Weekend approaching.

[silveradept]

Today? Homework in bits, pieces, and long timelines, with distrtactions and television interspersed. Happy hour at a bar with a bunch of other grad students. Was a good time, even though people smoked. And I still probably paid too much for the beer. It was enjoyable beer, though. Anyway, not an important day, so on with the cavalcade of important things.

As usual, there's bunches of linky-linkies tonight, so get comfortable.

Wired takes a look at bionics and man-machine interfaces. As the technology advances, hopefully we'll be able to make it as if the limb, sight, or other sense was never lost.

Hugo Chavez lights into Bush at the UN. The discontent, it rises. The question is what will come of it, if anything. And whether the UN will get anything out of it.

The facts that you were looking for. They may not be the precise facts you were seeking, but they are the facts that everyone's looking for. We'll pair this with the truly honest airline pre-flight speech. If your hands start to shake from the hit, stop reading and try something else for a bit. Like this tentacly-perfect idea for power extension and surge protection. Could use a few of these about the room and the house. Would probably help prevent cord tangles and wasted outlets.

I saw, while I was there last, an abacus or two in greyweirdo's house, recently purchased as presents. Thus, here a quick primer on doing simple maths on it.

Glitter is a dangerous, dangerous, thing. Apparently, sprinkling someone with it can spark charges being filed. If all parts of the story are true, then the response to this is way out-of proportion, but that's what the guilty-until-proven innocent nature of these kinds of cases does. So keep your glitter under a watchful eye, lest it be used to spark criminal charges.

Lastly, greyweirdo, hollygrahm, or droewyn, could you give me an approximate time of arrival for dinner? I want to know when to start it so that it's ready and warm for you when you arrive.

Comments

[greyweirdo.livejournal.com]

Let's say somewhere between 6 and 7 shall we?

[silveradept]

That'll work fine for me.

sorry, had to re-word this...

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

yes, because glitter is just sooo scary. really, I thikn the girl completely over-reacted. Granted, all we read was the one-side, but it sounds like it's a pretty regular occurance to glitter gals with visible cleavage. I really hate it when girls start whining that people are looking at their chests, but are wearing something that shows it off. If I'm wearing a shirt that shows a lot of cleavage, it's usually because I want to draw attention to my chest. Even if I'm wearing the shirt for the benefit of one specific person, everyone who's path I cross before/after are going to notice the chest. Now, if the guy had grabbed her boob, the lawsuit/harassment case is totally appropriate, but it sounds like she's just a whiney little girl who saw an opportunity. It's like some of those ridiculous sexual harrassment cases at workplaces where the guy accidentally bumped into the girl's chest and all of a sudden he's a bad guy trying to touch her. most of the time in stores where you get "glittered", the store uses a make-up brush, and they don't even touch you with it, they just hover the brush over you and shake, so I bet he didn't even touch her with the brush.

I'm also appalled that the guy had to plead guilty to someting he didn't do, just to get a weaker punishment. Ridiculous! Is this how it works, now? LIE in court that you DID commit the crime, because if you tell the truth, you're going to jail?

It's cases like this that completley waste the court's time and money, and then there are the REAL situations that get dropped to the way-side where the perpetrator gets off scot free because all he has to do is say "I did'nt touch her".

Re: sorry, had to re-word this...

[silveradept]

Well, there's also some thought that perhaps the girl got pressed into taking things further than she wanted to by an overprotective relation or something. And studies tell us how easy it is to make false memories.

Well, in this case, and in a lot of discipline throughout the school systems, it is easier to lie and say you did it, because you're going to be guaranteed to get a small sentence, rather than take it all the way, where you might get no sentence, but you might get the book thrown at you, depending on the whims of the judge (or, if the principal's already made up their mind that you did it, despite what the evidence and the witnesses say). Given the choice between six months of probation and an expunging, or five years in jail with no chance of parole, most people will plead guilty and take the probation, regardless of the actual truth of the crime. Game theory says, even, that taking the probation is the smart move for certain probabilities that you will be found guilty if you go to court.

One would think there are cases that come before the court where all he has to say is "I didn't touch her" and it gets resolved, but I sincerely doubt that. When it comes to "a boy touched a girl inappropriately", I suspect it's more likely to be guilty-unless-proven-innocent in an ironclad way. It's very tough to be a guy at times because of this sensitivity.

Re: sorry, had to re-word this...

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

When it comes to "a boy touched a girl inappropriately", I suspect it's more likely to be guilty-unless-proven-innocent in an ironclad way. It's very tough to be a guy at times because of this sensitivity.

You'd be surprised dear. Remember what I went through with a certain someone? When I finally did go to the police to issue the DNC, the first thing I was asked was if I had witnesses to what I said happened. Since I didn't, I wasn't allowed to press charges because all he'd have to do was show up and say "she's lying". Which is why I only have a DNC and not a restraining order against him.

He said, she said scenarios are NEVER good, no matter which side is telling the truth.

although, back to the glitter case, I agree that the girl had family pressure, because it was even said in the entry that when she called she said her mom wanted her to press charges.

Re: sorry, had to re-word this...

[annaonthemoon.livejournal.com]

I alos still don't think it's right that someone has to plead guilty to something they didn't do to get a lesser sentence...it's not fair AT ALL to punish someone for something they didn't do!