One person cannot represent adequately the desires of a community of 650,000 people. It doesn't matter how much time they spend in their "district", especially one Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) who doesn't even live in Florida, let alone the district he represents.
Ever tried to have a cell conversation next to one of those obnoxious cell phone users? They talk so loud that you can't hear the person you're talking to, so you end up screaming into the phone annoying the person on the other end.
I'll do that just as soon as the government gets out of sacred institutions completely. That means the government gets out of deciding who is and isn't married.
Which means that polygamy and homosexual marriages are okay. In fact, I suggest that if you're for homosexual marriages, but don't like polygamy, that you have bigger issues, since there is a historical context for one and not the other.
I'll even go so far as to say that the government should get out of deciding what is, and isn't a "community standard". If you live in a community that allows porn stores on every corner great, and the same if you live in a community that doesn't allow porn at all.
The problem with people who are like you, you're all for something until it actually impacts you in a way you don't like, then you're all for the same government intrusion into lives you claim you're against.
Whether it is guns, Health care, Redistribution of wealth or whatever. I have the same aversion to these things that you have with people checking laptops at the airports. They all signal more government intrusion into our lives!
However, and this is the kicker, the intrusions I suggest actually will impact more people than those flowing through airports with laptops.
Privacy means squat when the government is involved in our lives in the first place.
Try to negotiate the price of a Big Mac. Try to negotiate Three patties instead of pickles.
Just because someone doesn't negotiate doesn't mean squat. Sorry.
BTW, I always negotiate to get the best PLAN (there's the key word), regardless of what they offer me to start.
If you shop around or even ask what the best plan is, you might be supprised to find out non-advertised rates are available. You just have to be persistent.
Like I said in a previous reply somewhere, if you don't like early termination plans, sign up for Boost or Gophone service, and pay as you go.
There are OPTIONS out there. I'm sick of the whole whiny attitude of people who want everything for nothing.
The problem is with may things, cell phone especially, is that if you itemize things out so that each "thing" gets it own line item, people's eyes gloss over and they start to drool.
It is too complicated.
Remember, we're slashdots, and generally do better with math, often time being able to calculate faster in our heads than the idiots running the calculator can.
They want "simple" and that is what the companies give them. They want to know what the "price" is (payment) and go strictly by a single number. AND they don't want the number to change, even if it goes down, that's too complicated.
I'm sorry but the court is wrong on this one, the early termination fee is part of the price of the simplified contract that most people WANT.
Just because a few idiots think it is ridiculous shouldn't matter, they should have read the contract before signing up. Don't like early termination fees, get a Boost or Gophone. Doesn't have all the fancy features????
That isn't defining what is torture. You're defining torture by example, rather than by description.
Is being forced to listen to Britney songs torture? If that is the case I want the guy down the street blasting that crap all over the place arrested for torturing me.
One man's torture is another man's workout. One person's torture may be another person's "pleasure" (if you know what I mean).
Like Pornography, everyone knows it when they see it. Trying to define what is porn is another matter.
You think it is civilized to be forced into state run slavery? You think it is civilized to be taxed at 60-90%?? That is a Feudal system, and you've just traded one kind of master for another.
No thanks. If you want to live in a place like that, I suggest you move there. I'll even buy you a one way ticket if you'd like.
So many people sound like they want to live in Europe as if that is the panacea of the world, yet I don't see them moving there. I wonder why???
That's where you're wrong. I'm already confronted with that situation. The Government already has more firepower than me. The police already have more firepower than me. They don't represent my interests, they represent the interests of the people who want to take from by power of force.
They've already proven that they're willing to kill armed and unarmed people for little or no reason, as in Waco or Ruby Ridge.
But you probably like them killing those people because you don't agree with them. Right?
Libertarians aren't self-centered as you think. We just have a perspective that goes beyond D good R bad (or visa versa), and value LIBERTY over slavery.
