AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Who wears flip-flops to a robbery?
What the Heck?! Thread (Closed)
- Thread starter TerraN_EmpirE
- Start date
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I don't know??? what do you wear to a robbery??? LOL??? I hate flip flops or "zorries" as they were called in my home away from home. I never could stand that stupid strap between my toes, I always got a blister, so I hate flip flops!
I don't hate them. I never used them.
Hendrik_2000
Lieutenant General
Where is SB what do you think ?
She is one heck of a lady. Smart, Sassy, Gutsy and Photogenic
Half-Taiwanese woman to lead Japan opposition
September 15, 2016
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of Japan's beleaguered Democratic Party
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of Japan's beleaguered Democratic Party (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)
Japan's main opposition party chose a half-Taiwanese former model and TV anchorwoman as its new leader Thursday, as it looks to reboot its fortunes after four years in the political wilderness.
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of the beleaguered Democratic Party.
The one-time journalist earned the nickname "Hissatsu" (shoot-to-kill) for her style of grilling bureaucrats over public waste, in a country where the media are often criticised for pulling their punches.
"I'll stand at the forefront of our fight to rebuild the party to win an election again," Renho said, after being declared the winner.
Renho's Taiwanese heritage -- her father is from the island, a former Japanese colony -- became an issue during the vote.
She was forced to apologise after it emerged she had never given up her Taiwanese citizenship. Japan does not allow adults to hold dual nationality.
With the exception of its television personalities, largely ethnically homogenous Japan is unused to seeing mixed-race people in public positions.
However, last week a half-Indian beauty queen was crowned Miss Japan. That came a year after a black woman claimed the title, and faced an ugly backlash on social media.
Renho first came to national prominence in the 1980s as a model and later as a TV newscaster, reporting from the quake-devastated city of Kobe in 1995.
She entered parliament in 2004.
She sparked controversy in 2010 when she posed for a magazine shoot inside parliament for Vogue Nippon, the Japanese version of the international fashion monthly.
The centre-left Democratic Party that she now leads faces a huge battle to revive flagging fortunes, with premier Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition boasting a majority in both houses of parliament.
The party -- formerly known as the Democratic Party of Japan before merging with a smaller party in March -- swept to power in 2009, ousting Abe's Liberal Democratic Party after more than half a century of conservative dominance.
But a series of mis-steps and policy flip-flops, along with its shambolic handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, cost it dearly in the polls, and it was booted from office in 2012.
She is one heck of a lady. Smart, Sassy, Gutsy and Photogenic
Half-Taiwanese woman to lead Japan opposition
September 15, 2016
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of Japan's beleaguered Democratic Party
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of Japan's beleaguered Democratic Party (AFP Photo/Kazuhiro Nogi)
Japan's main opposition party chose a half-Taiwanese former model and TV anchorwoman as its new leader Thursday, as it looks to reboot its fortunes after four years in the political wilderness.
The telegenic Renho, a 48-year-old who goes by only one name, trounced her opponents -- including a former foreign minister -- to take the helm of the beleaguered Democratic Party.
The one-time journalist earned the nickname "Hissatsu" (shoot-to-kill) for her style of grilling bureaucrats over public waste, in a country where the media are often criticised for pulling their punches.
"I'll stand at the forefront of our fight to rebuild the party to win an election again," Renho said, after being declared the winner.
Renho's Taiwanese heritage -- her father is from the island, a former Japanese colony -- became an issue during the vote.
She was forced to apologise after it emerged she had never given up her Taiwanese citizenship. Japan does not allow adults to hold dual nationality.
With the exception of its television personalities, largely ethnically homogenous Japan is unused to seeing mixed-race people in public positions.
However, last week a half-Indian beauty queen was crowned Miss Japan. That came a year after a black woman claimed the title, and faced an ugly backlash on social media.
Renho first came to national prominence in the 1980s as a model and later as a TV newscaster, reporting from the quake-devastated city of Kobe in 1995.
She entered parliament in 2004.
She sparked controversy in 2010 when she posed for a magazine shoot inside parliament for Vogue Nippon, the Japanese version of the international fashion monthly.
The centre-left Democratic Party that she now leads faces a huge battle to revive flagging fortunes, with premier Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition boasting a majority in both houses of parliament.
The party -- formerly known as the Democratic Party of Japan before merging with a smaller party in March -- swept to power in 2009, ousting Abe's Liberal Democratic Party after more than half a century of conservative dominance.
But a series of mis-steps and policy flip-flops, along with its shambolic handling of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, cost it dearly in the polls, and it was booted from office in 2012.
Oh my gosh! What the heck indeed.
I have a feeling some one is getting a royal you-know-what chewing...or worse.
Equation
Lieutenant General
It's going to take a lot of money and time to restore ALL (100%) of the Great Wall of China. As much as it took to build it, the same applies to restoring it as well. I don't expect to see all it restore in my life time but I would like for the people, government, and NGO to work together on a program to start restoring it as much as possible.
Not sure but I think it belong here.
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Can you trademark an offensive name or not? US Supreme Court to decide
US law bars trademarks if the name is immoral, deceptive, scandalous, or disparaging.
- Sep 29, 2016 10:05 pm UTC
Portrait of Asian-American band The Slants (L-R: Joe X Jiang, Ken Shima, Tyler Chen, Simon 'Young' Tam, Joe X Jiang) in Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon, in 2015.
Anthony Pidgeon via Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would decide, once and for all, whether federal intellectual property regulators can refuse to issue trademarks with disparaging or inappropriate names.
At the center of the issue is a that actually forbids the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from approving a trademark if it "consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute."
