Nicci Stevens 's BestNetTech Comments

Latest Comments (42)

• On the post: Yet Another Study Shows US Satire Programs Do A Better Job Informing Viewers Than Actual News Outlets

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2014 @ 03:44am

  Re: Re: pixelpusher220 nails it!

  MSNBC certainly is a liberal outlet but they are measurably better at telling the truth than Fox.

  
  This is not necessarily true. I have seen video used on MSNBC to push a particular agenda that was well edited out of context from the original.

• On the post: Yet Another Study Shows US Satire Programs Do A Better Job Informing Viewers Than Actual News Outlets

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2014 @ 10:44am

  Consider the source

  I have always said that, in this day of instant information from a variety of sources, that to be truly informed you need the whole picture. If it is US Politics you can't just watch CNN, Fox, MSNBC or The Daily Show or Steven Colbert. Ideally once must examine all of those sources. I also throw in BBC and Al Jazeera. Everyone editorializes. It's the way we speak (and its a good thing)
  
  The "fake news" outlets like The Daily Show, though, offer more facts and a good part of that reason is that, in this theater of the absurd we call the real world, facts are a great basis for humor and humor sells advertising, or a Liam Neeson once put it, in a fairly awful movie, "Bums on seats, luv"

• On the post: Tiger Woods Fails Parody, Streisands 'Offending' Content As A Result

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 20 Nov, 2014 @ 09:11am

  It is never wise to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person. Shame on Mr. Jenkins for tilting at an unarmed man!

• On the post: DailyDirt: Artisanal Foods Are Automatically Awesome

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 17 Nov, 2014 @ 06:45am

  UV, RO, Ozone and DI Water

  These are processes which are used for bottled water... some bottled water companies just use "city" water with those processes. Those processes can also be used at the final stage of a gray water operation -- where sewage is filtered and purified to produce clean, drinkable water. (I have worked on operations like this and while it is chemically safe to drink its not appealing when you actually see where it started).
  
  With NYC tap water tho, it's already some of the best around and in a blind taste test actually fared higher than some bottled water.
  
  When, however, water becomes too pure -- no minerals or salts, where the total dissolved solids is < 5ppm, it starts to become harmful. It will leach these salts and minerals from your system and negatively impact your health. Remember from science class, boys and girls, water is the universal solvent.
  
  Another trick a lot of bottled water companies use: adding minerals to purified water. By doing this the water is both safe and with the proper minerals tastes good. This is why, for example, Arrowhead tastes better than the store brand. It's not that "Mountain Spring Water" which the FDA says there can be only a few drops per ounce actually in the water sold to carry that label.

• On the post: Infringing Panties So Important To DHS, That It Intimidated Print Shop Owner Into Warrantless Search

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2014 @ 10:21pm

  Re: Whassis?!?

  Lets think about this for a moment: The Speaker of the US House of Representatives represents Ohio's 8th district. This district has 725,000 people. This includes people who cannot vote. This one person has more control over the legislative process in the US than any other one person. If, for example, all of the other 534 members of Congress were to support a bill to repeal the Patriot act, he could prevent that by not allowing the bill to even be discussed by the house. This man was elected by his district, overwhelmingly, with 246,000 votes. I'm glad his district likes him so much but that is roughly 0.2% of the people who voted in the 2012 election. That isn't to say that all of the 125 million voters in 2012 would have otherwise not voted for him, but, it does show that a person who represents 0.2% of the electorate holds ultimate legislative control over the other 99.8%
  
  The system is rigged. The really great part is this "Democractic Republic" idea leaves the ability to change that in the hands of those who would benefit the least from such changes: Congress. There is no federal referendum system. Further, this assumes that its all above board and when some 15 billion dollars were spent on federal elections two years ago, one must conclude there are a lot of people owed and those people are also no the electorate.
  
