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Dell executives have donated $291,470 to Republicans and only $40,818 to Democrats.

Why would I want my pro-Linux dollars shooting me in the foot?

If you examine the buyblue.org data for political contributions by bookstores, you'll see that Amazon is a solidly republican company, as opposed to Barnes and Nobels, which is solidly Democratic.

Notably, Borders makes no political contributions at all.

And myself, I try to shop at Stacey's, an independant San Francisco store that, while a rather large place, appears to be too small for buyblue.org to bother to report on them.

Speaking of "willing to buy the book", Slashdot links to B & N here, but Amazon has it cheaper (look at the "Used and new..." 3rd party sellers), and I'm sure there are other sites that are also cheaper. Why does Slashdot keep linking to B & N all the time? Even if their reviews make a book seem great, the relatively high prices they link to aren't very attractive.

As was pointed out to me very recently, Amazon.com gives more money to the Republican party and B&N only gives money to the Democrat party. Maybe it doesn't matter to you, in which case feel free to buy it wherever. And maybe that's not the reason Rob picked B&N instead of Amazon.com, I don't know. But it does matter to me, so I personally like the B&N links better.

Or if you're looking for the best price on a new copy from a well-known and reputable online retailer, get it from Bookpool.com instead. (It's only $21.95 there.)

Speaking of "willing to buy the book", Slashdot links to B & N here, but Amazon has it cheaper (look at the "Used and new..." 3rd party sellers), and I'm sure there are other sites that are also cheaper. Why does Slashdot keep linking to B & N all the time? Even if their reviews make a book seem great, the relatively high prices they link to aren't very attractive.

As was pointed out to me very recently, Amazon.com gives more money to the Republican party and B&N only gives money to the Democrat party. Maybe it doesn't matter to you, in which case feel free to buy it wherever. And maybe that's not the reason Rob picked B&N instead of Amazon.com, I don't know. But it does matter to me, so I personally like the B&N links better.

Or if you're looking for the best price on a new copy from a well-known and reputable online retailer, get it from Bookpool.com instead. (It's only $21.95 there.)

and

http://www.buyblue.org/node/326/view/summary

If you favor a party, enabling that party as much as possible by paying attention to where your money goes makes perfect sense.

and

http://www.buyblue.org/node/326/view/summary

If you favor a party, enabling that party as much as possible by paying attention to where your money goes makes perfect sense.

This may shock everyone, but, he has said so in several interviews and books that he leads towards Democrats

Don't know who Gates votes for, but Microsoft is more red than blue.

...progressive robber baron...

Given the the progresssive movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was pretty much define by opposition to trusts and robber barons, that's a load of oxymoron there.

As you were saying?

As you were saying?

Microsoft, Gates, and Ballmer are big Republican contributors. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=143 Buyblue says Microsoft has a 44% "light red" rating, giving $1,142K in 2003-2004. Gates & Ballmer each gave the personal maximum of $2,000 to Bush. Gate's own personal donations are also light red.

Apple has a 99% dark blue rating from BuyBlue.org, giving $65K in 2003-2004. The individual donors at the top of the company are also "dark blue." http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=99 Sun is light blue with a 57% rating, giving $89K in 2003-2004. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=145

[conspiracy on] So the artists, designers, and the "design-aware" that use Apple computers can't file a claim online. The thrifty, the independent, and the tech-minded who use Unix or for that matter even just Mozilla can't file a claim. Even folks who have older versions of IE have to upgrade, call in the middle of the night, or go without.

The Gates Foundation has pledged about $10M to The Discovery Institute. The Discovery Institute is evidently researching transportation when it is not promoting "Intelligent Design." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/26/gates foundation/

[outright_paranoia on]
And why do you need to have javascript enabled? For FEMA spyware?
[outright_paranoia off]
[conspiracy off]

We don't need to knock down FEMA's doors this week with this topic, but we must oust a government that puts corporations before the people.

Microsoft, Gates, and Ballmer are big Republican contributors. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=143 Buyblue says Microsoft has a 44% "light red" rating, giving $1,142K in 2003-2004. Gates & Ballmer each gave the personal maximum of $2,000 to Bush. Gate's own personal donations are also light red.

Apple has a 99% dark blue rating from BuyBlue.org, giving $65K in 2003-2004. The individual donors at the top of the company are also "dark blue." http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=99 Sun is light blue with a 57% rating, giving $89K in 2003-2004. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=145

[conspiracy on] So the artists, designers, and the "design-aware" that use Apple computers can't file a claim online. The thrifty, the independent, and the tech-minded who use Unix or for that matter even just Mozilla can't file a claim. Even folks who have older versions of IE have to upgrade, call in the middle of the night, or go without.

The Gates Foundation has pledged about $10M to The Discovery Institute. The Discovery Institute is evidently researching transportation when it is not promoting "Intelligent Design." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/26/gates foundation/

[outright_paranoia on]
And why do you need to have javascript enabled? For FEMA spyware?
[outright_paranoia off]
[conspiracy off]

We don't need to knock down FEMA's doors this week with this topic, but we must oust a government that puts corporations before the people.

