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IT Workers Split For McCain, Obama
antipeon alerts us to a presidential preference survey, done in late February and early March, indicating that Obama and McCain lead among IT workers with 29% each. Clinton follows with 13%, just ahead of Huckabee (11%) and Ron Paul (9%). The Computing Technology Industry Association commissioned the poll, and the article notes that this trade group claims the population of IT workers is four times as large as the Bureau of Labor Statistics thinks it is — the better to make a voting block whose views must be attended to.
...but on the ballot or not, Steven Colbert gets my vote!
The game.
OT, but I was gonna vote for Obama... until all that stuff about him being in cahoots with that pastor for 20 years came out. Looks like I'm gonna *shudder* vote for Hillary. :-(
McCain/Palin '08. Now THAT's hope and change!
Read his speech from last week. Think about leaders that you've disagreed with, too, but followed because you had faith in where they were going. There are lots of those in my history; we're not perfect beings and his pastor obviously has some issues with where America's been going. So do I. His pastor's not a showstopper for me. Given Clinton, who can't win, and McCain, who's too much of a turncoat and politico, Obama's the only remaining horse that can win this race and try to mend the mistakes made in two terms of an elected fear-monger.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
but the idea of a "voting block" made up by geeks, is uterly inane. Why, you say?
We like to think ourselves (ie, us geeks) as a special part of our society, (us vs the ID-10T problem). it's a dipole, hence a false dilema. we're part of the US society as much as everybody else. We are workers ourselves, even if most of us make a well-to-do living from our work.
But in no-way do we differ from another working caste of this society. In this Revolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle of the wheel, we got the upper hand, because we are techically inclined. But the wheel *will* make another revolution, and we'll be bottom-feeders once again.
My point is, in these comming elections do not vote such and such because you are a geek/woman/black man/white man/polka-dotted-man from mars. Vote vote according to your class: a working man trying to make ends meet.
----
Mainly because alot of people got scared of Obama's pastor.
Just because he said a few disturbing things taken out of context has created alot of doubts.
Personally I dislike Hilary with a passion and will say anything to get elected. She feels entitled to be the president because her husband was and Bill Clinton supported NAFTA.
McCain might help the economy if he is true to his word about reducing government spending. The value of the dollar might improve dramatically. If we have another credit crunch like we did under Bush Sr. it would be bad news for the economy as banks will ignore loans from anyone but the federal government when money became tight.
http://saveie6.com/
Why doesn't slashdot post the religious breakdowns of IT workers while we are at it, kdawson?
I see fairly little value of this "story" on slashdot unless you want to get into the usual political flamewars. People of any profession or kind have different political views, the fact that it shows a divide into McCain and Obama is almost meaningless since one is the nominee, and the other is going to be.
Someone please stop kdawson from posting political stories please. He is a troll and a bad one at that.
You know, IT people are generally all kinds of smug how much smarter they are than everybody else, but 20 percent of them are apparently still backing candidates who dropped out of the race several weeks ago.
i cannot understand why ANYBODY would want to vote for the party that has done more to destroy the USA in the last 7 years than any other party in my memory the USA seems to now stand for war,torture, xenophobia, racism, corruption and financial mismanagement full of the same corrupt actors as the nixon era but worse (cheney et al), even "conservatives" are disgusted with what the current incarnation of rogues that are perverting the name of true conservatives have done (record debts, gov size) but hey you crack on, the rest of the world is busy making plans without you (witness the dollars slump) if the GOP get back in power you agree with all they have done and you deserve everything you get
Translation: Give us our pork, or else!
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
From the summary: "...done in late February and early March..."
I back Ron Jeremy
According to the summary, the people were polled in late February / early March. Mike Huckabee dropped out March 4th, and Ron Paul is still running even though he cannot mathematically win the nomination.
IT was not a POTUS preference survey, in late February and early March 2008, which indicated that Ubama and McSoft lead among IT workers with 29% each. Suselinton follows with 13%, just ahead of Apple (11%) and others (9%). The Computing Technology Industry Association commissioned the poll to be only slightly bias, and the article notes that this trade group claims the population of sexually active IT workers is four times as large as the Bureau of Labor Statistics knowss it is â" the better to make a voting block whose views must not be attended to unless supporting H1B visas.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
Ron Paul is still in the race.
excuse my ignorance of the us political system, but what do you mean he cannot mathematically win the nomination?
From an IT perspective, since all of the candidates some how think that there is a massive shortage of IT workers in the US and we should increase the number of H1-Bs to solve this problem, it really doesn't matter who is elected.
Skip ------ See the latest from http://www.anArchyFortWorth.com
The really interesting story in this election is which candidates have most successfully embraced the Internet in order to collect money and run their campaigns. It's no guarantee, but I'll bet that a candidate that achieves success due to grassroots Internet fundraising is a candidate who is much more likely to push for a free, open Internet. Or at least, to oppose some of the really blatant attempts by corporations, ICANN, etc. to limit individual's access. In addition, a candidate supported by grassroots donations is much less beholden to industry and to the political party's institutional fundraising/organization leverage.
If you're wondering which candidate is doing best in this area, by the way, it's Obama. Who has managed to overcome the institutional advantage Hillary Clinton came in with, organize and win dozens of caucuses, and raise an absolutely absurd amount of money--- mostly in the form of small Internet donations.
Poll after poll has one consistent trend; people still find passive sexism normal and acceptable.
If you want the media, from the SNL skit to even hard topics the past weeks, the media is very afraid of walking the racism line (except FOX that might as well wear white hoods).
However the media isn't as afraid of walking the sexism line and even pander to sexist tendencies that are instilled in Americans to the point they disappear from perception.
The media shouldn't be as afraid of race as they are, even Barack pushes this issue and says we need a more open dialogue to help in breaking down the latent fences that are still left in portions of the country and in portions of people's minds that have been indoctrinated by it their entire.
We need the media to realize this about sexism as well, and reopen that dialogue as well. I met a student on her way to becoming a constitutional lawyer just last year, and she even had sexist ideals that made her believe Hillary being a woman disqualified her. And in other aspects of life this person is smart, liberal even, and wants to be a federal judge. Anyone else find that mouth dropping that conflicted 'beliefs' like this still exist?
Sadly though, if you are sensitive to sexist tones, remarks, etc - you like me would be horrified with the current election cycle and how little progress has been made in this regard.
There are an enormous amount of items from this primary that I take issue with from the press to the other presidential candidates regarding sexism. We are still in the 60s and 70s with regard to sexism, and sadly people are more PC so it is just more hidden.
From the press pointing out how 'emotional' Hillary is, but when other canidates did the same thing, it was candor and 'emotional' was never used. There are too many of these examples to note.
Anyway, I truly had hoped Americans had come further with regard to sexism, and the ignorance associated, and sadly the IT world isn't any better. You would think that the IT world would respect Intelligence and stop to realize on average Woman run 20% smarter than men, and the highest IQ goes to women, beating the highest male IQ by almost 40 points. But I guess if geeks like to look at dumb blondes and boobs, maybe this is all they will think of when crossing the issue of the gender differences.
In contrast to the Democratic candidates, McCain is a tool. McCain lost all conservative respect when he started supporting the Bush admin economic policies, even though he had voted against most of them.
McCain may be from Arizona, but he doesn't have the disciplined principles that Goldwater did.
(This is where I recommend any of the last 3 John Dean books for Republicans/Conservatives/Anyone to read that think the current party is either conservative or believes in smaller government. In addition to being in the middle of the Nixon administration, Dean was a friend of Goldwater and Conservatives WIHTOUT a Conscience is a book they started together, as a direct response to the movement of the party from Reagan to Newt and how horribly off track Goldwater felt they were.)
