You comments are available, and considering they have about as much value as the "Click here to see how I earn $3487.32 per week!" posts that are so ubiquitous on the internet, I appreciate the option to pass over them.
"...it doesn't look very good for him and/or his lawyer."
Well, it looks like billable hours to his legal firm, so, no problem there.
Anyway, congrats on the win. Just wondering how this never got to the part where it became relevant to the case that he IS delusional, IS a liar and IS a race-baiting reprobate. That should all be put on public record somewhere, I think.
It's ALWAYS more profitable to collude than to compete.
Though there does exist the inexplicable race-to-the-bottom competition to become the most-hated/"best customer raping" company in the country. I suspect the execs just engage in that for funsies, though.
"Of course the sudden realization that government oversight of giant, anti-competitive corporations is sometimes necessary and even good for consumers has arrived a little late for most of us."
Umm...the problems which you so eagerly and smugly require government regulation, specifically the lack of competition in the broadband space, ARE CREATED BY OTHER GOVERNMENT ACTIONS. There is no "capitalist" or "market forces" or "invisible hand" to debunk or ridicule.
Perhaps if you were saying (accurately), "We need SOME government regulations to protect us from the government selling out to corporate lobbying efforts." it would be easier to see how bullshit your "proof" of the need for more government regulation actually is. Or maybe not.
Well, I see your point, and that's pretty much what I do.
Then again, fuck you. The eBook prices are still spit-in-your-face, piss-in-your-beer insulting ripoffs. They could make money from me by pricing reasonably, but THEY FUCKING WON'T. Screw 'em. Not a penny from me.
Re: Re: Re: Response to: That Anonymous Coward on Mar 18th, 2017 @ 1:26pm
"Many of the women and girls in the sex trade are not there willingly."
Ah, a rigorous statistical analysis:"Many", eh? Read (in the most recent issue of REASON) about Cross X Country, the giant, multi-agency sting/raid/bust operation that netted "less than many" unwilling prostitutes, and "so less than many it was almost zero" UNDERAGE ones.
Indicating the problem, while allowing that forcing little girls to have sex is bad m'kay?, is NOT a gigantic epidemic requiring a moral panic to deal with. Even less than alcohol was prior to Prohibition or drugs right after Prohibition ended.
Put it this way...the conventional wisdom is that the "Red Scare" was a cynical attempt to increase gov't power by frightening the public. Yet there WERE more actual Russian agents/plants within the gov't than were found "underage forced prostitutes" in this recent massive (and expensive) undertaking.
Keep saying "but it's illegal!" all you want, you still have to account for the actual size of the problem and the proportionality of the response.
Especially, gutting the corrupt Olympic pig* would be welcome.
As a long-time sports (pro and college) fan, I'm starting to feel that consuming media "sports entertainment product" is a suboptimal use of my time and to contribute money to the pockets of franchise owners, agents, and the 'governing bodies" of faux-amateur sports empires is stupid and might even be wrong on a moral level.
Comcast is going to bugger me no matter what, and I think they view "cable basic" as a bit of olive oil. If you know what I mean.
I'm not one to get hysterical about what are mostly stylistic affronts emanating from Trump, and consider his election an ill-considered if understandable yuge orange middle finger directed at a self-appointed elite.
That said, the appointment of Sessions for AG is an absolute worst-case scenario. Sessions' comments about civil asset forfeiture (or, more accurately, "random spontaneous law enforcement tax surcharge collections") are perhaps the most "divorced from reality" on any subject I have ever heard. Not just from politicians, but anywhere. And I've read YouTube comment threads!
Surely it will be a test of Trumps' own ability to do simple political calculations. Cops only have so much political power. Their victims, and the tens of millions of American citizens who obviously WANT THEIR DAMN DRUGS have many multiples of that power. If Trump reconsiders this appointment, or allows it to fail without doubling down or investing much political capital in pushing it, that will be a welcome sign, of, at least, a degree of pragmatism and rationality.
IF, otoh, he really thinks Sessions should be AG...well, it will mean some of the hysterically-expressed fears of the Trump administration were justified. The silver lining would be the increased likelihood of a single-term Presidency.
This ^ x1,000. Corruption in a European bureaucracy? Say it ain't so!
And it also explains why some of us are always, intuitively and without knowing all the specifics, distrustful of "bigger, better, (and always more powerful) government". No matter if the urge to produce such a governing force begins with moral high ground, best intentions and people of good will...it always ends up with people rationalizing a sell-out. When they bother with rationalization at all.
Given that technology is finally bringing into focus the Holy Grail of totalitarians everywhere: the ability to know what everyone is doing, all the time; people need to understand the starkness of our choices. Total top-down control ("Don't worry citizen. We'll have top men in charge. Top. Men.") or a messy chaotic freedom that will have its' own failures and casualties.
