Posts tagged “law”
Florida wants to fine people for hanging fake bull testicles from their trucks. I'm not sure what's more depressing: that this is popular, that someone was offended, or that lawmakers think banning offensive things is acceptable governance.
Had a nightmare dentist visit where the anaesthetic wore off mid-drilling. Wondering if I have a malpractice case. Lawyers, help me out. Also: the "suspicious" passengers removed from a plane were just Asian. Shocking to nobody. The hysteria of their fellow passengers deserves consequences.
Holocaust denial laws are misguided. Jailing David Irving for 17-year-old statements he already retracted highlights the absurdity: we're criminalizing specific speech rather than racism itself. You can't selectively ban one form of hate speech without appearing hypocritical, especially given our defense of the Muhammad cartoons as free expression.
Trinidad's PM Manning claims to know who's behind four bombings but admits he has no courtroom-worthy evidence. That's not knowing anything. Don't grandstand about "Mr Big" when you can't back it up. Embarrassing.
Software patents differ fundamentally from copyright: copyright protects your specific work, but patents let you block anyone from implementing similar ideas, even independently. This stifles innovation, which depends on building on existing ideas. Software patents serve lawyers, not inventors, and shouldn't be allowed in the EU.
Britain has up to 1.1 million paedophiles, and we can't jail them all. Criminalisation and persecution drive the problem underground. Treatment works better than prison, as one clinic's 80% success rate showed before hysteria shut it down. This is majority persecution of a minority, nothing more.
Back in London for the weekend. Amusing links: Microsoft tech support vs. Psychic Friends (psychics win on price and friendliness), IBM's self-healing networks, transparent PC cases, Maryland blocking Microsoft Passport, a terabyte stored in glass, and a keyless keyboard. Also, Black and White's gesture interface is getting well-deserved attention.
