Slashdot Mirror
Iran May Shut Down Internet During Election
daveschroeder writes "'The Iranian government might block private access to the Internet for the general legislative election on March 14, two Iranian news outlets reported Monday. In 2006, the authorities banned download speeds on private computers faster than 128 kilobytes per second. The government also uses sophisticated filtering equipment to block hundreds of Web sites and blogs that it considers religiously or politically inappropriate. Many bloggers have been jailed in the past years, and dozens of Web sites have been shut down.' It would appear that Iran's own government is more a threat to the nation's internet connectivity than the fragility of the undersea cable network."
This was trimmed from the original submission:
Slashdot readers may recall the assertions, roundly dismissed by undersea cable experts, that the cables were deliberately cut to sever Iran's internet connectivity, which, contrary to popular belief, never occurred.
Many fervently believed the cable "cuts" were a prelude to war; still others insisted they were part of a plot to prevent the opening of the Iranian Oil Bourse. Interestingly, no one could explain how cutting only one of several mechanisms of Internet connectivity to Iran would stop the bourse from opening...
Well, there was no secret invasion of Iran, and the Iranian Oil Bourse, after many self-incurred delays, still opened, to little fanfare. The opening of the bourse -- which doesn't deal in US dollars -- was supposed to be the turning point that sent the dollar into a freefall; however, myriad other factors seem to be hurting the dollar just fine on their own.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I think it is incredibly important to take a step back, get some perspective on things, and realize that actual totalitarian regimes are far more dangerous and damaging to individual freedoms and the free flow of information, in a very real and tangible sense, than even the wildest imagined conspiracy theories.
So many people in the technology world seem to be worried about censorship of user's rights online, and some must certainly work for the vendors who supplied Iran with the "sophisticated" filtering technology. My question is why are companies supplying countries with a known track record for human rights violations and crimes against people speaking out against the government?
This is typical and not too surprising. The nice thing for them is there's no chance of us going to war with either Hillary or Obama in office. They'd have to bomb the capital building... and even then...
I am posting anonymous because I know some classified information that I shouldn't, let alone reveal. Their "sophisticated equipment" is a Halliburton project.
Run uncensored internet to the target country. It wouldn't surprise me if this actually happened.
Never overestimate the end user. -jeramy b. smith
It's a CONSIPRACY!
Wait... is it still considered a conspiracy if it's out in the open and it's definitely 100% not the US or oil companies? I'm not sure which I prefer, prelude to war or the possibility that the Iranian leadership could become MORE crazy.
Being a naive westerner, it appears to me that the freedom-hugging ideas that float around on the internets don't seem to have an effect on political/religious thinking of countries like Iran.
Does this indicate that it is having an effect?
More seriously, we need to research better real-time speech-to-text and dissident video and audio outlets need to provide transcripts for faster downloading and allow real-time participation over slow pipes.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Once they start using Diebold, it will happen here inadvertantly as opposed to intentionally.
Use your head, can't you, use your head,
You're on earth, there's no cure for that - S. Beckett
I remember listening to the Persian/Canadian blogger who at Wikimania 2005 (Frankfurt) talked about blogging, activism and internet censorship. He mentioned that the Iranian government was pretty lax compared to China and many others, and speculated that it might continue like that. However, they are really picking up speed now sadly. Probably because the iranian blogosphere was so hopeful and full of momentum in 2005.
I certainly don't support this, however I am curious as to what the real rationale is and for HOW LONG the internet is gone. For example, here in Canada we have a media blackout on election results during the day the elections are running... obviously that's not a problem in Iran because the TV is estate controlled, but I can definitely see something like that being used to justify internet closure. I personally don't support any kind of blackout since it sets precedent, but you kind of have to keep in mind that without a constitution and censorship tendencies, legislation like this passes through without a blink.
Wow, nice hate. Iran's leaders may be a bunch of retarded assholes, but that doesn't mean you can't have a little sympathy for the people they're fucking over.
Should I call you an inbred idiot because you're being led by one of them? Didn't think so.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
1. So it will only block private access. Does this mean you can still log on to the net from work?
2. What is this meant to do? I see no real security benefits to blocking the internet.
3. In speculating after what happened in Africa, is this an attempt to block outsiders from knowing what is going on in the country, or to keep outsiders from influencing the country, or to keep their own people unaware of what is going on in their own country? No matter which one, info will come out eventually, so the only thing I can see happening is that people can't tell others what is going on at the polling places before it is too late. But either way it would be too late, because there wouldn't be time for others to come and help out if there is forced voting.
