Next thing you are going to tell me, the DRM on music and video isn't about piracy...... Please, please, tell me it isn't about hiding Uncomfortable Truths, and is about the Science. Cause you know, this is the most sciency administration ever! And they are 40% more involved in Truthiness. Damn that Bin Laden... this is the fault of Al Qaeda. It's quintupled the cost of NASA because the EVA teams have to take their shoes off and scan them before exiting the Shuttle.
So what, all the people fined or serving jail time -- this gets them an apology?
"Sorry, we used the government police power to protect profits -- our bad."
I never believed them in the first place, but it's less annoying to have to not have to pretend anymore. The dead giveaway was the "region codeing" bits. This is to prevent a Latin American encoded DVD from playing in America. A very similar model to the airline industry. A price for every type of buyer.
While the Dems in congress did finally pass the 9/11 recommendations, the following paragraph is gag-worthy; " Recipients of the letters, banks and credit bureaus, usually hand over the requested information voluntarily. A posting at tothecenter.com quotes the Vice President on the use of the letters: "It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong or illegal with it. It doesn't violate people's civil rights... The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets."
Note that, Dubai has purchased at least 7 defense manufacturing plants as well has snuck in as running ports when the public quit looking. Apparently, American Union members are more of a threat than a government that routinely launders drug/terrorist money.
Then we have The WayneMadsenReport.com -- constantly criticized because it tells the truth, and you know it because the bad guys own our reporting agencies. A quick Google of all the media outlets and even the AP Newswire will show that; the Moonies, AIPAC, Saudi Arabia, Australian NeoCons and perhaps Blackbeard's Ghost own our media. But, having gotten that out of the way (please, my tin-foil hat is at the dry cleaners, please refrain from those comments -- they are a dead giveaway that you have nothing for rebuttal), I'd like to present this information, that seems like it is more of an issue than letters, if protecting "targets" is actually a mission;
January 16, 2007 -- More on Philly covert arms shipment facility. According to State Department sources, the U.S. subsidiary of an Israeli company has been involved in shipping sensitive military-related equipment to China from Penn Terminal in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. This is the same terminal that was the subject of our Jan. 12 report that rockets and rocket launchers of the variety that can be fired from the back of pickup trucks were recently shipped to China (according to the manifest documentation). The terminal is also part of the original Sun Shipyard that was allegedly taken over by the CIA in a fraudulent deal in 1980 to serve as a "carve out" for clandestine arms shipments.
Yeah, the war on terror is the same racket as the war on Communism. While the USSR was an actual nuclear power; they could barely hold themselves together for that last 20 years, much less invade anyone. Robert Gates, it seems, fabricated most of the paper tiger threat. Al Qaeda is just a go-between with the Russian Israelis mob (Poppy exports are doing well this year), and Bin Laden is the Goldstein of our age. Much better to have lurking in the shadows as a boogie man. Invade any oil-rich country you want, just season first with a little Al Qaeda, pepper with a few vague WMD threats, and dig in! Bon Appetittite.
Meanwhile, cowardly American's drop their civil liberties and expect a totally corrupt FBI/CIA to protect them. Yeah, and keep track of all those "data thefts" going to Poindexter.
Oil is now at $52 dollars a barrel. What do you want to bet that the price of oil and inflation, are now hinged to Democrat initiatives to leave Iraq? If you want to speculate on futures -- I could think of no better barometer than how Pelosi offends or pleases the House of Saud.
No this is not Flame Bait. It is much more towards the heart of this "security issue" than discussing what the FBI thinks is pointless about our Constittution. They have access to all our information, and businesses must retain all email, while "whoops" any oversight or evidence of wrongdoing amongst our leadership is understandably swallowed by the Doberman Pincher.
America will not retain any "security" until we get control of our energy dependence. Carter understood it, and that's why we had an oil embargo those many years ago. If the Democrats are serious about it -- they will weather the storm of a Saudi Embargo by making friends with Venezuela, and learning from Brazil. We could be energy Independent in 10 years if serious.
Cartman; " Even if there is still a net loss of programming jobs to India, that would just mean that the embedded cost of software would go down, because companies like Wal-mart would have to pay less to Oracle, IBM and SAP in licensing fees etc. As a result, their prices would be lower in any competitive market. (Note that the cost of enterprise software is an "embedded cost" in many of the things you buy). Furthermore, consumer prices would be lower for things like computers and software. As a result, people would have more money to spend on other things, and employment would expand in other sector... "
>> Markets determine prices -- not costs! Oracle and IBM are charging WalMart as much as they can get. The rest is more or less profit. McDonalds charges about $3 for a burger because that is what the market will spend when there are alternative sources of mediocre burgers. It has nothing to do with what they pay fry chefs as they don't have any more or less workers than they can get away with.
I'm just waiting for a call bank to take your burger order, and then an article that says; "Indian drive-by fast food call centers NOT effecting US trade."
Though I do agree with your statement that a lot of software is marginal, and that it would not be made otherwise. Whether that "3D garden" organizing software benefits our lives or not is up to debate.
If we are talking about Ford, moving US manufacturing to Mexico -- can we not just say that the US is losing something? When all that is grown in US jobs in the last 6 years is around 2.5 Million, and that doesn't even keep up with illegal immigration, much less any other numbers, how can anyone still believe the 5.4% employment rate that hasn't much changed in ten years?
Of course, I now work 200% more jobs since the year 2000 myself, so this might explain things.
Hey, as long as you are trying to discredit the 9/11 Conspiracy, please add "bigfoot".
We all know that the moon lander was 10x over budget because it was made by a shell corporation owned by the Kennedy's. They also told the FBI not to investigate any moon lander financing. Then America spent $500 Billion to invade Mars, as they were definitely the culprits for the Attempt on Apollo 13. This is all very reasonable activity, and is usually in these sorts of situations -- however unique they are. The extra moon of the Moon, Phobos, was burnt up by the heat of the lander, even though it was 25 miles away. It was made of sub-grade Cheese. Now it has been replaced by sub-grade paper maché -- but the chance of this one being burnt up by a moon lander is highly remote. The order to "toast Phobos" by Brawn is taken out of context, as he was not aware of the Phobos burning incident, and is well known to enjoy cheese. The sum of $2 Million going into his bank account by Kruschev was just a bank error -- these sorts of things happen all the time.
>> I wouldn't trust this website too much... I kind of agree with the worry that this "could be" a Honeypot. Though why anyone would equate patriotic Americans who risk their lives and careers to thwart corruption to Bears is beyond me.
Also, the supposed sites where you can order Polonium 210, for $69 and they guarantee that they don't report to Homeland Security... OK, maybe I should discourage anyone who might want to order from that Web site. Just be ready to shell out a few Million $ -- anyone offering a kilo of Polonium 210 for $69.95 is disreputable -- it costs at least TWICE that! So, buy the expensive stuff that guarantees that they won't say anything to HS.
I suspect that the Republicans will "play nice" with the Democrats now that they have subpeona power. More important than selling out to a lobbyist, is keeping their own prescious rears out of prison -- that is a powerful bit of persuasion. It all depends upon if the Democrats are serious about their real job; Restoring Democracy, Honor, and Sanity. Or they sell out indictments for pork. We shall see.
