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Kim Dotcom Calls Hillary Clinton an "Adversary" of Internet Freedom

An anonymous reader writes: CNET reports that Kim Dotcom views Hillary Clinton as "an enemy of online freedom." Hilary's candidacy came up when Kim was asked about a tweet he made in which he called himself "Hillary's worse nightmare in 2016." He says now that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange would probably be a bigger headache for Clinton. "I'm aware of some of the things that are going to be roadblocks for her," he added. Dotcom said he hoped to expand the influence of the Internet Party and provide some transparency. Brietbart adds that a conflict between Assange and Clinton may have personal motivations, but it also seems inevitable. Hillary is obsessive about maintaining control of information. She created a personal server in her home to handle her emails as Secretary of State and then deleted all the contents after self-selecting the emails she believed were work-related. Assange is famous for parceling out secret information."

171 of 276 comments (clear)

  1. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by knightghost · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The other Clinton started a slow economic strangle with FTA and such.

    So there's the real debate - which is worse, another Clinton or Bush? A decision between terrible and atrocious.

  2. I call bullshit ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... because Assange never did a goddam thing about leaking shit.

    He was the spokesperson for Wikileaks.

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  3. Kim Dotcom doesn't like Hillary? by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

    Take it as an advantage. No, if he really wanted to hurt Hillary, we would campaign for her

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Kim Dotcom doesn't like Hillary? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      That's he would campaign for her.... sheesh!

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re:Kim Dotcom doesn't like Hillary? by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      In your case it works both ways. :D

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    3. Re:Kim Dotcom doesn't like Hillary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      At least with Gates, he had the job because of his merit not like the current guy that Gates picked because of his race.

      Gates was not in charge because of merit, he was in charge because his family had the old money to allow him to be the main shareholder in the early days of the company. Many of his "strategic" gambles, such as deciding to sell an operating system he didn't even have could have killed the company. His ridiculous strong-arming of his customers eventually did come back to bite Microsoft, costing the company billions in antitrust suits.

      Gates had no confidence in Microsoft's ability to deliver good software and insisted on combining new products with illegal "leveraging" practices to force people into using their products. Satya Nadella at least has enough confidence in Microsoft's engineering staff to let them finish the product before shipping it, Gates motto seemed to be "ship it whether it works or not, my guys probably can't get it working anyway so we'll find a way to force them to use crap."

  4. Yawn. by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not exactly excited about Hillary, but Kim Dotcom isn't where I usually turn for information about politics.

    Sounds like he just misses being in the headlines.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:Yawn. by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      I'm not exactly excited about Hillary,....

      For some reason that comes across sort of like: "I can quit smoking anytime I want, .... I've done it a thousand times."

      Have the Democrats nobody better to offer? Seriously?

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  5. When Nixon did that... by msobkow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When Nixon did that, he was impeached.

    Nowadays you're seriously considering electing someone who did the same damned thing Nixon did?

    WTF is wrong with you Americans, anyhow?

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:When Nixon did that... by elvesrus · · Score: 2

      As a US citizen, where should I begin?

    2. Re:When Nixon did that... by Guy+From+V · · Score: 1

      Totally missed this, nice.

    3. Re:When Nixon did that... by Guy+From+V · · Score: 1

      OK, was hoping someone would point this out before this but:

      Nixon resigned, he wasn't impeached.

    4. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      There were articles of impeachment of President Nixon moving in the House, the first was voted out of committee. The only reason Nixon wasn't impeached was because he resigned.

      Judiciary Committee Approves Article to Impeach President Nixon, 27 to 11

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    5. Re:When Nixon did that... by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      I think he's referring to the infamous 18 minutes of silence in the Watergate tapes.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    6. Re:When Nixon did that... by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      And this does not apply to all americans: Just the ignorant ones which unfortunately make up the voting majority as well as the main media organisations...

      Yeah well, it's pretty funny that in the US the majority of the main media organizations lean left. Some days I can't tell the difference between NBC and the CBC.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    7. Re:When Nixon did that... by techno-vampire · · Score: 2

      Whoosh! The OP was comparing the 18 missing minutes (and the notes covering that part of the meeting) to the more recent deleted emails. My own party affiliation is irrelevant to this because I'm just expanding on what somebody else wrote.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    8. Re:When Nixon did that... by Press2ToContinue · · Score: 1

      mod parent up PU-LEEZ

      --
      Sent from my ENIAC
    9. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      When Nixon did that, he was impeached.

      No, no, no.

      Nixon wasn't impeached (articles of impeachment were written up, but weren't passed before Nixon resigned)
      Nixon's crimes was far worse than just the coverup and there was plenty of other evidence of the crimes that he either ordered or was involved in. So far the only crimes that Hillary is accused of is Campaigning While Democrat(ic), which I'm sure some would consider a crime, but isn't (yet). You might be referring to some vague hand waving about Benghazi, but multiple investigations have repeatedly cleared the Obama administration and Sec. Clinton of wrongdoing.

    10. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      Unless there's some sort of major crime that was committed by Sec. Clinton, I'm not sure what the missing e-mails will tell you. What she wanted for lunch?

    11. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      I don't think you post here often enough. I encourage you get get an account and post under your own name so that more people can enjoy your insights.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    12. Re:When Nixon did that... by Tailhook · · Score: 1

      WTF is wrong with you Americans, anyhow?

      Hillary et al tell us we deserve more bennies and the "rich" need to pay their "fair share"... and the rest is so much noise from the `vast right wing conspiracy' that goes in one ear and out the other. As long you can stand there and tell people they deserve things they know they don't you can do anything you want. All else is forgiven.

      --
      Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
    13. Re:When Nixon did that... by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      There's no way of answering that now, is there? And, if you'll look back over this thread, I never accused Sec. Clinton of anything, I just expanded on an earlier comparison of the deleted emails to a similar action by President Nixon. My personal opinion is that she may not have done anything wrong (other than use a private email server for official business) but it doesn't look good and she's put herself into the position of being unable to prove that the emails in question were innocuous.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    14. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Among other things they might reveal how much (if any) of the $2 billion in donations that went to the Clinton Foundation were pay for play. There are a number of large business deals that relied upon State Department approval to go through, and some of the companies involved in those deals made large contributions to the Clintons. One of those deals resulted in Russia owning 20% of US uranium reserves. (Not really in the US interest I think.) There are also donations from many troubling sources.

      Don't you think the public has a right to know?

      Why Clinton Cash Has Bi-Partisan And National Importance

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    15. Re:When Nixon did that... by Kohath · · Score: 1

      About 30-40% of people have to vote for Hillary because they're partisan Democrats and Hillary's opponents for the Democrat nomination are very weak. There's almost zero chance they'd vote for the Republican instead of Hillary.

      For black folks, 90+% will vote Democrat. They'll never vote a different way, so their support can be completely written off by one side and completely taken for granted by the other.

      On the Republican side, there are a whole bunch of candidates and many of them are highly qualified, with years of successful governance of their states or years of less successful representation in congress. But some late night comedians and Hollywood douchebags said Republicans aren't cool. About 30-40% of people will vote for them anyway.

      That leaves the decision up to the undecided voters. The press will tell them that Hillary should be given a pass no matter what she did, but that the Republican alternative should be held responsible for everything bad anyone ever did throughout the history of the world. We'll see what happens.

    16. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      One of those deals resulted in Russia owning 20% of US uranium production.

      Yeah, about that

      Meanwhile, we keep hearing about $2 billion dollars in 14 years. Let's call this what it really is: $133 million/year.

    17. Re:When Nixon did that... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There are no left parties in the US.

      You are one of the ignorant majority I see.

    18. Re:When Nixon did that... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

      You can mod it down, won't stop it being true.

      Truth hurts...

