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Get on the 'Gates for President' Bandwagon
netbuzz writes "Dilbert's Scott Adams kicked off the idea in his November 19th blog post, saying there isn't anything wrong with this country that President Bill Gates couldn't cure in less time than it takes to get a new operating system out the door. Today, the idea is moving forward with a brand-new 'Bill Gates for President' Web site. Adams is also back on the campaign trail, flogging the site and Gates' candidacy." A blog post at Network World includes a lot of eye-rolling about this idea, but neither Adams nor the folks at the 'Gates for President' website seem to be taking this lightly.
Hmmm...I seem to remember that Bill say that he was going to be stepping down as Microsoft CEO in a couple of years...right about when the 2008 Presidential campaign would be heating up.
Microsoft decided to get into the console gaming arena without any prior experience. Perhaps Bill is thinking this same thing with politics. After all, Arnold Schwatzenegger and Jesse Ventura both won state governorships primarily on name recognition. And as much as I despise is company's tactics, he is quite intelligent and has real management skills.
Craig Steffen
http://www.craigsteffen.net
Geez ... if people thought Dick Cheney was cold and ruthless, wait until they have Bill Gates in charge. Plus, imagine some of the innovations we'd see:
... the new city will be named Capitol 2.0
... at first you may think it looks just like DC, but we actually repainted all the buildings, and added innovative new parking meters that destroy your car if you try to park in same parking spot more than 3 times.
Pres Gates Day 1: The U.S. needs to become the most innovative country in the world, so I have decided in interest of attaining this goal we will rebuild Washington D.C.
Pres Gates Day 365: The Capital 2.0 is running ahead of schedule, I know it's been tough living and working out of trailers, but we should be finished within a year
Pres Gates Day 700: Due to the new competition from Tokyo's rebuilding operations, we have decided to restart our Capitol 2.0 project, but the delay will be worth it since our new Capitol will be even better than the original one planned
Pres Gates Day 1000: We have found that the Capitol 2.0 subway system was incompatible with the Capitol 2.0 sewage system, so we will rebuild DC's old subway system and try to make it work within the Capitol 2.0 structure
Pres Gates on his last day: On my final day in office, I am proud to unveil Capitol 2.0
Crack - Free with every butt and set of boobs
I personally welcome our new DOS-stealing philanthopist overlord.
But on a serious note, it might be nice to have a president who has become more philanthropist than tycoon and who is notable because of his business and humanitarian accomplishments, not because of a life of playing to political interests. He already has extensive experience with large organizations. Might be more interested in following his own vision than listening to what the people want, though, although that seems to be the case with most great leaders...
"Blue State of Death" ?
there isn't anything wrong with this country that President Bill Gates couldn't cure in less time than it takes to get a new operating system out the door.
Whoa, then we better get his re-election campaign started right away too!
"there isn't anything wrong with this country that President Bill Gates couldn't cure in less time than it takes to get a new operating system out the door"
Have things really got that bad?
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
Steve Forbes for president? Or Ross Perot? Look how far those two smart, rich, successful businessmen went.
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
at least open source paid for by governments.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Maybe twenty years ago. Now I'm more behind Craig Newmark for president. If our government ran a fifth as efficient as his website does, I'd be ten times as happy as I am now with it.
My little site.
My calendar is about to say December 1, not April 1. This is really dumb. I don't bash Bill Gates a lot. I admire him in some ways. But come on, who wants a president whose company has been conviceted of being an illegal monopoly, that has been found gulty of being a predator, that has stifled innovation while claiming the opposite, that has run roughshod over consumer rights and then tried to weasel out of every penalty anyone ever tried to impose on it?
Oh, wait... is he running as a Republican?
1. He wants to buy an old Cesna, paintit flashy colors, and call it Air Force '95.
2. He heard that some government agencies were using UNIX.
3. He wants to get that illegal sports car in SF Bay into the US.
4. He just thinks it would be neat to be president of two big thingies.
5. He's hot for Janet Reno.
6. His ego needs to be inflated.
7. He lost the key to his mansion, so he needs a new place to live.
8. He thinks that he can use MS Money to balance the budget.
9. He feels that Perot just didn't throw enough money at it.
10. He wants to make Windows '95 the official operating system of the USA.
Ok, those look kind of dated...but still funny
On the serious side, I wonder how many people with the power to see into the mysterious future, were tempted to e-mail the editor about a SERIOUS problem with this story!
Transporter_ii
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
Not even the world's richest man is immune to the Slashdot effect!
Can he give up voting rights on all his Microsoft stock?
Even so, "conflict of interest" comes to mind for all decisions related to computing.
Replace all the Mac computers with Windows
No.
I’ve been saying for years that we need to stop electing millionaires.
Careful what ya wish for, I suppose.
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Voters, voters, voters. Look out Iran, there's a nations entire supply of Aerons comming your way.
I'm sure that under President Gates, our beloved stars and stripes will be replaced by the Red, White, and Blue Screen of Death!
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
For innumerous jokes about constantly having to reboot the government. And the need for constant government upgrades.
Let's forget open-source software for any public activities.
Er...uh...*cowers*
On the flip side, special interest groups declare bankruptancy. Groups claim they became ineffective because when ever they tried to buy Bill Gates he declined expressing that he already had enough headaches trying to spend the billions he already has.
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This is one time that I am happy that slashdotters turned a server into a flaming wreck. Now we don't have to worry about people going to that website and thinking that "Gates for President" is a good idea.
...but I wouldn't mind voting for Scott Adams!
Circumcision is child abuse.
My main objection to a Gates presidency is that Bill can do far more good for the world as the head of a well-funded private foundation than he could possibly do as master of ceremonies and chief law enforcement officer of the United States. Now that he's stepping down as Borg Queen, he has an unprecedented opportunity to improve the quality of living for so much of the human population... why waste a man like that on a job where he'll have to negotiate with Congress, waste time overseeing dozens of secretaries, etc.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Thank you, Scott.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
One way to make sure it doesn't happen:
Slashdot it!!
Quick, someone tell Digg, then Fark!
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
In his recent interview with Donny Deustch on CNBC, Bill said that he had no desire to run for president because: 1) People wouldn't vote for me 2) I wouldn't be good at that job Granted he could be telling a fib about the desire part, but his insight isn't that far from the truth.
GENERATION 27: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Crow T. Trollbot
Will there be a "Cowboy Neal" option on the ballot?
Monstar L
I dunno, I'm a fan of open government, so maybe I'd go for RMS.
*rimshot*
he couldnt do any worse. then again my pet gibbon could probabbly do a better job than the current administration
Bill Gates, the man with the Zune Touch.
... and then they built the supercollider.
> And by "ironic" I mean "totally expected and predictable."
Totally expected from Microsoft software but that site runs wordpress without a cache. No irony here, just an abundance of utter stupidity.
You do realize it is ther Bill AND Melinda Gates Foundation and that Melinda is a devote christian, right?
