..but I think everyone is getting it bass ackwards. That fine cinched it for me. the fix got put firmly in. It was beyond a jokeski. Government-behind the scenes, tells microsoft what to do, to obfuscate the origins of some of the more draconian steps they are taking. Look at it in conjunction with all the other weirdo laws they are passing, it's part of it. The public "conviction" was a joke and a ruse. Microsoft being the 'default' computer system is where they concentrate their efforts. There would be a larger hue and cry against any such schemes if "government" all by itself just announced ultra closed and hackable by "the man" brand machines and OSes as 'the law', but by sliding them in via their co-opted company, they can accomplish it with greater ease and deniability, calling it "normal market forces,and we need 'security' you aren't a communist and an e-vile hacker are you?". Like that there.. I mean, how many high level bosses REALLY want to go to the slammer when they get an offer they can't refuse, and WHAT might they agree to to avoid that fate? That's a pretty easy couple of questions to answer, with odds of being probably correct on your first guess.
the government does it all the time, it's called "stroke of the (bribed) pen, law of the land". When is the last time you could buy a new scanner that got cell phone freqs? You used to be able to buy one legally, now you have to jump through smuggling hoops or be a leet modder. Heck, they even mandated some TV specs so you couldn't tune in to some freqs. They "passed a law". When was the last time you could legally put a no BS carb that actually worked efficiently on your car? You can't now legally, although you can get "off road" carbs, if you are caught with one installed and driving on the road it's a serious fine and/or your vehicle gets seized. I have an example right now with my jeep, the stock legal carb just sucks large donkey nuts, it never works correctly, I KNOW from networking with 4 wheeler guys an off road carb works better and makes less pollution because it will stay inside specs-but it's "illegal" to install one. So, I haven't, don't want to take a chance on having my vehicle impounded. How about the classic watching a DVD legally on your linux box? You can't do it legally.
They pass laws affecting hardware all the time, it's a constant with bribed "government". They could EASILY pass a law stating no such and such styled MOBOs can be produced or imported into the US unless they had these "security features" installed that would restrict you and identify you in various ways. They could also go so far as to restrict any non complint hardware from accessing the internet, enforce it at the ISP and telco level, making your older tech obsolete, forcing upgrades, or making you take a risk of a label of being a criminal, subject to..whatever. They are just getting rolling with busting the P2P swappers, think they are going to just stop now?
It's all doable. That's what all these new super DMCA styled laws are all about, applying it to exact hardware specs is the next logical step for "them", them being the monopolists and the opposite side of the demon siamese twin 'government". And they got the buckets of coin and people with bad attidues with guns to make it happen, and you don't got the buckets of coin and personal armies to make it *not* happen, complain as you might, in most cases anyway. You might "get away with it" for some time as a scofflaw and flaunter, similar thinking has lead to over 2 million people in prison today,the vast majority of whom thought they were "leet" enough to "get away with" various drug possession and transfer. Stupid laws, yes. Enforceable? yes, to any level the government chooses to enforce them. If there's a buck in it for someone,and especially a cartel of someones with stealth monopoly on their minds, they will pass and 'enforce" whatever they want to, constitution be danged with those people. It's a joke to them, and every one knows it.
The goons have a way of making things happen in their favor, it seems to work for them. They use the carrot and the stick approach, and unless your carrots are much bigger and juicier and your stick much harder and faster, you will lose,and they will win in the long run.
wouyld you be kind enough to name the non-free but "better and faster" windowing environments for linux, as opposed to the xfree86 "stock" dealie that comes with most distros? Thank you.
--ah, I was not aware that such a tool didn't already exist. Being a still neophyte at this I am still learning various tools. Making "one" tool that *does it all* seems logical, except for the single point of failure phenomenon then.
Of course, you are correct, most "normal" users don't seem to need this. In fact, as a "normal" user, I must say I certainly...uh.. enjoy... all the "volunteer" efforts that kind hearted "outside auditors" seem to be always giving me... uhh ya... enjoy..... I guess.....
..ok, that makes sense. so in order to do that, following normal procedure (made infamous in the OJ case) you need a provable uncorrupted "chain of evidence" from start to finish.
Turbocharged DRM would of necessity be part of that along with the allegedly "incorruptable" logs. It matters now what you are looking at with regards to this theoretical 'crime" if the evidentiary analysis would not be able to prove a "perp". Proving the crime occurred seems to be the premise of the hardened logs, but proving who did it is still ellusive WITHOUT mandated suber turbo DRM styled efforts.
--short answer? Exactly what you are seeing now. the government taking over industries. I think you'll see the airlines nationalised soon. Perhaps after that the "energy" industries. I'd say those industries related to war production are defacto government industries now, there really is not much difference except surface level on paper. Patriot Act and Homeland Security are the first waves of government consolidation and takeover.
On the pure money side, they-"they" being the highest level of finance and industry you can see and imagine- are desperate for the cashless society, cash doesn't allow them the fine-tuned control they want. They want the ability to own all of everything, then dole out an allowance. More intrusive and most likely biometric based IDs, right into implantable microchips. All the military bases have people trained in this already, with pets of all things. It is required now in those places to have your pet "chipped". The price is cheap now, the chips work, the procedure is fast. Accounts are that certain "special" forces in the military are chipped, soon it will be the entire military, then the general population. More command and control is available then obviously. And this being this forum, you knopw it is almost impossible to completely keep up with miniaturization advances, on what chips are capable of. You can just imagine some of what they must lust for in that regard.
As the US declines as a wealth producing -manufacturing nation, we have to use what is in essence colonial styled efforts to maintain aquisition of manufactured goods, but we can't make it LOOK like colonialization, hence, "globalization" styled efforts, moving plants and factories around to the most exploitable areas. It's a double edged sword thopugh, it cuts on the back stroke as has been pointed out previous. You need consumers with income to purchase products. when someone loses a good job, with no replacement readily at hand , or a replacement at a much lower wage, then you lose the consumer-potential that negates any "savings" to widget builder A or B from "moving offshore". No customers means NO customers. This rush to offshore is a sop to "shareholders" so they can see temporary quarterly profits that have no sustainable base-or base in reality. a middle class tradesman may pawn his tools on friday night and look very "rivh" all weekend, but come moneday morning it is "uh oh!" time. when an antire industry or corporation does that though? that is called a "sound business decision", because for that "weekend" period they sure look smart, they "made money" on paper. they sold the ability to KEEP making money tho8gh. Factories are just very large tools. If you run your tool yourself, personally or inside your nation, you get the product, the 'wealth" that is created, and when that wealth is spread out over a large base of your neighbors-you all benefit. when it's neighbors over yonder someplace-well, this just isn't hard to see, and our balance of payments deficit clearly show this. Clearly. That and to maintain the salaries of the ultra owners guild of internationalists-the people at the cocktail parties with the high level pols and generals. They get to "enjoy" some quicker term profits as well, and for one more quarter they can keep their lap dog "investors" and "stock holders" at the lower levels from revolting..
If you look at that, most all the foreign policy and domestic policy winds up benefiting those people, it becomes clearer. You have to ALWAYS keep seperate credit as opposed to accumulated wezlth, too many people call them "the same" which means they are missing the larger picture.
Now some here have posted that POV that simplifies things and makes it appear to be some marxian plot, etc, which I reject totally. I just call 'em like I see 'em. All you have to do is just LOOK at it, and be honest about, don't see what you think you see, just look at it with a clean slate, white room approach. You can blast past the smoke and mirros marketing razzle dazzle then.
I see in the article that the linux kernel "lacks" such and such for security auditing? Would one of ya'all gurus please explain this? I thought there were a plethora of auditing tools and schemes already. Thanks in advance!
--I'm not sure on ebays long term viability. As soon as the tagging and tracking and TAXING infrastructure is more in place, I think you will see a serious drop in ebaying. Most people like the "no tax, little or no records" idea behind ebay, plus the low overhead. Once that overhead becomes a normal pain in the tush like any brick and mortar shop, I think it will just be a few (relatively speaking) companies doing it. The US, contrary to popular shilled notion, is NOT friendly to small business, it's a regulatory and over taxed bureaucratic nightmare. Ebay has been a sweet dodge for some people, but the tax man is smelling blood in the water now.
