>>>someone who didn't go through the American public school system
Ooops I forgot the biggest one:
- Government School/Dept of Education (indoctrinates rather than educates)(also very money-inefficient compared to private alternatives that do an equal job with half as much cash)
I would also argue that it's Anti-prochoice due to it having a monopoly on money. It's akin to having to fork-over $1000 to Uncle Sam Computers each year, even if you'd rather go to Microsoft or Apple computer instead. It stifles freedom of choice by locking people (especially the poor) into the government.
>>>Plus a study has shown that citizens earning up to $85k/yr get back services worth more than that.
So if I pay $20,000 a year in taxes, and I have a job that pays less the $43 an hour, I get back more than $20,000 in services? I find that difficult to believe especially since I barely use any government services. (I drive on roads, and that's about it.)
What about jobs? I've looked for an engineering job in Canada, managed to get one interview five years ago, and that's it. They seem a little scarce at least for my skillset (designing FPGAs).
It's hard to find stats in the US, because as I said the government controls a monopoly. 99% of Americans go to the government school because that's where their dollars are. You need to look to Africa, where indeed private schools are cheaper AND better than their public counterparts.
Or the European Union, where dollars follow the student enabling them to go whereever they want. Over there private schools routinely outperform the government schools, and do it more cheaply.
He wants to MANDATE by law a fairness doctrine for websites and blogs. I also hear he wants to force us to acquire licenses before we can get websites or blogs, although I've yet to find any proof of this claim... maybe that video is floating around somewhere too.
"Were"? The electric and natural gas monopolies are still regulated in my state (and the neighboring state too). It's just that now the monopoly is required to carry electricity/gas provided by other suppliers, but the regulation of the monopoly remains in effect.
The FCC is simply desiring to do the same with internet providers.
>>>because everytime a company comes up you have to add even more fiber.
Someone can't read. I said I'd run 100 fiber optics under the street. So if a new company comes along and there are only 10 companies leasing fibers, then the government simply adds the new company to fiber #11. Simple as that. .
>>>How about you get involved and found out who is stopping others from entering the market and deal with that?
The County government is preventing it, because the county government gave Comcast an exclusive right to this area. The same is most-likely true in your area too.
>>>the typical pro-business free-market thinker will tell you that you are a big-government liberal
A big government guy who's a life member of the Libertarian Party? Yeah whatever. You missed the mark. I recognize a natural monopoly when it's staring me in the face, and I don't see any problem with the State government owning the 100-fiber-internet bundle under the street, just as I don't see a problem with them owning the water pipes or sewerage pipes.
Having a choice between 100 different companies (one per fiber) is certainly a better solution that what we have now (1 company monopoly).
>>>>>- US Post Office (nearly bankrupt) >> >>This has in no way made things worse. It's the best postal system in the world.
Yeah if you ignore FedEx and UPS and the Intenet, all of which provide me with better, faster, cheaper mailing service than the Government service does. So yeah you're right. USPS is the best in the world - if you ignore the ones that are better.;-) .
>>>>>Sedition Act was repealed on December 13, 1920. SO while it was a dick move, that very same government removed it.
Until it was revived again in 1942. And the again in 1952. And also existed in 1861. And in 1797. This Sedition Act (or variants thereof) keeps coming back, so it would be unwise to think it can't pop up again in the now, or the future .
>>>>>- Amtrak (nearly bankrupt) >> >>How did the government intervention make this worse?
A private company would eliminate unprofitable lines that lack customers (like how Circuit City disappeared), but government keeps foolishly running lines that are losing money. That needs to stop. ----- Also in my personal opinion, Amtrak's time has passed. Passenger trains are an old 1800s technology that should disappear like the wagon train disappeared, other than for limited usage in cities (metros, subways, etc). Trains are fine in heavily-populated cities, but when going long distance most people would rather travel by car or bus, not train. Let's give them want THEY desire, rather than run mostly-empty trains that they don't desire. .
