...t damn! I would have thought that most/. users were a bit more liberal that what I am reading here. The AC's I can understand, but the rest?
So you would prefer who - Rand "Wikipedia plagiarized" Paul? Yikes.
You've got a 6-digit UID close in age to my first one -- have you been avoiding political discussions here for the past decade? During the 00s, Slashdot was primarily full of hardcore libertarians & conservatives that would mod down the rare liberal comments; it's only been the past few years (largely since the Great Recession began) that liberal comments became routinely visible again.
Medicare is an insurer of LAST RESORT, of course people are going to at least appreciate that aspect of it. It's that or NOTHING.
I think you're mixing up Medicare with Medicaid: Medicare is automatically given to all Social Security recipients; it's accepted pretty much everywhere that regular insurance like Blue Cross is, plus a lot of HMOs like Kaiser Permanente, and covers the same range of medications or procedures. From what I've heard, it's actually highly effective and provides good patient outcomes.
Medicaid is for only the most needy individuals, and is only accepted at a very small percentage of doctors or clinics willing to effectively work for free. Quality is very low with the exception of a few teaching hospitals, and getting needed medications that aren't on the very short "accepted"list is a massive PITA unless the doctor lies. As you said, it's the last resort, and virtually nobody *likes*it.
That wouldn't be "think of the children" specifically, though -- as you said, it messes with folks with developmental or cognitive disabilities, regardless of whether they're ten years old or (in my case) 36.
Funny thing, though, I wasn't bothered by the time change much as a kid, as it didn't make an abrupt change in my schedule: Iwas called in for the night in sync with dusk (rather than a particular time) if it was warm enough for me to be outside, and once the temperatures dropped enough to keep me inside, I became too engrossed in my favorite hobbies to notice the sun going down. It's only been since I matured enough to sense my mortalitythat the sun setting started bothering me -- now Ihate DST and intensely wish we'd abolish it.
Basically, saying something "begs the question" is just another way of saying it uses circular logic. For example, the statement "opium induces sleep because it's a soporific drug" is begging the question.
I only learned about this a few years ago in my mid-30s as well, and Iran into the same problem with most people's explanations being too convoluted to make sense.
That's sadly not remotely the case -- most popular or "nice" Android tablets and GSM phones do, but most inexpensive tablets or CDMA phones (even ones with a fully-supported GSM"twin") don't even have a port. That is to say: devices by a high-end company Samsung invariably do, but anything by one more like Coby is passed over as the developers reasonably/logically only work on things they own.
It would probably be invaluable for video-chatting/conferences (or even IRL discussions) where there's a mix of Deaf people &hearing ones that don't know the specific sign language they use, as it'd mean the two groups could interact directly/independently without requiring a translator. That'd be great for private sensitive conversations between two individuals, relatives meeting for the first time (as it'd mean they could communicate directly), and might have a good impact on Deaf people's employability.
Also, the idea that corporations can poach talent from across the planet is also unequal. If they can do that then we should likewise be able to do the same (work where the cost of living is cheap).
Isn't that what work visas or outright immigration are for?
Aside from that, one country letting businesses import underpaid labor (via H1B or unreported illegal immigration)to keep wages artificially low shouldn't force all other countries outside that arrangement to do the same. After watching the damage that approach has caused California over the last few decades, I wouldn't wish it on another country's citizens unless they were truly vile individuals.
FWIW, the above is due to anger at the socioeconomic situation and associated problems (e.g. rise in crime). My schools, friends & extended family already had a high degree of racial diversity (including plenty of 1st-to-3rd gen immigrants), so it's not an "omg non-white people" issue.
Solandri: You can only get the extravagant fines for copyright infringement if you've registered your copyright with the Library of Congress (which involves paying a fee and sending them a copy of the work). If the copyright isn't registered, the owner can only claim damages suffered.
Evidently we can't file suit at all without registering with the LoC first -- though this is the first I've heard of it despite having read a hell of a loton the matter as a writer over the past couple of decades. From the USCopyright Office FAQ:
Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”
Ihaven't seen anything related to the kind/sum of fines involved in the suit based on registration status. IIRC, all infringement suits are supposed to focus on loss of income ("damages"), with the US law originally written to target companies/individuals selling unauthorized copies, as they rarely gave the creator a share of the resulting proceeds.