The new "workaround" to bind Interferon with Sugar, is to use an aqeuous solution, with a neutral PH balance, and apply torroidal disturbances to the solution matrix. They have essentiall patented stirring -- and the charity part is just a sneaky way to get everyone on their side, until they start charging licensing fees for your morning cup of coffee!
I'm going to plunk my last $750 in the bank down right now, on patenting a method for using a temperature elevated aqeuous solution, to bind disparate subtances in a solution with torroidal disturbances. If nothing else, I'm going to make sure my morning cup of coffee is firmly Copy-Left.
Then, from the procedes, I'll add the "temperature elevation" through microwave excitation of molecules -- sure the Microwave has already been patented -- but nobody thought to "bundle up" the full procedure. We are talking about a full "PROCESS" here people! I'll just have to deliver 10,000 pages of prior art -- no biggy.
Yes, and as soon as the government has the power to catch ALL crimes -- they can then choose which ones to prosecute. Cindy Sheehan, would be thrown in jail every time she dropped a piece of paper as trash -- for instance. Someone else, who isn't making waves, might be passed on until the State needed to exert influence. We all break the law eventually -- there are just too many laws not to.
My brother "experimented" with Drugs as a teen. He was never caught by the police and now is a 6 figure salary earner with a major software firm. If the state had been "perfect" at enforcement -- his potential in life would have been severely diminished, and he would have costed the taxpayer money for encarceration. Nobody, but the jail would have profited from that. Instead, he grew up and moved on -- and actually voted for Bush. Go figure. He is now deeply embarassed at voting for someone who would have thrown him in prison with a snicker.
You also get in a situation, where nobody can "change" the government. The problem I had with the NSA spying -- like the Hoover spying that preceded it, is that this sort of information allows for influence. You can blackmail anyone you catch -- and that effects people who have done nothing wrong. There still has been no investigation of the Homeland Security hacking of Senator Ted Kennedy's computer to get Democratic strategies for court nominations. We are so teetering on the brink, of having NO effective opposition to one party rule, that I would never approve of ANY extra security meaures than we have now. Our government has already gone too far. The one or two "bad guys" they parade around for the thousands of innocent lives destroyed in the process are not a good tradeoff.
Imagine just the "average person" with a little larceny in their heart. They monitor hundreds of public cameras. They could make a tidy sum, watching the red light district for people and track license plates. Extortion, influence peddling -- in no time at all, the Security Guard could become a majore power broker. Or a mayor realizing the potential, could guarantee re-elections for years to come. These "public services" would stay in the hands of the politically powerful -- just like all the parking garages in cities do now. Do parking garages ever go bankrupt I wonder? -- eh, that's another topic. You start letting networked state cameras everywhere, and you are going to usher in a police state in this country.
Put another way; is there a difference to victems, whether it is a disorganized criminal who violates their rights, or an organized government that imposes its will?
Police have accidentally killed more people this year -- a lot more, than the WTC disaster. Over 40,000 no-knock raids using SWAT teams -- quadruple from times past. Much of this is collateral damage over the war on drugs.
If every house had a camera that they kept themselves, and could offer up (on their own free will) to help the police in criminal matters, I think that would be a much better "security" measure. We the citizen shouldn't be offering up anything, when we have a government that covers up corruption with secrecy -- which is usually what happens when you give the Government too much power without oversight.
Crime would go down with prosperity and the raising of the minimum wage (as it has in the past). It would also go down, if we started replacing all these drug laws with drug treatment. It's hard to justify putting someone away for 20 years, when our own government has been involved in much of the drug trafficking. Why do we continue to pretend that this is a fight against "evil" rather than a very profitable enterprise, that keeps privatized prisons brimming with customers, states with cheap labor, and enforces a police state that empowers the same Politicians who benefit from the criminalization..... a good case in point; Sun Myoung Moon -- if you look at his history, is closely associated with the Yajuzai and money laundering. His churches move the money, into things like the Washington Times; http://educate-yourself.org/cn/sunmyongmoon11part0 1oct98.shtml . To the tune of $1 Billion, and as much as $2.5 Billion to other Conservative groups in support of political influence, while still maintaining a Green Card, and still a loyalist to North Korea (can you say; Subversion?) He as well has huge money in Neal Bush's educational software company (see the WayneMadsenReport.com -- also includes Russian Mafia money). Mega millions have supported Jeb Bush, and other Republicans as well.
So the government gets more corrupt, as those who do favors for monied interests (like Moon, the Saudis, anybody else who wants to use a charity to funnel to Abramoff), while more police power and executive privilege are used to fight competition to these monied entities under the cover of "security interests." So, all those cameras run by the State, didn't seem to capture more than 5 frames of video of a plane crashing into the Pentagon, while somehow, they are able to track license plates of peace activists from two miles up in the sky.
For keeping me safe -- keep the government out of my privacy. I'd rather the uncertainty of the odd crazy person, rather than the certainty of the overbearing government. Besides, they will probably be giving crazed killers work releases as mercenaries, or "interrogators" in the future -- if our government isn't already.
I'm not trying to flame bait -- there is plenty of evidence to back up everything I've said. Look at BCCI investigation by the Senate, or current headlines. The issue of "trusting the state" is central to the "security vs. Liberty" arguement. We've given up Liberty, and I feel less and less secure.
I don't think that "Russian Mafia" is one single entity. There are factions -- and I'm sure that any group listed as "Mafia" in Russia now, is anti-state -- not a friend of the government. Any sufficiently powerful organized crime in a country becomes the State. We have the CIA and NSA, which are part and parcel of our corrupt government. The former "Russian Mafia" -- I think was created by persecuted jews in the country (but not the only group) and was allied with our CIA. Much like the Italian Mafia started as an insurgency -- or even the Shining Path in Peru (which, I think, has since been brought down).
AllOfMP3 is probably just a profitable business that Russia gains money from. Their laws probably allow it. If US labels want Russia to make it illegal, they will have to give Putin either a big enough carrot, or a worrisome enough stick, to make that country look out for US Profits. All any of this is, is battles of influence. China has only begun to recognize trademarks -- because THEY have more engineers, and will probably stand to gain from US and the rest of the world recognizing theirs. But for the most part, enforcement there is difficult, and there is too much money to be made in infringing copyright.
Hemp is illegal in the United States, perhaps because it would bankrupt Paper and Oil Companies. Allies of ours, and countries influenced by power brokers, then make it illegal. If US influence and Big Oil power wanes -- it is very likely that Hemp will become legal in mass production. It really depends upon the Euro now -- since they surpassed Dollars in circulation since November of 2006. It will be interesting to see, how quickly the stigma against Marijuana will fade, since Europe has less control over Oil and is a net importer (except for a few countries in the North).
I only offer this into the discussion because the "big picture" of what is illegal is often based upon profits -- and who has the most control to dictate the rules. I think the USA's ability to dictate rules will be fading pretty fast. The EU, is also interested, it seems, in guaranteed profits for copyright holders, so what Russia does may be more influenced by the EU.
