I completely agree.
I had crafted a reply that mitigated the abrasiveness of my first post . . . but I guess I screwed up.
Anyway . . . it will be interesting to see how the Plame resolves itself.
Cheers!
I typed up a fairly thorough respone but it never seemed to post.
If this is, in fact, accurate, do not think that my silene is acquiesence ... to the contrary!
You clearly do not understand the concept of "whistleblowing" or how to weigh the relative importance of information.
The "public interest" angle of the story was the manipulation of evidence leading war NOT a phony charge of nepotism.
Let's see . . . "misstating" the facts surrounding a potential source of uranium in Nigeria that supported taking the nation to war versus an unsubstantiated charge of nepotism which, by the way, reveals a undercover agent who has worked for years to ferret out WMD. And . ..by the way . ..J. Wilson spent many years working in Nigeria and TF has qualifications to take on the job. Hmmm . . .
I need to point that that while the cost of living is lower, you better hope that the cost of living is going to decrease to similar levels otherwise the 10,000 rupees isn't going to help much when you retire back in the states . . . esp. since you probably will not be receiving other retirment benefits nor paying into socialy security.
FYI . . . the US system is designed to be a "winner take all" proposition . . . therefore the winning party gets to dole out all sorts of positions that control the levers of government. Therefore, a third party in this system can only "throw" an election to the opposition of the party from whence the third party draws it support (e.g., Nader/Gore).
I understand what your are saying but would add . . .
The dollar is "artficially" (to use your construction) inflated by a combination of factors such denomination of petroleum sales in dollars and open market interventions to maintain advantageous exchange rates on the part of exporters (i.e., Japan). This pushes the "purchasing power parity" out of whack . . . as your probably know.
I think Bush's deficits are deflating our currency in a very real sense and the combination of the two is quite bad for our economy.
I think what they are tyring to say . . . why don't you move into one of these shanty towns that ring the urban cores and work harder to make ends meet. (oh, that might be Brazil rather than the US . ..for now)
You should not conflate the behaviour of individuals with corporations as a justification for capital taking advantage of labor.
Coprporations operate in the context of a society that spends resources and creates infrastructures that allow business to prosper. When the costs of the product do not reflect the externalities of either benefits they receive or costs they create then society has a right (some might argue a moral obligation) to step in to alter the balance . . . it happens all the time.
I am curious, and this is not a troll comment, to what extent do Indians receive a subsidized (either in whole or part) tertiary education? What does this mean in the context of a US citizen who pays a lot for a private education who requres a return on that investment just to get out of debt?
I am curious what one does when one retires to one's home country after being paid local wages? This clearly does not pose a problem if you stay in the same relative band of purchasing power parity. Or should one plan on retiring to Bangalore?
For your information, a company does not have to relocate its offices in order incorporate under a different juridiction. Companies do it all the time to reduce their tax burden.
I think you made my point in the last sentence of your first paragraph. The quest to have the most advanced arms in the face of a threat leads to spending treasure on programs that, at least initially, may not have an immediate economic return but do contribute to security.
In re: sex, historically, pornographers have the among the first groups in any society to embrace new technologies for commerical gain such as the printing press and the Internet.
International cooperation may be required to get us into space travel in the long run . ..but I think the original poster's point was that in the short run it will likely be the prospect of militarization that leads to renewed focus on the lift technologies needed.
I suppose it depends on the type of change you are referring to . . .
I would tend to agree with you that non-violent means of societal change are meaningful since they appear to be more enduring (MLK, Mandela, Ganhdi in no particular order) . . . which is what I think you are saying. Unfortunately, it seems that the number of people that combine the vision, political skills and determination to achieve these ends are few and far between.
OTOH, my point with regards to recent history is that confrontation and sex tends to spur technical innovation more often than not - which may get us into space faster than other means.
Let me know you are close to opening it . . . I will use my connections in Japan to pre-market the inevitable group tours for Japanese salary men interested in "deep space". Short-term profitability for space travel will be practically guaranteed . . .
Whethere we like it or not, historically, war or the threat of war and pornography have been and likely will continue to be tremendous agents of change in our societies.