Also some other evil potential candidate has a campaing website.
This account has been suspended.
Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources.
feeling lonely? grab a balled up pillow for company
Comment removed based on user account deletion
How about Steve Jobs for president? :P /sarcasm
What exactly is 'flogging' supposed to mean in the summary?
10. "Haven't I downloaded naked pictures of you before?"
9. "Just close your eyes and pretend you're using a mouse."
8. "Care to run your fingers through my ridiculous five dollar haircut?"
7. "You haven't lived until you've watched 'Revenge of the Nerds' on laser disk."
6. "Looking at you, I'm neither micro nor soft."
5. Do you come here often? I don't, because I'm busy making billions of dollars."
4. "How would you like to be my human laptop?"
3. "So, who do I make the check out to?"
2. "I beat Michael Jackson for the title of World's Richest Virgin."
1. "I control the internet -- want to surf me?"
Transporter_ii
Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
It seems indicated that the account on the Bill Gates for President site has been suspended. Bandwidth? A pro-Linux sysadmin at the ISP? We may never know...
If he becomes a president or even a president's cabinet member, he could reap billions of dollars in tax savings. He would be allowed (actually forced) to sell all of his microsoft stocks without any capital tax gains (he can then invest in other security). Even better, since he would be selling stocks as a legal requirements, market will not perceive this as a negative outlook for microsoft.
A good way to diversify without paying tax.
So when will Microsoft be buying Diebold?
But of course that's just my opinion.
Apparantly, the site is hosted here in Holland, and the owner is Dutch (surprise, surprise!).
Also noteworthy: "http://www.billgatesforpresident.net was running Apache on Linux when last queried at 30-Nov-2006 21:41:05 GMT "
I think there's a "with his money" missing off the end of that quote. There are honestly many other senior managers at Microsoft that would make better Executive Branch material than Bill.
Good businessmen do not make good presidents, because policy-makers are a different type of animal.a ry-make-good-president.html
I hope Giuliani runs, even though he is a republican.
I pray Hilary looses the party nomination! http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2006/11/would-hill
Current occupant of the White House and his second in command were both CEOs at one time and look what happened.
...richie - It is a good day to code.
Even though it seems everyone hates the guy, I wouldn't mind having a president that knows something about computers.
I've always felt that you should pick a president the same way you'd pick an attorney to help you out of a dangerous legal problem. Do you want the attorney who dresses nicely and belongs to your church? Or do you want the attorney who can rip out your opponent's heart and put it on the hibachi before he dies? Maybe it's just me, but I want an attorney who is part demon. And I want a president who isn't afraid to make rational decisions.
So perhaps the problem is basically that people vote for someone likeable, but it may be better to have someone, uh, effective. Perhaps evilly effective...On the flip side, special interest groups declare bankruptancy. Groups claim they became ineffective because when ever they tried to buy Bill Gates he declined expressing that he already had enough headaches trying to spend the billions he already has.
He would have the capability to do his own thing, 100%, all the way. No political backing, no SIG's, no anything. Pick his agenda, pick his priorities, open office to anyone without a corporate interest. Now that would be interesting.
My first response when I first heard this idea was to laugh, but really, the system as it currently stands is seriosuly borken. Why not try something a little bit crazy to try to fix it?
(That said, I lived in Minnesota under "The Body," and THAT little experiment didn't go so well... but then, Gates is a hell of a lot smarter.)
But as long as he wasn't screwing up a close race like a certain cool-car-killing twit, I'd be tempted to vote for him. Assuming he doesn't mind that I'm posting this from a Mac, of course. ;)
"Oh boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?"
It is definately possible for even a government with multiple layers of beurocracy to pass stupid laws. What about "internment" camps for the japaneese during WWII? Personally I think freedom of press and democracy (anyone can get involved) is important to stopping stupid laws and policies, though not much can stop the "What about the Children?" mentality and fearmongering. I will agree that fast decsions can be bad, but I dissagree that excessive burocracy stops fast decsions.
If you are about to mod me down, keep in mind that this post was most likely sarcastic.
site now says they're adding a more powerful server.
;)
how about ballmer for pres and gollum for VP instead? we'll have two graceful dancers on the grave of our country
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Is there anything they can't do? I, for one, welcome our pasty flabby ubermensch overlords.
... and then they built the supercollider.
Did you hear the falling bombs?
Did you ever wonder why we had to run for shelter when the promise of a brave new world unfurled beneath a clear blue sky?
Did you see the frightened ones?
Did you hear the falling bombs?
The flames are all gone, but the pain lingers on.
Goodbye, blue sky
Goodbye, blue sky.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
...are we scared yet?
Whether like windows or not, he is a very good business man. He did not inherit any of his money. Inside the US with respect to businesses, there are rules regulating (not against) monopolies, laws against cartels and anti-trust actions. But in the world economy, none of those laws exist. OPEC is the worlds biggest cartel and holds the balls of the world in its hand.
The US needs a good business man in charge of running the country. Any business is not allowed to continue to operate, and constantly lose money. But the US Government only loses money. Why not put the richest person in the world in charge of running the (potentially) richest country in the world.
Democrats spend money on crap that pushes us closer to socialism. Republicans spend money on crap that pushes us closer to fascism. Let a business man have a try. That has to be better than lawyers.
Bill Gates has more than enough money to run a campaign all by himself numerous times over. Thus, he would not be financed by donors with questionable motives or those with their own interests at heart. Gates could at least enter office without having to pay back favors or being leaned on because he received contributions. When you don't owe anyone it gives you a lot of freedom to accomplish things.
This guy doesn't have a proven ability to secure the country from malware or filter our malicious payload from external traffic. We don't planes crashing through any more Windows.
The next update will include a Vote for Gates splash screen when you log into your pc.
Is a better choice
back in the day we didnt have no old school
Gates makes mistakes, and he's greedy, but his #2 motivation now seems to be polishing his record in the history books (#1 is still being the richest person in history). I would expect him to be rather progressive on social issues, pretty good on health issues... and largely against any regulations on business, but then again, who isn't?
There are a couple of candidates who look pretty good to me right now, but I fully expect them to be kneecapped within a year or so. And we'll be left with the same uninspiring choices we've had forever... I really don't like Gates very much, but actually think that he's done most of the harm he's going to do, and that he'd be better than most career politicians. At least I wouldn't expect him to allow arsenic in baby formula for a $20,000 campaign contribution.
In conclusion: Damn you, Scott Adams!
I'm lucky enough to get inside information about how Gates runs his meetings to think that Gates is probably certifiable. Apparently, the guy gets in front of the room and bounces up and down on one of those mini-trampolines while everyone sits and talks at him. He says, "Yes," or "No," etc., all the while, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing. From a pretty good source, too.
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. -- Mark Twain
Why would you want a liar and thief without a conscience running the country?
Uh wait...
you had me at #!
You could always write him in.
