Pussy Riot update

[Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.]

------------------------------------------------
Three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have spent the
last six months in prison for staging a protest against
Russian leader Vladimir Putin inside an Orthodox cathedral.
On Friday, the group was awarded the LennonOno Grant for
Peace award by the artist and activist Yoko Ono. On
Thursday, Pussy Riot also received the public backing of
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is
currently on her first visit to the United States in more
than three decades. We’re joined by two guests who have
traveled to the United States on Pussy Riot’s behalf: Pyotr
Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot member Nadia
Tolokonnikova, and Alisa Obraztsova, lawyer’s assistant
with the band’s legal defense team. [includes rush
transcript]
-------------------------------------------------
http://www.democracynow.org/

(i haven't seen anything on CNN about pussy riot...wonder why?)
;-)

[︰ones]

On Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:38:13 -0700, in alt.war.vietnam "Dr. Vincent
Quin, Ph.D." <dr...@coldine.edu> wrote:

>i haven't seen anything on CNN about pussy riot...wonder why?

Inquiring minds *demand* to know!

Get beck to us on it as soon as you find out, OK?

[dino]

In article <mf6dnex0G_wfc_3N...@supernews.com>, Dr. Vincent Quin,
Ph.D. says...

I did. They even said it. Pussy. It was a lady. I think, Erin? I saw it
Sunday night.

[Andrew Swallow]

The Russians sent 3 of the protesting women from the group called Pussy
Riot to jail for 2 years. Other people are protesting to get them out.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19671361>

Andrew Swallow

[Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.]

dino wrote:

> In article <mf6dnex0G_wfc_3N...@supernews.com>, Dr. Vincent Quin,
> Ph.D. says...
>
>>
>>------------------------------------------------
>>Three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have spent the
>>last six months in prison for staging a protest against
>>Russian leader Vladimir Putin inside an Orthodox cathedral.
>>On Friday, the group was awarded the LennonOno Grant for
>>Peace award by the artist and activist Yoko Ono. On
>>Thursday, Pussy Riot also received the public backing of
>>Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is
>>currently on her first visit to the United States in more

>>than three decades. We�re joined by two guests who have
>>traveled to the United States on Pussy Riot�s behalf: Pyotr

>>Verzilov, husband of jailed Pussy Riot member Nadia

>>Tolokonnikova, and Alisa Obraztsova, lawyer�s assistant
>>with the band�s legal defense team. [includes rush

>>transcript]
>>-------------------------------------------------
>>http://www.democracynow.org/
>>
>>(i haven't seen anything on CNN about pussy riot...wonder why?)
>>;-)
>
>
> I did. They even said it. Pussy. It was a lady. I think, Erin? I saw it
> Sunday night.

snicker snicker tee hee
;-)

[Jonathan Howland]

This is all so offensive I think we should burn somebody's embassy.

jch

[︰ones]

On Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:59:55 +0100, in alt.war.vietnam Andrew Swallow
<am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote:

>The Russians sent 3 of the protesting women from the group called Pussy
>Riot to jail for 2 years. Other people are protesting to get them out.
><http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19671361>
>
>Andrew Swallow

Thanks... that takes a load off my mind.

I was afraid that it was a conspiracy.

[Mark Test]

"ĄJones" wrote in message
news:ccn468p1d3itopmll...@4ax.com...

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pussy riot...I just love saying it :)

[Eunometic]

On Sep 25, 1:36 am, "Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D." <d...@coldine.edu>
wrote:

> ------------------------------------------------
> Three members of the Russian band Pussy Riot have spent the
> last six months in prison for staging a protest against
> Russian leader Vladimir Putin inside an Orthodox cathedral.
> On Friday, the group was awarded the LennonOno Grant for
> Peace award by the artist and activist Yoko Ono. On
> Thursday, Pussy Riot also received the public backing of
> Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is
> currently on her first visit to the United States in more
> than three decades. We’re joined by two guests who have
> traveled to the United States on Pussy Riot’s behalf: Pyotr

> Verzilov, husband of jailed Pusy Riot member Nadia

> Tolokonnikova, and Alisa Obraztsova, lawyer’s assistant
> with the band’s legal defense team. [includes rush
> transcript]

> -------------------------------------------------http://www.democracynow.org/

>
> (i haven't seen anything on CNN about pussy riot...wonder why?)
> ;-)

The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians. Next time maybe
they'll do their publicity stunt outside?

