Artysim

Reply to What is a Hate Crime? in Current Events Stardock Forums

KFC- [quote]What defines a crime as hateful? Isn't all crime a crime of hatred?[/quote] A Hate Crime is when harm has been carried out against someone explicitly because of their race, political or religious affiliation, sexual orientation, etc. Now, as with all things in life (and you should know this better than anyone else!) there is the letter of the law.... the nuts and bolts... and then there is the spirit of the law.... the intent that the law was created for

Reply to Evil Corporations in Blogging Stardock Forums

[quote]Actually, a bunch of congressmen passed a law to "deregulate" (according to news media, it really MODIFIED an already artificial government controller market called the future commodities market) to allow people with no stake in such a market to trade futures of energy. And it has not been fixed to this day, after multiple administrations on both sides... [/quote] Thank you, Taltamir. This clearly illustrates your ignorance on this matter. Yes, congress did pass laws to deregula

Reply to Evil Corporations in Blogging Stardock Forums

[quote]A corporation cannot be moral or immoral, it is just a paper entity. THE PERSONS Who own and work in it can be moral or immoral.[/quote] And this is the problem. A corporation is technically a legal person and has all the same rights. This should NOT be the case. It's the ultimate get out of jail free card for all kinds of crimes and negligent behaviour. From a legal standpoint, I would be okay if a corporation were classed as a "provisional person" meaning that their rights and

Reply to Evil Corporations in Blogging Stardock Forums

[quote]but enron and banking meltdowns are all because of bad regulations and laws, not because of "self regulating markets".. [/quote] ha ha ha ha ha aaaaahh ha ha ha ha haaa!!!!! Poorly enforced and vaguely defined regulations -enabled- Enron and the Banks to do what they did, which was lie, cheat and steal their way to nice fat profits. If the folks behind the wheel of the SEC and congress had actually done their jobs and remained as an impartial third party (traffic cop) as

Reply to Evil Corporations in Blogging Stardock Forums

[quote]Why do you assume greed is the ONLY component of self regulating markets? in a self regulating market consumer education, morals, and intellect battle greed. In a government regulated one, government beurocracy protects the greedy from the moral people.[/quote] Nice argument. Please provide real-world examples. I've got a few for you- Self-regulated markets- ENRON- they were only able to do what they did (lie, cheat, steal, and ruin lives) because they had folks in

Reply to Evil Corporations in Blogging Stardock Forums

Basmas- You're absolutely right about glyphosate, by itself it's not obviously harmful to humans. However, there have been tests done that indicate it can interfere with the enzymes that produce testosterone and estrogen. There have also been other tests done that indicate it could be a disruptor of the endocrine system. And yes, of course there are other chemicals in Roundup- much of the controversy comes from this- http

Evil Corporations in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Who's your favorite evil corporation? You know, that company that is so slimy, so insipid, you actually love to hate them? We've all got at least one. Sit back and think about it for a minute. Is it a utility provider? How about an insurance company? (those are real easy to hate) the possibilities are varied and endless. What kills me is there's a lot of truly nasty companies out there that are also very profitable, have great P.R and 90% of

Reply to The basic problems with “universal” health care in Politics Stardock Forums

Nitro- [quote]Great points! Enjoy that 1.83 years longer you have to live. You'll need it to pay your tax burden.[/quote] You're absolutely right. My tax burden is excessively higher than a counter-part in the States would have. And it needs to be. Let's take a look at the details. Canada has 1/10th the population of the States and geographically, is larger. So, we have far fewer people spread out over a much larger area. And, if our tax rate wasn't what it is, we couldn'

Reply to The basic problems with “universal” health care in Politics Stardock Forums

I think that in this case the facts speak for themselves. In Canada, we have universal healthcare -and- Per capita we pay less for healthcare in taxes than someone paying for health insurance in the states (there is no middleman in Canada needing to make a profit like there is with the insurance companies in the states) All mortality statistics are lower for Canadian citizens than American citizens- we live longer, have lower infant mortality rates,

Your Bit of Comedy for the Day in Blogging JoeUser Forums

According to Microsoft, Windows 7 is complete, and P.C users will have a smooth transition to the new O.S..... .................. BWA HA HA HA!!!!!!!

Reply to FBI says George Bush's lie about WMDs was directed at Iran in War on Terror Stardock Forums

[quote]Heck, if YOU had come to power in Iran in 1941, using any means that are not much more violent than how others do it and then proceeded to fight the Nazis (if you get the chance) and treat Bahais like human beings, I would accept you as legitimate ruler of Iran and do ANYTHING in my power to keep you in that position.[/quote] I'm not arguing 1941 with you one little bit. All I was saying was, that the only reason he came to power in 1941 is because his daddy seized power in the

Reply to FBI says George Bush's lie about WMDs was directed at Iran in War on Terror Stardock Forums

[quote]Investigations will obviously focus on the time machine which the CIA already used in 1953 to bring the Shah to power in 1941.[/quote] Well here's the thing, see; The Shah was never the -legitimate- ruler of Iran, only inasmuch as Saddam Hussein was the legitimate ruler of Iraq. Why? Because the only reason he was put in power was because he was the "Crown Prince" or basically the second in command at the time his father was deposed. If he hadn't been crown prince,