I'm kind of confused, all the posts here on Slashdot talk about how Bill Gates shouldn't be president because [insert other person here] would be better. Or that he ran a company convicted of being an illegal monopoly.
Why isn't anyone discussing how his years of experience both managing a bank account the size of a small country's GDP and running a huge corporation would be beneficial/detrimental to him being a President? Seems to me like everyone here is arguing emotion. For example, "I don't like him" isn't a useful tidbit of information.
I'm saving my vote for P.Ditty! (yes he's over 35 now).
He's a better entertainer than Reagan, a better businessman than Bush, and he's pretty adept at slogans and sound bytes.
The last thing we need is another politician.
Username taken, please choose another one.
...and extend it...
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
By my count, "less time than it takes to release an operating system" is now running longer than a single presidential term.
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
How about hell no?
Gates may be rich but he has the charisma of tarantula with mange.
He still protrays the "whiney geek that used to get beat up in high school" persona.
Now, compare his persona to that of a kid who was told by his stepfather that "he'd never amount to anything", Larry Ellison. Or even better, Richard Branson.
Branson would be a rock star of a president.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
Bill Has been elected precedent.
On another note. there seams to me a mass exodus of REAL IT people leaving the USA, most moving to Canada. One IT person was heard saying "Hell froze over, and I am getting out while I can".
Yow! A brand new mindless hot-button issue! Stop the presses! A guy who actually knows how to operate a computer should be president! Not some pen-wielding dipshit, not some bozo who can't tell the backtick from an apostrophe, but a guy who can actually bring up a certain word processing program, type something in it, and successfully print it and save it to disk! Brilliant, Holmes, brilliant!
Where can we find such a strange and noble leader? Elect him at once, I say! I for one welcome our new mouse-button-pressing overlord!
Of course, he did gratuitously use a backslash instead of a forward slash in pathnames. And, not to be picky, but the space in the "Program Files" directory name was not a good idea, nor was the two-character sequence in DOS file carriage returns. And that whole monopoly thing, are we over that yet?
...are we scared yet?
Hell I'd vote for any successful business man who could get backed by either the Donkeys or Elephants. Course if he flew under any of the smaller parties it'd just be a wasted vote.
Ave Molech Setting
Scott Adams is hilarious, but, like most people, I guess he doesn't really know much about technical issues.
Bill gates has thoroughly hosed the IT industry, for his personal gain. But most casual observers, and even the 95% of 'IT professionals' who are political, not technical (in other words, bill gates' "base"), still have no idea this is true.
Of course, if the current administration is the benchmark of credentials, maybe he is overqualified!
Here, folks! http://malfy.org/
With Gates at the helm, would Linux and open source be equated with terrorism?
Still, it's cool that he's an atheist...
GOD NO! Anyone but him .. Even Hillary...
Though, if he did win, we might get to see an assassination in our lifetime.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Bill Gates for president? Are you nuts?
The man has proven himself (through his company's actions) to be exceedingly dishonest. He has consistently pulled every dirty trick he could against his competitors. When convicted of monopolist actions, he blithely continued to do whatever the hell he pleased.
Do we really want a lying, unscrupulous SOB who thinks that dirty tricks are OK and that laws are for everyone else for president?
Oh, wait... never mind!
Hmm... now that I think about it, this might not be a big change from the status quo.
Take a system that's fundamentally flawed and, instead of scrapping the bloated obsolete parts, incorporating them into your upgrade.
I've forgotten if I was talking about Microsoft or Congress...
"By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
And as much as I despise is company's tactics, he is quite intelligent and has real management skills.
The very same things which make us hate M$... ...would probably make him an exceptional President. All except enforcing the use of Microsoft software in government.
He's brilliantly intelligent, with an amazing ability to run a company. His ruthless determination to implement his ideas would be a terrific asset. His management and business experience is likely to make him a Republican, though at least socially he seems to be quite liberal.
My only fear with President Gates is that he has the same ruthless determination and utter self-assurance that he's doing a good thing for the world with only one other person: Adolf Hitler.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
< insert drum fill here >
The last thing the US needs is another hereditary millionaire president. This time a ("convicted") monopolist, become an unaccountable billionaire. Whose attitude towards security is "keeps the bucks rolling in", and is more comfortable with lying about it than fixing it. Like lying directly to Federal judges deciding whether he's violated consent decrees, or monopoly laws.
If you want corporate government ("fascism"), elect the guy with the biggest corporation operating the business software monopoly, that routinely threatens foreign governments that interfere with his policies on competition, patents, and anything else standing in the way of his power.
--
make install -not war
Well, at least he would be able to fix the healthcare system.
Just acquire Canada.
Build a multi-billion dollar corporation?
Seriously, if you claim that was just dumb luck, well, don't expect me to respond. There are a million things that could've killed Microsoft (or any company) in its infancy.
Yes, we can tell you hate microsoft, but lets not discount how difficult it is to build a successful business, let alone the most successful business in its industry.
Can't remember for the life of me who said this.. someone very rich and powerful was offered a throne / the opportunity to run for election. They replied "why should i step down?"
I admit to not having read a great deal of the comments so far. I assume there are the usual high temperatures.
What I want to post about, though, is that this is not a bad idea. I don't care what you think about Bill or Microsoft, there is one thing that is indisputable: Bill (and by extension MS under Bill) is fantastic as the underdog. Look at the evidence, the history. Whenever Bill has been the low man he has always shone and come out on top.
Now, for our Rush audience, it might be necessary to say it, the U.S.A. is in an underdog position right now. We have a gigantic amount of things we need to dig out from underneath of. We need to get back to our more respectable levels of performance. Plus, our William is more-or-less politically unaligned. He'd essentially have to run as a 3rd party -- another underdog situation for him to triumph over, which, as we know, he excels at. Also he has the large-scale management experience necessary for the job.
So we have a man who is godly when put in the exact position demanded here, and has the experience and charisma required to make it happen (seriously, Bill is a geek but he is capable of motivating people to his point of view). Why would we not want to have him as President?
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
After all, Arnold Schwatzenegger and Jesse Ventura both won state governorships primarily on name recognition.
Arnie also married into the Kennedy clan and had all their connections and advisors available. (R's noticed, during his first victory celebration, that virtually all the people on the stage were D's. B-) Notice his politics since... He's now the most extreme high-profile R.I.N.O. in the country.)
Jessie was a Seal (or UDT if you want to get picky). You may not be aware of it but these guys are generally off-the-chart geniuses, as well as being highly trained on rapidly organizing teams and using them in stress situations - with opposition to be defeated, attirition, and political ramifications.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Whatever it takes to keep those two away from MSFT! :)
So unless he actually announces that he's going to run, an impossibly unlikely situation, it's impossible for him to become president, even if every person in the US would vote for him (which in itself is yet another impossibility).
Hmm... just 3 more impossible things and we could round it off with breakfast lunch or dinner at Milliways.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
welcome our new species assimilating, bloated operating system releasing, megalomaniacal overlords.
