This is silly. The issue isn't our engineers, it's our preference in cars (You do realize that Ford owns Volvo, right?) . Even if we had NO auto manufacturers, Americans would have access to any model car in the world if they would only express a desire for it. It's the biggest automobile market in the world.
Americans don't much give a shit about fuel economy, concentrating more on roominess (we're fat), torque (we don't know how to shift gears), and sheer intimidating bulk (we're aggressive drivers). Even at recent prices, behavior isn't changing very much. Maybe $6.00 gasoline would make a difference.
I know the urge to bitch and act smarter than somebody else is almost overwhelming, but if you would slow down enough to read a couple of paragraphs you would see that this is not a dupe. It's a summary of the discussion you were so kind as to point out. In fact, the exact same link is in the summary itself.
You would probably not characterize your post as a defense of Lay, but it certainly comes across as one. I can think of two important things he was guilty of that most other CEOs are not: First, he and Skilling knew very well that all the complex financial shenanigans involving subsidiaries that owned subsidiaries that owned shares of the holding company that owned the subsidiaries...and so on...did not serve to enhance Enron's finances one bit. Rather, they served only to obscure its financial state. Even if you don't think that should be a crime, you have to admit it's piss-poor business and deceitful to boot. Second, it's been shown that Lay and Skilling continued to push Enron stock as a good investment to both the general public and their own employees long after they knew the ship was taking on a lot of water. That's fraud.
Your position may give you insight into the challenges CEOs face, and that's fine, but you shouldn't defend men whose hubris and dishonesty cause a corporate fiasco.
Re:That was actually surprisingly good article
on
The Cost of the iPod
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Well that's pretty much the point of the whole damn discussion, isn't it? Of course they file their 10-K's and -Q's. The question is, are they doing an adequate job of presenting the required information. The answer is: that depends on your point of view. Every scrap of information they release is potentially of use to competitors, so they withhold what they can. OTOH, stockholders are entitled to a good look at the books a few times a year, and knowing how the ipod slice of the pie compares to the rest in terms of profitability would be nice.
I have about 2 1/2 years to go before I can retire and move anywhere I want to. If anyone can recommend a place with decent weather, a libertarian outlook, and a government that isn't run by corporations...oh, never mind.
X-Com, Mass destruction of the battlefield which to this day still hasnt been duplicated.
Which is why it's what I'm currently playing. It's my all-time favorite game, and it's readily available on the internet, and it runs pretty well in Win98 emulation mode. The gameplay is unequaled, and the crappy graphics don't really detract from the enjoyment. If it had auto-save (since it does experience the odd crash when transitioning from the world view to tactical mode), it would be pretty much perfect.
Well, I was gonna mod you up so more people would see it, but the website you give is down. The google cache reveals that their last act may have been to redirect to something called Siberra Corp. That's a subsidiary of Best Buy in Canada. Maybe they chose a name that was already taken? Anyway, it's a bit of a mess right now.
I had to leave the house after posting, but this hit me after I left. I knew someone would bring this up, and you're right. I omitted the very important point of whether the laws are being followed/enforced. Of course, this all comes back to whether the populous is interested in standing up for itself. Here in the U.S. we seem to be willing to toss out the Constitution in support of whatever the latest so-called war is. The War on Drugs gave us RICO, but we are apparently ready to go that travesty one (or two or three) better in the name of the War on Terror.
I don't know how many more times Americans will let themselves be pulled around by cynical politicians beating the "war" drum. It's all real depressing.
I'm in a hurry here, so I haven't been able to do more than scan a few articles on the subject, but in general it appears that European privacy laws are more explicit than American, but carry less weight (ie. standard laws, changeable by parliament, as opposed to Constitutional articles). (Wikipedia claims the French have privacy enshrined in a Constitutional-type document, but I didn't see in in a quick text search.) I would be most comfortable in a country that combined the two approaches, with a statement of basic rights in the Constitution and laws stating how the articles will be enforced on the books as well.
