The sad thing is that it works! These shill/troll posts are so damn easy to spot (first post, within the same minute the article is posted, always critical of Google and praises Microsoft), but (like this one) they generally dominate the discussion because people don't just ignore them. I've scrolled nearly a 3rd of the way into the discussions and we're *still* on responses to this misinformation troll.
Advertising is not free speech. We already have tons of laws about what can be said in advertisements. We have entire categories of products banned from advertising via various forms of media.
And, besides that, fuck push advertisers. They don't inform. They don't help. They play upon human psychology and insecurity to make people feel inferior if they don't have The Product. They try to associate themselves with warm, fuzzy feelings to make people feel good about The Product. They do not operate on a rational level. The sooner we're rid of them entirely the better.
but I like my life here, and like most of my friends feel we can do anything we want with a little luck
Why the fuck do you people think that it's reasonable for "luck" to be a necessary component in being able to do what you want? Hard work, directed toward reasonable goals should be *all* it takes.
I'm not naive enough to think that getting lucky helps immensely in pretty much every aspect of life, but I do find it telling that you "with enough hard work you can get everything!"-types also tend to included that "and get a little lucky" clause. Hell, you even list it *before* the "some sweat" requirement.
Because we, as a society, have determined that education should be expensive, and that it's a reasonable thing to make education a for-profit institution. (Textbooks. Sweetheart deals to companies that provide on-campus services, who then rake students for all they can take. Rent bubbles in housing that surrounds universities. And as a nice personal anecdote, replacing the nice, 100% free on-campus clinic run by the University from a tiny $100/semester fee with one run by the local hospital which won't see anyone without insurance... which they provide for $500/semester, and automatically enroll you in if you don't specify your insurance provider on your registration forms. Oh, and the fee was just reappropriated for something else -- students saw no reduction after the change went into place.)
And on top of that, state governments keep cutting back on education funding, which raises tuition costs even higher.
I had a pretty similar situation to you; cheap state university for $600/semester, books were reasonable, parents lived close enough that I could just stay with them. Got a decent-paying on-campus job. I realize that I was lucky, and that most people aren't in that situation. And now? That same university is charging nearly $3000/semester, and they've done all they can to eliminate all worthwhile student jobs on campus (we want everybody to be full-time!)
There's no mystery here. This is not 1990 and the game has changed. To not understand why shows either willful ignorance or outright denial.
This is basically what I tell people too. I don't ever expect to get much out of SS or medicare, but at the very least I figure that my taxes are helping to keep some seniors from having to eat cat food to make ends meet. My own remaining grandmother is quite well off -- both she and my grandfather worked many years for a state university and saved their money. I don't necessarily get to see the immediate benefit of these programs, but I know that they do a lot of good for people, even if they're not optimal.
I have no problem paying back into the system that's worked so well for so many people. (Disagree with me that it's worked well? Look around. How many of the types of people you encounter on a regular basis do you think would be alive and leading relatively decent lives if we had zero government?) It's really sad to me that so many people just want to dismantle the whole thing rather than try to fix the problems.
Although I generally agree with you -- lots of people have tough jobs. Lots of people have hard jobs that they can't get away from. That doesn't mean that they should make 3-4x the average wage for their locale; especially not when it's public money.
Same thing applies to Slashdot. Threads of this exact nature pop up every 2 months or so for the last 10 years -- and the point they're trying to make is still incorrect.
But they do punch a hole in the big media's arguments that they need draconian IP laws passed to protect their business. I think that's the bigger point; I rarely see people argue that they are *entitled* to the products of the RIAA or MPAA, just that pirating them doesn't actually hurt the industry as much as they claim -- if it even hurts them at all.
Conservatives want a small state, exactly the opposite of your fallacious cry of "fascists!"
Then please take your party back from whatever is currently running it. Please.
Until then, STFU about what conservatives want, because from what we've seen over the last 10 years, the conservative legislators in this country want: the TSA, the PATRIOT act, a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage (wtf does that have to do with 'conservative' principles? Oh -- you've defined it as 'immoral' -- how convenient), denial of health care to anyone who can't afford it (and by God they'll make sure there are plenty of low paying jobs in places like Texas to make sure people can't afford it), no campaign finance reform (get money out of politics! Money is speech and you can't restrict how it's spent!), outlawing abortion and a half-century of legal precedent (again, you're perfectly happy with state use of force as long as it's something you *agree* with).
You're full of shit and so is your party. I'd happily vote for a Republican candidate if they were truly the less-evil option, but unfortunately I have to vote Democrat because I consider bad IP laws to be less-bad than all the crap Republicans promise they'll do.
That's funny... all I heard was Nugent claiming he would be dead or in jail. I kinda thought there could be a lot of other ways one could end up dead or in jail... and since Nugent didn't mention Obama being dead, assassinating the president isn't the most logical one.
How stupid do you have to pretend to be to believe this?
