I don't know about you, but there are few things more hellish and foul than a 30-second clip of a song encoded at 64kbps playing through a mobile phone speaker.
Yeah, that was my first thought. But there is something more hellish. Having an officemate who thinks ringtones are cool and has people calling him all the time. A promotion which gave me my own office is the only thing that staved off death for that abomination.
They want everyone to pay every time they listen to or even think of a song. Hookers and blow aren't cheap.
They also want essentially perpetual copyrights on the smallest pieces of music they can get copyrights on. That way, you will have to pay them for the privilege of creating your own music.
"That three note sequence is the same as this three note sequence that we copyrighted 100 years ago. You owe us $135,768.03! Pay now or else."
Hmmm... According to Wikipedia, he was born March 31, 1948. Maybe you are on to something here.
W, on the other hand, was born July 6, 1946. So you know what this means? We need more alien spawn running the government! Look at the hu-mans who are running things! Alien spawn couldn't possibly do worse. Kodos for president in 2008!
It feels better once you realize that both parties are almost exactly the same except on issues that don't actually matter.
Well, I wouldn't argue with you there. The Democrats are really just "Republican-Lite" if you look at what they actually accomplish (as opposed to what they profess). They even get us into useless wars that enrich defense contractors (like the war in Yugoslavia) that we have no business getting involved in. They are just smaller wars, without nearly to total cluster-fuckage that we have been getting lately.
Yes, it's a real shame when an entire state overwhelmingly embraces it's Senator. He got only 33% of the Democrat vote, though, which is a shame since Lamont was a wing-nut. He got 70% of the Republican vote, and over 50% of the independents.
I wasn't arguing that he didn't win the election (although "overwhelmingly embraces" is overstating his case just a bit). I was simply agreeing with OP that he was only pretending to be a Democrat, as evidenced by who ultimately supported him. The Republicans liked him much better than they liked their own candidate.
It's the USAs' military might that saved Europe in WW1 and WW2, and recently through NATO that allows much of Europe to eschew a large military for protection and kept them from becoming another Soviet satellite nation or becoming another Chinese Tibet.
No, the U.S. got involved on one side of a world conflict based on colonial ambitions of the European powers. All the propaganda about Teutonic Beasts was just that, propaganda. Plus, the Russians (one of the "good guys") were under a much more depotic monarchy than the Germans. If the U.S. had not gotten into WWI, the Allies and the Central Powers would eventually have had to come to some kind of agreement. Neither the Central Powers nor the Allies were anywhere near being able to win, so we didn't save any country from being conquered. We just helped one colonialist side defeat another colonialist side.
Also, if we had not gotten involved in WWI, there would not have been a WWII. By giving victory to the British and French, and thus letting them ruin the German economy, we helped pave the way for Hitler's rise to power (something the first President Bush and his father were quite happy about, along with much of Corporate America).
Knocking out communications infrastructure is something invading forces do. It's not something that governments are supposed to let happen.
There are some executives who need to have their heads on pikes, but the industry itself needs protection.
Why? Why should the government bail out yet another set of mega-corporations? AT&T, Verizon and South Central Bell all going bankrupt at once will have an effect on the economy, but those are the breaks. Or do you think big corporations should be immune from prosecution just because of the financial effect it might have on some people?
Also, making these bastards answer for their crimes won't knock out the communications infrastructure. It will still be there, but AT&T, Verizon and South Central Bell will have to sell theirs for pennies on the dollar to telcos that didn't violate the law. And, if there is some disruption in communications, maybe people will for once stop watching staring at the tv all the time and actually pay attention to who is running things. It's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned.
That little rat-faced turd is a cancer on my state, but he has perfected pandering to key groups and so continues to be elected.
I thought it was interesting how he lost the Democratic primary, ran as an independent, and then won while the person who ran as the Republican got only about 5% of the votes. Lets you know who he is really representing.
Which isn't going on anymore, and was made much worse by NATO bombing. The U.S. decides to interfere and bomb the fuck out of another country and creates more havoc, though the havoc makes a shitload of money for war profiteering corporations. Anyway, your comment was basically saying that Germany or some other country in Europe was going to start another world war by invading another European country. That's is quite different from a localized ethnic conflict that heats up for a while after the fall of the Soviet Union. Not very good at this whole "critical thinking" thing, are you?
Good grief, you're a fucking idiot. Do you have any idea what Europe is like today? It's America that has no ability to be peaceful on its own. Your first instinct is to bomb something, with a bunch of public-school educated dumbasses shouting "Fuck Yeah! Go Bush! USA! USA!"
You hate the US Military so much, then I'd be just as soon to see the USA withdraw from NATO.
While you're at it, do you think the US could get the fuck out of Korea and Okinawa? They really don't want you there and are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.