And while I can't advocate anyone else search for wisdom in the ouvre of a middlebrow movie director, I'll admit to being inspired by, and adopting, Capt. Mal Reynolds' declaration in Firefly: "I aim to misbehave."
Hmmm...given that, are the antics we see on college campuses (fainting, hysterical crying, uncontrollable fear and rage) in response to "offensive" speech/writing/opinion, setting up a precedent in which speech can be legally treated *as* violence??
One hears it frequently, that the pain felt makes the stimulus indistinguishable from physical assault. Indeed, such an argument of equivalence is sometimes also used when claiming that *triggering* speech is at fault when the 'triggered' person commits actual physical violence in response.
I would hate for such equivalence to become 'precedent-by-decree' through the kind of administrative interpretation various FedGov agencies (and Presidents) more and more resort to. Pretty sure the actual LAW doesn't work that way. A fact for which we should all be grateful.
That Some Good May Come of This Dept: For any government power that might be used to do good, right wrongs, "level the playing field", etc., etc, I'd like people to imagine that power in the hands of Trump or a Trump Administration. Government power should not be increased based on the assumed, or hoped-for, morality and enlightened nature of those wielding it. Nopenopenope.
On the post: Case Dismissed: Judge Throws Out Shiva Ayyadurai's Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt
Re:
On the post: Case Dismissed: Judge Throws Out Shiva Ayyadurai's Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt
Re: Re: Shiva Will Appeal
Also, fingers crossed that he ends up paying the TD legal fees. That would be a wonderful reward for his persistence, aight?
On the post: Case Dismissed: Judge Throws Out Shiva Ayyadurai's Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt
Re: Oh, rats! -- Er, I mean, congRATSulation!
On the post: Case Dismissed: Judge Throws Out Shiva Ayyadurai's Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt
Re: Re: Re:
Well, it looks like billable hours to his legal firm, so, no problem there.
Anyway, congrats on the win. Just wondering how this never got to the part where it became relevant to the case that he IS delusional, IS a liar and IS a race-baiting reprobate. That should all be put on public record somewhere, I think.
On the post: Trump's Internet Brigades Shocked To Realize The Government Just Sold Them Out On Privacy
Re: Re: Re:
Though there does exist the inexplicable race-to-the-bottom competition to become the most-hated/"best customer raping" company in the country. I suspect the execs just engage in that for funsies, though.
On the post: Trump's Internet Brigades Shocked To Realize The Government Just Sold Them Out On Privacy
"Of course the sudden realization that government oversight of giant, anti-competitive corporations is sometimes necessary and even good for consumers has arrived a little late for most of us."
Umm...the problems which you so eagerly and smugly require government regulation, specifically the lack of competition in the broadband space, ARE CREATED BY OTHER GOVERNMENT ACTIONS. There is no "capitalist" or "market forces" or "invisible hand" to debunk or ridicule.
Perhaps if you were saying (accurately), "We need SOME government regulations to protect us from the government selling out to corporate lobbying efforts." it would be easier to see how bullshit your "proof" of the need for more government regulation actually is. Or maybe not.
On the post: The Web Screws Artists Again... By Letting Them Have A Normal Life
Re:
On the post: Encryption Workarounds Paper Shows Why 'Going Dark' Is Not A Problem, And In Fact Is As Old As Humanity Itself
Re: on the basis of an individual case,
The second step is USING the power for more...personal gains than just the security of the nation.
Step One has been ongoing for quite a while, not surprising to see the intelligence community flex its power now.
On the post: eBook Pirates Tend To Be Older And Well Off, Which Means They Pirate Because Of Human Intuition On Economics
Re:
Then again, fuck you. The eBook prices are still spit-in-your-face, piss-in-your-beer insulting ripoffs. They could make money from me by pricing reasonably, but THEY FUCKING WON'T. Screw 'em. Not a penny from me.
On the post: Lawyer's Association Asks New California Attorney General To Drop Its Abusive Prosecution Of Backpage
Re: Re: Re: Response to: That Anonymous Coward on Mar 18th, 2017 @ 1:26pm
Ah, a rigorous statistical analysis:"Many", eh? Read (in the most recent issue of REASON) about Cross X Country, the giant, multi-agency sting/raid/bust operation that netted "less than many" unwilling prostitutes, and "so less than many it was almost zero" UNDERAGE ones.
Indicating the problem, while allowing that forcing little girls to have sex is bad m'kay?, is NOT a gigantic epidemic requiring a moral panic to deal with. Even less than alcohol was prior to Prohibition or drugs right after Prohibition ended.
Put it this way...the conventional wisdom is that the "Red Scare" was a cynical attempt to increase gov't power by frightening the public. Yet there WERE more actual Russian agents/plants within the gov't than were found "underage forced prostitutes" in this recent massive (and expensive) undertaking.
