aaronem

112 ms·

931.
by aaronem 13y ago
Local Christian congregations donate copies of the Christian scripture to be given free of charge to those prisoners desirous of them. Islam is, to say the least, not well represented in rural Mississippi, so the prison commissary supplies
932.
by aaronem 13y ago
(A note on usage: "Might could be" is a double modal, something which is theoretically valid in American English, but in practice serves as a stigma of lower-class speech; it's somewhat common, for example, in Southern Americ
933.
by aaronem 13y ago
Oh, right, I've seen this movie before. [1] [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_JOGmXpe5I
934.
by aaronem 13y ago
> To me, the current system seems as barbaric as public executions. I don't ordinarily downvote for content, but you've achieved a rare pitch of absurdity and I feel that should be recognized.
935.
by aaronem 13y ago
No, clear is a requirement so that the guards can see it's not stuffed with marijuana or heroin or something.
936.
by aaronem 13y ago
Well, I'm certainly not inclined to argue with that .
937.
by aaronem 13y ago
I'm not terribly much in favor of mob rule in the first place, but even if I were, it wouldn't further enamor me to see events like the result of the 2000 election. Yes, a relative few voters in Florida found themselves, by accide
938.
by aaronem 13y ago
In saying this, you seem to express the opinion that I've missed something crucial. Would you like to explain what that is? If anything, I should think that having seen the express popular will set at naught, by the actions of a few pr
939.
by aaronem 13y ago
Excellent! I look forward with eager anticipation to being able to crowbar my way through a full inbox, instead of just wishing I could.
940.
by aaronem 13y ago
I can spot a few different things at which you might be aiming the word "irony", but I'm not sure at which one of them, if any, you actually are.
941.
by aaronem 13y ago
I might be more amenable to an argument like this if I saw any possibility of "forward movement", as you describe it, existing in a conversation like this one. I don't, so I'm not; my participation is directed at the goa
942.
by aaronem 13y ago
Well, to be sure, the job always seems to turn their hair white. On the other hand, I'm easily cynical enough to wonder whether a modern president's staff hairdresser is expected to have an unusual degree of skill with dyes and bl
943.
by aaronem 13y ago
> the American people are and have been the most heavily propagandized people on Earth You have heard of North Korea, I hope?
944.
by aaronem 13y ago
The population of my congressional district, as of 2010, was about six hundred and sixty thousand. I grant this is three orders of magnitude smaller than the voting population of the United States as a whole; I don't grant that 1&#x2
945.
by aaronem 13y ago
A glib answer, to be sure. What do you recommend regarding the unelected civil service bureaucracy which has such a large hand in how the United States are administered? I can't imagine seeing any president take on the State Department
946.
by aaronem 13y ago
> There is plenty of information out there to make informed decisions It's funny you should say that, given the number of people who thought they were making informed decisions to support Obama, especially in 2008, and who have sinc
947.
by aaronem 13y ago
I'm disappointed this isn't something similar to psdoom [1], as I originally imagined it might be. What could be more natural a metaphor, for the cognitive sink of heavy and mostly superfluous inbox traffic, than headcrabs and hea
948.
by aaronem 13y ago
> It is fascinating how people lay blame. Oh, yes, very much so! For example, you seem quite effortlessly to lay blame on three hundred or so million people, and that's only counting those alive right now, with no consideration for
949.
by aaronem 13y ago
> Maybe severe violent revolt but I literally don't ever see that happening. Nor I, and God be thanked for it! The trouble with "severe violent revolt" is that it includes no guarantee that the people on the wrong end of t
950.
by aaronem 13y ago
You can turn that argument around just as easily; without honest campaigns, there is no incentive for an informed population, because there is no meaningful chance for popular support to elevate a candidate running an honest campaign to the
951.
by aaronem 13y ago
Roughly 125 million people voted in the last presidential election. Had I been among them, I'd therefore have had roughly 1/125,000,000 of a say in who gained the office. Perhaps, to a homeopath, such a marvelous dilution of polit
952.
by aaronem 13y ago
You couldn't resist not seeing this, so you saw it?
953.
by aaronem 13y ago
It depends on what you're going for. Relatability seems to have been a major goal of the people who designed the AIs in "Her"; telepathy not being a particularly notable human trait, I think it's reasonable to understand
954.
by aaronem 13y ago
Well, I suppose I'd argue there is a qualitative difference between a chess program which can play a better game than its programmers, and any program which can eventually turn into a Vorlon and go beyond the rim.
955.
by aaronem 13y ago
All software relies on hardware. (parent (parent)) is imagining AI software as being grown, not written, and sees a strong likelihood that such "grown" software will rely strongly on emergent properties of its hardware substrate.
956.
by aaronem 13y ago
> If there were a super-fast, cheap way to send paper letters Don't they call that a "printer"? More seriously, I haven't seen "Her", but isn't that the profession of its protagonist? -- hand-writing pa
957.
by aaronem 13y ago
Touchy, touchy! There's no need for insults.
958.
by aaronem 13y ago
Of course it's unnecessary; you may note that I called it a cavil, and a cavil is always unnecessary, which is part of what makes it a cavil. But it's to the point and sort of funny, which is why I left it in. As for the rest, of
959.
by aaronem 13y ago
> I will disallow anyone I'm in a conversation with to google facts with their phone. You must be a delightful dinner companion. Fine, that's a cavil. This is not: Disk is cheap. My time is precious. It's a lot quicker and
960.
by aaronem 13y ago
The IT staff wiping the drive to their satisfaction should obviate that concern, I'd imagine. And the worst-case scenario would be that happening, and your primary backup drive failing, and your running drive failing, on the day you

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