# In my humble opinion, this is the biggest crock of shit I've ever heard of **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827 "2006-12-19T20:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/201 "2006-12-24T17:20:18Z")
[QUOTE=Random] As I_ve pointed out before, nullification has been often used for purposes that most would consider evil. If the local venire is made up of people who don_t like a particular minority, or civil rights laws designed to protect the minority, nullification gives jurors drawn from that venire the power to vote their prejudices, rather than the law. I have generally cited examples, which you have ignored. I think it is irresponsible of you to tout nullification as a good thing without considering the issues that I\*ve raised. [/QUOTE] Shhh. Don’t interrupt a perfectly good ignorant rant with “facts” and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/202 "2006-12-24T18:45:42Z")
I’m not really interested in re-entering the debate here, especially now that it has moved on to the rather fraught issue of jury nullification. But i just wanted to say this: **Random** : can you please learn where the fucking apostrophe key is on your keyboard. Your use of asterisks instead of apostrophes is not cute or endearing; it’s annoying as hell, and detracts from your generally lucid arguments. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/203 "2006-12-24T19:10:01Z")
I am not doing it to be cute, or because I haven\*t learned where the apostrophe is, as I have already explained. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/204 "2006-12-24T19:47:47Z")
[QUOTE=Random] I am not doing it to be cute, or because I haven\*t learned where the apostrophe is, as I have already explained. [/QUOTE] Are you using one of [these](http://www.daskeyboard.com/)? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/205 "2006-12-24T20:54:14Z")
[QUOTE=Random] I am not doing it to be cute, or because I haven\*t learned where the apostrophe is, as I have already explained. [/QUOTE] All i could find in this thread is a reference to being on “that keyset” again. I don’t know what keyset you’re talking about, and i don’t care. If you can’t stop the asterisks, maybe you should stop posting until you can. It looks stupid, and makes your posts resemble those of some high school usenet groupie. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/206 "2006-12-24T23:09:28Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] All i could find in this thread is a reference to being on “that keyset” again. I don’t know what keyset you’re talking about, and i don’t care. If you can’t stop the asterisks, maybe you should stop posting until you can. It looks stupid, and makes your posts resemble those of some high school usenet groupie. [/QUOTE] Post 182 in this thread has a link to the explanation. And no, I\*m not going to stop and switch keyboards every time I post here. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/207 "2006-12-25T04:27:11Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] All i could find in this thread is a reference to being on “that keyset” again. I don’t know what keyset you’re talking about, and i don’t care. If you can’t stop the asterisks, maybe you should stop posting until you can. It looks stupid, and makes your posts resemble those of some high school usenet groupie. [/QUOTE] And your absurd overreaction makes you look like a jerk. Until you can calm down, maybe you should stop posting. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/208 "2006-12-25T04:57:56Z")
[QUOTE=Speaker for the Dead] And your absurd overreaction makes you look like a jerk. Until you can calm down, maybe you should stop posting. [/QUOTE] I’m perfectly calm. And i don’t need advice from morons, thanks very much. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/209 "2006-12-25T05:03:43Z")
But… if that’s your philosophy, why would you expect **Random** to listen to you? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/210 "2006-12-25T05:04:55Z")
Actually, that last post was unnecessary, especially on Christmas Eve. I retract it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/211 "2006-12-25T05:29:42Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] I’m perfectly calm. And i don’t need advice from morons, thanks very much. [/QUOTE] I dunno, man. That post was a little harsh for a bit of non-standard punctuation. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/212 "2006-12-25T05:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I dunno, man. That post was a little harsh for a bit of non-standard punctuation. [/QUOTE] You might be right, but it’s gone on for this whole thread (and who knows how many other threads that **Random** has been involved in over the same period). One of the things i like about this place is that it lacks the stupid leet speak and many of the other juvenile appendages that characterize so much of the internet. Smilies are at a minimum here (i’d like them reduced even further), and even our own little catchphrases (Hi Opal, etc.) are, thankfully, used only by a minority of posters. I find those things annoying too. If **Random** was the sort of person who habitually posted stupid, content-free posts, this particular issue wouldn’t bug me, because i could skip the posts with no trouble. But that’s not the case. It’s precisely because **Random** ’s posts are generally so interesting that i find this so annoying and distracting. I’m going to stop complaining about it now. I’ve made my feelings known, and i don’t want to hijack this thread any further. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/213 "2006-12-25T06:04:44Z")
