"Castro is not the West, as you well know. Moreover, I know no western nation which practices the death penalty for tax evasion."
Castro's country is in the Western Hemisphere. It is therefore "of the West". Death penalty for tax evasion? It's quite easy if you refuse to pay the taxes, and then refuse to submit to arrest for your court case on tax evasion. Refusal to submit to arrest typically creates a violent situation, and resolutions in which someone is shot by the cops is not unheard of.
"History has shown that the only workable form of economy is socialism, to one extent or another."
History has shown that it doesn't work at all. Unless, of course, your goal is to quickly engage in genocides, get the most power to the ruler, and other such things that socialism has proven very good at.
"Tax is not robbery, it is entirely voulentary."
What country do you live in? In every one I can think of, all taxation is forced.
Why not? Fox news already sued and won to have the right to lie"
In this particular case, they sued in order to have the first amendment rights of Freedom of the Press upheld...and that includes saying things that someone would rather see censored.
"Actually, no, since it's only illegal to lie to law enforcement or in court"
It is legal to lie in court if you are not specifically under oath. Otherwise, a lot of lying is done in the courtroom: from the typical business practices of attorneys to the large percentage of the accused who did the crime (and know they did it) but lie and plead "not guilty" anyway.
A courtroom without lies would be very very different.
That's a good point, actually. The neverending tsunami of ludicrous unneeded regulations, while it does burden big business, really crushes small businesses. They are just to small to deal with it. This is why you get such things as Wal-Mart supporting minimim wage increases. Why? They already pay well above minimum, so it won't effect them. It will, however, wipe out thousands of small businesses who can only afford to pay the bare minimum and cannot survive if forced to overpay someone. Real sneaky, Wal-Mart. Way to go to wipe out competition! Then there are the underground tank regulations on gas stations. I've observed in my town as these wiped out all of the mom-and-pop gas stations. The big chain stations, of course, were able to weather it.
Not really. Your points were a sort of straw-man in which you constructed an anarchist extreme (maurading private cops) which is actually strongly opposed by the Libertarian Party.
"If you're named George W Bush, there's nothing wrong with that. If you tell them that your address is 1600 Penn. Ave in D.C, and and you're not the president, then you're providing fraudulent information."
According to some, you are being completely honest if you do that.
"More commonly referred to as the "Golden Rule" where he who has the gold, makes the rules."
Don't forget the golden rule employed by government officials and "representatives" (whose Job 1 is to enrich and empower themselves... millionaires or near-millionaires who never turn down a taxpayer-finded pay hike!): "He who makes the rules gets the gold".
Ah, according to other postings under this news item, you are one of those who controls the legislature and gets government to do your every bidding. So, how does it feel to control the country?
"The fact is that the 'warlord-prince city-state' died out in the west hundreds of years ago"
This sort of prince ruling by force of arms is alive and well in the West. Not only in the more blatant examples (like Castro), but consider the fact that you face a good chance of violent death if you refuse to pay the prince his due when he comes to rob you (taxes) in the "progressive" countries.
" there's something preventing the government from doing so- checks and balances. A libertarian state removes those checks and balances"
That contradicts everything the libertarians fight for. Also, libertarians tend to be strong on property rights, so those RIAA cops could come nowhere near you. The one that really blunts your argument, however, is that the libertarians are the ones who want the weakest copyright laws in the first place.
"If a government throws you in jail, a court can issue a writ of habeus corpus."
Yes, their knees hit the floor as their sabres come out and both parties cut businesses off at the ankles with overtaxation and ridiculous regulation.
(Of course, Nader sees it another way. To him, any government official who does not buy into his idea of obliterating the private economy is "controlled by big business")
Yes, that's the tip of the elephant's trunk taking money from the businessman (right out of the pocket), big and small. The GOP loves to overtax and regulate the hell out of businesses. The difference between them and the Dems is that the GOP does a little less of it. Or at least they say they do.
" a libertarian state would be ruled over by either warlord princes who govern small city-states via force of arms "
So what's the difference between this and what we have now? Oh. the size of the city-states. Never mind.
"Imagine Microsoft funding a private army to go out, hunt down people using pirated copies of Windows, and put them to work in a gulag"
I think you are confusing the libertarian ideal of "the least government we can feasibly get away with" and the "no government at all" of your example. Also, why is it OK that in a strong state (not libertarian) that the government gets to do the things that the RIAA and Microsoft do in your examples? You'd be hard pressed to find support for such private (or public) marauding cops in libertarianism at all. I wonder if it is even in Randism (the more extreme form of libertarianism).
