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No, but engineers are soley responsible for the mars orbiter crash; http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-30/tech/9909_30_mars.metric_1_mars-orbiter-climate-orbiter-spacecraft-team?_s=PM:TECH

8 books? So how did he make $1,200,000 in revenue?

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/26/justice/court-student-copyright/index.html

Why would he? He's in favor of them.

That's because, like every politician out there, if he's not in favor of increased security, his opposition will shithammer him with it to get elected. It's like, the military budget is out of control because nobody dares vote against it or their opponents will sharpen their knives and go for blood screaming that their opponent supports terrorism. You're either for more security and more military or you're un-American and siding with the terrorists.
 
Sounds a bit like a witch hunt. But you know, some of us think there just might be witches. Just not the ones you think.

Why would he? He's in favor of them.

Sources including the intelligence services of other countries.

Which proved to be rehashed 10 year old articles of students of political sciences. Way to go, intelligence services!

There were protests about the film in Libya

The protesters there were religious, no, even if the state is not a theocracy?

Iran, with a religious institution at the head of government, saw no such unrest.

There certainly were protests in Iran with Iran's supreme leader calling the making of the film "a criminal act".

Has it appeared to any any besides myself, that the biggest protest came from our own "White house"?

My cousin's sister-in-law's grandmother's neighbor at the DMV says otherwise

There were protests about the film in Libya

The protesters there were religious, no, even if the state is not a theocracy?

Iran, with a religious institution at the head of government, saw no such unrest.

There certainly were protests in Iran with Iran's supreme leader calling the making of the film "a criminal act".

The only problem is, we now know that Video was a smokescreen to cover up Government incompetence:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/white-house-told-of-militants-claim-two-hours-after-embassy-attack/article4650221/

There were protests about the film in Libya

The protesters there were religious, no, even if the state is not a theocracy?

Iran, with a religious institution at the head of government, saw no such unrest.

There certainly were protests in Iran with Iran's supreme leader calling the making of the film "a criminal act".

That's your stupid fucking opinion, but here's the facts:

"The study by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law calls for a re-evaluation of the practice, saying the number of "high-level" targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low -- about 2%."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html

wat?

That means Mr. Romney got a return of at least 44 times his initial investment. If you don't think that's suspicious, maybe you're the one wearing a tinfoil hat...

44x Even assuming your numbers are correct, Romney is a piker. I'll show you a real rate of return:

Under increasing pressure from the media on Whitewater, Hillary Clinton called a dramatic press conference in the East Wing of the White House in April 1994. She answered the questions with calm authority, momentarily silencing her critics. . . .

First, reporters had discovered that Mrs. Clinton had realized a $100,000 return on a $1,000 investment in commodities futures back in 1979. Jim Blair, a friend and chief attorney for Arkansas food giant Tyson, had advised her. Now, the first lady said she had made the trades by herself. Later, she would admit that Blair and others had taken the lead. . . . -- Arkansas Roots

That would be 100X for Secretary Clinton. No doubt it was that sort of savy that landed her the Secretary of State's job.

And Mr. Romney's IRA is something I'd like to know more about, too.

It looks to me that Romney was a good investor and business man that made the most of the opportunities available, including getting in on the ground floor of several very successful companies. He also did it starting almost 30 years ago. That is a long time for investments to compound, especially for large amounts put in up front, and investments bought at a discount. Maybe this will help:

Myths Vs. Truths: The Truth About Saving for Retirement

You go to work for a brewery, you might get discounts on beer. You go to work for an investment firm, you may get interesting financial opportunities. Pretty straight forward, I think.

Mitt Romney exited Bain Capital with rare tax benefits in retirement

Before Mitt Romney retired from Bain Capital, the enormously profitable investment firm he founded, he made sure to lock in his gains, both realized and expected, for years to come. . .

Romney’s former colleagues say his retirement package is a well-justified reward for a chief executive who built Bain from scratch in 1984 into a financial powerhouse that backed business successes such as Staples and the Sports Authority.

The structure and tax treatment of his retirement, including the IRA, was legally sound and appropriate, they say, adding that he has earned less money over his career than some other top private-equity executives, who earned billions of dollars during the same period.

His severance package, for instance, allowed him to continue sharing in the profits of the company as if he were still a partner managing it, according to his 2010 tax return and interviews with present and former Bain executives. And because he benefited from the firm’s investments as if he were an active Bain partner, he paid taxes at a lower rate on these earnings than if they were treated as ordinary retirement income. Romney negotiated the package when he was leaving the firm, Bain executives said, while he set up his IRA long before.

