It's odd because it's not true. You only experience one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is I cannot buy a copy of the OS without paying a premium for it. Due to the MS inducements for PC manufacturers to only include MS OS on their PC sales.
And it's certainly not cheaper for people who don't want that OS. Consider this, I want to buy an HP sans MS OS, but I either have to pay for an OS license because according to HP and expecially MS, the computer is not a complete product with MS OS. OR jump through hoops and hurdles at buying it without OS without any significan cost reduction because the price is already built in.
But in reality I can put several different OS's on the computer. Solaris, Linux and soon to be whatever apple produces in the future. Most of the people who purchase computers don't get to experience the "other" OS simply because they have to pay for MS and have to get MS on their brand name computers.
I really don't care about global warming. Mainly for two reasons that havn't yet been debunked, another reason is I've been anestetized by all the screaming chickens saying the sky is falling, they sky is falling.
Reason #1. There used to be an ice age. It went away. Now that was global warming.
Reason #2. Pollution from Volcanos. Now that's alot of carbon emmissions.
Livestock, humans, animals, Farming, decaying and decomposing vegetation, water vapor et al. All contribute significantly to atmospheric particles and green house gasses. One of the bottom lines is human population and its growth. I don't see anybody going around and advocating reduction of human population. But I'm pretty confident some wacko-scientist who wants his name in the papers and generate publicity is going to suggest it, and that the news organizations that thrive on controversy are going to print it.
I used to have a greenhouse and it got warm and humid in there because the heat and water vapor couldn't escape easily. I didn't have any factories or cars in there.
I think Dr. Feynman would shake his head at the so-called evidence global warming pseudo scientists are putting out.
I'm not hip on hanging him. But that's the Iraqi perogative. I would just as soon see him move to hollywood and host a reality TV show and start a string of talk show appearences. Perhaps he can do the opening act for Barbara Streisand or Dixie chicks. Maybe a few Michael Moore documentaries on the horrors of the U.S. Political commentator on CBS or CNN news.... they should all be options for him.
But very clever of the U.S to hand pick all those Judges who were subsequently assassinated or had their families killed off.
Hardly insightfull as you make claims that I havn't read the article nor understand the criteria. I also think freedom of the press is very important, but that there is no such thing as freedom of press without freedom of speech. I just don't believe that there are degrees of freedom of press and freedom of speech, as reporters without borders implies.
Let me be blunt.
Any legal document purporting to define freedom of speech or freedom of press is more likely defining restrictions to these freedoms.
Free speech does have restrictions in the U.S and they are defined pretty well. In the U.S, imprisoned reporters are most likely violating court orders, ordering them to reveal their source. While in some other countries reporters are imprisoned simply for disagreeing with the state. I object to comparing the two.
No you're not. I find the list a sham and an invention to sensationalize journalism.
What journalists have long since forgotten is that Freedom of the press is derived from freedom of speech, not vice-versa, and that they [journalists/publishers] have no more rights or responsibilities then we do as individuals. Freedom of the press is not an institution, freedom of speech is.
The U.S doesn't allow anything equivalent in the U.S... I.E online gambling... which is alot different then B&M Casinos. About the only legal U.S online gambling I know of is horse racing in certain states that have race tracks. TVG for example. It's paramutual and they charge a fee and the track still gets the the takeout. If those foreign companies adhered to U.S laws I.E takeout, vig, IRS reportings then there probably wouldn't have been any problems in the first place.
So they are not favoring any U.S company... at the moment.
But then think about it too, gambling from offshore and foreign countries don't report any winning and earnings of online gamblers, so they in turn are breaking U.S laws. Also the whopping -4% (and probably alot higher) expection represents an export with nothing to import. No U.S jobs, no goods and services nothing, like a leeach on the GNP.
I'm tossed between yes and no. There is whole lot I can write here, as I play poker for spare income and have since the late 80's. Gambling is a hobby and passion of mine, but I'm not talking about the thrill of risk / reward or the adrenaline from action. My thrill is finding the overlays + managing a bankroll + spending the 3-4% in expecation per unit bet. It takes hard work and grit and determination for me to maintain that expecation, and alas I'm probably at my peak with little likelyhood of advancing further.
