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The following business reasons might explain why they are releasing the Nintedo DS in North America first:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Apologies for the cross-post but it seems relevant here.

Here's a bunch of links to the New York Times/ CNet, our games pages and the Walmart site which lists some differing information in a rejected post from VERY early this morning:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Exactly. You seem to have misunderstood what I meant and read it as an equivalent to "when did you stop beating your wife". I meant that if the order had never been given, and I don't believe any such order was (it would have been redundant; it was already a requirement of pilots), shouldn't Bush have been able to say "that never happened"? I don't expect the president to deny every crazy allegation that gets cooked up, but I also don't expect him to hand them out to everybody in the press core, either. My point was that they knew it wasn't true, but didn't mind helping to further muddy the waters (which is what I think). But that is just speculation. And perhaps based on a false assumption, if you can provide a source for your "press corps policy." That would be new to me.

Actually, yeah, it is. If you want to be cleared to fly, you have to take a physical. If you aren't going to be required to fly (as Bush wasn't) and you don't want to hang on to your status for some other reason, you just don't take the physical. Common practice.

Look, just because you say it over and over doesn't make it true. It was a mandatory requirement and if a pilot failed to take it, a commander had to conduct an investigation and either convene a Flying Evaluation Board or forward a detailed report up the chain of command. See this document, page 18. If you can actually site a source that is more credible, please do. Also, "common practice" isn't a defense. It may be common practice to cheat on your taxes, but you are still cheating on your taxes.

He didn't. When Bush requested a transfer to Alabama, he was told that he would be welcome but that due to a surplus of pilots who had rotated back home, there would be no place on the flightline for him. More pilots than aircraft, you see. More pegs than holes. Ergo, he would not be flying in Alabama. Ergo, no need to maintain flight status.

Here, read this. Bush first tried to transfer to a standby reserve unit, one that wasn't required to meet or train. He had signed up for ready reserve, so this was of course rejected in July (after he had already "transferred" himself to Alabama). He missed his physical in May. Also, although you present the most recent story, Bush has told many over the years.

In his "autobiography," he doesn't even mention the physical and instead says "I was almost finished with my commitment in the Air National Guard and was no longer flying because the F-102 jet I had trained in was being replaced by a different fighter."

Then, it was that he had missed his physical because he was going to get examined by his personal physician.

Now, it is because Alabama units weren't using the F-102.
As for the transfer itself, he didn't apply again until September.

Yet another untruth spread by you for purposes unknown. We have service and pay records indicating that not only did Bush show up for duty in Alabama, he fulfilled all of his requirements for service. In both 1972 and 1973, Bush earned 56 points, more than the required 50 points. You don't get points if you don't show up.

Whether or not he earned the required 48 points in a year has no bearing on whether or not he missed five months. The payroll records are for the last weekend in October. Look, the facts as released by the Whitehouse are that he missed five months, from the end of May to the end of October. The question is whether he ever showed up in Alabama as the payroll records show or not, because a bunch of ot

Exactly. You seem to have misunderstood what I meant and read it as an equivalent to "when did you stop beating your wife". I meant that if the order had never been given, and I don't believe any such order was (it would have been redundant; it was already a requirement of pilots), shouldn't Bush have been able to say "that never happened"? I don't expect the president to deny every crazy allegation that gets cooked up, but I also don't expect him to hand them out to everybody in the press core, either. My point was that they knew it wasn't true, but didn't mind helping to further muddy the waters (which is what I think). But that is just speculation. And perhaps based on a false assumption, if you can provide a source for your "press corps policy." That would be new to me.

Actually, yeah, it is. If you want to be cleared to fly, you have to take a physical. If you aren't going to be required to fly (as Bush wasn't) and you don't want to hang on to your status for some other reason, you just don't take the physical. Common practice.

