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It is definitely bad for the people of the USA, there is no doubt about that. Whether we get a slumping as the mass of IT patents begin to expire or if there is a secession of countries from the patent laws before that remains to be seen. If the US loses its ability to intimidate other countries then the latter may well happen. Aside from the huge debt the USA has, bear in mind that it's not easy to threaten those you depend on. By outsourcing to the other countries, the US loses power over them. Contrary to common perception, the power resides not in the employer but in the worker.

Exploring what might happen a little further though, it's wrong to analyse this solely in terms of nations. Taking that view indicates an acceptance of the subtle propaganda of nationalism. By this I'm just pointing out that the wealthy stock-holders of the corporations that do this are not synonymous with the people of the USA. Nor are the wealthy of China. As modern governments seem willing to open any doors for the wealthy, we get an effective class of people that are tied to no nation. The people in the USA who are monopolizing ideas and pushing for more patent laws have their counterparts in China and India and elsewhere. When the USA begins to suffer from the collapsing of the trade imbalance, we may find that those who brought it about in the US have long since invested their money in Chinese and Indian companies, or wherever else the power has gone. The result will be a perpetuation of the IP paradigm and an increasing poverty of the non-IP owning majority.

While the USA is in a dominant position, it should be creating a fair system designed at increasing the size of the cake, not just grabbing more of what is there. They should do this while other countries want to rise to their position and are willing to help. US power has already passed it's zenith however, and the opportunity is sliding away. The result will be reaping exactly what has been sown in years to come.

I would like to see more concilliation from the USA, but instead it just seems to be tightening its grip which is always a sign of fear. As Shakespeare said: "'Tis better playing with a Lion's whelp, than with an old one, dying."

Yes, I'm being dramatic. However, I think a debt of US$7,782,816,000,000 deserves a little rhetoric.

Me? I'm campaigning against European Software Patents over here and learning a couple more languages just in case.

Here is what a value in trillions looks like.

Enjoy.

I agree about Collor de Mello. But he is a small-time thief compared to Reagan and both Bush presidents. George W. Bush has borrowed trillions that have gone into the pockets of his friends, and that U.S. taxpayers are expected to pay back.

Those who want corruption in the U.S. government want the government to borrow. The corrupters find ways to transfer the money to themselves.

Debt clock

But then whats the point, all our bases belongs to THEM

Doesn't our government spend that much money like, every tenth of a second?

'over-inflated' == "spending more than you have"

Hype, because Americans, due to their proclivity for cults of personality and inability to dis-introvert themselves long enough to escape Club Med Nirvana and have a Real Look At The World, hyperbolically still consider theirs the greatest nation on Earth, irresponsibly, when in fact as a nation America is far, far, far less great than many others in an exceedingly expansive number of realms, such as education, agrigultural sciences, manufacturing, even 'entertainment' .. oh wait, militant mass programming of police-state-asseted inebriated peon hordes, America and its Gigantic Drug and Propaganda Apparatus is very great at that.. but in fact, the only bouyant export from the U.S., economically, is police force/forms of warfare, and we all know (those of us who were paying attention in History class) just how long police states can go before collapsing on themselves. (Hint: not very long.)

Every single one of those Shock and Awe weapons could've been used for far, far greater, peaceful purposes which would have made an awesome impact on world stability, but instead Americans allow their politicians to use its technology to destroy. [Is George W. Bush really the best America can do? Honest?]

Show me a cruise missile, and I'll show you a highly effective way of peacefully delivering a very badly needed water pump and medical supplies, to precisely where its needed, very rapidly. Show me a fleet of B52 bombers with heavy lift capabilities, and I'll show you a Dafur that didn't need to happen. 10,000 pounds of Uranium would do well to safely improve the condition of life for multiple millions of people, yet America prefers it be weaponized "just in case".

Crimes of America: Vietnam. Honduras, Nicuragua. Venezuela. Iraq "Highway of Death", Desert Storm. Afghanistan. Iraq War Two. Sure, you've got excuses for every one of these 'wars', but for every excuse to kill, there are also a hundred reasons not to kill thousands of people.

The list goes on ... And on ... And on ... (not a single Geocities link there, buddy ..)

Conditions in the U.S. are worse than you are saying. The bottom and middle parts of the U.S. government often function well, but the top part of the government is thoroughly corrupted by conflict of interest.

U.S. citizens often live in a mental fantasy land in which they view themselves as the best, and cannot hear anything else. Politicians manipulate this. Look at most of the replies to your comment. Most involve some illogical trick to avoid examining the problems. Many U.S. citizens believe that they are so superior that it is entirely okay that their government's foreign policy depends on killing people to solve problems, rather than actually solving the problems.

