Lawyers don't sue for altruistic concerns. They sue to make obscene amounts of money. Try to get a lawyer to represent you, against a doctor when large amounts of money aren't on the line.
This country operated for years without the glut of lawyers that we have now. We must do so again in the future if we are to have a future.
It sounds like your doctor was a great doctor. I don't knock that. It also sounds like market forces are askew if your doctor was cheaper than your Mother's. You should give out your doctor's name here so other people can go to him, and he could charge more.
As for your contention that the AMA is a certifying agency that ensures doctors are qualified, I could point out numerous counter examples, where the AMA has hurt patients. We all want the best qualified doctors. However, I would rather have an excess of slightly less qualified doctors that could be seen in under 10 minutes, vs. a few ultra qualified doctors, who need an appointment 2 months in advance and just may flat out refuse to see me if I do not have the right condition/ amount of money.
Here the women died because she could not be seen in a timely manner.
I also think there should be some standards. However there is something seriously wrong with those standards if have interns working 80 hours a week, and doctors operating on the wrong side of the body because they are so overworked.
A simple example from my medical history. I received a tick bit in Mass. Not wanting to risk a case of Lyme disease, I went to the emergency room after gnawing the tick that tried to eat me. I already knew I needed a dose of doxyclyclene. I told the front desk secretary this. The hospital would not just give me a prescription for doxy. I could not just go to the pharmacy because in the USA this is illegal without a prescription. Apparently there are a lot of doxycyclene heads that are shooting up doxycyclene all the time, so the state has to regulate this drug. Instead I had to wait 2 hours for a doctor to see me, and administer the Doxy. I do not have insurance, so I was concerned over the cost. The attendants could not tell me what the cost would be. Apparently they need a team of highly paid economics majors to calculate the price of treatment. When I expressed my concerns the attendant said not to worry because, if I could not foot the bill, the state would, as that health care was mandatory in this state. It ended up costing the state over $250.
Everything that is wrong with this could have been fixed if market forces had been involved. First off. I could have just gone to the pharmacy, and picked up my own drug. Secondly It would not have taken so long to see the physician. Thirdly costs would be less. Lastly the hospital would have actually cared about what things cost.
Seriously; the fact that surgeons / residents are so overworked that they have to operate while sleepy is a symptom of a much larger problem. Mainly that there are not enough surgeons. The AMA artificially restricts the number of doctors in the field, thereby endangering the lives of the patients the are supposed to be protecting.
Things that can be done to correct the disaster that is U.S. heath care:
These three things would restore market forces to the medical industry. People decry Obamacare, when they don't realize that we have a defacto socialized system now. The consumers(sick) no longer pay for their product(medical care). We instead throw in artificial barriers (insurance companies) whose sole goal is to PROFIT.
Ohh. I thought he meant you have to wear Axe personal bodywash or a similar brand of soap. Sorry I am just stupid. I will pay closer attention before posting.
Technological advancement is peaking. The 20th century, the era-when-everything-happened is over. It was an aberation caused by huge amounts of cheap petroleum energy. With cheap oil depleting, the huge technology positive-feedback loop slows and stops.
China had quite and advanced civilization 1500 years ago. I don't think that had anything to do with cheap petroleum energy. I don't think the technological (e.g. financial achievement) has anything to do what so ever with natural resources. It has everything to do with the character of the people. Witness Japan.
I agree with you other points though. I think the problem is that there are too many parasites (lawyers, politicians, tv personalities). The poeple that produce e.g. farmers, scientists, engineers need to rise up and declare war on the hair dressers and bullshit artists of the USA. Maybe we can send them all overseas to 'invest' in the emerging markets.
The other day I was reading a X-man comic book from the 1970's. It had adds in the back for kids to buy kits to make their own analog computer! It kind of makes me realize how far we have devolved as a nation. Go to u tube and look at old tv talk shows from the 70's i.e. Donahue. Compare that to the TV pundits we have on the air today. The difference is truly shocking. I wonder if there are not a bunch of alien UFOs hovering over the United States, and sucking out our brains while we are unaware. It would explain a hell of a lot.