Look, just because you say it over and over doesn't make it true. It was a mandatory requirement and if a pilot failed to take it, a commander had to conduct an investigation and either convene a Flying Evaluation Board or forward a detailed report up the chain of command. See this document, page 18. If you can actually site a source that is more credible, please do. Also, "common practice" isn't a defense. It may be common practice to cheat on your taxes, but you are still cheating on your taxes.

He didn't. When Bush requested a transfer to Alabama, he was told that he would be welcome but that due to a surplus of pilots who had rotated back home, there would be no place on the flightline for him. More pilots than aircraft, you see. More pegs than holes. Ergo, he would not be flying in Alabama. Ergo, no need to maintain flight status.

Here, read this. Bush first tried to transfer to a standby reserve unit, one that wasn't required to meet or train. He had signed up for ready reserve, so this was of course rejected in July (after he had already "transferred" himself to Alabama). He missed his physical in May. Also, although you present the most recent story, Bush has told many over the years.

In his "autobiography," he doesn't even mention the physical and instead says "I was almost finished with my commitment in the Air National Guard and was no longer flying because the F-102 jet I had trained in was being replaced by a different fighter."

Then, it was that he had missed his physical because he was going to get examined by his personal physician.

Now, it is because Alabama units weren't using the F-102.
As for the transfer itself, he didn't apply again until September.

Yet another untruth spread by you for purposes unknown. We have service and pay records indicating that not only did Bush show up for duty in Alabama, he fulfilled all of his requirements for service. In both 1972 and 1973, Bush earned 56 points, more than the required 50 points. You don't get points if you don't show up.

Whether or not he earned the required 48 points in a year has no bearing on whether or not he missed five months. The payroll records are for the last weekend in October. Look, the facts as released by the Whitehouse are that he missed five months, from the end of May to the end of October. The question is whether he ever showed up in Alabama as the payroll records show or not, because a bunch of ot

In my not very humble opinion you have that wrong. A quality newspaper will never just take a press release (from whomever) at face value. A good journalist will ask hard questions and never trust the spin masters, no matter from which direction they come.

When the war in iraq started this was the major shortcoming of basically the entire US mainstream press to just buy Mr. Fleischers bullshit and just report it 1:1 as fact.

Even the Grand Old Lady admiited to their to their shortcomings (registration may be required) in that respect, alas a tad late.

See also A Linguistic Big Bang, from The NY Times Magazine, five years back.

You too can learn to link to the NYT without registering.

Here the reg free link...
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/technology/20sec ure.html?ex=1253419200&en=651229ed583b13bc&ei=5090 &partner=rssuserland

According to the NYT, "Kryptonite locks made before 2002 appear to be less susceptible," so some of the locks you've bought over the past 5 years may be harder to open. Small solace, I know. But, if they want to avoid an even bigger PR black eye, I expect they'll be giving out replacements for anyone with a lock and the keys that go with it.
On the other hand, NYT was saying that a padlock and chain is a good replacement- while decent picks are a little harder to come by than ballpoint pens, I can still open an average Master lock in less than a minute. Point being that if someone wants your stuff, there are ways they can get it.

"Now seniors are getting immediate help buying medicine"

Speech made by President George W. Bush at The Republican National Convention

Immediate?

Amount of people who've signed up for the President's Medicare "card": 4.1 Million or 10% of those who are eligible.

The 75% discount that was provided under that same bill doesn't start till 2006! Immediate my behind.

Just one day after the convention speech Medicare premiums increased 17%.

"Starting in January, the elderly will pay $78.20 per month for non-hospital services, up $11.60 from $66.60 this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said." (CNN Money 9/3/2004)

The 17% increase is the largest in Medicare's history, the second largest took place last year (2003) when premiums rose 13%. (From $58.70 to $66.60, CNN Money 9/3/2004)
Sources:

1. New York Times Article; Comparing President's Address and History
2. CNN Money 9/3/2004; Medicare premiums to jump 17%

Bush missed the Florida deadline:
" State law sets a Sept. 1 deadline for the governor to certify a list of presidential electors for each party's candidates.