... the biggest threat to the food supply is government weather manipulation and international food monopolist GM seeds that cause it so you can't save your own seeds, IMO. We *could* feed ourselves without massive quantities of petroleum products but it would be super rough for several years during a transition period, our entire ag biz is just not set up that way, nor are the people setup in any way to do that, because it's labor intensive. If something happned, I think millions would perish the first few years, inevitable. Just can't see the millions in the cities being able to cope. I remember my older relatives telling me about the great depression, how rough it was then, and we still had 40% or so of the population still living on farms. Now it's less than 2% or something like that. Any major economic crach/depression now will approach *hellish* levels.
I don't have a stock portfolio but I have several years of stored food, and a garden and a large seed supply, just worried that local faked out farmers will plant terminator or some such seeds and make mine unviable. So, I learned a lot of wild plants as well, well, did that since I was growing up actually. I could take care of myself and girlfriend quite easily back in the sticks here, but it wouldn't be comfortable like now, but livable.
As to guns and knowing how to use them, we'll give that a double "yep", I hear ya man. Might come to that what with what is going down all over. I don't know on that, but I am expecting the globalists to push for a world government and total control, once the various global wolf packs sort out who is going to be the top dog.
Ya, wealth is the "stuff" that is produced, it is either grown, mined, or manufactired from what is grown or mined. people just forget that constantly, and get credit digits confused with "wealth". Not my call, lucky enough to be born when real money was in the pocket and a nation was wealthy by what it made, not what it scammed and skimmed. Now....I dunno, sure seems unsustainable though, I can't see the rest of the planet subsisidising the US and using our funny money "petrodollars" once they no longer need our markets. What's in it for them then? Nothing. zilch, just costs them, they gain zero. It's become cliched, but the US is everyday resembling Imperial Rome as much as any other historical example you might look at.
--we get a much longer growing season, but I really enjoy winter-no bugs! I DO miss ice fishing though, grew up in michigan. I don't miss 6 months or more winter, one month is nice enough, a few good snowfalls every winter.
Anyway, I got baby tomatoes already. Got quite a few small peaches and apples, etc.already, and most everything else is up and growing fine. Looks like our normal "wet" summer, we seem to alternate drought/floods. North Georgia. It's OK, have to see it is quite pretty here most of the time. Plus I get to "pass". I got them long hairs,and am an ex-yankee (reformed now) but so do a lot of the local bubbas, so I can blend in, and being able to speak "rural" as well I can get by.
Ya, storms, pretty nasty, just looking at drudge, few dozen souls have passed on since last night with the twisters. When I was a kid,second grade or so,I saw one on my way to the basement with my mom, it was exploding some houses up the street. You just do NOT forget scenes like that.
--I only know one person (well a family) who lives SUPER in boonieville in canada. They are missionaries,and use some sort of satellite last I heard, because that's the only way to get any internet access. There aren't even regular phones where they are.
canada is a huge nation geographically, has a very small population, with most of that population clustered in some areas mostly close to the US border. I think if you look at similar geography and pop density areas inside the states you would be able to find similar broadband service.
So, well, ya, you are correct.
Now I live outside any big urban area. Right now I've had to drop to a 14.4 modem because it's summer storm season and the telco lines are so crappy with static and line noise now that my 33 and 56 modems won't even work. The 14.4 though blasts right on through, haven't dropped a connection all day with massive rain and lightning, etc. Kinda cool, better than nothing. Anyway,broadband, adsl version,-if I could get it this far out-is 70$ a month, plus a 30$ phone line. That's 100 clams a month. Drive to the big city there are a number of 30 buck options. I have yet to read about any sort of wired solution that works more than two miles away from some telco substation, which is just a massive amount of land area of the US. Not anything that doesn't require string miles of new cable and getting access, etc, so I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.
Broadband will continue-with some exceptions obviously, but *mostly*-to be an urban and suburban phenomenon most places until it is wireless. And someone some place is going to have to make an executive decision on the spectrum. I'll be danged if I go out and buy the latest expensive wireless gizmo of the month to find out it's obsolete the next month. And one thousand dollar satellite service is just not *it*.
You nailed it exactly. I WISH someone would create the most extremely complicated hard to use POS linux "distro" in the world so the elitist "power user" snobs could all go over there on "1337 15l4|\|D" website and argue about it. The ultimate sheer snobbery distro. So complicated you can never quite get it installed or working, but you can get close enough to "almost" make it look like it might happen..next year..maybe.
I mean DANG I like driving and doing my own mechanics, but I am NOT wanting to go mine the ore, smelt it, forge parts, do all the machining, etc, just to have a car to drive. Enoughs enough on the "complexity is cool" snobbishness, like it's the most important thing on earth.
I would love to never read the words "library whatever.sol.4.U needed" just to install some app. I think anything that can make that happen in open source and free or semi free is a good idea. People aren't so much opposed to paying for something, they just don't want to get raped, and then still have it not work or be insecure. There exists a HUGE untapped market for MODERATE priced, works great, secure computers and whatever OS runs on them. Maybe OSX is it, but it loses on price, and I'm an old mac hand who's been priced out of their market, sorry stevie, too 'spensive for me now. Windows I just could never be "right" with, it always gave me a case of the icky cooties to sit down in front of it, it was just...wrong, and still expensive. Linux so far is still too complicated and infested with snobbery. I applaud all the de-snobbing efforts. I'll support those guys, the ones who seek to keep it closed to all but the most hard core hobbiests and snobs-naw, no support, that's just too weird a concept.
It's like goldilocks and the three bears, SOMEPLACE there needs to be something "just right" for the majority of users to be comfortable with and to sit down and use the thing without emptying the wallet or getting owned in 10 minutes and not be able to do anything with it and having it obsolete in 6 months.. the computer and software industry is chock fulla busywork it appears and artifical pricing and planned obsolesence examples. it's nuts, it's like complaining is just a normal part of "computerdom" because stuff getst to the point where it almost looks like it's "done" then WHAM, they change it all around, so all your stuff is now obsolete and useless and insecure again. Why is this????
Maybe lindows will do it, don't know, never tried it. I hope something comes along though. I liked what he had to say in the article, he is on to something. His release from what I read isn't perfect, but I can see he "gets it" overall in what most people want with "computers".
--I probably should have kept my personal life out of the reply, but I stuck it in, to illustrate the point of someone in some industry claiming they were stolen from can be applied in a variety of ways, just the way the laws are skewed, some alliance like the movie industry can claim theft, but if you lose your entire job to some company moving off shore it's just "business". It's based on PURELY arbitrary man-written laws, whcih could be changed overnight.. I have failed to see if they "lose" anything how it is any different other than their "lobbying-fu" has more cash to use as bribes to have laws written in their favor..
Governments all over the planet are all examples of some form of socialism, there are no examples I am aware of that are anything but socialism. The degrees and methods change and differ,(and people argue over silly semantics of words) but they all take wealth/capital/produced goods and property from one place and re distribute it to another. That's socialism, the most die hard republican and the most die hard one party dictator or workers democrastic party or you name it all propose the same form of "government", just they want it their way so it favors them, but it really is based on theft from one to redistribute to another. When it's voluntary it's charity and sharing, when it is coerced by some "law" it's socialism. Some emphasize living humans over artificial persons, some vice versa than that, but they all *steal and redistribute*. I see no pure "capitalistic" society, just socialism combined with a command and control order-and edict-issuing "authority".
As to very far into the future, pure replicators, no need for actual work, "jobs" completely obsolete.... Hmmm.. Not seeing it happen. Interesting concept, I think humans will destroy themselves first, misuse of atomics, chemicals, bio technology, all of the above. We as humans always USE tech right along with MISUSE tech, weith misuse I'll define as developing advanced weapons that are used in a predatory fashion, and advanced surveillance and other fascistic trends. So, no, I really can't see an altrusitic communistic society arising on any planetary scale, unless there's some massive evolutionary consciousness jump that will happen in the generation that is young people right now, and since that didn't happen obviously, oh well. The advances now are exponential, the social advances are...about the same they were 1000 years ago. Some slight changes, but in reality-not many.