The U.S. government has fought 24 wars since World War II. The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

The U.S. government is being sold to anyone who has the money. Huge amounts of money are being borrowed and transferred to the pockets of those in power. The U.S. government is now far more in debt than ever before: Debt Clock. If you are a U.S. citizen, you are expected to pay. Those who want corruption in the U.S. government want the government to borrow. The corrupters find ways to transfer the money to their pockets.

The origin of the present problems was in the 40s and 50s, when U.S. government leaders made two decisions. It is likely that those in power then did not understand that their decisions would eventually corrupt the entire government. At the time, the decisions seemed logical.

First, the government decided that it could act in other countries in secret. Second, the U.S. government decided it could act in secret to protect U.S. businesses in other countries.

What probably no one realized then was how much that would come to be a corrupting influence on the government. Probably no one realized then how much additional profit big multinational businesses could make by arranging, in secret, for U.S. taxpayers to pay for the security arrangements needed by U.S. multinational businesses.

Soon huge businesses were arguing that the U.S. government should subvert democratically elected leaders, as the government did in Iran in 1953. Soon U.S. businesses would arrange unfair contracts with corrupt leaders, and when there was a protest, call for U.S. government intervention in the name of patriotism.

That's partly how we got to the present situation, where two men, whose family and business associates and friends have extensive investments in global oil businesses, are president and vice-president of the entire U.S. government, even though there is conflict of interest in such an arrangement.

You are pro-low-taxes and pro-war? Then, logically, you are pro-enormous-national-debt. Pardon me for saying so, but I think $7700000000000.00 in debt is enough. That's one hell of a inheritance to leave your kids. I'm burning spent mod points to say this so I might as well speak my mind here; America has spent enough money ousting Saddam to buy a new home for each and every one of the 1.3 million homeless children in America. So, as an American, which do think is most important? Nevermind, I know your duckspeak answer.

This is just part of the general corruption of the U.S. government.

From the article: Free expression and First Amendment rights are the real target of this legislation," declared Rep. Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vt.) during the debate over the bill. "This is not what America is about."

A better description is that the real target is anyone who might say things that are not accepted by those who control the government.

Also, large fines for using negative words gets votes from those who think they are superior because of their religion. Such people and their anger are easily manipulated.

The government is being sold to anyone who has the money. Huge amounts of money are being borrowed and transferred to the pockets of those in power. The U.S. government is now far more in debt than ever before: Debt Clock. If you are a U.S. citizen, you are expected to pay. Those who want corruption in the U.S. government want the government to borrow. The corrupters find ways to transfer the money to their pockets.

The origin of the present problems was in the 40s and 50s, when U.S. government leaders made two decisions. It is likely that those in power then did not understand that their decisions would eventually corrupt the entire government. At the time, the decisions seemed logical.

First, the government decided that it could act in other countries in secret. Second, the U.S. government decided it could act in secret to protect U.S. businesses in other countries.

What probably no one realized then was how much that would come to be a corrupting influence on the government. Probably no one realized then how much additional profit big multinational businesses could make by arranging, in secret, for U.S. taxpayers to pay for the security arrangements needed by U.S. multinational businesses.

Soon huge businesses were arguing that the U.S. government should subvert democratically elected leaders, as the government did in Iran in the 70s. Soon U.S. businesses would arrange unfair contracts with corrupt leaders, and when there was a protest, call for U.S. government intervention in the name of patriotism.

That's partly how we got to the present situation, where two men, whose family and business associates and friends have extensive investments in global oil businesses, are president and vice-president of the entire U.S. government, even though there is conflict of interest in such an arrangement.

Not sure what year you are living in. US national debt clock. I hate to admit it but it is a lot higher than 4.4 trillion. But it is still only around 62% of the GDP. Much lower (percentage wise) than some European countries (Spain, Germany, Belgium). One thing that might help the US however, is if China would float their currency. I.E. Let the market set the exchange rate instead of tying it to the dollar. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ranko rder/2186rank.html

A modest increase in SocSec taxes, a gradual increase in the retirement age, or a slight decrease in benefits would all be solutions. I favor a combination of the first two... and, as I noted, beginning to reduce the national debt.

Is the conclusion of the analysis flawed?

I'm not an expert to judge. Moreover, while I class myself more libertarian than liberal, I would still pack an umbrella if the Bush White House said that the weather would be sunny today. They appear to routinely allow their political (or religious???) doctrine to blind them, and have few qualms about only presenting the evidence that supports their position. While I have not reviewed their analysis, I do not believe the present administration is honest enough to present a credible report.

Accountants may be crooked, but they at least have to make the numbers add up somehow. Politicians don't even have to manage that. The congressional budget office is bipartisan, and ususally gives its reports as a spread of possibilities. Their predictions have proven accurate in the past, in that things are rarely worse than their pessimistic guess, and rarely better than their optimistic guess. I would consider it obvious that the first crisis point (beginning to tap the trust fund revenues) will be brought forward by the Bush proposal; I would trust that the time forecast by the budget office would not be off by much.

