How much are you willing to pay?

A while ago I was perusing one of about a dozen sites I… peruse… when I
found another story about the corporations planning to strip you of your current
rights. Yes '”the” Corporations, like Hollywood and the Movie Industry, and the
Record Labels. In a world where alot of wingnuts fear “the government”, usually
without good reason, there is an issue where we should all be concerned, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement (aka
ACTA). What is ACTA you might be wondering? Well let’s look at wikipedia’s
first paragraph “a proposed plurilateral trade agreement which is
claimed by its proponents to be in response "to the increase in global trade of
counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works."^[1]
The scope of ACTA is broad, including counterfeit physical goods,
as well as "internet distribution and information technology".^[2]”
What’s that? It’s a secret internet treaty being negotiated in secret. If you
read through it, which you can’t because it’s negotiated in secret you’d see
the push for a global set of copyright rules that would have ISP’s respond to DMCA-style takedown notices under a 3 strikes rule. In
essence your ISP would be required to terminate your internet connection after
receiving 3 complaints against your IP address. Someone have a beef with you,
they complain 3 times and poof your gone, disconnected from the internet. Not
just you, but everyone in your household because they’re all at the same IP
address.

Safe Harbor? Forget about it. Due process? Gone. And ISPs would lose their
safe harbor status, so they’d be responsible for everything posted from users.
Now think about it, a company would complain against you, demand your user
information and your ISP would hand it over, why wouldn’t they? What’s the
reason to hold out for you and disrupt their business? So YouTube,
Photobucket, Flickr, MySpace, Google/BING/Yahoo… anything with user generated
content… gone. That just leaves “The Corporations” and their product. You
should be worried, you should be concerned. With most people now using the
Internet for fun, communication, sharing, and work it could all come to a
grinding halt. What goods a wifi connection when you can only watch what the
corporations want you to see? You hate ads? You like free software of any kind?
Be prepared for seismic changes if this goes through. Alot of people fear a one
world government, maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong, what they should
fear is a One World Corporation with the powers of a government. How much is
your freedom of expression worth? You may find out soon and you might not be
able to afford it.

Want to find out more? http://www.eff.org/issues/acta

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HOW TO: Install a Software Application using Compatibility Mode

I'm back... finally and now a tip for my friends that are trying to run older software in Vista or the spiffy awesome windows 7.  Have you ever tried installing an application or program  and got the 'This program is not compatible with this version of Windows yadda,yadda,yadda.....?" Well here's an easy way to bypass that instead of buying the newest version (because your either broke, like the old version, or don't like some of the added features *coughcough*Bearshare*coughcough*
HOW TO: Install a Software Application using Compatibility Mode

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Now you too can help prop up your local economy… keyword: local.

So a guy walks into a store and he picks out like, $300.00 worth of stuff.  He then precedes to the clerk and gets rung up, when the clerk tells him the amount the guy takes out a wad of rainbow hued cash.  As the clerk looks on in disbelief the guy thumbs through the bills and hands him $300 of what appears to be play money with the faces of some local officials on it.  The clerk says “Hey, we don’t accept monopoly money here!” , the guy without missing a beat says “It’s not monopoly money, but I guess it is from the community chest…”

Ha-ha, funny story?  Well, no, not really… the crazy part is it’s true! 

Well, I suppose it’s a good idea in theory, then again you’d have to want to support your community.  I don’t particularly care for the stores in my tri-county area so I guess I’m stuck dealing with greenbacks.  If, however, you actually have friends that work locally and have businesses, maybe this is the solution in to keep alot of places in business.  It would seem the spirit of Jimmy Stewart lives on, fighting the Mr.. Potters of the world…. just don’t try to spread any of that silliness past your own town limits….

 

Wordpress Tags: cash, economy, creativity, it's, a, wonderful, life

Zen, I haz it 4 U

Here is a moment of Zen for the guys out there, here’s to you cheerleaders and Photoshop guys!

 

Talking about Detroit police halt pillow fight - Weird news- msnbc.com

So did you see this last week?  A giant nationwide pillow fight.  It’s good to see people coming back to their senses. It’s my belief that if you don’t have pillow fights, the terrorists win.  Oh, sure your laughing, your thinking, wow, he sounds crazy.  Not really, think about it, the minute you give in to a bully, the bully wins.  We all remember having a bully at some time in our lives.  The key is to keep doing things your way and not to be curtailed from doing what you want or enjoy.  But that’s just my thoughts on freedom in general.  The real news is the fear mongering.  The fear…. of pillows…  yes, that’s right, the fluffy menace is upon you, you’d better watch your back.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30070062/?GT1=43001

 

What’s truly insane is the blatant about the permit… a permit… really?  See it’s baby steps people, I’m telling you, if you don’t defend your rights to proper sleeping accessories it’s all down hill from there.

