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Home Science Under Attack In Massachusetts
An anonymous reader tips a guest posting up on the MAKE Magazine blog by the author of the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. It seems that authorities in Massachusetts have raided a home chemistry lab, apparently without a warrant, and made off with all of its contents. Here's the local article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "Victor Deeb, a retired chemist who lives in Marlboro, has finally been allowed to return to his Fremont Street home, after Massachusetts authorities spent three days ransacking his basement lab and making off with its contents. Deeb is not accused of making methamphetamine or other illegal drugs. He's not accused of aiding terrorists, synthesizing explosives, nor even of making illegal fireworks. Deeb fell afoul of the Massachusetts authorities for... doing experiments... Pamela Wilderman, the code enforcement officer for [the Massachusetts town of] Marlboro stated, 'I think Mr. Deeb has crossed a line somewhere. This is not what we would consider to be a customary home occupation.' Allow me to translate Ms. Wilderman's words into plain English: 'Mr. Deeb hasn't actually violated any law or regulation that I can find, but I don't like what he's doing because I'm ignorant and irrationally afraid of chemicals, so I'll abuse my power to steal his property and shut him down.'"
Oh come on mods, that was funny I nearly spit my coffee out. Someone fix that please. Now to be on topic, in my experience police are criminals and police have cause me more hardship than archetype criminals. In fact the only time I needed a police officer they didn't do shit, they just wrote a report.
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
That's exactly what Fascism suggests.
In the Italian Social Republic, socialization of factories and enterprises was (at least formally) begun. Occupation by the Allies ended the experiment.
Fascism is, economically, rooted in Socialism. It is basically Socialism with Nationalism overtones... hmm, someone says National-Socialism?
-- Patent no.123456: A way to personalize
I've had at least one idiot try to convert me to Christianity while I was trying to have dinner at a wine bar in Dallas. I've had another try to in a coffee shop.
The IDIOT at the wine bar started asking me about Noah's Ark. Our discussion went somewhat like this:
Me: Ok, explain why we don't have dinosaurs now?
Idiot: They wouldn't fit on the ark.
Me:
Me:
Me: WOW. Ok, what about the little ones? And what about the ones that didn't need an ark, like the ones in the ocean? Then why aren't our oceans FILLED with nothing but dinosaurs?
Me: Ok then, what about all the animals that couldn't make it to the ark, like any animal from Australia, North America and South America?? Why do we have Koalas and Sloths if they couldn't make it to the Ark??
Me: Are you REALLY that stupid?
I hated that dinner.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
I just invite them in, tell them I was getting ready to sit around the house in my underwear, smoke cigarettes and drink whiskey. They always turn a bit white, say "No thank you" and leave.
If any ever took me up on it, I would strip down to my skivvies, break out bottle of cheap whiskey, light up a cig and tell them "Well, get your clothes off, take a swig and start puffing!"
"Please. Capitalism is the ultimate parasitic system. The capitalists add no value. They perform no labor."
Buuullshit.
Earning money and then not spending it into tastier food (or whatever non-capital good) but rather into the building of a useful tool that will save efforts and time has no value and performs no useful function ? You are out of your mind.
The value represented by interest and profit in a capitalist system comes from this saving of efforts and time, which allows the creation of more wealth with equal amount of work. This value comes from the improvement of the efficiency it causes. This is the one big thing that Marx got entirely wrong, even though people like Leibniz had written about it decades before Das Kapital.
Maybe we deserve this world ?
testing