That prototype would weigh less than 18 lbs on Mars since mass on Mars is about 38% the mass on Earth.
No, it really isn't...
Mass is not affected by the strength of the gravitational field. kg is a measure of mass, lb and Newtons (SI system) are a measure of weight (which is affected by the strength of the gravitational field).
Interesting.
This is what
ruby-doc had to say: Until Ruby 1.8.1, these methods were defined at the top-level. Now they are in the Base64 module but included in the top-level, where their usage is deprecated.
You can't claim that the French acted in their own interests during the American revolution any more than the US acted their own interests during WW1 and WW2.
I never claimed any such thing. The first paragraph of my post was meant to illustrate that the French didn't do what they did simply out of the goodness of their hearts. The second paragraph was intended to give some historical perspective to their actions.
Nah, I think the US gov should employ more people who can barely write. Misspelled words won't match the word lenght (sic) of the correctly spelled word. Using creative grammar would make it harder to find the right word type. And random punctuation would make it harder to find seperate (sic) sentences.
Well, I guess this explains the state of the American education system.:P
The reason the French helped the Americans was to piss off the English; nothing more, nothing less. France wasn't even on the 1st republic when they got involved in the American Revolutionary War; they are now on the 5th Republic.
America, the same republic that exists today, on the other hand, helped save the French in both the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Furthermore, America was left cleaning up after France in Indochina, as well as the Middle East. If you want to compliment France for what they did three centuries ago, then surely you should also criticise them for all the shit they pulled since then, mainly dicking around Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and comporting themselves far worse than the British Empire on many occasions. Some of the positive effects of the British Empire can still be felt today. Name some positive effects of French colonialism; I can name plenty of the negative effects than can still be seen today.
As for France's opposition to the Iraq war, lets not forget the oil-for-food scandal and all the weapons France was selling to Iraq. Here's
an article detailing some of the shit Germany, Russia, Britain, France, and the US pulled in Iraq. In the defence of the US and the Britain, they went to war to set some of their mistakes right. What have the Germans, Russians, and French done (aside from riding their high horse)?
Jesus, can I find one thread not containing an anti-American comment at +5 insightful?
We've demonstrated that our voting system has failed
No, you've demonstrated that Florida's electoral system has failed. Thanks to the electoral college, Florida can choose to select their representatives however the hell they want. Regardless how much you whine about it, approximately 50% of voters voted for Bush. It's not like he won with 10% of the vote and a military coup. Gore might have had the popular vote, but the electoral college is there for a reason; whether that reason is valid, of course, is up for debate.
that our leadership hates gays
Look, I'm not saying that Bush is right to attempt to amend the constitution, but not allowing gays to vote is not necessarily hatred. Some would argue that marriage is designed solely for procreation, and includes certain incentives to facilitate that. Personally, I don't see marriage as having anything to do with love (certainly love can exist outside marriage); why do people need the state to acknowledge their love for each other?
that our leadership hates... muslims
Half the time people insinuate that Bush is in bed with the Saudis (see Fahrenheit 911) and the other half of the time they insinuate that he hates the Muslims. If your leadership really hated Muslims, why would they attempt to stabilise the middle east. I'm sure you think that the Iraqi war is all about oil, and to some it probably is; however, if the administration really hated Muslims, why would they have waged the most humane war in modern history? Furthermore, if they hated Muslims so much, why don't they just invest a whole lot of money in alternative energy sources? Imagine what would happen to the OPEC countries if the US stopped buying their oil...
and does nothing to protect middle america's jobs while all the fatcats get fatter by outsourcing anything and everything they can because they lost their sense of nationalism over a few dollars.
So, now we're accusing Bush of not being nationalist enough? Outsourcing is not a clear cut issue. I'm not saying that I support it, but there are viable arguments on both sides of the fence. If you really wanted to stop outsourcing, you should stop buying items that where produced through outsourcing.
