You make a very good point. When my ex-wife and I were looking for houses, the use of space was a major issue. We felt no need to pay for square footage we would never use.
Finally found a house with a design that meant we would use all the space. It was open, with clean lines and plenty of space, high vaulted ceiling. Felt like being outside while inside.
Then it came time to sell. Some people walked in, looked around and said 'where's the dining room?' Others just didn't dig the design. The non-traditional, but completely usefull design was a hinderance. Ended up going for significantly less than comps in the neighborhood, but still made a good return.
Another interesting aspect to consider is that a popular vote actually means that your individual vote means less.
I read a paper about this in 2000 (I can't find it now) but it basically said that with the electoral college your individual vote has a greater chance of swinging the election than with a pure popular vote. If you think about it makes sense, with the popular vote you have what, a 1 in 150,000,000 chance of swinging the election. But, with the electoral college the chance that your vote swings it is 1 in however many people in your state vote.
I was all about eliminating the electoral college until I read this paper and really thought about it. Although philisophically I think that a popular vote probably reflects the wishes of the populace more accurately.
Didn't you know that the sticker adds almost 12 hp? With that sticker alone you have a chance of totally smoking a 540 sport missing its wheels.
With the sticker and really loud exhaust, that Honda can totally beat an M3 that's missing an engine.
Sad thing is that at the end of the day, the net cost was probably pretty close.
(yes I love my BMW, I don't care how old it is - she's fast as hell)
For anyone who confuses Apple Computers with Apple Ltd: Step 1) Pull head from arse Step 2) Take a damn shower Step 3) Buy an encyclopedia dated sometime after 1985.
Sure, they had an agreement in 1991, but maybe it is time to re-evaluate that agreement an agreement in '91 means the issue is at least 15 years old. Trademarks and servicemarks are very subjective, subjective based on the recognition of the general public. Anyone (in the 1st world) who could confuse ITMS with The Beatles label should be eliminated from the gene pool immediately.
Seriously though, both Apples have a strong enough brand recognition that neither should be confused with the other. C'mon Apple LTD, look at the revenue potential, while I and most people older than I own the entire catalog on CD and vinyl (or at least CD), there are tons of kids ready to buy The Beatles digitally.
Amen! There are tons of great dogs looking for good faimlies. Usually, the dogs are great, but the familiy couldn't take care of them correctly (and thankfully recognized this), had to move, or just realized that they aren't 'dog peope'.
An important note though - while many rescue dogs have gone through some obedience training, as an owner/caretaker one really should do obedience with the dog personally. Obedience training is as much about training the trainer as it is about training the dog. This is mostly because you need to be consistentant with the dog, even after is obedience class is over. If the dog doesn't follow directions, its usually because the human isn't giving them correctly/consistantly.
I have to agree with you, a fountain pen is the best writing/note taking instrument.
Coworkers and others look at me funny for using something as 'archaic' as a fountain pen. But at the end of a 4 hour meeting, I'm the only one without a hand cramp.
Hell, most people treat the database as an afterthought when designing an application, when, in reality, it should almost always be the *first* consideration.
Right on. The database is the foundation. Poor choices in your database design can result in terrible complications when you attempt to support, maintain or upgrade an application. If you build a house on a shitty, out of shape foundation, how long do you think the house will stand? How easy will it be to add on to the house?
MS Access is the worst thing to happen to database software. It makes people think 'this database thing is easy' and you end up with horribly ugly 'database' applications that get ingrained in departments/organizations.
Your database is the foundation. Its what you build an application on, thus it is important. I don't always agree with Fabian, but at least he's talking about it, raising questions, and keeping DB design in our minds.
It doesn't matter if we agree with a particular 'database scientist' what matters is that we think about DB design. I love the theory, but in reality, sometimes the best choice is to break the rules. But, and this is a big but, breaking the rules should be done thoughtfully, and when no other options present themselves.
I get the most done when I work from home. There may be some key people/customers I tell to call my cell, but to be away from the office phone, not have my email client up.....god its wonderful. +10 productivity.
Its the reason I get most of my 'real work' done on the weekend!
"If you want something done, give it to a busy person"
People who are busy are also the people who are getting things done. The people who have time to suck up to management generally do have things to do, but they aren't getting done. They have to kiss ass to make up for the fact that they aren't getting thier shit done.
Personally, I want to be busy, I want to make my manager look good. And lucky for me, my manger appreciates that. I'm not seeing the slackers move up, no matter how much they kiss ass, but I am seeing the benefit of my hard work.
