Feds Take down Megaupload

[stoneknight]

The Justice Department seized Megaupload.com, one of the world's most popular file-sharing sites, and several of its related sites on Thursday.

Prosecutors charged seven employees of Megaupload with criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit racketeering and other charges.

http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/205209-feds-shutdown-file-sharing-site-megaupload


This is just the beginning with Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) the goverment are going after every file sharing site on the web. this is a sad day for anyone that shares videos online.

I think this is gonna be a long term battle and with the new Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) the government has now taken the guilty till proven innocent stance. They used to lay charges then after a trail if the site was found in violation they'd pull the plug. Now they pull the plug and then lay charges. They're acting more like they Chinese gov every day, taking down any site they don't like.This happened to the old P2P network a few years ago, which lead to the rise of the file sharing sites.

I know people won't stop sharing stuff online but it may take a while till the new big sharing idea comes along.

 

[femmeworshipper]

If SOPA should pass, the internet will become nothing more than an online shopping mall. Wikipedia, the free exchange of thoughts and ideas, will be forbidden for Americans. Stuff on Wikipedia relies on sources, sources the US government feels you should be paying for or being ignorant of altogether.

This isn't really the United States of America anymore, it is more, the United Multinational Corporate Dominion of America. Politics and politicians are for sale to the highest bidder, and money is the only virtue. Even the once proud United States armed forces now exist solely to protect the interest of banks and big oil and gas interests.

The more dumbed down and pacified the population the better to them. They are in for a very rude awakening, but I fear it will be all of us who suffers before anything changes for the better.

 

[Zagg]

Look for the Internet to become like television. Content will be provided and delivered by transnational corporations. If you play nice, you'll be allowed to participate in approved ways.

 

[mrscondo]

Zagg baby, what will those of us do that use the internet to fuel our dark side?

 

[stoneknight]

I just read this on CNN

SOPA and PIPA postponed indefinitely after protests

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/20/technology/SOPA_PIPA_postponed/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

Not sure how this will effect the on going battle on file sharing as they are shutting down web sites without due process regardless.

The government out stepped it's legal bounds by a mile. But when the music and movie industry give politicians millions in election contributions every year and the the government makes billions in sales taxes from movies and music sales every year. Well Dollars out way justice with the government every time.

Beware
I also think that just because the main SOPA bill is dead just means they'll sneak little pieces of the bill through a little at a time attached to other bills till the whole thing is the law. The government is one crooked son of a bitch and it's up for sale.

 

[Zagg]

We'll have to try to keep things person-to-person as much as possible. I think this is going to take a few years, so we've got some breathing room, but it sure looks to me as if that's the future.

Zagg baby, what will those of us do that use the internet to fuel our dark side?

 

[Thick Nigga Dick]

America . . . land of the free . . . rrrriiiiiiiiiiiight!!!

 

[iraddict]

I realize that this isn't really a political forum, but if you guys care about freedom, think about voting for Ron Paul. He opposed SOPA. He also opposed the act that Obama just signed into law which allows the Federal Government to lock you up indefinitely without trial if they SUSPECT you of being a terrorist. He opposes the war on drugs. He opposes the Federal Reserve. He refused the pension he is allowed as a United States Senator, because "If the average American doesn't deserve it, then we don't either." He wants to bring ALL our troops home. He said he would be willing to send our troops to war if it was absolutely necessary, but he's not going to send our kids overseas to "get their legs blown off" for corporate interests or the military industrial complex. (He's also gotten more donations from active duty military personnel than all the other Republican candidates and Obama COMBINED) He's the only candidate who has stood up to Wall Street. In 2002 he gave a speech in which he claimed that "In ten years time we will have had a financial collapse, the dollar will be worth less, and we will all be poorer and worse off." He wants to abolish the Federal Income Tax. etc, etc, etc.
And the best part is that he scares the crap out of the 1 percenters. The corporately controlled media are trying their damndest to pretend like he doesn't exist, despite consistently coming in either second or third in almost every major poll.
Please, Please, PLEASE take four minutes and watch this video of Jon Stewart exposing the blatant media bias when covering this guy. It's both hilarious and scary as hell at the same time. I don't care whether you agree with Dr. Paul or not, after you watch this, you won't ever trust the mainstream media ever again. It's THAT obvious. And if that's not enough, I included a link to Fox News talking about the South Carolina debate. Watch as the anchor (who is getting real time feedback from people on Twitter) tries to get the analyst to admit that Dr. Paul won the debate. Even though he scored higher with audiences in EVERY SINGLE category, the best she can get out of him is "Yes, he did very well." She then says something to the effect of "He did better than very well, according to that, he did the best." The analyst says "Well.. his green bar is higher, yes he did very well." She says, "I'm just trying to be fair. He did the best." To which he replies "Well, we report, and you decide."

