Well dear me. That kind of ends the discussion.

I wouldn't have taxes manditory. If you don't want to use civilized things like roads, fire response, police protection, and what not, feel free to move off-grid and live as you wish without paying for those services. Or you can buy them ala cart at an reasonably inflated price. There are some things groups can do better than single providers. I could build up power, water, sewage for my home but I find it better to pay a collective (a really good PUD in my case (snopud.org)), and not having to clear my own path to a road that I then need to pay a toll to get to work on is kind of nifty. I don't mind paying for a staffed fire and police department to protect mine because it's a lot cheaper than hiring my own just for me. Nor a health district, building inspectors, and courts to help keep me safe when I move about to transact with my community.

If you want a good look at what off grid looks like, watch Railroading Alaska. Understand that most of those are collecting some type of Social Security to get by.

Could some of the "greater good" be better managed? Sure. Is some if it being used for someone's power trip. Hell yeah. That's how we're wired as humans.

Are you doing anything to help that get better, other than bitching into your mug of beer? It's just us chickens here, and if you're in the US you don't, day to day, have it that bad and are mostly left alone. If you don't like it, go off grid or work toward realistic change.

We've come a long way in the last few hundred years. This society is still a work in progress and you're on the ground floor. With the richness that this civilization grants you at this time, you stand in a wonderful position to actually do something positive to effect countless future generations. Don't piss it away by just being pissed off.

one of the huge differences (compared to US libertarianism) is that libertarian socialists don't fetishise or worship private property as THE single most important foundational doctrine, transcending *everything* else.

Of course not. Guns come first! Then God and Gay bashing.

Kidding aside, you understand why in the US the term confuses people. It's the using of two terms they think they understand are opposites and joining them together to make what they think is an oxymoron. It's also useful as a tool to break, for a moment, the left/right winger "thinking" process and move to a more meaningful discussion.

Happy Vaginal Escape Anniversary!

That can work.

Live your life, help others where you can, don't be a dick.

See, I know what I'm saying.. but I live in 'merica. I really don't want to have to explain my view to most of the wingers around me. Like John Kerry's 2000 run, the message is just to nuanced for them.

..even if the freaking pope walks up and slaps him with a live trout while declaring him to be an ignorant boob.

I wouldn't put it past Francis to do exactly that. I'm an atheist ex-papist and I must say, I'm impressed with this new pope. He's metaphorically done that already to the Hard Christian Right. Francis is a Catholic, same as the priest that proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory.

A very good and enlightening read on Father George Lemaitre can be found here. Worth the 10 minutes to learn about a very important and often ignored astrophysicist.

..Slashdot's increasingly leftist audience..

I've actually moved quite a bit from the left to the center over the years.

And if asked, I say I'm a Libertarian Socialist. Keeps the scratching their heads for a moment while I run away from another useless political argument.

Your summary was too well written and cited to be considered for today's Dicey slashdot.

It's that last bit in the article: In the last quarter of 2009 about 2,700 carloads of crude oil were moved by rail. This had grown to 81,100 in the last quarter of 2012.

One main problem is that they are so swamped with crude orders that they are running old and out of date DOT-111 tanker cars.

The train that derailed would have, about 20 hours later, come next to my office and then under downtown Everett, WA. That concerns me a bit.

I'm guessing that, just like three everyday, it was going to travel about 100' from my office desk in Everett, WA. Where it then turns east and travels under downtown. I'm guessing that it's going to either the Cherry Point or Arco refinery.

https://www.google.com/maps/preview#!data=!1m4!1m3!1d1611!2d-122.2011388!3d47.9790728!2m1!1e3&fid=7

I don't think that Bellingham, WA is that economically disadvantaged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Pipeline_explosion

Three people died in the accident. The first was Liam Wood, 18, who was fly fishing in the creek. He succumbed to the fumes, fell unconscious into the creek and drowned, dying before the explosion.[6] Two children, Wade King and Stephen Tsiorvas, both 10, were playing near the creek confluence during the explosion. Both survived the blast, but died the next day in the hospital.

Olympic Pipeline had failed to properly train employees, and had to contend with a faulty computer system and pressure relief valve. In 1994, five years before the accident, a construction crew accidentally damaged the pipeline while constructing the city's water treatment plant, and Olympic Pipeline had failed to find or repair the damage.
 

Hey GIT, check your numbers. I'm making $47k/yr and take home more than that even after my 401k and whatnot. Of course we don't have income tax in Washington State but I'm sure CA doesn't take out that much.

Giardiasis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardiasis

Giardiasis (popularly known as beaver fever[1]) is a parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Giardia lamblia.

It is a particular danger to people hiking or backpacking in wilderness areas worldwide, especially if they have no immediate access to medical supplies. Giardia is also suspected to be zoonoticâ"communicable between humans and other animals. Major reservoir hosts include beavers, dogs, cats, horses, humans, cattle and birds.