tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post8423377072260367298..comments2024-03-29T06:22:47.638-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Taser Cams, Mind Reading and the World to ComeDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45833986988864842732012-03-08T14:37:40.591-08:002012-03-08T14:37:40.591-08:00onwardonwardDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59236562685008129952012-03-08T14:23:18.486-08:002012-03-08T14:23:18.486-08:00Shoulda said "fibbing!" ;-)
Randy'...Shoulda said "fibbing!" ;-)<br /><br />Randy's a big boy with thick skin... but sorry.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33646507616723728782012-03-08T07:44:42.619-08:002012-03-08T07:44:42.619-08:00Something interesting at derfcity.com/blog/blahbla...Something interesting at derfcity.com/blog/blahblahblah.html ,scroll to Feb. 23rd to see links. Some folks modded a rap song into something that might find some sympathy here.<br />"Film the Police. Run a tape for the underclass!<br />Get the face, name and number on the badge.<br />They flash, we flash back when they act disorderly.<br />React accordingly and capture all that we see…<br />Nightstick, Zip-ties, and Tasers.<br />Think they’re licensed for type vicious behavior.<br />Make a tight fist with a video trained toward the Pigs,<br />Like this. They trip & you make ‘em famous.<br />Explain to a Judge the bounds you oversteppin’.<br />2011 time to the change our method.<br />We aim lenses at the State’s weapon,<br />‘Til they remember whose goddamn streets they’re protecting."Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78163676642639968372012-03-08T06:51:42.491-08:002012-03-08T06:51:42.491-08:00Looks to me that the GOP talks a good game about s...Looks to me that the GOP talks a good game about small government, but it's just "Happy noises", rather, they wish to run the show.<br /> Back to science, a large insect, not as extinct as previously thought:<br /><br />http://www.dailytech.com/Giant+Tree+Lobsters+Rediscovered+on+Rocky+Volcanic+Island+Spire/article24130.htmTim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77944792456364884132012-03-07T23:00:27.980-08:002012-03-07T23:00:27.980-08:00-
RandyB, you were making a little sense... till y...-<br />RandyB, you were making a little sense... till you said: "The bottom line, for all of this, is that the left wants more government control, and the right wants less."<br /><br />Um... no, that is NOT a "bottom line." It is an assertion incantation used to prevent thought and to stave off any consideration of evidence.<br /><br />1) Republicans are notorious for wanting to control the bedroom, speech, public spaces, and meddle internationally on behalf of the corporatcy. <br /><br /> This has always been seen as at LEAST as "statist" as the liberals' frenetic desire to push health and welfare and such on people through regulations of food, medicine, public access and such.<br /><br />For the record, I am miffed by some of the latter. I can see the arguments for loosening the FDA for example. On the other hand the rate at which govt secrecy, wiretaps, renditions, violations of habeous corpus, spying on Americans and every other expansion of truly scary shit... ALL expanded far more under Reagan, Bush ... and especially W... than under all dems combined.<br /><br />2) It is an absolute canard to assert (like magic spell!) that dems only regulate. In fact, democrats have done far more DE-regulation that the GOP could ever dream of.<br /><br />In fact, I have told you - RandyB - personally before about the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and Civil Aeronautics Board(CAB) and the greatest deregulation of all time.... simply handing the Internet over to the world.<br /><br />* <b>If you plan to continue making the standard magical incantation... know that we all know you've been told these things. So either STOP-it! Or disprove these facts. Or know that we know that you are simply lying.</b><br /><br />Those are your three choices. Pick one, Randy! ;-)<br /><br />=-==<br /><br />Yes the Nazis called them selves socialists. So? <br /><br />1) that was obsolete by 1934 when they kissed up to Krupp<br /><br />2) Aryan trade unions under total Nazi control DID get seats on industrial boards. Big deal<br /><br />3) The Belgians who genocided the Congo were monarchists and infinite crimes have been committed by oligarchs. Want to go through history decade by decade? Oligarchy wins the heinous prize, hands down.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35739071074802478662012-03-07T20:51:16.158-08:002012-03-07T20:51:16.158-08:00Latest Kepler exo-planet numbers. Nice little grap...Latest Kepler exo-planet numbers. Nice little graph of relative numbers of different size planets. Jupiters (and above) are rarer than Earth-size. Neptune/Uranus is the most common size. Super-Earth's are more common than Earths. However, the discovery rate of new Earths and Super-Earths is higher than Neptunes, and of course sub-Earths aren't detectable yet, so the final numbers may not have the same shape... Anyway, I find it interesting. A "this is where we live" moment.