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The case for theft is weak at best. It presumes hypothetical revenue losses that companies would have garnered if people had bought the product or subscribed to the service. In most cases I've encountered, people have either been so bad off economically or insufficiently interested in the media that the choice was between viewing it for free or not viewing it. The presumption of theft is antithetical in a society where guilt must be proven rather than just presumed. That's why they use terms like 'the alleged theft' on the news where it hasn't been established, rather than assume legal liability for defamation of character. But corporate media are well aware that if they repeat something long enough, it will get stuck in the minds of their audience.

The presumed theft argument also presupposes fair courts and unbiased copyright laws, of which we have neither. U.S. courts are not courts of law, and copyright has been extended to roughly a century - an unreasonable and rather biased state of affairs in a society where information technology means the duration of media relevance decreases substantially rather than increases.

https://www.1215.org/lawnotes/...

My post was specifically in reference to the Electoral college.

1. What's wrong with cops in general? You think the average cop is too bottom of the barrel to be a cop? 2) Bad cops are bad because of their authority and their above the law status.

Yes. People have been disqualified from police forces for having too high of an IQ. And back in *1967*, the Presidentâ(TM)s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice recommended that a four-year degree be mandatory for cops, and in 1973 the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals made the same recommendation. Study after study has found that cops with more education do a better job -- i.e., it's not just "because of their authority and their above the law status", it's because of the men and women we put into those jobs. Yet very few departments have put such an educational requirement in place.

Well buddy, if there is a danger to democracy I am all for it. For a crash course in knowing what you are talking about when dropping the "D" word. http://www.1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/repvsdem.htm I'm not all about that web site, but the information on that page is the best quick explanation I have found. I prefer not to assume this is a tacky dictatorship. We are still a Republic. I'll be damned if I'll live any other way.

If you want to make money, roll up your sleeves, plug in your brain and go get it.
If some repubmocrat spewing party regurgitation about how much money I can have, I will show him how to plug his brain in.
Give a man a slogan and his brain will deteriorate from lack of use. Give a man a switch to his brain and he can think everyday.

Give me no tax and let the hyenas tax imports as provided for. Damn, if what you're doing doesn't work RTFM.
You worry about how much you're making and quit worrying about someone with more talent for $ than you.

See Article 4: Section 4 of the US Constitution. I think that pretty much sums it up. I just cited a source, not a commentary.

http://www.1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/repvsdem.htm

If you read that you'll note that the difference is between who has power. In a republic, it's the individuals. In a democracy, it's the group (the government in this case).

The government is well beyond the bounds of the Constitution and has exceeded it's allowed powers. There is a reason that the Constitution spells out powers that the government has and explicitly states, "Hey, if it ain't in here, you can't do it without an amendment". But somehow that got forgotten.

Though I must agree with you, I don't think there should be political parties. I don't think they should be illegal, but their power over primaries and controlling debates is an obvious conflict of interest.

Oh, and here are some links so you can familiarize yourself with the difference between a democracy and a republic. As you can see from the articles, the difference is far greater than just a different pronunciation of the same word.

The distinction between our Republic and a democracy is not an idle one. It has great legal significance.

The United States is, indeed, a republic, not a democracy.

What distinguishes a republic is that it has an elected government.

Google is your friend, my friend.

Anecdotally, a athletic friend of mine who had a black belt was turned down for enrollment into the police academy because he "lack life experience" while an acquaintance who spent a year as a bouncer at a strip club got accepted.


Oh, please. They (the police) turn down people who are too SMART. http://www.1215.org/lawnotes/lawnotes/cop104.htm