We have a "free market" in terms that Multinationals can get around restrictions on trade. You or I can't freely import things. Everything is a case by case basis.
For instance... remember how "criminal" or "dangerous" it was to get prescription drugs from Canada?
"Free Market" just means "Profit without Accountability." I expect Businesses to engage in this whenever they can. The difference now is, that our government acts as an advocate and protects profits. So, Federal jail time and serious money for infringing copyrights. But an artist who wants money from their works has to sue. Someone "stealing" these works, had to pay extra on storage medium. So we all "pay" a tax on the idea that someone is stealing.
AllOfMP3 is doing to the Owners, what they do to the Workers. Please, send me some news of some outrage that Mexico outsources jobs to China -- thus forcing workers to cross the border to the US for "illegal" work. When was the last time a CEO, or ANY corporation, got in real trouble for "illegal" work? I guess Tyson still sells chicken, right?
It's not a two-way street. You do not buy from a free market. Distributors make the profits on the food you get at the grocery store - not farmers, and not for the most part, the stores. You cannot drill for oil. You cannot pay cash to doctors, and expect to get that 66% discount AND government subsidies like Health Insurance Companies.
There is only "stealing" of music, because it costs too much. iTunes proved that people will pay a reasonable fee for music and video -- when coupled with actual service and ease of use. AllOfMP3 just proved that people will pay LESS for those same services -- Wow! See, people were paying to download music -- rather than use P2P and in droves. So really, this is all about price (and perhaps profit -- right?). I'm not sure whether allofmp3 compensates the artists or the license holders -- I suspect they just don't do AS MUCH AS THE LABELS WANT. Which is also true of Steve Jobs. The only issue here, is if AllOfMP3 acquired the distribution rights legally -- and then, if those laws pertain to Russia. They will have to win in a Russian court.
My prediction, is that they will fail to exert influence in Russia (what with the NeoCons doing their best to paint Putin into a corner), and will have to make anyone using AllOfMP3.com services in the US liable as smugglers -- and then ban the linking to the site from ISPs. If this were still 2006, they could have achieved a law like that in the Patriot Act III, for a mere $20 Million and two months after the check cashed -- we shall see how that goes in 2007. It's all politics at this point.
Here is an example of something you would want classified to keep it secret;
Scrambled Fighter Pilot; "I'm ready to go, permission to fire?"
Cheney; "The order still stands."
>> What was the order? This was on 9/11. We could assume it was to take out an airplane -- but that would only be theory without the documents of a "stand down order."
Here's another; the guest list and the topics for Cheney's Energy Task Force meeting. Kibosh on Kyoto protocols, money spent to deny global warming, more polution, and an invasion of Iraq. If we knew just the guest list, and the topics, we might be able to link certain events, and those who benefitted from them.
But if a certain fighter pilot, or perhaps a guard at the White House meeting hall were to reveal something -- they could be sent away for a long, long time.
Anyone who wants to argue, that these Secrets protect us, might want to look at some current news items, like detailed specs on how to create nuclear bombs, or anti-terror military protocols being displayed for the world on government websites. They've already blown a lot of huge security operations for political gain; Brewster Jennings, and numerous covert ops so that Rumsfeld could crow about intelligence successes.
>> A document that got automatically declassifed last year, showed that there was a previous attempt of JFK's life in Miami, 3 days before Texas. It was quickly re-classified, but it definitely would make the public reconsider the idea that there was just a lone nutbag, and not a real conspiracy to get JFK.
"Sources" get removed all the time. It's called a "black felt tip marker." You get a xerox of the original that has been blacked out -- amazing technology.
But of course, rest assured, all secrets are for your benefit. Now go back to work to pay for that gas bill.
Oh, just inform me on the packaging. Maybe a sign on the wall of a fast food restaurant.
This has worked so well in the past...... I'll get my led testing and prion analyzer on E-Bay. Perhaps this will create a new market for products, so that I can buy 3,000 different food analyzers, and thus complete my adventure in becoming a self-sufficient American. While I'm at it, I can finally become a part-time accountant, so that I can guarantee my own retirement -- I'll do that after my two jobs and I put the kids to sleep.
I'm really insulted by the "Libertarian Impulse" that so many on slashdot think that everyone is dumb and lazy, and it is simple to just put up a web server, or to figure out the correct path on every technical hurdle in capitalism. Where any one of us might make great, informed decisions -- there are a thousand other areas where we don't have the time, resources, intelligence or inclination to figure out. The reason we have society and government in this complex world, is because this allows people to specialize. Where there is no financial incentive for the common good -- that's a damn good place for regulation and oversight. We don't have full employment -- so what does it hurt to add more food inspectors, rather than to try a dangerous experiment in removing a whole class of Prions from Cows. For example, my hypothesis for years has been that 99.99% of all Viruses are benign -- they are a natural "genetic messages" that get re-transmitted by the body and have lost their "delete me after X copies" message. Most people are not dying from Viruses and most people are not dying from Prions. There is a reason these things are so common. It makes sense to attack and remove "bad viruses and prions" but not the entire Viral or Prion system in an organism -- until we know better what is actually going on. You may create a system where organisms cannot adapt and change. You can refer to are recent "discovery" that Genetics get "trained" throughout life. Such that, a person who weight lifts, may pass on faster muscle building and greater muscle potential to offspring (though I wrote a paper on it decades a go -- but I was taking Art as my major -- just an example that common sense can get you pretty far).
So, it is now known, that "survival of the fittest" is only one mechanism of Evolution. Evolution is fact -- but how this happens is theory. The Western Capitalist theory of; "what does not kill a rat, is safe to sell" is not a great "long term" strategy. What does not kill us could make people infertile in 3 generations -- we don't know. We are just getting a handle on diabetes. We don't really know why cancer has become more and more common. We don't know that if we remove Prions, that it might have side effects that take a 100 years to show up. We -- and scientists, don't know these things. There are pretty safe changes we can make, that we can assume on a cost benefit analysis are OK. But the benefit to removing Prions is a few $ -- the costs are incalculable.
It's the same issue with Global Warming... but that is another discussion.
I'm agreeing with parent -- don't do this unless you study it for 40 years! This is absolute Hubris, and you are trying to fix a rare problem, that could be solved by good farming practices that would produce healthier animals and quality food. No, to preserve profits so that they can continue to feed cattle to cattle, they are going to experiment and second-guess a few billion years of nature.
This "upgrade" is not Vista. It's just called that, because they had to have something to ship before the train left the station. Part of the time consumed is that they were trying to push the envelope, and then the strategy changed to; "um, let's get it done already, AND have legacy support." So they probably got as far ahead as they had to backtrack, and then make that stable.
So the REAL Vista, is probably two years in development (like that Database file storage idea). Unfortunately, they'll have to backtrack on a lot of it, because things like ZFS will be almost required in a modern OS.
I think Microsoft has a serious culture problem. The hordes of programmers and money are not going to make up for "elegance." Embedded devices are going to do 90% of the functionality that 90% of the people demand (web, email, text writing, picture viewing) -- yeah, like then next Apple iPhone, except without all the viruses, the support headache, and the DRM nonsense. Microsoft kind of has the right idea that home users are going to want to orchestrate all these embedded devices -- but they bring their legacy of shovel-ware with them, and they can't manage the "Elegance."
