In reply to this comment by Lann:
Wow, look what happens when I'm out...

Congrats on gold!

Thanks

Looks like you'll be joining me fairly soon :>

@srd I think there are a lot of factors keeping us from getting additional parties here. For one, both parties have lost Presidential runs due to 3rd party candidates splitting their base in the last 20 years (Clinton in '92, Bush in '00), which really raises a lot of concern about "splitters".

Some form of runoff voting or European-style proportional representation would go a long way for the viability of 3rd parties. I think if we had either one of those, I personally would be all about promoting a new party that's a handful of ticks to the left of today's Democratic party.

As it is though, I poo-poo the idea of voting for the Green party because all they do is split the Democratic vote and make it easier for Republicans to win elections.

It's also why I really relish the idea of a separate and distinct Tea Party, since it will cannibalize Republican votes and make it easier for Democrats to win (and that's why Republicans everywhere are making sure the Tea Party doesn't actually get a candidate opposing a Republican in general elections).

If I knew that voting for a Green or Progressive party wouldn't have the net effect of helping Republicans win more elections, I probably would do so. I think a lot of progressives would join me in that (same with Republicans and a Libertarian party).

I'm much more in favor of people putting together a bipartisan bi-ideological campaign to implement some electoral reforms like instant runoff voting and proportional representation than I am in favor of people leaving the Democratic and Republican parties and trying to create viable 3rd and 4th parties under our existing electoral system.

hey dude, i know you like controversy, I can't remember if you are in the USA or no, but you should join me at firedoglake.com Its a progressive site but libertarians are more than welcome


for instance I can make bitchy comments like this:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/53635#comment-204845

and get thoughtful answers.

look at my shit over there->
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/author/marinara

>> ^blankfist:

true! But you seem to welcome a solid statism that emboldens this kind of shit. Why is that? I understand that being part of a union in the US typically warrants a desire for government involvement, but it's the dwindling of our rights, freedoms and liberty that makes me question why any of us would honor a system of government that puts such atrocious tyranny upon our shoulders.


Your problem is that you can't differentiate the good from the bad when it comes to government. When you lump health care and teachers right in there with the patriot act and the Iraq war and then call it "statism", it makes your point of view seem simplistic, inflexible, insecure, partisan and very petty. I know the term was designed to be used as a scary political epithet, but though over use it's become a word of levity on this site. You've even got gwiz using it as a neutral term in this thread.

If you want to influence people, you need to understand them a bit, have some empathy and know where they're coming from. You can't just say 'Hey kronos, why are you such a tyrannical, union loving, fascist? Why do you reject the pure love, light and liberty of my political perspective?" That kind of rhetoric is really no different from your 'with us or against us' George Bushisms; just as insular and narrow minded, though grammatically far superior.

Part of the problem lies in the word 'libertarian' itself. Liberty means many things to many people, and when you use that term to define your own subjective political ideology, you've left the realm of political discourse and entered the realm of religious dogma.

How would you feel if I claimed that progressivism were the true ideology of freedom and liberty, and that by opposing me you also oppose liberty and freedom? Would that influence you? Would that make you want to join me? Or would you think I was just deluding myself by invoking a beloved term as a shield to hide my own selfish beliefs and desires behind?

For argument's sake, what if I could convince you that your concept of liberty was subjective? Would that change your thinking? Would it make your ideology less meaningful? I'd love an answer to that last question.

How can I possibly be the first one to downvote? Join me!

I just got this e-mail from his campaign newsletter:

Dear ---,

On Wednesday, Fox News's professional stalker Griff Jenkins stalked me all day, and then ambushed me, just so he could get some footage of me asking him to make an appointment. And sure enough, Bill O'Reilly put that footage on the air, and I was deluged with angry phone calls from Republican voters who think it's my job to be at Fox's beck and call. This is not surprising. The Republican Party is a now a wholly owned subsidiary of Fox News.

Well, I won't be taken down by Fox's weapons of mass distraction. I'm focused on saving lives and saving money. On Wednesday, on the House floor, I read the names and stories of some of the 44,000 Americans who die each year from a lack of health care.

I did this to honor them. These unnecessary, senseless deaths. That's real news, which Fox didn't spend one minute on. Instead, Fox News hectored me about whether I hurt Dick Cheney's feelings. Enough is enough.

