Actually, if that reasoning were to apply elsewhere, Monstanto might actually have to take responsibility for infecting neighboring non-GMO fields with its seed. I agree with one of the posters below... the people with cancer would somehow end up owing the company money.
I think I'll start a kickstarter fund to set up a colony on Mars, away from all this lunacy.
I came here to say just this, and you beat me to most of it.
But! If we're doing away with all the subjects that make us feel bad, the logical conclusion (not that we understand logic any longer) is that only one course remains that everybody can agree on: sex education! And, since we have nothing else going on at school because it makes us feel dumb, sex ed will be taken to great new heights! Imagine the possibilities!
Informative grammar Nerd crushes grammar Nazi like a grape, win-win!
zomg +5 pwned
It probably was.
I have it on very good authority that the "F.U.C.K" name was intentional. It was developed by the guy sitting 5 feet behind me. Well, one of them, at least.
The invisible wizard of Islam is, historically, the invisible wizard of Abraham: the invisible wizards of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are, as a matter of fact, one and the same.
Wizard needs a sense of perspective - badly!
I'm dissappointed in Slashdot. One would expect that over here people would see the value of having access to the source of the software that keeps you alive.
100% agree. It seems most of the other posters on this story saw the word "Lawyer" and went temporarily stupid. Slashdotters emit blood curdling screams when they can't get open access to video codecs, but are indifferent when medical device vendors don't share code that literally keeps people alive. To those of you want to keep this code secret, I hope your electric spleen shocks you toasty brown someday.
Thanks for pointing that out. Download count is not really important for tenure cases but it does help gauge interest. I might just have to point my own paper PDF links to ACM now to start tracking that.
By this logic, people who do not drive should not pay taxes for road repair, or that people who don't have kids shouldn't pay taxes for K12 schools, or that people who have replaced their original bodies with titanium robot hulls shouldn't pay taxes that fund the NIH. Of course we would have problems if this is how it worked. Minus the robot people, who I just made up.
You are right that a person might not directly take advantage of a state university that is paid for in part by their taxes. So to that degree, they're not directly getting what they are paying for. But their taxes help educate others in their state. Presumably it is more economically and culturally advantageous to have an educated population than not. But it is hard to quantify those benefits (because people value things differently), which is partly why we have the argument in the first place.
Does it actually state that anywhere? Because that has to be the most ridiculous part of the law.
Reading the injunction (here) it seems the original law does indeed prohibit parent/child association, and the court agrees with you that it is ridiculous. On page 2:
[the law states] "No teacher shall establish, maintain, or use a non-work-related internet site which allows exclusive access with a current or or former student."
...
... Even if a complete ban on certain forms of communication between certain individuals could be construed as content neutral and only a reasonable restriction on "time, place and manner," the breadth of the prohibition is staggering. The Court finds at based upon the evidence adduced at the preliminary injunction hearing, social networking is extensively used by educators. It is often primary, if not sole manner, of communications between the Plaintiffs and their students. Examination of the statute indicates that it would prohibit all teachers from using any non-work-related social networking sites which allow exclusive access with current and former students. It clearly prohibits communication between family members and their teacher parents using these types of sites. The Court finds that the statute would have a chilling effect on speech.
So yeah, redonkulous.
Slashdot was one of my biggest nerd influences during my formative years. Thanks for making the site, and cultivating the community that makes it continue to be (usually) great. I wish you luck in whatever you end up doing.
This would be a perfect opportunity for people to pressure their state legislators to do something reasonable.
I don't see the relationship between the summary and what you said about it. Taco didn't write it, and timothy (who posted it) only copied in what the submitter wrote. You are implying that slashdot is defending the looters. I just don't see it.
Inciting violence isn't just a bad idea, it's illegal. Those people could probably be nailed for conspiracy to commit violence as well, since they were communicating and coordinating how/when to do it. There was nothing in the summary that supported the looters or rioters...
Which is REALLY a bigger threat to us, the military power of any foreign adversary, or a highly contagious disease that knows no borders?
The military of an adversary using (or losing control of) highly contagious diseases within our borders. Lets just hope the rogue militant wing of Blackwater doesn't develop the zombiepox.
+1
I'm not sure what interaction benefit the 'click to open parent' gives. If you click a link on an already visible post, it may or may not follow the link. Or it might do some silly un-collapsing thing.
Those who can, do; those who can't, write. Those who can't write work for the Bell Labs Record.
