Patents aren't evil, patents are tools. Tools which encourage people to invent things. Why in the world should I go through all the trouble, tyme and expense and whatnot, to invent something if I can't get a limited monopoly on making and selling it so I can recover my expenses? Sure some invent to make something better or new, but that does not put food on the table. Actually not having patents are more like slavery than having them!
Speaking as a lifelong Republican, Ron Paul is the first candidate I've seen in some time that I feel enthused about. Not for what he'll DO, but for what he WON'T do.
I was almost the opposite, prior to Ron Paul I voted mostly Democrat starting with voting for Carter in 1980. But then because of Ron Paul I learned of the Libertarian Party. That year, '88, I was deputized to register people to vote. As part of the process I was given a list of offically recognized political parties, there were more than 50. While information wasn't readily available I learned what I could of the LP and Ron Paul and liked what I found out. Since then I've voted for the person for each office according to where they stood on the issues that were important to me whether they were Democrat, independent, Reform, or Republican. And I've voted for candidates from each of these parties.
If it's that useful it still makes no sense to ban it completely on account of its use as a recreational drug. You would instead monopolize the processing industry, control the prices for the raw plant and drive your competition out of the market that way. WRH was many things, but a complete fool was not one of them.
As it's a "weed" hemp can grow almost everywhere so there's no way to control it. Even today the government has programs to irradicate feral (wild) hemp. Even making it illegal hasn't been effective.
At one point, the Democrats were the party that was solidly behind states' rights and the Republicans were all about centralized power.
Actually at first there was the Democratic-Republican party which Thomas Jefferson was a member of. Back then the other major party was the Federalist Party, then some of it's members became members of theWhig Party and others joined the Democratic Party.
Ron Paul is (hopefully) the face of the new GOP but only if we let it happen. The neocons hate him. His proposed legislation would cripple their power.
I voted for Ron Paul for president in 1988 and if given the chance I'll vote for him again. Though I'm registered no party affiliate when the primaries come around and he's on the ballot I'll register as a Republican just so I can vote for him in the primary. Of course afterwards I'll change back to no party affiliate.
Thomas Jefferson feared a strong federal government, and his fears, 200 years later, are starting to come true. Perhaps its time to go to Canada?
First fight against big government and for small government. Ironically I've been thinking of going to Brazil myself, however it has nothing to do with politics. My interests in going are Ethnology and international development.
TFA also describes the new ID being used when people enter or leave a plane or federal building. I agree that it would sacrifice some privacy and is probably not necessary for the federal government to have.
I still don't see how this is different that being required to show a STATE ID, as you do now.
Ah but you don't have to show id to fly. Even the courts have ruled you don't have to. If you want to board a plane without showing id then you must consent to more thorough searchs.
How do you know, have you done any research on using hemp instead of nylon?
As a climber I'd hate to carry a wet hemp rope
The cords of the parachute that saved expres Bush Sr, when he bailed out over the Pacific when his plane was shotdown were probably made from hemp. The US government went so far as to make a movie, "Hemp for Victory", to encourage farmers to grow hemp during the Second World War partially because of the need for ropes. Now I've never carried hemp cord so I can't say how heavy it would be dry or soaked, but the gov decided it was worth it to grow hemp. Admittedly though nylon cord is light, while I've done a little climbing and would like to do more, I used to repel a lot. Off of clifts mostly but some out of helicopters.
and as a driver I'd hate to have a celluloid air bag in my car.
How do you know air bags made from hemp wouldn't be able to do the job? Or is there some other problem?
That makes no sense. If those wealthy men had wanted to make their fortune in hemp, don't you think they could have? If hemp was a financial threat to them they'd have just bought most of the hemp farms. Duh.
I think I understand what your point is, these people could of had just started their own farms growing hemp. But because hemp is easy to grow almost everyone could grow it and with so many people able to there's no way any of the wealthy could control it. It's not like petroleum oil, which is only found in a few places and requires money and expertise to extract. Or forests, for which large tracts or acreage in private hands is owned by few people. Hemp doesn't require much land though, in the mid 1930s MIT did a study that showed an acre of hemp provided as much fiber, pulp, as 3 acres of forest. William Randolph Hearst didn't like that as he owned thousands of acres of forest in California.