What would that do to the department of homeland security? Would our borders be more secure? Would TSA security make you pass through seven checkpoints instead of one? Would we all need performance upgrades to be able to cope with the new government?
And these are the questions we must ask ourselves..
Just to balance the ticket. B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
All comments about monopolies, anti-trust, etc. aside, why would Bill Gates bother? He's got more influence where he is now.
"My God...it's full of trolls!"
or really anyone who understands engineering and responsibility.
GWB Couldn't last a week in any engineering capacity--not just because he is an absolute idiot, but because he has no concept of responsibility, honesty, fairness, ethics, or any of another hundred positive values.
Not that all engineers are great at all areas, but--well for instance.
Could you imagine someone with significant engineering experience going into a project without defining how the project ends? That's a first time consulting mistake that you never make again. Engineers tend to be a little more logical about how we go through things... When you learn coding you don't only learn how to write code, you learn to examine the different paths that each decision can take. We may not practice it every day at home, but when we are at work, we generally make logical decisions based on the information we have.
And honestly, I'd love to get anyone in there who hadn't been beaten down by the entire political process. Someone who hasn't been around so long that they consider lying an imperative and so normal that it's not even an issue (like Bush lying about Rumsfield before the election, then afterwards admitting without shame that he lied). These are our servants, To hide information by lying in order to effect the political process IS TREASON, period.
So yeah, I'd vote for him, campaign for him, whatever it takes.
it might be a little too rich for his blood.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Oooh flagellation. Sounds kinky.
mod parent as most insightful comment of all time.
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The Red, White, and Blue would become the Red, White, and Blue screen of Death.
I regret that I only have one mod point to give per post.
I don't want a guy as president who can't handle a little pie in the face ;)
Seriously, there is no way I would vote for him. He would ruin the industry because he would be biased towards his own technology.
--Queue Conspiracy Theory--
The U.S. government is just dicking with the general population. Everyone knows that the elected officials are just puppets for the people who run the show from behind the curtain, but they are now testing how stupid the general population is.
First Jesse Ventura, a fake wrestling champion, becomes governor of Minnesota, someone who probably didn't know lick about holding office. Of course he did a fine job though, because he didn't have to do anything since it was all being controlled behind the curtain.
Next Arnold Schwatzenegger, a body building champion turned action film star as governor of California. California hasn't broken off of the continent yet and shows no sign of doing so.
Now if Bill Gates runs for president, and wins, this will just fund the conspiracy even more. I'm sure that you will find that President Gates will do a fine job running the country, or at least just as fine a job as any of his predecessors. Why? Because he isn't really doing anything as president.
As if there isn't something to gripe about EVERY president that has been and will be. The presidency is just a name that people can associate with a time, and when a new name rolls in it will give them hope for a new time. If there was no name, and no president then the U.S. would run just as well as it ever has, but people would get sick of it because there is no hope for change, and that would lead to a change and an overthrow of the government.
--End Conspiracy Theory--
P.S. I can't wait for Windows PE (Presidential Edition)
"Let's toss Pam Anderson in that field just for fun."
Does Paul McNamara even know what that means to a significant minority of his English-speaking readership? It's a strangely compelling image, but one that I could probably do without.
Most government agencys are more efficient then corporations in a lot of respects.
Government projects generally run on budget.
Remember this:
A government agency does 99 thing right and 1 thing wrong, the one wrong thing gets into the paper.
A corporation does 99 things wrong and 1 thing right, the one thing right getsd into the paper.
Now obviously we can point at a lot of government things gone wrong. But remember there are hundreds of thousands of projects going on at any one time.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
How about Jon Stewart?
Isn't ONE sociopath in a decade enough?
Anyone who can be a successful CEO for not only Microsoft, but WingTip Toys, Fabrikam, and Contoso can certainly run a country and definitely has my vote.
Seem a little weak. He grew up accustomed to wealth and privelege. He's an elitist that believes that only the smartest people should play. He's an atheist who thinks Jesus is a fairy tale. The only rules he's interested in are the ones he cannot circumvent. He created a monopoly company that charges hundreds of dollars a copy to each of hundreds of millions of people for something that costs nothing per copy. He works to prevent alternative software from seing the light of day with FUD, litigation, software patents, etc. Seems like Gates couldn't even begin to manage a real company with real competitors that actually provided something useful like food, shelter, or transportation, much less be President. Then again, there's George Bush...Okay, never mind.
yet his foundation ONLY give to charities doing drug research and other human health issues.
Just like the current president he doesn't give a damn about the environment or any issues not related to human health, so he'd be a terrible president.
Bush for a 3rd term first, and I _HATE_ Bush.
Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
From the article: "Bill Gates for president - you could say you have a better idea, but you'd be lying. Are there any pollsters out there who want to see how he stacks up against the field?" All I'm going to say is that Colin Powel would make the best president for the US given the current state of the world. He's educated, practical, has been in a war (which means he's seen the results of his actions first hand), and he has the obvious diversity card. He would win by a land slide and have his 8 years to straighen the country out.
Money is the root of all evil?
He could: ...
* Reboot and get put on hold by technical support
* Outsource congress to India
* Put the Windows people in charge of Homeland Security
* Embrace and extend the US Constitution
* Troubleshoot the EXPENDITURES_NOT_LESS_THAN_OR_EQUAL BSOD problem
* Do something about all those open source "communists"
Ok, those look kind of dated...but still funnyJust change "95" to "XP" in numbers 1 and 10 for a good list overhaul. And it'd be very much in the spirit of things Microsoft!
Registered Linux User #449434
Steve Jobs would therefore be a much better choice.
Dog is my co-pilot.
I'd say that Microsoft is pretty much the USA of software companies. Big, Bloated, Reviled and yet still getting by. While I hate to see the first term, I think he'd iron out the bugs and have an unbelievable second term. See: MS DOS, Windows, Word, Excel, Windows Server, X-Box...
America needs a open minded person with great skills like Bill Gates.
Ok, how will Mr. Bill implement the Iraq pullout?
``Tension, apprehension & dissension have begun!'' - Duffy Wyg&, in Alfred Bester's _The Demolished Man_
Look, do you want this country to wind up looking like a Zune or an iPod?
'nuff said.
-ac.
obl simpsons quote:
(from the film the IRS agent makes homer watch)
President Truman authorised the one time printing of a trillion dollar
bill to help Europe. The man set to deliver the bill was America's richest,
therefore must trustworthy, man -- Mr. Burns! However, the trillion dollar
bill was never delivered.
Before that:
Agent: Let's take a walk
Homer: that wasn't part of the deal! (tries to bite cyanide capsule)
-What's the speed of Dark?
Here's what Gates will do if he becomes President:
1. Ignore international law and build a monopoly on world power.
2. Abuse the monopoly to put down developing countries that actually have democratic governments.
3. ???