Anti-Americanism (or “why’s it ok to hate freedom?”)

Back in the day there used to be this little group, let’s call them … The Nationalist Socialist German Worker's' Party, which was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945.  This group later became the Nazi party.  Nazi ideology stressed the failure of democracy, failure of Laissez-faire capitalism, "racial purity of the German people" and persecuted those it perceived either as race enemies or Lebensunwertes Leben, that is "life unworthy of living". This included Jews, Slavs, and Roma along with German homosexuals, the mentally disabled, communists, and others.*

We entered World War 2 and with he help of our allies defeated the spread of Nazi-ism and it’s ideals in May of 1945.  In the grand scheme of things that really wasn’t all that long ago.  So with that in mind and one of the main things you see on the news being the hatred of Nazi's and their oppressive mentality. why do people continue to fall for the smoke and mirrors of less rights in the cause of safety?  You probably think I’m delusional.  I assure you, I’m not.  Let me show you something interesting, let’s take the  Nazi parties ideals and swap some words out. Republican ideology stressed the failure of Liberalism within democracy , failure of Regulation, "Regulatory authorities are commonly set up to enforce standards and safety, to oversee use of public goods and regulate commerce." and the moral decay of society by those it perceived either as moral enemies or Anarchist, that “want nothing more then to destroy the moral fiber of America". This included homosexuals, liberals, communists, and those against the free market.  If you look at the two their really not all that different.  now that’s not to say Republicans as a whole are Nazi’s, that’d be ridiculous.  But the hardcore-far-right Conservatives are an extremist group, much like their polar opposite the far-left liberals.  Both of these groups seem to miss the entire point of America and they’re both radical fringe elements in my opinion.  The United States was initially setup by a group of people that were fleeing religious intolerance and dictatorial rule.  the entire history of our country is based on the throwing off of old ideas and coming up with an amalgam that takes most of the best of all sides and makes a livable environment for everyone.  These two groups however, don’t like America or the very premise of the country.  they prefer to instigate and inflame hatred for the other side, they also believe only their way is right.  For eight years our country was steered to the far right,  the far left was hoping that with the election of Obama they could steer us in the polar opposite direction.  Funny thing is,  President Obama is doing what he said he was going to do, he’s being a centrist, he’s trying to reach out to both sides and use the best ideas from both halves. 

It’s a sad state of affairs when people can’t see eye-to-eye, it’s disastrous when they decide to do everything in their power to oppose someone that’s trying to help on some vague principle.  It’s ok if you don’t believe in someone else’s ideals, that’s what the country was built on.  It’s another thing entirely to use the same principle’s as the Nazi’s, hate, fear, suspicion… to get your way, that’s not something that’s Country first (a popular slogan during the presidential campaigns) that’s Father Land first.  Hitler would be proud.

 

*wikipedia

Why would anyone consider him anti-american?

No, I'm not talking about Barack Obama.  I have every confidence in him, even though he may not be your candidate you have to give him his due.  He's the first black President and he's an underdog.  He didn't seem like he had a chance in hell and he overcame criticism by staying on message and selling hope.  Yeah, it may sound corny, but why does it?  What's wrong with hoping for something better?  Striving for a goal, no matter how unattainable it might first seem?  The pilgrims came to America in hopes of escaping the church.  Columbus set sail hoping to find a new world.  We first set off into space in the hope of getting to the moon.  The Wright brothers built a contraption in hopes of flying.  There's always been hope in some form or another throughout history.  Though, this isn't an article on hope.  This is an article about one of the most anti-american people on the radio.  Rush Limbaugh. I'll be the first to admit, I've never liked Limbaugh, he's a blow hard, a liar, and a racist.  That's not opinion, listen to any 3 shows of his and you'll see how he thinks.  Limbaugh, hates America it seems and thereby anyone who thinks he's preaching the gospel is obviously a United States hater as well.  Limbaugh had this to say about  President Obama "I don’t want this to work. So I’m thinking of replying to the guy, ‘Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.’" Now to put this phrase in context Limbagh also says "Look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the U.S. government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things."  Okay, as a capitalist I can understand that being your point of view.  Hating liberals, sure go ahead, that's your right too.  But how can you call yourself an american and hope that the leader of the country fails, and might I add, should he fail, we ALL fail. So in essence, Rush Limbaugh wants democracy to fail, all because he's an egotistical ideologue.  Can you say blind hatred? if we get attacked, sure blame him, if the economy tanks on his watch AFTER his plan is implemented, feel free to criticize the man.  But I consider Limbaugh an anarchist, he'd rather be right and have the country suffer, then to allow his racist ignorant views to be imperiled.  Good thing to know we'll never run out of ignorance with people like that around, even in the new era of Hope.

