That's their problem, not mine. They should be more afraid of their cars, or that fatty food they are eating, because that's what will kill most of them. Not a gun.
I would insure kids. It's a known fact that youth has a higher mortality rate than a grown adult between age 20 and 60, so it makes logical sense to insure the child. Likewise it makes sense to insure the elderly. You end-up getting more free health services from the insurance company, than what you spend in premiums. .
>>>I really want to see how you handle this when you get old and sick
First off when I reach a certain age, say 60, then I will buy insurance. It's the same argument as above - higher mortality means you should have insurance. But to buy insurance when you're young and healthy is as foolish as buying lotto tickets. You're just throwing your money away.
Second: I could die right now and not care. What's so great about life that it's worth clinging to? Go to work to be treated like crap by your boss, come home to listen to the wife nag, and face a future of being so old you can barely move. What's that saying? Better to die young and pretty.
Most Americans are afraid of death, but I'm not. It's simply the endpoint, and we will all get there whether it's age 80 or 50. It makes no difference. Plus for those of us who believe in an afterlife, death is simply a transition.
>>>If they were wearing badges he had no business pulling a gun on them.
I think it's understandable. I used to live by myself, and one day my crazed neighbor started pounding on my door. So like the black dude in the story, I retreated to my bedroom and made-up my mind if the neighbor busted into my bedroom, I would shoot first and worry about repercussions later.
If it later turned-out the crazed guy was not my neighbor, but a cop, well too bad. He doesn't belong there either. No warrant == not authorized to enter per the US Constitution and State Constitution.
>>>It's not perfect, at all. It's made of humans that screw up.
Which is why the government needs to be restrained by a Constitution, to limit the ability of its human leaders to screw up (or worse: be tyrants). Drugs shouldn't even be illegal, and therefore we wouldn't have drug cops busting down scared citizens' doors and the citizens mistakenly shooting back at what they believe to be intruders.
I can not lay my hand on a single part of the Constitution which authorizes Congress to outlaw a substance, not drugs nor alcohol.
>>>gives me hope...even the most ridiculous ideologues can be brought to reason.
Not me. Otherwise people wouldn't be defending the ridiculous idea that I should be fined $950 for exercising my choice not to buy hospital insurance. It amuses me that these same people will defend to the death the Pro-Choice right of a woman to abort human fetuses, but I'm not allowed to exercise my Pro-Choice right to not buy a product I don't want.
Why can't these ideologues (mostly democrats) see the obvious contradiction in their beliefs? Women have a right over their bodies (they say) and so too do I. But they can't see reason.
I simply realized it would make more sense to run a single bundle ONCE rather than 3-4 separate lines. It reduces labor costs. That's all.
And a government monopoly IS a tyranny, if it's a monopoly like the Post Office or the local High School. But as long as customers have choice where they spend their money, then it isn't a monopoly, is it? It's just the same as the government owning the roads, but you are free to drive any Brand car you desire on those roads.
As for ownership, it could be owned by the government (the simplest method) or it could be owned by a regulated corporation like the Telephone Company or Electric company, but required to provide customers with a choice of providers. Either way the customer would still benefit.
The reason the Hybrid civic costs more than a standard civic is because the Hybrid includes two extra major components: Battery and electric motor. About $3000 extra cost. That extra cost will always be there, because the extra two pieces will never drop to zero cost.
Yeah that's why I've driven a Honda Insight for almost ten years now (since summer 2001).
.
>>>But I'm sure you can find some reason to bitch and moan, and probably throw in some retarded Amiga fanboi bullshit along the way. You are so short-sighted it's incredible. I can understand why people think the way you do, I'm just glad as fuck my upbringing wasn't so bankrupt, and that I at least have a fighting chance of being a decent person. If everyone thought and acted the way you purport to do, we'd be even more fucked than we are now. Bon voyage, mon brave! >>>
Reminds me of a two year old. Way to make a good impression towards others about the environmentalist community.