<br /><br /><a href="http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/nasakeplernews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=190" rel="nofollow">http://kepler.nasa.gov/news/nasakeplernews/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=190</a><br /><br />Whirlwind on Mars, caught in action. (We gotta get video at these resolutions on the next Mars orbiter.)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/a-whirlwind-rises-from-the-surface-of-mars/3875938" rel="nofollow">http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/a-whirlwind-rises-from-the-surface-of-mars/3875938</a><br /><br />They've sequenced the DNA of a Gorilla (specifically a gorilla gorilla gorilla). Looks like there was three way interbreeding between the human line, chimp line and gorilla line after nominal speciation.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328553.700-gorilla-dna-unlocks-secrets-of-our-species.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328553.700-gorilla-dna-unlocks-secrets-of-our-species.html</a><br /><br />And finally, just so I can say: Snakes on a plane.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328554.400-snakes-on-an-inclined-plane-control-scales-to-climb.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328554.400-snakes-on-an-inclined-plane-control-scales-to-climb.html</a>Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-336710463707501632012-03-07T20:37:13.834-08:002012-03-07T20:37:13.834-08:00RandyB
"Libertarians [...] do believe in the ...RandyB<br /><i>"Libertarians [...] do believe in the commons."</i><br /><br />Not so, according to Stephan Kinsella, during the recent libertarian discussion/debates. There's only self-owned/owned/unowned.Paul451https://www.blogger.com/profile/12119086761190994938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86348603572783837572012-03-07T17:25:30.410-08:002012-03-07T17:25:30.410-08:00Time for another history lesson:
Democratic socia...Time for another history lesson:<br /><br />Democratic socialism/social democracy split from Communism in 1880's.<br /><br />Eduard Bernstein, the founder of social democracy explicitly rejected violent revolution, "the dictatorship of the proletariat" and the expropriation of private property.<br /><br />In doing so, he argued that he was, in fact, reflecting the true views of Marx and Engels as they evolved in the years after the publication of the Communist Manifesto in 1848.<br /><br />From the 1890's onwards, the two movements were not only separate they were opposed.<br /><br />After the November Revolution, the first group the Communists banned were the Social Democrats and hundreds of thousands of them ended up in the gulags or in front of firing squads.<br /><br />This is hardly surprising since the Communists had spent the previous 20 years denouncign them as class traitors and revisionists.<br /><br />In fact, the term "revisionist" was invented to describe the social democrats.<br /><br />Conflating social democrats with communists or insisting the Nazis were socialists or left-wingers is simply wrong as a matter of historic fact.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16014067223809588422012-03-07T16:52:15.566-08:002012-03-07T16:52:15.566-08:00@Randyb wrote:
"...As for me, I generally opp...@Randyb wrote:<br /><i>"...As for me, I generally oppose torture no matter who does it, and no matter who it is done to -- even to prevent another 9/11. But something less than torture? Done to an unlawful combatant who doesn't fight in accordance with the laws of war? To possibly prevent another 9/11? When the rest of the world will find reasons to criticize us no matter what we do? That's different."</i><br /><br />Briefly: you support torture.<br /><br />Your qualifications are that support only torture that you can call not-torture, or is against someone you don't like, or will make you less afraid of bad men.<br /><br />George Washington ordered severe punishment for mere maltreatment of prisoners. I think I'll stick with George.<br /><br />P.S. I will be charitable and assume that is mere ignorance on your part that leads you to slander progressives on the subject of torture, and for that matter, the officers of our Armed Services who sacrificed their careers to preserve our Constitution against arguments such as yours. For the former, look up Amnesty International some time, and for the latter, Charlie Swift.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57117713956588616252012-03-07T16:42:57.750-08:002012-03-07T16:42:57.750-08:00On the lighter side, Questionable Content's ve...On the lighter side, Questionable Content's version of <a href="http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2137" rel="nofollow">Scientists Partying on a Space Station</a> ... I especially liked panel 3 ("NGC-2041A isn't worth fighting over!")rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59546566005839443512012-03-07T16:35:05.588-08:002012-03-07T16:35:05.588-08:00@RandyB wrote:
"...JFK and Truman were firm a...@RandyB wrote:<br /><i>"...JFK and Truman were firm anti-communists...."</i><br /><br />... and progressives. Thanks!<br /><br />Also: If you can't see a difference between socialists and communists, then I can't see a difference between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.<br /><br /><i>"...this started out with David saying we shouldn't judge liberalism by those radicals on the left because they're not part of real liberalism..."</i><br /><br />To repeat: labelling people is chiefly useful as a means of avoiding the discussion of issues. Why not pick an issue and talk about *that*?<br />For example, health care: Thom Hartmanns' views are far more mainstream than Rick Santorum's. So if Hartmann is "far-left" then America is "far-left".rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10659285411788599832012-03-07T14:58:09.037-08:002012-03-07T14:58:09.037-08:00AS for the claim that Hitler campaigned as a socia...AS for the claim that Hitler campaigned as a socialist:<br /><br />Here's the Nazi Party program:<br /><br />http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cts=1331160907720&ved=0CCgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fusers.stlcc.edu%2Frkalfus%2FPDFs%2F026.pdf&ei=POZXT-ilGamjiAeE6K23DQ&usg=AFQjCNE21fpp2muTg5sH2LKhGbBwxi-kWw&sig2=4T9I0pTwYNdCqd9joPSHQQ<br /><br />That was adopted in 1920 and was retained throguhout the Nazi era.<br /><br />There is absolutely nothing in there about socialism.<br /><br />But I take your basic point: anyone who disagrees with your about the appropriate role of government in society is just as bad as Hitler.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-33845025588949947532012-03-07T14:38:58.507-08:002012-03-07T14:38:58.507-08:00"There are a few problems with that.
The Naz..."There are a few problems with that.<br /><br />The Nazis sold themselves as socialists. Hitler said many times that's what he was."<br /><br />He did?<br /><br />Can you give examples?<br /><br />In rise & Fall of the Third Reich there's a section based on Goebbels' diary account of his first meeting with Hitler.<br /><br />Goebbels was initially one of the north German Strasserite faction, the group who ended up being wiped out during The Night of The Long Knives and which advocated stuff like the forced redistribution of wealth.<br /><br />Goebbels came out of the meeting utterluy shattered as Hitler explained to him that Nazism had absolutely nothing to do with socialism and that he )Goebells) had to choose between Nazism and socialism. (Goebbels, of course, chose Nazism and a few years later helped lead the extermination of his former friends.)<br /><br />(It seems strange to us now but given the state of communications and transport in Germany in the 1920's, there was relatively little face-to-face communication between the original Bavarian-based branch of the Nazi Party and the northern branches until about 1928/29.)<br /><br />"I see that you did not say that Hitler was a laissez-faire capitalist. He wasn't.""<br /><br />No, because he was a believer in a heavily corporatized form of capitalism where the state actively promoted the interests of big business. Much like Churchill.<br /><br />To quote Hitler: "Capitalism is merely the application of the Fuhrerprinzip to economics."<br /><br />Albert Speer, who is the soruce of that quote, expands on Hitler's meaning by saying that Hitler viewed corporations through the same pseudo-Darwinist worldview he applied to the human races.<br /><br />Large, successful corporations had proven their fitness and were therefore entitled to rule over lesser corporations.<br /><br />There's a reason Krupps. IG Farben and Thyssen poured millions into the Nazi Party treasury. Adn that the violently anti-socialist royal families of Bulgaria and Romania did so too.Ian Gouldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352147295160200128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-12217707794326763122012-03-07T10:38:36.520-08:002012-03-07T10:38:36.520-08:00infanttyrone,
I know Hannity would have contractu...infanttyrone,<br /><br />I know Hannity would have contractual issues with Fox News, and probably on his radio show as well. But this is a hypothetical, and so it doesn't change the point. Hannity would not do this even if he could.<br /><br />But if he did, we would judge him on it.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84689061306364576822012-03-07T10:36:43.742-08:002012-03-07T10:36:43.742-08:00Rewinn,
As I've said a number of times, the D...Rewinn,<br /><br />As I've said a number of times, the DSA has Medea Benjamin and Tom Hayden on their board, and they're not the only leftists there.<br /><br />Let's not forget that this started out with David saying we shouldn't judge liberalism by those radicals on the left because they're not part of real liberalism.<br /><br />If you want to say that they are part of it, then go right ahead.<br /><br />BTW: JFK and Truman were firm anti-communists.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19003181040834540992012-03-07T10:34:52.598-08:002012-03-07T10:34:52.598-08:00Ian,
There are a few problems with that.
