F.J. Bergmann’s Comments

• Mar 13th, 2021 @ 7:29am

  (untitled comment)

  on Police, Police Supporters: Ending Qualified Immunity Makes Being A Cop Too Hard, Somehow 'Defunds' The Police

  This is easily fixed; just replace 'qualified immunity' with 'malpractice insurance.'

• Jan 29th, 2019 @ 6:37am

  Sealing the gates

  on The Splinters Of Our Discontent: A Review Of Network Propaganda
  The problem with conservative epistemic closure is that it drives a reflected liberal epistemic closure.
• Dec 6th, 2017 @ 8:08am

  dilly dilly beer trademark

  on Where Credit's Due: Budweiser Goes The Cool And Funny Route On Microbrewery's 'Dilly Dilly' Craft IPA
  So dill-flavored beer is a thing now?
• Apr 28th, 2017 @ 5:57am

  Murder video prevention

  on Response To Facebook Video Of Murder Is The Call For An Actual 'Godwin's Law'
  I bet it's even easier to prevent murders in the community than to prevent someone from posting a murder video on Facebook. A possible workaround: criminalize everybody who viewed the video and didn't report it immediately.
• Oct 3rd, 2015 @ 7:08am

  Wisconsin Charter

  on Cable Company Totally Unsure What Neighborhoods It Serves, Wants $117,000 For Broadband Service
  We bought a house in Wisconsin in 2003. Because I was self-employed as a web designer, broadband availability was a paramount concern. Charter assured us that DSL was available at the location of the house we ended up buying. It wasn't. We paid through the nose for inadequate connections for years. Even more infuriatingly, we got frequent junk mail offering high-speed internet--at over $100 a MONTH less than what we were paying--but every time we called, it was "still unavailable." Finally, this spring I checked again, after the latest junk mailing … and they said it was available now … only to tell my husband, when he called to authorize it, as the account holder, that no, it wasn't. He decided to try signing up online anyway, just in case--and it went through. No telling at what point DSL might have actually been available to us--Charter has no idea what it's doing. The frosting on the cake was when we had some initial problems with the modem (as it turned out, because the installers left the old modem hooked up as well), and I waited all afternoon for a tech who kept calling for directions. Turns out because he was in Arkansas, not Wisconsin. Bravo, Charter!
• Sep 3rd, 2015 @ 6:47am

  design rip-off

  on Nestle Sues Fit Crunch Over Identical Trade Dress That Isn't Remotely Identical
  If I were to design packaging "inspired" by the Nestlé bar wrapper, this would be it. At a casual glance, there are far too many similarities. Well-known products reassure consumers; this is a deliberate attempt to ride the coattails of a popular, familiar snack, and should be penalized as such.
• Nov 19th, 2014 @ 5:30am

  threshold

  on USA Freedom Act Fails To Move Forward... For Incredibly Stupid Reasons
  While requiring voters to prove that they understand the issues they're voting on may be inappropriate, I don't see why those running for office shouldn't have to pass a reading comprehension test to be eligible.
• Nov 14th, 2014 @ 7:55am

  Dead zones

  on UK's Home Secretary Says Terrorists Will Be The Real Winners If Country's Cell Coverage Dead Zones Are Fixed
  Next step: patchy utilities, food, water decrease terrorist activity.
• Aug 29th, 2013 @ 5:46am

  blaming storage provider

  on Bad News: Court Says Cyberlocker & Its Owner Can Be Liable For Copyright Infringement
  It's like saying the manufacturer of a pen used to sign a bad check is liable for fraud.
• Nov 13th, 2012 @ 5:56am

  tainted journalism rears its ugly ... rear

  on UK Newspaper Licencing Agency Says Musicians Need To Pay To Quote Reviews
  If media can profit from "positive" reviews, there will assuredly be pressure on reviewers to write only the kind of reviews that will generate income.
  
  So does this apply to reviews of books, films, etc., or only music?