Slashdot Mirror
I completely agree. I had crafted a reply that mitigated the abrasiveness of my first post . . . but I guess I screwed up. Anyway . . . it will be interesting to see how the Plame resolves itself. Cheers!
I typed up a fairly thorough respone but it never seemed to post. If this is, in fact, accurate, do not think that my silene is acquiesence . .. to the contrary!
You clearly do not understand the concept of "whistleblowing" or how to weigh the relative importance of information.
.by the way . . .J. Wilson spent many years working in Nigeria and TF has qualifications to take on the job. Hmmm . . .
The "public interest" angle of the story was the manipulation of evidence leading war NOT a phony charge of nepotism.
Let's see . . . "misstating" the facts surrounding a potential source of uranium in Nigeria that supported taking the nation to war versus an unsubstantiated charge of nepotism which, by the way, reveals a undercover agent who has worked for years to ferret out WMD. And . .
I need to point that that while the cost of living is lower, you better hope that the cost of living is going to decrease to similar levels otherwise the 10,000 rupees isn't going to help much when you retire back in the states . . . esp. since you probably will not be receiving other retirment benefits nor paying into socialy security.
FYI . . . the US system is designed to be a "winner take all" proposition . . . therefore the winning party gets to dole out all sorts of positions that control the levers of government. Therefore, a third party in this system can only "throw" an election to the opposition of the party from whence the third party draws it support (e.g., Nader/Gore).
I for one welcome my new bio-metrically knowledgeable overlords.
I understand what your are saying but would add . . . The dollar is "artficially" (to use your construction) inflated by a combination of factors such denomination of petroleum sales in dollars and open market interventions to maintain advantageous exchange rates on the part of exporters (i.e., Japan). This pushes the "purchasing power parity" out of whack . . . as your probably know. I think Bush's deficits are deflating our currency in a very real sense and the combination of the two is quite bad for our economy.
I think what they are tyring to say . . . why don't you move into one of these shanty towns that ring the urban cores and work harder to make ends meet. (oh, that might be Brazil rather than the US . . .for now)
You should not conflate the behaviour of individuals with corporations as a justification for capital taking advantage of labor. Coprporations operate in the context of a society that spends resources and creates infrastructures that allow business to prosper. When the costs of the product do not reflect the externalities of either benefits they receive or costs they create then society has a right (some might argue a moral obligation) to step in to alter the balance . . . it happens all the time. I am curious, and this is not a troll comment, to what extent do Indians receive a subsidized (either in whole or part) tertiary education? What does this mean in the context of a US citizen who pays a lot for a private education who requres a return on that investment just to get out of debt?
I am curious what one does when one retires to one's home country after being paid local wages? This clearly does not pose a problem if you stay in the same relative band of purchasing power parity. Or should one plan on retiring to Bangalore?
For your information, a company does not have to relocate its offices in order incorporate under a different juridiction. Companies do it all the time to reduce their tax burden.
I think you made my point in the last sentence of your first paragraph. The quest to have the most advanced arms in the face of a threat leads to spending treasure on programs that, at least initially, may not have an immediate economic return but do contribute to security. In re: sex, historically, pornographers have the among the first groups in any society to embrace new technologies for commerical gain such as the printing press and the Internet. International cooperation may be required to get us into space travel in the long run . . .but I think the original poster's point was that in the short run it will likely be the prospect of militarization that leads to renewed focus on the lift technologies needed.
I suppose it depends on the type of change you are referring to . . . I would tend to agree with you that non-violent means of societal change are meaningful since they appear to be more enduring (MLK, Mandela, Ganhdi in no particular order) . . . which is what I think you are saying. Unfortunately, it seems that the number of people that combine the vision, political skills and determination to achieve these ends are few and far between. OTOH, my point with regards to recent history is that confrontation and sex tends to spur technical innovation more often than not - which may get us into space faster than other means.
Let me know you are close to opening it . . . I will use my connections in Japan to pre-market the inevitable group tours for Japanese salary men interested in "deep space". Short-term profitability for space travel will be practically guaranteed . . .
Whethere we like it or not, historically, war or the threat of war and pornography have been and likely will continue to be tremendous agents of change in our societies.
Just something to consider . . .