Just look at the Zune... that has got to be an example of a company with talent, brilliance, resources, and on the way to doom.
The XBox, however, will capture most of the market. Microsoft should seriously consider breaking itself up to maintain shareholder value. Their monopoly on the OS is becoming superfluous.
Jeez, dude. Why are you giving all these gems up for free?
Don't you know predictions like this need to require large consulting fees? Also, you need to add at least one prediction that will help raise funds for some venture capitalist project, or support an industry giant between the advertisements in a magazine. Please see; Enderle Group.
You could just add; "Need for Virus software will increase," to get some play from Symantec.
If our FDA had not reduced so many inspectors -- perhaps this would never have become an "outbreak." At the very least the "Penny wise, Pound foolish" nature of our current Administration has almost allowed the Spinach industry to be ruined.
10 years ago, would it have taken a month to find the "source?" I remember little outbreaks like this in the past, and by the next day, we'd know what to avoid. We just heard "don't eat spinach." So, every salad bar, every grocery store, every restaurant dumped tons of spinach, and in two months I see products that are labeled "spinach free." The fear, uncertainty and doubt just ruined the market.
This is what awaits all American industries, if they keep lobbying Government for less oversight. If people can't trust their water, food, or air, or that Ford won't produce a car that doesn't explode on impact -- US industry is doomed. We will only trust imported goods, from countries with standards, American products will rightfully get banned and then we will have another trade war that makes the Beef scuffle of a few years ago seem very small.
Standards are important to maintain -- they don't pay off immediately, but they do pay off. Industry being allowed to pollute, or to skip food inspections, will inevitably bankrupt those industries. You save a bit now, only to lose your consumer base.
For a while, you can sell Lead testing kits, and anti-E-coli sprays... but eventually, everyone will have fear fatigue, and will be sick of this "do it yourself, dummy" mentality, because we don't have time enough in the day to figure out everything. I can't research the prescription I'm about to take, or the school my kids attend, AND test for mercury in my soda. This is nuts.
So... I'm very happy they have a new forensic tool -- but it doesn't replace having enough FDA inspectors to ensure quality at all of these food packers.
There should be a moderation setting for "+5 Scary/True."
Of course, the job will have to go to Incite! the Bush family software company that sells to Kaplan and Saudi Arabia. Leaving no "conflict of interest" behind.
I was under the impression, that only some flavors of UNIX were even able to "encrypt" their Cache files (not Linux).
The Next Mac OS X will be able to encrypt all of the user space, as well as the cache (I think there are ways on the command line to set the cache to encrypt -- but no support in the GUI). But even then, not the entire drive with the OS.
I think IBM had an encrypted drive with a hardware-level encrypt/decrypt so the OS doesn't see it -- that might be the way to go.
>> Anyway, I think it's more important that our government just quit promoting criminals to power -- they are way more of a security issue than stolen laptops.
Perhaps Apple was listening to the Enderle group (one guy), who projected that iTunes purchasing was waning (due to the metric that fewer songs were purchased per ipod than the year before).
I also understand, that people are driving less -- if you count all the many cars that are not driving, sitting in junk yards.
>> For $.02, I was willing to predict that iTunes would be swamped this Christmas, merely by realizing that my Niece had to have a new Nano to go jogging, while the larger iPod was just for "fun."
Doesn't it seem strange to people, that there is so much preached about "respecting people and teaching personal responsibility" as the excuse to take away welfare benefits.
OK, fine.
But why is a fighting man or woman, needing to have a "fund raiser" to take care of their needs? Haven't they earned healthcare, education and enough money to pay the rent? Would you rather be given a government check, or hope you get money a few months out of the year, by being handed a large check and having your photo taken at a fund raiser.
I'm personally sick of charities. They are bandaids. If something is a priorty in this world, we can work to change it. If we want this huge military as part of our infrastructure, we should pay FIRST the people who sacrifice -- not the defense contractors or the mercenaries who are hired at 5 times the pay and are loyal to God knows who. Charities are a cop-out and are usually inefficient. Other than passing on a check -- or getting people involved to actually change government, they don't do anything buy make people feel useful. One of the few exceptsions, is "Habitat for Humanity." But it basically mimics a government works project, except the "work" is donated -- and the people who organize it are efficient and targeted in their tasks -- that is very a-typical of the average charity.
But how sad is it, that a Vet is going to lose body parts, and then have to feel like a charity case.
The only reason we have any technology coming from the military to the private sector is due to the program that Gore started. One of the first tech spin-offs was 3D graphics cards. I remember going to a Comdex tradeshow and seeing the first 3D cards (about 300k texels) showing tanks and such on bumpy grey landscape (from Lockheed I believe). Then there was network warfare, probably GPS.
But on 2001/9/10, Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon could not account for about $2.4 Trillion.
Some of that research is useful... but it seems pretty expensive to spend 1/3rd of GDP and to get a few trinkets like ultrasound skin patching. I'm sure we could pay someone a Billion $ and get that. A lot of this money goes to graft and favors, and what amounts to government works projects.
We are spending about a thousand times more than the free-market cost/benefit ratio. They would do better to put support a lot of this research in goals like Developing self-sustaining energy.
Or just legalize hemp in this country, and we could grow ourselves out of this mess.
Would it be a big stretch of the imagination to think that our system is so cynical, that the decision is based on keeping quiet about their help in the data mining of the public.
The high cost of drugs is the consumers fault? Why, because they buy the drugs?
If I became more informed, about what drugs I should be taking -- why then, wouldn't I just become a doctor? The drug companies now spend more on advertising than research. Buying a generic is absolutley great -- but keeping "costs down" for health insurance is a joke. They charge as much as the market will tolerate -- not a penny less.
Cancer is a very expensive disease. When you look at the graph of cancer and its treatments, the effect of medicine upon life expectancy (as an entire group -- I'm not talking about just the ones that there are treatments for), the effect is 1%. The government needs to start getting into only supporting patents for cures -- not long term treatments. We need something -- anything, of a success. After sanitation, and diet -- modern medicine plays a poor third place in what effects our longevity. Immunizations and heart transplants are great. But there hasn't been much real progress in years.
There are no market forces involved, and the co-pay that you make for drugs or the doctor is all the service is worth. The Insurance companies do nothing to reduce costs as the go-between. They hide the costs, and then pass them back to the consumer. The Doctor, has High malpractice insurance because the insurance companies want to make a lot of money.
Who makes all the money in healthcare? Insurance companies, drug companies and hospitals. Which group is failing to meet the needs of the public, and spening good money on disinformation to get everyone pointing fingers the wrong way? Guess.
Slashdot Mirror
The above conclusions are a bit long,
Could you please summarize this summary in a manner that my pre-disposed preferences will be comfortable with?
I.e., does Microsoft Suck or not?