Jon Stewart-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related

Fox News Coverage of South Carolina debate-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjkLOvD40E

Guys, don't listen to the media. This guy is for real. He CAN win, and he WILL change things. I've been following politics for a long time, and this guy is the first authentic candidate I've seen since I started paying attention back in the early ninties. We don't need a revolution, we just need to register and vote. That's all it would take...

 

[femmeworshipper]

Yeah and Link Removed shouldn't put us off any no? You Ron Paul people are like a cult...

He'd also do away with Social Security and Medicare if he had his way. Things you've paid into your whole working life, and given his way, they will not be there for you when you retire. No thank you! His foreign policy ideas I can see, but the rest of the guy SUCKS!

 

[iraddict]

Sorry dude, but like most people who don't like Dr. Paul, you know absolutely nothing about him. He's NOT a racist. He's the only candidate EVER (including Obama) who has been brave enough to point out that the "war on drugs" is a primarily a war on black men and black communities. Does Obama advocate letting people (the majority of which are black) who are in prison on non violent drug related offenses out of prison? The answer is no. Give me one single policy initiative Obama has enacted that has helped African Americans as much as ending the war on drugs would. Did you know that there are more blacks in prison in America today than there were slaves at the height of slavery in this country? And if you know any felons, you know that once they get out of prison is becomes virtually impossible to get a job or find work. The war on drugs has virtually destroyed the black community. Ron Paul is the only guy who acknowledges that and wants to change it.
Do you honestly think that if he was really a racist, that Jon Stewart, whose audience is primarily made up of young, college educated liberals, would be defending him on his show? Or that Bill Maher or Ralph Nader, two of the most liberal guys on the planet, would have nothing but good things to say about him?
And unless you're in your fifties, social security, which "you have been paying into your entire life" is not going to be there for you anyway. There isn't enough money to support a HUGE generation of retiring baby boomers. That is a fact. Dr. Paul is just the only candidate brave enough to bring it up. The rest of them know this (as does anyone who is even slightly informed) but they don't want to talk about it because 1- People like you will attack them for being the bearer of bad news and 2- They're going to be out of office by the time it happens, so they figure it's someone elses problem.
There's a reason "Ron Paul people are like a cult". It's because we actually follow politics. And we can see that he's the ONLY guy, Republican or Democrat, who actually practices what he preaches (Does anyone recall President Bush calling for a non-interventionist foreign policy and claiming that the U.S. "shouldn't be in the business of nation building? Yeah, that was before he got elected and decided to invade not one, but two, foreign countries. Does anyone recall President Obama saying that the "very first thing I'll do if elected is bring our troops home? Three and a half years later, and our guys are still over there. I could go on and on....)
Hate to break it to you, but if anyone here has drank the Kool Aid, it's you my friend. You've been hoodwiked. The Republicans talk about how they're on the side of the middle class and the religious right. And the Democrats talk about how they're on the side of the minorities and the poor. And occasionally they both throw their "constituencies" a bone. But look at their record, not their rhetoric. When they get into office, BOTH parties do what's in the best interest of the super rich. The class that most of them belong to, and the class that pays for their election campaigns. If you really want to know who each of these guys are going to fight for, take a look at the largest contributors to their campaigns. The largest contributor to Obama's campaign? Goldman Sachs. The largest contributor to Mitt Romney's campaign? Goldman Sachs. The largest contributor to Ron Paul's campaign? Well, he doesn't have any large contributors. His largest GROUP of contributors is the active duty military. Which is mostly made up of poor whites and minorities. Before you bash the guy, try doing a little research on his positions before you blindly accept the sound bites the corporately controlled media is feeding you. They are LITERALLY owned by the one percent. And the one percent does NOT want this guy to get elected.
But I'm probably wasting my time with you. Judging by your username you're probably just going to vote for whoever your wife tells you to anyway. Any chance I could talk to her?

