Nope, she probably wouldn't win. But she might pull enough votes away from the candidate who might care about such issues to swing the election toward the candidate who doesn't give a damn about them.
Starring Chris Elliot, in case you've never heard of it.
That should be a warning label:
"WARNING: This film contains Chris Elliot, a substance known to the State to cause intestinal trauma, cardiac arrest, and spontaneous decapitations. VIEW ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK!"
I work for a distance education organization, and most of our students still use IE. However, in our office we use Firefox, Netscape, IE, and Safari (on our Macintosh test station). We've also officially announced on our marketing website that we support Firefox 0.9.2, and have listed Firefox at the top of the list of supported browsers (Netscape is second, IE is third). To our users that inquire, we actively recommend against IE for security reasons, but we still test in it.
However, there are still people in my office (marketing) who use IE because they just can't grok that there are alternatives. For such people, IE is the Internet.
I'm on the library commission in my town, and we just approved a move of $25,000 from our budget reserve to our IT budget to buy 24 new computers, complete with WinXP. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Windows because the OPAC that we use actually requires a client on the desktop which is written for Windows.
I believe that libraries and librarians are pretty much morally obligated to support open source software and open standards, so I've been pushing for the adoption of OSS solutions in our district. It's a long, painful slog. Maybe I'll get somewhere eventually.
Back in 2001, when India and Pakistan were having their latest round of "Did too! Did not!", after the Indian parliament had been hit by an assassin who may or may not have been Pakistani, I engaged in discussion on a mailing list with a very young Indian man. I made some comment like, "It seems to me like India is just itching for a fight." A provocative comment, I know. His response was, "I'd rather drop nuclear bombs than see that sort of terrorism happen again."
My jaw just about hit my keyboard. I nearly asked him if he knew what the real consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange would be; obviously, of course, he didn't.
But, then, I went to high school during the 80s, got to see The Day After and Threads and Testament on television. Most younger people I know now have never thought about these issues.
Thanks for posting this. For a while I was horrified by the idea that I'd have to choose between voting for a Presidential candidate who may work to undo the damage that's been done over the past three years, and an incumbent President who has already done more damage to our nation's economy and our reputation and place in the world than any President in history but who does have good ideas for the space program.
Absolutely! Evolution has more features and is easier to use (in my opinion) than Outlook. It would be nice if there were a Windows port -- I'd snatch it up in a second.
I clicked through to the book's website. ACK! I think I'm pernanently blind! I haven't seen something that ugly since my 5 year old niece made a web page about her puppies.
Well... it's not true that every American sues every other America, but our litigious society has led to all kinds of nonsense, such as warning labels on hair dryers telling us not to use them in the shower, and women being forbidden from wearing high heels on the streets of Carmel, California. Too many good things have gone the way of the dodo because somebody somewhere decided to sue someone else, and it's frequently cheaper to just shut down your service rather than pay all the settlements that one suit set a precedent for. The problem here is that people don't want to rely on common sense and intelligence anymore, when it's more profitable to be stupid.
And now that corporations can't make money by lying to venture capitalists anymore, they have to make their money by filing ludicrous lawsuits. God forbid they ever actually produce anything.
Actually, I agree with you. In fact, I don't blame Clinton or Gore at all for the divisiveness in our country today. The politics of division began in the 90's with Clinton impeachment; with that, both sides -- but especially the Republican party -- began to perceive that maintaining the party line and vilifying the opposite side was more important than doing what is best for the country.
That "vocal and hideous" minority is still a minority, but they are a minority which has gotten very good at manipulating public opinion and (in some places, such as California) buying elections outright from the people, no matter the consequences.
This is why I believe that the social upheaval that I predicted for the next few years will be delayed if a Democrat is elected to office in 2004. The lies and manipulations of the vocal and hideous minority will continue, but they will have to get more desperate to overcome a Democrat in office.
I agree with you on that point. The damage is not irreparable, but whoever comes after the Shrub will have his work cut out for him trying to fix the international and domestic messes that are being left for him (or her -- wouldn't THAT be cool?).
Elsewhere I predicted massive social upheavals in the US within five to seven years (depending on whether Bush is "re"-elected or a Democrat is elected to the White House in 2004). We're already seeing it starting abroad. More will come. There will be backlashes at home and abroad, and that is part of the self-correction process I mentioned.
[Yes, I pulled that 5 to 7 years number out of thin air; but it just feels right.]
I don't agree with the conclusion that JRHelgeson draws, but he makes a good point; there are very countries in the world which would allow the sort of public scrutiny of the government that we subject ours to. Every now and then we find ourselves electing a nutcase into office, and then we boot him out (or he gets himself booted out, or he boots himself out) a few years later. Sure, some damage is left in the wake, but nothing permanent.
The pendulum swings back and forth; right now it's swinging a little too far to the right for my tastes (just as it swung a little too far to the left for others' tastes during the 90's). However, American-style republican (small-r) democracy is remarkably self-correcting. I may be a left-wing nut, but I do believe this, and I believe that this is what will save America.