Nugent was full of shit anyway; everybody knows it. If he weren't, he'd be in jail now.
You are aware that a fairly significant fee goes to the DVD consortium for every copy of Windows sold, not to mention every Mac, PS3, XBox, or other device that has the ability to play DVDs, even if that's not the primary purpose?
On its face, this isn't nearly as big a deal as people are making it out to be. If Microsoft is going to actually use this to lower the price of Windows, I have no problem with it. (Though I have no plans to purchase Windows 8 anyway) That's a pretty big "if" though, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
As for your BIOS/RAM comparisons: not even remotely valid. No 3rd party entity gets to claim patent fees for either of those abilities.
Honestly -- there's tons of stuff to fill up a day with. Watching stories on the teevee just isn't that entertaining... or fulfilling, for that matter.
I knew that one of the compromises I'd be making by voting Obama was that he'd almost certainly side with the content industry. This issue isn't something I hold against Obama, because he never campaigned that he'd fight Big Media. I'm far more disappointed with him backing down on things he *did* campaign on.
That said, I also didn't feel that it would be much of a compromise, as a McCain administration would have done the same thing, with even more bad piled on top.
This shilling would be *much* more effective if you guys weren't so damn obvious about it. I mean come on, this isn't fooling anybody -- you get called out on it immediately and get stuck in -1 hell where most people won't even see your posts. If you're going to try to build a sockpuppet army, at least try a *little* subtlety.
Forgive the strawman, but I'd be willing to bet that you're one of those types that also gets all pissed off about how half of the population doesn't pay any income tax.
Slashdot Mirror
The sad thing is that it works! These shill/troll posts are so damn easy to spot (first post, within the same minute the article is posted, always critical of Google and praises Microsoft), but (like this one) they generally dominate the discussion because people don't just ignore them. I've scrolled nearly a 3rd of the way into the discussions and we're *still* on responses to this misinformation troll.
--Jeremy
Advertising is not free speech. We already have tons of laws about what can be said in advertisements. We have entire categories of products banned from advertising via various forms of media.
And, besides that, fuck push advertisers. They don't inform. They don't help. They play upon human psychology and insecurity to make people feel inferior if they don't have The Product. They try to associate themselves with warm, fuzzy feelings to make people feel good about The Product. They do not operate on a rational level. The sooner we're rid of them entirely the better.
--Jeremy
Rich people can and do make their money by investing in domestic real estate
Yeah, that worked out *so* well last decade.
--Jeremy
but I like my life here, and like most of my friends feel we can do anything we want with a little luck
Why the fuck do you people think that it's reasonable for "luck" to be a necessary component in being able to do what you want? Hard work, directed toward reasonable goals should be *all* it takes.
I'm not naive enough to think that getting lucky helps immensely in pretty much every aspect of life, but I do find it telling that you "with enough hard work you can get everything!"-types also tend to included that "and get a little lucky" clause. Hell, you even list it *before* the "some sweat" requirement.
--Jeremy
Why are the sums of money "vast"?
Because we, as a society, have determined that education should be expensive, and that it's a reasonable thing to make education a for-profit institution. (Textbooks. Sweetheart deals to companies that provide on-campus services, who then rake students for all they can take. Rent bubbles in housing that surrounds universities. And as a nice personal anecdote, replacing the nice, 100% free on-campus clinic run by the University from a tiny $100/semester fee with one run by the local hospital which won't see anyone without insurance ... which they provide for $500/semester, and automatically enroll you in if you don't specify your insurance provider on your registration forms. Oh, and the fee was just reappropriated for something else -- students saw no reduction after the change went into place.)
And on top of that, state governments keep cutting back on education funding, which raises tuition costs even higher.
I had a pretty similar situation to you; cheap state university for $600/semester, books were reasonable, parents lived close enough that I could just stay with them. Got a decent-paying on-campus job. I realize that I was lucky, and that most people aren't in that situation. And now? That same university is charging nearly $3000/semester, and they've done all they can to eliminate all worthwhile student jobs on campus (we want everybody to be full-time!)
There's no mystery here. This is not 1990 and the game has changed. To not understand why shows either willful ignorance or outright denial.
--Jeremy
This is basically what I tell people too. I don't ever expect to get much out of SS or medicare, but at the very least I figure that my taxes are helping to keep some seniors from having to eat cat food to make ends meet. My own remaining grandmother is quite well off -- both she and my grandfather worked many years for a state university and saved their money. I don't necessarily get to see the immediate benefit of these programs, but I know that they do a lot of good for people, even if they're not optimal.
I have no problem paying back into the system that's worked so well for so many people. (Disagree with me that it's worked well? Look around. How many of the types of people you encounter on a regular basis do you think would be alive and leading relatively decent lives if we had zero government?) It's really sad to me that so many people just want to dismantle the whole thing rather than try to fix the problems.