4. PROFIT!!
Anyone else getting tired of corporations getting fined instead of their leaders going to jail for crimes committed?
http://www.billgatesforpresident.net/ was running Apache on Linux when last queried at 30-Nov-2006 21:41:05 GMT
Duh.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
Sure, elect him as prez, so our foreign policy can be finally flushed down the toilet. 'W' put it there, let BG finish it off. The EU folks just love him already...
No shit! I don't trust Bill Gates with my computer's security - why should I trust him with national security?
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
and stability.
How appropriate. the 'please type in' word below is 'comtempt'.
Bill Gates for President?
What are his beliefs on ANY issue that effects this country? The only one that I can really infer is that he would be opposed to the DOJ trying to break up the Microsoft monopoly.
Economics? Social policy? Taxes? Foreign trade? Terrorism? Foreign oil addiction?
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Perot got almost 19% of the popular vote - Clinton won with only 43%!
That was running against a rather centrist democrat. What would happen if a third party candidate as viable as Perot ran against far more extemeist candidates from both the Republicans and Democrat sides? I think the tenor of politics has polarized so much that a third choice is very viable right now, if they are the right person (I'm not sure Gates has the personality for this) and have enough financial backing (there Gates is doing just fine thanks). What if in fact Perot had been running this last presidential election? Is it so impossible to think he would have won - handily?
In every election now the swing votes are the independents. If they all have someone else to swing to, and republicans and democrats swing as well... you have a winner right there.
It doesn't even have to be libertarian, another new party created from scratch (as Perot did) would work just fine. Heck, reassemble the Perot party! You could even use the same charts he used today.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Lawyers shouldn't be allowed to make laws. There's an inherent conflict of interest. Also, a programmer's perspective on law might be worth something; maybe not this particular programmer, but someone who knows how to code. Ever notice how many laws have actual dollar ammounts in them? That's stupid coding. The dollar ammounts should be indexed to inflation, but they never are. Ever notice how complicated these laws are? They need to be refactored. Something like 99 percent of Federal Law is probably the legal equivalent of some patch that was put in at the last minute to get the product out the door quickly. Only a good programmer, somebody who understands when to throw it away and start over, could really appreciate this. Too many redundant laws. Anti-terrorist measures? Pulleeze. Last time I checked, it was already illegal to kill people. That's cruft. Sorry, no commit bits for the guys who write that crap. Improperly named laws. Patriot act? Sorry. Variable and module names must reflect function. "int OMG_we_got_attakced_let_us_panic_and_give_up_some_ liberties_Act(PERSON *hapless_citizen);". It should be struck from the codebase, of course, but before we do that we should at least make sure it's all readable. Comments? None. None at all, not in the code anyway. It's all someplace else. Comments are separate from the code. They might as well be coding the country in Perl. Wankers. I wouldn't let these guys write a 2 line batch script, nevermmind write the code that runs the country. Hire a good team of software engineers, and maybe we can have Federal law reduced to less than 100,000 lines. One thing's for sure though, if BG writes the law at least it'll be easier to use. You might not need a lawyer to understand it. I wouldn't let a bunch of Open Source guys do this job. You'd need a coder to understand their laws, just like you need a lawyer to understand laws now. Nope. We need somebody who can produce user-friendly laws that won't crash too often, and since we have control of the hardware, I say maybe we should let some Mac developers have at it. What say, guys?
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
George Costanza: "I'm disturbed, I'm depressed, I'm inadequate, I've got it all!"
Bill Gates: "I'm repulsive, I'm unethical, I'm unpopular, I've got it all!"
Co-incidence, I think not!
the first new law will be to ban anything other than a one party system.
choices have always confused voters anyway.
He could then assign his Vista lawyer team to his cabinet. Rest assured there would be no loop holes or going around bills he passes.
In U.S. history people from following classes have been elected President:
1. State Governors
2. Vice-Presidents
3. U.S. Congressional Representatives
4. Generals
5 (almost never, but once in a century or so) a U.S. Senator
This means that the following people will NOT be elected President in 2008:
Bill Gates
Condoleeza Rice
Rudy Guliani
and the following people have a real chance only if their opponent is also a U.S. Senator:
John Kerry
Hillary Clinton
John McCain
John Edwards
If 'the people' in Amendment 2 are 'the state' then Amendments 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10 benefit the state, not you.
..and we'll nuke Iraq and Iran with the biggest chairs they'll ever see!!!
How is this a troll? Have you seen Bill Gates recently? He looks like a reject from a prep school - rejected because of his haircut. My girlfriend cut my hair and it looks better than his does. If it's not funny, that's okay, don't laugh - but mismoderating just makes you an ass and me perform another pathetic cry for help to the slashdot "editor"ship about bad moderation. Not that they give a fuck. But at least I can share the information here to assist in making the slashdot readership more irate with the poor way this place is managed. Er, neglected, more like. I knew it was all over when they took the email address you were supposed to use to report abuse of moderation out of the moderation FAQ...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I know there's already a top ten list related but bear with me...
The Top Ten Actions of The Newly Elected President Gates
10) Air Force One? To paraphrase the Stones, Paint it Brown!
9) Civics classes in school now include mandatory read of "The Road Ahead".
8) Stallman put on "Do Not Fly or Speak" list.
7) What's key to the countries economy? Housing Developers, Housing Developers, Housing Developers! Oops, wrong pres.
6) All military fighter jets retrofitted with iDrive, trunk opening code wired to missile launch.
5) Congress split into Congress Home and Congress Business divisions (you can guess where all the current members go)
4) "The White House isn't wired for GigE? Where's my hammer"
3) Calling Jobs, Ellison, and McNeal and making them sing "Hail to the Chief".
2) Nuclear command infrastructure wired to Vista speech recognition, hijinks ensue.
1) "Hey pie guy, where ya' going?" "I'm going to Gitmo!".
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Who remembers the campaign of Super (Future) Nerd Pat Paulson?
Bill Gates? and We'd be stuck with Vista and 640 Gig all over again.
President Gates: (addressing cabinet meeting) Good morning. What crisises are we facing today?
SecOfState Fiorina: The palestinians are fighting the israelites again.
President Gates: *yawn* OK, take the next flight out and get 'em to kiss and make up. Gotta look good to the goons on CNN. Next?
SecOfTechnology McBride: Sir, someone cracked the DRM on Windows Media Player again.
Vice President Ballmer: (throws chair) BASTARDS! I WANT WMP PATCHED AND DELIVERED IN A SERVICE PACK BEFORE NOON, A DMCA NOTICE SENT TO THE THIEF BY THE DoJ, AND GET THE NSA TO SHUT HIS WEBSITE DOWN!
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
Well, I'm not American for a start :)
But from my point of view, while a lot of politicians tend to vote for things they don't understand fully, and thereby chose the wrong option, on matters relating to technological and business law I think it's fair to say that Bill does understand things pretty well, but still chooses to come down on what I consider the "bad" side. Now of course I understand that he does it for perfectly sound financial and ambition related motives, but that is not really what I look for in a politician.
