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*** June 2012 low content thread ***

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Clayton replied on Tue, Jun 5 2012 2:57 PM

The children's services departments are systematic child abusers. Their very existence is a crystallization of the sanctimonious, bourgeouis, "I care about your kids more than you do" mentality of the middle class towards the poor. This case is a perfect example of how they operate - on the basis of very cynical calculations regarding what public sentiment will bear and how it will influence the legal decisions in the case.

It is widely believed that judges "don't care about public opinion." Nothing could be further from the truth. The opportunity to become a judge is very much dependent on your image with the senior bar establishment (many of whom are judges). Your continuing to remain a judge is also dependent on that same image. If there is public outrage at one of your decisions (e.g. giving "little Adolf Hitler back to his parents"), you can be shut out from any prospects of promotion or even driven out of your judgeship altogether. Because the bar keeps its disputes private, this always shows up in the newspaper as "after many years of service, Mr. X has decided to step down as circuit judge blah blah blah" so except in the case of mindblowingly outrageous behavior, it's impossible to track how much this goes on.

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Also, this:

If I had a cake and ate it, it can be concluded that I do not have it anymore. HHH

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College costly, too subsidized

http://www.jdnews.com/opinion/percent-104716-college-people.html

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-
 

 

If I had a cake and ate it, it can be concluded that I do not have it anymore. HHH

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ThatOldGuy:

That title is pretty misleading.  And you realize that article is almost 3 years old, right?

 

P.S.

Is there some reason you're only posting in tiny font lately?

 

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John James:
That title is pretty misleading.  And you realize that article is almost 3 years old, right?

I suddenly feel obliged to delete the post for its misleading nature. I honestly didn't read when it was written- I bet Ludwig von Mises [...] posted it on facebook and I just thought wow that's a pretty big deal. Sheesh- chalk it up to "failure to read" on my part (even the first comment -which I am just now reading- makes the disclaimer that the article is from 2009).

As for tiny font, I've been somewhat experimenting in what my font will be. It seems like most people here use Trebuchet MS (size 12) and I thought that that looks pretty cool so I gave that a go. It does look a size smaller than other fonts though. Maybe I'll go back to 14 if it's really a bother to other posters. Ah well.

If I had a cake and ate it, it can be concluded that I do not have it anymore. HHH

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BREAKING: RNC Blocking Ron Paul Republicans from Tampa Bay Convention Grounds

 

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Sharpton Ax Us About Walker's "Rabird" Supporters

 

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NDAA unconstitutional: Federal judge bans Obama from indefinitely detaining Americans

Sorry, Mr. President. A US Federal judge has clarified a decision made last month with some news sure to upset the Obama administration: the White House cannot use the NDAA to indefinitely detain American citizens.

Judge Katherine B. Forrest has answered a request made by US President Barack Obama last month to more carefully explain a May 16 ruling made in a Southern District of New York courtroom regarding the National Defense Authorization Act. Clarifying the meaning behind her injunction, Judge Forrest confirms in an eight-page memorandumopinion this week that the NDAA’s controversial provision that permits  indefinite detention cannot be used on any of America's own citizens.

If I had a cake and ate it, it can be concluded that I do not have it anymore. HHH

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I didn't realize they had asked her to reconsider.  But doesn't this make you all warm and fuzzy?..

"Judge Forrest does include in her ruling, however, that Americans can be indefinitely detained, but only providing that the government can link suspects directly to the September 11 terrorist attacks."

 

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Clayton replied on Fri, Jun 8 2012 12:14 AM

data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide,

And yet the empiricists can't seem to come to any conclusion even when they have evidence. They go on to dither:

although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

*facepalm

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Mexican man gets double arm transplant

Math professor's side mirror that eliminates 'blind spot' receives US patent

This second one, just in case all of you decide not to read it, has this little goody:

Hicks's driver's side mirror has a field of view of about 45 degrees, compared to 15 to 17 degrees of view in a flat driver's side mirror. Unlike in simple curved mirrors that can squash the perceived shape of objects and make straight lines appear curved, in Hicks's mirror the visual distortions of shapes and straight lines are barely detectable.

In the United States, regulations dictate that cars coming off of the assembly line must have a flat mirror on the driver's side. Curved mirrors are allowed for cars' passenger-side mirrors only if they include the phrase "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear."