I'm tempted to respond to you on your points, but I want to have the final word. Would you recommend that the best way to do this is to post as an AC, since (according to your sig) you do not respond to such messages?
Of course, this firmware update is the one in which a robot voice now intones "DO NOT STEAL MUSIC" every 11.4 seconds during the listening of MP3 files. But hey, you can at least record FM radio!
"At least there, they've managed to retain some semblence of socialism"
You complain about the rulers having too much power, and then you express desire for socialism (which is all about empowering the rulers). That is not consistent.
"Syrian forces repelled an attack on the US embassy not very long ago - so they have been already militarily commited to be on the side of the USA so I'm not sure you know what you are talking about"
A host country preventing a foreign embassy hosted on its soil from being attacked is the typical decent expected thing to do, whether or not the countries are enemies or friends. "Allowing" an attack on an embassy is a grave and unusual matter.
So? I can't recall when I have EVER seen this newspaper, which is a local/regional one anyway. Did you check the several other newspapers in Frisco? I got most of my news on the protests from "Democracy Now", which has hundreds of outlets. Their counts were among the highest numbers reported.
"The "San Francisco Chronicle" -- owned by the Hearst Corporation, despite the "San Francisco" in the name "
There's no contradiction. It's like complaining that the New York Times is not called the Pinch Times, or that Playboy is not called Heffners'.
Slashdot Mirror
"Castro is not the West, as you well know. Moreover, I know no western nation which practices the death penalty for tax evasion."
Castro's country is in the Western Hemisphere. It is therefore "of the West". Death penalty for tax evasion? It's quite easy if you refuse to pay the taxes, and then refuse to submit to arrest for your court case on tax evasion. Refusal to submit to arrest typically creates a violent situation, and resolutions in which someone is shot by the cops is not unheard of.
"History has shown that the only workable form of economy is socialism, to one extent or another."
History has shown that it doesn't work at all. Unless, of course, your goal is to quickly engage in genocides, get the most power to the ruler, and other such things that socialism has proven very good at.
"Tax is not robbery, it is entirely voulentary."
What country do you live in? In every one I can think of, all taxation is forced.
"This is historically bullshit. A free market only exists through government force of arms to make it free!"
True, but there is much less government force of arms involved with that than with the alternative (i.e. fascism/socialism).
Why not? Fox news already sued and won to have the right to lie"
In this particular case, they sued in order to have the first amendment rights of Freedom of the Press upheld...and that includes saying things that someone would rather see censored.
"Actually, no, since it's only illegal to lie to law enforcement or in court"
It is legal to lie in court if you are not specifically under oath. Otherwise, a lot of lying is done in the courtroom: from the typical business practices of attorneys to the large percentage of the accused who did the crime (and know they did it) but lie and plead "not guilty" anyway.
A courtroom without lies would be very very different.
That's a good point, actually. The neverending tsunami of ludicrous unneeded regulations, while it does burden big business, really crushes small businesses. They are just to small to deal with it. This is why you get such things as Wal-Mart supporting minimim wage increases. Why? They already pay well above minimum, so it won't effect them. It will, however, wipe out thousands of small businesses who can only afford to pay the bare minimum and cannot survive if forced to overpay someone. Real sneaky, Wal-Mart. Way to go to wipe out competition! Then there are the underground tank regulations on gas stations. I've observed in my town as these wiped out all of the mom-and-pop gas stations. The big chain stations, of course, were able to weather it.
Not really. Your points were a sort of straw-man in which you constructed an anarchist extreme (maurading private cops) which is actually strongly opposed by the Libertarian Party.
"If you're named George W Bush, there's nothing wrong with that. If you tell them that your address is 1600 Penn. Ave in D.C, and and you're not the president, then you're providing fraudulent information."
According to some, you are being completely honest if you do that.
"More commonly referred to as the "Golden Rule" where he who has the gold, makes the rules."
Don't forget the golden rule employed by government officials and "representatives" (whose Job 1 is to enrich and empower themselves... millionaires or near-millionaires who never turn down a taxpayer-finded pay hike!): "He who makes the rules gets the gold".