Conflict of Interest: Two men, whose family and business associates and friends have extensive investments in global oil businesses, are president and vice-president of the entire U.S. government.

Using dishonest means, these men convinced U.S. taxpayers to pay for killing people in Iraq. What has been accomplished there? The killing under Saddam was less than the killing under George Bush.

One thing that has been accomplished, however, is that the profit from oil contracts involving Iraq has been shifted from Saddam to U.S. companies. This was accomplished while minimizing the support for U.S. troops.

Visual Aid: Iraq Body Count Visual Aid. Many people can't look at this without becoming so overloaded that they become irrational.

The U.S. government is now far more in debt than ever before: Debt Clock. If you are a U.S. citizen, you are expected to pay. Those who want corruption in the U.S. government want the government to borrow. The corrupters find ways to transfer the money to their pockets.

The U.S. government has fought 24 wars since World War II. The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

How to understand U.S. violence: For reasons beyond the scope of this comment, the mental illness called anger has been increasing in women in the United States. In general, men in the United States lack the social skills necessary to deal with this anger, so they do not provide a counter-balancing force. It is the general increase in anger and the general breakdown of U.S. society that has caused many people in the U.S. to look for outlets for their anger. Anger is easily re-directed by leaders with simplistic rationalizations that are presented as logical, and doing so has been quite profitable.

It is a characteristic of angry people that they don't think clearly. Another characteristic is that they look for ways to avoid knowing they are angry. Many people in the U.S. believe that they are superior people who should be allowed to kill because that is the only way of improving the world.

It's sad we can't audit their income and security. It would make them pay their debt faster, right?

...not that the national debt seems to matter much anymore. Though it does interest me still why Microsoft was chosen as exclusive Homeland Security contractor.

Actually, a lot of US debt is owed to foreign countries, not to US citizens.

Sure, if by "a lot," you mean "22.7%." I said the majority of the government's debt is owed to its own citizens, and that's correct. You've not contradicted me. here's a complete breakdown.

http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/

I know I'm not the only one saying "wishful thinking".

I'm far from wealthy. But I'm happy to say that I'm clear out of debt. So there is something positive for having a surplus of income regardless how little it is. I've just learned I had to live withen my means.

I wish all of us could do so well! I'm trying- got a really good lesson in how horrible debt is since I got married and realized just how bad my wife's money skills really are. I'll be there in a decade or two. Too bad our government isn't as smart- do you have your $25,778.49 (as of January 19, 2005, at 03:58:33 PM GMT, see link for current number) in future taxes that you owe for government services currently rendered as well? It's amazing how many wealthy people think they got debt free and wealthy on their own- when in reality they were borrowing for all sorts of government services like roads, fire, police protection, schools, and the military. They want lower taxes- but lower taxes directly translates to more debt.

Q: Then why did the national debt continue to increase?
A: Clinton did not balance the budget. TV lied to you. It never happened.

This "spendocrats" myth is just that. Historically, Democratic Presidents have been much more fiscally responsible.

Historically, we've had one Democratic president in a quarter century. Just because he had us heading in the right direction does not mean Democrats, as a whole, have a clue. Look at the last candidate they fielded. Bush said "I'll balance the budget in 5 years!" to which Kerry replied "I'll do it in 4!" Well whoopie! We only have to blow another 1,500,000,000,000 dollars to teach you guys how to balance a check book? What a deal!

America is addicted to debt. Bad times are coming.

Keep in mind also that P.R.China is one of the biggest (if not THE BIGGEST) investor in the . US national debt Japan and Russia trailing China.

I do understand why North Korea would be obliged to say: "Yes, we are developing a Nuclear Bomb." If they see US attacking countries with the excuse that they are developing the bomb but claim NOT TO BE developing one. Since reunification of the Korea is the highest goal of the DPRoK they would never bomb the RoKm, but in fact are threatening the US military bases in Japan. Japan was an aggressor and conqueror of the Korea in WWII.

Those who have invested into the US do not wish to see US economy go bad. IF starting localized "wars" is a way to boost US economy, it may be of the interest of those creditors too. However, wars tend to boost only domestic market, since most of the contracts go to domestic companies. Also, if the contracts would go to foreign (non-US) companies, the international trade deficit of US would increase, which would weaken the dollar.

What we need is stop the short term skirmishes to foreign soil, since they do not help US economy in the long run. We need to concentrate on making products that are exported.