Because of these regulations, Hicks's mirrors will not be installed on new cars sold in the U.S. any time soon. The mirror may be manufactured and sold as an aftermarket product that drivers and mechanics can install on cars after purchase. Some countries in Europe and Asia do allow slightly curved mirrors on new cars. Hicks has received interest from investors and manufacturers who may pursue opportunities to license and produce the mirror.

Our government, hard at work.

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Heather replied on Fri, Jun 8 2012 12:50 PM

Hey have any of you been able to figure out how to get the search function to work so it goes farther back than just recent history?

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Malachi replied on Fri, Jun 8 2012 4:48 PM
although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.
Maybe that tells us something about the institutional culture of the us military....
Keep the faith, Strannix. -Casey Ryback, Under Siege (Steven Seagal)
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Tragedy of the Euro:

According to France's 3,200 page Code du Travail, for example, any company inside France that exceeds 49 employees is legally obliged to establish no fewer than three worker councils. If such businesses decide they need to let go some employees, they're required to present a reorganization plan to all three councils. Is it any wonder that many French businesses simply don't bother expanding their employee base, a factor that often inhibits their capacity to generate more wealth?

Unfortunately for Europe's other problem children, it's precisely in these areas that little reform has occurred. In April, for instance, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti tried to change the law that essentially forbade businesses with more than 15 full-time employees from dismissing staff. Monti's goal was to substitute a situation of jobs-for-life for some and perpetual insecurity for others, with severance provisions for people let go on economic grounds. Under pressure from Italian unions, however, Monti's proposal was watered down to uphold the extensive powers enjoyed by courts to investigate whether a company's decision to fire someone was justified. This guaranteed maintenance of the status quo.

Needless to say, Greece is Europe's poster child for reform-failure. Throughout 2011, the Greek parliament passed reforms that diminished regulations that applied to many professions in the economy's service sector. But as two Wall Street Journal journalists demonstrated one year later, "despite the change in the law, the change never became reality. Many professions remain under the control of professional guilds that uphold old turf rules, fix prices and restrict opportunities for newcomers." In the words of one frustrated advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, "Even when the Greek Parliament passes laws, nothing changes."

source: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/06/08/why-austerity-isnt-enough

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gotlucky replied on Sun, Jun 10 2012 12:14 PM

Invasive species ride tsunami debris to US shore

Looks like species can invade other areas without people bringing them there...I have no intention of reviving a certain annoying thread, but what do ya know.

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gotlucky:
Looks like species can invade other areas without people bringing them there...I have no intention of reviving a certain annoying thread, but what do ya know.

LOL, yeah, I'm sure people had NOTHING to do with floating docks, right?

"certain annoying thread", LOL give me a break!

"What Stirner says is a word, a thought, a concept; what he means is no word, no thought, no concept. What he says is not what is meant, and what he means is unsayable." - Max Stirner, Stirner's Critics
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excel replied on Mon, Jun 11 2012 7:21 AM

Jackson LaRose:

LOL, yeah, I'm sure people had NOTHING to do with floating docks, right?

LOL, yeah, I'm sure only stuff that humans create is capable of floating, right?

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excel:
LOL, yeah, I'm sure only stuff that humans create is capable of floating, right?

Do you have a point?

"What Stirner says is a word, a thought, a concept; what he means is no word, no thought, no concept. What he says is not what is meant, and what he means is unsayable." - Max Stirner, Stirner's Critics
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excel replied on Mon, Jun 11 2012 9:11 AM

Jackson LaRose:

Do you have a point?

Did you?

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excel:
Did you?

Yes.  My point is that saying this,

gotlucky:
Looks like species can invade other areas without people bringing them there

whilst linking to a story almost entirely about a large floating dock (human built) washing up in Oregon is stupid.

 

"What Stirner says is a word, a thought, a concept; what he means is no word, no thought, no concept. What he says is not what is meant, and what he means is unsayable." - Max Stirner, Stirner's Critics
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http://i.imgur.com/5kMuP.jpg

From reddit, I had to post it, thought you would appreciate the humour. I didn't post the pic because it was too big.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Libertarian/comments/uwlxc/one_of_my_patients_in_the_er_handed_me_this_when/

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Heather replied on Tue, Jun 12 2012 2:32 AM

 

 

 

 

I decided to include the two things Tom Woods talks about in his video...

