The is an entirely different mindset in Japan for "techno-toys" than there is in the USA. Over there, the consumer IS the beta tester, with typically short product lifetimes. And Japanese technophiles ARE willing beta testers. Sharp can make smallish production runs for a happy (even eager) consumer market, while USA technophiles grouse over missing capabilities.
Not surprisingly, Sharp has all but abandoned its Western markets for such niche products. If they were to re-enter the Western markets, they would need to do (IMHO) extensive marketing tests PRIOR to designing the PDA. Inclusion of both Bluetooth AND WiFi (802.11b) should be a requirement, as well as USB 1.1 (minimum) with docking station capabilities. The faster Intel Xscale processor would be good, as well as more RAM and ROM space (doubled). Unfortunately, I don't really expect Sharp to manufacture enough of such a PDA to bring the price down to a reasonable level. So I will do without...
The USA has ceased to be a democracy in all ways, excepting name. One of the first orders of business for King George II's second term should be a Constitutional Amendment to change the name to the "Peoples Democratic Republic of the United States of North America".
A government for corporations, by corporations, and of corporations. The only time the politcos pay any attention to the voters is at elections, and Diebold (et.al.) will put an end to that with their audit-proof E-Voting machines.
King George II (and his regent Cheney) might have sent aircraft carriers into the South China Sea, but they renigged on selling Taiwan upgraded defensive weapons in response to PRC's missle "overflights".
Bush has got his nose so far up the PRC Premier's backside that he can't blink. The administration has been busy shipping jobs and technology to the Red Chinese. The PRC has effective control over both East and West coasts of the Panama Canal. The PRC currency is pegged (not floating) against the USA's dollar. And within 10 years, the PRC will own a bigger chunk of the USA economy than even Saudi Arabia (who is dictating our invasion of Iraq). Balance of trade deficits and the fast- growing national debt will turn the USA into a client state of the PRC. Then where will the independence of Taiwan be? You can already guess what the PRC timeline is -- they plan to be the victors before the Peking Olympics take place.
Get a grip. Stock up on survival gear and food, and stop delaying the construction of your back- yard bomb shelter. Hard times are coming.
to get the power required to generate the
hydrogen gas. Guaranteed that 10kw would
not be enough for the truck to be truly
useful. Of course, if you have enough
solar "sail", you really only need a
steady wind. (Just watch out for low
overpasses, hanging branches and wires,
etc.) oh, nevermind. Just not practical.
Just like the largely under-funded Bush mandate of "No Child Left Behind". So why is this any surprise? Funds earmarked for reconstruction in Afghanistan by an act of Congress was diverted to the runup to the war in Iraq. Funds earmarked for reconstruction in Iraq has been largely (96%) unspent there (to be diverted to, where?).
King George II and his regent (puppetmaster) Cheney has been running the USA like Imperial Rome. The shroud of secrecy (even from the GOP-controlled Congress) over their edicts by fiat (Executive Order) spells the death of democracy in the USA. What's really missing (historically) is a "Brutus" and a ticked-off "Senate" to finish Caesar off. Especially so if Dubya steals another national election.
Or not. It's application dependent, really.
Think about military/space applications like
Bush's "Star Wars" program. Dense high speed
memory that is RAD-hardened against cosmic rays
is extremely expensive, and not totally bit-error
proof. The longer the RAD-hardened electronics
stays in space, the more likely that it will be
damaged. The old Soviet Union equipped their
most advanced fighter and bomber aircraft with
tube technology because they could recover from
the EMP wave originating from nuclear detonations.
Both SOS (Silicon on Sapphire) and GOD (Germanium
on Diamond) are expensive to manufacture, and
have low manufacturing yields.
These new devices will likely never see any
commercial use, as the DoD will buy the patent
and classify it Top Secret. Even commercial
satellite use would be unlikey, because the
DoD wants the capability to cripple or destroy
both commercial satellites and foreign military
space platforms.
And how is this any different from the official
Microsoft position that any computer sold without
a legal MS OS (ie. bare, or with Linux) will be
used for stolen MS applications?
In other words, if the enduser has not paid the
Microsoft "tax" when purchasing their computer,
they are thieves. And if they do not use the
Microsoft DRM included with their "taxed" boxen,
they are thieves.
I just can't wait for what "Trusted Computing",
the Microsoft "tax", and the now completely
twisted US justice system has in store for the
average consumer in 5 years. Of course, with
current trends, I would expect that no one will
actually possess any software media, or any
means to store data. Microsoft DRM and the
wonders of broadband internet will mean that
MS will charge you for every time you open an
email with a proprietary MS attachment, and all
storage will be at MSN, just like the WebTV.
I can't wait (gag, gag, choke.)
Actually, you forgot to mention the SECOND LARGEST contingent of "forces" deployed in Iraq -- the USA-based contractors, such as Halliburton, Kellog-Brown-Kerr, etc.
The ranks of the coalition forces for this second Iraq war is filled with what would otherwise be characterized as "mercenaries". Not unlike the majority of forces used in Afghanistan to rout the Taliban.
The biggest differences between the "interests" of the USA in Afghanistan and Iraq are (1) OIL, and (2) proximity to Bush/Cheney's masters, the Saudi Arabians.
At this juncture, it becomes less difficult to believe that the Saudi Arabian government WAS BEHIND the 9/11/2001 attacks, AND that the Bush administration insiders were in on it. The Iraq war could NOT HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED to either the American people or the UN without those terror attacks.
The Bush administration paved the way for the Saudi Arabian OSS (excuse me, Al Qaeda) to get into the USA with the State Department's VISA Express Program. And the Bush administration paved the way for the supporting staff to exit the USA with the Saudi chartered air flights afterwards. The Saudi embassy withdrew more than $30 million dollars in cold hard cash from Riggs Bank to finance the operation, and to "grease the wheels" of USA politicos and oil business interests.
