... if you beat up a video store clerk and steal some real, actual copies of a film on DVD or VHS.
I'm not standing up for the crime, but isn't the punishment supposed to match it?
Great analogy, except that you're comparing the ACTUAL time you would probably get for a crime to the MAXIMUM time you could get for another crime. The MAXIMUM punishment for felony aggravated assault and felony robbery would probably be about 30+ years, depending on the state. Why do people on slashdot have such trouble co
30+ years? Excellent. I'm glad punks that beat up on store clerks can potentially get that kind of punishment, but tell me how often that happens in practice.
Someone steals $500 from a convenience store, they're not going to go down for 30 years. They'll get a few months and then maybe 12 months of probation.
Sitting in a cinema with a camcorder should not be punishable by any prison time. It is not a violent act, it makes nobody rich, it isn't going to fund any drug cartel. It is a simple civil violat
It depends on which state. A lot of states now have on the 2nd or 3rd felony conviction you get life. That's one of the reasons they have built so many prisons the past decade or so, and why we have such a high inmate population as a percentage of the entire population
Laws and crimes and what gets emphasized are entirely random now. for instance, we have multi millions of illegal immigrants. People who jump the border have committed a felony, yet it is almost universally ignored, they are allowed to live freely almost anyplace inside the US. At best if they find a huge group of them near the border they'll just be shipped back over, they rarely serve any jail time. We also have laws that make hiring an illegal immigrant a federal crime, with a 10,000$ fine per incident, but you never hear much of any arrests in those cases, even though the practice is blatant.
There's more, that's just a blatant example. Law enforcement is political, it's not any sort of even or fair, it's whatever the elite class wants that season. They give the orders, their enforcers click heels and jump to it. If they are ordered to ignore certain crimes, they will do so, even if they are aware of them.
I am not pro criminal, I just think the laws are terribly skewed and not enforced fairly across the board, and we have a variety of laws on the books now that are just ridiculous and shouldn't even be there. The US has a growth industry of gradually adding to laws that make more of the lower and middle classes "criminals". I think it's planned that way, to make a two class society eventually, technofeudalism. They are also apparently destroying as much of the middle class job structure as they can. Any job they can find that is exportable they will, any job that they can't exported they will import millions of illegals or too many legals to take those jobs. It's so completely obvious I won't even debate it with any debunkers now, the stats and realities are all over. It's been slow but verifiably steady, and the numbers increase yearly. Part of the plan, command and control, the same old dodge the old aristocrats have always pulled down through the ages.
As to recording in the cinema? I could care less, I've been boycotting movies for awhile now, and paid for music, I just quit. If a movie is free to copy, I might buy it. I have two here I got that the producer lets people make copies of. Music, again, if it's free over the radio by putting up with ads I occassionaly listen, but besides that, don't buy any-new. Used I will buy, it's just recycled, and the producers don't make another penny on it, but some guy at a yard sale will so I don't care, but even then not too much, a few examples of each a year. I even quit buying from the new but marked down bins, stopped that last year.
I think if enough people will stop placing so much importance on "entertainmnerts" of that sort, we'll see more sane pricing and reduce any demand for copying for profit. it's all I can do, tell people to boycott movies and music and professional sports and television fiction. it's gotten so ridiculous expensive it's stupid, and the time wasting aspects of it are lost to the wasters, I think in a lot of cases they don't realise how absuerdly addicted they get to it to the detriment of other more important things our society ignores too much. When you can get several million people in one weekend to go drop tens of millions of dollars all over the country to watch some new movie, with thousands in any random city you pick, and the same city can't get two dozen people to a community meeting to discuss local judicial corruption or the next multi million dollar school budget, etc, well, there's something wrong there in *general terms*. IMO anyway.
Rome when it was collapsing had it's bread and circuses to keep the people amused and occupied so they wouldn't pay attention to the rot that was collapsing their society around them.. We have the same thing now but people don't like to think they are droned out barbarians addicted to bre
Yes, but then what would happen to all the 12-17 year olds who have nothing better to do since everything has been made illegal anyhow. (Heaven forbid we actually get them to read something above a fourth grade reading level, and enjoy it that is.)
If we dropped 3 months off summer vacations in the public schools, 14 year olds would be finishing high school and entering college. 17 and 18 year olds would be getting degrees. A lot of homeschoolers are in this situation now, because they studyyear round. The earlier you learn something, the better.