But Sept. 1 was also the day President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were being nominated at their party' convention in New York. Consequently, some of their paperwork did not arrive at state elections headquarters until Sept. 2, a day after Gov. Jeb Bush certified the candidates for president."

You might also have missed some other system gaming in bro' Jeb's Florida elections system: "The Return of Katherine Harris". These rules are cooked up to insert Bush in the White House. Then they can't even follow the rules. Bush depends on Democratic adherence to the spirit of democracy, while ignoring it, and the letter of the law, at their convenience.

I thought I would spew out a few links to reviews of the movie if you want to see what movie critics have to say...

Hollywood Reporter
NY Times (requires registration)
ReelTalk Reviews
ComingSoon.net
E! Online (with trailer)

Do you have any sources you can cite for that? Where did President Bush ever oppose this investigation? And what evidence might be destroyed? Novak had a verbal conversation with a "Senior Administration Official". What records are going to exist of that? And how is President Bush in any way controlling this investigation? If he wanted to hide things and was controlling the investigation or its timing, why would he be allowing reporters to be subpoenaed to testify about off-the-record conversations they had with administration officials? How exactly does that constitute "keeping it out of the public eye"?

Actually, we almost have an unproven, untested, deployed-only-for-political-reasons missle system "right now".

> And it's really a cheap shot .. to say that he's not giving
> people any hope... he's simply not giving them false
> hope.

OK, I admit that we don't have a cure for Parkinson's (and a host ofneurological diseases)... but what other practical hopes for a cure do we have beyond stem cell research? Maybe the same fairy that will make our missile defense system work will also be able to cure all those afflicted!

Seriously, I think that providing funding (which the majority of citizens approve of) while applying restrictions that make the funding very unattractive, even detrimental (details which do not make the front page, but will be noticed by and appreciated by those vehemently opposing the funding, and are naturally paying more attention) is called being disingenuous.

It's like the old political trick of having a photo-op with the Boy Scouts (i.e. insert popular group here) just before cutting their funding; the majority will see the photo and associate the politician with the popular group, but won't necessarily notice that the story attached is about the politician undermining that group.

It's not what Bush professes to do that crushes hope, it's the disingenuity in how he undermines these professed goals that crushes hope.

Registration free link [nytimes.com]

I wish article authors would at least put up some effort to find and use reg-free links when possible. dc

The New York Times had a similar story two days ago. Ironic that CNN would take two extra days to get a story about forecasts being extended out by two days.

Here is a no registration link to the article. This link was generated by New York Times Link Generator.

Help reduce the cost of labor by providing healthcare insurance for example. This article was in today's NYT: Carmakers in for a long haul paying healthcare.

I bet you those workers in India do not get health insurance from their companies - the goverment provides it.

If someone has food, they are more likely to be content. If someone is content, they are less likely to be a terrorist. Therefore, if someone has food, they are less likely to become a terrorist.

For one, this is a common fallacy. When you get to college, please take an introductory course on critical thinking.

Well, if it's a fallacy, I made a mistake somewhere, right? Now, there are three statements, one of which connects the other two. Let's look at each of them:

So how's my critical thinking?

For two, Bin Ladin and his gang are filthy rich. We're not being attacked by hungry people. We're being attacked by people with a lot of money and a lot of resources (and plenty of food, too, by the way).

The point, however, is that we're being attacked by people who were previously hungry. If there were fewer people going without food, bin Laden and other terrorist groups would have fewer new recruits and less support among the populaces.

Yes, we fucking WERE. What do you think 9/11 was, big guy?

Unrelated to Iraq. This has been substantiated many times over.

Furthermore, we weren't in danger of being attacked by Iraq either. This is evidenced by the the whole "WMD" -> "WMD programs" -> "WMD program related activities" slide that the Bush administration went through and things like this: Saddam Hussein's military posed no threat to either regional stability or American interests.