When the George W. Bush regime is over (in 2005 or 2009), the International Criminal Court needs to set up a separate docket just to handle the Bush administration. (Of course, that presumes that the world (or the world court) will still be around then, let alone American democracy.) If Bush steals the next election, all bets will be off for 2009 or beyond to prosecute our King George II and his proxy Richard Cheney.
I guess we'll find out whether the USA has the stomach to prosecute war crimes, without reliance upon the ICC. Based upon many years as a student of human nature, and of the USA's political processes, I would hazard a guess that we will need both the UN and the ICC for prosecuting war crimes. Of course, my opinion also presumes that the UN and the ICC will still matter (or exist) after a second Bush term.
The current corporate "welfare" state, as it exists in the good old USA today, existed in other places at other times. It was called "National Socialism" (now morphed into what can be called "Corporate National Socialism".
Joe Sixpack has been led to believe that everything is A-OKAY. When Department of Homeland Security (IMHO, an oxymoron) adopts MS Windows XP Pro/MS Server 2003 as their platform of choice, despite numerous warnings from industry security experts to the contrary, the security bar has been set far too low.
When MS gets to write their own "penalty" for monopolistic practices, as defined by the Bush DoJ, the security bar has been set too low.
When MS gets away with statements like "IE is integral to the OS" in Federal lawsuits, then (finally) makes recommendations through channels (Slate) for users to switch IE to Mozilla, AND GETS AWAY WITH IT, the security bar has been set too low.
Good old Joe Sixpack is just following the government's guidelines and SOP. If it's good enough for DHS, it is damn well good enough for him.
The blame really neds to be placed where it belongs: the IT industry giants that shove insecure OSes and application suites down the public's throats, and a government that lets them get away with it. Twenty five years of relaxing government regulations on industry, the corporate welfare mindset, and a public press increasingly in the hands of fewer and fewer corporate entities (and the rising tide of self-censorship on corporations' behalf) have brought us to where we are today.
Don't blame the average Joe Sixpack user for massive IT security policy failures.
This is a world in which the individual (read American citizen) has no real rights under the law anymore. The corporations (that bought & paid for the politicians, the lobbyists, AND the think tanks that actually make policy) now rule America. Welfare belongs only in the hands of those that deserve it (and paid for it), like Halliburton, Diebold, ChevronTexaco, et.al.
The American people will wake up AFTER THE 2004 ELECTION to find that they have all been Bush- whacked. Only the neocons, christian right, and the corporations will be happy about it.
The only time that most of our politicians have any "populist angst" is at election time. Most have been "bought-and-paid-for" by the special interest groups with the most cash to spend.
Neither of the two main political parties will do anything to bring back more American jobs until the voters start kicking them out of office (and prosecuting them under RICO).
Many voters will be disenfranchised by these same politicians and their eVoting machines. The numbers of voting errors, by bad software engineering or computer hacking or outright fraud that will not get corrected if the votes favor the incumbents, or the party in power. When "public polling" data, exit polls, and the "diddled" eVotes are all in concordance, how would the public even know that they have been disenfranchised?
It is time to seriously overhaul the campaign finance laws in the USA, in conjunction with putting most of the lobbyist & special interest groups & registered agents of foreign governments in prison, and bring back the old fashioned paper ballot.
Nice flamebait re: FDR
on
The Jobs Crunch
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
FDR tried to alleviate the suffering caused by the depression's very high unemployment rate by instituting SS, and work programs like CCC and WPA that provided a public benefit. He did not make lies, half-truths, and political doublespeak an Executive Branch SOP. He did not slash
corporate taxes, and the tax rate of the very
wealthiest Americans, and then shift the tax
burdeon onto the backs of the shrinking middle class. FDR did not encourage the flight of American jobs overseas because "what's good for General Motors is good for America". FDR did not open the floodgates of illegal immigration into this country to force wages lower.
George W. Bush has done all these things, and more. It is pretty sad when the only decent paying jobs available to unemployed Americans is to drive a truck through Iraqi free fire zones. The high point of Bush's "job creation" record was 135,000 new jobs in a month -- which unfortunately doesn't even cover students from high school or college entering the job market, let alone those unemployed. Bush has embraced "corporate national socialism", and abandoned the working class. From all reliable accounts, one of the Bush administration's top policy goals was the invasion of Iraq, from before his inauguration. All the lies and doublespeak that was employed (WMD, terror links, and "imminent threat" were cobbled together and used after 9/11/2001 as cover for this war. Each have proved to be false. The Bush "war plank" was an agenda hidden from the voters in 2000 by such promises as "no foreign wars", "no nation- building", etcetera, all while planning for Saddam's ouster. Bush mismanagement of the war in Iraq, and of domestic policy decisions, have been equally disasterous to this country, with the sole exception of the GOP-aligned multinational corporations. George W. Bush spoke the truth (finally) at a Washington,DC fundraiser when he said "the HAVE's and the HAVE MORE's are my base (constituency)".
If this country should be cursed with yet another George W. Bush term of office, do not expect that there will be any improvements in job growth, health care, international relations, or the war in Iraq. Do expect more tax cuts for the corporations and wealthiest 2% of taxpayers. Do expect SS and Medicare to be gutted, as Bush finds new ways to drive the country deeper into debt. Do expect greater loss of personal freedom in this country, as "Patriot Act" extensions are subverted to crush political opposition. Do expect Bush to continue promoting religious organizations as the only source of welfare and social assistance. Do expect America's open borders to continue to encourage illegal immigration, because America's businesses want ever cheaper labor.
