Slashdot Mirror


Trump Names Two Opponents of Net Neutrality To Oversee FCC Transition Team (gizmodo.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: President-elect Donald Trump has appointed two new advisers to his transition team that will oversee his FCC and telecommunications policy agenda. Both of the new advisers are staunch opponents of net neutrality regulations. Jeff Eisenach, one of the two newly appointed advisers, is an economist who has previously worked as a consultant for Verizon and its trade association. In September 2014, Eisenach testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee and said, "Net neutrality would not improve consumer welfare or protect the public interest." He has also worked for the conservative think-tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and in a blog post wrote, "Net neutrality is crony capitalism pure and simple." Mark Jamison, the other newly appointed adviser, also has a long history of battling against net neutrality oversight. Jamison formerly worked on Sprint's lobbying team and now leads the University of Florida's Public Utility Research Center. Both Eisenach and Jamison are considered leading adversaries of net neutrality who worked hard to prevent the rules from being passed last year. For the uninitiated, the rules passed last year prevent companies internet providers from discriminating against any online content or services. For example, without net neutrality rules, internet providers like Comcast and Verizon could charge internet subscribers more for using sites like Netflix. The FCC's net neutrality rules would protect consumers from paying exorbitant fees for internet use.

395 comments

  1. Why are we even arguing about it? by Anon-Admin · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is simple. They are ether common carriers or they are not.

    If they are common carriers then they can not inspect the content they carry and as such are not liable for that content.

    If they are NOT common carriers then they can inspect the content and charge what they like. However, they are liable for the content they carry. Thus if they choose to not be common carriers and someone is transmitting Child porn, threats, selling drugs, pirated music and movies,etc. Then they are liable for the transport of that data and we should prosecute them for it.

    Do it just a few times and all the ISP's will be on board with becoming common carriers.

    1. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It is absolutely not that simple. Since Trump or at least congress can craft the regulations with whatever exemptions they see fit. Giving "common carriers" their cake and letting them eat it.

    2. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by rectalfeeding · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If they are common carriers then they can not inspect the content they carry and as such are not liable for that content.

      I'm pretty sure Amtrak is allowed to check to make sure you aren't shipping large quantities of radioactive material on their cars. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as "reasonable rail transportation management".

      The loopholes are large and easily navigable.

    3. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by rtb61 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Cough, cough, like corporate censorship is no their wet dream, even in personal one on one digital transmissions, "sorry the statement you just made is illegal and you have been cut off, penalty for the message is a 72 hour cooling off period during which your service will be disconnected, this is your third warning any additional infraction will result in an extended disconnection of three months, have a nice day". Your plan sucks big time, you are giving them exactly what they want. Net neutrality is a privacy right, those who attack our right to privacy should be punished, severely.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by valnar · · Score: 1

      If it were only that easy. I can barely get to everything I need on my Verizon MiFi due to their firewalls and NAT policies. There's nothing common about that.

    5. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by hey! · · Score: 1

      If they are common carriers then they can not inspect the content they carry and as such are not liable for that content.

      However they can look at the envelope (the address and the return address) and charge differently/deliver with different quality of service, favoring their own content.

      Basically Verizon would like it's Internet service to be like their cellular service years ago, where signing on meant you really had to use their services.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    6. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Are you worried the internet will be used to transport radioactive bits?

    7. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by rectalfeeding · · Score: 1

      Net neutrality is a privacy right

      To me it is more of a Free Speech right. In my worldview, Free Speech encompasses GPG and SSH and therefore encompasses private communication as well.

    8. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is simple. For purposes of liability, they are not common carriers. For purposes of legal protections and trade practices, they are common carriers.

      Get that through your head. They decide how this works, not you.

      Netflix, unlike you, has some real money, and hence might manage to win some net-neutrality victories. But if not....we can all just go back to their dvd-by-mail offering. The free market will provide.

    9. Re: Why are we even arguing about it? by nachtelfjeiu · · Score: 0

      "Are you worried the internet will be used to transport radioactive bits?" What makes you believe it isn't?

    10. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by sg_oneill · · Score: 1

      Privacy and Free speech are the positive/negative (freedom to, freedom from) liberty two sides of the same coin. You can't have free speech without Anonymity (privacy!) and you cant have privacy without free speech.

      We can carve excemptions into these. Shouting fire in crowded theatres, or intentionally inciting some crimes (ie calling a hit on somebody, or ordering a crowd to go burn down a mosque, or whatever) might be a reasonable excemption to free speech, and likewise we might throw a few excemptions into privacy (police investigating a murder might have pretty good grounds to tap your phone for instance), but when we make exceptions in one side we logically make excpeptions on the other side.

      Thus the free speech argument for network neutrality (companies should not limit the content you read) is the same as the privacy right argument for network neutrality (companies should not spy on the content you read), just viewed from another side.

      --
      Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
    11. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Calydor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, some Youtube comments do give you cancer, so maybe that's why!

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    12. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > You can't have free speech without Anonymity (not the same as privacy)
      > you cant have privacy without free speech.

      You can and do, in both cases. Stating that they are the same is misleading.

    13. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > They are ether common carriers or they are not.

      They want to be both, depending on circumstances. Or none.

      And they'll get all, just wait and see.

    14. Re: Why are we even arguing about it? by prefec2 · · Score: 2

      This is what you think. It may even be supported by logic. Unfortunately, politics is not about logic, it is about power and influence and money. Lobbyists in high places will do what they always wanted the last 4 years.

      While I do not live in the US, it frightens me what that might have an effect on the EU.

    15. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Trump or at least congress can craft the regulations with whatever exemptions they see fit.

      Donald calls this process "Draining the Swamp".

      --
      No sig today...
    16. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      >Donald calls this process "Draining the Swamp".

      Oh he's draining that swamp alright, and dumping raw sewage where the swamp used to be.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    17. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The telco's say, "You what?"

    18. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      He only wants to drain it so he can build his own sewage works there. The first thing he has done is appoint his friends and family to his administration, scumbags the lot of them.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    19. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah like they will catch everything all the time. Stuff will slip through like CP and they'll be held liable. Simple as that.

    20. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Silly goose.
      They obviously want to the best of both worlds.

      And will throw around whatever lobbying money it takes to get there.
      God knows, they've got the cash to do it.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    21. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      Trump or at least congress can craft the regulations with whatever exemptions they see fit.

      Donald calls this process "Draining the Swamp".

      ...into Washington D.C.

    22. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Silly goose. They obviously want to the best of both worlds.

      And will throw around whatever lobbying money it takes to get there. God knows, they've got the cash to do it.

      but but, Trump said he'd ban lobbyists! Drain the swamp! Things would be different and better under him! ;_;

    23. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Patent+Lover · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure Amtrak does not fall under telecommunications regulations.

    24. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      Because you're simplifying a legal distinction. Telecommunications doesn't simply divide into "common carriers" and "non common carriers" with one getting certain rights and restrictions, and the other getting a complementary set of rights and restrictions. The rights and restrictions granted are entirely what Congress decides, and it can, and has, used more categories than the ludicrous binary simplification half of Slashdot thinks exists.

      Yes, Common Carriers have certain rights and restrictions. But other categories of telecommunications service provider also have an overlapping set of rights and restrictions. If I use Google Sites to host child porn, Google doesn't get prosecuted for it unless they fail to take action when they discover the child porn is there, for example. Additionally, common carriers have also always had the right to prioritize and manage traffic based upon their technical needs - they can't do it on the basis of the message being sent, but they certainly can limit it based upon technical characteristics of the type of message being sent - so services like Binge On, for example, would be fine.

      So, no, it doesn't hinge on whether ISPs are Common Carriers.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    25. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Tesen · · Score: 1

      He only wants to drain it so he can build his own sewage works there. The first thing he has done is appoint his friends and family to his administration, scumbags the lot of them.

      Yup and he duped enough people to get the EC votes. We can only hope the electors see what he is doing and say, "nope, I will take my fine (in states where this applies) and vote for the betterment of the country."

      He is still acting like this a reality TV show and it will only get worse IMHO.

    26. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      Why are people surprised about this? Only idiots didn't see this coming.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    27. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not a Right if the government can grant it to you and take it away from you with the stroke of the pen. You want government involved in the Internet? Well here you go. Congrats.

    28. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SO we should sue all of the gun manufacturers for gun crimes?
      False premise bud.

    29. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by saider · · Score: 1

      The term "Common Carrier" originated back in the day when the government was seeking to regulate the railroads.

      --


      Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
    30. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Tesen · · Score: 2

      Why are people surprised about this? Only idiots didn't see this coming.

      People have been told they should be angry and that they have been cheated; the one thing Trump is very good at is playing for ratings and he got that. He was able to use the media to his advantage and without having to pay for a lot of the attention. We shall see in four years if the electors do not vote against him, who will admit to having voted for Trump, especially since the sewage plant is in full swing it seems.

    31. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trump or at least congress can craft the regulations with whatever exemptions they see fit.

      Donald calls this process "Draining the Swamp".

      Psychologists call this psychosis. You've not only constructed a completely fictional portrayal of current/future events, but you're absolutely fucking convinced that it's real. Fucking hell, Joce640k. Get a grip.

    32. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      So people can really see how net neutrality extends out into the whole of our future, the loss of neutrality is a real threat to 'Freedom, Democracy and Justice' and must be fought by all legal means possible. Trump should be reminded again and again, he would have lost big time without net neutrality, likely would not even have made it past the primaries, he should not destroy what served him well and will serve his family well in the future.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    33. Re: Why are we even arguing about it? by KenHansen · · Score: 1

      Trump should be reminded again and again, he would have lost big time without net neutrality, likely would not even have made it past the primaries, he should not destroy what served him well and will serve his family well in the future.

      WTF are you talking about? How did Trump benefit from ISPs being forced to treat all packets on the internet equally? Really makes no sense, please explain how pricing guidelines put Trump in the Whitehouse?

    34. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He only wants to drain it so he can build his own sewage works there.

      No. Sewage works is a treatment plant. He wants to drain the swamp, without realizing why the swamp is there, and replace it with an unregulated open cesspit.

      Captcha: vomited

    35. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Punished severely is an understatement. An attack on the right to privacy is in itself an attack on freedom. An attack on freedom has in every case of human history only been tolerated for so long before the deniers of freedom are torn down. On top of that attacking freedom is akin to attacking truth, you cannot destroy something that is beyond the limits of physical reality, that have been and are now and always will be. Truth and freedom are so real that they exist in the very fabric of the universe, above the physical world, which is not real because it is constantly changing. Truth cannot change, freedom cannot change. To attempt this is purely futile and will not stand the test of time and the human spirit.

      "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is." - Winston Churchill

    36. Re:Why are we even arguing about it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, it was an absolute certainty that Hillary would be naming all kinds of corrupt cronies to same positions, with all of her cozy ties to big business, the media, wall street, and the whole pay-for-play thing with the Clinton Foundation. So people took a chance that Trump wouldn't do the same. I agree the chances are small, so while this is disappointing it's not unexpected.

      The real solution is to convince people that there is a better choice than the less corrupt of the Democratic and Republican choices on the ballot.

  2. I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Qbertino · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I have to say it, folks. Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd, words fail me. I'm seriously worried. You're having a Type A autocrat in charge soon and clear and present dangers encroaching on basic foundational structures, social contracts and rights in the US.

    I acutally have a serious question regarding the most recent developments:
    What are you doing about this? Personally, I mean. What are you thinking about doing?
    Anybody of you guys going all-out prepper, stocking up on water-filters, assault-rifles, ammo, gear, tools and checking to buy some land in the flyovers?
    Anybody else considering migrating to Canada, South America, Europe or something?

    Please reply in this thread.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
    1. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Personally, just saying fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck over and over again in my head.

    2. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by The+Raven · · Score: 2

      The pot is only a few degrees warmer than it was last year. I'm sure everything will work out.

      --
      "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.
    3. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 5, Funny
      I did consider doing all of those things.....and then Hillary lost.

      Now I'm just back to worrying about zombies.

    4. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by rectalfeeding · · Score: 2

      Mainly I contemplate what a billionaire with presidential powers can do with modern and near future drone, torture, and mass surveillance technology. I don't think an AK-47 is going to make a difference.

    5. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      I have to say it, folks. Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd, words fail me. I'm seriously worried.

      Don't worry, we're draining the pond. Make sure you set an extra plate for dinner because once America gets great again, we're on our way.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by subk · · Score: 2

      Bro, the sane ones of us in the South went "full prepper" years ago. We are already ready.

      --
      Now, if you'll excuse me, I have backups to corrupt.
    7. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by rmdingler · · Score: 1
      I'm not happy with the President-elect, and that would be true if the election had tilted the other way;

      but, when we have a say in electing a democratic leader, we respect the result and hope for the best.

      If the system of selecting leaders was by heredity, military action, or any such other measure, their would be some poor leaders. I don't why we imagine democracy is that much different.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    8. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by bigfinger76 · · Score: 1

      It would appear that I am doing the same thing 'about it' as you are, with regards to the recent passing of the 'Snoopers' Charter' in your fine country - reading Slashdot.

    9. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're having a Type A autocrat in charge soon and clear and present dangers encroaching on basic foundational structures, social contracts and rights in the US.

      Yeah, right. We should all be so lucky as to have Theresa May, God's gift to democracy and civil rights. No chance of clear and present dangers with her...

    10. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1

      It is disappointing, where I'm at the protests have all been pretty tame. Florida doesn't put up with that kind of crap so they've been behaving themselves.

    11. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by blogagog · · Score: 0

      You misunderstand the situation. America just got away from a president who thought he was an emperor, passing laws by fiat. We now have a president who is going to undo those laws, and act like a president of old. Passing laws with the help of congress. It's going to be wonderful. And btw, sales of guns have dropped since he won the election. They were abnormally high under Obama, because, rightfully, no one trusted him to keep our freedoms intact.

      Don't cry for us. We are about to have explosive growth in our economy, and an increase in a few freedoms for all Americans. It's a good thing.

    12. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Mainly I contemplate what a billionaire with presidential powers can do with modern and near future drone, torture, and mass surveillance technology. I don't think an AK-47 is going to make a difference.

      I already observed what a community organizer with presidential powers can do with current drone, torture, and mass surveillance technology... And he wanted to ban me owning a AK-47... Nothing can scare me now...

    13. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1, Troll

      It is disappointing, where I'm at the protests have all been pretty tame. Florida doesn't put up with that kind of crap so they've been behaving themselves.

      Florida puts up with meth spills on the highway, but not political protests.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by z0idberg · · Score: 1

      that's just a side-effect of the chemtrails.

    15. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by surd1618 · · Score: 0

      The protests will be better if you go to them. Seriously, we need people in the streets right now.

    16. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by udachny · · Score: 0

      I am looking forward to all the new rounds of Quantitative Easing (QE) that the Fed will implement as a way to provide funding for all the collectivist crap that Trump promised to do. Given the fact he wants to reduce taxes (the correct thing is to eliminate all forms of income and wealth taxes) and given the fact that he does not mean to reduce spending the difference will have to be printed (borrowed, but who wants to keep buying that debt?)

      So all this money printing (inflation) via the coordination of effort between Congress, Treasury, the Fed and various other central banks means that there is a way to extract some of that hopefully while it lasts.

      Beyond that, fuck it all, the collectivists need to get what they are asking for, which will not be funny in the least, then people *will* need all of those survivalist items you mentioned.

    17. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by AmazingRuss · · Score: 1

      What if they shoot back? They are allowed to buy guns, you know...

    18. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Rational adults don't pack up and move to Canada when an election doesn't go their way, nor do they build a bunker, collecting guns and freeze-dried food in preparation for some sort of Armageddon. Donald Trump may be an arrogant bastard who thinks of attractive women as trophies to fondle, but he's not Anti-Christ-Hitler-Stalin-Pol-Pot. The fringe right also said a lot of idiotic things when Obama was elected, only the mainstream press was having a collective liberalgasm over electing our first black President, and so probably didn't care as much about reporting it.

      Any law passed can also be repealed, and the President can be ousted every four years if he gets to be too unpopular. In truth, very little can be done to significantly change things without Congress' approval (you know, that "balance of powers" thing), and the Republicans have a *very* slim majority in the Senate.

      A year from now, when the country hasn't actually imploded, all this angst is going to look a bit silly in retrospect.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    19. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      What if they shoot back? They are allowed to buy guns, you know...

      They don't own any guns. They are liberal SJWs. The same sort of people are the ones that are trying to erode the first and second amendments. Reality was never on their side.

    20. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Liberals don't buy guns - they ban them!

    21. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by youngone · · Score: 1
      There was a news piece just after the US election that our (New Zealand) immigration website had a huge spike in traffic from the US, and an extra 2,000 or so requests for information.

      They also did the usual thing where they went out and found an American tourist who was prepared to say something nice about the place, (this is standard practice for the media here) but the guy they picked was also going to apply for residency.

      We might get a few Yanks coming over, which would be nice.

    22. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm a liberal and I own many guns. Specifically because of the alt right criminal types I have encountered before.

      But I am more than happy letting them believe I am afraid of guns and don't own any. Let them come unprepared for what i have in store for them.

    23. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by CaptainDork · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In America, we have the right to bear arms.

      We do not have the right to use them.

      Notice our riots. We use stone-age weapons. Literally.

      There's big talk about how the Second Amendment will allow us to overthrow our own government, but it's illegal to even express the intent.

      As for what we're going to do: We will do nothing except let democracy work.

      And, it will.

      Presidential candidates promise things that are beyond the scope of the Executive branch.

      Immigration, abortion, taxes, economy, jobs, walls, immigration, foreign policy, tariffs, and treaties ... all of those are administered and funded by the Legislative branch of government.

      The only assist a President can give to Congress is to refuse to veto legislation.

      The President is the person who steps forward when someone wants to speak to "America."

      Mostly, the job consists of expressing sorrow for the mass shooting du jour and vowing to take action that's not in their job description.

      --

      For reference, witness the last 7.5 years of the "do nothing" Congress that obstructed the current administration from getting anything done.

      This election went the way it did because pissed-off people want something different even if it's a fucking pussy-grabbing batshit crazy white trash scam artist.

      If we're lucky, the new administration will be right-wing Evangelical Christian anti-diversity, pro-business to the point that the courts and Congress will pee down both legs.

      If that happens, we can right the Congressional ship in mid-term 2018 and unfurl the mainsails in 2020.

      --
      It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
    24. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      (but mainly just because obama won't be pres anymore, so we'll see, can't be worse than bush, right?!?!)

