Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 884
MeFi post:
sex in the park
Maybe people shouldn't engage in private sexual practices in, you know, private. Just an idea.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 8:47 PM on July 25, 2008
The cops pick up whores all the freakin' time for solicitation. How can you seriously propose that Craig "didn't do anything"? Ludicrous.
It's not a crime to solicit just anything, though! The crime is soliciting something that is itself illegal.
Soliciting a prostitute is illegal because prostitution is illegal. Soliciting a sexual encounter in a hotel room where no money changes hands shouldn't be illegal, because... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 8:49 PM on July 25, 2008
You should not have to reject the advances of a morally bankrupt, hypocritical, closeted senator from Idaho when you're just trying to take a crap after a long flight.
But how do you propose to draw the line between legal behaviors that you can legally ask someone to engage in and legal behaviors that you can't?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:29 PM on July 25, 2008
I don't see a problem with the current system. Legislatures (representing their constituents) have decided that no-one should have to fend off sexual advances in a bathroom, and so, it is illegal.
Larry Craig plead guilty to "disorderly conduct," and the relevant Minnesota statute doesn't say anything in particular about restrooms or sexual advances. There might be a more specific statute, but I kind of doubt it.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:43 PM on July 25, 2008
There are legal and illegal ways to ask for many kinds of legal services, not just sex.
Also, what do you have in mind? I'm not interested in commercial examples, because commercial regulations are a whole different can of beans.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:45 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
Bite me, Larry Summers.
Because the investigation is uninteresting and the results not useful. Who cares if there are genetic cognitive differences between gender (or race, or ethnicity, or any genetic grouping)? How does that knowledge help anyone?
Because it would imply that we shouldn't expect identical cognitive "outcomes," as measured on a population basis, even on a level playing field. That would be good to know, because so much policy is driven by the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:23 AM on July 25, 2008
This doesn't follow. It assumes that the system producing the outcome maximizes genetic potential, which it almost certainly does not.
No, not at all. It just assumes that, statistically speaking, genetic cognitive potential has a substantial impact on cognitive outcome. Of course people have differing cognitive outcomes for a variety of reasons other than genetic cognitive potential.
By way of analogy, one's genetic... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 8:08 PM on July 25, 2008
MeFi post:
I sense you want to plead the 5th
The US already prosecutes thought crimes. They hook sex offenders up to penile plethysmographs and subject them to various images to assess deviant arousal and then base parole conditions on these results.
Surely there's a difference between prosecuting a thought crime and declining to cut short a sentence for an actual crime based on what you surmise a person thinks?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:56 AM on July 21, 2008
Except that you can be imprisoned forever for these crimes if they decide they want to keep you, well after you've served the sentence originally specified by law and or handed down by the court. So yeah, it's thought crime.
Are you sure the original sentence wasn't indefinite or indeterminate in the first place? And are you sure you're not thinking of civil commitment in a mental institution following release from prison? Both require a court order,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 5:38 PM on July 21, 2008
MeFi post:
It's the Pew News IQ... Comin' right at you...
I got 0/12 (2%).
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:19 PM on July 18, 2008
By the way, 2% is the percentage of people who rocked the test as hard as I did. My percentile is 0, of course.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:24 PM on July 18, 2008
Maybe you should preview there, smart guy.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 9:28 PM on July 18, 2008
I.e., McCain voter
McCain voters' votes count just as much as yours. Ha ha!
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 1:19 PM on July 19, 2008
Not in my state, they don't.
McCain voters? In my state? It's more likely than you think.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 3:16 PM on July 19, 2008
MeFi post:
Well whaddaya know? Strip searching a 13 year old on a hunch IS unconstitutional!
Then what do you call stuff that's behind the pharmacy counter, but doesn't require a prescription?
At smaller--often urban--pharmacies, there's stuff behind the counter just to keep it from being stolen and because of space constraints.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 11:52 AM on July 13, 2008
The government doesn't grant the people the right to do anything. Quite to the contrary, the people grant the government its rights.
Can't a distinction be drawn, though, between legally protected rights that can be exercised in the absence of a legal system altogether (e.g., life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) and strictly legal rights (e.g., filing a lawsuit)?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 12:21 PM on July 13, 2008
I have a bottle of Advil here that says "if pain or fever does not respond to 1 tablet, 2 tablets may be used." I guess there's an advantage to 400mg ibuprofen if you want to take the maximum dose in one pill instead of two, but I don't see it as a big deal.
It's always seemed strange to me that there was prescription-strength Ibuprofen. I understand why mixing 200mg and 400mg pills on the shelf might be undesirable. Someone who is used to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 12:31 PM on July 13, 2008
I'll skip the copyright troll and argue that suing the government is a form of redress of grievances. It's a right enshrined in the first amendment, a right that is not granted by the government, but a right that the government may not infringe. I'll also contend that allowing the government to say "you can't sue us" turns the entire basis of our government on its head.
I don't think this argument works. First, there's no First Amendment... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 5:46 PM on July 13, 2008
Seriously? Could you elaborate a little please MPDSEA?
The idea is simply that all rights are legal rights. Since legal rights are grounded in some sort of legal system, without a legal system, no one has any rights. Furthermore, there's no necessary connection between what is legal and what is moral. That is, legality isn't measured by reference to morality.
