I realise it's customary to reply without reading the original point, however.. NO, I'm not saying "you're so free you're oppressed". I'm saying that the our governments are able to offer us 'free speech' because it can do no harm. Noone gives a fuck about anything but TV and lattes.
..but I wouldn't trade US freedom for British freedom any day of the week What the fuck are you talking about? This has nothing to do with national pride; I'm saying that some people can't tell the difference between having a thing and being told they have the thing.
For god's sake, you are actually arguing that a country that completely suppresses the people's ability to be critical of the government is actually doing the right thing since... Again, No I'm not (have you read *any* of my post?) - I'm saying that in China, maybe the people are still able to parse a sentence and actually give a fuck about the topic and so would be receptive to any words of dissent sown by someone practicing free speech. Hence, maybe there's more reason there to suppress freedom of speech.
You sir are a veritable straw-man factory. Spewing them out as fast as can be!
Do you know how many civil rights violations that happen in China every day? Do you know how many people have been forced out of their homes because the government wanted a new office complex?...
Are you fucking kidding us? Do you know that this practice of seizing property for use in preferred (governmental) building schemes is something which is 'legal' and practiced in both the US and UK ?
The one thing the "popular" nations have going for them is they freely let the people speak out in protest. This does not happen in China, there is widespread retribution on anyone who dissents
Perhaps because our governments know that we have been so utterly pacified that no amount of protest by even substantial proportions of the population is enough to arouse any kind of popular uprising likely to threaten the control of government and other special-interest groups.
In contrast, maybe in China, minor protest could open the eyes of others leading to a destabilization.
The irony being that we have the appearance of freedom but in reality have none of any worth and yet we feel sorrow for the Chinese; truly our governments have won the battle to suppress the will of the people.
going way off-topic now..
I observe that in life, the sum of two things is constant: <extent to which some statement is true> + <amount of reassurance you'll receive that the statement is true as often-unrealised compensation for the extent of untruth present>
example 1: £12 for a 1.5m USB cable in a basket at PCWorld, beneath a prominent sign stating in giant floruescent letters '*BARGAIN*' - compare to two other local stores where a 5m USB cable costs £2.50 yet has no attendant fanfare declaring the imaginary bargain but does have knowledgeable staff and technically-aware customers.
example 2: In <guess which country> whose people's freedoms are in a state of constant erosion; where there is widespread awareness of this; where there is growing enslavement by corrupt corporations; where everyone carries a gun but is afraid to use it; together which constant reassurance that <your country> is the land of the free and home of the brave; where every presidential press conference is surrounded by flags, rosettes and other paraphernalia likely to arouse nationalistic pride. *sigh*
example 3: etc.. the world is replete with similar examples of people's desire to decieve; *sigh*
These kids should be learning to think on their own and develop their own ideas on how the world should work.
You seem to be forgetting that one of the goals of school is to civilize; which, in the context of living with others means ensuring that kids learn to have ideas which complement (or at least may coexist with those) of their peers.
Alternatively, kids go to school to be coerced into thinking and behaving in a certain way so that in their post-school years, collectively they can function as a member of the group.
Sure, minor variations in behaviour and thought should be encouraged so that society is able to shake itself over the local minima which would otherwise act at blockers in the gradual advancement towards a more ideal state. Encouraging totally out-of-the-box thinking may result in many societal norms being discarded altogether rather than improved, possibly leading to society's inhabitants not having a common behavioural language.
Sweden is not part of the United States. Your silly American laws do not apply in Sweden.
Uhh, but the USofA is full of lots of big stupid people who will invade any country they're told to. This gives their owners lots of power on the world stage; Which means that international law can easily be circumvented by direct or indirect threats.
Download and watch the film in my sig and you'll see that the PirateBay guys clearly don't give a fuck and are quite happy to say so during interview..
For completeness, get 'Steal This Film' (I) first; they have a more in-depth interview with the PirateBay guys.
..just because file sharing is easy doesn't make it legal.
Well, that's really the root of the issue. When something is easy, a natural impulse and has benefits to everyone involved, making it illegal is just asking for trouble. What next? laws making it illegal for things to respond to gravity without some form of taxation being imposed?
..and 85% of all unborn babies (even the one's who've just been dumped because they don't match the new carpet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7370163.stm) believe religion to be nothing more than an man-made fiction and control mechanism...
