I used to see such comments as petulant and cynical, but it does seem to me that we as a whole do not frown quite emphatically enough upon the concept of greed. Power seeking appears to be an outgrowth of a need for security. This legitimate need, when fed beyond reason, leads people to never feel they have quite enough in comparison to others, and this leads inexorably to imbalances.
Putting a lid on greed is a moral imperative. In recent decades, morality itself seems to have come under increasing fire though, and as we abandon all sorts of ancient concepts to do with social expectations, greed seems to have fallen by the wayside as well.
Here's an interesting little blurb about the concept of a leader being "open handed" in older days.
How many thousands of times does anyone have to explain it?
Everyone and their pee purple puppy dong understands the ToS is not a law. What they are complaining about is that the ToS puts a corporation in charge of addressing a legal dispute. The media company is going to accuse someone of Copyright violation. That is a legal issue. Their recourse for that should be legal, not to simply work hand in glove with an ISP to circumvent due process.
Tada.
Ten thousand back and forth posts boiled down to a paragraph. "So, deal with it," seems to be your attitude.
That's what people are doing. By discussing ways of unloading a world of hurt on bullies that operate in the fashion you seem to think is so cute.
Why does it not surprise me you didn't even bother to read them. Your argument was as follows -
"Because a kilo of coke costs tens of thousands of dollars. Supply and demand; if you drastically reduce the supply, the price will skyrocket."
Problematically, all the statistics show repeatedly that the crime increased along with the cost of the drugs, and decreased when the prices came down.
The U.S. uses its military dominance in various ways, both subtle and unsubtle, to manipulate global financial policy. If you really cared about it, you would spend the money to counterbalance our military advantage. The fact that you not only refuse to take responsibility for the global regulatory climate in finance being dominated by the US, but somehow invent an excuse to be self righteous about it, speaks volumes to me concerning your lack of understanding regarding international finance and global affairs in general.
The simple fact is that Europe benefits from the U.S.'s global interference with the economies and political doings of other nations, all while sitting smugly on the sidelines bragging about their moral superiority.
Our military industrial complex started largely due to a couple of World Wars you might be familiar with, both of which had significant ties with international finance as well.
I have read up enough on how Europe cannibalized Yugoslavia to know that the US really still doesn't hold a candle to Europe in terms of cynical profiteering. Nor are they innocent of the blood in Africa and the Middle East, among other places.
Your comment about the Android operating system is incoherent.
Over reaching and over reacting are two separate things. I am not even sure which the original post meant, actually. If anything, I think the reaction to Aaron's treatment has been a tad too tame. Someone needs to light a fire under the DoJ to get this woman suspended pending some investigation as to her conduct as a prosecutor.
I don't think the prosecutor is "over reacting". I think she knew good and well what really was going on, and was pushing the envelope for political reasons, not out of fear of what Aaron had done might proliferate.
While I agree this is despicable, I defy you to show me a country with a much better track record. At this point, I have even found gaping holes in the presentation of the Nordic Model countries being bastions of human rights.
I think folks take things a little too far in demonizing the entire country while other nations still have open and flagrant discrimination, church and state separation issues continue to linger in Europe, human rights violations proliferate in China, and on and on.
Re: Re: No one's going to work their way to freedom
I tend to agree with most of what you say, though I would observe we do have more freedom of speech still than even Europe, even while our leaders work to undermine that freedom both here and abroad.
I am not impressed though with the idea of emerging markets. Continually what we see is those markets being supressed in no small part by their own governments. We export services and import things. In other words, we get a lot of stuff for nothing. This is because of the military.
For this reason I think you are right about the very real possibility of collapse and bloodshed, but it seems to me this could be avoided if several of the largest manufacturing nations (China being of course at the top of that list) were to open their markets, not to foreigners, but to their own people.
Many of these nations are destroying the initiative of their own people in far more egregious ways that we do here in the States, and yet so few seem to recognize it. This is due in no small part by the interference of the US with the sociopolitical development there. We pay a lot of money to people who operate oppressive business models that benefit us more than the citizens of the nations doing the production.
Until the lack of freedom in these developing nations is addressed, I think you will be frustrated in your attempts to change the status quo internationally. America is less the enemy than the leaders within this nations themselves.
That's a lot of effort to put into trying to describe something to someone who seems to have little concern for others in any way, shape or form. Congrats though on your patience.
What you say about the importance of information security is, I think true, but it never ceases to amaze me how no one puts two and two together regarding the whole concept of "security".
