I don't think Rome was aware of China pre-1 A.D. They were still exploring the dark reaches of Britain and what eventually became Scotland, and of course no Senator would want to go to some tribal area like that.
>>>There is a USian collective consciousness. There is no European collective consciousness.
Wait 20 or maybe 40 years, until the old people die out and the new generations start calling themselves "Europeans". In fact I'm already seeing this phenomenon taking hold with teenagers and college-aged adults, where they identify themselves as European and then I have to ask a followup question, "What part of Europe?"
>>>You are, in fact, an American. The US is a federation, meaning power is granted by the federal government to the lower states.
Wrong.
1775 or 1776 - States declared themselves independent and sovereign entities 1781 - Articles of Confederation took effect 1789 - The modern form of the United States was created
The States existed first, and they gave-away SOME of their power to a central government. Sound familiar? It's how the EU operates as well. Despite frequent claims that the EU is somehow different from the U.S., those differences are small and not significant. Put more explicitly:
THE PEOPLE (ultimate holders of all authority) | THE STATES (subject to State Constitutions and the People within) | U.S. Constitution (1789) | Federal Government (subservient to the Constitution)
Now do you see any differences between that and this?
THE PEOPLE (ultimate holders of all authority) | THE MEMBER STATES (subject to Constitutions or Traditions, and the People within) | EU Lisbon Treaty (2009) | Federal Government (subservient to the Lisbon Treaty)
>>>all those details you mention are not within the control of the european commission,
Neither is banning medical marijuana ir Claifornia, or setting-aside gun free zones around Washington schools, or mandating a national 55mph limit in Montana, or raising drinking age to 21 in Arkansas, and yet the U.S. has exercised all those things that wer never given to it. POINT: Just wait a decade or two, and the EU will also be regulating all sorts of thing "not within its control"
I forgot to add one of the problems of having Arbitrators is that these arbitrators can push their agenda (bias). In the example above, I said the 40 million number extracted from a ~1000 postcard survey was invalid and non-scientific. HOWEVER if the arbitrator believes the number to be true, he could block my or other person's editing attempts to correct the number (like citing why the number is invalid) (or citing other estimates from other sources).
Once wikipedia becomes a place for a small band of Arbitrators to lock-down articles to fit their own personal biases, it ceases to be a useful resource for readers or writers. It becomes an Oligarchy that serves the few who are in charge.
You can't argue with the facts themselves, but you can argue with their *validity*. For example the "40 million American are uninsured" factoid. Some say it's valid, while others say the information was compiled from ~1000 mail-in postcards and therefore not a valid survey, nor can you extrapolate from 1000 postcards to 40,000,000 people.
On the other hand, some say it doesn't matter if a fact is valid. If you repeat an erroneous number often enough, people will believe it, and the error becomes "fact" by default even if it has no foundation to support it.
I used to edit wikipedia from work. I'd look something up, notice an error, and then fix it during my 15-minute breaks. Now, not having a job, I don't edit the encyclopedia at all. My last edit dates back about one month prior to my last day in the office, but I bet once I return to work, my contributions will skyrocket.
Perhaps the same phenomenon is spreading throughout the world: more time at home == more time doing other things, not wiki-editing
The government can reinstate the draft tomorrow and send you to Afghanistan or some other hellhole if it wanted. The power is there, which was my point. A record exec doesn't have that power.
>>>I think cable and phone wire hookups are also natural monopoly..
Today's phone, cable TV, and internet can all be carried in a single millimeter-thick fiber optic (example: Verizon FiOS). That means you could run dozens of these wires, one for each company (Comcast, AppleTV, LinuxISP, et cetera), through the government's underground metal pipes.
>>>I totally agree with this, yet vendors are subject to the laws of the states where they're selling.
That's true but all they can do is stop me from mailing you the wine. They cannot send their cops over the border and arrest me. Neither can they send their cops over the border (300 miles from NY to VA) and arrest me for failure to pay taxes.
Likewise neither can the Ottawa Government send mounties to my home and force me to pay Canadian VAT taxes. I am not subject to juris diction of any government except Virginia State and the central U.S. government.
>>>(the 1st amendment doesn't protect your right to say things that endanger the public
Too bad the United States Supreme Court disagrees with you. You can say anything upto the point of riot, but if the crowd is not rioting then your innate, natural, and inalienable right to free speech will be protected by the government. It's how people like MLK Junior were able to give speeches in the open, instead of from a jail, even though he was often falsely-accused of spreading violence everywhere he went. His right of free speech protected him.