. . . Under the law today, individuals may contribute up to $5,000 per year and employers may contribute up to $50,000 a year to an employer-sponsored IRA. The money is invested, and the investments grow tax-free until retirement. There is no limit on how much money an IRA can earn tax-free.

What determines an IRA’s growth is the performance of the investments, and Bain enabled Romney, its other employee

"The 1980's are calling for their foreign policy back" -- Barack Obama :)

That wouldn't be fair to the Russians. After all, they are still spinning up the old Soviet practices, aping the Cold War, and they apparently aren't done with them yet. It certainly appears that the Russians would rather be the enemy than be ignored.

Russia restarts Cold War patrols
Report: Russia may base bombers in Cuba
More Russian bombers flying off Alaska coast
Report: Russian Nuclear Attack Sub Patrolled Waters Off Gulf for a MonthUndetected
Canada does not like Russian nuclear bombers patrolling Arctic territory
Japanese, South Korean jets trail Russian bombers over Pacific
UK jets greet Russian bombers
New Russian Anti-Missile Facility Opens in Kaliningrad
Russia claims new missile can overcome missile defenses

Don't act so shocked. There are redirection URLs out the wazoo. Even CNN had a story about them.

I would be more impressed with your comments if you would provide specific examples. What has Charlie said that was inaccurate?

He probably heard that AMD is planning on licensing out its graphics cores, and misunderstood it as outsourcing.

Your thoughts on what he "probably" heard do not impress me. Please provide examples of past predictions that have been proven to be wrong.

Since you are raising doubts, I decided to do a check. I remembered that AMD had layoffs in 2011. Did Charlie accurately report on those?

2011-11-02 Semi-Accurate: Rumors of AMD Executive Layoff Pick Up Steam

2011-11-03 CNN Money: AMD cuts 10% of its workforce

So, chalk one up for Charlie.

I'm not, necessarily, saying you are wrong. I'm saying you need to give examples to back up what you are saying.

Rory Read has repeatedly said that he wants to restructure the company to use its strengths better. If they start outsourcing things, graphics will be the last one to go, when they sell of the company and shut the doors.

Charlie agrees with you that it would be insane to outsource the graphics. Quote:

Sources tell SemiAccurate that the one division of AMD that is making money, graphics, is going to have a lot of the engineering outsourced. The new crop of senior managers doesn't seem to like the Canadian outpost much, and the result is going to be seen in the layoffs. Far from their being any logic to this move, it seems to be more borne out of personal fiefdoms than sanity, and will sink the company. There are a lot of names bandied about with Emile Ianni being named more often than others. We shall see who gets the bonuses soon enough.

The date SemiAccurate hears is October 25th, conveniently after the company's quarterly conference call. If these layoffs happen as deeply as we hear, and more problematically where we hear, we can not see AMD surviving.

October 25? Less than a week away. I'll watch for AMD news.

By the way, Charlie posts on Slashdot sometimes. What you write here, he might see and even respond.

The difference is in China if you're in the wrong faction[1] and get caught for corruption you get _executed_.

Those in the right faction are probably untouchable, but you better be sure you stay in the right faction ;). Anyway in most countries being in the right faction makes you safe from the law too (unless you really really screw up).

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/19/china-corruption-executions-idUSL3E7IJ0H720110719
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/business/global/china-mobile-executive-sentenced-to-death-over-bribes.html?_r=0

Maybe this guy was in the right faction since he only got 15 years (not sure how many of those years he'll actually serve out):
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/23/world/asia/china-wang-lijun-verdict/index.html

[1] just being in the Party doesn't make you bulletproof.

...plus c'est la même chose."

    kinda reminds me of 2003:
  LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms "master" and "slave" on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/master.term.reut/

  "The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Princess Leia to Grand Moff Tarkin ...

Not having to import oil from middle eastern countries would be a worthy goal.

That is happening all by itself. And if you live in Europe, there is a good chance you are burning gasoline/diesel that was imported from the US.

to sending guns to mexican drug lords (operation Gunwalker)

Perhaps you should read this investigate journalism.

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/

To give you the brief version: the government did not send guns to Mexican drug lords. All the guns that "walked" across the border were bought by straw purchasers with their own cash from private businesses.