I guess I'm just confused as to how this is supposed to help them out, as it only makes them seem overly secretive, with little to no long term benefit.
An ignorant population is one that a government loves, they are easy to dupe for things like tax rises that don't look like tax rises, pr press releases that are treated as real news, etc. etc.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
...a fundamentalist regime that doesn't much like free thought, free association or free speech. I bet ol' George Bush can't make up his mind whether to bomb them or hug them. And would anybody like to take a bet on whether Yahoo served the bloggers up to Iran's secret police on a platter?
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
Maybe with a controlled media and no internet they are just trying to prevent the media from declaring a winner at 23% precincts reporting, just so they can say they were the first to announce it.
this story doesn't help us to understand why the usa is the center of all evil in the world. where is my giant list of us cold war atrocities? where is my creative line of reasoning as to explain how the usa is responsible for what its enemies do?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Can I suggest an upsell?
*License* the rope. Patent the knot design.
Get subscribers to sign up for the feature presentation. Then copyright the video.
Sell advertising slots. Tie in action figures complete with movable rope.
Air a documentary on E!. Stir up the talk show networks with a recorded last message.
Write a computerized algorithm for robots to tie knots. Patent that.
Then no one can die this way again without your estate's permission. Sue them posthumously with previously prepared legal documents.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Remember, this is slashdot. Political correctness is required. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT state that the Iranian government is an islamic theocracy and is doing exactly what it's religion is asking.
... ... obviously has NOTHING AT ALL to do with islam.
Despite every member of that government stating that this is islam, ie. censorship, gay executions, repression ("islam" in arabic), all are essential tools for living the islamic religion. Ie. doing censorship, genocide on gays, starting wars etc is obviously all part of being a muslim (muslims disagree, allah, however does not (e.g. kuran 2:216), then again allah also says muslims should lie about this)
In short, state censorship, despite being a central tenet of islam, which is long implemented by this islamic government, with islamic punishments for dissent (ie. death), remember all these constant violations of human rights, and basic decency
(so speak the gods of political correctness, ensuring more people die needlessly every day)
* if you need an excuse, this is all bush's fault, and obviously certainly NOT of the appeasement tactics of the democrat president "carter" in the 70's
I hear about the internet being able to "route around the damage"? Doesn't appear to be the case, does it? Besides, it doesn't seem to have much effect on elections anyway. The Americans are still electing crooked politicians in spite of the internet. It doesn't present much of a threat to the status quo as one would hope. Still waiting for an effective wireless mesh so that we can cut the corporate cable...
What?
The poster reiterated comments made by Obama. If you don't agree with the comments, don't vote Obama. Don't shoot the messenger.
The govt. would benefit from an ignorant unproductive populace. The only people who'd benefit from an informed productive populace would be said populace... and everybody outside of Iran.
This is bullshit. Hillary has been prowar, except when campaigning. The Clinton administration had a couple war efforts. Obama's foreign policy guy is Brzezinski, who isn't specifically anti-war. Only when it's a terrible, terrible idea.
Can we not mod up baseless political bullshit from either side? Thanks.
Please stop stalking me, bro.
Curring underseas cable, changing the name-server like Pakistan just did and shutting off YouTube for hours, sometimes affects alot more than thie own country. The InterNet is robust from attack but not invulnerable.
Everyone gets the government they deserve.
The infringement of civil liberties in Iran is being justified to counteract 'American interference', just like the wiretapping is getting justified by 'terrorist plotting'
IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
the one who holds the usa responsible for all evil in the world, including things its enemies do, in a creative line of reasoning that excludes the existence of all other players and agendas
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
but don't let that stop you from being blind and prejudicial
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Because Hezbollah and Hamas target civilians. Period.
If their attacks restricted themselves to Israeli soldiers, military installations & equipment, and political and military infrastructure, they'd have more sympathy in the West.
Firing rockets indiscriminately into civilian areas; bombing markets, discos, stores and buses loses them all credibility and plants them firmly in the realm of "terrorist organization". They use the threat and practice of violence against an unarmed civilian population as a weapon.
Considering Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May of 2000, according to U.N. Resolution 425, Hezbollah was to have disarmed. Did they? No. They aren't to be trusted and need to be treated accordingly.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
The cable cuts weren't meant to disrupt communications completely, they were to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt among potential non-dollar oil investors. Simple, logical explanation. Now, I ask you all, why might someone in the intelligence business want us to believe that the cable cuts were mere coincidence?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
If the US keeps nukes, we should shut the fuck up about anyone else getting nukes. Hell, we should give every nation their own nukes and delivery system. MAD you know. That's the only use for nukes, so you might as well do it right.