 

[trot1984]

Filesonic gone now too. Can only DL if you ULed it. 2/3 of my pay services gone..hope Oron will hold out.

Trot

 

[naviko]

Sorry dude, but like most people who don't like Dr. Paul, you know absolutely nothing about him. He's NOT a racist. He's the only candidate EVER (including Obama) who has been brave enough to point out that the "war on drugs" is a primarily a war on black men and black communities. Does Obama advocate letting people (the majority of which are black) who are in prison on non violent drug related offenses out of prison? The answer is no. Give me one single policy initiative Obama has enacted that has helped African Americans as much as ending the war on drugs would. Did you know that there are more blacks in prison in America today than there were slaves at the height of slavery in this country? And if you know any felons, you know that once they get out of prison is becomes virtually impossible to get a job or find work. The war on drugs has virtually destroyed the black community. Ron Paul is the only guy who acknowledges that and wants to change it.
Do you honestly think that if he was really a racist, that Jon Stewart, whose audience is primarily made up of young, college educated liberals, would be defending him on his show? Or that Bill Maher or Ralph Nader, two of the most liberal guys on the planet, would have nothing but good things to say about him?
And unless you're in your fifties, social security, which "you have been paying into your entire life" is not going to be there for you anyway. There isn't enough money to support a HUGE generation of retiring baby boomers. That is a fact. Dr. Paul is just the only candidate brave enough to bring it up. The rest of them know this (as does anyone who is even slightly informed) but they don't want to talk about it because 1- People like you will attack them for being the bearer of bad news and 2- They're going to be out of office by the time it happens, so they figure it's someone elses problem.
There's a reason "Ron Paul people are like a cult". It's because we actually follow politics. And we can see that he's the ONLY guy, Republican or Democrat, who actually practices what he preaches (Does anyone recall President Bush calling for a non-interventionist foreign policy and claiming that the U.S. "shouldn't be in the business of nation building? Yeah, that was before he got elected and decided to invade not one, but two, foreign countries. Does anyone recall President Obama saying that the "very first thing I'll do if elected is bring our troops home? Three and a half years later, and our guys are still over there. I could go on and on....)
Hate to break it to you, but if anyone here has drank the Kool Aid, it's you my friend. You've been hoodwiked. The Republicans talk about how they're on the side of the middle class and the religious right. And the Democrats talk about how they're on the side of the minorities and the poor. And occasionally they both throw their "constituencies" a bone. But look at their record, not their rhetoric. When they get into office, BOTH parties do what's in the best interest of the super rich. The class that most of them belong to, and the class that pays for their election campaigns. If you really want to know who each of these guys are going to fight for, take a look at the largest contributors to their campaigns. The largest contributor to Obama's campaign? Goldman Sachs. The largest contributor to Mitt Romney's campaign? Goldman Sachs. The largest contributor to Ron Paul's campaign? Well, he doesn't have any large contributors. His largest GROUP of contributors is the active duty military. Which is mostly made up of poor whites and minorities. Before you bash the guy, try doing a little research on his positions before you blindly accept the sound bites the corporately controlled media is feeding you. They are LITERALLY owned by the one percent. And the one percent does NOT want this guy to get elected.
But I'm probably wasting my time with you. Judging by your username you're probably just going to vote for whoever your wife tells you to anyway. Any chance I could talk to her?