    19. Re:When Nixon did that... by Kohath · · Score: 1

      She'll tell then she's fighting for them. They always say "I'm fighting for you!"

      No one ever points out who they're fighting against: your fellow Americans.
      And no one ever points out what they're fighting over: the desire to spend money other people earned.

    20. Re:When Nixon did that... by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

      The Clintons have been engaging in criminal activity for at least 35 years. Look at the Whitewater scandal. Both of them are corrupt to the core, and Hillary has the additional bonus of being a nasty person.

      The Obama administration is monstrously dishonest; no federal investigation during his administration can be relied on.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    21. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      Nixon was derailed in just a few years. Meanwhile Hillary has gotten away with this for 35 years (by your count). After the hundreds of millions of dollars spent, they haven't found one. single. thing. that she's been convicted of.

    22. Re:When Nixon did that... by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Why? I'm not the person who made the original claim, I'm just trying to help you, and possibly others, understand what the OP was talking about. I have no idea if Sec. Clinton did or didn't do anything wrong, other than using a private email server and I'm not about to make unfounded accusations. Now, if you're done arguing against the wrong person, we can end this discussion; if not, keep going; it' won't bother me a bit one way or the other.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    23. Re:When Nixon did that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't forget that Hillary was fired by the House Judiciary Committee investigating Watergate.

      “Because she was a liar. She was an unethical, dishonest lawyer. She conspired to violate the Constitution, the rules of the House, the rules of the committee and the rules of confidentiality.” - Jerry Zeifman, chief counsel to the House Judiciary Committee

      Thats a false rumor. Some of the details are right, but apparently Zeifman wasn't in a position to fire her. I don't like Hillary, I'm with Kim on this, but when there are plenty of facts to use in your argument, don't use lies.

    24. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      The use of a privately provisioned and held email server for use in official business while US Secretary of State was improper and should be investigated, including the question of: were all emails associated with her official duties turned over, why were they turned over so late, and was the email server hacked by foreign intelligence agencies?

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    25. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      I'm still looking for a crime here.

    26. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There are no left parties in the US.

      You are one of the ignorant majority I see.

      There seem to be one or more gaps between what you believe and what actually is. Unpopularity and non-existence are not the same.

      "Left" parties do in fact exist in the US, more than one in fact. Here are a couple:

      Communist Party USA
      Revolutionary Communist Party, USA

      And they work hard to move their agendas forward.

      Communist Party USA: 'Working with the Democratic Party' is key

      Thankfully there are few Americans that are given to this ideology which has proven so murderous over the last century.

      The Black Book of Communism

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    27. Re:When Nixon did that... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

      I meant in government or with a functional membership and enough funding to make a difference...

      Yes, there are fringe parties all over the world and I am aware of that.

      Yes, your straw man is irrelevant.

    28. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Then let's start the investigation.

      What do you bet that not all of the releveant or interesting emails were turned over to State or investigating committees?

      I would be surprised if there are not at least technical violations of the law, and very possibly more serious breaches. The real question will be is there a prosecution? The Clintons have enough friends and reach to likely derail that.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    29. Re:When Nixon did that... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Nixon ordered guys to break into the office of the opposing party. Once you start breaking and entering, it's time to no longer be president.

      Of course, erasing records was bad too, Clinton deserves blame for that one. If she's elected, she'll be a negative for her party (the same way Bill's scandals ended up getting Bush elected).

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    30. Re:When Nixon did that... by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      When democrats fuck up it's because they're "only human", "improving", "evolving", "normal people with flaws" etc. When anyone else fucks up it's because they're evil and should never be elected. Haven'y you figured this out yet?

    31. Re:When Nixon did that... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The definition of right and left:

      left-wing wants more government

      right-wing wants less government

      Those are the actual definitions.

      No, they're not, the actual definitions are:

      left-wing wants more freedom for the majority of people

      right-wing wants more freedom for the minority of people in power

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    32. Re:When Nixon did that... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The real question will be is there a prosecution? The Clintons have enough friends and reach to likely derail that.

      What, unlike the poor, powerless Republican Party?

      Come off it.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    33. Re:When Nixon did that... by msobkow · · Score: 1

      Details. Details.

      What is the difference between impeachment and being forced to resign? That's like quibbling over whether you were forced to quit or were fired. It's a semantic detail that doesn't matter worth shit to anyone except pedantrists.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    34. Re:When Nixon did that... by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Protip: I live in Canada, and know that the US has left-leaning parties. The only person that's a part of the ignorant majority appears to be you.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    35. Re:When Nixon did that... by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, we keep hearing about $2 billion dollars in 14 years. Let's call this what it really is: $133 million/year.

      And that's supposed to be better?

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    36. Re:When Nixon did that... by Enry · · Score: 1

      Yes.

    37. Re:When Nixon did that... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      I haven't presented a "straw man," you are moving the goal post.

      Left parties exist in the US, their ideology and goals are essentially the same as those in Western Europe and other parts of the world. The Communist Party of the US is recognizable to members of the Communist parties in the UK, France, Germany, etc.. The difference is that there is very little support for that ideology in the US. They are "fringe" only in their level of support, not in their doctrines being "weird" or held by cranks. (Although one could make various comments about people failing to recognized the repeated catastrophes brought about by Communist rule and the continued existence of Communist parties.)

      No party is going to form the government in the US unless it has substantial backing among US voters, and Communists don't have that. Despite that they will keep trying. Despite their limited support they have been far too successful in influencing politics and values in the US. The US may yet face disaster because of it.

      Both Americans and Europeans value freedom and equality. However Europe has generally stressed equality, and Americans have generally stressed freedom. The outcome has been a number of social differences that have persisted till now. We will see what the future holds. If it makes you feel better I'm not overly optimistic.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  6. I dunno by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    I heard you can per her an appearance fee to come erase your e-mail server for you.

  7. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by dale.furno · · Score: 2, Interesting

    LOL Wut? Republicans Absolutely do not control the media.

  8. Re:Well... by Guy+From+V · · Score: 1

    This is awesome.

  9. Re:Breaking News by Guy+From+V · · Score: 2

    Pics or GTFO

  10. WTF with the name? by AqD · · Score: 1

    I thought Kim Dotcom has something to do with Lord Kim in best Korea and dotcom means some Internet-related company there.

    Turns out he's the guy behind Megaupload. Nothing to see here.

    1. Re:WTF with the name? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      You must be new.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  11. Re:Breaking News by Guy+From+V · · Score: 1

    Google any politician's name maybe?

  12. TFS could have done without last 4 sentences by SpankiMonki · · Score: 1

    Seriously. The Breitbart bits at the end of TFS politicize what would have otherwise been a mediocre Sunday Slashdot submission. Now it falls squarely into the "troll submission" category.

    1. Re:TFS could have done without last 4 sentences by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      The Breitbart bits at the end of TFS politicize what would have otherwise been a mediocre Sunday Slashdot submission.

      So the fact that she actually did those things makes talking about them political? Or does pretending she didn't do them and talking around them make the conversation political? Hillary-centric submissions that wish away her behavior are the politicized ones.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    2. Re:TFS could have done without last 4 sentences by Shakrai · · Score: 2

      Now it falls squarely into the "troll submission" category.

      Every Slashdot article about politics falls into the "troll submission" category.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  13. Re: Well... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hate morons who don't know the meaning of the world "liberal" more.

    Hilary is not a liberal.

  14. Yar har fiddle-tee-dee! by dohzer · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Why stop at one pirate? Let's interview some from the waters near Somalia to see what they think too!

    1. Re:Yar har fiddle-tee-dee! by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      They did try to interview Cap'n Johnny Sparrow but he was aboard the Black Pearl at the time, ferrying Scooby and Otis back home after Bananaby, gatekeeper of New Holland, declined to Parley.

  15. Brietbart adds...? by fleabay · · Score: 1

    Brietbart is dead you insensitive air breathers!

