Umm, those were very tough races. How about Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Jim DeMint? They are all Tea Party and they won. That's just the senate, the House is full of Tea Party and state governorships and state senates are as well. If all senate seats were up for reelection and if the same proportion swing to Republicans occurred as in those that were, Republicans would have 67 seats in the Senate in addition to the biggest swing in the House since the 30s. You are deluding yourself if you dismiss what happened in 2010 but you are not alone, Democrat Party is doing the same thing as they will find out in 2012.
Speaking as a libertarian American I sure hope she does not win a nomination and I am pretty sure that she won't. Still, the sheer amount of vicious hatred and unadulterated bile that comes out of most liberals mouths the moment her name is mentioned makes her useful in exposing the true nature of those people and presents some interesting questions for psychologists. Sure, a few things she said were kinda dumb, but that's really the worst I can think of when I really look at her as objectively as I can, so the amount of vitriol is totally baffling to me. For example, I can't imagine that a male who did and said exactly the same things she did would be hated as much.
Gee, you fall for every dumb stereotype there is. The world is not divided into blue states and red states. Look at the breakdown of votes per say senate seat in the last election. Most voters for Republicans were more affluent, had higher education and were more likely to be male and white. This is true even in "blue" states like California (say Boxer-Fiorina race: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#CAS01p1 ). Democrats get most of the minority votes, hence they do well in states like California and New York with high minority population and they get most of the female votes. You won't hear this in the news because it is not politically correct but to say that Republican base is male and white and Democrat base is female and non-white is much more true than to look at the colors on the map.
M4 is the standard issue. The problem with replacing it is that it's not really that bad. In most surveys the troops are satisfied with it. The military has tested a bunch of possible replacements, (FN SCAR, an upgraded G36 and some others) none were sufficiently superior to warrant the huge expense of reequipping/retraining the army of that size.
Rounds are going to be relatively expensive yes, but it's not as if you fire the thing full auto.
Plus it might reduce the need for mortar or even air support use and while I don't know how much these rounds cost I bet you can fire a whole bunch of them before you approach the cost of a Hellfire missile.
I understand your empathy towards the Palestinians who are indeed suffering, but you are foolish to only blame Israel for that. There is plenty of land there for both Jews and Palestinians and with some land exchanges and a lot of money from US, Saudis, Europe, Israel etc, Palestinian state could be very well off indeed but it is Arabs who refuse it. For them the conflict is not about the welfare of Palestinian people but about how to kick Jews out regardless of the cost. Palestinians are just pawns. And it's not like those borders are something holy, they were thrown together by the British administrators in the idle moments between a game of cricket and a cup of tea. If there is will on the Arab side, and no religious bullshit in the way, that conflict can be over in a month.
You should read the leaks and then see if they are damaging to American interests. My impression so far is the exact opposite. What are the biggest news here:
Pakistan has a less then adequately secured nuclear material and US is trying to secure it but Pakistan is refusing. Arabs hate/fear Iran just as much as Israel does and are urging US to attack it but US is being the one who is cautious. North Korea has supplied long range missiles (capable of reaching Europe) to Iran. Lots of silly stuff about Gaddafi's mistress, Berlusconi's partying and Putin being an alpha-dog and "Batman" (he will enjoy that).
Find one thing that is seriously damaging to US interests. Even previous leaks about Iraq will only validate that war when the dust settles and historians total up the score and it is realized that if the war was avoided and international sanctions (which killed more Iraqis than the war) were kept up forcing Iraqi's to starve as well as live under a dictator, the civil war would still be likely the moment Saddam was weakened enough to encourage Kurds and Shiites to rise up. In the end far more Iraqis would have died and Iran would end up being in control of Iraq (minus Kurds) which would be a disaster for the whole region. If these documents didn't get leaked anyway, the US should have leaked them on purpose.
Actually you are wrong there. Diplomacy gets done by a small army of full time professional civil servants who get promoted on merit (as much as that is possible in any government department). Only the top layer in the State Dept, and ambassadors and such are the ones who get elected or appointed and although they make the final decisions in the big picture, the actual work is handled for them and pretty much handed to them to sign and if they can be bothered to read it, well that's ok too. Ever seen the British show Yes, Minister?
Conspiracy theories are fun but I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. Some day we'll find that Assange was a CIA agent all along, but of course that will be a leak too.