The ATF agents in question (the leader of which is a former Marine who got an award for taking down two violent gangs in Minneapolis) tried to identify the straw purchasers. When they went to prosecutors for an arrest warrant, the prosecutor would say "nope, you don't have enough probable cause" even though one of the guys bought $300,000 worth of guns in six months while on food stamps.

The guns that killed Brian Terry were purchased by a man name Jaime Avila in January 2010. By July 2010, the ATF agents had sent prosecutors the names of 20 straw purchasers, Avila among them. By December 2010, the prosecutors dropped Avila's name from the indictment due to lack of evidence. Later that month, Mr. Terry was murdered. Avila was arrested within 24 hours of Mr. Terry's murder.

Not Did you read the link? US Supreme Court uphold free speech principles in this case. as not free speech per se. he was at a private mall, the security guards didnt like his shirt and told him to leave. he refused, so police hauled him off. constitution stops at the door - it only applies to govt. also, I couldn't find the resolution of the case, whether it was dropped etc. exceptional abusive action by the Bush campaign, overturned by the courts and the guy won $80k in court. pres was a dick, but free speech wins at the end. again, did you read the article? as you overzealous principal, supreme court directly contradicts and supports free speech. I couldnt find how the case resolved itself but it seems cut and dry. may private company, constitution stops at the front door. think dont know how this turned out. protests are usually fine within boundaries. cities usually issue permits, etc. Sure, it's not surprising that a low-level gov't peon steps over the bounds, but in every case the supreme court or other courts support free speech rights.

Not Did you read the link? US Supreme Court uphold free speech principles in this case. as not free speech per se. he was at a private mall, the security guards didnt like his shirt and told him to leave. he refused, so police hauled him off. constitution stops at the door - it only applies to govt. also, I couldn't find the resolution of the case, whether it was dropped etc. exceptional abusive action by the Bush campaign, overturned by the courts and the guy won $80k in court. pres was a dick, but free speech wins at the end. again, did you read the article? as you overzealous principal, supreme court directly contradicts and supports free speech. I couldnt find how the case resolved itself but it seems cut and dry. may private company, constitution stops at the front door. think dont know how this turned out. protests are usually fine within boundaries. cities usually issue permits, etc. Sure, it's not surprising that a low-level gov't peon steps over the bounds, but in every case the supreme court or other courts support free speech rights.

Yes, exactly right. It is ok for people to burn the flag and chant dept to America. It's also ok for people to make crappy YouTube videos. That's what makes America exceptionally great.

Not
as
exceptional
as you
may
think

Yes, exactly right. It is ok for people to burn the flag and chant dept to America. It's also ok for people to make crappy YouTube videos. That's what makes America exceptionally great.

Not
as
exceptional
as you
may
think

"Nose dive"? That is bullshit from the socialist fantasy bubble! Now here's a summary of objective benchmarks by which a country's reputation can be judged...

USA is #1 in overall National Brand ranking, and #1 in international tourism receipts (in spite of really shooting itself in the foot with all the post-9/11 security theater). USA gets more foreign investment than any other country - more than twice as much as the runnerup. It has the world's most respected universities, and some of the most admired and best managed companies. USA's credit rating went down a bit under Obama, but only a handful of countries rank higher. It ranks higher among preferred immigration destinations than most of Europe (sadly too many survey respondents thought France was a romantic destination, even though most people who visit it are disappointed) (and justly behind small Economic Freedom champs like SG and NZ).

USA's reputation was at an "all-time low" shortly after the Revolution, when it was seen as a pirate nation of rootless migrants and uncivilized wilderness. USA's reputation gradually went up and up during the 19th century, leapt upward as it became a superpower and a powerful anti-colonial influence after WW1, and went further up in the civilized world after WW2 and during the Cold War.

--libman

The plan I'm on is the same price as the Samsung SGS3. So no, it's not "huge markups". This same one trick pony is trotted out with respect to Apple PCs too, and it's as false there as it is here. A top of the line Android is every bit as pricey, depending on setup and/or contract.

Not "huge markups" for you, but (at least in the U.S.), for your mobile carrier. Apple is well-known for demanding substantially higher subsidy rates from their partners, who then have to try to recoup the extra cost from subscribers. For instance, back when Sprint finally caved in and offered the iPhone, they broke their own records for new subscriber enrollments -- and simultaneously lost 1.3 billion that same quarter, in large part due to the exorbitant price they had to pay.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/12/technology/iphone-5-carriers/index.html

The price customers typically pay for a new iPhone is a heavily discounted rate cushioned by the carriers, who buy the devices from Apple for close to their full retail price tags. (The 16 GB iPhone 4S that generally goes for $199 with a two-year contract has a list price of $649.) Carriers eat the difference and make it up by padding the monthly cost of their customers' phone contracts. The iPhone's subsidy typically runs about $400 per device -- the highest of any smartphone on the market.