It's pretty sad how one tiny rumor can ruin a man's reputation. A ghost writer used his name, and now closed minded people think he's racist.
Also, I think more people should watch Jon Stewart. News on a comedy station is more unbiased than any of the bigger media news.

 

[Zagg]

Some of it sounds good, but what right-wing libertarianism is about is letting transnational corporations control everything without any social control. Okay, they control almost everything now. But they want the rest. And Ron Paul and his ilk want them to have it.

I realize that this isn't really a political forum, but if you guys care about freedom, think about voting for Ron Paul. He opposed SOPA. He also opposed the act that Obama just signed into law which allows the Federal Government to lock you up indefinitely without trial if they SUSPECT you of being a terrorist. He opposes the war on drugs. He opposes the Federal Reserve. He refused the pension he is allowed as a United States Senator, because "If the average American doesn't deserve it, then we don't either." He wants to bring ALL our troops home. He said he would be willing to send our troops to war if it was absolutely necessary, but he's not going to send our kids overseas to "get their legs blown off" for corporate interests or the military industrial complex. (He's also gotten more donations from active duty military personnel than all the other Republican candidates and Obama COMBINED) He's the only candidate who has stood up to Wall Street. In 2002 he gave a speech in which he claimed that "In ten years time we will have had a financial collapse, the dollar will be worth less, and we will all be poorer and worse off." He wants to abolish the Federal Income Tax. etc, etc, etc.
And the best part is that he scares the crap out of the 1 percenters. The corporately controlled media are trying their damndest to pretend like he doesn't exist, despite consistently coming in either second or third in almost every major poll.
Please, Please, PLEASE take four minutes and watch this video of Jon Stewart exposing the blatant media bias when covering this guy. It's both hilarious and scary as hell at the same time. I don't care whether you agree with Dr. Paul or not, after you watch this, you won't ever trust the mainstream media ever again. It's THAT obvious. And if that's not enough, I included a link to Fox News talking about the South Carolina debate. Watch as the anchor (who is getting real time feedback from people on Twitter) tries to get the analyst to admit that Dr. Paul won the debate. Even though he scored higher with audiences in EVERY SINGLE category, the best she can get out of him is "Yes, he did very well." She then says something to the effect of "He did better than very well, according to that, he did the best." The analyst says "Well.. his green bar is higher, yes he did very well." She says, "I'm just trying to be fair. He did the best." To which he replies "Well, we report, and you decide."

Jon Stewart-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related

Fox News Coverage of South Carolina debate-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjkLOvD40E

Guys, don't listen to the media. This guy is for real. He CAN win, and he WILL change things. I've been following politics for a long time, and this guy is the first authentic candidate I've seen since I started paying attention back in the early ninties. We don't need a revolution, we just need to register and vote. That's all it would take...

 

[stoneknight]

Fileservers gone to I these guys are just shutting down to avoid trouble :-[

Filesonic gone now too. Can only DL if you ULed it. 2/3 of my pay services gone..hope Oron will hold out.

Trot

 

[iraddict]

Some of it sounds good, but what right-wing libertarianism is about is letting transnational corporations control everything without any social control. Okay, they control almost everything now. But they want the rest. And Ron Paul and his ilk want them to have it.