I sympathize completely with your view on this, but I can't help pointing out the irony in your post. Invading the privacy of non-U.S. citizens isn't even an issue here. So what you say, from a (U.S.) legal standpoint (and, sorry to confirm your suspicions, the point of view of much of the citizenry), is exactly backwards. We're NOT supposed to do this to ourselves, but are quite free to do it to anybody else.
On the other hand, I hardly think this makes us unique. Stop for a second to ask yourself if the British or the French intelligence services would have any qualms about examining the financial records of American citizens (or each others' citizens). Laughable. Not even an issue. It's only makes news here because we have an article in our Constitution that theoretically protects us from our unjustified snooping, and Americans keep getting caught in the dragnet. Do Europeans have similar articles? I'm sorry to say I don't know, but I've been told they do not.
After identifying a suspect, Levey said, "you can do a search, and you can determine whom he sent money to, and who sent money to him."
"The way the SWIFT data works, you would have all kinds of concrete information -- addresses, phone numbers, real names, account numbers, a lot of stuff we can really work with, the kind of actionable information that government officials can really follow up on," Levey said.
Doesn't sound like purely institution-related data. And this from the "undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence," whatever the hell that is.
Anyway, here's the thing. You're all over me for nothing. I'm the one who said the goal was to get government out of our private conversations. The OP said "dude, I know where you and your hot wife can go screw without people watching," and I said, "no, dude, I want all those people out of our bedroom, and then we can screw there."
I think you think that "hiding something" and "maintaining privacy" are functionally equivalent phrases. They are not. When I close the door to go to the bathroom I'm not hiding. When I pull the blinds closed before I have sex with my wife, I'm not hiding.
I know it's all semantics, but I think my usage is closer to the accepted one. At any rate, I don't think you and I disagree. We're just using words differently.
Well, it's interesting, but it kind of misses the point. I don't have anything to hide from the NSA; that's not why I want them to stop spying on Americans. I want them to stop spying on Americans because stopping is the right, legal thing to do. Attempting to circumvent their procedures might give be fun in a "stickin' it to the man" sort of way, but it doesn't really take us where we want to go.
It is a right wing tabloid, featuring girly pictures on page 2. You probably have one in your city, so you know what I mean.
Funny how little you can know about your neighbors. Here in the US, right wingers are loudly against sex, so you won't find them looking at girly pictures in public. There would be no market for such a paper, and consequently there are none.
All you need to know about American conservatives and sex is that they think Ann Coulter is hot.
I am so obviously too old for myspace. WTF is up with everybody calling you Vic? Or, alternately, WTF is up with you calling yourself sydbarret? I'm confused.
Were you frightened by a piece of titanium when you were a child? I don't think anybody is suggesting titanium home-heating ducts or titanium roofing nails. That doesn't mean the industries that do use the stuff wouldn't like to see it made cheaper.
As for corrosion resistance, I can't imagine what you're talking about. Titanium does the same thing aluminum does: the outside oxidizes in a thin layer that protects the rest of the piece. That means that, unlike your beloved Detroit wonder metal, it doesn't rust. For many applications, this is more important than its ability to resist assault by felt-tip markers.
I'm not sure Rice deserves to be lumped in with the other three assholes.
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, what you're saying is right and important and much, much more likely to be heard and assimilated if you'll deny yourself the satisfaction of these little tantrums. Americans are panicked, but we don't feel panicked; we feel angry. Anger is the second emotion; it is an emotional response to the original, unpleasant emotional response. We have to help the bleating mass of Americans understand that they need to put aside their anger so they can deal with their fears in a constructive way (which would naturally include a foreign policy designed to reduce our danger, not just increase other people's).
Name-calling ("moron," "fascist") may not be the most constructive approach.
It's a perfectly reasonable way to keep people out. The problem, as expressed in both TFA and the comments on the same page, is that it is not enough of a barrier to invoke the SCA. Other statutes may well be applicable.