So What you are saying is that America is now the master of bullshit. Are most respected individuals are all bullshit artists (lawyers) and pop stars We spend hours each night listening to the television tell us about bullshit. We can't make anything so we bullshit ourselves and believe we are now in the 'information economy'.
I would rather just look down the street. I don't have to 'look it up'.
-We should commission a study to determine why people will believe any study done be 'experts' whose job it is to do studies, when they won't believe the evidence of their own common sense. -Sir Mixalot
There are still lots of good people left. My point is that 'being good' it is not nearly as 'fashionable' as it once was. You place a nerdy looking dude on the street corner, and a G on the other street corner, I guarantee you the G will be getting a lot more respect. No one gets excited anymore about science, or going to church anymore They do get excited about doing some crack.
As for media sensationalism, I could not agree with you more. One of the major beneficiaries of crime in my country is the media. Every-time someone gets shot AND they can say the crime was 'racially' motivated, some channel 5 'reporter' gets paid. However, they don't give a fu$k if it was not 'racially motivated'.
As for crime rates going down, you must live someplace i don't.
Not everybody lives in the society you do, has insurance, and access to 'cheaper' electronics. There are lots of people in supposedly affluent societies who's worldly possessions fit in their shopping carts.
The thug who robbed this person's house is not one of those just struggling to get by victimized by society. If anything he is driving around in a nice car, and is getting mad pussy, and well respect by other kids who look up to him, and want to become him. The reason for this is simple. People in polite society have largely become sissified, and are willing to put up with this. These guys do not fear the cops, but they would fear the good citizens if they only would put up a fight. Kids look up to the gang stars today because it appears to them that all the decent citizens are just a bunch of pussies. This needs to stop.
While our republic is being taken over by Gang Stars of all races and nationalities, the good citizens are asleep.
People like this robber are the ones who are more often than not the affluent ones. This is how the got to be affluent. The working man is a true schmuck.
-In the United States we believe in the spirit of cooperation. Law enforcement, the Gang Stars, and the politicians, all cooperate to make the most money of a dwindling pool of suckers.
Really! Some would say your knee jerk defense of the criminal is a sign that society has gone to hell. It wasn't like he was stealing food from the refrigerator because he was starving. He was stealing a laptop and cash.
-I would say that the fact your comment has received a +5 would be an indicator, to me that slashdot has truly gone to hell.
So what you are saying is that people of the nation (jurors) are too simple minded to make that determination for themselves.
The jurors are supposed to make an intelligent decision when the only information they are 'allowed to know' are the deliberately distorted half truths presented by the defense and prosecution. Too many innocent people have been convicted, and too many guilty have been set free with the system we have now. The system is seriously F&cked.
This reminds me of star trek Episode #54, where Kirk has to translate the Preamble to the Constitution's opening lines. "We the People". The people on the planet had interpreted this constitution as some holy document, that only the elect priest of the society had the right to interpret.
We have a similar situation today. The priest / fuedal lords in our society are the lawyers. The common folk are just too stupid to interpret the laws for themselves (at least that is what they say). The only people that have the right to make and interpret the rules of civilization are the elected few. The rest of us just need to follow along blindly.
So, If I understand you correctly, your premise is that citizens of the country (jury members) are not supposed to do any thinking or outside research on their own. They should not seek the 'truth' of the matter, and only concern themselves with that 'facts of the case' as spoon fed to them by the prosecutors and defense council. Is this what is mean that 'justice is blind' e.g. The jury members are blind to the truth, and are only interested in facts and points of law.
If this is the case, it seems to me to be an incredibly stupid and inane way of going about getting 'justice'. Why would you want someone deciding your fate who does not have the wherewithal / desire to find the absolute truth of the case.