That's all I meant.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:21 PM on July 13, 2008
MeFi post:
Freedom Flies
Metafilter probably has the dubious honor of being the most widely-read left-wing crackpot conspiracy blog.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 2:30 PM on July 12, 2008
Well, y'know, I don't think that we're the ones who are misinterpreting the links, Chuckles.
And that makes it OK?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 2:50 PM on July 12, 2008
Hold on a sec, Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America (I love that animation!), are you implying that wearing a mandatory electric-shock bracelet whenever you board a flight would be a good thing?
Nobody thinks that mandatory electric-shock bracelets for ordinary airline passengers are a good idea.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 3:03 PM on July 12, 2008
Well, in fairness, the people who propose to manufacture and sell the bracelets probably think they're a good idea, but who cares.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 3:09 PM on July 12, 2008
So...on one hand, we have signed documents from the DHS, and on the other hand we have a spin doctor working overtime to throw dirt on the fire without actually denying that the fire should be there.
That you have the nerve to call someone else a "spin doctor" is simply flabbergasting.
I see no reason to think that the video is connected to the DHS. Nonetheless, you don't seem to have any trouble interpreting... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 4:18 PM on July 12, 2008
I'm still curious as to why you think that outrage from us (OMG lefties!) equals "left-wing crackpot conspiracy"? As people who like to travel, does responding "holy shit is this a loony idea" equal left-wing conspiracy nonsense?
The outrage is completely disproportionate to the credibility of the report.
You know, I heard that George W. Bush himself suggested amputating a toe from every air traveler, in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 4:21 PM on July 12, 2008
This taser-bracelet garbage is a perfect fit for the modus operandi of the assholes who are running things in this neck of the woods, and is credible on that account.
Why don't you just admit that you believe it because it perfectly fits your ideology?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 4:48 PM on July 12, 2008
Steve, I didn't say the video was DHS policy and you know it. You're just bloviating at this point.
Then how did you come to the conclusion that the video was evidence that Mr. Verrico's statements weren't true?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 4:54 PM on July 12, 2008
I said the signed documents, from someone higher on the food chain than the spokesperson, proved that the FAA/HDS had indeed considered using it on passenger planes.
What you actually said at the outset was that DHS had expressed interest in "forcing all commercial airline passengers to wear a taser bracelet that can be used to incapacitate anyone on an airline."
You then stated that, "[the PDFs and the video]... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 5:38 PM on July 12, 2008
MeFi post:
Librarian with ‘McCain=Bush’ sign charged with trespassing at public campaign event.
This isn't very exciting. "Open to the public" doesn't mean "feel free to treat this space like your living room." I don't get the feeling that the Denver Center for the Performing Arts is like a public park, either.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 5:39 PM on July 7, 2008
This comment brought to you by The Lawyers' Committee to Obscure and Frustrate Your Constitutional Rights.
Perhaps you never bothered to learn your Constitutional rights? It might be convenient for you to protest at someone's campaign event, and you might very much like to, but that doesn't mean you have a Constitutional right to.
This is a very difficult distinction for someone people to make, but I think it's important.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 5:56 PM on July 7, 2008
So, Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America, from your perspective what does her message "McCain = Bush" mean to you personally?
I assumed that she meant that McCain would continue Bush's policies, or something similar to that. I imagine she didn't mean that McCain and Bush are the very same person.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:02 PM on July 7, 2008
Wrong. My rights are plenipotentiary, subject to the State's powers, as listed in the Constitution(s) and respective laws, to restrict them.
And she was cited under a state trespass statute, I'm sure. What's your point?
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:04 PM on July 7, 2008
Is that a good thing or a bad thing that McCain will/may continue Bush's policies? Bad? Good? If bad, why? If good, why? -- again from your personal point-of-view.
Seriously? Bush has been a horrible President. Even beyond that war (an idiotic, expensive boondoggle), everything he's done (economy, education, health, etc.) has been wasteful, ineffective, and largely driven by ideology instead of reality.
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:13 PM on July 7, 2008
You can try to pin him down if you like. My ability to care about Dr. Steve Babbling Right Wing Nonsense is about as profound as his ability to care about my civil rights.
I do care about your civil rights, though. You just don't have the right to crash a campaign event at the DCPA. I'm sorry this is so super-complicated. This whole "what I want to do" vs. "what I have the right to do" distinction is really tricky!... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:29 PM on July 7, 2008
People fell for this troll? Again? The Denver Performing Arts Complex isn't a public space even when it is made up of City- and county-owned facilities paid for with public tax dollars, one of which is managed by a publicly funded not-for-profit?
What, are you stupid? There are many, many taxpayer-funded facilities that aren't public spaces in the sense that would allow anyone to come and go as they pleased. Seriously, stop typing, stop being... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 1:07 AM on July 8, 2008
If it's open to the public, then that would seem to imply that law-abiding members of the public can attend, without restriction.
I don't care about convincing you, because you're not approaching this with a shred of honesty. Hint: Try looking at what "open to the public" actually means, instead of what it would "seem to imply" (i.e., what would support your outrage).
"Open to the public" means... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America
at 6:34 AM on July 8, 2008