I realize that this isn't really a political forum, but if you guys care about freedom, think about voting for Ron Paul. He opposed SOPA. He also opposed the act that Obama just signed into law which allows the Federal Government to lock you up indefinitely without trial if they SUSPECT you of being a terrorist. He opposes the war on drugs. He opposes the Federal Reserve. He refused the pension he is allowed as a United States Senator, because "If the average American doesn't deserve it, then we don't either." He wants to bring ALL our troops home. He said he would be willing to send our troops to war if it was absolutely necessary, but he's not going to send our kids overseas to "get their legs blown off" for corporate interests or the military industrial complex. (He's also gotten more donations from active duty military personnel than all the other Republican candidates and Obama COMBINED) He's the only candidate who has stood up to Wall Street. In 2002 he gave a speech in which he claimed that "In ten years time we will have had a financial collapse, the dollar will be worth less, and we will all be poorer and worse off." He wants to abolish the Federal Income Tax. etc, etc, etc.
And the best part is that he scares the crap out of the 1 percenters. The corporately controlled media are trying their damndest to pretend like he doesn't exist, despite consistently coming in either second or third in almost every major poll.
Please, Please, PLEASE take four minutes and watch this video of Jon Stewart exposing the blatant media bias when covering this guy. It's both hilarious and scary as hell at the same time. I don't care whether you agree with Dr. Paul or not, after you watch this, you won't ever trust the mainstream media ever again. It's THAT obvious. And if that's not enough, I included a link to Fox News talking about the South Carolina debate. Watch as the anchor (who is getting real time feedback from people on Twitter) tries to get the analyst to admit that Dr. Paul won the debate. Even though he scored higher with audiences in EVERY SINGLE category, the best she can get out of him is "Yes, he did very well." She then says something to the effect of "He did better than very well, according to that, he did the best." The analyst says "Well.. his green bar is higher, yes he did very well." She says, "I'm just trying to be fair. He did the best." To which he replies "Well, we report, and you decide."

Jon Stewart-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related

Fox News Coverage of South Carolina debate-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjkLOvD40E

Guys, don't listen to the media. This guy is for real. He CAN win, and he WILL change things. I've been following politics for a long time, and this guy is the first authentic candidate I've seen since I started paying attention back in the early ninties. We don't need a revolution, we just need to register and vote. That's all it would take...

Actually Zagg, it's just the opposite. I saw someone throw the same argument at Dr. Paul. His response? Take the Environmental Protection Agency, for example. Right now, if a huge multinational corporation is caught polluting, we have the EPA go after them. There is a set fine. If you're a huge corporation this fine basically amounts to a slap on the wrist (since they make millions/billions of dollars a year). But if you're a small business owner, that same fine would likely bankrupt you. So the result is to punish the smaller business owners, thus lessening the competition for the huge multi national corporations. Meanwhile, for the huge corporations, paying the fine is usually MUCH cheaper than getting rid of their waste the way they're supposed to. Ergo, when both pollute, the small business gets shut down, while the huge business pays a small fine (relative to their annual profits).
What Ron Paul proposes is that we do away with the large federal regulations (which are usually WRITTEN by the lobbyists for these large corporations) that allow this to go on. Instead, local (read: state) governments would be free to set up their own rules for punishing polluters.
Again, if you want to know who these guys are working for, look at the donations to their campaigns. Romney, Obama, Gingrich, etc all have massive war chests paid for by huge corporations. Paul has virtually NO corporate campaign sponsors. His support is almost completely grass roots individual contributions. A Ron Paul presidency is their worst nightmare...
If anyone else has any reservations about the guy, please post them. THE reason I'm so in favor of him is precisely because the super wealthy hate him so much...

 

[Zagg]

The state, at any level, is going to be dominated by the dominant social class, which in the modern world is the capitalist class. I certainly wouldn't argue that the state is the solution to anything. But eliminating the state without eliminating transnational finance capital is to leave transnational finance capital in absolute control of everything. Which, of course, is just what the capitalists want. And it's just what Ron Paul and his ilk want to give them.

Some of it sounds good, but what right-wing libertarianism is about is letting transnational corporations control everything without any social control. Okay, they control almost everything now. But they want the rest. And Ron Paul and his ilk want them to have it.