For all of those anti-nullification people in this thread: [ul] [li]Do you think nullification is 100% evil and without redeeming qualities all the time, period, regardless of circumstance and qualification, in any civilized court?[/li][li]If you answered the prior in the affirmative, should we still have juries picked from laypeople? Should we still have juries at all? After all, the judge is not blind and deaf to the facts of the case.[/li][li]If you answered the above by coming out against the traditional reading of “jury of one’s peers”, why do you think the Founders wrote the Constitution as they did?[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/214 "2006-12-25T06:16:52Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] You might be right, but it’s gone on for this whole thread (and who knows how many other threads that **Random** has been involved in over the same period). One of the things i like about this place is that it lacks the stupid leet speak and many of the other juvenile appendages that characterize so much of the internet. Smilies are at a minimum here (i’d like them reduced even further), and even our own little catchphrases (Hi Opal, etc.) are, thankfully, used only by a minority of posters. I find those things annoying too. If **Random** was the sort of person who habitually posted stupid, content-free posts, this particular issue wouldn’t bug me, because i could skip the posts with no trouble. But that’s not the case. It’s precisely because **Random** ’s posts are generally so interesting that i find this so annoying and distracting. I’m going to stop complaining about it now. I’ve made my feelings known, and i don’t want to hijack this thread any further. [/QUOTE] Dude, c’mon. I like you, you’re a good guy, I’m really not looking for a fight… but how the hell can you criticize someone else for a wierd typing style? Capitalize your damned "i"s already! Sorry, but I couldn’t let that go. Merry Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/215 "2006-12-25T06:34:23Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] For all of those anti-nullification people in this thread: [ul] [li]Do you think nullification is 100% evil and without redeeming qualities all the time, period, regardless of circumstance and qualification, in any civilized court?[/li][li]If you answered the prior in the affirmative, should we still have juries picked from laypeople? Should we still have juries at all? After all, the judge is not blind and deaf to the facts of the case.[/li][li]If you answered the above by coming out against the traditional reading of “jury of one’s peers”, why do you think the Founders wrote the Constitution as they did?[/li][/ul] [/QUOTE] I, too, would like to see these questions answered. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/216 "2006-12-25T07:29:23Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] For all of those anti-nullification people in this thread: [ul] [li]Do you think nullification is 100% evil and without redeeming qualities all the time, period, regardless of circumstance and qualification, in any civilized court?[/li][/ul] [/QUOTE] No, I would not go that far. (Shit, now I sound like Data.) If the law under which the defendant is being charged is somehow being imposed undemocratically, I can understand a jury\*s decision to nullify. (The Zenger case comes to mind.) By the way, mhendo, I do appreciate the compliments in your post, and I will ask the designer of the keyboard if there is some out-of-the-way method of generating an apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2006, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/217 "2006-12-25T10:03:11Z")
[QUOTE=Random] By the way, mhendo, I do appreciate the compliments in your post, and I will ask the designer of the keyboard if there is some out-of-the-way method of generating an apostrophe. [/QUOTE] (offtopic) ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ There’s a whole bunch for you. Copy and paste at will. You do have CTRL C and CTRL V at your disposal, right? Please forgive the intrusion, folks. (/offtopic) ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/218 "2006-12-26T13:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=Random] I am not doing it to be cute, or because I haven\*t learned where the apostrophe is, as I have already explained. [/QUOTE] Maybe you could add a link in your sig. Something like “Sorry about the [asterisks](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8055846&highlight=keyboard#post8055846)”? ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/219 "2006-12-26T20:57:24Z")
> [@Random](#): > > [QUOTE=Derleth] > For all of those anti-nullification people in this thread: > [ul] > [li]Do you think nullification is 100% evil and without redeeming qualities all the time, period, regardless of circumstance and qualification, in any civilized court?[/ul][/li][/quote] > No, I would not go that far. (Shit, now I sound like Data.) > If the law under which the defendant is being charged is somehow being imposed undemocratically, I can understand a jury\*s decision to nullify. (The Zenger case comes to mind.) I agree with **Random** ; it’s possible to posit a situation where a jury nullified and it resulted in good – like Zenger, although it’s sad that we have to reach back nearly 300 years to find a time when jury nullification resulted in a good. But if that’s the question you’re asking, it’s not really the point. You ought instead to be asking whether, if jury nullification were a rule of law – such that it were legal and permissible for a jury to ignore the law and the facts and base its decision on personal prejudice – would that be a bad thing? And the answer to that has to be yes: it is intrinsically wrong for a jury to violate its oath and base its decision on things other than the evidence and the law. Law shouldn’t be ad hoc; there ought to be rules with standard application so that people can guide their activities accordingly – including determining whether to oust a Legislature that passes laws we don’t like. > [@Derleth](#): > > [ul][li]If you answered the prior in the affirmative, should we still have juries picked from laypeople? Should we still have juries at all? After all, the judge is not blind and deaf to the facts of the case.[/li][li]If you answered the above by coming out against the traditional reading of “jury of one’s peers”, why do you think the Founders wrote the Constitution as they did?[/li][/ul] I don’t understand the connection between your first question and your second, but I will say that I think we ought still to have lay juries. I don’t understand why you seem to think an anti-jury nullification stance is incompatible with a belief in the jury system. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827/220 "2006-12-26T21:17:41Z")
[QUOTE=Random] By the way, mhendo, I do appreciate the compliments in your post, and I will ask the designer of the keyboard if there is some out-of-the-way method of generating an apostrophe. [/QUOTE] On old keyboards, I seem to recall shift-7 doing the trick. I don’t know if your keyboard is laid out like that, but give it a shot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-my-humble-opinion-this-is-the-biggest-crock-of-shit-ive-ever-heard-of/384827.md?page=12)