If the slackers are getting promoted and you aren't there are a few possibilities: 1) your manager is an asshat. 2) your skills are ideal for your position, but not for the next one. Thier skills are good for the next position, but not for one similar to yours. 2b) you haven't displayed the skills that can get you to the next level. 3) Those people are doing work that you don't know about (unlikely) or give really good head.
Above everything, just be thankful to have a job and an income.
I guess this article is more important to respond to than to mod...
Did you ever notice that all modern cell phones have caller ID? Just don't answer! I know this is like sacrilege to those younger than I, or those debt free, but just don't fucking answer!
I use my personal cell phone for work. I don't get reimbursed, the company doesn't pay for it. If it is Saturday and I don't feel like dealing with a customer or a work issue, I - wait for it - I don't answer my phone!
If its my family or a friend, I pick up, if not, I'll check the voice mail in case it is a _real_ emergency.
It is possible to keep the idiots from interfering with your life too much.
"They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em" - RATM
If you don't want your kids reading something - DON'T FUCKING LET THEM!!
The last thing that should be advocated is to suggest the library shouldn't have the books on thier shelf (at least public libraries). If Barnes & Noble won't carry a book, fine, they are reacting to market forces, but for a public library to remove a book from thier shelf due to the pressure of a small group is censorship.
Removing the book from the library shelf is just as bad as burning it (maybe worse because of the subversion).
That's part of the point. In the short run, some IT workers are out of a job. But in the long run, the entire industry is better off and more jobs are created, locally and globally.
At the same, you comment is the arguement the broken window parable addresses. As in the broken window arguement, someone could point out that had the US workers been kept on and paid well they would have bought things and helped the economy too.
The problem is that protecting US IT workers in the short run, hurts the IT industry in the long run, and would reinforce the depressed market for software and IT services. Companies' IT budgets are tight. If you can reduce the cost of service (and TCO) you can get a peice of that money that would otherwise go unspent.
From an economist's perspective on this issue, it seems the broken window/law of unintended consequences does not really address the issue at hand. Your excellent link describes the parable well, but you fail to apply it to the present situation, because it doesn't.
Assume that: 1) we would like to increase the number of US technology jobs 2) US businesses, arguably the largest purchasers of technology products and services have been buying less in the last 3-4 years. 3) US businesses are more likely to buy technology products and services at a lower cost than a higher cost. 4) technology companies need people with tech/development experience who can also communicate easily with customers and developers.
Based ont these four assumptions, which seem reasonable, we can refute the broken window arguement. First, the IT _industry_ does not 'lose' money at all, the cost to the customer becomes lower, and the volume becomes higher. In professional services, this means more work for IT people. Its probably not banging out code all day, but a lot of that work demands someone who _could_ bang out code all day. That work also prefers someone in the North American time zone, with a generally US accent. That work also tends to be more highly paid.
Now, are there enough of these new jobs for all the displaced US coders? Probably not, yet. But as new opportunities arise in the market (that is now broadly making more, smaller $ purchases) all the ancillary services come up and companies spring up to meet new needs, and need the skills these displaced programmers have to offer. Not to mention the fact that new markets tend to be created in the process.
Yes, this takes time, and doesn't help that displaced coder/IT worker NOW. But we don't want IT to become like the steel industry, relying on government protection to keep from going under.
This is also another way that F/OSS is really good for everyone. If you've moved to a postition where you don't code much, but want/need to keep doing it there are tons of places to do it.
Thank you for bringing up the actual economic theory behind this. Everyone should take a 2000 level international econ class and understand the economic theory as well as the assumptions behind the theory. Ricardo is +5 insightful for solid theory with clearly expressed assumptions.
It was Dell - the market forced them to move support back to the US.
>Rather than gripe about losing your job, explain why it's better >that you have it than someone in another hemisphere.
Yes, or use the situation and your extensive knowledge or programming, technology, the company business practices and everything else to move your career along.
By way of example, I'll share a bit of my story. Got hired at a small software company doing development. I was self taught, making some extra doing work on the side, and wanted to get out of the line of work I had been doing, so I went for less money than I would have liked. In a year of development I learned a lot about the market space we were in, a lot more about coding, and developed positive relationships with my managers (small company). We were lucky enough to be purchased by a large organization (not MS thank god), that does a lot of offshore work. We were all a little worried about our jobs, but they kept us on because of our business knowledge as much as for our development ability. Within a month I was leading a team of developers in India. What counted was that I understood the customer's needs, the business, the software, development in general, and was willing to come in early in the morning to work with people in India. It was a very positive, upward move.
