westicle

I'm not sure I follow this post.

All cultures mimic, adopt and modify aspects of other cultures. See: New York pizza, Australian beer etc. It doesn't follow that the resulting outcome is any less a valid expression of national cultural identity.

Likewise, I don't follow the connection between having a national identity and having national borders.

I once invited my neighbour over for dinner. He introduced me to his BBQ recipe which I now make all the time for my family. But he also got drunk and pissed himself on my couch. I won't be inviting him to move in with us any time soon, despite us having some culinary cultural overlap.

"The police view it as a civil matter, but could they look at it differently? Is there an ordinance that could be passed locally?"

This is more an issue with lazy or unmotivated policing rather than need for more and more specific laws. The driver is acting dishonestly to defraud the passenger of money. There are numerous statutes regulating fraudulent criminal conduct ranging from street scams to Bernie Madoff.

The fact there is a private contract between them regulating their commercial transaction does not obviate the need for both parties to comply with criminal law.

I wonder why the reporter did not seek any input from anyone legally trained. Relying on the police, who have no incentive to overly burden themselves with non-revenue generating police work, to inform the public on whether something is criminal or not is half-assed journalism.

As far as I can tell the relevance to HN is that people who do less than wholesome things use secure communication tools to organise them.

This is the necessary cost of not living in a police state (or police world). I hate people trafficking but freedom of association and privacy are too valuable to concede. I'm comfortable with that balance.

That stage has already been reached. Hence why skinny/fat men (in the absence of compensating factors such as money) don't get girls.

Get a locally produced oil marked extra virgin. My family produces EVOO in small batches and the difference betwee imported and fresh is marked.

Nobody would ever need specialised equipment to tell them apart, it would be like eating butter instead of margarine.

I'd add the USA to that list - plenty of evidence that National Security Letters have been used to stifle/gain access to/alter coding projects in the interests of US GOV.

It's probably even more insidious, because simply confirming the existence of an NSL can be a crime punishable by significant custodial sentences. In the USA, posting "The police asked me to delete this code" could land in you federal pound you in the ass prison for 10+ years.

The guy simply expressed an opinion about where he doesn't want to live. You can't force him to agree with your opinion on the subject, and you're unlikely to convince anyone with a barely coherent rant about a bunch of topics not even relevant to the original post.

Calm the fuck down.

When "frugal", "thrifty" and "prudent" became dirty words.

I think we agree on this point.

My post was in response to the parent, which suggested that any property "solely" used for short-term leases should be regulated.

I was not suggesting that was a useful or appropriate test. Leaving aside the question of whether regulation is necessary, a "dominant purpose" or even "substantial purpose" test would lead to less absurdity.

The guy in question stayed in the apartment himself and let friends stay for free. So he's off the hook; short-term rental wasn't the sole use of the property.

Easy!

Check out the piracy heat-map posted elsewhere in this thread.

Lots of piracy around Singapore/Malaysia, Ecuador/Colombia and Nigeria. The hits around Somalia probably account for about 10-15% of hits worldwide.

There are many people who were and are wrong about certain things in life. Does that mean we should ignore their contributions in other areas out of spite?

I can enjoy Polanksi's films whilst not condoning his private activities. I can appreciate the remarkable skill of Wayne Carey on the football field whilst acknowledging he is probably a prick in his personal life. Humans are all too often both brilliant and flawed in equal measures.

Leaving that aside, did you read the article? Card isn't producing the movie. He sold the rights years ago. So unless you have a time machine, any lining you provide for his pockets is likely to be so indirect as to be inconsequential.

For those who haven't read the book, you might consider editing out your second paragraph, or at least adding spoiler tags.