Back when I became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, my new government was still operating under the Constitution of the United States.
No more.
Under the Obama administration, I am sorry to say, the Constitution of the United States has become as valuable as soiled disposable diaper.
Actually, crap like warrantless wiretaps began under Bush shortly after the attacks in 2001, and Obama just expanded the scope of abuse.
I'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of what's going on, to be clear -- just pointing out that the current problem runs much deeper than our current administration, and that it's not the first time deep corruption has fucked over a lot of Americans.
Yeah, but that doesn't help most Android owners (like me), as the carriers/providers can't be bothered to release updates, and Cyanogenmod/AOSP/etc. only cover a small percentage of the market. Google doubtless could come up with *some* way to upgrade older versions of Android, but has opted for the short-term profit of forcing users to buy new phones and increasingly converting Android to closed source so nobody else can offer them updates, either.
FWIW I'm a fan of Android, just a very frustrated one.
Damn it, I forgot to paste in that I normally use OpenOffice because of the need to focus on my writing rather than the textual appearance. How ugly the code is underneath doesn't especially concern me, as hopefully the reader is busy paying attention to the characters/plot.
I write fiction, so my focus needs to be on the content rather than presentation, and I envision events in the story, not how the literal text appears. I had to use a non-WYSIWYG word processor called AppleWorks 2.0 on an Apple IIc long ago as a kid, and dealing with the codes was quite distracting; upgrading to WYSIWYG MultiScribe aka BeagleWrite, where I could pay attention just to the story, was a massive improvement.
Also, when it comes to fiction, the publisher is likely to control the appearance, and then many users will use Calibre to reformat it yet again to match how *they* prefer texts to look. Bye-bye hours of tinkering with margins.
If I was writing an article that involved mathematic equations or similar things where positioning is crucial, then it might make sense to use markup/markdown, as making sure everything is aligned properly and all that. It's just not a terribly reasonable approach to use if you're trying to immerse yourself in a novel.
Try other distros. I had problems galore as an Ubuntu user for my first 2 years with Linux, then finally tried distro-hopping and was shocked to find that overall they were just as easy to use (especially the apt/Synaptic-based ones) and a lot more stable.
Similar here. I used to work hard to clean up articles, add citations, and so forth, all carefully inside the rules & guidelines only to have my work reverted either without reason or (based on the reversions) because it wasn't slavishly praising the subject. Or even worse, work hard on an article, then see it deleted as "non-notable" (this commentary covers it well) because an editor & buddies uninterested in the overall topic hadn't heard of it. I don't have the energy to fight with them, and finally decided to do little more than tag articles/sections as needing work for various reasons.
At least I'm not voting for the same old shitheads.
I started out with that attitude, along with "if everyone did what I am, things would be better!" The trouble is that after a decade or so of having favored candidates lose at all levels except city & county (while year after year, that mythical "if everyone" never comes about), and then seeing *those* winners turn out to be just as corrupt as the major party, the urge to keep doing it begins to fade. At some point, you realize on Election day that you've forgotten to research the latest batch of candidates, you're tired at the end of a long day, and abstain from voting...with precisely the same results you would've gotten if you'd spent hours making sure you voted for the hopefully-good guys.
Where is it standard, aside from on Twitter? Web forums, Google +, question-answering sites (e.g. Yahoo Answers, Ask), pretty much anywhere we're attempting to express a personal opinion etc. -- the only place it consistently means "submit" is basically search boxes. I was floored and deeply confused when Facebook *didn't* follow that paradigm.
Using a debit card avoids flashing cash when we pay for things, which reduces the chances of being robbed. If I'm robbed anyway, I can unhesitatingly hand over my wallet to the asshole (knowing I won't be out any actual funds) and call my credit union as soon as I get home to have them cancel the card.
It's also a hell of a lot more convenient. I vastly prefer to know where all of my money was spent, but I often don't remember by the end of the month or have the time/energy to track it all by hand. Using my debit card means that I can quickly check the account when convenient and have my home-finances program produce useful reports.
Smartphones aren't necessarily more expensive than feature phones now; you just have to be willing to shop around and buy one that's either low-end or refurbished/used -- the refurb LG Marquee I bought as my first smartphone in January only cost about $15 more than the Samsung Rant I picked up at Target's Black Friday sale a few years ago.