Just search for cables about Iran: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-wikileaks It becomes clear pretty soon that most countries in the region are far most hostile to Iran that I ever knew before (including words like existential threat and direct urging by a number of countries for the US to strike, bunch of leaders call Iran evil and a fascist state) and that Israel will definitely not be willing to live with nuclear Iran and that apparently Iran is not negotiating in good faith and is only buying time until it has enough material for a bomb. Unless Iran backs down, I don't see how that does not lead to a war.
Are you sure that your government keeping some secrets in not in your interest? How many informants will come forward with information about terrorist plots that might kill you and your family if they know that their name could end up on WikiLeaks?
Actually these latest leaks make me suspicious that the whole thing was leaked on purpose. Iraq and Afghanistan leaks, for all the screaming and hollering of the anti-war crowd, actually don't contain any damning evidence of war crimes. Even books like Generation Kill contain more information about civilian deaths and that was published years ago and made into a frigging mini series and nobody cares. The most embarrassing thing for the US government is that it allowed the leaks to take place, but they can live with that. Look at the latest leaks though:
North Korea supplies Iran with long range missiles Arabs, including Saudis, Jordan, Bahrain and UAE urge US to bomb Iran Pakistan is refusing US efforts to remove dangerous fissile material that could fall into terrorist hands
... so far strengthening the case for attack on Iran, which I think is the main intention, then, just for good measure....
Confirmation that Chinese government spies on Google Gaddafi is corrupt Putin is not as tough as he present himself, Medvedev is to him like Robin to Batman... Ahmedinejad is refrred to as Hitler, Kim Jong Il as impaired from a stroke...
Nothing particularly embarrassing to the US, but a lot that is embarrassing to others
Maybe your problem with starting a revolution is that being discriminated against based on the color of your skin is not really the same thing as not being able to download the latest Lady Gaga song for free. Rise up comrades we will never be forced to pay $1 per song, doesn't really have a rousing ring to it, does it. Maybe you should use your revolutionary energy on some other, less pathetic, fight.
Umm, DDoS is not that difficult, all you need is a botnet. To get a botnet you need to engage in some pretty evil and destructive behavior (infecting people's computers on a large scale). Nothing worthy of respect, either from technical or from moral standpoint. Common sense is questionable too since temporarily shutting down someone's website will not change absolutely anything in any positive way.
There is far more evidence that the goal of at least some leading environmentalists is de-civilizing the society and a return to a primitive society (for example, a bestselling environmentalist author: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTYe8WloF1U ) than that there are people who would "prefer" to see world polluted beyond the point of being able to sustain a civilization. I don't know anybody who would want that.
Seems like most replies are getting hung up on whether it is illegal or not. What I meant was more personal, that he, probably out of ignorance, or perhaps for material gain, thinks he is doing something worthwhile. I don't think he is. I think the economy of all advanced countries depends almost entirely on intellectual property and to undermine it is to undermine the economy and the society itself at a very fundamental level which is why the US law enforcement agencies are beginning to take is seriously. Destroying property rights is the quickest way to destroy a society. For people working in industries (like software) that depend almost entirely on intellectual property this is particularly short-sighted but what can you expect from naive self-hating leftist mentality.
That fits perfectly with the environmentalist goal of de-civilizing the society. I hope your next step is to grow your own food in your backyard, drink rainwater, and light fire with two stones (or a stone and your head if you prefer). What you call 'mindless consumerism' is a sign of a healthy and prosperous society with plenty of goods that most people want and can afford, there is nothing wrong with it.
He provides a service that he knows is being used mostly (let's be honest, almost exclusively) for illegal purposes and he is ok with it. Can you explain to me how is that not wrong?
Is the US government out of control and operating outside the bounds of the Constitution?
No. This is done under Customs and Immigration, which is one of the legitimate jobs of the government, except in this case the products being illegally exported are digital.
Due process means that one must be found guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers.
Cops do not need a jury trial before they can seize stolen goods. They seized the illegal goods just like they might seize illegal physical goods and shut down the shop selling them with only a warrant while a trial is pending. If you bothered to read any of the linked articles you would find that they had a warrant from a District Court judge.
Slashdot Mirror
Sarah Palin is demonstrably unprepared mentally to lead the United States
Ok scared guy, demonstrate it.
Umm, those were very tough races. How about Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Jim DeMint? They are all Tea Party and they won. That's just the senate, the House is full of Tea Party and state governorships and state senates are as well. If all senate seats were up for reelection and if the same proportion swing to Republicans occurred as in those that were, Republicans would have 67 seats in the Senate in addition to the biggest swing in the House since the 30s. You are deluding yourself if you dismiss what happened in 2010 but you are not alone, Democrat Party is doing the same thing as they will find out in 2012.