Since I've lived in this country (USA) from 1999 to 2004 the price of oil at the pump has gone up from about $1/gallon to $2/gallon -- that is about 20% price increase per year. We need to be less dependent on oil. More economic ways to commute people. Buy local/national products (agricultural, textiles, etc) that require less transportation and keep jobs in the US, and do not increase the trade deficit. Allow more people telecommute or make incentives for them to change to mass transit instead of drive one person per a SUV daily from home to work and back home.

Now... how is this all connected to space travel, Rutan and SS1 or SS2? One thing is sure. The space tourism is really in its infancy. It wont have any impact in the US economy for the next 20 years or so. Would this be a great boost to US exports? Maybe some foreign millionares would burn some money. Perhaps even foreign governments would be willing to pay something for some of their projects to get something to space cheaper than the conventional government operated programs can do.

There are so many more important issues than space travel.

And to talk about democracy being induced by bombing. Would you accept to change the way you run your own household if someone started bombing your home? Just imagine for a moment that you are the benevolent dictator of your household. You bring home the butter to your home. Your wife takes care of your kids and household without you paying her anything. Sure, she might havea joint bank account with you, or maybe you just give her some allowance each week. Then comes this crazy neighbor who thinks you should not be ruling your home as a dictator and starts trumping up all kinds of false charges (he claims for example, that you have been beating your wife occasionally, and that you have a methamphetamine laboratory in your backyard). Now you have to prove that you are not making any illegal drugs and you do not beat your wife. How do you prove that you are NOT making drugs? IS it enough to show that you have no equipment or chemicals to make them? Is it enough to show that there is no substances anywhere? The crazy neighbors still keeps on telling everyone that you are hiding it and he is going to break and enter your home to check by himself. Then he bombs your home and kills your guard dogs. He puts you in the broom closet and sleeps with your wife and tells that he is now bringing democrazy to this household. There is no end to his rule.

OK, the analogy between Saddam and a homeowner may be really far-fetched. But I hope you see the points:
1. What options you have to answer to accusations that you have to prove being false by showing NOTHING as evidence?
2. How can the people of the occupied country accept your way of rule ("democracy

Yeah, totally! I mean, like, the Soviet Union was dumb enough to bankrupt itself fighting a handful of Afghanis. Nothing like that could ever happen here.

Yep, the Russians went bankrupt and America won.

-Calculate your share of the National Deficit
You owe $25,286.35
per person in your family that includes infants, and the elderly.
Payments may be sent Directly to TYour Local IRS office

I must say I am just plain startled that W Bush has even a chance in this election. 80% of the rest of the world support Kerry to Bush. Why is that so? Are Americans not getting the same news that we do? Bush is not a conservative he is a raving maniac who will not use reason to make judgment. EVERYONE else sees it. _EVERY COUNTRY_! Bush's senior was a million times better president than W. and even he didn't get re-elected. I don't know if people have given W trust by association to his father but he should have lost it a long time ago. Countless experts like Dick Clark warned everyone of the current administration's incompetence at handling terrorism. Have you guys looked at Bush's Biography compared to Kerry's? Bush used to be a alcohol (and possibly cocaine) addict. While Kerry was educating himself and fighting for his country. I can't believe that Bush's arguments are taking seriously. It is very much obvious to everyone that the current US administration is using fear of terror to control everyone. Why has no one noticed that it isn't even going after terror but rather after Iraq. (I shouldn't have to mention that it is unrelated). Bush's very simplistic rhetoric is one of looking at terror like a sports game where the two competing teams are terrorists and the US. He seems to be looking at winning a game or something. Anyone with a bit of logic should see that terrorist don't have a country, they don't have a place we can invade, they don't have a central organisation we can beat. They just consist of a bunch of gangs dispersed around the world and new generations will always exist. If your country acts as a jerk or bully to the rest of the world you make a particular attracting target for terrorists. Right now even reasonable people don't like the US very much. It is easy to see how the sick mind of terrorists can _easily_ turn that sentiment into recruitment tactics and brainwashing material. The US economy has plummeted since W has been in power. W is the only president in 60 years that hasn't created any new jobs. The US Dept is increasing at a rate of 1.7 billions a day, (And there was a surplus with Clinton) and your dollar is getting weaker by the months. Domestic politics have been forgotten and replaced by disastrous world bullying.

I am equally astounded toward the use of electronic voting machines. Maybe it is just because of my background in electrical engineer and computer science but to me basic common sense will tell you that they are obviously stupid without a printout. I usually mock people who have conspiracy theories, but here I am inclined to suspect some kind of conspiracy. What else could explain this lack of common sense???

Some interesting links:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
http://www.lnreview.co.uk/news/004535.php
http://www.yellowhat.org/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?boa rd=dem;action=display;num=1099270908

Slashdot is slashdotted, so I can't tell if this was posted correctly before:

Facts you should know before you vote:

If you truly love your country, you will not just enjoy the advantages, you will be there for your country when there are problems.