I like both Hillary and Barack, they have some real principles and 'new' ideas from the horrifying Bush legacy. At this point, I would seriously vote for Colbert before I would Republican for President or Congress. At lesat he knows he's joking. They had 6 years of all Republican controlled government with rubberstamp everything, and it was the largest spending and worst policy period in American History. No more chances for Republicans until their party finds it ideals and real conservatism at its core.
Looking at the Clintons' record on H1B visas and Hillary's deep connections with companies like India's Tata (remember this http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-22654114_ITM) its no surprise that IT professionals are rejecting her. She's all for sending our jobs overseas.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
and will never get my vote. While Obama is for Net Neutrality and will be receiving my vote for POTUS.
McCain is against net neutrality (and I sense he doesn't understand the issue either) while Obama is for protecting net neutrality and - judging by the way his campaign is ran - is a lot more tech savvy than the other remaining candidates.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
...that people are taking Pastor Wrights words into so much consideration. Why would you assume Pastor Wright's viewpoint is the same as Obama's? And in any case, isn't it obama's plans/propositions you guys are voting or not for? Bad analogy coming in: not trying to hear what a guy's saying because a close friend of his is a vocal windows user is unfair (or not in some cases :p).
:] I don't think the US would survive another four years of this, and that can't be good for the world. In my honest opinion, I think Obama is the only candidate that's fit for the job. Or at least it seams by his speeches. As an outsider, I may well be only listening to his propositions on foreign affairs/economy, you guys surely have a lot more aspects than me to consider, but that's just my opinion. :)
I am European and therefor do not favor any party whatsoever, but you guys got to make sure another administration like this one doesn't get voted.
-- Ford Prefect. Apart from that, why even bother differentiating the IT worker vote from any other demographic? We only have tenuous influence on management most of the time, let alone government. We are not special.
Ice Cream has no bones.
Maybe for some people, jobs aren't the #1 issue, and we are voting on other issues. Perhaps to someone, what is important is different from what is important to you. So, with that said, I will be voting neither as a geek nor as a working class schmoe. Instead, I'll be voting as a lover of freedom interested in preserving my personal liberties. Other people will be voting as lovers of safety and the status quo interested in having their life led for them. Yet others will be voting on issues such as abortion, etc.
But no, I will not vote as you tell me to either way. I will vote the way *I* feel is important because it isn't your decision to decide what is the matter with my vote.
1) Unemployment is historically low.
2) Self defense is not war mongering. Even if you think Iraq was no threat, they've gone from 50,000 killed per year under Saddam to 50,000 killed in the time since. It may be the lesser of two evils, but this evil is a LOT less. Don't forget that all the Democrats WANTED the war in Iraq. They just don't want to stick around and WIN it.
3) Wanting free trade with other nations is not a sign of xenophobia or racism nor is appointing the first two black Sec's of State.
4) 3 Documented cases of waterboarding in the GWT is not a pattern of Communist style torture. Overall, enemy combatants have been given better treatment than domestic felons.
5) People have more stuff than they ever have. The NY Times, which is NOT GOP friendly, ran an op-ed explaining that consumption by the top fifth of the population by income is only twice that of the bottom fifth. How many other countries can come close to that?? Yes, there's a big mortgage problem out there, but before lending homes to poor people was "predatory lending" the Dems were pushing the banks to give those loans.
6) We've even cut greenhouse gas emissions for hippies who still believe in that crap.
Yes, the GOP should cut government spending and get rid of dumb-ass shit like Social Security and Medicare but they don't have the votes to make it happen. Uncle Sam collects about $17,000 per worker, most of which goes to social programs that no one would ever need if their taxes were less. It won't stop no matter who is in power until the public realizes the true cost.
I cannot understand why ANYBODY would want to vote for the party that has done more to destroy the USA in the last 7 years than any other party in my memory the USA
I vote for both Republicans and Democrats or other groups for that matter - your statement could be held to be true for either group (though it's obvious who you meant).
If you want to look to the cause of the decline of politics or other problems in America, look no further than the demonization of anyone you disagree with. This has become rampant and made real discussion impossible, to the point where you either are for black or white and true compromise in the traditional sense is nigh impossible (unless you are talking about preserving pork in which case finding unimanity is easy).
Hater, heal thyself.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
He's consistent, transparent, follows the rules, supports strong currency, fair and free trade, reduced government and taxes, and no lame wars based on BS. Of the politicians running, he's the least of a politician and the most of just an honest dude. that's the impression I got, I forget now, 8 terms as a Rep, no hint of scandal or taking bribe money or anything like that. No FUD, and IT people can see FUD, so maybe that is why they like him.
I don't agree totally with all of his platform or personal views, but dang most of it and them, and I will be writing him in, after voting for him in the primary, I don't care what the official neocon party nominates. He's an old fashioned nice guy and statesman, one who has real constructive change at heart. You look how he votes, never one time voted for anything that would contradict the constitution or waste money or expand the powers of the federal government beyond what they were designed for.
Any of the rest, including the top three still running..meh...same old politicians.
First, like many on Slashdot, I'm a democrat with strong leftward leanings.
But second, this "hundred years in Iraq" business has to stop. If you read the quote in context, what he was saying was that Americans (by and large) do not care about overseas military deployments or peacekeeping operations, they care when they see the cost in terms of lives, injuries, or cash.
I don't agree with the assessment that we will ever really get to the point (with a military solution) where we can set up a low-profile military peacekeeping operation, but that doesn't mean I can't see the wisdom and truth in McCain's statement. He's right. For the most part, Americans don't care about overseas military deployment, they care about military injuries or deaths.
We have bases in Germany, Italy, Greenland, Guam, The Netherlands, and Spain - there are no serious protests of these military installations by the general public (perhaps by a very fringe minority).
McCain's point was not that he wants to be in Iraq 100 years. His point was that if he can get to the point where the cost in lives and injuries is next to 0, he would support 100 years of military presence.
I've read his speech, and I can say, without a doubt that I will not vote for him. He is a politician pretending to be a movement--equating his grandmother and geraldine ferraro with an antiquated minister. And lets be clear that minister is a serious outlier--he does a disservice to black churches and the UCC to let people think otherwise.
Personally, I would have privately commented on and then separated from my mother's church if such a situation continued--in any situation where there was repeated racism, sexism, homophobia, divisiveness. And you can bet that people (lay leaders) talked about such issues. I cannot support Obama for that huge failure of judgment, for his campaigns racebaiting of bill clinton (they even circulated a memo implying he was racist for saying he wanted hillary by his side, despite knowing people like mandela, and pressured the media to take racialized views of soundbites). And because he has basically the same ratings by the NAACP, ACLU, and national criminal justice folks as Hillary Clinton. The campaign has always been about racism, sexism, and blind optimism vs pragmatism.
So how can I support a man that perpetuates antiquated notions of race (that black churches like wright's are common)? How can I support a man that exploits and expands the racial divide to push a 40+% grab of clinton's black vote (which was earned through a record of service and speeches on black and low income issues)? How can I support a man who uses rhetoric and topic-changing in a campaign about "change"?
On character, I cannot vote barack obama. And yes, part of that can be blamed on the media racializing issues and the 24 hr news cycle, but his campaign and its affiliated leaders were heavily involved in branding the clintons racist.
Also, my view of democracy requires an educated public, not an elitist system, and Obama's faith/hope/unity is a slip backwards from the details of clinton and edwards. Where is the sacrifice? Where is the dissent that occurs when allocating limited resources? Clinton is a politician, as is mccain, why is obama pretending to be better when he must ultimately act like one (and already has).