You value one kind of slavery over another, not realizing you're still a slave. So the next time you're compaining about your civil rights being trampled on by GWB war on "evildoers", just remember you're willing to trample on other peoples rights for what you want.
If you have to take from me to secure your rights, those aren't rights. And that isn't civilized either.
IF you want universal health care, move to Canada, and don't come back here when it takes you two months to get your quad-bypass done.
Why should I move? Why can't you move to wherever it is you think is better than here? If it is so much better elsewhere, which is your basic point, you should go.
The thing about you Liberal types is that you can't realize you're just as fascist as the people who hate evil doers.
As for your rights, the more government we have, the less rights we have. I'm not about to tell you where you can or cannot go. Just stay off my lawn, if you want me to stay off yours!
I don't care if someone can't afford to eat. That's what charity is for, and it freakin worked just fine before the government was involved. Nobody in the US is starving, unless they are a child of a lazy idiot bimbo, too stupid to go to the nearest food bank.
And yes, I do care about those poor kids, and the parents should be arrested for neglect, and the kids given to someone who actually gives a damn.
I do believe in individual responsibility. But that means you can screw whomever you want, but don't blame the world for the diseases you catch and spread doing so. And don't expect me to rescue the local whore from her AIDS.
You know, life sucks. Get over it, man up to your mistakes and quit expecting others to take care of you.
As for your definition of democracy, no thanks. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.
The problem with your "protected" groups is that they end up abusing whatever power they have, often creating "rights" for themselves that nobody else has. Some people are more equal than others, i guess.
I don't see myself as anything but an equal, which means that you can't do anything that you don't want me doing. If you want universal health care, I want everyone to be able to own and carry a gun at all times. One is actually found in the constitution, the other isn't. Yet which one are you for, and why?
You want protection? Carry a firearm, and protect your own self. Quit depending on everyone else to do what you should do for yourself!
I can get behind that kind of increased government power.
You're no better than the idiot that says the same thing to fight the "evil doers".
Until you realize that compulsion under any circumstance is evil, you're part of the problem! Why should I be compelled to take care of the idiot who eats 3 Big Macs every day and suffers from Diabetes and Heart Problems?
Because the next thing you'll tell me that NOBODY can eat a Big Mac. And on and on the list will get bigger until we have ridiculous laws put in place forbidding people from selling legal items in certain places.
You think this is a joke? LA and SF both did this recently, one said "no more fast food" trying to define what is, and isn't fast food, and that drug stores can't sell cigarettes.
You see, one person's freedom isn't another person's responsibility. People are trying to avoid the consequences of their actions by compulsion by government guns.
I don't want your universally bad health care. I want disparity in choice. I don't want the freakin government to tell me what is or isn't good for me.
Don't violate my rights please. Don't compel me to comply with what you want me to do, that is nothing more than fascism!
you can't excuse corruption by pointing to corruption.
If you vote D or R, because you're pointing to the corruption of the other, than that is exactly what you're doing.
But that is not what I'm doing. I'm pointing to the corruption and saying that both sides are guilty and we need another option.
Both sides (D n R) are complicit because there is no real "opposition" party, save for the third parties. Both D and R parties have enough power and corruption that both sides turn a blind eye to the corruption, but occasionally toss the voters a sacrificial lamb.
If you think Senator Tubes is unique and the exception to the rule, you should take a look at the dealings of Feinstein and Pelosi on the other side. Most (if not all) ARE corrupt!
I hate them all, they're flushing america down the tubes (pun intended).
Along with the idiot Bicycle rider who screams "I have the same right to road as a car" while ignoring the four red lights as he rides down the street.
Why do people think that disrupting things is a valid protest for ever freaking thing in the world?
If you're protesting in a way that causes disruption normal activity, you deserve what you get. Get out of my way or I'll punch you, asshole!
You obviously think it is okay to assault people as long as it "protesting". Yes, getting in the way of normal traffic is assault.
Go ahead, and mod me troll. I'm sick of whiney asshats who think the world revolves around them and their stupid protests.