100 Facts and 1 Opinion -- The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration

See The CIA trained Osama bin Laden and other Arabs in the techniques of terrorism.

Government data compares Democrat and Republican economics.

Most media exists to make money. Advertisers are understandably careful not to alienate anyone. It is not possible to develop an accurate opinion of government activities only by listening to the carefully crafted phrases from media employees who would lose their jobs if they seemed to indicate a preference for one policy over another. Books are the major media that are not ad-supported. Here are reviews of 3 movies and 35 books that discuss the corruption of the Bush administration: Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government.

Bush's education improvements were at least partly fraud.

I recommend a new book, The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty. Don't expect any author to be perfect. However, this book is an excellent overview of the Bush family, and the best book by this author. Here is a quote which shows just one more fact about the chronic lying of George Herbert Walker Bush and his son George W. Bush: "The official family tree provided by the Bush archivists does not include the two mentally retarded daughters of John M. Walker, and lists only two of James Smith Bush's wives, not all four of them; one of Ray Walker's two wives is omitted, and George Herbert Walker III is listed with only two, instead of three, wives."

Before, Saddam was killing. Now, the U.S. government is killing and destabilizing, and you pay. Improvement?

15 of the nineteen 9/11 attackers were Saudis. Many don't like the U.S. Gov. influence on their country.

Did you see the network footage of George W. Bush holding hands with a Saudi man the Bush family knows as "Bandar Bush"? Since it was Saudis who attacked on 9/11, why did Bush invade Iraq? Was it a smokescreen to get attention away from the Saudis?

Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

Is Bush drinking NOW?

George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 talking about his prostitutes and using government influence to make money. Family values? Neil Bush is different from other relatives of presidents like Billy Carter; he is heavily involved with government corruption and he does his corruption with the help of his family.

The U.S. government has fought 24 wars since World War II. The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

Facts you should know before you vote:

If you truly love your country, you will not just enjoy the advantages, you will be there for your country when there are problems.

100 Facts and 1 Opinion -- The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration

See The CIA trained Osama bin Laden and other Arabs in the techniques of terrorism.

Government data compares Democrat and Republican economics.

Most media exists to make money. Advertisers are understandably careful not to alienate anyone. It is not possible to develop an accurate opinion of government activities only by listening to the carefully crafted phrases from media employees who would lose their jobs if they seemed to indicate a preference for one policy over another. Books are the major media that are not ad-supported. Here are reviews of 3 movies and 35 books that discuss the corruption of the Bush administration: Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government.

Bush's education improvements were at least partly fraud.

I recommend a new book, The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty. Don't expect any author to be perfect. However, this book is an excellent overview of the Bush family, and the best book by this author. Here is a quote which shows just one more fact about the chronic lying of George Herbert Walker Bush and his son George W. Bush: "The official family tree provided by the Bush archivists does not include the two mentally retarded daughters of John M. Walker, and lists only two of James Smith Bush's wives, not all four of them; one of Ray Walker's two wives is omitted, and George Herbert Walker III is listed with only two, instead of three, wives."

Before, Saddam was killing. Now, the U.S. government is killing and destabilizing, and you pay. Improvement?

15 of the nineteen 9/11 attackers were Saudis. Many don't like the U.S. Gov. influence on their country.

Did you see the network footage of George W. Bush holding hands with a Saudi man the Bush family knows as "Bandar Bush"? Since it was Saudis who attacked on 9/11, why did Bush invade Iraq? Was it a smokescreen to get attention away from the Saudis?

Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 talking about his prostitutes and using government influence to make money. Family values? Neil Bush is different from other relatives of presidents like Billy Carter; he is heavily involved with government corruption and he does his corruption with the help of his family.

The U.S. government has fought 24 wars since World War II. The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

First, it is not "we". If the U.S. government decided that you were a threat to the desires of the rich and powerful, you would be killed. It's that simple.

Second, the U.S. interest in Afghanistan is due to wanting to build an oil pipeline from central Asia to Pakistan. If they are successful, they will give you exactly none of the money.

Bush borrows money to try to make his administration look good. You must pay it back. Are you getting some of the $? No, your responsibility is to pay, not receive.

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George W. Bush's brother was on 20/20 talking about his prostitutes. Family values?

The U.S. government has engaged in 24 wars since WW2: The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

The lack of respect for other countries has been going on for a long time. The present violence got started in the 1940s when the U.S. government passed laws that it could secretly meddle in the affairs of other countries, and do things that would otherwise be illegal. After that, everyone who wanted to increase their international profits wanted secret action, and many got it.

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

They are not just painting political graffiti with light. They are against Bush.

It's unprecedented: There are 44 well-funded groups against Bush. There are more than 3 movies and more than 35 books about Bush Administration corruption.