Gambling is like a minature and accelerated example of society. Some people go on to become fabulously rich and famous, others become lost and tragedies -- unable to overcome the first hurtles or establish a good foundation to build on. Most.. the pack just get by from day to day until the Vig catches up.
Even the basic premis of a Casino (the vig collector) is duplicated in real life.. but we call it taxes.
No doubt, Casinos create jobs and some people do take those jobs and earn a good living and livelyhood. Casinos create industry -- mainly focused in the service aspect but also some in the industrial and high-tech. But in the long run, I feel it's a degenerative industry. Once the Casinos are built and operating, they turn from job creators to collections centers as they tax the hopes and dreams of the wannabees, the poor, and the hopelessly lost. It's true that there are many people who go out and gamble responsibly and as a form of recreation -- but that's not what fuels the industry.
Finally, a word of advice to those of you who gamble online. Just remember this. You are placing a bet and thousands of miles a way, somebody you don't know, somebody you've never seen, somebody who cares nothing about you but taking your money a little bit at a time... sends you back an electronic message telling you if you won or not.
I'm making up a conspiracy theory.
It would make a decent political thriller to find out that Those in charge and in the know in the Soviet Union -- wanting to provoke a war with the west, intentionally "injected" ghost launches to provoke the internal politicos into a full launch to the U.S only to be thwarted by somebody afraid to launch.
Humans make poor failsafes and I think back to the opening sequence of the original movie http://imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ Wargames.
Vote fraud happens at the local level. Neither party has a secret campaign to undermine the national votes. The numbers and costs are just too prohibitive.
However, local areas for things like judges, mayors, council members, State Senate and the like are prone to fraud because the numbers and precincts are low.
Perhaps even to the Govenor level in the smaller states.
Voting area's are typicaly challenged for historical reasons... such as a large number of dead or non-existent people voting.
Knowing human nature, Vote fraud certainly exists.
Also knowing human nature, claimes of vote fraud where none exist is a certainty too. It's done to challenge the victor and to steal validity. It's the deamonization process to undermine the other side.
Poll fraud also exists and is done in several ways. Poll fraud is done to discourage the voters on the other side. Just like west coast/east coast thing, where if they show the other side is likely to lose, discourages the supports of the other party to show up and vote.
The voting process should be simple. To register to vote, you establish your identity, and you get a voters registration card. When you go vote, you show them your registration card and they mark you as voted.
The only problem is, certain areas have some advantages to *not* making the voting process simple, to not make voters establish Identity or citizenship, and they always fight these vote/registration changes tooth and nail.
The article presented here has too many half truths, too many urban legends/myths, and too many instances where doubters have to prove a negative.
I read the article. I followed the links. This is an opinion piece and the only conclusion you can draw is the writer and the poster has a political axe to grind.
The writer of the article states in his bio that he's a democratic party operative and advances the agenda of the Democratic party. He's not a reporter, he's a political operative who's spin is always going to be anti-Bush. The whole premise, the whole title and anything presented as fact in the article is completely suspect.
There are many flaws that are unsurmountable. Chiefly is the fact that Electoral College is not governable. They don't have to adhere to any agreement between any states. Let say J. Candidate is very popular in Texas, but not California. Well, do you really think that either state is going to agree to vote for the popular condidate rather then who won in their state?
Another reason is there is no such thing as popular vote. Popular vote is a myth created by TV news and political pundants. There is your state vote for who you want your state to nominate and vote for president.
Yet another is logisticaly this would create power centers clustering around large population states, and this would dissenfranchise rural voters.
Yet another is Senate Nullification. If the states were to anger the Senate, the Senate doesn't have to accept the Electoral votes if they consider them tainted. Imagine the Lawsuites flying should the Senate deny such a candidate based on this system.
Thats not the whole story and not the complete truth. Bush did have a method and means and set of criteria for screening these actions, Bush did in fact brief Congressional leaders on a quarterly basis.
I understand your point, but dont' agree. Congress did not abdicate responisbility. Congress authorized Military action which is war by another name. Everything else was political expediency.