[Bill]

On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 16:21:20 -0700 (PDT), Eunometic
<euno...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:


>The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
>which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians. Next time maybe
>they'll do their publicity stunt outside?

You're joking right?

When they get out they're going to earn a fortune touring the West.

[Uncle Steve]

Perhaps. However there are others who are not quite so fortunate.
Anna Politkovskaya will not be doing any touring anytime soon.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

--
"Assholes always advertise"
-- Pat Cadigan

[Bill]

On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:18:32 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 12:54:26AM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 16:21:20 -0700 (PDT), Eunometic
>> <euno...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
>> >which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians. Next time maybe
>> >they'll do their publicity stunt outside?
>>
>> You're joking right?
>>
>> When they get out they're going to earn a fortune touring the West.
>
>Perhaps. However there are others who are not quite so fortunate.
>Anna Politkovskaya will not be doing any touring anytime soon.

Politkovskaya was a highly educated journalist who knew exactly what
risks she was taking.

[Uncle Steve]

So, political murder is a "risk" which journalists in modern times
should "evaluate" before writing about "politics". Got it in one. I
suppose she ought to have learned from the lesson from Zahra Kazemi,
or even from some of her journalist countrymen who've also been
murdered in Russia in recent years. But the news is not all bad; it
seems that journalists in Mexico have recognized that they should
consult the warlords before publishing news in an irresponsible
fashion. And of course, American journalists have been playing it
safe for decades.

What point are you trying to make about contemporary journalism in
supposedly civilized societies?

[Andrew Swallow]

They will have to learn to dance in step first.

Andrew Swallow

[Keith W]

Of course 25 years ago sinsulting the church would not only have
been allowed but encouraged and as a good KGB officer
Vladimir Putin would have heartily approved of their actions.

That stalwart defender of the faith was at that time a convinced atheist
or so he said.

Keith

[Andrew Chaplin]

Andrew Swallow <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in
news:HsOdnbtdYZcQ2PPN...@bt.com:

Oh, come on, Andrew! They're a punk act.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

[tutall]

On Oct 5, 1:03 am, "Keith W" <keithnospoofsple...@demon.co.uk> wrote:

> Of course 25 years ago sinsulting the church would not only have
> been allowed but encouraged and as a good KGB officer
> Vladimir Putin would have heartily approved of their actions.
>
> That stalwart defender of the faith was at that time a convinced atheist
> or so he said.

In one.

The Church has been currying favor with the State wanting to re-
instate the tried and true "Church and State" model. And currently
that means the church supports the state almost in lock-step and acts,
in Soviet terminology, as an organ of the State. So the State
reciprocated the favor in this case.

[Bill]

On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:45:43 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

wrote:

>On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 01:28:25AM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:18:32 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 12:54:26AM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> >> On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 16:21:20 -0700 (PDT), Eunometic
>> >> <euno...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> >The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
>> >> >which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians. Next time maybe
>> >> >they'll do their publicity stunt outside?
>> >>
>> >> You're joking right?
>> >>
>> >> When they get out they're going to earn a fortune touring the West.
>> >
>> >Perhaps. However there are others who are not quite so fortunate.
>> >Anna Politkovskaya will not be doing any touring anytime soon.
>>
>>
>> Politkovskaya was a highly educated journalist who knew exactly what
>> risks she was taking.
>
>So, political murder is a "risk" which journalists in modern times
>should "evaluate" before writing about "politics".

Damn right it is.

In Pakistan they shoot them like rabbits...

>What point are you trying to make about contemporary journalism in
>supposedly civilized societies?

That it's a dangerous business.