I know this is off the topic of automation and global economy and whatnot as it stands today, but in a way it isn't, as the rate we are going is unsustainable, it's a race to the most advanced tech combined with the most ruthless society and governments and exquisite control over populations, ie "no freedoms, every aspect of your life controlled down to.. how you flush I guess".
How long can that continue, looking at the tech today, and even being quite conservative on tech advance extrapolations?
Not long I'd say.
As to gall, sure I'l admit to putting out my fair share! HAHAHA! Easy to see if you got some legit beefs! In retrospect I would have left out the personal stuff, but, I didn't, so there ya go.
--anything you can do for cash is good, yardsales etc. Tell you something else, this time of year, put in that garden if you haven't done so. Garden saved my sanity and wallet last year, this year it's bigger. I made about squat last month, so low I am medium embarrassed to even quote a figure, it's beyond ridiculous, and no unemployment checks or anything. I still like to *eat* though, I always have had a very extensive pantry and a garden, it just makes sense, costs little to do, and is a direct way to pay yourself in something vital, no "cash" action absolutely needed if you have the piece of dirt to use.
Ya, it's hard to start over, in some cases almost impossible and is a real soul killer depending on your age I guess. Done it several times already, I am not *totally* discouraged, but I will say I am beyond annoyed now. Well beyond it. Don't know about a life of crime, but seeing some ceos and politicians hanging from tress would not terribly upset me at this point. I know they'd just get replaced with similar goons, so oh well....
Here, just working towards a smaller little place we can own outright. Looked last friday at yet again another terribly over priced piece of land, well, seems over priced. I think these property prices will drop soon though, as the economy kicks more and more people hard, they were grossly inflated over the last few years it appears. Once we find one, that's it, paid off as soon as possible, small organic farm action, then sell used widgets on the side and that's it, going to be content with the sheer basics from here on out, I don't see the US economy as lasting much longer, it is just SO skewed towards unrealistic expectations based on greed and insanity that to me it's almost indescribale. I don't know how people think an economy that consists of mostly managers, sales people,middle man skimmers, the entertainment industry and government workers is supposed to remain viable forever. What true industry we have left is only being sustained by the short term profits of yet again moving them off shore, or importing third world workers. There IS going to be a mass tipping over point and a huge snowball effect. I think we are *this close* to it happening.
I try to not inject my personal life when I look at and write on macro policies and effects and events, but being "downsized" several times, it forces you to just LOOK at the over all position, and what I see is that I am just lucky enough to see it coming because it already hit me. People who it hasn't happened to yet are still in denial. Same exact people who thought their stocks at a totally ridiculous profits and earnings ratio were "real", those people. Just can't see it coming, and what's worse, don't WANT to see it so don't look hard enough.
Here's a nice doomer url for you, another economic article:
--long time ago I was in the UAW, before the japanese car invasion. I would argue endlessly with the other guys around the plant that we needed to watch out on this stuff, that we were making seriously good money now and if we didn't watch it we would get hammered by imports. I actually wanted a wage freeze, which of course was utterly ridiculous to everyone else. I was told I was nuts, "no one will ever buy those things". It was simple math and extrapolation to me, when raises were more than the minimum wage, and every time a new contract came around, with no vast increases in productivity and the costs of cars rising, I could see it was unsustainable and would cripple the industry eventually. It was just easy to see. Cars as a percentage of gross average yearly income are very expensive now, they used to be not that costly. What is it up to now, 60 months on a car loan? I think it was only 12 back then, something like that. Anyway, extremely easy to see where it started to go wrong, easy to see back then, too, greed, everyone and their cousin leroy is greedy. it's really that simple... yet you saw not much in the way of the learned pundits or the union bosses or corporate management admitting to it or acknowledging it back then. They were at the headwaters of the river de-nial. Most people still are. Everyone piucks numbers out of their nether regions to claim what they are "worth". that might last for awhile,but it SURE isn't going to last when the major political forces just dump the planet wide open. you just are NOT going to "compete" with second and third world nations without BECOMING a second or third world nation. the US IS going to become a second world nation, and soon too, IMO. I am as completely sure of this as I was the japanese grabbing a major slice of the car market in the US, and I thibnk the total economic ramifications will be much worse than that example. Much, much worse, you are seeing the openings of it now in fact. People are enjoying the last of the economic "good old days" in this nation. Job loss, prices rising, pensions and retirements busted, stagflation, government spending just absurd, stock market still a complete sham, yada yada yada. gonna get really ugly. All because of universal *greed* top to bottom, and treating credit as accumulated wealth, whern those are two separate things..
I really have not much use for either the managers/bosses in the various companies or the stewards and hierarchy in the unions, both crook-class goons as far as I am concerned. Both are sellouts and uber greedy and just *bad* when it comes to over-all economics. I tell you I could NOT find one person to agree with me back then. So ya, I'll agree it is *somewhat* the unions fault, but it's also the fault of so called "free trade" that doesn't use a quid pro quo excise tax system with other nations, and that allows "dumping" and tax breaks for moving industries off shore. I'd say unions/management/political foreign policy (basically whichever bribes are the biggest) are equal shares in the job loss market for blue collars in the rust belt. It's now hitting a variety of white and pink collar jobs and I am AMAZED that so many just couldn't see it coming. Like, where was it hidden? It's been blatant and open for years and years now, how could anyone not see the loss of jobs when you move industries overseas and lose customers for those same industries? A major middle class job loss is a major middle class consumer lost as well. It is completely equal. In fact it's worse,if you look at it deeper, because the dollars don't get re spent around the more local economy. Now, along with moving jobs offshore, they also allow in just completely unrealistic numbers of illegal aliens to work, just far and beyond any rational numbers, completely violating the laws. All right when we had vast amounts of free land and just beginning serious industry, now that that isn't true it needs serious controls. When it was just crass stoop labor, no one cared, now it's in all the skilled trades, serious mi
... hitting the reply button, whilst logged in, reveals the post anonymous check box is still there. No idea why you do not see it. Perhaps post your config instead of just cursing at the owners? maybe it's only broken with some combinations?
FWIW, old coal burner pentium, linux,i686, moz 1.3b browser
--maybe they have some near space craft already? Brilliant Buzzard? Or do you think the B2 and the shuttle are the most advanced that are in use at this time?
I have no "secret" knowledge of any of those programs, but I would be highly surprised if we *don't* have a variety of way more advanced aircraft right now. Some probably with space or near space capabilities depending on your definitions of what those are. They certainly have spent quite the impressive pile of sums over the years that doesn't show up as exact book keeping entries for public view..
--sort of one of those coinky-dinks. Last night late before I retired I had a flash that sun was going to be sold-to apple! I mean, it was almost like a daydream/vision sort of thing. It seems a logical progression to me, and follows apples concepts of an integrated hardware/software business model. They would have an *almost* complete vertical "computing" business then, from the lowliest desktop to enterprise class 'stuff' in their stable.
--an even further analysis shows that at some point "IP" as property is going to be fairly silly. What would a geek really want in his kitchen? A star trek replicator? How would the farmers pay their bills then, once their job and work is outdistanced by available technology?
What this is is an example of the age old rift between protectionism and advances in technology and more open markets. The paradigm of the IP creator being a full time "worker" who garners all his wage with producing those works has always changed over time. At one point only the royals were rich enough to "own" a painting, or to keep a court musician on the payroll, or to have "theater on demand". Only a few owned books, because of the monopoly of the royal religious scribes, who hand copied bibles etc.
Right now we are at a major crossroads again, as the technology already exists to make a large part of "IP" business obsolete. That's why they are pulling out all the stops, they right now can be replaced. So you then have to ask, which parts still require "protectionism".