    25. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by No+Longer+an+AC · · Score: 1

      I'm drinking and posting on the internet. What am I supposed to do?

      The thought has crossed my mind to emigrate, but to where? And do I really think I could or that I'd like it better?

      I have thought of that, but never seriously.

      I can't just show up in Germany and say I'm a refugee from Syria. I don't think they'd believe me, but maybe I could get them to let me stay anyway.

      But if I had a good job offer from most parts of Europe or some parts of South America or Asia or Canada I would consider it. I've moved between states for jobs before. The differences in the places I've lived within the US are interesting and I quite like the city I live in now.

      All I really want is a job and to be free from fear of crime (which I always have been in the US) and to have a reasonable place to eat and sleep and to afford food and health care.

      I can speak Spanish (not very well, but I could get by in Mexico or Spain). I can order a beer in German. If I had to I could learn Swedish. I would even commit to learning English if I moved to the UK.

    26. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Electoral college was undermined by the national committees of the two major parties... they run their primaries and each come up with terrible candidates, so electoral college cannot apply the discerning voice it was meant to have. So, there's a movement to force electoral college to vote according to national popular vote, and because of the state of affairs it's the right thing to do.
      Hope one day we can shake off the stranglehold that our two major parties have developed and get back to good government by the people for the people.

    27. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      I plan to take advantage of the power vacuums I feel will inevitably appear.

    28. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by hey! · · Score: 2

      What are you doing about this? Personally, I mean. What are you thinking about doing?

      In part it's premature to be very specific. We have to see exactly what he does. I expect he may well stab some of his friends in the back, and that will be bad for him and good for people against him. Other the general outline is pretty clear: Protest. Educate. Volunteer. Donate. Call out bad behavior.

      However biggest real problem is the normalization of the lunatic fringe; the Klan, neonazis and white supremacists. These will have to be challenged. That means confront, fight if necessary, protect where needed.

      Here's an interesting thing: boycotts almost never work in economic terms. Yet they often succeed in political terms. Because people don't like to be associated with embarrassing things. So we have the anti-Trump forces lining up to boycott companies and people who deal with Trump, and the pro-Trump forces lining to to boycott companies who won't, and likely neither will succeed in economic terms. The difference is the amount of personal shame that being called out by one side or the other will carry.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    29. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      It accomplishes nothing. Do the protests BEFORE the election. In fact, forget the protests, just get people to vote. 40% of the eligible voters didn't even bother to vote (even if they hate the presidential candidates there is so much more to vote on). If you get people to vote you can change an election, if you go and protest then nothing changes.

    30. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by quax · · Score: 1

      Rational adults don't pack up and move to Canada when an election doesn't go their way, ...

      Good thing nobody told me that. I moved to Canada after Bush Jr. was re-elected. Never regretted it once.

    31. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're not allowed to own assault rifles because that's overkill for hunting deer.
      Oh wait, Hillary lost?

    32. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to The Cult Of Personality. Anyone who voted for Trump really doesn't know shit from Shinola.

    33. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by jhoger · · Score: 1

      Does SJW mean black people? I'm not up on all the white supremacist lingo.

    34. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mine is: "Oh my gawd, what have you done? You fucking idiots."

      Most of these Trum supporters don't undestand the lasting affect this administration will have on America in the foreseeable future. Our Supreme Court is fucked.

    35. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are one of those idiots that doesn't realize the lasting impact this administration will have on the Supreme Court. This is not good for anybody.

    36. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 0
      It is going to be amazing. O.O

      Pretty much for the first time in a long time we might actually be able to get some pretty crappy progressive rulings knocked down and get some of our individual rights back.

    37. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 0

      Yeah those guns that you "own" are just Battlefield unlocks. Not real guns.

    38. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1

      Maybe. SJWs social justice warriors. Usually just whinny college kids. There are black college kids, so probably.

    39. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1

      Dude, I'm not white. WTF are you babbling on about?

    40. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've looked at various times the past several years (before the dark days... before the Orange One), mainly due to being utterly sick of practicing medicine American-style, with all the frustrations and barriers that have grown over the past decade, and it looked INCREDIBLY challenging. How much difficulty did you have getting established? And are you a citizen or just a legal resident?

    41. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Maow · · Score: 2

      Hi Qbertino,

      If you read through this thread, the replies you received will likely be greatly disheartening.

      It's truly a fact-free world where "truthiness" trumps reality.

      Even here on Slashdot.

      When stories of outrageous ISP pricing and behaviour, etc. ad nauseam, start appearing in the future, take some solace in that it's basically exactly what they've asked for and they deserve it, hard. H.L. Menken being paraphrased there.

      Thanks for you many +5 Informative / Insightful posts over the years. I don't expect to personally be around to see any further ones you make. But I'd enjoy reading your comments on ArsTechnica where I linger silently.

      It's one place where facts and reality triumph over emotions and beliefs.

    42. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They were abnormally high under Obama, because, rightfully, no one trusted him to keep our freedoms intact.

      lol. They were high because of the paranoid delusion that everyone was out to "get your guns", so people bought as many as they could while they were still legal.

      Source: every right wing nutjob I know (which, sadly, is a lot).

    43. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The fringe right also said a lot of idiotic things when Obama was elected,

      The fringe right *invented* a lot of idiotic things and then freaked out about them. The left is freaking out over things that the right have not only announced, but are PROUD of.

      Any law passed can also be repealed, and the President can be ousted every four years if he gets to be too unpopular. In truth, very little can be done to significantly change things without Congress' approval (you know, that "balance of powers" thing), and the Republicans have a *very* slim majority in the Senate.

      Remind me how that slim majority works if the right follows Scott Walker's lead and takes the filibuster away (as he announced he'd like to see happen in a recent radio interview)? It's not up to him, but he's influential in the party and close to Paul Ryan.

      I think you are giving the current crop of Republicans waaayyyy too much credit for reasonableness. This was a party that had already announced plans to refuse to hear any Supreme Court nominees for 4+ years if Clinton had won the election (after leaving the current seat open for the better part of a year).

    44. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Liberals have been trying their hardest to strip your right to defend yourself for decades. Either you are for the right to defend yourself or are a liberal, but not both.

      Again, reality was never on their side.

    45. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are an idiot.
      Do you honestly believe that Trump gives a flying **** about your personal rights?
      He has made his name screwing over people at every possible opportunity, leveraging his daddy's money and his upper class status.
      All he is going to do is look out for himself and those that can help make him richer.
      If you're in that 1%, then you should be celebrating.
      Every single one of those rural voters who put him in office got horribly duped.
      The only right hes going to restore to the 99% of us is the right to be completely controlled by big corporations. Every bit of power he takes from the government will be handed over to the Fortune 1000 with a gold plated, diamond encrusted spoon.

    46. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      post a comment in this webzone if you want a pizza roll

    47. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please treat our liberals nicely. I hear you have fields for them to graze upon, which is all they truly desire.

      As a warning, they get pretty antsy about almost everything!

    48. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That plan is the worst aspects of electoral college and the worst aspects of democracy, together at last.

    49. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Florida puts up with meth spills on the highway, but not political protests.

      Yeah, well, even with Florida Man they're not as crazy as California.

      I mean, CalExit, seriously? Guess what, no water for you. Oh, you grow all our almonds? Eh, we'll live.

    50. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't imagine the ego required to be so melodramatic about not visiting a website. Shoo, off to your echo chamber.

    51. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm fairly certain what was disappointing is that we didn't get to see 30 something "Feminist Studies" majors get hit with water cannons. I share the same sentiment.

    52. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Maow · · Score: 1

      Thanks for making my point, ya twatwaffle.

    53. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What if they shoot back? They are allowed to buy guns, you know...

      They don't own any guns. They are liberal SJWs. The same sort of people are the ones that are trying to erode the first and second amendments. Reality was never on their side.

      You know the only presidential candidate I can remember wanting to erode the first amendment is Trump. He literally wants to change the libel laws so a president could sue the media if they don't like what is printed. That is the actual very definition of eroding the first amendment.

    54. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Calydor · · Score: 2

      Let me put it this way: Bush, for all his flaws, never started a nuclear war. There is still room to be worse than him.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    55. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by skam240 · · Score: 1

      Gun sales were up because of Right wing propaganda that the Left was going to "take our guns". Please note that not a single piece of legislation proposed by the Democratic party mainstream during the Obama years sought to disarm law abiding Americans. Meanwhile Right wing talking heads have been screaming that Liberals were trying to ban all guns for the last 8 years.

      Shit, Bernie Sanders, the most Liberal of serious US contenders for the US presidency since forever, had a very clear stance against radical gun control.

      As for economic growth, we've already have a number of years of very significant economic growth as measured by either job growth, stock market growth, or most recently, wage growth. It pisses me off that Trump is likely to try to take credit for an economy that was growing quite nicely prior to his coming to office.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    56. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Point of view. We won't have a Supreme court that continues to erode the constitution.

    57. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are less than 10,000 white supremacists in the US. The actual KKK has about 6000 members. They are a little group of nuts. Fuck off on calling the rest of us white supremacists.

    58. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by quax · · Score: 1

      My wife already took the plunge and became a Canadian citizen. I am still just a permanent resident.

      It was easy for me to transfer within the company that I worked for. At the time there were openings in Toronto, and I was able to negotiate a nice salary increase. My employer did all the paperwork for the temporary work visas. So for me it was very easy to move here.

      The application for permanent residency I had to prepare without help. It's a lot of tedious work but perfectly doable without having to go through a costly immigration lawyer.

      If you are a MD you will qualify easily for immigration. Getting the permanent residency is a lengthy process, but if you find an employer to sponsor a temp visa, you can move quickly. I figure for a medical professional that will be an option.

      Hope this help.

    59. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Xyrus · · Score: 2

      Rational adults don't pack up and move to Canada when an election doesn't go their way, nor do they build a bunker, collecting guns and freeze-dried food in preparation for some sort of Armageddon. Donald Trump may be an arrogant bastard who thinks of attractive women as trophies to fondle, but he's not Anti-Christ-Hitler-Stalin-Pol-Pot. The fringe right also said a lot of idiotic things when Obama was elected, only the mainstream press was having a collective liberalgasm over electing our first black President, and so probably didn't care as much about reporting it.

      Any law passed can also be repealed, and the President can be ousted every four years if he gets to be too unpopular. In truth, very little can be done to significantly change things without Congress' approval (you know, that "balance of powers" thing), and the Republicans have a *very* slim majority in the Senate.

      A year from now, when the country hasn't actually imploded, all this angst is going to look a bit silly in retrospect.

      You think a piece of paper is going to stop someone like Trump? He reminds me a lot of Mussolini actually. That aside, all it takes is a little fear at the right time to turn a democracy into an authoritarian state "for your protection".

      The difference between Trump and Obama is that Obama never said, nor had a history of saying, despotic ideals. He never got a crowd riled up to lock up a political opponent. He never threatened news organizations with lawsuits, even Fox at the peak of Beck Mania. Obama didn't place some authoritarian communist alt-left ideologue in a positions of high authority/advisement. So on and so forth.

      As far as congress goes, what rock have you been sleeping under? Have you not been paying attention? It's pretty damn clear Republicans are more than happy to bend over if it means getting a chance to push their agenda/increase their standing/keep their jobs/etc. . They're not going to stand up to Trump, and if the Republicans aren't your can bet good money democrats won't. Republicans have very flexible spines, but democrats have no spines at all.

      So we'll just wait and see. Will we become some sort of authoritarian fascist theocracy or will Congress grow some balls and reign in the nutjob sitting in the President's chair.

      --
      ~X~
    60. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The klan and white supremacists are a few thousand nuts. Less than 0.1% of the population.

    61. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I did consider doing all of those things.....and then Hillary lost.

      Now I'm just back to worrying about zombies.

      What I find really annoying is the news is now _finally_ talking about all the conflicts of interest Trump has. It is flat out impossible for him to lose money on this presidential job, well unless he does the right thing, and he has committed to doing the wrong thing, as usual.

      Previously, the clinton's likely got some money for their charity in attempts to influence Secretary Clinton. Now admittedly there is no evidence of undue influence in any significant way, but no doubt they tried. Generally that money went to a good cause. Of course they likely got some paid speeches as well, though again, despite the republican's best efforts they could find no direct significant corruption.

      Trump on the other hand is on an entirely different scale. First President outranks secretary of state in importance a very great deal. Want a favourable deal? Stay in Trump hotel before you come, maybe mention something nice about it. Want American to stay out of any awkward situations in russia, why yes Mr. Trump we can accept your offer for that prime real estate.

      The possibilities are endless. The corruption has already began. Heck I believe his daughter who is supposed to help run his company met with a foreign leader with the president elect.

      Simply put, while I seriously doubt he was worth 10 billion before, you can bet money that he will be after his tour of duty.

      So suck it up America you just got conned by Don the Con. No doubt his whole family is laughing right to the bank. On a more serious note if you haven't signed the change.org petition asking the electors to save us from this mess, well there is still time.

      It is at 3.45million signatures.

      Hell, even if only 1 elector decided to change then it might just slightly give people pause, though I seriously doubt we ever kill that antiquated electoral college system. Simply put as things stand now if your not in a swing state your vote usually means jack. Similarly states like wyoming have one vote far more important than say one vote in california.

      Corporations are not people.
      States are not Corporations.
      States are also not people.

      people are people. I vote in missouri. My vote should have counted for something, but it didn't. Similarly a republican's vote in california should also count.

      It is not as if the candidates need to visit every town in the country to be heard.

      At any rate, if anyone wants to try one last effort then you can try the petition. It likely won't mean jack, but it is about all we have left..

    62. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anybody of you guys going all-out prepper, stocking up on water-filters, assault-rifles, ammo, gear, tools and checking to buy some land in the flyovers?

      see www.annavonreitz.com

      brushing up on common law (bottom up)...we might even get an actual "bank"

    63. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you heard of citizens united?

    64. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      That aside, all it takes is a little fear at the right time to turn a democracy into an authoritarian state "for your protection".

      No, it really doesn't. People who make arguments like that point to the early century dictatorships like Germany or Italy, without considering that neither of those countries had any real democratic tradition, like the US has had for two centuries with our republic. A history of rule by authoritarian monarchs makes it pretty easy to transition to a dictatorship, because they're really the same thing, except the former has a bit more history to give it legitimacy.

      Also, it appears you haven't been truly paying attention to the dynamics in the other party. The Republican establishment loathes Trump. He's going to have to take a conciliatory stance if he wants to get *anything* passed by Congress. Everyone's all smiles right now because they won, but I guarantee you there's going to be plenty of friction among them.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    65. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by prefec2 · · Score: 1

      Why should Clinton throw nuclear bombs in Syria? It makes no sense and only kill civilians. Even if she is a war mongering person. Trump however is not a rational person and therefore not easy to understand. This is a problem because your allies do not know if they can trust you and your enemies must expect the worst. Such setup can lead to war.

    66. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

      What are you doing about this? Personally, I mean. What are you thinking about doing?

      Holding up silly signs and screaming into the void until you're hoarse accomplishes very little*, so I'm not participating in protests. In 2 from now years, I'll vote. In 4 years from now, I'll vote again. In the interim, when funds allow, I'll donate to causes I feel are threatened under a Trump adminstration. (LGBTQ equality, environmental conservation) Yes, it was a kick in the ass to see Trump win, but like the saying goes - what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

      * Other than making lawyers rich. If the protest turns violent and you're mistakenly arrested, better hope you can afford the legal fees.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    67. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keep reading those fake news stories bro and forget about the past where all the Republicans started all the wars and the Democrats had to end them. You know who is f*cked? You for thinking everything is going to be OK in a Fascist America. You know what you are? a Traitor.

    68. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by prefec2 · · Score: 2

      People accept that Trump is the next president. They just do not like it. And that for good reasons. It is also time to discuss what will come and how fast so you can prepare for it.

    69. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't kid youself that Trump will be worse. Clinton is a warmonger.

      Maybe in your post-factual news bubble. In reality, not.

    70. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      It's mostly prepper types who voted for this. They were afraid of a leftist dictatorship or the democrats leading us into nuclear war.

      They are amazingly on board with a rightest dictatorship and an ignorant, over confident, thin skinned President Trump stumbling into war. Many republicans who were against communism and russia their entire lives switched to being pro russia in less than 6 months. It's creepy and unbelievable at the same time.

      It makes me think of the Stanford Experiment for some reason.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    71. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by chaboud · · Score: 2

      Wow... a vague threat of violence? Go back to playing Call of Duty in your mom's basement, AC.

      Okay... I realize that, in an urban dictionary sort of way, that previous sentence could come across as iffy...

      Anyway, point stands. Thinly veiled threats as off the cuff jokes are.... very 2016.

    72. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's odd that you claim someone else isn't paying attention. The wrong thing that was readily obvious from Trumps campaign is that he responds with force not by taking a conciliatory stance. Maybe he'll change his spots now, but frankly his efforts to be less aggressive in the past haven't lasted more than a couple of minutes. I don't think we can assume that the Republican party is going to show any more spine in resisting him now than it did during the campaign after it became clear that they couldn't stop him being their nominee.

    73. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      "erode the constitution"
      Saying the constitution applies to black people, women, gays, minorities and everybody else and is not the exclusive preserve of white men... does not count as "eroding" anything.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    74. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Aaaw. Like the safe space Trump asked for after poor snowflake Mike Pence got criticised at a show ?

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    75. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      >There are less than 10,000 white supremacists in the US. The actual KKK has about 6000 members. They are a little group of nuts. Fuck off on calling the rest of us white supremacists.

      If you walk like a duck, quack like a duck, fly like a duck - you bet your ass I will roast you like a duck.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    76. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Military Intelligence is on our side. No worries.

    77. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      twatwaffle, love it.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    78. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      This.
      There's a big difference between freaking out over imaginary panic and freaking out over the candidate's actual campaign promises.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    79. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, in a second-worst-case scenario you'll be allowed to show up in Germany and say you're a refugee from America next year and be allowed to stay.

      In a worst case scenario there won't be a Germany to show up in, or an America to come from.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    80. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on your point of view. Normally, SJW just refer to some one that you disagree with wildly.

    81. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      The election results are pretty clear that at least 47% of the population are klan sympathisers.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    82. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Rational adults don't pack up and move to Canada when an election doesn't go their way, nor do they build a bunker, collecting guns and freeze-dried food in preparation for some sort of Armageddon."

      You must be new here, they were doing that and threatening to move when Obama was about to get elected the first time. gun sales have still not gone back down to 'normal' levels. Because how the hell do you expect me to protect myself with 10 guns when everyone knows you need 11.

