The Seattle monorail system had passed many years ago, and it was big news then. The problem was the the City Council (among others) refused to budget any decent amount of funding for it.
I had actually been part of grassroots organizations over the years that had attempted to force the City Council to actually include it in the budget. It might also be noted that the original legislation attempted to have a clause that if the Council doesn't budget for the monorail appropriately, they don't get paid. This was a big trend-setter in grassroots proposed legislation.
University Students perform research in all kinds of fields from pharmacuticals, physics, chemistry, to computer science. The benefits of this research often goes to private companies, for private profit.
It's nothing new. Just no one puts these things together. If Government work should directly benefit the public, and be sold off to private hands for private profit, so should University Research.
I admit that I didn't look so closely as to notice something in the middle of thousands of posts. wow. i must suck. maybe i just don't have that much time on my hands.
I can't get credit cards, because I'm not currently in college. I can't get a job, because I'm not currently in college.
Exploitation of the universities is hurting a lot of people. A lot of college graduates have recruiting events which they are begged to attend. I, an accomplished/experienced SysAd, can't get more than 4 responses per 100 resume submissions.
best estimates are 4-7 million years ago, our ancestors split off from the ancestors of modern apes.
2 million years ago, something happening to the ancestor of modern Chimpanzee isn't going to affect us, unless our ancestors were also involved.
duh! i wish these people would do more research before making such crap as 'it may explain why some humans who are repeatedly exposed to HIV don't get sick.'
A while back, early last century, there had been a lot of discussion about what to do with the airwaves. Turn it over to private corporations, and regulate them in some way however limited that might turn out to be, or keep it in the people's hands.
The US is the only place in the world that pretty much did not have that discussion. Consequently we have over 1 million commercials pushed in our faces by the time were 18, and still they are finding new ways to push even more: in show commercials, bars along the bottom/sides of the screen...
There are other models. But none that don't conflict too much with the corporate dominated media, and the 'Profit over People' capitalism.
Things can survive without profitability margins. The airwaves are owned by the people. Try that on for size. Or just go back to your university and allow them to sell your thesis for $500, or allow a private company to patent your work.
corporate, white collar crime, is laughable. will the boardmembers of Enron get life sentences? no. but a hacker will. how nice.
it really isn't suprising, since corporate crime, which is the most devistating type of criminal activity, next to state sponsored murder/terror (of which the US has done plenty of). white collar crime causes whole cities workforces to become unemployed, whole habitats destroyed, causes thousands of people harm. this is the normal effect. yet, prison sentence rarely occurs, because these crimes are rarely investigated.
put the hacker away who caused a few companies to lose a few thousand dollars and gave a bitch slap to a few Management types who don't believe in funding security and appropriate data backups. someone who destroys a rainforest should get a slap on the wrist and a nice 10 million dollar bonus for making the company more profitable.
Yes, technologies such as P2P and CDR play a large role in someone's ability to retrieve music for listening.
But, although Music Industry Execs (and their bretheren) decry such things, Record Sales were higher last year than ever before. And it's a continuous rise.
People like me download all their music. Why, because I don't have money to spend on CD's, especially when a disk that cost $10-12(US) 2 years ago is now $16+(US). Pardon my french but f**k that!
I'll download, and people will pay, and Industry Executives will still have their billions of dollars each. It's not a fair game from our point of view, not theres. And it won't change.
I didn't even complete my Associates of Arts degree at the local community college. My experience is all self-taught, which says alot to people willing to listen. The problem is, that most people aren't willing to listen. When you see BS preferred, it's strongly preferred, and when they say required, they mean it.
During the Dot Com boom, alot of companies were realizing that a Bachelors degree didn't always mean what they thought. Companies became more willing to hire people without degrees, and even those who were self-taught. It all was a part of their urgent needs combined with the booming economy and that it was an employee's market.