"The hand" is simply the collective actions of the consumers acting to make prices rise and fall. Like the Borg. They are many, acting as one unified hand, with mostly good consequences as a result.
Hybrid Civic - $21,000 Standard Civic - $15,000
Guess which one I'm going to buy. The +7mpg advantage of the hybrid will never offset the extra $6000 (plus interest) of the original pricetag.
>>>At least with the government you can vote people out.
Yeah. That happens like 5% of the time. Basically the leaders have nothing to fear. They can do whatever they want, knowing they have 19 in 20 odds of keeping their job regardless.
I loved fidonet. It was better than usenet since it was so easy to set up and included some graphics ability, but alas only Usenet is still widely available while the Fidonet is barely remembered.
How come prior to ~1920 the Central Government (Congress) was able to provide all these essential services (defense, mail, roads, etc) without one single dime collected in income tax?
Indiana's the dickhead state that charged me $220 because I didn't notice the Turnpike's 70mph limit had changed to 45, and a cop was just sitting there waiting to trap me doing 68.
Highest ticket I've ever paid (most are only $110-120).
I've always been in favor of competition where it's feasible to have more than one company. In the case of water supply it isn't, but in the case of fiber optics, it is. Fibers are hair thin and you can run 50 in the space of a single electric cable, so there's no reason why customers can't have a choice of 50 different providers for their TV and Internet. They just tap into whichever one they want.
"Comcast sucks..... I'm switching to fiber 12 to get AppleTV instead."
Good idea, but I'd rather run fiber. I'll start in my own town, and we'll see how long it takes until government arrests me. (Notice I said government, because they are ultimately to blame for the lack of competition, not comcast, verizon, or any other corporation.)
>>>I'm extremely happy with our public fire protection, garbage, and water service.
Me too. It's just the other 99% of government that sucks. Like that portion that is fining me $950 for not having hospital insurance. In a society that celebrates the Pro-Choice right of women to kill human fetuses, I too should have a pro-choice right to not buy a product I don't want. My body. My choice.
And don't give me nonsense about You paying for my medicine if I get sick. I'd sooner die than steal your money. Keep it in your own pocket.
>>>the US Government is far better than many others.
That's true but a pile of shit covered with whipped cream may look prettier than the other piles (EU, China, India), but it's still smelly. Just ask the Alabama black man who was minding his own business, watching TV (like I'm doing now), and suddenly a bunch of intruders came busting through the door. The man was obviously scared shitless, so he ran to his bedroom, slammed the door, and cowered in fear. When the intruders came busting through the door, he shot and killed one of them before realizing they weren't intruders..... they were wearing badges. They were paramilitary cops.
It turns out, that the cops had busted into the wrong home, without announcement and without warrant, and now this innocent American is serving ~30 years in jail for the cops' error. And you can't say that's just "one example". I could generate tens of thousands of these examples, if I scour through the Reason.com archives over the last two decades.
Government that acts like that, is not a government that is serving the people. It's government that has promoted itself to Master, and demoted the people to Serfs. I think the time has come to call for a Constitutional Convention, dissolve this current government, and start over fresh. Same Constitution, but with new people.
So I trade one monopoly (Congress) for another monopoly of equal shittytude (Canadian Parliament, EU Parliament, et cetera). Rather than trade one tyranny for another tyranny, I'd sooner stay here and improve the home situation with a better government. Like the American Founders did.
>>>in most places that means you go with an equally bad alternative
True. That's why I think State Governments need to eliminate these monopolies/duopolies and replace them with government-owned 50-fiber bundles under the city streets (and eventually suburban streets too). Then if a company like Comcast or Verizon or Google or Apple or Cox or Virgin or Time-warner wants to provide service, they can lease one of the fibers.
Customers will at last have real choice (between multiple companies).
More like futile. Almost 80% were against the Bush Bailout bill of 2008, and 70% were against Pelosicare of 2009 (according to national polls), but Congress ignored the voice of the people and rammed through those bills anyway. Because of these actions, I've made-up my mind to vote against the incumbent Congressman every chance I get. These people no longer deserve the privilege of service, since they no longer act as representatives.