    83. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by jpbelang · · Score: 1

      Let me put it this way: Bush, for all his flaws, never started a nuclear war. There is still room to be worse than him.

      And the U.S. seems to be exploring that space right now. :-)

      --
      JP http://www.wearerite.com
    84. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by dywolf · · Score: 1

      Germany, 1932: "Hitler can't be worse than Kaiser Wilhelm, right?"

      (*Kaiser Wilhelm didn't really want to fight against England/France/Russia, but was rather inept at diplomacy and de-escalation (being unable to talk Austria out of their invasion plans for Serbia), as well as being unable to control his Generals, and so felt compelled by treaty and drawn along by events he couldn't quite control and didn't have the stomach for standing up against and opposing. Throughout the war he offloaded more and more leadership to other people, effectively turning himself into a ceremonial figurehead, while the military generals ran the war in whatever way they saw fit, essentially a military dictatorship under Hindenburg. the further you did, the further the parallels to Bush/Cheney/military complex go...)

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    85. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by aquacrayfish · · Score: 1

      I think Tea Party people would disagree with you on protesting doing nothing, but regardless your comments is 100% on. Voting is, effectively, the ONE time our voice could be heard. If you don't leverage that power at that time, if you ask me protesting is, at best, completely disingenuous.

    86. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by dywolf · · Score: 1

      although I must say, there's also a lot of parallels between Wilhelm and Trump as well, particularly in the "in over his head", "isolated the country", "anti-Semitism", and a few other metrics.

      and if that's true....the fact that Wilhelm's ineptitude led to first WWI and then WWII (it being itself a continuation of events and movements caused by Wilhelm) then that means there's someone even worse coming down the line.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    87. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The President is always the first mover and it takes a literal act of congress to stop him. Given that Republicans are beholden to the minority in their party who think a lot like Trump, I don't see Congress as an appropriate check on presidential power. That just leaves the courts, for which the highest court has a convenient (deliberate) vacancy that may be filled by whomever the chief executive wants and he will receive a nice rubber stamp from congress. Odds are that during the next 4 years there will be more than one vacancy, further tipping the balance.

      You ever think about how dysfunctional the political systems in South America are? They are modeled after our own system. Balance of powers? President just dissolves the Congress and does whatever the fuck he wants.

    88. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hillary might have started one, over Syria. She fucked up in Libya as SoS and was talking of escalating in Syria.

      Don't kid youself that Trump will be worse. Clinton is a warmonger. Or would have been, we've dodged that now.

      She also might have discovered the cure for Cancer.
      She also might have acted exactly the same as Trump.
      We don't know

      It's pretty bad that the best defense of Trump's actions is a theoretical strawman

    89. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by invid · · Score: 2

      Hillary might have started one, over Syria. She fucked up in Libya as SoS and was talking of escalating in Syria.

      Don't kid youself that Trump will be worse. Clinton is a warmonger. Or would have been, we've dodged that now.

      Get in your "But Hillary would have been worse" arguments while you still can. They will provide increasingly diminishing returns. If America isn't sick of winning in 4 years we're going to be really pissed.

      --
      The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
    90. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by EmeraldBot · · Score: 1

      It is going to be amazing. O.O

      Pretty much for the first time in a long time we might actually be able to get some pretty crappy progressive rulings knocked down and get some of our individual rights back.

      What individual rights or crappy progressive rulings do you mean, exactly?

      --
      "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    91. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by EmeraldBot · · Score: 1

      You misunderstand the situation. America just got away from a president who thought he was an emperor, passing laws by fiat. We now have a president who is going to undo those laws, and act like a president of old. Passing laws with the help of congress. It's going to be wonderful. And btw, sales of guns have dropped since he won the election. They were abnormally high under Obama, because, rightfully, no one trusted him to keep our freedoms intact. Don't cry for us. We are about to have explosive growth in our economy, and an increase in a few freedoms for all Americans. It's a good thing.

      Which freedoms are going to be increased? Where is this economic growth going to come from? When did Obama try to take your guns away, exactly?

      --
      "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    92. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It did, thanks for taking the time to answer some rando on the internet. :-)

    93. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're following Trump's call for a march on Washington to protest this rigged election and to demand the end of the electoral college.
      Oh wait, these tweets are from 4 years ago !
      Maybe we should ask him if he has changed his mind ?

    94. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by desdinova+216 · · Score: 1

      the problem is, one of the political parties uses the straw man of "voter fraud" to try to restrict the number of people who vote.

    95. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by sjames · · Score: 1

      That's the most horrible part about the election. As bad as things look, I can't honestly say the other choice would have been any better (or worse). It's kind of like the world's worst buffet where you can have any kind of exotic animal excrement you want in your soup (none is not an option).

    96. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I seriously doubt he managed to scare 46% of the voters away.

    97. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but he's not Anti-Christ-Hitler-Stalin-Pol-Pot

      You know, that's more or less what they said about Hitler, Stalin, and Pol-pot as well. Sure, they are $x but they are not $y.

      Come on, stuff can't be as bad as it looks on the surface.

      You just need to look more carefully and you'll find it is actually quite worse. Because making things look better than they are is what gets politicians into power.

    98. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it really doesn't. People who make arguments like that point to the early century dictatorships like Germany or Italy, without considering that neither of those countries had any real democratic tradition, like the US has had for two centuries with our republic.

      If the U.S. had a real democratic tradition, it would not need to publish separate "popular vote" results for every election actually reflecting what a democratic decision would have looked like.

    99. Re: I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was a bit worried about the relationship with USA and Russia if Clinton had won. I don't know, but she was pretty mad and made a lot of accusations against the russians for everything that went wrong. When Russia denied they were called liars.. I've seen that rhetoric before, that's pre war rhetoric.

      I couldn't care less for other countries rhetoric wars, but I'm peacefully living right between the two and I don't want to be in the middle of a real war. USA is the rhetoric agressor in my view, I don't hear constant baseless accusations coming from the other side. Maybe I'm out of the loop on that part of the communication, but I don't see it. I've seen a lot of tolerant smiles from the Russians though, when they are once again accussed of some random thing that goes wrong in USA.

      I hope that Trump can contribute in a positive way there, but I wouldn't have voted for either of the two. It seemed like it was the two most hated candidates I've witnessed in my life. Why didn't people vote for an alternate candidate instead of not voting or voting for someone they didn't hate as much as the other? It seemed like Hillary got greedy and selfish there, because to me (an outsider) it seemed like democrat voters liked Bernie Sanders more.

      Maybe I just don't understand the culture of USA. Maybe the relationship between USA and Russia is more like the friendly banter between neighboring countries in Europe. I know that there's a lot that I don't understand, that's for sure. I'm as baffled and confused about USA as ever.

    100. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think a piece of paper is going to stop someone like Trump?

      Yes.

      He reminds me a lot of Mussolini actually

      Because you're a childish idiot.

      all it takes is a little fear at the right time to turn a democracy into an authoritarian state "for your protection".

      Which is why Biden screamed at the blacks that Romney would "put you all in chains!" and Hillary said that all 14 members of the KKK will be out to kill all gays, blacks, Mexicans, etc. if Trump wins. It's why your MSM told you that Trump is like a fucking authoritarian and the only person that can save you from him is a Hillary presidency. Dumb fuck. You fell for it.

      The difference between Trump and Obama is that Obama never said, nor had a history of saying, despotic ideals. He never got a crowd riled up to lock up a political opponent.

      HA!

      He never threatened news organizations with lawsuits.

      He didn't have to. You don't have to threaten the media when you fucking OWN the media. Fucking hell, you stupid dumbass -- what did it mean to you that the media would actually ask the Clinton campaign to review their articles before publishing? What does it mean to you that the media was in the Clinton campaign's pockets? Despots don't threaten the media, you insipid piece of shit. THEY CONTROL IT. The media distributes the ruling party's lies. Despots and Authoritarians rule by propaganda, which works great on useful idiots like yourself.

      Obama didn't place some authoritarian communist alt-left ideologue in a positions of high authority/advisement

      Far worse. Dianne fucking Feinstein had herself a cushy position when she expanded the NSA powers to literally spy on everything that US citizens do? Fuck. You. The NSA and the powers they gained under the Obama administration have a more despotic reach than all Secret Police in the history of our planet. Who spies on their own citizens like that, Citizen?

      . Will we become some sort of authoritarian fascist theocracy

      You are either completely insane or mentally retarded. Either way, you need to shut the fuck up until your head is at least halfway dislodged from your ass.

    101. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by quax · · Score: 1

      Your welcome, just practicing my Canadian politeness :-)

    102. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

      I think you misunderstand, I'm laughing at the protesters, not sharing in their rage.

    103. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Yunzil · · Score: 1

      but he's not Anti-Christ-Hitler-Stalin-Pol-Pot.

      No, those guys actually knew what they were doing.

    104. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually no, we're all having a good laugh (and a beer or two) right now.

      So how are all you elitist assholes in the coasts enjoying the giant extended middle finger we just gave you in the form of Trump?

    105. Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FAGGOT

  3. Prepare for USA Inc. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The lines between business and government may wind up blurred beyond separation much sooner than even I thought. It'll make the military-industrial complex look like child's play.

  4. faster cheaper porn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    VPN to make everything look like porn traffic. Netflix through the porn tunnel. Nudity win.

  5. Hello Trump apologists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Please tell us how higher costs, lower speeds, less competition, and blocked/gated content will make america great again.

    I for one am looking forward to paying extra for a Google and Wikipedia subscription on my cable bill. I can't quite afford the all access bundle but, hey, who needs every port. Netflix is overrated anyway.

    Yes tell us how fair internet access is actually slavery and crooked government and that Veriozon(tm) Internet(tm) pure capitalist freedom.

    Additionally, could you also tell me how I'm a CTR shill and that as a Liberal, that I'm actually the real racist.

    1. Re:Hello Trump apologists by iggymanz · · Score: 2

      we've had higher costs, lower speeds, less competition for years. I can't do port 25 email out of my home, so I call that blocked content

    2. Re:Hello Trump apologists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't seem to recall Obama getting rid of throttling and data caps, do you? Let me shill for companies like Netflix who will be impacted though. Thank fuck I wont be required by law to be gouged by all of those healthcare companies Obama forced the American people to use. He was really for the people when he killed the Patriot Act and got us out of all those wars. Oh wait

    3. Re:Hello Trump apologists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has anyone ever proposed something like this?

    4. Re:Hello Trump apologists by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      But when you say that in reply to the GP, it sounds like you're saying "it's bad now so it won't matter if it gets worse". I strongly suspect that it will actually matter if it gets worse.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:Hello Trump apologists by andydouble07 · · Score: 1

      And you think this has anything to do with net neutrality? This is whataboutism at its worst.

    6. Re:Hello Trump apologists by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm diabetic, you jerk. Take it easy with the salt.

  6. Something Irrelevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    OMG - Literally Hitler.

    1. Re: Something Irrelevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Email servers.

    2. Re:Something Irrelevant by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hitlery who?

  7. Re: This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I look forward to the cancer water, it'll reduce the length of the misery. I'll miss the sunshine, though.

  8. wake me up when I'm allowed to run an IRC server.. by rectalfeeding · · Score: 0

    For the uninitiated, the rules passed last year prevent companies internet providers from discriminating against any online content or services.

    It was always BS. Until I don't have to pay extra through the nose to my ISP in order to be allowed to run an irc server I'll never believe this net neutrality crap was legit.

  9. Re:This is a good thing by bmo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find that those who oppose any kind of societal safety net have never had to use the resources of one.

    And they never expect to.

    This.... is delusional. You will age. You /will/ fall ill. Be it 6 months out of work for a septic knee (like what Tom Brady had), or full disability because nobody wants to hire someone who has to go to doctors' appointments 1/4 of the days out of a month on a regular basis. BAD SHIT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU SOMETIME IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PLAN FOR.

    I don't like wishing bad things on people. I don't need to. Because they happen anyway.

    Against the safety net? Good luck to you. You'll need it.

    --
    BMO

  10. Doh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, that was lost. *shrug*

  11. President Wildcard by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    It's premature to say what Mr. Trump will actually do. He has given anti-trust some lip service, which suggests he'd preserve NN in order prevent big telecoms from also controlling big media. But whether he follows through is another matter.

    While he may prefer trust-busting actions, he may trade it away for something else that he wants from Congress, being the deal-maker he is. The up-side is that he may be willing to cut deals with Democrats also, but it would only work for issues that divide the GOP, for the Democrats don't have enough seats to produce a viable bill otherwise.

    Trump is unlike every other president. Burn the history books and get the popcorn out. I don't know whether Trump will take us to heaven, hell, the loony bin, or something in between; but I am certain it will be an interesting ride. Don't forget to buckle up, and keep your hands inside at all times.

    1. Re:President Wildcard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Trump will be same as Obama. Like when Obama got elected, peoples moaned and bitched a little in the first year, then it was business as usual. At least we didn't got Hillary, that would have been a disaster. e.g.: real disaster, like nuclear war disaster.

    2. Re:President Wildcard by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2

      Given that all his appointments so far have been special interest lobbyists, I don't see anti-trust high on his priorities. Prediction: He spends 4 years playing golf while these douchebags run the country.

  12. The Content and Streaming Industry: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Oh, shit!" The disk and player manufacturers: "Hell, yeah!" The telecom industry: "Naah, don't care. They can take away one killer app, but we've got others." So who wins? It's just shuffling of the lobbyists and consumer spending.

  13. Net neutrality isn't by mveloso · · Score: 3, Informative

    For those of you who believe that the net neutrality regulations that the FCC are trying to impose actually is what you believe it to be, you should actually go ahead and read the regulations.

    Your understanding of what "net neutrality" means and what the FCC is actually doing are different. By reading the regulations you might actually understand why what the FCC is proposing is, well, bad.

    It's 2016. You can go read the stuff yourself. Even the preamble to the regulations is full of inaccuracies, half-truths, and outright lies. For example, the FCC tries to say that its current regulations are what made the Internet great - except that the FCC's attempts at regulating the internet have never actually taken effect. Then it gets better.

    1. Re:Net neutrality isn't by deathguppie · · Score: 1

      I don't understand what you are even trying to say here. So according to you the FCC's current net neutrality regulations are not what net neutrality supporters think it is, so it's good that we just got two guys that oppose net neutrality?

      --
      once more into the breach
    2. Re:Net neutrality isn't by Chrondeath · · Score: 1

      Are you objecting to the FCC's net neutrality regulations because they're too restrictive or because they're too lenient?

      Do the new advisers oppose them on the same grounds?

    3. Re:Net neutrality isn't by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      I don't understand what you are even trying to say here. So according to you the FCC's current net neutrality regulations are not what net neutrality supporters think it is, so it's good that we just got two guys that oppose net neutrality?

      There's the "net neutrality" that we on /. think of, then there's "Net Neutrality(TM)(C)(Pat Pending)" that the FCC and their lobbyists were intent on implementing. Pretty much the only things these two have in common is the name. The latter is what the appointees oppose, and that's a Good Thing(TM).

      The FCC version has none of the goodness that Slashdotters think "net neutrality" has. It was a giveaway to political supporters in the major telecommunications/internet/media and a power-grab for government.

      I am for "net neutrality" as in the basic principles of fairness and openness commonly associated with that term. I find it disappointing that Slashdotters either couldn't figure this out, or have been so blinded by their political/ideological beliefs that they either could not or would not understand the difference.

      Hopefully, now that "Net Neutrality(TM)(C)(Pat Pending)" is a part of history, regulations to enable *real* "net neutrality" can be discussed, debated, and finally be enacted going forward.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    4. Re:Net neutrality isn't by rectalfeeding · · Score: 1

      except that the FCC's attempts at regulating the internet have never actually taken effect. Then it gets better.

      You didn't seem to include sufficient explanation of how that statement conflicts with, e.g.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/06/12/net-neutrality-takes-effect-today-heres-how-it-affects-you/

    5. Re:Net neutrality isn't by Izaak · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, I've actually read the regulations, and frankly their only real problem is that they don't go far enough. I used to be half owner of an ISP in the mid 90's. I was there for the ending of NSFNet, the birth of the commercial backbone, the rise of independent ISPs, and then telecom deregulation and subsiquent consolidation. I know what it meant to be a CLEC when big telecom was handed whatever they want. Net Neutrality is what made the Internet what it is. Walking away from it know, even as patchwork and incomplete as the current regulations are, will be a disaster for consumer. Period.

    6. Re:Net neutrality isn't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's great that this kind of stuff is revealed in the comments... it sucks that it's all the way down here... and it's shit that the original Slashdot article just reposted some BS without any proper journalism. Maybe we need a way to vote for certain poster comments to become a prominent part of the article (we can't all dig into the details)

    7. Re:Net neutrality isn't by mveloso · · Score: 1

      Here's your reading, for everyone who's too lazy to google.

      https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_pub...

      Paragraph 4 of the introduction:

      "The lesson of this period, and the overwhelming consensus on the record, is that carefully-tailored rules to protect Internet openness will allow investment and innovation to continue to flourish. Consistent with that experience and the record built in this proceeding, today we adopt carefully-tailored rules that would prevent specific practices we know are harmful to Internet openness— blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization—as well as a strong standard of conduct designed to prevent the deployment of new practices that would harm Internet openness. We also enhance our transparency rule to ensure that consumers are fully informed as to whether the services they purchase are delivering what they expect."

      The FCC implies that its enlightened rules were key in getting the internets to the state of awesomeness that they are today. However, the FCC rules regarding the interwebs have been shot down consistently by the courts and have never taken effect.

  14. Re:wake me up when I'm allowed to run an IRC serve by chispito · · Score: 1

    For the uninitiated, the rules passed last year prevent companies internet providers from discriminating against any online content or services.

    It was always BS. Until I don't have to pay extra through the nose to my ISP in order to be allowed to run an irc server I'll never believe this net neutrality crap was legit.

    Good point, although I think most people are probably more concerned with being blocked from running their own mail and web servers. I'm sure there were decent reasons, but I think they are reasons that were decided upon a long time ago and has more to do with getting people to pay business-class ISP fees.

    --
    The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
  15. Don't half ass it, deregulate all of it. by Charcharodon · · Score: 1
    This will be all great only if they deregulate the other half of the equation which is letting every ISP into every market. Currently as it stands there are mini-monopolies all over the damn place. This is mostly due to State and Local nonsense, but the FCC has a hand in it too.

