westicle

I'm not sure I follow this post.

All cultures mimic, adopt and modify aspects of other cultures. See: New York pizza, Australian beer etc. It doesn't follow that the resulting outcome is any less a valid expression of national cultural identity.

Likewise, I don't follow the connection between having a national identity and having national borders.

I once invited my neighbour over for dinner. He introduced me to his BBQ recipe which I now make all the time for my family. But he also got drunk and pissed himself on my couch. I won't be inviting him to move in with us any time soon, despite us having some culinary cultural overlap.

"The police view it as a civil matter, but could they look at it differently? Is there an ordinance that could be passed locally?"

This is more an issue with lazy or unmotivated policing rather than need for more and more specific laws. The driver is acting dishonestly to defraud the passenger of money. There are numerous statutes regulating fraudulent criminal conduct ranging from street scams to Bernie Madoff.

The fact there is a private contract between them regulating their commercial transaction does not obviate the need for both parties to comply with criminal law.

I wonder why the reporter did not seek any input from anyone legally trained. Relying on the police, who have no incentive to overly burden themselves with non-revenue generating police work, to inform the public on whether something is criminal or not is half-assed journalism.

As far as I can tell the relevance to HN is that people who do less than wholesome things use secure communication tools to organise them.

This is the necessary cost of not living in a police state (or police world). I hate people trafficking but freedom of association and privacy are too valuable to concede. I'm comfortable with that balance.

That stage has already been reached. Hence why skinny/fat men (in the absence of compensating factors such as money) don't get girls.

Get a locally produced oil marked extra virgin. My family produces EVOO in small batches and the difference betwee imported and fresh is marked.

Nobody would ever need specialised equipment to tell them apart, it would be like eating butter instead of margarine.

I'd add the USA to that list - plenty of evidence that National Security Letters have been used to stifle/gain access to/alter coding projects in the interests of US GOV.

It's probably even more insidious, because simply confirming the existence of an NSL can be a crime punishable by significant custodial sentences. In the USA, posting "The police asked me to delete this code" could land in you federal pound you in the ass prison for 10+ years.

The guy simply expressed an opinion about where he doesn't want to live. You can't force him to agree with your opinion on the subject, and you're unlikely to convince anyone with a barely coherent rant about a bunch of topics not even relevant to the original post.

Calm the fuck down.

When "frugal", "thrifty" and "prudent" became dirty words.

I think we agree on this point.

My post was in response to the parent, which suggested that any property "solely" used for short-term leases should be regulated.

I was not suggesting that was a useful or appropriate test. Leaving aside the question of whether regulation is necessary, a "dominant purpose" or even "substantial purpose" test would lead to less absurdity.

The guy in question stayed in the apartment himself and let friends stay for free. So he's off the hook; short-term rental wasn't the sole use of the property.

Easy!

Check out the piracy heat-map posted elsewhere in this thread.

Lots of piracy around Singapore/Malaysia, Ecuador/Colombia and Nigeria. The hits around Somalia probably account for about 10-15% of hits worldwide.

There are many people who were and are wrong about certain things in life. Does that mean we should ignore their contributions in other areas out of spite?

I can enjoy Polanksi's films whilst not condoning his private activities. I can appreciate the remarkable skill of Wayne Carey on the football field whilst acknowledging he is probably a prick in his personal life. Humans are all too often both brilliant and flawed in equal measures.

Leaving that aside, did you read the article? Card isn't producing the movie. He sold the rights years ago. So unless you have a time machine, any lining you provide for his pockets is likely to be so indirect as to be inconsequential.

For those who haven't read the book, you might consider editing out your second paragraph, or at least adding spoiler tags.

I think you missed the point of the article.

What you are saying is literal and descriptive. Currently corporations are always resolvable to a natural person. I think the author's point is that new technology (including bitcoin) can effectively cut out the middle-man.

Therefore, future legal (or quasi-legal) entities will be able to be structured in novel ways. Maybe it won't be a corporation by the standards we're used to. But bitcoin itself is an example of this structure - de-centralised and not "owned" or "managed" by any particular individuals.

This certainly isn't a phenomenon exclusive to Japan either.

I know plenty of western young people who have no interest in marriage, procreation or families. Maybe they're more interested in their work. Maybe they're more interested in rock-climbing. Maybe they're more interested in Pokemon.

More power to them, I say.

>> Since it's not an investment, it's not an investment the Chinese can lose faith in. And it's certainly not a favor to the United States of America.

I have no formal background in economics, but I'd really appreciate it if someone who does could explain this statement in some context.

I would have thought as a general rule: a debtor at risk (even theoretical risk) of default constitutes a concern to its creditor.

