The main difference would probably be that it doesn't take apathetic sheeple to keep those royals in the place of power.

That's simply legitimation. Every government needs that for stability.

Earlier it was divine appointment ($deity put me in the position to rule over you) and most "divine" rulers based their legitimation on their lineage to some hero or god.

Later other forms of legitimation were necessary, when people stopped to consider that "enough". The current fad is to base it on the "will of the people" and pretend that the people want this kind of government. Funny enough, that legitimation works just as well for democracies as it works for various flavors of dictatorships.

Indistinguishable from the Empire, actually...

Considering that the US usually get their way, yes, it is newsworthy that they want to be seen as the beacon of freedom and liberty while at the same time working hard to eliminate just that.

Why do I get to hear that here and not from our local news, or rather, from my politicians who invariably had to notice this?

Somehow I doubt the US are alone in that.

Yup. A hint closer to Germany, hence the spelling.

No matter how you phrase it to avoid a discussion about the non-topic, some people will find a way to bicker about it and drag it out at length while ignoring the point you're trying to make. I know. But could we just for a moment ignore what's simply unimportant and concentrate on the core issue, shall we?

I don't care if you have to be in the right party in Venezuela. The point is that it does not matter WHY you cannot get something. What's the difference between the former East Bloc where you could not travel outside your country because you must not if you're not one of the "privileged", compared to the current US where you can't afford to unless you're one of the rich? What's the difference between not getting a car because you can't afford it or because it doesn't exist?

Whether something is not available for whatever reason or you cannot afford it is simply a non-issue. The net effect is that you cannot get it. When someone doesn't get a life saving operation, the country he is in is a third world country. Whether he can't get it because the means to operate aren't there or whether he gets to die because he's too poor to pay for it doesn't matter, a country that cannot afford to keep its people alive is in dire need of development aid.

I really do have confidence that the commercials for boner pills have been scrutinized and approved by FDA. I haven't seen an ad for Vi[boner]ra in ages, but Ci[boner]is with that low bluesy guitar riff in the background is all over TV in the US. The pills work as advertised and are prescription-based (hahahah yeah I know). Plenty of "if you encounter symptoms such as difficulty breathing, or if you have trouble with your eyesight or hearing, stop taking [boner pills] and seek medical attention right away." And the seemingly requisite "Ask your doctor about [boner pills]."

23andme isn't offering to cure anything, they aren't offering to diagnose anything, and they aren't offering to treat anything. They're advertising a service where you spit in a cup, send it off, and get back some "okay, this shit might be going on in your family lineage" results. They're not telling you that you have sickle cell, or that you're going to die if you eat asparagus, or anything of the sort. But they are making medical-type claims regarding your DNA, such that perhaps your brain isn't receptive to flubber-baz antagonists, which might make you argue with your physician or stop taking such medication altogether, to your own detriment.

Works for me, but if your average Duck Dynasty fan picks one of these up, they might flip the fuck out at what they get back. "YOU SAYIN I GOTS NIGGER IN MAH BLOOD? ANN MAH DICK NEVER GONN' GET GOIN' AFTER AH DRINK BEERS? AHHH'MA CALL UP MY REPRASENTIVE! GET THIS SHIT BANT!"

FDA's issue is very narrow. 23andme is making marketing claims of a medical nature which have not been approved by the FDA. The advertisements do not adequately disclaim that 23andme cannot prove whatever their DNA tests might come up with. If they rebrand themselves as a novelty, or work with FDA to achieve de novo compliance (which is basically FDA saying "hey! let's start it all over and get you compliant! woo! yeah let's do it!"), they should be just fine. I hope. Because I do still want to get that shit done for my spit.

I figure that a product which makes claims about its ability to predict (note that they won't say diagnose) your potential for developing certain diseases later in life should fall under the FDA's purview. I've been interested in 23andme for a long time. The first time I heard about them, the test and resulting reports ran something like $500. I added it to my "wish list" way back then and nobody bit. It's apparently down to the $99 mark now and is being marketed on television in time for the holiday season.

I'm a fairly intelligent individual and I'd be absolutely sure to take anything they reported about my genetic profile with a grain of salt. However, the FDA exists to protect your average Joe out there, who believes those TV commercials that say taking Penalis will give you a raging boner, and that lady who was on "Las Vegas" really does have an amazing non-surgical facelift procedure that will remove 20 years from your face.

A lot of these products get away with using a very blatant disclaimer that "these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA" etc. I'm not entirely sure why 23andme can't just put that disclaimer in there as well, and be all good. But the fact is, FDA has been trying to work with them for several years to get them into whatever is considered to be FDA marketing compliance, and the company apparently hasn't cooperated.

If they'd not put commercials on TV, they probably wouldn't be in any trouble. I just checked their site and can't immediately find the old list of stuff that they said they'd test your DNA for (and there was a big list). Not saying they've taken it down, but I didn't see it with a quick glance.

All of that said, the 23andme spit-and-get-results thingy is still on my wish list.

Nobody owes me anything. But neither do I owe anyone anything. And most certainly I don't owe someone to prop up his failed business model with accepting my liberties being removed to protect it.

If you cannot survive with your business without buying laws that affect far more people than your potential customers, you're supposed to die.

If you think we got corrupt, selfish, self absorbed and self centered cretins for rulers, ponder how much bigger cretins you get if you give them the feeling that they're entitled to it.

I'd get two, one in Iran, one in the US, encrypt both and chain them. Of course both will be tapped, but they will most certainly not cooperate. So one knows where you're coming from and one knows where you're going to, but neither knows both ends and either would have to break the encryption to the other machine to tap into the traffic.

And if you dare pondering to sell your oil for anything but Dollars ... well, see Saddam.

If you keep missing him, how the heck did he die?

Mostly tulips. I still wait for the day when someone tries to cash in a sensible amount of money. Not some 100s but rather some 100,000s. If that holds, the currency will hold water. If that doesn't go down well and causes the price to plummet, it's a tulip.

Well, as long as the FBI keeps taking money out of circulation in busts, it just might work out too...