    Though it is all looking like a non-issue as wireless services are eating everyone's lunch at this point, and if SpaceX steps into the arena with their thousands of mini-com-sats Musk is going to turn around and eat theirs across the whole globe and all the way out to Mars.

  16. Good news everyone! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    Soon you'll be able to pay your starving cable company $5 a month of "premium" Youtube access and another $5 for "premium" Netflix access.

    America is going to be great again! ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  17. Re:This is a good thing by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    I find that those who oppose any kind of societal safety net have never had to use the resources of one.

    In this particular case, I'm pretty sure his mom is still his safety net.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  18. Why is he pro-media? by sinij · · Score: 1

    Why is Trump taking pro-media stance? The same media conglomerates that attacked him relentlessly now get to further consolidate and lock in their stranglehold.

  19. Which net neutrality? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    real net neutrality or the 'net neutrality (TM)' version of it?

  20. Re:wake me up when I'm allowed to run an IRC serve by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you using that personal mail and web server to promote your consulting business. Don't lie, you know you are. Pay for the business tier, cheap liar.

  21. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Even when they do go on social assistance, they have no idea that they did and still speak out against it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwpBLzxe4U

  22. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or, some basic criminal protections from abuse - no one wants or needs them until one is...accused of something criminal.

    Then, the 4th & 5th Amendments, Miranda, et al. start to look pretty good. Or just a bad hallucination, from your SuperMax or Gitmo cell.

  23. Re: This is a good thing by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Pure conservatives/libertarians are not bothered by cancer water: some humans will evolve superior livers to filter the pollution and produce immune offspring, comparable to Kevin Costner evolving gills in water-world. Competition and the Great Market-Place will produce a superior race. Don't let the pesky gov't interface with evolution.

    It's Ayn Rand-ism and Social Darwinism. With dog-eat-dog, the superior dog lives and produces better dogs. Mad Max is not a dystopia: it's the human breading field. If you don't like it, you'll die off and those who do like it will thrive. Oh, and bring your guns. Gotta have guns.

  24. Re: This is a good thing by Charcharodon · · Score: 2

    Moving to Detroit?

  25. Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No joke. by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd

    Look who's lecturing us: YOUR country Brexited your asses into recession.

  26. Looking in the mirror are you? by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    America is doing just fine thanks. Trump just released a video saying what he will be doing, so you don't have to wonder or believe what a bunch of media guys who detest him CLAIM he will do.

    Among them:

    TPP cancelled. Enjoy whatever country you are in joining that!

    More shale production - vast reduction in CO2. We are doing our part, how about your nation?

    Two regulations have to be removed for every new one created - while you strangle as regulations pile up.

    Ethics reform - five year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists, can never lobby for foreign nations. I wonder how cozy corporations are to YOUR government...

    Investigation of visa program abuses (read: companies bringing in lots of foreign programmers and then severely underpaying them as they hold the green card over them).

    Energy grid to be hardened against attacks. As your countries power grid fails over the coming decade you can think back on this as you are sitting in the cold with a flashlight...

    The funny thing is many of these items (like TPP being cancelled, or visa abuse) were once darlings of the Slashdot liberals. But now that Trump supports them... well I guess they decided fascism is better than Trump? Oh well.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good dead pan humor there. His transition team hasn't even contacted their departments, and the "protect networks from cyber attacks"? Really?

      Hillary and the DNC got hacked how many times? Trump and the GOP weren't hacked at all. So yes, really.

    2. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by quantaman · · Score: 5, Informative

      America is doing just fine thanks. Trump just released a video saying what he will be doing, so you don't have to wonder or believe what a bunch of media guys who detest him CLAIM he will do.

      Among them:

      TPP cancelled. Enjoy whatever country you are in joining that!

      Maybe a good thing, maybe a bad thing. Depends what takes its place.

      More shale production - vast reduction in CO2. We are doing our part, how about your nation?

      Natural gas is fine but shale oil isn't exactly environmentally friendly, if I recall it takes a lot of processing to turn into usable oil.

      And it's funny how you left out the "clean coal" part just after that. Trump is going to try to bring back coal, the worst energy source we have for CO2, it doesn't mean he'll succeed but he'll try.

      Two regulations have to be removed for every new one created - while you strangle as regulations pile up.

      And if you don't have enough you get the 2008 financial crisis. If you do it well sure that's good, but that sounds a bit like a spin on the classic "I'll reduce government waste!" promise, it ignores the factors that created that waste in the first place.

      Ethics reform - five year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists, can never lobby for foreign nations. I wonder how cozy corporations are to YOUR government...

      Sounds good, but Trump's transition team is already loaded with lobbyists and corporate bigwigs, so I'm skeptical of its sincerity.

      Investigation of visa program abuses (read: companies bringing in lots of foreign programmers and then severely underpaying them as they hold the green card over them).

      Sounds good.

      Energy grid to be hardened against attacks. As your countries power grid fails over the coming decade you can think back on this as you are sitting in the cold with a flashlight...

      A good idea... but why would you assume no one else is hardening their energy and network infrastructure?

      The funny thing is many of these items (like TPP being cancelled, or visa abuse) were once darlings of the Slashdot liberals. But now that Trump supports them... well I guess they decided fascism is better than Trump? Oh well.

      He's not being criticized for the things he said above, hell, half the things he said above are pretty much things he's emphasizing for the first time.

      The problem is all of the things he said and promised on the campaign trail. The problem is all the alt-right figures he's bringing into the white house that have literal white nationalists rejoicing. The problem is the fact that he's already using his position as president-elect to increase his personal wealth.

      --
      I stole this Sig
    3. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Darinbob · · Score: 0

      The entity that protects networks from cyber attacks is not involved with either political party's computers. The political parties hire their own staff and do not rely upon federal workers to set up their computers. That's like saying the democrats on my block were hacked but not the republicans, therefore the republican internet plan is superior. Please, if you're going to show up on slashdot at least know a little bit about technology before you pretend to be one of us.

    4. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Between a plumber that can't fix their own toilet and one that has a flawless record in adverse builds, which would you pick?

      Every agency has their own information security people. There is no "the entity that protects networks from cyber attacks." Between a person that has led a catastrophic sieve of an organization and one that has not been hacked, when deciding on who should make policy for disparate organizations, clearly the latter is better.

      Please, if you're going to speak with adults, at least gather up some common sense before you pretend to be one. And lay off the ad hominem, that may work to silence people that don't follow your political leanings on facebook, but has never worked in the professional world.

    5. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Given he's already backed away from multiple campaign promises within days of winning, it's incredibly cute you think he will actually follow through.

      Just look at the incompetents he's considering or selecting. He doesn't know what he's doing, and his handlers are simply indulging themselves in punishing the disloyal and rewarding the ever dwindling supply of "loyalists." Plus, the man has displayed the attention span of a gerbil for anything that is not directly tied to his making money or his pride.

      This is going to be a long 4-8 years.

    6. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by nine-times · · Score: 4, Informative

      Ethics reform - five year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists, can never lobby for foreign nations. I wonder how cozy corporations are to YOUR government...

      You want to talk about corporations being cozy with government?

      1) Trump is trying to get his children positions in the White House while they're operating the non-blind "blind trust"
      2) Trump is having one of those children attend his political meetings
      3) Trump is also continuing to attend his company's business meetings alongside that same child

      I don't see him as being credible in terms of ethics reform. If he wants to "drain the swamp", he should start by removing his own conflicts of interest.

    7. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny how they don't seem to know anything about Diane Reynolds, err, sorry, Chelsea Clinton's management of the Clinton Foundation and CGI.

      Guess they let CNN do all their thinking for them?

    8. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes, we can clearly see where Trump's conflict of interest are, and thanks to his blind supporters, he doesn't care either. Trump's questionable business ethics is legendary.

      http://www.nationalreview.com/...

      I don't have problems with technocrats, some are career politicians. As long if they are honest and competent, why not. However, Trump is neither honest nor competent. Trump is just a self promoter who is good at selling his brand. Over the years, his year of hustling for a quick buck has gradually diminished his technical skills. Let's not forget, Trump is one of the loudest birthers. Trumps lives in his own grandiose narcissistic TV reality world. Too bad for us, he just pulled off his biggest con. His world is now our reality. Fuck!!!

    9. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1) Trump is trying to get his children positions in the White House while they're operating the non-blind "blind trust" (and on and on and on)

      Ha HA Ha Ha Chelsea.

      Nothing Trump is doing is a candle to what the professional politicians have been doing for decades. Trumps supposed "conflicts of interest" are paper thin, and the sign of someone who has actually done something with his life besides being a professional politician... at least you can clearly see where Trump's conflicts might lie, he doesn't obfuscate things.

      Typical of neocons like you to try to bash the Clintons without substance or any evidence to back their BS up.. cite some references to exact points of interest on the topic (which would be new news) or go to hell you dumb red-neck fuck.

    10. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by skam240 · · Score: 2

      "More shale production - vast reduction in CO2. We are doing our part, how about your nation?"

      What about Trumps promises on bringing back coal?

      "Two regulations have to be removed for every new one created - while you strangle as regulations pile up."

      What a dumb policy. As if "regulations" are inherently bad. The idiot Right seems to have this bizarre thing with "regulations" like the idiot Left has a thing against "chemicals". Just because it's a "regulation" doesnt make it bad and just because it's a "chemical" doesnt make it bad.

      "Ethics reform - five year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists, can never lobby for foreign nations. I wonder how cozy corporations are to YOUR government..."

      Incredibly noble goal. Likelihood of actually pursuing given cabinet nominees and republican political backing which has never shown an interest in this? Around zero.

      "Investigation of visa program abuses (read: companies bringing in lots of foreign programmers and then severely underpaying them as they hold the green card over them). Energy grid to be hardened against attacks. As your countries power grid fails over the coming decade you can think back on this as you are sitting in the cold with a flashlight..."

      Pretty sure most candidates were advocating for these things.

      "The funny thing is many of these items (like TPP being cancelled, or visa abuse) were once darlings of the Slashdot liberals. But now that Trump supports them... well I guess they decided fascism is better than Trump? Oh well."

      The funny thing is Bernie was once the darling of the slashdot liberals and he was definitely not in favor of the TPP. The TPP was favored by moderates on both sides though. In this case you're just making something up to serve an anti liberal point.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    11. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by skam240 · · Score: 2

      Chelsea? Well since Clinton won the presidency and is putting her daughter in charge of....

      Wait a second, what you're saying is literal fiction. What's real life is Trump's kids are going to be running his company and that is NOT a blind trust.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    12. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well then, let's start with a not-so-paper-thin example: his debt of $100m to Deutsche Bank, a company under federal investigation. Couple in his murky business dealings with Russian banks, how exactly are the citizens of the US supposed to know that there won't be a conflict of interest? Answer: we can't, and worse yet, we have no idea how many conflicts there could be because he won't open up his books. He didn't even know what a blind trust is fercrissakes.

      http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/29/deutsche-banks-10-billion-scandal

      TL:DR: WTF?

    13. Re: Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice content free attack post.

      Try again. Your guys lost. Next time you comment actually say something substantial, don't just recycle the ignorance that lost the election for you guys.

    14. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by phorm · · Score: 1

      I can only hope that if the US dumps the TPP that Canada and the rest will follow...

      Then again, if there is no TPP, does that mean a lot of the US-led copyright/spying provisions are now toast?

    15. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chelsea "Diane Reynolds" Clinton is actually in charge of the Clinton Foundation, which she used to pay for her $3M wedding, among other things. There's also the Clinton Global Initiative.

      While it's true that it's not a branch of government (yet...) it does appear to be used to peddle influence. Also, wasn't she prepping to join the Senate soon?

    16. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by vinlud · · Score: 1

      TPP: was already dead in the EU
      More shale production: Holy crap if you see that as a good thing
      Ethics reform: You have a at best discutable guy becoming president without knowing his financials, and you mention ethics reform? Again, holy crap.
      Two regulations etc: Nice words, often leads to undesirable results. Not bad in principle, but only the actual implementation matters here.
      Energy grid: Having a good energy grid is vital but its symptomatic that the right wingers sell it 'against attacks' where you simply want a good grid that is capable of dealing with outages etc. The warmongering sits deep in them though :-)

      The overall tone of your post is hilarious, have you ever even travelled outside the US?

      --
      Repeat after me: We are all individuals
    17. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It takes a special kind of moron to have seen Trump saying he'd do all-sorts of things during the campaign (often directly contradicting other things he'd promised) and to then see a video of him promising a bunch of different things now and straight out buy into that as being some watertight guide to wtf he'll actually do.

      Yes, many of his comments since the election have been less crazy than before (thank fuck) and you can even cherry pick to find a few good bits - like you are by mentioning shale while ignoring his promises on coal which will more than outweigh any potential environmental benefits of shale.

      Less regulation is a great example of an appeal to the ignorant masses. In principle there's plenty of bad regulation, but how does stopping good regulation from being put in place while you bicker about the bad regulation help? If you're replacing 2 regulations that protect you from carcinogens in water sources to add a regulation that restricts competition in the automotive industry how much comfort is "less regulation". If you're replacing a couple of regulations that cost very little with a bigger and far more onerous one is that progress? The one thing about Trump that even people who despise him can't deny is he knows how to play certain demographics like a pro.

    18. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Not being hacked is not an achievement when the REASON you weren't hacked is that you were sponsoring the hackers.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    19. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      So promise a bunch of things, half of which were happening by themselves, then do nothing but enrich himself and afterwards claim to have kept half his promises and blame congress for not letting him keep the other half.

      Sounds about right.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    20. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by swillden · · Score: 1

      Two regulations have to be removed for every new one created - while you strangle as regulations pile up.

      And if you don't have enough you get the 2008 financial crisis.

      More precisely if you have just the wrong amount, you get the 2008 financial crisis. That crisis was caused as much by too much regulation as too little. The core problem was that investors believed that regulators had their backs, but in fact regulators were doing nothing to vet the securitized mortgage industry. In a world without financial industry regulation, investors would have been wary and done the checking themselves but as it was even when analysts raised red flags no one believed them because surely if the mortgage-backed securities were that bad the SEC would have stepped in and either shut them down or at least warned about them.

      A completely unregulated financial market has pros and cons, as does heavy regulation, but the worst possible world is the one in which everyone believes regulators are in control when they're not.

      (Do not in any way construe this as an endorsement of Trump or his policies. The man is an idiot and a maniac and if he accidentally does anything right it will be in spite of himself.)

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    21. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      Ethics reform - five year ban on administration officials becoming lobbyists, can never lobby for foreign nations. I wonder how cozy corporations are to YOUR government...

      4) Trump has already had a lobbyist in the employ of a foreign government sit in on one of his classified breifings. On the bright side, his administration is off to an amazingly fast start. Most administrations have to work up to this level of corruption over years.

    22. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only thing that he knows about "conflicts of interest" is that he won't bother to do anything that conflicts with his interests. Say what you will about the Clintons, this guy's gonna be the most corrupt and scandal ridden president in the history of our country, and he's going to leave (hopefully figurative) massive devastation in his wake when he finally leaves.

      We're gonna be cleaning up for DECADES after him, assuming the country doesn't tear itself apart (unlikely, but since freaking neo-nazis have the ear of his staff, possible).

      The man's not even in power yet and he's already trying to abuse it. The only joy (in a schadenfreude sense of it) I have had with this disaster is knowing just how badly the poor bastards who voted him in are going to get screwed.

      Then I realize they'll just double-down on blaming other folks and rally to give him another 4 year term.

      Slow-motion train wreck, incoming.

    23. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No kidding. I mean, it's been two weeks! Why isn't the swamp drained yet?
      Conflicts of interest are funny things because they constantly exist but only come up when it suits to argue a straw man of somebody's character. I'm no Trump fan, but having his children (who have pretty impressive resumes) be involved in the transition isn't a conflict of interest by itself. Presidents are also immune from Conflicts of Interest laws by the way.
      He's not President yet, so expecting him to drop his enterprise & relationships in two weeks is absurd and naive. It's funny to say you expect him to be ethical while assuming he isn't ethical all in the same thought. Be patient.

    24. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > This is going to be a long 4-80 years.

      FTFY

    25. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should look at his real plan, just look at his twitter feed ; He wants to pressure the media until that they what he wants, after that it's easy just fuck up, take the money and tell the press to say he's the best president ever.
      Oh and the racist agenda too, you have to keep a core of supporters satisfied.

    26. Re:Looking in the mirror are you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is going to be a long 4-8 years.

      Yeah, the Americans are gluttons for punishments. G.W. Bush was worse than anyone could have imagined, and then he was voted in for a second term. The first election result was delusional at best, but the second could only be called masochism.

      I have little doubt that Trump will be an abysmal president, and yet I have very little hope that this will make Americans reconsider come next election.

  27. Re:This is a good thing by Charcharodon · · Score: 0
    Most of us do not oppose a safety net. What we oppose is people not even bother climbing high enough to need a net, but stopping at the net and getting comfortable and raising their kids there.

    We also oppose people who spend their whole lives just living and not bothering planning on the future and then playing the little old person game of "poor little ol me needs help". What were you up to for the past 60 years?! You need the government to help you because you didn't bother having any kids, oh wait you had kids and they want nothing to do with you because you raised shit bags or were horrible to them?

    Sucks to be you.

  28. Re:You guys are fucked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why didn't you build the wall 15 years ago, world? What's taking so long, world? What the fuck is wrong with you, world?

  29. Re:wake me up when I'm allowed to run an IRC serve by rectalfeeding · · Score: 1

    Are you using that personal mail and web server to promote your consulting business. Don't lie, you know you are. Pay for the business tier, cheap liar.

    Snark as you will, but I do think this highlights the underlying issue. The pro-net-neutrality vision that I see is trying to eliminate the differential charging of internet access services based on type of use (assuming same amount of use). The idea is that this creates a platform that many people can build on. The anti-net-neutrality vision that I see is derogatorily referred to as a kind of 'crony capitalism' where the powerful ISP captains of industry get to leverage their control and power to influence the evolution of the internet based innovation. I.e. giving sweet heart deals to the technology or technology business owner of their preference. Certain Ayn Randian contingents of the hardest-core forms of leisse fairre capitalism believe that to get to that position of power, the ISP owner was smarter than the other competitors, so is likely to make the smartest decisions and sweet heart deals to influence things in they way they prefer.

    Think of it like this- that "business class" higher margin can be thought of as the ISP imposing taxes on their customers. If they have one customer, that uses the same bandwidth as every other user, but makes 100X the profit, they can charge up to say 1/10 of that extra 99X profit as a "super business class" tier that the customer must buy if they want to be retained as a customer. If the market is sufficiently non-competitive due to lack of options, or collusions amongst a few big ISP players, then the 100X innovator will just go ahead and pay the extra new non-governmental 10% tax because the other choice is to go out of business.