[Uncle Steve]

On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 05:42:39PM +0100, Bill wrote:
> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:45:43 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 01:28:25AM +0100, Bill wrote:
> >> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:18:32 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 12:54:26AM +0100, Bill wrote:
> >> >> On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 16:21:20 -0700 (PDT), Eunometic
> >> >> <euno...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> >The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
> >> >> >which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians. Next time maybe
> >> >> >they'll do their publicity stunt outside?
> >> >>
> >> >> You're joking right?
> >> >>
> >> >> When they get out they're going to earn a fortune touring the West.
> >> >
> >> >Perhaps. However there are others who are not quite so fortunate.
> >> >Anna Politkovskaya will not be doing any touring anytime soon.
> >>
> >>
> >> Politkovskaya was a highly educated journalist who knew exactly what
> >> risks she was taking.
> >
> >So, political murder is a "risk" which journalists in modern times
> >should "evaluate" before writing about "politics".
>
> Damn right it is.
>
> In Pakistan they shoot them like rabbits...

At least in Canada, the only journalist executed within the last
twenty years was shot by a guy who thought the reporter was encoding
personal messages into his radio program.

Oh, there was that former newspaper(?) editor from BC who became
mentally ill, then homeless and was later beaten to death near Moss
Park in Toronto by a bunch of idiots out drinking. But such
incidents must be rather rare and arise from prosaic causes having
nothing at all to do with domestic political criticism.

Otherwise, Canadian journalists are careful to be critical of major
political problems that are invariably occurring somewhere "over there",
overseas, and so you would not expect the local gestapo to be
murdering them in elevators or running them down in the streets with
city buses.

> >What point are you trying to make about contemporary journalism in
> >supposedly civilized societies?
>
> That it's a dangerous business.

Perhaps you can tell me why Computer Programmer is a dangerous
occupation, Bill. I've got twenty+ years of experience that says it
is.


Regards,

Uncle Steve

--
My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both.
They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
- Frederick the Great, c. 1770

[Jim Wilkins]

"Uncle Steve" <stev...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:0dfaf84feb...@gmail.com...

>
> Perhaps you can tell me why Computer Programmer is a dangerous
> occupation, Bill. I've got twenty+ years of experience that says it
> is.

> Uncle Steve

In a Massachusetts traffic survey they were found to be the most
inattentive, distracted rush-hour drivers.

[Bill]

On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:06:38 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

wrote:

>On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 05:42:39PM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:45:43 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

>> >What point are you trying to make about contemporary journalism in
>> >supposedly civilized societies?
>>
>> That it's a dangerous business.
>
>Perhaps you can tell me why Computer Programmer is a dangerous
>occupation, Bill. I've got twenty+ years of experience that says it
>is.

If you're still programming computers over the age of about 30 you
really shouldn't be

It's a young man's game.

[Eunometic]

On Oct 5, 1:54 am, Bill <blackuse...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 16:21:20 -0700 (PDT), Eunometic
>

> <eunome...@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
> >The girls were idiots for doing what the did in an Orthodox Church
> >which is sacred and deeply revered by Russians.  Next time maybe
> >they'll do their publicity stunt outside?
>
> You're joking right?
>
> When they get out they're going to earn a fortune touring the West.

Must admit I think their band name is effective. Immagine what would
have happened if they tried a similar stunt in say the grande mosque
in mecca.

[Uncle Steve]

Interesting, but not what I was thinking of. I wonder if there is a
correlation to language specialty. As in, are C++ programmers more
likely to have accidents than Lisp or Perl programmers sort of thing,
or might it have something to do with the platform?

[Uncle Steve]

Not answering the question again, but I shouldn't be surprised. It
would be a signal for a national day of celebration if you ever
stuck to the topic for once without evasions or circumlocutions.

> It's a young man's game.

Nice myth, Bill, but nothing beats experience. Programming shops on
average may prefer youthful code-monkeys writing fractional
application bits because they're cheaper and easier to herd, but
complex applications involving, say, math and simulation work requires
serious expertise. And parallel programming is still a black art,
even with modern message-passing APIs and parallelized languages.