Hmmn, yeah. I'm liking the sound of this... *thinks hard* how about.. *more thinking*.. a massive class-action suit for corruption of the USAnian legal system and persecution of individuals using said system; fines to be $25,000 to everyone who _may_ have been concerned over their future due to this abuse, per year, all the way back to the point when the legal system became the tool of big business (I'll leave it an an exercise for the reader to establish exactly which year this happened.)
lol! You realise that you're posting on a thread which indicates that the USofA is corrupt as hell? $110 fine for helping ppl to watch films lol. Did I mention 'lol' ?
If you are screwed-over by the corporations-and-courts system, wouldn't it make more sense to direct your angst away from yourself and towards the source ?
I think it's quite silly for the causes of death to be changed, as we all know well enough that getting hit by a pretty healthy jolt of electricity certainly could result in death, especially for those whose health is already compromised by other factors.
For me, that's what makes it so abhorrent. They're saying "you know and we know what killed him but let's have the official record list another cause of death. That way it's much easier for you to suspend disbelief and become our co-conspirators; all for the greater good of society. Sure it's unfortunate for a few to die needlessly so that police officers aren't inconvenienced whilst protecting society but hey.. whaddaya gonna do?"
hmm, he sure was more docile once they'd killed him.
weird that it took them three minutes or so to notice that they'd killed him.
it appears to me that they are all overweight, dull-minded individuals just following their predetermined routine. most disturbing to think that such people are in positions of power.
when you have business interests manipulating perceived reality so that your soldiers will invade a foreign country for profit, it's clear that there's no avoiding american fascism.
It is the very fact that a special intermediary is required so a man may understand his own laws - i.e. the existence of lawyers - that allows this country to become ruled by an intellectual elite.
And, once again, WON ANY SIGNIFICANT CASES, BECKERMAN? Of course the answer is NO...
Is it just me or does this conjure memories of <every-film-you've-seen-involving-an-exorcism>, where the malignant spirit is mocking the priest as he attempts the exorcism ?
Whenever I see or hear the phrase 'the law', I hear it as-grunted by the half-humans from the 1977 film version of 'The Island of Dr. Moreau': http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0076210/. Their primitive minds, barely grasping the subtleties of 'the law' or the reasons behind it, have blind faith in their superiors to correctly and fairly dispense judgement.
Slashdot Mirror
..but I wouldn't trade US freedom for British freedom any day of the week What the fuck are you talking about? This has nothing to do with national pride; I'm saying that some people can't tell the difference between having a thing and being told they have the thing. For god's sake, you are actually arguing that a country that completely suppresses the people's ability to be critical of the government is actually doing the right thing since... Again, No I'm not (have you read *any* of my post?) - I'm saying that in China, maybe the people are still able to parse a sentence and actually give a fuck about the topic and so would be receptive to any words of dissent sown by someone practicing free speech. Hence, maybe there's more reason there to suppress freedom of speech.You sir are a veritable straw-man factory. Spewing them out as fast as can be!
Umm, because America sucks?
Are you fucking kidding us? Do you know that this practice of seizing property for use in preferred (governmental) building schemes is something which is 'legal' and practiced in both the US and UK ?
Perhaps because our governments know that we have been so utterly pacified that no amount of protest by even substantial proportions of the population is enough to arouse any kind of popular uprising likely to threaten the control of government and other special-interest groups.
In contrast, maybe in China, minor protest could open the eyes of others leading to a destabilization.
The irony being that we have the appearance of freedom but in reality have none of any worth and yet we feel sorrow for the Chinese; truly our governments have won the battle to suppress the will of the people.
going way off-topic now..
I observe that in life, the sum of two things is constant: <extent to which some statement is true> + <amount of reassurance you'll receive that the statement is true as often-unrealised compensation for the extent of untruth present>
example 1: £12 for a 1.5m USB cable in a basket at PCWorld, beneath a prominent sign stating in giant floruescent letters '*BARGAIN*' - compare to two other local stores where a 5m USB cable costs £2.50 yet has no attendant fanfare declaring the imaginary bargain but does have knowledgeable staff and technically-aware customers.
example 2: In <guess which country> whose people's freedoms are in a state of constant erosion; where there is widespread awareness of this; where there is growing enslavement by corrupt corporations; where everyone carries a gun but is afraid to use it; together which constant reassurance that <your country> is the land of the free and home of the brave; where every presidential press conference is surrounded by flags, rosettes and other paraphernalia likely to arouse nationalistic pride. *sigh*
example 3: etc.. the world is replete with similar examples of people's desire to decieve; *sigh*
You seem to be forgetting that one of the goals of school is to civilize; which, in the context of living with others means ensuring that kids learn to have ideas which complement (or at least may coexist with those) of their peers.