For other posts about this insanity see these interesting opinion pieces:

Thinkprogress.org

well... you know what, just Google it,  don't take my word on it.  Anyway, back to this whole anti-American thing. Why is it most hard righters don't believe in the premise this country was founded on?  I mean leftists may be radicals wanting sweeping changes for changes sake at times, but the right would rather have things stay the course even if the course is off a cliff, as opposed to allowing another point of view be attempted and failed.  It's pretty obvious the last 8 years was an abject failure.  i don't blame Bush entirely, I blame people that didn't have enough sense to see what was happening to the country.  Economy in the toilet, predatory banks,  our encroachment in foreign countries, the so-called erosion on morals.  This stuff didn't happen over night, but it did get a boost during the Bush administration.

Can you even blame Cheney and the crew?  I mean seriously, those that don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.  now, I'm not saying Bush was as bad as Hitler, Hitler was a better speaker.  The comparison isn't unfair either, before you get started, Hitler was evil, but in his defense he was mentally unstable.  Bush isn't unstable, he's... simple.. not like stupid, but simple in his world view, good/bad/black/white/right/wrong... the world's not that simple and therefore his basic belief system is what made him a horrible President , though I believe he may be a pretty decent guy in person.  See Bush and Hitler offered the same thing, security.  Hitler from the jewish people, Bush from "terrorists".  In both instances people gave up basic rights  and freedoms in the cause for security, those that didn't were branded unpatriotic, or traitors.  sound familiar? <Cont'd in next post>

Dominion Power, They don't want your money.

Let me describe a scenario for you:

 

I arrived back from new York and decided i would ride out to the power company and pay them.  i knew there was a building with their logo on it 30 mins. from my house.  I decided to call and verify the address and the girl on the phone gave me a Farmville, Virginia address.  Farmville isn’t that big so i hopped in my car at about noon and drove out to town.  i arrived in Farmville a tad bit after 12:20pm, not too bad.  i drove into the center of town and began looking for the street.  First clue to this being a problem;  the aforementioned building I remembered seeing was indeed one of their office buildings but did not accept payments… Which makes about as much sense as having a superhero headquarters but not answering the door because you “don’t take requests…”

Anyway, I travelled around town for the better part of 30 mins. before getting that feeling.  you know the one where you can tell something will be going afoul rather soon.  so I pulled over at the 1 McDonalds in Farmville which coincidentally had free wifi (It’s a college town) , after several minutes of searching and google-ing (which i try to avoid) I couldn't find this mysterious street.  I decided to call and they gave me the same address then i explained that I was in the middle of town and no such street existed.  She looked it up on mapquest and realized I was right (because I totally call and drive around for hours out of a need to have attention?) and that no such address was actually in Farmville.  no, the address was actually in Buckingham, another 30 to 40 minutes away.  By now i was getting pretty pissed off, but i was determined to go pay my bill.  After my drive into an entirely different county!   I arrived at this secluded gas station literally in the middle of nowhere.  This is the payment center?  WTF??!?  So i go in, I even have my bill , I wait in line after they deal with some old guys buying worms and bait… (don’t ask)  and I hand the woman at the counter my Visa.  The store owner chimes in that they don’t accept cards, only cash or checks!!!  Like, am i in the f—cking Twilight Zone?  Who doesn’t take cards?  And why doesn’t a half-assed gas station take them especially??  so I ask where the ATM is… they don’t have one, it’s 5 miles BACK the way I came… I literally told them “F—k this, this is ridiculous…”  And i left.  Ended up paying it online where the power company charged ME $4 to process my payment… because they won’t LET you pay in person.  I hate Dominion Power, I advise anyone that has them to change.  If you can’t change then move… get as far away as possible.  Dominion Power doesn’t want your money, they don’t want you business and they’re the most inept institution I’ve dealt with since the Farmville and Crewe police departments