This just goes to show that after some point you really don't need any more functionality. Some times old tools serve you quite well. In the last 10 years computers have grown exponentially more powerful, and linearly cheaper. However all this power is being squandered on 'friviality'. Better graphics, in smaller and smaller devices. A larger array of mind numbing applications e.g. 'Angry Birds', and Facey Book.all with exponentially slicker interfaces, that keep our minds off the futility of modern life. I would argue that the 'real' application e.g application for people that actually need a computer (word processing / spread sheets etc). have not advanced much since 1995.
With the TI calculators, you get a very good CAS, that is totally portable, and does not need to be plugged into a wall for months at a time. Sure I would love to have a larger screen, and color, but, If I had choice of a larger screen or battery life I would choose battery life. With my Voyage 200, I use it for math. I don't want to surf Utube, or facey book. Those things are for those uber elite, hoy poloi socialites, with their interesting and real social lives. I am better of with my equations.
Now if they ever port Mathematica (any version. ie. V1) to the Kindle, I will get rid of my Voyage 200. The kindle and Mathematica would be the perfect combination. Good batter life. Decent Screen (well a lot better that the Voyager) and full qwerty keyboard.
Because, despite some questionable decision concerning 1984, and censorship, it is still the best E-reader out there. Are you saying that Apple, doesn't censor? How about Barnes and Noble. Do you think I could get my upcoming book entitled. Child Prostitution For Dummies. How to turn your underage teenager into a ca$h Cow into the Barnes and Noble on-line catalog?
It is great to take an high and noble stand, and I can respect you for that. However in the real world compromise need to be made by individuals and corporations. Not everyone is a hero 100% of the time.
Personally, I love my kindle. It is great that I can download books / search the net from anywhere in the world without being tethered to the wall outlet. Sure it sucks that I can't download all the incestuous porn that I want to, but the pros outweigh the cons.
This means they will pull Infinite Jest , which talks about incest, from the store. If they had only done this earlier, I would be $9 richer, and have about 1 month of my life back.
They are pulling the bible off the store; aren't they? Good Riddance. We need to make the world safe for Christians everywhere. Dirty books lead to dirty deeds.
Generally no, unless you happen to live in the Great State of North Carolina, and even then I am not sure. When I was getting ready to leave the state, there was a big fight brewing. The brick and mortar shops were were whining about unfair competition, and making large contributions to the state legislature, . So North Carolina passed / may have passed a law requiring the collection of sales tax. I know Amazon was fighting it and threatening to boycott the state. I am not sure how it all played out. There is no law that I know of requiring you to pay sales tax for items purchased on-line (unless you live in that state).
-It used to be the criminals who ran the booze, the numbers rackets, Not its the government. My State actually wants you to get drunk and waste all my money playing the lottery. -Adam Sandler
Since religion is a form of government then I guess the quote is correct.
Religion / the state / the Mob (in a generic sense) are all just forms of government. That government can be just or it can be corrupt. There have been times when religion acted as a righteous force when the state was corrupt. There have been also been plenty of cases where the opposite was the case.
Religion is the most insane and immoral method of governance created by man.
Really? I can think of some crazier forms of government. What about the Communists under Stallin? That government did plenty of evil without the help of religion.
If you read the writings of the founders you will learn that a big driving force behind the design of the government was to prevent the religious insanity that tormented Europe for centuries.
Really? I thought the pilgrims were all religious fundamentalists who crossed the ocean precisely because they had such strong religious convictions. I will agree that the framers of the constitution definitely were dead set against any sort of theocracy (as was right), however, I would argue that they all had deeply religious personal convictions that are missing today. In general religious convictions can be a strong motivating / organizing influence to create a lot of good in the world, as can the power of the state. The opposite can also be the case.
I don't want to say that we should go back to the middle ages when Galileo was lock up. That is wrong. The trick is to keep a sense of balance and proportion so that the crazier whims of any faction are not heeded.