On philosophy I cannot vote barack obama...though I admire his campaign, the movement is a wee bit weak on substance. If he'd thrown in empowering an educated democracy and cut some of the fluff (conceit), he might have had my vote.
And on electability? I said last month that all he had was a downside--high numbers for speeches but no vetting. So I don't know if he's hit bottom yet, but he's a hell of a risk--especially since the media has been playing the race issue exclusively for his side since early january. All clinton has is an upside -- her record can regain the black vote and I think some of the sexism sent her way will dissipate, and she can stand toe to toe with mccain.
I'm voting for Hillary, or not voting for Obama. I cannot elect someone to office that builds a campaign on racial FUD and that is a politician pretending to be a movement.
For crying out loud Bush *endorsed* McCain. To make it even clearer, McCain voted against the senate
anti-torture bill --1E6 hypocrite points-- and supports retroactive immunity for telecoms -- basically
indicating he's for the blatant and outrageous violation of the 4th amendment by Herr Bush even
though in public he disagrees with the policy - another 1E6 hypocrite points. If you still don't
believe me, he says that the U.S. needs the military option to deal with Iran. I rest my case.
jdb2
Right, warning, I know I'm going to karma hell, I don't care at this point. I can't vote in these elections, namely because I turn 18 just after the US elections, and because I'm in Canada... But from what I've gathered over this year, I've drawn up my own opinion on this mess. Feel free to correct me if I've got some wrong information.
McCain's only real problem is his age, and the whole "we're staying even if it takes 10 years" stance on the Iraq war... Had this been 10 years ago he would have been a fine candidate, but now I don't know, I'm very afraid he's going to go senile in his second or third year.
Clinton... I think she has a chance of being a good president. Her only weakeness is the healthcare bill. Otherwise I think she'd be perfect for this sort of situation, bonus points if she can pull it off like her hubby did (say what you will, but the US was at its greatest in the 90s). And I mean plenty of women have done an excellent job at leading their countries; Angela Merkel is doing wonderfully in Germany, Thatcher they say was good (I'm too young to remember her well)... Pretty much only Kim in Canada was a bad choice, but she wasn't elected.
Obama... He scares me. I don't know. He's a bit unprepared; I think he'd be perfect in 4-8 years time, he'd be ready to storm the scene. I'm going to get modded down to the bottoms of hell for this... But I'm afraid in two/three years he'll declare himself a muslim. His step-dad is one, and he was raised for the most part in Indonesia and went to some of the schools where they train Al Qaeda members... That's a serious chill for me, not only because uh let's just say we don't get along back home, but because of the fact that muslims seem to be getting quite... Aggressive around the world. Namely in places like France. I mean, it's not all muslims, but could you imagine how mad the press would go?? It'd be like Putin declaring he's a Lutheran and a German...
I don't know. Maybe I've just lost my mind. Or I'm too used to canadian politics where at this moment nobody really cares who's running the government and we're mostly satisfied with the conservatives... I guess the cold keeps us apathetic.
Related to my previous post, the reason many people may feel like voting for him is because he's hated by Republicans and Democrats alike, and has taken actions that were against the wishes of his party. Hillary and Obama are much more likely to toe the party line.
Also McCain has declined to support any pork for the past year. Obama at least has offered to open up his votes on earmarks. Clinton has been one of the worse offenders in that regard, so those of us advocating fiscal responsibility as one of the most important qualities for the next president find McCain more favorable from that standpoint as well.
I've also talked to Democrats (I'm an independent) who feel the same way - not just IT workers.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
What could possibly make an IT person vote for McCain? He doesn't seem likely to even have a cellphone, let alone relate at all to anything IT people have to deal with. He's confessed he doesn't understand the economy. His Republican anti-immigration policies don't protect any IT jobs. What makes him seem like he could possibly represent their interests as president?
--
make install -not war
I'm a bit surprised IT workers are split. While I voted for McCain for Senate while living in Phoenix, I feel Obama is much stronger on tech issues. Here's what really sold me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4yVlPqeZwo
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
Between "outsourcing" and "downsizing" a lot of American IT workers have lost their jobs. They're looking for work, but there's not enough openings to employ them all (not by a long shot).
Every time the call for more and more H1B workers goes out it further drives home the blatant fact that our government doesn't care about the citizens that it supposedly represents. All their actions do is further enrich their corporate masters.
But while this evil is transpiring, the simple fact that corporations need customers with money to spend seems to elude everyone. If your population is unemployed and unable to purchase your products, how can you continue to post increasing profits and make your shareholders happy?
Sure, it's cheaper to produce it in China or support it in India. But who is going to buy it? Those American workers you laid off were the customers you were selling your products to.
These corporations are very short-sighted. When their market contracts (due to fewer customers) their profits will decrease. Will they try to make up the difference by hiring even more cheap foreign labor and further erode their customer base? Will our corporate masters continue to believe that their actions have no repercussions? Sometimes I wonder...
IT people tend to think for themselves, rather than swallowing the rhetoric fed them by the "Big 2". Likewise Libertarians... they tend to think for themselves, and seek solutions, rather than swallowing the pap crap produced for the masses. I see a parallel here, and I do not think I would be out of place to say that IT workers and Libertarians tend to think more alike than the majority of the population.
enough delegates have been selected for other candidates that even if every remaining delegate went to paul he would still lose.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Is there an IT Policy matrix to compare the candidates? I know that both Clinton and Obama are in favour of net neutrality, and McCain opposes it, but what of the other issues? I know Ralph Nader is against software patents, but I don't have a clue about the other candidates stance on that.
There is no way in hell that "IT" workers are going to be on the bottom of the heap anytime in the near future. They are too important to the overall scheme of things. True, the "traditional" duties of your average IT worker have been changing, but then a lot of IT workers have failed to keep up with progress. Most companies, even large companies, are not just "big mainframe" houses anymore. People doing COBOL on big IBM boxes are going to have to change their outlook or suffer the consequences.
In any case, IT as a whole is hardly in any danger.
And I must say, I disagree with your final statement as well. Do NOT vote according to who you think will benefit your own little group the most. Vote for who you think will do this nation the most good! The former is the kind of behavior that has gotten us into the political trouble we are in now. The latter is what we need. So ask not what your country can do for you... ask what that politician can do for your country. And THINK about it! Don't believe everything you are told on the 11:00 news! Especially if it's Fox!
Outside of science, technology, HB-1s, education, and a few other issues, IT workers don't have enough common interests to be a "voting block."
Your social class, religion/world view, general political leaning left or right, and to a lesser extent, gender, sexual orientation, are stronger "block identifiers" than your career choice.
On many big issues, including abortion, the war in Iraq, gay rights, the economy, etc. IT workers are just as divided as the rest of the country.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
"IT Workers Strip For McCain, Obama"
The mounds of ghostly pale cubicle flesh, bruised by flying chairs, monitor-burned faces with sunken eyes dead to anything that isn't composed of pixels, fingers continually spasming in the 3-fingered salute, skin courtesy of a diet of twinkies and cola ... ugh!
2) It's common practice in the run-up to elections to float bills that a candidate couldn't possibly support but which are crafted to make the candidate look bad when he votes against it. The bill in question did NOT simply ban waterboarding, though that would have resulted from the bill. The bill legally restricted the CIA to a set of 16 interogation rules set up for US Army field interogations. The guidelines for interogations conducted by largely unspecialized and untrained hordes of soldiers in remote locations can and should be different than those for trained intelligence operatives. If you must attack the man, please do so on substance.
3) To support retroactive immunity for telcoms, while debatable in value, is hardly a BLATANT and OUTRAGEOUS violation of the 4th amendment. Making it nonpunishable for a company to comply with what the government tells it to do is different than supporting the Government's ability to make illegal requests on companies. If he voted for warrant-free wiretaps, that'd be one thing, and I'd strongly dislike him for it, but voting to exempt companies from being sued for a government's mis-step is hardly rage-inducing.
