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Shinokamen

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Everything posted by Shinokamen

  1. I'm still a little fuzzy on a few aspects of copyright laws. Perhaps someone could clear these up for me? As an aside, I am more worried about morality in these actions, rather than what the law says First, if Peer-to-peer and file sharing is theft and wrong, then where does tape and record copying stand? That went on for years and no one cared enough to sue over it. Are the actions inherently different or are they the same? Another thing that confuses me is (and this may occur in other sports, but I don't follow them) when watching football, they always say something like "This transmission is the property of the NFL; any unauthorized reproduction is prohibited." Also, my family has season tickets and the back of the ticket states "the ticket holder will not transmit or aid in transmitting any picture, account or description (whether text, data or visual) in any media now or hereafter existing of all or any part of the football game or related events." Does this mean that I can't take pictures of the pre-game stuff outside of the stadium, or tell anyone about that great play that I saw?
  2. I recently bought both films of the Grindhouse double feature. I first purchased Death Proof, because I enjoy the rest of Tarantino's films, and I then bought Planet Terror a few days later. I enjoyed them both, but I liked Planet Terror more because it had more plot to it (even though it had a few problems, e.g. how did she fire her gun???). If Tarantino had just fleshed out the Stuntman Mike character more, the film would have been excellent, in my opinion. Thoughts about either film?
  3. Except for the fact that I had to wait 2 minutes for any real information, and all of the Illuminati stuff at the end, it does seem to be in violation of the Constitution. I see this as a stupid attempt on Bush's part to try to reassure people that he has control. Some people would rather live in controlled safety than be free.
  4. Hank Williams, Jr. -- "The Coalition to Ban Coalitions" Why can't everybody else leave everybody else alone? Hank Williams, Jr. -- "Give a Damn" Take pride in anything that you sign your name to. Johnny Cash -- "Man in Black" I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down Living on the hopeless, hungry side of town. I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crimes but is there because he's a victim of the times. . . . Just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back <----by the government) up front there ought to be a man in black. . . . I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could've been Each week we lose a hundred fine young men. And I wear it for the thousands who have died Believing that the lord was on their side. Metallica -- "Eye of the Beholder" Independence limited Freedom of choice is made for you my friend. Freedom of speech is words that they will bend. Freedom with their exception. Do you fear what I fear? Living properly Truths to you are lies to me Do you need what I need? Boundaries overthrown Look inside to each his own Do you want what I want? Desire not a thing I hunger after independence lengthen freedoms ring . . . Freedom no longer frees you! Metallica -- "Dyer's Eve" Pushed onto Me What's Wrong or Right Hidden from this Thing That They Call Life. . . . Always Censoring My Every Move Children Are Seen But Are Not Heard Tear out Everything Inspired. . . . No Guarantee,it's Life as Is But Damn You for Not Giving Me My Chance. . . . You Took My Wings Before I Learned to Fly. Metallica -- "Damage, inc." Honesty is my only excuse Try to rob us of it, but it's no use. Metallica -- "The Unforgiven" . . . [H]e's known a vow unto his own that never from this day his will they'll take away. Metallica -- "The Unforgiven II" What I've felt, what I've known Sick and tired, I stand alone Could you be there, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you Or are you unforgiven too? Metallica -- "Wherever I May Roam" . . . Only knowledge will I save . . . Call me what you will But I'll take my time anywhere Free to speak my mind anywhere And I'll redefine anywhere. And the earth becomes my throne I adapt to the unknown Under wandering stars I've grown By myself but not alone I ask no one. And my ties are severed clean Less I have the more I gain Off the beaten path I reign. Metallica -- "Don't Tread on Me" Liberty or death, what we so proudly hail Once you provoke her, rattling of her tail Never begins it, never, but once engaged... Never surrenders, showing the fangs of rage So be it Threaten no more To secure peace is to prepare for war So be it Settle the score Touch me again for the words that you'll hear evermore: Don't tread on me. Metallica -- "Nothing Else Matters" Life is ours, we live it our way . . . Open mind for a different view . . . never cared for what they say never cared for games they play never cared for what they do. Metallica -- "Carpe Diem Baby Take this world and shake it. The Rolling Stones -- "Ruby Tuesday" Don't question why she needs to be so free She'll tell you,"It's the only way to be." She just can't be chained to a life where nothing's gained and nothing's lost. There's no time to lose, I've heard her say Cash your dreams before they slip away. Waylon Jennings -- "Mammas don't let your..." Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do, Sometimes won't know how to take him. He ain't wrong, he's just different but his pride won't let him, Do things to make you think he's right. Bad Company -- "Bad Company" Behind a gun, I'll make my final stand. Charlie Daniels -- "Simple Man" 'Watch where you're going, remember where you've been,' Thats the way I see it, I'm a simple man. Hank Williams -- "I'll Never get out of this World Alive" No matter how I struggle and strive, I'll never get out of this world alive. (So don't try! Live this life, now.)