If it prevented another 9/11, it damn sure was worth $200B.

But it didn't prevent another 9/11. It wasn't worth it.

I take it I'm the only one who sees the inconsistency here.

But I do believe [Saddam Hussein] was a force of instability in a dangerously unstable region... For a very long time, the U.S. did not respond in any significant and effective way to any of this.

I'm getting tired of writing this over and over again.

...it would leave us in that part of the region as having done a lot of damage and then cut and run before repairing it.

Unlike Afghanistan, right?

Reg Free Link

OK, now let's argue over whether or not Slashdot counts as a "Blog", and whether or not we should be using the New York Times Link Generator to create links so that people can RTFA!

Yes, BugMeNot works too, but if you're going to provide an article to Slashdot, at least make it so everyone can read it without jumping through hoops...

Sorry it has a registration...

The same can be said for MoveOn and Kerry's campaign Personally, I think the Swift Boat controversy is a non-issue. What people should really be asking Kerry is what really happened in Kansas City in 1971, as he has been changing his story whenever confronted with a contradicting account.

If there was even a hint that Bush has been involved in a conspiracy to murder US Senators, the mainstream media would be dogging him until he resigned. Even if Kerry did indeed resign in disgust after the plan was voted down, one has to wonder why a man who now wants to be President didn't immediately report the plot to the FBI.

(not the same as the other NY Times article)

Big Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N.Korea
By REUTERS

Published: September 12, 2004

Filed at 0:08 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - A huge explosion rocked North Korea near the border with China three days ago, producing a mushroom cloud that sparked speculation that Pyongyang might have tested an atomic weapon, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

The South Korean agency said the blast on Thursday in Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province appeared much worse than a train explosion that killed at least 170 people in April. It quoted some sources as saying the latest blast was unlikely to have been a nuclear test.

Thursday was the 56th anniversary of North Korea's founding. The reclusive communist state often stages extravaganzas and big events to mark important anniversaries.

South Korean intelligence officials said they were monitoring the news, but declined detailed comment on the reports, which were based on ``informed sources'' in Beijing and in Seoul.

The reports surfaced as South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States were seeking to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons ambitions. The North, which threatened at earlier talks to test an atomic bomb, has said it doubts more negotiations will help.

``There were rumors that the explosion was much bigger than the one at Ryongchon train station and the United States is showing a big interest as the blast was seen from satellites,'' Yonhap quoted an unnamed source in Beijing as saying.

The cause had yet to be determined but the source said Washington was not ruling out the possibility that the blast may be linked to a nuclear test.

Yonhap quoted other unnamed officials as saying it was probably not an accident, although it also quoted one source in Washington as saying it was unlikely to have been a nuclear test. It quoted another source as saying it could be a forest fire.

Yonhap reported a mushroom cloud up to 2.5 miles in diameter was spotted after the blast in remote Ryanggang province in the country's far northeast near to known missile bases.

The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions the Bush administration had received recent intelligence reports that some experts believed could indicate North Korea was preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test explosion.

South Korean government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Train wagons exploded at the Ryongchon railway station on April 22, killing 170 and injuring an estimated 1,300. The blast was believed to have been caused by a train loaded with oil and chemicals hitting a power line.

(not the same as the other NY Times article)

Big Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N.Korea
By REUTERS

Published: September 12, 2004

Filed at 0:08 a.m. ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - A huge explosion rocked North Korea near the border with China three days ago, producing a mushroom cloud that sparked speculation that Pyongyang might have tested an atomic weapon, Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

The South Korean agency said the blast on Thursday in Kimhyungjik county in Ryanggang province appeared much worse than a train explosion that killed at least 170 people in April. It quoted some sources as saying the latest blast was unlikely to have been a nuclear test.

Thursday was the 56th anniversary of North Korea's founding. The reclusive communist state often stages extravaganzas and big events to mark important anniversaries.