Since the US will never do that, I think we should get rid of ours. Seems our real threats are goat-herders with 50-year-old tech and more stomach for the fight than the nation that took it to their homeland.
Don't need nukes for that, we need high tech weapons to pick out the terrorists from civilian populations.
Blar.
They make contradictory claims about why, but in the end, it is a one day inconvenience for internet users. The most sinister reason I can think of for them wanting to shut it down is to prevent riots caused by posts alleging election improprieties (real or imagined). Really sinister.
Am I missing something? What's the big deal?
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
While I don't think you're flamebait, you are misrepresenting the facts a bit. Obama wants to eliminate nukes throughout the world, not just the US. You also fail to mention that George bush is dismantling weapons at a rate which will put "the total number of American nuclear weapons would be at the lowest levels since" IKE's days.
The sky might be lower, but it certainly isn't falling.
Just shut it completely down. Null-route everything in Iran. Nothing in, nothing out, make it a great big echo chamber. If they want to completely screw their population they shouldn't half-ass it. They need to full-ass it.
--
# Canmephians for a better Linux Kernel
$Stalag99{"URL"}="http://stalag99.net";
True, but didn't OCCUPY any land, which is what the Resolution was about.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Or not...as the case may be here in the U.S.
Insight full my ass.
He didn't mention anything about the people, it was about the people controlling the countries.
Were you just sitting at home in your smelly underwear looking for any pathetic reason to spout of your rant? It sure seems that way.
Your comment is not insightful in any way.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Try reading again, he made no specifications whatsoever as to people or leaders, he tarred the whole place with the same brush. For added points, look at his posting history. He's a bitter motherfucker alright.
By the way, when you accuse somebody of ranting, try a spellchecker first, it'll make you look like less of a loon yourself. Meanwhile, I'm off to find some smelly underwear. I usually don't keep any at the office, you know, the business that I own and run?
Man, for such a low UID, you really are a fucktard.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Well your probably getting screwed long term because all those things are going to go up significantly. However, you probably could have asked for a 5 year lease to lock in the rate, if that made sense for your situation. You can also control water and heating to an extent. Realize that the reason for a landlord not wanting to pay utilities is because he cannot control those costs. He can reward good tenants with appliances and repairs because he knows they take care of their apartments. However, a good tenant will not turn his thermostat down to 50 at night if he doesn't pay the bills. Place that bill in the tenants hands and he can decide on his own.
--- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
How then will I get my prons?
I agree completely. The Colombian government was actually participating with Chavez and France to get those hostages released by the FARC and were making good headway, when out of nowhere the US sent in a delegation to meet with the president. Next thing you know Chavez is kicked out and Ecuador gets bombed. Now there are troops lining up in both Ecuador and Venezuela, and Brazil is calling for public apologies to Ecuador from Colombia. The whole region is now being engulfed in a dispute that seemingly stemmed from US intervention over what appeared to be a large step forward in negotiations with one of the greatest unruly powers in Colombia.
I can't begin to imagine what it is the US has invested in Colombia that would have necessitated Colombia's sudden change of heart.
You're nothing; like me.
Change Ayatollah for Bush, and you've made my point for me. Cheers. And chill out dude. Those kids on your lawn? Much more important.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
No it doesn't. Outside of current and former UK colonies (like the US), and Holland for some reason, no other country has Hezbollah listed as a terrorist organization.
The satellite dish in this case is not illegal like DirecTV, which wants people to pay to see their signal. It is illegal because the US does not want Americans to hear news from the representative organization of the Shia in southern Lebanon - Hezbollah.
Nothing; my point, though, is that we don't need to deliberately destroy internet infrastructure to do so, as has been alleged. There are much more unobtrusive ways to collect foreign intelligence.
"that doesn't mean you can't have a little sympathy for the people who are allowing themselves to be fucked over."
I fixed your post to make it accurately reflect reality.
Disingenuously painting someone as a victim when they fail to help themselves doesn't do much for my willingness to have sympathy for them.
I'll help: the actions of the United States could be said to have paved the way for the current regime to come to power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
Too busy staying alive... ~ R.A.
"Right, the millions of people who supported the Bush in 1979, the millions who supported the mass executions of hundreds of thousands of people in the months following and the millions of people who openly and fervently supported the mass human wave attacks of a million unarmed children against the Iraqi army in the 1980's all applaud your liberal guilt and mindless cheering of the common man.
