indeed. designed to be decentralized and able to rout around damage in the event of a nuclear attack. amusingly, it's that second feature that's causing all the headaches, because the userbase has collectively decided to treat censorship of any sort by any party as damage...
working Entirely as designed... though not necessarily as intended ^_^
you do realise that that's only actually 'conservative' if it's already the staus quo, right? otherwise it's technically either 'progressive' or 'reactionary', depending on whether it was like that before or not. (reactionary being if it was, progressive being if it's not.)
nevermind that any poll short of the complete 'everyone votes' level of compulsorily elections is inherently inaccurate, and ANY poll can be made to say anything you like with properly worded questions.
polls are Not evidence. they cannot be used as evidence for Anything, because in that capacity they are pure spin.
they are useful information gathering tools for the people who conduct them if their goal is to gather actual information and they are careful about their questions and sample selection process, mind you.
the entire reason that citizens of the USA have the right (and responsibility, no less) to keep and bear arms, and something about maintaining a functional militia, is so they have the capacity to overthrow their government in the event that it stuffs up as badly as the British government did leading up to the American war of independence. (or revolutionary war. or rebellion. take your pick based on favoured pov.
maybe because they are Americans and have to contend with the fact that you have such a bizarre definition of 'person' that it is necessary to specify that you are speaking of a 'Real Person' when the law is only meant to apply to, errr... actual people?
then you have your corporations, who are Schroedinger's persons... or something. both and neither until you open the box... only the box keeps flickering between one and the other anyway...
i hereby declare that anyone going on about 'patriotism' or 'unamericanism' shall be shot in the face before further stupidity ensues, reguardless of their actual position. likwise anyone who argues with them, for feeding trolls.
it would make discussion of actual issues reguarding American politics a Lot easier.
which is a nice solid sign of bad government and the need for change. (real change, not obama's 'yeah, we're just going to continue the status quo with a less moronic face on it' bullshit)
news flash: the smaller the nation, the less screwed up the government and the easier it is to fix (for given values and scales of all terms.)
of the USA's problems, the one that makes it Hard to Fix is the fact that it's most of a bloody continent.
the EU is nicely headed the same way.
for the village, democracy and Communism (for want of a better word). for the city region, republicanism and protectionism. for the nation-state, monarchy and capitalism. for the empire (and make no mistake, the USA is in this category) only two systems work: facsim(for what of a better word) or feudalism. anything large enough will devolve into one or the other. the USA is very much the former. the economic element here is basically the wwhole 'if it moves, tax it, if it keeps moving, regulate it, and if it stops moving, subsidize it' thing... with the element of 'but only if the appropriate bribes are submitted'
a note here: Representative democracy is no democracy at all. It is simply the elite having found an alternative to assassinating each other to decide who gets to run things for the moment, with the added bonus of keeping the people happy by making them Think they control some part of the system.
Russia is also an empire. the British empire at it's peak went the feudal rout (note that the commonwealth monarchies still have governors as a result of this).
of course, those looking from the outside mostly conclude 'if terrorists attack the USA, it's because the terrorists (or at least their leaders) are insane, but smart, while the USA (or, more specifically, it's leadership) are greedy and stupid. responses follow the same logic'
hence the general antipathy towards both sides from third parties. (threat and risk/reward assessment, dubious or otherwise, being the reason for anyone helping one side or the other.)
the US does not have a functioning left wing party of any significance. it has a center right party and a slightly-less-center right party. and panics about communism the moment anyone suggests that a centralized, organized system is the best way of dealing with certain things on a national level. (oh, sorry, it's 'socailism' that's the scary word these days, isn't it? for some bafflingly unknown reason...)
On the post: Russian Press And Pakistani Courts Apparently Have More Respect For Free Speech Than Joe Lieberman
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On the post: State Department Telling Students Who Apply For Jobs That If They Mention Wikileaks On Twitter, They Won't Be Hired
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... yeah, it's about as intelligent.
On the post: How Denial Works: Library Of Congress Blocks Wikileaks
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working Entirely as designed... though not necessarily as intended ^_^
On the post: US Has Lost All Moral High Ground On Internet Censorship
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On the post: TSA Told To Tell Children That Groping Them Is A Game... Horrifying Sex Abuse Experts
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On the post: Woman Claims Legal Loophole Means She Now Owns The Sun... And She Wants You To Pay Up
Re: Just give it to the Gov.
see the USA, Re: Sheeple.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
Re: Re: Re: Alleged Censorship
polls are Not evidence. they cannot be used as evidence for Anything, because in that capacity they are pure spin.
they are useful information gathering tools for the people who conduct them if their goal is to gather actual information and they are careful about their questions and sample selection process, mind you.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
Re: Re: Re: Re: Hate to play Devil's Advocate
on the other hand, it is not perfectly ok, and Far from lacking in wrong doing.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
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On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
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On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
Re: Re: Censorship
then you have your corporations, who are Schroedinger's persons... or something. both and neither until you open the box... only the box keeps flickering between one and the other anyway...
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
Re: Re: Re: Censorship
personally, given that this issue is present in places outside the USA, I'd say an unfortunate mix of the two.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
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it would make discussion of actual issues reguarding American politics a Lot easier.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
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or at least, that's my understanding.
pretty accurate description of the USA if it's an accurate definition of the word.
On the post: Amazon Bows To US Censorship Pressure: Refuses To Host Wikileaks
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news flash: the smaller the nation, the less screwed up the government and the easier it is to fix (for given values and scales of all terms.)
of the USA's problems, the one that makes it Hard to Fix is the fact that it's most of a bloody continent.
the EU is nicely headed the same way.
for the village, democracy and Communism (for want of a better word). for the city region, republicanism and protectionism. for the nation-state, monarchy and capitalism. for the empire (and make no mistake, the USA is in this category) only two systems work: facsim(for what of a better word) or feudalism. anything large enough will devolve into one or the other. the USA is very much the former. the economic element here is basically the wwhole 'if it moves, tax it, if it keeps moving, regulate it, and if it stops moving, subsidize it' thing... with the element of 'but only if the appropriate bribes are submitted'
a note here: Representative democracy is no democracy at all. It is simply the elite having found an alternative to assassinating each other to decide who gets to run things for the moment, with the added bonus of keeping the people happy by making them Think they control some part of the system.
Russia is also an empire. the British empire at it's peak went the feudal rout (note that the commonwealth monarchies still have governors as a result of this).
On the post: How The US Response Turns 'Failed' Terrorist Attacks Into Successes
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hence the general antipathy towards both sides from third parties. (threat and risk/reward assessment, dubious or otherwise, being the reason for anyone helping one side or the other.)
On the post: How The US Response Turns 'Failed' Terrorist Attacks Into Successes
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the NZ equivalent is like that too. (which doesn't stop common citizens and such occasionally foiling the bad guys themselves anyway, mind you.)
On the post: Why The Wikileaks Document Release Is Key To A Functioning Democracy
Re: The government does not have a right to privacy
note how the USA seems to be almost constantly either at war or trying to cope with some sort of crisis?
it's to partially legitimise this kinda crap.
On the post: Why The Wikileaks Document Release Is Key To A Functioning Democracy
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not many, but they're out there.
not surprisingly, they're smaller :P
On the post: Why The Wikileaks Document Release Is Key To A Functioning Democracy
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the US does not have a functioning left wing party of any significance. it has a center right party and a slightly-less-center right party. and panics about communism the moment anyone suggests that a centralized, organized system is the best way of dealing with certain things on a national level. (oh, sorry, it's 'socailism' that's the scary word these days, isn't it? for some bafflingly unknown reason...)
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