If Bill Gates were president:
The acronym USGA would no longer refer to a golf association. It would now stand for "United States Genuine Advantage", and the advantage for you as a citizen of the United States would be that every morning you would have to prove that you are a legitimate citizen of the United States or a sign would pop up on your house warning you to purchase a legitimate citizenship. That way you could know by driving down the street who is, and who isn't, a terrorist, as only a terrorist would have a problem with proving his citizenship every morning.
This would automatically improve security for all US citizens....
Steve Balmer: "Congressmen, congressmen, congressmen, congressmen, congressmen, congressmen, congressmen..."
This is not the sig you're looking for.
And only Bill Gates could make the federal government open source.
It's also worth noting that Bill Gates' role at Microsoft through out its history has been much less "businessman" than it has been "chief technologist". Gates certainly shaped many of Microsoft's critical decisions (for better and for worse) and things might have turned out differently if it weren't for his raw determination or if he completely lacked insight, but I hardly think it qualifies him as a great leader.
check out the picture in the middel on tehrighthand site on teh mentioned website. It looks like Bill is running OS X in his office...????
If I had to pick geek icons for office I'd like to see Linus as President and RMS as vice president. Mr. Torvalds is a very good leader - he motivates people, he listens to people, he does a good job at picking others to lead under him. He is intelligent, much more ethical than Mr. Gates, and I think a far better leader than Mr. Gates. RMS would be a good VP because he is to crazy to give power to directly but he often has good points and knows how to get his voice out there to actually make a difference in the world.
Sure Linus is from Finland but I'm willing to vote for him - something I'll never do for Mr. Gates. If I can't have Linus then I'd consider people from the EFF or any major American free software hacker. Seriously - I'll vote for you if you run guys. We need a pro consumer and pro science/technology President.
I think I'm scared. What if the election comes down to being between Hillary Clinton and Bill Gates? I'd have to kill myself rather than be around when either of those two takes the lead of our country. Hillary is just an off her rocker lib that's never done anything but spout crap and Bill would slaughter fair use and similar consumer protection and anti-trust laws.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
The guy can't string a coherent sentence together most of the time, certainly when I've heard him in interviews and whatnot. He's entirely unsuitable as President, I mean, who would vote for someone who didn't sound like they understand what they are talking about... oh, wait...
I couldn't help but notice that in that center picture in the 'about' section of the website; you see a picture of Bill Gates some sort of dual display system running nothing other than OSX :)
RML
When the heats start fireing up, why are their only 2 candidates for presidency when there's 50 or more for an Miss america Beauty Pagent?
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
I, for one, welcome our m$windoze overlord.
Uh, I am from the area, and I know of plenty of people in areas like Arlington who rarely drive anywhere (of course Arlington used to be part of the district until they joined the Commonwealth, so it might as well be part of the city). There is nothing 'unsustainable' about living in Virginia (or Maryland for that matter).
Mathematics is made of 50 percent formulas, 50 percent proofs, and 50 percent imagination.
this guy writes comic strips
and he is qualified to decide who should be POTUS ?
it is like a dilbert cartoon..
*shudder* I'd vote for Katz/Neil ticket first*shudder*
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
This is a joke, right? He can't really be serious. He meant to announce this last spring as an "April's Fool joke but forgot.
Look at the sad shape Microsoft is in once the feds stripped them of their ability to use their monopoly power to bully. The stock is stuck where it was years ago. Vista is coming out years late and devoid of once-promised features. Do we really want a President who'll take until 2010 to ready the 2008 budget? A President who'll threaten to end trade with Canada over some minor fishing dispute? (That's the equivalent of how Microsoft 'negotiated' with IBM.) One that will offer a 'vaporware' solution to Islamic terrorism? Someone that will give us 'fireside' chats looking at the ceiling and rocking mechanically like someone with autism?
No, Gates is the only famous American around who'd make a worse President than Jimmy Carter--and that's saying a lot.
--Mike Perry, Seattle
Seastead this.
Finally, some wealth equality programme!
-jl
... is from a Danish book taking place during the Nazi occupation of Denmark.
It's one of the nazi-sympathising townspeople who is confronted about this, and his explanation is this: Before the Germans, this town was known for two things; that lake, and unemployment. They can't take the lake from us, and the unemployment is gone"... Good times, good times.
Hey, all you democratic republics out there: You should know that America has a patent on that form of government going back several years. We'll be happy to license it to you; just pay us enough money, and we won't take you out for infringing on out IP.
Hey all you Americans: We're going to distribute the profits from this to our loyal citizens, and many of you will become very wealthy. The bad news is that we expect you to work 20 hours a day to make sure we stomp out Taiwan, and if anyone mentions the word "Iran" my vice president's going to throw a !@#$% chair at you!
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Italy already tried making the richest guy prime minister. I hear he's not very well regarded as a head of state.
come in 5 versions
The current POTUS is an ex-cocaine snorting comic-strip character who has called for stronger penalties for drug users. Welcome to America.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
I've been saying for years now to put McCain and Lieberman on the same ticket. Neither one has much love left for their respective political parties, both have the respect of centrists, and both have the recognition necessary to make a successful third-party move.
have you noticed the google adv. on their web site ? It's worth a check (look to the left ) http://bill.coolbusiness.org/why-bill/
Look, Government should be run like a business. Profit and loss. If you dont have enough income, you cant just steal more (raise taxes), you need to cut spending.
Whatever you feel about Bill, he IS a helluva business man. He might even be able to bring us a balanced budged, reduce the defecit, reduce the size (and scope) of government (fuck, wife interrupted and I lost my train of thought)....
Kevin
"no, hellno, whynot, fuckno, yes " WTF. Tag =\= Comment. c'mon, people.
As an advantage over may presidents he has all the money he needs, Gates gives unbelievable amounts of money away every day. So unlike say our current administration his aim may be less centered on making money.
Bill Gates was running an organization that is more like the USSR than like a democracy: he had nearly absolute power to do as he pleased and he was planning his economy centrally. He could get rid of people he didn't like, he could create and kill projects as he pleased, etc. He also got a huge war-chest of money and a monopoly handed to him on a silver plate by IBM.
Perhaps people forget, but the USSR was initially very successful, both economically and scientifically (e.g., Sputnik). But a few decades later, it all fell apart. And it's no accident that Microsoft is slowly collapsing under its own weight, despite still having huge amounts of money. Organizations like the USSR and like Microsoft simply aren't successful long-term.
Overall, their job experience simply doesn't qualify US business leaders for high political office (of course, some of them may still figure it out and end up being good politicians, but that's not because of their business experience). To succeed as a politician in a democracy, people need to negotiate, compromise, build alliances, convince, have charisma, and do something reasonable even in the face of severe budget shortfalls. Gates doesn't strike as being capable of doing any of those well.