I don't think there's a civil war coming, but I do believe we're in for some serious social upheavals within the next five years. Seven, if a Democrat is elected to the Presidency in 2004. It'll make what happened in the 60's look pretty darn tame.
No matter what you think of the current Administration, it is doing nothing to help unify the nation and undo the damage of the divisive politics of the 90's under President Clinton. In fact, Mr. Bush and the Administration have simply widened the gap, and the politics of division and exclusion are becoming more and more predominant.
This country will be a very different place ten years from now. I've identified my exit condition; have you?;-)
I have a Yahoo account because I manage a couple of different listservs through their site, but I never use my yahoo.com e-mail address. It's a spam bucket, so that's where I have Yahoo send their marketing materials.
Still... this bothers me. At least there's some accountability, though; you can complain about Yahoo spam to a cusomter service rep, even if they won't do anything about it.
A bit more vehemently than I would have said it, but an adequate summary nonetheless.;-)
I keep forgetting about another part of the Bush fantasy, which is that we are the Good Guys and the other guys are the Bad Guys. Yes, we are quite the Good Guys, innocent and undeserving of any hatred or dislike, because we always have the best interests of everyone else at heart. Absolutely. Heh.
And I must admit that the comparison between Dubya and FDR made me laugh out loud. I doubt that if Bush were around during the Great Depression, he would have come up with the New Deal or the WPA or Social Security or anything like that. Comparing FDR -- one of the few Presidents who seemed to give a hoot about the welfare of the American people -- to GWB -- who has demonstrated a truly frightening contempt not just for the people but also for the rest of the government is tantamount to insult to an honorable man like FDR.
Slashdot Mirror
It's all so simple.
1. Pay $$$ for Microsoft products, complete with security vulnerabilities.
2. Pay $$$$$$$ for a "premium" relationship with Microsoft so you can get early fixes to those vulnerabilities.
3. Pay $ (or no $ at all) for OSS solutions that have no such vulnerabilities -- or, at least, quickly identified and patched vulnerabilities.
Nope, she probably wouldn't win. But she might pull enough votes away from the candidate who might care about such issues to swing the election toward the candidate who doesn't give a damn about them.
2000 redux, anyone?
That pretty much makes Caller ID utterly worthless, doesn't it?
Starring Chris Elliot, in case you've never heard of it.
;-)
That should be a warning label:
"WARNING: This film contains Chris Elliot, a substance known to the State to cause intestinal trauma, cardiac arrest, and spontaneous decapitations. VIEW ONLY AT YOUR OWN RISK!"
You think I'm kidding, don't you?
...I'm one of the few who finally felt comfortable calling myself an IT professional during the past year.
I work for a distance education organization, and most of our students still use IE. However, in our office we use Firefox, Netscape, IE, and Safari (on our Macintosh test station). We've also officially announced on our marketing website that we support Firefox 0.9.2, and have listed Firefox at the top of the list of supported browsers (Netscape is second, IE is third). To our users that inquire, we actively recommend against IE for security reasons, but we still test in it.
However, there are still people in my office (marketing) who use IE because they just can't grok that there are alternatives. For such people, IE is the Internet.
My sister's boyfriend is an intern on Unscrewed. So I'll probably still check it out.
I'm on the library commission in my town, and we just approved a move of $25,000 from our budget reserve to our IT budget to buy 24 new computers, complete with WinXP. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Windows because the OPAC that we use actually requires a client on the desktop which is written for Windows.
I believe that libraries and librarians are pretty much morally obligated to support open source software and open standards, so I've been pushing for the adoption of OSS solutions in our district. It's a long, painful slog. Maybe I'll get somewhere eventually.
I wasn't trying to make anything more than a facetious comment about India or Pakistan, or even downplay the conflict between the two.
I was, however, shocked by my correspondent's response. That's what I found distressing.
Back in 2001, when India and Pakistan were having their latest round of "Did too! Did not!", after the Indian parliament had been hit by an assassin who may or may not have been Pakistani, I engaged in discussion on a mailing list with a very young Indian man. I made some comment like, "It seems to me like India is just itching for a fight." A provocative comment, I know. His response was, "I'd rather drop nuclear bombs than see that sort of terrorism happen again."
My jaw just about hit my keyboard. I nearly asked him if he knew what the real consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange would be; obviously, of course, he didn't.
But, then, I went to high school during the 80s, got to see The Day After and Threads and Testament on television. Most younger people I know now have never thought about these issues.
When are we gonna get the beehive hairdos and the miniskirts? I mean, some of those fashions were centuries ahead of their time!
Goonie,
Thanks for posting this. For a while I was horrified by the idea that I'd have to choose between voting for a Presidential candidate who may work to undo the damage that's been done over the past three years, and an incumbent President who has already done more damage to our nation's economy and our reputation and place in the world than any President in history but who does have good ideas for the space program.