Saudi Arabia had a problem, a big problem. The greatest threat to the House of Saud was the secular dictatorship to their north. Saddam Hussein had been provided with enough biological and chemical weapons technology, and battlefield intelligence, covertly by George W.H. Bush's CIA to counter any threat that Iran's population (more than twice that of Iraq's) posed in their war against the heretical fundamentalist Shi'ite regime. The Iran-Iraq war was a war by proxy between the USA and Shi'ite Iran, and encouraged by the Wahhabist Saudi Arabia.
The overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the resultant overrunning of the US embassy there (and the taking of embassy staff hostage), and the training and support given to Hezbollah in Lebanon (resulting in the death of 241 US Marines there) required a strong and unequivocal response from the USA. But that war had been fought to a standstill, and Saddam Hussein was looking for compensation for his loses from the Wahhabist instigators in Saudi Arabia. Unanswered, he invaded Kuwait for his due, and with his military poised on Saudi Arabia's border, demanded more.
Saudi Arabia invoked their defense treaty with the USA, and it was the familiar George H.W. Bush that came to their rescue. But Saddam Hussein was not overthrown by USA or Coalition Forces in Gulf War I. Both the Kurdish and the Shi'ite post-war uprisings had been crushed. The UN sanctions did not provoke enough unrest in Iraq to overcome the brutal tactics of the Iraqi secret police. Saddam Hussein was dug into the Iraqi people like a tick on a hound. His secular regime, and his willingness to resort to military force, would forever threaten the House of Saud and their quest for Wahhabist hegemony in the Middle East. Something had to be done to compel the USA, the one remaining superpower, into over-throwing Saddam. The American Democratic Party, controlled by Bill Clinton, had proven unwilling to oust this dictator by military force. The Saudis helped to bankroll a scion of the George H.W. Bush family in his rise to political power in the GOP.
George W. Bush's rise to the Presidency of the USA was both close and contested. The lack of a politically decisive win did nothing to provide a mandate for the USA's military action the Saudi's demanded. The Bush oil people were in place, but the military action was stalled by politics. Fortunately, the Saudis already had contingency plans in place, in the form of their very own Wahhabist OSS, the al-Queda. The Bush/Cheney administration initiated a new State Department policy to help facilitate the import of enough Saudi operatives, and the VISA Express Program was born. The USA political bribes and the operational details chewed up a lot of cash, which the Saudi Arabian embassy handled in their usual way -- cold cash routed through Riggs Bank.
The horrific terrorist events of 9/11/2001 provided the political cover for the Bush administration to proceed with their plans for the invasion of Iraq. The forth plane did not accomplish its mission, however, which was the destruction of Congress. Coercion of a reluctant Congress was handled by FBI blackmail (first used extensively and successfully by Herbert Hoover to remain in power). Those politicians not susceptible to blackmail were sent anthrax laced letters, courtesy of the same CIA operatives embedded in Fort Dettrick that provided technical assistance to Saddam Hussein a decade earlier. These elements of the NYC national press most likely to cause problems for the Bush/Saudi agenda were also sent these deadly letters. The National Inquirer got special consideration, in retaliation for their ongoing investigation into Florida's 2000 election fraud debacle. The message was received, loud and clear. The FBI's failure to capture those involved has assured the continued malleability of the press. The remaining Saudi Arabian support network for the 9/11/2001 operation were rolled up, a
With the exception (slightly OT) of Microsoft's efforts with FUD & SCO Group, MS doesn't have ANY "open source efforts".
Between EULAs, License 6, NDAs, and draconian other limits on use, Microsoft is not now (and will never be) a bonafide contributor to open source. Their licenses are "viral". And F/OSS represents a philosophy that that is directly in opposition to Microsoft's business plan.
Using the terms "open source efforts" and "MS" in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
so, of course, these early American relics of our lost democracy are completely alien to him. The oath of office should have a prerequisite that the candidate actually has read (and understood) these documents. The current party in power apparently reads more Old Testiment that this country's founding documents. Sad.
IMHO, that reading list should be a prerequisite for ANY senior level administration position. An MBA degree IS NOT, and CANNOT be the only requirement (beyond political affiliation) for these positions of power.
New government requirements: (1) This reading list
(a) In depth book report from candidate
(b) There will be a test...
I stopped flying way back in 1993. Between TSA and DHS and FBI, flying couldn't be any more pleasant these days. HOWEVER, when ALL flight crew and passengers are REQUIRED to wear paper slippers and hospital gowns BEFORE boarding a flight, I MIGHT consider flying again, if only for the comic relief.
It is not surprising that "BusinessWeek" would adopt the Microsoft preference for a BSD-style license for source code, instead of GPL. M$ considers GPL to be "viral" , because the "chain of ownership" copyright is harder to break with GPL. M$ will not, ever, release enough source code to their core OS and application suites to permit rebuilding on a different platform. Their EULAs and NDAs restrict what what can be done with their applications now (like limiting F/OSS development with their toolchain). The limits M$ licenses place on their applications (let alone ANY M$ source code) is far more "viral" that any GPL restrictions.
Not only would I NOT want to ever see any M$ source code, EVER, but I wouldn't care to use THEIR toolchain ANYMORE. The risks to ownership of any code I might write is in far greater peril with M$ than with GPL.
Both Microsoft and now "BusinessWeek" endorse the BSD-style license for OSS because it is far easier for them to steal & reuse code, and without any liability to release their changes back into the community (granted, a minor risk considering their legal power, deep pockets, and the legal history they represent.) I would imagine M$ would really appreciate 100,00 plus free code writers contributing to their bottom line -- they could reduce their staff at a time when F/OSS TCO is beating them up in the market.