Next thing you are going to tell me, the DRM on music and video isn't about piracy... ... Please, please, tell me it isn't about hiding Uncomfortable Truths, and is about the Science. Cause you know, this is the most sciency administration ever! And they are 40% more involved in Truthiness. Damn that Bin Laden... this is the fault of Al Qaeda. It's quintupled the cost of NASA because the EVA teams have to take their shoes off and scan them before exiting the Shuttle.
So what, all the people fined or serving jail time -- this gets them an apology?
"Sorry, we used the government police power to protect profits -- our bad."
I never believed them in the first place, but it's less annoying to have to not have to pretend anymore. The dead giveaway was the "region codeing" bits. This is to prevent a Latin American encoded DVD from playing in America. A very similar model to the airline industry. A price for every type of buyer.
While the Dems in congress did finally pass the 9/11 recommendations, the following paragraph is gag-worthy;
"
Recipients of the letters, banks and credit bureaus, usually hand over the requested information voluntarily. A posting at tothecenter.com quotes the Vice President on the use of the letters: "It's perfectly legitimate activity. There's nothing wrong or illegal with it. It doesn't violate people's civil rights... The Defense Department gets involved because we've got hundreds of bases inside the United States that are potential terrorist targets."
Note that, Dubai has purchased at least 7 defense manufacturing plants as well has snuck in as running ports when the public quit looking. Apparently, American Union members are more of a threat than a government that routinely launders drug/terrorist money.
Then we have The WayneMadsenReport.com -- constantly criticized because it tells the truth, and you know it because the bad guys own our reporting agencies. A quick Google of all the media outlets and even the AP Newswire will show that; the Moonies, AIPAC, Saudi Arabia, Australian NeoCons and perhaps Blackbeard's Ghost own our media. But, having gotten that out of the way (please, my tin-foil hat is at the dry cleaners, please refrain from those comments -- they are a dead giveaway that you have nothing for rebuttal), I'd like to present this information, that seems like it is more of an issue than letters, if protecting "targets" is actually a mission;
January 16, 2007 -- More on Philly covert arms shipment facility. According to State Department sources, the U.S. subsidiary of an Israeli company has been involved in shipping sensitive military-related equipment to China from Penn Terminal in Eddystone, Pennsylvania. This is the same terminal that was the subject of our Jan. 12 report that rockets and rocket launchers of the variety that can be fired from the back of pickup trucks were recently shipped to China (according to the manifest documentation). The terminal is also part of the original Sun Shipyard that was allegedly taken over by the CIA in a fraudulent deal in 1980 to serve as a "carve out" for clandestine arms shipments.
Yeah, the war on terror is the same racket as the war on Communism. While the USSR was an actual nuclear power; they could barely hold themselves together for that last 20 years, much less invade anyone. Robert Gates, it seems, fabricated most of the paper tiger threat. Al Qaeda is just a go-between with the Russian Israelis mob (Poppy exports are doing well this year), and Bin Laden is the Goldstein of our age. Much better to have lurking in the shadows as a boogie man. Invade any oil-rich country you want, just season first with a little Al Qaeda, pepper with a few vague WMD threats, and dig in! Bon Appetittite.
Meanwhile, cowardly American's drop their civil liberties and expect a totally corrupt FBI/CIA to protect them. Yeah, and keep track of all those "data thefts" going to Poindexter.
Oil is now at $52 dollars a barrel. What do you want to bet that the price of oil and inflation, are now hinged to Democrat initiatives to leave Iraq? If you want to speculate on futures -- I could think of no better barometer than how Pelosi offends or pleases the House of Saud.
No this is not Flame Bait. It is much more towards the heart of this "security issue" than discussing what the FBI thinks is pointless about our Constittution. They have access to all our information, and businesses must retain all email, while "whoops" any oversight or evidence of wrongdoing amongst our leadership is understandably swallowed by the Doberman Pincher.
America will not retain any "security" until we get control of our energy dependence. Carter understood it, and that's why we had an oil embargo those many years ago. If the Democrats are serious about it -- they will weather the storm of a Saudi Embargo by making friends with Venezuela, and learning from Brazil. We could be energy Independent in 10 years if serious.
If you
Cartman; "
Even if there is still a net loss of programming jobs to India, that would just mean that the embedded cost of software would go down, because companies like Wal-mart would have to pay less to Oracle, IBM and SAP in licensing fees etc. As a result, their prices would be lower in any competitive market. (Note that the cost of enterprise software is an "embedded cost" in many of the things you buy). Furthermore, consumer prices would be lower for things like computers and software. As a result, people would have more money to spend on other things, and employment would expand in other sector...
"
>> Markets determine prices -- not costs!
Oracle and IBM are charging WalMart as much as they can get. The rest is more or less profit.
McDonalds charges about $3 for a burger because that is what the market will spend when there are alternative sources of mediocre burgers. It has nothing to do with what they pay fry chefs as they don't have any more or less workers than they can get away with.
I'm just waiting for a call bank to take your burger order, and then an article that says; "Indian drive-by fast food call centers NOT effecting US trade."
Though I do agree with your statement that a lot of software is marginal, and that it would not be made otherwise. Whether that "3D garden" organizing software benefits our lives or not is up to debate.
If we are talking about Ford, moving US manufacturing to Mexico -- can we not just say that the US is losing something? When all that is grown in US jobs in the last 6 years is around 2.5 Million, and that doesn't even keep up with illegal immigration, much less any other numbers, how can anyone still believe the 5.4% employment rate that hasn't much changed in ten years?
Of course, I now work 200% more jobs since the year 2000 myself, so this might explain things.
Hey, as long as you are trying to discredit the 9/11 Conspiracy, please add "bigfoot".
... I kind of agree with the worry that this "could be" a Honeypot. Though why anyone would equate patriotic Americans who risk their lives and careers to thwart corruption to Bears is beyond me.
We all know that the moon lander was 10x over budget because it was made by a shell corporation owned by the Kennedy's. They also told the FBI not to investigate any moon lander financing. Then America spent $500 Billion to invade Mars, as they were definitely the culprits for the Attempt on Apollo 13. This is all very reasonable activity, and is usually in these sorts of situations -- however unique they are. The extra moon of the Moon, Phobos, was burnt up by the heat of the lander, even though it was 25 miles away. It was made of sub-grade Cheese. Now it has been replaced by sub-grade paper maché -- but the chance of this one being burnt up by a moon lander is highly remote. The order to "toast Phobos" by Brawn is taken out of context, as he was not aware of the Phobos burning incident, and is well known to enjoy cheese. The sum of $2 Million going into his bank account by Kruschev was just a bank error -- these sorts of things happen all the time.
>> I wouldn't trust this website too much
Also, the supposed sites where you can order Polonium 210, for $69 and they guarantee that they don't report to Homeland Security... OK, maybe I should discourage anyone who might want to order from that Web site. Just be ready to shell out a few Million $ -- anyone offering a kilo of Polonium 210 for $69.95 is disreputable -- it costs at least TWICE that! So, buy the expensive stuff that guarantees that they won't say anything to HS.