South Korean intelligence officials said they were monitoring the news, but declined detailed comment on the reports, which were based on ``informed sources'' in Beijing and in Seoul.

The reports surfaced as South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States were seeking to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear weapons ambitions. The North, which threatened at earlier talks to test an atomic bomb, has said it doubts more negotiations will help.

``There were rumors that the explosion was much bigger than the one at Ryongchon train station and the United States is showing a big interest as the blast was seen from satellites,'' Yonhap quoted an unnamed source in Beijing as saying.

The cause had yet to be determined but the source said Washington was not ruling out the possibility that the blast may be linked to a nuclear test.

Yonhap quoted other unnamed officials as saying it was probably not an accident, although it also quoted one source in Washington as saying it was unlikely to have been a nuclear test. It quoted another source as saying it could be a forest fire.

Yonhap reported a mushroom cloud up to 2.5 miles in diameter was spotted after the blast in remote Ryanggang province in the country's far northeast near to known missile bases.

The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions the Bush administration had received recent intelligence reports that some experts believed could indicate North Korea was preparing to conduct its first nuclear weapons test explosion.

South Korean government officials were not immediately available for comment.

Train wagons exploded at the Ryongchon railway station on April 22, killing 170 and injuring an estimated 1,300. The blast was believed to have been caused by a train loaded with oil and chemicals hitting a power line.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/international/as ia/12nuke.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/in ternational/asia/12nuke.html>

On a related note, the closest article that the nytimes has about this right now (here) says

"President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports in recent days describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea that some experts believe could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon, according to senior officials with access to the intelligence."

What kind of experts do they have? Cripes...

According to sources NK were believed to conduct a nuclear test in the forseeable future. You decide.

Glad to see we (the US) have got that wacky intel problem solved and now we're getting conclusive information...

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/international/as ia/12nuke.html?ei=5006&en=87e70c368a1790ca&ex=1095 566400&partner=ALTAVISTA1&pagewanted=print&positio n=

Atomic Activity in North Korea Raises Concerns

Sept. 11 - President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports in recent days describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea that some experts believe could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon, according to senior officials with access to the intelligence.

While the indications were viewed as serious enough to warrant a warning to the White House, American intelligence agencies appear divided about the significance of the new North Korean actions, much as they were about the evidence concerning Iraq's alleged weapons stockpiles.

"President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports in recent days describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea that some experts believe could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon, according to senior officials with access to the intelligence."

NYT article "Atomic Activity in North Korea Raises Concerns," Sept. 11, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-minister.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-explosion.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-north-korea-explosion.html

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-minister.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-explosion.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-north-korea-explosion.html

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-minister.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-explosion.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-north-korea-explosion.html

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-minister.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-korea-north-explosion.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/inter national-north-korea-explosion.html

According to this New York Times article to be published tomorrow, Bush had received intel in the past few days that North Korea was preparing to test a nuclear device.

6. NEARLY THERE
The animators combined Ms. Paltrow and the computer elements in a composited black-and-white frame. Although the film is in color, it was initially conceived for black-and-white, and this step allowed the animators to approach the frame as a composition of light and shadow.

7. PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Drawing from the color in the live-action and animated components, the animators tinted the sequence, using a process similar to the one used to colorize old movies. Each scene in the film was given a distinct palette. For this, the filmmakers chose a muted, almost monochromatic scheme, to evoke the dark urban mood.

1. SKETCHING IT OUT
As in traditional filmmaking, hand-drawn storyboards are used to guide the composition of a shot. This one was created in April 2002 as production began at a warehouse studio in Van Nuys, Calif. Look out, Polly, there's one behind you!

2. FLESHING IT OUT
The next step was this computer-animated version of the storyboard, called an animatic. Animatics serve as a rough draft for the animators, but they're also useful to the actors. With no set or robotic invaders to orient her, Gwyneth Paltrow could get a sense of the scene from the animatic.