There has been enough "corporate welfare" in the USA as it is -- no need to make the situation worse. I look forward to a time when GPL is upheld as a valid license in US courts (which may be anytime now with SCO Group's chirade nearing the end.)
Senator Ted Kennedy )D-MA) was one of the few politicians that stood up to George W. Bush and voted NO for the Iraqi Conflict. Shortly after 9/11/2001 (before the anthrax letters), George W. Bush said "If you are not with "us", then you are against "us"."
This puts Senator Kennedy in the same class as the Taliban, al-Queda, the opposition forces in Iraq, (and AFAIK, the "liberal" NYC news media and the Senate Democratic leadership and the National Inquirer, who were sent those deadly anthrax letters) -- "enemy combatants".
It has been very nearly 3 years since those letters were sent out, and the closest the FBI has come to catching the criminals involved is to now have 2 "persons of interest", which is reminiscent of the Olympic bombing in Atlanta. Can anyone say "Keystone Kops"?
The Mars rover "Spirit" found more new evidence of the existance of water there. Mineral deposits found part way up a large basin was determined to be soap scum. Apparently, this large basin was used by ancient Martians as a "Roman bath". Several artifacts blasted with 2 million years worth of micronmeteors were determined to be rubber duckies.
After 9/11, George W. Bush made the statement "Those who are not with us, are against us". Shortly thereafter, an exact duplicate DNA version of the Ames strain of anthrax bacteria as resides at Ft. Detrick, MD Army Labs was unleashed upon (1st) the publishers of the National Enquirer (investigating vote fraud in Florida), the (2nd) the liberal (ie not pro- Bush) TV media in NYC, and then (3rd) the ranking US Senate membership of the opposition party.
The FBI's "Keystone Kops" quality investigation, after nearly three years, has only turned up two "persons of interest" and no suspects. This is the very same FBI that allowed a plane-load of Saudi Arabian "guests" to leave the USA before any further investigation into possible ties to the terrorist events of 9/11/01.
The Saudi Arabian embassy/Riggs Bank cash cow debacle has yet to be fully investigated -- where exactly did that 20 - 30 million dollars in US currency actually go? Into the hands of more terrorists, or into the hands of Bush/Cheney for their part in bringing down the Saudi's greatest external threat -- Saddam Hussein?
Between new eVoting fraud, a press that has been cowed into submission, the US Patriot Act, the general blanket of nearly total secrecy now in government interspersed only with lies and double-speak, and the tens of millions of dollars contributed by Bush's "corporate friends" for the propaganda campaign leading up to the Nov.2 elections, which political party represents the greatest threat to the future of American democracy?
(I now put on my tin-foil hat, and peek through the curtains for black helicopters...)
The approval rating of George W. Bush prior to 9/11/2001 was not going to win him the votes to get his neo conservative legislative program through Congress. The terrorist acts of 9/11 bought him the patriotic cover to do nearly anything he wanted to do, including going to war against Iraq. With the agenda that Bush/ Cheney had to shove down voters' throats, the GOP needed an event like 9/11 to pull it off.
Welcome to the "Corporate National Socialist Republic of America", where corporate welfare is the norm, the middle class is becoming non- existent, and those jobs not going overseas are being filled by illegal aliens from across US borders still little better secured than before 9/11.
since it is the home of both SCO group AND Sen. Orin Hatch. A completely dry Salt Lake can remind Utahians about the "pillars of salt" left after destruction of Soddom & Gomorrah.
(Oh, wait... must give Novell a chance to move away from "ground zero"... )
The Hubble Space Telescope uses a single mirror, and the onboard instruments provide a broad spectrum (including visible light) sensitivity.
The proposed Webb Telescope is NOT a direct replacement. The Webb telescope uses an array of smaller mirrors to obtain its sensitivity, AND it is IR (infrared spectrum) ONLY.
George W. Bush (and his arch conservative allies) is shovelling some pretty steamy & stinky BS at the American taxpayer. NASA as we have known it is doomed, as is the Hubble Space Telescope AND the ISS -- all current and future USA manned space flight projects. The Moon and Mars "missions" will not happen in any Bush administration. The ISS project is going into maintenence mode (preceding shutdown.) New projects, such as the shuttle replacement, a permanent manned presence on the Moon (why?), and a manned mission to Mars are all pipe dreams that have been starving for cash (which has all been sucked away into our "optional" war in Iraq.) If it is not defense-related and a boon to the military-industrial complex of contractors, it will not fly.
IANARS (I Am Not A Rocket Scientist), but I was a subcontractor for the HST Ground Control System for a number of years. I would like to believe the the HST could be repaired and continue on. The prospect of a successful robotic repair mission to keep Hubble Space Telescope "alive & working" is dubious, at best. The HST was not designed to facilitate robotic repair, and in fact was not ever expected to be repaired "in place" by manned missions. The customized tools (and the training astronauts had to go through ) required for repairs were incredible. No autonomous robot would be able to perform similar mechanical disassembly/assembly. Remote control of these "repair robots" from the ground has little chance for a successful mission -- unexpected events do happen that robotics will not be able to address.
The NASA/defense contractors will make use of the money spent on robotics for HST repair for other things, like keeping the DoD's spy birds operational & some mischief against other countries' satellites. A successful HST mission would not be the primary goal, but refinement of such capabilities for other purposes would be.
Slashdot Mirror
The is an entirely different mindset in Japan
...
for "techno-toys" than there is in the USA.
Over there, the consumer IS the beta tester,
with typically short product lifetimes. And
Japanese technophiles ARE willing beta testers.
Sharp can make smallish production runs for a
happy (even eager) consumer market, while USA
technophiles grouse over missing capabilities.
Not surprisingly, Sharp has all but abandoned
its Western markets for such niche products.
