That was common with Verizon, but not so much anymore. My Droid does not have any features noticeably locked, and I'd easily argue that it's a much more open platform than the iPhone. Better? Debatable. But certainly more open.
There are a good number of people I know (including a few riflemen in the Marine Corps) who would most definitely disagree with your first statement. It's more of a matter of the ability of the shooter, not the accuracy of the rifle. The US Military has some highly accurate rifles, when put in the hands of the right shooter.
My point is you can get a private bid contract to much less than $3 billion that can do the same job in a more efficient way. The problem is that even with bidding as it currently works, the government would probably still spend the $3 billion instead of whatever the contract was for, and then find some way to muck that up. The whole system doesn't work, because the government operates in such a way that it is fundamentally broken. No, the government hasn't broken down, but it is essentially being held together by duct tape and baling wire. That won't hold indefinitely.
Privatization might be why you're spending so much in the first place, the people who own the corporations supporting your military either are or are buddies with the people who decide where the money goes. it arguably started after World War II and the Cold War. Do you really think they're going to vote to stop giving themselves hundreds of billions of dollars a year?
As I said before, show me one thing the government runs better than private enterprise. As an example, here are a few things that the government wastes money on:
- $25 billion a year on maintaining unused/vacant federal property - According to a GAO Audit, nearly half of all government issued credit card purchases (expense cards for gov't employees) were for luxury items such as iPods, internet dating services, and lingerie. - $3 billion to re-sand beaches - $2 billion a year for farmers not to farm their land - $9 billion worth of recommended budget cuts by the Dept. of Health and Human services that were subsequently ignored by Congress
I could probably find dozens more instances of gross waste and mismanagement by the Federal Gov't, and people want them to run our health care system? Seriously, whatever fantasy world you are living in, please never invite me.
And include a footnote that games made by developers such as Stardock that refuse to use stupid DRM would be next on your list of games to buy. (or insert random other company that obstains from retarded DRM)
You also forgot to specify that Android Developers can specify which version of the Andriod OS that their App will be available for on the Android Market. So if a Dev knows that their App will not work with pre 1.6 or pre 2.0 devices, they can deliver their app in such a way that it will not even be on the market for those who cannot properly run the program. The tired argument of too many hardware models is typical FUD spewed by entities like Apple, who like to have 100% control of their platform at every layer. I'm not saying the iPhone is a bad system in any means (have an iPod Touch myself) but I always laugh when I hear some Apple Fan making this same argument over and over again like the movie Groundhog Day. It wasn't right the first time and it's not right the next five billion times either.
Makes you wonder if it was all a dream...you know...an argument without the usual insults and character attacks. Perhaps just the dream of an autistic boy. Hey, TV Show Idea!
You get what you pay for. Name me a country that would dare enter open war (terrorism doesn't count, we all know that Iran and to a lesser extent North Korea already sponsor terrorism indirectly) with the United States. Even China, with the largest military in terms of warm bodies in the world, doesn't dare attack Taiwan for fear of our retaliation. Also, a lot of that money goes to maintaining a very expensive Space Command and a massive Naval Fleet. The money spent on the tip of the spear, such as Strategic Bombers and Special Ops, is pretty reasonable considering the results they generate when called upon.
Oh and about your far right rant, there are plenty of nutjobs on both sides, but thankfully most of us Americans (not US Americans, like Miss Teen South Carolina would say) are more moderate. And every news network is way out there in some way, but honestly I can say having seen plenty of each news network, I can stomach Fox News much better than CNN or MSNBC due to the fact that while each of the three has their own bias, FN generally doesn't cheerlead for anybody, whereas CNN and especially NBC/MSNBC makes no secret that they are taking sides rather than giving factual and unbiased news. The people who think any news network is unbiased make me laugh. I know that Fox News has as much bias as CNN or any other network, but to me they are easier to filter than the rest (plus they have the best assortment of crazy news stories that make me giggle, such as the report of the people that robbed a woman dressed like Ninjas.)