Nobody would ever suggest that physics or chemistry or medicine is a
young man's game, and yet computer science has more in common with
those fields than it does with Physical Education, which really is a
young man's game. I suspect you fear complexity that you do not
understand, and while you probably know as much about physics as you
do about computer science, physics is not as threatening as the
magical machine you are sitting in front of right now, and which you use to
compose your messages to Usenet on a daily basis. I don't doubt you
would prefer to make computer programmers easier to control and
survey, which would imply middling non-experts producing software that
is (relatively) easy to comprehend, analyze and subvert. The fewer
rock-star programmers, the better, eh?

You might argue that the languages change with something like a decade
frequency, obsoleting skill sets and the like, however algorithms
don't change all that much, and programming is all about the
algorithms. Certainly COBOL programmers are almost completely
obsolete, but it could be said they chose the wrong language. I
expect Java to follow the same path, just as Perl seems to be losing
out to Ruby and Python.

I'm so happy to have the opportunity to crush one of your trolls so
easily, but I would prefer if you'd stop your futile attacks on my
expertise and self-esteem and stick to addressing the content you have
so far avoided.

[Dr. Vincent Quin, Ph.D.]

Was, in your humble opinion, their civil disobedience effective?
Where, in your humble opinion, would their civil disobedience have been more effective?
Is, in your humble opinion, religion always off limits for open expressions of contempt?
If you realized you are an "establishment" nutjob, would you admit it?
;-)

[Keith W]

As a 60 year old software engineer I beg to differ.

Keith

[Keith W]

I wonder about that because the insurance companies in the UK
who are pretty clued up about risks associated with jobs do
not rate programmers as high risk

The last published list of high risk professions for car insurance I saw
was

1) mobile disco owner
2) professional footballer (apprentice)
3) diplomatic staff
4) footballer
5) nightclub owner
6) referee
7) professional footballer (Football League)
8) trader/dealer
9) student at school
10) college student living with parents

The least risky profession was airline pilot.

Keith

[Jim Wilkins]

"Keith W" <keithnosp...@demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:enIbs.91155$hg4....@fx04.am4...

I've seen suggestions that rush-hour traffic is too slow to cause
fatalities, so the casualty rate is much lower than the accident rate.
OTOH traffic is light and speeds are high late at night when the bars
close. I quit night school due to too many incidents at 11PM, like
awakening when a tire rolled off the pavement. I couldn't drink coffee
to stay awake and then get enough sleep for work the next day.

[Bill]

They wouldn't have got on the plane...

But I imagine if they did it in Westminster Abby people would have
asked when they'd be invited to give the sermon...

Some religious leaders need to grow up...

[Jim Wilkins]

"Uncle Steve" <stev...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:a7a9e7b57c...@gmail.com...

> On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 01:57:20PM -0400, Jim Wilkins wrote:

>> In a Massachusetts traffic survey they were found to be the most
>> inattentive, distracted rush-hour drivers.
>
> Interesting, but not what I was thinking of. I wonder if there is a
> correlation to language specialty. As in, are C++ programmers more
> likely to have accidents than Lisp or Perl programmers sort of
> thing,
> or might it have something to do with the platform?

> Uncle Steve

I doubt the radio announcer knew there is more than one language.

When I was programming a lot the best answers to puzzling problems
came during the morning shower and I tried to remember them while
driving in. It was LSI-11 Pascal with extensions to control automated
test equipment, if that means anything.

Perhaps the solution is for more programmers to skip showers. They
don't usually need to worry about human contact anyway.

