I'm starting to wonder about all of the protesters who don't want this treaty (or whatever it is) signed. It's true that I don't want my freedoms curtailed, but I know of some Internet users who think nothing of pirating music and movies. I suspect that their REAL objection to the new treaty is that they might not be able to copy any new media without having to pay for it. Now, I'm not a real fan of Hollywood, or some of these "musical" artists, but I feel that they have a right to be fairly compensated for their work. Bottom line, I hope that the nations around the world can come to some agreement as to how to prevent piracy without restricting the freedom to navigate among non-pirating sites on the web.
Russians have a long history of authoritarian governments, and it is difficult for people to change their mindset. This is especially true because of the history of Lenin, Stalin, and the leaders who followed them. The KGB and other internal security organizations made sure that dissenters and potential democratic leaders "disappeared" when they became a threat. Putin is trying to recreate the old Soviet Union, and is using his control of the government to stifle dissent. The people who openly challenge him are taking a big risk, and the arrests of the two leaders is Putin's way of warning the rest. It is going to be difficult for the pro-democracy protesters to collect enough Russians into their groups to really effect a change in the way things work in that country. Between the oligarchs and the communists, there are enough corrupt people in key government positions to ensure Putin's re-election as president, unless somehow a massive groundswell of dissent causes the people to unite around a pro-democracy leader.
Considering that Mr. Alter not only ignored Fast and Furious, but he missed the Solyndra debacle (including loans to other "green" companies connected to Obama contributers), and now, the latest, which is the developing story of another Obama contributer getting help on a controversial drug... considering all of that, one has to wonder if Mr. Alter is on Jay Carney's payroll. (Mr. Carney is Obama's Press Secretary.) It is very discouraging to find that you cannot depend on most of the news organizations to report the news objectively. Thank God for Fox News and Breitbart, to provide some balance to news reporting. I also think that even more attention should be paid to exposing the bias in individuals in the media, who blatantly lie or "misreport" the news. We hear left-wing radicals shouting things like, "Fox lies!", but they are always unable to provide specific examples of what they claim. On the other hand, Breitbart and Brent Bozell have provided numerous examples of either open distortions of the truth by the media, or non-reporting of significant events (such as the violence at the various OWS city locations).
Axelrod would tell everyone that night is day and red is green, if it would help Obama's re-election. The man is a weasel who doesn't care a bit about what Obama is doing to the United States. He, like the rest of the uber-liberals only are interested in maintaining their own power, and keeping the lower classes beholden to the Democrats.
I suspect that there are pertinent facts that are not in this article. Is it simply a "he said - she said" situation, or are there witnesses. If the former, then, sadly, the benefit of the doubt seems to go predominantly to the female. If there is evidence that she has a penchant for lying or false accusations, then why wasn't that presented in court? Why did the man have to wear a gun at home in the first place? I own TWO handguns, but I don't feel so threatened that I have to walk around, wearing a gun, when I am at home. As I said before, there are facts which are not presented in the article, and which would help people understand the fairness or unfairness of the man's conviction.
We live in a society where people are afraid to uphold traditional standards due to political correctness. Crap like a peeing police officer isn't art, any more than images of Christ or Mary in feces or urine are. These so-called artists are simply in-your-face shock merchants. Any museum director or art critic who doesn't know the difference between true art and that slop should lose their job yesterday. I'd love to see someone try to pass a picture of Mohammed covered in excrement off as art. I'll bet you would see a different response by the so-called experts. (For the jihadists who are sharpening their knives right now, I will say that I don't consider ANY IMAGE covered in excrement as art.)
Once again, MSNBC has demonstrated that liberals are the most intolerant people in this country. Despite their claims of tolerance, the left is tolerant of only people who parrot the same party line as they do. Any variation from left-wing orthodoxy is immediately and violently denounced as being either "racist", or "homophobic", or the stuff of evil robber-barrons in large corporations, whose only goal is to screw over the common man, while enriching themselves. The people at MSNBC are so wrapped up in their own rhetoric, that they can't even see the reality of what is going on in this country. Fortunately, a majority of the people in this country are starting to see these people as the ultra-left loons that they are, and are rejecting their message, as they demonstrated last November.
The one thing that people have to keep in mind is that even Obama, Al Gore, and George Soros cannot control the sun. If the climate changes due to changes in solar activity, then we cannot affect those changes by changing the way we use energy. Those who beat the drums about the effect of man-made global warming, conveniently ignore the variablility of the sun, and its effects on Earth's climate. Instead of destroying economies in a futile attempt to change climates by regulating emmissions, we should be studying ways of coping with varying weather and climatic conditions.
What is so discouraging is how liberals take advantage of this country's compassion for the people of Haiti, to get the country to donate large sums of money for their relief. The only problem is that the money never gets to those who need it. It is siphoned off by the bureaucrats in both countries, along with the fraudulent businesses who sell relief goods and materials which don't exist. Other funds are deposited directly into the accounts of the corrupt government politicians in Haiti itself. There is almost no oversight or accountability for the funds, and so the cycle of poverty and corruption continues. The only solution is to severely punish crooks and corrupt officials when they are caught, and keep tight controls on the funds, to ensure that at least some of the poor will receive their benefit.
It is rather ironic that many of the technologies that are being used were originally invented for a good purpose, that is, to help us to fight Islamic terrorism. Now it seems that their uses are being perverted by individuals who want to circumvent the Constitution, and do warrantless surveilance of all citizens. I guess that we are closer to the Big Brother state in "1984" than we ever imagined that we would be. In that respect, at least, the terrorists have achieved their goal of changing the way we live.
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