Uhh. Isn't the U.S. government 'strongly suggesting' that Amazon not cooperate with Wiki Leaks. I think we can all agree that freedom of speech and freedom of association should be protected. But it appears to me that Big Brother, is playing it's hand and 'leaning' on the corporations that want to do business in the land of the free.
"Uhh Hey Amazon.com, you REALLY don't want to do business with those scoundrels at wiki leaks do you? Say how do you like the U.S. postal system. How do you like the fact that the internet purchases are not taxed?"
This issue is not freedom of press / association, it is who is Actually playing the heavy hand and stifling these principals. If it were purely up to Amazon, I think they would be happy to take the money wherever it came from. But it isn't. Part of growing up is the need to make money to support others. That means compromises will be made a living and keep doing business, but don't call those compromises a 'courageous moral decision'
Religion was created to quell the baser instinct of mankind during more barbarous times. In that respect it kind of goes along with some of the goals of the state. ie. (Do not kill, protect the rights of women, and children, etc). Sure religion throws a lot of crazy superstitious ideas in there, but the underlying principals are sound.
The problem I have with rabid secularists, is that they totally ignore the crazy / insane things the state makes you do, while only focusing on the crazy things religion makes you do (some would say circumcision) and every evil that has ever been commited in the name of religion.
There has to be a happy middle ground where the government is NOT controlled by the church, but the majority is populace is grounded upon sound moral / theocratic principals and has a deep respect for religion.
The problem with the 'rule of law' and not the 'rule of law checked by good common sense and morality' , is that it ignores the underlying motivations of the people. If people feel free to do anything not expressly forbidden by the laws, you will have what we have today, where people feel free to rape the public treasury because it isn't against the law to do so.
IMHO things have swung too far to the left.
Ron Paul, and the other crazies were predicting this economic collapse, long ago, while all the other politicians were still admiring the empowers clothes.
-Insanity among individuals is rare, but among governments it is the Norm -Nietzsche
the left wants to protect a group whose goal is to keep women subservient to men
WTF?
If you are concerned about protecting against groups that would oppress minority groups then look very closely at Ron's legislation that attempts to remove Supreme Court jurisdiction over state statutes that are based on religious principles. Ron wants nothing short of state sponsored theocratic law with no impunity to the Constitution of the United States.
My purpose was not to support or disagree with women's rights. My purpose was to show how wacked politics in the USA is. Insanity reigns supreme. You may disagree with Ron Paul. That is fine. I can respect that. But you have to admit that he is perhaps the only person w/ the exception of Dennis Kucinich who's ideas are at least consitant, and don't contradict themselves.
How can you knock Ron Paul, and not say anything about the rest of the demagogues ruining the country.
Very True. The history of the world is a history of invasions.
If Burnin1965 is worried about imperialism, and righting the wrongs of the past, the following must happen:
1) The British should get out of N. Ireland. 2) The Irish should get out of Ireland. The history of Ireland is a history of Invasions from successive waves of people who all came in and appropriated land. 3) Mexican should get out of Mexico. They unlawfully took the land from the natives sometime in the 16th Century. 4) All the Israelites need to get out of Israel. Originally it belonged to the Canaanites, who were wiped out by the Israelis. 5) Polynesians unlawfully annexed their islands from the dodo birds, who were never fully compensated. 6) Etc.
The only peace you will find is in the grave. Ron Paul IMHO generally looks out for the interest of the United States (imagine that). He is not buying land in Dubai like some politicians.
Say what you want about Ron Paul, at least his ideas have a logical consistency that does not exist with any other politician with the exception of Dennis Kucinich, who even though he is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, at least stands for something.
Slashdot Mirror
Lawyers don't sue for altruistic concerns. They sue to make obscene amounts of money. Try to get a lawyer to represent you, against a doctor when large amounts of money aren't on the line.
This country operated for years without the glut of lawyers that we have now. We must do so again in the future if we are to have a future.