  16. Re:Like he was John Keys worst nightmare? by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

    You mean his party received even more votes and got more seats in parliament than the previous election?
    I think the best thing to come out of Kim Dotcom is effectively removing Hone Harawira from parliament

  17. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Bush is unlikely to be nominated. He is getting no traction with the base. He is supported by the establishment but has no credibility elsewhere.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  18. Re: Well... by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    well then you hate hillary because thats what she calls herself

    the term has been hijacked, what was once "liberal" is now classical liberal or libertarian by definition

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  19. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by ganjadude · · Score: 5, Interesting

    we cant afford to elect either

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  20. Julian Assange should probably remember ... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    .... the Obama administration doesn't seem to have much interest in extraditing him (and executing him (as the conspiracy theory goes)). A future Hillary Clinton administration, on the other hand, ....

    Why Clinton Cash Has Bi-Partisan And National Importance

    Since 2001, the Clinton Foundation has amassed a staggering $2 billion, mostly in chunks from globally powerful individuals, multinational companies and foreign countries.

    “Clinton Cash”: Disputations

    House of the Stackd Deck of Cards

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    1. Re:Julian Assange should probably remember ... by Enry · · Score: 1

      Clinton Cash has errors removed

      Since 2001, the Clinton Foundation has amassed a staggering $2 billion, mostly in chunks from globally powerful individuals, multinational companies and foreign countries.

      including prominent conservatives and conservative groups

    2. Re:Julian Assange should probably remember ... by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

      Ah, "good" ol' Media Matters! When the chips for Bill and Hill are down, they'll come throught!

      NYT reporter: Misdirecting on Clinton stories is what Media Matters "exists to do"

      Bombshell book 'Clinton Cash' to get up to 8 revisions, publisher says

      ... Amazon has emailed those who'd purchased the e-book version that an "updated version" is available.

      "The updated version contains the following changes: Significant revisions have been made," the alert reads.

      HarperCollins, which published the book, played down the changes.

      "The changes that Amazon is referring to as significant are actually quite minor. We made 7-8 factual corrections after the first printing and fixed a technical issue regarding the endnotes. This global fix may have made the changes appear more extensive than they were," HarperCollins spokeswoman Joanna Pinsker said in an email.

      Hmm ... Amazon ... Bezos ...big donor to Democrats as I recall.

      Well, I guess we'll see what emerges over time.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    3. Re:Julian Assange should probably remember ... by Enry · · Score: 1

      And you cite Hot Air? Deflectors engaged!

      Well, I guess we'll see what emerges over time.

      Well, it's turning out that the book should be recategorized as 'fiction'.

    4. Re:Julian Assange should probably remember ... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      No, I cite the New York Times reporter quoted there. Are you claiming that the quote was in error? Would you feel better if the quote came from another source?

      Well, it's turning out that the book should be recategorized as 'fiction'.

      When you turn on "deflectors" you aren't kidding around, although it is more of a "reality distorion field" (props Steve Jobs).

      Very little of the book was affected, and it will be part of the public discussion for months, perhaps as long as Hillary is running for or in public office.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    5. Re:Julian Assange should probably remember ... by Enry · · Score: 1

      No, I cite the New York Times reporter quoted there.

      So why not just quote the NYT? Oh right, the NYT has a financial interest in the book, so their opinion is a bit tainted. But do go on.

  21. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    You know that if you just call anyone that says anything you don't like a liar, you've rendered yourself unreasonable and unreasoning...

    Are some of the things said about Hillary lies? Sure... same goes for all politicians.

    But then a good deal of it is not.

    As to this notion that the New York Times is controlled by republicans... idiocy. Even MSNBC is coming down on hillary.

    If the media were controlled by republicans then MSNBC wouldn't exist. It does.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  22. Re:Christ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seems like right wing owned media is continuing to push the "haxors hate dems, don't vote" meme

    In a world where intelligent people do not bother to vote, the right wingers that want to drag us back into the dark ages will win because their base always votes

  23. Re: Well... by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Bernie Sanders is what was once called 'Liberal'

    It is still what Liberal means in Europe. but it has been scandalized as "Socialism" in the USA by the gop

    Libertarian has been hijacked as some small government laissez faire concept which allows for complete control by the wealthy be convincing the masses that there is no benefit to cooperative efforts like Unions to support their common causes

    --
    Wherever You Go, There You Are
  24. Re:The moderators here are CONservatives by Peristaltic · · Score: 2, Funny

    You should seek help before something unfortunate happens.

    You, on the other hand, should consider seeking help for S/T DD (Sarcasm/Trolling Detection Disorder).

  25. Re:Well... by davydagger · · Score: 3, Insightful
    like who?

    Kim Dotcom and Jullian Assange are a fuckton more credible than 90% of US pundits and politicians.

  26. Re:The moderators here are CONservatives by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    Sorry, but nutters will be nutters, and the nutter Left loves to use that term. You have apparently never listed to the fringe Left media. Mike Malloy, among others, loves that term, and it isn't being used sarcastically.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  27. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Enry · · Score: 1

    If the media were controlled by liberals then FNC wouldn't exist. It does.

    FTFY

  28. Re: Well... by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Bernie Sanders is a self described socialist. It means the same as in Europe. Political parties in Europe use the world socialist.

    Your claim about Libertarian is nonsense. Perhaps you are too busy. You might want to slow down long enough to at least get some of the facts straight.

    2.7 Labor Markets

    Employment and compensation agreements between private employers and employees are outside the scope of government, and these contracts should not be encumbered by government-mandated benefits or social engineering. We support the right of private employers and employees to choose whether or not to bargain with each other through a labor union....

    Is There a Libertarian Case for Organized Labor?

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  29. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by youngone · · Score: 1

    If he is supported by the Establishment wouldn't he have more chance of being nominated? I don't have any inside knowledge of the process, but it seems to me that if Republican powerbrokers want another Bush, they'll make sure he's their man, and the party base will have to just fall into line behind him. I am could very well be wrong about that of course, but it does seem logical to me.

  30. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by cold+fjord · · Score: 2

    You are reasoning about this without considering key inputs. It doesn't matter much who "the Establishment" wants if nobody in the base votes for them. The selection process is very much one of mobilizing the base of the party because the outcome is determined by votes of party members, not some secret backroom committee.

    There is a wide variety of good Republicans candidates running. Bush has to fight his way through them if he is going to be the frontrunner.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  31. Adversary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pretty sure Hillary Clinton is an adversary of anyone who doesn't give money to her or her family. But many powerful people have bought her friendship.

  32. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    Most of the media is run by Liberals, just not ALL of it. That is why Fox News and talk radio are so hated by some - they aren't under Liberal control, and offer a different perspective. That is simply intollerable to some.

    Surveys have repeatedly shown that about 90% of newsroom staff in the media supports Democrats. That is where the oft repeated line about "reality having a liberal bias" comes in. That isn't actually true. The facts of life are conservative, but the reporting is generally liberal.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  33. Re:Well... by JDAustin · · Score: 2

    He's not fat, just big boned.

  34. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by 0123456 · · Score: 2

    He is supported by the establishment but has no credibility elsewhere.

    Hey, it worked for Romney!

  35. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Correct. You can absolutely refute that the media is controlled by liberals.

    You could of course point at specific news papers or specific news stations and say they are controlled by liberals or conservatives.

    I don't think anyone with any credibility is claiming that ALL of anything is controlled by anyone. You can say MOST of something is controlled by one faction or another IF you can substantiate that. And in some cases... you can.

    In this case, saying that everything negative about Hillary is just republican propaganda is idiocy. That is... something idiots say.

    End of discussion. That's all folks.