But he IS a predator.
Hey, what about me for President? I used to play Starcraft and SimCity, I do have some training. Vote for me next time even though I'm canadian.
The real question is can Microsoft do a better job fixing Iraq than Haliburton?
Interviewer: Mr. Gates, what is your plan of action regarding the Iraqi war? Bill Gates: My solution is easy, we all know Steve Jobs supports terror, ALL APPLE COMPUTERS ARE HEREBY ABOLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES.
Only being born one sex (and one race) prepares someone for being President, following your logic.
Gates' press justification: "Shortage of Americans who play gritty politics."
Table-ized A.I.
Speaking of Janet Reno, is it just me, or do Bill Gates and Janet Reno look like they're the same person?
Will arch hacker Richard Stallman rise to challenge Bill in 2008? Now we will see who has bigger support! If they are not named candidates, at least the people could still write in their names.
1. He can't be bought. In America Bill buys you.
2. He plays to win.
While at M$ he made it the biggest software company on the planet.
His foundation is the biggest as well.
As president of the USA he will make it #1.
3. He can't be worse than last few presidents.
4. At least he has a vision of curing the world of disease and poverty.
5. Already the 1st stop for foreign heads of state.
6. Has his own western 'Whitehouse'.
11.He can use a computer.
8. Bill would pick Steve Wozniak for VP to piss off Steve Jobs.
9. Can get the federal government the friends and family rate on M$ products.
10.He will be the first visible minority (billionaire & geek) to be president.
> If Bill ran the USG the way he's run MS, he'd raise taxes and fund all kinds
> of hairbrained initiatives which would be expensive, poorly thought-out, and
> would flop. The only thing he'd do well is use the US's dominant position,
> unethically, to gain more power from the rest of the world, at everyone else's
> expense, and make the US even more hated than it is now.
Other than the "raise taxes" part, you just accurately described our current president. Maybe Scott Adams has the American voter figured out better than Slashdot gives him credit for!
That actually would be pretty good, I think they'd have a shot!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No
Many people have posted about Microsoft's inability to get products out on time, as if that somehow disqualifies people from government jobs. Firstly that doesn't necessarily reflect Gate's ability, and if you haven't noticed, its a hallmark of our government contractors. Experience with projects that don't go smoothly isn't a bad thing.
Also, I'm not entirely convinced that morals and politics (should) go hand in hand. Politics in a real world requires a Machiavellian approach at times. Ruthlessness in dealing with competition isn't always a bad thing, since the average American enjoys the fact that America has a near monopoly on certain things... it means we have a higher standard of living.
Far too much of government today is about staying in power, and getting in bed with people to do so. Politicians wield little power any more, corporations do through politicians. They sell stupid ideas(ex. simple economics proves tariffs have an overall negative effect), and in the end the people get played like pawns while the corporations get what they desire. One might hope that Gates could avoid all this...on partly a level that he'd actually be effective in office, and therefore could run on something like 'I'm not a 'politician', I'm a person who holds political office, but simply gets things done.
I like this quote by Scott Adams:
"Bill Gates is a winner. Wouldn't you prefer having him on your side for a change, beating the crap out of North Korea instead of Netscape?"
I think it sums it all up right there...
Rirelobql xabjf gung EBG-13 vf gur yrnfg frpher rapelcgvba rire, ohg jbhyq lbh jnfgr lbhe gvzr npghnyyl qrpelcgvat vg???
..or does sdot seem extra whiney today?! A lot of people seem to take what M$ (and BillG) do very personally.. Have they really fucked that many people up or is it just envy disguised as indignation? Hell, i'm not even from the US, but i'd vote for him if he ran for Prez-of-Earth...
I love TV. Infact, the only reason I goto work is because daytime TV sux..
Whatever other objections one might raise, this country is hundreds of years away from electing an atheist, period.
The M$ PR team says it is. Haven't you noticed it's not allowed to criticise the Chairman ? They've worked hard to ensure that the characteristics which make his reputation as an impatient, intolerant, arrogant, condescending and unethical dork are downplayed. Shoot, even his video testimony, you know the one where he apparently perjures himself, has been swiped from the library of congress. No negative portrayal is tolerated by the astroturfers working his image campaign.
Haven't you noticed that the press are kept away from him for the last few years?
Chairman Gates has been a full fledged politician for a number of years now. Dilbert's just floating a second trial balloon. Recall sometime around the beginning of 2001 there was an earlier trial balloon in the form of a poll sounding out the same threat.
Time for a reprint from 2001.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
Scott said it best:
Like it or not, capitalism is the name of our American game. Compared to Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Condi Rice or (God help us) Rudy Giuliani-- it's the first name I've heard that hasn't made me cringe.
Plus it sets a nice prescedent. As far as I'm concerned, we geeks should be running the show.
barack to the future?
May Peace Prevail On Earth
As an Italian, I'd love to see Bill Gates President of the USA. So we'd no longer have to be ashamed of Silvio Berlusconi.
Sack of Rome, 410 AD. Now a Bill Gates mid term Xmas Party, 2010. 1600 years is too long.
... is that the OS that most computers use is crap. If making him president can fix that faster than he can get Vista out the door...
-Lars
Honestly, I can think of very little that's more frightening than a US president with the attitude of absolutely having to be the only kid on the block, no matter what and with "embrace, extend, extinguish" as his main strategy.
Nations have to coexist, a concept that Bill apparently has never grasped.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Does this mean Ballmer will be Secretary of Defence?
...Air Force has won the War on Terror by utilising Ballmer's ingenious combat strategy "Fly-by Charing (© 2008-2012 MicroSenate Corporation. All rights reserved.)"
CNN reports:
The Google ad I'm seeing on every page now of this site is:
First Female President?
Pick a Repub, Pick a Dem, Map Shows Winner, # Electoral Votes Each Gets
www.SurveyUSA.com
Probably the first thing he'd do in office is change that generic emergency broadcast message to look like a BSOD which would say: "A fatal exception 0E has occured to your country. Please reinstall the government."
Look, a newborn meme. Isn't it cute!
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
I can't see someone with "Darth Bill's" ego running for an insignificant job like President, now if it was "Bill Gates for Evil Eorld Emperor", (EWE) He might consider it. Or "Bill Gates for Borg Queen...." ;-)
Bill is Borg, he will assimilate you....
So long as he runs as a republican.
Gates has a bit of a wet fish personality - he's a bit too much of a geek for me to support. Ballmer, on the other hand, would be great. Imagine the debates - Ballmer dances in shouting, "Developers, America, Developers, America". Then when his opponent (Hilary) makes a point that he doesn't like, he just throws a chair at her...
Scott Adams is a creationist moron. His comic also fails at being funny. I'd rather have a President Ballmer anyway. Sure he'd constantly be nuking people but it'd all be worth it when he comes out for the State of the Union address going "Senators, senators, senators, senators..."