Keep grubby federal laws off my computers and out of my life. Ron Paul 2008.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
"USA seems to now stand for war,torture, xenophobia, racism, corruption and financial mismanagement"
Reading your statement saddens me greatly. Not only because you're right, but because this was forseen and warned.
During the 2004 campaign, after he had dropped out and started campaigning for Kerry against Bush, Wes Clark explained that he has traveled the globe as a soldier, and currently travels internationally on business trips. So he has a wider international exposure than most Americans. In his travels, he found that although Bush was seen negatively by the world, the people he met still admired and loved America and the American people, no matter how much they despised the Bush government.
Clark explained that the foreigners held a distinction between "Bush" and "America" in part due to the disputed election of 2000. But if Bush was re-elected, this distinction would fade in the minds of others.
Clark said that the negative stuff Bush has done and what Bush represents (torture, manipulating intelligence to get us into war, suspending habeaus corpus, warrantless wiretaps, etc.) was not the policy or will of the American people. But that if Bush was reelected, at the end of 2008, all of that would BECOME the policy and will of the American people, and no longer associated only with the Bush Administration. Bush would have molded America into his image, carve his intentions (torture, holding people without trial, etc.) into the permanent law of the land. European allies and others would no longer recognize a distinction between the position Bush Administration and the position of the American people.
So when you say that ""USA seems to now stand for war,torture, xenophobia, racism, corruption and financial mismanagement" it grieves me to know how far we've fallen, exactly as Clark presciently predicted in 2004.
Why settle for the lesser evil.
[Insert pithy quote here]
One of the most eloquent and honest oratories about race (and his experiences of both sides) is "playing the race card"? Wow, you right wingers really need to meet some black folk...
He can't win the Republican nomination, no. But he can still win the general election, if he petitions for a spot on the ballot or gets enough write ins. It's highly unrealistic to thunk that would happen, however, and he's effectively out of the race.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
More seriously, there would be less trade imbalance if the Democrats would support a free trade agreement with Colombia so they could buy from us. How will the Democrats' policies of sky-high taxes and industry hostility bring any manufacturing back to the USA? If you were building a factory would YOU want to build in Hillary's Village?
The quote wasn't pulled out of thin air. It came straight from McCain's lips.
You are confused if you want to translate what McCain said into "We will leave Iraq when it makes sense to leave Iraq." McCain has made it clear that we will not leave so long as we are taking casualties on the ground. And he has also made it clear that we will not leave after we have stopped taking casualties on the ground. So, we will not leave ever. Not in a hundred years, not in a thousand years, not in a million years. That is what McCain said in all honesty.
annnnnnd, I can't remember my loging data;
the main thing is, pay attention to the platforms of the U.S. Presidential candidates.
Obama, McCain, and Clinton all hold the same foreign policy, economic policy, fiscal
policy, and human rights policies.
Check out Ron Paul's, though. His speech at Google (available on YouTube) is
especially impressive.
Well McCain already has the amount of votes needed to win the nomination, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet.
stop voting!! it does nothing and if you vote for someone you don't agree with you have absolutely no reason to complain...ever!
Spiral out. Keep going...
This election is like choosing between Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
Both parties have the same agenda. They will both cripple even more your liberties, both will keep pushing Real-ID and the Patriot Act. They'll maintain the war in Irak for at least 2 years or move it to Iran.
That, if Bush doesn't dissolve the congress first.
No matter which your candidate is, you'll regret it in 2 years from now.
I'll be pleased to be proven wrong.
Save this post for future reference.
Yup, as a Canadian I sincerely dislike NAFTA too, eh. All these American IT workers steal our jobs and we are forced to sell our oil for cheap to the USA, eh. We should be kick all these Yanks out, eh and we should charge them yankees CAD110 for oil, which is more like USD220 a barrel, eh...
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
So, there's no comparable troubling association that McCain has, compared to Obama/Wright.
And then you look at Wright's great admiration for Louis Farrakhan. Not to mention the influence James Cone has had on Wright and his church. Quote: "Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy."
To find a hypothetical parallel were the situation reversed, this would be like finding out that John McCain was extremely close to Jerry Falwell, considering him a mentor and sounding board for 20 years. Worse yet, it's as if Falwell had had a habit of praising David Duke and the Aryan Nation -- and McCain still wouldn't repudiate him. Obviously, the collective response would be a gigantic "WTF?" followed by the disintegration of his candidacy.
Of course, all of the column inches are being devoted to Obama, but the McCain/Hagee thing is way, way creepier.
Obama is up for candidacy now. McCain already has it, so there's no point to smear him until it gets close to the real elections in November.
I assume we'll see all the smears the Democrats can muster, justified or not. We'll also see all the anti-Obama / anti-Clinton smears the Republicans can muster, justified or not. There's too much money and power at stake for either side to behave like decent human beings.
-- Support a free market in the field of government
It is an open secret in the State department and CIA that Richardson would have Spitzer type problems. On his many diplomatic travels as UN ambassador he would often ask Embassy personnel to provide him with female companionship.
You also forgot to mention that Hilary is a weak-minded woman and Obama is a stupid nigger.
He almost started a shooting war with Russia over f***king airport in Kosovo.
I'm upset that the only issues that those surveyed brought up in large enough numbers to merit a percentage point were economy, war, immigration, and national security. I wish more people were concerned with the rapid and sanctioned erosion of civil rights and the due process of law in this country (United States).
They should be more concerned that the actions of the government have not been in line with one that is most concerned with the well-being of its citizens, regardless of economic strata.
I want to be able to look at Washington and actually believe that those politicians are doing the best they can to maintain a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
McCain co-sponsored every nasty evil domestic internet wiretap bill for the entire period of time between Congress' discovery of the Internet and the 911 "Patriot" act. He even tried to ban strong encryption like PGP.
Proven courage and loyalty under fire to whom? Not me! Not the America I would be proud to bleed for!
I'm still waiting for the apologies to come out about associating with Rummy.
--- Nothing clever here: move along now...
And you are a perfect example of why the electorate is at fault.
The quote wasn't pulled out of thin air. It came straight from McCain's lips.
So what? McCain has said MILLIONS of words in his campaign for office. The one quote is, what, 10 or 20 words?
So yeah, I blame the electorate for buying into one quote selected by political opponents out of MILLIONS of words, and hammered into them through the various media by those same political opponents, instead of looking at some of the other MILLIONS of words the candidate has said and understanding what the candidate was actually saying with the quote, instead of what the candidate's political opponents are trying to make you think he said.
And the fact that the electorate is too stupid to look past the 10-20 words selected by political opponents and then reinterpreted by those opponents and actually get grip on what the candidate actually stands for is EXACTLY the problem. Don't understand the issues, just believe the sound bites, right?
What we don't know is whether you are one of the members of the electorate who is gullible enough to blindly believe and repeat select quotes fed to you by people you've decided to blindly accept the opinions of, or whether you're just someone who is trying to foist isolated quotes onto the electorate knowing most of them will buy into them as an accurate reflection of a candidates entire position.
NOBODY says millions of words in the course of a political campaign, especially when millions of those are unscripted words, without having a few quotes whose meaning can be taken one way or another. Yes, McCain said he'd stay in Iraq 100 years if that's what it took to get the job done. But anybody with a brain cell should know that that is NOT the same as saying or believing it's actually going to take 100 years, or that he plans on being there 100 years - McCain is saying he would withdraw from Iraq when, and only when, withdrawal will make America better off than staying.
