I would rather live in a world/country where I could get killed by a terrorist attack than one where the government watches my every move.
You miss the point of his statement completely.
There are BILLIONS of calls, every day by millions of Americans, BILLIONS of texts every day, etc by Americans. In WHAT way does it make sense to monitor ALL of that?!
So according to this idiot, if you simply tell the security services you are no threat that is somehow supposed to prove you are no threat?
Ever hear of the phrase "innocent until proven guilty"? You must not have. Allow me to explain then. You could be accused of a crime or someone could think you're a threat, but until they prove it or you do something to prove it, they can't stop you from doing what you're doing so long as you're not endangering lives or putting others at risk.
See, some of us, apparently not you, were brought up under the idea of Innocent Until Proven Guilty when it comes to law enforcement in America.
What the NSA is doing is going "everyone's guilty unless they can prove their innocence".
Maybe we should dump their phone records, the phone records of all the people who work for them, their families, their friends, anyone who's ever been in contact with them, their emails, their snail mail, etc. and see how they like it.
Of course, that won't happen. After all, the House keeps trying to repeal Obamacare, even though they get free health benefits for as long as they're in Congress.
Be sure to include the fact that this is important only to a small number of people in the know, while nearly everyone else who doesn't know doesn't worry about it.
ootb, when this is explained to people, how buying an expensive 300-500 dollar phone can only be used by one provider and then you have to buy a new phone to change providers, people just look aghast by that because it doesn't make sense.
See, blue, the problem with copyright laws is that most people just don't understand what those laws contain, how they mess with the public perception of reality and why they need to be changed to fit reality. Everyone agrees that we should pay the artist, but when the details come out about stuff, people get angry and want copyright changed.
I would rather buy a phone, video game, book or movie from the people who made them, rather than the corporation who distributes them, because then I know my money is going to the people who made it.
Yes, the government could do with less, but then things get really bad.
Imagine, if you will, you're living on Food Stamps, it helps you live.
It also, shockingly enough, helps to keep the economy from becoming a death spiral where everyone loses their jobs.
See, if people who have food stamps goes out to buy food, then people who work at the store still get paid and have money, and those people can spend money into the economy, thus keeping the economy, which may be struggling, from going completely under long enough that when things turn around, people can be hired again.
Which means, of course, that the government can, once that happens, lower spending because they don't have to support as many people, and collect more taxes, thus paying off their deficits.
What works for people and businesses doesn't work for the government. The government can get away with things that you or I couldn't, simply because of the way the government works.
In FACT!
Your argument was actually debunked, about the government making do with less, just this morning on cracked.
If everyone pays, let's say 10% of their money to the government that they earn in a year, that seems fair, but...
If I make 10,000 dollars a year, I have to pay 1,000 dollars.
If you make 50,000 dollars a year, you have to pay 5,000.
Seems fair...
Except that I have 9,000 dollars for the year and you have 45,000 dollars for the year.
the problem with flat taxes is that they don't work simply for the fact that the government has to have money to run. If you like your clean water, air standards, minimum wage, and other programs to help out when times are tough, then you need a more progressive tax structure in place to pay for that stuff.
Granted, i do agree that the IRS needs to be reformed, but I would start with a simpler tax code to remove loop holes for businesses and find ways to make the businesses pay their share of the taxes.
I would leave in exceptions for college loan payments, child support payments and other things that everyone can use equally, but get rid of the stuff that only the rich could use.
Yeah, I know "this is all an attack on the rich, are you jealous?!" the arguments.
This isn't about me being jealous, it's about getting the rich and powerful to do their part to help this country out.
Imagine everyone in the united states, rich, poor, middle class, powerful, all walking down an aisle in a store. There's something that the poor and middle class could really use (more roads or better schools for example), but they don't have the money to reach that goal, so they ask the rich and powerful, who are able to help reach that goal, to give them a hand. As of right now, the rich can go "no thanks" to some stuff and screw over the poor and middle class.
It's not about jealousy, it's about human decency to help out if you can.
I'm sorry, do try to remember this one thing about gaming lately...
Smart phone games are beating the pants off of PC AND Console gaming COMBINED.
So, you PC "Master Race" and my Hardcore Gamer Consoles just have to gnash our teeth in anger.
Besides...
I play DS, 3DS and PSVita games.
Last I heard, PCs don't have touch screens and 3D effects that work with those games.
Plus, well, PC emulators for anything PS2 and afterwords kind of suck badly.
Believe me, I hear that *ALL* the time...
"I can't play that PS2 game because the emulators don't work."
"Can't play that 360 game on my PC."
"DS emulators kind of suck."
ETC, etc, etc.
Yes, you can emulate older console games, you can play older PC games (I got a GoG account just to play Descent 3 after all), etc.
