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Friday, December 20, 2002
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Studios See Red Over DVD Burning.. AP: Studios See Red Over DVD Burning. I was wondering why Jon Johansen was on trial yet there are a variety of DVD-copying apps for sale at Fry's. [Hack the Planet]
DVD Copy Plus copies DVD movies to blank CDs, though in a compressed video format.
But with the advent of 321 Studios latest offering, DVD X Copy, the stakes are a little higher. The software allows the user to burn an exact copy of the original DVD to a blank DVD, without any diminished quality or compression.
I think it would be a good idea to buy copies while they're still available. In fact, I'm inclined to do so just to support the company.
6:33:37 PM 
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Why they hate me: An Arab student speaks out [WorldNetDaily]
An account of the bigotry and harrassment one Arab student faced at an American university. It indirectly addresses the Christian "holy warriors" who keep saying Arabs deserve to be attacked because they don't speak out against terrorism. This student did--and how many more must there be who want to speak out, but have been intimidated into silence by an atmosphere of hatred?
2:25:06 PM
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Radio UserLand has an odd behavior that I've been noticing for a while. When certain high-ASCII characters show up in a post, Radio replaceds them with some other character inside square brackets. For example, the em-dash character is replaced with a tilde inside brackets ("÷"). I don't see the point of that. If Radio is smart enough to replace high-ASCII characters, why can't it replace them with something reasonable? For example, "--" would be a useful substitution for the em-dash character.
2:12:28 PM
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The Upside of Argentina's Default. While capital will flow anywhere in the world where it is secure from violations of property rights, governments routinely violate property rights through taxation and inflation--two of the primary effects of IMF and World Bank regulations. Since IMF and World Bank loans inherently increase the levels of taxation and inflation, they institutionalize an environment in which private capital is less secure and in which wealth becomes depleted. Argentina, and a myriad of other countries dependent on IMF and World Bank funding, will always be at a disadvantage in attracting sorely needed investment capital as long as property rights are not protected.
By defaulting on one loan, Argentina may be acknowledging that no country ever became wealthy depending on public financing organizations from another hemisphere. One can hope. Such ideas can lead to economic sovereignty and wealth creation. Such ideas, if spread, can cause industrial revolutions. [Ludwig von Mises Institute]
2:06:57 PM
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Guns and Freedom. Bill Whittle via Rachel Lucas -
Guns and Freedom - I haven't read all of this yet, but from the
first few pages, it looks worthwhile.
When I was a little kid, I asked my dad (who had served in the latter
days of WW2 in Europe as a U.S. Army intelligence officer) about
images I had seen of really huge numbers of prisoners being
marched to their execution, guarded by perhaps five or ten men with
rifles. I wanted to know why they didn't just rush the guards? I mean,
it's one thing if they were heading to another crappy day at work
camp, but these people were being marched off to be killed. I mean,
for God's sake, what did they have to lose?
I was six. My dad looked at me. He'd been to the camps, seen some
horrible things. When I asked him why they didn't fight back or run
for the woods, he said, without any arrogance or pride or jingoism, "I
don't know Billy, I can't figure that one out myself." Then there was
a long moment. "But I can't imagine Americans just walking off like
that, either."
Now before the combined military might of the European Union unites
against me with a very harshly worded letter, let me clarify
something: When he said he couldn't imagine Americans marching off to
their deaths, he meant, obviously, Americans like the ones he
knew. Kids who grew up hunting, kids who got a BB gun for their fifth
birthday (never Christmas though --- you could shoot your eye
out!). Likewise, it's impossible to imagine thousands of Brits (circa
1944) or Norwegians.
Freedom is preserved by free people. Free people know in their heart
that they are free. Back to the idea of an unarmed, culturally rich,
bathed in literature and opera, non-simplisme culture like 1940s
Germany: I also asked my father what would happen if the Gestapo came
for us one night. He said he couldn't stop them from taking us, but he
could damn sure take a few of those bastards with them, and I decided
right there that I'd do the same thing.
...
Maybe the time for real evil like that has finally gone. I hope you
are right, I really do. I don't want to go fight those bastards; I'd
rather barbeque and watch the Gators. I'm sure the Jews in 1930
Germany thought such things could never happen again, not in a place
as "civilized" as Germany. I'm sure every bound and beaten musician,
surgeon, philosopher and painter being lined up at the side of a ditch
thought exactly that.
Try and understand this about Americans like Rachel and me and most of
the rest here: We are not going out like that. Get it? We'll
put up with handgun murders if we have to, but we are not going down
that road. As a general rule, we are quiet, peaceful, decent people
with better things to do than referee endless bloodbaths abroad. But
it is possible to get our attention. And believe me, you have it now,
and I believe the time will come when you will regret calling us
cowboys and Nazis and idiots, not when it comes time to fight us,
because that day will not come, but rather when you once again need
the help of people like Rachel and me and my late father, fighting
forces you ignore not from superior sophistication but from sheer
moral cowardice.
[End the War on Freedom]
This is a series of letters from a discussion on gun control--the whole thing is worth reading. The author made a point I'd never heard before, but which I think is an excellent point. This was addressed to some European:
Our grandparents walked on the moon, man! And why is it that of all we produce and all we exult, the only things that seem to have caught on in Europe are McDonald's and Baywatch? That says much more about you than it does about us, and none of it good, I'm afraid.
9:20:35 AM
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© Copyright
2006
Ken Hagler.
Last update:
2/14/2006; 6:57:22 PM.
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