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The Dallemagnes → From the mouth of Angel
The internet you know and love is a vast wild wilderness. Websites about anything and everything are everywhere, and you have easy access to them. You can reliably watch a youtube video one moment, then a video on some random obscure website the next. Net neutrality means you get access to all that content no matter what because all data is treated equally. You pay your internet service provider(ISP) then you have access to the great open internet.
We must first take a step back to understand why this is even at issue. For many, many years our media was curated for us. If we had a favorite television show or program we wanted to watch, we had to know which channel it was on, what time it would be playing and then we had to be there to watch it. With the advent of first DVR’s and then the internet this has changed and the way we consume media has changed. Many people are foregoing cable all together happy to stream their entertainment from Netflix, Amazon, Youtube and any number of places on the web. Add to that people who download media via torrent sites and file lockers and suddenly the cable companies are losing money. Slowly but surely we are seeing ISP’s launch their own streaming services in the hopes of competing.
So what does this have to do with net neutrality. Well with net neutrality we have access to any all data as the same speed. At the same time ISP’s are attempting to implement data caps. Think of it like your cell phone’s data plan. You get so much data a month to use and if you go over that you will be charged extra. ISP’s wish to have home internet work the same way with the same type of caps. The problem is, that it’s an artificial scarcity. Metering water makes sense because it is a finite resource, bandwidth however is not finite. Once they get data caps in place, they can then turn around exempt their own streaming services from those data caps, meaning you won’t go over your data limit if you use their own services. So then you have choice, you can watch media offered by your ISP which doesn’t count against your data cap or you watch media on a completely different website which does count against your data cap. Which would you choose?
A conflict of interest exists when those who provide the water pipes also provide the water. It means that you can’t shop around for cheaper water suppliers because if your pipes suddenly burst, they may not be fixed because the water pipe supplier says “it’s not our responsibility you get water from that other company and they have to fix it. Only they can’t because they don’t have access to the pipes. When we lose net neutrality we’ll no longer be able to freely choose what we consume on the internet, our corporate overlords will decide what we should see and what we shouldn’t. And because in most places you only have one option for high speed internet we won’t be able to shop around for a better deal in the hopes of finding a more neutral internet.
Currently our neutral internet gives us all a voice. Everyone has a chance to post their thoughts, pictures and videos online. Net neutrality protects that right, it gives anyone a voice and allows us a freedom of speech that even our founding fathers would have been astounded by.
If you want to help Protect Net Neutrality you can support groups who are fighting for it.
You can also write to your House Representative and senators as well as contacting the FCC
I wish more people would realize things like these before issuing quick judgement.
If you believe certain memes and rumors, it might sound like people on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known under its previous name, the Food Stamp Program, are using taxpayer dollars to buy tons of junk food and enjoy extra cash while the rest of us have to work for our money. That’s not true, though.
Source: Three Myths About SNAP and “Food Stamps” Debunked
Research by the British American Tobacco R&D Center found lungs exposed to e-cigarettes suffered just two gene mutations – compared to the 123 genes changed by exposure to tobacco.
Source: E-cigarettes ARE safer than tobacco, study confirms | Daily Mail Online
Stop giving him attention. Stop interviewing Kellyanne Conway, stop going to his press conferences, stop talking about his tweets. Narcissist’s love attention and they love to be the center of attention. This “man” thrives on feeling like he’s the center of the universe.
This group’s calling for Congress to impeach Donald Trump
Source: Why We’re Calling for Congress to Impeach Donald Trump | Time.com
FCC chair stuns consumer advocates with move that could hurt poor people
Ajit Pai “walk[ed] back the stated goal of his chairmanship,” advocate says.
So for years I’ve used Firefox as my browser of choice. However with them moving to a more chrome like interface what this means is that a lot of the plugins I used to customize firefox will no longer work. I could switch to a browser like pale moon, but that last I used it, it wasn’t what I wanted either. Plus I hear it has some security issues. So I guess for now I’ll start using chrome again. Once Vivaldi get bookmark and setting sync I may consider switching to it.
To anyone who “suffered for the last 8 years under President Obama,” please read this response from Scott Mednick when a Facebook friend told him, “We suffered for 8 years. Now it’s your turn.”
Here is Scott’s reply:
“I am surprised you would wish suffering upon me. That of course is your right, I suppose. I do not wish harm on anyone. Your statement seems to continue an ‘US v THEM’ mentality. The election is over. It is important to get past campaigning and campaign rhetoric and get down to what is uniting not dividing and what is best for ALL Americans.
There will never be a President who does everything to everyone’s liking. There are things President Obama (and President Clinton) did that I do not like and conversely there are things I can point to that the Presidents Bush did that I agree with. So I am not 100% in lock step with the outgoing President but have supported him and the overall job he did.