The Farewell Tour II
I don't see how 'Because he's $GROUP' is an emotional argument. The horrific acts of $GROUP throughout history are well documented. It's hard to find any $GROUP who were good, so why take a chance?
If you pick any category of people that's been around long enough, you can find horrible atrocities they committed. Whether you pick based on religion, ethnicity, or social class, you can find some monsters. Likewise, in any sufficiently large group of people you can find some decent, likable guys. Claiming that because individuals in $GROUP has done bad things in the past, a different individual in $GROUP will do bad things in the future is a fallacy.
You are reading a copy of my copyrighted post.
Mod me down because you hate Bill Gates and I don't.
The good thing is that I am solidly in Excellent Karma. Will you be after you get meta-moderated?
Why participate in Moderation at all if you don't agree with and follow the guidelines?
Ok, this is a joke. I got it, thanks. But still...
Consider for a moment seriously his candidacy. Once I started to compare him to existing politicians it stroke me immediately that he resembles the most the neo-cons: ruthless, inhumane technocrats obscessed with their ideology.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
As President, Bill's unique way of attacking competitors would be... interesting...
"Today President Gates announced that the United States will accept Spanish as an official second language, however the officially accepted Spanish will be an extended version of the language that offers benefits lacking in the original. Such benefits include grammar that has been simplified by removing gender modified versions of words, and optional forms of words that are pronounced in a way that is more compatible with English."
Uno=One-O.
Dos=Twos.
Tres=Threes.
etc.
"President Gates also announced that now that America is compatible with Spanish speakers we will be extending our borders to include all of Mexico and some of Central America."
"When asked about any plans for Canada, President Gates replied, 'Oh... isn't Canada already part of the U.S.?"
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
No, I'm supposing that he will spend his billions to have an experiance - the presidency - as he has already spent millions buying cars, a fancy home, and on other amenities 99% of us will never have the experiance of enjoying.
... he hasn't said a word about it, this is Scott Adam's thoughtchild.
Again this is all a thought idea
Is the issue of who is running the show relevant? US govt and others just seem to be the marketing/acquisition/enforcement arms for franchise groups anyway? Admittedly most lobby groups just buy puppets. Is there a real difference in the lobby groups buying an external person or in them annointing their own? If nations do overtly become franchises, what franchise would yours become?
Is anyone looking for a change to the model that would make a monopoly baron an inappropriate choice which would not satisfy the goal of government as representing needs of humanity and our habitat? Ive seen people suggesting to send care parcels to people in Iraq as a way to break down the hate but it looks to me like an apology for a system of governance which has lost its connection to responsibility to its people. Land of the free needs custom torture laws? DMCA deems books are first published in the US if youre not a signatory? Fair use rights for other nations is against the free trade agreement?
If geeks want to change politics its a full system engineering change that's required not just a matter of changing the personality on the desktop. What would it feel like to have a government where your choices and actions do directly have implications for war, peace, health, tax, environment, diversity, freedom. What if instead of suggesting a politician, a quiz http://www.stemwijzer.nl/english_version had direct effect. What other kinds of models are there for being responsible?
If the current model is the extension of Microsoft marketing what does an extension of distributed geekdom look like?
No. Tax revenue is a good thing.
I'm thinking about it, therefore I might be.
What would happen is that Billy boy would create an open letter for the world community and claim we are all criminals stealing his government tax dollars.
He would proceed to make us all agree to some sort of EULA to remain citizens and he would change that without our participation with every coming year.
He would raise taxes on everyone and use that money to spend overseas on his pet projects instead of spending it on the American people.
He would work on education as long as it was within the scope of his company to make sales. He would be giving all sorts of government contracts to his company and it's subsidiaries.
Instead of working with everyone he'd go into one of his long tirades as he's done over the years and he would sit and incessantly rock in his chair in the Oval Office of the White House.
He would make exceptions for his vehicles to allow them to be brought into the US and he would drive far over the speed limit while dumping his empty milk cartons in the back seat.
Every time he would go get a visiting dignitary he'd drive so insanely they would never want to get back into the car with him. He would get into extreme fights with his VP during meetings that would shock his cabinet members.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.
in the best of john McEnroe quotes "you can't be serious" - only loonie born again - evolution denying americans would fall for this - oh hang on that's most of em'
I find this rather hilarious. I commented on the irony of a moderation about a post discussing the moderation of another post, and it gets modded to 5.
How... ironic.
Care about privacy? Read this!
So Scott Adams thought of this on Nov 16? Hmmmmm. What about what Doug Barney wrote on Oct 1??? http://www.redmondmag.com/columns/article.asp?Edit orialsID=1490
Barney's Rubble
Bill for President
Is it time for Gates in 2008?
by Doug Barney
October 2006
Every four years pundits, radio talk show hosts and U.S. citizens beg for a presidential candidate who's not a career politician.
And every four years the two major parties nominate -- you guessed it -- career politicians!
No true, non-political alternatives have the party backing, or, it seems, the ability to connect and gain our trust. I guess voters don't mind career politicians after all.
Donald Trump is too full of himself (but Letterman would have great material), Ross Perot was too preachy and weird, and Arnold is too foreign (meaning he legally can't run; not that I'm against Austrians).
Here's a name that could overcome all these obstacles: Bill Gates. Not the old Bill Gates spouting technology, wearing ill-fitting clothes and crushing competitors for sport (though his company is doing this with relish and third parties are paying the price). No. I'm talking about the new Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
As far as I can tell, Gates has not pledged allegiance to either party (probably the only thing he and I have in common). In 2004 Gates gave only $22,500 to candidates with a slight edge to Democrats. For someone with Gates' pockets, this is as close to giving nothing as you can get!
I mentioned this idea to my mother and her eyes opened wide (the way they did every time my high school assistant principal called) and she exclaimed "Wow!" After a few seconds of thought she said "Wow" again.
Bill has no major skeletons (I'm guessing) and has taken non-political, purely rational stances on today's major issues.
Who would you trust to develop a policy on global warming?
Who is today's best ambassador to the third world, to India, to China?
But Bill has no experience in foreign policy! True, but neither did the governor of Georgia, California, Arkansas or Texas.
Imagine if our fundamental approach to the world was based on logical approaches to curing disease, spreading opportunity, saving the environment and teaching children.
A foreign policy flowing from this river would be rich indeed.
Imagine offering our enemies all of these benefits.
Would Iran rather have nukes or freedom from disease? Maybe they'll go for the A-bombs, but will all regimes react the same? I doubt it.
And remember, Bill promised to retire in two years, just in time for his new job in 2008.
We'll just have to live with a total gutting of U.S. anti-trust laws!
Who are you going to vote for? Let me know at dbarney@redmondmag.com.
Doug Barney is editor in chief of Redmond magazine and the editorial director of Redmond Channel Partner magazine. You can contact Doug about "Bill for President" at dbarney@redmondmag.com.
a month before Dilbert. His column was in October.