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  36. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Enry · · Score: 1

    Yeah, no. Reporters are only part of the equation. What about owners and editors? How do they vote? How about representation on sunday news shows? Shouldn't they be in church rather than in front of a camera if they're trying to be holier than thou?

    At best, the media is neither liberal nor conservative. It's driven by getting eyeballs. Conservatives have used this to their advantage for years while playing the ref and screaming 'liberal media' whenever things don't go their way.

  37. Re: Well... by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    You need to learn to think like a politician.

    Owner = 1 vote
    Labor = 100 votes

    Good luck winning an election if you have only owners and labor is against you. Will you argue this point?

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  38. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Not at all. Romney did well in the primary amongst the rank and file republicans. Jeb polls very badly in that context and it is in that context that you have to win.

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  39. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Be specific please. When you say most it is little different from all.

    Also you don't need to be a democrat to have a legitimate point against hillary.

    Just because someone is not of your political camp does not mean they're inherently wrong.

    This is just more of that tribalism I was referring to before. This is how primitive people thought and related to each other thousands of years ago.

    That people are thinking this way again in the 21st century is fucking pathetic. You can do better.

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  40. Re:Nixon didn't delete email by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    What part of "they both deleted recorded communications" do you not understand?

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  41. Re: Well... by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 1

    Hi cold,
    It is easy to mistake what the Libertarians are saying, but many of their authors try to claim that Unions fail to support individuals and thereby are bad for the workers that are in them. This is clearly contradictory to the history of unions the capability that they give workers to negotiate with owners.

    It is the intent of Libertarian beliefs to undermine the workers by convincing them that their individual goals out weigh the advantages of collective bargaining for the group goals

    Divide and Conquer

    Oh, yes a citation
    "The great libertarian theorist Friedrich Hayek concluded that unions "are the one institution where government has signally failed in its first task, that of preventing coercion of men by other men-and by coercion I do not mean primarily the coercion of employers but the coercion of workers by their fellow workers." Hayek may have been thinking mainly of corrupt and unaccountable union leaders. But even a completely democratic union sometimes supplants private rights. As libertarians like Morgan O. Reynolds point out, majorities within a union are able to ignore minorities' preferences. "
    http://journals.gmu.edu/PPPQ/a...

    --
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  42. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All things being equal, of course he would.

    But all things aren't equal. The "establishment" is just a powerful faction within BOTH parties. It is the establishment pushing Hillary for example.

    However, just because the Establishment wants something doesn't mean they're going to get it. Even Jeb's MOTHER said there shouldn't be another Bush in the White house. Process that. He's also not doing well in the straw polls. Seriously ask a republican what they think of Jeb Bush... just ask... seriously... he's not popular.

    And there are some reasons for that.

    1. Republicans are a little bitter about Bush Jr. They felt he hurt the party's rep and they're not enjoying having to make excuses for him years after he left office. So letting his brother in is not seen as a good idea.

    2. Republicans don't like the dynasty idea any more than anyone else. Republicans feel that two Bushes was pushing it and three would just be absurd.

    3. Bush's positions are not the popular positions for republicans these days. He's pro amnesty for example which is not popular amongst republicans. He is pro H1-B visa etc which is not popular. He said recently that he doesn't know if he'd order troops into Iraq if he were in the same position as his brother. It is a long list. But the moral of the story is that he is generally unacceptable.

    Lets say Hillary for example said she was against the ACA but the Establishment democrats still backed her.

    Would she get the nomination?

    And before you think that establishment rules the party, I'd point you at Eric Cantor who was very much an establishment republican but ran afoul of the reform wave that is going through the party and was ejected. I believe Eric is working for an investment bank now which most feel validated the ejection because people don't have good feelings about the investment banks these days.

    Does any of this make any sense? Jeb isn't getting nominated. He's just soaking up campaign money from dupes in the establishment that think they can steam roll everyone else. I wouldn't worry about him.

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  43. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Kohath · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Unless Democrats cross over and vote Bush in the primaries to help Hillary out. That's how we got McCain.

  44. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Hmmm... not really. You're just generally dismissing all criticism out of hand. If you were being actually generous you'd not do that.

    But you did.

    Do you want to talk about any of the specifics because on Benghazi and the emails specifically I don't see how you can defend that.

    As to people being afraid of her... Quite the opposite. The republicans are actually quite happy that she's the opposition this time around. Obama was a problem because he could just say "you're being racist" every time you threw something at him. Hillary is trying to play the woman card but it isn't working out so well.

    Anyway, if you think Hillary is a solid pick. Then I will just have to let the polls speak for themselves on that one. Both republicans and democrat strategists have said they think Hillary is weak. Most of her media supporters are savaging her for not addressing anything and just going silent. I'm really sort of baffled as to you thinking this is going to end well for her. She's headed for a colossal embarrassing defeat. All the republicans have to do this time around is not fuck up. Which is a tall order for many of them. Republicans are frequently TERRIBLE at politics. Bad public speakers, bad at reading the political tea leaves. Just so many mistakes.

    So if that happens she might win. But it is the republican's race to lose if the dems nominate Hillary.

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  45. Re:Christ by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    Politicians with half a braincell, whose party supposedly wants to promote government transparency, don't use private email for official communication.

  46. Relative by Livius · · Score: 1

    We know Clinton is bad. Telling us that does not give us new information.

    What we want to know is whether she is better or worse than the alternatives.

    1. Re:Relative by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      One thing you have to remember: if you vote for the lesser of two evils, you're still voting for evil.

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    2. Re:Relative by Livius · · Score: 1

      The alternative is not voting at all, which doesn't help either.

    3. Re:Relative by Livius · · Score: 1

      So, better than the alternatives? Or worse?

      The greatest document ever created was obviously Magna Carta.

    4. Re:Relative by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      She's an authoritarian pro-corporate (anti-capitalist) socialist democrat who aims to keep the rich rich and the poor begging for welfare

      Well, her politics are certainly are a lot more complicated than I realised. Seldom have I seen such a mix of left and right wing buzzwords in one sentence.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    5. Re:Relative by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The alternative is not voting at all, which doesn't help either.

      Yes, but it lets you feel smug, and you can mock both sides while not actually having to do anything yourself.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  47. Re: Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Socialism cannot work in a country that isn't homogenous, or at least where the population by and large shares the same values.

    Look what a disaster welfare and the rest is here. It used to work in europe because people wanted to get off it quick, because it was shameful to be on it. That pressure doesn't apply anymore.

  48. Re:Christ by binarylarry · · Score: 2

    Between reading that and your post, I think it's more like "partisan assholes make stupid posts at each others expense."

    News at 11.

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  49. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah, no. Reporters are only part of the equation. What about owners and editors? How do they vote? How about representation on sunday news shows? Shouldn't they be in church rather than in front of a camera if they're trying to be holier than thou?

    At best, the media is neither liberal nor conservative. It's driven by getting eyeballs. Conservatives have used this to their advantage for years while playing the ref and screaming 'liberal media' whenever things don't go their way.

    Ever seen Network? The problem is that 'liberal agendas' tend to be a lot more photogenic and easier to communicate--for example, it's super-easy to show a sobbing hungry child, but not terribly easy to show in a single, dramatic picture that the chain of events that led to the kid's state is due to the long-term effects of the welfare system's perverse incentives upon the social fabric.

    This is also why these problems get to be long-term, because it's very effective to promise to help those people to get yourself votes, but that in and of itself serves as a perverse incentive to make sure the problem doesn't actually get fixed... Just pick an acceptable lot of scapegoats to 'thank' for it!

  50. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    Reporters are a huge part of the equation since they produce the content. Editors are likely to come up through the ranks of reporters and will be the same as reporters. Many owners won't care as long as the financial numbers for the newsrooms are acceptable and the brand remains strong. Even owndership by a genuine conservative or Republican doesn't matter if it doesn't result in a change in editorial policy. (And where is the evidence of that on any large scale?)