  30. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by grcumb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd

    Look who's lecturing us: YOUR country Brexited your asses into recession.

    That should give you an idea just how fucked you really are. When even Boris Johnson is all like, 'what a muppet!' you should probably take note.

    --
    Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
  31. I still want short distance & long distance da by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ehh, for video distribution, I can see cost savings in having a data center several miles away from the house. I would prefer unlimited, unfiltered local data, and limited and restricted long distance data. But, most people don't seem willing to make a big hassle over ~$30/month for cable & internet.

  32. Re:wake me up when I'm allowed to run an IRC serve by skids · · Score: 1

    Actually I run both, and no, I don't have a consulting business.

    And, all my VPN profiles for getting around the SMTP block are name "fuckcomcast" because I really do not appreciate their shit.

  33. The pendulum swings by waspleg · · Score: 1

    it's just lopsided to the right nearly always. Even our "left" is mostly right. Obama was Bush in black face for the most part, yea he did some good things, and he did some really really bad things.

    I was hoping that Trump would be so hated by his own party nothing would happen but I have to say nearly every subsequent headline sounds like a legacy of pain - raping the FCC that was finally doing the right thing is just the newest set of overwhelming stupid washing over the US.

    Democrats are as much for blame for putting up someone nearly as hated. Trump has the lowest likeability of *ANY* president elect in history. Read about it on theintercept.com I'm tired.

    1. Re:The pendulum swings by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Politicians will always act like politicians. That means they hate Tump up until the time that he gets elected. Then there is a short moment of internal conflict where they balance their dislike of him with the realization that their party is in charge. Then they call him up and say "Donald, how's it going old buddy, how can I help?"

  34. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

    Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd

    Look who's lecturing us: YOUR country Brexited your asses into recession.

    We'll see who gets to gloat.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  35. Could never really work in meatspace. by Pezbian · · Score: 1

    Sneakernetting would cut out the crap. Who wouldn't rather hear more about new Lithium Ion battery technology than Poodles Are From Mars?

    --
    In a world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king--and the two-eyed man is a heretic.
    1. Re: Could never really work in meatspace. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dronenetting is what the cool kids do now

    2. Re: Could never really work in meatspace. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dronenetting is what the cool kids do now

      What- was Skynet trademarked or something? :)

  36. as opposed to tom wheeler by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    who is a known cable lobbyist and many, including myself, thought he might fold to their will.

    He defied expectations.

    I am taking a wait and see approach in this matter.

  37. Free publicity. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh come on, he knew perfectly well that to be president the US had to hear "blah Trump blah Trump blah blah Trump" every day for the entire fucking campaign, and they delivered. Why would he even be mad at them?

  38. Cyber "and other" by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    protect networks from cyber attacks. Really?

    Yes, really why do you consider this a bad thing, or at all unlikely? Note he did say "other" as well, which includes large scale EMP attacks - even if you discount nuclear attacks (and you should not between Russia and Iran), it's worth t alone juts to harden for another Carrington event, which is as sure as the sun rising. Not that you even know what a Carrington event is probably... sigh, Slashdot.

    From the man who gave political cover and encouragement to Russian hackers??

    Not sure they are from Russia, seems unlikely given the large sums of money that Russia gave the Clinton foundation in exchange for a host of favors to come.

    He's in a PAC that tried to launder 2 million in donations from Chinese donors.

    As opposed to the hundreds of millions the Clintons got from China. The two million seems like a relief in comparison.

    yet he says he'll cancel TPP and negotiation INDIVIDUAL bilateral treaties?

    AAAAND yet another rabid AC who can't even understand the difference between regulation and treaties. Sigh, Slashdot.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Cyber "and other" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think Russia and Iran will have a nuclear exchange?
      Where one is a super power the other one realistically 10-15 years away from having substantive nuclear capability...

      That is not MAD, that would be Iran trying to commit suicide at a country level.

      Also why is every defense of Trump predicated on "Well others did this as well"...

  39. More propaganda power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So Breitbart news gets super speed and anything that speaks against Führer Trumpikins limited to turtle crawling for a $10 a month subscription fee.

  40. "nice" by SuperKendall · · Score: 1, Insightful

    We might get a few Yanks coming over, which would be nice.

    You are welcome to anyone who flees the US over an election and can't even wait to see what kind of policies are actually implemented. We have a term for them here: ""Blithering Idiot", or "Dumber than a bag full of hammers".

    Happily for the world the natural wonders of New Zealand will not put up with idiocy long, and natural selection will prove its worth once again.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:"nice" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably not the case actually. We've a temperate climate and pretty much no dangerous wildlife. Idiots thrive here - I'm living proof :)

    2. Re:"nice" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real idiots and "dumber than a bag full of hammers" would rather be the ones staying in a situation that they have no power over. I guess that you still blame all the Jews that managed to escape Germany before WW2 broke out for being idiots.

    3. Re:"nice" by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I have close friends who moved to NZ. The most dangerous creature on the entire island is an irate sheep.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  41. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Yes AC moving video content will be the huge issue. HD and 4K video getting a free ride to consumer grade accounts on a lot of content ready devices at the ISP end.
    The US has only so many wide fast interconnects nationally for consumer grade data.
    Content providers are getting cash per show or movie. The national or local brand ISP is getting paid per account. Who is paying for the upgrade of the tubes and pipes that interconnect nationally?
    Time for some infrastructure upgrade payments along the US wide, fat, fast networks. Pay up or the packets from that cheap fly over state hosting with dam power gets slowed before they ever reach a state with paved roads.
    The content provider then has to make a per state and a national telco deal for real business grade networking. Pay for the upkeep of a real national network and get a real US wide connection.
    All that national dark optical is in the hands of a few brands. Lots of local loops per state but the huge national telco interconnects never got much new private sector competition.
    What can a content streaming brand do? Offer every big, medium and small ISP a "free" server and local storage of the most requested content?
    Do deals with every city, state and national "telco" for access to their private networks to even get to the ISP?
    Peer the HD data out to a multinational via Ireland or New Zealand and network the steam back into the USA wide via deals they made?

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  42. Consolidation of the government, corporations, ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    military and organizations into one power structure. That's how you run a business. This country is too damn inefficient with its checks and balance and whatnot.

  43. Cheatsheet by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I have to say it, folks. Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd, words fail me. I'm seriously worried.

    Here's a cheat sheet that might help:

    1) Trump is not a monster
    2) It's premature to judge before he takes office
    3) Clinton would arguably be as bad or worse. (Or better, or completely different, no one knows.)
    4) He won fair and square
    5) Nothing so far warrants armed revolt

    And as a followup to #5 above, nothing warrants your characterization of "absurd".

    I know that this doesn't track with the MSM narrative, but they were wrong about a lot of things.

    Let's not pass judgement on things that haven't happened.

    1. Re:Cheatsheet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you shouldn't judge a president before he holds office, why are you holding elections?

    2. Re:Cheatsheet by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      >1) Trump is not a monster
      Almost every campaign promise and policy he promotes is monstrous. The few that aren't - like his position on trade deals - are the ones he is least likely to actually be able to implement. So only the monstrous ideas will happen because the GOP government has to give their president something, and they sure as hell won't give him opposition to trade deals that their funders benefit from !

      >2) It's premature to judge before he takes office
      Then why have elections at all ? Why have campaigns ?The whole point of campaigns is that it is NEVER premature to judge - the whole concept of democracy is that you are SUPPOSED to judge them BEFORE they take office.

      >3) Clinton would arguably be as bad or worse. (Or better, or completely different, no one knows.)
      Better. Good ? Doubt it. But better is guaranteed - because Clinton didn't suck up to white supremacists and wouldn't have given themsenior cabinet posts (we're up to quite a few now - the last is Jeff Sessions -a man so incredibly racist that a GOP senate refused to confirm him as a judge because they felt he was too biassed against minorities to be one). Clinton wouldn't have appointed a black panther into her cabinet either. She's a typical middle-of-the-road politician. That's objectively better than a crazy nutjob.

      >4) He won fair and square
      With a minority of the vote. Even so - democracy doesn't happen ONLY on election days. People have a right to protest, and the majority who rejected him have the right to protest - it's their only hope of tempering his rule so it doesn't destroy their lives. This is a very real risk for them. There are millions of people in America who are legitimately worried that he will repeal obamacare and they will lose their insurance and die when they can't afford the medications that keep them alive. There are millions of people legitimately worried that his court appointments will repeal Obergefell and their marriages will suddenly be invalid, they will lose their kids, their pensions their family tax rates - of possibly even face prosecution and jail time if Mike Pence gets his way.
      People protested Obama based on claims of what he would do that was never anywhere in his platform, that he never supported or attempted. In Texas when the Army held excercises people all over panicked that it was 'preparation for martial law' - even the bloody governor sent the state guard to watch them to make sure they didn't do that... weird how they didn't do that when the army did exactly the SAME thing in the Bush years. That time then governor Rick Perry welcomed them.
      These people now - they are protesting based on what the candidates actually promised to do. Their fears are legitimate because they didn't get pulled out of Roger Ailes's ass - but out of Trump's own fucking speeches. These people know what those policies would mean for them - and they are protesting in the hope of making it politically impossible for Trump to do those things.
      That too - is how democracy works.

      5) Nothing so far warrants armed revolt
      Which is why there hasn't been any. But if Trump keeps just one of the worst of his promises - that WOULD justify armed revolt. Though, liberals tend to consider violence a last resort - we don't plan on using it as soon as we have an excuse (that's a republican gun nut thing). We'd try to get him impeached first, try to change his mind through protests and marches.
      We'll only start using guns when those don't work - but history has it's share of cases where that was exactly what liberals have done. Remember Malcolm X ? The black panthers ?

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  44. Typical Political mis-labeling by s.petry · · Score: 3, Informative

    Net Neutrality as proposed is like saying your State has "Right to Work" laws. If you believe those laws give workers Rights, you are grossly mistaken. As GP stated, read what is being proposed and then make up your mind.

    If you want another example, what exactly Patriotic about the "Patriot Act"? Yeah, this is not a new political trick.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

    1. Re: Typical Political mis-labeling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you believe those [Right to Work] laws give workers Rights, you are grossly mistaken.

      Hear hear. The country would be better off if people understood that laws don't give people rights. Rights are something that are Endowed on people by their Creator. Laws sometimes obligate the government to protect certain rights, which is different.

      Right to work laws, for example, obligate the government to protect a certain kind of freedom of association (refusal to join a trade union). Those laws don't GRANT the right to refrain from assox

    2. Re:Typical Political mis-labeling by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      And repealing net neutrality is like killing babies. Hey, you're making nonsense analogies, why can't I?

      Net neutrality _as_ _it's_ _written_ simply ensures that ISPs can't treat traffic differently based on who's paying them. If anything, it doesn't go far enough as it doesn't cover peering agreements, still allowing a kind of non-neutrality.

    3. Re:Typical Political mis-labeling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once NN become political, we all lost. That was well predicted by many. Once you let the government decide something's fate, don't expect that fate to stay for long.

    4. Re:Typical Political mis-labeling by Cyberax · · Score: 1

      So it's much better to let friendly a-political monopolistic megacorporations to decide issues, right?

  45. Grant Administration Levels of Corruption by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 0

    These jackals are going to steal everything that isn't nailed down.

    1. Re:Grant Administration Levels of Corruption by silentcoder · · Score: 2

      Fuck that... they'll steal the nails too.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  46. Re: This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck you teen twat.

    You have no life experience.

    You have such great ideas, where is your fucking Nobel prize, your PHd, why don't you run for office. All the people stupider than you would vote for you.

    Fuck you

  47. First, be clear on the terms by GerryGilmore · · Score: 1

    From what I've seen, NN means either: A) ISPs cannot give preferential service to Content Provider Z vs X. or... B) ISPs who own monopoly-level back-bone should be treated as common-carriers and allow competing ISPs to connect to said back-bone at FRAND rates. Personally, I am much more in favor of B than A, but then I have Windstream as my monopoly provider. :-)

  48. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by ArhcAngel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You mean like a CDN?
    ISP's have been playing games with content providers and backbone internet companies for years. Netflix offered to install a FREE CDN on all the ISP's networks that would have decreased their network traffic to the backbone by over 50% but they refused because they wanted Netflix to pay to get to their customers. Ultimately Netflix caved and paid the toll and raised their rates to compensate. Net Neutrality would make this type of extortion illegal. Right now AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al own the last mile AND competing VOD services. This is a complete conflict of interest.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  49. Haha by s.petry · · Score: 0, Troll

    Remember those masses of Republicans out smashing businesses, beating people, and silencing dissenting opinions after President Obama won his 2nd term? How about all of those "Trump Supporters" paid to bird dog people at Clinton events? Well, I'll tell ya something. There is a reason that everyone in my family who is (or was until recently) a member of the Democratic Party didn't vote that way and many have given up on the Party as a whole. The Democratic party propping up Ellison and the media largely ignoring him is all you need to consider to realize that the DNC (as well as many in media) have lost their frigging minds.

    You go ahead and yell in the streets. The non-existent fairy tales about policies of a person who has not spent a single day in political office doesn't frighten sane people. The rest of us will wait to actually see what happens over time and measure the actions the President takes. If he sucks, we'll do like we did this year and vote someone else into office.

    We didn't elect a dictator, we elected a President. One of Three branches of US Government, and the President is not supposed to have dictatorial powers. Thanks to Obama, you may be confused though, because he has been the most vocal about his power of the pen.

    --

    -The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.

  50. Re: This is a good thing by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

    Human breading field...that sounds tasty! Do you use anything special, like sourdough or Hawaiian sweetbread crumbs?

  51. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But because we've built a highly stratified society, even if something bad happens to said person, it will ALWAYS be because of the economic strata below them "takin their jerbs". Ever since Bacon's rebellion and the creation of the white race in america, there has always been someone worse off you can blame, unless you're on the bottom, and in which case you're so disenfranchised you don't even care anymore.

    No, these frightened little people who elected trump will always blame someone else for their poor education and poor judgement. And as always, we'll have to wipe their dribbly old racist asses because that's the price we pay for creating a better world for everyone.

  52. Corrections by SuperKendall · · Score: 0

    And it's funny how you left out the "clean coal" part just after that. Trump is going to try to bring back coal,

    He's not "bringing back" coal, coal cannot be dispensed with overnight as there are a lot of coal plants. He is trying to fuel them as efficiently as possible, until we can get more nuclear plants in the pipeline.

    And if you don't have enough you get the 2008 financial crisis.

    Which was caused by regulation stifling competition and allowing too much power to accumulate in the hands of large companies. That is what regulation is these days - primarily ways to keep smaller companies from competing.

    Sounds good, but Trump's transition team is already loaded with lobbyists and corporate bigwigs

    Incorrect, Trump kicked out all the lobbyists when he ditched Chris Christie.

    A good idea... but why would you assume no one else is hardening their energy and network infrastructure?

    Because they seem to be laughing at those who try. Is there ay evidence they are doing so? I've not read anything of the like in regards to European power grids. If anything places like Germany are utterly screwing themselves as a Carrington event probably means most windmills die, and solar panel charge controllers all over will be toast. Do they really have backups for all of them? Nearby and shielded?

    He's not being criticized for the things he said above

    Nope, not for the thing he says he's going to do, for the things other people say he's going to do but there is no sign of...

    The problem is all of the things he said and promised on the campaign trail.

    It's really not. It's mis-intrepreations of those promises. If you look at what he actually said he was going to do and account for opening stages of negotiation, Trump's programs are actually quite reasonable.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Corrections by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it's funny how you left out the "clean coal" part just after that. Trump is going to try to bring back coal,

      He's not "bringing back" coal, coal cannot be dispensed with overnight as there are a lot of coal plants. He is trying to fuel them as efficiently as possible, until we can get more nuclear plants in the pipeline.

      And if you don't have enough you get the 2008 financial crisis.

      Which was caused by regulation stifling competition and allowing too much power to accumulate in the hands of large companies. That is what regulation is these days - primarily ways to keep smaller companies from competing.

      Sounds good, but Trump's transition team is already loaded with lobbyists and corporate bigwigs

      Incorrect, Trump kicked out all the lobbyists when he ditched Chris Christie.

      A good idea... but why would you assume no one else is hardening their energy and network infrastructure?

      Because they seem to be laughing at those who try. Is there ay evidence they are doing so? I've not read anything of the like in regards to European power grids. If anything places like Germany are utterly screwing themselves as a Carrington event probably means most windmills die, and solar panel charge controllers all over will be toast. Do they really have backups for all of them? Nearby and shielded?

      He's not being criticized for the things he said above

      Nope, not for the thing he says he's going to do, for the things other people say he's going to do but there is no sign of...

      The problem is all of the things he said and promised on the campaign trail.

      It's really not. It's mis-intrepreations of those promises. If you look at what he actually said he was going to do and account for opening stages of negotiation, Trump's programs are actually quite reasonable.

      Well this net-neutrality backslide is reminiscent of the lead up to the Enron scandal in the George W Bush years. I am worried that this is an attempt to censor the internet. Unfortunately that can go wrong for Trump in so many more ways than it can go the way he wants it to. The internet by it's very nature is a redundant system that sees censorship as damage and routes around it so censorship in it's default form does not work. Politicians since the 90s have gotten on this soapbox about policing the internet and each time they have not known what they were talking about and accomplished nothing. This is a poor attempt at a power grab, and it is going to probably be what we in the industry refer to as a complete and total "Cluster-Fuck". Enjoy the ride!

    2. Re:Corrections by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Incorrect, Trump kicked out all the lobbyists when he ditched Chris Christie.

      He just appointed two lobbyists to the FCC Transition Team. Did you not read the summary?

      President-elect Donald Trump has appointed two new advisers to his transition team that will oversee his FCC and telecommunications policy agenda. ...
      [Jeff Eisenach] is an economist who has previously worked as a consultant for Verizon and its trade association. ...
      [Mark Jamison] formerly worked on Sprint's lobbying team

    3. Re:Corrections by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      >Which was caused by regulation stifling competition and allowing too much power to accumulate in the hands of large companies. That is what regulation is these days - primarily ways to keep smaller companies from competing.