Fact is is hemp is probably the most industrially useful plant there is. It's good as a source of pulp for paper, Thomas Jefferson wrote the DOI on hemp paper. The seeds are good for oil, Rudolph Diesel had his diesel engine run on the oil. Or ethanol fuel can be made from it. Hemp is fast growing and the wood can be used in construction. It is also a good source of cellulose to make plastic, here's a page from Eastman Kodak (yea the camera company) on "The Process of Making Trees into Plastic". While it does not specifically say hemp hemp is still a good source.
You can see from the Children of Men movie that terrorists with limited resources can only hold out so long against tanks and superior resources.
Tell that to those in Iraq or Afghanistan. In Iraq the only part that is relatively safe is Kurdistan, and there the Kurds have a vibrant economy and are experiencing a construction boom. However this may not last for much longer, not one country with Kurds whether it be Iran, Syria, or Turkey wants to see the Kurds have thier own homeland. Hell Turkey is readying an offensive against Kurds now. In Afghanistan the Taliban are seeing a resurgance in the south.
Maine didn't pass a law rejecting the Real ID act. As the CNet news article you provided the link to said, Maine passed a resolution not a law not to force their citizens "to use driver's licenses that comply with digital ID standards".
US constitution never envisioned federal government regulating every small detail of our lives, be it a form of ID used or smoking pot in the privacy of one's backyard.
The author of the "Declaration Of Independence", Thomas Jefferson, woud be rolling in his grave if he knew the federal government outlawed hemp, aka marijuana and pot. He grew hemp on his farm and once said there should be a law requiring farmers to grow it. He didn't propose a law though because he knew such a law would be a restriction on the rights of farmers. The only reason hemp was made illegal was because it posed a threat to some rich and powerful people, amoung them DuPont, William Randolph Hearst, Rockfeller, and Rothschild.
2. They are standing up for State's rights and not handing over ever more power to the federal government.
Montana has pretty much always stood up for states rights. The one tyme I can think of they didn't was when they raised the legal age for drinking to 21.
I'm glad to see another state stand up against the Real ID Act. But as Vermont's logo is "Do not tread on me" I'm supprised they didn't pass such a law first.
I personally think that the laws/constitution should be rewritten such that only citizens representing other citizens or NON-Commercial entities be allowed to "solicit for redress of grievances"
The Constitution doesn't need to be rewritten for this. Instead what could be done is to do to corporations what was done to unions. Pass laws barring stockholders' money from being spent in politics. For instance as a stockholder I wouldn't want the corporation I own stock in to support a candidate I am opposed to. If some executive wants to support said candidate they can use their own money not mine. Then there's one thing most people don't know about, and those who do overlook, corporations were originally granted their charter if it served the common, public, good. And the charter could be revoked if the corporation did not enhance the common or public good. However this idea of corporate charters being for the public good has been lost. What has happened is the Corporate Aristocracy Thomas Jefferson wanred of.
all of these companies can afford to pay an entire office of people to lobby the government full time, while groups of citizens are at an inherent disadvantage because they do not have such resources to constantly whisper their wishes in the ear of their representatives. A good representative will of course query and listen to their constituents, but it seems many of them forget that when they're thousands of miles away with only the words of the lobbyists in their ears day-in day-out
This is easy to handle, of course "ease" is relative. What I propose is to first limit the length of tyme congress is in session, I'd say 3 months max hypothetically. Three months may seem short to most people today but it's longer than what it used to be. Most members of congress had to work whether it was on their farm or running their business or what have you so they couldn't afford to take too much tyme off from work. Congress has expanded the tyme and perks it says it needs but if they checked the constitutionality of each bill before even debating it, and they could do this at home, and tossed those that didn't hold up they would need much less tyme than they use now.
Probably a good idea - my advice, you can pick up high quality 2nd hand Nakamichi tape decks off EBay for vastly cheaper than their MSRP prices when they were 'modern'.
yea, my tape deck was an Akia quadrasonic though I don't recall the model number. I go it in Germany for about $300, but when I got back to the states the cheapest I saw was more than $1,000. There weren't many stores that had them though. While there I also got 4 12" reels which allowed me to record 8 hours each of stereo sound, 4 hours of quadrasonic was possible. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any back in the states which was aggravating because I had already used up all the tape before leaving.