If something were in Antigua that was incredibly important to the U.S., who is going to stop us? I'm not saying that out of pride, though I am not ashamed of the fact that we have a powerful military. What I am simply saying is, where is the rest of the world's commitment to security? Where's YOUR military? Where are you in the Middle East? Where are you in Africa?
Don't give me this moral superiority nonsense. If you can do it better than the US, you absolutely should. If you're going to just sit there complaining about us while we provide free enforcement for any and all international policies the "West" in general deems beneficial, then cry me a river when things go to hell, but don't ask me to believe those tears are sincere.
Your normal trolling is bad enough. This is disgusting.
I think I started the day defending you, or someone much like you at least. Understand that whatever victory you feel you had came at the expense of the respect of pretty much everyone who watched you.
Now I have been in situations where the respect of people watching mattered little to me, but it is odd that an issue like copyright elicits this sort of vitriol from you.
The very worst thing that could possibly happen if copyright were to fall apart would be that the quality of entertainment might drop.
Personally, reading about reality tv these days, I sincerely doubt we are in any danger of that.
It's not even mildly difficult to find these studies anymore. Let alone the experience of prohibition. And let's not even talk about the prison/industrial complex, by which the US jails more of its population than any other nation we can document and sets them to work as slaves for the same people busy banning everything.
I doubt twelve thousand studies would work. You fear, therefore you ban. Ban everything. Ban technology itself. Let us go back to a simpler time when people merely died at the age of 35 from disease.
I don't wish to start a persnickety fight here. I agree with you, and I understand your outrage. But what rarely gets mentioned in conversations about the evil USA is that none of the rest of the industrialized world seems to want to spend the time and effort to arm themselves. Indeed, for all the evil we do, much of if is in support of an international banking system that benefits pretty much ever nation that has a significant population of European descendants.
The WTO is a US house organ because the entire international community relies on the USA to enforce any and all international agreements.
You have no one to blame ultimately but yourselves.
I wish people like you would follow up on those kinds of threats. I have not used any profanity. I have presented my arguments in a logical manner. And you respond with insults.
I did not argue that banning things doesn't end up causing them to be less common. Obviously, if something is less common, then it will be less used, whether for good or evil. What I have said is it will not result in any specific increase or decrease in the use of assault weapons for crime, and I have demonstrated that point.
People who are against gun control are not against gun control, as folks like you love to accuse them, because they are backwards luddites who just don't get it. They tend to be people who have at some point in their lives dealt with guns and realize there is nothing magical about them. They are a tool, like a car or a hammer or a nail gun. A culture awash in violence is going to have guns, and those guns are some of them going to be automatics if enough money is involved. We have less of that here because of our culture, not because of your bans.
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
Re: Re:
Putting a lid on greed is a moral imperative. In recent decades, morality itself seems to have come under increasing fire though, and as we abandon all sorts of ancient concepts to do with social expectations, greed seems to have fallen by the wayside as well.
Here's an interesting little blurb about the concept of a leader being "open handed" in older days.
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Re: Re: Re:
I bet you're familiar with Iceland's approach to the banking issue right? So cool.
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Everyone and their pee purple puppy dong understands the ToS is not a law. What they are complaining about is that the ToS puts a corporation in charge of addressing a legal dispute. The media company is going to accuse someone of Copyright violation. That is a legal issue. Their recourse for that should be legal, not to simply work hand in glove with an ISP to circumvent due process.
Tada.
Ten thousand back and forth posts boiled down to a paragraph. "So, deal with it," seems to be your attitude.
That's what people are doing. By discussing ways of unloading a world of hurt on bullies that operate in the fashion you seem to think is so cute.
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Scapegoats
"Because a kilo of coke costs tens of thousands of dollars. Supply and demand; if you drastically reduce the supply, the price will skyrocket."
Problematically, all the statistics show repeatedly that the crime increased along with the cost of the drugs, and decreased when the prices came down.
Exactly as it did with prohibition.
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Re: Re: Re: Go Antigua
The simple fact is that Europe benefits from the U.S.'s global interference with the economies and political doings of other nations, all while sitting smugly on the sidelines bragging about their moral superiority.
Our military industrial complex started largely due to a couple of World Wars you might be familiar with, both of which had significant ties with international finance as well.
On the post: Aaron Swartz Unlikely To Face Jail Or Conviction... Until Feds Decided To 'Send A Message'
Re:
Your comment about the Android operating system is incoherent.
