quade 3 #1 December 8, 2011 The next time you think the US is fucked up beyond all reason, read this story and ask yourself how many years would you have gotten? http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/08/world/asia/thailand-american-insults/index.htmlquade - The World's Most Boring Skydiver Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skinnay 0 #2 December 8, 2011 Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #3 December 8, 2011 Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer A modicum of research would have informed you that burning the flag isn't illegal, and taping a police officer isn't illegal nationwide. You may want to change your profile location.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #4 December 8, 2011 Quote Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer A modicum of research would have informed you that burning the flag isn't illegal, and taping a police officer isn't illegal nationwide.. Correct. Flag-burning was acknowledged by courts (albeit sometimes grudgingly) to be protected by the First Amendment back in the Vietnam War protest days. And I predict that, eventually, many "anti-taping police officers" statutes will run into constitutional trouble once subject to close scrutiny by the courts (it's still a fairly new, and thus developing, sub-issue of the law). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skinnay 0 #5 December 8, 2011 Oh right, "nationwide". Sorrry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andy9o8 0 #6 December 8, 2011 Quote Oh right, "nationwide". Sorrry As I said above, it's a fairly new area of the law. Lots of BS laws are passed by legislatures, but are eventually struck down by the courts as being unconstitutional. But the process does usually take a few years for it to work its way out. That's how, for example anti-vagrancy and anti-flag burning laws were all eventually stricken: gradually, simply because it takes time. But in the end, the Constitution usually (well, hopefully) wins out. I'd be more concerned about laws like the Patriot Act, or laws permitting indefinite detention of suspected terrorists. That's where who is on the US Supreme Court (and, thus, who is the President who appoints the SCOTUS justices) really makes a difference. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Belgian_Draft 0 #7 December 8, 2011 Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer The technical faults of your post have already been pointed out. All I will do is to request you name one country that offers its citizens the amount of freedom we enjoy in the USA.HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skinnay 0 #8 December 8, 2011 Quote Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer The technical faults of your post have already been pointed out. All I will do is to request you name one country that offers its citizens the amount of freedom we enjoy in the USA. Um, ok.. http://www.stateofworldliberty.org/report/rankings.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sfzombie 3 #9 December 8, 2011 that's all well and good getting laws struck down after years in the court system, but it does not a bit of good to those persecuted under them in the meantime, hard to give someone back years of their life spent living in those conditions. just a thought...http://kitswv.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aphid 0 #10 December 8, 2011 Quotethat's all well and good getting laws struck down after years in the court system, but it does not a bit of good to those persecuted under them in the meantime, hard to give someone back years of their life spent living in those conditions. just a thought... Agreed. 100%. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #11 December 8, 2011 Quote Lots of BS laws are passed by legislatures, but are eventually struck down by the courts as being unconstitutional Just goes to show...WTF do legislators know about, or care about, the constitution.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #12 December 8, 2011 Let's not forget that it is not necessarily even bs laws being passed but bs applications of laws. This citizen video of police charges started out by using wire tapping statutes. Much like the commerce clause got perverted to expand the scope of federal control over people's lives, da's and cops have no hesitation to try wire fraud or anything else to make a person suffer. Sure, the citizen might not get convicted, but the da and cops made their point not to fuck with them after an arrest and a lot of money and time for defending oneself. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #13 December 8, 2011 Quote Quote Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer The technical faults of your post have already been pointed out. All I will do is to request you name one country that offers its citizens the amount of freedom we enjoy in the USA. Um, ok.. http://www.stateofworldliberty.org/report/rankings.html So the U.S. is in the 99th percentile for individual freedom, and 96th percentile overall. And that's supposed to prove that America has a problem with freedom? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #14 December 8, 2011 Drifting back to the OP's story, This highlights the problems state departments or equivalent have with dual citizens. This guy happily used his Thai credentials until he ran afoul of Thai law. Then he pulls his other passport out of his pocket. "I am an American! I don't have to obey the laws like everyone else." While I believe the government should offer assistance to it's citizens who get into trouble overseas I don't believe it should extend to squeezing sovereign governments to treat people better than they treat their own citizens. This is especially true when it is their own citizen. If you are a Thai citizen in Thailand your US passport should count for exactly as much as a US citizen's Thai passport counts when they are in the US- Zero. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelpdiver 2 #15 December 8, 2011 Quote Yes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer Quote Gordon, 54, returned to Thailand last year after 30 years in the United States. He was arrested in May for posting a link on his blog to an unauthorized biography of the king, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission. He has been detained without bail since then. oooh...tough words here. Let's cut the bullshit - if you jailed every person who called Bush and idiot, or Obama a Muslim non American jackass, would we have more prisoners or guards in our country? Using this example, you could get 2 years just for putting in a hyperlink to the Oliver Stone movie. Or course, he would have been executed, as would Trump for his campaign over the birth certificate. Your counterpoint is laugh out loud stupid...there's no way to defend this Thai law. As for that list of countries - are you really thinking you'll make out better in Estonia (WTF?) or the Bahamas? Canada is the single alternative out there that is basically akin to our sensibilities, though it tends to be cold, and they are a tad wonky about gun rights. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgoose71 0 #16 December 8, 2011 Quote As for that list of countries - are you really thinking you'll make out better in Estonia (WTF?) or the Bahamas? Canada is the single alternative out there that is basically akin to our sensibilities, though it tends to be cold, and they are a tad wonky about gun rights. +1 I guess some people would call corruption freedom and some of the basic rights we enjoy in the U.S. a hindrance to their peace and harmony."There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." Life, the Universe, and Everything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #17 December 9, 2011 QuoteAs for that list of countries... Well, it depends on your definition of freedom doesn't it? I didn't see what criteria were used to develop that list so I can't say one way or the other as to its validity. I didn't see anyone defending Thai law. Even so, right, wrong or indifferent one has to obey the laws of the country in which they stand at the time....unless, of course, you have diplomatic immunity and even that doesn't save your butt in some cases. On top of all that, You may want to look into the "HB 1955" thread. There's mention of a senate bill that may interest you as it pertains to American freedoms and rights. Ahhhh, anyway, they may let him off by caning him with a Thai stick.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #18 December 9, 2011 QuoteI guess some people would call corruption freedom and some of the basic rights we enjoy in the U.S. a hindrance to their peace and harmony. Well, yes. That would be true. For example, you may,by law, enjoy the freedom to blast your boom box until some specified hour of the night. That would indeed hinder my peace and harmony. You may, by law, enjoy the freedom of taking my property to build a Home Depot. That would hinder my peace and harmony. I needn't go on...My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jgoose71 0 #19 December 9, 2011 QuoteQuoteI guess some people would call corruption freedom and some of the basic rights we enjoy in the U.S. a hindrance to their peace and harmony. Well, yes. That would be true. For example, you may,by law, enjoy the freedom to blast your boom box until some specified hour of the night. That would indeed hinder my peace and harmony. You may, by law, enjoy the freedom of taking my property to build a Home Depot. That would hinder my peace and harmony. I needn't go on... I'm guessing you have never been to Estonia....."There is an art, it says, or, rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." Life, the Universe, and Everything Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #20 December 9, 2011 QuoteCanada is the single alternative out there that is basically akin to our sensibilities, though it tends to be cold, and they are a tad wonky about gun rights. Just curious, what specific Canadian gun rights are you addressing here as being "wonky"?My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
popsjumper 2 #21 December 9, 2011 Quote I'm guessing you have never been to Estonia..... Do they have red herrings there, too? I have been to Burbank, CA - The Vacation Capital of the World.My reality and yours are quite different. I think we're all Bozos on this bus. Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Andrewwhyte 1 #22 December 9, 2011 Quote Canada is the single alternative out there that is basically akin to our sensibilities, though it tends to be cold, and they are a tad wonky about gun rights. We're working on that. House of Commons vote to kill the long gun registry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BoogeyMan 0 #23 December 9, 2011 QuoteThe next time you think the US is fucked up beyond all reason, read this story and ask yourself how many years would you have gotten? http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/08/world/asia/thailand-american-insults/index.html Any comments from someone who lives there... Doesn't Dreamdancer live there? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riddler 0 #24 December 9, 2011 QuoteSo the U.S. is in the 99th percentile for individual freedom, and 96th percentile overall. And that's supposed to prove that America has a problem with freedom? Question was posed "name one country that offers its citizens the amount of freedom we enjoy in the USA." Answer was given with seven countries that enjoy more freedom, per a report from a website that may be questioned as to it's methods of calculation. But still a reasonably valid answer to a specific question.Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rwieder 0 #25 December 9, 2011 QuoteYes americans you are so free. Let me know how it goes when you want to burn an american flag or video tape a police officer Never leave your beloved safe country! We're free enough to let anyone who doesn't like it here to allow them to GTFO.-Richard- "You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
