OP ruined his own joke anyway.