No more bootleging

[Bellyheart]

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/science ... jobs/11413

This isn't the best article but I'm sure you can find more info with your google searching! WHILE YOU STILL CAN! Dundundun

I feel like this should be in more headlines than Rubben Studdard getting a divorce...but perhaps I need better sources.

this is a better article http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/1 ... ting-bill/

[devi ever]

yup yup yup... everyone get involved... time to have your voice heard while this country slowly splits apart... also get the fuck out of the south while you still can!

[01010111]

Millions of people across the nation are protesting the involvement of private corporations in government, while the government simultaneously is passing legislation to support two industries that fuck both the artist and the patron at the potential cost of the most important technological advance in world history.

It's not hard to see who politicians see as their constituents, get out there and say something people, go to the fucking poles and vote, write a letter, tell your friends, write a song, paint it on your body and run through the streets naked, because unless Americans start doing something this country is going to be a damned serfdom. This bill is just a symptom of a larger disease at work in this country and that disease is apathy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMBZDwf9dok[/youtube]

[snipelfritz]

Do something? Whatthing?

Generalized, bland cynicism is just as useless as apathy. Look at the Tea Party and Occupy Wallstreet. That's a lot of people doing something. Are they accomplishing anything? I'd say not. If we can't rally around semi-centrist talking points that promote non-extreme but effective and innovative actions that the greater majority can agree upon(reforming tax code for example), there's really no point. That's why democracy exists, so we don't get pulled to far in one direction. The issue isn't apathy; it's a lack of consensus and willingness to agree.

[devi ever]

Do something? Whatthing?

Generalized, bland cynicism is just as useless as apathy. Look at the Tea Party and Occupy Wallstreet. That's a lot of people doing something. Are they accomplishing anything? I'd say not. If we can't rally around semi-centrist talking points that promote non-extreme but effective and innovative actions that the greater majority can agree upon(reforming tax code for example), there's really no point. That's why democracy exists, so we don't get pulled to far in one direction. The issue isn't apathy; it's a lack of consensus and willingness to agree.

I beg to differ.... ah shit!

[snipelfritz]

lol, I'm not saying we can't disagree, but I'm arguing for a novel, radical centrist approach to politics aimed at separating genuine disagreement from bipartisan bickering.

American government is designed in a way so that by default it is ineffective. Swift, efficient government is the making of dictators.

[McSpunckle]

That's bullshit, Snipz. Sorry.

The Teaparty was incredibly effective. Did you just ignore the 2010 elections? And OWS is still relatively new in comparison, but it's all over the news now and has people talking, which is a hell of a lot more than what was happening before.

Anyways, if you wanna go the "write your congressman" rout:

https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/ ... n_KEY=8173

I know, I know. The politicians don't give a shit. But sitting around rambling on about "the elites" and how they're "all liars and crooks" isn't going to do anything. Of course they're all liars and crooks-- they're allowed to be because people use that as an excuse to stop caring.

[devi ever]

Everyone's already bought and sold. The only hope now is to hold down local districts for when the USA fragments in a few decades (or less).

Also, get the hell out of the south.

[01010111]

Democracies work to moderate because politicians have to negotiate to get things done not because the people themselves are moderate. And oversimplifications of the intricacies of government administration leads to basic misunderstandings of what a dictatorship really is (i.e. the statement a swift efficient government leads to dictatorships is far too simplistic a statement to have any realistic interpretation or effect other than to generate fear of governmental reform).

We shouldn't have to rally around a "centrist" agenda to accomplish anything. People shouldn't hide behind the fear of social rejection because they have strong beliefs. What this country needs is greater extremes and the spines to support their opinions because the political process is so geared towards moderation anyway.

If people weren't so afraid of being called liberals or conservatives maybe we could have honest dialogs about our opinions instead of trying to dress them up as "common sense" or "moderation."

[snipelfritz]

I'm not trying to say we should move our opinions more towards the center, but shouldn't be afraid to let our actions(via our representatives) be steered by a stubborn desire to not appear to be "caving in." It's that kind of honesty I'm arguing for. The goal of such a dialogue should be to find a middle ground that legislators can act upon. This dialogue isn't going to happen in the form of twinkles and demonstration sloganeering. You can't halfway participate in a protest. It just helps to reinforce that "with us or against us" binary. It was effective when you had simpler issues such as ending the vietnam war or when the protests specifically attacked the issue in a strategic manner at hand like civil rights activists holding sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. The issues we have now are much more complex and abstract and can't be put into this yes or no frame of mind. Sure, plenty of people are opposed to the way Wall Street operates and it's influence in the form of lobbying and campaign finance. However, there's a wide gamut of possible solutions that even people on the same "side" are never going to agree upon entirely. No amount of yelling and demonstrating and holding up a sign with words that rhyme(lol, I rhymed there) are going to advance any solutions only make people aware that there is some sort of issue. It doesn't even make it clear what the issue is.

The current congress has done little more than drag their feet and prattle like 3 year olds over anything that might make them appear to be commie, Muslim sympathizers to their constituents. They should be free to say both, "You're actually kind of right" as well as "You're a complete retard" to members of the other party without being ostracized by their own.

[morange]

Wait I missed it, why do we have to get the hell out of the south?

Get your ass to Mars.

[devnulljp]

Wait I missed it, why do we have to get the hell out of the south?

Because it smells?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWnwbQF_rHo[/youtube]

[MEC]

Wait, wait, wait.... Ruben Studdard is getting a divorce?

[Bellyheart]

Good article of why it matters

http://www.worldsstrangest.com/mental-f ... nd-sopa-2/

[Blackened Soul]

Wait I missed it, why do we have to get the hell out of the south?

Because it will try to raise again and be bitchslapped for good this time?