The Naz...Ian,<br /><br />There are a few problems with that.<br /><br />The Nazis sold themselves as socialists. Hitler said many times that's what he was.<br /><br />I see that you did not say that Hitler was a laissez-faire capitalist. He wasn't.<br /><br />It's true that he didn't install the same socialist plan that the Nazis campaigned on. They initially pursued something like a Keynesian model. That was considered sensible at the time. Keynesian policies are still loved by Democrats today. But underneath it all, Hitler was an authoritarian, which could make modern-day Keynesians feel better, but it doesn't help your point.<br /><br />Crony capitalism is not capitalism. The GM bailout was not capitalism. Solyndra was not capitalism. I'm not criticizing those policies at this point, other than to say that if you want to compare Nazi policies to what's going on today, these are the closest parallels. They're not free market capitalism.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31987941082057313432012-03-07T10:32:48.584-08:002012-03-07T10:32:48.584-08:00Larry,
Okay, the Ayn Randists don't believe i...Larry,<br /><br />Okay, the Ayn Randists don't believe in the commons. I'm not sure that includes defense, but they'd be the one exception.<br /><br />Libertarians and conservatives do believe in the commons.<br /><br /><i>"but Mussolini's Italy was more corporatist in the sense of "government of the people, by the corporations, for the corporations.""</i><br /><br />Be careful how you phrase that. Italy's Fascism was organized as "corporations," but that part had nothing to do with business corporations as we know them today. There were a number of "corporations" representing different sectors of the economy. They included business owners, workers, and professionals, ostensibly working together. They weren't corporations like GM and Wal-Mart.<br /><br />Nazi Germany didn't do this. They promised to shut down the business corporations but didn't. I think William Shirer said they eventually closed down the small corporations, and put party members on the boards of the large ones. In any case, Hitler's government just took more control over the economy as the years went by.<br /><br />But even that's beside the point. Left wingers like to imagine that big business supports pro-business policies but, in reality, big business isn't usually among the lovers of the free market. They usually go for tricks like getting politicians to mandate that insurance policies cover their products, even if some people don't want to buy such coverage -- not to mention the many Solyndras in the economy.<br /><br /><br /><br /><i>"I'm not sure I know where you're coming from here, but I'll say that Thom Hartmann is not so much concerned with the SIZE of the commons as to which things belong there. He'd include health care and environmental protection along with police, fire protection, and roads. He would do so because it seems like part of the social substructure shared by all, not because he's looking for ways to increase the size of government."</i><br /><br />Thom Hartmann wants more things in the commons than moderates do. More than that, he wants the quantity to be greater.<br /><br />But the real smoking gun is his associates on the DSA. If you want to say that only some of then are extremists, but others aren't, then you should show us where he disagrees with them. This isn't a case where it's a bunch of ordinary liberals working alongside a few who are on the edge. Medea Benjamin and Tom Hayden are radicals.<br /><br />I know that libertarians are considered on the right. I just meant that they're not on the far right.<br /><br />The bottom line, for all of this, is that the left wants more government control, and the right wants less.<br /><br /><br /><i>"You keep bringing up torture as if the left revels in it. Where were you the last several election cycles. Republicans are the ones trying to outdo each other in their support of torture."</i><br /><br />No, I was making observations and judgments about people like Medea Benjamin. Thom Hartmann is an associate.<br /><br />I probably shouldn't have brought it up. It's just an interesting measure of political ideals.<br /><br />We can see when the left claimed to opposed torture. And I think we have a pretty good idea when those same people chose to say nothing. It's all out there on the internet.<br /><br />Those Republicans weren't supporting torture. They were supporting something they believe was less than torture. Can someone say they're wrong about where to draw the line, or that they want the U.S. to set a higher bar? Yes, certainly. But no one who supports Hugo Chavez can say that with any credibility.