      No. No. No. Get it through your thick skulls. When there is massive large-scale fraud it's NEVER caused by too MUCH regulations- it's by defintion proof of too LITTLE regulation. Fraud on a massive scale proves that fraud was more profitable than honest business and unlikely to be prosecuted - and that is too LITTLE regulation.
      If you had less, and somehow there was more competition this would have made NO difference ot the outcome, you would just have had a a bunch of small companies ALSO committing large scale fraud.

      Competition can do a lot of things - but it can't make people not lie to get rich. The only thing that can do that is the threat of jail. If anything, competition tends to make liars become better liars.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    4. Re:Corrections by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      It's only fraud if it's against the law. If we get rid of enough regulation then there won't be any fraud because there won't be any regulations to violate.

      Then the magical little pixies of the free market will put sparkles and unicorn poop on everything.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:Corrections by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      Aah, I think I get it now... and of course the long-end result is that there is no crime at all, because there is nothing worth stealing because the second great depression starved us all to death.

      So really - economic conservatism is just extreme hippy environmentalism on the installment plan !

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    6. Re:Corrections by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Aah, I think I get it now... and of course the long-end result is that there is no crime at all, because there is nothing worth stealing because the second great depression starved us all to death.

      No, the end result is nothing big corporations do in the pursuit of aggregating wealth for the select few is a crime. The little people still need to have crimes otherwise they might do things to not pay money to the big companies.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    7. Re:Corrections by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      I'd call that the mid-level point - and mine what comes after that.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    8. Re:Corrections by Yunzil · · Score: 1

      He's not "bringing back" coal, coal cannot be dispensed with overnight as there are a lot of coal plants. He is trying to fuel them as efficiently as possible

      Except he said he was going to bring back all those coal jobs, but "fueling them as efficiently as possible" will mean more automation, which means fewer jobs in an industry that already in terminal decline. Tough luck, all you people in coal country who voted for him. Now you're out of a job, AND probably your healthcare, AND there's no money for education or retraining.

      Because they seem to be laughing at those who try. Is there ay evidence they are doing so?

      Who's laughing?

      It's mis-intrepreations of those promises.

      Haha, give me a break. "No, he really didn't mean those things he said in plain English. What he really meant was..."

  53. Trump the divider as uniter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Trump can't even unite his own transition team, many have resigned, others have been sacked. So you wonder why he doesn't unite America?

    No surprise really. He got fewer votes. America spoke and they REJECTED him, Putin hacker spoke and they put him in power. That's what getting fewer votes means, it means more people tell you to fuck off than to go to the Whitehouse.

    Why should they unite around Putin's choice of candidate?

    He's held his first press conference, he told the press they're all liars and crooks, naming them one by one and telling them how nasty they are, nasty nasty people. They were very polite and didn't tell him to grow up. Are they sane people?

    He can't even put together the basics of government. GOP might have to appoint an interim President for this idiot.

  54. cognitive dissonance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I loooove watching the trump supporters here tie themselves into knots trying to explain how they are for net neutrality AND donald trump, which are mutually exclusive. So far the winning strategy has been to change sides AGAINST net neutrality so that they don't have to admit trump is a fool. i guess the most recent failure takes precedence in their ideology of idiocy. LOLOLOLOLOL!

  55. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Who wins? A national super fund network with free and equal access so every US ISP can get vast amounts of HD content to each user from a few national servers?
    Telco monopolies and cartels demanding a new "upkeep" payment to the east, west coast and fly over states per packet?
    The telcos forget they just push packets. They are not making great content. If content is making billions in profit, become a content producer too.
    If the US gets closed telco networks with packet payments in the east, mid and west, it will be cheaper to send content to every ISP on encrypted media per week by post :)

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  56. Hint: Trump Hates the Media. Therefore... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Why is Trump taking pro-media stance?

    Trump just read the riot act to the media elite.

    On a larger scale, one for the first thing Trump plans to do is to kill US involvement in the TPP, which is pretty much a creation of the media companies...

    In many ways, all along Trump has shown he is very much against the media industry. So if any one action appears to be FOR the media industry, it means you need to look a lot more closely.

    In fact if you look you'll find that "Network Neutrality" was pushed for by the media industry, very happy to have a corporate backed government take full control over the wilds of the internet. Trump appointing people against network neutrality is continuing in the same vein of being very much against, not for, the media.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  57. Why is that bad? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Why is it bad to be able to pay more for higher speeds to some selected destinations? Overall your cable bill could be lower if you just need browsing speed for most sites but want to have a very fast connection for a handful of streaming video sites you use regularly...

    That would actually make 4k streaming practical, for example.

    You say that's bad, I say that's progress which is something we've not seen in a while. Under existing laws our network speeds are stagnating, Google is pulling out of fiber now...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Why is that bad? by Voyager529 · · Score: 2

      Why is it bad to be able to pay more for higher speeds to some selected destinations?

      Because no proposal I have ever heard for "preferred traffic" has ever involved letting me decide what those destinations are.

      Overall your cable bill could be lower if you just need browsing speed for most sites but want to have a very fast connection for a handful of streaming video sites you use regularly...

      Has your cell bill gone down since carriers implemented data caps? This graphic is years old, but please provide literally any evidence that it is not the logical conclusion of such a plan.

      That would actually make 4k streaming practical, for example.

      What would make 4K streaming practical is for the backhaul to be upgraded to the point where 100mbits/sec down is a de facto standard, with 300mbit/sec remotely affordable. Comcast isn't hurting for a buck, and even if this was the case in "selected cities" to start with, it's not the kind of thing that needs cooperation from everyone, everywhere, all at once. Then again, it's not like the general public is clamoring for 4K content - 1080p is so heavily compressed that good picture quality is still more dependent on Blu-Ray or 1080p file downloads than streaming.

      You say that's bad, I say that's progress which is something we've not seen in a while. Under existing laws our network speeds are stagnating, Google is pulling out of fiber now...

      Google is pulling out of fiber because they are Google, and pretty much everything that isn't Search, Mail, or Android is a 'pet project' to them...and also because being an ISP delivering gigabit is not the kind of thing they were charging properly for. Meanwhile, what online destinations besides Netflix aren't served 'well enough' by a 25/5 connection for 7 out of 10 Charter customers, and is my cable company's 300/35 tier not enough for 7/10 slashdotters? I'm not saying that progress should stop marching on or that the first round of Carbonite backups isn't going to be a pain, but internet speeds are well within the region where the router can very well be the bottleneck, and though the 300/35 tier is relatively new for my cable company, their standard level is 60/25, up from 25/5 about two years ago, and up from 15/2 from five years before that - and I'm nowhere near a Google Fiber area. Admittedly, my cable company is somewhat-regional and I know that AT&T hasn't done its customers any favors recently, but now we get into the classical argument of whether everyone's speeds need to go up in order for progress to be considered 'reached'.

    2. Re:Why is that bad? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because under that system the internet becomes a cable TV package from the 1980s. What is your vested interest in destroying the internet? no rational person would hold your opinion if they understand the situation, and aren't working for a cable/telco. Explain yourself sir.

    3. Re:Why is that bad? by silentcoder · · Score: 1

      For a starter - because it's double-dipping. They don't just charge YOU the extra 5 dollars, they also demand a few million from google to be placed on the menu of sites you can pay extra for.

      And that is the end of competition in the content creation space - as it now becomes impossible to start a new video site without already having the millions you need to buy highspeed service from ISPs so you'll be usuable by the customers you don't have yet.

      --
      Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
    4. Re:Why is that bad? by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Because no proposal I have ever heard for "preferred traffic" has ever involved letting me decide what those destinations are.

      You may not choose the destinations you can pay extra to reach, but you can choose which of the ones they have you are willing to pay more for.

      However you could ALWAYS simply pay more for a faster connection.

      Has your cell bill gone down since carriers implemented data caps?

      Yes it has actually, both in absolute terms and in terms of $ per MB used.

      The graphic is the logical conclusion of what I am saying, but again - why is that bad? It's not like I can't reach those things WITHOUT paying the extra fee. They just might be slower - again unless I wish to in increase my overall transfer rate. But it gives me MORE CHOICE than what I have today, where all I can do is increase my overall data transfer rate, when I truly may care about faster speeds only for Netflix.

      What would make 4K streaming practical is for the backhaul to be upgraded to the point where 100mbits/sec down is a de facto standard, with 300mbit/sec remotely affordable.

      And how is that all paid for? It's paid for by charging extra specifically for 4k streaming. Only when companies are allowed to have a revenue stream for significant network upgrades will they happen. On top of that if such a capacity were built out it would improve the top rate network packages I could buy for overall transfer rates, but in terms of cost and $/MB. Everyone would win.

      Google is pulling out of fiber because they are Google, and pretty much everything that isn't Search, Mail, or Android

      Well I have to admit I find it hard to argue with that one, but even though the reason may be Google being Google the effect is that network cost and availability will diminish as a result.

      internet speeds are well within the region where the router can very well be the bottleneck

      The problem I have with that statement is it has that very "256MB ought to be enough for anyone" vibe. I do not believe current network speeds are anything like what we need for a true internet revolution... and we know much faster speeds are possible. Yes the router is the bottleneck today but that's only because we don't have father internet speeds anywhere for router people to bother making faster consumer gear.

      now we get into the classical argument of whether everyone's speeds need to go up in order for progress to be considered 'reached'.

      That's the thing, progress is not something you reach, it is motion. And currently the motion is backwards for me; the fastest internet I ever had was about 10 years ago when I had fiber to the curb before Qwest "bought them out" (in the simpsons sense) and since then I've been making do with piss-poor options. I want to see various pricing options be allowed so that the internet providers can actually have the revenue to truly upgrade an ancient network with primitive speeds...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    5. Re:Why is that bad? by EmeraldBot · · Score: 1

      Why is it bad to be able to pay more for higher speeds to some selected destinations? Overall your cable bill could be lower if you just need browsing speed for most sites but want to have a very fast connection for a handful of streaming video sites you use regularly...

      That would actually make 4k streaming practical, for example.

      You say that's bad, I say that's progress which is something we've not seen in a while. Under existing laws our network speeds are stagnating, Google is pulling out of fiber now...

      Because that's not how companies work. Do you seriously think Comcast is going to spend your money on infrastructure improvements to handle that? The fear is that instead, they'll lower all websites to 56.8 kbps, and then they charge both you and the website owners if you want anything higher - for example, the speeds we already have today. It stagnates development, it stagnates small websites, and it causes every customer to pay more - the only possible benefactor in this equation would be Comcast.

      --
      "Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
  58. You shit all over our internet..... by WolfgangVL · · Score: 2

    We are building a better one. Without Your bullshit walled gardens. Without your ads. Without your monitoring. Without your grand regulations. Without your clumsy meddling. Without your consistent need to monetize every damn thing see. Without your little carrier fiefdoms and exclusive hardware monopolies. Without the insanely low barrier of entry that allowed all the dopey phone-addict people who cant think for themselves to flood in and cause exactly this.

    You can eavesdrop on your army of buffoons while they try to puzzle out why "just reset the router" is not working anymore. Spy on them while they pay for the privilege of being watched by their allies and overlords while being incessantly attacked by everybody else.

    The old guard looks cross about your new hotness bullshit. You've found a way to ass up a simple communications and data moving tool. While you argue over how best to fuck us all over, we may just take our ball and go home. Youtube can kiss my ass. Netflix can fuck itself, and all the ZOMG4KULTRASTREAM24/71000DOLLARTV zombies can have the lot of it.

    I'll meet you in the "Unlicensed spectrum".

    --
    You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
    1. Re:You shit all over our internet..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll meet you in the "Unlicensed spectrum".

      Long live the trading post com channel. So say we all!!!

    2. Re:You shit all over our internet..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3...2....1....It's been licensed to some company. Now you're using their property and interfering with ligitimate users. Stop or you go to jail.

    3. Re:You shit all over our internet..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I'll meet you in the "Unlicensed spectrum"."

      you need to start facepalming right now. Ready? Ok good. The "Unlicensed spectrum" is not going to create a new internet. It's going to create small independent networks that rely entirely on telco networks to work. You are not getting across the ocean. You are not even getting up to a satellite.

      While the idea is grand and fun sounding it's not feasible and shows an utter lack of understanding of the underlying technology. Any radio spectrum can technically provide network access, but until those networks can talk they are just small LANs.

    4. Re:You shit all over our internet..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That wireless internet should be just fine when some clown decides that they can use 'the internet' for whatever they want and start torrenting all day and night.

  59. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Solandri · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Thing is, there are two ways to skin this cat.
    • Allow AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al to maintain local monopolies over the last mile. Implement net neutrality to keep Internet access a level playing field.
    • Or drop net neutrality because it's government meddling in the marketplace. But also prohibit the local monopolies granted to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al because that's also government meddling in the marketplace. If you have competition for the last mile, then you don't need net neutrality. The customers will vote with their dollars - any ISP who intentionally tries to degrade Netflix service as a strategy to promote their own VOD service will simply be handing all their customers who use Netflix to a competitor.

    So killing net neutrality is not necessarily a bad thing if it's coupled with forcing local governments to allow competition in the last mile.

  60. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...Sucks to be you.

    So much compassion. So much love. Hopefully those words will never come back to haunt you or the ones you care about.

  61. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Netflix didn't raise their rates for their dvd-by-mail offering. They lowered them. And even have a bottom-tier offering of two dvd's a month for 5 dollars a month.

    Dirt cheap, the selection is enormous, and I don't spend more time than I want to watching. Perfect for an old-school cord cutter (the kind that stopped watching TV not because the Internet was cheaper or had more variety, but because there is way more to life than TV).

  62. Offer the ISPs a deal by jonwil · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tell the ISPs (Comcast, Verizon, AT&T etc) that all the regulations they dont like will go away but in return all the laws, agreements, regulations and other things all over the USA (at all levels of government) that restrict competition also have to go away.

    They get to do whatever they want on their own networks but they dont get the right to prevent someone else from comming in and competing with them.

    Here in Australia we have a competitive market for broadband in most parts of the country and because of that, very few (if any) ISPs do the kind of crap they do in the USA.

  63. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wait, so your reason for having children is so they are your safety net later?....

    And that makes you a _good_ person? Bringing more children into this world to burden it?

    M'kay. Gotcha. The whole 'go forth and multiply' thing, I suppose. Meh, hope it works for you.

  64. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I suppose if you want running water, working sewer system, paved roads, and traffic lights that you will build all that for your self? Uh, no. There are things that we all chip in for the social good. Believe it or not, helping people out of poverty is one of them. Helping people get back on their feet is another. If we don't do that, then we will face more and more people that have nothing to lose. I think we all know where that might lead to. A little bit of socialism is not only good, it is necessary. From your experience you probably think too much is just as bad as none.

  65. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

    Uhhh the US taxpayers paid to the tune of 200 billion for a nationwide upgrade to our intertubes during Clinton and all we got for that money was a low res Goatse from the big corps.

    This is why we should give them 90 days to either provide what we paid for, give us back every cent with interest, or we nationalize the whole thing and open it up to competition like we did when we first broke up Ma Bell. If they want exclusives in an area? Let them run 100mbps FIOS to the door and we'll be happy to give them a 15 years exclusivity deal but as it is now? They owe us a shitload of money and we should demand we get what we paid for!

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  66. Re: This is a good thing by MouseTheLuckyDog · · Score: 1

    comparable to Kevin Costner evolving gills in water-world.

    So you are the guy who actually watched it. People told me someone did, buit I didn't believe them.

  67. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Most of us do not oppose a safety net. What we oppose is people not even bother climbing high enough to need a net, but stopping at the net and getting comfortable and raising their kids there.

    We also oppose people who spend their whole lives just living and not bothering planning on the future and then playing the little old person game of "poor little ol me needs help". What were you up to for the past 60 years?! You need the government to help you because you didn't bother having any kids, oh wait you had kids and they want nothing to do with you because you raised shit bags or were horrible to them?

    Sucks to be you.

    I only agree with this to a point. If you are not willing to try then I will fault someone for not going above their means. But most minorities in the US have had systemic monetary disadvantages imposed upon them legally by the white majority until the 60s in many parts of the US and even in cases where the law wasn't the cause then pure old racism, even in the north, did disadvantage minorities. Having generational money is a huge benefit by those that often claim they are bootstrappy. Within the last few generations ability to bridge the gap between rich and poor has been widening making it harder to overcome being poor. Sadly in america we blame laziness upon the poor even when it isn't true. Some of the hardest workers I have personally known are those working minimum wage jobs just to get by while college educated well offs can goof off at work while bitching about how lazy the poor are and deserve what they get.

  68. Drain the swamp by Cyberax · · Score: 2

    He's draining the swamp - into his cabinet positions. Soon he'll employ all the lobbyists. After all, he has never said where to he's going to drain it.

  69. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by ArhcAngel · · Score: 2

    There's an old saying in politics...nobody ever voted to repeal an entitlement. I don't disagree with what you are saying but I doubt the telcos would let that happen and it would take a miracle to get enough politicians to actually approve.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  70. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ISPs are not required to give free datacenter space to companies like Netflix. I can see an ISP being less forgiving and amicable to Netflix after their bullshit.

    It's also interesting how this wasn't an issue with Hulu, Amazon, Youtube, etc.

  71. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yet we're ok with wages stagnating which pretty much forces people to stay in the net? And we're ok with our elite overlords not paying their fair share to fund said net?

    Call a spade a spade, we were raised to not want a safety net and fed the bullshit of "the American dream" where anyone can achieve anything.

  72. Re:This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 0

    Not one single goddamn thing that you listed should be in the hands of any goddamn government.

  73. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fuck off, Pope Pothead. Your delusional ramblings have gotten worse in the last few years.

  74. Re: This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 0

    Run for office????????????? I am actually doing productive stuff, why would I want to waste my life on something like that????? More importantly, why would I join a government, any government??????? I despise governments, I have no interest in ruling, I hate politicians, the mob and bureaucracy, I most certainly will never try being in government.

  75. Re:This is a good thing by LostInTaiwan · · Score: 1

    I had a similar conversation with my friends. My belief is that the ruling class of America decided it's cheaper to pay people off with welfare than to give people jobs. Given the chance, I think most people will prefer meaningful work.

    The very few getting comfortable on the bottom rungs of our social safety net are just there to obscure the masses of working poor who are below the safety net, do distract us from the real issues of why people can't find jobs.

    Sure, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs available, but finding those jobs can be a challenge. Moving to a new place for a minimum wage job is also equally challenging.

  76. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    Looking across the pond and seeing what's going on in the US right now is so patently absurd

    Look who's lecturing us: YOUR country Brexited your asses into recession.