I find this sort of amusing, moving in political circles where up into about two years ago, white collar workers were sneering at blue collar workers as their jobs got "outsourced" and "made redundant" by advances in technology and the markets. Myself being a blue collar worker noted that is was few and far between that I could see much support (on the web in forums) from much higher paid people than I, working in "still vibrant" economies such as IT/IP. I got laughed at, put down, told to STFU, that my "work" was buggy whip work that modernization and automation and the "free market" made obsolete, so tough luck. Now that THEIR paycheck is threatened, by outsourcing and automation,by improvements in technology, by the skills required to produce this sort of "product" becoming lower and easier, etc, they are crying foul, FOUL they say,they are "wondering how they will feed their families and pay their mortgage".
Well, same thing I kept getting told and keep getting told, at a retirement (or close enough) age, "learn a new skill, perhaps the old one isn't as relevant any more, keep up with the times, pull yourself up with your boot straps" and etc.
SUCKS to get told that doesn't it? Pretty easy to slam it out when it's someone else, isn't it, real easy? But it SUCKS to take it, doesn't it,. sucks to be honest, to actually SEE reality.
"IP" busy-ness and it's related side "jobs" as a full time "job" is rapidly being replaced with automation and ease-of-accomplisment.
GASP, OH NO!!! Geeks who type arcane symbols fall out of chairs all over, "artistes" swoon and get the economic vapors, middle man skimmers get red in the face, demand "laws, we say MORE,MORE, AND MORE LAWS!!! TO PROTECT....." Whatever. Whoops, you are demanding "protectioinism". wow.
It is no different from ANY other industry, nothing special or magical about anyone's "job" there. You never got handed a lifelong job/profit guarantee. Joe Bubba in the factiory doesn't have it, and is losing bigtime, told to "get with the program". Joe Farmer at the family farm is going through it. Where is it carved in stone that programmers and entertainment "artistes" and middle man "trader-skimmers" are guaranteed a full time job that "pays all the bills"?
Soon-perhaps- it will be possible for the end user-the consumer-to "program on demand" applications exactly like they want them. What then? Soon it will be possible to have huge amounts of "entertainments" created-not even copied but CREATED "on demand", cheaply and at the single consumer level. If anyone forgot, it was blacksmiths that "put themselves out of business". The metal workers did it to themselves. today, engineers are putting themselves out of business, as they concentrate on automation-even with their own jobs! When I was a kid, AUTOCAD did NOT exist.
Where do you draw the line on advances in technology? Should we still be paying scribes to hand copy books? At one time it was
..there was no presidential election in 2002. There was a federal election for the house and senate, and a lot of local elections, but our next federal election for pres is in 2004. Dubya is in his first term still.
... the government only uses as much "terrorist" incidents as are required to accomplish their tasks.
Don't get sucked into the propaganda that so many do. OKC, WTC attack 1, WTC attack 2, and the anthrax attacks were all shadow government inspired, lead, allowed to happen, known about in advance, all of the above. they accomplished their tasks. You said "And it's a hard thing to talk about, because the government seems to keep a lot of information from us."
Yes, but sometimes they are lame enough to get caught at it. It's a matter of taste, how many times do you personally have to be lied to before you stop trusting someone? What's your tolerance threshold?
Are we still free? No, not even near as free as we were just a few decades ago. I'll tell you I NEVER went through random courtesy "roadblocks" before, back then. I didn't need electronic thumbprints for a "license", there wasn't a video camera on almost every corner. We didn't have random "school shootings" with a common denominator of student forced drugging and adult "mentors" that seem to always coincident time wise with important legislation action in congress. we didn't have "anthrax" attacks when other important 'security" legislation was being ramrodded through. we didn't have random "mad sniper" attacks in the DC area when, again, extremely important 'security" legislation was being "debated. on and on, there are a lot of strange "coincidences" the past several years.... Now we DID have an obvious presidential assassination that "they" got completely away with, and some of "they" are still alive name brand humans. Hint, see "secret police" as a keyword to jog the memory cells. If it's in another nation we say "secret police". Use the same terms, don't switch them around to feel more comfortable. Just be fair looking at any nation, then things get clearer. Is it as bad as east germany before the wall came down? No, it's not, but ask yourself this very important question, do you WAIT until it really is _that_ bad, or do you assemble the clues, note the trends and patterns,do some extrapolation based on what you can see and find out now, look back, do some ball park figuring, and decide it WILL get that bad if it's not stopped in it's tracks on the way there? Or do you just say "heck with it, it's not as bad as nation x" and excuse what is happening? "Well honey, shutup, you just got raped and beat up, but it could have been worse you know, that bad man could have sliced you up". It's the same sort of logic train, obviously sorta flawed, but it's a decent analogy.
I'll tell you,just anecdotally, until you *personally* have been a victim of government "wrongness", or see it happen to someone close to you, you will not make the connections as readily, you will not see it as "bad" as the actual victim,you might deny it ever even happens perhaps, you'll keep it as an intellectual curiosity. You mentioned it, you personally haven't seen it. I'll tell you personally it happened, still happens, and is getting worse. Your turn will come, you can wait, or look around for evidence it has happened, and believe me, you'll find it if you honestly look for it. Just like innocent people-anywhere- who get blown to bits, they (would if still alive) think it's a tad worse than being labeled as "collateral damage".
Best recommendation for anyone,in any nation, society, group, political party, is to STEP BACK for a sec intellectually away from being in that "group", take an honest clean room look at things. You can't see the whole if you are in the middle of it, you have to take a step back.
Oh, 9-11, back to that, just google 9-11, government prior knowledge, involvement, that will get you going. It is NOT as cut and dried as the 6 o clock news and joe government say it is. It just ain't. Basically, it's a reichstagg event. it's being used in an identical way. but, look yourself, you'll see some interesting coincidences and unanswered questions and some odd bits of data that are rather..disturbing.
.... deal with it. what is the % of computers connected to the internet, well over 90% microsoft based, running microsoft email clients? This is yes/no binary. It appears to be *yes*. Ergo, the solution, that will make the most good in the quickest time and be the best all around is to somehow get ALL those machines to have filters of some sort, and "more secure" features. That isn't bashing, it's just reality. If every single mac, linux, unix whatever machine on the net was 100% totally secure, how much spam and viruses would there still be? Buhzillions still? Be honest, you know it would still be horrendous. it's dealing with 100 million computers running microsoft products that are the problem once you get past the few hundred major spammers. the spammers exist because the microsoft running machines are EASY TARGETS.
It's just data, get over it. Microsoft has billions cash and flocks and fleets of millionaires, they can spend some of that money to make the internet more secure and to help with the spam and virus problem, and they can also do it without turning the internet into microsoftnet. That they choose not to is THEIR decision, not mine. It's up to them to ship more secure products and to include an email client that has filtering and other securing qualities to it. Asking people by the tens of millions to go out and find software and download it and try to make it work is *not* the answer, and this is just SO obvious. YES, it IS mostly their problem. When SPAM and viruses weren't a big deal, swell, who could blame them, the internet was designed for ease of communications PERIOD. That was then, this is now. Now that we know that there are problems associated with that, it's up to them to get on the stick and do the right thing. And not just "more of the same" like they always do, but to make their products better and not smash other peoples products or create two different versions of the internet. They have the opportunity to be righteous, ball is in their court. If it was some other company, then that's what I'd say, because it's mostly -by an overwhelming majority- their machines we are talking about, well, that's the proper noun to use, it's just DATA. There's no "opinion" to it. NO SPAM or virus solution can be attempted without identifying and singling out "microsoft" as the primary place to institute "the fix".
hmm, the most windows are in the cockpit. I guess it makes it hard then, but obviously it must be "safe enough" now as it stands as long as they can keep these devices turned off inside the cabin. I also guess if they implement the steel bulkheads like proposed to thwart cabin breakins and skyjacking that it will help as well. I understand el al did that some years ago, as part of their "ain't gonna be no hijacking" measures.
Probably the easiest solution right now is just to make all electronic devices go into the hold. Too bad they can't guarantee "no theft" from the baggage handlers, though.