You know nothing of what you speak. The Taliban just shoot the girls or the headmasters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/25/taliban-kill-head-girls-school

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/the-taliban-advances-if-we-now-kill-schoolgirls-you-shouldn-t-be-surprised-a-627004.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/10/world/asia/pakistan-teen-activist-attack/index.html

So go ahead, try taking taxes from the Taliban to pay for girl schools...

The 47% figure is rather misleading because it only refers to the percentage of people paying federal income tax. It turns out there are multiple federal taxes on income, only one of which is called the federal income tax. Most of those 47% pay the payroll tax which is a regressive income tax. For detailed numbers see this chart which Google image search found on this CNN Money video. For those that don't want to click the link, the breakdown according to CNN is 53.6% pay income tax and the rest not paying income tax are split up as 28.6% pay payroll tax, 10.3% elderly with no income tax, 6.9% non-elderly with income under $20,000, and 1% other.

Once you eliminate people paying income/payroll tax and the retired elderly, that leaves at most 8% not retired but not making enough money to owe federal taxes. Some of those are unable to work. Some of those are unable to find a job. Some small proportion might really be lazy and leeching off the system like you are worried about... but that is almost certainly much less than 8% of the population and definitely a lot less than 47% of the population.

On top of that, remember this entire discussion is only about federal taxes. There are also state taxes, which are pretty universally regressive. Particularly, most states have a sales tax which hits the poor much harder as anyone earning so little they aren't paying income tax is probably buying necessities with all the money they do earn and therefore immediately paying sales tax on a large proportion of their income.

This article that I came across while searching for those figures tells a similar story with more exposition and citations.

Obama was bipartisan throughout the process. He encouraged congressional democrats to work with republicans on the matter. Committees were formed and drafts were written by bipartisan committees.

His language, demeanor, AND the process disagree with you. When even moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe say they are shut out of the process (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB30001424052748704007804574573841915542278.html), you can be certain nothing "bipartisan" is occurring. What proof do you have that it was? Were you there? Or did Obama just TELL you he was working with Republicans, so naturally that must be true? Hell, Snowe voted FOR the initial healthcare bill out of committee (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/29/snowe-explains-decision-to-leave-defends-tough-criticism-of-senate/). She wanted healthcare reform. She did not get the kind of cooperation she expected. Even moderates in your own party were of the same opinion: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/08/blue-dog-will-vote-against-bill-with-public-option/

"In July, Ross urged congressional leaders to slow down the pace of health care negotiations and said reform "needs to be done in a deliberate, bipartisan and common sense way." "

If Obama is the socialist monster that the conservatives paint him as, why would he have had "his goons" write a bill that changes so little? A true socialist would have insisted on socialised medicine - or at least a single payer option.

I just TOLD you why -- he couldn't get his own party behind it. Proof: http://www.opencongress.org/articles/view/1092-Blue-Dogs-Don-t-Want-a-Public-Option-That-Works
http://www.progressiveblue.com/diary/3962/will-corporate-democrats-sink-the-public-option

Where's your proof? STOP REWRITING HISTORY: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/01/26/171901/blue-po-ahip/

And YES the final product was written solely partisan, behinds closed doors -- the final draft did not go through bipartisan committee: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/healthcare-senate-house-democrats-obama.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/democrats-reid-pelosi-healthcare-cspan.html

He could have vetoed it, but that would have been a huge victory for the republicans.

Then he chose career advancement over healthcare reform. Good for him, he's no different than any other career-minded stubborn Republican who refuses to raise taxes because they're worried about their job because of some asinine "agreement" they made with the populace.

He would have never seen another bill in any way related to health care had he vetoed this one.

Proof of this? Lots of people and politicians were clamoring for health care reform. I honestly doubt taking this back to square one would have simply ended the discussion of healthcare reform.

You appear as if you'll believe whatever you want to believe -- this is why none of your dialogue comes with cites, facts, or proof.

That honey article is misleading -- there's nothing fake about ultra-filtered, pollenless honey.