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror Stardock Forums

Yes, it is all anonymous accusations. My Lebanese friends who had to abandon their vehicle and run into the ditch because the IDF was shooting at anything that moved told me quite a different story. Why would they lie to me about something like that? Because I know them personally, I believe their words. The pictures of apartment buildings and high-rises in Beirut and other Lebanese cities that were flatenned during the war is also testament to the IDF's tactics of "

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror Stardock Forums

[quote]This is where all these stories come from: unconfirmed source, the brother of a nephew; and, if you want to add credibility, an actual unnamed Jew.[/quote] Yeah, and international humanitarian organizations, and groups based inside Israel made up of Israeli citizens as well. Breaking the silence purports to be made up IDF veterans and they have the testimonies of dozens of individuals. Yes, they have not revealed their identities, but if they did, and it turned

Reply to Israeli soldiers 'break their silence' in War on Terror Stardock Forums

Well, the article I read with the same title of "breaking silence" refers to statements from 26 IDF soldiers, not 2: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8149464.stm And Btselem in response re-sent it's 19 demands to open investigations in separately reported incidents (all of which were ignored) http://www.btselem.org/English/Press_Relea

Reply to Various political observations recently in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote]I think perhaps a higher proportion of engineers than scientists are Republicans. Doers are often Republicans, "thinkers" are often Democrats.[/quote] Yeah, I mean, really..... that whole notion of that crazy thing called gravity, the earth revolving around the sun and the periodic table, what a bunch of mamby-pamby existential HOGWASH, right!?! I honestly don't believe that scientists vs engineers have a political inclination either way. Trying to prove

Reply to Various political observations recently in Politics Stardock Forums

Oh Draginol, at it again I see! [quote] Is a scientist someone who works at a university doing pure scientific research on the breeding patterns of fruit flies? Does it count someone who works at say a software company researching new ways to simulate different uses of carbon nanotubes? Something tells me the survey identified the former as a scientist and the latter was not counted as one. Icky capitalists aren’t scientists right?[/quote] You bring up a good point, but I

Reply to Obama's support for Tyranny is beyond belief. in Politics Stardock Forums

Charles, please explain why exactly Zelaya's actions make him a tyrant. What happened is that he was going to hold a nation-wide referendum in which everyone would get to VOTE on whether or not a person could run for re-election after serving one whole term. Even the mighty United States allows a president to run for re-election after serving one term. Zelaya is the democratically elected president in what ALL observers stated was a free and fair election. The national co

Reply to What would happen after an EMP attack? in Everything Else Stardock Forums

I have to agree (in my humble opinion) that if terrorists or a rogue state did have nuclear weapons in their possession they'd be more inclined to use them on a highly populated area, like detonating them over a major city to inflict massive casualties. In terms of EMP, that could be carried out more by a super-power state as a calculated move. Or as part of a first strike. In fact high altitude nukes for the express purpose of EMP's were one of the options the Soviets had in a direct

Reply to What would happen after an EMP attack? in Everything Else Stardock Forums

As an aside, I'd like to run this scenario by the good folks here, one that I feel illustrates the irrational responses of man: Living up in northern Canada, many of the services are what you could generously call... best effort. The power goes out A LOT. Sometimes for several hours, which in the winter time at -40 outside you're scrambling to keep your pipes from freezing and all that jazz. Whenever the power goes out, folks have their little routine, l

Reply to What would happen after an EMP attack? in Everything Else Stardock Forums

I find this topic fascinating! I agree with ManSh00ter that the technical failures wouldn't be as complete and widespread as everyone is led to believe. The scenario of every single electronic or electrical device on the continent failing and being fried forever is, *technically* possible but highly unlikely. It paints a picture similar to the Y2K scare in which planes would fall from the sky and elevators would suddenly plunge to the ground at supersonic speed and escalators would fin

Reply to Why Martin Luther King Was Republican in Democrat Stardock Forums

[quote]It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. [/quote] It's a nice article, however..... it's a lie! Martin Luther King was not a member of the Republican Party. In fact, it was the black vote that secured JFK getting into office and the year before MLK was murdered, there was serious talk afoot of Dr King running against Johnson for the democratic nomination. ssoooooo.... ye

Reply to North Korea Threatens With Nuclear War in North Korea Stardock Forums

Nitro Cruiser- [quote]I do agree all avenues should be cover, and we should be vigilant in all respects. But, a missile launched nuke is really what they want IMO. Uncle Kim has a big ego.[/quote] I think the generals that control N. Korea's missile arsenal know quite well that if they launch a single nuke against another country they're completely and utterly fucked. If that were to happen, China would immediately step out of the picture and N. Korea would stand alone

Reply to North Korea Threatens With Nuclear War in North Korea JoeUser Forums

[quote]No, I don't agree with that at all.[/quote] Thank you for the insightful commentary! Please state why. [quote]No, in fact those fancy words mean a lot. In the world of finance those words count as a 100% guarantee.[/quote] haaah ha ha haa aaaah ha ha haa haa haaaaa!!!!! whew! Thanks for the laugh. I needed that. Please explain why a 10 trillion dollar debt (that can never, ever be repaid) owed by a nation that no longer produces very much

Reply to North Korea Threatens With Nuclear War in North Korea Stardock Forums

[quote]As for the United States being "on the throes of collapse", that's laughable. The Democrats haven't protected the banks that long.[/quote] It has nothing to do with the democrats my good man, and more to do with the fact that the U.S economy has tried to have large quantities of both guns and butter since the end of WW2 (See President Eisenhower, a republican, speech about the dangers of the military industrial complex in the 1950's) Vietnam was