Please join me and show Fox News and the Republican Party that we won't be bullied by them. Show them what's important to us: saving lives. On November 2, one year before my reelection, we will have a "money bomb," where progressives from all over the country are joining to support our reelection. Please pledge to our campaign here:

http://www.CongressmanWithGuts.com

These Republican bullies are opposed to the change that America wants, America needs, and America voted for last year. 88% of Fox News viewers voted for George W. Bush in 2004. Fox News sends a memo to its mouthpieces every day, giving them "talking points" designed to damage Democrats. And they call this "news"!

I am a strong voice for justice, and so they stalk me.

Let's stand together and fight back.

Please show your support at http://www.CongressmanWithGuts.com.

More than 3,000 people have pledged over $200,000 for our November 2 "money bomb," one year before the next election. Show them that the people, united, will never be defeated. Show them that we will have the support we need to get reelected and keep fighting for a better America. Please join us.

It is time to get greed off the agenda. It's time to put conscience back on the agenda. Fox News has a perpetual news blackout on people without health coverage who die from it, people with health insurance who don't get the care they need, seniors who can't pay for the medicine they need to stay alive -- in short, everything that actually matters in the lives of ordinary people. Fox News has a news blackout on everything but fake tea party protests and ambushes in the halls of Congress. Enough is enough.

Thank you for helping us stay focused and save American lives.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

Vimeo: Filmed at the end of the 2 day F-Stop Academy Cinematography workshop in Dublin when we were in wind down mode. Shot on a pre-production Canon 7d.

I took the Canon 7d, Zacuto Tactical rig, Z-Finder V2 and one lone lens, a Canon 35mm f1.4, which becomes more like a 50mm lens on the 7d. So a bit like what I did with Sofia's People (but I didn't have the Zacuto rig for that).

I shot 1/50th of a second as I was shooting 24p and to match the 50hz frequency of the artificial all around me in Temple Bar.

I also shot some stuff 720p 50p with shutter at 1/100th to get the slow motion shots of the juggler which were conformed to 23.98p in Cinema tools to create the beautiful slow motion.

Sound on the last bit was just the internal mono cam mic as I didn't want a big mic on top of the camera.

Big thanks To Darragh and Emma for organizing the workshop. To all the people attended and especially the people who came to the intensive 1 day Cinematography practical workshop on Sunday. Jala (from Germany), Cathal (from N. Ireland) and Jean-Jacques (from France) stayed on another night and joined me for the night shooting. We had a great time. You may also spot my partner in crime Den Lennie a couple of times here.

Music is appropriately by the great THIN LIZZY and is of course Whiskey In The Jar.

Minor colour balance grading was done. That's all to take out the yellow of the sodium lights.

Smoking may look cool on camera kids but it's bad for you! The reason so many smokers in this? All the smokers are outside, all the non smokers are inside due to smoking ban. I hope you notice the one in my mouth was not lit! :-)

More info on my blog at philipbloom.co.uk/2009/09/07/dublins-people-shot-on-a-canon-7d-in-native-24p/

fstopacademy.com

More workshops coming to you soon!

If you cannot download it anymore as their is a daily limit on vimeo, you can download it from here too as long as you are a free member: exposureroom.com/dublinspeople

This video's a good test of which of your friends is gullible.

Unless Aikido followers can prove their extravagant claims empirically like everybody else in a modern intellectual society, the assumption is that they don't compete not because their magical dogma forbids it, but because if they did, it would look like this: http://www.videosift.com/video/Kiai-Master-Gets-Owned

If you disagree with that statement, please join me in advocating that Aikido followers prove it wrong.

It's good to see bad ideas get filtered out of the marketplace of ideas.

I'll be seeking shelter in the torch in the Statue of Liberty until the dust settles. Anyone who'd like to join me is welcome to, your entry fee is just a case of chocolate bars and two hookers.

1. The ends justify the means. Like a Medusa, this philosophy shows itself a thousand different ways; whether its burning witches at the stake, trespassing to videotape others having sex, or making STD testing mandatory for prostitutes - at its core, is the same monster: the ends justify the means. You cannot support one without supporting them all for despite their varied appearances, they are all one and the same.

2. Irrational Fear. Your argument is framed in fear, a tiger in a bushes or a Cheney in the desert. The results of policy driven by scaremongering and policy driven by reason and intellect have, historically, been more than lopsided. We are not a Fox News audience, so why would you try to provoke us as such?