Today it's not the employee's market, and Companies are forgetting that college educations don't always turn out good minds. I started during the end of the boom, with companies desperate to get people. Now, I send out a resume and I doubt that they cared to receive it. Although I am very good at Systems Administration (Linux), and always produce good results, I don't have a degree and 5 professional years under my belt.
My advice is to go to college, the best one you can for Computer Science. Speak extensively with you advisor, and make friends in the real world. Join the local user group(s), and get all the real-world experience you can. Being a SysAd is not just about configuring a system, it's about doing it right. Doing it right means keeping in mind security, budget, and documentation. There are way too many SysAd's who are not only incompetent, and don't tell anyone what they've done to the systems, but also have Senior titles.
From my experience, someone with a title like: Senior Network Systems Administrator is going to need your help to mount a floppy disk under Linux (even though they manage all the UNIX/Linux systems). You have to be good, and you have to care about doing the right thing, and you have to keep yourself on the top of the stack of resumes. This means a college education and a lot of hardwork learning how to secure systems, configure systems, and configure all the applications.
I live about 50 miles or so (driving distance) from Gilroy. We felt it pretty damn good.
I was about to get undressed for bed, and all of a sudden it felt like some heavy person was running around (I'm on the third floor of a crappy apartment complex). We (my wife and I) soon realized it was something else, an earthquake. It felt like a very stiff vertical shaking.
I have a co-worker who lives in Gilroy, he was less than a few miles from the epicenter. He and his wife felt it big time. They also got no sleep because of the after shocks.
Those in the Bay area who didn't feel it either smoke crack or, like my friend, were driving down the highway (one that's got enough dips in it that your car bounces around anyway) at some ungodly speed. To be felt so strongly 50 miles away, you had to feel it much closer.
Also, I read that there was a game in San Jose, which continued uninterrupted. You gotta wonder, sports are more important than your own life, and living in California with so many quakes that you don't get concerned unless your home/building falls down. My co-worker had pictures flying off the wall, shelves flapping around like crazy..
It's insane, and quite scary. You can't imagine what it's like until you've experienced one. And then you can't anticipate either, because they're not exactly the same each time, some are rollers some are shakers and I'm sure some just go psycho.
As Linux began as a hobby, and as much as Linus himself has stated such, the Linux Community has had a lot push towards being a Commercially Viable alternative to Commercial UNIX and Microsoft.
My question is about your take on this topic. Should Linux Development continue to be geared towards this (Commercial Viability) or just as a cool OS with standard (and non standard) functionality, including (or not including) the latest developments? This is not to say that Linux should abandon, entirely, any push towards Commercial Viability, just should it be the main focus..
Alternatively, you could take the question to be: Should the Linux Community strive to make Linux 'The Best', or just the best that it can be?
If you can't implement some authentication mechanism for your SMTP server, then you shouldn't be running a server. If your server is used to propagate spam, or a virus, or anything that can be construed as damaging, then you should be held liable.
Frankly it doesn't matter who you are, it's all about responsibility. If you don't have it, then you shouldn't be responsible for anything, except your actions (in a court of law).
I admit that there are privacy issues that aren't resolved by the above. If you want a privacy protected, anonymous system then it needs to be better planned out to protect against abuse. Maybe this guy, with his influence, could get something going.
Marginalization, the pushing of different thinkers/movers to the sidelines where they're able to be heard by less is more effective than outright censorship. Outright censorship involves an Active Stance, Active Enforcement. Marginalization is much simpler.
The Media gets it's information from the Government (who is the largest single entity capable of mass dissemination of information in time for hourly broadcasts and updates). If the Media, through many factors such as ownership, income (advertisements), and viewership can limit itself to only pushing a certain agenda (not forcing Corporate Accountability, because the corporate advertisers would then pull their sponsorship), you effectively have the 'Party Line' pushed hourly to your public.
