Is online piracy a really serious problem? My opinion: nope.

The movie industry is making record profit year after year.

The music industry is finding new ways to make money. On top of online sales, music artists make money touring and selling merchandise. I understand it's hard to make money by selling CD's now. That's because nobody listens to CDs anymore, and they never will again, except maybe out of nostalgia, the way people collect records.

Software publishers are doing fine as far as I can tell. Free and open source is some of the best software out there.
How much does Adobe think they should reasonably charge for Photoshop anyways? Isn't it like $400? And people still buy it.

Politicians all seem to think online piracy is a serious problem. Instead of wasting taxpayers money trying to police what people are downloading, why don't they focus on real problems facing people instead. Unemployment and crap wages. Health care. Industries dumping toxic waste under our water supplies. Homelessness. Etc.

Don't let them start a "War on Online Piracy". It will make criminals of most of us and it will be just about as cost effective as the War on Drugs has been. We don't need a new rat hole to throw our money into.

Piracy may be a little problem, but don't let politicians blow it out of proportion. We have much bigger issues facing our country.

Any politician who tells us copyright infringement is a serious problem needing serious government action, I don't think they have their priorities quite straight.

Money drives the agenda.

The publishing industries have given money and have got politicians parroting this ridiculous notion that online piracy is a major problem and something needs to be done to stop it. Sorry I'm not seeing a major problem. There may be a legitimate issue, but they have got it blown all out of proportion, because they are in thick with the politicians.

For example President Obama's recent statement on the issue:
"While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet," the White House wrote.

There is not a serious problem requiring a serious legislative response. I think he's confusing online piracy with homelessness or something.

Dr. James David Manning Slams Young Turks, issues debate challenge

I guess Dr Manning didn't appreciate being made fun of on TYT.

proportional representation would be good

Technically I don't think Canada has proportional representation. If they did, their results would be even better than they already are with their first-past-the-post parliamentary system.

But for the US, we could definitely use something like proportional representation to shake things up and allow some new voices and ideas to get into the elections. More variety of voices should be able to speak without fear of becoming a "spoiler" on accident. Another idea could be runoff or instant runoff elections.

Dan O'Connor is a Ron Paul supporter

He is a libertarian and a Ron Paul supporter running as a democrat because that is the only viable party in that congressional district.

His campaign launch party was thrown by this Ron Paul Group
http://www.meetup.com/nycforronpaul/events/32005642/

He is endorsed by Ron Paul support groups:
http://www.liberty-candidates.org/

Here is an article by Dan O'Connor loving Ron Paul:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=1238

His campaign website is full of misleading half truths.

He does not mention any issues important to democrats such as Medicare, Social Seurity, minimum wage, labor issues, medicaid/welfare/foodstamps, the need for government action to expand access to health care, etc.

Instead he only talks about the usual Ron Paul issues, where he may happen to agree with democrats on war, civil liberties, and trade treaties. We may agree with libertarians on some issues, but that's not even half of what matters.

This is no democrat. This is a Ron Paul supporter in disguise.
Basically he want to make out with Ron Paul, he can't stop talking about Ron Paul:
http://mises.org/daily/4015

Prison-made goods should be clearly labeled "Made in Prison in the USA"

That should be a bill in congress. Everybody promote that. thanks.

Your bullying boss may be slowly killing you

Your bullying boss may be slowly killing you
41 percent of American workers having been psychologically harassed at work

If you spend your workday avoiding an abusive boss, tiptoeing around co-workers who talk behind your back, or eating lunch alone because you've been ostracized from your cubicle mates, you may be the victim of workplace bullying. New research suggests that you're not alone, especially if you're struggling to cope.

Employees with abusive bosses often deal with the situation in ways that inadvertently make them feel worse, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Stress Management. That's bad news, as research suggests that workplace abuse is linked to stress — and stress is linked to a laundry list of mental and physical ailments, including higher body weight and heart disease.

In at least one extreme case, workplace bullying has even been linked to suicide, much as schoolyard bullying has been linked to a rash of suicides among young people.

Bullying is "a form of abuse which carries tremendous health harm," said Gary Namie, a social psychologist who directs the Workplace Bullying Institute. "That's how you distinguish it from tough management or any of the other cutesy ways people use to diminish it."

"Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric"

- Bertrand Russell

removing SOPA's DNS provision is only a cosmestic change.

They still have plenty other options to block access that are more fundamental than DNS. They can block content at the service host (usually webhost), at the host's ISP via a layer-3 block like a firewall or null route. It's good that they remove the DNS provision but ultimately it counts for nothing if these other provisions are still enacted.

tom the dancing bug - republican decoder badge