    You also leave out the role of Schools of Journalism, which these days inculcate Liberal / Progressive views into the students. They aren't coming out to find and tell the stories, but to "change the world" and make the news.

    All of this would be less of a concern if the media still had the ethic of being "equal opportunity bastards." That is, the reporting might be liberal, but he still expect more or less the same standards of behavior out of liberal politicians as he does out of conservative ones, and is equally ready to write them up. Corruption from liberals should be treated the same as corruption from those claiming to be conservatives. Saddly that hasn't been the case for quite some time. Journalists are far too willing to put their thumbs on the scales these days in favor of their personal ideology.

    No, the overall media is quite clearly liberal in training, sympathies and output. They can use the same techniques to get eyeballs as anyone. The real howling is over the existence of a few media outlets with a conservative outlook. That can't be tolerated! And that is why the so called "Fairness Doctrine" has repeated attempts to ressurect it, and the FEC keeps being rumored to be ready to step on Drudge and others. And more ways than just those are being sought to bring government into controlling the media to drive out the small conservative presence.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  51. Re:Breaking News by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

    Politicians hate freedom. Full story at 11.

    When it comes to Internet freedom, you are either for it or against it, there is no middle ground.

    You are either on the side of Freedom or you are on the side of the terrorists.

    --
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  52. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    That's exaggerated. Such things happen but McCain would have to have gotten a lot of legit votes to bring it to a tipping point. You MIGHT be able to claim that the dems were able to tip it but they weren't enough to bring it across on their own.

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  53. Did not even self-select by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Clinton did not selectively keep emails she thought were state-department related - she came up with a small list of keywords she thought would match state-departmnent matters and deleted ANYTHING THAT DID NOT MATCH.

    So basically her keeping state department related emails is only as true as her ability to come up with keywords that matched everything she did over years of service...

    Not to worry though, the Chinese and many other foreign governments have a full backup, which they have pinky-sweared not to use as leverage should Clinton be elected president.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  54. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Not at all... Do you want me to post some comments from democrat strategists and long time supporters of that party saying hillary is a dud? They're not hard to find, chum.

    But if you want to jam your head so far up your own ass that you finally arrive in some magical echo chamber where hillary is a solid candidate? You go ahead and do that. Tell you how it is... isn't trolling.

    If you want me to lie to your face and pretend... I can do that for you.

    Is that what you want? More people lying to so you aren't made to feel uncomfortable for even an instant when you unrealistic views are subjected to reality?

    Okay. I'll lie to you.

    Hillary is a really strong candidate and everyone knows she's just going to breeze through the election like it isn't even there. In fact, why are we even having an election? Lets just crown her Queen. :D

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  55. You were doing great until ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 1

    ... that "Please educate yourself" thing

    Do you really think that sheeples are capable of educating themselves??

    The fact is that they remain sheeples because they ...

    1. They are not willing to change
    2. They are satisfied with what / who they are
    3. They do need some kind of 'leaders' to lead them
    4. Their lives would be empty if they do not regurgitate whatever their 'leaders' told them

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    1. Re:You were doing great until ... by garyisabusyguy · · Score: 2

      sheeples, huh?

      Your language reveals that you are more 'stuck' in an unworkable ideology than the people who you criticize

      --
      Wherever You Go, There You Are
  56. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Sure, and just like all big tent parties which is both the republicans and democrats... there are people that actually care about that.

    So it is relevant... because they care. I'm not saying they should... but they do.

    I mean, there are gay republicans... there is a group called the "log cabin republicans" i think... and they're openly gay and generally support the portions of the republican platform that aren't hostile to gay people.

    And yet of course you're going to get a lot of gay bashing people that will attack them and say they shouldn't be there. I think recently they got run out of a CPAC event because the anti gay evangelicals are generally pretty unsavory.

    And that is a problem. Because both of the parties are largely victims of extreme elements within both camps.

    The repubilcans are victims of the intolerant religious radicals and the democrats are victims of the batshit insane communist fringe. They both influence their factions disproportionately to their size.

    The fellow I was responding to is likely seen by most people in his political faction as an embarrassing reactionary. And just as the crazy religious people in the republican party are seen as embarressing nutters... it is just something both parties have to deal with because all votes count equally. Idiots count the same as the wise. Fucktards count the same as the intelligent.

    And the human bell curve being what it is, it tends to be more profitable to focus on retards than any other group.

    For one thing they're easier to manipulate and influence because they're stupid. And for another they're easier to turn into fanatics. And fanatics FOR your cause are quite useful. Both major parties make heavy use of fanatics.

    Any substantive reform of the political system would have to filter such people out of the system more rigiously. First Past the Post is an attempt to filter outliers and it works to some extent. But it doesn't help when the fanatics are simply fanatics of degree rather than persuasion. First Past the Post filters fanatics that believe the moon is made of cheese. It doesn't filter fanatics that hold with the party line but would literally kill in the name of it.

    You run into these people occasionally... right and left etc... all sides have them. And they you understand that if they were standing in front of you with a big knife and stabbing you would see their political ends met... they'd stab you right then and feel righteous for doing it.

    That sort of thing isn't productive and it is to a large extent what has sadly happened to much of the Islamic world. They're all competing with each other to prove they're more holy than the next guy. And they do that by being more radical and willing to do more crazy shit in the name of their religion.

    Zealots are useful as cannon fodder... but little else. The fellow I was responding to is used by his political faction in that same way. the political shock troops... they run in heedless of damage to their own credibility, get torn to fucking shreds but wear out the opposition to some extent... waste rhetorical ammunition and scare the wobbly defenders. Or they sow chaos while more methodical agents are free to move about doing whatever they want because the field is so muddied and chaotic.

    And should anyone hold the moderates responsible for the radicals... they'll just say "oh those guys, they're not with me."... its generally tapestry of sadness.

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  57. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Kohath · · Score: 2

    I generally agree Jeb is unlikely to win because people don't want him, but I'm more worried than you are. If your sort of analysis could be counted on, then we could already call a Hillary loss in the general election because people don't like Hillary. She has very little to offer and probably won't be able to do anything to surprise anyone or to motivate a strong turnout.

    I'd guess the most likely outcome is President Scott Walker and Vice President Marco Rubio.

  58. Re:Lazy Moderators by Kohath · · Score: 2

    Maybe it's just insightful.

  59. Re: Well... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    She actually calls herself 'progressive.'

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  60. Re: Well... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

    That is a meaningless term when referring to a politicians position.

    Hitler was a progressive using the dictionary definition of the term....

  61. Re:Christ by Kohath · · Score: 1

    Unless they have something to hide. And they think they can get away with it.

  62. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, not quite. See there is the primary where the base chooses what they'd like from amongst their own party and then there is the general election where each base robotically chooses its own candiates and then tries to convince some portion of the sleepy middle to go join their side.

    I think if the democrats permitted anyone to run against hillary in the primary... seriously... then she'd probably be screwed before the general election. I don't see her getting a primary nod if there is really anyone else on the ticket. I don't see that happening though.

    The establishment has really railled around hillary and unlike the republicans that are dealing with that whole revolt against the establishment thing... there is no revolt against the establishment in the DNC. So I think it is quite likely that hillery will get nominated.

    Jeb has almost no chance of getting nominated. Ben Carson who likewise has no hope has about as much chance of pulling it off... or huckabee or some other hapless candidate that just has zero chance.

    The carson issue is kind of annoying because the republicans NEED black candidates but they need to go through at LEAST the kind of vetting that Obama had... I mean, Obama was a senator for like a year or something. So... clearly presidential material. Ben has no political history. Jack. You don't do that... come out of no where and say "hey guys, why not elect me president!"... I mean... come on. Serve in the senate for at least a year first or SOMETHING. I mean... try your hand at mayor somewhere... ideally governor. Governors are generally better presidents because they have some executive experience.