[Bill]

On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:37:29 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

wrote:

>On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 07:01:47PM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:06:38 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 05:42:39PM +0100, Bill wrote:
>> >> On Thu, 04 Oct 2012 20:45:43 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
>>
>>
>> >> >What point are you trying to make about contemporary journalism in
>> >> >supposedly civilized societies?
>> >>
>> >> That it's a dangerous business.
>> >
>> >Perhaps you can tell me why Computer Programmer is a dangerous
>> >occupation, Bill. I've got twenty+ years of experience that says it
>> >is.
>>
>> If you're still programming computers over the age of about 30 you
>> really shouldn't be
>
>Not answering the question again, but I shouldn't be surprised. It
>would be a signal for a national day of celebration if you ever
>stuck to the topic for once without evasions or circumlocutions.

It's the truth.

I was stillw riting programs at the age of 32, but Iw as well past it
by then.

>
>> It's a young man's game.
>
>Nice myth, Bill, but nothing beats experience. Programming shops on
>average may prefer youthful code-monkeys writing fractional
>application bits because they're cheaper and easier to herd, but
>complex applications involving, say, math and simulation work requires
>serious expertise. And parallel programming is still a black art,
>even with modern message-passing APIs and parallelized languages.

Bollocks.

>Nobody would ever suggest that physics or chemistry or medicine is a
>young man's game,

Actually they invariably do.

Almost every physics and maths graduate I know says that they've done
no original work after the age of 30.

I suspect you fear complexity that you do not
>understand, and while you probably know as much about physics as you
>do about computer science, physics is not as threatening as the
>magical machine you are sitting in front of right now, and which you use to
>compose your messages to Usenet on a daily basis. I don't doubt you
>would prefer to make computer programmers easier to control and
>survey, which would imply middling non-experts producing software that
>is (relatively) easy to comprehend, analyze and subvert. The fewer
>rock-star programmers, the better, eh?

Computer programmers are easy to control.

You just pay them.

[Bill]

As a programmer who shifted to being a communications engineer, who
then made enough money to retire at 51, you're entitled to your
opinion...

[Bill]

On Fri, 5 Oct 2012 18:48:23 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
<murat...@gmail.com> wrote:

It was LSI-11 Pascal with extensions to control automated
>test equipment, if that means anything.
>

Dear God, that takes me back to about 1985...

[Jim Wilkins]

"Uncle Steve" <stev...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:a0bce8d365...@gmail.com...

>
> Nobody would ever suggest that physics or chemistry or medicine is a

> young man's game, and yet computer science ...

Not so, theoretical physicists peak in their early 20's.

Our chemistry profs advised us that as we aged we would become less
likely to investigate anomalies which could lead to breakthroughs.

Look what this inventive young man did with soap and wax:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40924/40924-h/40924-h.htm

jsw

[Paul J. Adam]

On 05/10/2012 23:48, Bill wrote:
> Almost every physics and maths graduate I know says that they've done
> no original work after the age of 30.

Must be different for engineers, I'm doing more new stuff now (at 42)
than I ever did one or two decades ago, and the (admittedly younger)
physicists on the team are breaking their own new ground.

It might be the field I'm in, mind you, you ride unfolding events or you
get binned these days...


--
He thinks too much, such men are dangerous.

[Andrew Swallow]

On 05/10/2012 22:34, Keith W wrote:
> Jim Wilkins wrote:
{snip}

>>
>> In a Massachusetts traffic survey they were found to be the most
>> inattentive, distracted rush-hour drivers.
>
> I wonder about that because the insurance companies in the UK
> who are pretty clued up about risks associated with jobs do
> not rate programmers as high risk
>
> The last published list of high risk professions for car insurance I saw
> was
>
> 1) mobile disco owner
> 2) professional footballer (apprentice)
> 3) diplomatic staff
> 4) footballer
> 5) nightclub owner
> 6) referee
> 7) professional footballer (Football League)
> 8) trader/dealer
> 9) student at school
> 10) college student living with parents
>
> The least risky profession was airline pilot.
>
> Keith
>
>

I get most of the list but what is the problem with diplomatic staff?

Andrew Swallow

[Jim Wilkins]

"Paul J. Adam" <paul....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:k4nqpc$ljr$1...@dont-email.me...