3. GET ME PALTROW
Ms. Paltrow, costumed in Polly's slouchy hat and girl-reporter coat, acted the scene in front of a blue screen. The colored points of light behind her are "trackers," used to position her within the frame. She and the other actors were shot on high-definition digital film.

4. GET ME BUILDINGS
The animators combined photographs of actual New York City structures with computer-generated elements to create the streetscape, leaving space for the robot legs. The marquee features a little in-joke: "Wuthering Heights," another Olivier film -- one he made while alive.

5. GET ME ROBOT
The giant robots, inspired by both the Bauhaus aesthetic and early D.C. Comics, typify the movie's retro look. First the drawings were embellished with color, shadowing and other detail. Then a finishing process known as rendering gave them their photographic realism.

6. NEARLY THERE
The animators combined Ms. Paltrow and the computer elements in a composited black-and-white frame. Although the film is in color, it was initially conceived for black-and-white, and this step allowed the animators to approach the frame as a composition of light and shadow.

7. PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Drawing from the color in the live-action and animated components, the animators tinted the sequence, using a process similar to the one used to colorize old movies. Each scene in the film was given a distinct palette. For this, the filmmakers chose a muted, almost monochromatic scheme, to evoke the dark urban mood.

If we really want to stop crime, we need to put cameras where we all know the serious crime takes place.

That is the office buildings of public officials. We also need to tap their (OUR taxpayer dollar paid for) phones. Over night the dirty dealing and back rubbing would stop. No more BJ's in the oval office. We could even link the cameras in air traffic controllers to watch as they ignore planes that switch off there transponders and deviate from course for 20-30 minutes before they crash into the WTC. Hey, but what's with letting three or four planes all go AWOL. Not like George doesn't support going AWOL. (and he cares enough about our troops, not to attend even one funeral.)

To bad they have this thing about letting the American public know the truth about WMD's. That would have been neat to see that briefing for replay. The ability to trace this info to the source (or lack thereof) and actually hold them accountable for the 1,000 US soldiers that have died. These really are the people that need the cameras put on them because the fate of all our live are held in their hands. How long will it be before the world decides that Americans are the real threat to life and need to be controlled. If the American people won't hold elected official accountable, then somebody will have to.

What ever became of the security tapes around the Oklahoma City Federal building. These tapes hold the smoking gun of Timothy McVeigh in the last moments before the bomb blew. But they were never released due to national security.

Our government has been running amuck. We need to pull out the magnifying glass and put the cameras on them that can't be turned off. These cameras should be streamed on the net and recorded for later viewing. We also need to remove our public officials right to privacy anywhere they go so they can't make deals 'out of the office'. Just like a teenager that gets into drugs, they will loose any right to privacy, they have, because we know they can't be trusted. There has been to much trust in this country of our elected officials for way to long.

And here is the Reg-Free link.

In the future please use the NY Times Blog Link Generator when linking to the soul suckers.

• Marc Andreessen made 100s of millions of dollars shortly after graduating from UIUC. Today's graduates of the same university face moving back in with their parents. "Fuck that, I got mine!"
• Brian Behlendorf decided he'd rather go to India to recruit software engineers than help out the graduating classes of 2001-2004 here in the US.
• Robert Malda stood idly by and said NOTHING while his company offshored its flagship product.

Miguel de Icaza, Bruce Perens, Eric Raymond, and Linus Torvalds all got rich off the Open Source Movement. What do you have to look forward to?

> more votes had been cast for Gore than for Bush

Not to mention the fact that Jeb Bush worked to have thousands of African Americans purged from the voter rolls prior the election by misclassifying them as felons. As reported in the New York Times, he's tried to do it again in 2004 and then tried to keep the voter rolls secret.

forgot my link

As much as the far left would like to paint Zell Miller as a crazed voice in the wilderness, he expresses the sentiments of many progressive Democrats who intend to put country before party.