There's one problem though...
You see, PC gaming was never meant to deal with most of the console games and vice versa. That's why you see such bad ports from consoles to PCs and vice versa.
If the game is designed for consoles, a PC has a harder time using it.
The RIAA promised us that once cassettes were gone and CDs, which were cheaper to make, became the norm, the price of CDs, which were superior to cassettes, would drop from 17.99 a CD (cassettes were 14.99) down to probably somewhere around 14.99
What happened after cassettes were abolished?
CDs went from 17.99 to anywhere from 21.99 to, in most cases, 24.99.
Yeah, there's no way that they won't increase prices without used games.
hell, I bet that if used games disappeared tomorrow, it would be a month, at most, before games started to come out at 70 USD, and then later 80 USD and topping off at around 100 USD.
They're already that high in the EU and Australia after all.
On the post: Rep. Grayson: Let Me Tell The NSA: There Is No Threat To Our Nation When I Call My Mother
Re:
You miss the point of his statement completely.
There are BILLIONS of calls, every day by millions of Americans, BILLIONS of texts every day, etc by Americans. In WHAT way does it make sense to monitor ALL of that?!
So according to this idiot, if you simply tell the security services you are no threat that is somehow supposed to prove you are no threat?
Ever hear of the phrase "innocent until proven guilty"? You must not have. Allow me to explain then. You could be accused of a crime or someone could think you're a threat, but until they prove it or you do something to prove it, they can't stop you from doing what you're doing so long as you're not endangering lives or putting others at risk.
See, some of us, apparently not you, were brought up under the idea of Innocent Until Proven Guilty when it comes to law enforcement in America.
What the NSA is doing is going "everyone's guilty unless they can prove their innocence".
On the post: Supreme Court Strikes Down Gene Patents
Deja Vu...
On the post: Feds May Have To Reveal FISA Phone Records In Murder Case
Re: Re: Devils Advocate
On the post: Kevin Clark's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
I admit...
On the post: NSA Spying Revelations Start To Cause Outrage In Europe; China Next?
Congrats, Obama!
Totally piss China off.
On the post: Anonymous Leaks Some NSA Documents About PRISM
Re:
On the post: Oh, And One More Thing: NSA Directly Accessing Information From Google, Facebook, Skype, Apple And More
Re: Re: Re: Re: So, turnz owt I wuz rite about dat, as I habs been abowt ebbryfing else.
On the post: Why Did Congress Abdicate Its Power To Make Copyright Policy?
And this is part of the reason why...
Between the DMCA, the repeal of Glass-Steagle, allowing gas companies to become a unified conglomerate that cut down on competition...
Yeah, I don't like Clinton that much.
On the post: Senators: Why Is Everyone So Worked Up About Verizon Spying? We've All Known About It Since 2007
Of course, that won't happen. After all, the House keeps trying to repeal Obamacare, even though they get free health benefits for as long as they're in Congress.
On the post: IRS Audited Over Inappropriate Spending, Claims It Can't Find Its Receipts
Re: Re: Re: all just mumbo jumbo
On the post: Help Explain Why Phone Unlocking Is Important To You And Why It Should Be Legal
Re: Has anyone been sued or prosecuted for this?
ootb, when this is explained to people, how buying an expensive 300-500 dollar phone can only be used by one provider and then you have to buy a new phone to change providers, people just look aghast by that because it doesn't make sense.
See, blue, the problem with copyright laws is that most people just don't understand what those laws contain, how they mess with the public perception of reality and why they need to be changed to fit reality. Everyone agrees that we should pay the artist, but when the details come out about stuff, people get angry and want copyright changed.
I would rather buy a phone, video game, book or movie from the people who made them, rather than the corporation who distributes them, because then I know my money is going to the people who made it.
On the post: Help Explain Why Phone Unlocking Is Important To You And Why It Should Be Legal
As I tweeted...
It just makes sense.
On the post: IRS Audited Over Inappropriate Spending, Claims It Can't Find Its Receipts
Re: all just mumbo jumbo
Yes, the government could do with less, but then things get really bad.
Imagine, if you will, you're living on Food Stamps, it helps you live.
It also, shockingly enough, helps to keep the economy from becoming a death spiral where everyone loses their jobs.
See, if people who have food stamps goes out to buy food, then people who work at the store still get paid and have money, and those people can spend money into the economy, thus keeping the economy, which may be struggling, from going completely under long enough that when things turn around, people can be hired again.
Which means, of course, that the government can, once that happens, lower spending because they don't have to support as many people, and collect more taxes, thus paying off their deficits.
What works for people and businesses doesn't work for the government. The government can get away with things that you or I couldn't, simply because of the way the government works.
In FACT!