Wars cannot be run effectively by committee or consensus. Wars end when when somebody is defeated. The framers of the U.S constitution were very wise in giving these powers to the Executive (President). As Commander and Chief prosecuting a war, they are total and absolute. And yes, it is totalatarian -- but only during a time of war. And we are at war.
Read history. You'll be shocked, totaly totaly shocked at what Presidents have done during war. This is chump change compared to things President Lincoln did. Or like what a past president said when the Supreme court differed from his opinion during a war.... "The Supreme court has made it's decision -- lets see them uphold it".
What illegal activity? And if somebody Authorizes it, is it still illegal? If Foreign terrorists are calling you here in the U.S, I want to know why and I don't give a hoot what you claim is legal or illegal. If the U.S is at war, I give the Commander and Chief great latitude in how it conducts that war. I give him the benefit of any doubt whatsoever that he's conducting this war and listening to those calls for the benefit of the security of the U.S.
Every 4 years we have an election for President. The president is limited to two terms total. I'm not worried that my presidents actions are akin to some Despotic European Fascist trying to hold on to the Presidency, or like some South American Socialist Dictator trying to take over the country, or like some Middle Eastern Islamunist seeking vengeance because of some cultural inferiority complex.
The U.S just arrested a CEO of a foreign Corporation for doing internet business that was contrary to U.S law.
Next time we complain about Google or Yahoo bending over backwards to adhere to Chinese law, we should take into account our own policies.
It's fun, but once you realize that the people who run the game, also play *alot* you start to feel cheated out of the high end content. I don't really blame them, they orchestrate the publicity in the mmorpg world pretty good (this is one example). There is also a concerted effort and ongoing patches that are driving the game ever and ever more towards PvP -- which makes the safer aspects of the game less fun and much less profitable. If you like individual or "solo" play, you can forget about experiencing the full aspect of the game. On the other hand if you have a group of friends who all are willing to start you can run a corporation and have a better chance of experiencing the full aspect of the game, but, there is alot of content that simply has not scaled up to the current subscription numbers, and it runs about 1 year behind in content upgrades.
Microsft loses legal protection, 3rd party profiteers start copying and distributing Windows. Microsofts patents are held unenforceable. All protection against intellectual theft is gone.
Yea, they can really hurt microsoft if they want to.
This war and the mindless support US citizens have given it will go down as one of the greatest crimes of modern history, and those who knowingly support it deserve at least as bad as what is coming to them, and probably worse
I doubt it. Only because the mindless criminal activity of the U.S is far surpassed by the mindless criminal activity of the Islamunists.
There are alot of "feel good" opinions here on the subject and topic. You think you can just say that "War is bad", and all war except for self defense is wrong and then be on your way? It doesn't work like that. Every nation every goverenment would slit the throats of another nation or government if given the perfect opportunity and sound enough reason.
Believe me, other nations didnt' object to the Iraq invasion on moral purposes. They did so for political or economic purposes. The U.S continued on its quest for vengeance by attacking Iraq, who was showing a strong propensity for funding terrorism and had opened its doors to terrorist leaders -- providing them money and manpower and places to train.
This was no hoax and has been proven time and time again. Iraqs WMD program was proven time and time again, as far back as 1990. There are many U.N quotes and U.N resolutions, many democratic leaders denouncing Saddam's WMD programs and many who advocated throwing him out of power.
So excuse me if I'm cynical. Yes, war is a racket, but so is peace. And I want my country (The U.S obviously) to be top dog amoungst the pack of dogs.
Bill O'Reily doesn't claim his No Spin Zone show as a news show. He's admitted on many occasions that he is an entertainer, Ditto with Rush, Ditto with Sean. They are opinion or editorial shows that discuss todays topics.
Anybody who ever even considered them news shows probably shouldn't even be watching any news at all less they hurt themselves.
There is a reason why Ebay is one of the largest advertisers on Google and it isn't because Google doesn't compete with them. So saying Google wont' try and compete with PayPal doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sure they can try and compete with PayPal. What's Ebay going to do? Cut off thier nose to spite their face?
Paypal and Ebay aren't loved in as much as they are tolerated, and many ebay hobbiests find their profits significantly eroded by what is now considered excessively high fees and poor terms and conditions that leave you at the mercy of scammers. Oh sure they both tout protections for both merchant and buyer, but when you get to the fine lines, you usually find yourself fooked.