Unfortunately most people are dumb, and they just vote for whichever name they recognize. It's why the incumbent wins over 90% of the time
I recall a case from this last decade where a Mall sued a private person for using the website name of the mall. The private individual decided to fight, got the backing of the ACLU, and it eventually rose to the level of the Supreme Court of the United States who declared since the individual owned the site first, he has prior claim.
They also ruled that free speech protects derivative sites like paypalsucks.com from claims of ownership by Paypal. I suspect this fan site is similarly protected. He may not have the right to post copyrighted material, but it certanly has a right to link to youtube and keep his web address.
I've seen some of the episodes on Free TV (antenna), and I've never seen the appeal of the show. Every episode seems to be the same - men catching lobsters. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. I too would rather read a book. .
>>>I think the whole channel has jumped the shark.
What cable channels haven't jumped the shark? The Learning Channel is now Tender Loving Care (babies, brides, and bullshit). History should be renamed Present. Sci-Fi Channel is now some kind of cross between reality and new age. The Guide Channel often shows TV shows/specials instead of guides, and Weather Channel shows movies instead of weather.
Back in the 90s I used to say, "I wish I had cable so I could see all this great entertainment, especially Sci-Fi and History." Now I have zero desire for cable.
>>>time applied to waiting for that 500KB web page with a 5KB/s dialup
Netscape uses accelerated dialup, meaning the images and text are compressed, and the flash videos blocked (unless you click on them). The effective speed is almost as fast as my home DSL, or about 500 kbit/s. The webpage you describe would be loaded in less than ten seconds.
Slashdot Mirror
>>>people running in terror
That's their problem, not mine. They should be more afraid of their cars, or that fatty food they are eating, because that's what will kill most of them. Not a gun.
I would insure kids. It's a known fact that youth has a higher mortality rate than a grown adult between age 20 and 60, so it makes logical sense to insure the child. Likewise it makes sense to insure the elderly. You end-up getting more free health services from the insurance company, than what you spend in premiums.
.
>>>I really want to see how you handle this when you get old and sick
First off when I reach a certain age, say 60, then I will buy insurance. It's the same argument as above - higher mortality means you should have insurance. But to buy insurance when you're young and healthy is as foolish as buying lotto tickets. You're just throwing your money away.
Second: I could die right now and not care. What's so great about life that it's worth clinging to? Go to work to be treated like crap by your boss, come home to listen to the wife nag, and face a future of being so old you can barely move. What's that saying? Better to die young and pretty.
Most Americans are afraid of death, but I'm not. It's simply the endpoint, and we will all get there whether it's age 80 or 50. It makes no difference. Plus for those of us who believe in an afterlife, death is simply a transition.
>>>If they were wearing badges he had no business pulling a gun on them.
I think it's understandable. I used to live by myself, and one day my crazed neighbor started pounding on my door. So like the black dude in the story, I retreated to my bedroom and made-up my mind if the neighbor busted into my bedroom, I would shoot first and worry about repercussions later.
If it later turned-out the crazed guy was not my neighbor, but a cop, well too bad. He doesn't belong there either. No warrant == not authorized to enter per the US Constitution and State Constitution.
>>>It's not perfect, at all. It's made of humans that screw up.
Which is why the government needs to be restrained by a Constitution, to limit the ability of its human leaders to screw up (or worse: be tyrants). Drugs shouldn't even be illegal, and therefore we wouldn't have drug cops busting down scared citizens' doors and the citizens mistakenly shooting back at what they believe to be intruders.
I can not lay my hand on a single part of the Constitution which authorizes Congress to outlaw a substance, not drugs nor alcohol.
Or:
(3) Driver was surrounded by a bunch of freight trucks and couldn't see the road signs, since they were hidden by the massive trailers.
>>>gives me hope...even the most ridiculous ideologues can be brought to reason.