Anyone who thinks outside the limited spectrum allowed above, must not have the ability to dominate air time. As long as they do not dominate, you can put them on Prime Time shows, give them 15 minutes to talk (8 minutes of that being commercials) and you effectively remove their ability to say anything useful. You can't say, and back up, in 2 spots of 4-6 minutes each, that the world as people know it is a sham. You can only say what is already accepted, again because you have no time to go through the proof.
Marginalization much much easier and more efficient than outright Censorship. And it's already in place and has been working for a very long time (longer than most would expect)
an elementary level knowledge of the effects and practices of Globalization, Free Trade reveals how obvious (and intentional) all of this is.
The US is becoming another 3rd world country. With Globalization and Free Trade companies are free to transfer operations from high paying locations (the US and western europe) to everywhere else. The US has even been the 3rd of Europe, check out the recent (a few years now) opening of a plant by Daimler-Chrysler in Alabama. The State of Alabama hands millions (free land, and built the plant) to Daimler-Chrylser to open a factory there. They outbid everyone else (of course!!).
Why shouldn't the process of Enculturation extend (believe, it's nothing new) to removing the vote. The people don't vote as it is, because they're discouraged. Why are they discouraged? Shouldn't that be obvious? Who would benefit from the people not voting?
Corporations. The same corporations that push for Globalization and Free Trade (which is really just forcing the world to accept, and then owe, Foreign Investors - primarly US based). With NAFTA the economy of Mexican and US elite was the only interest, and millions of Mexicans now starve. This is the Free Trade we should love.
Who runs the corporations? Let's see, we've all heard 90% of the wealth is owned by 1% of the population. It's much worse in reality. 90% of the US media is owned by 15 families/corporations. Oh, but isn't the Mass Media one of the most important parts of Enculturation?
Yes. But we should still believe how impartial they are. Oh wait, didn't it take more than 10 years for the Media to begin mentioning the still-ongoing Genocide in Rwanda. Oh wait, no the Taliban is bad, they hate women. But then, one of the US's favorite friends (Saudi Arabia) treats women even worse, mass executions every Friday. Be there or be square.
Now we have the military everywhere. So what, a few M16's and hand grenades watching us check our luggage. That'll save us from ourselves. No, sorry I meant terrorists.
Profit Over People, a simple statement, which causes Genetically Modified foods to be sold (mind you, the US has very few other choices than this food in grocery stores) without ever testing long term effects on humans.
Profit Over People causes companies to dump chemicals into the rivers, streams, bays, oceans, and air without thought to humans.
Profit Over People causes the EPA to grant quotas to companies allowing them so much harm in a year, and if they don't use it all up, it carries over to the next year (unlike our vacation time).
Concern for Human Life extends far beyond. A simple thing such as an Anthrax scare, that harms so few, causes panic, and allows the USPS to potentially do much much more harm. How can someone possibly think this safe to begin with?
Will anyone ever test the effects before deployment? In a word: No. In a statement: Not without people getting off their a$$e$, getting informed, and voting. Because when citizens make decisions, it won't be to allow untested genetic engineering on the dinner table, toxic chemicals in their drinking glasses, and irradiated mail on the hall table.
I work at a Linux Company. We develop a Linux Management Solution. Over 90% of the employees run linux only. Only management (business side) runs Winbloze. It's all they know, the rest of us are adaptable, and linux junkies.
When my boss sends documents to my group, he sends it in M$ format. We bitch, whine, complain, give long essays about Open Standards, M$ monopoly on Office, and how basically we never read what he sends us.
Yes, Star Office and Open Office sucks. Trust me. We had a Sales guy who tried the linux route, he couldn't cut it. He could barely read what clients sent him, and they could not read what he sent them. End of discussion.
More support for Open Standards, a real judgement (one that is also upheld) against M$ monopoly, and more time for Open Source to become even more of a force in the enterprise, will lead to real openess that RMS and millions promote and fight for on a daily basis.