Look, I'm tired of all the anti-American sentiment. As an European, I'd like to point out that Europe and the whole world would have been a lot more fucked up if it wasn't for the Americans. If you want to point out some dubious action undertaken by the US during the cold war, I'd like to point out (as someone who used to live very close to the Soviets) that had the US not fought the Cold war, the world would have been far worse off. Anyways, the people really responsible for the Cold War were those who were so terrified of the US being the only superpower, that they deemed it fit to give the Soviet Union the nuke, but that's for another post.
The difference though, between the peace mongers of yore and those of today is that at least the old peace mongers were honest about their motives: apathy and a lack of desire to sacrifice their lives for the cause. The ones nowadays shroud their motives in claims of "enlightenment" and "moral superiority," where at best the whole movement is just designed to make those who support it feel good about themselves.
The US funds Saddam Hussein against war with Iran. Saddam and the US later go to war. (Twice.)
Yeah... sort of how the Allies funded Stalin and the Soviets in the war against Germany. Should have let Hitler have the whole damn continent, eh?
Look, life isn't perfect, but by trying to pretend that it is, you are only making things far worse. I wonder how all the peace mongers would react if Hitler (the original, not some barely literate moron with a Texan accent) was alive today. You'd probably just let him be (unless he was American or Israeli.)
My intention was to illustrate that although Sun might be reluctant to open source Java, they have made several crucial contributions in the past, a fact many on Slashdot are far too eager to overlook. Many people are painting Sun as the Great Satan for not open sourcing Java; I merely meant to poke fun at this mentality and show how hypocritical some people (not necessarily yourself) can be. As for death, there are certain vegetative states which make the matter far less absolute than you make it out to be.
Upon attempting to watch one of the episodes, I was greeted by this wonderful message:
"We're sorry, but this content is
viewable only to those
within the United States."
Seriously. We here in Europe can't for the love of god understand what's up with this..first a giant fuss about that ugly nipple and now this. It's just pathetic!
Really?
Please refresh my memory, in how many European countries can you get actual jail time for drawing Swastikas? What about selling Nazi artifacts on eBay? How many years does that get you?
What about this? The Council of Europe has added provisions to its European Convention on Cybercrime that criminalize certain Internet content. Link. Link 2
Need I go on?
I just love it when you Euros try to display your superiority by criticizing the Yanks on the issue of free speech.
I hope you realize what would happen to the rest of western civilization if the US did indeed implode. As a non-US citizen, I find all the anti-US sentiments fascinating, especially when most of the people behind it are willing to tolerate a lot more crap from other countries. Are you really so blind to the immense (positive) contributions the US has made to the rest of western civilization? Sure, the US isn't perfect by any means, but we have to put its actions in perspective. Anyways, might I suggest you study some history and take a couple to trips through Eastern Europe while you wait "for the United States to implode on itself?"
The particular levy issue is a case of aberrant capitalism wherein corporate consortium has exerted enough influence on government as to institutionalize the expropriation of wealth from individuals (by a government acting as an agent of the corporations) to enrich corporations whose dated business models are failing.
Corporations exerting too much influence over government, which by the way has no place in properly functioning capitalism, may have been responsible for the institution of the levy; however, there has been very little public outcry about it, and I fear this is due to the socialist mindset: why should each individual have to pay for what they use, when everyone could just pay for everything. Once people get used to this idea, what's one more levy/tax in a grossly overtaxed country. Ironically, or perhaps not so, the only entity that I have seen protesting this levy has been Future Shop, a large computer hardware and electronics retailer; obviously they have their own personal motives for opposing it, but it still depicts part of the self-correcting nature of capitalism.
Bush tax cuts.
Who said I thought Bush's tax cuts were a good idea? Just because I am not fond of one extreme does not mean I am any more fond of the other. I am no fan of Bush, although that is primarily due to his domestic policies, and not his foreign policies.
Your original post was a sly attempt to disparage a great country ad populus, an action to which this particular hominem takes serious umbrage.
