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The United Persons » quote http://theunitedpersons.org helping you to save the world... & some of your tax money;) Tue, 08 May 2012 11:24:14 +0000 en hourly 1 I want to denounce in the strongest possible… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-want-to-denounce-in-the-strongest-possible http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-want-to-denounce-in-the-strongest-possible#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:31:14 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8323 I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament’s demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly. As rapporteur of this text, I have faced never-before-seen manoeuvres from the right wing of this Parliament to impose a rushed calendar before public opinion could be alerted, thus depriving the Parliament of its right to expression and of the tools at its disposal to convey citizens’ legitimate demands. Everyone knows the ACTA agreement is problematic, whether it is its impact on civil liberties, the way it makes Internet access providers liable, its consequences on generic drugs manufacturing, or how little protection it gives to our geographical indications. This agreement might have major consequences on citizens’ lives, and still, everything is being done to prevent the European Parliament from having its say in this matter. That is why today, as I release this report for which I was in charge, I want to send a strong signal and alert the public opinion about this unacceptable situation. I will not take part in this mascarade.

Kader Arif, rapporteur for ACTA in the European Parliament

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-want-to-denounce-in-the-strongest-possible/feed 0 A gram of circumvention is worth a metric… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/a-gram-of-circumvention http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/a-gram-of-circumvention#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:02:43 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8319 A gram of circumvention is worth a metric ton of lobbying.

Charles Johnson

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/a-gram-of-circumvention/feed 0 The colonization of outer space is key to… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/the-colonization-of-outer-space-is-key-to http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/the-colonization-of-outer-space-is-key-to#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 09:35:11 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8257 The colonization of outer space is key to the survival of humankind. It will be difficult for the world’s inhabitants to avoid disaster in the next hundred years. We are entering an increasingly dangerous period of our history. Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill. But our genetic code still carries the selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand or million. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. This is why I favour “personed” space flight and encourage further study into how to make space colonization possible.

Stephen Hawking

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/the-colonization-of-outer-space-is-key-to/feed 0 I just got everything perfect in my life… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-just-got-everything-perfect-in-my-life http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-just-got-everything-perfect-in-my-life#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:30:34 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8235 I just got everything perfect in my life, and then I went and messed it all up by having a baby. [...] I compare the process to becoming a vampire, your old self dies in a sad and painful way, but then you come out the other side with immortality, super strength and a taste for human blood.

Jonathan Coulton

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]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-just-got-everything-perfect-in-my-life/feed 0 Does European integration make a major European war… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/does-european-integration-make-a-major-european-war-less-likely-or-more http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/does-european-integration-make-a-major-european-war-less-likely-or-more#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:58:22 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8143 Does European integration make a major European war less likely, or more?

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/does-european-integration-make-a-major-european-war-less-likely-or-more/feed 0 central banks which run the world don’t like… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/central-banks-which-run-the-world-don%e2%80%99t-like http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/central-banks-which-run-the-world-don%e2%80%99t-like#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:48:08 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8138 central banks which run the world don’t like the slaves owning anything that they can’t manipulate the value of – it undermines their power monopoly

Paul Joseph Watson: France Bans Cash Sales Of Gold & Silver Over $600

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/central-banks-which-run-the-world-don%e2%80%99t-like/feed 0 Products and companies are both regarded better as… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/products-and-companies-are-both-regarded-better-as http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/products-and-companies-are-both-regarded-better-as#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:52:28 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8054 Products and companies are both regarded better as entities transcendent from humans, with their own goals and motivations, rather than being reducible to human use or human intentions. [...] The company’s decisions aren’t actually the shareholders’ decisions. A company has a culture which is not the simple sum of the opinions of the people in it. A CEO can never be said to perform an action in the way that a human body can be said to perform an action, like picking an apple. A company is a weird, complex thing, and rather than attempt (uselessly) to reduce it to people within it, it makes more sense – to me – to approach it as an alien being and attempt to understand its biology and momentums only with reference to itself. Having done that, we can then use metaphors to attempt to explain its behaviour: we can say that it follows profit, or it takes an innovative step, or that it is middle-aged, or that it treats the environment badly, or that it takes risks. None of these statements is literally true, but they can be useful to have in mind when attempting to negotiate with these bizarre, massive creatures. (Also, in contradiction, companies are made out of people, at least partially, and we are responsible for their actions. It’s not simple.)

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/products-and-companies-are-both-regarded-better-as/feed 0 Counterfeiting and piracy is a global crime and… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/counterfeiting-and-piracy-is-a-global-crime-and-it-requires-a-global-solution http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/counterfeiting-and-piracy-is-a-global-crime-and-it-requires-a-global-solution#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:48:55 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=8022 Counterfeiting and piracy is a global crime, and it requires a global solution.

Victoria Espinel, the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/counterfeiting-and-piracy-is-a-global-crime-and-it-requires-a-global-solution/feed 0 We must reject ebooks until they respect our… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-must-reject-ebooks-until-they-respect-our-freedom http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-must-reject-ebooks-until-they-respect-our-freedom#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:36:03 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7938 We must reject ebooks until they respect our freedom.

Richard Stallman

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-must-reject-ebooks-until-they-respect-our-freedom/feed 0 I expect that the Battle of Internets is… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-expect-that-the-battle-of-internets-is http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-expect-that-the-battle-of-internets-is#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 20:52:53 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7770 I expect that the Battle of Internets is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of an Uncensored civilization! Upon it depends our own free life, and the long continuity of our sites and our trackers. The whole fury and might of the enemy will very soon be turned on us.

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-expect-that-the-battle-of-internets-is/feed 0 I know that there is some international concern… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-would-welcome-the-government-to-seek-advice-and-recommendation-from-others http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-would-welcome-the-government-to-seek-advice-and-recommendation-from-others#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:28:44 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7567 I know that there is some international concern. I would welcome the government to seek advice and recommendation from others, both from within Hungary and from the Council of Europe and the United Nations. While any country was free to draft its own constitution, it had to be in line with international rules and norms. When such laws are adopted, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that they comply with all relevant international agreements, including the protection of the freedom of media and expression.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/i-would-welcome-the-government-to-seek-advice-and-recommendation-from-others/feed 0 We are observing developments in Hungary with much… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-are-observing-developments-in-hungary-with-much-attention-and-some-worry http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-are-observing-developments-in-hungary-with-much-attention-and-some-worry#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:17:25 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7548 We are observing developments in Hungary with much attention and some worry. The media law adopted at the start of the year shows an attitude towards fundamental rights which – despite some amendments – is hardly compatible with European Union values. Our worries over the media law are made worse, not better, by today’s adoption of the constitution and its future implementation.

Werner Hoyer, Minister of State, Germany

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/we-are-observing-developments-in-hungary-with-much-attention-and-some-worry/feed 0 To track the risk of a new financial… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/to-track-the-risk-of-a-new-financial-crisis http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/to-track-the-risk-of-a-new-financial-crisis#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:09:02 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7530 [...] To track the risk of a new financial crisis, focus on whether the troubled euro zone economies are seeing bank runs and capital flight. Then comes a fundamental question about human nature, namely: Why do we so often postpone admitting that short-run patches simply aren’t going to work?

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/to-track-the-risk-of-a-new-financial-crisis/feed 0 What books have always wanted was to be… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/what-books-have-always-wanted http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/what-books-have-always-wanted#comments Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:41:21 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7519 What books have always wanted was to be annotated, marked up, underlined, dog-eared, summarized, cross-referenced, hyperlinked, shared, and talked-to. Being digital allows them to do all that and more. [...]

]]> http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/what-books-have-always-wanted/feed 0 What would help is if the Supreme Court… http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/a-clear-principle-when-it-comes-to-the-analogy-between-artificial-persons-and-real-ones http://theunitedpersons.org/blog/a-clear-principle-when-it-comes-to-the-analogy-between-artificial-persons-and-real-ones#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 10:18:03 +0000 mazsa http://theunitedpersons.org/?p=7449 What would help is if the Supreme Court (and indeed corporate law in general) adopted a clear principle when it comes to the analogy between artificial persons and real ones: that companies should be treated as people only in so far as it is expedient. They clearly need to be able to enter into contracts just like individuals. But they should not be treated as if they experience such essentially human emotions as embarrassment and a desire for self-expression. Thus they should not have the same rights to privacy and political freedom as a citizen, but should have only as much of a right to confidentiality and political participation as is helpful for the efficient functioning of business (including letting firms contribute to the public debate on the regulation of business). Companies—or rather their bosses and owners—should welcome such constraints: any further “rights” would, sooner or later, be matched by onerous responsibilities.

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