As to staying amused in your spare time? Man, I have yet to find a teenager who couldn't find something to do, there's too much energy there. Getting put in that alpha state with TV just turns kids into consu
it's all I can do, tell people to boycott movies and music and professional sports and television fiction.
Shhh. That's heresy! If no one goes to the movies, the movie producers will LOSE MONEY and petition congress to pass a law mandating attendance at the movies. We could have local lotteries in every town with a movie theater. The winners(???) have to go to the movie -- or be SHOT. Sorry, but the law is the law is the law is the law...
I started thinking indoor movies were a rip when they stopped double features and cartoons in front of the movies. That's held on in the few remaining outdoor theaters though, double features anyway.
The only thing that saved them for me was air conditioning inside the theaters. I like the better sound systems in movies though, that's about the only improvement I've seen.
...Law enforcement is political, it's not any sort of even or fair, it's whatever the elite class wants that season. They give the orders, their enforcers click heels and jump to it. If they are ordered to ignore certain crimes, they will do so, even if they are aware of them...
I used to work in (environmental) law enforcement for the state of Maryland, there was one case I remember where this one company was violating the state laws. However, the owner was a big contributor to the governor's campaign f
Technically it seems like a group of you could have arrested your bosses who gave you the illegal order. Knowledge of a felony im progress, then being told to ignore it? Isn't that accessory after the fact, and RICO, and suborning an officer? There's probably both some state and federal elected official ethics violations as well. Probably some more too, those I can think of right off the top.
No matter.... it's way more common than not, every cop I have ever met has told me about crimes being committed by f
"We also have laws that make hiring an illegal immigrant a federal crime,"
Well actually they don't need to prove that they are a citizen in order to be employed. They simply show us their "proof" of citizenship, such as a fake green card, fake social security, fake driver's license...etc. Then we say yep looks like you're legal, you can work for us.
Now legislation in California to give illegals drivers licenses (could be used a proof of citizenship even though they are here illegally) is just rediculous.
If it was up to me, I'd ban any for profit or non profit corporate campaign contributions, and limit named human individuals to 100$ maximum total political donations per calendar year, and make accepting a bribe by a public official be life in prison.
I'd also like to see a ten year maximum public service law. No single human could serve more than ten years total, any mixture of elected, appointed or hired on position in the government. No pensions, no career bureaucrats, no care
Forcing teachers to teach of a maximum of 10 years would severely reduce the quality of education (at least at better schools like the one I went to, where most of my teachers had 20+ years of experience).
well, this is just wishful thinking anyway, I know we aren't in any danger of it happening.
With that said, nope, once you start making exceptions to a rule, it ceases to be a rule. Then you are right back where you started from. Public employee A says B gets to stay longer, but his job is as important, because they are..pick something.."helping to clean the environment" or "defending the glorius fatherland from barbarians" or something or "providing quality leadership and charisma and shellacked hair" ya
Even more true and the first real idea for changing the democratic system to the better I had read in a long time. (makes note on this to self...)
But it may be of no improvement, if the bureaucrats are accepting bribes etc. then just for being "adopted" by this or that corporation after their last office term is over. Seems we can't run a fair state without fair people and huge bribes make 98% of all people weak if the sum is high enough...
The real question is: revolution or reformation, what is better
Really, it's a one dude at a time transformation. reform yourself with revolutionary fervor. Be a good boy sprout. Take no shit, nor offer any unrighteous shit. Along those lines. Truth, justice, and what *should be* the 'murkin way and stuff.
I have a buncha this stuff written out better and in mostly non slang elsewheres. I write slang when I am going fast for casual posts but I don't have to of course. It's spread out and a little clunky and it don't need a slashdotting or troll action right now so...I'm
Understand you quite a bit, especially the "why did it broke"-part;) - although it's on home electronics, computers & software for me even if I had some success on car and bike repair. And I confess, I've been sharing music over digital media long before cd-burners were under 1500$ or mp3 and napster was thought of on 3.5" floppy discs and plain vanilla harddiscs;)
Thanks and keep postin', we will need alternatives for the current political system and advancements for democracy in general soon enough
I'd also like to see a ten year maximum public service law. No single human could serve more than ten years total, any mixture of elected, appointed or hired on position in the government. No pensions, no career bureaucrats, no career politicians. The only exceptions would be bonafide veteran war casualities, full medical care, and a pension for their survivors, but zip nada to anyone else.
