"Silence of the Hams"
 

It supposedly all started with Christopher Columbus dropping off 8 pigs at Cuba. Should have eaten them instead. [url]https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2020/01/30/feral-pigs-problem-texas-helicopters?utm_source=pocket-newtab[/url]

[QUOTE=kriesel;537083]It supposedly all started with Christopher Columbus dropping off 8 pigs at Cuba. Should have eaten them instead. [url]https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2020/01/30/feral-pigs-problem-texas-helicopters?utm_source=pocket-newtab[/url][/QUOTE]From what I've heard, "death from the skies" sounds like a good approach to killing these things. They generally are in herds, and if one squeals in alarm, the whole lot of them comes running to the defense. So if you shoot one, and the shot is not instantly fatal, you might have more targets viewing [i]you[/i] as a target than you can handle. If you seek safety by climbing a tree, you might be in for a long sit.

This page about the [url=https://www.wildpiginfo.msstate.edu/history-wild-pigs.html]History of Wild Pigs[/url] shows that feral pigs are being spread around in modern times.

I have also seen claims that the Spanish released pigs into the wild [i]deliberately[/i] as a food supply, should they ever return to the area.

I was on a backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail near the TN-NC border lo, these many years ago, and can recall hearing wild pigs roaming around at night. We could see the damage they had done the following morning.

I've had the misfortune to encounter a few wild bores at social events - as in the wild, better to give them a wide berth.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;532000]
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I wonder if anyone buying this software has ever wondered about what its name might imply for its use...[/QUOTE]
I wonder if potential customers looked into the experiences of existing customers. I guess there's no Consumer Reports[SUP]®[/SUP] for governmental/judicial software, but surely prospective buyers could dig out info on current users [I]somehow. [/I]If the company refused to provide names of current users, that should be a flaming red flag for prospective users.

As to someone spending 20 days in jail unjustly, I hope a good lawyer tracks that person down. I figure that $20,000/day ought to be a suitable rebuke for the company that marketed this engine of injustice. :beatdown:

[QUOTE=kladner;537187] governmental/judicial software[/QUOTE]
That is nothing but a data base with causes adjudicated in the past. The judicial system is heavily based on casuistic (not only in USA, but everywhere in the world, and btw, I hope the meaning of this word is similar in English, I see there is such a word, but I don't know its meaning - please consider that the meaning is "the history/totality of all judicial cases adjudicated by the judicial system"). If a case is to be decided, all the prosecutors, lawyers, and judges, will look how similar cases were decided in the past. Not many years ago, the lawyer with the best access to the history files would always win the court case, because he could always find a case in the past which was similar with his actual case, and it was adjudicated in his favor. But nowadays, you just need the database, some search facilities, and knowing what keywords to type. And any lawyer knows that. The software itself (we assume) is nothing except a data base, with some extensive (or not at all) search abilities, and I don't think that the company/programmer who made it is to be blamed. It still relies on people to put the data (casuistic/history) inside.

If the data is garbage, or incomplete, then the search results are garbage. GIGO.

The program does not take decisions for you/judge/jury. Or... does it?

[QUOTE=kriesel;537083]It supposedly all started with Christopher Columbus dropping off 8 pigs at Cuba. Should have eaten them instead. [URL]https://www.si.com/sports-illustrated/2020/01/30/feral-pigs-problem-texas-helicopters?utm_source=pocket-newtab[/URL][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=linked article]Swine Country: How Feral Pigs Took Over the U.S.[/QUOTE]Man, great title, hahahaha, I would give a Pulitzer to the guy who wrote the article. :rofl:

[QUOTE=LaurV;537210][QUOTE=kladner;537187]governmental/judicial software[/QUOTE]That is nothing but a data base with causes adjudicated in the past.[/QUOTE]No such luck. If you look at the article linked to in [url=https://www.mersenneforum.org/showpost.php?p=531509&postcount=3743]this post[/url], you'll see that it is supposed to be managing the documentation for [i]current cases.[/i] People couldn't find out which court room to go to. Lawyers couldn't file documents electronically. And the old system had been completely nuked.

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;537217]it is supposed to be managing the documentation for [I]current cases.[/I] People couldn't find out which court room to go to. Lawyers couldn't file documents electronically. And the old system had been completely nuked.[/QUOTE]
:shock: :yucky: Yuck!

[QUOTE=LaurV;537210]The judicial system is heavily based on casuistic (not only in USA, but everywhere in the world, and btw, I hope the meaning of this word is similar in English, I see there is such a word, but I don't know its meaning - please consider that the meaning is "the history/totality of all judicial cases adjudicated by the judicial system").[/QUOTE]Be careful ---many native English speakers are not --- because casual, causal and casuistic mean very different things despite their similar spelling.

causal: a relationship, link, etc. between two things in which one causes the other.

casual:[LIST=1][*]not serious or careful in attitude; only partly interested[*]not formal; relaxed in style or manner[*]not regular or frequent; temporary or done sometimes.[/LIST]casuistic:[LIST=1][*]pertaining to casuists or casuistry.[*]oversubtle; intellectually dishonest; sophistical:[/LIST]From context, I believe you mean causal.

[QUOTE=LaurV;537210]The judicial system is heavily based on ...[/QUOTE]
I think you mean[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_law"] common law[/URL]

I think the word that fits the description[quote=LaurV;537210]If a case is to be decided, all the prosecutors, lawyers, and judges, will look how similar cases were decided in the past. Not many years ago, the lawyer with the best access to the history files would always win the court case, because he could always find a case in the past which was similar with his actual case, and it was adjudicated in his favor.[/quote] is [i]precedent.[/i] The legal doctrine goes by the Latin term [i]stare decisis[/i] which means "to stand by things decided."