So no, Google doesn't want it's business model to be a facilitator to scammers like PayPal is, and like Ebay seems to tolerate.
Look for Google to think more out of the box and more innovative.
College professors are typicaly in awe of themselves. They only gain prominence and tenure by support of each other. Is it no wonder that one particular ideology has run amok?
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Dawn, Sec. 297
Todays higher education shouldn't encourage everybody to be different, and it certainly shouldn't encourage everybody to be the same. Observers should wonder why hard science and math professors rarely get into trouble with with political leanings in their subjects, and realize that its because they have huge huge history of established fact that can be seen, felt, measured and observed. Even history has some standardization that students and professors can hold onto, that is until one asks about particular motivations of people and events.
Then take into consideration all the vogue subjects like SO-and-SO studies where all they have to grasp are notions and ideas that ultimate are self reinforcing to ones own political and socialogical thinking. This type of teaching provides the catastrophic regenerative feedback we see to day where only those that think alike are exceptable or worthy of good grades.
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And it's certainly not cheaper for people who don't want that OS. Consider this, I want to buy an HP sans MS OS, but I either have to pay for an OS license because according to HP and expecially MS, the computer is not a complete product with MS OS. OR jump through hoops and hurdles at buying it without OS without any significan cost reduction because the price is already built in.
But in reality I can put several different OS's on the computer. Solaris, Linux and soon to be whatever apple produces in the future. Most of the people who purchase computers don't get to experience the "other" OS simply because they have to pay for MS and have to get MS on their brand name computers.
Reason #1. There used to be an ice age. It went away. Now that was global warming.
Reason #2. Pollution from Volcanos. Now that's alot of carbon emmissions.
Livestock, humans, animals, Farming, decaying and decomposing vegetation, water vapor et al. All contribute significantly to atmospheric particles and green house gasses. One of the bottom lines is human population and its growth. I don't see anybody going around and advocating reduction of human population. But I'm pretty confident some wacko-scientist who wants his name in the papers and generate publicity is going to suggest it, and that the news organizations that thrive on controversy are going to print it.
I used to have a greenhouse and it got warm and humid in there because the heat and water vapor couldn't escape easily. I didn't have any factories or cars in there.
I think Dr. Feynman would shake his head at the so-called evidence global warming pseudo scientists are putting out.
I'm not hip on hanging him. But that's the Iraqi perogative. I would just as soon see him move to hollywood and host a reality TV show and start a string of talk show appearences. Perhaps he can do the opening act for Barbara Streisand or Dixie chicks. Maybe a few Michael Moore documentaries on the horrors of the U.S. Political commentator on CBS or CNN news .... they should all be options for him.
But very clever of the U.S to hand pick all those Judges who were subsequently assassinated or had their families killed off.
Okay, now that Sun is releasing the source to Java for free, they are sure to make millions giving it away. Please run the stock up so I can cash out.
Let me be blunt.
Any legal document purporting to define freedom of speech or freedom of press is more likely defining restrictions to these freedoms.
Free speech does have restrictions in the U.S and they are defined pretty well. In the U.S, imprisoned reporters are most likely violating court orders, ordering them to reveal their source. While in some other countries reporters are imprisoned simply for disagreeing with the state. I object to comparing the two.
What journalists have long since forgotten is that Freedom of the press is derived from freedom of speech, not vice-versa, and that they [journalists/publishers] have no more rights or responsibilities then we do as individuals. Freedom of the press is not an institution, freedom of speech is.
Yea, and I hear the Columbian Cocain Cartels are going to sue because the U.S won't import their Cocain either, favoring our domestic growers.
The U.S doesn't allow anything equivalent in the U.S ... I.E online gambling ... which is alot different then B&M Casinos. About the only legal U.S online gambling I know of is horse racing in certain states that have race tracks. TVG for example. It's paramutual and they charge a fee and the track still gets the the takeout. If those foreign companies adhered to U.S laws I.E takeout, vig, IRS reportings then there probably wouldn't have been any problems in the first place.
So they are not favoring any U.S company ... at the moment.
