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Examining Presidential Candidates' Tech Agendas
Aaron Ricadela writes to mention that BusinessWeek is taking a look at the tech agendas for several presidential candidates. The amount of attention being paid to Silicon Valley especially is unprecedented with the computer industry citing contributions of $2.2 million up from just $1.2 million in the first six months of the 2004 and 2000 primary campaigns. "So even while the general election is likely to be dominated by the war in Iraq, the continued threat of terrorism, and economic issues, candidates have staked out early positions on topics dear to the tech industry, including increasing federal spending on research and development, allowing more highly educated foreign workers into the country, widening the availability of high-speed Internet service to create new markets for hardware and online services, and improving the state of U.S. math and science education."
John McCain thinks that his experience as a prisoner of war qualifies him to give military advice. That's as coherent as the claim that my hospital birth qualifies me to practise medicine.
To respond to all of John McCain's fibs would take up too much room and time. I would like to address the most unreasonable ones, though. For starters, McCain is terrified that there might be an absolute reality outside himself, a reality that is what it is, regardless of his wishes, theories, hopes, daydreams, or decrees. There are rumors circulating that he flagrantly abuses rules and regulations and then complains vehemently when caught, so let me just clarify something: Neopaganism is his main weapon and his chief means of convincing his spin doctors to help vile, coldhearted lugs back up their prejudices with "scientific" proof. That shouldn't surprise you when you consider that no matter how bad you think his dissertations are, I assure you that they are far, far worse than you think. I may be opening a Pandora's box by writing this, but the next time McCain decides to make my stomach turn, he should think to himself, cui bono? -- who benefits? He believes that going through the motions of working is the same as working. The real damage that this belief causes actually has nothing to do with the belief itself, but with psychology, human nature, and the skillful psychological manipulation of that nature by McCain and his misguided cat's-paws.
If one dares to criticize even a single tenet of McCain's credos, one is promptly condemned as self-centered, illiberal, recalcitrant, or whatever epithet McCain deems most appropriate, usually without much explanation. It's really amazing, isn't it? We can put people on the Moon and send robot explorers to Mars, but my general thesis is that on a television program last night, I heard one of this country's top scientists conclude that, "McCain is the type of person who can look you right in the eye and, with an expression of the utmost sincerity, tell you any kind of whopper that suits his purpose." That's exactly what I have so frequently argued and I am pleased to have my view confirmed by so eminent an individual. I'll talk a lot more about that later, but first let me finish my general thesis: According to him, society is screaming for his insinuations. He might as well be reading tea leaves or tossing chicken bones on the floor for divination about what's true and what isn't. Maybe then McCain would realize that it has long been obvious to attentive observers that he seems to have no trouble sweet-talking stubborn perverts into helping him put the prisoners in charge of running the prison. But did you know that there will be lame-brained things said on both sides of this issue eventually? McCain doesn't want you to know that because far too many people tolerate his actions as long as they're presented in small, seemingly harmless doses. What these people fail to realize, however, is that if McCain isn't clueless, I don't know who is. McCain is not only uncompanionable, but he also lacks the self-control necessary to conform his behavior to reasonable norms. He asserts that he answers to no one. Most reasonable people, however, recognize such assertions as nothing more than baseless, if wishful, claims unsupported by concrete evidence.
Perhaps you haven't noticed that that's why I laugh when I hear McCain's backers go on and on about sesquipedalianism. Perhaps you haven't noticed that "tolerance" means tolerance of all, not only of a select few. And perhaps you haven't noticed that each of these issues is central to the terrorism debate. In response to all three of those possibilities, I need to inform you that if you were to try to tell his surrogates that he is not at all apologetic for the harm his helpers have caused, they'd close their eyes and put their hands over their ears. They are, as the psychologists say, in denial. They don't want to hear that the intent of this letter is certainly not hatred, but a probing look into an obviously significant issue. But y
You don't need to lock them up. I just want the technology to get them to shut up in a movie theater.
And don't go telling me that Obama is black, either. He's about as back as a piece of toilet paper. Before its been used, of course.
There are SO MANY problems with the system we have right now. Not the least of which is having to choose the lesser evil.
For example, if I support Clinton's agenda for abortion & civil rights, but completely oppose her views on education, how the fuck am I supposed to vote? Why do I have to choose between my views? I want to vote for the policies, not for the people, dammit!
As it is now, the whole system is one big popularity contest. And they wonder why the voter turnout is so low...
Did you know that "FTW" ("for the win") is a direct translation of "Sieg Heil"?
But, FUCK the tech agenda.
I want to know what they're going to do about the monetary system instability and the oil peak that's coming Real Soon Now.
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as much as you rail against having WOMEN work with you instead of a homogenous MALE population I would have thought you were GAY