Also it's not as if this was the first case of police acting like tyrants, instead of taxpayer employees: - there's the famous Professor Gates where he was arrested in his own house; okay he acted like a loud-mouthed jerk but that is right (free speech) - there's the fellow that was barred from traveling from St.Louis to Arlington Virginia because he had $4000 cash (not illegal) - there's the guy who was stopped in the middle of Arizona, forced to open his trunk, he refused, so they drug him out and beat him - and then there's case-after-case-after-case where people were arrested for using a camera in a public sidewalk
Or else take Windows95, or Windows NT 4, and modify these programs for use on their ancient machines.
Or download the songs they listened to when they were teenagers (pre-95) and enjoy the nostalgia of hearing old music without fear of RIAA suing them, or the ISP turning-off their internet
No but at least the capital in my *democratic* Republic State is only a few miles away, rather than on the other side of the continent (DC) and out-of-reach. It makes logical sense to move the power closer to the people at the State level.
As a certain fleeing Roman Senator commented ~2000 years ago, "Where is there to go? There is no part of the known world that is not within reach of Rome."
>>>the authority of the president permits him to pass an executive order
(read Constitution). I can not lay my hand on any part of this Supreme Law that authorizes presidents to create "executive orders" (whatever they are). On the contrary it appears this Law takes full effect: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." And "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States". The president can not exercise legislative or other powers which are reserved to other branches or governments. .
>>>governing the contents of the treaty, only he needs to sign it.
In violation of this Law: "He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur". And of course no treaty can be supreme to the Constitution itself. For example a treaty can not revoke your right to free speech.
It's a process called Fast Tracking and this wouldn't be the first one to be approved that way.
Right because RIAA, MPAA, and other copy monopolies have treated the People with such respect and kindness so far, sending friendly requests to pay them $5000, or receive a cordial invitation to a courtroom. Why anyone would think the copy monopoly trade agreement might include nefarious searches-and-seizures by RI/MPAA lawyers, or eavesdropping on net communications by same, or other heavy-handed tactics is totally nutty and not founded upon any evidence whatsoever.
In other words the EU is more like the US then Europeans want to admit. They keep insisting "We are not one single country" even though it's clear to outside observers that's exactly what they have become, and as the central government starts regulating nitty-gritty details like how fast you can drive on your roads, or the universal drinking age, it will become self-evident.
BTW European readers:
Please don't call me an "American". Like the EU we are not only single country; we are many. Please call me "Virginian". Thank you./end sarcasm
>>>as I stare at my AT&T bill and ponder how humpty dumpty Ma Bell was put back together again, and why I still can't get FiOS, is that the EU tells King Kong NIMBY - to the benefit of emerging open source service markets there. >>>
Ma Bell has not been recreated. Ma Bell was a monopoly, whereas today you have many choices for your long distance service. You can even change companies on a whim, simply by buying a competitors' calling card (I have AT&T long distance but my calling card is Sprint).
As for FiOS it's a new technology (2005). It will take time for it to spread. I've found one problem with Americans is that they are inpatient, and they expect everything done NOW. You can't convert the whole continent to fiber in just five years.
You still don't arrest the person who is a mere bystander. Perhaps charge the organizer with second degree manslaughter after someone is killed, but if nobody is killed, then no crime has been committed
The cops suffer from Power Trip-itis, and will just arrest you for anything they can make stick. Even if the unfairly arrested citizen gets arrested tomorrow morning, the cops still are proud of themselves for having "put that citizen in his place". It boosts their ego.
And like I said below, when a judge or other official declares the citizens falsely arrested, then the cop should have to spend equal time in jail as punishment. Maybe if cops spent more nights in jail, thus being inconvenienced, they'll be more inclined to think twice or thrice before arresting people who have done nothing wrong.
BTW:
The reason I'm so annoyed with cops is because I was stopped in Texas while on a cross-country trip. They wanted to search my trunk. I refused because they had no warrant or probable cause. The power trippin' cops made me stand around for an hour in the cold night air until they finally let me go. Assholes.
Of course nobody listened to me, and I doubt anyone will listen to this study either. They'll just keep cleaning their kid.
Likewise exposing your kid to lots of allergens (like pollen, grass, et cetera) can prevent allergies as the body learns to ignore these things. Even in adulthood the body can be "trained" to allergens through frequent exposure.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think Rome was aware of China pre-1 A.D. They were still exploring the dark reaches of Britain and what eventually became Scotland, and of course no Senator would want to go to some tribal area like that.
>>>There is a USian collective consciousness. There is no European collective consciousness.
Wait 20 or maybe 40 years, until the old people die out and the new generations start calling themselves "Europeans". In fact I'm already seeing this phenomenon taking hold with teenagers and college-aged adults, where they identify themselves as European and then I have to ask a followup question, "What part of Europe?"