As for what equipment is good now, I have no idea. I used to be able to say what companies offered good stuff but that was about 20 years ago and I haven't followed the industry much since. Actually I was considering building my own, now I'd like to build my own shortwave radio and get my amateur license. I would of gotten it before but I couldn't get good with morse code, I've heard the FCC got rid of the morse code requirement.
How would we effectively block lobbyists from donating volunteer hours in lieu of money? I ask this as a legitimate question that may have to be addressed. Removing the dollars from interest peddling will not remove the peddling, just that particular medium of exchange.
More than likely those volunteers have to be paid so the politicans will still be being paid, just indirectly not directly.
Corporations should be able to have influence as long it is in the direct interests of the constituents of the politician they are lobbying.
Corporations should never have influence or the ability to lobby politically!!! Only citizens, including stockholders, should have the ability to do these.
Microsoft was not "convicted" of anything. Please point me to a legal document that implies they were "convicted", I'd love to see it. Besides, the GP's point is that there are no "rights revoked" as implied by Twitter The Head Zealot for whatever reason, a point that you didn't even address.
"In a stunning setback for Bill Gates' software empire, the judge in the Microsoft antitrust trial ruled yesterday that the software giant is a monopoly that wielded its power to stifle competition."
Microsoft is one of the few American companies that still produces things for export
Add agribusinesses to the list that produce for export. With the massive subsidies, billions of dollars, the US gov gives to these corporations they can sell food cheaper than it costs farmers to grow it.
Slashdot Mirror
Patents aren't evil, patents are tools. Tools which encourage people to invent things. Why in the world should I go through all the trouble, tyme and expense and whatnot, to invent something if I can't get a limited monopoly on making and selling it so I can recover my expenses? Sure some invent to make something better or new, but that does not put food on the table. Actually not having patents are more like slavery than having them!
FalconThat's what it means, if filing first is all you need to do.
That's, first to file, is the first problem I see with this "reform". The second problem is it doesn't repudiate, bar, software patents.
FalconTry to take a plane flight without showing id. FUD BS!!!
FalconSpeaking as a lifelong Republican, Ron Paul is the first candidate I've seen in some time that I feel enthused about. Not for what he'll DO, but for what he WON'T do.
I was almost the opposite, prior to Ron Paul I voted mostly Democrat starting with voting for Carter in 1980. But then because of Ron Paul I learned of the Libertarian Party. That year, '88, I was deputized to register people to vote. As part of the process I was given a list of offically recognized political parties, there were more than 50. While information wasn't readily available I learned what I could of the LP and Ron Paul and liked what I found out. Since then I've voted for the person for each office according to where they stood on the issues that were important to me whether they were Democrat, independent, Reform, or Republican. And I've voted for candidates from each of these parties.
We need more "WON'T do" in our gov't.
Yea, more gridlock would help.
FalconIf it's that useful it still makes no sense to ban it completely on account of its use as a recreational drug. You would instead monopolize the processing industry, control the prices for the raw plant and drive your competition out of the market that way. WRH was many things, but a complete fool was not one of them.
As it's a "weed" hemp can grow almost everywhere so there's no way to control it. Even today the government has programs to irradicate feral (wild) hemp. Even making it illegal hasn't been effective.
FalconIndustrial hemp - hemp fiber - was a cash crop in the eighteeth century. Used in the manufacture of rope, canvas, sacking materials, and so on.
"Canvas" got it's name from hemp, cannabis.
cotton gin
Thomas Jefferson invented a gin mill for hemp.
FalconI still don't see what a freedoms I give up with a federal ID.
Papers please!
FalconAt one point, the Democrats were the party that was solidly behind states' rights and the Republicans were all about centralized power.
Actually at first there was the Democratic-Republican party which Thomas Jefferson was a member of. Back then the other major party was the Federalist Party, then some of it's members became members of theWhig Party and others joined the Democratic Party.
FalconRon Paul is (hopefully) the face of the new GOP but only if we let it happen. The neocons hate him. His proposed legislation would cripple their power.
I voted for Ron Paul for president in 1988 and if given the chance I'll vote for him again. Though I'm registered no party affiliate when the primaries come around and he's on the ballot I'll register as a Republican just so I can vote for him in the primary. Of course afterwards I'll change back to no party affiliate.
FalconThomas Jefferson feared a strong federal government, and his fears, 200 years later, are starting to come true. Perhaps its time to go to Canada?