In the end, my company has put more effort in PDF, HTML, and we've got a winbloze box in the office I share.
one of the key points to globalization, is the free movement of corporations across national boundaries. a friendlier environment, such as the one which is being created, allows corporations to set up shop wherever it's cheaper (look at NAFTA and GM, closed down their plants, moved them to Mexico, over a hundred thousand people were greatly affected by one case of this).
the 'brain drain' will cease to be necessary. the internet is allowing IT work to be done around the world, globalization allows corporations to find workers anywhere for any pay.
the US will be reduced to third world status as soon as it is convenient. 1% owns over 95% of the wealth. This is today. Tomorrow it will be worse, and most will simply live on the periphery (today's third world laborers, palistinians in israel, manual laborers in singapore)....
Globalization can not cure poverty, under the assumption that it works for "Profit over People", which is what every corporation does, and it's not a secret.
The opening of borders only improves the corporate stance in reducing environmental and labor protections; If you don't let us do this, we'll open up shop in Thailand instead. This causes the degradation of all protective laws, guarding civil rights, therefore creating places like the "Free Trade Zones" in which people are physically chained to their work area for 12+ hours straight.
Corporations are tyrannical structures, by nature and definition. Profit is their goal. If they are telling you, en masse, that something is bad, then you should really think about why so much money is being spent on those advertisments. Corporations don't work for the good of the people, they work for profit. If they spend money on something, it's because they intend to make even more money from that investment.
What's good for corporations, isn't necessarily good for people. It wouldn't be so difficult to see, except for the fact that it's right under our noses...
Typically misguided. Should have been authored by Dan Rather or Peter Jennings.
There is no tolerance in the so-called 'democracy' of the US. The Media is owned by the same corporations that successfully lobby congress (because the people don't vote).
'Spreading Democracy' by the US Government, is supporting dictatorships and fascist regimes that make their countries more amenable to US Foreign Investors and Globablization.
Globalization is not what you hear about in the 6 o clock news. Globalization makes it possible for once US based corporations to now extend themselves as transnational, thus averting the laws of any specific country. They can easily close up shop, and often do, and open up in a third world country without labor laws.
if they don't follow their platform (what they said to get elected), then don't allow them to be voted in next time. very few people even care to vote (some 20-30%). very few of these actually pay attention to what the representatives actually do while in office. if the average person did, then you can expect your congressman to listen to you when you have something to say (they are trying to ensure job security, ie re-election).
it's as simple as it could possibly be. you can be sure that corporate lobbyists, pay attention because it's their job (why they get salaries). if the people don't take some time for this, things will continue as they have, corporations get their way.
it's not government's fault. it's the people's fault. we don't vote, and we don't pay attention. corporations do. so laws are enacted on their behalf, not ours.
no it's not hard to pay attention. it just takes a little time to get involved. join an organization you believe in. they do the work on the bills they're interested, and get materials from other groups that have done the research on the bills they are interested. soon enough, you know quite a bit, and all you had to do was read. if you don't have the time to read, and help make a better world for yourself, then you should attempt to take the time for your children.
Slashdot Mirror
I had actually been part of grassroots organizations over the years that had attempted to force the City Council to actually include it in the budget. It might also be noted that the original legislation attempted to have a clause that if the Council doesn't budget for the monorail appropriately, they don't get paid. This was a big trend-setter in grassroots proposed legislation.
i never had a problem with washington mutual
last sentence should be this:
If Government work should directly benefit the public, and *not* be sold off to private hands for private profit, so should University Research.
University Students perform research in all kinds of fields from pharmacuticals, physics, chemistry, to computer science. The benefits of this research often goes to private companies, for private profit.
It's nothing new. Just no one puts these things together. If Government work should directly benefit the public, and be sold off to private hands for private profit, so should University Research.
I admit that I didn't look so closely as to notice something in the middle of thousands of posts. wow. i must suck. maybe i just don't have that much time on my hands.
Whomever marked me as a troll is a loser. You obviously have nothing better to do in your life than defend someone's forgetfullness.
You're the troll if there ever was one. You and the Natalie Portman weirdos.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/14/154421 5&mode=thread&tid=100
ring a bell CmdrTaco?
this lame. the same story, the same guy posts it. is slashdot having this many problems?
