Wow, so in your world affordable health care is "insane"
What makes you think that any of the bills currenting pending before Congress are going to make health care affordable? All they are going to accomplish is to transfer the burden of paying for overpriced health care to the Government. The reason that health care is so expensive is because large bureaucracies (public and private) separate the consumer from the cost of the product.
Take a look at health care procedures that aren't covered by Uncle Sam and/or private insurance. LASIK surgery, cosmetic surgery, etc all exist in a competitive marketplace and have all come down in price since being introduced. Why is it that I can now have someone operate on my eyes for less cost than my last round of blood work?
Health care "reform" that doesn't address health care inflation is no reform at all. It's just going to socialize the problem, which will in the long term lead to either rationing or bankruptcy.
Of course he can't get everything done and needs to make comprimises but he is the best thing since Kenedy. Period.
Let me guess... You get your information from Fox News?
Your spelling and Kennedy worship suggests to me that you get your information from MSNBC. See how easy it is to dismiss someone when you can just stereotype them rather then engage in an actual dialog with them?
If the committee is using the prize as a tool to make other world leaders take notice that America has really strong intentions to remove ourselves from all the international conflicts we're engaged in
Your kidding me, right?
Obama is a man to be respected for his accomplishments during the past year.
Which accomplishments would those be? Closing Gitmo? Nope, haven't done that yet. Health Care Reform? Nope, haven't done that yet, and it's not really "reform" anyway. Creating a transparent White House? Nope, we gave up on that one pretty early on.
The actual point of it though is that it costs a rediculously low amount of money to the wireless carrier to handle an SMS
In actuality it costs them nothing to handle an SMS -- SMS gets sent on the paging channel when said channel is idle. I don't disagree that they've completely inflated the costs. I just get skeptical when people start complaining about the cost of a service that they keep using. Vote with your wallet and stop paying for SMS. It's hardly a life essential service. If enough people did that I suspect you'd see the price come down to something more reasonable.
but I actually rather like text messages, I just think the carriers charge astronomical rates for something that should be included in a calling plan for free).
In other words you like the service but don't like paying what the provider charges for it. Got it.
-They want to be able to charge $0.20 for each text message.
I really wish the people who complain about this would at least provide the proper perspective. The $0.20 per text cost is the cost without a plan. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile (AT&T as well?) all offer unlimited plans nowadays. Nobody with a clue is actually paying $0.20 per SMS.
You really think that because you have guns the government is scared shitless? Are you on crack?
Where did I say that the government was "scared shitless"?
on behalf of the government, since you seem to think that government provided services somehow reflect a reduction in liberty
The do reflect a reduction in liberty when they come with a "you MUST use this government service or ELSE" mandate.
You've been spoon fed paranoia and imagined threats for so many years (from the japs in WW2, hippies, communists, terrorists, environmentalists, socialists)
The Japanese were an "imagined threat"? Really? I guess we imagined them blowing up our ships and killing our servicemen?
You know what? It's your call, keep on believing in the delusion that having a gun will somehow make you free and that your government/corporations won't continue in shafting you royally.
I don't believe and never said that having an armed society "makes" us free. It "keeps" us free. Bit of a difference there.
that government intervention in the preservation of corporations and executive bonuses in the face of gross incompetence is ok
Executive bonuses in the face of gross incompetence is an issue for the shareholders, not for Uncle Sam.
but government intervention for "Joe the plumber" to provide him with healthcare is a stripping of his civil liberties.
Government offered healthcare does strip you of your civil liberties when it comes with a mandate that you must buy coverage or else you'll forfeit the fruits of your labor to the Government.
Me, I'm just glad I don't live in the good ol' US of A, because right now... it looks like a real shithole.
60 million are children, there's 1/5 of the populace
Because I've never seen anyone under the age of 18 using a firearm. Just doesn't happen. My state gives out hunting licenses at 12 but makes the kiddies use rocks and spears until they turn 18.....
Elderly people that can't bear a gun because they're too weak physically? 30 million or so, likely.
At least have the decency to admit that you are just pulling numbers out of your ass.
You think 280 million guns is going to be useful when there aren't that many hands to hold them and use them?