Keep saying "but it's illegal!" all you want, you still have to account for the actual size of the problem and the proportionality of the response.
On the post: Lawyer's Association Asks New California Attorney General To Drop Its Abusive Prosecution Of Backpage
Re: Re: Election choice between horrible and worse
On the post: ESPN On-Air Talent About To Care About The Cord-Cutters The Execs Aren't Concerned About
Re: Viacom is looking to be the canary in the mine
On the post: ESPN On-Air Talent About To Care About The Cord-Cutters The Execs Aren't Concerned About
Re: Number of Subscribers vs. Number of Viewers
^ This, exactly. They would be in a much better financial situation right now if they'd have been willing to "lose" some of those bidding wars.
On the post: ESPN On-Air Talent About To Care About The Cord-Cutters The Execs Aren't Concerned About
Re: Re:
As a long-time sports (pro and college) fan, I'm starting to feel that consuming media "sports entertainment product" is a suboptimal use of my time and to contribute money to the pockets of franchise owners, agents, and the 'governing bodies" of faux-amateur sports empires is stupid and might even be wrong on a moral level.
Comcast is going to bugger me no matter what, and I think they view "cable basic" as a bit of olive oil. If you know what I mean.
*-Seriously, I didn't mean to put down pigs.
On the post: National Police Union President Says Asset Forfeiture Abuse Is A 'Fake Issue' Generated By The Media
Re:
I'm not one to get hysterical about what are mostly stylistic affronts emanating from Trump, and consider his election an ill-considered if understandable yuge orange middle finger directed at a self-appointed elite.
That said, the appointment of Sessions for AG is an absolute worst-case scenario. Sessions' comments about civil asset forfeiture (or, more accurately, "random spontaneous law enforcement tax surcharge collections") are perhaps the most "divorced from reality" on any subject I have ever heard. Not just from politicians, but anywhere. And I've read YouTube comment threads!
Surely it will be a test of Trumps' own ability to do simple political calculations. Cops only have so much political power. Their victims, and the tens of millions of American citizens who obviously WANT THEIR DAMN DRUGS have many multiples of that power. If Trump reconsiders this appointment, or allows it to fail without doubling down or investing much political capital in pushing it, that will be a welcome sign, of, at least, a degree of pragmatism and rationality.
IF, otoh, he really thinks Sessions should be AG...well, it will mean some of the hysterically-expressed fears of the Trump administration were justified. The silver lining would be the increased likelihood of a single-term Presidency.
On the post: Prenda's Paul Hansmeier Now Under FBI Investigation For His ADA Lawsuits
Re: Re:
On the post: EU's Departing Internet Commissioner Leaves Behind Copyright Plan That Will Outlaw Basic Internet Functions
And it also explains why some of us are always, intuitively and without knowing all the specifics, distrustful of "bigger, better, (and always more powerful) government". No matter if the urge to produce such a governing force begins with moral high ground, best intentions and people of good will...it always ends up with people rationalizing a sell-out. When they bother with rationalization at all.
Given that technology is finally bringing into focus the Holy Grail of totalitarians everywhere: the ability to know what everyone is doing, all the time; people need to understand the starkness of our choices. Total top-down control ("Don't worry citizen. We'll have top men in charge. Top. Men.") or a messy chaotic freedom that will have its' own failures and casualties.
And while I can't advocate anyone else search for wisdom in the ouvre of a middlebrow movie director, I'll admit to being inspired by, and adopting, Capt. Mal Reynolds' declaration in Firefly: "I aim to misbehave."
Choose wisely.
On the post: EU's Departing Internet Commissioner Leaves Behind Copyright Plan That Will Outlaw Basic Internet Functions
Re:
Hope never dies, indeed. :-)
AND a happy New Year to you and all, also.
On the post: Victims Of Car Crash Sue Apple For Not Preventing Distracted Driver From Hitting Their Vehicle
Re:
FTFY
On the post: Kurt Eichenwald Sues Twitter Troll Over Alleged 'Epileptic' Image Assault
Re: Re: When messaging causes physical harm
One hears it frequently, that the pain felt makes the stimulus indistinguishable from physical assault. Indeed, such an argument of equivalence is sometimes also used when claiming that *triggering* speech is at fault when the 'triggered' person commits actual physical violence in response.
I would hate for such equivalence to become 'precedent-by-decree' through the kind of administrative interpretation various FedGov agencies (and Presidents) more and more resort to. Pretty sure the actual LAW doesn't work that way. A fact for which we should all be grateful.
That Some Good May Come of This Dept:
For any government power that might be used to do good, right wrongs, "level the playing field", etc., etc, I'd like people to imagine that power in the hands of Trump or a Trump Administration. Government power should not be increased based on the assumed, or hoped-for, morality and enlightened nature of those wielding it. Nopenopenope.
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