"Americans have no freedoms"

[markos82]

Get your facts straight, the reason the US Justice was able to go after them was because a portion of their business was based in the U.S., Virginia I believe. And they were shut down because they are committing illegal activities including money laundering and theft. I don't support criminal activity.

Main HQ are in china and thats the fact, servers are most probably not in US and how can you turnoff servers that dont fall under your country rules? Also no one can come to my country and arrest me for not fallowing USA rules. Also you need to prove that... The decision to shutdown megaupload was made in USA they arrested ppl not from USA. It is like me going to USA and arresting some american citizen for taking my photo and sticking i to a donkey ass.

[Deleted]

- so now you are resorting to Argumentum ad hominem - this is really low. it was only an example how it REALLY works among people who love music and want to earn money with it.

Maybe next time you shouldn't use an irrelative personal example to try and prove your point if you dont want to get nailed for it. Just a suggestion. Those guys you mention aren't "earning money" with it; in a situation as you describe it, at best, they're "getting by", and won't have any savings when their carreers end. But then again people like you probably feel that's all they deserve anyway, seeing how few rights you feel artists have.

with usury it was the same - if you dont have the money, dont take the loan, BUT in reality - quite opposite was true :-) it is the same with music. for example in our country there was only one site where you could download music legally, prices were HIGHER than for CD, quality considerably lower - 128kbps. that was merely their own fail to react to changes which occurred in 90's (broadband, large storages, PCs able to reproduce video and sound in HD quality..)]

You're comparing two very different things: a need for housing, which is a basic human need that should be affordable to all, and unlimited access to a luxery product (music cd's). Not even music in general; there's plenty of free music everywhere (radio and music that is voluntarely made available for free come to mind). As these things are in completely different categories, comparing them is ludicrous - at best. The rest is just nonsense; there's plenty of legal websites where you can purchase/download songs or albums in top quality.

and you are still FALSELY pretending that people dont want to buy it but only steal it - it is not true - the only correct statement is - "it is still too expensive and therefore supply and demand curve did not cross themselves" - enternainment industry is still TOO greedy - that is the whole story behind it. they are in the middle of the technological leap and they still did not get it - they still want to keep old status quo.

What is too expensive or not is always determined by market mechanics - demand and supply. Personally, i feel the cost of fuel is too expensive. Does that make it allright for me to steal it from companies that sell it? No. Permanent access to specific music is even more of a luxery product than fuel is; to say high prices somehow makes it allright for you to steal it, is just silly.

like it or not - this is what is happening and the ONLY thing entertainment industry should do to survive is to ADJUST to new circumstances or fight against them and lose ;-) do you remember from your history lessons how dinosaurs died? yes, they did not adjust...

Everyone is perfectly aware of how software and music is massively illegally pirated online. Again - this does not make it somehow just, all of a sudden, to be stealing luxery products simply because you feel the market price is too high. You say they can adjust or fight and lose, but tbh, in my view they're fighting and winning, one day at a time. Every government in the west is waging wars against illegal piracy websites, and the USA was about to pass a bill that would have given the government all the tools it needs to put a permanent halt to it. I dont support the bill, offcourse, it was much too strict. But you're naieve to think the software & music development industries are doomed.

[Clevername]

Who says Irans give money to Hezbollah? That's all speculation
Putting a lot of ships near someone's frontier is considered an act of provocation.
Iran isn't the only country that is against the US and Israel having nukes.

Since you people love your wikipedia postings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_of_Hezbollah
Our allies in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait appreciate us there to protect their oil interests, our operations in Iraq necessitate our being there.
Well then maybe Iran shouldn't have signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty back in the 60's giving us the ability to have nukes.

[Laize]

i actually provided the reason for your high amount of prisoners, the war on drugs and the fact that your prisons are privatly owned which means that the prisons have incentive to make recidivism high

Private prisons (Most are not) have an incentive to make recidivism high because their customer (government) pays them regardless. If another prison came along boasting lower recidivism rates and better treatment of prisoners, the first prison would absolutely lose business. The private sector at work.

It's because their customers don't give a shit how the inmates are treated that they are able to get away with it.

[Geno]

Jeg er dansker, det er ikke mine fængsler :P [I am danish, it is not my prisons]

And yes, danish is not allways something you eat :P

lol dont say that to an american. lol

[Deleted]

Who says we killed the scientists? That's all speculation
Our ships have patrolled those waters for decades without incident.
We are not the only country that doesn't want Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Current economic embargo will have cruel impact towards Iran's citizens. Iran is trying to fight against that which ironically helps their own people much more than any of US actions (especially war)

with nuclear weapons possession it is like this - country X does not have nuclear weapons but wants to obtain it. countries which already have nuclear weapons as well as countries which dont have them are against it. country X obtains nuclear weapon. Country Y does not have nuclear weapons but wants to obtain it. countries which already have nuclear weapons (country X included) as well as countries which dont have them are against it.. and so on and so on.