Exploitation of the universities is hurting a lot of people. A lot of college graduates have recruiting events which they are begged to attend. I, an accomplished/experienced SysAd, can't get more than 4 responses per 100 resume submissions.
What is the deal !!!???!!!
2 million years ago, something happening to the ancestor of modern Chimpanzee isn't going to affect us, unless our ancestors were also involved.
duh! i wish these people would do more research before making such crap as 'it may explain why some humans who are repeatedly exposed to HIV don't get sick.'
The US is the only place in the world that pretty much did not have that discussion. Consequently we have over 1 million commercials pushed in our faces by the time were 18, and still they are finding new ways to push even more: in show commercials, bars along the bottom/sides of the screen...
There are other models. But none that don't conflict too much with the corporate dominated media, and the 'Profit over People' capitalism.
Things can survive without profitability margins. The airwaves are owned by the people. Try that on for size. Or just go back to your university and allow them to sell your thesis for $500, or allow a private company to patent your work.
it really isn't suprising, since corporate crime, which is the most devistating type of criminal activity, next to state sponsored murder/terror (of which the US has done plenty of). white collar crime causes whole cities workforces to become unemployed, whole habitats destroyed, causes thousands of people harm. this is the normal effect. yet, prison sentence rarely occurs, because these crimes are rarely investigated.
put the hacker away who caused a few companies to lose a few thousand dollars and gave a bitch slap to a few Management types who don't believe in funding security and appropriate data backups. someone who destroys a rainforest should get a slap on the wrist and a nice 10 million dollar bonus for making the company more profitable.
yippy :)
Yes, technologies such as P2P and CDR play a large role in someone's ability to retrieve music for listening.
But, although Music Industry Execs (and their bretheren) decry such things, Record Sales were higher last year than ever before. And it's a continuous rise.
People like me download all their music. Why, because I don't have money to spend on CD's, especially when a disk that cost $10-12(US) 2 years ago is now $16+(US). Pardon my french but f**k that!
I'll download, and people will pay, and Industry Executives will still have their billions of dollars each. It's not a fair game from our point of view, not theres. And it won't change.
During the Dot Com boom, alot of companies were realizing that a Bachelors degree didn't always mean what they thought. Companies became more willing to hire people without degrees, and even those who were self-taught. It all was a part of their urgent needs combined with the booming economy and that it was an employee's market.
Today it's not the employee's market, and Companies are forgetting that college educations don't always turn out good minds. I started during the end of the boom, with companies desperate to get people. Now, I send out a resume and I doubt that they cared to receive it. Although I am very good at Systems Administration (Linux), and always produce good results, I don't have a degree and 5 professional years under my belt.
My advice is to go to college, the best one you can for Computer Science. Speak extensively with you advisor, and make friends in the real world. Join the local user group(s), and get all the real-world experience you can. Being a SysAd is not just about configuring a system, it's about doing it right. Doing it right means keeping in mind security, budget, and documentation. There are way too many SysAd's who are not only incompetent, and don't tell anyone what they've done to the systems, but also have Senior titles.
From my experience, someone with a title like: Senior Network Systems Administrator is going to need your help to mount a floppy disk under Linux (even though they manage all the UNIX/Linux systems). You have to be good, and you have to care about doing the right thing, and you have to keep yourself on the top of the stack of resumes. This means a college education and a lot of hardwork learning how to secure systems, configure systems, and configure all the applications.
I was about to get undressed for bed, and all of a sudden it felt like some heavy person was running around (I'm on the third floor of a crappy apartment complex). We (my wife and I) soon realized it was something else, an earthquake. It felt like a very stiff vertical shaking.
I have a co-worker who lives in Gilroy, he was less than a few miles from the epicenter. He and his wife felt it big time. They also got no sleep because of the after shocks.