It was no such thing; it was rather an attempt to disparage the failed economic system and political philosophy, which a large part of the citizens of my country seem to adore and take pride in. The first duty of any citizen is to criticise one's country; this duty is heightened by the fact that I grew up in a socialist republic on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain.
Less it be misconstrued by those acquainted only with binary viewpoints: I am not anti-capitalist - I live and work in and benefit from the capitalist system. But there needs to be a balance. A sad fact of the human condition is that too much power in any one group's hands leads to their abuse of those with less power.
Hear, hear. I only wish more people realized this.
Thanks. It is not mod points I want per se, but rather an equal opportunity to express my point of view. Certainly modding someone who expresses dissenting views down to oblivion is not conducive to a good debate on any subject; alas, I suppose it is easier to suppress information that it is to come up with a decent rebuttal.
First of all, there is no god. That is a concept that has been feisted (sic) upon the masses by the powerful to insure that they stay docile and obedient.
If you had even a cursory knowledge of the religions prevalent in western civilization, you'd know that taking the name of the lord in vein is a sin: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Now, combining this fact with my statement in my previous post, I think we can deduce that I am not a religious person. Now, that being said, I think it is awfully arrogant to assume that you know for certain that there is no god; in fact, it is a logical fallacy (argumentum ad ignorantiam) to assume that just because something has not been proven to be true, that it is false.
Second, the State has a duty that everyone can lead a decent life. This means that it has to make sure no one gets swindled by anyone, be it a bank, an employer or a scammer.
I find it interesting that while you are so distrustful of all those things (that the state is supposed to protect us from), you blindly believe that the state is incorruptible. The first duty of the state is to protect the citizens from itself (note the American Constitution and the beliefs of the founding fathers, who were much greater persons than you or I).
The time when an entrepreneur can pursue an opportunity is long gone, not thanks to increased government regulation, but thanks to anticompetitive trade practices that are effected by the larger and larger conglomerates that swallow more and more of the Economy every day.
Perhaps the state should look into those anti-competitive corporate practices; it is as you pointed out its duty. The fact that those practices exist is not the fault of the "rich", but rather the fault of the state; it has failed.
We know and have seen where the opposite (less and less State) goes towards: we see it daily at work in the USA, a place where the rich and powerful trample the unrich into meaningless pulp.
And yet the standard of living of the average American is still among the highest in the world. Furthermore, I think you'll have to agree that if it wasn't for our close economic ties to the United States, the Canadian economy would not be doing as well. By the way, as hip as it has become to insult the United States, do not forget that until recently, the United States has protected and aided the rest of western civilization; they fought the Cold War, they protected Western Europe, they protected Canada. Now, that is not to say that the United States is infallible, far from it; however, before you blindly denounce them as evil capitalists, please take a trip through Western Europe, and then through Eastern Europe (my birthplace), through South Korea, and then through North Korea, through Taiwan, and then through the PRC.
Typical bourgeois poppycock. Their propaganda aims only towards the elimination of the State so it will stop preventing them from abusing consumers and the public. Ask yourself: when a rich man asks for something, does he do it for everybody's sake or merely for his own? When you're greedy enough to have accumulated a vast fortune, your motivations are rather crystal-clear.
I find it funny that you use the words bourgeois, propaganda, and elimination of the State in the same thought; I wonder if you realize the irony. Perhaps you should read some of Marx's works to see what he thought about the state. Ask yourself: when any man, be they either a proletarian or a politician, asks for something, does he do it for everybody's sake or merely for his own? I ask you, how much capital do you possess? How much capital did Chretien posses? I assure you, neither you nor he are any champions of the people; you are merely observing your own interest - you are no different than a rich person. You posses a hundred orders of magnitude more
Congratulations on the most pathetically disingenuous kneejerk statement that I have read at Slashdot all week. Last time I checked money levied from individuals and supplied to corporations = pure capitalism, not socialism. Dimwit.
