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Comment Re:Dealers have to die out (Score 1) 101

I can imagine a manufacturer sending you a notice of a recall in the mail. In the same envelope, they include an explanation that you could get this update over the air with no effort in $(nearby_state), and include a business-reply-mail envelope with a form letter addressed to your state congressmen: "Dear Rep. Bork. I just went ___ miles out of my way and spent an extra ___ hour(s) getting a software update at a dealership instead of wirelessly. Please change this law."

Comment Re:Cool that someone still stands for freedom (Score 1) 549

we literally fought a war over whether it was OK to be a Nazi, and it isn't.

Please. World War II was a war over whether it was okay for the Axis powers to usurp the government, territories, and citizens' lives of various sovereign nations in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. It was a counter-conquest war, not a war waged against an ideology in the abstract. You'll further notice that there was no substantial Allied campaign to ruin the lives of conquered persons in Germany who had been associated with the Nazi party, merely against those who were associated with war crimes. Nuremburg convicted people who organised and implemented the system of mass murder, not the petty propagandists who said being white was bestest.

If you want a war on an ideology, I've got a War on Terror to sell you.

Comment Problematic as a precedent (Score 5, Insightful) 396

Some day an innocent man is going to set up a crowdfunding campaign for his defence and is going to get it shut down because he's been pre-emptively judged guilty. It's that old "first they came for the (x)" story, except this time they came for the Nazis, and it's all that more seductive because the Nazis deserve it.

Comment Re:Fishing expidition... (Score 1) 392

On its face this warrant seems overly broad.

Well, yes, but this is perfectly normal - like oh-so-much else that is wrong with this administration.

There are men who have been not just in prison, but in solitary confinement, for decades. There's a citizen who have been detained by ICE, imprisoned for three years without a lawyer, won $80k in damages, and just had the award thrown out on appeal because the statute of limitations on the "false imprisonment" charge expired while he was imprisoned. Last year there was a man in Florida locked in a shower with the hot water running until he died.

All of this is normal. All of this predates Trump. I mean, it's great that you're paying attention now, and all, but do try to look beyond Mr. Trump, beyond the outrage du jour, and even beyond the groups who will call you racist if you should question their demands for reparations.

Comment Re:Prove it's true (Score 3, Insightful) 307

Proving it's true would not put a full stop to the suit; it would be a thing that you prove in the suit itself. This is expensive because it means you're paying lawyers lots of money. The thing that's supposed to put a full stop to the suit is an anti-SLAPP motion, because this appears to be a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation; among other things, this typically stays all discovery, saving much expense,

Unfortunately I'm not up to speed on California-specific anti-SLAPP statutes.

Comment Re:What Unions Did For You (Score 1) 317

They gave you: Weekends off, eight hour work day, Holidays off. And a safer workplace.

See, now, take this pro-union propaganda with a grain of salt. There were a lots of factors that led to a shorter American work week, and while unions were in fact one force, another major factor was that labor market conditions were much tighter. Manufacturing was expanding. Immigration was falling. Technological changes improved worker productivity. There were gross population shifts from rural areas to urban areas. There was plenty of government intervention into the labor market as well. All of these factors contributed to shorter work weeks too.

Unions in the abstract made a material contribution, and can be recognized as such, and lauded, but the usual case like we see here, you are told "without unions no weekends", and that's just ill-informed propaganda.

Comment Re: Good (Score 1, Informative) 389

Jewish Law? Begins in Exodus. More in Leviticus. Ongoing tradition of interpretation through your local rabbi.

Christian law? Begins with acknowledgement of Jewish law and extracts the Great Commandment (Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, The Lord is One; Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind) and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. From there has always been a diversity of practice in interpretation by various Christian religious communities, Christian religious leaders, and Christian rulers (where you will find it blended with civil law).

If you want something specific the best bet for codified Christian law is probably the Code of Canon Law -- perhaps starting with The Obligations and Rights of All the Christian Faithful.

If you want to talk about how a particular United States midwestern Protestant group with a sola scriptura mindset goes about it, that's another matter, and a bit harder.

Comment Re:Last I checked... (Score 2) 145

In the USA it is actionable. All you have to do is outspend your opponent, does not matter if something is legal or not.

It's not quite as simple as that, as there are substantial anti-SLAPP statutes in many states which allow people who are sued to get the case dismissed quickly and sometimes get their legal fees paid for it. But it's not the greatest situation, either.

Science

'Science Must Clean Up Its Act' (scientificamerican.com) 685

Our science community still struggles with diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, including systemic bias, harassment, and discrimination among other things, writes Heather Metcalf, mathematician, computer scientist, social scientist, and also the director of research for the Association for Women in Science. From her piece, in which she has shared both personal anecdotes and general examples, for the Scientific American: [...] Take the recent March for Science. Nearly two weeks ago, scientists and science supporters gathered in Washington, D.C, and around the globe to stand up for "robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity" and put forth a vision of science that "serves the interests of all humans, not just those in power." However, in its attempts to remain apolitical and objective, the march focused primarily on funding and communication aspects of its mission while losing sight of the need for a science that addresses human freedom and prosperity for all, not just the privileged. [...] In the early days of its organizing, the march offered up a strong statement of solidarity acknowledging the complacency with which the scientific community as a whole has handled issues that primarily impact marginalized communities: "many issues about which scientists as a group have largely remained silent -- attacks on black and brown lives, oil pipelines through indigenous lands, sexual harassment and assault, ADA access in our communities, immigration policy, lack of clean water in several cities across the country, poverty wages, LGBTQIA rights, and mass shootings are scientific issues. Science has historically -- and generally continues to support discrimination. In order to move forward as a scientific community, we must address and actively work to unlearn our problematic past and present, to make science available to everyone." This messaging was removed and replaced after much pushback, largely from white men, about the need to remain apolitical and objective. These debates resulted in many women, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ scientists, and their allies feeling ostracized and even receiving disrespectful and hateful messages about their place in science generally and in M4S specifically. Rather than standing up for a science that is available to everyone, these conversations and the march itself merely served represent an exclusionary science by reinforcing longstanding, divisive norms within the scientific community, all in the name of objectivity..

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