  Barring armed revolution there is no effective way to change that I can see and I am not taking up arms against a government who so brainwashes its people to believing that they need to pay higher taxes so that rich people can pay lower ones.

• On the post: Infringing Panties So Important To DHS, That It Intimidated Print Shop Owner Into Warrantless Search

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2014 @ 09:47pm

  Re: Bad guys (whatcha gonna do when they come fore you)

  And yet there still exist people who wonder why the police are increasingly being view as bad guys.

  
  

  • The police are you're friends and there to protect you.
  
  
  • There is no federal police force
  
  
  • The check is in the mail.
  
  
  • I have read, and agree with the terms of service.
  
  

  
  The biggest lies ever told.
  
  The police have no interest in protecting the public, but they have an obligation where a special relationship exists. (Warren v. District of Columbia [444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981]). This special relationship is likely that of corporations.
  
  Look at the laws that are passed, court cases. While Warren V. DC doesn't cover this topic, others do, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. (2010), (Docket No. 08-205), which gives corporations the same clout and as a person, but a person with incredible unfettered lobbying ability.
  
  Major League Baseball is a for-profit business that enjoys special congressional protection. As such its logos must be protected by the federal police.
  
  The biggest lie of them all: The United States of America is has a Democratic Republic Government. It is, in fact, an oligarchy.
  
  As such, the police, often left to their own devices, take the power vested in them by the federal and state governments and get intoxicated on it and this breeds paranoia of "regular" people. The police see us as the enemy. Instead of being held to a higher standard they are held to a lower one.
  
  Since the police don't mess with the fat cats until one turns on another, they tend to be left alone to deal with us citizens (subjects) when we get out of line, the biggest line we can cross, however, is taking even one red cent from the coffers of big business. There is no reason for those who shape and form policy to change the way cops are policed and dealt with when they press hard on the peons for simply exercising their rights.

• On the post: Infringing Panties So Important To DHS, That It Intimidated Print Shop Owner Into Warrantless Search

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 03 Nov, 2014 @ 09:27pm

  Re:

  I don't know anyone who supported the passage of that piece of trash. Don't think for a minute that its authors intended it to be supported. It was waiting in the wings for an event that would allow its application, introduced before congress with no time for its reading before passage.
  
  I have every right and obligation, as a citizen, that you call moron, to object, complain and protest such actions. That's not whining.
  
  The word "Patriot" has been used often since that day more than 13 years ago that allowed us to be imposed with illegal legislation that, essentially, says that if you do not follow, blindly, the course of those who propped themselves up as "leaders" you're the enemy. That's foolishness not patriotism and that sentiment was put in place by a regime who, using his big brother's staff and his own previous cronyism, elected himself.
  
  We could, as you say, stop whining. That would, however, allow the very thing you says is being "let" happen.

• On the post: DEA Impersonated Woman, Set Up Fake Facebook Page, Posted Photos From Her Seized Phone To Make It Look Real

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2014 @ 08:24pm

  Re:

  Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself.

  
  
  No, it is Render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.

• On the post: DEA Impersonated Woman, Set Up Fake Facebook Page, Posted Photos From Her Seized Phone To Make It Look Real

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2014 @ 08:09pm

  Re:

  This story is deeply disturbing. Guys, the government works for us and at our indulgence. Is this the kind of power you want to grant your government over you?

  
  If you are a regular reader of this site you should know that that is farthest from the truth. The big lie is that the USA is a Democratic Republic. It's not it's an oligarchy. We work and suffer at the pleasure of the rich who determine the laws and the policies that affect the other 99%.
  