Iran declared they want to use nuclear power for peaceful means (nuclear plants) and it was not proved otherwise (there are only speculations they stopped their nuclear bomb research around 10years ago and did not relaunch it)

overall US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is complete disaster and US military presence in Iran could be 21st century's analogy to Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - good luck with that. but sorry if most of the world is not happy about it.

[Deleted]

aggree on the north korea and stuff. but american people dont have that much freedom sir we all dont have that much freedon. can you smoke weed where ever you want? or put a seed in the ground ? no caus some big chiefs say its "iilegal" wtf? its a damn plant. and i dont mean LEGALIZE WEED or stuff like that, its just an example. we cant live how WE want. we got to go to school and learn a job, really ? and if i dont want to ? what if i just want to have a farm with some cows ( my meat / milk ) some vegeteables ( dont mind my english <3 ) and have NOTHING do to with damn goverments! yes i hate goverments<3

[bloody251]

Hmm ok you won this.

But lets pretend that the US never gave money to Al'Qaeda in Afghanistan to fight against Russia.

[Deleted]

I hate Americans..They are stupid fat and lazy.

Total Agree! peopleofwalmart.com is all the proof I need!!

[Xarkan]

Hmm ok you won this.

But lets pretend that the US never gave money to Al'Qaeda in Afghanistan to fight against Russia.

I have no problem pretending that, in fact i thought they gave money to Taleban or however it is spelled

[Ghostie]

aggree on the north korea and stuff. but american people dont have that much freedom sir we all dont have that much freedon. can you smoke weed where ever you want? or put a seed in the ground ? no caus some big chiefs say its "iilegal" wtf? its a damn plant. and i dont mean LEGALIZE WEED or stuff like that, its just an example. we cant live how WE want. we got to go to school and learn a job, really ? and if i dont want to ? what if i just want to have a farm with some cows ( my meat / milk ) some vegeteables ( dont mind my english <3 ) and have NOTHING do to with damn goverments! yes i hate goverments<3

can't tell if you're joking or making fun of stupid people

[Deleted]

Everyone is perfectly aware of how software and music is massively illegally pirated online. Again - this does not make it somehow just, all of a sudden, to be stealing luxery products simply because you feel the market price is too high. You say they can adjust or fight and lose, but tbh, in my view they're fighting and winning, one day at a time. Every government in the west is waging wars against illegal piracy websites, and the USA was about to pass a bill that would have given the government all the tools it needs to put a permanent halt to it. I dont support the bill, offcourse, it was much too strict. But you're naieve to think the software & music development industries are doomed.

basically - you are wrong on so many levels.

maybe they are winning lawsuits but whole western economy is struggling partly because of this foolishness so in the end of the day - they will lose as well ;-)

anyway you just dont see it and although i showed you (and not only me ofc) many current examples or examples from history (even the dinosaurs) you didnt take it. so the only way for you to finally get it is to experience it.. ..again :-/

[Deleted]

If you think Americans have no freedom, go to Iran, go to Syria, China or North Korea. You'll be begging for American freedom in a day.

Is it already so bad in US, that you compare yourself with countries like North Korea?
People who says it compare US with democratic countries, which US claims to be, not with North Korea... and well for a country that claims to be democratic up to western standards US is pretty much a totalitaristic police state.

[Clevername]

Current economic embargo will have cruel impact towards Iran's citizens. Iran is trying to fight against that which ironically helps their own people much more than any of US actions (especially war)

with nuclear weapons possession it is like this - country X does not have nuclear weapons but wants to obtain it. countries which already have nuclear weapons as well as countries which dont have them are against it. country X obtains nuclear weapon. Country Y does not have nuclear weapons but wants to obtain it. countries which already have nuclear weapons (country X included) as well as countries which dont have them are against it.. and so on and so on.

Iran declared they want to use nuclear power for peaceful means (nuclear plants) and it was not proved otherwise (there are only speculations they stopped their nuclear bomb research around 10years ago and did not relaunch it)

overall US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan is complete disaster and US military presence in Iran could be 21st century's analogy to Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - good luck with that. but sorry if most of the world is not happy about it.

Our crippling sanctions you mean the fact we don't want to buy / trade shit with people who chant 'Death to America'... well no shit.
The Fact Iran signed a nuclear non-proliferation treaty back in the 60's saying they wouldn't produce nukes and we could possess them?
And please for the love of God let's not beat the dead horse that is the Iraq / Afghanistan debacle.

[Adam Jensen]

You know your country is heading for the shitter when people are using countries like North Korea as examples to compare your rights and freedoms with. LEAST WE HAVE MORE FREEDOMS THAN NORTH KOREA BRO!

This.

"At Least we aren't North Korea . . . yet!" is a horrible comparison because we should be approaching that point at all.