Yes, actually I do. Having a large number of firearms in the country makes it that much harder for any Government opposed to liberty to seize enough of them to disarm the population. This premise remains valid even if I bought your bullshit argument that only 20% of the American population (60 million / 300 million) is physically and/or legally capable of wielding a firearm.
The FBI is simply protecting the people who give it funding
The FBI doesn't get it's funding from the Federal Courts. It gets it's funding from Congress. The money that PACER charges is used to offset the administrative overhead of running the system. If that concept bothers you then write your Congressman and tell him to give the Judiciary more money so they can offer it for free instead. The Judiciary is regularly short-changed by Congress in the funding department anyway and could probably use the support.
and if you believe the FBI would side with whats RIGHT vs. what serves their best interests then you are a fool.
Your a fool if you think the FBI has nothing better to do than pursue someone over something this trivial. They looked into the matter and dropped it after they concluded that no crimes were committed. What exactly bothers you so much about this? Frankly I'd be more worried if they didn't investigate unauthorized software on a Federal computer system that's busy uploading hundreds of thousands of documents.
280 million guns, only about 60 million people legally allowed to use them.
Citation needed. If you are going to make a statement such as that I think you should back it up with hard numbers. I find it hard to believe that 240 million Americans (300 million - the 60 million you claim are legally allowed to use firearms) are convicted felons/domestic abusers/mental cases/dishonorably discharged from the military.
Well, since you are being a complete nay-sayer to further your own agenda, allow me to respond with some other potential uses of this technology:
Law enforcement will use it to help solve crime.
The innocence project will use it to get wrongfully convicted people out of prison/off death row.
Businesses and private individuals will be able to use it to enhance the security of their homes/offices/factories/etc.
Adopted children will be able to use it to figure out who their biological parents are.
The child support system will be able to use it to weed out those who aren't parents and confirm those who are.
The point I'm trying to make is that technology isn't inherently good or evil. It's what we do with it that matters. I find it disturbing that you couldn't name a single positive use for this technology.
if you look too closely at the gov't, they'll look too closely at you.
Oh please. Put the tinfoil hat away. If this was 'retaliation' I suspect that it would have gone a lot further than an investigation that was closed after concluding that no laws were broken. Did he really expect the FBI not to take an interest in him after he installed his own code on a Government computer? Frankly I'd be worried if they didn't take an interest when some IT person notices a script running on a Government computer that's uploading hundreds of thousands of documents.
South Park is computer generated. Some of the shorts they made (and maybe the pilot episode?) were done on construction paper but every episode since has been generated on computers.
And yeah, South Park rocks. I love when they do political commentary. They even spawned a movement of sorts. To quote Stone, "I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals."
Compact Flash is similarly much more expensive than SD. I have no idea why Canon stuck to CF for their EOS 400D camera, years after SD "won" the format war (for phones/cameras etc).
Personally I have no idea why SD "won" the format war to begin with. I loved the fact that all I needed was a simple adapter and I could use my CF card on any laptop under any OS without drivers. I guess smaller automatically equals better these days. Who cares if you need to use a pair of tweezers to remove the memory card from your device.....
Actually Sony are quite permissive when it comes to user control of downloaded content. You can install content you've purchased on up to five PS3's and every user account, whether on PSN or not, can use any content downloaded by another account on the same PS3.
It's pretty sad when the indoctrination has reached even/. and we think that it's "quite permissive" for a company to allow you to use the content you purchased on devices that you own. How nice of them to be that "permissive".
Personally, I think all films should be made as puppet shows but with stunning plots.
The South Park guys tried that, although I don't know if you'd call their plot "stunning";) It did teach us one thing though: 99% of the human race can be lumped into one of three categories: dicks, assholes and pussies. The remaining 1% is actually made up of cockroaches from outer space.
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Wow, so in your world affordable health care is "insane"
What makes you think that any of the bills currenting pending before Congress are going to make health care affordable? All they are going to accomplish is to transfer the burden of paying for overpriced health care to the Government. The reason that health care is so expensive is because large bureaucracies (public and private) separate the consumer from the cost of the product.
Take a look at health care procedures that aren't covered by Uncle Sam and/or private insurance. LASIK surgery, cosmetic surgery, etc all exist in a competitive marketplace and have all come down in price since being introduced. Why is it that I can now have someone operate on my eyes for less cost than my last round of blood work?