It sounds like your doctor was a great doctor. I don't knock that. It also sounds like market forces are askew if your doctor was cheaper than your Mother's. You should give out your doctor's name here so other people can go to him, and he could charge more.
As for your contention that the AMA is a certifying agency that ensures doctors are qualified, I could point out numerous counter examples, where the AMA has hurt patients. We all want the best qualified doctors. However, I would rather have an excess of slightly less qualified doctors that could be seen in under 10 minutes, vs. a few ultra qualified doctors, who need an appointment 2 months in advance and just may flat out refuse to see me if I do not have the right condition/ amount of money.
Casebook example of too few doctors killing someone
Here the women died because she could not be seen in a timely manner.
I also think there should be some standards. However there is something seriously wrong with those standards if have interns working 80 hours a week, and doctors operating on the wrong side of the body because they are so overworked.
A simple example from my medical history. I received a tick bit in Mass. Not wanting to risk a case of Lyme disease, I went to the emergency room after gnawing the tick that tried to eat me. I already knew I needed a dose of doxyclyclene. I told the front desk secretary this. The hospital would not just give me a prescription for doxy. I could not just go to the pharmacy because in the USA this is illegal without a prescription. Apparently there are a lot of doxycyclene heads that are shooting up doxycyclene all the time, so the state has to regulate this drug. Instead I had to wait 2 hours for a doctor to see me, and administer the Doxy. I do not have insurance, so I was concerned over the cost. The attendants could not tell me what the cost would be. Apparently they need a team of highly paid economics majors to calculate the price of treatment. When I expressed my concerns the attendant said not to worry because, if I could not foot the bill, the state would, as that health care was mandatory in this state. It ended up costing the state over $250.
Everything that is wrong with this could have been fixed if market forces had been involved. First off. I could have just gone to the pharmacy, and picked up my own drug. Secondly It would not have taken so long to see the physician. Thirdly costs would be less.
Lastly the hospital would have actually cared about what things cost.
Seriously; the fact that surgeons / residents are so overworked that they have to operate while sleepy is a symptom of a much larger problem. Mainly that there are not enough surgeons. The AMA artificially restricts the number of doctors in the field, thereby endangering the lives of the patients the are supposed to be protecting.
Things that can be done to correct the disaster that is U.S. heath care:
1)Eliminate the AMA.
2)Eliminate Insurance companies.
3)Eliminate Malpractice lawyers / insurance.
These three things would restore market forces to the medical industry. People decry Obamacare, when they don't realize that we have a defacto socialized system now. The consumers(sick) no longer pay for their product(medical care). We instead throw in artificial barriers (insurance companies) whose sole goal is to PROFIT.
Ohh. I thought he meant you have to wear Axe personal bodywash or a similar brand of soap. Sorry I am just stupid. I will pay closer attention before posting.
Thanks
Just curious, but why do I need the soap?
Technological advancement is peaking. The 20th century, the era-when-everything-happened is over. It was an aberation caused by huge amounts of cheap petroleum energy. With cheap oil depleting, the huge technology positive-feedback loop slows and stops.
China had quite and advanced civilization 1500 years ago. I don't think that had anything to do with cheap petroleum energy. I don't think the technological (e.g. financial achievement) has anything to do what so ever with natural resources. It has everything to do with the character of the people. Witness Japan.
I agree with you other points though. I think the problem is that there are too many parasites (lawyers, politicians, tv personalities). The poeple that produce e.g. farmers, scientists, engineers need to rise up and declare war on the hair dressers and bullshit artists of the USA. Maybe we can send them all overseas to 'invest' in the emerging markets.
The other day I was reading a X-man comic book from the 1970's. It had adds in the back for kids to buy kits to make their own analog computer! It kind of makes me realize how far we have devolved as a nation. Go to u tube and look at old tv talk shows from the 70's i.e. Donahue. Compare that to the TV pundits we have on the air today. The difference is truly shocking. I wonder if there are not a bunch of alien UFOs hovering over the United States, and sucking out our brains while we are unaware. It would explain a hell of a lot.
