Agree with most of what you said, except this:
"Which has been the policy of the Bush Administration whether you are willing to accept it or not."
A token "see, 1 month of sanctions didn't work, screw it, we're bombing Iraq" doesn't count as diplomacy. Refusing to sit with Iran to discuss alternative means of getting cheap, safe means of power, nuclear or otherwise, doesn't count either.
Going off in a press conference, giving three unfriendly nations a cool comic book nickname "Axis of Evil" doesn't count, especially when once Bush gave in to the UN suggestions of multi-lateral talks with N. Korea, they stopped their nuclear program.
The fact is, reasonable attempts at diplomacy include the ability to consider the other side, even if it is insane.
They only say "Kill all Westerners" because we haven't ever done anything to change their minds. I'm sure it would be like talking to a wall when dealing with the extremists, but as far as the moderates driven to extremes, talk and discussions may be more effective. And if it doesn't work, what's the harm in trying?
There are other ways to get exposed to new music besides file-sharing though. For example, I subscribe to Real Rhapsody (and there are others, Yahoo Music, etc), where I can stream most albums any time I want, as much as I want, for a flat monthly rate. This accomplishes the same thing as file sharing, with the downside being I can't put these songs on my Ipod. But because I can listen to the songs as many times as I want, and in addition, am provided with similar artists as well as random suggestions, I can hear a snippet of a song and look it up and listen to it (and the whole CD, usually) legally, then decide if the CD is worth buying. Additionally, I believe the artists will receive some money based on how many times their song or album is streamed. Since I discovered this, I've yet to buy a CD that I've been unhappy with. If Rhapsody or any other service convinces all the labels that this is worth the time (some don't make their artists available), then any argument for file sharing should be put to rest.
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Agree with most of what you said, except this: "Which has been the policy of the Bush Administration whether you are willing to accept it or not." A token "see, 1 month of sanctions didn't work, screw it, we're bombing Iraq" doesn't count as diplomacy. Refusing to sit with Iran to discuss alternative means of getting cheap, safe means of power, nuclear or otherwise, doesn't count either. Going off in a press conference, giving three unfriendly nations a cool comic book nickname "Axis of Evil" doesn't count, especially when once Bush gave in to the UN suggestions of multi-lateral talks with N. Korea, they stopped their nuclear program. The fact is, reasonable attempts at diplomacy include the ability to consider the other side, even if it is insane.
They only say "Kill all Westerners" because we haven't ever done anything to change their minds. I'm sure it would be like talking to a wall when dealing with the extremists, but as far as the moderates driven to extremes, talk and discussions may be more effective. And if it doesn't work, what's the harm in trying?
There are other ways to get exposed to new music besides file-sharing though. For example, I subscribe to Real Rhapsody (and there are others, Yahoo Music, etc), where I can stream most albums any time I want, as much as I want, for a flat monthly rate. This accomplishes the same thing as file sharing, with the downside being I can't put these songs on my Ipod. But because I can listen to the songs as many times as I want, and in addition, am provided with similar artists as well as random suggestions, I can hear a snippet of a song and look it up and listen to it (and the whole CD, usually) legally, then decide if the CD is worth buying. Additionally, I believe the artists will receive some money based on how many times their song or album is streamed. Since I discovered this, I've yet to buy a CD that I've been unhappy with. If Rhapsody or any other service convinces all the labels that this is worth the time (some don't make their artists available), then any argument for file sharing should be put to rest.