    Generals also do really well for some reason. Don't know why... but go through the list... not a lot of duds there.

    Anyway, hillary will likely be the democrat nominee. God knows what the republicans are going to do... it is a god damn three ring circus in the GOP field. Most people figure it is one of three guys but who knows.

    Point is, whomever it is will hammer hillary on all the stupid shit she refuses to talk about... and that isn't going to go well in the debates. The debates are meaningless for the base. The base has already decided at that point. They're voting for the person with a D after their name or an R. But the debates matter for the people in the sleepy middle that could go either way. And refusing to answer questions is likely to not go down very well in those settings.

    So... as long as the republicans don't field a complete asshat... they should be able to win.

    The big problem hillary has that Obama didn't have... is that she's not black. Look, I voted for Obama and I didn't even like his politics. I just thought "hey wouldn't it be nice if we had a black president for once... and maybe we can heal the racial divides and hands across America :D"... Literally my thinking at the time. Which Obama has since gone out of his way to make me feel stupid for by doing everything he can run salt in every racial issue he can find and then call anyone that disagrees with him about anything a racist. And he's remarkably gotten away with that. Hillary is unlikely to be able to do the same thing. She's not black. She does have a vagina... but I rather suspect that isn't going to get her as far in the whole identity politics game. There are after all lots of republicans with vaginas... not so many black republicans.

    Anyway... it will be interesting. The identity politics will be everywhere. I'd just like to see Hillary deal with the latest round of embarressing details to come out about her conduct... the whole Uranium mine thing is pretty fucking pathetic.

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  63. Re:Well... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can understand where you are coming from when you talk about Assange, but Kim Schmitz? That fraudster? Seriously? That guy started as a script kiddie taking the credit for work of real hackers and later stock fraud and other investment scams. And all the time he's been an attention whore of the worst kind.

    --
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  64. Re:Christ by silentcoder · · Score: 2

    There is nothing the least bit socialist about either Clinton or Obama - as a socialist, believe me I wish there WAS.
    Please educate YOURSELF about what "socialism" means before spouting nonsense and calling "independent thought".

    Hint: if the words "authoritarian", "state" or "government" is anywhere in the sentence, it's NOT socialism. There is even a very large branch of socialism called "anarcho-socialism" which is completely stateless yet socialist - in fact, anarcho-socialism would be more correctly called "classic-libertarianism" as that is what "libertarian" meant until the 1920's and it's STILL what Libertarian means anywhere OUTSIDE Britain and America: anti-state anarchistic socialists.

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  65. Re:Christ by silentcoder · · Score: 1, Interesting

    >A little over a decade ago the first human genome was sequenced at a cost of 3 billion dollars. Now, you can spit in a tube, FedEx it to a sequencing facility (at room temperature - no ice required), and a few weeks later FedEx will deliver a USB drive with your genome sequence on it - all for just a bit over a $1000 dollars

    Bad example - because the human genome didn't need to cost that back then. It was one of science's greatest mistakes, and it's correction was the biggest breakthrough in genetics since the discovery of DNA. Long before we sequenced the human genome we had sequenced a bunch of "simpler" animals like frogs and newts and things - and they were coming in at around 80-billion genes.
    So naturally we assumed that a much more complicated being like a human would have a much longer genome - many orders of magnitude more. So we built a super-computer for the kind of load we were expecting: that's where the 3 billion dollars went.
    Except when we were done - it turns out the human genome was much, much shorter. In fact it only had about 32-billion genes. Figuring out why and how a more complicated creature can have much simpler genes completely changed our ideas of how genes worked. The entire science of genetics was turned on it's head - it was an expensive mistake but it paid off - it also made all the ideas that linked racism, sexism or classism to genetic inheritance thoroughly disproven - it's literally not POSSIBLE for them to be true, in order to BE true - human genes would have to contain significant brain structure encoding which they definitely do not and cannot because there aren't even enough of them to program 1% of our brains. The genetic contribution to human brains consist of "suck nipple when inserted" - that's about it.

    That said - they never needed that 3-billion dollar computer, which is why this is a bad example.

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  66. Re:Christ by ULTROS · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As a very right winger, I would like to mention that we hold even those in our party accountable. Lefties seem to look the other way grit their teeth and vote anyways due to perceived hate toward the right. If anyone in my party deleted a server that was about to be subpoenaed, I would want his head on a silver platter because it hurts my party more than help. Louis Lerner laptop crashed and there are no backups? Two years now and no supply of FOI answered? The left looks like it has a rampant lack of a moral compass. The leaders of the right capitulate time after time and look no better to me.

  67. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by rockout · · Score: 1

    I generally agree Jeb is unlikely to win because people don't want him, but I'm more worried than you are. If your sort of analysis could be counted on, then we could already call a Hillary loss in the general election because people don't like Hillary. She has very little to offer and probably won't be able to do anything to surprise anyone or to motivate a strong turnout.

    I'd guess the most likely outcome is President Scott Walker and Vice President Marco Rubio.

    If you really believe this nonsense, you could make a shit-ton of cash right now. Among the people that actually put their money where their mouth is, you can get Scott Walker at 12-to-1. Meanwhile, Hillary is even money.

    None of that is a guarantee of anything, of course; even money represents a 50% shot in the minds of bettors. But the odds have been a pretty good indicator in past presidential elections. Barring some sort of collapse, I don't see why they'd be wrong this time around.

    www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics/us-presidential-election-2016/winner

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  68. Re:Well... by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

    "I'm not fat, I'm husky." Uh...yeah. "I'm portly." Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. "I'm stout." Okay, okay, okay... "I'm big-boned." You're big-ASSED, okay? Dinosaurs as big-boned! Put the fork down.

    --
    Time to offend someone
  69. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

    He said recently that he doesn't know if he'd order troops into Iraq if he were in the same position as his brother.

    Sounds like the only reason to consider voting for him.

    --
    Time to offend someone
  70. Re:Nixon didn't delete email by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

    They both breathed air and occasionally took dumps too. However, the statement of fact that started this thread is horribly, irredeemably wrong. The only POTUS' to have actually been impeached were Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton.

  71. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by halivar · · Score: 1

    That statement doesn't mean what you probably think it means. The other GOP candidates have said "knowing what we know now, I would not have gone to war," while Marco Rubio goes a step further and says, "and neither would GWB." That Jeb Bush is still vacillating on the issue means he's tone-deaf, stubborn, or simply not in the loop. Given his lack of ability to demonstrate foreign policy awareness, I suspect the later.

  72. Re: Christ by silentcoder · · Score: 1

    All the evidence we have suggest those things are epigenetic not genetic.

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  73. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by phlinn · · Score: 1

    Damn, I wish I had mod points.

    --
    "Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny! Free men pull in all sorts of directions" -- Havelock Vetinari
  74. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Yunzil · · Score: 1

    So... as long as the republicans don't field a complete asshat... they should be able to win.

    Ergo, they won't win.

    The big problem hillary has that Obama didn't have... is that she's not black.

    What the hell?

    Literally my thinking at the time.

    What the hell?

  75. Re: Well... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    You need to learn to think like a politician.

    Owner = 1 vote Labor = 100 votes

    Good luck winning an election if you have only owners and labor is against you. Will you argue this point?

    In the US at least, 99 of those 100 workers apparently believe they will be the owner one day, so in the meantime they'll act as though they are even though it's not in their best interest.

    Capitalism is a game of smoke and mirrors and it is very good at confusing people.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  76. Re:Libertarian by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    I think the current Libertarian movement is very similar to the anarchist movement at the peak of the industrial revolution.

    Why do people like you think you can just rewrite political philosophy and history to make yourselves sound better?

    Current US Libertarianism is pretty much the antithesis of true anarchism, which relies on mutual co-operation, not economc dog-eat-dog viciousness.