So What you are saying is that America is now the master of bullshit. Are most respected individuals are all bullshit artists (lawyers) and pop stars We spend hours each night listening to the television tell us about bullshit. We can't make anything so we bullshit ourselves and believe we are now in the 'information economy'.
Look it up.
I would rather just look down the street. I don't have to 'look it up'.
-We should commission a study to determine why people will believe any study done be 'experts' whose job it is to do studies, when they won't believe the evidence of their own common sense.
-Sir Mixalot
Sure not everyone is a thug.
There are still lots of good people left. My point is that 'being good' it is not nearly as 'fashionable' as it once was. You place a nerdy looking dude on the street corner, and a G on the other street corner, I guarantee you the G will be getting a lot more respect. No one gets excited anymore about science, or going to church anymore They do get excited about doing some crack.
As for media sensationalism, I could not agree with you more. One of the major beneficiaries of crime in my country is the media. Every-time someone gets shot AND they can say the crime was 'racially' motivated, some channel 5 'reporter' gets paid. However, they don't give a fu$k if it was not 'racially motivated'.
As for crime rates going down, you must live someplace i don't.
Not everybody lives in the society you do, has insurance, and access to 'cheaper' electronics. There are lots of people in supposedly affluent societies who's worldly possessions fit in their shopping carts.
The thug who robbed this person's house is not one of those just struggling to get by victimized by society. If anything he is driving around in a nice car, and is getting mad pussy, and well respect by other kids who look up to him, and want to become him. The reason for this is simple. People in polite society have largely become sissified, and are willing to put up with this. These guys do not fear the cops, but they would fear the good citizens if they only would put up a fight. Kids look up to the gang stars today because it appears to them that all the decent citizens are just a bunch of pussies. This needs to stop.
While our republic is being taken over by Gang Stars of all races and nationalities, the good citizens are asleep.
People like this robber are the ones who are more often than not the affluent ones. This is how the got to be affluent. The working man is a true schmuck.
-In the United States we believe in the spirit of cooperation. Law enforcement, the Gang Stars, and the politicians, all cooperate to make the most money of a dwindling pool of suckers.
Really! Some would say your knee jerk defense of the criminal is a sign that society has gone to hell. It wasn't like he was stealing food from the refrigerator because he was starving. He was stealing a laptop and cash.
-I would say that the fact your comment has received a +5 would be an indicator, to me that slashdot has truly gone to hell.
Yea, how is the 'representative' democracy working out for you?
So what you are saying is that people of the nation (jurors) are too simple minded to make that determination for themselves.
The jurors are supposed to make an intelligent decision when the only information they are 'allowed to know' are the deliberately distorted half truths presented by the defense and prosecution. Too many innocent people have been convicted, and too many guilty have been set free with the system we have now. The system is seriously F&cked.
This reminds me of star trek Episode #54, where Kirk has to translate the Preamble to the Constitution's opening lines. "We the People". The people on the planet had interpreted this constitution as some holy document, that only the elect priest of the society had the right to interpret.
We have a similar situation today. The priest / fuedal lords in our society are the lawyers. The common folk are just too stupid to interpret the laws for themselves (at least that is what they say). The only people that have the right to make and interpret the rules of civilization are the elected few. The rest of us just need to follow along blindly.
Sounds like a great system.
So, If I understand you correctly, your premise is that citizens of the country (jury members) are not supposed to do any thinking or outside research on their own. They should not seek the 'truth' of the matter, and only concern themselves with that 'facts of the case' as spoon fed to them by the prosecutors and defense council. Is this what is mean that 'justice is blind' e.g. The jury members are blind to the truth, and are only interested in facts and points of law.
