The Workmen?s Circle/Arbeter Ring has just signed on to the ?Save the Internet? Coalition, a campaign to prevent Congress from passing legislation that would jeopardize web neutrality. A group of large corporations, such as Verizon and ATT, are lobbying Congress to enable them to serve as gatekeepers to the Internet, so that they could determine which sites would be easier to access based on fees that would be paid. The coalition was brought to my attention by the folks at NJPIRG and mirrors very closely our resolution on the Internet approved at our 2006 National Convention (copy below).I urge you to sign on to the coalition as well by going to their web site: www.savetheinternet.org Check to see whether your Senator supports web neutrality, and if they do not, contact them and urge that they do so.
This is not an American Atheists position, just my opinion. Allowing megacorporations to have a say in which sites get “priority” sounds terrifyingly like allowing them to block sites altogether, effectively squashing free speech on the Internet. Where would the NoGodBlog sit on their list of priorities?
What’s wrong with the Internet the way it is now? I guess they just feel like they’re not making enough money from it.
I don’t think we have to worry too much, though. After all, Congress values our First Amendment rights, right?
I’m glad I switched to Vonage… $27 local and long distance. Suck-it AT&T…
when will the insanity end……never mind….dont answer that….im closer to death than birth
Do some DD…
You’ll find there’s also a plan to allow the UN to control the international internet.
Speaking of which. How many are aware that plane tickets originating in Europe now pay tax to the UN?
******* OFF TOPIC ********
Here’s a great article for all those environmentalists who have bought into Global Warming…
Russian Scientists Forecast Global Cooling in 6-9 Years
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/25/globalcooling.shtml
I can hardly wait for the response…
Since we’re speaking of forecasting…I could almost bet what the responses will be…
Hmmm.. how do we know they don’t control it right now? How else to explain the gump presidency or fox news or nfl blackouts?
Pheedumbass,
A chritian AND a corporate tool to boot? Like I’m sooo surprised!
NOT.
Tell me this dipshit; why are there now Armadillos living in Missouri?http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1997/03/30.htm Why is most of the Midwest experiencing the biggest drought since the Dust Bowl? Why are temperatures a full degree higher than just a decade ago?
And where’s the link for this UN-backed “conspiracy” to control the internet?
And by the way, I’d TRUST the UN more than some multinational corporation with my free speech rights for the same reason that Rush Limbaugh and Fox News have massive networks and Air America has virtually no presence in rural America; the advertisers won’t buy airtime because we liberals will talk about the crimes of the multinationals.
You know, like funding Bush and the Republicans. Or denying workers their rights. Or making billions off an unjust and illegal war in Iraq.
Blackwater. CusterBattles. Halliburton. Enron. Need I go on, becaue that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
And speaking of horrible, criminal multinational corporations, did you know that Wal Mart has its’ very own “branch” of the Communist Party?
http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12000B2ZOQW0
Wal Mart: working twice as hard to enslave you more. They loove those Chinese commies too! They have real docile workforce.
godless77…there’s an unwritten rule in debating. And that is when your opponent is making a fool out of themselves, stay out of the way…
So…I have no comment
http://news.com.com/Will+the+U.N.+run+the+Internet/2010-1071_3-5780157.html
Now…who’s the dip****…?
phreedummy:
That article is over a year old, and you are the dip****.
Phreedumb, You either have a Guinness World Record thick skin or you are just plain stupid.
Corporations rule the world. Democracy is in considerable peril.
People with preedumb,s intellectual acuity are making the decisions. Be afraid.
Phreedumbass,
I think douchebag is more fitting term for you.
Your quote specifically talks about under-developed countries.
ANd as for your snide remark, everybody on here knows it is YOU that is the fool.
A foolish douchebag. One that, when presented with facts resorts to insults without addressing any of the points I have made.
Here’s a few more. Do you remember the rash of tornadoes we had this year? It was like, a 300% INCREASE in tornadoes and violent storms! What about last years’ Hurricane season? Yes, this is the 1 year anniversary of Katrina. That one made Andrew and Hugo look like mild squalls! Finally, farmers are once again in dire straits due to the drought conditions they have faced this growing season (and after the springs’ violent storms).
You know the only scientists that claim global warming isn’t real are the ones paid for by corporate interests that would lose money if they had to actually deal with the pollution they produce. Oil companies. Automotive companies. Utilities.