Your argument was actually debunked, about the government making do with less, just this morning on cracked.
http://www.cracked.com/article_20454_5-scary-myths-you-probably-believe-about-economy.ht ml
On the post: IRS Audited Over Inappropriate Spending, Claims It Can't Find Its Receipts
Re: NULLIFY + REPUDIATE
If everyone pays, let's say 10% of their money to the government that they earn in a year, that seems fair, but...
If I make 10,000 dollars a year, I have to pay 1,000 dollars.
If you make 50,000 dollars a year, you have to pay 5,000.
Seems fair...
Except that I have 9,000 dollars for the year and you have 45,000 dollars for the year.
the problem with flat taxes is that they don't work simply for the fact that the government has to have money to run. If you like your clean water, air standards, minimum wage, and other programs to help out when times are tough, then you need a more progressive tax structure in place to pay for that stuff.
Granted, i do agree that the IRS needs to be reformed, but I would start with a simpler tax code to remove loop holes for businesses and find ways to make the businesses pay their share of the taxes.
I would leave in exceptions for college loan payments, child support payments and other things that everyone can use equally, but get rid of the stuff that only the rich could use.
Yeah, I know "this is all an attack on the rich, are you jealous?!" the arguments.
This isn't about me being jealous, it's about getting the rich and powerful to do their part to help this country out.
Imagine everyone in the united states, rich, poor, middle class, powerful, all walking down an aisle in a store. There's something that the poor and middle class could really use (more roads or better schools for example), but they don't have the money to reach that goal, so they ask the rich and powerful, who are able to help reach that goal, to give them a hand. As of right now, the rich can go "no thanks" to some stuff and screw over the poor and middle class.
It's not about jealousy, it's about human decency to help out if you can.
That's all.
On the post: Comcast's Top Lobbyist Pens Editorial To Remind Americans That US Broadband Service Is Awesome
Re:
On the post: Comcast's Top Lobbyist Pens Editorial To Remind Americans That US Broadband Service Is Awesome
Really?
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-internet-access-in-america-disaster/
Granted, that was from 2 years ago, but I'm pretty sure that most of it still applies today.
On the post: Microsoft's Attack On Used Game Sales Asks Customers To Sacrifice Their Rights To Save An Industry
Re: Worked for PCs
You think that the PC "master race" is superior?
I'm sorry, do try to remember this one thing about gaming lately...
Smart phone games are beating the pants off of PC AND Console gaming COMBINED.
So, you PC "Master Race" and my Hardcore Gamer Consoles just have to gnash our teeth in anger.
Besides...
I play DS, 3DS and PSVita games.
Last I heard, PCs don't have touch screens and 3D effects that work with those games.
Plus, well, PC emulators for anything PS2 and afterwords kind of suck badly.
Believe me, I hear that *ALL* the time...
"I can't play that PS2 game because the emulators don't work."
"Can't play that 360 game on my PC."
"DS emulators kind of suck."
ETC, etc, etc.
Yes, you can emulate older console games, you can play older PC games (I got a GoG account just to play Descent 3 after all), etc.
There's one problem though...
You see, PC gaming was never meant to deal with most of the console games and vice versa. That's why you see such bad ports from consoles to PCs and vice versa.
If the game is designed for consoles, a PC has a harder time using it.
On the post: Microsoft's Attack On Used Game Sales Asks Customers To Sacrifice Their Rights To Save An Industry
Re: That sounds familiar...
What happened after cassettes were abolished?
CDs went from 17.99 to anywhere from 21.99 to, in most cases, 24.99.
Yeah, there's no way that they won't increase prices without used games.
hell, I bet that if used games disappeared tomorrow, it would be a month, at most, before games started to come out at 70 USD, and then later 80 USD and topping off at around 100 USD.
They're already that high in the EU and Australia after all.
On the post: France Ready To Shut Down Hadopi As It's 'Incompatible' With Digital Economy
Re: Yeah, it runs up against the need for monitoring.
Again with that false study that ignores the recession the U.S. and Western Europe was in thanks to Wall Street and the banks?
Again with the false study that ignores how the economy in the U.S. only just started to slowly recover just before the SOPA/PIPA protests?
Fact: Megaupload was shut down.
Fact: Movie sales jumped 10%
Conclusion: OMG! See! Megaupload was taking money from the studios!
Facts that are ignored...
Recession, home closures, job losses, money being funneled to Wall Street banks and helping the rich out instead of helping those who need it.
Hmm...
I think that those ignored facts are probably the reason that the studios got a 10% income buff, not megaupload.
Correlation does not equal causation, ootb.
On the post: Once Again, Convenience Trumps Free, As Few People Pirate Arrested Development
Re: Re: But....the numbers
The MPAA doesn't care about the numbers. Facts are optional for Copyright Cartels.
Ah, that's what you really meant to say.
Totally agree.