In the US, generally speaking, the far left wants the government to run just about everything, and make sure the poor (see also: lazy fucks who either have committed too many armed robberies to get a job or simply don't want to put forth the effort required to maintain a job that also requires a drug test on a regular basis or when you injure yourself while working) have everything they need to live a happy life whilst remaining poor. The far right wants the government to lightly regulate the financial industry (very lightly) and run the military, and stay out of everything else.
I consider myself somewhere in the middle, as I do recognize that we need social services but also that we don't need the government involved in every facet of our lives. And no, health care is not a right, it is a good and service, similar to a plasma television or a loaf of bread. When it's treated like a right, you get worse care, more mistakes, and less investment in research to develop better medical procedures and tools. That's why you have more invasive procedures in nations outside the US whereas similar procedures in the US are done with microsurgery, and why eventually those procedures make it outside the US. We do most of the R&D in the world when it comes to medicine, and eventually export it when those procedures become commonplace. Yes, it costs more in the US, and for good reason. We have the best doctors in the world and the least amount of malpractice, and a legal system to keep everything in check. No it's not perfect, and yes, there are ambulance chasers just waiting to take advantage of mistakes for huge lawsuits, but all in all if I had to get serious brain or heart surgery, do you think my ass is going to vancouver or london for said procedure? Fuck that shit, I'll stick with doctors who do said procedures five times a day and get paid tons of money because they are shit hot at their jobs, instead of doctors who get paid government mandated salaries and have no real reason to innovate and excel at their profession. I'm sorry that you feel that free market practices will never work, but you are wrong. If you look at history and you look at government run entities versus private entities in a free market society, you will see time and time again that when an enterprise is funded by investors and has looser regulation than what you'd get by something government run, they are generally more efficient (the government, no matter how well it tries to do something, will always lose money on every dollar invested in a project, whereas a smartly run company can turn investment dollars into profit whilst being more productive), and in the end, put out a better product.
Hell, let's look for a minute at the US Military. They have the most modern technology compared to that of rival militaries in the history of civilization, and yet virtually all of their technology is designed by private companies under public contracts. Do you think that if the US Gov't tried to build their own tanks, planes, and guns, that the US Military would have such a huge advantage in tech over other militaries. The fact that the DOD is smart enough to know that they are too stupid to build the tech themselves tells you all you need to know about the self admission of lack of expertise that the government has.
And I'm on a caffeine rush, so I apologize if I lost my point somewhere in that ranting lol. Where the fuck is my starbucks card?
With a pentagram and wise old sages. I'm telling you, somewhere there is a Zombie Tupac, resurrected with ancient necromagic, chained in a dungeon spitting out hard lyrics.
Would love a Civ Mobile game on the mobile platforms that updates even while you are not logged in. I'm surprised this hasn't been done yet (although I know Civilization Network will be similar to what I'm looking for here, too bad Facebook Apps don't work well on a mobile browser)
Where do I fucking begin? Redistribute wealth (although never their own, just those slightly underneath them), make health care a right instead of a good and service (that subsequently will be paid for by those of us who actually work hard for a living), make anyone who they disagree with regarding socio-political opinions considered nutjobs, put to federal gov't in charge of pretty much anything they can (because we know that the US Gov't is so damn efficient at running things such as the train system and the postal service), and the list goes on. I'd keep rattling off things here but although I've never tested it, I'm sure there is some limit to the length of slashdot posts and frankly, I have better things to do with my day than write a book online.
Doesn't really matter. Name calling, even when appropriate, is just going to get you flamed or ignored. That's why it irritates me when people actually have valid points to make and ruin it by calling someone a fucktard while making said valid point, because who the hell is going to get convinced to change their viewpoint when being made fun of in the same breath?
Slashdot Mirror
My GPS is as open as Android allows it to be
That was common with Verizon, but not so much anymore. My Droid does not have any features noticeably locked, and I'd easily argue that it's a much more open platform than the iPhone. Better? Debatable. But certainly more open.
What the fuck is a monkey?
There are a good number of people I know (including a few riflemen in the Marine Corps) who would most definitely disagree with your first statement. It's more of a matter of the ability of the shooter, not the accuracy of the rifle. The US Military has some highly accurate rifles, when put in the hands of the right shooter.