Their work is intensively complex and intuitive. I think I got better
with age at extensively complex and formulaic problems like Windows
administration.
jsw

[Jim Wilkins]

"Andrew Swallow" <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:-M2dne9W9toM6PLN...@bt.com...

Rockets, mortars, IEDs, the IRA.

Maybe they are rated like the probability of being killed by a meteor.
Every so many million years a big one causes a mass extinction.

[Bill]

Lots of them aren't actually diplomats?

That James Bond don't half crash a lot of cars...

[Bill]

Me too, well, up to half a decade ago anyway.

But engineers these days tend to be doing the construction stuff
rather than breaking absolutely new ground and in that sort of thing
experience counts.

[Uncle Steve]

On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 06:48:23PM -0400, Jim Wilkins wrote:
> "Uncle Steve" <stev...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a7a9e7b57c...@gmail.com...
> > On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 01:57:20PM -0400, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>
> >> In a Massachusetts traffic survey they were found to be the most
> >> inattentive, distracted rush-hour drivers.
> >
> > Interesting, but not what I was thinking of. I wonder if there is a
> > correlation to language specialty. As in, are C++ programmers more
> > likely to have accidents than Lisp or Perl programmers sort of
> > thing,
> > or might it have something to do with the platform?
> > Uncle Steve
>
> I doubt the radio announcer knew there is more than one language.

> When I was programming a lot the best answers to puzzling problems
> came during the morning shower and I tried to remember them while
> driving in. It was LSI-11 Pascal with extensions to control automated
> test equipment, if that means anything.

Pascal with proprietary hooks probably isn't all that outre, but it
would take a suit to mandate that kind of language. But don't try to
tell me that programmers think about programming problems while
driving to the point of being distracted. Perhaps on a long, straight
road, but not in city traffic.

> Perhaps the solution is for more programmers to skip showers. They
> don't usually need to worry about human contact anyway.

The solution?

[Uncle Steve]

Very scientific, you should get a medal and a promotion for that kind
of thinking.

> I suspect you fear complexity that you do not
> >understand, and while you probably know as much about physics as you
> >do about computer science, physics is not as threatening as the
> >magical machine you are sitting in front of right now, and which you use to
> >compose your messages to Usenet on a daily basis. I don't doubt you
> >would prefer to make computer programmers easier to control and
> >survey, which would imply middling non-experts producing software that
> >is (relatively) easy to comprehend, analyze and subvert. The fewer
> >rock-star programmers, the better, eh?
>
> Computer programmers are easy to control.
>
> You just pay them.

I would assert that the currency you pay them affects the quality of
their output. Which is a dead end argument as far as you are
concerned. Coward.

[Uncle Steve]

Institutional organization might, just have some influence on the
roles of scientists involved in R&D. And one should not rule out
sociological factors. Isolating the independent variables is
necessary before sweeping conclusions may be drawn, however people
like Bill would never let methodology interfere with their beliefs.

[Jim Wilkins]

"Uncle Steve" <stev...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:d3b222bb19...@gmail.com...
> ...
> ...But don't try to

> tell me that programmers think about programming problems while
> driving to the point of being distracted. Perhaps on a long,
> straight
> road, but not in city traffic.

> Uncle Steve

The Boston MA commuter highways ARE long, nearly straight multilane
highways, with unexpected stoppages.

[Uncle Steve]

So all that's needed is to correlate that fact with the accident
statistics.

[Kerryn Offord]

The effect of being immune from prosecution ?

[Bill]

On Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:49:33 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>
wrote:

>> Computer programmers are easy to control.
>>
>> You just pay them.
>
>I would assert that the currency you pay them affects the quality of
>their output. Which is a dead end argument as far as you are
>concerned. Coward.

My experience is that they prefer a challenging problem to loads of
money.

But you obviously prefer the cash to a challenge.

Do you work for a bank?