Magazines like The Nation are against Bush: 100 Facts and 1 Opinion -- The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration

There are hundreds of web sites like Dubya Speak, that talk about some negative aspect of Bush's personality. Dubya Speak quotes Bush: "It's only fair if other countries treat us the way they treat them." If he meant, "It's only fair if other countries treat us the way we treat them", that is something important about which George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden agree.

Foreign leaders and politicians call Bush a "moron" and an "idiot".

George W. Bush is certainly the most disliked U.S. president in history.

If I remember correctly, there were, in the early years, four major books published about Clinton. They said Cliton was having sex with slutty women. They tried to find something wrong with his small losing investment called Whitewater. They said he may have, at some time during his being governor of Arkansas, associated with people who later turned out to be involved in questionable activities. Someone in his adminstration committed suicide. The books were interesting, but a little lame.

The books about Bush are different. The books about Bush are about major governmental corruption.


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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

Is this the definitive article about software RAID under Linux?

Software-RAID HOWTO. In English and HTML: Software-RAID HOWTO.

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

You said, "... there is a long, long, long list of people who are more deserving of the credit that Gore would ascribe to himself."

Vint Cerf said that Al Gore deserves unique credit. Back in those days, which are very difficult to remember now, you had to buy your floppy disks from a special company, and they really were floppy.

Back then it was the raw, early, ugly days of computing. (Just like it is now, with one big monopolist and proprietary file formats, and quirky, partly finished software that wastes your time, like Windows XP SP2.)

Back then, there was no one who had power in the U.S. Congress besides Gore understood anything technical. It's difficult to remember that now. Back then, people just did not relate to computing issues. If you knew something about computing, you were considered socially eccentric.

Back then, the ARPANET was thriving, but it was used by people who considered themselves privileged, and were privileged, and definitely did not want to share their privileges.

Back then, DARPA, the U.S. government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency would give ARPANET access to institutions and companies that were part of the effort to find new and better ways to kill people and destroy their property. Back then, it was perceived that there were enemies everywhere and it was important to protect ourselves by waging all war all the time. (Just like now.) It was called the "Cold" War. The U.S. government killed people, but the killing had to be a secret from the average citizen.

Back then there was an extremely acrimonious discussion about a new-fangled idea, the .COM top level domain. The privileged did not want their utility to be corrupted by crass commercialism. Back then, it was difficult to get spam. The ARPANET was an organization of gentlemen, who would never cause problems for each other *cough* Mitnick.

Back then, there were not enough viruses for everyone; we had to share. Back then systems were mostly not vulnerable, viruses were spread through the honor system. Okay, that is a joke. It took Microsoft to invent sloppily coded operating systems that would assure the widespread availability of viruses. Unfortunately, that is not a joke.

Back then, there was a new-fangled gadget, the Hayes 2400 Baud modem, which few could afford. There were fears that such high-speed use would cause problems for the telephone system.

Al Gore had technical knowledge. Al Gore had power in government because he was a senator and a famous senator's son. He put the full weight of government behind the idea that just anyone could have access.

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

Moderators are using their moderation points to make political statements. My parent comment above is not a "Troll". You may disagree, but I am not making trouble. My statements are backed up by 3 movies, 35 books, and a very well-documented article.

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

(if you must know, I prefer no separators myself)

You have an anger problem, which seems to be true of most Bush supporters. Bush supporters find it very easy to justify killing other people, and don't realize that some of those killed will have family members who will want to retaliate.

And, you didn't read the books.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

"Whether or not we should have gone over there has *nothing* to do with how or why technology failed."

The Navy's super-expensive Aegis system caused the U.S. Navy to shoot down a civilian airliner, remember? The technology failed because the U.S. government system allows high-profit junk technology, paid for with the hard-earned money of U.S. citizens.

It would be possible to give many, many other examples.

Those who are angry and don't know it are easily manipulated.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

MODERATORS: Whoever moderated the parent comment as Flamebait is not smart enough to be called ignorant, he is iggerunt.

The parent comment says, "Support for Israel may be the greatest cause of our problems." The king of Jordan says this is so. The foreign minister of Iran says this is so. (They were both interviewed on the Charlie Rose show.) Osama bin Laden said U.S. government support for Israeli violence was one of the two reasons he attacked the United States. (The other reason was U.S. government support for those who are against needed political change in Saudi Arabia.)

The U.S. government has been supporting the killing of Arabs for many years now by giving between 3.5 and 5 billion of your tax money to Israel, every year. There are only 14 million Jews in the entire world. There are only 4.8 million Jews in Israel. That money is about $1,000 for every man, woman, child, and baby in Israel who is Jewish, every year.