>>A) The Current health policy(prior Health care reform) will costs the federal government a fucking lot. >>B) Health care reform wont reduce it to zero. but it will reduce it.
The CBO disagrees, and they've crunched the numbers (and yes I've read a summary of the report). It WAS supposed to reduce costs, but now they are saying it will actually cost MORE than the previous system, because of enrolling more people (i.e. more handouts). So I consider it a good example of good intentions going bad. .
>>YOU yes YOU are a fucking nitwit.
Perhaps true, but you'll notice I am not the one who chose to make it personal. YOU did that and you demonstrate a lack of maturity with these insults. Basically you're acting like a Tea Party protester.
>>>it educates, and if your read up it does better then a lot of private schools
I know a lot of black and Hispanic parents who would completely disagree with you. Most of them WANT a Pro-Choice school system, so they can escape the crumbling, non-educating government schools where they are currently stuck. To oppose their desires & ignore these poorest members of society is to be prejudiced IMHO. You're keeping black/hispanic children down.
(See? I can play that card too Mr. Jimmy "tea parties are racist" Carter.)
But individual rights trump the right to trade. For example you can't buy a bunch of computers and then store them in your neighbors' basement. That's infringing upon his individual rights. Nobody is so stupid as to think "free market" trumps the rights of the individual.
>>>Just provide a country wide free WiFi/WiMax service paid by federal tax
You've never driven across the country have you? It takes about 40 hours to go from Seattle to NYC and 15 hours to go from the Gulf of Mexico to Minneapolis. Now how many WiFi towers do you think would have to be built to ensure 100% coverage of this giant zone? I have no idea either, but I bet it numbers in the billions, so we're talking about trillions of dollars that need to be spent setting-up these towers.
In contrast the phonelines are *already there* in the ground and running into 99.9% of Americans homes. All that needs to be done is convert them from Narrowband Dialup to Broadband Internet, and that's relatively inexpensive. All it requires is one ~$100 box per neighborhood or small town.
"The best would be for this to be done voluntarily," said Sunstein, "But the word voluntary is a little complicated and people sometimes don't do what's best for our society," he added. "The idea would be to have a LEGAL MANDATE as the last resort..... an ultimate WEAPON designed to encourage people to do better," Sunstein concluded.
"Rightthought" in other words. Mandating how people should run their private websites or blogs.
>>>Do you think a fiber bundle to every door is something that just happens? That's a massive government project.
So is war but the government doesn't seem to have any problem organizing that. And besides it doesn't have to be done all at once. Start with one city (say Baltimore), see how it works, and then do another city. And another. And another. It took 30 years to finish paving the last mile of Eisenhower's original interstate project, but it was still worthwhile.
>>>have any of those horrible things actually, you know, happened?
Yes. My internet provider refuses to let me see disneyconnection.com or espn360.com until I cough-up more cash. I know that's just two sites, but it's a start down that path of pay-to-view websites.
My concern is that next they'll do the same for foxnews.com. I already have to pay a 50 cent premium to get FOX on my Sirius radio - I don't want to see the same happen with the web. Pretty soon they'll demand an extra 50 cents to access itunes.com, and on and on and on.
>>>Emmm, all government programs by definition cost money
Yes but when the government programs are spending more than they are taking-in, like Greece, then there's a serious problem. It's called debt and when the debt can't be repaid then it's called "default" or bankruptcy. That's the state where all the programs I listed are on the verge of entering. .
>>>It is not supposed to make money
Why not? The US Post Office made money throughout most of the 80s and early 90s, until the internet arose. That extra profit was simply rolled-back into the public treasury for other uses. I don't see any harm in this - it means the program is successful. Certainly better for the USPO to be profitable, than to be in its current status (closing offices due to lack of funds).
Really? I thought the Universal Access Fee (tax on your monthly bill), plus Congressional law mandated that companies MUST provide phone service to anyone who requests it. I know SOME people have gone completely cellular, but I bet 99% of America still has the wires running to their house and those wires could be upgraded from Narrowband Dialup to Broadband Internet.