And not just software development, either.
"Tomorrow, I'll start my diet. No, really, I mean it this time."
Aw, come on. That was FUNNY!
Absolutely! Evolution has more features and is easier to use (in my opinion) than Outlook. It would be nice if there were a Windows port -- I'd snatch it up in a second.
Shouldn't my car have a sticker on the odometer that reads, "Caution: Do not drive above the speed limit in this vehicle"?
I clicked through to the book's website. ACK! I think I'm pernanently blind! I haven't seen something that ugly since my 5 year old niece made a web page about her puppies.
Nah, the puppy page was better.
*shivers* Oh my Lord, that was scary.
Bah. Of course I don't.
But, do I really need a warning label to tell me that? Do you?
Well... it's not true that every American sues every other America, but our litigious society has led to all kinds of nonsense, such as warning labels on hair dryers telling us not to use them in the shower, and women being forbidden from wearing high heels on the streets of Carmel, California. Too many good things have gone the way of the dodo because somebody somewhere decided to sue someone else, and it's frequently cheaper to just shut down your service rather than pay all the settlements that one suit set a precedent for. The problem here is that people don't want to rely on common sense and intelligence anymore, when it's more profitable to be stupid.
And now that corporations can't make money by lying to venture capitalists anymore, they have to make their money by filing ludicrous lawsuits. God forbid they ever actually produce anything.
Actually, I agree with you. In fact, I don't blame Clinton or Gore at all for the divisiveness in our country today. The politics of division began in the 90's with Clinton impeachment; with that, both sides -- but especially the Republican party -- began to perceive that maintaining the party line and vilifying the opposite side was more important than doing what is best for the country.
That "vocal and hideous" minority is still a minority, but they are a minority which has gotten very good at manipulating public opinion and (in some places, such as California) buying elections outright from the people, no matter the consequences.
This is why I believe that the social upheaval that I predicted for the next few years will be delayed if a Democrat is elected to office in 2004. The lies and manipulations of the vocal and hideous minority will continue, but they will have to get more desperate to overcome a Democrat in office.
I agree with you on that point. The damage is not irreparable, but whoever comes after the Shrub will have his work cut out for him trying to fix the international and domestic messes that are being left for him (or her -- wouldn't THAT be cool?).
Elsewhere I predicted massive social upheavals in the US within five to seven years (depending on whether Bush is "re"-elected or a Democrat is elected to the White House in 2004). We're already seeing it starting abroad. More will come. There will be backlashes at home and abroad, and that is part of the self-correction process I mentioned.
[Yes, I pulled that 5 to 7 years number out of thin air; but it just feels right.]
I don't agree with the conclusion that JRHelgeson draws, but he makes a good point; there are very countries in the world which would allow the sort of public scrutiny of the government that we subject ours to. Every now and then we find ourselves electing a nutcase into office, and then we boot him out (or he gets himself booted out, or he boots himself out) a few years later. Sure, some damage is left in the wake, but nothing permanent.
The pendulum swings back and forth; right now it's swinging a little too far to the right for my tastes (just as it swung a little too far to the left for others' tastes during the 90's). However, American-style republican (small-r) democracy is remarkably self-correcting. I may be a left-wing nut, but I do believe this, and I believe that this is what will save America.
I don't think there's a civil war coming, but I do believe we're in for some serious social upheavals within the next five years. Seven, if a Democrat is elected to the Presidency in 2004. It'll make what happened in the 60's look pretty darn tame.
;-)
No matter what you think of the current Administration, it is doing nothing to help unify the nation and undo the damage of the divisive politics of the 90's under President Clinton. In fact, Mr. Bush and the Administration have simply widened the gap, and the politics of division and exclusion are becoming more and more predominant.
This country will be a very different place ten years from now. I've identified my exit condition; have you?
I have a Yahoo account because I manage a couple of different listservs through their site, but I never use my yahoo.com e-mail address. It's a spam bucket, so that's where I have Yahoo send their marketing materials.
Still... this bothers me. At least there's some accountability, though; you can complain about Yahoo spam to a cusomter service rep, even if they won't do anything about it.
A bit more vehemently than I would have said it, but an adequate summary nonetheless. ;-)
I keep forgetting about another part of the Bush fantasy, which is that we are the Good Guys and the other guys are the Bad Guys. Yes, we are quite the Good Guys, innocent and undeserving of any hatred or dislike, because we always have the best interests of everyone else at heart. Absolutely. Heh.
And I must admit that the comparison between Dubya and FDR made me laugh out loud. I doubt that if Bush were around during the Great Depression, he would have come up with the New Deal or the WPA or Social Security or anything like that. Comparing FDR -- one of the few Presidents who seemed to give a hoot about the welfare of the American people -- to GWB -- who has demonstrated a truly frightening contempt not just for the people but also for the rest of the government is tantamount to insult to an honorable man like FDR.
These guys just keep the laughs a-comin'.