  Law enforcement is routinely given a pass when they, themselves, violate the laws they are sworn to protect. Rather than being held to a higher standard they are held to a lower one. In the largest city in my state, 20% of all homicides are committed by police officers yet they are not held accountable. Even when the DOJ says they have gone too far and levy responsibilities on the police which, from a poor white trash's perspective seem to be a joke, the police officers sue to have the reforms reversed. When there is public outcry over the death of a citizen and demands the prosecutor convene a grand jury, it doesn't happen. This happens all over the country. I saw, on the news this evening, a case where police pulled a vehicle over because of unworn seatbelts. A passenger in the car would not produce identification nor step out of the car. The cops were white and the passenger african-american. The police broke the window, removed the man from the car in front of his children who were videotaping the incident, threw him on the ground and tased him. Their reason was they were in fear for their lives because he might have a weapon -- he did not. He would not leave the vehicle because he was in fear of his life. Who was more credible? Look at places such as Ferguson, MO, Fullerton, CA, Bakersfield, CA, Cleveland, OH, and many more places.
  
  Getting back to the issue at hand and the comment I am replying to. The government has entitled itself to unfettered access to our lives, our persons and our property with which it can do what it wants and we have only the recourse of civil suit -- sometimes.
  
  The bill of rights is being routinely used as metaphorical toilet paper for a government that is bereft of honor and responsibility to those who put them in power. It is not the people who put them there -- this is neither a red/blue state issue, nor is it a partisan issue. By and large the people who do these things are not beholden to the voters, congress nor the courts. They act above the law because, in effect, they are.

• On the post: NJ Town Proposes Law That Would Grant Law Enforcement The Right To Warrantlessly Search Houses To Find Underage Drinkers

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2014 @ 04:31pm

  Re: Uh what is it with the US?

  Yes. More crimes, more cops. More fines, more taxes and more business to privately held prisons. The war on drugs is a very lucrative war telling all the players its the right thing to do but we have learned time and again that it doesn't work yet our government insists on such silly stuff.

• On the post: NJ Town Proposes Law That Would Grant Law Enforcement The Right To Warrantlessly Search Houses To Find Underage Drinkers

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 25 Sep, 2014 @ 08:40am

  Re:

  @Ninja:
  My parents let us try smoking and alcohol at home (one or two times in public as I recall) nothing to ever get drunk on. My parents were adamant that no big deal was made of alcohol. They didn't drunk to drunkenness but would have a beer, drink or glass of wine socially. Consequently, my siblings and I never really had an issue either.
  
  My sisters and I did smoke pot and my mom preferred we did it at home, in the back yard, and none of us ever got really stupid with pot either.
  
  The law didn't prevent us from drinking or abusing alcohol or pot while under age, but, good parenting did.
  
  There's an old adage: If you want to get a job done, forbid a teenager from doing it.
  
  Strong words :)

• On the post: In The FCC's Own Words: Chairman Wheeler Has Proposed Online Discrimination, Paid Prioritization, And Exclusive Deals

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 15 Sep, 2014 @ 07:15pm

  Re:

  Every day, I start to wonder more and more whether or not we're in the waning days of the internet. Or an internet worth paying money for, anyway.

  
  
  Perhaps that is the true intent of the govt. It might sound like tin-foil-hat thinking but what if the pesky internet was removed and instant, user generated content (read: dissent) were quashed?

• On the post: DailyDirt: Butter. Mmm. Butter.

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2014 @ 08:19am

  Butter on cereal: chex party mix! FTW!

• On the post: Can We Create A Public Internet Space Where The First Amendment, Not Private Terms Of Service, Rules?

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 23 Aug, 2014 @ 05:52am

  Re: Re: Re:

  Actually cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands but is allowed. It is legal in Uruquay though. Quasi legal in US States of Washington and Colorado.

• On the post: Can We Create A Public Internet Space Where The First Amendment, Not Private Terms Of Service, Rules?

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2014 @ 01:26pm

  Uh ...

  The first amendment is: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"
  
  On its face, it simply says that Congress shall not limit speech. While we could apply that spirit at least in some drawn out theory, we could not apply it to the letter. There is a large body of case law and opinions that effectively explain this further however that's not in the actual amendment.
  