  5. I quote from the U.S. Constitution: "Nor [shall any person] be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law [Does this mean 'convicted of a crime'?]; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." Now, if I'm not mistaken, the Constitution never provides the means for taking private land for public use. Also, the fifth amendment contains a contradiction. If the government cannot take land "without due process of law," then private property cannot be taken by the federal government unless it is taken as punishment; in which case, it would not require just compensation. Later on, in the fourteenth amendment, the freedom to keep property, except in the event of due process, is applied to the States. This must mean that the fifth amendment was only referring to the federal government. Please clear up any holes in my logic.
  6. I wonder if anyone in this area (other than me) has realized that it is futile to "say no," to armed robbers?
  7. Not my name, but... All You Need is a Capitalism and a Dream. If Only Everything in Life was as Reliable as a Capitalism. The Joy of Capitalism. Any Time, Any Place, Capitalism. Every Capitalism Helps. Hand-Built by Capitalism. Where's The Capitalism? Ding-Dong! Capitalism Calling! I'd Like to Buy the World a Capitalism. You Can Be Sure of Capitalism. Wow! I Could Have Had a Capitalism! (What most people should be thinking!) When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Capitalism. Think Once, Think Twice, Think Capitalism. Show Me The Capitalism! I'd Walk a Mile for a Capitalism. Do The Capitalism. It's Good To Talk Capitalism. Four Out of Five Dentists Recommend Capitalism. I Want My Capitalism. Maybe we should use some of these?
  8. The U.S. Military is planning to expand an existing Maneuver Site in Southeastern Colorado. The counties which would be affected by the proposed 2.5 million acres of espansion have organized a site: http://www.pinoncanyon.com Something that makes this even worse is something that one of our State Senators said late last year: “I’ve also told the Army that I feel that, if they want to expand and want to stay in that type of terrain; what’s wrong with going south to New Mexico? If you think about what’s down in that northern New Mexico area, it wouldn’t affect anything as much as it would in our part of Colorado.[!]” It's as though because you are stealing from less people, it is all right to steal! I am considering e-mailing Kester again concerning this as he did not respond the last time I did. :-)
  9. I agree that, if used properly, more troops could help. However, the president has not mentioned anything about freeing the troops to fight the enemy. How is it that our soldiers are 'guilty' of shooting people in a war zone? If it isn't a crime, you can't be guilty of it. If this is a 'War on Terror,' our troops need to have the freedom to fight it like a war.
  10. That is pretty nice. However, I think it would have been better to include The Fountainhead instead.
  11. My thanks to everyone for responses. I had always used "faith" as a synonym for "trust." That, I think is the root of my problem. Also, I can't think of where I saw it, but I seem to remember a definition of religion that read something like this: "Religion is how a man describes his relationship to the universe." If that definition were the accepted one, then could Objectivism be considered a religion?
  12. So I had more than one definition wrong. Thanks for clarifying that for me. So would a true Objectivist not have any religion?
  13. I have found no where that Ayn Rand specifically advances or denounces any specific Religion, only the ideas behind most of the major world Religions. So my question is, could Objectivism be used as a Religion, teaching faith in oneself? Perhaps I am confused as to the definition of Religion. "Religion is a system of social coherence based on a common group of beliefs or attitudes concerning a ... system of thought considered to be ... highest truth, and the moral codes... [and] values ... associated with such ... system of thought.
  14. Personally, I think that his crimes are deserving of much more than death. Death is far to good for a man as utterly evil as he is. I think that he should be chained to a tree stump in Louisiana where he would then be left until he died. Objective, no. Just, maybe.
  15. I own three leatherman tools. I have a Crunch and an old wave (doesn't have interchangeable screwdrivers and such) that I carry on my belt all the time, because there have been many times that I have needed two pairs of pliers. I also have a PST II that I used to carry before I got the wave. I would add to your list: a pocket knife, preferably one of those folding utility knives like the ones Sheffield makes, and a knife sharpener (with knowledge of how to use it).
  16. Thanks for the input. I feel that I have been much more confident with my life since I found Objectivism, probably because I am now living for myself.