If the Guantanomo Bay torture camps didn't exist I might be in your camp, though the issue of the extradition treaties being highly one-sided is still worth complaining about.
By some people's definition, Gitmo is Torture. So is flushing a Koran down a toilette.
I'm sorry but the guys locked up in Gitmo aren't tortured. Torture is what happened to Daniel Purl. Torture is what happened when Saddam Gassed villages. Torture is what China does to its prisoners, when they hack them for body parts.
Equating what goes on at Gitmo with what is truly heinous is a huge disservice to those that are truly tortured.
While I may not like what is going on at Gitmo, I'm not calling it torture because it isn't. I'm sick of people crying "torture" everytime someone is put behind bars. It's a cheap shot and political sophistry.
Don't forget, the Democrats (and Republicans) in the House and Senate are just as complacent in whatever damage has been done, by allowing it to continue and contributing their own malfeasance.
If the Ds really didn't want a war in Iraq, they shouldn't have given Bush the piece of paper authorizing military action.
GWB isn't any more evil than Pelosi and crew! The whole bunch is corrupt! So until you stop voting for the Republicrats, you get what you deserve.
under a lot of scrutiny because of its political bias
Now, let apply the same to the other branches of Government please....
Political Bias = Republicrat and Demican parties, where 2/3 of the people can want something and one person can hold it up because they "want to save the planet", or "protect us against evildoers"!
Windows Mobile sucks, and is "Me Too". Palm was way before Windows Mobile, and WinCE was a "Me Too" version of Windows for mobile applications.
If you look at the interface, it sucks. It's windows, without a mouse.
Apple's iPhone isn't quite a "Me Too" it is "Me Too, but way cooler". The iPhone interface is (was) unique, and works very well. Its mouse less interface is perfect for small hand held devices.
As a side point, have you seen HP's commercials lately? You'll see that they are going to try and make the iPhone type interface work on a desktop or laptop. This is a huge mistake, IMHO, and eventually will fail. The interface doesn't scale well to large displays (20" or larger). I hate having to remove my fingers from a keyboard to grab a mouse, and I'll hate even more having to touch the screen to use the slick "new" interface.
As for Microsoft inventiveness, I'm not dismissing it at all. I just can't figure out what they have that I just "want".
Microsoft is the "Me Too" with good marketing and with a stranglehold on (near) monopoly.
I'll use the Zune as the latest example of "Me Too". Yes, Zune is a very capable MP3 player, however it doesn't have the appeal of iPod, mainly because it was way late and not nearly as slick as its competition.
Microsoft's phone software is nothing more than "Me Too" Windows interface on a phone. It sucks on a phone. Apple's iPhone is slick and works, and is a capable smart phone.
Apple is Microsoft's "research division". Has been for years.
Problem is, if the Bible claims to be the word of GOD, and isn't, then it shouldn't be trusted at all, and the message should be ignored.
Truth that lies about itself cannot be truth. This leads to people deciding what is, and isn't valid truth in the Bible.
I'm not going to use specifics here, because I'm sure you can already pick a couple of items in the Bible you don't agree with. Right???
This results invariably lead to people telling each other what is, and isn't truth, and the problem (religion vs faith) presented earlier in this thread, namely that it becomes a hammer to bang people over the head with.
BTW, I'd probably agree with you that too many people use the Bible as a bashing instrument, rather than the sword it is supposed to be.
Slashdot Mirror
One person cannot represent adequately the desires of a community of 650,000 people. It doesn't matter how much time they spend in their "district", especially one Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) who doesn't even live in Florida, let alone the district he represents.
So much for your theory.
Actually, it is both sides acting childish.
Democrats for taking their ball and going home. Republicans staying around whining like a 4 year old.
Those people who think one side or the other is acting properly while the other side isn't, is just ... well stupid.
They get paid for working full time, I suggest that they work like the rest of us "regular" people and take only two weeks per year vacation.
I know, silly me to expect the public servants to act like servants rather than bosses.