Health care "reform" that doesn't address health care inflation is no reform at all. It's just going to socialize the problem, which will in the long term lead to either rationing or bankruptcy.
Of course he can't get everything done and needs to make comprimises but he is the best thing since Kenedy. Period.
Let me guess... You get your information from Fox News?
Your spelling and Kennedy worship suggests to me that you get your information from MSNBC. See how easy it is to dismiss someone when you can just stereotype them rather then engage in an actual dialog with them?
If the committee is using the prize as a tool to make other world leaders take notice that America has really strong intentions to remove ourselves from all the international conflicts we're engaged in
Your kidding me, right?
Obama is a man to be respected for his accomplishments during the past year.
Which accomplishments would those be? Closing Gitmo? Nope, haven't done that yet. Health Care Reform? Nope, haven't done that yet, and it's not really "reform" anyway. Creating a transparent White House? Nope, we gave up on that one pretty early on.
The actual point of it though is that it costs a rediculously low amount of money to the wireless carrier to handle an SMS
In actuality it costs them nothing to handle an SMS -- SMS gets sent on the paging channel when said channel is idle. I don't disagree that they've completely inflated the costs. I just get skeptical when people start complaining about the cost of a service that they keep using. Vote with your wallet and stop paying for SMS. It's hardly a life essential service. If enough people did that I suspect you'd see the price come down to something more reasonable.
but I actually rather like text messages, I just think the carriers charge astronomical rates for something that should be included in a calling plan for free).
In other words you like the service but don't like paying what the provider charges for it. Got it.
Why are you keeping a landline if you have cell phones? Do you not get reception at your house?
-They want to be able to charge $0.20 for each text message.
I really wish the people who complain about this would at least provide the proper perspective. The $0.20 per text cost is the cost without a plan. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile (AT&T as well?) all offer unlimited plans nowadays. Nobody with a clue is actually paying $0.20 per SMS.
You really think that because you have guns the government is scared shitless? Are you on crack?
Where did I say that the government was "scared shitless"?
on behalf of the government, since you seem to think that government provided services somehow reflect a reduction in liberty
The do reflect a reduction in liberty when they come with a "you MUST use this government service or ELSE" mandate.
You've been spoon fed paranoia and imagined threats for so many years (from the japs in WW2, hippies, communists, terrorists, environmentalists, socialists)
The Japanese were an "imagined threat"? Really? I guess we imagined them blowing up our ships and killing our servicemen?
You know what? It's your call, keep on believing in the delusion that having a gun will somehow make you free and that your government/corporations won't continue in shafting you royally.
I don't believe and never said that having an armed society "makes" us free. It "keeps" us free. Bit of a difference there.
that government intervention in the preservation of corporations and executive bonuses in the face of gross incompetence is ok
Executive bonuses in the face of gross incompetence is an issue for the shareholders, not for Uncle Sam.
but government intervention for "Joe the plumber" to provide him with healthcare is a stripping of his civil liberties.
Government offered healthcare does strip you of your civil liberties when it comes with a mandate that you must buy coverage or else you'll forfeit the fruits of your labor to the Government.
Me, I'm just glad I don't live in the good ol' US of A, because right now... it looks like a real shithole.
Go fuck yourself :)
Oh, go fuck yourself and your knee-jerk off-topic anti-Americanism.
60 million are children, there's 1/5 of the populace
Because I've never seen anyone under the age of 18 using a firearm. Just doesn't happen. My state gives out hunting licenses at 12 but makes the kiddies use rocks and spears until they turn 18.....
Elderly people that can't bear a gun because they're too weak physically? 30 million or so, likely.
At least have the decency to admit that you are just pulling numbers out of your ass.
You think 280 million guns is going to be useful when there aren't that many hands to hold them and use them?
Yes, actually I do. Having a large number of firearms in the country makes it that much harder for any Government opposed to liberty to seize enough of them to disarm the population. This premise remains valid even if I bought your bullshit argument that only 20% of the American population (60 million / 300 million) is physically and/or legally capable of wielding a firearm.
