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posted by martyb on Monday December 04 2017, @08:24PM   Printer-friendly
from the getting-shafted dept.

For decades, people in the US have been given a song and dance by the telecoms about how tax cuts, surcharges, and a long list of other expenses are necessary for telecoms to "invest" in infrastructure. The concessions are granted again and again, but the investments are never actually made. In all, US taxpayers have paid $400 Billion in taxes and Internet surcharges for fiber optic upgrades that never happened.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:43AM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:43AM (#605458)

    The Founders of America tried to create a restricted government; the whole point of the Constitution was not to create or grant rights to The People, but rather to restrict the government.

    Nowadays, what is there that the Government doesn't stick its tendrils in?

    They promised Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, but you cannot even grow a single certain plant in your own home, or eat part of it in a brownie after a long day at work.

    Your government is a fraud; your government is a bait and switch.

    If you're going to give the Men-with-Guns a mandate, it better be very well defined, very restricted, and easy to monitor; their mandate should be only to ensure that The People are able to interact on voluntary terms, according to well defined, well negotiated agreements in advance of their interaction—not during their interaction, and definitely not after their interaction.

    Disputes can be adjudicated in court, and such case law can be refined by legislation; the only time "legislators" should be doing anything should be when there is a matter of interaction between individuals that cannot be solved by existing rules. Thus, this precludes the right of the government to allocate resources—the government should not be allowed to allocate resources, other than to the Men-with-Guns for the sole purpose of implementing their role as referees.

    And guess what?

    The market can handle that role, too; the best Separation of Powers is competition within the market—that's why there never has been and there never will be One World Government.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:06AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @08:06AM (#605543)

    If you earnestly support the position you espouse, then you will serve it best by not spamming the same post over and over.

    Rephrase your argument. Listen to the objections of the detractors and address their points using your tested fundamentals.

    When you spam, you annoy even those who agree with the content of your spam. (I'm assuming the same person is spamming this, and not a different troll spamming to make the original AC look bad.)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @10:25AM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @10:25AM (#605568)

      That comment in question was being censored by downmods. So, I reposted it.

      The comment in question is perfectly rational and well formulated—even a person who disagrees can see that it adds to the conversation. Yet, people just downmod it, without even responding in the nice fashion that you so desire.

      So, no.

      I'll keep reposting people's comments as long as the downmods keep spamming us all with their worthless downmods.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @10:34AM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @10:34AM (#605571)

        That comment in question was being censored by downmods. So, I reposted it.

        Don't. You're being foolish. Lots of people read at -1 and lots of those have mod points. There is no "censorship".

        I modded up your first comment. I did not mod up your copy-pasta. If you keep spamming, I won't mod up any of your spams at all, including the first.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:16PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @01:16PM (#605601)

          The downmodders don't even have the courtesy to leave the comment's pitiful subject line visible; marking it "-1" means that only "Comment below threshold" shows up for many people. Fuck that noise. And, fuck you.

          • (Score: 2) by Spook brat on Tuesday December 05 2017, @06:43PM

            by Spook brat (775) on Tuesday December 05 2017, @06:43PM (#605746) Journal

            The downmodders don't even have the courtesy to leave the comment's pitiful subject line visible; marking it "-1" means that only "Comment below threshold" shows up for many people. Fuck that noise. And, fuck you.

            Your first comment has, at the time I write this, been modded 5 times:
            Moderation +1
                  Troll=1, Redundant=1, Insightful=2, Interesting=1, Total=5

            Overall, I think it's been treated quite fairly. I disagree with the redundant mod, since this was the first of the identical posts; when I'm done writing I'll throw on an "under-rated" to balance.

            Meanwhile, I believe you and I have discussed the topic of multiple posts before:
            https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=18751&page=1&cid=487278 [soylentnews.org]
            https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=18751&page=1&cid=487295 [soylentnews.org]

            Or, perhaps it would be a discussion if you had responded; since you largely corrected the troublesome behavior I assumed you had at least read my posts and gotten the message.

            The point I hope you internalize is that here we have a certain culture, which I think matches your definition of that word: [soylentnews.org]

            Indeed, a "culture" is the name that is given to a very complex set of rules that are more or less implicit, not written down in a record.

            Sure, there are guidelines, [soylentnews.org] but this herd of cats is a pretty individualistic bunch. Our use of moderation is part of that culture, and if the way we use it offends you so much then perhaps this isn't the forum for you. If you're willing to rein in your behavior to stay within our cultural norms I think you'd fit in fine here; your posts are frequently marked as "interesting" or "insightful" (in this case, both!), so don't take the troll mods personally.

            Here's a question for you, which you can discuss in a reply or just think about on your own, at your discretion:
            What is the appropriate reaction of an individual when they find themselves in a place where the culture disagrees with the individual's preferred lifestyle?
            a) act however they want, regardless of cultural norms, and face the consequences, possibly leading a rebellion against the powers-that-be
            b) moderate the most divergent of their behaviors and participate as a culturally-acceptable eccentric, possibly trying to change the system from within
            c) leave and find someplace more suitable to their tastes

            I have my own opinions on this, and consider it a necessary thought exercise for every adolescent who is attempting to integrate into the society they're born in. I'm genuinely interested in your thought on the matter in general, and also as they specifically apply to the question of posting on an internet forum.

            --
            Travel the galaxy! Meet fascinating life forms... And kill them [schlockmercenary.com]
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @11:49PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 05 2017, @11:49PM (#605894)

            It's me again, the above AC who posted with a request for you to stop spamming.

            It's obvious that you care about both your posts' content AND the consideration of other SN readers/modders. Your posts DO contain solid reasoning and sound logic, and many of my own AC comments mirror yours in substance. You're not some lone voice crying out in the wilderness, and your unique contributions are seen and appreciated (as evidenced by the modding now visible on your first copy of the post you later spammed). Yes, there are ... thuggish crazy people with mod points here at SN; there are also plenty of people who CHANGE THE DEFAULT DISPLAY BEHAVIOR to read at -1, something which is trivial to do if you were to either make an account and set your preferences, or do what I normally do and use the drop-down boxes beneath the freakin' summary.

            Your actions illustrate why there is a -1, Spam mod, which is supposed to do Bad Things to people who, you know, post actual spam. Your copy-pasting the same comment over and over again is exactly that: spam. Even as someone who is inclined to be your ideological ally, if you continue your spammy behavior, I'll start dropping -1,Spam mods on your copy-pasted comments in spite of my agreement with their contents. I won't be the only one, either, as evidenced by the PROPER -1,Redundant mods someone else already properly assigned to your above spammy posts.