NORMAL corporations go to K Street, i.e. normal, respectable lobbying companies associated with political parties. That's where IBM and AT&T go.
Ralph Reed is a go-to guy for the Religious Right.
As for your "reason for a good chunk of americans to stick with Microsoft". . . congratulations, you wingnuts have your own, Divinely appointed OS. Too bad it's a piece of shit. But you should be comfortable with that.
Amazing that the only off-topic/troll rated posts I've gotten since I got on slashdot over a year ago have been about politics and technology-related subjects that offend Bush's sheeple.
Bashing MS and telling people to download Firefox is offtopic on a Firefox thread?
Starting Score: 1 point
Moderation -1
100% Offtopic
Extra 'Offtopic' Modifier -1 (Edit)
Karma-Bonus Modifier +1 (Edit)
Total Score: 0
Time to encourage all your Windows-using friends to download Firefox, too. Better security, and a chance to stick it to Microsoft. Why wait around to get 0wn3d?
What you were saying was what the mass media was saying, right up until people were trying to escape Vietnam by clinging to the cargo skids of helicopters in the last panicked evacuation.
the money is going into investments that will pay off in the future enough to not only allow paying the debt, but a return on top of that.
Look at the drop of the dollar against all other currencies to see what the world market thinks about whether the USA's debt is a good thing.
Look at the sudden move all over the world to diversify out of all T-bill holdings.
Look at the level of savings by individuals in the USA.
It's a known fact that the US consumes far more than it produces with the difference underwritten by private and public debt. Much of this money is going into financing personal consumption.
Any American who thinks this is a good thing... needs professional therapy.
Social Security runs into a "crisis" every 10 or 20 years because the funding assumptions it works under are set by legislation, and doesn't automatically change in the face of changing economic reality.
The fix now is the fix that's been done at every "crisis", a few minor tweaks (change the taxable base, change benefit amounts) and forget about it for another decade, everybody will be paid.
If NOTHING is done, the Social Security Trust Fund would have to start reducing benefits below it's projected level (far higher than today)in 2042.
The attempted move by the Bushmen to "fix" SS is an attempt to make it possible for Wall Street campaign contributors to Bush to cash in on pension fund management payments, and to dump liquidity into the stock market. Anyone who remembers the dot.bomb (is there anyone who doesn't?) should be able to figure out that one's core pension funds should NOT be in the stock market.
Margie Thatcher tried this in the UK during the Reagan era... now, even the Conservatives want to dump piratization for a US style SS plan.
Try reading just about any news outlet outside the US with respect to how the Iraq war is really going if you want to know how unstoppable the US military is in a guerilla war.
No matter what you've heard, there's nothing inherently Democratic or Republican about a gun... JFK and Hubert Humphrey were gunowners, and JFK was a life member of the NRA. (the irony isn't lost on me, either) a gun also doesn't care about your degrees or the lack of 'em any more than a Linux box does. Like a Linux box, a gun is just a matter of learning how to use it.
"They've got 'em and we don't" is just a whine and doesn't deserve to be treated seriously. If you don't like it, buy one while you still can.
Maybe the reason I didn't, is that the concept of a citizen militia posing a viable threat to the peerless might of the US military is such an anachronism. This isn't the 18th century anymore.
However well-intentioned and well-regulated (ha), I'd say an uprising of US gun owners against the federal government and US military would stand about a hobbit's chance in Mordor.
Tell the Iraqis it's impossible. YOU tell them This is probably a safe enough distance. Note that the primary weapons used in Iraq on American troops are small arms and DIY bombs. They don't seem to think opposing the USA is hopeless at all, despite the fact that the USA is using everything short of nukes. And if you're drawing examples from fiction, the hobbits won.
Plus, what fraction of the (non-wacko) gun-owning citizenry is actually outraged at our current slide toward fascism? My general impression is that most of them are either apathetic toward the current administration's shenanigans, or are actively cheering it.