Not me. Otherwise people wouldn't be defending the ridiculous idea that I should be fined $950 for exercising my choice not to buy hospital insurance. It amuses me that these same people will defend to the death the Pro-Choice right of a woman to abort human fetuses, but I'm not allowed to exercise my Pro-Choice right to not buy a product I don't want.
Why can't these ideologues (mostly democrats) see the obvious contradiction in their beliefs? Women have a right over their bodies (they say) and so too do I. But they can't see reason.
I simply realized it would make more sense to run a single bundle ONCE rather than 3-4 separate lines. It reduces labor costs. That's all.
And a government monopoly IS a tyranny, if it's a monopoly like the Post Office or the local High School. But as long as customers have choice where they spend their money, then it isn't a monopoly, is it? It's just the same as the government owning the roads, but you are free to drive any Brand car you desire on those roads.
As for ownership, it could be owned by the government (the simplest method) or it could be owned by a regulated corporation like the Telephone Company or Electric company, but required to provide customers with a choice of providers. Either way the customer would still benefit.
Let's simplify things a bit:
The reason the Hybrid civic costs more than a standard civic is because the Hybrid includes two extra major components: Battery and electric motor. About $3000 extra cost. That extra cost will always be there, because the extra two pieces will never drop to zero cost.
>>>you're just being (as usual) a selfish bastard
Yeah that's why I've driven a Honda Insight for almost ten years now (since summer 2001).
.
>>>But I'm sure you can find some reason to bitch and moan, and probably throw in some retarded Amiga fanboi bullshit along the way. You are so short-sighted it's incredible. I can understand why people think the way you do, I'm just glad as fuck my upbringing wasn't so bankrupt, and that I at least have a fighting chance of being a decent person. If everyone thought and acted the way you purport to do, we'd be even more fucked than we are now. Bon voyage, mon brave!
>>>
Reminds me of a two year old.
Way to make a good impression towards others
about the environmentalist community.
>>>Ever tried to apply for a concealed carry license in a may-issue jurisdiction?
Well then carry the gun in the open (but securely fastened so as not to scare anybody). In my state you don't need a permit to do that.
"The hand" is simply the collective actions of the consumers acting to make prices rise and fall. Like the Borg. They are many, acting as one unified hand, with mostly good consequences as a result.
Hybrid Civic - $21,000
Standard Civic - $15,000
Guess which one I'm going to buy. The +7mpg advantage of the hybrid will never offset the extra $6000 (plus interest) of the original pricetag.
>>>At least with the government you can vote people out.
Yeah. That happens like 5% of the time. Basically the leaders have nothing to fear. They can do whatever they want, knowing they have 19 in 20 odds of keeping their job regardless.
FidoNet is still alive (barely).
I loved fidonet. It was better than usenet since it was so easy to set up and included some graphics ability, but alas only Usenet is still widely available while the Fidonet is barely remembered.
QUESTION:
How come prior to ~1920 the Central Government (Congress) was able to provide all these essential services (defense, mail, roads, etc) without one single dime collected in income tax?
Something to think about.
Indiana's the dickhead state that charged me $220 because I didn't notice the Turnpike's 70mph limit had changed to 45, and a cop was just sitting there waiting to trap me doing 68.
Highest ticket I've ever paid (most are only $110-120).
I don't know what you mean.
I've always been in favor of competition where it's feasible to have more than one company. In the case of water supply it isn't, but in the case of fiber optics, it is. Fibers are hair thin and you can run 50 in the space of a single electric cable, so there's no reason why customers can't have a choice of 50 different providers for their TV and Internet. They just tap into whichever one they want.
"Comcast sucks..... I'm switching to fiber 12 to get AppleTV instead."
>>>We should start our own network,
Good idea, but I'd rather run fiber. I'll start in my own town, and we'll see how long it takes until government arrests me. (Notice I said government, because they are ultimately to blame for the lack of competition, not comcast, verizon, or any other corporation.)
>>>I'm extremely happy with our public fire protection, garbage, and water service.