If it's ok for the advertisers to hit me with a concentrated beam of sound energy, then it's ok for me to hit the advertiser's speaker with a concentrated beam of kinetic energy, right?
It would be interesting to try an idea that would not get you arrested. You and a hundred of your best friends could instead get one of these little directed sound devices, aim them at the various people in a random ad agency and have it blare at them "SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" until they finally agree to stop this practice.
I don't like this way of advertising one's product, so I'm voting with my euros and I am going to not buy anything from companies that I know are using this advertising method, as far as it is practical and possible.
Unfortunately, this will be about as useful in the long run as boycotting people who put up billboards. That's why laws have to exist to prevent this sort of thing. If everyone does it, and there is no significant advantage to not doing it, then there is no way to vote with your money.
So, your whole response to me explaining the basics of why it is a bad thing to release a bunch of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels is to simply call me an "acolyte"? Truly, you have a dizzying intellect. Maybe you should learn what an ad hominem argument is first and maybe try to actually learn something before you try to argue with people who know what they are talking about.
Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant. It is the natural byproduct of your respiration.
You're an idiot. The carbon dioxide you breathe out is used by plants who then use it in the process of photosynthesis, which releases oxygen. Creating carbon dioxide by burning things that had been in the ground for millions of years, on the other hand, while simultaneously burning the forests and killing other photosynthesizing creatures that could absorb the carbon dioxide is a very bad idea. It causes the overall increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which aids in heating up the planet far more rapidly than might happen otherwise.
Also, if you don't think carbon dioxide can be a pollutant, try this little experiment. Tie a plastic bag around your head. Make sure you tie off the end so as to form a perfect seal around your neck. Then, breathe in and out deeply for several minutes. If the experiment goes as I predict it will, there will be one less dumbass (or possibly one less oil industry shill) in the world.
You're aware that had any other sea creature discovered the clam, it would have been eaten. That's life.
That should read: You're aware that had any other person discovered Colin Smith, he would have gotten his fucking head blown off by a shotgun. That's life.
Seriously, do you just get a big woodie talking like you think you are some sort of "realist"? Does it make you feel like a big man, so you can compensate for the pathetic existence you have?
Said a fat white man born into a wealthy family, no less one who kept slaves and concubines.
You know, slashdotters often cry "ad hominem" when they are merely being insulted. You, however, have just given an example of a true ad hominem. Congratulations. While Thomas Jefferson may have been as you describe, that does not change the truth of what he wrote.
I am certainly not saying that all active kids need medication, but I *am* saying that the current backlash against medicating kids is hurting some of them.
Part of the problem, I think, is that we Americans tend to be extremists. First, ADHD is discovered and every kid who acts up gets put on drugs. Then, lo and behold, we find that drugging every kid who can't sit through a continuous reading of Farewell to Arms is a bad thing. The solution? Make sure that no kids get anymore drugs ever, even the few who may really need it.
The slavery issue was definitely a smokescreen; while slavery is certainly wrong, it was already headed for extinction, as most other developed countries at the time had banned it, and with the South's economy already headed for the toilet, and popular opinion turning away from slavery, slavery was on its last legs anyway.
Also, with England and France supporting the South (trying to keep the world safe *from* democracy by helping break up the only democracy around), if the South had one they would probably have had to free the slaves anyway. England had banned black slavery for quite a while before the American Civil War and wouldn't look kindly on the Confederacy keeping it.
Slashdot Mirror
"That three note sequence is the same as this three note sequence that we copyrighted 100 years ago. You owe us $135,768.03! Pay now or else."
W, on the other hand, was born July 6, 1946. So you know what this means? We need more alien spawn running the government! Look at the hu-mans who are running things! Alien spawn couldn't possibly do worse. Kodos for president in 2008!
Also, if we had not gotten involved in WWI, there would not have been a WWII. By giving victory to the British and French, and thus letting them ruin the German economy, we helped pave the way for Hitler's rise to power (something the first President Bush and his father were quite happy about, along with much of Corporate America).
Also, making these bastards answer for their crimes won't knock out the communications infrastructure. It will still be there, but AT&T, Verizon and South Central Bell will have to sell theirs for pennies on the dollar to telcos that didn't violate the law. And, if there is some disruption in communications, maybe people will for once stop watching staring at the tv all the time and actually pay attention to who is running things. It's a win-win situation as far as I'm concerned.
Also, if you don't think carbon dioxide can be a pollutant, try this little experiment. Tie a plastic bag around your head. Make sure you tie off the end so as to form a perfect seal around your neck. Then, breathe in and out deeply for several minutes. If the experiment goes as I predict it will, there will be one less dumbass (or possibly one less oil industry shill) in the world.
Seriously, do you just get a big woodie talking like you think you are some sort of "realist"? Does it make you feel like a big man, so you can compensate for the pathetic existence you have?
Actually, I kid. I have nothing against Texas, I just couldn't resist.