I suppose the law could be written, "The phone company must provide DSL (or similar broadband alternative) to every customer that requests internet." - Then the companies would have a choice: DSL, FiOS, or some other technology. BUT let's be honest - DSL is the cheapest route because the wires are already laid-down under the earth, or on top of poles. I suspect 99% of phone companies would choose the DSL to hook-up Farmer Joe in Nowhere Wyoming, or Sister Sue in Cowsville Montana.
Which is fine - the goal is to offer something faster than Narrowband 56k and DSL certainly qualifies. Also I don't agree with mandating it MUST be 1 Mbit/s. Some of us prefer half that speed, because it's cheaper ($14). We should have the option of choosing slower to save money
>>>way too far away from a telephone CO for signal attenuation not completely destroy any notion of broadband via DSL being usable.
Central Office -> Fiber Optic --> DSLAM (which hooks into the already-existing phone lines). That's how my neighborhood is wired up and we have 12 Megabit/s available here.
Just curious - What do you think of recent comments from Obama's employee Cass Sunnstein, that the FCC should mandate equal representation? i.e. If democrats.org has a posting about some political event, then they must also insert a popup window that links to republicans.org. Like a Fairness Doctrine for the web?
Slashdot Mirror
>>>someone who didn't go through the American public school system
Ooops I forgot the biggest one:
- Government School/Dept of Education (indoctrinates rather than educates)(also very money-inefficient compared to private alternatives that do an equal job with half as much cash)
I would also argue that it's Anti-prochoice due to it having a monopoly on money. It's akin to having to fork-over $1000 to Uncle Sam Computers each year, even if you'd rather go to Microsoft or Apple computer instead. It stifles freedom of choice by locking people (especially the poor) into the government.
>>>How could you not have realized Chromium was open source?
Probably because I don't use Google software (I prefer Firefox, seaMonkey, and Opera), and therefore never gave a flock.
I'm surprised you weren't modded troll for comparing Taiwan to Obama's Internet Kill Switch
>>>Plus a study has shown that citizens earning up to $85k/yr get back services worth more than that.
So if I pay $20,000 a year in taxes, and I have a job that pays less the $43 an hour, I get back more than $20,000 in services? I find that difficult to believe especially since I barely use any government services. (I drive on roads, and that's about it.)
>>>All of the advantages of modern America
What about jobs? I've looked for an engineering job in Canada, managed to get one interview five years ago, and that's it. They seem a little scarce at least for my skillset (designing FPGAs).
I didn't realize Chromium was open source. I thought it was closed like Microsoft's IE/ Is Safari open source?
It's hard to find stats in the US, because as I said the government controls a monopoly. 99% of Americans go to the government school because that's where their dollars are. You need to look to Africa, where indeed private schools are cheaper AND better than their public counterparts.
Or the European Union, where dollars follow the student enabling them to go whereever they want. Over there private schools routinely outperform the government schools, and do it more cheaply.
Hello Alex Jones. ;-)
No I'm talking about this speech from just a few weeks ago: http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-czar-wants-mandatory-government-propaganda-on-political-websites.html
He wants to MANDATE by law a fairness doctrine for websites and blogs. I also hear he wants to force us to acquire licenses before we can get websites or blogs, although I've yet to find any proof of this claim... maybe that video is floating around somewhere too.
May 17 (just one month ago) isn't recent? It sounds like he's still in favor of what he said in his book. Listen to the video at this link: http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-czar-wants-mandatory-government-propaganda-on-political-websites.html
He wants to MANDATE a fairness doctrine on the web.
"Were"? The electric and natural gas monopolies are still regulated in my state (and the neighboring state too). It's just that now the monopoly is required to carry electricity/gas provided by other suppliers, but the regulation of the monopoly remains in effect. The FCC is simply desiring to do the same with internet providers.