If they were to re-enter the Western markets,
they would need to do (IMHO) extensive marketing
tests PRIOR to designing the PDA. Inclusion
of both Bluetooth AND WiFi (802.11b) should be
a requirement, as well as USB 1.1 (minimum) with
docking station capabilities. The faster Intel
Xscale processor would be good, as well as more
RAM and ROM space (doubled). Unfortunately, I
don't really expect Sharp to manufacture enough
of such a PDA to bring the price down to a
reasonable level. So I will do without
The USA has ceased to be a democracy in all
ways, excepting name. One of the first orders
of business for King George II's second term
should be a Constitutional Amendment to change
the name to the "Peoples Democratic Republic
of the United States of North America".
A government for corporations, by corporations,
and of corporations. The only time the politcos
pay any attention to the voters is at elections,
and Diebold (et.al.) will put an end to that
with their audit-proof E-Voting machines.
King George II (and his regent Cheney) might
have sent aircraft carriers into the South
China Sea, but they renigged on selling Taiwan
upgraded defensive weapons in response to PRC's
missle "overflights".
Bush has got his nose so far up the PRC Premier's
backside that he can't blink. The administration
has been busy shipping jobs and technology to the
Red Chinese. The PRC has effective control over
both East and West coasts of the Panama Canal.
The PRC currency is pegged (not floating) against
the USA's dollar. And within 10 years, the PRC
will own a bigger chunk of the USA economy than
even Saudi Arabia (who is dictating our invasion
of Iraq). Balance of trade deficits and the fast-
growing national debt will turn the USA into a
client state of the PRC. Then where will the
independence of Taiwan be? You can already guess
what the PRC timeline is -- they plan to be the
victors before the Peking Olympics take place.
Get a grip. Stock up on survival gear and food,
and stop delaying the construction of your back-
yard bomb shelter. Hard times are coming.
to get the power required to generate the hydrogen gas. Guaranteed that 10kw would not be enough for the truck to be truly useful. Of course, if you have enough solar "sail", you really only need a steady wind. (Just watch out for low overpasses, hanging branches and wires, etc.) oh, nevermind. Just not practical.
Just like the largely under-funded Bush mandate
of "No Child Left Behind". So why is this any
surprise? Funds earmarked for reconstruction
in Afghanistan by an act of Congress was diverted
to the runup to the war in Iraq. Funds earmarked
for reconstruction in Iraq has been largely (96%)
unspent there (to be diverted to, where?).
King George II and his regent (puppetmaster)
Cheney has been running the USA like Imperial
Rome. The shroud of secrecy (even from the
GOP-controlled Congress) over their edicts by
fiat (Executive Order) spells the death of
democracy in the USA. What's really missing
(historically) is a "Brutus" and a ticked-off
"Senate" to finish Caesar off. Especially so
if Dubya steals another national election.
Or not. It's application dependent, really. Think about military/space applications like Bush's "Star Wars" program. Dense high speed memory that is RAD-hardened against cosmic rays is extremely expensive, and not totally bit-error proof. The longer the RAD-hardened electronics stays in space, the more likely that it will be damaged. The old Soviet Union equipped their most advanced fighter and bomber aircraft with tube technology because they could recover from the EMP wave originating from nuclear detonations. Both SOS (Silicon on Sapphire) and GOD (Germanium on Diamond) are expensive to manufacture, and have low manufacturing yields. These new devices will likely never see any commercial use, as the DoD will buy the patent and classify it Top Secret. Even commercial satellite use would be unlikey, because the DoD wants the capability to cripple or destroy both commercial satellites and foreign military space platforms.
And how is this any different from the official Microsoft position that any computer sold without a legal MS OS (ie. bare, or with Linux) will be used for stolen MS applications? In other words, if the enduser has not paid the Microsoft "tax" when purchasing their computer, they are thieves. And if they do not use the Microsoft DRM included with their "taxed" boxen, they are thieves. I just can't wait for what "Trusted Computing", the Microsoft "tax", and the now completely twisted US justice system has in store for the average consumer in 5 years. Of course, with current trends, I would expect that no one will actually possess any software media, or any means to store data. Microsoft DRM and the wonders of broadband internet will mean that MS will charge you for every time you open an email with a proprietary MS attachment, and all storage will be at MSN, just like the WebTV. I can't wait (gag, gag, choke.)
Actually, you forgot to mention the SECOND
LARGEST contingent of "forces" deployed in
Iraq -- the USA-based contractors, such as
Halliburton, Kellog-Brown-Kerr, etc.
The ranks of the coalition forces for this
second Iraq war is filled with what would
otherwise be characterized as "mercenaries".
Not unlike the majority of forces used in
Afghanistan to rout the Taliban.
The biggest differences between the "interests"
of the USA in Afghanistan and Iraq are (1) OIL,
and (2) proximity to Bush/Cheney's masters, the
Saudi Arabians.
At this juncture, it becomes less difficult to
believe that the Saudi Arabian government WAS
BEHIND the 9/11/2001 attacks, AND that the Bush
administration insiders were in on it. The Iraq
war could NOT HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED to either the
American people or the UN without those terror
attacks.
The Bush administration paved the way for the
Saudi Arabian OSS (excuse me, Al Qaeda) to get
into the USA with the State Department's VISA
Express Program. And the Bush administration
paved the way for the supporting staff to exit
the USA with the Saudi chartered air flights
afterwards. The Saudi embassy withdrew more
than $30 million dollars in cold hard cash from
Riggs Bank to finance the operation, and to
"grease the wheels" of USA politicos and oil
business interests.
When the George W. Bush regime is over (in 2005
or 2009), the International Criminal Court needs
to set up a separate docket just to handle the
Bush administration. (Of course, that presumes
that the world (or the world court) will still
be around then, let alone American democracy.)