>>>You are, in fact, an American. The US is a federation, meaning power is granted by the federal government to the lower states.
Wrong.
1775 or 1776 - States declared themselves independent and sovereign entities
1781 - Articles of Confederation took effect
1789 - The modern form of the United States was created
The States existed first, and they gave-away SOME of their power to a central government. Sound familiar? It's how the EU operates as well. Despite frequent claims that the EU is somehow different from the U.S., those differences are small and not significant. Put more explicitly:
THE PEOPLE (ultimate holders of all authority)
|
THE STATES (subject to State Constitutions and the People within)
|
U.S. Constitution (1789)
|
Federal Government (subservient to the Constitution)
Now do you see any differences between that and this?
THE PEOPLE (ultimate holders of all authority)
|
THE MEMBER STATES (subject to Constitutions or Traditions, and the People within)
|
EU Lisbon Treaty (2009)
|
Federal Government (subservient to the Lisbon Treaty)
>>>all those details you mention are not within the control of the european commission,
Neither is banning medical marijuana ir Claifornia, or setting-aside gun free zones around Washington schools, or mandating a national 55mph limit in Montana, or raising drinking age to 21 in Arkansas, and yet the U.S. has exercised all those things that wer never given to it. POINT: Just wait a decade or two, and the EU will also be regulating all sorts of thing "not within its control"
P.S.
I forgot to add one of the problems of having Arbitrators is that these arbitrators can push their agenda (bias). In the example above, I said the 40 million number extracted from a ~1000 postcard survey was invalid and non-scientific. HOWEVER if the arbitrator believes the number to be true, he could block my or other person's editing attempts to correct the number (like citing why the number is invalid) (or citing other estimates from other sources).
Once wikipedia becomes a place for a small band of Arbitrators to lock-down articles to fit their own personal biases, it ceases to be a useful resource for readers or writers. It becomes an Oligarchy that serves the few who are in charge.
You can't argue with the facts themselves, but you can argue with their *validity*. For example the "40 million American are uninsured" factoid. Some say it's valid, while others say the information was compiled from ~1000 mail-in postcards and therefore not a valid survey, nor can you extrapolate from 1000 postcards to 40,000,000 people.
On the other hand, some say it doesn't matter if a fact is valid. If you repeat an erroneous number often enough, people will believe it, and the error becomes "fact" by default even if it has no foundation to support it.
How about massive layoffs?
I used to edit wikipedia from work. I'd look something up, notice an error, and then fix it during my 15-minute breaks. Now, not having a job, I don't edit the encyclopedia at all. My last edit dates back about one month prior to my last day in the office, but I bet once I return to work, my contributions will skyrocket.
Perhaps the same phenomenon is spreading throughout the world: more time at home == more time doing other things, not wiki-editing
The government can reinstate the draft tomorrow and send you to Afghanistan or some other hellhole if it wanted. The power is there, which was my point. A record exec doesn't have that power.
>>>I think cable and phone wire hookups are also natural monopoly..
Today's phone, cable TV, and internet can all be carried in a single millimeter-thick fiber optic (example: Verizon FiOS). That means you could run dozens of these wires, one for each company (Comcast, AppleTV, LinuxISP, et cetera), through the government's underground metal pipes.
That means it's not a natural monopoly.
>>>I totally agree with this, yet vendors are subject to the laws of the states where they're selling.
That's true but all they can do is stop me from mailing you the wine. They cannot send their cops over the border and arrest me. Neither can they send their cops over the border (300 miles from NY to VA) and arrest me for failure to pay taxes.
Likewise neither can the Ottawa Government send mounties to my home and force me to pay Canadian VAT taxes.
I am not subject to juris diction of any government except Virginia State and the central U.S. government.
How can there be a crime if there are no victims?
>>>(the 1st amendment doesn't protect your right to say things that endanger the public
Too bad the United States Supreme Court disagrees with you. You can say anything upto the point of riot, but if the crowd is not rioting then your innate, natural, and inalienable right to free speech will be protected by the government. It's how people like MLK Junior were able to give speeches in the open, instead of from a jail, even though he was often falsely-accused of spreading violence everywhere he went. His right of free speech protected him.
Also it's not as if this was the first case of police acting like tyrants, instead of taxpayer employees:
- there's the famous Professor Gates where he was arrested in his own house; okay he acted like a loud-mouthed jerk but that is right (free speech)
- there's the fellow that was barred from traveling from St.Louis to Arlington Virginia because he had $4000 cash (not illegal)
- there's the guy who was stopped in the middle of Arizona, forced to open his trunk, he refused, so they drug him out and beat him
- and then there's case-after-case-after-case where people were arrested for using a camera in a public sidewalk
Anyway I'll let you do your own google search, but here's just some quick links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUzd7G875Hc [youtube.com] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMB6L487LHM [youtube.com] http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=arrested+for+taping+police&search_type=&aq=f [youtube.com] The U.S. Police are turning into a modern variant of the Roman Legionnaire that spread terror throughout the empire.
