I disagree. Intrinsic rights only exist where intrinsic duties exist. There is no intrinsic duty to be private (generally speaking). You may be responsible to keep certain aspects of your life private (nakedness, certain agreements or contracts, etc.) and for those things you have the right. But again, only because you have the duty.

But to really understand this issue, you have to be willing to discuss duties before God, not before men. And I think that topic is beyond the pale for the majority of video sifters.

Eärendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.

In panoply of ancient kings,
in chainéd rings he armoured him;
his shining shield was scored with runes
to ward all wounds and harm from him;
his bow was made of dragon-horn,
his arrows shorn of ebony,
of silver was his habergeon,
his scabbard of chalcedony;
his sword of steel was valiant,
of adamant his helmet tall,
an eagle-plume upon his crest,
upon his breast an emerald.

Beneath the Moon and under star
he wandered far from northern strands,
bewildered on enchanted ways
beyond the days of mortal lands.
From gnashing of the Narrow Ice
where shadow lies on frozen hills,
from nether heats and burning waste
he turned in haste, and roving still
on starless waters far astray
at last he came to Night of Naught,
and passed, and never sight he saw
of shining shore nor light he sought.
The winds of wrath came driving him,
and blindly in the foam he fled
from west to east and errandless,
unheralded he homeward sped.

There flying Elwing came to him,
and flame was in the darkness lit;
more bright than light of diamond
the fire upon her carcanet.
The Silmaril she bound on him
and crowned him with the living light
and dauntless then with burning brow
he turned his prow; and in the night
from Otherworld beyond the Sea
there strong and free a storm arose,
a wind of power in Tarmenel;
by paths that seldom mortal goes
his boat it bore with biting breath
as might of death across the grey
and long-forsaken seas distressed:
from east to west he passed away.

Through Evernight he back was borne
on black and roaring waves that ran
o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores
that drowned before the Days began,
until he heard on strands of pearl
where ends the world the music long,
where ever-foaming billows roll
the yellow gold and jewels wan.
He saw the Mountain silent rise
where twilight lies upon the knees
of Valinor, and Eldamar
beheld afar beyond the seas.
A wanderer escaped from night
to haven white he came at last,
to Elvenhome the green and fair
where keen the air, where pale as glass
beneath the Hill of Ilmarin
a-glimmer in a valley sheer
the lamplit towers of Tirion
are mirrored on the Shadowmere.

He tarried there from errantry,
and melodies they taught to him,
and sages old him marvels told,
and harps of gold they brought to him.
They clothed him then in elven-white,
and seven lights before him sent,
as through the Calacirian
to hidden land forlorn he went.
He came unto the timeless halls
where shining fall the countless years,
and endless reigns the Elder King
in Ilmarin on Mountain sheer;
and words unheard were spoken then
of folk of Men and Elven-kin,
beyond the world were visions showed
forbid to those that dwell therein.

A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elven-glass
with shining prow; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore on silver mast:
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
to gleam thereon by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon.

From Evereven's lofty hills
where softly silver fountains fall
his wings him bore, a wandering light,
beyond the mighty Mountain Wall.
From World's End then he turned away,
and yearned again to find afar
his home through shadow journeying,
and burning as an island star
on high above the mists he came,
a distant flame before the Sun,
a wonder ere the waking dawn
where grey the Norland waters run.

And over Middle-earth he passed
and heard at last the weeping sore
of women and of elven-maids
in Elder Days, in years of yore.
But on him mighty doom was laid,
till Moon should fade, an orbéd star
to pass, and tarry never more
on Hither Shores where mortals are;
for ever still a herald on
an errand that should never rest
to bear his shining lamp afar,
the Flammifer of Westernesse.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'carl sagan, earth' to 'carl sagan, earth, pale blue dot' - edited by Grimm

I've said my peace. I guess some people will never be satisfied with reason in any dose, big or small. In any event, this site needs a better class of liberal. The usual suspects on this site these days are pale comparisons of the insightful groups we had not just three or four years ago. What a shame. I miss them. They at least knew what the term "straw man" meant. Ah well.

I think the first 5 minutes was the most important part of the conversation. It's bigger than both men and he's got a point. The burden of proof in "journalism" has been on a downward trend for the last 10-20 years and sites like Salon have decided to just throw it out the window outright.

What they've discovered is that spreading "based on a true story" style journalism is much more profitable than traditional journalism and their (relatively) new and growing religion allows them to do it without sin.

This religion is much more damaging than any popular, established religion in practice today. This religion doesn't need buildings or ordained practitioners. This religion creates its own propaganda as a side effect of its practice. Its worshipers can often hide in plain sight and subvert civilization for years without direct personal repercussions; in fact they are often rewarded for their behavior.

The religion is Objectivism, and its deity is "the invisible hand". When your morality is judged by your profit than you've undone a core pillar of civilization. The damage of all other practiced religions in the modern era pale in comparison.

The first five minutes of this video were the only part of this conversation that were relevant to the real challenges of our times.

One of the most common arguments I hear is that people would have their parents or grandparents "put down" to get at their inheritance quicker, which says more about the mentality of the people who put forth that argument than it does about euthanasia.

I actually read a comment from someone who said he wouldn't read Terry Pratchett because he was "morally reprehensible". When asked about it, he sad it was because Pratchett supported being able to choose when to die.

He felt it was more moral to force not only him, but also his friends and family to suffer the indignity of watching him lose his mind and become a pale imitation of his former self.