Me too. It's just the other 99% of government that sucks. Like that portion that is fining me $950 for not having hospital insurance. In a society that celebrates the Pro-Choice right of women to kill human fetuses, I too should have a pro-choice right to not buy a product I don't want. My body. My choice.
And don't give me nonsense about You paying for my medicine if I get sick. I'd sooner die than steal your money. Keep it in your own pocket.
>>>the US Government is far better than many others.
That's true but a pile of shit covered with whipped cream may look prettier than the other piles (EU, China, India), but it's still smelly. Just ask the Alabama black man who was minding his own business, watching TV (like I'm doing now), and suddenly a bunch of intruders came busting through the door. The man was obviously scared shitless, so he ran to his bedroom, slammed the door, and cowered in fear. When the intruders came busting through the door, he shot and killed one of them before realizing they weren't intruders..... they were wearing badges. They were paramilitary cops.
It turns out, that the cops had busted into the wrong home, without announcement and without warrant, and now this innocent American is serving ~30 years in jail for the cops' error. And you can't say that's just "one example". I could generate tens of thousands of these examples, if I scour through the Reason.com archives over the last two decades.
Government that acts like that, is not a government that is serving the people. It's government that has promoted itself to Master, and demoted the people to Serfs. I think the time has come to call for a Constitutional Convention, dissolve this current government, and start over fresh. Same Constitution, but with new people.
>>>Leave the US.
So I trade one monopoly (Congress) for another monopoly of equal shittytude (Canadian Parliament, EU Parliament, et cetera). Rather than trade one tyranny for another tyranny, I'd sooner stay here and improve the home situation with a better government. Like the American Founders did.
>>>in most places that means you go with an equally bad alternative
True. That's why I think State Governments need to eliminate these monopolies/duopolies and replace them with government-owned 50-fiber bundles under the city streets (and eventually suburban streets too). Then if a company like Comcast or Verizon or Google or Apple or Cox or Virgin or Time-warner wants to provide service, they can lease one of the fibers.
Customers will at last have real choice (between multiple companies).
>>>I agree it seems hopeless at times.
More like futile. Almost 80% were against the Bush Bailout bill of 2008, and 70% were against Pelosicare of 2009 (according to national polls), but Congress ignored the voice of the people and rammed through those bills anyway. Because of these actions, I've made-up my mind to vote against the incumbent Congressman every chance I get. These people no longer deserve the privilege of service, since they no longer act as representatives.
Unfortunately most people are dumb, and they just vote for whichever name they recognize. It's why the incumbent wins over 90% of the time
I think the owner should defend himself.
I recall a case from this last decade where a Mall sued a private person for using the website name of the mall. The private individual decided to fight, got the backing of the ACLU, and it eventually rose to the level of the Supreme Court of the United States who declared since the individual owned the site first, he has prior claim.
They also ruled that free speech protects derivative sites like paypalsucks.com from claims of ownership by Paypal. I suspect this fan site is similarly protected. He may not have the right to post copyrighted material, but it certanly has a right to link to youtube and keep his web address.
I've seen some of the episodes on Free TV (antenna), and I've never seen the appeal of the show. Every episode seems to be the same - men catching lobsters. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. I too would rather read a book.
.
>>>I think the whole channel has jumped the shark.
What cable channels haven't jumped the shark? The Learning Channel is now Tender Loving Care (babies, brides, and bullshit). History should be renamed Present. Sci-Fi Channel is now some kind of cross between reality and new age. The Guide Channel often shows TV shows/specials instead of guides, and Weather Channel shows movies instead of weather.
Back in the 90s I used to say, "I wish I had cable so I could see all this great entertainment, especially Sci-Fi and History." Now I have zero desire for cable.
>>>time applied to waiting for that 500KB web page with a 5KB/s dialup
Netscape uses accelerated dialup, meaning the images and text are compressed, and the flash videos blocked (unless you click on them). The effective speed is almost as fast as my home DSL, or about 500 kbit/s. The webpage you describe would be loaded in less than ten seconds.