Japanese law treats defamation differently, allowing factual statements that harm someone's reputation to be treated as defamatory.
That's simply nuts.
This is exactly equivalent to saying that a person who actually did do bad things has a legal right to a good reputation, which has to be the most insane thing to ever come out of Japan, anime included!
Wow, that's a mess. They want to weaken the Philippines' version of the First Amendment? It's already too weak; it's missing the first and most important protection from the American version. If anything, they need to strengthen it!
Colleen Huber does not use conventional chemotherapy or radiation. She treats cancer with intravenous baking soda, vitamin C, and other “natural” substances, while instructing patients to cut out sugar from their diets. She thinks sugar feeds cancer.
To be fair, it does.
Thing is, it feeds healthy cells too. That's the really tricky thing about cancer: it's just like ordinary, healthy cells in every way, except for a few very specific things that make it different, which are extremely hard to target with precision.
It's known as the Tyson Zone, after a certain total wacko of a heavyweight boxer. After you do enough crazy things, people stop being surprised by reports of you doing something crazy, and they're just like "yeah, that sounds like him."
President Trump definitely fits in there. Other well-known Tyson Zone inhabitants include Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga.
In a letter to lawmakers last year, Dish Network argued that consumers have faced 750 such broadcaster blackouts since 2010, with the retransmission consent fees that broadcasters demand growing a whopping 27,400% between 2005 and 2016.
Can anyone explain why retransmission fees are even a thing in the first place?
We already know the fair market value of broadcast TV content: zero. That's what they charge to broadcast it over the air, because it's supported by advertising. Anyone trying to charge money for it is running a scam, and it's a bit horrifying to see that scam upheld by courts!
Since the problem is so simple it should be simple to fix
Unfortunately, this is not true. It's often much, much easier to correctly understand a problem than to come up with a good way to fix it--just ask an oncologist!
The origins of violence in the middle east is actually pretty simple when you get down to it: it's a big desert. With the necessities of life scarce, intense competition for fundamental resources is inevitable. That's at the root of why the whole region has been one big long cycle of violence for millennia, a constant truth that crosses racial, religious, and societal boundaries.
And now Israel is actually building a civilized, modern democracy there, defying all odds, and their neighbors see that they've built something good and want to take it, according to the old ways that the civilized world has moved beyond. Israel has every right to suppress them, and they've shown remarkable restraint thus far. But that doesn't mean they need to sit around and let themselves be attacked. They'd be stupid not to take steps like this to keep their enemies uninformed, at the very least!
Rather than worrying about copyright term extension, it seems we should really be exploring ways to bring copyright term back down to a much more reasonable time frame.
I was amused to hear some of the talk about how no one ends up enjoying Risk.
A few years back, a group of friends of mine had a weekly game. We'd get together once a week and play Risk, maybe even more than once if there was time. It was a bunch of brutal combat, but we enjoyed it and kept things light-hearted by cracking silly jokes throughout. (One of the best memories is of a time when I, through massive good luck, managed to keep an entire invading army out of South America with a single defender in Brazil. After my opponent wasted a few too many units on this guy, I just started yelling "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" every time he decided to try again. Had everyone laughing.)
But I think my best memory of playing Risk came the time when I did something else your podcast said you can't do. I was over at a friend's place, and the adults and a few of the older kids were playing Risk. It quickly became apparent that the dad was in the strongest position, and I was second-strongest but I couldn't take him on and also worry about the other players. So I negotiated an alliance with his daughter, who was next to my territory: we don't attack each other, and we end up winning together.
The dad got soooooo mad because we were "doing it wrong," but we ended up playing the whole game through without either of us backstabbing the other, and in the end we declared a joint victory. It can be done; you just need to think outside the box a little.
It's not as if the people without the patents are any better, though.
One of the principal manufacturers of generic oxycodone is a company called Mallinckrodt. They make tons of money off of it. And then, when people get hooked on it... you know what else Mallinckrodt makes? Methadone, the leading drug for treatment of opioid addiction.
> a 'private' militia that adheres strictly to the Constitution
There is no such thing, as the Constitution defines the President as commander-in-chief of the US military. If they're operating as a militia outside of the chain of command, they're already not adhering to the Constitution.
On the post: Psychiatrist Bitterly Drops Defamation Lawsuit Against Redditors
That's simply nuts.
This is exactly equivalent to saying that a person who actually did do bad things has a legal right to a good reputation, which has to be the most insane thing to ever come out of Japan, anime included!
On the post: Philippines Trying To Shut Down Popular News Site For Reporting On President Duterte
On the post: US Telcos Threatened With Loss Of Government Contracts If They Do Business With Huawei
from the proofreading dept
On the post: Quack Doctor Treating Cancer With Baking Soda Sues Skeptic For Questioning Her Cancer Treatment Methods
To be fair, it does.