>>>because everytime a company comes up you have to add even more fiber.
Someone can't read. I said I'd run 100 fiber optics under the street. So if a new company comes along and there are only 10 companies leasing fibers, then the government simply adds the new company to fiber #11. Simple as that.
.
>>>How about you get involved and found out who is stopping others from entering the market and deal with that?
The County government is preventing it, because the county government gave Comcast an exclusive right to this area. The same is most-likely true in your area too.
>>>the typical pro-business free-market thinker will tell you that you are a big-government liberal
A big government guy who's a life member of the Libertarian Party? Yeah whatever. You missed the mark. I recognize a natural monopoly when it's staring me in the face, and I don't see any problem with the State government owning the 100-fiber-internet bundle under the street, just as I don't see a problem with them owning the water pipes or sewerage pipes.
Having a choice between 100 different companies (one per fiber) is certainly a better solution that what we have now (1 company monopoly).
>>>>>- US Post Office (nearly bankrupt)
>>
>>This has in no way made things worse. It's the best postal system in the world.
Yeah if you ignore FedEx and UPS and the Intenet, all of which provide me with better, faster, cheaper mailing service than the Government service does. So yeah you're right. USPS is the best in the world - if you ignore the ones that are better. ;-)
.
>>>>>Sedition Act was repealed on December 13, 1920. SO while it was a dick move, that very same government removed it.
Until it was revived again in 1942. And the again in 1952. And also existed in 1861. And in 1797. This Sedition Act (or variants thereof) keeps coming back, so it would be unwise to think it can't pop up again in the now, or the future
.
>>>>>- Amtrak (nearly bankrupt)
>>
>>How did the government intervention make this worse?
A private company would eliminate unprofitable lines that lack customers (like how Circuit City disappeared), but government keeps foolishly running lines that are losing money. That needs to stop. ----- Also in my personal opinion, Amtrak's time has passed. Passenger trains are an old 1800s technology that should disappear like the wagon train disappeared, other than for limited usage in cities (metros, subways, etc). Trains are fine in heavily-populated cities, but when going long distance most people would rather travel by car or bus, not train. Let's give them want THEY desire, rather than run mostly-empty trains that they don't desire.
.
>>A) The Current health policy(prior Health care reform) will costs the federal government a fucking lot.
>>B) Health care reform wont reduce it to zero. but it will reduce it.
The CBO disagrees, and they've crunched the numbers (and yes I've read a summary of the report). It WAS supposed to reduce costs, but now they are saying it will actually cost MORE than the previous system, because of enrolling more people (i.e. more handouts). So I consider it a good example of good intentions going bad.
.
>>YOU yes YOU are a fucking nitwit.
Perhaps true, but you'll notice I am not the one who chose to make it personal. YOU did that and you demonstrate a lack of maturity with these insults. Basically you're acting like a Tea Party protester.
>>>it educates, and if your read up it does better then a lot of private schools
I know a lot of black and Hispanic parents who would completely disagree with you. Most of them WANT a Pro-Choice school system, so they can escape the crumbling, non-educating government schools where they are currently stuck. To oppose their desires & ignore these poorest members of society is to be prejudiced IMHO. You're keeping black/hispanic children down.
(See? I can play that card too Mr. Jimmy "tea parties are racist" Carter.)
But individual rights trump the right to trade. For example you can't buy a bunch of computers and then store them in your neighbors' basement. That's infringing upon his individual rights. Nobody is so stupid as to think "free market" trumps the rights of the individual.
>>>Just provide a country wide free WiFi/WiMax service paid by federal tax
You've never driven across the country have you? It takes about 40 hours to go from Seattle to NYC and 15 hours to go from the Gulf of Mexico to Minneapolis. Now how many WiFi towers do you think would have to be built to ensure 100% coverage of this giant zone? I have no idea either, but I bet it numbers in the billions, so we're talking about trillions of dollars that need to be spent setting-up these towers.