<br /><br />As for me, I generally oppose torture no matter who does it, and no matter who it is done to -- even to prevent another 9/11. But something less than torture? Done to an unlawful combatant who doesn't fight in accordance with the laws of war? To possibly prevent another 9/11? When the rest of the world will find reasons to criticize us no matter what we do? That's different.RandyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68548208394522058782012-03-07T09:21:15.705-08:002012-03-07T09:21:15.705-08:00David,
I'm not miffed; I don't really kno...David,<br /><br />I'm not miffed; I don't really know what you're talking about. But as a long-time participant here (six to eight years? Wow...) it's gotten more strident. And I'm not even a conservative; you know that!<br /><br />On the other hand, I had a *grand* time laying bets with people over issues orthogonal to the ones here. Your idea, of course, and highly effective... if what you seek is your own entertainment. No one took the bets and my wife chided me for appearing to gamble. (And when Romney tried it people just picked on him for having money.)<br /><br />I probably won't repeat it, except maybe with family. ;-)<br /><br />In any case, my comment was actually designed to give us all a pass to pull out any and all October Surprises once the campaigns really heat up, nothing more!Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07541997928359883625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69370625424683609782012-03-06T22:37:19.749-08:002012-03-06T22:37:19.749-08:00RandyB,
What if Hannity gave permission for his s...RandyB,<br /><br /><i>What if Hannity gave permission for his show to be rebroadcast on some right-wing extremist site? It's still his choice, and we can fault him for it.</i><br /><br />I suspect Hannity's contract with Fox does not allow him the option of permitting his show to be rebroadcast. <br /><br />Limbaugh may own his show (worth less today and in the future than it was just a week ago), but for either of these two, allowing themselves to be easily tied to serious extremists cuts into their marketability as entertainers.<br /><br />They are not in the business of agitating for some Red-state Putsch or for a Libertarian Revolution. They are in the business of entertaining mostly older white males for the purpose of facilitating the sale of whatever is being flogged by their network or affiliates.<br /><br />I'm a pro-2nd-Amendment Libertarian (who got here from the Left) in favor of business operating as freely as possible within a robustly-sized Commons with stiff penalties for breaches of contract enforced by a government that I am happy to have shrink in direct proportion to the speed at which social media expands. If you think Facebook and Twitter can't be used to impair the market viability of purveyors of bullshit and other harmful or defective products, just ask the fat man with the seegar.infanttyronenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35978409636571239602012-03-06T20:40:37.278-08:002012-03-06T20:40:37.278-08:00One of the other sci-fi writer blogs I follow (Joh...One of the other sci-fi writer blogs I follow (John Scalzi) is just now starting to twig to the "Nehemiah Scudder"ness of certain candidates *cough*Santorum*cough*. I wonder how many other writers will have the light go on shortly? And are the sci-fi writers and readers the only ones who see this?<br /><br />TheMadLibrarian<br /><br />vireara therra: a new strain of e.coli that mainly affects termitesTheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28599772764448287572012-03-06T19:37:10.934-08:002012-03-06T19:37:10.934-08:00Meanwhile, in Openness Space - when state legislat...Meanwhile, in Openness Space - when state legislators were caught on video voting for absent members, the solution was obvious: (A) ban cameras from the galleries, and (B) paper over the windows so they can't be video'd from the hall!<br /><br />Is this The Onion ... or reality? Read <a href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/06/wi-assembly-representative-caught-double-voting-solution-cover-the-windows/" rel="nofollow">Assembly Representative Caught Double Voting, Solution: Cover the Windows</a>rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60752349284761011092012-03-06T17:35:50.554-08:002012-03-06T17:35:50.554-08:00rewinn:
Martin Luther King Jr.?
JFK?