Slashdot Mirror
..but I think everyone is getting it bass ackwards. That fine cinched it for me. the fix got put firmly in. It was beyond a jokeski. Government-behind the scenes, tells microsoft what to do, to obfuscate the origins of some of the more draconian steps they are taking. Look at it in conjunction with all the other weirdo laws they are passing, it's part of it. The public "conviction" was a joke and a ruse. Microsoft being the 'default' computer system is where they concentrate their efforts. There would be a larger hue and cry against any such schemes if "government" all by itself just announced ultra closed and hackable by "the man" brand machines and OSes as 'the law', but by sliding them in via their co-opted company, they can accomplish it with greater ease and deniability, calling it "normal market forces,and we need 'security' you aren't a communist and an e-vile hacker are you?". Like that there.. I mean, how many high level bosses REALLY want to go to the slammer when they get an offer they can't refuse, and WHAT might they agree to to avoid that fate? That's a pretty easy couple of questions to answer, with odds of being probably correct on your first guess.
the government does it all the time, it's called "stroke of the (bribed) pen, law of the land". When is the last time you could buy a new scanner that got cell phone freqs? You used to be able to buy one legally, now you have to jump through smuggling hoops or be a leet modder. Heck, they even mandated some TV specs so you couldn't tune in to some freqs. They "passed a law". When was the last time you could legally put a no BS carb that actually worked efficiently on your car? You can't now legally, although you can get "off road" carbs, if you are caught with one installed and driving on the road it's a serious fine and/or your vehicle gets seized. I have an example right now with my jeep, the stock legal carb just sucks large donkey nuts, it never works correctly, I KNOW from networking with 4 wheeler guys an off road carb works better and makes less pollution because it will stay inside specs-but it's "illegal" to install one. So, I haven't, don't want to take a chance on having my vehicle impounded. How about the classic watching a DVD legally on your linux box? You can't do it legally.
They pass laws affecting hardware all the time, it's a constant with bribed "government". They could EASILY pass a law stating no such and such styled MOBOs can be produced or imported into the US unless they had these "security features" installed that would restrict you and identify you in various ways. They could also go so far as to restrict any non complint hardware from accessing the internet, enforce it at the ISP and telco level, making your older tech obsolete, forcing upgrades, or making you take a risk of a label of being a criminal, subject to..whatever. They are just getting rolling with busting the P2P swappers, think they are going to just stop now?
It's all doable. That's what all these new super DMCA styled laws are all about, applying it to exact hardware specs is the next logical step for "them", them being the monopolists and the opposite side of the demon siamese twin 'government". And they got the buckets of coin and people with bad attidues with guns to make it happen, and you don't got the buckets of coin and personal armies to make it *not* happen, complain as you might, in most cases anyway. You might "get away with it" for some time as a scofflaw and flaunter, similar thinking has lead to over 2 million people in prison today,the vast majority of whom thought they were "leet" enough to "get away with" various drug possession and transfer. Stupid laws, yes. Enforceable? yes, to any level the government chooses to enforce them. If there's a buck in it for someone,and especially a cartel of someones with stealth monopoly on their minds, they will pass and 'enforce" whatever they want to, constitution be danged with those people. It's a joke to them, and every one knows it.
The goons have a way of making things happen in their favor, it seems to work for them. They use the carrot and the stick approach, and unless your carrots are much bigger and juicier and your stick much harder and faster, you will lose,and they will win in the long run.
wouyld you be kind enough to name the non-free but "better and faster" windowing environments for linux, as opposed to the xfree86 "stock" dealie that comes with most distros? Thank you.
--ah, I was not aware that such a tool didn't already exist. Being a still neophyte at this I am still learning various tools. Making "one" tool that *does it all* seems logical, except for the single point of failure phenomenon then.
Of course, you are correct, most "normal" users don't seem to need this. In fact, as a "normal" user, I must say I certainly...uh.. enjoy... all the "volunteer" efforts that kind hearted "outside auditors" seem to be always giving me... uhh ya... enjoy..... I guess.....
%^)
..ok, that makes sense. so in order to do that, following normal procedure (made infamous in the OJ case) you need a provable uncorrupted "chain of evidence" from start to finish.
Turbocharged DRM would of necessity be part of that along with the allegedly "incorruptable" logs. It matters now what you are looking at with regards to this theoretical 'crime" if the evidentiary analysis would not be able to prove a "perp". Proving the crime occurred seems to be the premise of the hardened logs, but proving who did it is still ellusive WITHOUT mandated suber turbo DRM styled efforts.
Or so it looks like to me.
--short answer? Exactly what you are seeing now. the government taking over industries. I think you'll see the airlines nationalised soon. Perhaps after that the "energy" industries. I'd say those industries related to war production are defacto government industries now, there really is not much difference except surface level on paper. Patriot Act and Homeland Security are the first waves of government consolidation and takeover.
On the pure money side, they-"they" being the highest level of finance and industry you can see and imagine- are desperate for the cashless society, cash doesn't allow them the fine-tuned control they want. They want the ability to own all of everything, then dole out an allowance. More intrusive and most likely biometric based IDs, right into implantable microchips. All the military bases have people trained in this already, with pets of all things. It is required now in those places to have your pet "chipped". The price is cheap now, the chips work, the procedure is fast. Accounts are that certain "special" forces in the military are chipped, soon it will be the entire military, then the general population. More command and control is available then obviously. And this being this forum, you knopw it is almost impossible to completely keep up with miniaturization advances, on what chips are capable of. You can just imagine some of what they must lust for in that regard.
As the US declines as a wealth producing -manufacturing nation, we have to use what is in essence colonial styled efforts to maintain aquisition of manufactured goods, but we can't make it LOOK like colonialization, hence, "globalization" styled efforts, moving plants and factories around to the most exploitable areas. It's a double edged sword thopugh, it cuts on the back stroke as has been pointed out previous. You need consumers with income to purchase products. when someone loses a good job, with no replacement readily at hand , or a replacement at a much lower wage, then you lose the consumer-potential that negates any "savings" to widget builder A or B from "moving offshore". No customers means NO customers. This rush to offshore is a sop to "shareholders" so they can see temporary quarterly profits that have no sustainable base-or base in reality. a middle class tradesman may pawn his tools on friday night and look very "rivh" all weekend, but come moneday morning it is "uh oh!" time. when an antire industry or corporation does that though? that is called a "sound business decision", because for that "weekend" period they sure look smart, they "made money" on paper. they sold the ability to KEEP making money tho8gh. Factories are just very large tools. If you run your tool yourself, personally or inside your nation, you get the product, the 'wealth" that is created, and when that wealth is spread out over a large base of your neighbors-you all benefit. when it's neighbors over yonder someplace-well, this just isn't hard to see, and our balance of payments deficit clearly show this. Clearly. That and to maintain the salaries of the ultra owners guild of internationalists-the people at the cocktail parties with the high level pols and generals. They get to "enjoy" some quicker term profits as well, and for one more quarter they can keep their lap dog "investors" and "stock holders" at the lower levels from revolting..
If you look at that, most all the foreign policy and domestic policy winds up benefiting those people, it becomes clearer. You have to ALWAYS keep seperate credit as opposed to accumulated wezlth, too many people call them "the same" which means they are missing the larger picture.
Now some here have posted that POV that simplifies things and makes it appear to be some marxian plot, etc, which I reject totally. I just call 'em like I see 'em. All you have to do is just LOOK at it, and be honest about, don't see what you think you see, just look at it with a clean slate, white room approach. You can blast past the smoke and mirros marketing razzle dazzle then.
I see in the article that the linux kernel "lacks" such and such for security auditing? Would one of ya'all gurus please explain this? I thought there were a plethora of auditing tools and schemes already. Thanks in advance!
--I'm not sure on ebays long term viability. As soon as the tagging and tracking and TAXING infrastructure is more in place, I think you will see a serious drop in ebaying. Most people like the "no tax, little or no records" idea behind ebay, plus the low overhead. Once that overhead becomes a normal pain in the tush like any brick and mortar shop, I think it will just be a few (relatively speaking) companies doing it. The US, contrary to popular shilled notion, is NOT friendly to small business, it's a regulatory and over taxed bureaucratic nightmare. Ebay has been a sweet dodge for some people, but the tax man is smelling blood in the water now.