Speaking as a libertarian American I sure hope she does not win a nomination and I am pretty sure that she won't. Still, the sheer amount of vicious hatred and unadulterated bile that comes out of most liberals mouths the moment her name is mentioned makes her useful in exposing the true nature of those people and presents some interesting questions for psychologists. Sure, a few things she said were kinda dumb, but that's really the worst I can think of when I really look at her as objectively as I can, so the amount of vitriol is totally baffling to me. For example, I can't imagine that a male who did and said exactly the same things she did would be hated as much.
Gee, you fall for every dumb stereotype there is. The world is not divided into blue states and red states. Look at the breakdown of votes per say senate seat in the last election. Most voters for Republicans were more affluent, had higher education and were more likely to be male and white. This is true even in "blue" states like California (say Boxer-Fiorina race: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2010/results/polls/#CAS01p1 ). Democrats get most of the minority votes, hence they do well in states like California and New York with high minority population and they get most of the female votes. You won't hear this in the news because it is not politically correct but to say that Republican base is male and white and Democrat base is female and non-white is much more true than to look at the colors on the map.
They don't think FCC should regulate the Internet, full stop. What difference does it make what the proposal by Genachowski contains?
M4 is the standard issue. The problem with replacing it is that it's not really that bad. In most surveys the troops are satisfied with it. The military has tested a bunch of possible replacements, (FN SCAR, an upgraded G36 and some others) none were sufficiently superior to warrant the huge expense of reequipping/retraining the army of that size.
Rounds are going to be relatively expensive yes, but it's not as if you fire the thing full auto.
Plus it might reduce the need for mortar or even air support use and while I don't know how much these rounds cost I bet you can fire a whole bunch of them before you approach the cost of a Hellfire missile.
today they are not able to do that anymore
Oh well, moving on to Plan B
I understand your empathy towards the Palestinians who are indeed suffering, but you are foolish to only blame Israel for that. There is plenty of land there for both Jews and Palestinians and with some land exchanges and a lot of money from US, Saudis, Europe, Israel etc, Palestinian state could be very well off indeed but it is Arabs who refuse it. For them the conflict is not about the welfare of Palestinian people but about how to kick Jews out regardless of the cost. Palestinians are just pawns. And it's not like those borders are something holy, they were thrown together by the British administrators in the idle moments between a game of cricket and a cup of tea. If there is will on the Arab side, and no religious bullshit in the way, that conflict can be over in a month.
You should read the leaks and then see if they are damaging to American interests. My impression so far is the exact opposite. What are the biggest news here:
Pakistan has a less then adequately secured nuclear material and US is trying to secure it but Pakistan is refusing.
Arabs hate/fear Iran just as much as Israel does and are urging US to attack it but US is being the one who is cautious.
North Korea has supplied long range missiles (capable of reaching Europe) to Iran.
Lots of silly stuff about Gaddafi's mistress, Berlusconi's partying and Putin being an alpha-dog and "Batman" (he will enjoy that).
Find one thing that is seriously damaging to US interests. Even previous leaks about Iraq will only validate that war when the dust settles and historians total up the score and it is realized that if the war was avoided and international sanctions (which killed more Iraqis than the war) were kept up forcing Iraqi's to starve as well as live under a dictator, the civil war would still be likely the moment Saddam was weakened enough to encourage Kurds and Shiites to rise up. In the end far more Iraqis would have died and Iran would end up being in control of Iraq (minus Kurds) which would be a disaster for the whole region. If these documents didn't get leaked anyway, the US should have leaked them on purpose.
Actually you are wrong there. Diplomacy gets done by a small army of full time professional civil servants who get promoted on merit (as much as that is possible in any government department). Only the top layer in the State Dept, and ambassadors and such are the ones who get elected or appointed and although they make the final decisions in the big picture, the actual work is handled for them and pretty much handed to them to sign and if they can be bothered to read it, well that's ok too. Ever seen the British show Yes, Minister?
Conspiracy theories are fun but I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. Some day we'll find that Assange was a CIA agent all along, but of course that will be a leak too.