Which brings us back to to the original subject, net neutrality. These companies who want to be “gatekeepers” would most likely use their newfound power to censor the inforamtion, and replace it with lies from paid hacks. Just so they can protect their profit margins.
Exxon Mobil has had the most profitable year ever for a corporation, yet they can’t do the neccessary maintenance on their pipelines in Prudhoe bay.
And you wonder why us liberals are against more drilling in ANWR.
Net neutrality will act the same way advertising does ; if the corporations don’t approve of what you have to report, then they will use their wealth, priveledge (or “gatekeeper” status) to shut you up.
But then, dimwits like you who buy the establishment propaganda (the bible, Fox talking points, corporate PR) won’t notice anything is wrong until it’s too late.
Now, go away and give the communists your hard earned cash by buying some mediocre crap from Wal Mart. Hey, why not? The Chinese already own most of our debit. So much for that big Cold War win!
Funny how you “conservatives” ignore this stuff when a corporation decides to cut a deal to make oodles of cash at the expense of the global population. You know, like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo acquiescing to China’s censorship policies just to make a buck.
I mean, where do you think they got the whole net neutrality idea from?
Damn foolish douchbag sheep, that’s what you are…
Mr. Phreedm is being disingenuous when saying “plane tickets originating in Europe now pay tax to the UN”
Truth is: FRANCE alone has levied the tax on flights and the money is going to the UN.
Read the details here:
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=11212
And, I suppose, his statement is technically true (in that yes, you can find tax on plane tickets out of A PLACE in Europe for money that goes to the UN) I think he’s trying make us think that all European flights have this tax now. That “truth but not the whole truth” thing reminds me too much of Bill O’Reilly
Oh and what about the taxes that go to keep the corporate coffers overflowing with cash (to fund the republicans and their lies) and CEO pay rising to the tune of 30% per year while real wages remain stagnant?
Oh, that’s right. Those are called profits.
From phreedm: “Here’s a great article for all those environmentalists who have bought into Global Warming…
Russian Scientists Forecast Global Cooling in 6-9 Years”
I wouldn’t trust a Global Warming forecast any more than I’d trust the seven-day Action News Super-Doppler-Plus weather forecast.
Any concerns I have about global warming are based on records of what has already occurred. Unfortunately, the mostly conservative, mostly Christian powers that control national spin through their doltish minions in the U.S. would rather *pretend* to be educated, because it’s easier than getting an education. So facts get buried under dogma.
The freedom of the internet is probably the most important tool that people have at their disposal so that they can create a better world.
If corporations and the government collaborate to take it away, it will have to be defended at any cost.
My “take” is that global warming IS the *clear* result of too much greenhouse gas being produced by TOO many people. The propagandists FOR Big Business, however, want us to believe that this Warming is caused by other things & NOT done by man. That idea is obviously a load of B-S of the most pungent kind. The Big Businesses are worried that there would be a slowdown in their rate of sales (profit making) which could easily be brought about by manditory reduction in emmissions of greenhouse gases & many other pollutants. This was why Duh-Duh-Dubya had refused to allow the U.S. to even *attend* the major environmental conference held at Kyoto. Bush-hole STRONGLY supports whatever the wealthiest folks wanna do & and the other people are scarcely even worth S–T. The religions are very worried also that we may soon PROVE that Global Warming and overall degradation of Earth is due to TOO MANY people. Humanity’s Learning that this is indeed *true* would ultimately lead to the enforced control (limitation) on humans’ now FAR too prolific breeding. The idiotic religious Zekes imagine it is their “God given right” to produce WHATEVER number of kids they desire. And as Catholic kids (I had no control back then!) we were informed it was *better* to have MORE Catholics because ‘God’ required to be worshipped by MORE of “His Children” (can you feature that kind of silliness?). I plan on visiting the Site of “godless77″ and finding out what other great things he has to say there. It’s bookmarked right now. – robguy387
Sorry that my above comment was very off-topic!