My point is you can get a private bid contract to much less than $3 billion that can do the same job in a more efficient way. The problem is that even with bidding as it currently works, the government would probably still spend the $3 billion instead of whatever the contract was for, and then find some way to muck that up. The whole system doesn't work, because the government operates in such a way that it is fundamentally broken. No, the government hasn't broken down, but it is essentially being held together by duct tape and baling wire. That won't hold indefinitely.
Privatization might be why you're spending so much in the first place, the people who own the corporations supporting your military either are or are buddies with the people who decide where the money goes. it arguably started after World War II and the Cold War. Do you really think they're going to vote to stop giving themselves hundreds of billions of dollars a year?
As I said before, show me one thing the government runs better than private enterprise. As an example, here are a few things that the government wastes money on:
- $25 billion a year on maintaining unused/vacant federal property
- According to a GAO Audit, nearly half of all government issued credit card purchases (expense cards for gov't employees) were for luxury items such as iPods, internet dating services, and lingerie.
- $3 billion to re-sand beaches
- $2 billion a year for farmers not to farm their land
- $9 billion worth of recommended budget cuts by the Dept. of Health and Human services that were subsequently ignored by Congress
I could probably find dozens more instances of gross waste and mismanagement by the Federal Gov't, and people want them to run our health care system? Seriously, whatever fantasy world you are living in, please never invite me.
And include a footnote that games made by developers such as Stardock that refuse to use stupid DRM would be next on your list of games to buy. (or insert random other company that obstains from retarded DRM)
The line must be drawn here!
More accurately, it's "mac developers." Apple has had a closed platform for some time now, and their team of lawyers ensures it stays that way.
You also forgot to specify that Android Developers can specify which version of the Andriod OS that their App will be available for on the Android Market. So if a Dev knows that their App will not work with pre 1.6 or pre 2.0 devices, they can deliver their app in such a way that it will not even be on the market for those who cannot properly run the program. The tired argument of too many hardware models is typical FUD spewed by entities like Apple, who like to have 100% control of their platform at every layer. I'm not saying the iPhone is a bad system in any means (have an iPod Touch myself) but I always laugh when I hear some Apple Fan making this same argument over and over again like the movie Groundhog Day. It wasn't right the first time and it's not right the next five billion times either.
Ah well, not missing too much although it was probably one of the biggest "Jump the Sharks" in 80's TV history. Jump the Shark
Dear god, I've linked to wikipedia twice in one day. Isn't that supposed to cause a tear in the space-time continuum or something/
And she is the main character in a shitty show
I'm guessing you didn't get the joke (or are too young to get the joke).
St. Elsewhere
Excuse me for linking to wikipedia but this is the easiest explanation I can find. Born in the 90's perhaps?
Makes you wonder if it was all a dream...you know...an argument without the usual insults and character attacks. Perhaps just the dream of an autistic boy. Hey, TV Show Idea!
You get what you pay for. Name me a country that would dare enter open war (terrorism doesn't count, we all know that Iran and to a lesser extent North Korea already sponsor terrorism indirectly) with the United States. Even China, with the largest military in terms of warm bodies in the world, doesn't dare attack Taiwan for fear of our retaliation. Also, a lot of that money goes to maintaining a very expensive Space Command and a massive Naval Fleet. The money spent on the tip of the spear, such as Strategic Bombers and Special Ops, is pretty reasonable considering the results they generate when called upon.
Oh and about your far right rant, there are plenty of nutjobs on both sides, but thankfully most of us Americans (not US Americans, like Miss Teen South Carolina would say) are more moderate. And every news network is way out there in some way, but honestly I can say having seen plenty of each news network, I can stomach Fox News much better than CNN or MSNBC due to the fact that while each of the three has their own bias, FN generally doesn't cheerlead for anybody, whereas CNN and especially NBC/MSNBC makes no secret that they are taking sides rather than giving factual and unbiased news. The people who think any news network is unbiased make me laugh. I know that Fox News has as much bias as CNN or any other network, but to me they are easier to filter than the rest (plus they have the best assortment of crazy news stories that make me giggle, such as the report of the people that robbed a woman dressed like Ninjas.)
