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Comment: Think twice before calling anyone crazy. (Score 2, Interesting) 333

by occam (#41111513) Attached to: Judge Orders Release of Ex-Marine Detained Over Facebook Posts






Ditto the war veteran actors and consultants on movies like "The Green Zone" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Zone_(film)].





You see, when democracy (or any government) breaks down --- a growing number of citizens realize their government is a vehicle for fraud and there's NOTHING we can do about it --- it's just a matter of time until a critical mass of knowledge spreads and ignites. History repeats itself, and our "democracy" has barely lasted 200 years. The BushLeague fraudsters have ruined it for us. No, GWBush may not be smart enough to pull off a scam at this scale, but he's just a puppet... in a long chain of puppets (like Reagan before him) --- a political instrument for massive fraud. And anyone is smart enough to act that part, because our "democracy" has no accountability feedback loop (no jailtime for going to false war, allows reelection by BushLeague installed SCOTUS judges, SCOTUS judges who never get jailed or even censured, etc.) so GWBush just played political stooge --- and our "democracy" just goes along with it like nothing's wrong.

So think twice (thrice, etc.) before calling someone crazy for questioning Modern American Democracy (MAD). Brandon Raub is a war veteran, a patriot, a courageous citizen, and may just know (at least the germ of) the truth of it all. He's pleading for democracy to work --- and gets jailed for his trouble.

Maybe Raub really _is_ crazy then... to believe MADemocracy could ever recover from this political corruption and fraud spiral, but he's voiced his concerns loud and clear. If he's convinced even one more person that something is amiss with MADemocracy, then he's done his country proud. IMO, our country could use more "crazy" patriots like Brandon Raub who voice _real_ national concerns for the rest of us to learn.

P.S., if we had enough "crazies" like Raub, we might even be able to avert revolution and retake our country via peaceful political means, but do you think that's even possible in a MADemocracy world? IMO, that's the umpteen trillion dollar "democracy" question: Can MADemocracy recover from massive internal corruption and control fraud?


+ - "Open Source Bach" project completed; score and recording now online -> 1

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Link to Original Source

How Sperm Whales Offset Their Carbon Footprint 150 Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus
from the all-natural-solution dept.

Leak Shows US Lead Opponent of ACTA Transparency 164

Posted by timothy
from the putting-on-an-acta dept.

Comment: Just like Wall Street's "Mortgage Bailout". (Score 1) 323

by occam (#29938541) Attached to: Journalists Looking For Government Money

Government in bed with... military industrial complex (Cheney) Afghanistan/Iran/Iraq Hoax Wars and highway robbery of our youth.
Government in bed with... Wall St. financial collapse + Wall St.'s "Mortgage Bailout" and highway robbery of the tax dollar.
Government in bed with... Journalism government "tuned" journalism and highway robbery of any journalistic independence.
Dilution of Common Rights & Principles more Plutonomics (See Michael Moore's film, "Capitalism: A Love Story").
-- Bottom Line --
US Democracy US Peasantocracy (no rights, no power, no money: See "The Matrix"; yes, "The Matrix" but with a plutonomics view).

Comment: The Usual Rubberstamp (Score 1) 219

by occam (#29671379) Attached to: Microsoft, EU Reach Antitrust Accord

The regulator is not naive. He knows he's rubberstamping, and giving a lame excuse.

If I were debugging a program and I said:

'I think this is a trustful design change we are making. There can't be a design fault because it is the final result of a long debugging session between the application and me.'

You would probably think I was crocked in the head. Long sessions usually indicate deep faults, not easy design fixes. Long negotiations don't suddenly become "trustful" just because the two parties couldn't get close enough for amicable agreement. This negotiator knows that. He's part of a scam.

In other words, he's not naive, but we would be naive to believe that this agreement is anything but a hoax, or that he's innocent of this hoax.

This agreement is not the usual rubberstamp you are looking for. Move along.