No *comercial* interests should EVER be allowed to act as gatekeeper for the Internet. The ATT organization is now part of SBC. Those SBC-Ameritek boys had a BAD habit of screwing their phone customers by not providing reasonable level of maintenance. At least one person I’d read about had died when their phone service was out and nothing was done to fix it for maybe 2 weeks. Finally the SBC was sued by a fairly large number of states (maybe 12?) and those states were awarded a HUGE settlement in the many millions of dollars. Recently we had problems here with our ATT ISP service. Before AT&T got hooked-up with SBC we got real GOOD service from the AT&T Worldnet people. But NOW I could scarcely get ANY reply from them since they joined SBC. There was a “feedback” message that was later sent to me by e-mail for quality control purposes. They wanted me to give ratings to AT&T’s response to my request for help. I gave these jerks the maximum number of lousy scores – but we never heard one *&%$ thing in reply. My “take” is that AT&T is now operating under that policies of this new SBC group – meaning they give lousy service, which makes them be more profitable. The GMC oufit has been operating this was too, for a loooong while – and look where it’s got them now. so don’t TRUST any for-profit corporation to “make life better” for you. That would only lead to them making more money for them.
Let’s not forget that AT&T has no problem spying for the NSA, too.
BTW, I finally got around to changing my handle here. You may have seen my comments on God is for Suckers.
Godless77 is…Da Rat Bastid.
(insert dramatic music here)
DRB:
You is? I mean, you are? Holy Chimoly, Batman!
I admit freely, I feel a tad foolish for not having figured that 1 out.
Ya got me.
***** OFF TOPIC *****
For Atomic and other naysayers…
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060827/D8JOQED80.html
Comment from: Da Rat Bastid
This is just not true…but you do hit on a point I make all of the time.
Follow the money…
I do understand how those living without Hope can fall prey to the “doom and gloom” crowd…
I’m going to go out on a limb here (and if I’m wrong I’ll freely admit it) but I’m going to guess you’re under 30 years of age.
Go back and read the headlines from the 80’s. Instead of China everyone was worried about Japan owning the America…
Just more doom and gloom…
Comment from: drchris06
You almost make this too easy…
From your own article…
Now tell me, are you naive enough to believe that most of the world will not impose this tax?
phreedm
Living without hope?
C’mon, that’s a cheap shot, buddy.
Because we don’t pine for an afterlife, you think we don’t have hope?
Maybe you’re right though. For me, it’s more curiousity than hope that keeps me going. Can’t speak for anyone else.
phreddy:
Oh, gimmee a break.
I’d soon as leave y’all to your own devices, if you’d leave us to ours.
You & I are both old enough to realize this little nugget applies on both an individual as well as a collective level:
Maintenance.
You don’t take care of things, they fall apart. Whether it’s physical, mental, your body, your life, or the planet you live on.
Problem is, your side of the fence wants to leave everything in the hands of an invisible force that’s unprovable.
Saying this out loud makes me a little queezy but writing it seems true:
pheedm is hopeless.
phreedm
Waitaminute…
Which side IS it that keeps predicting the apocalypse?
Oh, but yeah…THAT’s really a GOOD thing, right?
Because that’s when y’ll will be where life is beautiful all the time…at
We should try to realize that “phreedm” is merely baiting us, while at the same time he is prostletizing (sic) by expounding on HIS relgious beliefs – which the vast majority of us have realized is complete nonsense. So whenever we give into the urge to attempt to correct this guy’s misconceptions by arguing about this or that alleged fact or idea – all we’re REALLY doing is encouraging him to post further. By arguing with “him” we’ve taken his rants SERIOUSLY. By his carefully crafted arguments “phredm” is able to draw us into these pointless discussions – if only to denounce what ‘he’ writes here. He is operating from the position that “his God” actually EXISTS – when the principle of parsimony indicates clearly that whole “god” idea is utter fabricated nonsense.
These big “God” enthusiasts have all made a *strong* emotional commitment to BELIEVE that their *mythology* is actually REAL. You CANNOT shake or break their irrational faith – because they’ve made an iron-clad emotional commitment which is BEYOND *reason* totally! So for any of us to argue with such a person is fruitless & is a waste of our time & energy.
No matter WHAT sort of decent reasons we may present to him -”phreedm* (freedom) will continue to imagine that HIS horse-excrement religion is proper, whereas OURS is total nonsense – that no doubt is also “inspired by Satan”. He views our attempts to show ‘him’ that he’s wrong as being Satan’s work to try to have him renounce God.