... the biggest threat to the food supply is government weather manipulation and international food monopolist GM seeds that cause it so you can't save your own seeds, IMO. We *could* feed ourselves without massive quantities of petroleum products but it would be super rough for several years during a transition period, our entire ag biz is just not set up that way, nor are the people setup in any way to do that, because it's labor intensive. If something happned, I think millions would perish the first few years, inevitable. Just can't see the millions in the cities being able to cope. I remember my older relatives telling me about the great depression, how rough it was then, and we still had 40% or so of the population still living on farms. Now it's less than 2% or something like that. Any major economic crach/depression now will approach *hellish* levels.
I don't have a stock portfolio but I have several years of stored food, and a garden and a large seed supply, just worried that local faked out farmers will plant terminator or some such seeds and make mine unviable. So, I learned a lot of wild plants as well, well, did that since I was growing up actually. I could take care of myself and girlfriend quite easily back in the sticks here, but it wouldn't be comfortable like now, but livable.
As to guns and knowing how to use them, we'll give that a double "yep", I hear ya man. Might come to that what with what is going down all over. I don't know on that, but I am expecting the globalists to push for a world government and total control, once the various global wolf packs sort out who is going to be the top dog.
Ya, wealth is the "stuff" that is produced, it is either grown, mined, or manufactired from what is grown or mined. people just forget that constantly, and get credit digits confused with "wealth". Not my call, lucky enough to be born when real money was in the pocket and a nation was wealthy by what it made, not what it scammed and skimmed. Now....I dunno, sure seems unsustainable though, I can't see the rest of the planet subsisidising the US and using our funny money "petrodollars" once they no longer need our markets. What's in it for them then? Nothing. zilch, just costs them, they gain zero. It's become cliched, but the US is everyday resembling Imperial Rome as much as any other historical example you might look at.
--we get a much longer growing season, but I really enjoy winter-no bugs! I DO miss ice fishing though, grew up in michigan. I don't miss 6 months or more winter, one month is nice enough, a few good snowfalls every winter.
Anyway, I got baby tomatoes already. Got quite a few small peaches and apples, etc.already, and most everything else is up and growing fine. Looks like our normal "wet" summer, we seem to alternate drought/floods. North Georgia. It's OK, have to see it is quite pretty here most of the time. Plus I get to "pass". I got them long hairs,and am an ex-yankee (reformed now) but so do a lot of the local bubbas, so I can blend in, and being able to speak "rural" as well I can get by.
Ya, storms, pretty nasty, just looking at drudge, few dozen souls have passed on since last night with the twisters. When I was a kid,second grade or so,I saw one on my way to the basement with my mom, it was exploding some houses up the street. You just do NOT forget scenes like that.
--I only know one person (well a family) who lives SUPER in boonieville in canada. They are missionaries,and use some sort of satellite last I heard, because that's the only way to get any internet access. There aren't even regular phones where they are.
canada is a huge nation geographically, has a very small population, with most of that population clustered in some areas mostly close to the US border. I think if you look at similar geography and pop density areas inside the states you would be able to find similar broadband service.
So, well, ya, you are correct.
Now I live outside any big urban area. Right now I've had to drop to a 14.4 modem because it's summer storm season and the telco lines are so crappy with static and line noise now that my 33 and 56 modems won't even work. The 14.4 though blasts right on through, haven't dropped a connection all day with massive rain and lightning, etc. Kinda cool, better than nothing. Anyway,broadband, adsl version,-if I could get it this far out-is 70$ a month, plus a 30$ phone line. That's 100 clams a month. Drive to the big city there are a number of 30 buck options. I have yet to read about any sort of wired solution that works more than two miles away from some telco substation, which is just a massive amount of land area of the US. Not anything that doesn't require string miles of new cable and getting access, etc, so I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.
Broadband will continue-with some exceptions obviously, but *mostly*-to be an urban and suburban phenomenon most places until it is wireless. And someone some place is going to have to make an executive decision on the spectrum. I'll be danged if I go out and buy the latest expensive wireless gizmo of the month to find out it's obsolete the next month. And one thousand dollar satellite service is just not *it*.
You nailed it exactly. I WISH someone would create the most extremely complicated hard to use POS linux "distro" in the world so the elitist "power user" snobs could all go over there on "1337 15l4|\|D" website and argue about it. The ultimate sheer snobbery distro. So complicated you can never quite get it installed or working, but you can get close enough to "almost" make it look like it might happen ..next year..maybe.
...wrong, and still expensive. Linux so far is still too complicated and infested with snobbery. I applaud all the de-snobbing efforts. I'll support those guys, the ones who seek to keep it closed to all but the most hard core hobbiests and snobs-naw, no support, that's just too weird a concept.
I mean DANG I like driving and doing my own mechanics, but I am NOT wanting to go mine the ore, smelt it, forge parts, do all the machining, etc, just to have a car to drive. Enoughs enough on the "complexity is cool" snobbishness, like it's the most important thing on earth.
I would love to never read the words "library whatever.sol.4.U needed" just to install some app. I think anything that can make that happen in open source and free or semi free is a good idea. People aren't so much opposed to paying for something, they just don't want to get raped, and then still have it not work or be insecure. There exists a HUGE untapped market for MODERATE priced, works great, secure computers and whatever OS runs on them. Maybe OSX is it, but it loses on price, and I'm an old mac hand who's been priced out of their market, sorry stevie, too 'spensive for me now. Windows I just could never be "right" with, it always gave me a case of the icky cooties to sit down in front of it, it was just
It's like goldilocks and the three bears, SOMEPLACE there needs to be something "just right" for the majority of users to be comfortable with and to sit down and use the thing without emptying the wallet or getting owned in 10 minutes and not be able to do anything with it and having it obsolete in 6 months.. the computer and software industry is chock fulla busywork it appears and artifical pricing and planned obsolesence examples. it's nuts, it's like complaining is just a normal part of "computerdom" because stuff getst to the point where it almost looks like it's "done" then WHAM, they change it all around, so all your stuff is now obsolete and useless and insecure again. Why is this????
Maybe lindows will do it, don't know, never tried it. I hope something comes along though. I liked what he had to say in the article, he is on to something. His release from what I read isn't perfect, but I can see he "gets it" overall in what most people want with "computers".
--I probably should have kept my personal life out of the reply, but I stuck it in, to illustrate the point of someone in some industry claiming they were stolen from can be applied in a variety of ways, just the way the laws are skewed, some alliance like the movie industry can claim theft, but if you lose your entire job to some company moving off shore it's just "business". It's based on PURELY arbitrary man-written laws, whcih could be changed overnight.. I have failed to see if they "lose" anything how it is any different other than their "lobbying-fu" has more cash to use as bribes to have laws written in their favor..
Governments all over the planet are all examples of some form of socialism, there are no examples I am aware of that are anything but socialism. The degrees and methods change and differ,(and people argue over silly semantics of words) but they all take wealth/capital/produced goods and property from one place and re distribute it to another. That's socialism, the most die hard republican and the most die hard one party dictator or workers democrastic party or you name it all propose the same form of "government", just they want it their way so it favors them, but it really is based on theft from one to redistribute to another. When it's voluntary it's charity and sharing, when it is coerced by some "law" it's socialism. Some emphasize living humans over artificial persons, some vice versa than that, but they all *steal and redistribute*. I see no pure "capitalistic" society, just socialism combined with a command and control order-and edict-issuing "authority".
As to very far into the future, pure replicators, no need for actual work, "jobs" completely obsolete.... Hmmm.. Not seeing it happen. Interesting concept, I think humans will destroy themselves first, misuse of atomics, chemicals, bio technology, all of the above. We as humans always USE tech right along with MISUSE tech, weith misuse I'll define as developing advanced weapons that are used in a predatory fashion, and advanced surveillance and other fascistic trends. So, no, I really can't see an altrusitic communistic society arising on any planetary scale, unless there's some massive evolutionary consciousness jump that will happen in the generation that is young people right now, and since that didn't happen obviously, oh well. The advances now are exponential, the social advances are...about the same they were 1000 years ago. Some slight changes, but in reality-not many.