That's a much better point.
Why this is... is a long story. I'll just say that being anti-gun is not an inherently Democratic position, as JFK was a life member of the NRA and Hubert Humphrey (aka Mr. Liberal) spoke eloquently about the right to bear arms.
Yeah, and so does yum... the synaptic GUI for apt-get is a beautiful thing. The yum GUIs aren't close to as good, which is why I use it from the command line... I've had only 2 installation problems. (mplayer, for instance, installing it should call up ALL the packages needed to make it work)
Now if we could only get every developer of a software package for Linux to use either and find a bunch of people willing to look for legacy apps to make readily installable, the software installation problem for Linux would be solved once and for all.
Why do some people consider the prospect of armed citizens plunging the nation into anarchy and vigilantism to be compatible with the phrase "well-regulated militia"? Do you honestly believe that the founding fathers encoded violent revolution into the bill of rights?
Go find the discussions of the Founding Fathers on this topic. That's exactly what they had in mind if all else failed.
They'd had a certain amount of experience with "all else failed" and wanted to make it possible for the citizens to get rid of future oppressive goverments.
Just what was it that we're supposed to push the public into? Viable camera alternatives to Nikon are off-the shelf. Viable OS alternatives to Windows?
If you want a successful example of 'the geeks' pushing 'the sheeple' into something, check into Google's history.
The only viable alternative to Microsoft for home/SOHO users at the OS level is Apple's. You don't agree? Puke up the Kool-Aid, it's interfering with your thinking.
You want to take down MS? Push Apple and OSX. Or fix Linux.
The main reasons why Linux is not a viable mass-market alternative are:
interoperability problems with MS Office (the "minor" problems are NOT minor if it's your boss who has troubles reading your files... and while the problems are MS's fault by definition, they will NOT fix them unless the EU forces them to as part of their antitrust settlement) This puts the burden squarely on the Open Source community.
hardware installation: the Linux drivers aren't there and there simply aren't enough people capable of writing drivers in Open Source to cover anything... where are the universal driver wrappers for Windows drivers for printers, cameras, and scanners?
software installation - anybody here that doesn't get what I mean? (NO, you don't want your
applications themselves - where's the Photoshop killer? Where's the Corel Draw killer? Actually, most of us who actually use high-quality graphics apps would be content with a believable UI and full support for professional graphics needs. In fact, we'd even put up for PAYING for these apps if they existed.
Before anyone asks, we didn't pick the name because we have an urge to speak in Scottish brogue or fall headlong into the seamy side of questionable drug usage
Migrating between mail clients can be an extremely painful process if one is using dozens of folders and stacks of.mbx files in each and aggregate files totalling 2+ gigabytes and the import facilities just aren't there.
Tried it going from Windows Eudora to Evolution and later, to kmail via a script that allegedly worked... the mailboxes migrated, sort of, but the folders didn't.
I'm waiting for Eudora for Linux that's supposed to be coming out Real Soon Now to migrate my mail to Linux.
Not to get it to work, to get it the way you want it, if you have fixed ideas about that. Which I do.
Practically every element in the UI is user- customizable.
You don't like toolbar locations? Or what's in them? Right-click to open the "customize toolbars" and have a good time dragging and dropping. (if it isn't in there, try Preferences in the Tools menu.) Perhaps sticking the Progress Bar somewhere else would help.
I've been using it since V4 in Windows, I'm using v7.54 in Linux and if I weren't going out the door in a few, I'd be downloading V8 right now.
High-tech companies generally take the lead on gay/lesbian rights issues for reasons that should be obvious.
High-tech companies that need the best and brightest can't afford to use sexuality as a basis on which to discriminate, and prefer to be seen as friendly to minority rights, because they want the people who have the ability to add to their market share to apply with them regardless of who they sleep with.
