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Comment Cheaper to re-examine foreign policy (Score 2) 392

The UK, among other European states have a long history of colonialism. The US of A has also developed a strong taste for colonialism and mass resource theft. Were these states to disengage the act of "bringing democracy" to other places via drones, aircraft carriers, warplanes, tanks and troops, and instead send teachers, doctors, and engineers then we would not be in the mess we are now. We have hundreds of years of colonialism to show us why it does not work very well. Had the states spent the vast war budget on sustainable energy research, we would not be on the "oil drip" and melting the icecaps and searing lungs. Moreover, a lot of these 'ethnics' that certain European states object to would stay in their own lands as opposed to emigrate en masse to flee war and poverty. Work out why there is this so-called terrorism and generally there is some long, bitter history of colonialist misadventures behind it that made a minority elite wealthy. If you clip the trouble at its source rather than stifle its symptoms, you would be more successful.

Comment THX 1138, anyone? (Score 1) 422

C'mon, George Lucas is not that bad. THX 1138 is a very good movie, one of the best in sci-fi. I want more of that flavor. (Now that I think of it, THX 1138 looks like what would happen if Apple took over the world, everything is so darn white and shiny). While Star Wars has its moments, I do not think it measures up to THX1138. Lucas has to dig deep and find that story teller who informs us of what we really don't want to know about ourselves. Bring it George! You have money and clout! Now you can make good films! Let Disney have the Star Crap stuff. Now go make something awesome and blow us away! I want to believe! 'For more enjoyment, direct good movies...and have a nice day...'

Comment Only if it is Prism edition (Score 1) 570

Well, Microsoft fell behind Google as the foremost support to the likes of the NSA, US military and so on. Windows 8 helps, because you need to log in with your hotmail account so you can be tracked better. While you can opt out of tracking, it is made to be difficult to do so. Most users will just go the easy route. Tracking Windows 7 users is not as easy as 8. However, if you have Windows 10, then you get all the 7. 8, and 8.1 users on board and tracking will be so much easier!

Comment Team Effort (Score 2) 98

Generally, cracking (as opposed to hacking, which is a positive thing wherein one is clever with technology) is a team effort. I am skeptical of the notion of a "super cop", "super detective", "super computer cracker", "super soldier" or "super whatever". At some point, these super people need to sleep, urinate, defacate, eat, and so on. No one can stay on top of everything at all times. On top of that, no one acquires skill/knowledge in a vacuum, you need a community. Particularly when you are talking about specialized knowledge. So the idea of one person taking on an agressive collective is unrealistic. There has to be a lot of backing, both on the physical and tecnology sides with the same leves of exposure to danger. This provides a challenge to story telling in a film content because it is harder to have a character to relate to when you portray a group. However, if you want to depect these kinds of things in a realistic way, you need to highlight the importance of a team, a community, and a supportive environment. If you bring up any "cracker", you also need to bring her/his community into the picture. I saw the trailers, and it reminded me of Steven Segal/Van Damme film trailers--only the latter do it better. I would sooner believe JCVD as a super cracker than this thespian.

Comment No, it is not Islam, but the old Algerian problem (Score 4, Informative) 311

Insulting the prophet does not carry the death sentence as during his life he was insulted, and worse. These attackers had Islamic precedent to draw from and had they looked it up, would not use the cartoons as justification. I submit to you that there is another reason behind this: http://www.independent.co.uk/v... There is no justification for the murders, but we can grasp to understand the underlying issues.

Comment Go after them is you must, but... (Score 1) 509

When picking battles, it usually helps to know context of why things occur the way they do. The Charlie Hebdo attack did not come out of the ether, there is a long historical narrative behind it. This article will help. As usual, these things have less to do with religion and more to do with exercises in power and oppression. http://www.independent.co.uk/v...

Comment Re:Free? (Score 1) 703

If you're talking about healthcare, I see that the way I see libraries, clean water, schools, sewage and public infrastructure--you need it. Notions of free market has nothing to do with it (not that there is a free market in the USA, there never was). Health care is a need. People go through ups and downs in their lives and regardless, they need health care. Mixing up the market with health is a bad move.

Comment Re:Is this not a red herring? (Score 0) 172

You are right, the ISP's are already monitoring everything the user does. The new law in place is simply legitimizing parts of this monitoring. It is only a matter of time before more of it is legitimized. These laws took a while to draft and same goes for this monitoring. So if someone votes for political party A, but party B is in power, records can be accessed to determine whether a representative can invest time and effort in the constituent based on political inclination.

Comment Re:No matter how much power we gave them ... (Score 2) 319

Certainly, the deployment of drones for extrajudicial executions throughout the Muslim world is less barbaric. So is wholesale bombing of the Middle East in order to play whack-a-mole with ISIS/ISIL/whatever. This extremists did not pop out of Middle Earth looking for The Ring, there are decades, no centuries of foreign policy initiatives that let to a radicalized populace who do not even have political say in their own country. Take post 2003 invasion Iraq, a lot of ISIS/ISIL guys are former Baath party members who were denied political involvement hence a significant demographic became outlaws. The "muzzies" do not come to Europe and North America for the burgers and porn, but to flee war torn regions. If they had their choice, they would stay in their respective lands. Need I remind you that France is also a major colonial power that shaped much of the way the Middle East and Africa is today. When you colonize a region, you had better take on the responsibility that comes with it. When your new subjects come to the doorstep of their new ruler, the ruler had better be willing to take on the problems, not just the wealth of the regions. When you oppress and marginalize a people in their own lands, do not be surprised when radical factions arise and lash out. You want to take the wind out of radicals? You don't need a security apparatus, work out why these people are doing the actions they do. Put pressure for a just, not colonialist foreign policy--then you will see radicals disappear.

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