On the post: Aaron Swartz Unlikely To Face Jail Or Conviction... Until Feds Decided To 'Send A Message'
Re: Re: Re: land of the free home of the brave
I don't think the prosecutor is "over reacting". I think she knew good and well what really was going on, and was pushing the envelope for political reasons, not out of fear of what Aaron had done might proliferate.
On the post: Aaron Swartz Unlikely To Face Jail Or Conviction... Until Feds Decided To 'Send A Message'
Re: Stupid Americans
I think folks take things a little too far in demonizing the entire country while other nations still have open and flagrant discrimination, church and state separation issues continue to linger in Europe, human rights violations proliferate in China, and on and on.
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Re: Re: No one's going to work their way to freedom
I am not impressed though with the idea of emerging markets. Continually what we see is those markets being supressed in no small part by their own governments. We export services and import things. In other words, we get a lot of stuff for nothing. This is because of the military.
For this reason I think you are right about the very real possibility of collapse and bloodshed, but it seems to me this could be avoided if several of the largest manufacturing nations (China being of course at the top of that list) were to open their markets, not to foreigners, but to their own people.
Many of these nations are destroying the initiative of their own people in far more egregious ways that we do here in the States, and yet so few seem to recognize it. This is due in no small part by the interference of the US with the sociopolitical development there. We pay a lot of money to people who operate oppressive business models that benefit us more than the citizens of the nations doing the production.
Until the lack of freedom in these developing nations is addressed, I think you will be frustrated in your attempts to change the status quo internationally. America is less the enemy than the leaders within this nations themselves.
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
WHOAH!!!!
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Ah me
If something were in Antigua that was incredibly important to the U.S., who is going to stop us? I'm not saying that out of pride, though I am not ashamed of the fact that we have a powerful military. What I am simply saying is, where is the rest of the world's commitment to security? Where's YOUR military? Where are you in the Middle East? Where are you in Africa?
Don't give me this moral superiority nonsense. If you can do it better than the US, you absolutely should. If you're going to just sit there complaining about us while we provide free enforcement for any and all international policies the "West" in general deems beneficial, then cry me a river when things go to hell, but don't ask me to believe those tears are sincere.
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I think I started the day defending you, or someone much like you at least. Understand that whatever victory you feel you had came at the expense of the respect of pretty much everyone who watched you.
Now I have been in situations where the respect of people watching mattered little to me, but it is odd that an issue like copyright elicits this sort of vitriol from you.
The very worst thing that could possibly happen if copyright were to fall apart would be that the quality of entertainment might drop.
Personally, reading about reality tv these days, I sincerely doubt we are in any danger of that.
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
Re: Re: Re: Re: Scapegoats
Twice?
Three times?
It's not even mildly difficult to find these studies anymore. Let alone the experience of prohibition. And let's not even talk about the prison/industrial complex, by which the US jails more of its population than any other nation we can document and sets them to work as slaves for the same people busy banning everything.
I doubt twelve thousand studies would work. You fear, therefore you ban. Ban everything. Ban technology itself. Let us go back to a simpler time when people merely died at the age of 35 from disease.
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Re: Go Antigua
The WTO is a US house organ because the entire international community relies on the USA to enforce any and all international agreements.
You have no one to blame ultimately but yourselves.
On the post: California Senator Leland Yee Tells Gamers To Shut Up And Let The Grown Ups Talk
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Scapegoats
I did not argue that banning things doesn't end up causing them to be less common. Obviously, if something is less common, then it will be less used, whether for good or evil. What I have said is it will not result in any specific increase or decrease in the use of assault weapons for crime, and I have demonstrated that point.
People who are against gun control are not against gun control, as folks like you love to accuse them, because they are backwards luddites who just don't get it. They tend to be people who have at some point in their lives dealt with guns and realize there is nothing magical about them. They are a tool, like a car or a hammer or a nail gun. A culture awash in violence is going to have guns, and those guns are some of them going to be automatics if enough money is involved. We have less of that here because of our culture, not because of your bans.
On the post: Copyright Is Becoming Guilt By Accusation
Re: Re: Re: Re:
You're pretty safe and among friends here. ;-) On this topic at least!
On the post: 10 Years Later: Antigua May Finally (Really) Set Up Official 'Pirate' Site To Get Back What US Owes In Sanctions
Re: U.S. Government was waiting on climate change to solve the problem
Embarrassing....
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