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Billionaire Boys Cup (America's Cup 2003)
morpheus 2001 writes "Wired has a story on
the fight to win the America's Cup
2003, a sailing race held every 3 years. The story carries the
title 'Billionaire Boys Cup', referring to both the competitors and the millions of dollars that it now takes to field a team. This time around the two US teams pit Craig McCaw and Larry Ellison against each other using their respective technological prowess to beat each other and the rest of the world.
The story mentions that all of the teams competing will drop collectively over $700 million, with $30 - 40 million to be spent on R&D (per team)
alone. The story gives an excellent description of how the use of technology and massive databases work in concert to give a team an edge of mere seconds, which can be the difference between winning and losing a race."
I agree. I think infinity is a legitimate upper limit. The solution to poverty is not stealing from Peter to pay Paul but to bring captialism and democracy to all countries. You will notice that poor nations are those with dictators and tyrants not Presidents and Prime Ministers.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
I remember the hoopla last America's Cup when the CEO of Progressive Insurance, Peter Lewis, got caught with pot and hash coming into NZ. A wonderful example of how the rich get treated differently than regular schmooes, he was able to buy his way out with a clean record and reporting his name was censored in NZ by the judge at the time.
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Oh those rich with nothing better to do!
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0008/S00166.ht
Instead of pissing away millions on a boat race, maybe the boys should try:
1) Racing each other to a cure for HIV
2) Pitting each other's alternate energy generators against each other in a wide variety of environments
3) Seeing who can feed the largest number of starving people in the third world in a year
4) A competition to donate money to failing urban schools (and NOT for bloody computers)
etc...
No, Capitalism happens in the real world. No idealism is necessary for it. That's one of the big differences between it and communism. Its robust, it is not based on any assumptions about human nature, only on market forces.
Market forces happen in a lillypond with no human involvement-- too many flys means too many frogs, next season there are not enough flies.
Capitalism HAPPENS IN NATURE.
The reason you see tones of poor people in western countries is all the efforts to cure poverty. In the US they've spent 3 trillion dollars with the excuse of curing poverty and they have only made it worse. Eliminate the taxes and poverty will go away in a generation. Counter intuitive, but true. The only way to eliminate poverty is to have people have JOBS. Giving them money only makes the situation worse. and taxing others to get the money to give them, just removes money from the economy that would otherwise be CREATING JOBS.
The proof that capitalism doesn't require an ideal world is that it still survives quite well in our country run by neo-communist liberals and neo-fascist conservatives-- both of whom oppose freedom and deomocracy. Hell, capitalism worked in russia-- it was always breaking out. And China has found that its the only solution to their economic woes and so they are embracing it. Now if they'd only embrace freedom as well.
This idea that Capitalism only works in an ideal world is just as stupid as insisting that the earth is flat, and should not be tolerated.
Don't be stupid. Study economics.
Yeah, and you guys panned the ipod too: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23
Err... While Bin Laden is a nutter and his followers are too you must accept that America _is_ the reason that many people in the Middle East are suffering.
Just to give two obvious examples: Uncle Sam insists on proping up a ruthless dictatorship in Saudi Arabia because the West needs their oil and he likes to support the Israeli repression of the Palestinians too (its a vote winner apparently).
I was as horrified by September the 11th as anyone but come on! These things do happen for a reason. Do something about it.
Oh... And the hypocracy of the US going on an anti terrorism binge after allowing the IRA (Irish Republican Army) to fundraise on their territory for years probably went over your head too.
Thanks.
Your point is well taken. Consider my question answered!
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
Sorry for being pedantic, but seeing this particular error online is really starting to drive me out of my tree. It is not an obvious typo, and I see it so *often*: "loose" = not tight. "lose" = fail to win.
I guess I can understand that many people haven't grasped the idea that "it's" is a contraction of "it is," and not the possessive form of "it," but the "loose/lose" error is just flat wrong and astonishingly common.
TANSTAAFL
the teams competing will drop collectively over $700 million
thats $100Million more than the United States gives to all of Africa in Aid each year... (but less than a quarter of the aid to Isreal... odd that.. most of wich is spent on good-old-yankee arms and such anyway...)
hmmmm, priorities...