Harry Truma...rewinn:<br /><i><br />Martin Luther King Jr.? <br />JFK?<br />Harry Truman?<br />Heck, even Nixon and Eisenhower would be considered "leftist" today.<br /></i><br /><br />I'd go so far as to say that even Ronald Reagan would be "primaried" by Grover Norquist and the Tea Party.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-28396092962857689462012-03-06T17:26:04.014-08:002012-03-06T17:26:04.014-08:00@RandyB wrote:
"...Overall, I think you'...@RandyB wrote:<br /><br /><br /><i>"...Overall, I think you're right that the article goes too far. But my main point was that Hartmann is more of a leftist than a liberal..."</i><br /><br />(* rolls eyes * )<br /><br />Please. The meaningless distinctions between "left" and "liberal" and "progressive" and so on and so forth are just excuses for calling names instead of discussing issues.<br />Why don't you pick an *issue* with which you agree or disagree with Hartmann, and discuss *that*?<br /><br /><i>"If Hartmann admits he's a Democratic Socialist..."</i><br /><br />Hartmann *admits* nothing. He proudly states he is a Democratic Socialist, in the line of most of the progress that has ever taken place in America.<br />Democratic socialism is the dominant mode of operation in prosperous democracies other than our United States, and is nothing to be ashamed of.<br />One may disagree with it .. .why not? but to imply that it is somehow something one must "admit" is just silly.<br /><br /><br /><i>"... then I'd put him on the far left."</i><br /><br />And you'd be wrong. Most of Hartmann's specific prescriptions are supported by a plurality if not a majority of Americans. But may be America is a far left nation, by your definition.<br /><br /><br /><i>Then add the fact that he's on the advisory board of Progressive Democrats of America with Medea Benjamin and Tom Hayden, and you might as well wrap him in red celophane. He's a leftist.</i><br /><br />Oh Lord! PDA is squarely aligned with the political faction that swept most American elections in 2006 and 2008. If you consider that far-left, perhaps you should check your calibration.<br /><br /><i>"They've just made too many of the wrong associations."</i><br /><br />Such as?<br /><br />Martin Luther King Jr.? <br />JFK?<br />Harry Truman?<br />Heck, even Nixon and Eisenhower would be considered "leftist" today.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-48174777160565829992012-03-06T17:08:33.644-08:002012-03-06T17:08:33.644-08:00T2 it's why I try to distinguish between conse...T2 it's why I try to distinguish between conservative and self-servative.<br /><br />Treason, as you say, is not an accusation to be taken lightly. Yet the baser motives for the Iraq war (putting personal profit ahead of the best interests of the country) could be said to have been just that.<br /><br />References to (self-servative) monsters may worry you, but reports like <a href="http://t.co/Yhpwx2xk" title="The 1% *are* the 1%!" rel="nofollow">this</a> worry me. (In fairness, banking executives aren't necessarily political representatives.)<br /><br />Brin's axes show how poorly left/right thinking defines nazism and communism.<br /><br />If left/right = we/I own then Communism is left while nazism is fairly moderate (ironic that Overton window cleaners would consider Hitler a bleedin' heart liberal by this measure!).<br /><br />up/down = we/I control, then Adolph and Josef were firmly in the upper section<br /><br />in/out = nature/nurture shows the real divide in this example: Adolph's in and Jo's out.<br /><br />There's probably room for another 'axis' (big/small = visionary/reactionary? Adolph big: you can't deny he had vision, even if it wasn't a very *nice* vision! I'd say Jo was small: he was busy maintaining the new world order and pogroms as usual)<br /><br />Not being particularly conversant with the current pre-selection bruhaha, I leave it to those in the US to see where they can pin the various players.<br /><br />Those (mostly harmless) spiders from Wagga demonstrate how resilient a properly functioning infrastructure can be. (they could also be auditioning for the Mirkwood scenes in 'The Hobbit')<br /><br />Thander Peatence: purported author of 'Piers the Plowman'Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57921082827130268642012-03-06T16:12:05.830-08:002012-03-06T16:12:05.830-08:00Creating a small amount of friction in financial t...Creating a small amount of friction in financial transactions via a small tax is controversial. But perhaps it would be possible to test it on food commodity markets, now that there's evidence that speculators are creating volatility that creates unrest in poor nations:<br /><br /><a href="http://necsi.edu/research/social/foodprices/update/" rel="nofollow">The Food Crises: Predictive validation of a quantitative model of food prics including speculators and ethanol conversion</a><br /><br />Food producers and processors who use commodity markets as insurance might be happy to go along, in order to get the gamblers out.TwinBeamnoreply@blogger.com