A libertarian / free market online rag, quoted in its entirety by the leftist Counter Currents.

Wow, will the surprises never end?

Read Here

Call me nuts, but I went and tested windows server 2008 (downloadable from Microsoft if you have a tech net subscription, otherwise they require you to fill out an info form, asking all but you signature in blood).

Now, seriously, is it just me, or does their "patented new interface" look REMARKABLY like KDE has looked for the last 7 or 8 years or Gnome for the last 5?

I wonder if GNU or KDE orgs can demand remuneration and sue Vista out of production for violating "prior art"?

The shiny themes and browser based (with search box) file management is ALL prior art, last I checked (especially less buggy prior art).

Once I get around to the "crackability" tests, I'll post more in depth... I just don't know that I have the patience to run Windows again.

www.2600.com seems to be hacked (coming from my domain at least).

The site comes up with certain bits of porn and some javascript. Either hacked or hijacked and I cannot say which.

I once considered this possibility.

Life is an MMORPG or First Person Shooter with RPG elements.

(A grind at the library raises your Knowledge, a grind at the gym raises your STRength and CONstitution, a grind in the wilderness raises your Experience, a grind in a warzone raises your ARMs skill and THAC0 :)

The Spirit... (aka the Player) logs in.
The Spirit (Player) creates a Soul (Account).
The Spirit then creates a Body (Player Character), under that Soul (Account).
The Spirit/Soul then adventures (plays) in that World (Server) using that Body (Character) logged in from the particular Soul (Account).

Thus, if the Body ever dies, during a MMORPG, are you really dead as a player/Spirit? If the Account (Soul) is deleted, is the player/Spirit truly destroyed? Hell no, you just make up a new account, retain your previous experiences in the game, and start a fresh character. The game continues, and like with many games, a lot of nutbag Spirits take the game TOO seriously... and let it rule their lives, which is not much different than the fatass slobs sitting on a couch, who have difficulty getting up to take a piss when the urge strikes them.

Playing a game can be fun, but taking it too seriously can be hazardous to your health. Perhaps the same warning exists on some other plane of existence/awareness to whatever we consider to be our Spirits. Perhaps.

Interesting concept, eh?

Infowars article on Oregonians abused by cops for filming an abuse of their property...
Quoted article from the Oregonian, as it were.

Lawful action... "Yes, I got it all on film. They had no right to come on this property."

CRIMINAL action: Cops taze the man, lawfully there and accuse him of "criminal trespass." And of refusing to surrender the camera "which could be used as a weapon."

Last I checked with "lawful use of force" he had to have actually THREATENED physical force WITH the camera for it to be considered as such.

Snippet:

Police officers followed a police dog onto the property during a search for a fleeing suspect. After the dog keyed on a car, officers broke out a window. Upset residents, insisting no one had run onto their property, started to videotape the police search.

When one woman was told to stop recording, she gave the videocamera to Waterhouse. He walked to the edge of the property, climbed up a dirt embankment and continued to record. At one point, he yelled to his friend, "Yes, I got it all on film. They had no right to come on this property."

He says in the suit that police immediately came after him, and yelled at him "put it down." Officers moved towards him, and he said, "Don't come after me." Waterhouse said seconds later he was shot with a bean bag gun and a Taser and fell to the ground.

Officers wrote in their reports that Waterhouse ran off, they chased and then bean-bagged and Tasered him. One officer wrote, "He had refused to drop the camera which could be used as a weapon."

Waterhouse was arrested, accused of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. A jury acquitted him of all charges.

** Frankly I hope he takes the local government and especially the individual cops to the CLEANERS!! I hope he plunders the entire socialist treasury of every penny it has. **

Act like serfs, be treated like serfs.

Do you believe that police abuses are okay, so long as the government is compassionate and absolute (socialism) or disconnected and absolute (fascism)? Or do you believe that you "were born free, will live free, to die free"?

Pay attention to the question at the end, and see if it applies to you as a "geek" or "slashdotter" or just plain "man" or "woman".

All other talk about "free speech" or "free software", or "patent enforcement" or "internet taxation" is moot, until you realize that without asserting your rights, and behaving as if you had them, you do NOT have them. Rights, like all else, are yours to lose. This article makes a good point of it. Government is the one with responsibilities, YOU as an individual are the one with rights. Authoritarians and statist totalitarians have confused everyone into believing the opposite.

Mencken is quoted to have stated as follows among his many other writings. This is attributed to the July 26th, 1920's Baltimore Sun (I presume this is the same Baltimore Sun as the one now printed in Baltimore, Maryland.)

"...all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre -- the man who can most easily (and) adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

I leave conclusions to the readers :)

Original quote was pulled from this blog.

Speaking of which....