    Yeah, and now old Farage is over there fucking up your shit. Well, tough, he's your problem now, we don't want him back.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  77. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There has been no recession in the UK as a result of brexit. There aren't even any remotely credible voices claiming there will be, either.

  78. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    It's like the Titanic captain arguing with the Chernobyl chief over who screwed the pooch the hardest.

  79. Re: This is a good thing by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    I lost a bet over how a word was spailed.

  80. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Netflix offered to install a FREE CDN on all the ISP's networks that would have decreased their network traffic to the backbone by over 50% but they refused because they wanted Netflix to pay to get to their customers.

    You mean, pay for peering, which Netflix didn't want to do?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  81. SURE, BANKSTER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We should all be scared that your evil little system does not work perfectly. The system of bullshitting the plebs and then flying in cheap H1B replacements.

    Folks go to RT.COM and set yourself free !

    1. Re:SURE, BANKSTER by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not going to get objective news anywhere. It does however have a positive effect to be presented with different views. It's not healthy living in a bubble where anyone will believe anything if it is repeated enough times.

  82. "zombies" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So good you comply with the messages of Hollywood. You want some Extraterrestrial Aliens with that piece of cheap oily hacked meat ?

  83. Why ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because the banksters scared you into thinking so ? Or was it Lockheed Warmart ?

  84. Sure Mr Dimon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We know it was outrageous of the people to vote for their interest and against more cheap H1Bs to replace them. We suffer with you poor folks of Wall Street.

  85. Yes, Hillary Goldman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Trump is so much more evil than you, who are in bed with the Sand Nazis of Riad. Those who kill people of other religions for pure fun. That makes sense.

  86. Sure, Communist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you cannot win by propaganda, you want to win by hook and crook. By changing rules in the middle of the game. You learned it from your creators in the city of London.

  87. Communists, Mohammedists And Banksters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    (all of which are close shysters) never bothered too much about rules and facts and natural laws. They think that a serious amount of lying and propaganda is always needed. They lie to themselves and to others. They support factual Nazis and at the same time call others Nazis.

    For them information war is permanent. It is a game. Those who lie boldest will win. Only winning counts.

    That's how they are. Don't try to reason with them. Fight them.

  88. Sure Goldmann-Sachs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We know your pressure and dirty tricks. Some of your corporate underlings like BOSCH already instated Marxist brainwashing for their employees.

    Go for it, dig an even deeper hole for yourself.

  89. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The UK has the highest growth of G7 countries, there is no recession. Stop lying. Spain is broke, France is almost broke, Italy is broke, Greece is destroyed thanks to EU loans. The two last standing countries with financial power are England (Wales and Scotland live off EU and England handouts) and Germany.

    Once the UK gains independence, how long do you think Germany can afford to prop up the failed EU experiment. And don't forget to factor in all the former communist bloc countries that are, yup, broke.

  90. Sure Marxist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Whoever stands in the way of your "progress" must be a "fascist", by definition of your Bullshit Bible from Bankster Marx.

    Here is the protip: Don't always think about money and look into other things, other books. It makes you less bitter. Stop thinking in the categories erected by the Banksters.

    1. Re: Sure Marxist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You say "Marxist" while jacking off to Putin's manly image.

  91. Sanders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was that they guy your banksterist folks cheated out of the competition ? You fell in your own sword of lying and cheating. Rightfully so.

    For you there are no rules and the only rule is that you want to win. Rules are, well, "fascist" in your craziness.

  92. Re:This is a good thing by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

    So sewers, roads, education, water and all that should be in private hands, charging for use no doubt. Fuck off, there are plenty of things that should be in government hands being run to serve a purpose not a profit. Again, fuck off and try not to use any of the public infrastructure while you're doing it.

    --
    Wanna buy a shirt?
    https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
  93. Sure Mr Lehman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How dare he appoint a General who has an own mind. Didn't the general know that he must obey the Rule Of New York Money ?

  94. Putin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He is a hero who works for his people and throws criminal banksters into jail. What exactly is wrong with that ?

    Just shows how highly competent the KGB is. Unlike what the MSM propaganda says, they are not all brutish simpletons. They did what they were paid for - rescue their country from the internationalist money hyenas. Do you Americans have a similar loyal government agency ?

  95. Sure Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    YOu have as much proof of your claims as you had for Husseins WMD, I guess ?

  96. THE INTERCEPT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is now openly a Pro-Zion Anti-Peace rag ? Yeah, that makes sense.

    They want to destroy Syria for Lebensraum Im Osten.

  97. Dumb person, dumb decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A dumb person makes a dumb decision. News at 11:00.

  98. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Boris is actually a literal muppet. He was made in Jim Henson's Creature Shop then sent out into the world as a columnist.

  99. Citations needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you are neither an agent for monopolist ISPs nor merely uninformed, you should be able to cite proper specific examples in the FCC Open Internet Order, https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-15-24A1_Rcd.pdf , which are contrary to reasonable net-neutrality principles.

    It's 2016. You can go read the stuff yourself. Even the preamble to the regulations is full of inaccuracies, half-truths, and outright lies. For example, the FCC tries to say that its current regulations are what made the Internet great - except that the FCC's attempts at regulating the internet have never actually taken effect. Then it gets better.

    You are presumably referring to the muddled statement in Introduction numbered paragraph 2. The claim in the FCC order is about investment in infrastructure and services continuing during a period of previous rules which is not as broad as you assert in your blanket criticism. Your criticism may be partly valid in relation to enforcement of previous rules which had been restricted and may have been suspended while previous litigation was ongoing and certainly when the FCC lost in court over the basis for previous effort to impose regulatory authority.

    As others have asked differently, https://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9907639&cid=53336285 ; why would the incoming US president appointment of people who have made a reputation opposing any merely reasonable idea of net-neutrality not have a malevolent effect on the issue?

    1. Re:Citations needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Active links forgotten for my previous message:

      1. FCC Open Internet Order

      2. Similar question in another comment

  100. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I already had this happen. Know what I got for a "safety net"? "You earn too much, suck it up, and keep paying taxes" On top of that my medical insurance has nearly doubled since then getting my "Save $2500 year".

    Problem with your statement is you haven't been taking care of the working class. There is no safety net for us, none. Your fear mongering doesn't work because we know your statements are false. Meanwhile, my company, which is run for an "evil profit" let me take time off for chemo and radiation every day for 3 months, because the government wasn't going to help out with a single cent.

    You can't threaten to take away what isn't there. However, we can vote someone in who actually wants to help middle class workers, and we did. We tried it your way and you called me a racist while refusing to help me, now we get to try a different way.

    You really should be ashamed of yourself for how you treat workers in this country.

  101. Re: This is a good thing by silentcoder · · Score: 1

    Somebody should tell them that in a real dog eat dog world ultimately only the fleas are happy.

    --
    Unicode killed the ASCII-art *
  102. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    You won't get much competition for the last mile even if you remove all the regulation. It's extremely expensive and companies won't invest because all they will get in return is a price war with the other network. There are a few exceptions like Google Fibre or cable where there was some other good reason to do it (forcing better speed/lower price access to their services, analogue TV) but as a general plan just removing restrictions won't help.

    The only good options are state ownership of the last mile infrastructure or unbundling so that multiple ISPs have access and there are strong incentives to invest. The latter works well in Japan, my girlfriend has the cheapest most basic internet available out in the sticks and it's 2GB fibre for about $30/month.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  103. Explain this clearly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Look, no one ever explains this in a clear and concise manner. It's not about netflix.

    It's about the fact that when you plug in your television or coffee maker, it works. The power network used to supply electricity does not discriminate against your devices because of their make, model or brand. Your LG TV gets just as much electricity as your Samsung TV.

    It's not about capitolism anymore. It's about the fact that the internet is now an integrated part of society. Every aspect of our lives depends on this network, and we simply can not let a few people start discriminating. There are already means and methods to control congestion with traffic shaping. We do not need a tiered internet and anyone who argues FOR a tiered system without neutrality is either ignorant, or working for the people who are against neutrality, or both.

    No one without a vested interest in fucking the internet in the ass would fight neutrality.

  104. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

    This honestly sounds like the sort of thing you could goad Trump into promising on Twitter. This is your one big chance to directly influence policy before they take his Twitter account away again.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  105. This is how facism works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    F Trump and every one of his supporters.

  106. We're debating it because 180 million people by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    just don't give a fuck. 60 million voted for Trump, 120 million didn't bother voting.

    After that everything else is just semantics. You seem to be under the mistaken impression that anyone of the people we just put in charge cares about ethics, principles or consistency. They care about results. End Justifies the Means. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law; etc, etc. If something like Common Carrier gets in the way they'll just trample it.

    This is the consequences of people either not voting or voting their gut.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  107. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by kbg · · Score: 1

    any ISP who intentionally tries to degrade Netflix service as a strategy to promote their own VOD service will simply be handing all their customers who use Netflix to a competitor.

    No the problem is that if the ISP is big enough and has a large customer base then Netflix will have to pay the ISP to maintain the quality of service for those customers. The customers will never see any degrade on their pipe but what will happen is that Netflix will have to raise the price for everyone to pay these extortions fees.

  108. Re:This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 0

    Absolutely everything should be in private hands. Every single thing should be done for profit, there is no place for government oppression. As to using what exists today, we are all oppressed into paying for this shit, so fuck off telling others what they can and cannot do.

  109. Re: BINGO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bradley Manning? You homosexual traitors sure do stick up for each other.

  110. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Duhavid · · Score: 1

    "getting a free ride to consumer grade accounts"

    What free ride?  Content providers pay for their internet access.
    If the ISP cannot price their offerings such that they are able to deal with the traffic, that is on them.

    What you propose is nothing less than extortion ( "pay up for the packets... get slowed..." )

    --
    emt 377 emt 4
  111. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by houghi · · Score: 1

    Allowing competition is not enough. Company A will take the North of the city and company B will take the south. They both raise their prices 300% and make more money than if they would have had the whole city.

    What you need is to almost competition. No idea how that would work.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  112. Good, Because Net Neutrality is Bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You all do know that the Net Neutrality rules that were passed were actually the OPPOSITE of Net Neutrality, right?

  113. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by dywolf · · Score: 1

    its not about forcing local government to allow competition in the last mile.
    that is isn't practical for the same reasons allowing competition in the last mile to your driveway isn't.
    and its not about forcing government to allow competition.

    rather, its about allowing (or having rather) government force competition on the ISPs.

    IE, if you go that route, the best solution is to instead force (by regulation) competition in the last mile by saying "you (the ISP) don't own the last mile."

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  114. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Netflix didn't raise their rates for their dvd-by-mail offering. They lowered them. And even have a bottom-tier offering of two dvd's a month for 5 dollars a month.

    Dirt cheap, the selection is enormous, and I don't spend more time than I want to watching. Perfect for an old-school cord cutter (the kind that stopped watching TV not because the Internet was cheaper or had more variety, but because there is way more to life than TV).

    I may have to revert back to this method. Download and install DVD Fab, receive, rip, and return. DVD Fab does both DVDs and Blu-Rays just fine.

  115. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by stinerman · · Score: 1

    If you're talking about services, yes. If you're talking about infrastructure no.

    I live in an area where there there are two cable companies (Wide Open West and Time Warner). There is no reason there couldn't be a 3rd except for the fact that no one thinks it's a good investment to run another series of cables throughout my neighborhood.

    Decouple service from infrastructure and you will get all the competition you want.

  116. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > But also prohibit the local monopolies granted to AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al because that's also government meddling in the marketplace

    In case you weren't aware, that is the very issue that brought us to this point.

    Back in 2005 the SCOTUS ruled that the FCC has the authority to decide if the ISPs must share the last-mile with competitors. Big Telecom had convinced the FCC to give them that monopoly and people were fighting it. The people lost and that was the end of hundreds of companies, large and small, like Earthlink and Mindspring that relied on leasing access to the last mile. Incidentally, the classification that the FCC applied to ISPs also let them out of having to conform to net neutrailty.

    The case is National Cable & Telecom Association vs Brand X

  117. Re:Hint: Trump Hates the Media. Therefore... by sinij · · Score: 1

    I am 100% pro-NN, but I am willing to consider that I could be misinformed. My premise is that without NN large monopolies will build walled gardens and will make it cost-prohibitive to venture outside of these.

  118. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uhhh the US taxpayers paid to the tune of 200 billion for a nationwide upgrade to our intertubes during Clinton and all we got for that money was a low res Goatse from the big corps.

    Thanks, but I'll pass. I don't want to know what a $200 billion high res Goatse looks like.

  119. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 1

    Sure, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs available,

    Not for long though. Low-skilled humans are being surpassed by machinery at a fast rate. Self-checkouts, self-driving cars, automated warehousing, automated electronic invoicing, etc etc The Era oif the lowly educated but well paid worker is fast coming to an end. Sure, the automation also creates some jobs, but the further into the future we go, the less and less jobs there will be for people with little to no education simply because they will rarely provide any benefit to having a machine do the same job.

    This is why not just America, but all of the industrialized world needs to start re-.inventing the social safety nets and considering something like basic income, because all projections currently point to the amount of unemployment only growing in th future decades. Achieving high employment rate in an environment were humans are unnecessary as factors of production in many fields is not possible.

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  120. False dilemma by sjbe · · Score: 1

    This is simple. They are ether common carriers or they are not.

    That is the very definition of a false dilemma. Sorry but this is unfortunately not a simple either/or with no third options. Our government could classify these companies in any number of ways and regulate them (or not) accordingly. You've mentioned two of the options but there are plenty more possibilities.

  121. Great again for whom? by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Please tell us how higher costs, lower speeds, less competition, and blocked/gated content will make america great again.

    It will make it great for rich asshats like Trump and his buddies. Weren't you paying attention?

  122. Hiring the lunatics to run the asylum by sjbe · · Score: 1

    Donald Trump may be an arrogant bastard who thinks of attractive women as trophies to fondle, but he's not Anti-Christ-Hitler-Stalin-Pol-Pot.

    No, those are the people he's appointing as his chief advisors and to head federal agencies. He's appointing people who deny science to head the EPA. His chief advisor is a known right fringe racist. His VP thinks women are subhumans who should surrender any reproductive rights, is anti-LGBT, is a climate change skeptic, etc. Basically he's hiring a bunch of fringe lunatics who he's going to put in positions of real power.

    The fringe right also said a lot of idiotic things when Obama was elected

    They ALWAYS say a lot of idiotic things. The difference is that now they have access to actual power and can act on some of those idiotic things.

    In truth, very little can be done to significantly change things without Congress' approval (you know, that "balance of powers" thing), and the Republicans have a *very* slim majority in the Senate.

    Trump's party has majorities in both houses and there is a very good chance he'll be able to appoint some members of the Supreme Court. There is very little preventing him from doing a whole bunch of really bad things.

    A year from now, when the country hasn't actually imploded, all this angst is going to look a bit silly in retrospect.

    Maybe but there is scant evidence that Trump and his cronies aren't going to do a lot of damage to a lot of people in the mean time. He's more or less promised to do a lot of cartoon villainy. I see no reason to not take him at his word that he will try to actually do the awful things he has promised.

  123. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 2

    There shouldn't be any such thing as a 'safety net'

    Ah yes, what a glorious future it will be when 90 % of current low to minimum skill jobs are entirely automated and quite a large chunk of normal office jobs as well. Have you not followed the projections on the effects of technology to employment: there is no way there will be jobs for everyone in the future in industrialized nations, because pretty soon we'll reach a point in which a low-skill human is simply inferior/less efficient in most jobs compared to a machine. Do some actual reading::

    According to our estimate, 47 percent of total US employment is in the high risk category, meaning that associated occupations are potentially automatable over
    some unspecified number of years, perhaps a decade or two.

    And that's just the estimate for the next couple of decades, the nu,ber will only increase as time goes on. Once we hit AI it will effectively make all human labor pretty much obsolete.

    People should save on their own, it needs to be a fully personal responsibility

    So where does this saving come from where the chances are that there simply isn't work available for a majority of non/low-educated individuals in a couple devades? How do they save when they have no marketable skills, and in your vision of plutocratic america I assume getting an education that would offer the a slightly better (but not guaranteed) employment also costs a fuckton of money?

    If self reliance and family fail, then it's a charity case (if anybody wants to donate)

    Ah, so in your vision of an idela society most people who aren't born into a wealthy family simply die off unless some rich asshole manages to have some pity for them. What a place to live in, truly.

    but it must *never* be a case of government oppression for the sake of edge cases.

    I live in a modern social-democratic country (Finland) in which my tax money is used to fund the education, health care and other basic needs of my fellow citizens. I don't consider this oppression in the least, and I fail to see why anyone sane would. I mean, firstly, the wealthy individuals who run companies here are only able to do so because they enjoy a population of highly educated, healthy individuals and a stable infrastructure. Without these things commerce itself would be impossible, so it makes complete sense, from a both indvidual as well as corporate perspective, to rpvide such base level fundamental services with tax-funds. There's nothing oppressive about societies pooling resources and collectively funding essential services, that's the very reason societies are born in the first place and we don't live in a state of anarchy.

    I was born in the USSR, I am fully aware of how socialism works and I reject it fully as well.

    Ah yes, the age old 'b-b-b-but the soviet union was horrible' card which conveniently ignores the last half a century of development in northern and western Europe in which socialism is implemented entirely differently from the soviet union and has by all possible metrics achieved vastly superior results.

    Have you ever been to the Norodic countries? Germany? France?

    Yeah, we aren't exactly living in the soviet union here you doofus, and just because countries like the USSR and others have managed to fuck up socialistic ideals by turning into tyranies doesn't mean that the only feasible way forward is some weird ancap plutocracy in which you have no social mobility whatsoever unless you suck enough rich CEO dick to make them fund your education/living..

    Is that really your vision of an ideal society in an age when we're nearing the end of humans as the main factors of production? Because unless you're someone with a doctora

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  124. Lots of damage can be done by sjbe · · Score: 1

    People who make arguments like that point to the early century dictatorships like Germany or Italy, without considering that neither of those countries had any real democratic tradition, like the US has had for two centuries with our republic.

    Ask some black people how well that has worked out for them for most of our history. How about the Japanese American citizens during WWII? Just because we have a tradition of democracy doesn't mean our leaders can't do a bunch of really awful things to a lot of people.

    The Republican establishment loathes Trump.

    So what? Trump has promised to give them a lot of what they want and as long as he does they will swallow their distaste and get on with doing whatever cartoon villainy they intended. They're promising to take away health insurance from millions, they are promising to restrict reproductive rights of women, they are promising to restrict the rights of workers to organize, they are promising to increase an already outrageously oversize military and surveillance state, they are promising to deport millions of people. Trump agrees with them on all of that. Hard to see where there is going to be any real friction.