Ever tried to have a cell conversation next to one of those obnoxious cell phone users? They talk so loud that you can't hear the person you're talking to, so you end up screaming into the phone annoying the person on the other end.
I tell you, some people!
I'll do that just as soon as the government gets out of sacred institutions completely. That means the government gets out of deciding who is and isn't married.
Which means that polygamy and homosexual marriages are okay. In fact, I suggest that if you're for homosexual marriages, but don't like polygamy, that you have bigger issues, since there is a historical context for one and not the other.
I'll even go so far as to say that the government should get out of deciding what is, and isn't a "community standard". If you live in a community that allows porn stores on every corner great, and the same if you live in a community that doesn't allow porn at all.
The problem with people who are like you, you're all for something until it actually impacts you in a way you don't like, then you're all for the same government intrusion into lives you claim you're against.
Whether it is guns, Health care, Redistribution of wealth or whatever. I have the same aversion to these things that you have with people checking laptops at the airports. They all signal more government intrusion into our lives!
However, and this is the kicker, the intrusions I suggest actually will impact more people than those flowing through airports with laptops.
Privacy means squat when the government is involved in our lives in the first place.
Why is the damn benchmark checking CPUID in the first place? The thing should be CPUID agnostic, period.
Can't they design the benchmark to just ask if a CPU has a feature or not, and execute against what features the CPU reports back?
Doesn't seem so hard to me.
Typical Slashdotter, going for a cheap knockoff rather than enjoy the real thing. But then again, I shouldn't expect any different. ;-)
Try to negotiate the price of a Big Mac. Try to negotiate Three patties instead of pickles.
Just because someone doesn't negotiate doesn't mean squat. Sorry.
BTW, I always negotiate to get the best PLAN (there's the key word), regardless of what they offer me to start.
If you shop around or even ask what the best plan is, you might be supprised to find out non-advertised rates are available. You just have to be persistent.
Like I said in a previous reply somewhere, if you don't like early termination plans, sign up for Boost or Gophone service, and pay as you go.
There are OPTIONS out there. I'm sick of the whole whiny attitude of people who want everything for nothing.
Hate speech, I sue you back!
Um, hate to inform you ... you just did!
I'm suing you now! Better lawyer up as fast as you can.
The problem is with may things, cell phone especially, is that if you itemize things out so that each "thing" gets it own line item, people's eyes gloss over and they start to drool.
It is too complicated.
Remember, we're slashdots, and generally do better with math, often time being able to calculate faster in our heads than the idiots running the calculator can.
They want "simple" and that is what the companies give them. They want to know what the "price" is (payment) and go strictly by a single number. AND they don't want the number to change, even if it goes down, that's too complicated.
I'm sorry but the court is wrong on this one, the early termination fee is part of the price of the simplified contract that most people WANT.
Just because a few idiots think it is ridiculous shouldn't matter, they should have read the contract before signing up. Don't like early termination fees, get a Boost or Gophone. Doesn't have all the fancy features????
May I offer you Hemlock or Cyanide?
That isn't defining what is torture. You're defining torture by example, rather than by description.
Is being forced to listen to Britney songs torture? If that is the case I want the guy down the street blasting that crap all over the place arrested for torturing me.
One man's torture is another man's workout. One person's torture may be another person's "pleasure" (if you know what I mean).
Like Pornography, everyone knows it when they see it. Trying to define what is porn is another matter.
You think it is civilized to be forced into state run slavery? You think it is civilized to be taxed at 60-90%?? That is a Feudal system, and you've just traded one kind of master for another.
No thanks. If you want to live in a place like that, I suggest you move there. I'll even buy you a one way ticket if you'd like.
So many people sound like they want to live in Europe as if that is the panacea of the world, yet I don't see them moving there. I wonder why???
That's where you're wrong. I'm already confronted with that situation. The Government already has more firepower than me. The police already have more firepower than me. They don't represent my interests, they represent the interests of the people who want to take from by power of force.
