[teergoBissono]

So as long as CA is the only one, then it is not interstate? haha


There's probably an inter-country clause somewhere. The interstate commerce clause and the 16th amendment should both be repealed on the basis of abuse alone.

[hhynmtrxcp]

From what I've heard, Khan didn't care about religion (except to mock it) and let people within his land whorship as they chose without state discrimination.

No?

[mnhloot]

From what I've heard, Khan didn't care about religion (except to mock it) and let people within his land whorship as they chose without state discrimination.

No?

You are missing the point.

Mongols also devastated the Islamic world but they didn't really opress Islam per se as far as I recall
(thou a Mongol general did have a soft spot for Christianity if I recall properly, causing Medeival Europeans to come up with all sorts of funny fanfic about the Mongols and Europeans uniting to destroy the Arab states)


Saying someone devastated Orthodox Russia or Confucian China dosen't really mean they represt Orthodoxy or Confucianism.

[loan4younow]

The thing which makes the US look most right-wing to me is the lack of space for political secularism.

Could an atheist ever be elected president in the US? Can any politician get elected at any level on any ticket if they don't say "God bless America"? I'm not suggesting that European countries are full of hard atheist leadership, but in Britain politics is essential a secular debate.

Maybe I'm mistaken but the apparent lack of (ir)religious freedom seems to compromise the US position as land of the free.

[masterboyz]

Under current interpretation, the Commerce Clause puts almost no limitations on the scope of the federal government's powers. Given that Raich affirmed the federal government's power to ban the use of medical marijuana in states that had approved it, I don't see how a Californian law decriminalizing marijuana for recreational use has a chance in hell of surviving. I personally feel that this state of affairs sucks and is an affront to the Founders' conception of federal power, but you kind of brought it on yourself by supporting a statist Democratic party and the activist judges they put on the federal bench...

Raich is why we need more and bigger guns in private hands. They're not scared yet.

How can somebody growing a plant and smoking it on their property fall under any reasonable interpretation of "Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes?" There's nothing crossing state lines and there's no commercial activity. I recall that Justice Thomas broke with the majority on those grounds, and he was correct in doing so. **** SCOTUS.

[Mowselelex]

Drake, I can't wait to sweep that away along with the monarchy that is supposed to defend it.


Do that, wait 222 years (so you'll have been without an established state religion for as long as America has) and then you can justifiably ***** about the lack of religious freedom in the U.S.

How can somebody growing a plant and smoking it on their property fall under any reasonable interpretation of "Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes?" There's nothing crossing state lines and there's no commercial activity. I recall that Justice Thomas broke with the majority on those grounds, and he was correct in doing so. **** SCOTUS.


QFT

[Jon Woodgate]

I'll take your concerns more seriously when your country no longer has an officially established state religion.

Drake, only the royalties are affected by this, so your point is moot (it's the same in Denmark).

TBH, your claim is a bit idiotic - any european politician that called for god in a speech would be politically dead, while an american ditto that don't do that are out of the game.

Oh, and Bebro, Kit and Robert gives a very good description of danish politics. Only difference is maybe that we have a legal nazi party that are occationally beaten up by left wing nutters and rediculed by ordinary people.

[Rapiddude]

Well you don't really need to opress Orthodox religion to devastate a Orthodox country.

Brutal conquest and supression of dissent work pretty well too wouldn't you agree?

Yeah, I know what he meant, I was just singling out his mention of "Orthodox Russia." Y'know, as opposed to what other Russia? I suppose modern Russia has a lot more atheists, but that's because the commies hammered the faith quite effectively.

[DoctorTDent]

Marijuana smokers across the America lit up in public parks, outside statehouses and in the posh confines of a Hummer parked outside a pot gardening superstore to observe the movement's annual 'high holiday' yesterday.

Those who weren't within whiffing distance of a college campus or a reggae concert may not have realised that Tuesday was '4/20', the celebration-***-mass civil disobedience derived from '420' - insider shorthand for cannabis consumption.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...#ixzz0loOV3LVh

[Kilsimpaile]

It strikes me that the economic "freedom" in the US comes at the expense of individuals' rights (to such things as clean air and water, not having their wilderness developed, freedom from constant advertising).

[DialOne]

I'm still to be presented with conclusive evidence of material differences in terms of business regulations USA vs EU (which is not 100% homogenous in that respect). In fact, I suspect the US is way more regulated in some areas. Since the only area I could say I understand more than laymen is securities & M&A, just compare pure EU-only IPO prospectuses (no Reg.S or rule 144A) with a fully fledged US public offering prospectus. I mean, "Notice to New Hampshire residents" WTF?

[didrexx]

It strikes me that the economic "freedom" in the US comes at the expense of individuals' rights (to such things as clean air and water, not having their wilderness developed, freedom from constant advertising).

WTF? I've got hard water, but that's geology not the government's fault. My only complaint about the air quality is the pollen count. There are multiple regional parks within fifteen minutes of my house, and I don't even know what you mean by "constant advertising."

Seems to me like you've got a warped perception of America.

[w4HPpbSW]

I find it interesting that some people prefer no evidence to anecdotal evidence...

[nuncEtedben]

I find it interesting that some people prefer no evidence to anecdotal evidence...

So do I. But if you are implying something about me, you're making no sense.

[dWSOj26H]

Ricketyclik was saying that America fails to counter externalities in the name of "freedom", or something along those lines, but didn't back it up with evidence. So when Felch countered with his personal experience, he had more evidence... if America isn't a polluted wasteland why say that Americans' conception of "economic freedom" disregards externalities?

I didn't say it disregards them, rather that it indirectly promoted them and I have plenty of 'evidence' to work with outside what has been mentioned. As an example the US is the largest producer of greenhouse gases (or thereabouts) and complains that reducing such emissions is a limit on economic freedom.

Of course, I digress from the original point, which I said I disagreed with in the first place - for different reasons.

[bushomeworkk]

I've spent a week or so in Amsterdam, pure holiday. I've also been to Christiania (Kopenhagen) a dozen or so times, where it is also not technically legal (I was there once during a 'raid').

I live in the Netherlands and work in Amsterdam. (for whatever reason, Amsterdam is no difference then the rest of Holland).
And having pot as a particular is not officially illegal.

You cite something that's about selling/trading pot.
Like I said, having it is officially legal. Trading it is not, though it is tollerated.

It's as with downloading. In The Netherlands it's not against the law to download software/music/etc. It is illegal though to offer it for download.