Ah, one of the all-time great singles of the rock era. So mature, yet it was their first single. I envy those hearing this for the first time (and they're just kids in this video... kids!). One of Paul McCartney's favorite songs:

McCartney: "It's got to be "A Whiter Shade of Pale." The first time I ever heard it was the night I met Linda. We met at the Bag O' Nails, and we went on to the Speakeasy, and they played the record of it there. We were with Keith Moon of the Who and Eric Burdon of the Animals, and we were all trying to figure out who it was. We all thought it must be Stevie Winwood, but it turned out to be Procol Harum. We just said, 'This is the best song ever, man.'"

I just don't understand how you can think that the power to influence public debate through politics and the media of pro green energy groups can compare to that of the size and influence of the old energy sector.

Green energy is a cottage industry compared to old energy. The power of environmentalists and even a few activist minded billionaires would pale to the spending power and incentive to act of old energy companies.

Surely if you're concerned about money muddying the debate, the first group you would focus on is the ones with disproportionately more money?

Also your arguments I've seen previously echo the tobacco / lung cancer debate. Aren't you concerned you're being duped by these supposedly authoritative blogs?

Some of the more disturbing aspects to divorce court:

1)No right to trial by jury and no right to representation by a court appointed lawyer if you cannot afford a private attorney. Your fate is solely in the hands of one judge.

2)Lawyers are essentially completely immune from prosecution for fraud, libel, defamation, excessive litigation and more.

3)Family courts are not courts of law but rather courts of equity. This amplifies the risk and damage that a corrupt judge can do to you exponentially by giving that judge virtually unlimited power to interpret the law according to his or her opinion as to what is 'right' as opposed to what might be actually written in the law.

Kafka's The Trial pales in comparison to the reality of modern day family court.

"Beer" only keeps a few years? I think my bottle of Utopias will last several, or I'm wasting it as as we speak by not drinking it... Whereas a bottle of fresh-hopped pale ale is only good for a couple of months. By beer, do you just mean shitty lager? (/beer-hipster-douchebag)

I feel like I can take a middleground on the whole tailgating issue, as a commuting biker I tend to experience both ends of the equation quite regularly and IMHO the problem lies in the extremes in attitude.

On the one hand if you drive/ride a lot and have good confidence in the vehicle and roadcraft in general (frequently the case with professional van and truck divers) it can be extremely frustrating when people don't practice good lane and speed discipline. I don't mean people maintaining a decent pace (it's your problem if you want to go faster than posted limits and they don't) I mean people either:
A. Driving below the posted limit (within reason)
B. Accelerating to speed absurdly slowly or slowing to 2mph to take a corner you could hit at 10-20 comfortably
C. Hogging the outside/passing lane because THEY are going as fast as THEY want to go so why should they speed up or slow down to get out of everybodys way? (C**TS!)

Under the above circumstances I understand why people end up tailgating, in fact I think it happens without much of a conscious effort most of the time. They are going so far below the pace the seems reasonable that you close the gap without realising. Getting to this stage is understandable/inevitable, it's what you do next that defines you as a responsible road user:

A responsible driver/rider at this point backs off, the point has already been made to the driver in front. They know they are going slower than you want to go or that you want to pass in the passing lane they are hogging. Sitting on their bumper is not only dangerous to both of you but it's obnoxious and likely to be counter productive. When you see someone driving too close your natural response is to slow down for safety or simply as a fuck you to the other guy. Even if you were about to get out of their way you might change your mind and think "screw you buddy I got the hint but now your just being rude".

When I back away I find people let me through far more often, wheras in the past when i've just tail gated them like a dick it's got me nothing but two angry motorists (and a hugely elevated chance of an incident). The lorry driver could have left a bigger gap but it didn't look that unreasonable (plus lorries have a hard time gaining speed and are naturally inclined (and taught) to preserve it where possible).

It might not be that unfair to suggest he was antagonising the car infront, but it pales into insignificance compared to...

.....the other side of the equation (which blue peugeot falls squarely into) who are generally IMHO far worse/more dangerous. The one's that adopt an imperious and selfish attitude to speed and road position. "I'm going as fast as I want to go and there's car on the inside that I'll pass in about 30seconds so I'm just going to sit in the outside lane going 2mph faster than slow lane traffic, because why should I have to go to the trouble of changing lanes to let someone else go faster than I want to go!"

Touching the brakes to give a tailgater a shock done properly is fine (I might even go so far as to recommend it) but holy shit! I think it'd be dangerous to scrub more than 1 or 2mph never mind an illegal stop on a dual carageway. Even if there was a mechanical reason for stopping it's still illegal to stop there without pulling off to the side.

Either way 45k in damages feels like pretty just deserts. I dearly hope he got at least a 12 month ban to boot. There's slipping up and then there's premeditated dangerous driving!

I usually try to see things from everybody's perspective when it comes to stuff like this but the Peugot driver is so disproportionately stupid and reckless than I can't really even try to defend him/her. I get why they might have been annoyed but that all became irrelevant the moment they tried to cause an accident!

Not hipster doucheism at all -- it's pretty much impossible to deny. I mean, the first Rush Hour was fun, as was Shanghai Noon, but the rest of Chan's Hollywood filmography has been pretty weak (I mean, I don't think anyone is going to come out of the woodwork to defend the Tuxedo). And even those two pretty good films pale in comparison to pretty much anything Chan made in Hong Kong in the '80s and early '90s.

Is this saying that pale ale is hipster!?

The answer is perilously simple: Soccer. Look at oh, I dunno, Greenbay, and the money that goes into football there. Greenbay isn't exactly a thriving metropolis, but the pride the get from having a good team outweighs the income inequality between the football haves and the spectator have nots. And if you think Americans are nuts about football, it pales in comparison to what Europeans feel about their soccer team.

But you do bring up a very valid point; crime always will flourish in harder economic times.

I thought he was actually making fun of, what I presumed to be, his red-headed, pale-faced child!