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McCain vs. Obama on Tech Issues
eldavojohn writes "Ars is running a brief article that looks at stances from Chuck Fish of McCain's campaign and Daniel Weitzner from Obama's in regards to technical issues that may cause us geeks to vote one way or the other. From openness vs. bandwidth in the net neutrality issue to those pesky National Security Letters, there's some key differences that just might play at least a small part in your vote. You may also remember our discussions on who is best for geeks."
If you have time there are some interesting points here:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
I can't speak for McCain, but go watch Obama at Google and tell me that he has no passion for tech issues. Half of his broader economic plan boils down to putting our faith in science and technology again -- we'll never be competitive with China at building toys out of injection-molded plastic -- we can be competitive in the technological arena.
Half the reason I started following him back before it was popular was because he was one of the few candidates that I heard that even acknowledges the war on science and all the ill effects that we've suffered as a result.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The ACLU Scorecard might be helpful. It doesn't contain some technical issues, and has a bit of fluff, but it's worthwhile anyway even for a general overview of a candidate's voting style.
Both of these candidates, however, are abstaining quite a bit in the recent votes to avoid alienating any swing groups.
Not to mention that when Hillary "The primary is just a formality" Rodham Clinton "counts every vote", she doesn't count votes in all caucus states. Or that she wasn't planning on counting any votes after February 5th.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Obama and McCain want to put potsmokers in prison.
Obama has indicated a willingness to halt the DEA raids on dispensaries in California. He and Bob Barr (Libertarian) favor letting states handle the issue. Obama still wants the FDA involved somewhere; I'm not sure about Barr. McCain has waffled but apparently endorses the current Bush Administration policy. link
that joke could have been modded "interesting" if we were speaking of Italy...
our situation is just like the upper post... sigh...
we've even called (nation-vide) the 2 candidates "Veltrusconi" ( Veltroni + Berlusconi), since they're just the same....
they had the same program, their parties have almost identical names (pd vs. pdl), and the "opposition" actually said that they won't oppose...
uhm...time to change country, i guess...
Several thousand voter registrations were invalidated and "purged" from the rolls erroneously by several county supervisors of elections. The mandatory recount (which happens in EVERY election in Florida with such a small margin) was only partially completed. Some supervisors felt that simply retabulating the memory cards from the optical scan voting machines was an adequate recount rather than re-feeding the actual ballots through the machines (this is all before we even MENTION the punch card ballots). Bush won Florida, and thus the presidency by a mere 516 votes. Well within margin of error territory.
I don't know which is which, but I know which one asked Steve Ballmer to be his technical advisor. Knowing that, NOW which one would you pick?
My blog
Big hint: The other candidate's technical advisor is Lawrence Lessig. Guess he must be the lawyer/media executive.
My blog
As a whole, no. I'm talking about specifics, not political philosophy. Many specific points have been settled for a long time, but are being reopened by people operating under false pretenses.
True, there are many laws that need updating for technological reasons, but these laws need to be strengthened and extended, not weakened. For example the Pen Register act requires a warrant for the use of a Pen Register -- a device which records the impulses in an old analog telephone switch, and thus who you are calling. This isn't philosophically different from demanding the email logs of an ISP, which is not covered by the act.
Technology is reopening some of these issues, and the argument is that things have changed so much that the old concerns for the freedom and privacy of the citizen aren't as important in the face of new and unprecedented threats.
Really? The threats coming from people who are acting against the law's proscriptions don't look all that new. Today we're worried about Al Qaeda; thirty years ago we were worried about the KGB, as well as domestic subversives and radicals.
The argument is that the people are more technologically empowered to commit crimes. That is true. They're also much more dependent upon technology. That means that on balance the government (and its private sector agents -- another new development) has gained more power to meddle and pry than people have gained to transgress.
So on balance, things have changed in a fundamental way, but not so that we should avoid restoring the protections of, say the Pen Register Act. On the contrary, we should go well beyond those protections.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Oh really? Wow no mention of that on spaceref.com.
In fact, it seems he wants to explicitly *continue* the important programs.
But don't let a little thing like facts get in the way of your FUD campaign.
Hillary is a lying sh*thead. Obama is a well reasoned smart guy. Get over it.
In fact, a corporaiton's charter and bylaws determine what the goals of the organization are. Most public corporations include shareholder value and profits among the goals of the organization (why else would someone invest?), but many privatecorporations are not-for-profit; some actually exist to *lose* money (such as some incorporated charitable trusts with a schedule for payout).
At any rate, it is not a legal requirement to try to make money; it is a contractual obligation, which is different. You can't face charges for steering a company poorly, unless your acts themselves are illegal. You can, however, face a tort action for violating the company's charter if some of the shareholders feel there was gross negligence or willful wrongdoing.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Contrast that to Obama's adviser, who's from MIT -- and supports net neutrality. That, and Obama's whole campaign shows quite a lot more technical savvy than anyone else's, on either side.
(To clarify: I'm using the proper definition of net neutrality; that is, I believe the network should be neutral, and that we should probably legislate this.)
While I'm at it, McCain did say that he'd pick Steve "The Chair" Ballmer for his cabinet. In an ambassadorial role. That does not inspire confidence. Never mind that most media execs and participants - actors and reporters and the like - actively support the Democrat party, yet espouse the very "restrictions on my right to copy any material I want" that is so anethema here... You know, you are so right. From now on, I'm going to base my vote on who everyone else is voting for! Because it'd be bad to vote for the same guy that someone else likes...
*headdesk*
Maybe they like Obama for other reasons?
Maybe you don't have any statistics at all for that, and you'd rather scream against the (imaginary) Slashdot groupthink?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
FACT - The DNC ASKED candidates to withdraw their name. Some obliged. Others did not.
Fact - Hillary Clinton signed a pledge that said:
"THEREFORE, I (Hillary Clinton), Democratic Candidate for President, pledge
I shall not campaign or participate in any state which schedules a presidential
election primary or caucus before Feb. 5, 2008, except for the states of Iowa,
Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina, as "campaigning" is defined by
rules and regulations of the DNC."
Note the "or participate" part.
"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said.
Link