First fight against big government and for small government. Ironically I've been thinking of going to Brazil myself, however it has nothing to do with politics. My interests in going are Ethnology and international development.
FalconTFA also describes the new ID being used when people enter or leave a plane or federal building. I agree that it would sacrifice some privacy and is probably not necessary for the federal government to have.
I still don't see how this is different that being required to show a STATE ID, as you do now.
Ah but you don't have to show id to fly. Even the courts have ruled you don't have to. If you want to board a plane without showing id then you must consent to more thorough searchs.
FalconHow do you know, have you done any research on using hemp instead of nylon?
As a climber I'd hate to carry a wet hemp rope
The cords of the parachute that saved expres Bush Sr, when he bailed out over the Pacific when his plane was shotdown were probably made from hemp. The US government went so far as to make a movie, "Hemp for Victory", to encourage farmers to grow hemp during the Second World War partially because of the need for ropes. Now I've never carried hemp cord so I can't say how heavy it would be dry or soaked, but the gov decided it was worth it to grow hemp. Admittedly though nylon cord is light, while I've done a little climbing and would like to do more, I used to repel a lot. Off of clifts mostly but some out of helicopters.
and as a driver I'd hate to have a celluloid air bag in my car.
How do you know air bags made from hemp wouldn't be able to do the job? Or is there some other problem?
FalconThat makes no sense. If those wealthy men had wanted to make their fortune in hemp, don't you think they could have? If hemp was a financial threat to them they'd have just bought most of the hemp farms. Duh.
I think I understand what your point is, these people could of had just started their own farms growing hemp. But because hemp is easy to grow almost everyone could grow it and with so many people able to there's no way any of the wealthy could control it. It's not like petroleum oil, which is only found in a few places and requires money and expertise to extract. Or forests, for which large tracts or acreage in private hands is owned by few people. Hemp doesn't require much land though, in the mid 1930s MIT did a study that showed an acre of hemp provided as much fiber, pulp, as 3 acres of forest. William Randolph Hearst didn't like that as he owned thousands of acres of forest in California.
Fact is is hemp is probably the most industrially useful plant there is. It's good as a source of pulp for paper, Thomas Jefferson wrote the DOI on hemp paper. The seeds are good for oil, Rudolph Diesel had his diesel engine run on the oil. Or ethanol fuel can be made from it. Hemp is fast growing and the wood can be used in construction. It is also a good source of cellulose to make plastic, here's a page from Eastman Kodak (yea the camera company) on "The Process of Making Trees into Plastic". While it does not specifically say hemp hemp is still a good source.
FalconYou can see from the Children of Men movie that terrorists with limited resources can only hold out so long against tanks and superior resources.
Tell that to those in Iraq or Afghanistan. In Iraq the only part that is relatively safe is Kurdistan, and there the Kurds have a vibrant economy and are experiencing a construction boom. However this may not last for much longer, not one country with Kurds whether it be Iran, Syria, or Turkey wants to see the Kurds have thier own homeland. Hell Turkey is readying an offensive against Kurds now. In Afghanistan the Taliban are seeing a resurgance in the south.
Only a small group has ever changed history.
FalconMaine didn't pass a law rejecting the Real ID act. As the CNet news article you provided the link to said, Maine passed a resolution not a law not to force their citizens "to use driver's licenses that comply with digital ID standards".
FalconUS constitution never envisioned federal government regulating every small detail of our lives, be it a form of ID used or smoking pot in the privacy of one's backyard.
The author of the "Declaration Of Independence", Thomas Jefferson, woud be rolling in his grave if he knew the federal government outlawed hemp, aka marijuana and pot. He grew hemp on his farm and once said there should be a law requiring farmers to grow it. He didn't propose a law though because he knew such a law would be a restriction on the rights of farmers. The only reason hemp was made illegal was because it posed a threat to some rich and powerful people, amoung them DuPont, William Randolph Hearst, Rockfeller, and Rothschild.
Falcon2. They are standing up for State's rights and not handing over ever more power to the federal government.
Montana has pretty much always stood up for states rights. The one tyme I can think of they didn't was when they raised the legal age for drinking to 21.
I'm glad to see another state stand up against the Real ID Act. But as Vermont's logo is "Do not tread on me" I'm supprised they didn't pass such a law first.
