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All the Perl that's Practical to Extract and Report
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--Larry Wall in <199911192358.PAA24109@kiev.wall.org>
Did I say I expect Perl to do the right thing? :-)
--Larry Wall in <199911200217.SAA24898@kiev.wall.org>
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Polarizing (Score:2)
Seriously, though, I think you've chosen to discuss a small number of issues that are exceedingly easy to polarize. Smokers (and tobacco companies) are strongly in favor of a right to smoke, while the anti-smoking lobby is seeking to slowly eliminate smoking (or at least eliminate the idea that there is a right to smoke in public).
The middle east is one big soup of polarity. Everyon
Re:Polarizing (Score:2)
I really like that first sentence!
Yes, these issues might be more polarized than others. It's just that I keep seeing the same thing, over and over again. Pick some issues you and I are in complete agreement over (DMCA, perhaps? Are there any such issues? ;) ), and you'll see what I mean. (Either you're an American believing in free enterprise and strong intellectual property rights, or you're an evil MP3 sharing pirate who just wants something for nothing.)
No, I don't expect the President to change
J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
Two comments (Score:2)
1. One argument for smokefree restaurants is that restaurants are workplaces, and employees should not be exposed to hazardous materials in the air at work. If a workplace has asbestos in the air, is it okay for the employer not to do anything about it, simply because it's private property? After all, in the ideal libertarian world the workers can always choose to work somewhere else.
2. Aren't you the one with the sig equating abortion to killing babies? That seems pretty black-or-white and not condu
Re:Two comments (Score:2)
1. Yep; I agree with that ideal libertarian world. If they don't like smoking they can choose to work somewhere else. But of course in practice it's not all that black and white... ;)
2. Mostly I'd just like to get legitimacy for the viewpoint that abortion is or might be killing babies. Right now we're more concerned with protecting a mother's right to believe the baby in her womb is not a baby than we are with any rights the baby might have on the off chance that it's a person. We can't "force belief
J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
Re:Two comments (Score:2)
That's fine, but understand that abortion is intertwined in a rat's nest of issues: religion, medicine, crime (incest / rape), family planning, eugenics, the constitution/law, and politics.
Understand that the
Re:Two comments (Score:2)
I disagree. I see treating a fetus as a person with full rights as a simple solution. Sure, there are some complications, most especially the point at which it becomes a fetus with full rights. But the solution is simple, even if there are complications surrounding it and its implementation.
The Christian POV is that in the case of a pregnancy where both the mother and child are in danger, it is your obligation to try and
Re:Two comments (Score:1)
Indeed, it is not that black and white -- after all, there are a limited number of places to find employment, and the owners of those establishments can agree to *all* allow smoking. The cost of starting up a bar is substantial, and beyond the reach of most people who work at one.
The "ideal libertarian world" will never app
reasoning people... (Score:1)
Apologies for sounding indelicate...But this sounds like it might be an evaluation of Texans, not of people in general.
In the communities where I've lived, there have been a huge number of public issues of discussion; generally, the news media collapse issues down to a few viewpoints, but at least when I talk to people, they often see things in many shades of grey.
-DA [coder.com]
Re:reasoning people... (Score:2)
Apologies for sounding indelicate...But this sounds like it might be an evaluation of Texans, not of people in general.
No offense taken; you gave me a good laugh. Actually, though I gave the Dallas example, I'm also thinking particularly of people in Internet discussion sites like, say, slashdot. As I said in another comment, I like use Perl; because we are often such an exception to it.
You make a good point about simplification. Sometimes we need such simplification. I can't learn everything abou
J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
Re:reasoning people... (Score:2)
While I'm at it. This information about Quakers reminds me one of the sunnit branches of Islam (there are four main sunnit branches, not counting chiits, mutazilits, ismaelits, wahabbits, etc.) -- I don't remember which one -- : consensus is very important in their theology and legislation also. I don't know if it's actually comparable
Funny (Score:1)
Nevertheless, I only see one issue here[1]: property rights. As long as smoking is legal[2], the only person to decide whether or not you should be allowed to smoke on a piece of property is the owner of the property. But woe to those who try to explain this to the non-smokers of Dallas!
[1] With such a wonderfully enlightened min
Re:Funny (Score:2)
Guilty as charged; I stand corrected, and I thank you.
My big gripe is that I understand why other people are guided by those other issues, but they refuse to listen when I try to say there's more involved.
J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
Culture of Argument (Score:2)
* I think it was Alan Watts who once said like (I can't quote from memory) "one way to express a central approach of Buddhism is the idea that all concepts are wrong." That's a good starting point.
* Even when I was a young hyoomon in school, I wan annoyed by the existence of "debate club", which promulgated the already viral idea that an issue is best considered as two (not three! or seven!) exactly diametrically opposed, hostile positions. We need more of that kind of thinking (or th
Re:Culture of Argument (Score:2)
That's not to say other methods of exploring issues aren't perfectly valid, bu
Re:Culture of Argument (Score:2)
If the debate ends with no winner and much is learned by all, it is an unqualified success.
Congratulations on the success of use Perl;, pudge! :)
Actually, that is what I like about this site, as I've said elsewhere. I often have my brain stretched here. It greatly helps that most of this group does not suffer from the black-and-white problem I described, at least not often. (I think we all get it from time to time.)
J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers