Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Example One - Reporter Faces Jail for Failing to Name Source	1		2004/11/18, 04:24 pm
	Example Two: Internet Porn More Addictive Than Crack, Senate Told	23		2004/12/02, 06:14 pm

After Bush got re-elected I stated that it was my opinion that we could look forward to four more years of the following:

-Four more years of tax cuts for billionaires
-Four more years of limits and new laws against porn
-Four more years of attacks on our hobby, which will probably be outright illegal by 2008.
-Four more years of being the most hated country in the world
-Four more years of less privacy, less free speech rights, less due process in the legal system, and more Patriot Act type laws that basically let law enforcement due whatever the hell they want and without judicial oversight.
-Four Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia like appointments to the Supreme Court.

Say goodbye to privacy and say goodbye to jobs that will continue to move overseas. Say hello to limits on freedom of speech and due process. Say hello to even more copyright laws limiting how you can USE the technology and music, software, movies you BUY, Say hello to more indency prosecutions for the porn you view in the privacy of your own home. Say hello to laws that will make it illegal to visit a prostitute ANYWHERE in the world. Say hello to RECORD BUDGET DEFICITS as well.

I will use this thread to track these predictions and prove my post is not just a bunch of rhetoric.

Mister Wizard, bring me back to the days when the president was getting blowjobs and the dow was at all time high.

The sad fact of the matter is that most Americans don't give a rat's ass about individual liberties and freedoms, and are much more concerned the nationalistic identity of being "American."

The only way the current course can be reversed would be a large social movement of where people of diverse concerns realized that their concerns all have the common principle of individual freedom. Unfortunately, I just don't see that day coming anytime soon. And worse off, there really isn't any country where the perservation of individual liberties is of primary concern. I guess some of us are fortunate enough to have the wealth and means to insulate ourselves from the sad reality of the current world. Hell more third world whores, whiskey, and porno for me and I will be sufficiently distracted to give a rat's ass.

Xen, your efforts to post such news stories is appreciated.

Having just spent a couple of days in Amsterdam, my impression is, notwithstanding some unfortunate political turns to the right, the Netherlands may be a country where the preservation of individual liberties is a primary concern. This is just an impression though, and I would be interested in the views of others on this.

LA,

That is a huge Amsterdam Anomoly. The rest of holland has nothing to do with amsterdam. They concentrate it there. In the last 5 days there has been major fighting and attacks on churches and mosques. Ever since a Dutch film maker who was crtical of islam got killed. I am talking about torching kindergartens and the whole deal. It isn't such a pleasant place at the moment. Integration of minorities is not dealt with well in Europe, and civil liberties are not paramount in most places.