The one place that you might end up paying more is if you're locked into a provider that charges through the nose for the mere use of a smartphone. I've stuck with no-contract providers for the past decade, so I just switched to Ting (bought my phone from them, in fact) since they don't charge for smartphone use & have low rates overall.
You have *no* idea what you're talking about, medically speaking.
Water in an IV would kill the patient -- they use Lactated Ringer's Solution (or something a lot like it), which is a mix of various electrolytes/salts in a concentration that closely mimics blood plasma. If you became dehydrated due to vomiting/diarrhea, then the chances are that you can't keep remotely enough liquid down to make up for the fluid loss, and could wind up in serious danger. If you try rehydrating with plain water, then you'll fuck up your electrolytes to the point that you might as well be dehydrated, as your cardiac, neurological, etc. systems will increasingly malfunction.
Even if someone goes to the emergency room out of fear, doctors *only* admit patients to the hospital if they genuinely need to be there. Dehydration is usually treated in the emergency room or urgent care; if somebody is hospitalized, it's because their body is in more serious trouble than "gee, have a sip of water" dehydration. The reason elderly people & babies end up at the ER or hospitalized more often is because they *die* more easily from damn near everything than healthy children/adults, including dehydration.
No, it wouldn't be -- it'd mean that the obscenely rich people that hoard their money (rather than spending it) would no longer be taxed on that money or on the income derived from it in the form of interest. Meanwhile, since lower & middle-class people spend the vast majority of their income, we'd all end up paying much *more* back in taxes than under the current system. While there would be a rebate, poor people very often lack the energy, time, or knowledge needed to tackle the kind of paperwork required to get the rebate, and the ones that are homeless would almost certainly also be left out due to their lack of a home address.
From what I was reading, it would also lead to reduced revenues for the federal & state governments, which would react by slashing the services that those middle-class & poor people rely on, not the real pork or bloated military.
In other words, dumping the IRS in form of an extremely simplified tax code *sounds* nice, but ultimately it would make our society even more slanted in favor of the ultra-rich than it already is. Extreme complexity can be a pain to deal with, but it tends to be there for a reason, and oversimplifying it rarely if ever results in improvements.
Food stamps and other social safety already act as a handout to minimum wage employers.
There's far less social safety net left in our country than most people believe:
For reference: the poverty line for 1 person is $11,490; each extra adds ~$4k
-- Food stamps: only for people whose gross income<130% of poverty, net<100% of the poverty line, and assets<$2k. Time limit 3 months out of any 3 consecutive years, unless the person works 20+hrs/week.
-- Welfare: only for minors through their parents/guardians, limited to 60 months total in a lifetime.
-- HUD Housing: only for people whose income<80% of county/metro area's median (due to demand, more like <50% of the median)
-- Medicaid: only for people whose income<133% of poverty
-- Citizens the government recognizes are severely disabled (which is far fewer than really are) and have near-zero income get $10k/year SSI, Medicaid, food stamps (or equivalent cash in some states), and HUD housing.
People living on farms need to drive significant distances on a regular basis to reach the nearest town/city for all of the same reasons everyone else does, but additionally has to be able to haul food & supplies for their animals. Horses were great as a form of reliable transportation back when people on farms were almost totally self-sufficient and the center of town was under 10 miles away -- they're awesome for pleasure or therapy riding/driving, but haven't been useful as reliable transportation for at least 60 years now.
Check AdaFruit.com and Radio Shack for starters. I've also been looking for the equivalent of the oldschool kids' kits to help me practice my soldering & learn the basics, and those are the two stores I've found some real potential at. I might work my way up to the computer-style PCBs in the distant future, but for now I'm closer to the "connect a handful of components and get excited if the LED actually turns on" stage.:-)
Who listens to the libertarian faction? Nobody listens to the left wing, because there aren't that many of them. Kucinich, Sanders, uh, help me, I'm running out of names. The genuinely libertarian faction? Ron Paul, and, uh, I don't know. I know less about them so add names if appropriate.
I had the impression that a large percentage of the IT community listened to the libertarians and agreed with them, though it's not half as common here as it used to be.
You're dead-on right about the left wing, though. It's incredibly frustrating when people point to the NSA-loving pro-military centrist politicians like Feinstein, Boxer, or Pelosi as examples of liberals... Lynn Woolsey was/is a real liberal, but she wasn't into creating a media circus (so nobody outside her/our district really noticed her) and decided to retire from politics rather than run again in '12.