  125. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

    A CDN inside your network SAVES you money by allowing you to use bandwidth that would have been spent streaming the content from the source to your customer on other content. In the case of Netflix it would have saved you A LOT of money. So yes I don't think Netflix was unreasonable in thinking "Hey we're asking to do this FOR you and our mutual customers for free and you want to CHARGE us to save you money and give your customers a better experience?" The ISP's in question have an extreme conflict of interest because they want you to buy their inflated VOD services instead of using Netflix. They also oversell their service such that if all their customers were to use the bandwidth they pay for at the same time it would cripple their network and even if it didn't their peering connection to the backbone is already saturated with less than half the traffic they sold. These blogs over at Level 3 are very enlightening.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  126. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by Dorianny · · Score: 1

    You mean like a CDN? ISP's have been playing games with content providers and backbone internet companies for years. Netflix offered to install a FREE CDN on all the ISP's networks that would have decreased their network traffic to the backbone by over 50% but they refused because they wanted Netflix to pay to get to their customers. Ultimately Netflix caved and paid the toll and raised their rates to compensate. Net Neutrality would make this type of extortion illegal. Right now AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, et al own the last mile AND competing VOD services. This is a complete conflict of interest.

    Actually it was far more devious than simply refusing the CDN's. The ISP's were purposely not upgrading the Interconnects and Edge Routers connecting to Level 3 (a Tier 1 network) which provided the bandwidth to Netflix resulting in avoidable traffic congestion between large ISP customers and Netflix servers. Netflix actually went as far as offering to pay for the infrastructure upgrades but the ISP's wanted much more from Netflix than a couple of new Routers. Netflix eventually caved. Well this was back when Netflix actually had its own equipment in Data-Centers. Last year Netflix completed is move to AWS (Amazon Web Services). I don't know what kind of agreements AWS has with the large ISP's

  127. Crony Capitalism? by Rhipf · · Score: 1

    Ok maybe I'm dense but I would think net neutrality is the opposite of "crony capitalism pure and simple."

    1. Re:Crony Capitalism? by WaxParadigm · · Score: 1

      A lot of regulation ends up being a great conduit for crony capitalism. When you regulate an industry you make it subject to regulatory capture (the industry ends up writing its own rules). You also entrench large businesses because smaller ones don't have the resources to comply with complex regulations and/or lobby for their interests. The big businesses that are most-successful RE regulatory capture (probably large content creators like Google/Facebook/Netflix in this example) get their business models entrenched/favored.

  128. Re:Awesome news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Net Neutrality" is a total scam brought on by Soros and his RICO minions.

    The above happened because people were claiming that "net neutrality" meant that Breitbart and Rush Limbaugh should be forced to provide equal time to opposing viewpoints on their sites, or that "net neutrality" meant that website owners couldn't prevent users from posting alternate viewpoints.
    This is really how my Lib friends were posting on Facebook back in the big netneut scare. The response from Repubs was the standard "Libs like it? Well, then we hates it, precious!!!" and "They want to use the power of government to force private companies to broadcast their talking points? Nazis!!!"

  129. Re:Brexified! [Re:I feel sorry for you guys. No jo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That should give you an idea just how fucked you really are. When even Boris Johnson is all like, 'what a muppet!' you should probably take note.

    Barber envy.

  130. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 1

    So, instead of afressing any of the problems I pointed out in your propsed model taking into consideration that the possibilities for employment will be highly reduced in advanced economies in the coming decades, you ignore all the facts and just choose to keep on with the nonsensical strawman of ''oppression'. The guys behind Supercell (the makes of the Clash of Clans hit and recent billionaires) voluntarily paid their taxes into Finland because they said they consider the system here to be the primary reason for their success, so this oppression angle is just bullshit.

    Solid, very solid. How do you expect anyone to take your ideas even vaguely seriously when you cannot even mount an argument to defend them when problems are pointed out?

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  131. Re:This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 1

    So you are saying: somebody paid *capital gains taxes* here for some bizarre reasons and this means that businesses will keep paying income, payroll, property and other oppressive taxes here as well in coming years rather than moving away or failing due to becoming uncompetitive in the global economy?

    Hmm, I think you don't understand the difference between running a company and cashing out of one.

  132. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 1

    No, I'm saying they helkd a god damn press release in which they stated they inted to both keep their headquarters located in Helsinki and keep paying both theior personal taxes and corporate taxes here because they want to support the society without which they wouldn't have had the chance to become so successful

    "We've received a lot of help from society, and now it is our turn to give something back," Paananen said, writes Helsingin Sanomat.

    And again, please explain how your model intends to account for the disappearance of jobs en mass due to automation. Because people will need higher education in the future even more than they do today but it will not guarantee them employment.

    So are you really saying that the 98 % of society that isn't extremely wealthy just has to first take massive debt to even be able to compete in the for the few jobs that will remain, and the rest that do not get either employment or education - ie. probably over half the population in 3-4 decades) will have to just hope for donations from the elite class or die?

    What? If you take any form of income away from that amount of people,m do you understand what that will do the corporations when they'll lose a significant chunk of consumers, let alone for societal stability overall etc...

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  133. NO FREE LUNCHES. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing is free and that pertains to internet bandwidth as well.

    The sustainable direction is to not throttle certain traffic but to increase throughput and charge users accordingly.

    If you cannot understand simple logic then go back to college and take the proper courses which will prepare you for your education AFTER you graduate from school. Silly pseudo education will set you up for failure.

  134. Re: I still want short distance & long distanc by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everything you said is correct except there are still a lot of internet users who have little or no choice for SIP provider - rural America. How ironic.

  135. Re:This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 1

    Ok, so a company holds a press release to make themselves look like something they may or may not be. AFAIC press releases like that are usually some form of a stunt or maybe a backroom deal with a politician for additional tax breaks (which would make sense for them if they can do that deal). They are not successful in Finland because it is Finland, they are successful because they did something and people can do something useful anywhere. They owe nothing to Finland specifically whether they understand it or not and if they have customers and employees and investors they have already *given more than anything that government can steal from them in form of income and other taxes*.

    Yes, companies give something to the society before they are taxed one penny, they are giving a valuable service, opportunities for investment and possibly for employment. They shouldn't be taxed at all actually, but they are, so eventually they will come around or they will be dismissed - outcompeted.

    And again, please explain how your model intends to account for the disappearance of jobs en mass due to automation.

    - labour and capital are always in competition, government oppression makes labour artificially more expensive, thus providing more incentives for automation that exist otherwise.

    There shouldn't be any government involvement in any business whatsoever, this would ensure an actual balance between cost reducing automation and between labour prices. It is all about supply and demand, supply and demand always meet somewhere and the market clears.

    Government oppression artificially raising the price destroys the point of balance where supply and demand naturally meet and then you get more automation that would exist otherwise thus increasing unemployment via government oppression.

    So are you really saying that the 98 % of society that isn't extremely wealthy just has to first take massive debt

    - government involvement in education and loan guarantees is the reason for the massive amounts of useless debt that recent graduates have. The loan guarantees and all other forms of government intervention is what artificially raises tuition prices by flooding the market with more money than it would otherwise have.

    Thus the artificial demand allows the suppliers to raise prices to create wrong price points, similar to the wrong price points for labour that government creates with all the business related laws, minimum wage, etc.

    People start businesses when they can afford it, governments make starting businesses unaffordable for many reasons: money printing, laws, taxes, etc. Without government oppression there would be more businesses starting and new businesses do not automate as much as the established ones and not at first anyway. The prices for products fall in a free market capitalist system, providing more products and choices for less money. Students don't need debt to finish college if government does not artificially modify the equation and create imbalances in supply/demand by pumping money into the system.

    As to 'taking any form of income away from people' - income through oppression? Income through income taxes? You think you can have a system that will promote welfare through oppression and not destroy jobs and move businesses elsewhere? Well, for that you would need a single employer in the country, the government itself, we already had that back in the USSR. Like I said, I don't want anything to do with Finland, I am disgusted by every thing collective.

  136. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 1

    They owe nothing to Finland

    That's your opinion, not theirs, and certainly not mine. As someone currently running a tech-startup myslef I see things very differently, but this is a minor point in this discussion so I'll leave that be and move on to the more important matter, which is that you are still dodging the issue.

    labour and capital are always in competition, government oppression makes labour artificially more expensive, thus providing more incentives for automation that exist otherwise.

    This is a total non-sequitur. In the mid-to-long term automation will surpass human workers with or without government 'oppression' (still the wrong word but whatever) because machines are more cost-effective at these jobs. It's simply not possible for a human worker to do for example invoicing or bookkeeping or any repetitive and simple jobs for faster and as well or better than a machine that can handle thousands of transactions in seconds and do so with considerably lower margins of error than a human being.

    Even if I grant you to be correct for the sake of argument that government involvement is making this process faster, the overall advancements of technology which are happening and will keep happening mean that jobs requiring only little or no education will eventually be made obsolete by machines, as the technological advancements cannot be stopped barring a major planetary catastrophe.

    Simply put, humans are incapable at competing effectively with machines when it comes to information processing, which means we're not in the same market as the machines from the point of view of the corporations. Machines and humans are not equal or equally effective as workers, which is why your supply and demand analogy fails and fails massively.

    Again, I know from personal experience having been a part of the process that what now takes around 20 people to run invoice will soon be ran with machines and 3-5 people. This is cheaper and more effective. So please, stop deluding yourself into thinking that slow, error-prone humans are capable of competing with something that does the exactly same job faster, tirelessly and with a lower rate of error. The cost/benefit ratio of an automated system, even if the 20 people were paid HALF of what they used to be paid would still vastly be better. There is no price point at which the labor of these individuals is competitive with a system that has an entirely predictable output rate and a fixed - and relatively low (compared to operating profit) . cost. Machines work 24/7, don't take sick leave, don't complain etc. Once a system like that is set up and working (and like I said, these are not that expensive these days) there's no reason for any company to hire those 20 people at even a dollar per hour wage because the machine is simply a better investment value-wise.

    There is no way for human individuals to compete with machines because of this in the long term.

    As for education, firstly: bullshit. Education per student is cheaper in western countries where it is provided as public service instead of as a for-profit commodity. It's the combination of private, for-profit universities and private but government backed loans that's making it so ridiculously expensive in the US. When education is a necessity to be able to enter the labor market, it makes no sense to force people into debt just so they can even apply for a job.

    But more importantly I was asking what do you imagine the situation to be in your 'ideal' future when, even if one takes debt, there's absolutely no guarantee that you'll get employed because a larger amount of people will be competing for a smaller amount of jobs, meaning the 'investment' one makes into privately acquired education is incredibly risk and has even more of a chance of ruining your life entirely if you don't get a job but are left with the debt and no means to pay it.

    So really, what are the options for somebody born into

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  137. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

    About your sig? Sorry but sadly SJWs are very very real and while its true the world would be MUCH better off if we could just line them up and have them all shot (which would probably please them as most are beta whites and thus you would have less "white privilege" in the world) we can at least take comfort in the fact that being betas most of them will not get the opportunity to breed and thus will die out.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  138. Small or Large Business? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we get rid of the laws that protect consumers then what will hapen?
    Will I be able to grow my new business in the Internet sector?
    Will the Security have our Internet in a virtual world and see everything that we do?
    Will the price of the ISP keep on increasing?
    Will my Internet provider control the Internet download speed if I download http://website.gov?
    Every website we go to, we our downloading something. Look at your history. ctrl + h

  139. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by mhotchin · · Score: 1

    Except is wasn't peering, because the traffic didn't transit those networks. It was requested by endpoints *in* those networks.

    Comcast already got paid to move those bits by their own customers. The fact that lots of customer bits just happened to be coming from one place doesn't mean that Comcast should get to gouge the provider of those bits.

  140. Re:This is a good thing by udachny · · Score: 1

    You are not actually hearing me, I said this already: *supply and demand always meet somewhere and the market clears.*

    The market clears. The market clears given a natural balance between supply and demand. 100,000,000 unemployed individuals means 200,000,000 pairs of hands, 200,000,000 pairs of eyes and of legs that could be employed doing something if the market was allowed to clear.

    Yes, automation is coming. I personally am responsible for over 9000 low skilled jobs that were automated away in a check processing facility for example. A few dozen jobs that my systems automated away for a retailer (actually they just didn't have to hire a bunch of new people as their throughput grew). Potentially thousands of truck dispatcher/planner jobs that I am working on automating today.

    As these jobs go away, the goods are becoming more competitive. The government is responsible for inflation (money printing through machinations with the Treasury and the Fed and other central banks) thus preventing quite a large price drop that would have happened in a free market, other than that all of this automation forces prices down.

    The people that are automated away are a pool of new potential hires also at lower prices (and they should be at lower prices after their current jobs are automated away) and in a free market there would be demand for these people at lower prices by companies that do not have automation.

    You are of an opinion that every job will be automated, I am of an opinion that in a free market the market clears given the natural discovery of prices. Supply and demand meet and the markets clear, the prices for people fall and they are again competitive against automation. But this does not work in an oppressive regime set up by the mobs through the violence of the State.

    The falling prices for goods and services would still provide a better quality of life to people who need less money to get that quality. But of-course we are not allowed to have actual free market with all this oppression, so in the system that we have today you will have your hundreds of millions of unemployed people roaming around, who believe that the system must provide for them.

    You have an untenable goal: to provide hundreds of millions of jobless individuals with a quality of life that their politicians promised them at the expense of the oppressed individuals and companies and you believe that these individuals and companies will not leave and go to markets that are much less oppressed? Interesting.

    My position is that your collectivism is oppression and it leads to this misery in the long run because that's the only outcome of oppression: misery. The free market gives us more choices of cheaper products, the oppression gives us a promise of an entitlement at somebody else's expense. I think there is an incompatibility in terms there and it will not work itself nicely for the benefit of the oppressors.

    I run a software firm with a number of offices, one of them is in the Ukraine where I have most of my development team and that's because it is mutually beneficial for all of us, for me with lower prices and for them with higher earnings and thus with higher standard of living than most other people there. I don't want to hire in places where it is so much more expensive due to taxes, laws, lawsuits, regulations, basically due to the State oppressing me. My clients are other businesses, who in turn get a cheaper product/service from me than from others, some of who have local developers. Who do you think can provide a cheaper service, the local developers or outsourced ones (given approximately the same quality)?

    My point is that oppression doesn't work in the long run but countries like yours (and my country of birth) wouldn't have any of that freedom that people like me demand, so we will not see eye to eye but I am pretty sure about the final outcome.

  141. Re:This is a good thing by Kiuas · · Score: 1

    You are of an opinion that every job will be automated

    Yes, in the long term, because as long as we keep improving the information processing of our technology, eventually we're going to reach a point wherein the machines are as intelligent as humans at which point they can essentially take over all jobs and do them faster and better than humans.

    the prices for people fall and they are again competitive against automation.

    This is flatout wrong. I tried to explain to you but I'll try again. If you look at the example of automated invoicing for example, a machine automates away the need for 15 extra people. The automated systems are capable of doing so much work so muuch more efficiently that it's not possible for human workers to compete with these systems. Automated systems are low cost already and they're vastly more skilled/efficient than even an experienced human employee, so trying to match the automated systems in cost/benefit is not feasible even in the relatively short term really, let alone the long term.

    You have an untenable goal: to provide hundreds of millions of jobless individuals with a quality of life that their politicians promised them at the expense of the oppressed individuals and companies and you believe that these individuals and companies will not leave and go to markets that are much less oppressed?

    The goal is not untenable. Developed economies already provide this standard of living for people. As production gets more efficient due to humans being taken out of the production loop the economies become more efficient so its not like production goes down. The economies can still produce everything they produce now and more, they just dont need anywhere close the amount of humans in the production. So should the standard of living in western economies collapse just because even though we still have equal production capabilities and material wealth, we no longer need to burden human workers?

    This will eventually be the case for the whole world, as the standard of living rises even in the developing world and automating jobs becomes cheaper and cheaper as these systems become more commonplace. Eventually automated systems will be cheaper than even the quasi-slave labor in countries like China, and in fact automation of production facilities in China is already underway in many places because they're able to do the math and see that even though the initial investment can be huge, the long term benefit for the companies is already visible even compared to labor priced at 3 dollars a day.

    If the companies leave and produce everything elsewhere either by outsourcing or automation, they will kill off the market they want to sell to. They need people and companies to buy their product, but without income (which people will not be able to get because, as explained above, in the long term human labor CANNOT compete with automation) these people cannot buy products and thus the consumer companies especially will lose their income from these markets and essentially destroy themselves,

    So in the long term either the taxes are raised to fund something like UBI make sure people can have a money to acquire goods from the companies and keep the profit motive alive, or the taxes are not raised and the majority of the companies will collapse as there'll be no paying customers to create any demand for the goods and services they provide.

    Who do you think can provide a cheaper service, the local developers or outsourced ones (given approximately the same quality)

    And when the point arrives that automated systems themselves can do most or all of the development (which is not that far off, as you should know if you're following what's happening) the outsourcing will become inefficient even compared to african dirt-poor development.

    There is no way around this: human labor/outsourcing will be able to compete with some of the automated systems for

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  142. Re: This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    try them tempurad

  143. Re:This is a good thing by Yunzil · · Score: 1

    What we oppose is people not even bother climbing high enough to need a net, but stopping at the net and getting comfortable

    Yeah, because poor people are really living it up on welfare.

    I could be wrong, but I get the feeling you're one of those people who haven't set foot outside of white upper-middle class suburbia.

  144. Don't forget... by KenHansen · · Score: 1

    For example, without net neutrality rules, internet providers like Comcast and Verizon could charge internet subscribers more for using sites like Netflix.

    Net Neutrality also prevents internet providers from providing 'un-metered' streaming from video services.

  145. Re:I still want short distance & long distance by therealbev · · Score: 1

    ehh, for video distribution, I can see cost savings in having a data center several miles away from the house. I would prefer unlimited, unfiltered local data, and limited and restricted long distance data. But, most people don't seem willing to make a big hassle over ~$30/month for cable & internet.

    Wow. I might kill for a price like that, although I'd demand a no-tv discount. $50/month for 60/5 Mb/s internet-only from the only cable supplier, Charter. AT&T is worse, but even if they were cheaper I'd open a vein in a warm bath before I'd go back to AT&T.

  146. Re: This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yep. The obvious lack of geek cards around here is why Slashdot continues moving along the road to hell.