I know this is off the topic of automation and global economy and whatnot as it stands today, but in a way it isn't, as the rate we are going is unsustainable, it's a race to the most advanced tech combined with the most ruthless society and governments and exquisite control over populations, ie "no freedoms, every aspect of your life controlled down to.. how you flush I guess".
How long can that continue, looking at the tech today, and even being quite conservative on tech advance extrapolations?
Not long I'd say.
As to gall, sure I'l admit to putting out my fair share! HAHAHA! Easy to see if you got some legit beefs! In retrospect I would have left out the personal stuff, but, I didn't, so there ya go.
--anything you can do for cash is good, yardsales etc. Tell you something else, this time of year, put in that garden if you haven't done so. Garden saved my sanity and wallet last year, this year it's bigger. I made about squat last month, so low I am medium embarrassed to even quote a figure, it's beyond ridiculous, and no unemployment checks or anything. I still like to *eat* though, I always have had a very extensive pantry and a garden, it just makes sense, costs little to do, and is a direct way to pay yourself in something vital, no "cash" action absolutely needed if you have the piece of dirt to use.
Ya, it's hard to start over, in some cases almost impossible and is a real soul killer depending on your age I guess. Done it several times already, I am not *totally* discouraged, but I will say I am beyond annoyed now. Well beyond it. Don't know about a life of crime, but seeing some ceos and politicians hanging from tress would not terribly upset me at this point. I know they'd just get replaced with similar goons, so oh well....
Here, just working towards a smaller little place we can own outright. Looked last friday at yet again another terribly over priced piece of land, well, seems over priced. I think these property prices will drop soon though, as the economy kicks more and more people hard, they were grossly inflated over the last few years it appears. Once we find one, that's it, paid off as soon as possible, small organic farm action, then sell used widgets on the side and that's it, going to be content with the sheer basics from here on out, I don't see the US economy as lasting much longer, it is just SO skewed towards unrealistic expectations based on greed and insanity that to me it's almost indescribale. I don't know how people think an economy that consists of mostly managers, sales people,middle man skimmers, the entertainment industry and government workers is supposed to remain viable forever. What true industry we have left is only being sustained by the short term profits of yet again moving them off shore, or importing third world workers. There IS going to be a mass tipping over point and a huge snowball effect. I think we are *this close* to it happening.
I try to not inject my personal life when I look at and write on macro policies and effects and events, but being "downsized" several times, it forces you to just LOOK at the over all position, and what I see is that I am just lucky enough to see it coming because it already hit me. People who it hasn't happened to yet are still in denial. Same exact people who thought their stocks at a totally ridiculous profits and earnings ratio were "real", those people. Just can't see it coming, and what's worse, don't WANT to see it so don't look hard enough.
Here's a nice doomer url for you, another economic article:
Mayday, Mayday,Mayday
--long time ago I was in the UAW, before the japanese car invasion. I would argue endlessly with the other guys around the plant that we needed to watch out on this stuff, that we were making seriously good money now and if we didn't watch it we would get hammered by imports. I actually wanted a wage freeze, which of course was utterly ridiculous to everyone else. I was told I was nuts, "no one will ever buy those things". It was simple math and extrapolation to me, when raises were more than the minimum wage, and every time a new contract came around, with no vast increases in productivity and the costs of cars rising, I could see it was unsustainable and would cripple the industry eventually. It was just easy to see. Cars as a percentage of gross average yearly income are very expensive now, they used to be not that costly. What is it up to now, 60 months on a car loan? I think it was only 12 back then, something like that. Anyway, extremely easy to see where it started to go wrong, easy to see back then, too, greed, everyone and their cousin leroy is greedy. it's really that simple. .. yet you saw not much in the way of the learned pundits or the union bosses or corporate management admitting to it or acknowledging it back then. They were at the headwaters of the river de-nial. Most people still are. Everyone piucks numbers out of their nether regions to claim what they are "worth". that might last for awhile,but it SURE isn't going to last when the major political forces just dump the planet wide open. you just are NOT going to "compete" with second and third world nations without BECOMING a second or third world nation. the US IS going to become a second world nation, and soon too, IMO. I am as completely sure of this as I was the japanese grabbing a major slice of the car market in the US, and I thibnk the total economic ramifications will be much worse than that example. Much, much worse, you are seeing the openings of it now in fact. People are enjoying the last of the economic "good old days" in this nation. Job loss, prices rising, pensions and retirements busted, stagflation, government spending just absurd, stock market still a complete sham, yada yada yada. gonna get really ugly. All because of universal *greed* top to bottom, and treating credit as accumulated wealth, whern those are two separate things..
I really have not much use for either the managers/bosses in the various companies or the stewards and hierarchy in the unions, both crook-class goons as far as I am concerned. Both are sellouts and uber greedy and just *bad* when it comes to over-all economics. I tell you I could NOT find one person to agree with me back then. So ya, I'll agree it is *somewhat* the unions fault, but it's also the fault of so called "free trade" that doesn't use a quid pro quo excise tax system with other nations, and that allows "dumping" and tax breaks for moving industries off shore. I'd say unions/management/political foreign policy (basically whichever bribes are the biggest) are equal shares in the job loss market for blue collars in the rust belt. It's now hitting a variety of white and pink collar jobs and I am AMAZED that so many just couldn't see it coming. Like, where was it hidden? It's been blatant and open for years and years now, how could anyone not see the loss of jobs when you move industries overseas and lose customers for those same industries? A major middle class job loss is a major middle class consumer lost as well. It is completely equal. In fact it's worse,if you look at it deeper, because the dollars don't get re spent around the more local economy. Now, along with moving jobs offshore, they also allow in just completely unrealistic numbers of illegal aliens to work, just far and beyond any rational numbers, completely violating the laws. All right when we had vast amounts of free land and just beginning serious industry, now that that isn't true it needs serious controls. When it was just crass stoop labor, no one cared, now it's in all the skilled trades, serious mi
... hitting the reply button, whilst logged in, reveals the post anonymous check box is still there.
No idea why you do not see it. Perhaps post your config instead of just cursing at the owners? maybe it's only broken with some combinations?
FWIW, old coal burner pentium, linux,i686, moz 1.3b browser
--maybe they have some near space craft already? Brilliant Buzzard? Or do you think the B2 and the shuttle are the most advanced that are in use at this time?
I have no "secret" knowledge of any of those programs, but I would be highly surprised if we *don't* have a variety of way more advanced aircraft right now. Some probably with space or near space capabilities depending on your definitions of what those are. They certainly have spent quite the impressive pile of sums over the years that doesn't show up as exact book keeping entries for public view..
--ahh, good to know, I sit and type corrected! Does it work well? Either way, glad to see it!
--sort of one of those coinky-dinks. Last night late before I retired I had a flash that sun was going to be sold-to apple! I mean, it was almost like a daydream/vision sort of thing. It seems a logical progression to me, and follows apples concepts of an integrated hardware/software business model. They would have an *almost* complete vertical "computing" business then, from the lowliest desktop to enterprise class 'stuff' in their stable.
hmm, no more chip worries perhaps? hmmmm
--an even further analysis shows that at some point "IP" as property is going to be fairly silly. What would a geek really want in his kitchen? A star trek replicator? How would the farmers pay their bills then, once their job and work is outdistanced by available technology?
What this is is an example of the age old rift between protectionism and advances in technology and more open markets. The paradigm of the IP creator being a full time "worker" who garners all his wage with producing those works has always changed over time. At one point only the royals were rich enough to "own" a painting, or to keep a court musician on the payroll, or to have "theater on demand". Only a few owned books, because of the monopoly of the royal religious scribes, who hand copied bibles etc.
Right now we are at a major crossroads again, as the technology already exists to make a large part of "IP" business obsolete. That's why they are pulling out all the stops, they right now can be replaced. So you then have to ask, which parts still require "protectionism".