Slashdot Mirror
...t damn! I would have thought that most /. users were a bit more liberal that what I am reading here. The AC's I can understand, but the rest?
So you would prefer who - Rand "Wikipedia plagiarized" Paul? Yikes.
You've got a 6-digit UID close in age to my first one -- have you been avoiding political discussions here for the past decade? During the 00s, Slashdot was primarily full of hardcore libertarians & conservatives that would mod down the rare liberal comments; it's only been the past few years (largely since the Great Recession began) that liberal comments became routinely visible again.
Medicare is an insurer of LAST RESORT, of course people are going to at least appreciate that aspect of it. It's that or NOTHING.
I think you're mixing up Medicare with Medicaid:
Medicare is automatically given to all Social Security recipients; it's accepted pretty much everywhere that regular insurance like Blue Cross is, plus a lot of HMOs like Kaiser Permanente, and covers the same range of medications or procedures. From what I've heard, it's actually highly effective and provides good patient outcomes.
Medicaid is for only the most needy individuals, and is only accepted at a very small percentage of doctors or clinics willing to effectively work for free. Quality is very low with the exception of a few teaching hospitals, and getting needed medications that aren't on the very short "accepted"list is a massive PITA unless the doctor lies. As you said, it's the last resort, and virtually nobody *likes*it.
That wouldn't be "think of the children" specifically, though -- as you said, it messes with folks with developmental or cognitive disabilities, regardless of whether they're ten years old or (in my case) 36.
Funny thing, though, I wasn't bothered by the time change much as a kid, as it didn't make an abrupt change in my schedule: Iwas called in for the night in sync with dusk (rather than a particular time) if it was warm enough for me to be outside, and once the temperatures dropped enough to keep me inside, I became too engrossed in my favorite hobbies to notice the sun going down. It's only been since I matured enough to sense my mortalitythat the sun setting started bothering me -- now Ihate DST and intensely wish we'd abolish it.
Basically, saying something "begs the question" is just another way of saying it uses circular logic. For example, the statement "opium induces sleep because it's a soporific drug" is begging the question.
I only learned about this a few years ago in my mid-30s as well, and Iran into the same problem with most people's explanations being too convoluted to make sense.
That's sadly not remotely the case -- most popular or "nice" Android tablets and GSM phones do, but most inexpensive tablets or CDMA phones (even ones with a fully-supported GSM"twin") don't even have a port. That is to say: devices by a high-end company Samsung invariably do, but anything by one more like Coby is passed over as the developers reasonably/logically only work on things they own.
It would probably be invaluable for video-chatting/conferences (or even IRL discussions) where there's a mix of Deaf people &hearing ones that don't know the specific sign language they use, as it'd mean the two groups could interact directly/independently without requiring a translator. That'd be great for private sensitive conversations between two individuals, relatives meeting for the first time (as it'd mean they could communicate directly), and might have a good impact on Deaf people's employability.
Also, the idea that corporations can poach talent from across the planet is also unequal. If they can do that then we should likewise be able to do the same (work where the cost of living is cheap).
Isn't that what work visas or outright immigration are for?
Aside from that, one country letting businesses import underpaid labor (via H1B or unreported illegal immigration)to keep wages artificially low shouldn't force all other countries outside that arrangement to do the same. After watching the damage that approach has caused California over the last few decades, I wouldn't wish it on another country's citizens unless they were truly vile individuals.
FWIW, the above is due to anger at the socioeconomic situation and associated problems (e.g. rise in crime). My schools, friends & extended family already had a high degree of racial diversity (including plenty of 1st-to-3rd gen immigrants), so it's not an "omg non-white people" issue.
Solandri: You can only get the extravagant fines for copyright infringement if you've registered your copyright with the Library of Congress (which involves paying a fee and sending them a copy of the work). If the copyright isn't registered, the owner can only claim damages suffered.
Evidently we can't file suit at all without registering with the LoC first -- though this is the first I've heard of it despite having read a hell of a loton the matter as a writer over the past couple of decades. From the USCopyright Office FAQ:
Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Copyright Registration.”
Ihaven't seen anything related to the kind/sum of fines involved in the suit based on registration status. IIRC, all infringement suits are supposed to focus on loss of income ("damages"), with the US law originally written to target companies/individuals selling unauthorized copies, as they rarely gave the creator a share of the resulting proceeds.