"As a businessman..."
Ah, according to other postings under this news item, you are one of those who controls the legislature and gets government to do your every bidding. So, how does it feel to control the country?
"The fact is that the 'warlord-prince city-state' died out in the west hundreds of years ago"
This sort of prince ruling by force of arms is alive and well in the West. Not only in the more blatant examples (like Castro), but consider the fact that you face a good chance of violent death if you refuse to pay the prince his due when he comes to rob you (taxes) in the "progressive" countries.
" there's something preventing the government from doing so- checks and balances. A libertarian state removes those checks and balances"
That contradicts everything the libertarians fight for. Also, libertarians tend to be strong on property rights, so those RIAA cops could come nowhere near you. The one that really blunts your argument, however, is that the libertarians are the ones who want the weakest copyright laws in the first place.
"If a government throws you in jail, a court can issue a writ of habeus corpus."
If the government hasn't already shot you dead.
Yes, their knees hit the floor as their sabres come out and both parties cut businesses off at the ankles with overtaxation and ridiculous regulation.
(Of course, Nader sees it another way. To him, any government official who does not buy into his idea of obliterating the private economy is "controlled by big business")
"The GOP is in the pocet of big business"
Yes, that's the tip of the elephant's trunk taking money from the businessman (right out of the pocket), big and small. The GOP loves to overtax and regulate the hell out of businesses. The difference between them and the Dems is that the GOP does a little less of it. Or at least they say they do.
" a libertarian state would be ruled over by either warlord princes who govern small city-states via force of arms "
So what's the difference between this and what we have now? Oh. the size of the city-states. Never mind.
"Imagine Microsoft funding a private army to go out, hunt down people using pirated copies of Windows, and put them to work in a gulag"
I think you are confusing the libertarian ideal of "the least government we can feasibly get away with" and the "no government at all" of your example. Also, why is it OK that in a strong state (not libertarian) that the government gets to do the things that the RIAA and Microsoft do in your examples? You'd be hard pressed to find support for such private (or public) marauding cops in libertarianism at all. I wonder if it is even in Randism (the more extreme form of libertarianism).
I'm tempted to respond to you on your points, but I want to have the final word. Would you recommend that the best way to do this is to post as an AC, since (according to your sig) you do not respond to such messages?
"You misspelled "some state". Hope this helps, corn boy."
I'd better get back to husking the ears, then, my erstwhile foe.
"The Legislative system in United States governments at the federal and state levels have two separate bodies"
As long as you remember that some states do not have two separate bodies.
Of course, this firmware update is the one in which a robot voice now intones "DO NOT STEAL MUSIC" every 11.4 seconds during the listening of MP3 files. But hey, you can at least record FM radio!
"I've lost the ability to record FM on my Creative Zen with my last firmware update"
Check this out: it says that Creative fixed it back.
"I've lost the ability to record FM on my Creative Zen with my last firmware update"
Make them fix it or pay to take it back, as it is now damaged (through their fault, and not yours)
"At least there, they've managed to retain some semblence of socialism"
You complain about the rulers having too much power, and then you express desire for socialism (which is all about empowering the rulers). That is not consistent.
"Tito didn't empose tribal rule like Saddam did by putting all his relatives and hometowns folks into power position."
Are you sure on that? It would be rare for a dictator NOT to engage in this kind of nepotism.
"only the Sudanese government are resisting"
How many governments does (the) Sudan have?
"Syrian forces repelled an attack on the US embassy not very long ago - so they have been already militarily commited to be on the side of the USA so I'm not sure you know what you are talking about"
A host country preventing a foreign embassy hosted on its soil from being attacked is the typical decent expected thing to do, whether or not the countries are enemies or friends. "Allowing" an attack on an embassy is a grave and unusual matter.
So? I can't recall when I have EVER seen this newspaper, which is a local/regional one anyway. Did you check the several other newspapers in Frisco? I got most of my news on the protests from "Democracy Now", which has hundreds of outlets. Their counts were among the highest numbers reported.
"The "San Francisco Chronicle" -- owned by the Hearst Corporation, despite the "San Francisco" in the name "
There's no contradiction. It's like complaining that the New York Times is not called the Pinch Times, or that Playboy is not called Heffners'.
"You do know that the US media sold this war from the start, right."
Hard to know it if it wasn't true. There was such a diversity of views presented on it in the media.