They've already proven that they're willing to kill armed and unarmed people for little or no reason, as in Waco or Ruby Ridge.
But you probably like them killing those people because you don't agree with them. Right?
Libertarians aren't self-centered as you think. We just have a perspective that goes beyond D good R bad (or visa versa), and value LIBERTY over slavery.
You value one kind of slavery over another, not realizing you're still a slave. So the next time you're compaining about your civil rights being trampled on by GWB war on "evildoers", just remember you're willing to trample on other peoples rights for what you want.
If you have to take from me to secure your rights, those aren't rights. And that isn't civilized either.
IF you want universal health care, move to Canada, and don't come back here when it takes you two months to get your quad-bypass done.
Why should I move? Why can't you move to wherever it is you think is better than here? If it is so much better elsewhere, which is your basic point, you should go.
The thing about you Liberal types is that you can't realize you're just as fascist as the people who hate evil doers.
As for your rights, the more government we have, the less rights we have. I'm not about to tell you where you can or cannot go. Just stay off my lawn, if you want me to stay off yours!
I don't care if someone can't afford to eat. That's what charity is for, and it freakin worked just fine before the government was involved. Nobody in the US is starving, unless they are a child of a lazy idiot bimbo, too stupid to go to the nearest food bank.
And yes, I do care about those poor kids, and the parents should be arrested for neglect, and the kids given to someone who actually gives a damn.
I do believe in individual responsibility. But that means you can screw whomever you want, but don't blame the world for the diseases you catch and spread doing so. And don't expect me to rescue the local whore from her AIDS.
You know, life sucks. Get over it, man up to your mistakes and quit expecting others to take care of you.
As for your definition of democracy, no thanks. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.
The problem with your "protected" groups is that they end up abusing whatever power they have, often creating "rights" for themselves that nobody else has. Some people are more equal than others, i guess.
I don't see myself as anything but an equal, which means that you can't do anything that you don't want me doing. If you want universal health care, I want everyone to be able to own and carry a gun at all times. One is actually found in the constitution, the other isn't. Yet which one are you for, and why?
You want protection? Carry a firearm, and protect your own self. Quit depending on everyone else to do what you should do for yourself!
Define torture?
I can assure you that by whatever your definition is, I can make all sort of things "torture", that you wouldn't call torture.
I can get behind that kind of increased government power.
You're no better than the idiot that says the same thing to fight the "evil doers".
Until you realize that compulsion under any circumstance is evil, you're part of the problem! Why should I be compelled to take care of the idiot who eats 3 Big Macs every day and suffers from Diabetes and Heart Problems?
Because the next thing you'll tell me that NOBODY can eat a Big Mac. And on and on the list will get bigger until we have ridiculous laws put in place forbidding people from selling legal items in certain places.
You think this is a joke? LA and SF both did this recently, one said "no more fast food" trying to define what is, and isn't fast food, and that drug stores can't sell cigarettes.
You see, one person's freedom isn't another person's responsibility. People are trying to avoid the consequences of their actions by compulsion by government guns.
I don't want your universally bad health care. I want disparity in choice. I don't want the freakin government to tell me what is or isn't good for me.
Don't violate my rights please. Don't compel me to comply with what you want me to do, that is nothing more than fascism!
you can't excuse corruption by pointing to corruption.
If you vote D or R, because you're pointing to the corruption of the other, than that is exactly what you're doing.
But that is not what I'm doing. I'm pointing to the corruption and saying that both sides are guilty and we need another option.
Both sides (D n R) are complicit because there is no real "opposition" party, save for the third parties. Both D and R parties have enough power and corruption that both sides turn a blind eye to the corruption, but occasionally toss the voters a sacrificial lamb.
If you think Senator Tubes is unique and the exception to the rule, you should take a look at the dealings of Feinstein and Pelosi on the other side. Most (if not all) ARE corrupt!
I hate them all, they're flushing america down the tubes (pun intended).