Those in the Bay area who didn't feel it either smoke crack or, like my friend, were driving down the highway (one that's got enough dips in it that your car bounces around anyway) at some ungodly speed. To be felt so strongly 50 miles away, you had to feel it much closer.
Also, I read that there was a game in San Jose, which continued uninterrupted. You gotta wonder, sports are more important than your own life, and living in California with so many quakes that you don't get concerned unless your home/building falls down. My co-worker had pictures flying off the wall, shelves flapping around like crazy..
It's insane, and quite scary. You can't imagine what it's like until you've experienced one. And then you can't anticipate either, because they're not exactly the same each time, some are rollers some are shakers and I'm sure some just go psycho.
My question is about your take on this topic. Should Linux Development continue to be geared towards this (Commercial Viability) or just as a cool OS with standard (and non standard) functionality, including (or not including) the latest developments? This is not to say that Linux should abandon, entirely, any push towards Commercial Viability, just should it be the main focus..
Alternatively, you could take the question to be: Should the Linux Community strive to make Linux 'The Best', or just the best that it can be?
Frankly it doesn't matter who you are, it's all about responsibility. If you don't have it, then you shouldn't be responsible for anything, except your actions (in a court of law).
I admit that there are privacy issues that aren't resolved by the above. If you want a privacy protected, anonymous system then it needs to be better planned out to protect against abuse. Maybe this guy, with his influence, could get something going.
The Media gets it's information from the Government (who is the largest single entity capable of mass dissemination of information in time for hourly broadcasts and updates). If the Media, through many factors such as ownership, income (advertisements), and viewership can limit itself to only pushing a certain agenda (not forcing Corporate Accountability, because the corporate advertisers would then pull their sponsorship), you effectively have the 'Party Line' pushed hourly to your public.
Anyone who thinks outside the limited spectrum allowed above, must not have the ability to dominate air time. As long as they do not dominate, you can put them on Prime Time shows, give them 15 minutes to talk (8 minutes of that being commercials) and you effectively remove their ability to say anything useful. You can't say, and back up, in 2 spots of 4-6 minutes each, that the world as people know it is a sham. You can only say what is already accepted, again because you have no time to go through the proof.
Marginalization much much easier and more efficient than outright Censorship. And it's already in place and has been working for a very long time (longer than most would expect)
The US is becoming another 3rd world country. With Globalization and Free Trade companies are free to transfer operations from high paying locations (the US and western europe) to everywhere else. The US has even been the 3rd of Europe, check out the recent (a few years now) opening of a plant by Daimler-Chrysler in Alabama. The State of Alabama hands millions (free land, and built the plant) to Daimler-Chrylser to open a factory there. They outbid everyone else (of course!!).
Why shouldn't the process of Enculturation extend (believe, it's nothing new) to removing the vote. The people don't vote as it is, because they're discouraged. Why are they discouraged? Shouldn't that be obvious? Who would benefit from the people not voting?
Corporations. The same corporations that push for Globalization and Free Trade (which is really just forcing the world to accept, and then owe, Foreign Investors - primarly US based). With NAFTA the economy of Mexican and US elite was the only interest, and millions of Mexicans now starve. This is the Free Trade we should love.
Who runs the corporations? Let's see, we've all heard 90% of the wealth is owned by 1% of the population. It's much worse in reality. 90% of the US media is owned by 15 families/corporations. Oh, but isn't the Mass Media one of the most important parts of Enculturation?
Yes. But we should still believe how impartial they are. Oh wait, didn't it take more than 10 years for the Media to begin mentioning the still-ongoing Genocide in Rwanda. Oh wait, no the Taliban is bad, they hate women. But then, one of the US's favorite friends (Saudi Arabia) treats women even worse, mass executions every Friday. Be there or be square.
Now we have the military everywhere. So what, a few M16's and hand grenades watching us check our luggage. That'll save us from ourselves. No, sorry I meant terrorists.
Profit Over People causes companies to dump chemicals into the rivers, streams, bays, oceans, and air without thought to humans.