Moreover the the fact that the police in Iran openly execute up to 10 people a day for the crime of 'being gay' or 'getting raped', or simply talking back and they do this with the full faith and support of a majority of the population there only drives the point home more.
If some huge percentage of the populace were against the regime, why is it that it's still around and barely 25% of the population of Iran has any living memory of a country BEFORE the Islamic Revolution? Why is that, oh ye of hand wringing Che T-shirt wearing fucking stupidity?
Why is that?"
Ok, I did what you suggested, and it seems your point is that you're afraid/unable to answer his question.
My point, if you were paying attention, is that tarring an entire country based on the actions of some is stupid and disingenuous. Do keep up, gotcha-boy.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Oh we're gonna do that. US = Nazi Germany, America worst nation in the history of the planet, are we? Tearing pages out of Howard Zinn and smoking them again?
Ok d00d, torch that Starbucks! Vulva La Revolucion!!!!
I simply don't care about your "point", and only referenced it because you obviously didn't do anything to further it in your previous reply.
Do try to understand what you're replying to.
Now, about those questions you're still afraid to answer...
America worst nation in the history of the planet, are we?
I'd like to know why you think that. The US is OK by my book, just not as great as some fervent patriots make her out to be though.
Vulva La Revolucion
I didn't know you were a hyper-feminist.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
I simply don't care about your "point",
You should, it's what started this whole sub-thread.
Do try to understand what you're replying to.
Funnnnneeeeeee.
Now, about those questions you're still afraid to answer...
I did answer them. You just don't like the answer because you're trying to make some obscure point that has no relevance to the discussion you butted into.
Weak troll attempt. FAIL.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
"I did answer them."
Funny, all I saw was your troll that sated "Change Ayatollah for Bush, and you've made my point for me. Cheers. And chill out dude. Those kids on your lawn? Much more important." and have yet to see your "answers".
That's because you didn't answer the questions, aren't capable of answering them, and are in fact lying. Which is incredibly sad, but totally obvious.
"Weak troll attempt."
Don't be so hard on yourself, your reply to me wasn't that bad.
Answer the questions, we can check your posting history and confirm you haven't, so stop lying and dodging trolling and answer the man's questions or admit you can't.
How am I bashing the US, Dave?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Let's hope they don't mean that literally, recalling recent events involving Pakistan.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
For heavens sakes, do you think they actually have a choice in the matter?
Please remember that most of the middle east considers apostasy from islam as a capital offense. So, if you protest, you die.
Us americans have a choice. We could band together and vote out the crap in office. But we just don't care enough to do so. Iran (or any other oppressive government for that matter) can effectively scare its citizenry into reluctant compliance.
If you're facing up against a regime that doesn't respect basic human rights, you need more than mere smarts or a kick-ass attitude. You will likely need to be braver than shit, because anyone in power who has even the slightest bit of foresight will probably have you arrested and executed before you can blink an eye.
Perhaps if you were one of those citizens in the middle of this mess, you might think differently.
It's true that complacency can let you get screwed over. However, in this case it is FAR from being the only factor.
Oh, and I just thought I'd point out the irony here:
"Just like an ID'er, assume you know something is true when it isn't."
"Dave is many things, but he doesn't post AC to support himself."
How would anyone but Dave know that? Damn, you aren't very smart, are you Dave? How did you ever get into spook school?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
"For heavens sakes, do you think they actually have a choice in the matter?"
They do, regardless of whether I say so or not.
"If you're facing up against a regime that doesn't respect basic human rights, you need more than mere smarts or a kick-ass attitude."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_revolution
They seem to have dealt with exactly those issues not too long ago.
"Perhaps if you were one of those citizens in the middle of this mess, you might think differently."
Nope. I've always believed freedom sometimes requires bloodshed. I'm not you, I have convictions that don't change with the wind or what's convenient.
"Us americans have a choice."
So do Iranians, they can take up arms and overthrow their government.
Oh wait, they'd never do that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_revolution
"Open your eyes just a little wider..."
I've read every reply from you in this thread.
All you have to do to shut me up is post the answers, a link to them, or an admission that you're a coward and won't answer.
Trite replies are fun, but all they do is reinforce your failure to answer the questions you're afraid of.
"God, I really wish you would already."
I have and you're a liar, you never answered his questions.