Alternatively, kids go to school to be coerced into thinking and behaving in a certain way so that in their post-school years, collectively they can function as a member of the group.
Sure, minor variations in behaviour and thought should be encouraged so that society is able to shake itself over the local minima which would otherwise act at blockers in the gradual advancement towards a more ideal state. Encouraging totally out-of-the-box thinking may result in many societal norms being discarded altogether rather than improved, possibly leading to society's inhabitants not having a common behavioural language.
I'm with you... let's find the natives, kill them, then start building the first space-McBurgerJoint!
Uhh, but the USofA is full of lots of big stupid people who will invade any country they're told to. This gives their owners lots of power on the world stage; Which means that international law can easily be circumvented by direct or indirect threats.
Download and watch the film in my sig and you'll see that the PirateBay guys clearly don't give a fuck and are quite happy to say so during interview..
For completeness, get 'Steal This Film' (I) first; they have a more in-depth interview with the PirateBay guys.
Well, that's really the root of the issue. When something is easy, a natural impulse and has benefits to everyone involved, making it illegal is just asking for trouble. What next? laws making it illegal for things to respond to gravity without some form of taxation being imposed?
..and 85% of all unborn babies (even the one's who've just been dumped because they don't match the new carpet (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7370163.stm) believe religion to be nothing more than an man-made fiction and control mechanism...
Hmmn, yeah. I'm liking the sound of this... *thinks hard* how about.. *more thinking* .. a massive class-action suit for corruption of the USAnian legal system and persecution of individuals using said system; fines to be $25,000 to everyone who _may_ have been concerned over their future due to this abuse, per year, all the way back to the point when the legal system became the tool of big business (I'll leave it an an exercise for the reader to establish exactly which year this happened.)
Nice quote. I had no idea RR had such mastery of subtlety.
The iraqies seem happy enough to be helped... Oh, wait..
lol! You realise that you're posting on a thread which indicates that the USofA is corrupt as hell? $110 fine for helping ppl to watch films lol. Did I mention 'lol' ?
Don't get depressed, get even.
If you are screwed-over by the corporations-and-courts system, wouldn't it make more sense to direct your angst away from yourself and towards the source ?
For me, that's what makes it so abhorrent. They're saying "you know and we know what killed him but let's have the official record list another cause of death. That way it's much easier for you to suspend disbelief and become our co-conspirators; all for the greater good of society. Sure it's unfortunate for a few to die needlessly so that police officers aren't inconvenienced whilst protecting society but hey.. whaddaya gonna do?"
is it just me or does every such occurrence push the inevitable (for want of a better word) _revolution_ even closer?
how much more abuse of power and spin-doctoring of the truth are the world's people going to tolerate?
there seems to be a problem because what connects us into cohesive groups are the very institutions whose power-bases are being abused daily.
hmm, he sure was more docile once they'd killed him.
weird that it took them three minutes or so to notice that they'd killed him.
it appears to me that they are all overweight, dull-minded individuals just following their predetermined routine. most disturbing to think that such people are in positions of power.
when you have business interests manipulating perceived reality so that your soldiers will invade a foreign country for profit, it's clear that there's no avoiding american fascism.
It's not torture if shareholders profit from it happening.
Surely this part deserves a +5 'insightful' ?
Is it just me or does this conjure memories of <every-film-you've-seen-involving-an-exorcism>, where the malignant spirit is mocking the priest as he attempts the exorcism ?
Whenever I see or hear the phrase 'the law', I hear it as-grunted by the half-humans from the 1977 film version of 'The Island of Dr. Moreau': http://www.imdb.co.uk/title/tt0076210/. Their primitive minds, barely grasping the subtleties of 'the law' or the reasons behind it, have blind faith in their superiors to correctly and fairly dispense judgement.
Uhh, I mean "..have (further) subverted the USAnian legal system (have even reached their..".
How about a five-minute window, during which edits may be made?