Reverend Draco’s Comments

• Feb 9th, 2015 @ 11:05am

  Re: Oh come on

  on Wichita Police Respond To Request For Shooting Incident Details With A Handful Of Fully-Redacted Pages
  Turn it over and use the other side =P
• Feb 9th, 2015 @ 10:55am

  Unmoored

  on 100 Million Pennies For Your Thoughts? DEA Hands MuckRock A $1.4 Million Estimate For Responsive Documents
  "And the DEA itself could use some guidance on putting together fee estimates, seeing as some simple math exposes how its $1.4 million quote is completely unmoored from reality."
  
  I'm not sure how this is news - *EVERYTHING* the DEA does is unmoored from reality, as has been well-known and -documented for decades. If the DEA allowed reality to enter into the mix. . . the DEA would be forced to disband itself, return every stolen penny to the people it rightfully belongs to, and turn every employee over for prosecution under the RICO Act.
• Dec 31st, 2014 @ 8:57am

  Re: Re: Re: Fuck

  on Police In Scotland Tweet Out Plans To 'Investigate' Any 'Offensive Comments' On Social Media
  "The entire purpose of 'freedom of speech' is to protect unpopular speech, whether that be obscenity, contrary political views, or other speech similarly seen as 'against the views and/or values of the public', because popular speech doesn't need protecting."
  
  You have no idea how many times I've tried to explain that idea - using almost the exact same words. . .
  I'm sure you can, however, guess how many times understanding escaped them. . .
• Dec 14th, 2014 @ 10:41am

  (untitled comment)

  on St. Louis Post Dispatch Declares That Banning Editorial Comments Will 'Elevate The Ferguson Conversation'
  The correct response to offensive speech is *more* speech, not less - anyone who tells you otherwise has severe mental health issues, and should probably seek professional help.
• Mar 7th, 2014 @ 11:25am

  I only I lived in Houston

  on Houston Issues 'Cease-And-Desist' To Uber To Stop Houston Residents From Communicating With Their Government
  David – Please consider this as a formal demand that your client, the City of Houston, cease and desist from interfering with the daily operations of Uber in any way, shape, or form. Despite the number of e-mails that have been sent to the City, the interference has gone unabated, to the point that it has become harassing in nature and arguably unlawful. Failure to cease and desist will be met with appropriate action by myself and other like-minded individuals. And we'll do the deciding on what is appropriate action.
  
  Almost makes me wish I lived in Houston. . .
• Jan 1st, 2013 @ 7:54am

  You only live once (as Rev. James)

  on You Only Live Once, So Why Not Demand Payment For The YOLO Acronym You Didn't Invent?
  I refuse to use the acronym, and this is the first time I've actually used the phrase since the 1970s - I thought it was stupid then (Hello, Captain Obvious?), and it's even more idiotic now - because it's become a catchphrase for gangbangers and other intellectually challenged people, used to glorify their continued criminality and/or their lack of intelligence. That is the only claim that Drake has to the phrase/acronym - he gave the single-digit-IQ crowd something they can use to show pride in their single-digit IQs.
• Jun 15th, 2012 @ 9:01am

  RE: (as Rev. James S)

  on Former Federal Judge Calls US Prosecution Of Megaupload 'Really Outrageous'
  "but, yet, here you are crying about the users not getting thier data back, but it isnt a physical item, it is an infinitly copyable digital product, they have lost nothing, but yet you "now" defend them, saying they should be given thier "property" back????"
  
  The same can be said for the RIAA/MPAA argument. . .
  They've lost nothing, because what they claim has been stolen isn't a physical item, but an infinitely copyable digital product. They've lost nothing, yet you're going to defend them?
  
  Inconsistency is a hallmark of the inferior mind.
• Mar 30th, 2012 @ 6:25am

  Re: Re: (as James S)

  on Musician Jonathan Coulton: I Value The Internet A Lot More Than The Record Industry
  It doesn't feel that way, sometimes, to me - it seems like it pretty much all the time.
  The proliferation of the banal "talent show" formatted TV drivel (AI, X-Factor, the Voice) are part of the problem. . . why educate yourself and do something meaningful when you can go on TV and become a "star?"
  Same with the Hip-Hop Ghetto culture - "I doesn't ned too be edicayted, I's kin RAP!" Sorry, buddy - so can any 5-year-old *lays down a beat* "Hey diddle-diddle/ the cat and the fiddle/ the cow jumped over the moon. . ."
  
  Real musicians are an endangered species. . .
• Jul 4th, 2010 @ 9:52am

  Tacit Information (as Rev J Shaffer)

  on The Myth That Without Gov't Monopolies Or Subsidies, Discoveries Will Be Hidden By Secrets
  "It's why so many attempts at just copying what other successful operations do turn into cargo cult copies, where you may get the outward aspects copied, but you miss all that important implicit and tacit information if you're not out there in the market yourself."
  
  This brings to mind the various blueprints created by Leonardo DaVinci. . . if one merely copied them, and tried to build what was depicted, they'd end up with an unusable item - it was that tacit knowledge of the sciences involved that was needed to ferret out the "fatal flaw" he put into every blueprint.
• May 27th, 2010 @ 6:31am

  Copying is not Theft (as Just Me)

  on US Copyright Group Says ISPs Who Don't Cough Up User Names May Be Guilty Of Inducing Copyright Infringement
  http://dracotec.net/copy.html This explains it pretty well. . .
• Feb 14th, 2010 @ 6:54am

  RE: Remix Culture (as J. Shaffer)

  on Teen Remixes The Works Of Others Into Best Selling Novel... And Critics Love It
  You were off by a little bit here. . . let me fix it for you.
  
  We've see for decades how remix culture works in music. The ability to take the works of someone else, mix them up with others, change them around and create something discordant and execrable.
  
  There. NOW it's accurate.