Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract? To : comp.programming From : Randy Howard Date : Mon Aug 22 2005 03:55 am Richard Heathfield wrote (in article ): >> Millions visit each year. You can name /one/ example of someone >> having this problem. > > Yep. I think it's a serious bug, and it needs fixing. Until then, I can't > recommend the program. If you happened to be "Minister of Foreign Travel" (if such a thing were to exist) then that would probably be important to me. :-) >> I know you understand, but fail to make it clear in your >> comments, that people are arrested on suspicion of breaking the >> law. They are convicted AFTER the arrest in civilized countries >> if they are guilty and released otherwise. > > Actually, a great many people are /not/ arrested even when it is suspected > that they have broken the law - at least, that's true here in the UK, and I > think it's true in the USA too. Speeding offences are a typical example. It often depends upon Misdemeanor versus Felony charges and the specific crime, true. > It > is appropriate to arrest someone in some circumstances, but not all. To > arrest someone on suspicion of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright > Act is overkill. I tend to agree. However, I have more worrying things to be concerned about, such as the so-called "PATRIOT Act", which is basically a government coup over the US Constitution. Copyright violations are oh so lesser in importance compared to the loss of all freedom in the country. >> It is not up to the >> police to decide the punishment. > Unless you're a Brazilian travelling on a London tube train, it seems. :-( Indeed. >> Here's a little hint from your uncle Randy, if you are arrested >> for suspicion of a crime, and found not guilty, you (and your >> employer) are /not/ compensated for lost time. The good news is >> that it is possible to be found not guilty after being arrested, >> a luxury not afforded in many countries even today. > > Here's a little reply from your nephew Richard. If the police arrested > everyone they suspected of breaking any law, the jails would be full - and > many of the inmates would be policemen! That's true, but doesn't really answer the issue of compensation at all. When there is a so-called 'flight risk' with a foreign national, arrest is apparently fairly common. > Please bear in mind that we're not > talking drug-running, murder, or arson here. That's true. However, the crime is a crime, or there wouldn't be a law about it. If it happens to be thought severe enough to make an arrest, then that's the breaks. If you don't like it, you can stay clear of suspicion in that area and not have to worry about it. This is similar to those that think that /some drugs/ are ok, while /some other drugs/ are not ok. They don't want to be arrested for using the former, but think it's okay to put people in the slammer for using the latter. That's bull, and so is dicing and slicing other laws to meet individual opinion. If the law itself is suspect (which the DMCA almost assuredly is) then work to have it reversed. >>> One police officer murdered an innocent man on >>> a Tube train while others assisted by holding the guy down. >> >> It would appear so, but we get so little real news reporting >> anymore, I don't pretend to possess even 5% of the true facts in >> the matter. > > (It has emerged that the guy didn't know he was being followed, didn't run, > didn't vault the barrier, wasn't wearing suspiciously capacious clothing, > and was so calm and relaxed in his last few minutes of life that he even > picked up a "Metro" (a free newspaper) to browse through whilst on the > train. All of this contradicts initial police reports. Yes. I rather suspect negligent discharge myself, i.e. the cop was under stress, thought he had a 'bad guy', and had his finger on the trigger inappropriately. Anyone with even basic firearm knowledge knows better than that unless they are ready to fire and intend to blow away the object in front of the barrel. Nevermind what you see on TV, which is (my pet conspiracy theory) intentional bad gun handling in order to increase the number of firearms accidents to help make a case for banning them. Somebody sneezed or something and the cop blew the guy away. Perhaps others followed suit for the same reason. There are a number of other similar examples of this happening, such as a somewhat widely publicized incident where a Las Vegas police officer did the very thing I described while covering a suspect laying on the ground being arrested. She didn't actually hit him, or the other officer nearby, but scared the hell out of everyone involved. I hope that she's doing some other type of work now. >> To accomplish what worthy goal? Such "independent inquiries" >> are just feel-good politics to smooth over the mob. > > To stop it happening again? How cute. Have you seen the movie 'Pollyanna'? >> Governments get overthrown when they try to steal >> power (and usually money) too rapidly, but when they do it >> methodically, it usually continues unabated until the economy >> collapses. I suspect that is where the US, and perhaps the EU >> as well is currently headed. > > Alas, you are almost certainly correct. -- Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR) .