 

Here is where I woke up from my snooze durring the 07 debates - Ron Paul vs the annoying Giuliani:

(Remind me never to move to South Carolina)

 

And that picture of the college kid hugging Ron Paul :)

http://www.ronpaulvotingrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ron-paul-hug.jpg

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An extremely interesting talk by David Friedman:

The Voluntaryist Reader: http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.com/ Libertarian forums that actually work: http://voluntaryism.freeforums.org/index.php
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Clayton replied on Tue, Jun 12 2012 1:13 PM

 

According to van Notten, there are oaths In Somali law; the strongest oath is you swear 50 times on your wives (that is, that you will be divorced if you are found to have been lying). I have long suspected the theory he mentions about religious belief playing a role in acting as a kind of "reputation verification/lie detection" device.
 
One of the most notable features of religious practice is the fact that most of the major religions require weekly - or even more frequent - attendance in person to the temple/church/synagogue/whatever. What is the purpose of this? I think it's a "bare minimum" kind of reputation verification. By showing up every week, you are voluntarily imposing on yourself a kind of standard of decency in non-obvious ways. Usually, you have to get up early. You usually dress well. While this is all justified in the name of appearing before God, the fact is that you are appearing in front of other people and having regular dealing with them, even if it has no commercial aspect. The same "game theoretic" dynamics for repeated-dealings suddenly kick in. If you're a rude person and you operate a roach motel in a tourist trap, your customers are captives of your ill hospitality and have little or no recourse. Each new customer gets screwed and then moves on never to return again but you get away with it because there are always more where the last ones came from.
 
Church is the opposite of this situation and it's a situation that is entered into voluntarily. It forces you to be polite and friendly to the people around you, to have enough initiative and discipline to be able to show up for a 9am service dressed in your Sunday best and showered/shaved/etc. Often, there is food involved after the service and I would be interested to see if the evolutionary psychologists have identified eating together as a sign of "bonding" or unity.
 
Anyway, I'm pointing this out only to say that I don't think that belief in a fictional being (such as Yahweh or Elohim) is requisite for this kind of mechanism to work. I think that the agnostic aspects of religious practice and belief could be fully functional in contributing to social order even without the central dogmas and delusions that are used by the priesthood to enforce orthodoxy.
 
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A dog is being killed for thought crime in N. Ireland

The 'Rodney Dangerfield' of laws: Idling limits  (aka one more bullshit law agents of the State can use whenever they feel like making your life hell)

 

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Crazy shit, dude!

http://archive.suite101.com/article.cfm/frontier_theory/10037

http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/42/wiles.php

 

"What Stirner says is a word, a thought, a concept; what he means is no word, no thought, no concept. What he says is not what is meant, and what he means is unsayable." - Max Stirner, Stirner's Critics
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In this never-before-seen video, Rothbard gives a tribute to his mentor in Austrian economics, Ludwig von Mises, at a Libertarian Party convention in Pennsylvania in 1984. Rothbard discusses Mises’s work and life, and the growing popularization of his ideas in the United States.

If I had a cake and ate it, it can be concluded that I do not have it anymore. HHH

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Wheylous replied on Thu, Jun 14 2012 12:20 PM

Brilliant (no pun intended)

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gotlucky replied on Thu, Jun 14 2012 5:50 PM

Ethiopia criminalises Skype

From the article:

The official line from the government is that the move is intended to protect national security and protect the national, state-owned telecoms carrier from losing revenue to Skype and similar services; this, despite the fact that Ethiopia’s fixed-line penetration rate is the second worst in Africa (after Sierra Leone) at an estimated 1% of its 85m strong population.

Ethiopia has instituted numerous restrictions on its digital community in recent years. The government has previously closed down Internet cafes offering voice-over-Internet protocol services and, in December 2006, made it obligatory for Internet cafes to keep records of the names and addresses of their customers in an effort to clamp down on bloggers and other users critical of the regime.

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Clayton replied on Thu, Jun 14 2012 6:36 PM

Headline should read: Path-Breaking 3rd-World Dictatorship Leads the Way on Internet Accountability

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Nielsio replied on Thu, Jun 14 2012 8:40 PM

I wonder how much foreign aid that government gets.

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