And you know what's 1,000 times MORE stupid than focusing on 15 words out of MILLIONS of words uttered by a candidate in a campaign?
Focusing on an excerpt from a speech made years ago that a candidate was not even at by someone a candidate knows. Or even knows well. Then you're talking about BILLIONS if not TRILLIONS of words. What Obama's pastor said three years ago - or even what he says most Sundays - doesn't mean anything. We just can't hold people responsible for what other people say. Even people they know well, even people in influential positions. Not people we'd elect for President anyway - I'd hope we're not voting for anyone for President who we don't think is capable of listening to bullshit, recognizing that it's bullshit, and forming their own opinion. Not after the past 8 years anyway.
We can play the "Somebody this candidate knows said something bad" game from now until November. Everybody can play. It's still a waste of everyone's time.
paintball
We may be geeks, but we are still citizens of this country and there are a lot more policies that will affect our every day lives long before things like Net Neutrality.
First and foremost our debt and economy need to be addressed. If this country countinues to spend and borrow money, it won't matter how much you have to pay for internet access.
I personally don't like either candidate for President. Obama sounds like the better guy when you listen to him, but in the end I don't see how he plans to accomplish any of his goals without taking a very socialist stance. That is not going to work in the American economy. Like it or not but big business is our bread and butter, and choking business will hurt our Economy. Either canidate might preach about hope and bringing change, but they can't do anything personally. Congress makes our laws and policies. We don't need a president that promises change. We need a president loyal to the constitution and has the balls to rip congress a new one when it is pandering to interest groups, We need a president who will use the Justice department for its intended purpose, not as a smoke screen for questionable activities.
McCain is saying he would withdraw from Iraq when, and only when, withdrawal will make America better off than staying.
You are projecting on McCain something he has never said.
Ron Paul is still in the race. He's also the only candidate whose platform is 100% in agreement with slashdot group think. H1Bs, Patriot Act, Real ID, DMCA, ect... In other words: the works. He also just picked up a bunch of delegates in South Carolina. Anyone who has written off Ron Paul underestimates his supporters. Ron Paul is NOT finished with this fight, no matter how determined the media is to pretend otherwise. There's a reason RonPaul2008.com is still up and running.
Obama and McCain lead among IT workers with 29% each. Clinton follows with 13%, just ahead of Huckabee (11%) and Ron Paul (9%).
Those results just means that IT workers are naive about the political process.
Let's take McCain first. McCain is not much of a computer user. He doesn't grok technology and he doesn't really care to. It's not important to him. Reform in the political process is important to McCain. Winning the war in Iraq is important to McCain. The Internet? Not important to McCain.
McCain's political reality is that he has a problem with his political base. He needs to motivate the bible belt to come out on election day and vote for him. This means that every single issue about which he doesn't care is going to be handed off to a social conservative. You only -thought- you saw a censor the Internet movement under Bush.
Now let's talk about Obama. Obama is surrounded by the B-list democrats. Clinton had the A-list locked up a year and a half ago. Obama's team is tech savvy with very little real-world experience. Many have never worked outside politics. They're like that guy you know who is smart but not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. Will they screw the pooch? Count on it. Are they tech-savvy enough to be really destructive? Oh yeah.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
However, would the hard right Israeli government post-Sharon be considered Libertarian? If not what sort of examples are there? There most be more to it than the old joke of Libertarians being anarchists that want government protection from their slaves.
If you call them socialists then I'll happily call McCain a fascist. (Note to any supporters of McCain that know what a socialist is--I'm just feeding the trolls.)
I find it astonishing that this McCain guy is even being talked about. Is everybody really so easily led by the nose?
That is, of course, a rhetorical question. American politics is like watching a bloody car accident in slow motion.
Not that any of it really matters. --With the totally ignored cries that the call girl agency which did Spitzer in was long known by U.S. Intelligence to be a Mossad front, and that he was fed to the lions to get a wall-street watchdog like Spitzer out of the way before the shenanigans with the Fed and JP Morgan and Bear Stearns which broke a week later, shows again that if you are clean, you aren't allowed to come to power of any sort. They must have some impressive dirt on Obama, (either that, or they'll just shoot him if Fox fails to do its job.) The Clintons are dirty as hell. But McCain? COME ON PEOPLE! That's just sick.
-FL
We have been dealing with the failure of the western world to stop Hitler now for 70 years. If not for the Holocaust most Jews would have stayed in Europe and in the Muslim countries where they had lived for centuries rather than going to Palestine, and there would probably be no ongoing crisis in the Middle East. The 9/11 attack and the current war are just part of the aftermath.
who it was who said something about managing programmers being like herding cats, but it seems relevant here.
I'm all for the enfranchisement of our feline friends.
Funny, Paul's site says nothing to indicate that. To the contrary, he has encouraged his supporters to continue winning delegates for the national convention. Granted, the only way he can win is pulling an upset at the national convention; such things are not entirely unheard of, and McCain is so unpopular...
[Barack Obama said], "many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed."
... for the explicit purpose of killing millions of its own citizens.
... Senator Obama assures us that his pastor does good work by "reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDs." But maybe he wouldn't have to quite so much "reaching out" to do and maybe there wouldn't be quite so many black Americans "suffering from HIV/AIDs" if the likes of Wright weren't peddling lunatic conspiracy theories to his own community.
... She does then, in her own flawed way, represent a post-racial America. But what of her equivalent (as Obama's speech had it)? Is Jeremiah Wright a "typical black person"? One would hope not.
Well, yes. But not many of us have heard remarks from our pastors, priests, or rabbis that are stark, staring, out-of-his-tree flown-the-coop nuts.
The Reverend Wright believes that AIDs was created by the government of the United States
Does he really believe this? If so, he's crazy, and no sane person would sit through his gibberish, certainly not for 20 years.
The victims are those in his audience who make the mistake of believing him.
Nonetheless, last week, Barack Obama told America: "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community."
What is the plain meaning of that sentence? That the paranoid racist ravings of Jeremiah Wright are now part of the established cultural discourse in African-American life and thus must command our respect?
[Obama] promoted a false equivalence. "I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother," he continued.
The pastor is a fraud, a crock, a mountebank -- for, if this truly were a country whose government invented a virus to kill black people, why would they leave him walking around to expose the truth? It is Barack Obama's choice to entrust his daughters to the spiritual care of such a man for their entire lives, but in Philadelphia the senator attempted to universalize his peculiar judgment -- to claim that, given America's history, it would be unreasonable to expect black men of Jeremiah Wright's generation not to peddle hateful and damaging lunacies. Isn't that -- what's the word? -- racist? So much for the post-racial candidate.
Original op-ed here:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjExNzMwYzMyMjk0MDY4YzlhOTIwM2YzYWYzNGIyNjU=
I'd be curious if the IT professionals they polled were even eligible to vote in the upcoming election. In the company I work for, at least 60% of the IT department are not US citizens.
"Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine No Posessions?'" -- Elvis Costello
Um, people are talking about him because he's the presumptive Republican nominee. Why wouldn't people talk about him? We're stuck with talking about him until November!
"Was it a millionaire who said 'Imagine No Posessions?'" -- Elvis Costello
Right now the most pressing concern for the American people is no longer Iraq but the same issues that have always been on American's minds, the Economy, independent energy, infrastructure, medicine, and education. All of these things back up our war effort so improving our country in all these things will make America stronger.
How well the economy is doing is based almost always on unemployement. The best thing a government can do to curtail a depression is to create jobs. America currently has many ways to do that.
-Repair old infrastructure
-Build new infrastructure (roads, bridges, schools, etc)
-Make the United States independent from foreign energy by slowly starting to fund massive solar arrays in the desert.