The FBI is simply protecting the people who give it funding
The FBI doesn't get it's funding from the Federal Courts. It gets it's funding from Congress. The money that PACER charges is used to offset the administrative overhead of running the system. If that concept bothers you then write your Congressman and tell him to give the Judiciary more money so they can offer it for free instead. The Judiciary is regularly short-changed by Congress in the funding department anyway and could probably use the support.
and if you believe the FBI would side with whats RIGHT vs. what serves their best interests then you are a fool.
Your a fool if you think the FBI has nothing better to do than pursue someone over something this trivial. They looked into the matter and dropped it after they concluded that no crimes were committed. What exactly bothers you so much about this? Frankly I'd be more worried if they didn't investigate unauthorized software on a Federal computer system that's busy uploading hundreds of thousands of documents.
280 million guns, only about 60 million people legally allowed to use them.
Citation needed. If you are going to make a statement such as that I think you should back it up with hard numbers. I find it hard to believe that 240 million Americans (300 million - the 60 million you claim are legally allowed to use firearms) are convicted felons/domestic abusers/mental cases/dishonorably discharged from the military.
Information doesn't come out
But V'Ger does....
Well, since you are being a complete nay-sayer to further your own agenda, allow me to respond with some other potential uses of this technology:
Law enforcement will use it to help solve crime.
The innocence project will use it to get wrongfully convicted people out of prison/off death row.
Businesses and private individuals will be able to use it to enhance the security of their homes/offices/factories/etc.
Adopted children will be able to use it to figure out who their biological parents are.
The child support system will be able to use it to weed out those who aren't parents and confirm those who are.
The point I'm trying to make is that technology isn't inherently good or evil. It's what we do with it that matters. I find it disturbing that you couldn't name a single positive use for this technology.
Just watch a few episodes of Judge Judy or Cops. You'll see all sorts of characters that "write" with arbitrary strands of DNA ;)
Because, as we all know, the execs at AT&T and other companies are the ones who determine the receptors of Nobel prizes.
I thought it was the Illuminati? Or is it the Freemasons? Maybe the Jews? Or the Scientologists?
if you look too closely at the gov't, they'll look too closely at you.
Oh please. Put the tinfoil hat away. If this was 'retaliation' I suspect that it would have gone a lot further than an investigation that was closed after concluding that no laws were broken. Did he really expect the FBI not to take an interest in him after he installed his own code on a Government computer? Frankly I'd be worried if they didn't take an interest when some IT person notices a script running on a Government computer that's uploading hundreds of thousands of documents.
Please tell me I'm not the only one who read your comment and had an 18.5 minute long Arlo Guthrie song pop into my head.....
South Park is computer generated. Some of the shorts they made (and maybe the pilot episode?) were done on construction paper but every episode since has been generated on computers.
And yeah, South Park rocks. I love when they do political commentary. They even spawned a movement of sorts. To quote Stone, "I hate conservatives, but I really fucking hate liberals."
It's GNU/Fearmongering. Let's at least give credit where credit is due ;)
Compact Flash is similarly much more expensive than SD. I have no idea why Canon stuck to CF for their EOS 400D camera, years after SD "won" the format war (for phones/cameras etc).
Personally I have no idea why SD "won" the format war to begin with. I loved the fact that all I needed was a simple adapter and I could use my CF card on any laptop under any OS without drivers. I guess smaller automatically equals better these days. Who cares if you need to use a pair of tweezers to remove the memory card from your device.....
Actually Sony are quite permissive when it comes to user control of downloaded content. You can install content you've purchased on up to five PS3's and every user account, whether on PSN or not, can use any content downloaded by another account on the same PS3.
It's pretty sad when the indoctrination has reached even /. and we think that it's "quite permissive" for a company to allow you to use the content you purchased on devices that you own. How nice of them to be that "permissive".
Personally, I think all films should be made as puppet shows but with stunning plots.
The South Park guys tried that, although I don't know if you'd call their plot "stunning" ;) It did teach us one thing though: 99% of the human race can be lumped into one of three categories: dicks, assholes and pussies. The remaining 1% is actually made up of cockroaches from outer space.
It is of the utmost importance that this person if found and shot immidiatly.
Good luck with that in the UK. They don't allow the sheep^Wcitizens to own firearms. They might hurt themselves, don't ya know?
I think they reached their new all time low each time they took rights away from their own citizens.