Hey, I'm not saying he's crazy, I'm just saying he's a liar.

For some Iraqis, obviously our GIs are liberators. For others, we're clearly occupiers. Apperantly a pretty vocal group thinks we're occupiers, since liberators generally don't get attacked 2700 times a month. Bush and Cheyney call it an occuption from time to time too.

On the contrary, Gore lost nearly every recount by every common standard. Unlike you, I'm not making an empty assertion and don't expect people to take my word for it. The New York Times has a web page where you can do the recounts yourself. Choose your standards for hanging chads, optical ballots, observer agreement, whatever you like. It's been awhile since I did this, but IIRC all but one permutation returned Bush as the winner. Sometimes, admittedly, by a small margin. But to assert that Gore won every recount is simply not true.

See http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/07/opinion/07kalche im.html Statistics are always relative to some baseline axioms. When the axioms are not relevant, the statitics are little more than useless trivia.

From an aesthetic point of view, multiple pages look better.

But I agree with you. This is one thing I like about The New York Times. Each of their stories has a "view as one page" link, which I often take advantage of.

I don't think you're going to find any single source that's never been accused of bias. There's just too many viewpoints out there-- and any source that tries to go straight down the middle of the road, like CNN, tends to be pretty dry.

So, my solution: Read a lot. I mean, a lot, and, by exposure to many viewpoints, you'll be better off when it comes time to form your own opinions.

If you're asking about specifics, I try to take in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Drudge Report, Slate, Salon, Al-Jazeera, the International Herald-Tribune, and the Guardian. Of course, all of the above have their strengths and weaknesses.

If you don't want to spend the time on all of those, though, I recommend Slate. It leans slightly left, but has good analysis from both sides of the aisle.

Read, read, read. Don't assume you're getting the whole story from a single source.

Here's a quote from my message that you obviously didn't read:

". I don't have a problem with the New York Times reporting on Abu Graive. In fact, I think the ability and willingness of the press to report it is a good thing.

I never said that a state-run media would be better. I never even said that the NYT had to be pro-American. What I'm saying is that their hatred of the Bush Administration is so deep that it no longer matters if a story is blown out of proportion or is even true--so long as it hurts Bush's reputation. It's not news reporting at this point, and in their zeal to get Bush, they're hurting our country.

Your "enemies" (who are they exactly?) don't get their news from the NYT.

I know it may be hard to believe, but even though they speak funny languages and live in the desert, muslim extremists can still read and get a copy of a paper if they know it betters their cause. Hell, they can read it over they internet if they have a FREE online subscription.

Here is a small sample.

That vile page is propaganda at best, and it's the exact reason why Saddam put weapon caches and anti-aircraft weapons in neighborhoods, hospitals, and schools--so idiots like you would be convinced that we revel in civilian casualties. Well we don't. If we wanted to... if this was really "Anglo-American Aggression" (whatever the fuck that is), we could have turned Iraq into a smoldering pile of glass in minutes, and still leave all the oil-fields intact for our nefarious deeds.

Irresponsibility started when an idiot started a war on facts that were wrong. You can't get more irresponsible. In most countries, this is at best resignation, at worst martial court and execution... Be a Nazi.

Like it or not, but most people in the United States agree with the invasion of Iraq. You and the rest of the far left are seem too busy concocting conspiracy theories and Nazi analogies that you miss that. If I were really a fascist, I wouldn't care about the vote. Funny... sounds more and more like the far left all the time.

This is a Democracy, and just because you, a Coward on Slashdot, don't agree with President Bush's administration, doesn't take any legitimacy out of its actions or presence.

-Grym

According to these snippets I've been right on the money while you've been a typical propaganda lemming:

"Prolonged weakness in the labor market has left the nation with over a million fewer jobs than when the recession began. This is a worse position, in terms of recouping lost jobs, than any business cycle since the 1930's."