If Bush steals the next election, all bets will
be off for 2009 or beyond to prosecute our King
George II and his proxy Richard Cheney.
I guess we'll find out whether the USA has
the stomach to prosecute war crimes, without
reliance upon the ICC. Based upon many years
as a student of human nature, and of the USA's
political processes, I would hazard a guess
that we will need both the UN and the ICC for
prosecuting war crimes. Of course, my opinion
also presumes that the UN and the ICC will still
matter (or exist) after a second Bush term.
The current corporate "welfare" state, as it
exists in the good old USA today, existed in
other places at other times. It was called
"National Socialism" (now morphed into what
can be called "Corporate National Socialism".
Wrong.
Joe Sixpack has been led to believe that
everything is A-OKAY. When Department of
Homeland Security (IMHO, an oxymoron) adopts
MS Windows XP Pro/MS Server 2003 as their
platform of choice, despite numerous warnings
from industry security experts to the contrary,
the security bar has been set far too low.
When MS gets to write their own "penalty" for
monopolistic practices, as defined by the Bush
DoJ, the security bar has been set too low.
When MS gets away with statements like "IE
is integral to the OS" in Federal lawsuits,
then (finally) makes recommendations through
channels (Slate) for users to switch IE to
Mozilla, AND GETS AWAY WITH IT, the security
bar has been set too low.
Good old Joe Sixpack is just following the
government's guidelines and SOP. If it's
good enough for DHS, it is damn well good
enough for him.
The blame really neds to be placed where it
belongs: the IT industry giants that shove
insecure OSes and application suites down the
public's throats, and a government that lets
them get away with it. Twenty five years of
relaxing government regulations on industry,
the corporate welfare mindset, and a public
press increasingly in the hands of fewer and
fewer corporate entities (and the rising tide
of self-censorship on corporations' behalf)
have brought us to where we are today.
Don't blame the average Joe Sixpack user for
massive IT security policy failures.
also known as "Corporate National Socialism".
This is a world in which the individual (read
American citizen) has no real rights under the
law anymore. The corporations (that bought &
paid for the politicians, the lobbyists, AND
the think tanks that actually make policy) now
rule America. Welfare belongs only in the hands
of those that deserve it (and paid for it), like
Halliburton, Diebold, ChevronTexaco, et.al.
The American people will wake up AFTER THE 2004
ELECTION to find that they have all been Bush-
whacked. Only the neocons, christian right,
and the corporations will be happy about it.
No kidding.
The only time that most of our politicians have
any "populist angst" is at election time. Most
have been "bought-and-paid-for" by the special
interest groups with the most cash to spend.
Neither of the two main political parties will
do anything to bring back more American jobs
until the voters start kicking them out of
office (and prosecuting them under RICO).
Many voters will be disenfranchised by these
same politicians and their eVoting machines.
The numbers of voting errors, by bad software
engineering or computer hacking or outright
fraud that will not get corrected if the votes
favor the incumbents, or the party in power.
When "public polling" data, exit polls, and
the "diddled" eVotes are all in concordance,
how would the public even know that they have
been disenfranchised?
It is time to seriously overhaul the campaign
finance laws in the USA, in conjunction with
putting most of the lobbyist & special interest
groups & registered agents of foreign governments
in prison, and bring back the old fashioned
paper ballot.
FDR tried to alleviate the suffering caused by
the depression's very high unemployment rate by
instituting SS, and work programs like CCC and WPA
that provided a public benefit. He did not make
lies, half-truths, and political doublespeak
an Executive Branch SOP. He did not slash
corporate taxes, and the tax rate of the very
wealthiest Americans, and then shift the tax
burdeon onto the backs of the shrinking
middle class. FDR did not encourage the flight
of American jobs overseas because "what's good
for General Motors is good for America". FDR
did not open the floodgates of illegal
immigration into this country to force wages
lower.
George W. Bush has done all these things, and
more. It is pretty sad when the only decent
paying jobs available to unemployed Americans
is to drive a truck through Iraqi free fire
zones. The high point of Bush's "job creation"
record was 135,000 new jobs in a month -- which
unfortunately doesn't even cover students from
high school or college entering the job market,
let alone those unemployed. Bush has embraced
"corporate national socialism", and abandoned
the working class. From all reliable accounts,
one of the Bush administration's top policy
goals was the invasion of Iraq, from before his
inauguration. All the lies and doublespeak that
was employed (WMD, terror links, and "imminent
threat" were cobbled together and used after
9/11/2001 as cover for this war. Each have
proved to be false. The Bush "war plank" was
an agenda hidden from the voters in 2000 by
such promises as "no foreign wars", "no nation-
building", etcetera, all while planning for
Saddam's ouster. Bush mismanagement of the
war in Iraq, and of domestic policy decisions,
have been equally disasterous to this country,
with the sole exception of the GOP-aligned
multinational corporations. George W. Bush
spoke the truth (finally) at a Washington,DC
fundraiser when he said "the HAVE's and the
HAVE MORE's are my base (constituency)".
If this country should be cursed with yet another
George W. Bush term of office, do not expect that
there will be any improvements in job growth,
health care, international relations, or the
war in Iraq. Do expect more tax cuts for the
corporations and wealthiest 2% of taxpayers.
Do expect SS and Medicare to be gutted, as Bush
finds new ways to drive the country deeper into
debt. Do expect greater loss of personal freedom
in this country, as "Patriot Act" extensions
are subverted to crush political opposition.
Do expect Bush to continue promoting religious
organizations as the only source of welfare
and social assistance. Do expect America's
open borders to continue to encourage illegal
immigration, because America's businesses
want ever cheaper labor.
