ralis

Just read the interview with Edward Snowden. If what he says is true, the NSA is far worse than anyone can imagine. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-why http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/edward-snowden-says-motive-behind-leaks-was-to-expose-surveillance-state/2013/06/09/aa3f0804-d13b-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html

Bill Moyers interviews Richard Wolff who details some solutions to the problem.

If you use http://zend2.com/ make certain there are no DNS leaks.

Latest update on the NSA. Edward Snowden who is the source of the leak to Glenn Greenwald was interviewed after he fled to Hong Kong. A whistleblower with balls! I imagine the government will want to prosecute him under the espionage act. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/09/edward-snowden-nsa-leak-guardian-whistleblower-nsa-revelations_n_3412245.html

Another example of corporate fascist power. Warner Bros. levies fines against P2P file sharing. How in the hell can a corporation levy a fine without legal due process in a court of law? http://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-were-fining-file-sharers-who-use-non-six-strike-isps-130607/

1. Repeal 'Citizens United' which will eliminate corporation speech in influencing politics. Money is not speech! Corporations are not persons. 2. Enforce the 'Sherman Antitrust Act by breaking up the corporate monopolies. 3. Bring back the 'Fairness Doctrine'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine 4. Reinstate 'Glass Steagall' or a more powerful version which will break up the Wall Street banks. Investment banking will be separate from commercial banking. Wall Street has been supporting the multinational corporations with cheap money. E.g. Goldman Sachs can borrow money from the Fed at .75% interest, then invests those loans to short the market or whatever it wishes. 5. Corporate licensing must be for a limited amount of time. No exceptions. 6. If a corporation violates it's charter, then such entity receives the death penalty. 7. Intellectual property patents will expire in x number of years. Microsoft and other behemoths will no longer dominate. 8. Reinstate corporate taxes of at least 70% over the first 2 million such that business owners will grow a company as opposed to looting it. Before Reagan the marginal rate was 70%. After Reagan reduced the rates, the wealthy use the tax cuts to invest in the markets which overvalued; stocks, commodities etc. which lead to bubble markets.

Glenn Greenwald, journalist for the Guardian, broke the story on the NSA data collecting. To blame any one President is missing the point given that these surveillance programs go back decades. The Congress is ultimately responsible for reigning in such blatant disregard for the Constitution! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/09/glenn-greenwald-this-week-should-expect-more-revelations_n_3411834.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order Orwellian crowd control as depicted in '1984'. http://www.amazon.com/Nineteen-eighty-four-ebook/dp/B004EEP7JW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1370798296&sr=1-1&keywords=1984 Hobbes was positing in 'Leviathan' that an absolute monarch is necessary to reign in human nature via a rigidly defined 'social contract', in this case evolving technology which can be used to enforce an orderly social behavior/construct, defined by the ruling elite. This is just another case of fear being used against the masses. There are some that believe that humans must be ruled by an 'iron fist'. http://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Philosophical-Classics-Thomas-Hobbes/dp/0486447944 How much power will this put in the hands of a future President as this technology evolves? Is power the ultimate drug/addiction? Fascism does not come about by the government working alone but by the intrusion/partnership of the corporate world. Corporations developing technology that can be used for sinister purposes. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/all-the-infrastructure-a-tyrant-would-need-courtesy-of-bush-and-obama/276635/

I am finished with this so called discussion. Your opinion is entirely your own with no basis in science. Have fun talking to yourself.

No. I have have feet firmly grounded in science, whereas the denial crowd does not. Not one of you here understand the science let alone the math to even begin to understand AGW. Stop pretending that any of you know something!

You are comparing yourself to Galileo? You must have a persecution complex. Most outrageous statement I have seen on this site.

Refutation of Dr. Gerlich's assertions on AGW. He has no peer reviewed papers. Have fun with the German! http://www.ing-buero-ebel.de/Treib/Hauptseite.pdf http://arxiv.org/pdf/0802.4324v1.pdf http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/03/formal-reply-to-gerlich-and-tscheuner.html http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/02/all-you-never-wanted-to-know-about.html

I would suggest that understanding peer review would be appropriate. Peer review is in the realm of 'we' as opposed to the libertarian view of 'me'. Anyone can attempt to write papers that seem to have credibility with the stated objective of purveying some sort of absolute truth which in the writers mind should go unchallenged. Working with one's peers in a group is the real challenge. That is why i challenge all the papers that you post here.

Poker is a very complicated mathematical game. Which if played well is akin to chess. Not only the math of the game but creating psychological strategies to trap one's opponents. The ability to be aware of one's emotions is paramount to success.

Your points don't zip overhead. The problem is that all your so called revelations have already been addressed by the 97% of climate scientists. You have offered no substantive evidence refuting AGW.

No. Your point was not well made. Just more cut/paste as usual. Your posts are replete with anti-science rants.

I don't agree about the GMO. Why? There are better means such as tissue culture which is selecting for soil conditions, insect resistance, disease resistance and other conditions. The mistaken idea that superior crops result from genetic manipulation has not been proven. Hybridized and genetically altered food crops or ornamentals are genetically weak, thus one will see certain reversions back to the parent material. This is due to the evolutionary strength of the particular species. Furthermore, genetic manipulation does not account for how crops interact in a given system. What we are seeing is deconstructionism/reductionist thinking in which genetic manipulation is a superior technique over other possible solutions. One more point I wanted to make is that what I have observed in nature is that insects are beneficial. Especially when seen as part of an ecosystem. Weak plants are taken down by insects. That is part of their function.

As you most likely know from studying history, all structures fail given time. Whether it be countries, empires or corporations. I know that many of us want to see the large corporations such as Monsanto fail or have their corporate charters revoked but unless the government enforces the 'Sherman Antitrust act, or overturn the Monsanto protection act, then we all are in for a wait. Many times the corporations just reform under a different name and structure. Consider the case of I.G. Farben which is an important example. I.G. Farben was liquidated and the result is; Agfa, Bayer and BASF. http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_igfarben02.htm

Thanks for researching that piece. I was suspicious of the cut/paste by JB but didn't have the time to fully research it. Haha!

Overrated among some but not all. I had many classes where group projects were required. Most of my peers valued the interaction. Of course there are always persons who don't care to discuss and critique. You may be correct that critical thinking skills are difficult to teach. If one graduates without learning to think critically, that would be a waste of an education.

Yes!

Everyday I do my part to improve things. I employ people in my business. I give to others that are less fortunate. I just don't talk about my personal life on this forum. There is no separate 'I' only 'we'. All are responsible for the problems of society.

You have proven my points that I made in the Coursera thread.

You accuse me of whining about social ills and then you begin a thread on social ills.

It is a critique of online education including Coursera. In general, given the lack of quality education in this society, which was my point in the last post. Many will not understand the difference in quality live education as opposed to online classes. What Coursera may provide is a refresher for college graduates or one's investigating higher learning opportunities which such courses would give a brief overview. What most don't realize is that society is 'we' not 'I'. The bullshit education system that pervades our culture is not separate but an expression of what we have become as a society.

Live classroom interaction among peers on a daily basis is different than discussions on a forum. What I am talking about are relationships with others face to face and being able to confront and debate issues spontaneously. Not hiding behind a keyboard and monitor which makes one anonymous.