In the US, generally speaking, the far left wants the government to run just about everything, and make sure the poor (see also: lazy fucks who either have committed too many armed robberies to get a job or simply don't want to put forth the effort required to maintain a job that also requires a drug test on a regular basis or when you injure yourself while working) have everything they need to live a happy life whilst remaining poor. The far right wants the government to lightly regulate the financial industry (very lightly) and run the military, and stay out of everything else.
I consider myself somewhere in the middle, as I do recognize that we need social services but also that we don't need the government involved in every facet of our lives. And no, health care is not a right, it is a good and service, similar to a plasma television or a loaf of bread. When it's treated like a right, you get worse care, more mistakes, and less investment in research to develop better medical procedures and tools. That's why you have more invasive procedures in nations outside the US whereas similar procedures in the US are done with microsurgery, and why eventually those procedures make it outside the US. We do most of the R&D in the world when it comes to medicine, and eventually export it when those procedures become commonplace. Yes, it costs more in the US, and for good reason. We have the best doctors in the world and the least amount of malpractice, and a legal system to keep everything in check. No it's not perfect, and yes, there are ambulance chasers just waiting to take advantage of mistakes for huge lawsuits, but all in all if I had to get serious brain or heart surgery, do you think my ass is going to vancouver or london for said procedure? Fuck that shit, I'll stick with doctors who do said procedures five times a day and get paid tons of money because they are shit hot at their jobs, instead of doctors who get paid government mandated salaries and have no real reason to innovate and excel at their profession. I'm sorry that you feel that free market practices will never work, but you are wrong. If you look at history and you look at government run entities versus private entities in a free market society, you will see time and time again that when an enterprise is funded by investors and has looser regulation than what you'd get by something government run, they are generally more efficient (the government, no matter how well it tries to do something, will always lose money on every dollar invested in a project, whereas a smartly run company can turn investment dollars into profit whilst being more productive), and in the end, put out a better product.
Hell, let's look for a minute at the US Military. They have the most modern technology compared to that of rival militaries in the history of civilization, and yet virtually all of their technology is designed by private companies under public contracts. Do you think that if the US Gov't tried to build their own tanks, planes, and guns, that the US Military would have such a huge advantage in tech over other militaries. The fact that the DOD is smart enough to know that they are too stupid to build the tech themselves tells you all you need to know about the self admission of lack of expertise that the government has.
And I'm on a caffeine rush, so I apologize if I lost my point somewhere in that ranting lol. Where the fuck is my starbucks card?
With a pentagram and wise old sages. I'm telling you, somewhere there is a Zombie Tupac, resurrected with ancient necromagic, chained in a dungeon spitting out hard lyrics.
Don't worry, this problem will be solved once Skynet becomes self aware.
And feces.
But think of the benefits. We can preserve such classics as Ice Ice Baby, which was a pioneer song that was flush with originality.
Reminds me of the Chappelle show skit about Tupac. Of course, Tupac has also been releasing new albums for quite some time.
Would love a Civ Mobile game on the mobile platforms that updates even while you are not logged in. I'm surprised this hasn't been done yet (although I know Civilization Network will be similar to what I'm looking for here, too bad Facebook Apps don't work well on a mobile browser)
Where do I fucking begin? Redistribute wealth (although never their own, just those slightly underneath them), make health care a right instead of a good and service (that subsequently will be paid for by those of us who actually work hard for a living), make anyone who they disagree with regarding socio-political opinions considered nutjobs, put to federal gov't in charge of pretty much anything they can (because we know that the US Gov't is so damn efficient at running things such as the train system and the postal service), and the list goes on. I'd keep rattling off things here but although I've never tested it, I'm sure there is some limit to the length of slashdot posts and frankly, I have better things to do with my day than write a book online.
Doesn't really matter. Name calling, even when appropriate, is just going to get you flamed or ignored. That's why it irritates me when people actually have valid points to make and ruin it by calling someone a fucktard while making said valid point, because who the hell is going to get convinced to change their viewpoint when being made fun of in the same breath?