I see that I mashed up what I think should be the case and what the law actually is in my last comment. International Law says that civilians "enjoy general protection arising from military operations" and that "constant care shall be taken" to avoid targeting civilians (that's additional protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions). There are also, as you know, Bob, strict rules against attacks that do not discriminate between civilian and combatant. My point was that really, awareness of civilians in the area should be a much stronger disincentive than it is here. In a sane world, there would be an infinite value placed on human lives in the Ethical governor (and, indeed, no need for an ethical governor). I don't see how you are taking constant care and giving general protection to civilians you know are there if you are blowing them to bits. I don't see how what the ethical governator here is getting all high and mighty on his ethical horse in the sky about is not a deliberately indiscriminate attack. That's why I think this video is interesting, because it seems to show what the bombing run planners are thinking when they're working out the utilitarian math. I think their values are wrong.
Actually, to my understanding the Ethical Governor just violated several laws of war. It allowed civilian casualties which it knew were in the blast zone. You can't drop bombs on civilians, even when there are "high value targets" in the area. If it knows there are civilians there, the algorithm should place infinite value on their lives. The usual defence for bombings with collateral damage these days is "we have no way of knowing the civilians are there".
Roy @18 - I'm pretty certain I've seen Alpacas in the Danish zoo. Also grey elephants, come to think of it.
Btw - trivia: the highest order of Denmark is called the elephant order. It was instituted by Christian V. We do not know whether he had any white horses, but odds are he did. White elephants, on the other hand, not so much.
I'm from Denmark - so I spelled Denmark in Danish:
Danmark
From there, I got "Ape" - and then I wondered what ape to choose, and got stuck there.
Anyway,here's another one which should preferably be done live and under pressure, and preferably on a 10-year-old.
Answer these questions successively:
What colour is snow?
What colour was Christian IV's white horse?
What does vanilla ice-cream look like?
Now - imagine in your mind :
first, a polar bear blinking in a snowstorm.
Good, now imagine a blank sheet of paper and you with a pen in hand sitting staring at it.
Good. Now, quickly, on that blank piece of paper on your mind, write down what cows drink. What did you write?
* * *
(And obviously _everyone_ says "milk".)
Another one, which probably everyone knows:
What's 20 + 25?
What's 15 + 12?
What's 12 x 9?
Allright - now that we've got the mandatory obfuscating questions out of the way - think of a colour and a tool.
* * *
So, yeah, almost everyone said red hammer, right? Why is that? Anyone here who can explain it?
John @ #16: You probably know this - Otto von Bismarck once said "there are two things you don't want to see how are made: laws and sausages."
He also once said "I have seen three emperors in their nakedness, and the sight was not uplifting." He was eminently quotable, Bismarck. Speaking of which: Big "John"? Phone call for mr. Entendre, mr. Double Entendre.
For-profit operation of health care systems is a clear case of conflict of interests. It requires the system to be adversarial with respect to patients, which is exactly 180° out of phase with the way medical treatment needs to work.
That's the most succinct way of saying this I have yet to see. Thanks, Bruce.
#10: You're right, I think. IANAL, but it _is_ Nuremberg all over again. Following orders is no excuse for violating human rights and common law. No matter the circumstances, anyone would rule waterboarding a violation of a person's basic human rights (if I just waterboarded some random person, it would obviously be illegal). If that violation is carried out by an individual, then it's a criminal matter. If it's carried out by a person on behalf of an organisation (acting under orders), it's still a criminal matter, but the person who authorised the actions is also accountable.
And the authoriser is (or should be) accountable even though the laws of the country he is in authorises the action. Certain basic things are always illegal, no matter the legal situation. That's what human rights and common law means. The Serbs at Srebenica could've had the most rigorously justified legal system making the genocide legal, it still wouldn't be. The soldiers would still have been morally compelled to not participate in the slaughter of an ethnic group, and the people who ordered it would have been compelled not to do so. I believe that torture and organised violence against prisoners falls under that category. Oh, hey, look. It does.
Too bad we don't have an international court.
Actually, the canon is in D major, not minor.
Well, the point is not so much whether or not the high-speed train is convenient as it is that it must be built. It is the next best option. Aviation is one of the worst sources of carbon emissions (pretty much the worst emissions by private individuals), and needs to be cut. The way we move between major cities on a continent needs to change. We have to learn to accept that we are not goint to be able to get there as fast as we do today. New York - LA in a couple of hours is no longer going to be an option. Air travel needs to become far more expensive or otherwise restricted, and military aircraft missions must be significantly reduced or eliminated.
And correct me if I'm wrong, but as I've understood it, US geography is perfect for trains, apart from the Rockies and the Appalachians. Flat, with many opportunities for straight stretches to build speed. Much better than Norway, where I live. When they built the railway between Oslo and Bergen here - 8 hours through mountains - it cost a couple of state budgets all told. But they still pulled it off, and the trains are still being favoured by many, despite a 50 minute airplane route. Now they are getting close to deciding on a high-speed track. It will take three or four hours and will probably significantly reduce the most populated air journey in Norway.
Once you factor airplanes out of the equation, high-speed trains are simply the best option.
octothorp 192: it is an apocope, indeed. In the North of Norway, where my girlfriend is from, everythin' is apocop'd. It sounds quite lovely, actually.
I learned recently that the collective noun for a group of starfish is "a constellation of starfish".
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