FalconI personally think that the laws/constitution should be rewritten such that only citizens representing other citizens or NON-Commercial entities be allowed to "solicit for redress of grievances"
The Constitution doesn't need to be rewritten for this. Instead what could be done is to do to corporations what was done to unions. Pass laws barring stockholders' money from being spent in politics. For instance as a stockholder I wouldn't want the corporation I own stock in to support a candidate I am opposed to. If some executive wants to support said candidate they can use their own money not mine. Then there's one thing most people don't know about, and those who do overlook, corporations were originally granted their charter if it served the common, public, good. And the charter could be revoked if the corporation did not enhance the common or public good. However this idea of corporate charters being for the public good has been lost. What has happened is the Corporate Aristocracy Thomas Jefferson wanred of.
all of these companies can afford to pay an entire office of people to lobby the government full time, while groups of citizens are at an inherent disadvantage because they do not have such resources to constantly whisper their wishes in the ear of their representatives. A good representative will of course query and listen to their constituents, but it seems many of them forget that when they're thousands of miles away with only the words of the lobbyists in their ears day-in day-out
This is easy to handle, of course "ease" is relative. What I propose is to first limit the length of tyme congress is in session, I'd say 3 months max hypothetically. Three months may seem short to most people today but it's longer than what it used to be. Most members of congress had to work whether it was on their farm or running their business or what have you so they couldn't afford to take too much tyme off from work. Congress has expanded the tyme and perks it says it needs but if they checked the constitutionality of each bill before even debating it, and they could do this at home, and tossed those that didn't hold up they would need much less tyme than they use now.
FalconProbably a good idea - my advice, you can pick up high quality 2nd hand Nakamichi tape decks off EBay for vastly cheaper than their MSRP prices when they were 'modern'.
yea, my tape deck was an Akia quadrasonic though I don't recall the model number. I go it in Germany for about $300, but when I got back to the states the cheapest I saw was more than $1,000. There weren't many stores that had them though. While there I also got 4 12" reels which allowed me to record 8 hours each of stereo sound, 4 hours of quadrasonic was possible. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find any back in the states which was aggravating because I had already used up all the tape before leaving.
As for what equipment is good now, I have no idea. I used to be able to say what companies offered good stuff but that was about 20 years ago and I haven't followed the industry much since. Actually I was considering building my own, now I'd like to build my own shortwave radio and get my amateur license. I would of gotten it before but I couldn't get good with morse code, I've heard the FCC got rid of the morse code requirement.
FalconHow would we effectively block lobbyists from donating volunteer hours in lieu of money? I ask this as a legitimate question that may have to be addressed. Removing the dollars from interest peddling will not remove the peddling, just that particular medium of exchange.
More than likely those volunteers have to be paid so the politicans will still be being paid, just indirectly not directly.
FalconAh but you left out something, the average voter votes for the candidate that promises to bring home the most bacon.
Well, if that's what the average voter wants, then, such is the will of democracy. The problem comes when they promise A & deliver B.
Ah, you mean the tyranny of the masses?
FalconCorporations should be able to have influence as long it is in the direct interests of the constituents of the politician they are lobbying.
Corporations should never have influence or the ability to lobby politically!!! Only citizens, including stockholders, should have the ability to do these.
FalconMicrosoft WAS convicted
Microsoft was not "convicted" of anything. Please point me to a legal document that implies they were "convicted", I'd love to see it. Besides, the GP's point is that there are no "rights revoked" as implied by Twitter The Head Zealot for whatever reason, a point that you didn't even address.
- "In a stunning setback for Bill Gates' software empire, the judge in the Microsoft antitrust trial ruled yesterday that the software giant is a monopoly that wielded its power to stifle competition."
- "Judge rules software giant's business practices violated antitrust laws "
- " Judge finds that Microsoft Corp. violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, 'maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means'"
FalconMicrosoft is one of the few American companies that still produces things for export
Add agribusinesses to the list that produce for export. With the massive subsidies, billions of dollars, the US gov gives to these corporations they can sell food cheaper than it costs farmers to grow it.
FalconThe people with the political influence want the money.
Neither of those groups include the average person.
Not until you add the third line.
The people with the political influence also want votes.
The average person has the votes
Ah but you left out something, the average voter votes for the candidate that promises to bring home the most bacon.
Falcon