Microsoft, Gates, and Ballmer are big Republican contributors. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=143 Buyblue says Microsoft has a 44% "light red" rating, giving $1,142K in 2003-2004. Gates & Ballmer each gave the personal maximum of $2,000 to Bush. Gate's own personal donations are also light red.

Apple has a 99% dark blue rating from BuyBlue.org, giving $65K in 2003-2004. The individual donors at the top of the company are also "dark blue." http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=99 Sun is light blue with a 57% rating, giving $89K in 2003-2004. http://www.buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=145

[conspiracy on] So the artists, designers, and the "design-aware" that use Apple computers can't file a claim online. The thrifty, the independent, and the tech-minded who use Unix or for that matter even just Mozilla can't file a claim. Even folks who have older versions of IE have to upgrade, call in the middle of the night, or go without.

The Gates Foundation has pledged about $10M to The Discovery Institute. The Discovery Institute is evidently researching transportation when it is not promoting "Intelligent Design." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/26/gates foundation/

[outright_paranoia on]
And why do you need to have javascript enabled? For FEMA spyware?
[outright_paranoia off]
[conspiracy off]

We don't need to knock down FEMA's doors this week with this topic, but we must oust a government that puts corporations before the people.

Take a look at their political donatations:

http://buyblue.org/detail.php?corpId=143

They give a lot, to both parties, but mostly to the Republicans.

And anyway, aren't the bigots exactly the people you WANT to discriminate against? From what I've heard, it's a hell of a lot easier to stop being an asshole than to stop being gay.

On the other hand, I'm not gay but I am an asshole. Haven't been able to stop yet.

Time clearly has a bias in this article (and in general), so I would like to see another article on the subject by a major news source than this very short piece. And yes, I did read the article.

From the look of it, this meeting can affect security and other technological international decisions, and those who have supported Kerry might not represent the government's policies out of spite or simply because they aren't pro-US in policies. I do repeat, though, that more information would be useful before I make a definitive decision. Of course many have already had a predisposition about Bush, and already have their favorite list of bullet points and know they'll get their +5 Interesting yet again.

On a side note, it should be noted that some darling children of /. like Google and Apple vote 100% Blue (according to buy blue) and based on the comments above, it is noticeable why this is the case. By the way, Microsoft goes 57/43 Republican/Democrat and they of course get no forgiveness from many on /.

I'll probably get modded -1 Flamebait for this, but oh well...

Unfortunately I don't trust Amazon to do anything for the public good.

Neither do I. In addition to this latest story, it's been clear for quite some time that Amazon has it's own political agenda - which of course, is their prerogative.

Quoted from buyblue.org: This PAC supported politicians that amongst other things supported "safeguards" regulating TV news content, opposed the "freedom to read" amendment allowing federal funds to be used to demand patron records from bookstores and libraries, and sponsored a bill to legalize "censorship software" for stripping "offensive content" out of films.

As someone said earlier on this page, it's the consumer's job to buy intelligently and only support companies whose initiatives they agree with - which may or may not be Amazon's.

In the wake of the 2004 U.S. presidential election, a number of disgruntled lefties compiled a list of corporations and their financial contributions to either the Republicans or Democrats. http://buyblue.org/. Stores like Amazon.com contributed 60% of their funds to Republicans, and 40% to Democrats, for example, while Barnes and Noble donated 100% to Democrats.
The theoretical point, if there is indeed any, to both of these lists is to educate consumers so that they can make informed decisions. Citizens who adhere to one political ideology can tailor their buying habits accordingly.
But buyblue.org's list, at least, were REAL STORES. As in places people were actually likely to buy things from, and therefore ones they could also boycott. The average consumer (even ones on /.) are far more likely to buy something from B&N than 180solutions or eXact Advertising. So while this list is sort of a nice novelty, it doesn't have the same potential for activism.
Maybe it's just me, but spyware is overhyped. I run Adaware on a regular basis and I haven't had any problems in the ten years I've been using the 'net. Pop-ups are annoying, but identity theft is the real threat, and one that can be all but eliminated by running anti-spyware programs. Essentially, the stakes for spyware support are relatively low.
Contrast this with the relative importance of corporations funding the political process. Companies' financial contributions determine the taxes we pay, the services we receive, the attitudes we export, the ideals we defend. So while the list of companies contributing to spyware is kinda nifty, really, who cares?

I visited a website shortly before Xmas: BuyBlue http://www.buyblue.org/ which published stats stating that Amazon donated 60% of their political contributions to the GOP. Not that one should base buying decisions on a corporations political contributions alone but it does make one think a little harder about what buying from Amazon really means.

Not only that, but Walmart also contributes a lot to Republicans, who in turn are actively pursuing the destruction of the american middle class, the 40 hour work week, and employer paid health care, as you said.

Why shop at stores that contribute to the destruction of the American way of life? Check out buyblue.org and choosetheblue.com and shop accordingly...