Forcefully taking money for a service that I did not require and may never use is certainly not capitalism. What would you call forcefully taking money from everyone just to support the actions of certain people?
By the way, notice how I managed to write the above without any argumentum ad hominem?
But again, the National Post is just a wet-dream from those rich people who are trying to eliminate the State so they can profit off the unrich people unhindered.
[rant]
For the love of god, the state should NOT be a cash redistribution machine; it should NOT be large, and it should NOT be powerful.
The economy is NOT a zero sum game. Just because someone is rich does not mean that they accumulated their wealth by the exploitation of the "unrich" (is that the new politically correct term? I should probably start using it, lest the "tolerant" masses stone me for being "intolerant").
I have grown weary of standing by while my fellow Canadians rally for a larger, more powerful government. How many times must we walk down this path until we finally accept it leads nowhere.
Well, I suppose as the old saying goes "a government that steals from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul." Just remember my fellow citizens, do not rest until those with high incomes have LESS money than those on low incomes.
[/rant]
Slashdot Mirror
That prototype would weigh less than 18 lbs on Mars since mass on Mars is about 38% the mass on Earth.
No, it really isn't...
Mass is not affected by the strength of the gravitational field. kg is a measure of mass, lb and Newtons (SI system) are a measure of weight (which is affected by the strength of the gravitational field).
Interesting.
This is what ruby-doc had to say:
Until Ruby 1.8.1, these methods were defined at the top-level. Now they are in the Base64 module but included in the top-level, where their usage is deprecated.
This is why:
u ")' /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/base64.rb:126:in `_deprecated_base64': super: no superclass method `_deprecated_base64' (NoMethodError)Z CBza2lu ")'
andrei@tux andrei $ ruby -v
ruby 1.8.1 (2004-04-24) [i686-linux-gnu]
andrei@tux andrei $ ruby -e 'require "base64";puts decode64("RnJlc2ggYmxvb2QgdGhyb3VnaCB0aXJlZCBza2l
-e:1:in `decode64': _deprecated_base64 is deprecated; use Base64._deprecated_base64 instead
from -e:1:in `decode64'
from -e:1
andrei@tux andrei $ ruby -e 'require "base64";puts Base64.decode64("RnJlc2ggYmxvb2QgdGhyb3VnaCB0aXJl
Fresh blood through tired skin
ruby -e 'require "base64";puts decode64("U3RlcCByaWdodCB1cC4gTWFyY2guIFB1c2gu")'
-e:1:in `decode64': _deprecated_base64 is deprecated; use Base64._deprecated_base64 instead
Might want to use:
ruby -e 'require "base64";puts Base64.decode64("...")'
You can't claim that the French acted in their own interests during the American revolution any more than the US acted their own interests during WW1 and WW2.
I never claimed any such thing.
The first paragraph of my post was meant to illustrate that the French didn't do what they did simply out of the goodness of their hearts. The second paragraph was intended to give some historical perspective to their actions.
Nah, I think the US gov should employ more people who can barely write. Misspelled words won't match the word lenght (sic) of the correctly spelled word. Using creative grammar would make it harder to find the right word type. And random punctuation would make it harder to find seperate (sic) sentences.
:P
Well, I guess this explains the state of the American education system.
The reason the French helped the Americans was to piss off the English; nothing more, nothing less. France wasn't even on the 1st republic when they got involved in the American Revolutionary War; they are now on the 5th Republic.
America, the same republic that exists today, on the other hand, helped save the French in both the 1st and 2nd World Wars. Furthermore, America was left cleaning up after France in Indochina, as well as the Middle East. If you want to compliment France for what they did three centuries ago, then surely you should also criticise them for all the shit they pulled since then, mainly dicking around Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and comporting themselves far worse than the British Empire on many occasions. Some of the positive effects of the British Empire can still be felt today. Name some positive effects of French colonialism; I can name plenty of the negative effects than can still be seen today.