I think that the anger I see around here directed against anyone who might be seen as favoring gay/lesbian rights is from lus3rs who got rejected by all of the high-tech companies they applied to and want to blame "affirmative action" or "ANTI-CHRISTIAN" discrimination rather than their lack of discernable technology skills and zero to negative IQs.
Granted, I enjoy M$ bashing too, but deciding to do *no* thing instead of the *right* thing (and you could easily make the point that this isn't something Microsoft should be involved in- I'd refute it, but you could make the point) isn't Microsoft being bad.
Pulling their political support in mid-stream has to be considered action, not non-action. The time for them to decide not to get involved was before they started lobbying, NOT because they were threatened with a boycott with a roughly zero change of effectiveness by a Religious Right crazy.
The bill lost by one vote. Is it possible that the word getting around that MS was pulling the support made a one-vote difference?
MS changing sides at the worst possible time can be seen as "Man bites dog". THAT is news.
Slashdot Mirror
Ralph Reed is a go-to guy for the Religious Right.
As for your "reason for a good chunk of americans to stick with Microsoft". . . congratulations, you wingnuts have your own, Divinely appointed OS. Too bad it's a piece of shit. But you should be comfortable with that.
Bashing MS and telling people to download Firefox is offtopic on a Firefox thread?
Starting Score: 1 point Moderation -1 100% Offtopic Extra 'Offtopic' Modifier -1 (Edit) Karma-Bonus Modifier +1 (Edit) Total Score: 0
The invoices paid by MS to Ralph Reed's political consulting company are linked to that page.
Any connection between Ralph Reed's lobbying for MS back in 2000 on DOJ v Microsoft, the Bush DOJ suddenly deciding not to enforce it's victory in court, his work for MS now, and Microsoft's sudden turnaround on gay rights are, of course, coincidences.
Time to encourage all your Windows-using friends to download Firefox, too. Better security, and a chance to stick it to Microsoft. Why wait around to get 0wn3d?
What you were saying was what the mass media was saying, right up until people were trying to escape Vietnam by clinging to the cargo skids of helicopters in the last panicked evacuation.
Look at the drop of the dollar against all other currencies to see what the world market thinks about whether the USA's debt is a good thing.
Look at the sudden move all over the world to diversify out of all T-bill holdings.
Look at the level of savings by individuals in the USA.
It's a known fact that the US consumes far more than it produces with the difference underwritten by private and public debt. Much of this money is going into financing personal consumption.
Any American who thinks this is a good thing... needs professional therapy.
The fix now is the fix that's been done at every "crisis", a few minor tweaks (change the taxable base, change benefit amounts) and forget about it for another decade, everybody will be paid.
If NOTHING is done, the Social Security Trust Fund would have to start reducing benefits below it's projected level (far higher than today)in 2042.
The attempted move by the Bushmen to "fix" SS is an attempt to make it possible for Wall Street campaign contributors to Bush to cash in on pension fund management payments, and to dump liquidity into the stock market. Anyone who remembers the dot.bomb (is there anyone who doesn't?) should be able to figure out that one's core pension funds should NOT be in the stock market.
Margie Thatcher tried this in the UK during the Reagan era... now, even the Conservatives want to dump piratization for a US style SS plan.
Try reading just about any news outlet outside the US with respect to how the Iraq war is really going if you want to know how unstoppable the US military is in a guerilla war.
"They've got 'em and we don't" is just a whine and doesn't deserve to be treated seriously. If you don't like it, buy one while you still can.
Ever heard of Iraq and Vietnam?
However well-intentioned and well-regulated (ha), I'd say an uprising of US gun owners against the federal government and US military would stand about a hobbit's chance in Mordor.
Tell the Iraqis it's impossible. YOU tell them This is probably a safe enough distance. Note that the primary weapons used in Iraq on American troops are small arms and DIY bombs. They don't seem to think opposing the USA is hopeless at all, despite the fact that the USA is using everything short of nukes. And if you're drawing examples from fiction, the hobbits won.