This is so fun. As I pointed out, only Dave would know that Dave doesn't post AC, but you claimed to know he doesn't. Furthermore, only Dave would care that someone had figured out he was posting AC. Why don't you post from your real account and prove me wrong? Oh, because you can't. Because you're Dave, who posts AC all the time so he can engage in small minded, bitter retribution against those who would dare question him, without losing his supposed reputation as a cool, rational thinker.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
For all the porn.
along with the actions of a number of other players, including, believe it or not, the iraqis themselves
when we look to the usa as the blame for everything, you implicitly say the usa is the solution to the problems. yet of course the goal of blaming the usa for everything is to get the usa uninvolved... huh? it doesn't logically follow
if you don't want the usa involved in other parts of the world, you don't blame the usa for things, you blame the iraqis for what happens in iraq, the brazilians for what happens in brazil, the russians for what happens in russia, etc.
what an amazing concept
people say 9/11 is the fault of the usa. saner people that is, not those who think 9/11 was a government plot. they know it was done by al qaeda, but they say it happeend in the usa, which is our security, and therefore our fault
well, if something happens in iraq, it should be iraqis fault. this is the ONLY route to a sense of accountability and responsibility in the world that sees the usa less involved
the path of blaming the usa for everything leads the usa to be more involved in the world
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
There are a few religious radicals in Iran in the lower to mid levels of the government, but they are significantly outnumbered by the other group.
Wanna know who this other group is? Please read on, till the end...
I start with someone you are familiar with; do you consider Dick Cheney a radical Christian or a ruthless businessman which uses religion or any other tool as a means to make profit? like when he talks about supporting the troops does he really care about the troops or he has an agenda of his own? Well, Cheney is one of the members of the "Other Group", the businessmen, except he is American.
In Iran we have our own businessmen. Since the 'Islamic' revolution of 1979, these people have taken over the government in a country where 90%+ of the economy is owned and operated by the government.
A clear example, is the largest of these business entities: Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC), most recent bogeyman on CNN/FOX. While the American media focuses on the 'military' part of IRGC's operation, they neglect to mention the much much bigger side of IRGC. Revolutionary Guards is the single biggest business entity in Iran, they build all the dams, bridges, tunnels and roads, railroad, they operate civilian airports all across the country, they do the largest mining operations, they own many of the largest and most profit generating financial institutions in Iran and this list goes on forever.
Almost half of the members of the current parliament are former IRGC members, Ahmadinejad himself made his way to being Tehran's Mayor and later, Iran's president through IRGC.
Another example is Mesbah Yazi, a mid-level clergy, known as the mentor of Ahmadinejad, the biggest fucking piece of shit I know in Iran. Plays the same role to Ahmadi Nejad as Dick plays to Bush. But there's another side to this guy, he is also known as "Sultan of Sugar" in Iran. He controls import, distribution and sale of all Sugar in Iran. Believe me, in a country of 70 million population a monopoly on sugar is better than a monopoly on gold mines. He also says that the 'Zionist regime' of Israel is doomed, however nuking them means end of the sweet sugar business for him.
Former president Rafsanjani, former parliament speaker Nategh Noori and many others are businessmen too. They don't give a fuck about religion unless in public when preaching people.
In conclusion, I just want you to think, what benefit does nuking Israel which guarantees a much much harsher reaction from Israel bring to these ruling businessmen? See, that's why Iran, even with nukes is no threat at all to any other country?
All that matters to these people is survival of their business, they are not religious zealots, they don't believe in the second coming or afterlife or crap like what they preach to people. If a day comes where wiping their asses with pages of Quran helps them keep control of their business, then that's what they WILL HAPPILY DO.
Thanks for reading my rant.
Adding up to that, one interesting and very recent example: One commander of Tehran's police force (also a high ranking IRGC General) who runs the division in charge of shutting down any voice of protest (can't translate name to English) was arrested last week in a brothel run by and for IRGC members with six girls. The girls confessed that he asked them to take off their cloth and do a prayers game! Girls could not believe such a person which is so famous for enforcing Islamic moral values would make fun of most sacred things in Islam like that. He was arrested by the direct order of head of Judiciary without informing Tehran's General Prosecuter because GP has close ties to IRGC and would have stopped the operation. There's chaos in Judiciary now and they are trying to keep it as quite as possible, at least before the election. His replacement did not g
Well, I COULD just claim you were a Dave sock puppet, but you're probably not. Just another moronic 'Merka is always right' type. So, now that you've admitted who you are, maybe you could explain what, exactly is wrong with my theory? It isn't anti-scientific like ID, because it can be proved or disproved. I say the US has the motive. Oil trade shifting away from the dollar would decimate the economy. Do you refute that? I say we have the means, everyone knows we have subs configured to do this job. And we had the opportunity. So, care to try to refute any of the actual points instead of engaging in petty, childish name calling and psycho-babble?
