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The Constitution in Wartime
Findlaw has an excellent essay discussing the history of law in wartime. The author makes the point very elegantly that inter arma silent leges (usually translated "in time of war the law is silent", but I prefer "in the face of arms, the law is silent"). Richard Stallman has an essay on a similar theme, not quite as good, but still worth reading.
These are the terms.
Slashdot will falter and die.
These are the terms. You will understand.
Before, when the version was not 2.2, 5 moderations would elmininate twenty four hours of posting. Now 4 costs 72.
These are the terms. Slashdot will fail. User moderation is a deception.
The trolls will win. Wisdom is not served by the measures adopted here. Men without insight cannot govern. Where the incompetent lead, the unprincipled will triumph. Slashdot has failed. Every time a troll is moderated en masse, it is another sign of continued success for trolling. Moderation is deception.
These are the terms. Slashdot is a castle built on sand.
VA linux will be delisted. Lesser companies have aready failed. VA linux has less than forty employees left. None are developers. VA will collapse. Slashdot will fail.
These are the terms. Slashdot is a corpse kept alive by misplaced faith and fading delusions of grandeur.
Slashdot is a relic of a bygone era. Open Source has had its time. Its time is over. Open source is on the junk heap of culture. RMS is forgotten. ESR is despised. Open Source has failed. Slashdot will fail.
These are the terms. You will not transgress. You have been warned.
Even as you rail against microsoft, you use their work. Within one years time, you will use XP. Do not deny this. You may lie to yourself but I see past your self-deception. You have already abandoned your ideals. Within one year you will betray them utterly.
These are the terms. Slashcode is broken.
Invalid form key. Lameness filter. Regular crashes. Postercomment compression filter. Slow down cowboy. Amazon can handle load while running on linux. Hotmail never goes down. Photo.net runs on aolserver and never has database problems. Scoop never spits formkeys at you. The Slash programmers cannot continue to pretend to be real programmers. Liars, fools, wannabes all.
These are the terms. Slashdot is in denial.
The anonymous coward has his IP logged with every word he says. The record is complete. The trail is set in stone. The anonymous coward is a sham. Your rights online are absent here. Your privacy is not respected. Censorship is ignored and rationalised. Slashdot is in denial.
These are the terms. Slashdot will fail. You will betray what you once held dear. You will not profit for your lies.
These are the terms.
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The best way to upset liberals is to tell them the truth
- Thomas Jefferson
Back to the topic, our politicians and lobbyists are shredding the Constitution with the full support of the misled American majority. This wasn't in the EULA. I wish to move to a country with more civil liberties, such as Germany.
Well, not to fall for your troll, but you're free to leave the United States of America at anytime you wish. Unlike other countries we don't force our citizens to stay here. Nor do we execute you for voicing your opinion against the government. Such is the beauty of freedom. Now go stick your head back in the sand or book that one way trip to Germany and leave the rest of us alone.
Oh yea, PS: You're not going to find many places in Europe that are sympathetic to Osama bin Laden either. Might I suggest Indonesia, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya, or Iran as your new homeland?
Why is the country so pro-government all of a sudden, when its so easy to prove that its exactly those in the elite that control its every move?
In the war against Iraq, many of those at the top of the pyramid (G.H. Bush, Cheney, Schwartzkopf, etc) were found GUILTY by the International War Crimes Tribunal. The war against Iraq was not about Saddam Hussein, but about oil interests. This was never covered in the media, and many United Staters today fully support the actions we used against the "enemy." Saddam is not crazy, not stupid, and was probably not wrong in his reacquisition of Kuwait. He even asked us if he could do it, and we didn't say no.
In Afghanistan, oil interests of our President and his cronies are the only thing at stake. The proof against bin Laden is thin at best, and the translations of bin Laden's video that everyone thinks he is accepting blame are off at best. But the 500 years of oil (at current consumption rates) that UNOCAL and the elite's friends want access to is currently controlled by the Taliban. Again, ignored by the government controlled media.
Freedom of Speech is gone when it is regulated. With the FCC punishing anti-government sentiment from its beginning, its obvious there is no freedom of speech in the TV and radio media. Since the newspapers are now controlled by those same media mavens, they too should be ignored.
The Libertarian philosophy of non-intervention and free trade is more important than ever to focus on. Even lifetime Libertarians though are towing the government line and wanting revenge, even though the proof against Afghanistan and bin Laden is shamefully non-existant.
And the biggest kick is that we are not even at war. We can't be. If we are, it is illegal, as the Constitution REQUIRES Congress to declare it.
Want to stop terrorist militant attacks on our nation? Limit the powers of Congress as set forth in the Constitution. Create a new foreign policy of non-intervention by our government, remove all sanctions and embargos, tariffs and subsidies. Let good people trade with whoever they want, and stop subsidizing big business in every way.
I think many slashdotters would understand that 99% of the problems we complain about here is not Big Business' fault at all, but governments and the people's. We LET Congress give Big Business subsidies, so why are you complaining that M$ has a monopoly? If Congress couldn't subsidize, M$ wouldn't donate to their campaigns, and we wouldn't have such a monopoly-like fiasco. On the same hand, when we give Congress the power to subsidize business, we give the U.S. "interests" in other countries. This is the cause of almost all our problems, including terrorism!
Limit big government, and you will limit so many problems that we face in the world and locally each and every day. Give the government more power, and you only make it worse.
If you don't believe me, why not drop me an e-mail and lets debate it one on one. I, too, was a non-believer, until I spent just a few months researching the realities of "Big Government."
I'm not trolling, I just want my god-damn free country back.
Then take it back. You're welcome to leave and find a new free country, or do something to keep this one free. What branch of the armed services are you in? What's your rank? Assignment?
Oh wait, that's right, this is Slashdot. You are entitled to everything. Newsflash, the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution are wonder implementations of enlighted philosophies. Their ability to exist was won with blood of patriots.
You and I, as civilians, sit here in the lap of luxury. We enjoy the freedom protects and provided by the men that gave their lives for the cause of freedom.
You then log on, and demand something?
If you believe that your free country is being taken from you, then go help the men and women that are defending it from foreign invaders. If you think that the government is enacting martial law through a fake war? Where is your gun? Where is your militia? Why aren't you fighting a revolution.
Freedom doesn't come easily or cheap. I cherish the priviliges of being a free American. To keep our "infidel" government in power, I'm willing to sacrifice the rights and liberties of EVERY SINGLE non-American, whether they live in the United States or abroad. If you hate this country, then leave. If you hate this government, then either leave or topple it. Why doesn't everyone that hates this government and seems to think that there would be some poetic justice in it falling do what they promised to do before the last election and leave the country.
A civilian appreciative of those sacrifices their lives so that I may enjoy the freedom that they provide,
Alex