But then think about it too, gambling from offshore and foreign countries don't report any winning and earnings of online gamblers, so they in turn are breaking U.S laws. Also the whopping -4% (and probably alot higher) expection represents an export with nothing to import. No U.S jobs, no goods and services nothing, like a leeach on the GNP.
Anyway, the story is wrong, it was Richard Clark, the Terrorist Zsar that alledgedly informed Rice.
And yes, I do wonder .. Who in their right mind put the likes of Jamie Gorelick and Richard Benuevista on the 9/11 commission.
Gambling is like a minature and accelerated example of society. Some people go on to become fabulously rich and famous, others become lost and tragedies -- unable to overcome the first hurtles or establish a good foundation to build on. Most .. the pack just get by from day to day until the Vig catches up.
Even the basic premis of a Casino (the vig collector) is duplicated in real life .. but we call it taxes.
No doubt, Casinos create jobs and some people do take those jobs and earn a good living and livelyhood. Casinos create industry -- mainly focused in the service aspect but also some in the industrial and high-tech. But in the long run, I feel it's a degenerative industry. Once the Casinos are built and operating, they turn from job creators to collections centers as they tax the hopes and dreams of the wannabees, the poor, and the hopelessly lost. It's true that there are many people who go out and gamble responsibly and as a form of recreation -- but that's not what fuels the industry.
Finally, a word of advice to those of you who gamble online. Just remember this. You are placing a bet and thousands of miles a way, somebody you don't know, somebody you've never seen, somebody who cares nothing about you but taking your money a little bit at a time ... sends you back an electronic message telling you if you won or not.
Don't gamble online. ---- PERIOD
I'm making up a conspiracy theory. It would make a decent political thriller to find out that Those in charge and in the know in the Soviet Union -- wanting to provoke a war with the west, intentionally "injected" ghost launches to provoke the internal politicos into a full launch to the U.S only to be thwarted by somebody afraid to launch. Humans make poor failsafes and I think back to the opening sequence of the original movie http://imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ Wargames.
However, local areas for things like judges, mayors, council members, State Senate and the like are prone to fraud because the numbers and precincts are low.
Perhaps even to the Govenor level in the smaller states.
Voting area's are typicaly challenged for historical reasons ... such as a large number of dead or non-existent people voting.
Knowing human nature, Vote fraud certainly exists.
Also knowing human nature, claimes of vote fraud where none exist is a certainty too. It's done to challenge the victor and to steal validity. It's the deamonization process to undermine the other side.
Poll fraud also exists and is done in several ways. Poll fraud is done to discourage the voters on the other side. Just like west coast/east coast thing, where if they show the other side is likely to lose, discourages the supports of the other party to show up and vote.
The voting process should be simple. To register to vote, you establish your identity, and you get a voters registration card. When you go vote, you show them your registration card and they mark you as voted.
The only problem is, certain areas have some advantages to *not* making the voting process simple, to not make voters establish Identity or citizenship, and they always fight these vote/registration changes tooth and nail.
The article presented here has too many half truths, too many urban legends/myths, and too many instances where doubters have to prove a negative.
The writer of the article states in his bio that he's a democratic party operative and advances the agenda of the Democratic party. He's not a reporter, he's a political operative who's spin is always going to be anti-Bush. The whole premise, the whole title and anything presented as fact in the article is completely suspect.
Another reason is there is no such thing as popular vote. Popular vote is a myth created by TV news and political pundants. There is your state vote for who you want your state to nominate and vote for president.
Yet another is logisticaly this would create power centers clustering around large population states, and this would dissenfranchise rural voters.
Yet another is Senate Nullification. If the states were to anger the Senate, the Senate doesn't have to accept the Electoral votes if they consider them tainted. Imagine the Lawsuites flying should the Senate deny such a candidate based on this system.
Thats not the whole story and not the complete truth. Bush did have a method and means and set of criteria for screening these actions, Bush did in fact brief Congressional leaders on a quarterly basis.
Wars cannot be run effectively by committee or consensus. Wars end when when somebody is defeated. The framers of the U.S constitution were very wise in giving these powers to the Executive (President). As Commander and Chief prosecuting a war, they are total and absolute. And yes, it is totalatarian -- but only during a time of war. And we are at war.