That's just stupid. No wait a minute, its phenominally stupid. Do you have any idea how valuable experience is? Wh
Sorry, your method isn't working, it's hideously broken. All you get with career bureaucrats is career politicians and playing office politics and bribery and corruption and doofuses like ashcroft covering up naked statues so the boobs don't bite him. Then you get airplanes smacking into towers and presidents sending off secrets to red china and stuff like that. You get high level assassinations but "we think this one brane dead loser guy did it, he just turned into supersniper with a 6 dollar rifle with ma
Videotaping a movie in the theater isn't an important crime. The real crime is in thinking that any random movie is worth copying at all in the first place, and the victims get self judged and self sentenced, even though most of them don't think of themselves as victims.
So what would you have us do to enjoy ourselves otherwise? Count how many ways there are to twiddle our thumbs?
I agree that Hollywood's (possibly unintentional, possibly not) purpose in modern society is to provide the unwashed masses
look around, start asking some random people if they can name the players on their favorite pro sports teams. Then ask them to name some supreme court judges, their two senators, their house rep, etc. Ask some young people to name some songs from some popular groupos, then the other questions. Ask joe tv addict or movie addict that. Generally speaking, although the ability to get the information is there, it is widely underutilised in favor of "bread and circuses" data. This is observable or not, from what
"Be there. Aloha."
-- Steve McGarret, _Hawaii Five-Oh_
You'd get less time... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not standing up for the crime, but isn't the punishment supposed to match it?
Sickening...
Re:You'd get less time... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not standing up for the crime, but isn't the punishment supposed to match it?
Great analogy, except that you're comparing the ACTUAL time you would probably get for a crime to the MAXIMUM time you could get for another crime. The MAXIMUM punishment for felony aggravated assault and felony robbery would probably be about 30+ years, depending on the state. Why do people on slashdot have such trouble co
Re:You'd get less time... (Score:3, Insightful)
Someone steals $500 from a convenience store, they're not going to go down for 30 years. They'll get a few months and then maybe 12 months of probation.
Sitting in a cinema with a camcorder should not be punishable by any prison time. It is not a violent act, it makes nobody rich, it isn't going to fund any drug cartel. It is a simple civil violat
Rome (Score:5, Insightful)
Laws and crimes and what gets emphasized are entirely random now. for instance, we have multi millions of illegal immigrants. People who jump the border have committed a felony, yet it is almost universally ignored, they are allowed to live freely almost anyplace inside the US. At best if they find a huge group of them near the border they'll just be shipped back over, they rarely serve any jail time. We also have laws that make hiring an illegal immigrant a federal crime, with a 10,000$ fine per incident, but you never hear much of any arrests in those cases, even though the practice is blatant.
There's more, that's just a blatant example. Law enforcement is political, it's not any sort of even or fair, it's whatever the elite class wants that season. They give the orders, their enforcers click heels and jump to it. If they are ordered to ignore certain crimes, they will do so, even if they are aware of them.
I am not pro criminal, I just think the laws are terribly skewed and not enforced fairly across the board, and we have a variety of laws on the books now that are just ridiculous and shouldn't even be there. The US has a growth industry of gradually adding to laws that make more of the lower and middle classes "criminals". I think it's planned that way, to make a two class society eventually, technofeudalism. They are also apparently destroying as much of the middle class job structure as they can. Any job they can find that is exportable they will, any job that they can't exported they will import millions of illegals or too many legals to take those jobs. It's so completely obvious I won't even debate it with any debunkers now, the stats and realities are all over. It's been slow but verifiably steady, and the numbers increase yearly. Part of the plan, command and control, the same old dodge the old aristocrats have always pulled down through the ages.
As to recording in the cinema? I could care less, I've been boycotting movies for awhile now, and paid for music, I just quit. If a movie is free to copy, I might buy it. I have two here I got that the producer lets people make copies of. Music, again, if it's free over the radio by putting up with ads I occassionaly listen, but besides that, don't buy any-new. Used I will buy, it's just recycled, and the producers don't make another penny on it, but some guy at a yard sale will so I don't care, but even then not too much, a few examples of each a year. I even quit buying from the new but marked down bins, stopped that last year.