I also don't see what giving favours has to do with buying and selling bonds.

I fail to see how that is a more simple solution. Teaching people how to think is both an educational and cultural challenge which far exceeds the trivial challenge of outsourcing work.

People have a wide range of different responsibilities (self, family, local community, humankind etc). I don't see why Polish people are morally any less deserving of jobs than Oklahomans. This company clearly thinks the Polish are more capable of doing the job. Who are we to say otherwise?

Fair enough, I agree that these laws are a mess and you'll never get the final answer unless a disputed application of the Act is determined by the High Court.

But these laws have been active and in common use for over 10 years without a single public challenge. I also know that the ACC's interpretation of their own powers has been used to prevent suspects disclosing certain matters even to their own lawyers.

The fact that no high-profile judicial decisions have placed limits on what the ACC does indicates to me that the law is fairly settled in this area.

I just wanted to point out that the original statement "Australia does not have any equivalent to the US National Security Letter, so we cannot be forced to do something without being allowed to disclose it." does not seem well-founded.

Actually I am a lawyer. In the past I have even advised clients who received ACC notices (they are more common than most people would think).

Needless to say I was staggered at the scope of the powers granted. Forget about transparency, justice and the rule of law. If you receive one of these you can be compelled to give evidence or documents in secret, without judicial oversight or public scrutiny.

> Australia does not have any equivalent to the US National Security Letter, so we cannot be forced to do something without being allowed to disclose it.

This is not true. The Australian Crime Commission has some of the most extensive secret coercive powers in the Western world.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/acca200228...

I would suggest that either:

a) Fastmail is aware of this and is covertly spreading the word that it might be compromised; or

b) Fastmail needs better lawyers.

This pretty much sums it up:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/21/melbourne-racis...

There are some disgusting people here, I'd like to think they are the minority.

People in Yemen are painfully friendly. Hospitality is a point of pride for them.

Most people there are quite poor by Western standards, to the extent that they might not be able to afford much food. However if they meet you (a relative stranger) they will insist that they must offer you hospitality and literally offer you the last bit of food they own, meaning they go hungry.

I don't think it gets more friendly than that.

This seems very culturally specific and subjective.

Is the suggestion that Latvians hate all foreigners more than any other nationality in the world? Or that Venezuelans are on average less friendly than people from Argentina?

Conversely, will Macedonians (the most highly ranked destination) be very friendly and welcoming to visiting Albanians? I have reservations!

Tricking you into buying junk you don't need qualifies as a nefarious end in my book. But you're right; serial killers rarely have a cooling-off period or returns policy.

Some people seem to have an almost super-human level of charisma/ability to influence others (there is probably a D&D reference to be made here).

Certainly the trope is common in fiction. See: The Mentalist (both the protagonist and antagonist share this ability) and several Agatha Christie novels with similar storylines.

This guy sounds like a real-life Red John; able to subtly re-wire people's thinking so that they actually want to do what he suggests.

I have only ever experienced this in the formulaic pattern of dark-arts sales tactics. Israeli companies selling cosmetic products from the Dead Sea are notorious for making a superficial connection with their potential customers and then exploiting that connection for a sale. But those tactics aren't hard to see through and resist. Quite scary to think that someone who has mastered those techniques could actually alter my preferences simply with the power of suggestion.

Pretty fascinating that this guy's life story was essentially stolen by the rapper Rick Ross, who has made a very healthy career out of the persona.

Just an example of lyrics seemingly directly drawn from the life of Freeway Rick Ross:

http://rapgenius.com/Rick-ross-hustlin-lyrics

Interesting, thanks for the info.

It still leaves me wondering:

1. Why a university would be expecting vehicle mines or even IEDs on campus; and

2. What value an armoured vehicle responding to that situation would have anyway.

My understanding is that a vehicle mine is pretty useless once you know it is there. This seems like a vehicle designed for regular trips over highly contested or hostile (but reasonably well-maintained) roads.

I'd be interested to know more about the actual uses and capabilities of the vehicle. For example, the article states that the military has had problems with using the vehicles off-road and that the vehicle is prone to flip.

Elsewhere it is described as resistant to mines and ambush (how exactly?). I'm wondering what situation a university campus is likely to encounter where this vehicle would be superior to, say, a four-wheel drive.

I'm all for contrarian viewpoints, but what are you actually adding to this discussion?

If you want to discuss your fascinating ideas about pg and his motives, why not start your own discussion thread and see how popular it is, rather than trying to hijack this one?

Maybe they'll just have to switch to Sulfur Hexafluoride.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XbjFn3aqE