That is what they regard as the worst sin possible – being an atheist. So we need to get Good Old phreedm kicked the-hell-off this blog so we won’t waste more time trifling with him. There are PLENTY of worthwhile things to discuss, which we are missing-out on because a G.D. devuot X-ian is muddying the waters of this blog. A completely dedicated x-ian (or Muslim or Jew) is the worst kind of idiot in the world. You can’t tell one of ‘em a damn thing.
The internet is one of the most important informational resources we have ever had. By allowing big business to regulate it by denying bandwidth to sites that don’t “meet approval of any said entity with tons of money” well… you know what happens next. All I can say is it was good while it lasted . Better stock up on my internet porn, science and activist websites before they are all rendered bandwidthless (can I coin a new term here?).
phreddy:
So, in accordance w/that rule, maybe no one here should ever respond to you…?
Oh, I thought it was you Xians that were the doom and gloom crowd, what with predicting the end of the world every 2 weeks or so. Rapture, The end of days, We are not fit to grovel at the feet of the mystery man in the sky. That is doom and gloom my friend. Some scientists examining some data and making some educated guesses on what that data means is just, well science. But thats OK as you christians are the ones who are trying to destroy the world just to prove some sort of maniacal point about the end of days or somthing. I can just see the smug look on Bush’s stupid mug as a nuclear holocaust engulfs the planet.
Oh yes indeed! We atheists are probably being called dispensers of Gloom and Doom, because atheists lack the belief that ‘god’ will rescue us & allow us to “dwell forever with Him” in heaven. But the atheists point-of-view is NOT the “gloom and doom” one. Our point of view (that god does not exist) is a *realistic* one. It’s the X-ians (and other “believers”) who are the Foolish Dreamers. They imagine their carcasses will be “saved” so they can live forever in Valhalla with Big Daddy In The Sky. More than likely that delusion is why folks like Duh-Dubya don’t feel there’s any need to worry about us humans destroying the biosphere. The stupid lug-nuts must believe that Daddy God will ultimately save their carcasss. Thus, from that insane point of view, there is NO NEED TO WORRY about anything. Just let “God” sweat the small details.
RA,
Sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner. I didn’t realize I could change my handle until you did.
So, you’re my inspiration. *snif*
Yea, phreedouchebag has once again dominated a thread. Big surprise. See, I just like to frustrate him. I know there’s no hope to enlighten him. The only time I saw him act like he’s human was when Dave lost his cousin a few weeks back. Otherwise, he’s not worthy to to wipe my ass with.
“Oh doom and gloom”. Well, if idiots like phreedouchebag weren’t so damn gullible, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in.
Oh and douchie, I do remember the Japanese economy damaging ours. I’m 37. It decimated the market share of the American auto industry and electronics. Luckily, Clinton was able to undo some of the damage Reagan and Bush 41 did by allowing lasseiz faire/free market horseshit they enacted. Not that Clinton was a great president either, with NAFTA, the Telecom Act of 96 and his role in helping Wal Mart for decades. The only thing Clinton had going was the greatest expansion of our economy-ever. So he’s got that going for him.
Now, as far as you claim what I say about the energy industry scientists being not true? I say you’re just stupid, living in denial, or a damn liar.
Still deny it? Here’s a BUNCH of relevant links:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/science/story/0,12996,1399585,00.html
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/05/exxon_chart.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/27/leaked-memo-global-warming/
But of course, phreedouchie will ignore this info because he’s nothing but sheep.
I find it hilarious that phreed is harping about how Europe pays a tax to the UN and then to prove his point qoutes:
French officials said 10 other countries had signed up for the Solidarity Tax: Brazil, Chile, Cyprus, Congo, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua and Norway.
Which means that when those 10 actually do it that there will be a total of two EU countries doing it.
All phreed accomplished is showing that like most rightwing christians he is a euro-phobe, disingenious and unable to put an argument forward without blurring out the truth.
DRB:
Oh my, I AM a bad influence. Hehehehe.
Oh, you shoulda seen it when he FIRST got here. Called me a revisionist & threatened to ‘expose’ me here on the NGB.
I called him out on it. He’s a paper tiger, & at this point he’s just a sparring bag I use.
Kite777:
Ooooh, nice catch. I usually just skim the his meanderings. Confronting him’s a waste of time. He’ll just change the subject, run away, & never, EVER take any correction from those of us he considers his ‘inferiors’.
“I do understand how those living without Hope can fall prey to the “doom and gloom” crowd…”
Gee, phreedm, could you let us atheists in on what other basic human emotions we’re incapable of? Love, Pain, Joy?