Thing is, it feeds healthy cells too. That's the really tricky thing about cancer: it's just like ordinary, healthy cells in every way, except for a few very specific things that make it different, which are extremely hard to target with precision.
On the post: Media Freaks Out About Facebook Changes; Maybe They Shouldn't Have Become So Reliant On Facebook
Re:
On the post: Psychiatrist Sues A Bunch Of Redditors For Criticizing His Therapy Services
Among other things, he's asking for:
I wonder if he's aware that Reddit allows people to set up and use an account without providing any of the above? (Yes, including an email address.)
On the post: The Gorilla Channel Satire Demonstrates The Ridiculousness Of Banning Fake News
Re:
President Trump definitely fits in there. Other well-known Tyson Zone inhabitants include Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga.
On the post: Those Annoying Cable Channel Blackouts Are Only Going To Get Worse In 2018
Can anyone explain why retransmission fees are even a thing in the first place?
We already know the fair market value of broadcast TV content: zero. That's what they charge to broadcast it over the air, because it's supported by advertising. Anyone trying to charge money for it is running a scam, and it's a bit horrifying to see that scam upheld by courts!
On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: December 31st - January 6th
2003 was not five years ago.
On the post: Facebook Allowing Israeli Security Forces To Shape The News Palestineans See
Re: Re: Re: Re: Big deal
Unfortunately, this is not true. It's often much, much easier to correctly understand a problem than to come up with a good way to fix it--just ask an oncologist!
On the post: Facebook Allowing Israeli Security Forces To Shape The News Palestineans See
Re: Re: Big deal
The origins of violence in the middle east is actually pretty simple when you get down to it: it's a big desert. With the necessities of life scarce, intense competition for fundamental resources is inevitable. That's at the root of why the whole region has been one big long cycle of violence for millennia, a constant truth that crosses racial, religious, and societal boundaries.
And now Israel is actually building a civilized, modern democracy there, defying all odds, and their neighbors see that they've built something good and want to take it, according to the old ways that the civilized world has moved beyond. Israel has every right to suppress them, and they've shown remarkable restraint thus far. But that doesn't mean they need to sit around and let themselves be attacked. They'd be stupid not to take steps like this to keep their enemies uninformed, at the very least!
On the post: Facebook Allowing Israeli Security Forces To Shape The News Palestineans See
Big deal
So Facebook is helping Israel protect its citizens from terrorism... and that's a bad thing?
There's plenty of actually bad things Facebook does. Why are you reporting on this?
On the post: Hopefully For The Last Time: The US Has Zero New Works Enter The Public Domain On January 1st
I find 14 years, optionally renewable once to be perfectly reasonable.
On the post: Hawaiian Supreme Court Says The First Amendment Protects Filming Law Enforcement
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Hawaiian Supreme Court Says The First Amendment Protects Filming Law Enforcement
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Homeland Security Adviser Pins Wannacry Attack On North Korea In Wall Street Journal Op-Ed
There's more than one meaning of "cost," you know. Especially in the context of an attack or natural disaster that inflicts damage.
On the post: Techdirt Podcast Episode 147: Games That Tell Stories
I was amused to hear some of the talk about how no one ends up enjoying Risk.
A few years back, a group of friends of mine had a weekly game. We'd get together once a week and play Risk, maybe even more than once if there was time. It was a bunch of brutal combat, but we enjoyed it and kept things light-hearted by cracking silly jokes throughout. (One of the best memories is of a time when I, through massive good luck, managed to keep an entire invading army out of South America with a single defender in Brazil. After my opponent wasted a few too many units on this guy, I just started yelling "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" every time he decided to try again. Had everyone laughing.)
But I think my best memory of playing Risk came the time when I did something else your podcast said you can't do. I was over at a friend's place, and the adults and a few of the older kids were playing Risk. It quickly became apparent that the dad was in the strongest position, and I was second-strongest but I couldn't take him on and also worry about the other players. So I negotiated an alliance with his daughter, who was next to my territory: we don't attack each other, and we end up winning together.
The dad got soooooo mad because we were "doing it wrong," but we ended up playing the whole game through without either of us backstabbing the other, and in the end we declared a joint victory. It can be done; you just need to think outside the box a little.
On the post: How Patents Have Contributed To The Opioid Crisis
It's not as if the people without the patents are any better, though.
One of the principal manufacturers of generic oxycodone is a company called Mallinckrodt. They make tons of money off of it. And then, when people get hooked on it... you know what else Mallinckrodt makes? Methadone, the leading drug for treatment of opioid addiction.
On the post: 3 Million Dish Customers May Miss Thanksgiving Football In Latest Example Of TV Industry Dysfunction
Re: Re: Well played
On the post: Texas National Guard Latest Agency To Be Discovered Operating Flying Cell Tower Spoofers
Re: The irony
There is no such thing, as the Constitution defines the President as commander-in-chief of the US military. If they're operating as a militia outside of the chain of command, they're already not adhering to the Constitution.
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