3. Slippery slope principle/Snowball Effect. I do not think you pay enough respect to this principle. You seem content that humans do not carry simple principles to their furthest reaches, turning a tiny snowball into a 300 ft disaster as it reaches the bottom of the hill. How far would we have to travel from this "good intentioned" policy before someone asked the following "good intentioned" questions:

"which of you would join me in making it illegal to practice sex without regular testing for disease"
"which of you would join me in requiring annual testing of all persons for disease"
"which of you would join me in requiring armbands be worn which visually display the results of all disease tests"
"which of you would join me in prohibiting those with diseases from having sex"
"which of you would join me in making it illegal to leave your house without regular testing for disease"
and so on...

We can't frame a reasonable argument against any of these ideas if we accept your premise, because they are all based on the same idea of "the common good" being more important than individual misery. Certainly, each would provide more and more "common good" at the expense of more and more individual misery. If "common good" is your only goal, there is no conceivable limit to the policies you could create.

4. Lesser of two evils. You seem distrusting of humans enough to force them into testing, and monitoring their behavior; but trusting enough of humans not to persecute others or abuse their power; yet the entire weight of history and psychology is against this notion. There has been far more suffering at the hands of human persecution than there ever has been at the hands of herpes, HIV, or chlamydia.

>> ^NetRunner:
Now, which of you would join me in making it illegal to practice prostitution without regular testing for disease? Neither of you?
Well then, I hope you all catch porcine chlamydia from your legal hookers.

You libertarian meanies are being a bit too rough on burdturgler.

I'm used to your silly accusations of being a violent oppressor motivated by feelings no different than the ones that fuel racism, jihad, and puppy chipping (ask Dick Cheney about that one). I think you're a bunch of morons if you think saying that to people is going to convince anyone to see things your way, but you can't help yourself, like Mr. Lowes here.

For what it's worth, I agree that the guy holding the camera is a douche, and that prostitution shouldn't be a crime.

Thing is, camera guy has a point -- no one really wants their neighborhood to be frequented by streetwalkers, and they definitely don't think it should be done in such an obvious manner in their neighborhood.

As imstellar put it, this is "good" intolerance. The cops obviously aren't doing the job (damn government can't do nothin' right!), and using violence is bad (unless my property is threatened, then shoot to kill is a-okay), so I take my right to free expression, and film the guy, then call the police, and twist their arm until they arrest him.

Sure, opening the door on them wouldn't have been cool if it'd been his personal truck, but what if the guy's boss gave permission to open the company truck when they spoke?

If we assume he just forgot to mention that fact, then suddenly this is just a totally kosher thing that a freedom-loving individual did in order to practice good intolerance and defend us, despite the government's incompetent (and violent!!!) involvement.

Boy, that was hard to type with all the eye rolling talking like that induces in me.

Now, which of you would join me in making it illegal to practice prostitution without regular testing for disease? Neither of you?

Well then, I hope you all catch porcine chlamydia from your legal hookers.

Every election in the US in at least the last hundred years. Probably the last 200, and maybe even the last 300. So just using the last 100 years gives ya 25 elections to consider. Perhaps even more important than the actual voting process are things like assassinations, rigging the candidates, buying policies, rigging the two party system, suppressing third party candidates, media suppression etc.

Just in the last 20 years, every election has been a fraud by the fact that only two candidates are allowed to run.

>> ^peggedbea:
^i tend to agree
i want an objective assessment throughout space and time

>> ^gorillaman:
Legalise and tax it people make me want to puke blood. It's my fucking money you're bribing the fascists with, "oh please sir, please let us have our rights back, we'll pay you."

I don't care if they tax it up the wazoo, once it's legal the price should go down, so it's not like pot-heads will be going broke.

I would be a little miffed if they maintained laws restricting people from growing their own.


I hope that when cannabis is eventually decriminalised, all you people who agree with me that prohibition is a human rights violation will join me in calling for the deaths of all the cops who enforced these immoral laws.


Wow, bit much don't ya think? How about while we're at it we hang every soldier that went to Iraq?

Don't you suppose it's time to just simply stop punishing people for drugs altogether?

Legalise and tax it people make me want to puke blood. It's my fucking money you're bribing the fascists with, "oh please sir, please let us have our rights back, we'll pay you."

I hope that when cannabis is eventually decriminalised, all you people who agree with me that prohibition is a human rights violation will join me in calling for the deaths of all the cops who enforced these immoral laws.

Yes, we are the roxxors. I'm getting increasingly worried about our censorship of the internet-tubes but other than that, we have it pretty good.

Come join me for a nice relaxing colonic.

♪Do you like piña colonics, and getting caught in the rain ♫