Re: Digital Millennium Copyright Act

> Tom Chance wrote:
> >Before I start, this is *very* off topic for the list, so please complain 
> >if you don't want this discussion happening here :-)
> >
> >Anyway, I read Jim's point as meaning that Bush and Kerry are essentially 
> >the same candidate with a few minor points of difference. Coming from a 
> >fairly radical Green perspective, US politics never really tackles issues 
> >of poverty, wealth distribution, corporate power, cultural & military 
> >imperialism, civil liberties and of course endemic environmental 
> >destruction. The elections rarely show any real differences on these 
> >issues (only poverty occasionally seems to surface).

That was what I was getting at, in a way, along with the kind of
political backwardness of a one-horse town.  That Talking Heads track
comes to mind too: (Democratic Circus)

  http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/talking_heads/the_democratic_circus.html

I think if America is planning to run the world, all of us out here
should be allowed a vote in the US elections too (Brits, Iraqis,
Afghans, etc).  That might make things a little more balanced.
Certainly it would add some spice and interest.


> >Not only that but the electoral system, stupid rules on campaign finances 
> >and the near-total lack of non-corporate media mean that the elections are 
> >fixed in the favour of the two faces of the same horse. And where there is 
> >any race to speak of, electoral fraud and money seem to make the 
> >difference.
> >
> >But maybe that's a Brit's distorted perspective!
>
> yup... it is...

I think a Brit's distorted perspective of the US is less distorted
than the US's distorted perspective of itself.  Not that the US is
going to listen to the truth from anyone, though.  

Time for a dollar crash (Lietaer?) or some natural catastrophe
(Atlantis?).  I'm not sure how else this is going to get fixed.

Jim

-- 
 Jim Peters                  (_)/=\~/_(_)                 [email protected]
                          (_)  /=\  ~/_  (_)
 Uazú                  (_)    /=\    ~/_    (_)                http://
 Brighton, UK       (_) ____ /=\ ____ ~/_ ____ (_)            uazu.net