I realize that this isn't really a political forum, but if you guys care about freedom, think about voting for Ron Paul. He opposed SOPA. He also opposed the act that Obama just signed into law which allows the Federal Government to lock you up indefinitely without trial if they SUSPECT you of being a terrorist. He opposes the war on drugs. He opposes the Federal Reserve. He refused the pension he is allowed as a United States Senator, because "If the average American doesn't deserve it, then we don't either." He wants to bring ALL our troops home. He said he would be willing to send our troops to war if it was absolutely necessary, but he's not going to send our kids overseas to "get their legs blown off" for corporate interests or the military industrial complex. (He's also gotten more donations from active duty military personnel than all the other Republican candidates and Obama COMBINED) He's the only candidate who has stood up to Wall Street. In 2002 he gave a speech in which he claimed that "In ten years time we will have had a financial collapse, the dollar will be worth less, and we will all be poorer and worse off." He wants to abolish the Federal Income Tax. etc, etc, etc.
And the best part is that he scares the crap out of the 1 percenters. The corporately controlled media are trying their damndest to pretend like he doesn't exist, despite consistently coming in either second or third in almost every major poll.
Please, Please, PLEASE take four minutes and watch this video of Jon Stewart exposing the blatant media bias when covering this guy. It's both hilarious and scary as hell at the same time. I don't care whether you agree with Dr. Paul or not, after you watch this, you won't ever trust the mainstream media ever again. It's THAT obvious. And if that's not enough, I included a link to Fox News talking about the South Carolina debate. Watch as the anchor (who is getting real time feedback from people on Twitter) tries to get the analyst to admit that Dr. Paul won the debate. Even though he scored higher with audiences in EVERY SINGLE category, the best she can get out of him is "Yes, he did very well." She then says something to the effect of "He did better than very well, according to that, he did the best." The analyst says "Well.. his green bar is higher, yes he did very well." She says, "I'm just trying to be fair. He did the best." To which he replies "Well, we report, and you decide."

Jon Stewart-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related

Fox News Coverage of South Carolina debate-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjkLOvD40E

Guys, don't listen to the media. This guy is for real. He CAN win, and he WILL change things. I've been following politics for a long time, and this guy is the first authentic candidate I've seen since I started paying attention back in the early ninties. We don't need a revolution, we just need to register and vote. That's all it would take...

Actually Zagg, it's just the opposite. I saw someone throw the same argument at Dr. Paul. His response? Take the Environmental Protection Agency, for example. Right now, if a huge multinational corporation is caught polluting, we have the EPA go after them. There is a set fine. If you're a huge corporation this fine basically amounts to a slap on the wrist (since they make millions/billions of dollars a year). But if you're a small business owner, that same fine would likely bankrupt you. So the result is to punish the smaller business owners, thus lessening the competition for the huge multi national corporations. Meanwhile, for the huge corporations, paying the fine is usually MUCH cheaper than getting rid of their waste the way they're supposed to. Ergo, when both pollute, the small business gets shut down, while the huge business pays a small fine (relative to their annual profits).
What Ron Paul proposes is that we do away with the large federal regulations (which are usually WRITTEN by the lobbyists for these large corporations) that allow this to go on. Instead, local (read: state) governments would be free to set up their own rules for punishing polluters.
Again, if you want to know who these guys are working for, look at the donations to their campaigns. Romney, Obama, Gingrich, etc all have massive war chests paid for by huge corporations. Paul has virtually NO corporate campaign sponsors. His support is almost completely grass roots individual contributions. A Ron Paul presidency is their worst nightmare...
If anyone else has any reservations about the guy, please post them. THE reason I'm so in favor of him is precisely because the super wealthy hate him so much...

 

[Kayla Kleevage]

Electing one person is not going to fix whats wrong with the government in this country. There are many sides to this issue. My side goes like this: How can I spend 5 or 6 thousand dollars to produce a fuck video and then have it pirated all over the internet for free without going bankrupt???? Why shouldn't there be laws against people who steal from you? How would you like to go to work all week and then have your paycheck sent to me and then you get nothing for your had work and investment? Everything in the world can't be free.