People say that "we have no freedoms" but that's mostly hyperbole. Just look at what's been going on. Corporations are declared "people" and therefore they are allowed to give money to candidate campaigns for public office, in protection of their free speech (WTF SCOTUS?) thus enabling them to practically buy candidates. Why did Rep Lamar Smith (R-TX) sponser SOPA? Because the media industry bought him. And right now, Chris Dodd (D-Con) former senator and now head of the MPAA is bribing the President directly and on national news!

So now our government is being bought and paid for by corporations and the Supreme Court is supporting this.

Then we have the NDAA that was pushed through Congress, allowing for domestic suspects of terrorism to be arrested and detained indefinitely without trial or due process until "the war ends." Tell me, when will the war on terror end? Can you win a fucking war against an idea? They can arrest you on the slightest charge, throw you in jail and you never get a chance to defend yourself. Its completely unconstitutional and goes against human rights. Oh and Joe Lieberman (I-Idiot) sponsored a bill that can strip you of your citizenship for saying bad things about the US.

And now we have Congress trying to censor the Internet for the fat cats in the RIAA/MPAA

So yes, we still have more freedoms than North Korea. But fuck, something is very wrong with this country right now. It is headed in a terrible direction.

[bloody251]

I have no problem pretending that, in fact i thought they gave money to Taleban or however it is spelled

Ok, Talliban (w/e its spelled). Happy?

[Deleted]

@Clevername
well - not only you, but all your friends as well. it can hurt iran pretty badly. not the rulers themselves but rather the ordinary citizens. there are also reports from the country that new generation is quite resistant to accept their current government as their supreme leader forever and it is possible they will overthrow it themselves - in time..

but what seems to be unavoidable is rise of Iran as a local power in the middle east. Israel is mad about it, USA through AIPAC as well :-) and here we have reason for sanctions.

also it is quite funny to see you pointing out at their chanting "death to america" and to accidentally forget to mention Israeli chanting "lets nuke Iran" or fact that many american patriots are expecting another heroic war against terror and evil this time in iran.

but there is slight difference -iran does not have military power to invade USA.

you also mentioned that you are only protecting your allies in middle east against possible Iranian aggression. So i have to repeat myself:
Iran was not involved in any offensive war for their entire modern history. There are NO SIGNS AT ALL they pose any military threat to their neighbours but on the other hand they are threatened by Israeli nuclear assault or at least regular bombing assaults.

so please dont show Iran as a threat - it is one big lie!

if they would become dominant local power it would be only on political, economical cultural or religious level..

[Bakis]

Our ships have patrolled those waters for decades without incident.

Did not just such a ship blow a Irani passanger flight out of the sky killing 270 something civilians?

[Clevername]

@Clevername
well - not only you, but all your friends as well. it can hurt iran pretty badly. not the rulers themselves but rather the ordinary citizens. there are also reports from the country that new generation is quite resistant to accept their current government as their supreme leader forever and it is possible they will overthrow it themselves - in time..

but what seems to be unavoidable is rise of Iran as a local power in the middle east. Israel is mad about it, USA through AIPAC as well :-) and here we have reason for sanctions.

also it is quite funny to see you pointing out at their chanting "death to america" and to accidentally forget to mention Israeli chanting "lets nuke Iran" or fact that many american patriots are expecting another heroic war against terror and evil this time in iran.

but there is slight difference -iran does not have military power to invade USA.

you also mentioned that you are only protecting your allies in middle east against possible Iranian aggression. So i have to repeat myself:
Iran was not involved in any offensive war for their entire modern history. There are NO SIGNS AT ALL they pose any military threat to their neighbours but on the other hand they are threatened by Israeli nuclear assault or at least regular bombing assaults.

so please dont show Iran as a threat - it is one big lie!

if they would become dominant local power it would be only on political, economical cultural or religious level..

Ok few things here... Israel was making those chants... the US and Israel are two separate autonomous countries capable of making independent decision.
I never said we were protecting allies against Iranian aggression. I said we were protecting our allies interests.
How can you know what American patriots are thinking?

Also, I don't give a shit if they overthrow their government or not. Quit funding terrorists, Stop fucking with the strait of hormuz (since you don't fucking own it and you aren't the only country that uses the gulf). Give up on the idea of having nukes, you already opted out of that one.

---------- Post added 2012-01-20 at 03:16 PM ----------

Did not just such a ship blow a Irani passanger flight out of the sky killing 270 something civilians?

290 and it was in the middle of the Iraq - Iran war and Iran had already attacked one US ship in the area.

[Catta]

On my understanding & knowledge of the USA & european laws, obviously. What else would i base it on?



Europeans pay an average of over 50% of income from income on labor to taxes; i believe in the USA in average this is what... 20% max? The percentage of your income that goes to taxes is a lot more informative as to which society is the more free one, than which goverment is more actively and persistently going through all recordings and communication in an effort to stop terrorists and heinous criminals. Because the tax-thing will have a huge impact on the way you can organise your life and the choices you can make, while the second one has no impact what-so-ever, as long as you're not a terrorist or heinous criminal.

Please list the source from which you deduce that the average european pay 50 % of their income as taxes... Im waiting...