Microsoft, EU Reach Antitrust Accord 219

Posted by Soulskill
from the of-gift-horses-and-blind-squirrels dept.
alphadogg writes "Microsoft appears to have reached an agreement with the European Commission that concludes an antitrust battle that has lasted a decade, Europe's top competition regulator said today. A proposal the company offered in July to address charges of monopoly abuse were dismissed as insufficient by the Commission, as well as by rivals in the software industry. But the latest iteration appears to have mollified the EC's regulator. 'We believe this is an answer,' said competition commissioner Neelie Kroes in a press conference. 'I think this is a trustful deal we are making. There can't be a misunderstanding because it is the final result of a long discussion between Steve Ballmer and me.' The new settlement offer addresses charges that Microsoft distorted competition in its favor in the market for web browsers, by giving its Internet Explorer browser an unfair advantage over rivals." The Register points out this interesting quote from the materials Microsoft released on the subject: "Microsoft shall ensure that third-party software products can interoperate with Microsoft's Relevant Software Products using the same Interoperability Information on an equal footing as other Microsoft Software Products."

Comment: Software Patent == (Monopoly + Business Land Mine) (Score 1) 242

by occam (#29255529) Attached to: Cato Institute Critique of Software Patents

Software Patents are no more than Business Land Mines in the form of Monopolies. The whole idea of monopolizing an idea is ludicrous. The idea of choosing what's innovative and what's not is absurd. If necessity is the mother of all invention (and it usually is), then one man's "innovation" is another's necessity.

Business-wise, they are nothing more than government granted monopolies, and hidden land mines. They are totally ludicrous from a social perspective because they hurt everyone.

I lied.

They don't hurt *everyone*. Patents feed IP (Intellectual Property) lawyers and subsidize the legal industry. Think of them as a legalized tax to subsidize IP lawyers and law firms (while clogging the courts, impeding software engineers, and increasing software business risk and expense).

Which brings me to a first-hand observation: When software developers fought the patenting of software at the USPTO hearings, one side of the room was lawyers, and the other side was software engineers. One side was in favor of institutionalizing s/w patents, the other against. (Guess which side was which.) Aside from the merit of anyone's arguments, the sides were well represented since the room was crowded on both sides of the aisle (how did people know which side they belonged on!?).

I lied again.

The front table... you know... the one making the final decision... was ALL LAWYERS. So much for balanced representation and due process.

Yup. Foregone conclusion. The all lawyer council hosted the hearings, presented the issues like it was being debated, and then rubberstamped it into existence. We're still suffering, without a fix in sight.

You don't believe me? Just ask Bruce Lehmann. He ran the USPTO, railroaded software patents into existence using his position. Oh, I'm sure he'll lie and tell you he did no such thing, but he did. (Oh, and see WTO and DMCA for follow-ups by same guy. He's not a brainjob by my reckoning, just a puppet.) I believe the legal industry pulled a fast one on Joe Public with software patents, and is still raking in the big bucks while innovation, good business, good government, and consumer product development suffer.

PlayStation (Games)

Sony Producing New PS3 Hardware, Slim Appears Likely 183

Posted by Soulskill
from the consoles-on-a-diet dept.
The Opposable Thumbs blog reports on a confluence of rumors and information leaks that suggest Sony will be unveiling a PS3 Slim sooner rather than later. Despite waning console sales, orders for PS3-related hardware have risen sharply. There's evidence to suggest that Sony is phasing out its 80GB model, which would help clear the way for a hardware revision. Some expect the official announcement to come as early as August 18th, during the gamescom expo in Germany.

Hosting a Highly Inflammatory Document? 471

Posted by Soulskill
from the information-wants-to-be-free,-particularly-the-juicy-stuff dept.

Comment: Police != law (enforcement) (Score 1) 281

by occam (#25563167) Attached to: RIAA Litigation May Be Unconstitutional

Oh, and the copying=theft thing? If that was so, why did they not simply report them to the police so they could be charged with theft? I issue this challenge to all who claim copying=theft. Provide me with a copy of your work with an indemnity from any lawsuit for copying except in the case that I am convicted of stealing the work. I'll copy it in a way you can prove, but non-commercially, then you report me to the police for theft. Once that fails, you shut up.

It's hard to get police to enforce the law, especially on white collar crime. And not just about 99c theft, but also billion dollar crimes. So you may be right in your theory, but the police argument is specious.