[robots.txt Parseto?url_NewRepublic=no! ]
I suspect that the Republicans will "play nice" with the Democrats now that they have subpeona power. More important than selling out to a lobbyist, is keeping their own prescious rears out of prison -- that is a powerful bit of persuasion. It all depends upon if the Democrats are serious about their real job; Restoring Democracy, Honor, and Sanity. Or they sell out indictments for pork. We shall see.
I'm hoping for a lot of arrests, myself.
The new "workaround" to bind Interferon with Sugar, is to use an aqeuous solution, with a neutral PH balance, and apply torroidal disturbances to the solution matrix. They have essentiall patented stirring -- and the charity part is just a sneaky way to get everyone on their side, until they start charging licensing fees for your morning cup of coffee!
I'm going to plunk my last $750 in the bank down right now, on patenting a method for using a temperature elevated aqeuous solution, to bind disparate subtances in a solution with torroidal disturbances. If nothing else, I'm going to make sure my morning cup of coffee is firmly Copy-Left.
Then, from the procedes, I'll add the "temperature elevation" through microwave excitation of molecules -- sure the Microwave has already been patented -- but nobody thought to "bundle up" the full procedure. We are talking about a full "PROCESS" here people! I'll just have to deliver 10,000 pages of prior art -- no biggy.
Yes, and as soon as the government has the power to catch ALL crimes -- they can then choose which ones to prosecute. Cindy Sheehan, would be thrown in jail every time she dropped a piece of paper as trash -- for instance. Someone else, who isn't making waves, might be passed on until the State needed to exert influence. We all break the law eventually -- there are just too many laws not to.
My brother "experimented" with Drugs as a teen. He was never caught by the police and now is a 6 figure salary earner with a major software firm. If the state had been "perfect" at enforcement -- his potential in life would have been severely diminished, and he would have costed the taxpayer money for encarceration. Nobody, but the jail would have profited from that. Instead, he grew up and moved on -- and actually voted for Bush. Go figure. He is now deeply embarassed at voting for someone who would have thrown him in prison with a snicker.
You also get in a situation, where nobody can "change" the government. The problem I had with the NSA spying -- like the Hoover spying that preceded it, is that this sort of information allows for influence. You can blackmail anyone you catch -- and that effects people who have done nothing wrong. There still has been no investigation of the Homeland Security hacking of Senator Ted Kennedy's computer to get Democratic strategies for court nominations. We are so teetering on the brink, of having NO effective opposition to one party rule, that I would never approve of ANY extra security meaures than we have now. Our government has already gone too far. The one or two "bad guys" they parade around for the thousands of innocent lives destroyed in the process are not a good tradeoff.
Imagine just the "average person" with a little larceny in their heart. They monitor hundreds of public cameras. They could make a tidy sum, watching the red light district for people and track license plates. Extortion, influence peddling -- in no time at all, the Security Guard could become a majore power broker. Or a mayor realizing the potential, could guarantee re-elections for years to come. These "public services" would stay in the hands of the politically powerful -- just like all the parking garages in cities do now. Do parking garages ever go bankrupt I wonder? -- eh, that's another topic. You start letting networked state cameras everywhere, and you are going to usher in a police state in this country.
Put another way; is there a difference to victems, whether it is a disorganized criminal who violates their rights, or an organized government that imposes its will?
.... a good case in point; Sun Myoung Moon -- if you look at his history, is closely associated with the Yajuzai and money laundering. His churches move the money, into things like the Washington Times; http://educate-yourself.org/cn/sunmyongmoon11part0 1oct98.shtml . To the tune of $1 Billion, and as much as $2.5 Billion to other Conservative groups in support of political influence, while still maintaining a Green Card, and still a loyalist to North Korea (can you say; Subversion?) He as well has huge money in Neal Bush's educational software company (see the WayneMadsenReport.com -- also includes Russian Mafia money). Mega millions have supported Jeb Bush, and other Republicans as well.
Police have accidentally killed more people this year -- a lot more, than the WTC disaster. Over 40,000 no-knock raids using SWAT teams -- quadruple from times past. Much of this is collateral damage over the war on drugs.
If every house had a camera that they kept themselves, and could offer up (on their own free will) to help the police in criminal matters, I think that would be a much better "security" measure. We the citizen shouldn't be offering up anything, when we have a government that covers up corruption with secrecy -- which is usually what happens when you give the Government too much power without oversight.
Crime would go down with prosperity and the raising of the minimum wage (as it has in the past). It would also go down, if we started replacing all these drug laws with drug treatment. It's hard to justify putting someone away for 20 years, when our own government has been involved in much of the drug trafficking. Why do we continue to pretend that this is a fight against "evil" rather than a very profitable enterprise, that keeps privatized prisons brimming with customers, states with cheap labor, and enforces a police state that empowers the same Politicians who benefit from the criminalization.
So the government gets more corrupt, as those who do favors for monied interests (like Moon, the Saudis, anybody else who wants to use a charity to funnel to Abramoff), while more police power and executive privilege are used to fight competition to these monied entities under the cover of "security interests." So, all those cameras run by the State, didn't seem to capture more than 5 frames of video of a plane crashing into the Pentagon, while somehow, they are able to track license plates of peace activists from two miles up in the sky.
For keeping me safe -- keep the government out of my privacy. I'd rather the uncertainty of the odd crazy person, rather than the certainty of the overbearing government. Besides, they will probably be giving crazed killers work releases as mercenaries, or "interrogators" in the future -- if our government isn't already.
I'm not trying to flame bait -- there is plenty of evidence to back up everything I've said. Look at BCCI investigation by the Senate, or current headlines. The issue of "trusting the state" is central to the "security vs. Liberty" arguement. We've given up Liberty, and I feel less and less secure.
I don't think that "Russian Mafia" is one single entity. There are factions -- and I'm sure that any group listed as "Mafia" in Russia now, is anti-state -- not a friend of the government. Any sufficiently powerful organized crime in a country becomes the State. We have the CIA and NSA, which are part and parcel of our corrupt government. The former "Russian Mafia" -- I think was created by persecuted jews in the country (but not the only group) and was allied with our CIA. Much like the Italian Mafia started as an insurgency -- or even the Shining Path in Peru (which, I think, has since been brought down).
AllOfMP3 is probably just a profitable business that Russia gains money from. Their laws probably allow it. If US labels want Russia to make it illegal, they will have to give Putin either a big enough carrot, or a worrisome enough stick, to make that country look out for US Profits. All any of this is, is battles of influence. China has only begun to recognize trademarks -- because THEY have more engineers, and will probably stand to gain from US and the rest of the world recognizing theirs. But for the most part, enforcement there is difficult, and there is too much money to be made in infringing copyright.
Hemp is illegal in the United States, perhaps because it would bankrupt Paper and Oil Companies. Allies of ours, and countries influenced by power brokers, then make it illegal. If US influence and Big Oil power wanes -- it is very likely that Hemp will become legal in mass production. It really depends upon the Euro now -- since they surpassed Dollars in circulation since November of 2006. It will be interesting to see, how quickly the stigma against Marijuana will fade, since Europe has less control over Oil and is a net importer (except for a few countries in the North).