(notice I capitalized them just for you!)
I’d like to be enlightened, since you apparently know me better than I know myself…
Dearest phreetard,
I contended that:
A) Miniaturization of a nuclear weapon so as to make it into a warhead for a missile is very difficult to achieve without testing.
B) We can tell if testing is going on because a significant release of radioactivity will be released.
C) They do not have ICBM capabilities and that ICBMs are another significant technological hurdle to overcome.
You come up with nothing to refute anything that I said and, again, show your ignorance by mining the internet for a news article rather than look into the science behind something.
A Shahab-3 missile is most emphatically not an ICBM. It isn’t even close. Here is a quote from your favorite source (Wikipedia):
“An intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a very long-range (greater than 5,500?km or 3,500 miles) ballistic missile typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery, that is, delivering one or more nuclear warheads”
They don’t call them “inter-continental” for nothing! The missiles this article describes are only 1/3 the range of the lowest end of ICBM range. They a lot more barking to do before they can run with the big dogs.
This is not an insignificant hurdle. Achieving the great range and accuracy of an ICBM is well out of their reach, for now. They would still have an even longer way to go before they can figure out how to make a nuke that fits on a missile.
robguy387,
I, for one, do not try to change phreddy’s mind. I know he won’t. He has been programmed to parrot Fox news and whatever apologetic statements he can find that don’t contradict his worldview.
I do fight the idiotic things he says because other people who can change their minds will see what he does. They will realize how he distorts the truth to suit his worldview. He isn’t honest and doesn’t even try hard to be. He would rather back a statement with an newspaper opinion article or poll than hard scientific facts. He truly is intellectually dishonest.
I’ve come to suspect that he is not even xian. I suspect, but cannot prove, that his persona may be one invented by a particularly clever atheist and that he is little more than a strawman set up for us to knock down over and over again. It’s hard for me to believe that there is an actual person that can suffer from this level of cognitive dissonance and be so proud of it. His very name, phreedm, is a distortion of “freedom” and everything he says is a distortion of the truth.
It is certainly cause to make me wonder if there is an atheist among us that is so well versed in the ridiculous arguments of xians in this country that he can imitate our impression of them so flawlessly.
I am probably lying to myself, attempting to shield myself from the fact that there are, indeed, people as stupid and ignorant as this. Maybe it’s nothing more than a protection mechanism my brain has enacted in order to protect me from the cold honest truth that people really can be so horribly brainwashed by religion and neo-conservative politics that they can do nothing more than repeat fallaciously held positions like a broken record.
I’d like to think that people do think for themselves. But, alas, he may very well be precisely what he appears to be. If that is the case, I truly fear for humanity.
AT:
I think the term you’re looking for is ’sock puppet’, an extension of the strawman.
Having battled phreddy since his ‘inception’, I can fairly say that I think he’s for real.
It’s either that, or
A. Someone somewhere is VERY good at the Stanislavski System, or
B. Somebody has DID (aka MPD).
I can provide some outlined synopses why I think so.
You are correct, “sock puppet” is what I meant. Straw men are arguments, sock puppets are individuals designed to repeat strawmen arguments to satire real people that propose such arguments.
I do confess having thoughts about creating such a monster, for the sheer purposes of studying the responses and honing the technique to provide the most possible impact with the least work.
Phreddy’s hit-and-run tactic was precisely what I imagined when mentally compiling my idea of an effective device. The idea would be to follow a thread of commentary only so far as to advance an opposing position and then pull the rug right out from under it every time. It’s demoralizing and leaves people with a sense of futility.
I gave up consideration of the production of my own sock puppet on the mere possibilities that:
A) I could actually be doing an effective job of advancing an idea I was satirizing, particularly among people whom are not regular readers and would not be able to recognize what I really was.
B) I could be causing psychological and physiological problems (mostly related to stress) among some people that could be directly attributable to my influence.
C) I would be nettling and stinging people that I admire with little more purpose than to better understand the nature of argument and how to provoke a response using already proven successful techniques — I’d basically be learning nothing new and mostly proving to myself that my observations were correct.
Don’t let it fool you into thinking that I haven’t intentionally advanced radical positions in the past for precisely this reason. I do have a history of creating such causes, merely for my amusement (and among people which I have absolutely no respect for).