We have to stop thinking about our plan as so massive that it will just deal itself automatically. The fact of the matter is our planet is like a giant space station we all share. Burning fossil fuels is a waste because we get enough solar energy from the sun everyday to power our entire civilization for a decade. If we cover just 3% of the land mass of Arizona with solar panels at a cost of 5-10 Trillion we will have totally independent, clean, energy for the next 25-30 years that will replace all of our other energy sources. We then use this energy to create clean hydrogen for cars. BMW already has a perfected solution for fueling up and using hydrogen which is kept in it's liquid state so there's no danger. The tech on the car front is there. In fact the range on one fill up is up to 300 miles in Sedan!!! Now I don't expect us to spend 5-10 trillion on it but we did spend 1 Trillion on a war which devalued our currency on the global market and made us spend a large amount of our treasure on it. In contrast building just a fifth of this entire project would pump enough research and development into the science of it and give enough people a job that our economy will come right back roaring! And, we'll be able to keep the whole thing in the country without devaluing the dollar by buying services and materials overseas.
Even if we don't start today, that is the future of our world because by 2015 with the current rate of R&D in battery technology, solar voltaic technology, and the price of oil the price of solar power will reach parity with oil. Spend just an hour reading wikipedia and you'll be able to confirm everything I just said.
Not to mention the fact that since the whole process is only bound to get cheaper and cheaper we're all looking at what the nuclear age promised us 50 years ago: energy that's too cheap to meter. Once we cover a certain amount of land with solar panels and as they get replaced with new ones that are more efficient the power output per square meter will only increase. With such cheap energy other issues currently plaguing humanity become a simple matter of manufacture.... Imagine providing water to millions with gigantic desalination plants that are totally power by solar power. Maybe I'm being naive but the economy is totally based on scarcity. If scarcity were eliminated or made extremely abundant what would there be to fight over?
The next president will have to understand technology, the internet, and the economy to be able to drive the United States into this new economy that will eventually come. It's not a matter of if anymore, but when. All technologies required for this have a predictable innovation curve (just like moore's law with computer chips) so anyone who bothers to look it up will see it.
With that said, I urge everyone to please vote for the candidate that will support these fledgling economies and not just sit idly by waiting for them to do it on their own. The countries that support these initiatives now will be the ones controlling the world economy in the next century. So please, stop discussing this election in terms of who said what but in terms of what the candidates are attempting to do about our current situation.
Reading the following is the best way to make the correct decision. Not doing
It's all political theatre. Nobody is actually afraid of Rev. Wright. He's not a threat to society, or to anybody individually. And nobody actually believes Barack Obama agrees with any of this after he's said he does not, and has never shown in any of his writings or speeches that he agrees.
It is naive to think it is simply a cheap shot. During the primary the choice between Obama and Clinton was easy, Obama. This nutcase reverend thing is a real issue though, and it is not because anyone seriously believes Obama shares the reverend's opinions. The really issue is that Obama is either lying or easily fooled. If the former then he's really nothing new and different, same old style politician but better at speeches. If the latter then his entire "vote for me I have better judgment" pitch evaporates. This nutcase reverend has been saying things for years, this stuff is on the DVDs the church is selling, and Obama had no clue this was going on? Come on, he had to know (occam's razor, uninvited the reverend from campaign launch), and it was monumental bad judgment not to distance himself from this reverend long ago, not when the issue blows up in the media.
Someone thought they could avoid the issues of the economy, foreign affairs, the future of America in this world, etc... and undermine Obama with this cheapshot.
You are mistaken, foreign affairs and other issues are heavily intertwined with his "better judgment" pitch. Discredit his judgment and a lot of Democrats suddenly feel Clinton is better positioned to take on McCain.
I would think IT workers would somewhat follow the video games industry. I haven't done any official polling, but my more-than-general sense is that the video game industry majority is behind Barack Obama. Hillary is on the air, along with the rest of the religious right (remember that John McCain is now their first choice), blaming the gaming industry for all the ills of society, any time it is politically expedient. It makes sense, because the general lack of parenting skills today are caused by those same lax tendencies, that their own generations helped to foster.
The worst thing I've ever heard Barack Obama say about video games is that *parents should learn when to tell their kids to put them down*. He dared to say that other priorities, like school, should come first! A lot of knee-jerk reactionaries in game politics, who still support Obama mind you, try to take offense to some hidden "association between video games and slacking". But let's be honest here -- what he said was no worse than prior generations telling parents to "turn the television off until the homework is done". Yes, that seems rather obvious minimal parenting skills now, but it was a big deal for a time. Video games are the new primary form of entertainment for children, and thus should be considered secondary to priorities like education. He dared to blame lax parenting, instead of an easily targeted "evil new media" industry! In my mind, that makes him the only candidate worth supporting, for IT, gamers... or anyone who isn't an idiotic, "blame everyone else first", negligent parent.
Unfortunately, idiot parents are probably a much bigger constituency than we are. If anecdotal evidence in the movie theaters holds (who the heck in their right mind brings their pre-teen to a horror movie in a public theater??), they have us beat in numbers, by far.
The current wars (occupations) are already going to be costing the US upwards of $2 Trillion when all is said and done, and McCain wants to increase the number of fronts we will be fighting on, and you think he somehow will reign in spending?
Heck, his current campaign is already over the legal spending limits of a law he helped write . If he can't control his own campaign spending, how do well do you think he will handle the finances of an entire country?
Wright's comments were taken out of context, and Obama acknowledged that.
Wright knows that parts of his sermons are shocking and provocative. He successfully provoked the media and got his name out. yay.
I find it useful to define words precisely. Therefore, I suggest that libertarianism has two strands: capitalistic and socialistic. Find out which kind YOU are at http://www.politicalcompass.org/. There's a fun little quiz there that will place you on the political grid. For, you see, there is not just economic "left" and "right". Another axis exists: authoritarianism and libertarianism. In other words, for math geeks, two political axes exist, not just one. I am located in the very lower left corner of the grid :) It's a nice place chock full of gentle, humble, brilliant, sociable poeple.
Peace,
Debocracy
*~*~*~*~*~* Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread, re-made all the time, made new.
you must be new around here!
----
Fellow Senior Brother-in-Alms,
How does being a well informed individual, who doest thy keep thy lusers in check and thy LARTs in plenty, exclude thee from Class Struggle?
PS: Beer! Beer good!
----
IT workers favor McCain, I guess there are a lot of stupid people in IT then.
Don't Vote for Norm Dicks! http://www.nodicks2008.com Another nutless dirtbag that voted for the FISA bill!
Sitting here in Europe,an US libertarian sounds like yet another type of right wing nut job that should not be in any position of power.
Of course most folks in the US think Europe is some kind of Socialist paradise, in spite that market economy has been alive and well for the best part of 200 years, bar the wastelands of the Soviet Empire, that are just now recovering from the onslaught.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Star Trek does not worry itself with such issues.
The most we know is that they are a Federation of planets of some sort (i.e. some degree of free association exists). There is precious little about the economic system in the series.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
... stop the war on drugs.
You may find some money there to attend to the needs of US citizens.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
CompTIA's a bunch of weasels. They're a lobbying group who represent big business, not individual programmers/techies. These folks lobbied for us not getting overtime, for instance.
They're also the mouth-breathers who came up with the Network+ cert.
I suspect that this survey is as crooked as they could figure out how to make it, to support their causes.
Look, first of all I am a foreigner working in a country that is not mine, so there is one of my biases for you.
But unlike other people I came here and applied for jobs as a local, given the vaguearies of EU and British Law.
And now I lost my job.