--Jeremy
Are you saying the more civilized our society is the higher the taxes are supposed to be ?
No, but nice strawman!
--Jeremy
Although I generally agree with you -- lots of people have tough jobs. Lots of people have hard jobs that they can't get away from. That doesn't mean that they should make 3-4x the average wage for their locale; especially not when it's public money.
--Jeremy
Same thing applies to Slashdot. Threads of this exact nature pop up every 2 months or so for the last 10 years -- and the point they're trying to make is still incorrect.
But they do punch a hole in the big media's arguments that they need draconian IP laws passed to protect their business. I think that's the bigger point; I rarely see people argue that they are *entitled* to the products of the RIAA or MPAA, just that pirating them doesn't actually hurt the industry as much as they claim -- if it even hurts them at all.
--Jeremy
George Soros.
Thanks for putting that right up front to let us know to quit reading.
--Jeremy
Conservatives want a small state, exactly the opposite of your fallacious cry of "fascists!"
Then please take your party back from whatever is currently running it. Please.
Until then, STFU about what conservatives want, because from what we've seen over the last 10 years, the conservative legislators in this country want: the TSA, the PATRIOT act, a constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage (wtf does that have to do with 'conservative' principles? Oh -- you've defined it as 'immoral' -- how convenient), denial of health care to anyone who can't afford it (and by God they'll make sure there are plenty of low paying jobs in places like Texas to make sure people can't afford it), no campaign finance reform (get money out of politics! Money is speech and you can't restrict how it's spent!), outlawing abortion and a half-century of legal precedent (again, you're perfectly happy with state use of force as long as it's something you *agree* with).
You're full of shit and so is your party. I'd happily vote for a Republican candidate if they were truly the less-evil option, but unfortunately I have to vote Democrat because I consider bad IP laws to be less-bad than all the crap Republicans promise they'll do.
--Jeremy
Obama and the Left want a domestic government-controlled & employed labor force. They believe that nearly all jobs should be government jobs.
Strawman. Didn't bother reading the rest.
--Jeremy
That's funny... all I heard was Nugent claiming he would be dead or in jail. I kinda thought there could be a lot of other ways one could end up dead or in jail... and since Nugent didn't mention Obama being dead, assassinating the president isn't the most logical one.
How stupid do you have to pretend to be to believe this?
Nugent was full of shit anyway; everybody knows it. If he weren't, he'd be in jail now.
--Jeremy
You cited threats, but there were none, except the moronic misrepresentations in those strawman articles.
--Jeremy
while US "liberals" want a liberal reading of founding documents (allowing for things like abuse of the interstate commerce clause)
Strawman.
and liberal application of government solutions (as much as the tax base can bear)
Strawman.
--Jeremy
You are aware that a fairly significant fee goes to the DVD consortium for every copy of Windows sold, not to mention every Mac, PS3, XBox, or other device that has the ability to play DVDs, even if that's not the primary purpose?
On its face, this isn't nearly as big a deal as people are making it out to be. If Microsoft is going to actually use this to lower the price of Windows, I have no problem with it. (Though I have no plans to purchase Windows 8 anyway) That's a pretty big "if" though, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.
As for your BIOS/RAM comparisons: not even remotely valid. No 3rd party entity gets to claim patent fees for either of those abilities.
--Jeremy
Was with you 'til the last paragraph.
Maybe you're from a different country, but I've never seen US football demonized in the US media. Worshiped would be a more appropriate description.
--Jeremy
Not proud enough to sign your name to it, apparently.
--Jeremy
Better? That's awfully subjective.
--Jeremy
Ditch it all.
Honestly -- there's tons of stuff to fill up a day with. Watching stories on the teevee just isn't that entertaining ... or fulfilling, for that matter.
--Jeremy
I knew that one of the compromises I'd be making by voting Obama was that he'd almost certainly side with the content industry. This issue isn't something I hold against Obama, because he never campaigned that he'd fight Big Media. I'm far more disappointed with him backing down on things he *did* campaign on.
That said, I also didn't feel that it would be much of a compromise, as a McCain administration would have done the same thing, with even more bad piled on top.
--Jeremy
Many of those 10,000 supported the demise of the 3k, so I'm just fine with that.
Figures that you'd have no problem with innocents dying, as long as we take out a few bad guys with them.
Also, you're off by an order of magnitude.
--Jeremy
This shilling would be *much* more effective if you guys weren't so damn obvious about it. I mean come on, this isn't fooling anybody -- you get called out on it immediately and get stuck in -1 hell where most people won't even see your posts. If you're going to try to build a sockpuppet army, at least try a *little* subtlety.
--Jeremy
The weather system. It's not that difficult to see what GP meant, unless you're being deliberately dense.
--Jeremy
Forgive the strawman, but I'd be willing to bet that you're one of those types that also gets all pissed off about how half of the population doesn't pay any income tax.
--Jeremy