If this is the case, it seems to me to be an incredibly stupid and inane way of going about getting 'justice'. Why would you want someone deciding your fate who does not have the wherewithal / desire to find the absolute truth of the case.
This just goes to show that after some point you really don't need any more functionality. Some times old tools serve you quite well. In the last 10 years computers have grown exponentially more powerful, and linearly cheaper. However all this power is being squandered on 'friviality'. Better graphics, in smaller and smaller devices. A larger array of mind numbing applications e.g. 'Angry Birds', and Facey Book.all with exponentially slicker interfaces, that keep our minds off the futility of modern life. I would argue that the 'real' application e.g application for people that actually need a computer (word processing / spread sheets etc). have not advanced much since 1995.
With the TI calculators, you get a very good CAS, that is totally portable, and does not need to be plugged into a wall for months at a time. Sure I would love to have a larger screen, and color, but, If I had choice of a larger screen or battery life I would choose battery life. With my Voyage 200, I use it for math. I don't want to surf Utube, or facey book. Those things are for those uber elite, hoy poloi socialites, with their interesting and real social lives. I am better of with my equations.
Now if they ever port Mathematica (any version. ie. V1) to the Kindle, I will get rid of my Voyage 200. The kindle and Mathematica would be the perfect combination. Good batter life. Decent Screen (well a lot better that the Voyager) and full qwerty keyboard.
You know you shouldn't discriminate against people that are shit faced. It is the law.
Because, despite some questionable decision concerning 1984, and censorship, it is still the best E-reader out there. Are you saying that Apple, doesn't censor? How about Barnes and Noble. Do you think I could get my upcoming book entitled. Child Prostitution For Dummies. How to turn your underage teenager into a ca$h Cow into the Barnes and Noble on-line catalog?
It is great to take an high and noble stand, and I can respect you for that. However in the real world compromise need to be made by individuals and corporations. Not everyone is a hero 100% of the time.
Personally, I love my kindle. It is great that I can download books / search the net from anywhere in the world without being tethered to the wall outlet. Sure it sucks that I can't download all the incestuous porn that I want to, but the pros outweigh the cons.
IFF this is for real,
This means they will pull Infinite Jest , which talks about incest, from the store. If they had only done this earlier, I would be $9 richer, and have about 1 month of my life back.
They are pulling the bible off the store; aren't they? Good Riddance. We need to make the world safe for Christians everywhere. Dirty books lead to dirty deeds.
-Thanks.
Generally no, unless you happen to live in the Great State of North Carolina, and even then I am not sure. When I was getting ready to leave the state, there was a big fight brewing. The brick and mortar shops were were whining about unfair competition, and making large contributions to the state legislature, . So North Carolina passed / may have passed a law requiring the collection of sales tax. I know Amazon was fighting it and threatening to boycott the state. I am not sure how it all played out. There is no law that I know of requiring you to pay sales tax for items purchased on-line (unless you live in that state).
-It used to be the criminals who ran the booze, the numbers rackets, Not its the government. My State actually wants you to get drunk and waste all my money playing the lottery.
-Adam Sandler
Glad I can make you laugh 8-).
Since religion is a form of government then I guess the quote is correct.
Religion / the state / the Mob (in a generic sense) are all just forms of government. That government can be just or it can be corrupt. There have been times when religion acted as a righteous force when the state was corrupt. There have been also been plenty of cases where the opposite was the case.
Religion is the most insane and immoral method of governance created by man.
Really? I can think of some crazier forms of government. What about the Communists under Stallin? That government did plenty of evil without the help of religion.
If you read the writings of the founders you will learn that a big driving force behind the design of the government was to prevent the religious insanity that tormented Europe for centuries.
Really? I thought the pilgrims were all religious fundamentalists who crossed the ocean precisely because they had such strong religious convictions. I will agree that the framers of the constitution definitely were dead set against any sort of theocracy (as was right), however, I would argue that they all had deeply religious personal convictions that are missing today. In general religious convictions can be a strong motivating / organizing influence to create a lot of good in the world, as can the power of the state. The opposite can also be the case.