So, you know who is doing the stuff I was doing? Three chaps in India, connecting remotely to computers in the EU, earning far less than I do, being obviously exploited (12 hour shifts are not uncommon), and shitting their pants when faced with the task at hand (honestly, I pity them). My expertise in the industry is more than all of theirs added up together...
The people that actually emigrate are doing so because there is a real shortage of skills (I am sure I will find a job as soon as I apply for one, and in my now gone job I interviewed people to fill technical positions, and believe me, the shortage is there), and the people emigrating actually pay taxes locally, spend their money locally and in general make a contribution to the local economy while they are in their host country (sometimes for ever, which is also important, the host country did not invest a single penny on the education of the immigrants and are reaping all the rewards).
Remote workers in the other hand contribute nothing to the local economy (bar making it more efficient, I have noticed salaries are not as high as they used to be, but this is all anecdotal). No taxes, no direct spending, putting downwards pressure in local salaries (which may be a a good thing to be frank, the conspicuous consumerism in the West just can't continue unabated) and sometimes benefiting from infrastructure that at some point was meant to benefit the local populace. This is the real problem for IT worker in the West.
I am not whining mind you. I enjoyed the times of plenty, if now come the difficult years so be it, but if people out there are looking at the causes for the current situation at the very least they should have clear what is affecting their situation without going for the obvious target.
The chap connecting to machines in your locality bypassing all controls (with the complacency of your local government) is who is undermining your position (rightly or wrongly, you decide). Some governments actually are doing something about this, but the US and UK seem oblivious to this, maybe because foolishly IT workers in these countries really believed that class struggle was dead and believed that by contracting at high rates they really were businessmen, when in reality continued to be salaried people by another name. By drinking that Kool-Aid we have failed to organize to apply political pressure to defend our interests.
Yes, there should be more remote workers because they are cheaper, but Western governments should ensure there is no exploitation so competition is fairer and perhaps tax companies doing this (if they threaten to leave the country governments should ask themselves if they are not doing this anyway by locating jobs elsewhere).
Lack of class conscience in the IT workers everywhere has given an enormous advantage to other people: how many CEOs or senior management positions you have seen been moved in a similar way? No chappies, wealthy people protect each other, they are very conscious about the class struggle, and their greatest achievement has been to convince salaried people that such a thing does not exist (while relocating many jobs using technology without paying the economic penalties that they would pay in any other situation).
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
So is that worse than spending in killing people in a foreign country that did nothing to you?
Well, sure as hell I would support a government looking after their own people than one killing other people based on blatant lies.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Any one of the three biggies remaining (McCain, Obama, Hillary) would be an absolute disaster for America as far as I'm concerned.
Constitutionally Correct
I did that yesterday. I also did it six months ago, but quite quickly and without really thinking too hard. I decided that if I did it again and really thought about each question I'd probably appear less radical than before. I was very wrong, I was placed at (-9½, -9).
Funny stuff, but we ALREADY import enough cocaine to ski on without the trade agreement. We need to treat Colombia well. They have been one of our best allies and all they are asking for is an open market.
Whatever happened to keeping church and state separate?
--
http://www.emp-online.com/bin/shop.php?prog=shop&mid=&article=805314&funktion=PRODUCTINFO&bildrub=search
"i cannot understand"
I believe you, based on your post, you can't be very smart, so yo not understanding things makes perfect sense.
McCain = Continue war in Iraq. Click this checkbox if you like things the way they are now.
Clinton = Pickup senate investigations where they left off on hubby Bill. Gov is frozen in senate hearing, nothing gets done.
Obama = Maybe some actual change. Better? Maybe. Worse? Maybe.
"All serious human rights organizations have found..."
Something to complain about in every location they've ever been asked to review.
It's what they do guy, you assigning credibility to their opinions doesn't make them valid.
The Depublicans or the Remocrats? Btw. W received more votes in 2004 than in 2000.
"Nobody was talking about McCain a month ago."
That's wrong.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Category:John_McCain
You're trying to pretend no one was talking about McCain in the middle of the Republican primaries. You sound ridiculous.
"I find it astonishing that this McCain guy is even being talked about."
I find it astonishing that someone is so biased and ignorant that they think people discussing THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is astonishing.
"With the totally ignored cries that the call girl agency which did Spitzer in was long known by U.S. Intelligence to be a Mossad front, and that he was fed to the lions to get a wall-street watchdog like Spitzer out of the way before the shenanigans with the Fed and JP Morgan and Bear Stearns which broke a week later, shows again that if you are clean, you aren't allowed to come to power of any sort."
I doubt they'd have been able to "feed him to the lions" if he wasn't paying for whores.
"That's just sick."
What's really sick is that even in the face of your overwhelming bias and ignorance, you get the same vote I do. THAT is sick.
From the looks of what I've seen, the Obama "racist" claims don't hold that much water. And as for "anti-american" and "socialist" - perhaps that's just what the US needs right now.
If by "anti-American", you mean he goes against the way things have been done in the US for so long now that everyone has become accustomed to it, perhaps it's worth examining what that line of thinking has done to the US, and why the whole country is beginning to show serious signs of weakening at the seams. A change away to some radically different ideas could make for a much better country.
As for "socialist", there are many great socialist democracies in Europe that are far more pleasant to live in (in many people's opinions) that the decidedly anti-socialist way that the US is run. While I doubt that any American politician (including Obama) would make America even half as socialist as these European countries, a slight move in that direction wouldn't hurt!
My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
maybe this photo of Obama making a phone call will help you decide who is better with technology!!
You said
"So, we will not leave ever. Not in a hundred years, not in a thousand years, not in a million years. That is what McCain said in all honesty."
Then you said
"You are projecting on McCain something he has never said."
it very much looks like it is YOU who are "projecting on McCain something he has never said". In all honesty.
Lots of negative questions in that... rather frustrating actually!
Suffice to say, I came up -4.62 / -5.49, which is roughly where I expected to fall as a "typical European IT geek".
I also think the test could probably do with some more degrees of "agree/disagree", and clarification over some questions. The question "a significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system.", I had to agree with, because it IS an advantage of that system, despite the fact that that system is unworkable and horrific to me on so many other levels. Nor do I think that the delay of progress in a democratic system is really a problem - because the cause of that delay is the checks and balances that make sure what's being done is truly right. Without this delay, a lot of very bad stuff could happen. But, I still had to agree with the statement as it was worded, because if there were a way to have checks and balances WITHOUT a delay, it would be better, and therefore the lack of delay in a one-party system is an advantage.
I'm not entirely sure that my answer "agree" accurately reflected my belief though.
My book about LSD and Self-Discovery
Also on facebook as: DroppingAcidDaleBewan
Take a midol and calm down you screechy b*tch.
Oooh, good argument. If I had mod points I'd totally mod you up as "+1 Insightful" for a gem like that.
Look, I'm not much of a fan of Hagee either, but it doesn't help you to spew crap like "he's trying to bring the Apocalypse!". He's doing no such thing. He simply believes the same thing that other Evangelicals do; that the end times will revolve around an attempted invasion of Israel. He'd tell you himself that trying to personally bring about the Second Coming is blasphemy, because it violates two Biblical principals. One, that "no man knows the time" of Christ's return, and thus can't personally bring it about, and "do not tempt the Lord thy God", ie don't attempt to force God's actions.
Try not to believe everything you read on Alternet or Crooks and Liars.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Sucks to have to deal with the fact that everything I said was true huh? Way easier to hide in the shadows and mod me down for saying something you don't like.
hi xaxa. I guess that would make us the "lower" left.
*~*~*~*~*~* Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread, re-made all the time, made new.
I'm going to refrain on the rant about what candidate means what to me, although that's the vibe here.