Point being, make youself valuable to the organisation and foster positive relationships with your managers (and thier managers). Its not a sure bet you won't get laid off (and I don't think it couldn't happen to me), but you have the ability to increase your chances of success.
I also won't deny that there have been some frustrations working with offshore people, but I have projects that would have lost money if I had done the work myself. They're my co-workers, I get along with them the same as the guy in the next cube.
Why don't/. folks get so upset when companies move work between states?
Great post, its funny from both a Notes hater and a Notes lover point of view.
Personally, I think its funny that MS is trying so hard to catch up with what Notes/Domino has been offering for a long time - and integrating MS Office docs (the 'standard') in to the process. Businesses like to keep thier documents, I doubt they'll let them be stored on MS servers (no I didn't RTFA).
Point being that I'm a pretty new Notes user, coming from a MS/Outlook world, and I see a lot of value in Notes, even though my company uses the very old R5. I also see bugs and problems, but I'm lucky enough to be closely related to an IBM employee who works with Notes/Domino so I find out that they are fixed or they get added to the bug list (always let the customer test;-)
Lotus has leveraged the MS dominance and improved upon it by managing MS documents and becoming embedded in large organizations. I can't imagine my day without the document management that Notes offers me and my team.
While I fully agree with you in spirit, I have take arguement with one point: the right to try before you buy,
There is no such right, check the Constitution. 'Try before you buy' is something brought about by market forces to sell more product (RIAA take note), not an inaliable right.
Being pedantic aside, you are 100% correct, there have been studies showing that file sharing is actually increasing music sales (where's that link?!), its the shitty music that is hurting the record industry. If they'd just stop pouring $ in to Britteny Spears et. al., send them to the porn industry where they'd actually excel, and make good music, the profits will not fail.
Oh come on, are you serious or this a joke?
If you ask me, the more interesting question is: To what extent should an employer have a right to decide what their employees do on company time.
When you're on the company's time you should be working. That's why its called 'work.' If the guy was getting his job done and still playing solitare 70% of the time either A) the guy needs more tasks or B) someone else probably has the capicity get the tasks done. The point of the article is that there is incredible waste in government and when someone tries to do something about it they get canned.
Simply put, if you're getting your job done and still have a lot of time to play games (or troll/.) while at work then you're under-utilized and at risk, fat ready to trim.
I've become more of a boss-type, writing very little code and spending my time gathering requirements, talking to customers, and managing the people who write the code and I'll tell you this: when I'm on conference calls I'm not about to be playing games, I'm taking notes, and that is what any member of a call or meeting should be doing.
I also walk through the cubicle farm and notice that many people are playing games, at all levels (especially true toward the end of the day and end of the week).
So while I appreciate you nobaly playing the devil's advocate, there is no excuse for someone in a management/leadership role to be fucking about while in the office. Also, all the arguements that if the boss wasn't getting his job done the uppers would have fired him is bullshit - this is government work, its almost impossible to fire someone, especially someone with many years on the job. I'm almost surprised that the protagonist in this story actually did get fired!
Many of these points are a matter of opinion, but you make very good arguements. I'm not sure that your source on taxes proves your point. The source seems to show that the lower middle class bore the heaviest increase in taxes. It is also important to note that income tax is not the whole picture. The very wealthy do not make thier money on income, but on investment. When you include capital gains, the very wealthy tend to have a pretty small tax burden (also note the many loopholes). If you have enough money there are many ways to get around taxes. The schedule does not represent how much anyone actually pays in taxes.
I can grant your point on UN resolutions in Iraq, but really, did they have a choice? And were 'no fly zones' really needed? I agree that Saddam is a bad guy, and I'm glad he is in custody, but were we the ones who should have done it?
There is real, proven evidence of what Saddam was doing. And these arguments are eerily similar to the arguments back in 1941, that getting involved with Germany was just going to distract us from the true enemy: Japan.
huh? President Shrub all but admitted that Iraq did not have WMDs, but we were right to what we did anyway. And please explain how it relates to WWII? The US had an isolationist policy and it wasn't until the Lusitania was attacked that we got involved on a military basis. And isn't N. Korea the 'true enemy'? They admit to, almost brag about, working on WMD, but they don't have oil, and they didn't 'try to kill my dad' so we can go with a diplomatic approach. Just seems inconsistent.
Slashdot Mirror
You must be new here....
You make a very good point. When my ex-wife and I were looking for houses, the use of space was a major issue. We felt no need to pay for square footage we would never use.
Finally found a house with a design that meant we would use all the space. It was open, with clean lines and plenty of space, high vaulted ceiling. Felt like being outside while inside.