The case before the justices, which they will hear sometime in the upcoming term beginning in October, concerns the Portland-based Asian-American rock band called . Previously, decisions have come down on both sides regarding trademarking offensive names. The most notable denial is likely the name of the NFL's Washington franchise, "Redskins." But lesser known denials include "Stop the Islamization of America," "The Christian Prostitute," "AMISHHOMO," "Mormon Whiskey," "Ride Hard Retard," "Abort the Republicans," and "Democrats Shouldn't Breed."
In contrast, other potentially offensive names have been trademarked. Some of these examples include Dangerous Negro, Celebretards, Stinky Gringo, Midget-Man, and Off-White Trash.
In the Slants case the justices agreed to review, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cited the First Amendment and sided with The Slants and its founder Simon Shiao Tam in December. The appeals court essentially struck down the entire section of trademark law about disparaging trademarks when (PDF) the Constitution even protects "hurtful speech."
Courts have been slow to appreciate the expressive power of trademarks. Words—even a single word—can be powerful. Mr. Simon Shiao Tam named his band THE SLANTS to make a statement about racial and cultural issues in this country.... Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities. But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech.
The government appealed, and the high court the case Thursday. In its (PDF) to the high court, the USPTO said that it's not a "restriction on speech" to be denied a trademark because trademarks are "federal benefits" to advance intellectual property rights.
The bar on disparaging marks "does not prevent respondent from promoting his band using any racial slur or image he wishes," the government wrote. "It does not limit how respondent may advertise, what songs he may sing, or what messages he may convey."
Lawyers for Tam told the justices in a that he gave the band that name in 2006 because he was "following in the long tradition of 'reappropriation,' in which members of minority groups have reclaimed terms that were once directed at them as insults and turned them outward as badges of pride. In recent times, the most conspicuous examples have been words such as 'queer,' 'dyke,' and so on—formerly derogatory terms that have been so successfully adopted by members of the gay and lesbian community that they have now lost most, if not all, of their pejorative connotations."
What's the benefit of trademark, anyway? According to the :
============
Can you trademark an offensive name or not? US Supreme Court to decide
US law bars trademarks if the name is immoral, deceptive, scandalous, or disparaging.
- Sep 29, 2016 10:05 pm UTC
Anthony Pidgeon via Getty Images
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would decide, once and for all, whether federal intellectual property regulators can refuse to issue trademarks with disparaging or inappropriate names.
At the center of the issue is a that actually forbids the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from approving a trademark if it "consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, or scandalous matter; or matter which may disparage or falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute."
The case before the justices, which they will hear sometime in the upcoming term beginning in October, concerns the Portland-based Asian-American rock band called . Previously, decisions have come down on both sides regarding trademarking offensive names. The most notable denial is likely the name of the NFL's Washington franchise, "Redskins." But lesser known denials include "Stop the Islamization of America," "The Christian Prostitute," "AMISHHOMO," "Mormon Whiskey," "Ride Hard Retard," "Abort the Republicans," and "Democrats Shouldn't Breed."
In contrast, other potentially offensive names have been trademarked. Some of these examples include Dangerous Negro, Celebretards, Stinky Gringo, Midget-Man, and Off-White Trash.
In the Slants case the justices agreed to review, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit cited the First Amendment and sided with The Slants and its founder Simon Shiao Tam in December. The appeals court essentially struck down the entire section of trademark law about disparaging trademarks when (PDF) the Constitution even protects "hurtful speech."
Courts have been slow to appreciate the expressive power of trademarks. Words—even a single word—can be powerful. Mr. Simon Shiao Tam named his band THE SLANTS to make a statement about racial and cultural issues in this country.... Many of the marks rejected as disparaging convey hurtful speech that harms members of oft-stigmatized communities. But the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech.
The government appealed, and the high court the case Thursday. In its (PDF) to the high court, the USPTO said that it's not a "restriction on speech" to be denied a trademark because trademarks are "federal benefits" to advance intellectual property rights.
The bar on disparaging marks "does not prevent respondent from promoting his band using any racial slur or image he wishes," the government wrote. "It does not limit how respondent may advertise, what songs he may sing, or what messages he may convey."
Lawyers for Tam told the justices in a that he gave the band that name in 2006 because he was "following in the long tradition of 'reappropriation,' in which members of minority groups have reclaimed terms that were once directed at them as insults and turned them outward as badges of pride. In recent times, the most conspicuous examples have been words such as 'queer,' 'dyke,' and so on—formerly derogatory terms that have been so successfully adopted by members of the gay and lesbian community that they have now lost most, if not all, of their pejorative connotations."
What's the benefit of trademark, anyway? According to the :
solarz
Brigadier
There's really no need to restore all of the Great Wall (nor is it even possible). Restoration means making it palatable and accessible to visitors, which is simply unnecessary for 90% of the Great Wall, since they are located on extremely difficult terrain.
The repair work mentioned above might be poor in aesthetics, but it serves the practical purpose of keeping that section of the Great Wall from crumbling.
In fact, some sections of the original Great Wall are now nothing more than an eroded earthen rampart.
It never was, except under the reign of Emperor Shihuandi, contrary to the popular but mistaken perception.
Qin's only ruling doctrine is legalism, codified law, nothing else. Any other Chinese states/dynasty has/had or even more relying on other doctrine besides legalism, either Confucianism, democracy or communism which all emphasize humanity and individual motivation and initiation in one way or another. The core of these are that decisions are distributed (decentralized) to local and individual entities in many aspects, either democratic voting or Confucian/Communist consensus building.
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