There's both strategy and tactics in law, and in this case the two were mis-matched.
Doesn't sound right. IBM isn't taking a loss on PS3 hardware. If anybody is, it's Sony, and they would be subsidizing the volume that would allow IBM to sell the chip (relatively) cheaply.
From what I could tell, the author of TFA was under the impression that fusion reactors are in current use to generate electricity. It was all sort of vague.
This was so irritating that I ordered 100 Sudafed caplets from Canada. They arrived promptly and cost about the same (after shipping) as buying them from the local speakeasy, er, drug store. Of course, I "registered" even more completely than I would have to at Walgreen's (name, address, telephone, Visa, etc.), but at least they sold me 100 at time and I wasn't enraged by the process.
I'll say this much: that is the most (apparently) heartfelt paean to Java I've ever read.
It's a matter of taste, I suppose, but I don't think I can agree with you about Java being beautiful. Practical, pragmatic, even wise I can accept, but beautiful is right out.
Anyway, don't give up on its future just yet. I can't see anybody's fork gaining a lot of mindshare unless Sun just stops doing anything at all with the language.
Slashdot Mirror
Americans don't much give a shit about fuel economy, concentrating more on roominess (we're fat), torque (we don't know how to shift gears), and sheer intimidating bulk (we're aggressive drivers). Even at recent prices, behavior isn't changing very much. Maybe $6.00 gasoline would make a difference.
The Central Limit Theorem is just that: a theorem. Why do you not give equal time and consideration to the Intelligent Distribution Theorem?
Maybe next time...
Honestly, although you make some good points, in general it sounds like you've confused being smart with being a Vulcan.
Your position may give you insight into the challenges CEOs face, and that's fine, but you shouldn't defend men whose hubris and dishonesty cause a corporate fiasco.
Well that's pretty much the point of the whole damn discussion, isn't it? Of course they file their 10-K's and -Q's. The question is, are they doing an adequate job of presenting the required information. The answer is: that depends on your point of view. Every scrap of information they release is potentially of use to competitors, so they withhold what they can. OTOH, stockholders are entitled to a good look at the books a few times a year, and knowing how the ipod slice of the pie compares to the rest in terms of profitability would be nice.
I have about 2 1/2 years to go before I can retire and move anywhere I want to. If anyone can recommend a place with decent weather, a libertarian outlook, and a government that isn't run by corporations...oh, never mind.
It's a beautiful dream, though.
Which is why it's what I'm currently playing. It's my all-time favorite game, and it's readily available on the internet, and it runs pretty well in Win98 emulation mode. The gameplay is unequaled, and the crappy graphics don't really detract from the enjoyment. If it had auto-save (since it does experience the odd crash when transitioning from the world view to tactical mode), it would be pretty much perfect.
Well, I was gonna mod you up so more people would see it, but the website you give is down. The google cache reveals that their last act may have been to redirect to something called Siberra Corp. That's a subsidiary of Best Buy in Canada. Maybe they chose a name that was already taken? Anyway, it's a bit of a mess right now.
I don't know how many more times Americans will let themselves be pulled around by cynical politicians beating the "war" drum. It's all real depressing.
I'm in a hurry here, so I haven't been able to do more than scan a few articles on the subject, but in general it appears that European privacy laws are more explicit than American, but carry less weight (ie. standard laws, changeable by parliament, as opposed to Constitutional articles). (Wikipedia claims the French have privacy enshrined in a Constitutional-type document, but I didn't see in in a quick text search.) I would be most comfortable in a country that combined the two approaches, with a statement of basic rights in the Constitution and laws stating how the articles will be enforced on the books as well.
On the other hand, I hardly think this makes us unique. Stop for a second to ask yourself if the British or the French intelligence services would have any qualms about examining the financial records of American citizens (or each others' citizens). Laughable. Not even an issue. It's only makes news here because we have an article in our Constitution that theoretically protects us from our unjustified snooping, and Americans keep getting caught in the dragnet. Do Europeans have similar articles? I'm sorry to say I don't know, but I've been told they do not.