Back when I became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, my new government was still operating under the Constitution of the United States.
No more.
Under the Obama administration, I am sorry to say, the Constitution of the United States has become as valuable as soiled disposable diaper.
Actually, crap like warrantless wiretaps began under Bush shortly after the attacks in 2001, and Obama just expanded the scope of abuse.
It's also far from the first time that the federal government has shit on the Constitution. The WW2 internment of Americans with Japanese ancestry is one example -- and don't forget the Constitution-shredding fun of McCarthyism, the Subversive Activities Control Act, and the 1798 Alien Sedition Acts, just to name a few.
I'm not trying to downplay the seriousness of what's going on, to be clear -- just pointing out that the current problem runs much deeper than our current administration, and that it's not the first time deep corruption has fucked over a lot of Americans.
Yeah, but that doesn't help most Android owners (like me), as the carriers/providers can't be bothered to release updates, and Cyanogenmod/AOSP/etc. only cover a small percentage of the market. Google doubtless could come up with *some* way to upgrade older versions of Android, but has opted for the short-term profit of forcing users to buy new phones and increasingly converting Android to closed source so nobody else can offer them updates, either.
FWIW I'm a fan of Android, just a very frustrated one.
Bush expanded 'Lifeline' to cellphones, and it's only for really poor people. You really should do a little research at Snopes before echoing a stupid political meme...
Damn it, I forgot to paste in that I normally use OpenOffice because of the need to focus on my writing rather than the textual appearance. How ugly the code is underneath doesn't especially concern me, as hopefully the reader is busy paying attention to the characters/plot.
I write fiction, so my focus needs to be on the content rather than presentation, and I envision events in the story, not how the literal text appears. I had to use a non-WYSIWYG word processor called AppleWorks 2.0 on an Apple IIc long ago as a kid, and dealing with the codes was quite distracting; upgrading to WYSIWYG MultiScribe aka BeagleWrite, where I could pay attention just to the story, was a massive improvement.
Also, when it comes to fiction, the publisher is likely to control the appearance, and then many users will use Calibre to reformat it yet again to match how *they* prefer texts to look. Bye-bye hours of tinkering with margins.
If I was writing an article that involved mathematic equations or similar things where positioning is crucial, then it might make sense to use markup/markdown, as making sure everything is aligned properly and all that. It's just not a terribly reasonable approach to use if you're trying to immerse yourself in a novel.
Try other distros. I had problems galore as an Ubuntu user for my first 2 years with Linux, then finally tried distro-hopping and was shocked to find that overall they were just as easy to use (especially the apt/Synaptic-based ones) and a lot more stable.
Similar here. I used to work hard to clean up articles, add citations, and so forth, all carefully inside the rules & guidelines only to have my work reverted either without reason or (based on the reversions) because it wasn't slavishly praising the subject. Or even worse, work hard on an article, then see it deleted as "non-notable" (this commentary covers it well) because an editor & buddies uninterested in the overall topic hadn't heard of it. I don't have the energy to fight with them, and finally decided to do little more than tag articles/sections as needing work for various reasons.
At least I'm not voting for the same old shitheads.
I started out with that attitude, along with "if everyone did what I am, things would be better!" The trouble is that after a decade or so of having favored candidates lose at all levels except city & county (while year after year, that mythical "if everyone" never comes about), and then seeing *those* winners turn out to be just as corrupt as the major party, the urge to keep doing it begins to fade. At some point, you realize on Election day that you've forgotten to research the latest batch of candidates, you're tired at the end of a long day, and abstain from voting...with precisely the same results you would've gotten if you'd spent hours making sure you voted for the hopefully-good guys.
Where is it standard, aside from on Twitter? Web forums, Google +, question-answering sites (e.g. Yahoo Answers, Ask), pretty much anywhere we're attempting to express a personal opinion etc. -- the only place it consistently means "submit" is basically search boxes. I was floored and deeply confused when Facebook *didn't* follow that paradigm.
Using a debit card avoids flashing cash when we pay for things, which reduces the chances of being robbed. If I'm robbed anyway, I can unhesitatingly hand over my wallet to the asshole (knowing I won't be out any actual funds) and call my credit union as soon as I get home to have them cancel the card.