I guess I never looked at Tech workers being a demographic. Frankly I don't look at my career choice as being part of a demographic, rather a means to the ends. I vote for a candidate, not based on what I do for a living, but how he/she will impact my family. Just one more meaningless statistic.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics. Somewhere else lies the truth.
Paul hasn't dropped out, although he can not win at this point.
For the "IT workers" with their head up their ass ---> John McCain is unfit for duty. Hillary Rodham Clinton or "Billary", as they are known, is a loose cannon & self-serving, Obama is far and above the best for the job. Quoting: "the better to make a voting block whose views must be attended to" IS the reason WHY the U.S. is where it is now - In deep Shit, I mean REALLY DEEP SHIT. Selfish, greedy and short-sighted actions like "Lobbying" to get what they want is going to send the U.S. back to the dark ages, perhaps this is good anyway, as the U.S. isn't doing the WORLD any GOOD anyway. Cr0vv.
"This is correct, but it is no good enough if your home is going to be repossessed."
If your home is being repossessed, the likelihood is high that its no one's fault but yours, especially if you're a sub-prime borrower. This is a problem of people that couldn't really afford homes buying them at high interest rates from banks that lent money to said people that couldn't afford them. If you want to truly fix the problem, you'd let both parties suffer and the market would quickly fix things. However, it increasingly looks like Uncle Sugar will bail both parties out, in essence rewarding them for their bad choices. Meanwhile, people that followed a budget and bought houses they could actually afford must feel like utter chumps right now. Uncle Sugar could have got them a bigger house too.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
"His Republican anti-immigration policies don't protect any IT jobs."
One, calling John McCain... a man absolutely roasted by his own party for his moderate immigration reform proposals... "anti-immigration" is sheer bullshit. But I suspect you know that already.
Two... why in the hell should anyone in government "protect" jobs? Just because I don't want to see the visa system abused to bring in cheap labor doesn't mean I want Uncle Sugar in the business of shielding jobs in the free market.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
"So instead of cheer leading for a pack of consumerist egocentric gas guzzling war mongering Luddites (AMERICA) how about you try to understand why they hate us and why they have some valid grievances, not to justify any of their reactions however."
You're either the biggest moonbat on Slashdot, or a really terrible troll. Either way, 1 - I'm proud to be American, and if you don't approve, tough shit, and 2 - get thee under the bridge.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Thank goodness somebody labeled you flamebait.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Is that a biased comment? Of course it's biased. The world just suffered enormously under 8 years of bank-breaking war-hawk rule. I'm guessing you were living on the same planet as the rest of us, so I find it, yes, astonishing, that people of your nature still don't get it.
You're trying to pretend no one was talking about McCain in the middle of the Republican primaries.
I'm not trying to pretend anything. The tenor and emotional involvement of the population didn't include today's level of love and attention for the Republican senator. I don't know how to quantify this statistically, but that was certainly the impression I lived with day to day for the past year up until it changed in just the past couple of weeks. The fastest runner of a bunch of losers doesn't deserve the kind of attention he's been getting. It's insane, as are any who are demonstrating the ability to be swayed so effectively into considering him an actual, valid choice "Sane" would be a vast quiet, but actually seeing people consider and argue for this dangerous idiot is, well, the result of limited brain capabilities. But then, that's actually been demonstrated scientifically, hasn't it? Republicans are just as likely to pick an M as they are a W.
If enough people like you act like fools and willingly dive into more hell, then please remember, the rest of the world is going to have to pay for your extreme gullibility. Are you one of those who would like to see war with Iran? Are you one of those who thinks that Iran and Al Qaeda are linked despite their radical religious animosity?
I doubt they'd have been able to "feed him to the lions" if he wasn't paying for whores.
Yes, that was exactly my point. I'm not sure what you're objecting to.
What's really sick is that even in the face of your overwhelming bias and ignorance, you get the same vote I do. THAT is sick.
No, sick is voting for murder through ignorance. There is nothing more frightening than an adult with a machine gun who has a child's perception of the world and who is easily lied to.
-FL
http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=4.00&soc=-3.49
right/libertarian, but not to the extreme of either.. Just where I expected to fall.
Ron Paul admits he hasn't got any chance, but he hasn't actually dropped out either.
Politics is such a trivial sick-humor/humorless subject much like M$ and U$.
Unaccountable leaders are masters, and unrepresented people are slaves. How do US and EU fare?
i hope the meta mods catch this, 2 obama fans modding a rebuttal flamebait/overrated.
but don't take my word for it, take the words of the leader of the NY civil rights commission:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-meyers20mar20,0,3898931.story
The article refers to quintiles of households by income, with the poorest spending $10,678/person/year and richest spending $22,536/person/year. The average household size is 1.7 for the lowest quintile and 3.1 for highest.
with a man having his pole smoked while his wife's in the same building?
And for that matter, how the hell is she supposed to do it otherwise? Perhaps a doorway or 1st-floor window, I suppose--but that's a little kinky for my taste.
From an IT perspective, since all of the candidates some how think that there is a massive shortage of IT workers in the US and we should increase the number of H1-Bs to solve this problem, it really doesn't matter who is elected.
That's the power of the lobbyists at work, and that's why *our* democracy is under threat. Objective studies rarely show a real "shortage".
Table-ized A.I.
Explain the thuggery that unionbusting has employed. Maybe there should be a look into it, as they'll move to IT when they get word of it. The only shame(to them) is that we already know their tactics and strategy. If you don't let them drag it out, they can't bring in their thugs(internally developed or externally developed).
You will not enslave myself or my office into a union, ever. I'm not handing a part of my paycheck over to a bunch of crooks. Screw that. Unions deserve to be not only busted, but smashed.
This is my sig.
He plans to pursue the same policies as Bush, Reagan and Bush - policies which, in case you hadn't noticed, have been a fiscal disaster for this country. http://doctor-frog.dailykos.com/
McCain was not the victim of drive-by endorsements. He actively sought out Hagee's endorsement.
Nice modding...
Obscured racism and sexism gets +5 Insightful.
Nice to see the stereotypes still live on in the SlashDot world as well. Anyone that asserts as fact that women or non-white Americans are automatically 'victim groups' is perpetuating both sexism and racism, and this oddly gets modded up?
Are the readers here really in agreement with this, or do they not 'get' what the person is saying, even though the poster didn't directly come out and use derogatory words beyond 'victim groups'?
...If the latter then his entire "vote for me I have better judgment" pitch evaporates... it was monumental bad judgment not to distance himself from this reverend long ago, not when the issue blows up in the media."
Puh-leeze... failing to dissociate yourself from a logtime friend who occasionally says dumb stuff does not even remotely compare to supporting the Iraq war.
It is not the magnitude of the outcomes that matter here, it is the fact that there is a viable counterexample to demonstrate Obama's judgment is not as good as he claims. If you can't get the easy thing right, dumping a liability before beginning a no holds barred political campaign, how can you be trusted with the complicated things? People can now reasonably argue that his Iraq position was merely a guess that turned out correct, not the result of good judgment. Again, the embarrassment over the reverend is not the issue, it is evaporation of Obama's good judgment argument. Without this argument his differentiation from Clinton is merely better speeches, not judgment, not policy.
You should read a book on the subject:
In "The Age of Abundance", Brink Lindsey offers a bold reinterpretation of the latter half of the twentieth century. Readers will learn how and why the contemporary ideologies of left and right emerged in response to the novel challenges of mass prosperity -- and how a new, more libertarian consensus is forming that mixes the social freedom of the left with the economic freedom of the right.
It's a FASCINATING read!
http://www.brinklindsey.com/
Libertas in infinitum
Two words: defense contractors
Libertas in infinitum