Plus, what fraction of the (non-wacko) gun-owning citizenry is actually outraged at our current slide toward fascism? My general impression is that most of them are either apathetic toward the current administration's shenanigans, or are actively cheering it.
That's a much better point.
Why this is... is a long story. I'll just say that being anti-gun is not an inherently Democratic position, as JFK was a life member of the NRA and Hubert Humphrey (aka Mr. Liberal) spoke eloquently about the right to bear arms.
Now if we could only get every developer of a software package for Linux to use either and find a bunch of people willing to look for legacy apps to make readily installable, the software installation problem for Linux would be solved once and for all.
You see any signs of this?
Go find the discussions of the Founding Fathers on this topic. That's exactly what they had in mind if all else failed.
They'd had a certain amount of experience with "all else failed" and wanted to make it possible for the citizens to get rid of future oppressive goverments.
Check this out.
If you want a successful example of 'the geeks' pushing 'the sheeple' into something, check into Google's history.
The only viable alternative to Microsoft for home/SOHO users at the OS level is Apple's. You don't agree? Puke up the Kool-Aid, it's interfering with your thinking.
You want to take down MS? Push Apple and OSX. Or fix Linux.
The main reasons why Linux is not a viable mass-market alternative are:
Too much work just to save some porn.
You mean too much work just to save everyone else's pr0n, right?
they're in denial.
It appears you've already forgotten your name, since you're posting AC.
Tried it going from Windows Eudora to Evolution and later, to kmail via a script that allegedly worked... the mailboxes migrated, sort of, but the folders didn't.
I'm waiting for Eudora for Linux that's supposed to be coming out Real Soon Now to migrate my mail to Linux.
Keep .mbx files down to 40 megs to prevent corruption
isn't the admin supposed to handle backups on a server?
Practically every element in the UI is user- customizable.
You don't like toolbar locations? Or what's in them? Right-click to open the "customize toolbars" and have a good time dragging and dropping. (if it isn't in there, try Preferences in the Tools menu.) Perhaps sticking the Progress Bar somewhere else would help.
I've been using it since V4 in Windows, I'm using v7.54 in Linux and if I weren't going out the door in a few, I'd be downloading V8 right now.
BTW, it's got an RSS reader built in as well.
as "Funny" were laughing at you, not with you.
The best way for appearance to work in your favor at a job interview is to look like you already work there.
Those of you who are posting about this should tell us where you are. I'm wondering what the story is in flyover country.
Excuse me, sir, or madam as the case may be. Did you mean goatee or goatse?
High-tech companies generally take the lead on gay/lesbian rights issues for reasons that should be obvious.
High-tech companies that need the best and brightest can't afford to use sexuality as a basis on which to discriminate, and prefer to be seen as friendly to minority rights, because they want the people who have the ability to add to their market share to apply with them regardless of who they sleep with.
I think that the anger I see around here directed against anyone who might be seen as favoring gay/lesbian rights is from lus3rs who got rejected by all of the high-tech companies they applied to and want to blame "affirmative action" or "ANTI-CHRISTIAN" discrimination rather than their lack of discernable technology skills and zero to negative IQs.
Granted, I enjoy M$ bashing too, but deciding to do *no* thing instead of the *right* thing (and you could easily make the point that this isn't something Microsoft should be involved in- I'd refute it, but you could make the point) isn't Microsoft being bad.
Pulling their political support in mid-stream has to be considered action, not non-action. The time for them to decide not to get involved was before they started lobbying, NOT because they were threatened with a boycott with a roughly zero change of effectiveness by a Religious Right crazy.
The bill lost by one vote. Is it possible that the word getting around that MS was pulling the support made a one-vote difference?
MS changing sides at the worst possible time can be seen as "Man bites dog". THAT is news.
thought I'd say hello to the people who find attacks on people both Christian and insane so offensive that you have to burn mod points on them.