Profit Over People causes the EPA to grant quotas to companies allowing them so much harm in a year, and if they don't use it all up, it carries over to the next year (unlike our vacation time).
Concern for Human Life extends far beyond. A simple thing such as an Anthrax scare, that harms so few, causes panic, and allows the USPS to potentially do much much more harm. How can someone possibly think this safe to begin with?
Will anyone ever test the effects before deployment? In a word: No. In a statement: Not without people getting off their a$$e$, getting informed, and voting. Because when citizens make decisions, it won't be to allow untested genetic engineering on the dinner table, toxic chemicals in their drinking glasses, and irradiated mail on the hall table.
When my boss sends documents to my group, he sends it in M$ format. We bitch, whine, complain, give long essays about Open Standards, M$ monopoly on Office, and how basically we never read what he sends us.
Yes, Star Office and Open Office sucks. Trust me. We had a Sales guy who tried the linux route, he couldn't cut it. He could barely read what clients sent him, and they could not read what he sent them. End of discussion.
More support for Open Standards, a real judgement (one that is also upheld) against M$ monopoly, and more time for Open Source to become even more of a force in the enterprise, will lead to real openess that RMS and millions promote and fight for on a daily basis.
In the end, my company has put more effort in PDF, HTML, and we've got a winbloze box in the office I share.
the 'brain drain' will cease to be necessary. the internet is allowing IT work to be done around the world, globalization allows corporations to find workers anywhere for any pay.
the US will be reduced to third world status as soon as it is convenient. 1% owns over 95% of the wealth. This is today. Tomorrow it will be worse, and most will simply live on the periphery (today's third world laborers, palistinians in israel, manual laborers in singapore)....
The opening of borders only improves the corporate stance in reducing environmental and labor protections; If you don't let us do this, we'll open up shop in Thailand instead. This causes the degradation of all protective laws, guarding civil rights, therefore creating places like the "Free Trade Zones" in which people are physically chained to their work area for 12+ hours straight.
Corporations are tyrannical structures, by nature and definition. Profit is their goal. If they are telling you, en masse, that something is bad, then you should really think about why so much money is being spent on those advertisments. Corporations don't work for the good of the people, they work for profit. If they spend money on something, it's because they intend to make even more money from that investment.
What's good for corporations, isn't necessarily good for people. It wouldn't be so difficult to see, except for the fact that it's right under our noses...
There is no tolerance in the so-called 'democracy' of the US. The Media is owned by the same corporations that successfully lobby congress (because the people don't vote).
'Spreading Democracy' by the US Government, is supporting dictatorships and fascist regimes that make their countries more amenable to US Foreign Investors and Globablization.
Globalization is not what you hear about in the 6 o clock news. Globalization makes it possible for once US based corporations to now extend themselves as transnational, thus averting the laws of any specific country. They can easily close up shop, and often do, and open up in a third world country without labor laws.
if they don't follow their platform (what they said to get elected), then don't allow them to be voted in next time. very few people even care to vote (some 20-30%). very few of these actually pay attention to what the representatives actually do while in office. if the average person did, then you can expect your congressman to listen to you when you have something to say (they are trying to ensure job security, ie re-election).
it's as simple as it could possibly be. you can be sure that corporate lobbyists, pay attention because it's their job (why they get salaries). if the people don't take some time for this, things will continue as they have, corporations get their way.
it's not government's fault. it's the people's fault. we don't vote, and we don't pay attention. corporations do. so laws are enacted on their behalf, not ours.
no it's not hard to pay attention. it just takes a little time to get involved. join an organization you believe in. they do the work on the bills they're interested, and get materials from other groups that have done the research on the bills they are interested. soon enough, you know quite a bit, and all you had to do was read. if you don't have the time to read, and help make a better world for yourself, then you should attempt to take the time for your children.
Now, Corporations don't dominate the world, do they? That's ok, Companies like these just swap Board Members, that's all. honest.