That money must be used to buy weapons made in the United States, at inflated prices. I seriously doubt that anyone who is in control of this policy has anything against Arabs or Jews, or even knows much about their cultures. It's government corruption, only that, not ideology.

To get votes from the millions of Jews in New York, Governor Pataki basically declared war on Arabs. To learn more about this, see the article, New York Governor Pataki's statements are equivalent to a declaration of war. Those who want power don't care how much damage they do.

Osama bin Laden says he wants a Muslim-religion-controlled political coalition. I've studied the matter for years, and I don't think there is much chance he can achieve that. The violent religious extremists in Muslim countries are not crazier than the violent religious extremists in the United States, however. The corruption caused by those who want weapons profits is supported by some of those who call themselves evangelicals. The evangelicals have an ugly plan that sounds to me like it might achieve a terrible goal. They want to kill all the Jews. They don't say that, of course. They don't take reponsibility for that. They say that their ancient books say that all the Jews will be killed or converted. Since there is slim chance that Jewish people would want to be evangelicals, or would be accepted by evangelicals, they are really saying that all the Jews will be killed. They are helping their prophecy by encouraging the 14 million Jews to get into bloody battles with the 1.1 billion Muslims. Experiment: Go into a very poor area of the U.S. and ask the next 10 street kids you see what they think the outcome of such battles will be. I will accept whatever they say.

Abba Eban, a respected Jewish leader, said that after World War II Jews were not welcome in Europe, even though they had suffered a lot. I agree with that. Some Jewish violent extremists believe that Jews must fight for their own land because they are not welcome elsewhere. That's not true, of course; Jews do very well in making contributions to New York. The weapons makers encourage the Jews in their worst impulses.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

John Kerry has proposed tax increases that threaten to sap the economy's vitality and reduce long-term growth. Specifically, Kerry proposes to
"restore the top two [income] tax rates to their levels under President Clinton." He would also, among other things, "restore the capital gains and
dividend rates for families making over $200,000 on income earned above $200,000 to their levels under President Clinton." Kerry's stated desire to
balance the budget and to boost federal spending substantially would almost certainly require far higher and broader tax increases than he has proposed.


how can rasing taxes make the economy worse off? seems like the oposite is closer to reality. Raise taxes = government has more money = debt decreases instead of increasing at 1.71 billion USD per day.

also, hes taxing the very rich - who can afford it the most. Do you live in bizaro world where this is somehow going to lead to the fall of the economy? Taxes are a part of life. I don't think they shoyuld ever be lowered, except maybe for people that make less than 30k or so a year. they are the ones that cannot afford a tax increase and will be hurt the most.

you want the rich to get richer and the poor to get well um poor'er? where is the sense in that?

It was only a Slashdot comment, posted at 6:53 in the morning. The major point is correct. Many bills before Congress are given misleading titles. I could only think of 3 that early in the morning. If you don't like the ones I picked, choose others, like this one: Congress Degrades National Parks. Here's a quote: "The National Park Enhancement and Revitalization Act, HR 4158, sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), has an appealing but deliberately misleading title."

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

For full image backups, try Acronis. Symantec learned customer care from Microsoft, it appears.

With Acronis, you can make a full system drive backup of Windows XP while Windows is running.

Last time I checked, Ghost was VERY quirky.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

Criticize George W. Bush? That's easy. Check this out: Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government

Or this:

U.S. Government: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

Or this:

15 of the 19 9/11 attackers were Saudis. Many don't like the U.S. Gov. influence on their country.

Did you see the network footage of George W. Bush holding hands with a Saudi man the Bush family knows as "Bandar Bush"? Since it was Saudis who attacked on 9/11, why did Bush invade Iraq? Was it a smokescreen to get attention away from the Saudis?

"Interesante (Score:0, Troll)
by Anonymous Coward on 12:04 AM -- Saturday October 09 2004 (#10477597)
Wow, thats pretty neat."

How can that be a troll? É interesante, acordo. It's just a first post. Over-rated maybe, but not a troll.

It is neat. It proves the old adage, which I just invented: If it is possible, some programmer will do it.

I'm interested in the sociology of this. Is it possible that the executives at Google did not realize that they were offering a free place to put backups of encrypted files?

That's a suggestion for the Google file system shell. There should be automatic encryption, using a locally stored password. Didn't the Google executives realize that most of the data will not be useful to them, because it will be encrypted? I hope I never see a Google ad for Ö|tè&~1}¥bkä40e)Æ&#243 ;G.

For many people, safe storage is much more interesting than yet another email account. Of course, everything in the entire world should be free, not just information.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

"Correct. However, having a gi-normous, constantly-growing deficit is not." (I agree with that.)

Is that word gi-normous similar in meaning to huge-gantic?

U.S. Government: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion.

