Comments for VDV's Journal, Part IV

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Noutheteo

Noutheteo — Thu, 03 May 2012 17:10:55 +0000

Wow! I hadn’t even considered the lobbying aspect! Well you know, I always say that, if it’s one thing our country needs, it’s more lobbying to help things run smoothly. Oh wait, I never say that! Lord help us…

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Vincent Viscariello

Vincent Viscariello — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:17:10 +0000

I think that if buyer and seller come to mutually agreeable terms, it’s generally not up to the government to interfere. There are exceptions, but I don’t think that “net priority” (if that’s a real term) is one of them. If my ISP is willing to sell priority, and I’m willing to buy it, then MYOB.

Furthermore, even if net neutrality laws are passed, there will be exceptions. Traffic related to the essential functions of government will surely take priority over all else. And then companies will lobby to get their own exceptions, because after all what they do is just so important. So instead of a competitive market, you’ll have competitive lobbying and bribery.

@Doc: That’s an excellent point. If memory serves, it was raised by Dick Cheney when convenient and denied by Joe Biden when convenient (remember the VP debate?).

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Doctor Hmnahmna, Ph.D., P.E.

Doctor Hmnahmna, Ph.D., P.E. — Wed, 02 May 2012 23:15:27 +0000

Should I point out to the APUSH teacher that the Vice-President of the United States is also President of the Senate and casts a tie-breaking vote? And that therefore, Joe Biden isn’t really out of the Senate? Nah.

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Noutheteo

Noutheteo — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:52:31 +0000

As far as net neutrality goes, i found this interesting article which gave me a better perspective on why it should be opposed. This paragraphy is what got me right away: “Senator Al Franken, at the Netroots Nation conference in late July, talked about a dystopian future without Net neutrality:
‘How long do you think it will take before the Fox News website loads five times faster than Daily Kos?’ Hopefully, this will happen right away. Fox News should load 20 times faster than Daily Kos, because far more people read it.”

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2013832,00.html

It also came to mind that, often, in order to make everyone equal, everyone has to be worse off. That’s not ideal to me. Still, would love to see what you have to say about it, Mr. V.

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by the warrant and the sanction

the warrant and the sanction — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:57:46 +0000

I was wondering about your opposition to net neutrality as well. Do you not support the concept of it at all, or do you simply oppose it being imposed on ISPs?

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Anony-mouse

Anony-mouse — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:46:45 +0000

What’s so bad about supporting net neutrality? I mean, I can understand most of the other flaws that you pointed out, largely due to the fact that you backed them with further explanation, but why net neutrality, care to expand?

Comment on On Obama’s policies. by Elan Davout

Elan Davout — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:25:48 +0000

Just a comment on DADT, which may not have anything to do with the topic of discussion: I think repealing of DADT is a good thing overall, but the military has a long way to go to adapt. Casual jokes about “gays” and other such monikers continue and have to be curtailed. Leaders, though “trained”, are not totally on this train yet, so there will be stress between the legal side of the military and the administrative leadership side. Status of benefits, categorization of relationships, attitudes towards shared living spaces have yet to be resolved for many, but I have faith that the younger generation will absorb the changes necessary and provide flexibility, if the old fogies follow along and facilitate the change. It is still a messy transition and we’ll have to see how it plays out.

Comment on On leftovers. by Noutheteo

Noutheteo — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 02:17:30 +0000

I know when I worked at a particular company, they made us throw away perfectly good grocery goods simply because it had been damaged/opened/etc. Their reasoning was, donating the goods or allowing workers to have them could encourage workers to intentionally damage good to benefit themselves, friends, or others.

Comment on April Fools. by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:37:15 +0000

I was actually expecting an “April Fools!” at the end of this.

Comment on On libertarianism. by Vincent Viscariello

Vincent Viscariello — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:08:27 +0000

I really don’t know what the best approach is, politically speaking. But the more you express your ideas, the more you successfully articulate and defend your arguments, the more minds you change. It’ll take time, but you need to start now.

Comment on On libertarianism. by the warrant and the sanction

the warrant and the sanction — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:22:40 +0000

Do the big two parties really care about the fraction of a percent of voters each election who actually vote for the LP enough to justify voting on principle? Or is actual work within the framework of the Dems or GOP more effective? I love being involved politically but I want to maximize my efforts and I feel like I can do more than just argue on reddit.