Bush Geopolitics, And The Control Of Oil
Saudi Arabia had a problem, a big problem. The
greatest threat to the House of Saud was the secular dictatorship to their north. Saddam Hussein had been provided with enough biological and chemical weapons technology, and battlefield intelligence, covertly by George W.H. Bush's CIA to counter any threat that Iran's population
(more than twice that of Iraq's) posed in
their war against the heretical fundamentalist Shi'ite regime. The Iran-Iraq war was a war by proxy between the USA and Shi'ite Iran, and encouraged by the Wahhabist Saudi Arabia.
The overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the resultant
overrunning of the US embassy there (and the taking of embassy staff hostage), and the training and support given to Hezbollah in Lebanon (resulting in the death of 241 US Marines there) required a strong and unequivocal response from the USA. But that war had been fought to a standstill, and Saddam Hussein was looking for compensation for his loses from the Wahhabist instigators in Saudi Arabia. Unanswered, he invaded Kuwait for his due, and with his military
poised on Saudi Arabia's border, demanded more.
Saudi Arabia invoked their defense treaty with the
USA, and it was the familiar George H.W. Bush that
came to their rescue. But Saddam Hussein was not
overthrown by USA or Coalition Forces in Gulf War I. Both the Kurdish and the Shi'ite post-war uprisings had been crushed. The UN sanctions did not provoke enough unrest in Iraq to overcome the brutal tactics of the Iraqi secret police. Saddam Hussein was dug into the Iraqi people like a tick on a hound. His secular regime, and his willingness to resort to military force, would forever threaten the House of Saud and their quest for Wahhabist hegemony in the Middle East. Something had to be done to compel the USA, the one remaining superpower, into over-throwing Saddam. The American Democratic Party,
controlled by Bill Clinton, had proven unwilling to oust this dictator by military force. The Saudis helped to bankroll a scion of the George H.W. Bush family in his rise to political power in the GOP.
George W. Bush's rise to the Presidency of the USA
was both close and contested. The lack of a politically decisive win did nothing to provide a mandate for the USA's military action the Saudi's demanded. The Bush oil people were in place, but the military action was stalled by politics. Fortunately, the Saudis already had contingency plans in place, in the form of their very own Wahhabist OSS, the al-Queda. The Bush/Cheney
administration initiated a new State Department policy to help facilitate the import of enough Saudi operatives, and the VISA Express Program
was born. The USA political bribes and the operational details chewed up a lot of cash,
which the Saudi Arabian embassy handled in their
usual way -- cold cash routed through Riggs Bank.
The horrific terrorist events of 9/11/2001 provided the political cover for the Bush administration to proceed with their plans for
the invasion of Iraq. The forth plane did not accomplish its mission, however, which was the destruction of Congress. Coercion of a reluctant Congress was handled by FBI blackmail (first
used extensively and successfully by Herbert Hoover to remain in power). Those politicians
not susceptible to blackmail were sent anthrax laced letters, courtesy of the same CIA operatives embedded in Fort Dettrick that provided technical assistance to Saddam Hussein a decade earlier. These elements of the NYC national press most
likely to cause problems for the Bush/Saudi agenda were also sent these deadly letters. The National Inquirer got special consideration, in retaliation for their ongoing investigation into Florida's 2000 election fraud debacle. The message was received, loud and clear. The FBI's failure to capture those involved has assured the continued malleability of the press. The remaining Saudi Arabian support network for the 9/11/2001 operation were rolled up, a
With the exception (slightly OT) of Microsoft's
efforts with FUD & SCO Group, MS doesn't have
ANY "open source efforts".
Between EULAs, License 6, NDAs, and draconian
other limits on use, Microsoft is not now (and
will never be) a bonafide contributor to open
source. Their licenses are "viral". And F/OSS
represents a philosophy that that is directly
in opposition to Microsoft's business plan.
Using the terms "open source efforts" and "MS"
in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
so, of course, these early American relics of
...
our lost democracy are completely alien to him.
The oath of office should have a prerequisite
that the candidate actually has read (and
understood) these documents. The current party
in power apparently reads more Old Testiment
that this country's founding documents. Sad.
IMHO, that reading list should be a prerequisite
for ANY senior level administration position.
An MBA degree IS NOT, and CANNOT be the only
requirement (beyond political affiliation) for
these positions of power.
New government requirements:
(1) This reading list
(a) In depth book report from candidate
(b) There will be a test
I stopped flying way back in 1993. Between TSA
and DHS and FBI, flying couldn't be any more
pleasant these days. HOWEVER, when ALL flight
crew and passengers are REQUIRED to wear paper
slippers and hospital gowns BEFORE boarding a
flight, I MIGHT consider flying again, if only
for the comic relief.
It is not surprising that "BusinessWeek" would
adopt the Microsoft preference for a BSD-style
license for source code, instead of GPL. M$
considers GPL to be "viral" , because the "chain
of ownership" copyright is harder to break with
GPL. M$ will not, ever, release enough source
code to their core OS and application suites to
permit rebuilding on a different platform. Their
EULAs and NDAs restrict what what can be done
with their applications now (like limiting F/OSS
development with their toolchain). The limits
M$ licenses place on their applications (let
alone ANY M$ source code) is far more "viral"
that any GPL restrictions.
Not only would I NOT want to ever see any M$
source code, EVER, but I wouldn't care to use
THEIR toolchain ANYMORE. The risks to ownership
of any code I might write is in far greater
peril with M$ than with GPL.
Both Microsoft and now "BusinessWeek" endorse
the BSD-style license for OSS because it is
far easier for them to steal & reuse code, and
without any liability to release their changes
back into the community (granted, a minor risk
considering their legal power, deep pockets,
and the legal history they represent.) I would
imagine M$ would really appreciate 100,00 plus
free code writers contributing to their bottom
line -- they could reduce their staff at a time
when F/OSS TCO is beating them up in the market.