Even the games the industry comes up with nowadays are rehashes of old crap, and I mean crap. They're not even as fun as the old cliches. Cliches were escapes from reality... Oldies were cliche tales, save the damsel, save the world, be the macho hero, wield guns and swords that would be simply unwieldy in real life blah blah, the new ones are rehashes of real life... you no longer need to join the army to feel the rush of shooting civvies and helpless enemies that can barely figure out which end of their guns bullets come out of, nope, you can simulate it now. All the violence without getting in shape! All the bloodshed without the chemical poisoning or the psychological trauma.

What's the point of escapism when the escapist venue is just a tired remake of the miserable or boring life you're escaping from? Similar to the music industry. What's the point of listening to ghetto rap when you live in a ghetto? What, you're not depressed enough with your life that you gotta pay some "gansta" to tell you how much better he's off than you? I won't comment on country or jazz because I have some local groups I listen to and buy from, but they print their work on CDR's anyways :)

The newer classical music seems uninspired, as if some freshman at the conservatory tried his hand after a glass of whiskey as a compensator for lack of inspiration or even talent, and the rest of the pop, teeny bopper and easy listening music isn't worthy of playing on the grocery store intercom radio. It sounds much like what came out in 1994, only now the singing girl is devoid of a singing voice too, not just the ability to carry a tune.

After a bit of evaluation, resulting in similar feelings to the above paragraphs, I found that I've saved so much cash and TIME on games and DVD's thanks to "staying legal" (i.e. not buying OR pirating) with DVD's and Music, that I've actually got cash I know not what to do with... quite a predicament. And wouldn't you know it, I've got tons of time on hand too. I've caught up on a LOT of reading and traveling. Simply boggles the mind how little we live our lives because of the mind numbing amount of cash we blow on unnecessary crap... and I do mean CRAP.

Here we go, this is where "mandatory healthcare" will get you.

If you buy the ADD or ADHD, BS... you've just found yourself a paying customer to the new millennium "snake oil" salesmen.

Regardless of all the cameras, safety, and crime prevention are still the domain of potential victims, not the troops, troopers, cops, ninja masked, body armored thugs, or any other agent of the state... your safety is still YOUR problem... surprise.

London has a 20% crime "clearup" rate. Strange how when they depend on tax money, "authorities" never deliver what they promise, but continue to scream that they cannot deliver because they don't get "enough funding".

Each year their budget matches or increases, their spending is increased, they buy more cameras, more tazers, more guns, but show to possess less and less civil skills (something necessary in any civil "peace officer" especially one given the monopoly on force that today's "society" grants to its "police" forces).

People don't trust cops anymore, and those who still make the mistake to do so put themselves at more risk than those that don't. And for good reason. In older times, a man who took your money and didn't even deliver a pretense of a fair trade, and who claimed he needed yet more money to keep not delivering... was called a QUACK!! Today they're called "politicians", "civil engineers", "city planners", "authorities" or "lawmakers".

What is it with these people. Hillary, Obama and Edwards are running on "mandating government insurance for all".

Mandatory UnHealthy Care 2.0

I guess in a 50.1% majority world, it matters not what the individual prefers. It doesn't matter if I want my own doctor, or prefer one, or know one, I have to do (at gunpoint no less) whatever the Fearless Leader tells me to?

What are they going to to, arrest those of us who refuse to either PAY FOR, or BUY INTO their programs? What if I prefer a different health care / prevention routine than the industrial abattoir of licensed medics?

After all, I avoid doctors now, because for every preventable or naturally occurring issue, they come up with "lets get you started on [X drug]". Rarely do they say, "lets see how we can keep this from happening again... what do you eat, what do you drink, what kind of exercise do you practice and how often?" Nope, its always, "start taking this, if it works okay, I won't prescribe 3 more expensive drugs for something that goes away by itself." Hell, we have FLU VACCINES?!?!? Nobody I have known in my life has died of the flu. Not here, not at work, not in my childhood, not anywhere, and everyone got the flu almost every year. We ate EGGS as kids, we drank natural egg nogg, and nobody died of miracle flu, or avian flu, or other disease... why? Because we grew our OWN chickens, not industrial grown chickens... we knew where our food came from... not because there was an approval label on it, but because we grew it.

Whenever the government gets involved in anything, all they do is complicate it, take a cut of the "protection money racket" (read:taxes) and eventually result in even WORSE tyranny than some misguided out for profit scumbag whom the market (had it ever been left to its own devices) might have crushed utterly. For example, if the local big box mart wasn't protected by government thugs and government protocols, the locals, if enough felt threatened might well burn it down or force it to close its doors. But instead, the government decided what is "good for everyone". Doesn't matter if the government had to steal my land to build the big box mart... the law said they could and it was for the good of everyone that they did it.

There is a quote that will again be ignored as the election season ramps up.

"Necessity is the creed of slaves, it is the argument of tyrants.

I smell further collectivization of America, but I doubt there will be any "prosperity", other than perhaps the few well fed "sample citizens" that will be touted in front of the cameras.

"Look, my tax dollars hard at work."