That's correct. Ultra-filtered honey isn't proof-positive that it's fake.

However...

[...]

Food safety investigators from the European Union barred all shipments of honey from India because of the presence of lead and illegal animal antibiotics. Further, they found an even larger amount of honey apparently had been concocted without the help of bees, made from artificial sweeteners and then extensively filtered to remove any proof of contaminants or adulteration or indications of precisely where the honey actually originated.

An examination of international and government shipping tallies, customs documents and interviews with some of North America’s top honey importers and brokers documented the rampant honey laundering and that a record amount of the Chinese honey was being purchased by major U.S. packers.

Food Safety News contacted Suebee Co-Op, the nation’s oldest and largest honey packer and seller, for a response to these allegations and to learn where it gets its honey. The co-op did not respond to repeated calls and emails for comment. Calls and emails to other major honey sellers also were unreturned.

EU Won’t Accept Honey from India

Much of this questionable honey was officially banned beginning June 2010 by the 27 countries of the European Union and others. But on this side of the ocean, the FDA checks few of the thousands of shipments arriving through 22 American ports each year.

According to FDA data, between January and June, just 24 honey shipments were stopped from entering the country. The agency declined to say how many loads are inspected and by whom.

However, during that same period, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that almost 43 million pounds of honey entered the U.S. Of that, the Department of Commerce said 37.7 million pounds came from India, the same honey that is banned in the EU because it contained animal medicine and lead and lacked the proper paperwork to prove it didn’t come from China.

“There are still millions of pounds of transshipped Chinese honey coming in the U.S. and it’s all coming now from India and Vietnam and everybody in the industry knows that,” said Elise Gagnon, president of Odem International, a worldwide trading house that specializes in bulk raw honey.

The FDA says it has regulations prohibiting foods banned in other countries from entering the U.S. However, the agency said last month that it “would not know about honey that has been banned from other countries ”

Adee called the FDA’s response “absurd.” He said the European ban against Indian honey is far from a secret.

“Why are we the dumping ground of the world for something that’s banned in all these other countries?” asked Adee, who, with 80,000 bee colonies in five states, is the country’s largest honey producer.

“We’re supposed to have the world’s safest food supply but we’re letting in boatloads of this adulterated honey that all these other countries know is contaminated and FDA does nothing.”

[...]

[Source]

And please note that for the EU, a ban against "Indian honey" is a ban against "Chinese honey", because Chinese Honey was being re-routed through India and then the UK to take advantage of their commonwealth connection so that it could get into the EU in the first place without paying huge tariffs.

And again, this is only circumstantial evidence, not definitive proof, but here is a video documentary on the start of mass disappearance of bees in China. http://w

Unless you are going to mars then you want them to use a single unit and not change mid calculation.

http://articles.cnn.com/1999-09-30/tech/9909_30_mars.metric.02_1_climate-orbiter-spacecraft-team-metric-system?_s=PM:TECH

http://money.cnn.com/1998/11/06/economy/japan_bank/

Here, you have a pretty much cut and dry case. ATF agents allowed roughly two thousand fairly high quality guns to pass to Mexican drug cartels with no attempt made to track those weapons

From what I read it's not really that cut and dry. The officials involved DID want to track the guns and did try, but the bureaucracy did them in.

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-furious-truth/

If PETA thinks that Pokemon is bad, I would like to direct them to this so-called game that makes a sport out of tipping cows! I would like to encourage PETA to protest my game in the most vocal way possible, because, damn, it's tough getting free press for a gambling game. Get it on Slashdot, on Gamespy, on CNN and on Time Magazine's site. Please? PETA? I'll give you a soy cookie!

NIF has three missions:

- National security (stockpile stewardship
- Basic fusion science
- Understanding the origins of the basic building blocks of the universe

That's it.

I hate to break it you you, but much of what we do in basic science research is dual-use. It can be used for military applications, or purely scientific applications. Doing stockpile stewardship without nuclear tests is not "getting around" nuclear test ban treaties. It's maintaining the integrity of our increasingly smaller nuclear stockpile as a credible deterrent.

This overwhelming deterrent capability is part of the reason why the world has seen no major global conflict for seven decades, and has had the longest period of peace without global conflict for over five centuries. Tens of millions of people died in WWI and WWII.

We maintain a credible deterrent so it's clear that no one can ever strike us first without the certainty of themselves also being destroyed -- and if our principles and ideals and those of our allies are something you care about, then that should be important to you.