There has been enough "corporate welfare" in the
USA as it is -- no need to make the situation
worse. I look forward to a time when GPL is
upheld as a valid license in US courts (which
may be anytime now with SCO Group's chirade
nearing the end.)
Senator Ted Kennedy )D-MA) was one of the few
politicians that stood up to George W. Bush
and voted NO for the Iraqi Conflict. Shortly
after 9/11/2001 (before the anthrax letters),
George W. Bush said "If you are not with "us",
then you are against "us"."
This puts Senator Kennedy in the same class as
the Taliban, al-Queda, the opposition forces in
Iraq, (and AFAIK, the "liberal" NYC news media
and the Senate Democratic leadership and the
National Inquirer, who were sent those deadly
anthrax letters) -- "enemy combatants".
It has been very nearly 3 years since those
letters were sent out, and the closest the
FBI has come to catching the criminals involved
is to now have 2 "persons of interest", which
is reminiscent of the Olympic bombing in Atlanta.
Can anyone say "Keystone Kops"?
The Mars rover "Spirit" found more new
evidence of the existance of water there.
Mineral deposits found part way up a large
basin was determined to be soap scum.
Apparently, this large basin was used by
ancient Martians as a "Roman bath". Several
artifacts blasted with 2 million years worth
of micronmeteors were determined to be
rubber duckies.
After 9/11, George W. Bush made the statement
...)
"Those who are not with us, are against us".
Shortly thereafter, an exact duplicate DNA
version of the Ames strain of anthrax bacteria
as resides at Ft. Detrick, MD Army Labs was
unleashed upon (1st) the publishers of the
National Enquirer (investigating vote fraud
in Florida), the (2nd) the liberal (ie not pro-
Bush) TV media in NYC, and then (3rd) the ranking
US Senate membership of the opposition party.
The FBI's "Keystone Kops" quality investigation,
after nearly three years, has only turned up two
"persons of interest" and no suspects. This is
the very same FBI that allowed a plane-load of
Saudi Arabian "guests" to leave the USA before
any further investigation into possible ties to
the terrorist events of 9/11/01.
The Saudi Arabian embassy/Riggs Bank cash cow
debacle has yet to be fully investigated --
where exactly did that 20 - 30 million dollars
in US currency actually go? Into the hands of
more terrorists, or into the hands of Bush/Cheney
for their part in bringing down the Saudi's
greatest external threat -- Saddam Hussein?
Between new eVoting fraud, a press that has been
cowed into submission, the US Patriot Act, the
general blanket of nearly total secrecy now
in government interspersed only with lies and
double-speak, and the tens of millions of dollars
contributed by Bush's "corporate friends" for
the propaganda campaign leading up to the Nov.2
elections, which political party represents the
greatest threat to the future of American
democracy?
(I now put on my tin-foil hat, and peek through
the curtains for black helicopters
The approval rating of George W. Bush prior to
9/11/2001 was not going to win him the votes to
get his neo conservative legislative program
through Congress. The terrorist acts of 9/11
bought him the patriotic cover to do nearly
anything he wanted to do, including going to
war against Iraq. With the agenda that Bush/
Cheney had to shove down voters' throats, the
GOP needed an event like 9/11 to pull it off.
Welcome to the "Corporate National Socialist
Republic of America", where corporate welfare
is the norm, the middle class is becoming non-
existent, and those jobs not going overseas
are being filled by illegal aliens from across
US borders still little better secured than
before 9/11.
since it is the home of both SCO group
... must give Novell a chance ... )
AND Sen. Orin Hatch. A completely dry
Salt Lake can remind Utahians about the
"pillars of salt" left after destruction
of Soddom & Gomorrah.
(Oh, wait
to move away from "ground zero"
The Hubble Space Telescope uses a single mirror,
and the onboard instruments provide a broad
spectrum (including visible light) sensitivity.
The proposed Webb Telescope is NOT a direct
replacement. The Webb telescope uses an array
of smaller mirrors to obtain its sensitivity,
AND it is IR (infrared spectrum) ONLY.
George W. Bush (and his arch conservative allies)
is shovelling some pretty steamy & stinky BS at
the American taxpayer. NASA as we have known it
is doomed, as is the Hubble Space Telescope AND
the ISS -- all current and future USA manned
space flight projects. The Moon and Mars "missions" will not happen in any Bush administration. The ISS project is going into
maintenence mode (preceding shutdown.) New
projects, such as the shuttle replacement, a
permanent manned presence on the Moon (why?),
and a manned mission to Mars are all pipe dreams
that have been starving for cash (which has all
been sucked away into our "optional" war in Iraq.)
If it is not defense-related and a boon to the
military-industrial complex of contractors, it
will not fly.
IANARS (I Am Not A Rocket Scientist), but I was
a subcontractor for the HST Ground Control System
for a number of years. I would like to believe
the the HST could be repaired and continue on.
The prospect of a successful robotic repair mission to keep Hubble Space Telescope "alive
& working" is dubious, at best. The HST was
not designed to facilitate robotic repair, and
in fact was not ever expected to be repaired
"in place" by manned missions. The customized
tools (and the training astronauts had to go
through ) required for repairs were incredible.
No autonomous robot would be able to perform
similar mechanical disassembly/assembly. Remote
control of these "repair robots" from the ground
has little chance for a successful mission --
unexpected events do happen that robotics will
not be able to address.
The NASA/defense contractors will make use of
the money spent on robotics for HST repair for
other things, like keeping the DoD's spy birds
operational & some mischief against other
countries' satellites. A successful HST mission
would not be the primary goal, but refinement of
such capabilities for other purposes would be.