I think if enough people will stop placing so much importance on "entertainmnerts" of that sort, we'll see more sane pricing and reduce any demand for copying for profit. it's all I can do, tell people to boycott movies and music and professional sports and television fiction. it's gotten so ridiculous expensive it's stupid, and the time wasting aspects of it are lost to the wasters, I think in a lot of cases they don't realise how absuerdly addicted they get to it to the detriment of other more important things our society ignores too much. When you can get several million people in one weekend to go drop tens of millions of dollars all over the country to watch some new movie, with thousands in any random city you pick, and the same city can't get two dozen people to a community meeting to discuss local judicial corruption or the next multi million dollar school budget, etc, well, there's something wrong there in *general terms*. IMO anyway.
Rome when it was collapsing had it's bread and circuses to keep the people amused and occupied so they wouldn't pay attention to the rot that was collapsing their society around them.. We have the same thing now but people don't like to think they are droned out barbarians addicted to bre
Re:Rome (Score:0)
ages (Score:1)
As to staying amused in your spare time? Man, I have yet to find a teenager who couldn't find something to do, there's too much energy there. Getting put in that alpha state with TV just turns kids into consu
Re:Rome (Score:0)
Shhh. That's heresy! If no one goes to the movies, the movie producers will LOSE MONEY and petition congress to pass a law mandating attendance at the movies. We could have local lotteries in every town with a movie theater. The winners(???) have to go to the movie -- or be SHOT. Sorry, but the law is the law is the law is the law
double features (Score:1)
The only thing that saved them for me was air conditioning inside the theaters. I like the better sound systems in movies though, that's about the only improvement I've seen.
Re:Rome (Score:2)
I used to work in (environmental) law enforcement for the state of Maryland, there was one case I remember where this one company was violating the state laws. However, the owner was a big contributor to the governor's campaign f
fiddling while burning (Score:1)
No matter.... it's way more common than not, every cop I have ever met has told me about crimes being committed by f
Re:Rome (Score:0)
Well actually they don't need to prove that they are a citizen in order to be employed. They simply show us their "proof" of citizenship, such as a fake green card, fake social security, fake driver's license...etc. Then we say yep looks like you're legal, you can work for us.
Now legislation in California to give illegals drivers licenses (could be used a proof of citizenship even though they are here illegally) is just rediculous.
Nope, not a surprise (Score:1)
If it was up to me, I'd ban any for profit or non profit corporate campaign contributions, and limit named human individuals to 100$ maximum total political donations per calendar year, and make accepting a bribe by a public official be life in prison.
I'd also like to see a ten year maximum public service law. No single human could serve more than ten years total, any mixture of elected, appointed or hired on position in the government. No pensions, no career bureaucrats, no care
What about public school teachers? (Score:2)
no exceptions (Score:1)
With that said, nope, once you start making exceptions to a rule, it ceases to be a rule. Then you are right back where you started from. Public employee A says B gets to stay longer, but his job is as important, because they are..pick something
Re:no exceptions (Score:2)
But it may be of no improvement, if the bureaucrats are accepting bribes etc. then just for being "adopted" by this or that corporation after their last office term is over. Seems we can't run a fair state without fair people and huge bribes make 98% of all people weak if the sum is high enough...
The real question is: revolution or reformation, what is better
you reform yourself and that is the revolution (Score:1)
I have a buncha this stuff written out better and in mostly non slang elsewheres. I write slang when I am going fast for casual posts but I don't have to of course. It's spread out and a little clunky and it don't need a slashdotting or troll action right now so...I'm
Re:you reform yourself and that is the revolution (Score:2)
Thanks and keep postin', we will need alternatives for the current political system and advancements for democracy in general soon enough
Re:Nope, not a surprise (Score:1)
That's just stupid. No wait a minute, its phenominally stupid. Do you have any idea how valuable experience is? Wh
Re:Nope, not a surprise (Score:1)
Re:Nope, not a surprise (Score:2)
Wow, we're feeling bitter, aren't we? (Score:2)
Videotaping a movie in the theater isn't an important crime. The real crime is in thinking that any random movie is worth copying at all in the first place, and the victims get self judged and self sentenced, even though most of them don't think of themselves as victims.
So what would you have us do to enjoy ourselves otherwise? Count how many ways there are to twiddle our thumbs?
I agree that Hollywood's (possibly unintentional, possibly not) purpose in modern society is to provide the unwashed masses
the proof is in the pudding (Score:1)