I don't want to say that we should go back to the middle ages when Galileo was lock up. That is wrong. The trick is to keep a sense of balance and proportion so that the crazier whims of any faction are not heeded.
Uhh. Isn't the U.S. government 'strongly suggesting' that Amazon not cooperate with Wiki Leaks. I think we can all agree that freedom of speech and freedom of association should be protected. But it appears to me that Big Brother, is playing it's hand and 'leaning' on the corporations that want to do business in the land of the free.
"Uhh Hey Amazon.com, you REALLY don't want to do business with those scoundrels at wiki leaks do you? Say how do you like the U.S. postal system. How do you like the fact that the internet purchases are not taxed?"
This issue is not freedom of press / association, it is who is Actually playing the heavy hand and stifling these principals. If it were purely up to Amazon, I think they would be happy to take the money wherever it came from. But it isn't. Part of growing up is the need to make money to support others. That means compromises will be made a living and keep doing business, but don't call those compromises a 'courageous moral decision'
Religion was created to quell the baser instinct of mankind during more barbarous times. In that respect it kind of goes along with some of the goals of the state. ie. (Do not kill, protect the rights of women, and children, etc). Sure religion throws a lot of crazy superstitious ideas in there, but the underlying principals are sound.
The problem I have with rabid secularists, is that they totally ignore the crazy / insane things the state makes you do, while only focusing on the crazy things religion makes you do (some would say circumcision) and every evil that has ever been commited in the name of religion.
There has to be a happy middle ground where the government is NOT controlled by the church, but the majority is populace is grounded upon sound moral / theocratic principals and has a deep respect for religion.
The problem with the 'rule of law' and not the 'rule of law checked by good common sense and morality' , is that it ignores the underlying motivations of the people. If people feel free to do anything not expressly forbidden by the laws, you will have what we have today, where people feel free to rape the public treasury because it isn't against the law to do so.
IMHO things have swung too far to the left.
Ron Paul, and the other crazies were predicting this economic collapse, long ago, while all the other politicians were still admiring the empowers clothes.
-Insanity among individuals is rare, but among governments it is the Norm
-Nietzsche
the left wants to protect a group whose goal is to keep women subservient to men
WTF?
If you are concerned about protecting against groups that would oppress minority groups then look very closely at Ron's legislation that attempts to remove Supreme Court jurisdiction over state statutes that are based on religious principles. Ron wants nothing short of state sponsored theocratic law with no impunity to the Constitution of the United States.
My purpose was not to support or disagree with women's rights. My purpose was to show how wacked politics in the USA is. Insanity reigns supreme. You may disagree with Ron Paul. That is fine. I can respect that. But you have to admit that he is perhaps the only person w/ the exception of Dennis Kucinich who's ideas are at least consitant, and don't contradict themselves.
How can you knock Ron Paul, and not say anything about the rest of the demagogues ruining the country.
Very True. The history of the world is a history of invasions.
If Burnin1965 is worried about imperialism, and righting the wrongs of the past, the following must happen:
1) The British should get out of N. Ireland.
2) The Irish should get out of Ireland. The history of Ireland is a history of Invasions from successive waves of people who all came in and appropriated land.
3) Mexican should get out of Mexico. They unlawfully took the land from the natives sometime in the 16th Century.
4) All the Israelites need to get out of Israel. Originally it belonged to the Canaanites, who were wiped out by the Israelis.
5) Polynesians unlawfully annexed their islands from the dodo birds, who were never fully compensated.
6) Etc.
The only peace you will find is in the grave. Ron Paul IMHO generally looks out for the interest of the United States (imagine that). He is not buying land in Dubai like some politicians.
Say what you want about Ron Paul, at least his ideas have a logical consistency that does not exist with any other politician with the exception of Dennis Kucinich, who even though he is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum, at least stands for something.