Slashdot Mirror
U.S. Government Developed the iPod
ezavada writes "Engadget reports that in a speech at Tuskegee University, President Bush claims that government research developed the iPod." From the article: "While we have to gratefully acknowledge the efforts of government agencies such as DARPA in some of the fields mentioned by the President, we also feel obligated to point out the accomplishments of private companies in the US and abroad, including IBM, Hitachi and Toshiba -- not to mention the Fraunhofer Institute, which developed the original MP3 codec ..."
Bless him.
calling them part of the "Axis of Evil". Before that little gem the younger generation in Iran was probably among the most pro-western group of people in the middle east according to some reporter(The NY Times Kristoff among them). Due to demographic issues the younger generation in Iran is very large and powerful. They were seriously resisting the government and the "Islamic Revolution" However, Bush's wonderful little speech and random invasion of a neighboor killed all that.
He gave a perfect chance for the conservative Iranian government to say, "Look, these people hate you, we don't, so screw them and come to us!" And obviously people don't like being called evil and being bullied, so alas they are now rallying around the government instead of fighting it. And we have $75 a barell oil....
I have travelled around the world, and I would have to say that America used to be my favorite country....pre Bush America that is. The man and his neocon hawks have destroyed that. Now except for visiting family I really don't want to go back....
Monstar L
"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country. "
- George W. Bush
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."
- George W. Bush
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is ' to be prepared '."
- George W. Bush
"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future. "
- George W. Bush
" The future will be better tomorrow." George W. Bush
" We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."
- George W. Bush
" I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
- George W. Bush
"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe We are a part of Europe."
- George W. Bush
" Public speaking is very easy."
- George W. Bush
" A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."
- George W. Bush
"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. "
- George W. Bush
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
- George W. Bush
"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children. "
- George W. Bush
"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
- George W. Bush
" It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
- George W. Bush
fifteen jugglers, five believers
they had been destroyed by the time Bush decided to go there .
Possibly, although they could also be in Syria.
In either case, it wasn't the job of the weapons inspectors to go and find them, it was Saddam's obligation to destroy them and document having done so. Playing shell games with access to sites was his way of keeping his neighbors (mostly Iran) guessing as to whether he was still capable of mounting a chemical or bio attack.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Actually another country had a few WMDs before Iraq .
Which were used to end a war against a country that had mounted a sneak attack. Rather different from Iraq, which had attacked Iran and Kuwait without provocation.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
The "full compliance" demand was manufactured by the US administration as an excuse to invade Iraq.
Wow, what an amazing stretch! Imagine the temerity of the USA expecting that an aggressor who had invaded a neighbor and been defeated, who obtained a cease fire under the condition of cooperation with the weapons inspectors (among other things), should actually be required to comply with the terms they'd promised!
Frankly, all the justification required for resumption of hostilities occurred on a regular basis when Iraqi missile crews lit up their radars and tracked a US or British fighter in the no-fly zones.
Saddam was given a hell of a lot of rope to hang himself with.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Bush did say "the government funded research in microdrive storage, electrochemistry and signal compression. They did so for one reason: It turned out that those were the key ingredients for the development of the iPod."
What Engadget and Slashdot aren't reporting is that it was a joke. It was even linked on the Drudge Report on Friday. Bush laughed after he said it, and so did his audience. I noticed a few suspicious Engadget posters even questioned whether it was a serious remark.
Why is Slashdot not reporting it as a joke? So the Bush-haters who post here can feel all giddy blasting the man for another media-created falsehood and feel all enlightened about it, I guess. I don't know. I just find it funny that the media seems to have this never-ending tendency to misreport things involving Bush, but that should come as no surprise when polls taken show over 80% of journalists reporting as themselves Democrats.
But that's the reporting bias nobody wants to talk about, especially in the media--to them, the bias doesn't exist. To them, it's completely okay to have two senators go to Iraq and come back with completely opposite opinions, and only report the "Iraq is a disaster" comment while ignoring Lieberman's comments that things are doing rather well. To them, it's completely okay to never report that the economy's stocks are doing fantastically and that unemployment averages are lower than they were in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. If a Democrat was in office, the media would be trumpeting it as a "boon for the Democrats these mid-term elections." But because Republicans are in office, you never see the good economy reported. You only hear about how "corrupt" they are as the media ignores that a top Democrat was convicted of illegally obtaining credit records on an opponent, or how the top Democrat member of the House Ethics committee has stepped down under accusations of poor financial conduct.
You won't hear about any of that. You'll continue to hear about how "evil" and "corrupt" the Republicans are, even though the Democrats are just as bad. For a cross-section of Internet browsers who consider themselves so free-thinking and critical, it surprises me that on Slashdot, more isn't made of the liberal bias in the media and how it is used to affect public opinion. When you've got CBS saying that "fake but accurate" is a perfectly fine mantra of journalism during the Rathergate scandal, something's wrong. Is it really any wonder, then, that conservative talk radio, cable TV, blogs have exploded in popularity? The rest of the "classic" media is liberal, so those are the only outlets left for balance.
Sorry for the rant, but since this is a complete non-story anyway just to rile up the Bush-bashers, I felt it appropriate. Feel free to disagree with me.
"Sufferin' succotash."