After identifying a suspect, Levey said, "you can do a search, and you can determine whom he sent money to, and who sent money to him."
"The way the SWIFT data works, you would have all kinds of concrete information -- addresses, phone numbers, real names, account numbers, a lot of stuff we can really work with, the kind of actionable information that government officials can really follow up on," Levey said.
Doesn't sound like purely institution-related data. And this from the "undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence," whatever the hell that is.
Anyway, here's the thing. You're all over me for nothing. I'm the one who said the goal was to get government out of our private conversations. The OP said "dude, I know where you and your hot wife can go screw without people watching," and I said, "no, dude, I want all those people out of our bedroom, and then we can screw there."
I think you think that "hiding something" and "maintaining privacy" are functionally equivalent phrases. They are not. When I close the door to go to the bathroom I'm not hiding. When I pull the blinds closed before I have sex with my wife, I'm not hiding.
I know it's all semantics, but I think my usage is closer to the accepted one. At any rate, I don't think you and I disagree. We're just using words differently.
Well, it's interesting, but it kind of misses the point. I don't have anything to hide from the NSA; that's not why I want them to stop spying on Americans. I want them to stop spying on Americans because stopping is the right, legal thing to do. Attempting to circumvent their procedures might give be fun in a "stickin' it to the man" sort of way, but it doesn't really take us where we want to go.
Funny how little you can know about your neighbors. Here in the US, right wingers are loudly against sex, so you won't find them looking at girly pictures in public. There would be no market for such a paper, and consequently there are none.
All you need to know about American conservatives and sex is that they think Ann Coulter is hot.
RMS:
ESR:
Linus:
Bruce Perens:
For my money, it should be Perens making the trip. On the other hand, he didn't and RMS did. That counts for something, too.
I am so obviously too old for myspace. WTF is up with everybody calling you Vic? Or, alternately, WTF is up with you calling yourself sydbarret? I'm confused.
As for corrosion resistance, I can't imagine what you're talking about. Titanium does the same thing aluminum does: the outside oxidizes in a thin layer that protects the rest of the piece. That means that, unlike your beloved Detroit wonder metal, it doesn't rust. For many applications, this is more important than its ability to resist assault by felt-tip markers.
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, what you're saying is right and important and much, much more likely to be heard and assimilated if you'll deny yourself the satisfaction of these little tantrums. Americans are panicked, but we don't feel panicked; we feel angry. Anger is the second emotion; it is an emotional response to the original, unpleasant emotional response. We have to help the bleating mass of Americans understand that they need to put aside their anger so they can deal with their fears in a constructive way (which would naturally include a foreign policy designed to reduce our danger, not just increase other people's).
Name-calling ("moron," "fascist") may not be the most constructive approach.
There's both strategy and tactics in law, and in this case the two were mis-matched.
Doesn't sound right. IBM isn't taking a loss on PS3 hardware. If anybody is, it's Sony, and they would be subsidizing the volume that would allow IBM to sell the chip (relatively) cheaply.
From what I could tell, the author of TFA was under the impression that fusion reactors are in current use to generate electricity. It was all sort of vague.
This was so irritating that I ordered 100 Sudafed caplets from Canada. They arrived promptly and cost about the same (after shipping) as buying them from the local speakeasy, er, drug store. Of course, I "registered" even more completely than I would have to at Walgreen's (name, address, telephone, Visa, etc.), but at least they sold me 100 at time and I wasn't enraged by the process.
It's a matter of taste, I suppose, but I don't think I can agree with you about Java being beautiful. Practical, pragmatic, even wise I can accept, but beautiful is right out.
Anyway, don't give up on its future just yet. I can't see anybody's fork gaining a lot of mindshare unless Sun just stops doing anything at all with the language.