Re: [OT] The record industry, RIAA and US law

[Joe Hart <j.hart@orange.nl>]

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Celejar wrote:
[snip]
>> Yes, I consider the USA my country too.  I have dual nationality, so I
>> am American and Dutch.  I see the pros and cons of both systems of
>> government, and I have no real preference to one over the other.  But
>> the media issue is a strong point for the Dutch.
> 
> But as I asked you in another post, what does that have to do with
> systems of government?

<opinions>
The *ideas* of the American governmental system, meaning how the
constitution was written and the form of government with the checks and
balances is very good.  The way the president is elected (with electors,
and not voters) is not good.

I am not fond of term-limits because the person right for the job should
not be automatically disqualified from running for office, and the whole
idea of a lame-duck just leads to possible misuses of power.  If a
person knows he cannot be re-elected then their accountability to the
constituents is much lower.  The idea of a federal police force is
specifically discouraged, but what is the FBI, ATF and in some cases the
NSA?

I am also against unregulated government organizations like the FCC and
FAA, although I do see the need for their existence, they need to have
some oversight from some other agency and should not have carte-blanch.

There are also problems here:

There are too many political parties, so in order to have a working
government, coalitions must be formed, and in the process of forming the
coalitions, parties quite frequently must abandon the platform that got
them elected in the first place.

The welfare system is too lenient.  There are a number of people who
refuse to work because they actually take a pay cut by getting a job.

Taxes are very high, to pay for many social programs such as the one I
just mentioned.
</opinions>
> 
>> As for the foreign policy, the countries are actually similar, but the
>> one big difference is that The Netherlands is not actively forcing
>> democracy on other countries (although they do participate in Bosnia and
>> in Afghanistan).
> 
> Of course. The question is, though, which way is better? Should we not
> invade the Sudan to save innocent lives, because that would be forcing
> our liberal notions of decency on the savages there? 
>

The only time the United States gets involved is when it is in their
interests to do so.  Why didn't anything happen in Rwanda?

Sudan is different because it is Islamic fundamentalist that are doing
much of the fighting, and we know that in today's war on terror, Islamic
Fundamentalist are being targeted.

What I would like to know is why the United States backs Israel in what
could be considered inhumane treatment of people under it's control
(illegally for the last 39 years).

[snip policy on combating terrorism]
>> What really fears me is that it is just a matter of time before one
>> group of radicals gets access to WMD and I pray they don't send them my way.
> 					     ^^^^		
> No atheists in the foxholes!

LOL.  Figure of speech.  I hope.

Joe
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