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• Commented on People speak out on library censorship incident: “It’s dangerous to democracy when an interest group imposes its views on another.”
  Maybe I'm just a lustful lecherous left-libertarian libertine, but why shouldn't libraries stock pornography? I mean, yeah, some people think it's gross, but that's not a reason it oughtn't be studied. If it's truly the purpose of a library (or,...
• Commented on SFPD cops from imaginary anti-dance-party squad steal laptops
  This is called theft, and you're supposed to go to jail when you do it....
• Commented on Maricopa deputy steals defender's paperwork during a court case
  Who does that? The Deputy should be fired, the defendant might need to go free as a matter of law, and I wouldn't be unhappy if the deputy went to jail. And, I would be ecstatic if the Sheriff himself...
• Commented on Klingon as a First Language
  zandar, that's not entirely true. While yes, we know kids learn any language spoken to them while they're growing up, this only has happened for natural languages and a couple invented ones that are exceedingly similar grammatically to natural languages,...
• Commented on McDonald's Gitmo is hiring!
  Eating a Big Mac -- now that's torture....
• Commented on Goldwag: I Was A Teenaged Straussian
  An interesting article, Arthur. Particularly because the government department at my school (Claremont McKenna College) is pretty damned Straussian -- understandably, because Strauss himself taught here. Even some of the "liberal" gov majors tend to come out valuing the state...
• Commented on Epoch: podcast of my story about the death of the first AI
  Another vote for a text version, plz. I enjoy reading -- preferably on dead trees -- far more than listening to things....
• Commented on US Chamber of Commerce suing the Yes Men
  The CoC seems to be saying that, since the group would gain publicity and thus sales, no group that sells anything may engage in parody. This seems to be an end run around First Amendment protection of parody. As the...
• Commented on Chess variant from 1934 that pitted agitators against engineers
  Strangely, Pantograph, I read it the same way. Perhaps we ought to make our own chess variant pitting alligators against engineers. "Moat Mutiny"? "Moatiny?"...
• Commented on Six-year-old sent to reform school for bringing a "weapon" (Cub Scout camping cutlery) to school
  I'm a little surprised that this kid has the intellectual development to be able to say "I broke the rules, but the rules are wrong, ergo I did not do anything wrong." If my understanding of Kohlberg's stages of moral...
• Commented on In praise of IBM ThinkPad warranty service
  I got a Lenovo (IBM branded) laptop a few years back, with a warranty through the university. The warranty was simply brilliant: I once drilled a small hole in a chip on the motherboard when I put the wrong screw...
• Commented on Flu, and You: The Basics
  I hope this clears up your conflusion. Sorry. :p...
• Commented on Student kills burglary suspect with Samurai sword
  If the story is true as presented (i.e. the student felt reasonably threatened and the burglar was really a burglar) AND if charges are actually pressed, then, jury would still not convict. It doesn't take Bobby Donnell to convince a...
• Commented on Young adult writers! Detroit teacher of blind kids wants your ebooks for her Braille printer!
  Has anyone invented a "monitor" for blind people? Sort of like one of those toys they had at museum gift shops with pins that took imprints of your hand or whatever. but mechanized. It could convert Roman text to braille....
• Commented on Copyright Town Hall security threatened MP, students with ejection for handing out flyers
  @Antinous: At risk of straying off topic, the CA Supreme Court decision you're referencing, Pruneyard, has not been followed in hardly any other states; NJ, MA and CO have followed it, to some extent. Most other states retain the right...
• Commented on Surveillance sphere looks like Rover from The Prisoner
  1. Mount an xacto blade on a model rocket. 2. Launch rocket at Rover 3. ??? 4. Profit!...
• Commented on Dutch government tries to stop 13-year-old girl from sailing around world solo
  This is just the typical illogic of governmental intervention: "You might screw up your life doing X (smoking pot, smoking crack, sailing around the world at age 13) so, in order to save you, we are going to definitely screw...
• Commented on Climate Camp to London cops: We won't tell you where the next camp is because you keep beating the crap out of us
  Knd @30: D y hnstly thnk tht mltry/plc frc md p f "wll-dctd rspnsbl ctzns" wld dsby njst rdrs? t's nc t thnk tht thy wld, bt dn't thnk tht tht's mprclly tr. Rmmbr th Stnfrd Prsn xprmnt? bnch f...
• Commented on Neo-nazi hate blogger paid by FBI to incite, says attorney
  Oh man. My fixed link was broken. D'oh. At least I made Xeni LOL. Don't I get points for that?...
• Commented on Neo-nazi hate blogger paid by FBI to incite, says attorney
  Fixed link for those of us whose browsers cannot open the "lawyer:" protocol......
• Commented on HOWTO make dust-goggles from a bra-strap, light-bulb screens, and an old biker jacket
  Are these the goggles you wear when you blog from high-altitude balloons, Cory?...
• Commented on What real piracy looks like: biopirate loses patent over century-old latinamerican staple crop
  This is slightly tangential, but I wonder if any farmers sued for growing soy/maize cross-pollinated from patented Monsanto stock have ever sued their neighbors for trespass. The trespassing pollen certainly caused a harm which was not de minimis....
• Commented on Report: US domestic surveillance program began within weeks of 9/11 attacks
  Report Says Wiretaps Got Too Little Legal Review -- NYT Yup, they did get too little legal review. In order to prevent this from happening again, it would be a good idea if we made some sort of foundational document...
• Commented on Man, our president is cool.
  Man, our president is cool. Yeah, Obama's cool. Cool like torture. Cool like "prolonged preventive detention." Cool like wiretapping. Cool like a pot of boiling water. @12 Snig: I think that Richardson would have, at least, stood a better chance...
• Commented on Iran: The White House is Tweeting in Farsi
  @#11: Yeah. Do you know where muslins originated? The Middle East. Do you know what is also from the the Middle East? Turrrism. They must be connected. (Sarcasm, obviously, folks.)...
• Commented on Iran: The White House is Tweeting in Farsi
  This is proof that the Right Wing was correct: Obama clearly is a secret Muslin....
• Commented on Reviving American chestnuts may mitigate climate change
  I'm really pumped for this. I went to camp as a child in NC mountains (the Appalachians (ap-uh-lah-chins, not "appelations")) and the only American chestnuts you could see were about 6 inches or so in diameter. I'd be terrific to...
• Commented on New Jersey police officer enjoys clubbing man for complying with another officer's request to zip his sweatshirt
  @Moriarty: It's true that it's tricky. And it's the idea in those 40 or so states that the legality of an arrest can be sorted out after the fact. But I think that there's still an argument for the fact...
• Commented on New Jersey police officer enjoys clubbing man for complying with another officer's request to zip his sweatshirt
  @#10: There used to exist a common law right to resist illegal arrest. However, this right has been gradually taken away in most jurisdictions, for two reasons: One, it's thoguht that enough due process exists that illegal arrest and long-term...
• Commented on Praying man gets tazed by police and escapes
  If this guy were in North Carolina, he might have been completely legit in running away. Might, since I don't know what happened before filming started. At least in NC, under NCGS 15A-401, cops are required to tell you what...