I find this sort of amusing, moving in political circles where up into about two years ago, white collar workers were sneering at blue collar workers as their jobs got "outsourced" and "made redundant" by advances in technology and the markets. Myself being a blue collar worker noted that is was few and far between that I could see much support (on the web in forums) from much higher paid people than I, working in "still vibrant" economies such as IT/IP. I got laughed at, put down, told to STFU, that my "work" was buggy whip work that modernization and automation and the "free market" made obsolete, so tough luck. Now that THEIR paycheck is threatened, by outsourcing and automation,by improvements in technology, by the skills required to produce this sort of "product" becoming lower and easier, etc, they are crying foul, FOUL they say,they are "wondering how they will feed their families and pay their mortgage".
Well, same thing I kept getting told and keep getting told, at a retirement (or close enough) age, "learn a new skill, perhaps the old one isn't as relevant any more, keep up with the times, pull yourself up with your boot straps" and etc.
SUCKS to get told that doesn't it? Pretty easy to slam it out when it's someone else, isn't it, real easy? But it SUCKS to take it, doesn't it,. sucks to be honest, to actually SEE reality.
"IP" busy-ness and it's related side "jobs" as a full time "job" is rapidly being replaced with automation and ease-of-accomplisment.
GASP, OH NO!!! Geeks who type arcane symbols fall out of chairs all over, "artistes" swoon and get the economic vapors, middle man skimmers get red in the face, demand "laws, we say MORE,MORE, AND MORE LAWS!!! TO PROTECT....." Whatever. Whoops, you are demanding "protectioinism". wow.
It is no different from ANY other industry, nothing special or magical about anyone's "job" there. You never got handed a lifelong job/profit guarantee. Joe Bubba in the factiory doesn't have it, and is losing bigtime, told to "get with the program". Joe Farmer at the family farm is going through it. Where is it carved in stone that programmers and entertainment "artistes" and middle man "trader-skimmers" are guaranteed a full time job that "pays all the bills"?
Soon-perhaps- it will be possible for the end user-the consumer-to "program on demand" applications exactly like they want them. What then? Soon it will be possible to have huge amounts of "entertainments" created-not even copied but CREATED "on demand", cheaply and at the single consumer level. If anyone forgot, it was blacksmiths that "put themselves out of business". The metal workers did it to themselves. today, engineers are putting themselves out of business, as they concentrate on automation-even with their own jobs! When I was a kid, AUTOCAD did NOT exist.
Where do you draw the line on advances in technology? Should we still be paying scribes to hand copy books? At one time it was
..there was no presidential election in 2002. There was a federal election for the house and senate, and a lot of local elections, but our next federal election for pres is in 2004. Dubya is in his first term still.
... the government only uses as much "terrorist" incidents as are required to accomplish their tasks.
..disturbing.
Don't get sucked into the propaganda that so many do. OKC, WTC attack 1, WTC attack 2, and the anthrax attacks were all shadow government inspired, lead, allowed to happen, known about in advance, all of the above. they accomplished their tasks. You said
"And it's a hard thing to talk about, because the government seems to keep a lot of information from us."
Yes, but sometimes they are lame enough to get caught at it. It's a matter of taste, how many times do you personally have to be lied to before you stop trusting someone? What's your tolerance threshold?
Are we still free? No, not even near as free as we were just a few decades ago. I'll tell you I NEVER went through random courtesy "roadblocks" before, back then. I didn't need electronic thumbprints for a "license", there wasn't a video camera on almost every corner. We didn't have random "school shootings" with a common denominator of student forced drugging and adult "mentors" that seem to always coincident time wise with important legislation action in congress. we didn't have "anthrax" attacks when other important 'security" legislation was being ramrodded through. we didn't have random "mad sniper" attacks in the DC area when, again, extremely important 'security" legislation was being "debated. on and on, there are a lot of strange "coincidences" the past several years.... Now we DID have an obvious presidential assassination that "they" got completely away with, and some of "they" are still alive name brand humans. Hint, see "secret police" as a keyword to jog the memory cells. If it's in another nation we say "secret police". Use the same terms, don't switch them around to feel more comfortable. Just be fair looking at any nation, then things get clearer. Is it as bad as east germany before the wall came down? No, it's not, but ask yourself this very important question, do you WAIT until it really is _that_ bad, or do you assemble the clues, note the trends and patterns,do some extrapolation based on what you can see and find out now, look back, do some ball park figuring, and decide it WILL get that bad if it's not stopped in it's tracks on the way there? Or do you just say "heck with it, it's not as bad as nation x" and excuse what is happening? "Well honey, shutup, you just got raped and beat up, but it could have been worse you know, that bad man could have sliced you up". It's the same sort of logic train, obviously sorta flawed, but it's a decent analogy.
I'll tell you,just anecdotally, until you *personally* have been a victim of government "wrongness", or see it happen to someone close to you, you will not make the connections as readily, you will not see it as "bad" as the actual victim,you might deny it ever even happens perhaps, you'll keep it as an intellectual curiosity. You mentioned it, you personally haven't seen it. I'll tell you personally it happened, still happens, and is getting worse. Your turn will come, you can wait, or look around for evidence it has happened, and believe me, you'll find it if you honestly look for it. Just like innocent people-anywhere- who get blown to bits, they (would if still alive) think it's a tad worse than being labeled as "collateral damage".
Best recommendation for anyone,in any nation, society, group, political party, is to STEP BACK for a sec intellectually away from being in that "group", take an honest clean room look at things. You can't see the whole if you are in the middle of it, you have to take a step back.
Oh, 9-11, back to that, just google 9-11, government prior knowledge, involvement, that will get you going. It is NOT as cut and dried as the 6 o clock news and joe government say it is. It just ain't. Basically, it's a reichstagg event. it's being used in an identical way. but, look yourself, you'll see some interesting coincidences and unanswered questions and some odd bits of data that are rather
.... deal with it. what is the % of computers connected to the internet, well over 90% microsoft based, running microsoft email clients? This is yes/no binary. It appears to be *yes*. Ergo, the solution, that will make the most good in the quickest time and be the best all around is to somehow get ALL those machines to have filters of some sort, and "more secure" features. That isn't bashing, it's just reality. If every single mac, linux, unix whatever machine on the net was 100% totally secure, how much spam and viruses would there still be? Buhzillions still? Be honest, you know it would still be horrendous. it's dealing with 100 million computers running microsoft products that are the problem once you get past the few hundred major spammers. the spammers exist because the microsoft running machines are EASY TARGETS.
It's just data, get over it. Microsoft has billions cash and flocks and fleets of millionaires, they can spend some of that money to make the internet more secure and to help with the spam and virus problem, and they can also do it without turning the internet into microsoftnet. That they choose not to is THEIR decision, not mine. It's up to them to ship more secure products and to include an email client that has filtering and other securing qualities to it. Asking people by the tens of millions to go out and find software and download it and try to make it work is *not* the answer, and this is just SO obvious. YES, it IS mostly their problem. When SPAM and viruses weren't a big deal, swell, who could blame them, the internet was designed for ease of communications PERIOD. That was then, this is now. Now that we know that there are problems associated with that, it's up to them to get on the stick and do the right thing. And not just "more of the same" like they always do, but to make their products better and not smash other peoples products or create two different versions of the internet. They have the opportunity to be righteous, ball is in their court. If it was some other company, then that's what I'd say, because it's mostly -by an overwhelming majority- their machines we are talking about, well, that's the proper noun to use, it's just DATA. There's no "opinion" to it. NO SPAM or virus solution can be attempted without identifying and singling out "microsoft" as the primary place to institute "the fix".
hmm, the most windows are in the cockpit. I guess it makes it hard then, but obviously it must be "safe enough" now as it stands as long as they can keep these devices turned off inside the cabin. I also guess if they implement the steel bulkheads like proposed to thwart cabin breakins and skyjacking that it will help as well. I understand el al did that some years ago, as part of their "ain't gonna be no hijacking" measures.
Probably the easiest solution right now is just to make all electronic devices go into the hold. Too bad they can't guarantee "no theft" from the baggage handlers, though.