The world is changing, and some might say that the general "cyber" and information threats will more important than nuclear. China certainly seems to think so. Then again, China is also building out its nuclear weapons capabilities and stockpiles as the rest of the world, including the US, disarms. No worries, right? Delivery systems that can rain down nuclear warheads on targets anywhere in the world is just for "peaceful regional defense", right?

A world where the US doesn't maintain an overwhelming deterrent to forces which espouse principles and ideals counter to those of freedom and liberal democracy is not a pretty place.

(Note to people who think that the US is what's wrong with the world: you are sorely in need of historical perspective -- or, any perspective. The US is not perfect, but the US and West has done far more for the benefit of human life and humanity, on the whole, than any other nation, especially those with Communist, Socialist, or totalitarian systems of government. Wake up.)

It's not just iOS6. The iPhone5 is seriously substandard. Purple photos, Apple Maps, iPhone5's inability to handle LTE and data concurrently, easily scratched paint, and the new docking port with $30 adaptor makes iPhone5 a real lemon...

Nevermind the actual specs. iPhone5 is slower than Samsung Galaxy S3 despite the fact that the S3 is three months older. iPhone5 doesn't have NFC. iPhone5 still has a tiny screen. iOS market share has been sliding for a while, but after a few million get burned with this device, I think iPhone6 will be a very tough sell.

The future is now, I guess. Despite living near one of the world's largest malls, I haven't been inside one in years... not sure if this is common or not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/26/billboard-with-face-recognition-technology-ad-women-not-men_n_1302286.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/11/db.smartsigns/

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2009-01-30-ad-privacy_N.htm

I live in California. We are paying the price for years of anti-business policies and nimbyism. We have no spare refinery capacity

Meanwhile, last year:

"There's excess refining capacity in the U.S.," Halff says. That may fluctuate short term, but, "in the longer term, we will see a decline because we are tightening standards, and cars will become more efficient." In other words, even though owning a refinery might be a good short-term bet, no company wants to risk getting stuck holding an under-performing asset as the market landscape changes.

Why blame nimbyism? Markets "eliminate waste," which means, excess capacity in times of stability. If you want stability, you have to pay a higher overall price for having overcapacity that is normally not useful... until it is useful (see farm subsidies).

Both Senator Joe Biden and Senator Barack Obama voted to kill a Senate amendment that would have diverted federal funding for the bridge to repair a Louisiana span badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina. And both voted for the final transportation bill that included the $223 million earmark for the Bridge to nowhere.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/23/biden.earmarks/index.html

Even using that as an attempt the rationalize this, the iPhone 5's problem is worse, the actual flares now have purple tinges, not just the sun itself See http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/02/tech/mobile/iphone-5-purple-photos/ for example.

Today is National Taco Day.

I am confused by your statement "I don't understand austerity". From my viewpoint, it is simple: pay for the programs you implement, don't leave it to your grandkids to pay for. In my country, we have Social Security. I like Social Security, it is a good idea. yet we ahve this notion that seniors have paid for their benefits. The reality is that the current generation of recipients paid between 50-70 cents on the dollar for the benefit they are receiving. My generation will likely be in the 70-75 percent range. At some point, someone has to pay for the shortfall, and it will likely be my kids and grandkids. That is a horrible sign of selfishness and immaturity.

I assume you live in the USA. One way to permanently fund Social Security [1] would be to remove the limits on the tax (which is currently limited to an arbitrary $106k) so millionaires (who do receive SS benefits when they retire) have to pay the same overall % of income as middle-class and the poor.

This is but one of the more well known ways to fix shortfalls in government without having "our kids and grandkids pay". Perhaps we should remove corporate loopholes that allow companies to essentially pay no tax? The fact is, many corporations [2] and wealthy people [3] have lower tax rates than folks who are scraping to get by. I pay a significantly higher rate than Romney.

[1] http://www.epi.org/publication/webfeatures_snapshots_20050217/
[2] http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/ad-lib/2011/apr/10/tax-evaders-wall-shame/
[3] http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/21/pf/taxes/romney-tax-return/index.html

Well, since you weren't in the jury room, here's an account of how they addressed that:

On whether he had a feeling that the case would sway overwhelmingly in Apple's favor:

"No. At that point in time, I thought it was going to ultimately lean the other wayWe were at a stalemate, but some of the jurors were not sure of the patent prosecution process. Some were not sure of how prior art could either render a patent acceptable or whether it could invalidate it. What we did is we started talking about one and when the day was over and I was at home, thinking about that patent claim by claim, limit by limit, I had what we would call an a-ha moment and I suddenly decided I could defend this if it was my patentAnd with that, I took that story back to the jury and laid it out for them. They understood the points I was talking about and then we meticulously went patent by patent and claim by claim against the test that the judge had given us, because each patent had a different legal premise to judge on. We got those all sorted out and decided which ones were valid and which ones were not.