[Andrew Chaplin]

Andrew Swallow <am.sw...@btinternet.com> wrote in

news:-M2dne9W9toM6PLN...@bt.com:

> On 05/10/2012 22:34, Keith W wrote:
>
>> I wonder about that because the insurance companies in the UK
>> who are pretty clued up about risks associated with jobs do
>> not rate programmers as high risk
>>
>> The last published list of high risk professions for car insurance I
>> saw was
>>
>> 1) mobile disco owner
>> 2) professional footballer (apprentice)
>> 3) diplomatic staff
>> 4) footballer
>> 5) nightclub owner
>> 6) referee
>> 7) professional footballer (Football League)
>> 8) trader/dealer
>> 9) student at school
>> 10) college student living with parents
>>
>> The least risky profession was airline pilot.
>

> I get most of the list but what is the problem with diplomatic staff?

They are not necessarily sufficiently acquainted with local driving
culture and conditions. Around here, it is always a good idea to give
vehicles with CD plates a wide berth, especially when the snow flies.
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)

[Uncle Steve]

You just make it up as you go along. What's the matter, Bill? Is
your psychological warfare program too big to fail, or is it something
more stupid than that. You're a lot like a filthy creationist;
reality doesn't support the propositions you want to believe, so you
go about dictating reality by fiat, so your beliefs remain consistent
-- at least to a hypothetical outside observer. You and that war
criminal, Fred, are exactly alike.

There are other possibilities, too. Such as you need stolen loot to
finance off-the-books operations, such as paying bribes, hiring goons,
etc. Your fellow union buddies are counting on a never-ending supply
of billable hours, and the only way you can assure it is to
manufacture enemies who need to be surveilled, questioned, prodded,
etc. You require test subjects for your weapons and methods in a
never-ending research program, so you must groom "test subjects" who
may be subjected to your research programs and the associated
products, tested, revised, tested, proved, upgraded, tested.... etc.
ad nausea. Your own insecurities require the exploitation of
inferior persons for the purposes of cheap self-aggrandizement;
civilians provide a large pool of suitable candidates from which your
pack of "wolves" can peel away one person here, one person there,
without anyone making too much of a fuss since the frequency and
pattern of attacks seems "random" and therefore does not invite
statistical correlation. Your parents turned you all into a bunch of
stooges with zero imagination, and consequently you cannot think of
any other way of life that does not involve the uncivilized barbarity
drilled into your skulls as youth.

I could go on. I think I'm going to go with "too big to fail" with a
healthy seasoning of "all of the above".

[Bill]

On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 16:40:10 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

Yep.

Droid for a bank...

Probably locked into eternal peonage for his mortgage...

[Uncle Steve]

You can take consolation in the fact that your provocations and
BULLSHIT are at least partially successful in killing my peace of
mind, and increasing the probability that I'll make stupid little
mistakes. Apart from the success you and your fellow parasites are
having with your never-ending billable hours.

Tell us who it was that issued your indulgence granting you unfettered
access to civilians and civilian property to use however you wish.
I'll make it easy for you and make it multiple choice:

a) You
b) Me
c) She
d) The Archbishop of Canterbury
e) The head of MI6
f) Mandate by popular referendum
g) God
h) Jesus H. Christ
i) None of the above
j) All of the above, excepting (i)
k) (a) through (d)
l) Santa Clause
m) Don't know

[Bill]

On Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:45:46 -0400, Uncle Steve <stev...@gmail.com>

Works for a bank and is gonna get sacked soon...

Old and finished and working your way to a pension they'll never pay
you...

>Tell us who it was that issued your indulgence granting you unfettered
>access to civilians and civilian property to use however you wish.
>I'll make it easy for you and make it multiple choice:
>
>a) You
>b) Me
>c) She
>d) The Archbishop of Canterbury
>e) The head of MI6
>f) Mandate by popular referendum
>g) God
>h) Jesus H. Christ
>i) None of the above
>j) All of the above, excepting (i)
>k) (a) through (d)
>l) Santa Clause
>m) Don't know

I've told you before. I'm in the secret bunker under Buckingham
Palace.

The one which serves the really good roast baby sandwiches...

[Uncle Steve]

I like it when you pretend to patronize me. It makes me feel loved.