I agree that Michael Moore sometimes has an objectionable way of presenting material. But, as you are doing, many people talk about Michael Moore instead of talking about the huge amount of corruption he tries to document.

There is a huge, huge amount of material. Here are reviews of 35 books that say the same thing as Michael Moore. You can have the same message presented in a learned way, or a funny way, or a typically Republican way, or a journalistic way: Unprecedented Corruption: A guide to conflict of interest in the U.S. government

Here is just a little hint of the corruption: Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

Here's another hint: George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 talking about his prostitutes and using government influence to make money. Family values?

Here's another hint: The U.S. government has engaged in 24 wars since WW2: The system of violence works by creating fear so rich people can profit.

Here's another hint: Did you see the network footage of George W. Bush holding hands with a Saudi man the Bush family knows as "Bandar Bush"? Since it was Saudis who attacked on 9/11, why did Bush invade Iraq. Was it partly a smokescreen to get attention away from the Saudis?

This is not a major story. It is just meant to be a local story. For example, see this 2002 story: Secrets of Aids 'immunity'. Here is a quote, "Scientists have known since the mid-1980s that some people with HIV do not go on to develop Aids."

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

This is not a major story. It is just meant to be a local story. For example, see this 2002 story: Secrets of Aids 'immunity'. Here is a quote, "Scientists have known since the mid-1980s that some people with HIV do not go on to develop Aids."

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Bush borrows money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 billion. When Saudis attack, invade Iraq?

Someone thought of using Jojoba seeds for biofuel. However, after giving the Jojoba plant enough water to grow fast, the resulting product was too expensive and too slow-growing.

So, I was skeptical about this plant until I read more. This plant is different. It's a tropical plant, where presumably there is enough water.

See the Jatropha curcas description and cost and photo. The Jatropha System explains the advantages.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 Billion.

I agree. That's a shocking conclusion, however, because business owners are usually a higher proportion of Republicans. Do Republicans in Crawford know something we don't know?

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. 140 billion borrowed. With interest, you pay 200 Billion.

"... especially here on /. (which is quite liberal when I've very conservative)."

The words "liberal" and "conservative" have no precise meaning, and should not be used in a logical discussion.

Supposedly, most Republicans are "conservative". But that makes no sense whatsoever. When Reagan was president, the U.S. government became by far the biggest debtor the world had ever seen. Then the "liberal" Democrat president Clinton reduced the debt enormously. Now the "conservative" Bush is borrowing money and surpassing even Reagan.

Republicans are "conservative" only in the sense that they "conserve" and "preserve" the gap between the rich and poor by borrowing money that somehow reaches the hands of the rich.

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Bush: "When Saudis attack, invade Iraq."

When I was a teenager I worked in a restaurant for a short time. There were alcoholic chefs that had both 1 and 2.

What about behavior that is of more direct concern to others? Here are traits that many people think are characteristic of George W. Bush. Do you see these traits:

Likability, anger, lying, absence of deep or analytical thinking, polarized thinking, rigid thinking, obsessive repetition, inability to perceive the needs of others and inability to understand someone different from oneself, grandiosity, believing that one's own ideas are all-important, impatience, incoherence, illogic, and mood swings.

The first needs a little explanation. Often alcoholics can be very socially engaging for short periods.

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Bush: Borrowing money to try to make his administration look good. You must pay it back.

I've read a little about Crawford. I get the impression that the newspaper's EXTREMELY negative view of George W. Bush is not so unusual that they would have to worry about people canceling their subscriptions, or advertisers boycotting the paper. Newspaper must reflect the ideas of their readers and advertisers at least a little just to stay in business.

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U.S. Gov.: Borrowing money to kill Iraqis. You must pay it back.

You sir are a dip shit

Way to elevate the tone of the debate. Why don't you wait until we are both elected Senators and then tell me to "go fuck myself" on the floor of the United States Senate? I sleep so well at night knowing that somebody with that short of a fuse has nuclear launch codes and is one bullet away from having the authority to use them.

Again, why not complain about any of the THOUSANDS of REAL problems instead of making up FAKE ones?

A fake problem? Osama Bin Ladin still being a free man is a "fake problem"? Ok then -- let's talk about the real problems:

• The 1.71 billion dollar per day Federal deficit is a problem.
• The situation in Iraq is a problem.
• North Korea having WMDs is a problem.
• An Iran working to build nukes is a problem.
• The fact that the entire World hates our guts (oh -- except for Israel I suppose) is a problem.

I could keep going on and on. The fact remains that most of these things happened on Bush's watch. In 50 years we've gone from "The Buck stops here" to "It's all Clinton's fault" or "No comment" is telling.

Remind me again why I should vote to reelect Bush? Try to come back with a better reason then "Kerry is a flipflopper" or "We can't change Presidents in the middle of a war".