Emphasis mine.

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/08/28/apple-v-samsung-meet-the-foreman-of-the-jury/

"With regards to the Seagate suit and subsequent bankruptcy, Hogan says the court required jurors to disclose any litigation they were involved in within the last 10 years -- which he did. The 1993 Seagate business fell well outside that time range."

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/03/samsung-attacks-foreman-of-jury-that-awarded-apple-1b/

I'll leave you with this one. http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2012/10/02/android-could-soon-overtake-apple-in-tablet-market/ No wonder apple defenders get so crazed here, I think the future is scary for them.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/18/news/economy/obama-bush-jobs/?source=cnn_bin

And what is Dubya's excuse during his orgy of spending? Where was the outcry then?

Come to think of it, even as an independent, Dubya made me cry a lot...

But but but... They have those horrible horrible guns!!

I hate it because everything here is completely nonsensical.

That's nothing but an opinion, and a ridiculously far-reaching and baseless one at that.

California is ranked 49 out of 51 for unemployment (not good at all): http://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/state-unemployment-rates/ [cnn.com]

I'm guessing that has a whole lot to do with California having the best unemployment benefits, so people stay in the system, rather than falling off the rolls like many others, where they are uncounted.

And at 7.25%, California has the great distinction of having the highest minimum sales tax in the US. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_and_use_taxes_in_California)

Nope, try again. At least Arizona is higher.

California's MINIMUM sales tax is only a fraction of a percent above a LOT of other states (7%). And counting the MINIMUM is completely arbitrary, it doesn't change that several other states pay far higher sales taxes, and seems contrived so you could find some way to justify your moaning about CA.

And additionally, like I already said, essential items like groceries are exempt (which many other states don't do), meaning the tax on all other sales needs to be higher to compensate. And sales tax is only that high because voters in the states prefer to keep property taxes low and predictable instead. Just as some states don't have income tax, and the like.

Once again, your claims are baseless nonsense based on your personal prejudice rather than actual, important issues. None of the things you've come up with, even if they were true and fair comparisons, would even potentially lend any credence to your ridiculous primary claim that: "everything here is completely nonsensical"

But go ahead and keep loving your socialist paradise while it continues to spend itself out of existence.

Enjoy the Tea-Bagger rallies. I'm content in the knowledge that changing demographics will make the Republican Party cease to be a viable national party within the next 10 years, max. Expect everything Limbaugh has told you to hold dear will be thrown under the bus by Republicans, desperately trying to retain their viability, very soon... It will likely start as soon as Romney loses.

Actually, I have given reasons for why I hate California.
I hate it because everything here is completely nonsensical.

California is ranked 49 out of 51 for unemployment (not good at all): http://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/state-unemployment-rates/
And at 7.25%, California has the great distinction of having the highest minimum sales tax in the US. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_and_use_taxes_in_California)

And no, my objection is not baseless. It's based on the fact that government spending on something like this ridiculous textbook program is a waste when there are other alternatives out there (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_textbook#Projects) already generating these things for free. Why should the state of California pour money into something that already exists? There are much more important issues to deal with (like that 10.6% unemployment rate, or being ranked #6 for state debt: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/states-debt-combined-may-exceed-4-trillion_n_1029162.html#s429797&title=6_California)

I have evidence backing up my claims. But go ahead and keep loving your socialist paradise while it continues to spend itself out of existence. At least I know I'll be moving back to sanity in a couple years.

It didn't spark riots around the world. At least the ambassador in Libya was killed in a targeted attack by Al Qaeda. The ambassador was worried about his safety for weeks before his death. We know this because CNN reporters walked into the compound and looked around. Security was NOT good at this place.

Eventually, iOS users who don't want to wait for Apple-Google parity will be able to download native a native version of Google's maps

You mean an application that duplicates the functionality of a built-in app?

You really think Apple is going to allow this in the iOS store?

Plus, google says they are not working on one:
Google not working on IOS app