As for France's opposition to the Iraq war, lets not forget the oil-for-food scandal and all the weapons France was selling to Iraq. Here's an article detailing some of the shit Germany, Russia, Britain, France, and the US pulled in Iraq. In the defence of the US and the Britain, they went to war to set some of their mistakes right. What have the Germans, Russians, and French done (aside from riding their high horse)?
Jesus, can I find one thread not containing an anti-American comment at +5 insightful?
... muslims
We've demonstrated that our voting system has failed
No, you've demonstrated that Florida's electoral system has failed. Thanks to the electoral college, Florida can choose to select their representatives however the hell they want. Regardless how much you whine about it, approximately 50% of voters voted for Bush. It's not like he won with 10% of the vote and a military coup. Gore might have had the popular vote, but the electoral college is there for a reason; whether that reason is valid, of course, is up for debate.
that our leadership hates gays
Look, I'm not saying that Bush is right to attempt to amend the constitution, but not allowing gays to vote is not necessarily hatred. Some would argue that marriage is designed solely for procreation, and includes certain incentives to facilitate that. Personally, I don't see marriage as having anything to do with love (certainly love can exist outside marriage); why do people need the state to acknowledge their love for each other?
that our leadership hates
Half the time people insinuate that Bush is in bed with the Saudis (see Fahrenheit 911) and the other half of the time they insinuate that he hates the Muslims. If your leadership really hated Muslims, why would they attempt to stabilise the middle east. I'm sure you think that the Iraqi war is all about oil, and to some it probably is; however, if the administration really hated Muslims, why would they have waged the most humane war in modern history? Furthermore, if they hated Muslims so much, why don't they just invest a whole lot of money in alternative energy sources? Imagine what would happen to the OPEC countries if the US stopped buying their oil...
and does nothing to protect middle america's jobs while all the fatcats get fatter by outsourcing anything and everything they can because they lost their sense of nationalism over a few dollars.
So, now we're accusing Bush of not being nationalist enough? Outsourcing is not a clear cut issue. I'm not saying that I support it, but there are viable arguments on both sides of the fence. If you really wanted to stop outsourcing, you should stop buying items that where produced through outsourcing.
Look, I'm tired of all the anti-American sentiment. As an European, I'd like to point out that Europe and the whole world would have been a lot more fucked up if it wasn't for the Americans. If you want to point out some dubious action undertaken by the US during the cold war, I'd like to point out (as someone who used to live very close to the Soviets) that had the US not fought the Cold war, the world would have been far worse off. Anyways, the people really responsible for the Cold War were those who were so terrified of the US being the only superpower, that they deemed it fit to give the Soviet Union the nuke, but that's for another post.
The difference though, between the peace mongers of yore and those of today is that at least the old peace mongers were honest about their motives: apathy and a lack of desire to sacrifice their lives for the cause. The ones nowadays shroud their motives in claims of "enlightenment" and "moral superiority," where at best the whole movement is just designed to make those who support it feel good about themselves.
The US funds Saddam Hussein against war with Iran. Saddam and the US later go to war. (Twice.)
Yeah... sort of how the Allies funded Stalin and the Soviets in the war against Germany. Should have let Hitler have the whole damn continent, eh?
Look, life isn't perfect, but by trying to pretend that it is, you are only making things far worse. I wonder how all the peace mongers would react if Hitler (the original, not some barely literate moron with a Texan accent) was alive today. You'd probably just let him be (unless he was American or Israeli.)
My intention was to illustrate that although Sun might be reluctant to open source Java, they have made several crucial contributions in the past, a fact many on Slashdot are far too eager to overlook. Many people are painting Sun as the Great Satan for not open sourcing Java; I merely meant to poke fun at this mentality and show how hypocritical some people (not necessarily yourself) can be. As for death, there are certain vegetative states which make the matter far less absolute than you make it out to be.
Is it even possible for something to be partially open source? As far as I've always been concerned, something either is or it is not.
So, what you're saying is "You are either with us or against us." Interesting.