I don't know anything about the fire of conspiracy, but I smell the smoke of collusion.

What is happening is nothing less than a deterioration in the standard of living in the United States. Despite the statistical growth in the economy, the continued slack in the labor market has resulted in declining real wages for anxious American workers and a marked deterioration in job quality.

If the American workers aren't reaping those extra benefits, I wonder who is?

From 2000 through 2003 the median household income fell by $1,500 (in 2003 dollars) - a significant 3.4 percent decrease. That information becomes startling when you consider that during the same period there was a strong 12 percent increase in productivity among U.S. workers.

That's making it difficult to pay back debt. I wonder where the profits from that productivity are going.

"So the economic pie is growing gangbusters and the typical household is falling behind," said Jared Bernstein, the institute's senior economist and a co-author of the new book.

Keep that debtor society turning!

This is the part of the story that spotlights the unfairness at the heart of the current economic setup in the U.S. While workers have been remarkably productive in recent years, they have not participated in the benefits of their own increased productivity. That doesn't sound very much like the American way.

And that's exactly what I've been saying for the last 20-some posts.

According to the institute, "Between 1947 and 1973 productivity and real median family income both grew 104 percent, a golden age of growth for both variables." That parallel relationship began to break down in the 1970's, but it is only recently that it fell apart altogether, leaving us with the following evidence of unrestrained inequity:

So the preceeding generations didn't stay out of debt because of their browbeating frugality. They were part of generations which were treated to some very favorable conditions.

"In the 2000-03 period income shifted extremely rapidly and extensively from labor compensation to capital income (profits and interest)," so that the "benefits of faster productivity growth" went overwhelmingly to capital.

More cash for the lenders to lend out to the families slipping behind... at 19% interest.

The end result of all this is a portrait of American families struggling just to hang on, rather than to get ahead. The benefits of productivity gains and economic growth are flowing to profits, not worker compensation. The fat cats are getting fatter, while workers, at least for the time being, are watching the curtain come down on the heralded American dream.

But yet void* would have you think it's just a conspiracy theory.

As for Bush, he's certainly responsible for far more members of the American military dying in an unnecessary war that was waged based on a pack of lies. He not only ditched military service himself, but for almost a year after starting the Iraq war he refused to visit the families of soldiers who died in his war. He's been slashing benefits to Veterans, and he even took money that several US veterans had won in a lawsuit against Saddam Hussein for stuff that happened during Desert Storm -- the money should have been paid to the vets and their families, and Bush instead diverted it to the Iraqi "reconstruction." Bush has been slapping the face of American troops and veterans over and over again. It is disgraceful and insulting to those who risk their lives to serve their country. His attempt to paint Kerry as a wimp is a further slap in the face to everyone who has ever served in the military.

Here is a break down of just some of the absentee votes that were, but should not have been counted for Bush in Florida 2000... (Source: democrats.com)

• Absentee ballots that could not be read by voting machines, but were illegally "duplicated" by county election officials: 10,000 (60% Bush?)
• Absentee ballots cast in Seminole and Martin counties by Republican voters following the criminal alteration of defective ballot applications by Republican operatives: 5,000 (99% Bush)
• Overseas military ballots that were not legal, but were counted because of massive pressure from the Bush campaign: 680 (71% Bush)

Here is a CNN article on the Seminole county absentee ballot application form alterations. The Republican operatives were allowed to alter incorrectly filled-out/printed applications (by Reps), but Democrat operatives were not allowed to do the same to applications by Democrats.

If your feeling rich you can purchase this July 2001 NYT article entitled "EXAMINING THE VOTE; How Bush Took Florida: Mining the Overseas Absentee Vote" by D Barstow and Don Van Natta.

Then there is this nice and very recent example of (gasp) Republican cheating with absentee ballots in (gasp) Florida: A fine Greg Palast article.