Read history. You'll be shocked, totaly totaly shocked at what Presidents have done during war. This is chump change compared to things President Lincoln did. Or like what a past president said when the Supreme court differed from his opinion during a war .... "The Supreme court has made it's decision -- lets see them uphold it".
No, I understand your envy and petty jealousy. I feel your pain.
Every 4 years we have an election for President. The president is limited to two terms total. I'm not worried that my presidents actions are akin to some Despotic European Fascist trying to hold on to the Presidency, or like some South American Socialist Dictator trying to take over the country, or like some Middle Eastern Islamunist seeking vengeance because of some cultural inferiority complex.
The U.S just arrested a CEO of a foreign Corporation for doing internet business that was contrary to U.S law. Next time we complain about Google or Yahoo bending over backwards to adhere to Chinese law, we should take into account our own policies.
It's fun, but once you realize that the people who run the game, also play *alot* you start to feel cheated out of the high end content. I don't really blame them, they orchestrate the publicity in the mmorpg world pretty good (this is one example). There is also a concerted effort and ongoing patches that are driving the game ever and ever more towards PvP -- which makes the safer aspects of the game less fun and much less profitable. If you like individual or "solo" play, you can forget about experiencing the full aspect of the game. On the other hand if you have a group of friends who all are willing to start you can run a corporation and have a better chance of experiencing the full aspect of the game, but, there is alot of content that simply has not scaled up to the current subscription numbers, and it runs about 1 year behind in content upgrades.
Microsft loses legal protection, 3rd party profiteers start copying and distributing Windows. Microsofts patents are held unenforceable. All protection against intellectual theft is gone.
Yea, they can really hurt microsoft if they want to.
I doubt it. Only because the mindless criminal activity of the U.S is far surpassed by the mindless criminal activity of the Islamunists.
There are alot of "feel good" opinions here on the subject and topic. You think you can just say that "War is bad", and all war except for self defense is wrong and then be on your way? It doesn't work like that. Every nation every goverenment would slit the throats of another nation or government if given the perfect opportunity and sound enough reason.
Believe me, other nations didnt' object to the Iraq invasion on moral purposes. They did so for political or economic purposes. The U.S continued on its quest for vengeance by attacking Iraq, who was showing a strong propensity for funding terrorism and had opened its doors to terrorist leaders -- providing them money and manpower and places to train.
This was no hoax and has been proven time and time again. Iraqs WMD program was proven time and time again, as far back as 1990. There are many U.N quotes and U.N resolutions, many democratic leaders denouncing Saddam's WMD programs and many who advocated throwing him out of power.
So excuse me if I'm cynical. Yes, war is a racket, but so is peace. And I want my country (The U.S obviously) to be top dog amoungst the pack of dogs.
Anybody who ever even considered them news shows probably shouldn't even be watching any news at all less they hurt themselves.
Paypal and Ebay aren't loved in as much as they are tolerated, and many ebay hobbiests find their profits significantly eroded by what is now considered excessively high fees and poor terms and conditions that leave you at the mercy of scammers. Oh sure they both tout protections for both merchant and buyer, but when you get to the fine lines, you usually find yourself fooked.
So no, Google doesn't want it's business model to be a facilitator to scammers like PayPal is, and like Ebay seems to tolerate.
Look for Google to think more out of the box and more innovative.
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently. Friedrich Nietzsche, The Dawn, Sec. 297
Todays higher education shouldn't encourage everybody to be different, and it certainly shouldn't encourage everybody to be the same. Observers should wonder why hard science and math professors rarely get into trouble with with political leanings in their subjects, and realize that its because they have huge huge history of established fact that can be seen, felt, measured and observed. Even history has some standardization that students and professors can hold onto, that is until one asks about particular motivations of people and events.
Then take into consideration all the vogue subjects like SO-and-SO studies where all they have to grasp are notions and ideas that ultimate are self reinforcing to ones own political and socialogical thinking. This type of teaching provides the catastrophic regenerative feedback we see to day where only those that think alike are exceptable or worthy of good grades.
Colleges and Universities all over should flock to and agree to David Horowitz "Academic Bill of Rights". http://www.frontpagemag.com/Content/read.asp?ID=50