  17. One of my acquaintances recently died, but I did not know him well. I would be hard-pressed to even refer to him as a friend, and thus I did not see any reason to cry over him. I did not see his death as changing anything in my life. However, many of my closer friends (some of whom had performed some mean practical jokes on him while he was alive) seemed very affected by his death. I had figured that, by the way they treated him, his death would be even more inconsequential to them than it was to me. I still have yet to figure out this seeming contradiction. Thoughts?
  18. I enjoy alot of oldies, but I also like some new stuff. Some of my favorite artists are: Metallica Hank Williams Hank Williams, Jr. Johnny Cash Charlie Daniels Bobby Vinton Megadeth Jim Croce Lynyrd Skynyrd George Thorogood & The Destroyers Twisted Sister ("We're Not Gonna Take It") AC/DC Quiet Riot ("Cum On Feel The Noize") Iron Butterfly Guns n' Roses Simon & Garfunkel Conway Twitty Burl Ives Slim Whitman ("When I Grow Too Old to Dream") Peter, Paul, & Mary Elvis Presly C.W. McCall There are more, but that should give a sense of my tastes for anyone who cares.
  19. Are you insinuating that we should forget what Hitler or Stalin did because they are gone? Knowing what they did and why they did it will make it easier to understand and identify situations that share the same characteristics before they reach the level of Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany.
  20. You're absolutely right! History repeats and if we are not aware of it, we cannot see our mistakes until it is too late.
  21. Has anyone else noticed how much more dangerous it has become to fly after Sept. 11, 2001? There was almost no threat of a plane being destroyed before then, but since, every substance is viewed as a potential threat. The worst thing that I see about it, is the people's passivity to the infringement of their rights. Not the people who fly, but the airlines themselves. I recall our local news anchor on the night that liquids were banned: "It's a small price to pay for added security." She'll be saying the same thing when we are required to have video cameras in all houses.
  22. Read this excerpt from a newspaper article: "In the Caro case, three Texas men were arraigned Saturday on terrorism-related charges after police found about 1,000 cell phones in their minivan. "Investigators believe those men were targeting the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge. But one of the men said they were only trying to buy and sell phones to make money. "The store clerk said the men appeared to be "Middle Eastern" and said they had been coming into the store weekly to buy the phones. "The Caro incident came to police attention after three men purchased 80 prepaid cell phones from a Wal-Mart store, police said. A suspicious Wal-Mart clerk called the police. "'The cell phones can be used as detonators,' Caro Police Chief Ben Page said. 'Batteries can be disassembled and used to make methamphetamine. Obviously, there's something wrong here.' "Maruan Awad Muhareb, of Mesquite, Texas; Adham Abdelhamid Othman, of Dallas; and Louai Abdelhamied Othman, of Mesquite, were arraigned on Saturday and charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes. "Authorities in Caro, located in the Thumb, have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones. But Caro's police chief said cell phones can be used as detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable." Obviously, there is something very wrong here: The fact that men may now be arrested for buying and possesing cell phones! Of course cell phones can be used to detonate explosives, but does that make it illegal to posses them? If they make it illegal to have them in your car, soon you may have to wait for a background check and a 7-day waiting period to buy a cell phone! What do you think?
  23. My favorite movies, in no particular order, are: Pulp Fiction Kill Bill, Vol. 1 & 2 Reservoir Dogs The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly A Fistful of Dollars True Grit A Fistful of Dynamite Akira Smokey & The Bandit The Magnificent Seven Monty Python's The Meaning of Life Blazing Saddles The Shawshank Redemtion History of the World, Part 1 High Plains Drifter High Noon Unforgiven ... many more, but not time. (sigh)
  24. I mean that when a man infringes upon the rights of others, the gov't may impose penalties that curtail his rights, correct? A man who has had his rights thus curtailed may not have much more than the bear. You're right, insanity is too broad in that sense, but would you say that a man who attempts to rationalize an amoral act is acting in his right mind? People seem to be using the insanity plea a whole lot lately. One man can not own another man, not as property, but wouldn't you agree that parents have a certain amount responsibility for and to their children? This is not so much different from owning a pet. If your pet injures someone, you are responsible; if your child injures someone, there is a good chance that the parent will also be responsible. This is because it is the parent's resposibility to teach a child right from wrong. A pet will not learn to distinguish right from wrong, but can be trained not to attack people. Your responsibility in owning a pet is to teach it not to attack people. A woman can get an abortion because the fetus is "hers," correct? Although children have far more rights than fetuses, and the act of killing them is not justified in this, if her husband does not think that the killing of his children was wrong, then I don't see who is mad about the case. As I said before, as long as my children, or any other children that I care about are not in danger, I don't care if he doesn't. As I said, I believe that the children were half his.
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