In contrast the phonelines are *already there* in the ground and running into 99.9% of Americans homes. All that needs to be done is convert them from Narrowband Dialup to Broadband Internet, and that's relatively inexpensive. All it requires is one ~$100 box per neighborhood or small town.
Cheap. Easy. Quick.
Here's the audio DIRECTLY from Obama employee Cass Sunnstein. I don't know why I am bothering, because you'll just pretend he never said it (cognitive dissonance), but here's the link: http://www.prisonplanet.com/obama-czar-wants-mandatory-government-propaganda-on-political-websites.html
.
"The best would be for this to be done voluntarily," said Sunstein, "But the word voluntary is a little complicated and people sometimes don't do what's best for our society," he added. "The idea would be to have a LEGAL MANDATE as the last resort..... an ultimate WEAPON designed to encourage people to do better," Sunstein concluded.
"Rightthought" in other words. Mandating how people should run their private websites or blogs.
>>>Do you think a fiber bundle to every door is something that just happens? That's a massive government project.
So is war but the government doesn't seem to have any problem organizing that. And besides it doesn't have to be done all at once. Start with one city (say Baltimore), see how it works, and then do another city. And another. And another. It took 30 years to finish paving the last mile of Eisenhower's original interstate project, but it was still worthwhile.
>>>have any of those horrible things actually, you know, happened?
Yes. My internet provider refuses to let me see disneyconnection.com or espn360.com until I cough-up more cash. I know that's just two sites, but it's a start down that path of pay-to-view websites.
My concern is that next they'll do the same for foxnews.com. I already have to pay a 50 cent premium to get FOX on my Sirius radio - I don't want to see the same happen with the web. Pretty soon they'll demand an extra 50 cents to access itunes.com, and on and on and on.
>>>Emmm, all government programs by definition cost money
Yes but when the government programs are spending more than they are taking-in, like Greece, then there's a serious problem. It's called debt and when the debt can't be repaid then it's called "default" or bankruptcy. That's the state where all the programs I listed are on the verge of entering.
.
>>>It is not supposed to make money
Why not? The US Post Office made money throughout most of the 80s and early 90s, until the internet arose. That extra profit was simply rolled-back into the public treasury for other uses. I don't see any harm in this - it means the program is successful. Certainly better for the USPO to be profitable, than to be in its current status (closing offices due to lack of funds).
Really? I thought the Universal Access Fee (tax on your monthly bill), plus Congressional law mandated that companies MUST provide phone service to anyone who requests it. I know SOME people have gone completely cellular, but I bet 99% of America still has the wires running to their house and those wires could be upgraded from Narrowband Dialup to Broadband Internet.
>>>mandating a particular technology is not.
Good point.
I suppose the law could be written, "The phone company must provide DSL (or similar broadband alternative) to every customer that requests internet." - Then the companies would have a choice: DSL, FiOS, or some other technology. BUT let's be honest - DSL is the cheapest route because the wires are already laid-down under the earth, or on top of poles. I suspect 99% of phone companies would choose the DSL to hook-up Farmer Joe in Nowhere Wyoming, or Sister Sue in Cowsville Montana.
Which is fine - the goal is to offer something faster than Narrowband 56k and DSL certainly qualifies. Also I don't agree with mandating it MUST be 1 Mbit/s. Some of us prefer half that speed, because it's cheaper ($14). We should have the option of choosing slower to save money
>>>way too far away from a telephone CO for signal attenuation not completely destroy any notion of broadband via DSL being usable.
Central Office -> Fiber Optic --> DSLAM (which hooks into the already-existing phone lines). That's how my neighborhood is wired up and we have 12 Megabit/s available here.
Just curious - What do you think of recent comments from Obama's employee Cass Sunnstein, that the FCC should mandate equal representation? i.e. If democrats.org has a posting about some political event, then they must also insert a popup window that links to republicans.org. Like a Fairness Doctrine for the web?