--
Or else take Windows95, or Windows NT 4, and modify these programs for use on their ancient machines.
Or download the songs they listened to when they were teenagers (pre-95) and enjoy the nostalgia of hearing old music without fear of RIAA suing them, or the ISP turning-off their internet
No but at least the capital in my *democratic* Republic State is only a few miles away, rather than on the other side of the continent (DC) and out-of-reach. It makes logical sense to move the power closer to the people at the State level.
Obama also appoints judges to the Federal Superior Courts. Responsibility for State courts lie with the Governors or Legislatures.
As a certain fleeing Roman Senator commented ~2000 years ago, "Where is there to go? There is no part of the known world that is not within reach of Rome."
>>>the authority of the president permits him to pass an executive order
(read Constitution). I can not lay my hand on any part of this Supreme Law that authorizes presidents to create "executive orders" (whatever they are). On the contrary it appears this Law takes full effect: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." And "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States". The president can not exercise legislative or other powers which are reserved to other branches or governments.
.
>>>governing the contents of the treaty, only he needs to sign it.
In violation of this Law: "He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur". And of course no treaty can be supreme to the Constitution itself. For example a treaty can not revoke your right to free speech.
It's a process called Fast Tracking and this wouldn't be the first one to be approved that way.
Right because RIAA, MPAA, and other copy monopolies have treated the People with such respect and kindness so far, sending friendly requests to pay them $5000, or receive a cordial invitation to a courtroom. Why anyone would think the copy monopoly trade agreement might include nefarious searches-and-seizures by RI/MPAA lawyers, or eavesdropping on net communications by same, or other heavy-handed tactics is totally nutty and not founded upon any evidence whatsoever.
In other words the EU is more like the US then Europeans want to admit. They keep insisting "We are not one single country" even though it's clear to outside observers that's exactly what they have become, and as the central government starts regulating nitty-gritty details like how fast you can drive on your roads, or the universal drinking age, it will become self-evident.
BTW European readers:
Please don't call me an "American". Like the EU we are not only single country; we are many. Please call me "Virginian". Thank you. /end sarcasm
>>>as I stare at my AT&T bill and ponder how humpty dumpty Ma Bell was put back together again, and why I still can't get FiOS, is that the EU tells King Kong NIMBY - to the benefit of emerging open source service markets there.
>>>
Ma Bell has not been recreated. Ma Bell was a monopoly, whereas today you have many choices for your long distance service. You can even change companies on a whim, simply by buying a competitors' calling card (I have AT&T long distance but my calling card is Sprint).
As for FiOS it's a new technology (2005). It will take time for it to spread. I've found one problem with Americans is that they are inpatient, and they expect everything done NOW. You can't convert the whole continent to fiber in just five years.
No it doesn't. In fact it says the exact-opposite: "The EU believes trade is better with more small competitors."
You still don't arrest the person who is a mere bystander. Perhaps charge the organizer with second degree manslaughter after someone is killed, but if nobody is killed, then no crime has been committed
The cops suffer from Power Trip-itis, and will just arrest you for anything they can make stick. Even if the unfairly arrested citizen gets arrested tomorrow morning, the cops still are proud of themselves for having "put that citizen in his place". It boosts their ego.
And like I said below, when a judge or other official declares the citizens falsely arrested, then the cop should have to spend equal time in jail as punishment. Maybe if cops spent more nights in jail, thus being inconvenienced, they'll be more inclined to think twice or thrice before arresting people who have done nothing wrong.
BTW:
The reason I'm so annoyed with cops is because I was stopped in Texas while on a cross-country trip. They wanted to search my trunk. I refused because they had no warrant or probable cause. The power trippin' cops made me stand around for an hour in the cold night air until they finally let me go. Assholes.
>>>And the corollary is... a dirty old man is a healthy old man.
Yessir!!! The Dirty Old Man's Association is by far my favorite website. If only they'd add video. Oh well. (warning nudity) http://www.domai.com/
Of course nobody listened to me, and I doubt anyone will listen to this study either. They'll just keep cleaning their kid.
Likewise exposing your kid to lots of allergens (like pollen, grass, et cetera) can prevent allergies as the body learns to ignore these things. Even in adulthood the body can be "trained" to allergens through frequent exposure.