Along with the idiot Bicycle rider who screams "I have the same right to road as a car" while ignoring the four red lights as he rides down the street.
Why do people think that disrupting things is a valid protest for ever freaking thing in the world?
If you're protesting in a way that causes disruption normal activity, you deserve what you get. Get out of my way or I'll punch you, asshole!
You obviously think it is okay to assault people as long as it "protesting". Yes, getting in the way of normal traffic is assault.
Go ahead, and mod me troll. I'm sick of whiney asshats who think the world revolves around them and their stupid protests.
If the Guantanomo Bay torture camps didn't exist I might be in your camp, though the issue of the extradition treaties being highly one-sided is still worth complaining about.
By some people's definition, Gitmo is Torture. So is flushing a Koran down a toilette.
I'm sorry but the guys locked up in Gitmo aren't tortured. Torture is what happened to Daniel Purl. Torture is what happened when Saddam Gassed villages. Torture is what China does to its prisoners, when they hack them for body parts.
Equating what goes on at Gitmo with what is truly heinous is a huge disservice to those that are truly tortured.
While I may not like what is going on at Gitmo, I'm not calling it torture because it isn't. I'm sick of people crying "torture" everytime someone is put behind bars. It's a cheap shot and political sophistry.
Don't forget, the Democrats (and Republicans) in the House and Senate are just as complacent in whatever damage has been done, by allowing it to continue and contributing their own malfeasance.
If the Ds really didn't want a war in Iraq, they shouldn't have given Bush the piece of paper authorizing military action.
GWB isn't any more evil than Pelosi and crew! The whole bunch is corrupt! So until you stop voting for the Republicrats, you get what you deserve.
under a lot of scrutiny because of its political bias
Now, let apply the same to the other branches of Government please ....
Political Bias = Republicrat and Demican parties, where 2/3 of the people can want something and one person can hold it up because they "want to save the planet", or "protect us against evildoers"!
Windows Mobile sucks, and is "Me Too". Palm was way before Windows Mobile, and WinCE was a "Me Too" version of Windows for mobile applications.
If you look at the interface, it sucks. It's windows, without a mouse.
Apple's iPhone isn't quite a "Me Too" it is "Me Too, but way cooler". The iPhone interface is (was) unique, and works very well. Its mouse less interface is perfect for small hand held devices.
As a side point, have you seen HP's commercials lately? You'll see that they are going to try and make the iPhone type interface work on a desktop or laptop. This is a huge mistake, IMHO, and eventually will fail. The interface doesn't scale well to large displays (20" or larger). I hate having to remove my fingers from a keyboard to grab a mouse, and I'll hate even more having to touch the screen to use the slick "new" interface.
As for Microsoft inventiveness, I'm not dismissing it at all. I just can't figure out what they have that I just "want".
Microsoft is the "Me Too" with good marketing and with a stranglehold on (near) monopoly.
I'll use the Zune as the latest example of "Me Too". Yes, Zune is a very capable MP3 player, however it doesn't have the appeal of iPod, mainly because it was way late and not nearly as slick as its competition.
Microsoft's phone software is nothing more than "Me Too" Windows interface on a phone. It sucks on a phone. Apple's iPhone is slick and works, and is a capable smart phone.
Apple is Microsoft's "research division". Has been for years.
DNS Cache poisons you.
Sorry, I had to.
Problem is, if the Bible claims to be the word of GOD, and isn't, then it shouldn't be trusted at all, and the message should be ignored.
Truth that lies about itself cannot be truth. This leads to people deciding what is, and isn't valid truth in the Bible.
I'm not going to use specifics here, because I'm sure you can already pick a couple of items in the Bible you don't agree with. Right???
This results invariably lead to people telling each other what is, and isn't truth, and the problem (religion vs faith) presented earlier in this thread, namely that it becomes a hammer to bang people over the head with.
BTW, I'd probably agree with you that too many people use the Bible as a bashing instrument, rather than the sword it is supposed to be.