I don't suppose anyone is going to come up with an argument saying that they are in the theaters with their camcorders excersizing their right to time shift...:)
You *could* disable your camcorder (cover the lens or whatnot) and proceed to pretend to "film" the movie while watching it. It's quite legal, even if it might drive theater managers nuts. It also makes enforcement of this infeasible, if done widely enough.
Here is the bill text [nw.dc.us], which should really have been included in the story. (Actually, IMHO, Slashdot policy should be to require a link to bill text when submitting a story on new legislation.)
Damn, funny, informative, and insightful at the same time.
Can't mod up as I've already posted.
Seriously, what is the reason there is not a minimum time for review till bills can be passed? Shouldn't the final text of bills be public long enough for the public to be able to provide some feedback before voting? Whouldn't that at least allow somewhat for greater public approval?
Hah! A cooling off period for legislation.
Doubt that it would change much for bills that don't get media attention, but it might have influenced the Patriot Act.
Or they could implement a quiz period before a vote: any congresscritter who can't answer reasonable questions about the bill (with a paper copy in front of him/her, but no electronics or aides) must either vote nay or abstain.
'Course, something like this could never come to pass--it'd be used for filibuster tactics, how do you define "reasonable", who determines what's an acceptable answer, etc. But it's a scary thought-experiment to realize that something like this would drastically change the face of Congress.
Great idea! My only complaint is you didn't go far enough. The same should be required for voting too. If you don't even know your candidates' stances on basic issues, why should your vote count as much as someone who actually pays attention?
It actually supposed to be a Representative Democracy. Rousseau had this to say about respresentation:
sovereignty cannot be represented...the peoples' deputies are not, and could not be, its representatives; they are merely its agents; and they cannot decide anything finally
Considering that is an 18th century thought, it is very telling in todays modern politics and it brings truth to your additional comment:
They don't care what the people think about what the
"Be there. Aloha."
-- Steve McGarret, _Hawaii Five-Oh_
That's interesting. (Score:5, Funny)
Bill text (Score:5, Informative)
Here is the bill text [nw.dc.us], which should really have been included in the story. (Actually, IMHO, Slashdot policy should be to require a link to bill text when submitting a story on new legislation.)
Re:Bill text (Score:5, Insightful)
If Congress doesn't read it before voting on it, why should we?
*grumble*
Re:Bill text (Score:5, Interesting)
Can't mod up as I've already posted.
Seriously, what is the reason there is not a minimum time for review till bills can be passed? Shouldn't the final text of bills be public long enough for the public to be able to provide some feedback before voting? Whouldn't that at least allow somewhat for greater public approval?
Hah! A cooling off period for legislation.
Doubt that it would change much for bills that don't get media attention, but it might have influenced the Patriot Act.
Re:Bill text (Score:4, Insightful)
'Course, something like this could never come to pass--it'd be used for filibuster tactics, how do you define "reasonable", who determines what's an acceptable answer, etc. But it's a scary thought-experiment to realize that something like this would drastically change the face of Congress.
Re:Bill text (Score:2)
Great idea! My only complaint is you didn't go far enough. The same should be required for voting too. If you don't even know your candidates' stances on basic issues, why should your vote count as much as someone who actually pays attention?
Re:Bill text (Score:1)
It actually supposed to be a Representative Democracy. Rousseau had this to say about respresentation:
sovereignty cannot be represented...the peoples' deputies are not, and could not be, its representatives; they are merely its agents; and they cannot decide anything finally
Considering that is an 18th century thought, it is very telling in todays modern politics and it brings truth to your additional comment:
They don't care what the people think about what the