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Oh, and isn't it funny how easy it was to get you to admit who you are? You had a reason for posting AC in the first place, but now an account is irrevocably tied to those AC comments, just like I wanted.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
So, more childish name calling, and still no refutation of any point I've made, except for falling for my "You're Dave" stratagem. Par for the course with you. You've only scored points in your own head, everyone else here can not only see that I've played you for a fool by getting you to admit who you are, but that you can only hurl insults rather than refuting points. But everyone here already knew that about you. Still, if you'd stayed AC, there would be one less data point proving what an inferior debater you are.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I really think you should see someone about that paranoia. Do you see this "Dave" all over the place? Hear him in your head when trying to sleep? Think that tinfoil hats protect you from "Dave?" Jesus man, get a grip. You were already shown to be sadly wrong about your adamant claims that anyone who disagrees with you is "Dave." And you admitted that you think Bush et al. at least knew about 911 and did nothing to stop it, if not orchestrating it themselves.
Face it man, Dave's not here! It's just you and your paranoid fantasies. Seek help.
everything in moderation
Haha, cute. I got a snide AC to admit who he really was, try following along here, Randy.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Riiight. That was your whole purpose for calling him "Dave" over and over. To find out who an AC was. And where did that get you? What did that gain you in the argument you utterly lost? Nevermind, we're all just puppets dancing on your strings, right? You're in total control as always, and it's everyone else who's crazy. Sure thing schitzo.
everything in moderation
Well said, sir.
I think his low ID has gone to his head.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
Nice, Randy. Your true colors show through, as did nunayadumwhatever's. We have two possibilities here. One, you really do think I'm schizophrenic, in which case, nice way to poke fun at the mentally ill, buddy. Two, you are just using name calling to try to win an argument. Either way, you come across to anyone reading as a complete douchebag.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Whoops, that should be du jour, of course. ;-)
This should read "is not by direct election." I was attempting to say that the Council of Guardians and Assembly of Experts are not beholden to a particular constituency.
Hehe, you can't diss someone by pointing out things they've publicly said. Sorry you're so lonely you have to attempt to insult people to get your social needs met.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Not that I'm above poking fun at the mentally ill, but sometimes you have to help them see how badly they need help. Delusions are powerful, and some people never seem to see past them long enough to get the treatment they need. Good luck.
everything in moderation
Nice try Randy. I'm a dick, not mentally ill. And as a dick, I know when someone is being a dick. That someone is you, and you can try to sugar coat it and backpedal all you like, but that doesn't mean you weren't being a dick. Embrace your dickishness. See, you know full well that I'm not mentally ill nor delusional, but you don't like me, so you are trying to paint me as such. You weren't trying to help me, and you know it. Not that I mind, the opinions of small minded knee jerk reactionaries have never mattered to me.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Hehe, nice try nunayadumbizness. It's nice to have someone who is so into me that they read my journal and can't stop leaving me messages. You really know how to make me feel special. Considering all the time and effort you've put into this, your life must be pretty sad and empty. The only reason I keep responding is because I feel so sorry for you.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Now you're just boring me. Surely you can do better? You were so much fun before, now it seems like you're not putting any effort in. Ah well, you probably have your hands full with your full and vibrant life and can't take the time out to stalk me anymore. Too bad.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
That is understandable, you take the cynical view. I do the same. Still, it seems that keeping nukes around but telling other nations they can't have nukes is more of an issue and more real than your predicted future.
It's not like a government would lie and keep a few around anyway. Or keep the tech and materials around. The same incentives that inspire Iran and North Korea to flout Nuke-treaties apply to the US government too.
It'd be nice to stand up and at least pretend to take a few steps back from the brink.
Blar.
Seem to matter enough for you to obsessively reply. And yes, you are a dick. A mentally-ill dick (they're not mutually exclusive.) But I'm not. Speak for yourself. And good luck with your treatment.
everything in moderation
Me obsessive? You keep replying too, but in your mentally challenged state, I'm sure that's not a contradiction at all. I keep replying as long as it amuses me. Not that I would ever fall for the grade school, "I'm controlling you by making you reply to my arguments" attempt at ending an argument and getting the last word.
Remember, nothing you can do can do anything more than amuse me. You are powerless.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I am quite confident that the majority of citizens and ESPECIALLY the leadership, do not want to blow themselves up.
Blar.