    Government may not succeed in controlling big business very well, but it's still a lot better than letting big business do it.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  77. Re: Well... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    That is a meaningless term when referring to a politicians position. Hitler was a progressive using the dictionary definition of the term....

    It is a reasonable term to use in opposition to a conservative, who by definition wants things either to stay the same, or (more usually) go back to how things were fifty/hundred years ago.

    Hitler was, of course, a combination of ultra-reactionary ideas, smart uniforms and exciting new ideologically motivated violence, which is what is usually knwn here in the UK as "extreme right wing".

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  78. Re:Well... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    He's not fat, just big boned.

    Yeah, whatever, but he still chose his stupid fucking surname.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  79. Re: Well... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    *shrug* liberal is just as meaningless. In the US they are synonyms of 'democrat'

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  80. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    That statement doesn't mean what you probably think it means. The other GOP candidates have said "knowing what we know now, I would not have gone to war," while Marco Rubio goes a step further and says, "and neither would GWB." That Jeb Bush is still vacillating on the issue means he's tone-deaf, stubborn, or simply not in the loop. Given his lack of ability to demonstrate foreign policy awareness, I suspect the later.

    Interesting.

    Here in Britain, Tony Blair still goes on as though the Iraq war was a combination of the Battle of Britain and the Second Coming.

    I just hope that he is still alive to squirm when the Chilcott Inquiry reports sometime in the next couple of decades.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  81. Re:Lazy Moderators by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    Am I the only one who's noticed that any post that says something like "We've had enough of both Clintons and Bushes" or "Both parties are corrupt" always gets modded up, often to +5? That's because the mods must be thinking, "Gee, he's pissed off but he's not biased. If he were biased, he'd only be attacking on side".

    No, mods, because you are too lazy to come to grips with the fact that a post that simply says "both parties are corrupt" or "both Clintons and Bushes are bad" is a throwaway post, not insightful.

    No, you're missing the point that the general slashdot worldview is a version of libertarianism, where both left and right are tired, outmoded and corrupt, and only letting tech entrepreneurs control the world can save us.

    Haven't you noticed that you only need the word "Paul" in a post to be upvoted?

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  82. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    The fact that you vote Democrat does not make you a liberal, Liberal, socialist, Socialist or anything else even vaguely left wing.

    The US "left wing" media is about the same as the mainstream "right wing" media here in the UK. (Fox News would be very right wing).

    Just because you're not a biblical literalist, Chuck Norris or a neo Nazi doesn't make you particularly liberal.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  83. Re:Christ by poetmatt · · Score: 1

    This is exactly correct, but the problem is what is the alternative? You're given the choice between a terrible choice and a worse terrible choice. Neither of those are things that should be supported.

  84. Re:Mmmm.... by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    lack of prosecution != innocence

    So if I've not been convicted of a crime, I'm guilty, and if I have been convicted of a crime, I'm also guilty. So everyone's guilty. Of everything. Got it.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  85. Re:really? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

    Besides, most "conspiracy theories" have been proven to be true:

    No, they haven't, or they wouldn't still be called conspiracy theories, they'd be called historical fact.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  86. Re:Christ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Frankly, I'll take Kim Dotcom's view over anything politico than anyone currently in the race.. and as regards "Hillary is obsessive about maintaining control of information" it's like .. DUH.. She HAS to be.. if any of the crap she got up to ever became general public knowledge she'd be lucky to be washing dishes at the White house.. Frankly, I can't understand how come more of her past hasn't come out .. it's all easily accessible online.. especially Youtube.. and it's a sordid tale indeed...

  87. Re:Christ by jfengel · · Score: 1

    In fact it only had about 32-billion genes.

    Actually, only around 20,000 genes, spread over 3 billion base pairs. They knew how many base pairs they were looking for; the fact that it was a mere 20k genes came as a substantial surprise.

  88. Re: Well... by MrBigInThePants · · Score: 1

    No politician wants everything to stay the same. They ALL run on platforms of change.

    To think these terms mean anything just betrays a very primitive understanding of politics.

  89. Re:Christ by silentcoder · · Score: 1

    Okay, that's more detail and a correction, duly acknowledged. Teach me to double-check numbers and not quote from memory :P

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  90. Re:Well... by koan · · Score: 1

    By the way how much is a fuckton?

    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
  91. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Are you under the delusion that a senator from Illinious that no one had ever heard from before and hadn't even served more than ONE YEAR in the senate won the presidency for a reason besides him being black?

    If Obama had been a white guy, he would not have won the presidency. In fact, he probably wouldn't have even won his senate seat.

    Do you deny that?

    Again, I was many of the people that put him in office in the first place on that basis.

    Responding "what the fuck" to reality is just an admission of ignorance.

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    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  92. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    I don't know who you're talking to... he's sort of a joke. The big problem with him is that he has no track record in government or even management or leadership. I mean, a CEO would have more credibility and we don't nominate those either.

    Generally republicans only nominate people with some leadership experience in government.

    Go through the list. Occasionally republicans will nominate someone out of the legislature but that is uncommon. Typically republicans prefer governors or generals or other people with leadership experience.

    Carson has no leadership experience and no track record. He's never run anything. You don't put someone in the position of president with no leadership experience. It almost always works out badly.

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  93. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    If money determined who won, then Ross Perot would have won.

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  94. Re:Well... by Kohath · · Score: 1

    About twice as much as a buttload.

  95. Re:Redest State by dywolf · · Score: 1

    Oh shutup. they aren't democrats. The key word is REGISTERED. It's a lie. It's a bunch of conservatives who register as democrats in order to spoil the democrat primaries in the state. It's a classic textbook example of the spoiler problem with the typical election system of this country, but taken to the extreme.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  96. Re: Well... by dywolf · · Score: 1

    you idiot.
    government is the only reason contracts are even enforceable.
    without government and its courts, who's going to enforce your contract against breach?

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  97. Re: Well... by dywolf · · Score: 1

    democratic socialist.
    there is a difference.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  98. Re: Well... by dywolf · · Score: 1

    You don't have a point so theres nothing to argue.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  99. Re:Libertarian by dywolf · · Score: 1

    as I said before: most "libertarians" aren't.
    there are generally two types of "libertarian":
    -conservatives who for whatever reason don't want the title
    -conservative who are cool with gay rights, drug use, and/or crime/police reform.

    Of the people who wear the name Libertarian, there are very few true libertarians. I myself am more libertarian than most who claim it.
    My positions range from left-libertarian to straight progressive liberal. (Both of which reduce to "libtard" in most "libertarians" limited vocabularies).

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  100. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by dywolf · · Score: 1

    Cantor was killed by immigration reform.
    Specifically his support for it.
    His opponent ran largely on that, knowing that it was Cantor's primary weak spot with base.
    And it worked.

    Make no mistake, his replacement is just as in love with the big banks as Cantor was.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  101. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by dywolf · · Score: 1

    Democrats have an electoral college advantage over republicans that is only growing.
    Out of 270 EC votes needed to win, Democrats have a builtin 242 votes to the GOP's 180.*

    The biggest GOP advantage is the tried and true tactic of the challenger party in every cycle: the economy: if the economy stalls or looks bad, the incumbent ALWAYS faces a disadvantage. It's one reason they (either side) are constantly trying to paint the economy as suffering in any election cycle, no matter the reality of the situation.

    This one could be interesting. As far as all the traditional statistics are concerned, the economy is booming. On that basis combined with the EC Advantage, an incumbent win would appear to be an easy lock. The problem however is the recovery has mostly captured by the richest among us, with 95% of all recovered income going to the top 0.5%, with the remaining 5% going to everyone else. This has the effect of making the economy feel bad to everyone else, even while Wall Street and the Economy are at record highs, higher than even before the recession.