But if you want me to attend an Expos game, you'll have to set the parking meter to pay me.
Sorry, but it had to be done.
In Soviet Canuckistan...
Upon attempting to watch one of the episodes, I was greeted by this wonderful message:
"We're sorry, but this content is
viewable only to those
within the United States."
What a bunch of wankers.
Seriously. We here in Europe can't for the love of god understand what's up with this..first a giant fuss about that ugly nipple and now this. It's just pathetic!
Really?
Please refresh my memory, in how many European countries can you get actual jail time for drawing Swastikas? What about selling Nazi artifacts on eBay? How many years does that get you?
What about this?
The Council of Europe has added provisions to its European Convention on Cybercrime that criminalize certain Internet content.
Link.
Link 2
Need I go on?
I just love it when you Euros try to display your superiority by criticizing the Yanks on the issue of free speech.
I hope you realize what would happen to the rest of western civilization if the US did indeed implode. As a non-US citizen, I find all the anti-US sentiments fascinating, especially when most of the people behind it are willing to tolerate a lot more crap from other countries. Are you really so blind to the immense (positive) contributions the US has made to the rest of western civilization? Sure, the US isn't perfect by any means, but we have to put its actions in perspective. Anyways, might I suggest you study some history and take a couple to trips through Eastern Europe while you wait "for the United States to implode on itself?"
The particular levy issue is a case of aberrant capitalism wherein corporate consortium has exerted enough influence on government as to institutionalize the expropriation of wealth from individuals (by a government acting as an agent of the corporations) to enrich corporations whose dated business models are failing.
Corporations exerting too much influence over government, which by the way has no place in properly functioning capitalism, may have been responsible for the institution of the levy; however, there has been very little public outcry about it, and I fear this is due to the socialist mindset: why should each individual have to pay for what they use, when everyone could just pay for everything. Once people get used to this idea, what's one more levy/tax in a grossly overtaxed country. Ironically, or perhaps not so, the only entity that I have seen protesting this levy has been Future Shop, a large computer hardware and electronics retailer; obviously they have their own personal motives for opposing it, but it still depicts part of the self-correcting nature of capitalism.
Bush tax cuts.
Who said I thought Bush's tax cuts were a good idea? Just because I am not fond of one extreme does not mean I am any more fond of the other. I am no fan of Bush, although that is primarily due to his domestic policies, and not his foreign policies.
Your original post was a sly attempt to disparage a great country ad populus, an action to which this particular hominem takes serious umbrage.
It was no such thing; it was rather an attempt to disparage the failed economic system and political philosophy, which a large part of the citizens of my country seem to adore and take pride in. The first duty of any citizen is to criticise one's country; this duty is heightened by the fact that I grew up in a socialist republic on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain.
Less it be misconstrued by those acquainted only with binary viewpoints: I am not anti-capitalist - I live and work in and benefit from the capitalist system. But there needs to be a balance. A sad fact of the human condition is that too much power in any one group's hands leads to their abuse of those with less power.
Hear, hear. I only wish more people realized this.
New Zealand Dollars.
Thanks. It is not mod points I want per se, but rather an equal opportunity to express my point of view. Certainly modding someone who expresses dissenting views down to oblivion is not conducive to a good debate on any subject; alas, I suppose it is easier to suppress information that it is to come up with a decent rebuttal.
Tell me, how can a reply to a post that is modded +5, Interesting, and which rebuts the statements and assertions made in that post, be offtopic?
First of all, there is no god. That is a concept that has been feisted (sic) upon the masses by the powerful to insure that they stay docile and obedient.
If you had even a cursory knowledge of the religions prevalent in western civilization, you'd know that taking the name of the lord in vein is a sin: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Now, combining this fact with my statement in my previous post, I think we can deduce that I am not a religious person.
Now, that being said, I think it is awfully arrogant to assume that you know for certain that there is no god; in fact, it is a logical fallacy (argumentum ad ignorantiam) to assume that just because something has not been proven to be true, that it is false.