  Over the last several decades up until this very minute we are looking at situations where the ability to assemble and ask for redress is being limited or even stretched beyond belief. The idea that we (USA) should throw this out there and say "This is our law and others should follow it" seems hypocritical and perhaps even apocryphal. We (as do other countries) use weapons on our own people prohibited to be used in warfare while at the same waggling our fingers about human rights violations in other places.
  
  As someone who has moderated sites I can tell you that the first amendment comes up a lot as someone is told they cannot discuss off-topic, distasteful or even illegal things, but, these have all been private enterprises. Analogous, I cannot stand in your living room preaching the good word of the Flying Spaghetti Monster without your consent any more than someone else can come to mine and tell me the good news of the great prophet Zarqon.
  
  It is difficult, these days, to find older laws, procedures and intents to catch up with current, future and certainly global technologies.
  
  Everyone censors, and they always will. Facebook, Twitter, Google (and all their parts), Yahoo, MSN, etc are important tools to discuss ideas, raise concern, and even harbor and communicate dissent, but, like any other tool, it is not the only one in the bag. Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. all have their agendas and we hope they match ours but they really don't answer to us, they answer to their shareholders.
  
  As I tell others, with respect to news, never rely on one source of news to get anything that resembles the full picture. Fox, CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazeera all have their own slant, though the latter tends to be less biased. As such when you want your voice heard and to heard the voices of others use many tools and avenues and not be held to one entity's idea of what's "appropriate".

• On the post: Dumb Criminal Posts Facebook Photo Wearing The Dress She Stole Earlier That Day, Is Summarily Arrested

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2014 @ 05:13am

  The production and sale along with possession of that dress should be criminal too.

• On the post: College Reacts To Negative Press By Attempting To Seal Court Documents Exposing Its Ridiculous Actions

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2014 @ 07:36pm

  Re: Re:

  How do the background checks show arrests and charges if you weren't convicted? Shouldn't those be expunged?

  
  No. Arrest records are not, in general, expunged, without request and cause to do so. An example is for a minor (who in most states cannot be convicted merely held responsible). Arrest records are sometimes (shouldn't be) later used in later prosecution of similar charges.

• On the post: Comcast Apparently Hopes No One Actually Looks At Its Ridiculously Misleading Claims Of Broadband Competition

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 09 Apr, 2014 @ 03:43pm

  Yeah I am in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellvue area. Before I moved I had two choices for broadband: Comcast 50mbps or CenturyLink (barely 1.5mbps). I don't get where there are 25 options because even including the consumer oriented broadband providers that did not provide service to me AND mobile operators (which is a joke) that comes in under 10. Now I live on a small island near Tacoma and mobile data is not an option so it's dialup or Comcast.

• On the post: Sheriff's Deputy Fired For Harassing Journalist Taking Photos Of An Arrest On A Public Street

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 11 Feb, 2014 @ 05:23am

  Urqhart was elected quite handily over in Nov 2012. By and large he is a trusted law enforcement officer in an area where those phrases aren't used together as a rule. Seattle is the seat of King County and the Seattle Police Department has been the subject of DOJ investigation and monitoring for numerous civil rights violations and worse. The KCSD has been a little better but far from stellar. Under Sue Rahr and Steve Strachan there were numerous rights violations as well. Urqhart's pledge during his campaign was to clean up KCSD and it is good to hear that there is at least some headway along those lines. Oddly, while I pay attention to numerous local news sources, this one went under the radar.

• On the post: Lawsuit Claims ICE Officers Shot At, Arrested Wrong Man

  

  Nicci Stevens ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2013 @ 10:37am

  This is not surprising. ICE as part of DHS works unfettered and without much, if any, real oversight. Here in my state ICE patrols roads a fair distance from any entry point and routinely pulls over and sometimes detains people who "look Hispanic" when these people are actually Native Americans. It's pretty sad when your ancestral heritage goes back millenia before the people who are arresting you on suspicion of being illegal alien's ancestry go back.

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