 

[Zagg]

There's certainly much to what you say, Kayla. I work in publishing (though, fortunately, in an area where piracy isn't much of an issue) where the same considerations apply. Content creators aren't going to create content if their labor isn't fairly remunerated. Within the current system, the concept of intellectual property has been developed to solve that problem. But the problem of fair remuneration of labor is a much broader one and there won't be a real solution until the more general question is resolved.

Electing one person is not going to fix whats wrong with the government in this country. There are many sides to this issue. My side goes like this: How can I spend 5 or 6 thousand dollars to produce a fuck video and then have it pirated all over the internet for free without going bankrupt???? Why shouldn't there be laws against people who steal from you? How would you like to go to work all week and then have your paycheck sent to me and then you get nothing for your had work and investment? Everything in the world can't be free.

 

[iraddict]

The state, at any level, is going to be dominated by the dominant social class, which in the modern world is the capitalist class. I certainly wouldn't argue that the state is the solution to anything. But eliminating the state without eliminating transnational finance capital is to leave transnational finance capital in absolute control of everything. Which, of course, is just what the capitalists want. And it's just what Ron Paul and his ilk want to give them.

Some of it sounds good, but what right-wing libertarianism is about is letting transnational corporations control everything without any social control. Okay, they control almost everything now. But they want the rest. And Ron Paul and his ilk want them to have it.

I realize that this isn't really a political forum, but if you guys care about freedom, think about voting for Ron Paul. He opposed SOPA. He also opposed the act that Obama just signed into law which allows the Federal Government to lock you up indefinitely without trial if they SUSPECT you of being a terrorist. He opposes the war on drugs. He opposes the Federal Reserve. He refused the pension he is allowed as a United States Senator, because "If the average American doesn't deserve it, then we don't either." He wants to bring ALL our troops home. He said he would be willing to send our troops to war if it was absolutely necessary, but he's not going to send our kids overseas to "get their legs blown off" for corporate interests or the military industrial complex. (He's also gotten more donations from active duty military personnel than all the other Republican candidates and Obama COMBINED) He's the only candidate who has stood up to Wall Street. In 2002 he gave a speech in which he claimed that "In ten years time we will have had a financial collapse, the dollar will be worth less, and we will all be poorer and worse off." He wants to abolish the Federal Income Tax. etc, etc, etc.
And the best part is that he scares the crap out of the 1 percenters. The corporately controlled media are trying their damndest to pretend like he doesn't exist, despite consistently coming in either second or third in almost every major poll.
Please, Please, PLEASE take four minutes and watch this video of Jon Stewart exposing the blatant media bias when covering this guy. It's both hilarious and scary as hell at the same time. I don't care whether you agree with Dr. Paul or not, after you watch this, you won't ever trust the mainstream media ever again. It's THAT obvious. And if that's not enough, I included a link to Fox News talking about the South Carolina debate. Watch as the anchor (who is getting real time feedback from people on Twitter) tries to get the analyst to admit that Dr. Paul won the debate. Even though he scored higher with audiences in EVERY SINGLE category, the best she can get out of him is "Yes, he did very well." She then says something to the effect of "He did better than very well, according to that, he did the best." The analyst says "Well.. his green bar is higher, yes he did very well." She says, "I'm just trying to be fair. He did the best." To which he replies "Well, we report, and you decide."

Jon Stewart-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb5aGgQXhXo&feature=related

Fox News Coverage of South Carolina debate-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjkLOvD40E

Guys, don't listen to the media. This guy is for real. He CAN win, and he WILL change things. I've been following politics for a long time, and this guy is the first authentic candidate I've seen since I started paying attention back in the early ninties. We don't need a revolution, we just need to register and vote. That's all it would take...