Second, the State has a duty that everyone can lead a decent life. This means that it has to make sure no one gets swindled by anyone, be it a bank, an employer or a scammer.
I find it interesting that while you are so distrustful of all those things (that the state is supposed to protect us from), you blindly believe that the state is incorruptible. The first duty of the state is to protect the citizens from itself (note the American Constitution and the beliefs of the founding fathers, who were much greater persons than you or I).
The time when an entrepreneur can pursue an opportunity is long gone, not thanks to increased government regulation, but thanks to anticompetitive trade practices that are effected by the larger and larger conglomerates that swallow more and more of the Economy every day.
Perhaps the state should look into those anti-competitive corporate practices; it is as you pointed out its duty. The fact that those practices exist is not the fault of the "rich", but rather the fault of the state; it has failed.
We know and have seen where the opposite (less and less State) goes towards: we see it daily at work in the USA, a place where the rich and powerful trample the unrich into meaningless pulp.
And yet the standard of living of the average American is still among the highest in the world. Furthermore, I think you'll have to agree that if it wasn't for our close economic ties to the United States, the Canadian economy would not be doing as well. By the way, as hip as it has become to insult the United States, do not forget that until recently, the United States has protected and aided the rest of western civilization; they fought the Cold War, they protected Western Europe, they protected Canada. Now, that is not to say that the United States is infallible, far from it; however, before you blindly denounce them as evil capitalists, please take a trip through Western Europe, and then through Eastern Europe (my birthplace), through South Korea, and then through North Korea, through Taiwan, and then through the PRC.
Typical bourgeois poppycock. Their propaganda aims only towards the elimination of the State so it will stop preventing them from abusing consumers and the public. Ask yourself: when a rich man asks for something, does he do it for everybody's sake or merely for his own? When you're greedy enough to have accumulated a vast fortune, your motivations are rather crystal-clear.
I find it funny that you use the words bourgeois, propaganda, and elimination of the State in the same thought; I wonder if you realize the irony. Perhaps you should read some of Marx's works to see what he thought about the state. Ask yourself: when any man, be they either a proletarian or a politician, asks for something, does he do it for everybody's sake or merely for his own? I ask you, how much capital do you possess? How much capital did Chretien posses? I assure you, neither you nor he are any champions of the people; you are merely observing your own interest - you are no different than a rich person. You posses a hundred orders of magnitude more
Congratulations on the most pathetically disingenuous kneejerk statement that I have read at Slashdot all week. Last time I checked money levied from individuals and supplied to corporations = pure capitalism, not socialism. Dimwit.
Forcefully taking money for a service that I did not require and may never use is certainly not capitalism. What would you call forcefully taking money from everyone just to support the actions of certain people?
By the way, notice how I managed to write the above without any argumentum ad hominem?
I've been paying this god-damn "pirate" tax for YEARS now. Doesn't *PAYING*FOR*IT* make these claims of IP Theft kind of moot?
Welcome to socialism, my friend, where the main service the state provides you with is lightening your wallet.
But again, the National Post is just a wet-dream from those rich people who are trying to eliminate the State so they can profit off the unrich people unhindered.
[rant]
For the love of god, the state should NOT be a cash redistribution machine; it should NOT be large, and it should NOT be powerful.
The economy is NOT a zero sum game. Just because someone is rich does not mean that they accumulated their wealth by the exploitation of the "unrich" (is that the new politically correct term? I should probably start using it, lest the "tolerant" masses stone me for being "intolerant").
I have grown weary of standing by while my fellow Canadians rally for a larger, more powerful government. How many times must we walk down this path until we finally accept it leads nowhere.
Well, I suppose as the old saying goes "a government that steals from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul." Just remember my fellow citizens, do not rest until those with high incomes have LESS money than those on low incomes.
[/rant]
Or some New Zealand, or Australian, or any other country at the moment...
1 USD = 1.35 AUD
1 USD = 1.53 NZD
Right...