[A U.S.] Supreme Court ruling in 1886 … arguably set the stage for the full-scale development of the culture of capitalism, by handing to corporations the right to use their economic power in a way they never had before. Relying on the Fourteenth Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1868 to protect the rights of freed slaves, the Court ruled that a private corporation is a natural person under the U.S. Constitution, and consequently has the same rights and protection extended to persons by the Bill of Rights, including the right to free speech. Thus corporations were given the same “rights” to influence the government in their own interests as were extended to individual citizens, paving the way for corporations to use their wealth to dominate public thought and discourse. The debates in the United States in the 1990s over campaign finance reform, in which corporate bodies can “donate” millions of dollars to political candidates stem from this ruling although rarely if ever is that mentioned. Thus, corporations, as “persons,” were free to lobby legislatures, use the mass media, establish educational institutions such as many business schools founded by corporate leaders in the early twentieth century, found charitable organizations to convince the public of their lofty intent, and in general construct an image that they believed would be in their best interests. All of this in the interest of “free speech.” — Richard Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 1999), p.100

The problem is that corporations are legal fictions which seem to have been given all of the rights of real people, but with NONE of the consequences or responsibilities.

Let’s use Health Care Reform ads as an example. Even WITH limitations on corporate spending, the Health Care industry was able to poor millions of dollars into false, scare-tactic advertising under the guise of a “health care protection agency” or a “government watchdog group.” It took investigative reporters weeks to finally trace the money of these ads back to the source, a large health insurance agency, or a pharmaceutical company, etc. Where they ever held responsible for making stuff up to try and kill Health Care Reform? No. Imagine what they could have done with their almost unlimited resources? Well, now we’ll be able to find out.

I have a SA8300HD+ and it’s having issues so my provider will have to reformat it and, therefore, I’ll lose everything I’ve recorded … which defeats the purpose of having a DVR in the first place.

After step 4 in DVHS I try to run the AVCBrowser app but it keeps crashing upon opening saying it quit unexpectedly.

I have a Macbook pro running Snow Leopard.

Thanks!

and Penny Arcade is always great

The test footage/trailer for Tron Legacy looks amazing. I have no idea what’s really happening in it as the plot isn’t clear, but the style, the effects, etc. all work for me. I also like the fact that it seems to be a darker movie than the original.

The only situation where I become shaky in my opinion as posted, is when there’s only 1 pharmacy in a community, and that community is held hostage by the pharmacy owner’s beliefs. There could be situations where a Jehovah’s Witness won’t sell hypodermic needles, or a Catholic won’t sell condoms, etc… But that being said, I can’t see that happening very often, and when it does I would bet the surrounding community (most likely very rural, and conservative, like your Mississippi example) would tend to agree with the fundamentalist pharmacy owner. How far is too far for someone to go to another pharmacy? Another town? I’d find it hard to believe (and maybe I haven’t been in the rural South enough) that if you live in bumfuck Alabama that you couldn’t find a Pharmacy in another town that carries what you’re looking for. (Unless the state tries to pass a law banning Plan B, which I would absolutely never condone and argue against as well.)