I only offer this into the discussion because the "big picture" of what is illegal is often based upon profits -- and who has the most control to dictate the rules. I think the USA's ability to dictate rules will be fading pretty fast. The EU, is also interested, it seems, in guaranteed profits for copyright holders, so what Russia does may be more influenced by the EU.
Great post.
We have a "free market" in terms that Multinationals can get around restrictions on trade. You or I can't freely import things. Everything is a case by case basis.
For instance... remember how "criminal" or "dangerous" it was to get prescription drugs from Canada?
"Free Market" just means "Profit without Accountability." I expect Businesses to engage in this whenever they can. The difference now is, that our government acts as an advocate and protects profits. So, Federal jail time and serious money for infringing copyrights. But an artist who wants money from their works has to sue. Someone "stealing" these works, had to pay extra on storage medium. So we all "pay" a tax on the idea that someone is stealing.
AllOfMP3 is doing to the Owners, what they do to the Workers. Please, send me some news of some outrage that Mexico outsources jobs to China -- thus forcing workers to cross the border to the US for "illegal" work. When was the last time a CEO, or ANY corporation, got in real trouble for "illegal" work? I guess Tyson still sells chicken, right?
It's not a two-way street. You do not buy from a free market. Distributors make the profits on the food you get at the grocery store - not farmers, and not for the most part, the stores. You cannot drill for oil. You cannot pay cash to doctors, and expect to get that 66% discount AND government subsidies like Health Insurance Companies.
There is only "stealing" of music, because it costs too much. iTunes proved that people will pay a reasonable fee for music and video -- when coupled with actual service and ease of use. AllOfMP3 just proved that people will pay LESS for those same services -- Wow! See, people were paying to download music -- rather than use P2P and in droves. So really, this is all about price (and perhaps profit -- right?). I'm not sure whether allofmp3 compensates the artists or the license holders -- I suspect they just don't do AS MUCH AS THE LABELS WANT. Which is also true of Steve Jobs. The only issue here, is if AllOfMP3 acquired the distribution rights legally -- and then, if those laws pertain to Russia. They will have to win in a Russian court.
My prediction, is that they will fail to exert influence in Russia (what with the NeoCons doing their best to paint Putin into a corner), and will have to make anyone using AllOfMP3.com services in the US liable as smugglers -- and then ban the linking to the site from ISPs. If this were still 2006, they could have achieved a law like that in the Patriot Act III, for a mere $20 Million and two months after the check cashed -- we shall see how that goes in 2007. It's all politics at this point.
Here is an example of something you would want classified to keep it secret;
Scrambled Fighter Pilot; "I'm ready to go, permission to fire?"
Cheney; "The order still stands."
>> What was the order? This was on 9/11. We could assume it was to take out an airplane -- but that would only be theory without the documents of a "stand down order."
Here's another; the guest list and the topics for Cheney's Energy Task Force meeting. Kibosh on Kyoto protocols, money spent to deny global warming, more polution, and an invasion of Iraq. If we knew just the guest list, and the topics, we might be able to link certain events, and those who benefitted from them.
But if a certain fighter pilot, or perhaps a guard at the White House meeting hall were to reveal something -- they could be sent away for a long, long time.
Anyone who wants to argue, that these Secrets protect us, might want to look at some current news items, like detailed specs on how to create nuclear bombs, or anti-terror military protocols being displayed for the world on government websites. They've already blown a lot of huge security operations for political gain; Brewster Jennings, and numerous covert ops so that Rumsfeld could crow about intelligence successes.
>> A document that got automatically declassifed last year, showed that there was a previous attempt of JFK's life in Miami, 3 days before Texas. It was quickly re-classified, but it definitely would make the public reconsider the idea that there was just a lone nutbag, and not a real conspiracy to get JFK.
"Sources" get removed all the time. It's called a "black felt tip marker." You get a xerox of the original that has been blacked out -- amazing technology.
But of course, rest assured, all secrets are for your benefit. Now go back to work to pay for that gas bill.
Oh, just inform me on the packaging. Maybe a sign on the wall of a fast food restaurant.
... I'll get my led testing and prion analyzer on E-Bay. Perhaps this will create a new market for products, so that I can buy 3,000 different food analyzers, and thus complete my adventure in becoming a self-sufficient American. While I'm at it, I can finally become a part-time accountant, so that I can guarantee my own retirement -- I'll do that after my two jobs and I put the kids to sleep.
... but that is another discussion.
This has worked so well in the past...
I'm really insulted by the "Libertarian Impulse" that so many on slashdot think that everyone is dumb and lazy, and it is simple to just put up a web server, or to figure out the correct path on every technical hurdle in capitalism. Where any one of us might make great, informed decisions -- there are a thousand other areas where we don't have the time, resources, intelligence or inclination to figure out. The reason we have society and government in this complex world, is because this allows people to specialize. Where there is no financial incentive for the common good -- that's a damn good place for regulation and oversight. We don't have full employment -- so what does it hurt to add more food inspectors, rather than to try a dangerous experiment in removing a whole class of Prions from Cows. For example, my hypothesis for years has been that 99.99% of all Viruses are benign -- they are a natural "genetic messages" that get re-transmitted by the body and have lost their "delete me after X copies" message. Most people are not dying from Viruses and most people are not dying from Prions. There is a reason these things are so common. It makes sense to attack and remove "bad viruses and prions" but not the entire Viral or Prion system in an organism -- until we know better what is actually going on. You may create a system where organisms cannot adapt and change. You can refer to are recent "discovery" that Genetics get "trained" throughout life. Such that, a person who weight lifts, may pass on faster muscle building and greater muscle potential to offspring (though I wrote a paper on it decades a go -- but I was taking Art as my major -- just an example that common sense can get you pretty far).
So, it is now known, that "survival of the fittest" is only one mechanism of Evolution. Evolution is fact -- but how this happens is theory. The Western Capitalist theory of; "what does not kill a rat, is safe to sell" is not a great "long term" strategy. What does not kill us could make people infertile in 3 generations -- we don't know. We are just getting a handle on diabetes. We don't really know why cancer has become more and more common. We don't know that if we remove Prions, that it might have side effects that take a 100 years to show up. We -- and scientists, don't know these things. There are pretty safe changes we can make, that we can assume on a cost benefit analysis are OK. But the benefit to removing Prions is a few $ -- the costs are incalculable.
It's the same issue with Global Warming
I'm agreeing with parent -- don't do this unless you study it for 40 years! This is absolute Hubris, and you are trying to fix a rare problem, that could be solved by good farming practices that would produce healthier animals and quality food.
No, to preserve profits so that they can continue to feed cattle to cattle, they are going to experiment and second-guess a few billion years of nature.
This "upgrade" is not Vista. It's just called that, because they had to have something to ship before the train left the station. Part of the time consumed is that they were trying to push the envelope, and then the strategy changed to; "um, let's get it done already, AND have legacy support." So they probably got as far ahead as they had to backtrack, and then make that stable.
So the REAL Vista, is probably two years in development (like that Database file storage idea). Unfortunately, they'll have to backtrack on a lot of it, because things like ZFS will be almost required in a modern OS.