And, if you recall, during the Presidential Campaign back in 2008 the campaign was halted because of the “historic crisis in our financial system.”
Wall Street bailout negotiations intervened in the election process. The very sobering reality was that there likely could be a Depression and the world financial markets could collapse.
The United States was losing 800,000 jobs a month and was poised to lose at least 10 million jobs the first year once the new President took office. We were in an economic freefall.
So let us recall that ALL of America was suffering terribly at the beginning of Obama’s Presidency.
But I wanted to look back over the last 8 years and ask you a few questions. Since much of the rhetoric before Obama was elected was that he would impose Sharia Law, Take Away Your Guns, Create Death Panels, Destroy the Economy, Impose Socialism and, since you will agree that NONE of this came to pass,
I was wondering:
Why have you suffered so?
So let me ask:
Gays and Lesbians can now marry and enjoy the benefits they had been deprived of. Has this caused your suffering?
When Obama took office, the Dow was 6,626. Now it is 19,875. Has this caused your suffering?
We had 82 straight months of private sector job growth – the longest streak in the history of the United States. Has this caused your suffering?
Especially considering where he the economy was when he took over, an amazing 11.3 million new jobs were created under President Obama (far more than President Bush). Has this caused your suffering?
Obama has taken Unemployment from 10% down to 4.7%. Has this caused your suffering?
Homelessness among US Veterans has dropped by half. Has this caused your suffering?
Obama shut down the US secret overseas prisons. Has this caused your suffering?
President Obama has created a policy for the families of fallen soldiers to have their travel paid for to be there when remains are flown home. Has this caused your suffering?
We landed a rover on Mars. Has this caused your suffering?
He passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Has this caused your suffering?
Uninsured adults has decreased to below 10%: 90% of adults are insured – an increase of 20 Million Adults. Has this caused your suffering?
People are now covered for pre-existing conditions. Has this caused your suffering?
Insurance Premiums increased an average of $4,677 from 2002-2008, an increase of 58% under Bush. The growth of these
insurance premiums has gone up $4,145 – a slower rate of increase. Has this caused your suffering?
Obama added Billions of dollars to mental health care for our Veterans. Has this caused your suffering?
Consumer confidence has gone from 37.7 to 98.1 during Obama’s tenure. Has this caused your suffering?
He passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Has this caused your suffering?
His bi-annual Nuclear Summit convinced 16 countries to give up and destroy all their loose nuclear material so it could not be stolen. Has this caused your suffering?
He saved the US Auto industry. American cars sold at the beginning of his term were 10.4M and upon his exit 17.5M. Has this caused your suffering?
The deficit as a percentage of the GDP has gone from 9.8% to 3.2%. Has this caused your suffering?
The deficit itself was cut by $800 Billion Dollars. Has this caused your suffering?
Obama preserved the middle class tax cuts. Has this caused your suffering?
Obama banned solitary confinement for juveniles in federal prisons. Has this caused your suffering?
He signed Credit Card reform so that rates could not be raised without you being notified. Has this caused your suffering?
He outlawed Government contractors from discriminating against LGBT persons. Has this caused your suffering?
He doubled Pell Grants. Has this caused your suffering?
Abortion is down. Has this caused your suffering?
Violent crime is down. Has this caused your suffering?
He overturned the scientific ban on stem cell research. Has this caused your suffering?
He protected Net Neutrality. Has this caused your suffering?
Obamacare has extended the life of the Medicare insurance trust fund (will be solvent until 2030). Has this caused your suffering?
President Obama repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Has this caused your suffering?
He banned torture. Has this caused your suffering?
He negotiated with Syria to give up its chemical weapons and they were destroyed. Has this caused your suffering?
Solar and Wind Power are at an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?
High School Graduation rates hit 83% – an all time high. Has this caused your suffering?
Corporate profits are up by 144%. Has this caused your suffering?
He normalized relations with Cuba. Has this caused your suffering?
Reliance on foreign oil is at a 40 year low. Has this caused your suffering?
US Exports are up 28%. Has this caused your suffering?
He appointed the most diverse cabinet ever. Has this caused your suffering?
He reduced the number of troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Has this caused your suffering?
Yes, he killed Osama Bin Laden and retrieved all the documents in his possession for analysis. Perhaps THIS caused your suffering?
From an objective standpoint it would appear that the last 8 years have seen some great progress and we were saved from a financial collapse. Things are not perfect. Things can always be better. We are on much better footing now than we were in 2008.
I look forward to understanding what caused you to suffer so much under Obama these last 8 years.”
[I copy pasted this Feel free to share it, too]
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