Actually Zagg, it's just the opposite. I saw someone throw the same argument at Dr. Paul. His response? Take the Environmental Protection Agency, for example. Right now, if a huge multinational corporation is caught polluting, we have the EPA go after them. There is a set fine. If you're a huge corporation this fine basically amounts to a slap on the wrist (since they make millions/billions of dollars a year). But if you're a small business owner, that same fine would likely bankrupt you. So the result is to punish the smaller business owners, thus lessening the competition for the huge multi national corporations. Meanwhile, for the huge corporations, paying the fine is usually MUCH cheaper than getting rid of their waste the way they're supposed to. Ergo, when both pollute, the small business gets shut down, while the huge business pays a small fine (relative to their annual profits).
What Ron Paul proposes is that we do away with the large federal regulations (which are usually WRITTEN by the lobbyists for these large corporations) that allow this to go on. Instead, local (read: state) governments would be free to set up their own rules for punishing polluters.
Again, if you want to know who these guys are working for, look at the donations to their campaigns. Romney, Obama, Gingrich, etc all have massive war chests paid for by huge corporations. Paul has virtually NO corporate campaign sponsors. His support is almost completely grass roots individual contributions. A Ron Paul presidency is their worst nightmare...
If anyone else has any reservations about the guy, please post them. THE reason I'm so in favor of him is precisely because the super wealthy hate him so much...

Okay. I'll bite. So if Ron Paul and his "ilk" want to give the capitalists complete control, why is it that they've donated HUGE sums of money to the campaigns of Romney, Gingrich and Obama (and to a lesser extent the rest of the Republican candidates) and none to Dr. Paul? Not sure who you think the better candidate is (I'm gonna' assume Obama) but here's a breakdown of top campaign contributors by the nonpartisan watchdog website Opensecrets.org. I'll start off with some of the top contributors in Obama's top twenty during the 2008 election. You might recognize some of these names from the financial crisis. Although I doubt that this has anything to do with the fact that NOT ONE SINGLE prosecution has been made regarding the financial scandal by this administration....

Obama- 2008 election
Goldman Sachs- $1,013,091.00
JP Morgan- $808,799.00
Citigroup- $736,771.00
TimeWarner- $624,618.00
General Electric- $529,885.00
Morgan Stanley- $529,232.00

Ron Paul wasn't listed for 2008, but here are HIS top five contributors for this years election...
Natural Resources- $10,000.00
Morning Star Co- $5,000.00
Davis Lynch Inc- $5,000.00
Hoggy Bottom LLC- $5,000.00
Itellus Holdings- $5,000.00

and just for good measure, here are Mitt Romney's top contributors so far for this year's election-

Goldman Sachs- $367,200.00
Credit Suisse Group $203,750
Morgan Stanley $199,800
HIG Capital $186,500
Barclays $157,750

Now like I said, the numbers for Obama are for the 2008 election. Since he's the incumbent, he hasn't really started raising money yet.
Take a close look at those names and numbers. Are you REALLY going to tell me that Paul is the corporate whore of the bunch? His top five contributors COMBINED equal $30,000.00. NOT ONE fortune 500 company on the list. Romney's fifth highest contributor ALONE is $157,750. And while it's not really fair to compare Obama to these guys yet, a look at the 2008 cycle gives you a pretty good idea of how much he's going to end up with and where it's going to come from.

If you want to check my numbers, the legitimacy of the site, or any of the other Republican primary candidates, here's the link to the site I got my info from...
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/index.php

Now tell me again how much the capitalists love Ron Paul and his "ilk"....

 

[iraddict]

P.S. I'm sorry I sound like such a fanatic, but it drives me fucking CRAZY that RP has been painted as such a friend to big business and Wall Street when it's so blatantly obvious to anyone willing to do five minutes worth of research that nothing could be further from the truth. The front runners from BOTH parties have been bought and paid for by THE SAME PEOPLE. The very same people who caused the financial meltdown. The very same people that our government has refused to prosecute. When are people going to wake up? Do you honestly expect anything to change, regardless of whether Obama or Romney is in the White House? Do you honestly believe that either one of these guys is going to be objective when it comes to dealing with these corporations?