It's also a hell of a lot more convenient. I vastly prefer to know where all of my money was spent, but I often don't remember by the end of the month or have the time/energy to track it all by hand. Using my debit card means that I can quickly check the account when convenient and have my home-finances program produce useful reports.
Smartphones aren't necessarily more expensive than feature phones now; you just have to be willing to shop around and buy one that's either low-end or refurbished/used -- the refurb LG Marquee I bought as my first smartphone in January only cost about $15 more than the Samsung Rant I picked up at Target's Black Friday sale a few years ago.
The one place that you might end up paying more is if you're locked into a provider that charges through the nose for the mere use of a smartphone. I've stuck with no-contract providers for the past decade, so I just switched to Ting (bought my phone from them, in fact) since they don't charge for smartphone use & have low rates overall.
You have *no* idea what you're talking about, medically speaking.
Water in an IV would kill the patient -- they use Lactated Ringer's Solution (or something a lot like it), which is a mix of various electrolytes/salts in a concentration that closely mimics blood plasma. If you became dehydrated due to vomiting/diarrhea, then the chances are that you can't keep remotely enough liquid down to make up for the fluid loss, and could wind up in serious danger. If you try rehydrating with plain water, then you'll fuck up your electrolytes to the point that you might as well be dehydrated, as your cardiac, neurological, etc. systems will increasingly malfunction.
Even if someone goes to the emergency room out of fear, doctors *only* admit patients to the hospital if they genuinely need to be there. Dehydration is usually treated in the emergency room or urgent care; if somebody is hospitalized, it's because their body is in more serious trouble than "gee, have a sip of water" dehydration. The reason elderly people & babies end up at the ER or hospitalized more often is because they *die* more easily from damn near everything than healthy children/adults, including dehydration.
No, it wouldn't be -- it'd mean that the obscenely rich people that hoard their money (rather than spending it) would no longer be taxed on that money or on the income derived from it in the form of interest. Meanwhile, since lower & middle-class people spend the vast majority of their income, we'd all end up paying much *more* back in taxes than under the current system. While there would be a rebate, poor people very often lack the energy, time, or knowledge needed to tackle the kind of paperwork required to get the rebate, and the ones that are homeless would almost certainly also be left out due to their lack of a home address.
From what I was reading, it would also lead to reduced revenues for the federal & state governments, which would react by slashing the services that those middle-class & poor people rely on, not the real pork or bloated military.
In other words, dumping the IRS in form of an extremely simplified tax code *sounds* nice, but ultimately it would make our society even more slanted in favor of the ultra-rich than it already is. Extreme complexity can be a pain to deal with, but it tends to be there for a reason, and oversimplifying it rarely if ever results in improvements.
Food stamps and other social safety already act as a handout to minimum wage employers.
There's far less social safety net left in our country than most people believe:
Beyond that, people are on their own.
People living on farms need to drive significant distances on a regular basis to reach the nearest town/city for all of the same reasons everyone else does, but additionally has to be able to haul food & supplies for their animals. Horses were great as a form of reliable transportation back when people on farms were almost totally self-sufficient and the center of town was under 10 miles away -- they're awesome for pleasure or therapy riding/driving, but haven't been useful as reliable transportation for at least 60 years now.
Check AdaFruit.com and Radio Shack for starters. I've also been looking for the equivalent of the oldschool kids' kits to help me practice my soldering & learn the basics, and those are the two stores I've found some real potential at. I might work my way up to the computer-style PCBs in the distant future, but for now I'm closer to the "connect a handful of components and get excited if the LED actually turns on" stage. :-)
Who listens to the libertarian faction? Nobody listens to the left wing, because there aren't that many of them. Kucinich, Sanders, uh, help me, I'm running out of names. The genuinely libertarian faction? Ron Paul, and, uh, I don't know. I know less about them so add names if appropriate.
I had the impression that a large percentage of the IT community listened to the libertarians and agreed with them, though it's not half as common here as it used to be.
You're dead-on right about the left wing, though. It's incredibly frustrating when people point to the NSA-loving pro-military centrist politicians like Feinstein, Boxer, or Pelosi as examples of liberals... Lynn Woolsey was/is a real liberal, but she wasn't into creating a media circus (so nobody outside her/our district really noticed her) and decided to retire from politics rather than run again in '12.