(pause)

"Coming to arrest me."

Check this out if you wish to see how the socialists handle actual horseplay. I wonder what else will be "devastating to the psyche" (besides the "justice" system itself).

Incorruptible system hard at work... treats all equally... (with contempt that is).

I've been thinking. Everyone left and right has heard of the New World Order, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (NAFTA 2.0 or the North American Community) and various other things.

Sure, the idea sounds the death knell of the Republic.

Frankly, I think the death knell of the Republic sounded back in 1913, and what has transpired before that was the "prep" what has transpired since is the "mop up". In my opinion, the Republic is on a stretcher, with a mortician covering up its face with a big black bag.

Many will say "the Illuminati have killed our Republic!!"

I disagree. I feel that it was the ordinary rank and file Americans, who did not push back when the government first began to carry out tyrannies (about 1792 was the first big year of criminal conduct by then president Washington, and it hasn't ended since).

It was the compliance that was made to seem that it was "mandatory" or "required", yet few Americans today did what Americans in 1774 were notorious for. Reading LAW. English law dictionaries sold MORE copies in the American Colonies than they did in England.

When you pay attention to what is done, you have enough people, even if it is the 5% minority, who have the wealth, the willpower and the desire to simply say "NO".

I am not going to say I know what will happen. If I did, my life would probably be tasteless, boring and devoid of any enjoyment.

Instead, I will say that I view the next 10 years or so with great interest. There is a chance that people the world over might just stand up for themselves, say "NO" and refuse to be on someone else's leash anymore.

Of course it is more likely that they will continue to value their comfort more than either happiness or any semblance of freedom, and will continue to allow others to dictate their choices. This is fine, as it is only the removal of comfort that forces the modern human to ponder what he has exchanged for the transitory pretense of safety. None of us have safety, because there is no chance we can truly control the Chaos of this world. This place is Chaos born, and despite the veneer of order we place upon it, things constantly change, not always along a predictable axis. This is because Chaos can be adapted to, but never truly mastered.

Our desire for safety and Order, is what has been used against us each and every time someone has argued from the vantage point of "safety" or "security", yet each time they were selling a bill of goods, but kept the goods. Every "good intentioned" ruler has imposed a system they believed would lead to safety, and security, and it may well have. The problem is that happiness is on the exact opposite of that scale. Being happy and fulfilled requires us to step outside the comfort zone and learn more about ourselves. Remaining in a shell, never taking a chance, and always cowering in the shadows is exactly what has allowed the masters of past ages to feed upon the poor and oppressed. The poor and oppressed saw their predicament and accepted it. It was a small price to pay for predictability, and "safety". In one word, they traded happiness for safety.

In the end, they found neither. Perhaps it is time to ponder a paradigm shift, not towards more and more control, but towards less control. Less control over others, and more over ourselves. I understand it is a radical system that actually involves pondering one's actions and the natural and artificial consequences of one's actions. But I believe in the long run it may prove more fun for all involved. It is either that or monotony, boredom, eternal safety, with none of the spark. I understand that safety sells. But much like masturbation, it may suffice and be very safe for an inexperienced teenager but will never be as good as sex with a talented and interested partner.

Much like the search for the "perfect" partner, those seeking safety have been "educated" in government schools that have had it in their best interests to crush dissent and unpopular opinions. Instead of seeking that which made life worth living, they sought that which made life monotonous, predictable, and turned life from something interesting, into the mere wait for death. Far too many people today live a cyclical bore, waiting for only one thing, that which they fear, yet the only thing they look forward to. Death. And the only reason they are not aware of it, is because they are too caught up in the entire boredom of it all.

So few nowadays actually look up at the stars. Or even bother to smell the flowers (it they even keep any). There are many things to do, yet we live in boxed sets, awaiting only the next videogame, or the next movie, or perhaps the next picnic. Always the same things, safe, boxed and ready made for consumption. Perfectly safe.

I stepped outside of that box years ago, even if it has been a tougher journey. It has made me more discriminating in those I associate with, as coworkers, as friends, as lovers. I chose not to associate merely with "anyone" but with those whom I felt lived life also. And I have not been alone for it, because I have found others on the same path. Many have been called eccentric, some rich, some broke, none were ever "poor", though a bit unusual, or even crazy. "Poor" is a mindset, it is a defeated mindset, and it is highly contagious. But if having less people around me, but of a different quality is the price to pay to LIVE life, instead of merely existing. Then that price has indeed been a small one.

** My posts will once more decrease in frequency, as I have discovered what I came here to understand. Thank you all. I wish you fortune in your endeavors, and perhaps we'll meet somewhere down the road. **

Is your economic outlook Austrian?

25 questions. Requires some introspection. There is a 10 question shortie and its also available in Spanish. Should bring a lot into perspective. There is no pass fail. It simply gauges your outlook and what kinds of "economies" you favor.

NOTE: only submit your email address if you wish to have the results emailed to you.