Just search for cables about Iran: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-wikileaks It becomes clear pretty soon that most countries in the region are far most hostile to Iran that I ever knew before (including words like existential threat and direct urging by a number of countries for the US to strike, bunch of leaders call Iran evil and a fascist state) and that Israel will definitely not be willing to live with nuclear Iran and that apparently Iran is not negotiating in good faith and is only buying time until it has enough material for a bomb. Unless Iran backs down, I don't see how that does not lead to a war.
Among the most newsworthy, reports Techcrunch's Erick Schonfeld, is one set which deals with the massive computer attack on Google and other companies
The most newsworthy item is that war with Iran is apparently inevitable. Who cares about Google hacking.
It is not the responsibility of the government to stop you from choking on a fish bone but it is to stop attack on US citizens.
Are you sure that your government keeping some secrets in not in your interest? How many informants will come forward with information about terrorist plots that might kill you and your family if they know that their name could end up on WikiLeaks?
Let me fix that for you: Does BOMBING THE SHIT OUT OF INSURGENTS WHO USE CIVILIANS FOR COVER puts civilians at risk, asshole? Yes.
Actually these latest leaks make me suspicious that the whole thing was leaked on purpose. Iraq and Afghanistan leaks, for all the screaming and hollering of the anti-war crowd, actually don't contain any damning evidence of war crimes. Even books like Generation Kill contain more information about civilian deaths and that was published years ago and made into a frigging mini series and nobody cares. The most embarrassing thing for the US government is that it allowed the leaks to take place, but they can live with that. Look at the latest leaks though:
North Korea supplies Iran with long range missiles
Arabs, including Saudis, Jordan, Bahrain and UAE urge US to bomb Iran
Pakistan is refusing US efforts to remove dangerous fissile material that could fall into terrorist hands
... so far strengthening the case for attack on Iran, which I think is the main intention, then, just for good measure....
Confirmation that Chinese government spies on Google
Gaddafi is corrupt
Putin is not as tough as he present himself, Medvedev is to him like Robin to Batman...
Ahmedinejad is refrred to as Hitler, Kim Jong Il as impaired from a stroke...
Nothing particularly embarrassing to the US, but a lot that is embarrassing to others
Maybe your problem with starting a revolution is that being discriminated against based on the color of your skin is not really the same thing as not being able to download the latest Lady Gaga song for free. Rise up comrades we will never be forced to pay $1 per song, doesn't really have a rousing ring to it, does it. Maybe you should use your revolutionary energy on some other, less pathetic, fight.
Umm, DDoS is not that difficult, all you need is a botnet. To get a botnet you need to engage in some pretty evil and destructive behavior (infecting people's computers on a large scale). Nothing worthy of respect, either from technical or from moral standpoint. Common sense is questionable too since temporarily shutting down someone's website will not change absolutely anything in any positive way.
There is far more evidence that the goal of at least some leading environmentalists is de-civilizing the society and a return to a primitive society (for example, a bestselling environmentalist author: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTYe8WloF1U ) than that there are people who would "prefer" to see world polluted beyond the point of being able to sustain a civilization. I don't know anybody who would want that.
Seems like most replies are getting hung up on whether it is illegal or not. What I meant was more personal, that he, probably out of ignorance, or perhaps for material gain, thinks he is doing something worthwhile. I don't think he is. I think the economy of all advanced countries depends almost entirely on intellectual property and to undermine it is to undermine the economy and the society itself at a very fundamental level which is why the US law enforcement agencies are beginning to take is seriously. Destroying property rights is the quickest way to destroy a society. For people working in industries (like software) that depend almost entirely on intellectual property this is particularly short-sighted but what can you expect from naive self-hating leftist mentality.
That fits perfectly with the environmentalist goal of de-civilizing the society. I hope your next step is to grow your own food in your backyard, drink rainwater, and light fire with two stones (or a stone and your head if you prefer). What you call 'mindless consumerism' is a sign of a healthy and prosperous society with plenty of goods that most people want and can afford, there is nothing wrong with it.
He provides a service that he knows is being used mostly (let's be honest, almost exclusively) for illegal purposes and he is ok with it. Can you explain to me how is that not wrong?
Is the US government out of control and operating outside the bounds of the Constitution?
No. This is done under Customs and Immigration, which is one of the legitimate jobs of the government, except in this case the products being illegally exported are digital.
Due process means that one must be found guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers.
Cops do not need a jury trial before they can seize stolen goods. They seized the illegal goods just like they might seize illegal physical goods and shut down the shop selling them with only a warrant while a trial is pending. If you bothered to read any of the linked articles you would find that they had a warrant from a District Court judge.