    (*even though it helps the party closest to my views, I still think it needs to go away.)

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  102. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    ... you're confusing correlation with causation.

    A candidate that raises more money generally has more support from his party and base... and that is what gets you the nomination. Not the money. The money correlates with the support it is not caused by the support.

    In the case of Jeb, he's getting most of his money from a small group of big money donors. This cash is therefore less representative of support than it would be otherwise.

    Again, I can point at Eric Cantor who spent more money on fancy dinners than his opponent did on his entire campaign. And Cantor lost. Cantor also raised a lot more money than his rival.

    And he lost.

    Raising more money does not automatically mean you win.

    It can be indicative of support. But only if the money is raised from a large number of people. If you got it all from a small group then it is as meaningless as Ross Perot's personal fortune.

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  103. Re:Well... by davydagger · · Score: 1
    still less of a scumbag that most of congress. Far less credible as well. If you think thats bad, start asking how the prison industry works, how drugs get approved, or oh yeah, legalized insider trading. US Congress.

    Plus, the amount of people that died, or litteral wars started by Kim for profit? none.

    How many people did Kim have arrested or tortured for getting in his way? none

    So, yeah, he's a scumbag. But he's far less dirty then most media figures and US politicians, because his crimes are far smaller in scope, and less destructive in nature?

    Assange has his own personal problems, but again, slight compared to what we have running the show. I wouldn't vote for, or support either is a leader, but I do support both as sources of information, because of which they do a better job, and are far more altrusitic than what we have now.

    If you start waiting for someone with a perfect record, you'll be waiting a long time with no friends.

  104. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    The economy is only booming via those statistics because they've manipulated the statistics.

    This has been pointed out repeatedly. Even the New York Times has admitted it. The only people saying the economy is booming are really just incumbent supporters selling that line largely for the reasons you cited.

    As to parties closer to our views... the means are the ends. A party is not what they say they believe but what they do and how they do things.

    Recalculate your affiliation on the basis that what they do is who they are not what they say.

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  105. Re: Well... by davydagger · · Score: 1

    Bernie Sanders is a Social Democrat. People like him have always been called "Social Democrat". He is not any type of liberal, in any decade, ever. He fits the self-description most liberals have of themself which is always been a lie.

  106. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    I don't care... that wasn't my point. We were talking about money.

    I'm not interested in you clouding the issue.

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  107. Re:The moderators here are CONservatives by Peristaltic · · Score: 1

    After reading again, Maybe you're right. I guess I'm having problems wrapping my head around someone bleating: "they lie and mark down posts....", "...they want to see it dead", "...we could all die.", while really believing what they're saying. I thought it had to be sarcasm.

  108. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by donkwich · · Score: 1

    Surveys have repeatedly shown that about 90% of newsroom staff in the media supports Democrats.

    [citation needed]

  109. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by rockout · · Score: 1

    All of this, of course, has zero to do with my post that you responded to, which dealt with the odds of each candidate winning, which is directly based on how much bettors are putting on each candidate to win. In other words, anyone can spout a stupid opinion, but if you asked them to actually bet real money on who they'd pick to win, they might suddenly not be so confident. However, looking at who actual bettors put their money on has been reasonably accurate in the past.

    Which has fuck-all to do with candidates raising money. How you got there is a mystery to me. Poor reading comprehension, I suspect, which makes your writing automatically worthless.

    --
    I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
  110. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    I've responded to your point already. You conflating lots of different things. Voting also doesn't cost money. You can vote for free. This notion of money needing to be spent is an indicator and not actually politically actionable.

    You can't say "I should have won because I got more donations."... it is a correlative indicator. Like a poll.

    And it is distorted by a lot of things. For one thing, rich people can donate lots of dollars but everyone only gets one vote. So someone can get the support of rich people and get a lots of money but when it comes time to actually win... you need population... not money.

    This is why both parties make appeals to poor people. If all you needed to do was get money then you'd just appeal to the rich and completely ignore the poor.

    We're done talking about money. You're confused on that issue and frankly it is boring me.

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  111. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by rockout · · Score: 1

    Yeah I think you're responding to someone else maybe. I never said one thing even remotely related to "voting costing money", "money being spent", or "getting donations."

    I was pointing out to someone else that Scott Walker has very little chance of being president according to bettors, and if he really believed that Walker was going to win, as he stated, then the current betting odds of 12-to-1 meant if he wanted to gamble on his stated convictions, he could get a 1200% return on his bet. That's all.

    I don't know who was talking about spending on campaigns but it wasn't me. Learn to read.

    --
    I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
  112. Re:Well... by davydagger · · Score: 1

    plus I can't stand fat people

    Congradulations, you are the problem. Thanks for making the Jersey Shore look intellegent by comparison. To quote Mark Twain: "Its somtimes better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool, than to open your mouth and confirm it"

  113. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    Citation provided.

    Feel free to read the original, which contains the endnotes. This is hardly the only time this issue has come up in the media.

    In the Tank: A Statistical Analysis of Media Bias

    It is equally fascinating to examine the degree to which members of the news media have supported Democrat or liberal/Left candidates and causes, both at the ballot box and with their checkbooks:

      In 1964, 94 percent of media professionals voted for Democrat Lyndon Johnson over Republican Barry Goldwater.[17]
      In 1968, 86 percent voted for Democrat Hubert Humphrey over Republican Richard Nixon.[18]
      In 1972, 81 percent voted for Democrat George McGovern over the incumbent Nixon.[19]
      In 1976, 81 percent voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter over Republican Gerald Ford.[20]
      In 1980, twice as many cast their ballots for Carter rather than Republican Ronald Reagan.[21]
      In 1984, 58 percent supported Democrat Walter Mondale, whom Reagan defeated in the biggest landslide in presidential election history.[22]
      In 1988, White House correspondents from various major newspapers, television networks, magazines, and news services supported Democrat Michael Dukakis over Republican George H.W. Bush by a ratio of 12-to-1.[23]
      In 1992, those same correspondents supported Democrat Bill Clinton over the incumbent Bush by a ratio of 9 to 2.[24]
      Among Washington bureau chiefs and congressional correspondents, the disparity was 89 percent vs. 7 percent, in Clinton’s favor.[25]
      All told, White House correspondents during the late ’80s and early ’90s voted for Democrats at 7 times the rate at which they voted for Republicans.[26]
      In a 2004, poll of campaign journalists, those based outside of Washington, D.C., supported Democrat John Kerry over Republican George W. Bush by a ratio of 3-to-1. Those based inside the Beltway favored Kerry by a 12-to-1 ratio.[27]
      In a 2004 nationwide poll of 300 newspaper and television journalists, 52 percent supported Kerry, while 19 percent supported Bush.[28]
      In a 2008 survey of 144 journalists nationwide, journalists were 8 times likelier to make campaign contributions to Democrats than to Republicans.[29]
      A 2008 Investors Business Daily study put the campaign donation ratio at 11.5-to-1, in favor of Democrats. In terms of total dollars given, the ratio was 15-to-1.
    [30]

    These numbers are nothing short of astonishing. It is exceedingly rare to find, even in the most heavily partisan voting districts in the United States, such pronounced imbalances in terms of votes cast or dollars earmarked for one party or the other.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  114. Re:More proof the media is controlled by Republica by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

    There are several words in English that adequately describe the post I made. Here is one of them: correct.

    The problem here isn't that I'm "stupid" but that you are uninformed. If you can manage to follow links, and can follow up on the information you find, there is a lot of food for thought for you here:

    In the Tank: A Statistical Analysis of Media Bias
    Measuring Media Bias

    There is plenty more on this subject if you care to look.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  115. Re:Redest State by ULTROS · · Score: 1

    Ya hilldog is a conservative. What a load of crap. I think Mcconel and Bohner are both Dem plants.