I think Microsoft has a serious culture problem. The hordes of programmers and money are not going to make up for "elegance." Embedded devices are going to do 90% of the functionality that 90% of the people demand (web, email, text writing, picture viewing) -- yeah, like then next Apple iPhone, except without all the viruses, the support headache, and the DRM nonsense. Microsoft kind of has the right idea that home users are going to want to orchestrate all these embedded devices -- but they bring their legacy of shovel-ware with them, and they can't manage the "Elegance."
Just look at the Zune... that has got to be an example of a company with talent, brilliance, resources, and on the way to doom.
The XBox, however, will capture most of the market. Microsoft should seriously consider breaking itself up to maintain shareholder value. Their monopoly on the OS is becoming superfluous.
Jeez, dude. Why are you giving all these gems up for free?
Don't you know predictions like this need to require large consulting fees? Also, you need to add at least one prediction that will help raise funds for some venture capitalist project, or support an industry giant between the advertisements in a magazine. Please see; Enderle Group.
You could just add; "Need for Virus software will increase," to get some play from Symantec.
If our FDA had not reduced so many inspectors -- perhaps this would never have become an "outbreak." At the very least the "Penny wise, Pound foolish" nature of our current Administration has almost allowed the Spinach industry to be ruined.
... but eventually, everyone will have fear fatigue, and will be sick of this "do it yourself, dummy" mentality, because we don't have time enough in the day to figure out everything. I can't research the prescription I'm about to take, or the school my kids attend, AND test for mercury in my soda. This is nuts.
10 years ago, would it have taken a month to find the "source?" I remember little outbreaks like this in the past, and by the next day, we'd know what to avoid. We just heard "don't eat spinach." So, every salad bar, every grocery store, every restaurant dumped tons of spinach, and in two months I see products that are labeled "spinach free." The fear, uncertainty and doubt just ruined the market.
This is what awaits all American industries, if they keep lobbying Government for less oversight. If people can't trust their water, food, or air, or that Ford won't produce a car that doesn't explode on impact -- US industry is doomed. We will only trust imported goods, from countries with standards, American products will rightfully get banned and then we will have another trade war that makes the Beef scuffle of a few years ago seem very small.
Standards are important to maintain -- they don't pay off immediately, but they do pay off. Industry being allowed to pollute, or to skip food inspections, will inevitably bankrupt those industries. You save a bit now, only to lose your consumer base.
For a while, you can sell Lead testing kits, and anti-E-coli sprays
So... I'm very happy they have a new forensic tool -- but it doesn't replace having enough FDA inspectors to ensure quality at all of these food packers.
Why is this +5 Funny?
There should be a moderation setting for "+5 Scary/True."
Of course, the job will have to go to Incite! the Bush family software company that sells to Kaplan and Saudi Arabia. Leaving no "conflict of interest" behind.
Is this a Windows or Unix variant machine?
I was under the impression, that only some flavors of UNIX were even able to "encrypt" their Cache files (not Linux).
The Next Mac OS X will be able to encrypt all of the user space, as well as the cache (I think there are ways on the command line to set the cache to encrypt -- but no support in the GUI). But even then, not the entire drive with the OS.
I think IBM had an encrypted drive with a hardware-level encrypt/decrypt so the OS doesn't see it -- that might be the way to go.
>> Anyway, I think it's more important that our government just quit promoting criminals to power -- they are way more of a security issue than stolen laptops.
Perhaps Apple was listening to the Enderle group (one guy), who projected that iTunes purchasing was waning (due to the metric that fewer songs were purchased per ipod than the year before).
I also understand, that people are driving less -- if you count all the many cars that are not driving, sitting in junk yards.
>> For $.02, I was willing to predict that iTunes would be swamped this Christmas, merely by realizing that my Niece had to have a new Nano to go jogging, while the larger iPod was just for "fun."
Doesn't it seem strange to people, that there is so much preached about "respecting people and teaching personal responsibility" as the excuse to take away welfare benefits.
OK, fine.
But why is a fighting man or woman, needing to have a "fund raiser" to take care of their needs? Haven't they earned healthcare, education and enough money to pay the rent? Would you rather be given a government check, or hope you get money a few months out of the year, by being handed a large check and having your photo taken at a fund raiser.
I'm personally sick of charities. They are bandaids. If something is a priorty in this world, we can work to change it. If we want this huge military as part of our infrastructure, we should pay FIRST the people who sacrifice -- not the defense contractors or the mercenaries who are hired at 5 times the pay and are loyal to God knows who. Charities are a cop-out and are usually inefficient. Other than passing on a check -- or getting people involved to actually change government, they don't do anything buy make people feel useful. One of the few exceptsions, is "Habitat for Humanity." But it basically mimics a government works project, except the "work" is donated -- and the people who organize it are efficient and targeted in their tasks -- that is very a-typical of the average charity.
But how sad is it, that a Vet is going to lose body parts, and then have to feel like a charity case.
Theoretically, all this sounds nice.
... but it seems pretty expensive to spend 1/3rd of GDP and to get a few trinkets like ultrasound skin patching. I'm sure we could pay someone a Billion $ and get that. A lot of this money goes to graft and favors, and what amounts to government works projects.
The only reason we have any technology coming from the military to the private sector is due to the program that Gore started. One of the first tech spin-offs was 3D graphics cards. I remember going to a Comdex tradeshow and seeing the first 3D cards (about 300k texels) showing tanks and such on bumpy grey landscape (from Lockheed I believe). Then there was network warfare, probably GPS.
But on 2001/9/10, Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon could not account for about $2.4 Trillion.
Some of that research is useful
We are spending about a thousand times more than the free-market cost/benefit ratio. They would do better to put support a lot of this research in goals like Developing self-sustaining energy.
Or just legalize hemp in this country, and we could grow ourselves out of this mess.
Would it be a big stretch of the imagination to think that our system is so cynical, that the decision is based on keeping quiet about their help in the data mining of the public.
Wow.
The high cost of drugs is the consumers fault? Why, because they buy the drugs?
If I became more informed, about what drugs I should be taking -- why then, wouldn't I just become a doctor? The drug companies now spend more on advertising than research. Buying a generic is absolutley great -- but keeping "costs down" for health insurance is a joke. They charge as much as the market will tolerate -- not a penny less.
Cancer is a very expensive disease. When you look at the graph of cancer and its treatments, the effect of medicine upon life expectancy (as an entire group -- I'm not talking about just the ones that there are treatments for), the effect is 1%. The government needs to start getting into only supporting patents for cures -- not long term treatments. We need something -- anything, of a success. After sanitation, and diet -- modern medicine plays a poor third place in what effects our longevity. Immunizations and heart transplants are great. But there hasn't been much real progress in years.
There are no market forces involved, and the co-pay that you make for drugs or the doctor is all the service is worth. The Insurance companies do nothing to reduce costs as the go-between. They hide the costs, and then pass them back to the consumer. The Doctor, has High malpractice insurance because the insurance companies want to make a lot of money.
Who makes all the money in healthcare? Insurance companies, drug companies and hospitals. Which group is failing to meet the needs of the public, and spening good money on disinformation to get everyone pointing fingers the wrong way? Guess.