Then it came time to sell. Some people walked in, looked around and said 'where's the dining room?' Others just didn't dig the design. The non-traditional, but completely usefull design was a hinderance. Ended up going for significantly less than comps in the neighborhood, but still made a good return.
Another interesting aspect to consider is that a popular vote actually means that your individual vote means less.
I read a paper about this in 2000 (I can't find it now) but it basically said that with the electoral college your individual vote has a greater chance of swinging the election than with a pure popular vote. If you think about it makes sense, with the popular vote you have what, a 1 in 150,000,000 chance of swinging the election. But, with the electoral college the chance that your vote swings it is 1 in however many people in your state vote.
I was all about eliminating the electoral college until I read this paper and really thought about it. Although philisophically I think that a popular vote probably reflects the wishes of the populace more accurately.
Didn't you know that the sticker adds almost 12 hp? With that sticker alone you have a chance of totally smoking a 540 sport missing its wheels.
With the sticker and really loud exhaust, that Honda can totally beat an M3 that's missing an engine.
Sad thing is that at the end of the day, the net cost was probably pretty close.
(yes I love my BMW, I don't care how old it is - she's fast as hell)
My Dinan 328is is calling me so I'll be brief. damn I miss that old 535. ;-)
Whoa, whoa, whoa....anyone whose mother comes before the iPod surely doesn't have one yet.
For anyone who confuses Apple Computers with Apple Ltd:
Step 1) Pull head from arse
Step 2) Take a damn shower
Step 3) Buy an encyclopedia dated sometime after 1985.
Sure, they had an agreement in 1991, but maybe it is time to re-evaluate that agreement an agreement in '91 means the issue is at least 15 years old. Trademarks and servicemarks are very subjective, subjective based on the recognition of the general public. Anyone (in the 1st world) who could confuse ITMS with The Beatles label should be eliminated from the gene pool immediately.
Seriously though, both Apples have a strong enough brand recognition that neither should be confused with the other. C'mon Apple LTD, look at the revenue potential, while I and most people older than I own the entire catalog on CD and vinyl (or at least CD), there are tons of kids ready to buy The Beatles digitally.
Seems like that would be the only voice most people could hear.....
Amen! There are tons of great dogs looking for good faimlies. Usually, the dogs are great, but the familiy couldn't take care of them correctly (and thankfully recognized this), had to move, or just realized that they aren't 'dog peope'.
An important note though - while many rescue dogs have gone through some obedience training, as an owner/caretaker one really should do obedience with the dog personally. Obedience training is as much about training the trainer as it is about training the dog. This is mostly because you need to be consistentant with the dog, even after is obedience class is over. If the dog doesn't follow directions, its usually because the human isn't giving them correctly/consistantly.
I have to agree with you, a fountain pen is the best writing/note taking instrument. Coworkers and others look at me funny for using something as 'archaic' as a fountain pen. But at the end of a 4 hour meeting, I'm the only one without a hand cramp.
Hell, most people treat the database as an afterthought when designing an application, when, in reality, it should almost always be the *first* consideration.
Right on. The database is the foundation. Poor choices in your database design can result in terrible complications when you attempt to support, maintain or upgrade an application. If you build a house on a shitty, out of shape foundation, how long do you think the house will stand? How easy will it be to add on to the house?
MS Access is the worst thing to happen to database software. It makes people think 'this database thing is easy' and you end up with horribly ugly 'database' applications that get ingrained in departments/organizations.
Your database is the foundation. Its what you build an application on, thus it is important. I don't always agree with Fabian, but at least he's talking about it, raising questions, and keeping DB design in our minds.
It doesn't matter if we agree with a particular 'database scientist' what matters is that we think about DB design. I love the theory, but in reality, sometimes the best choice is to break the rules. But, and this is a big but, breaking the rules should be done thoughtfully, and when no other options present themselves.
Just out of curiosity, did you mean to reply to my post, or the parent? Because you're making my point, though a bit more violently.
Excellent point.
I get the most done when I work from home. There may be some key people/customers I tell to call my cell, but to be away from the office phone, not have my email client up.....god its wonderful. +10 productivity.
Its the reason I get most of my 'real work' done on the weekend!
This can be summarized simply:
"If you want something done, give it to a busy person"
People who are busy are also the people who are getting things done. The people who have time to suck up to management generally do have things to do, but they aren't getting done. They have to kiss ass to make up for the fact that they aren't getting thier shit done.
Personally, I want to be busy, I want to make my manager look good. And lucky for me, my manger appreciates that. I'm not seeing the slackers move up, no matter how much they kiss ass, but I am seeing the benefit of my hard work.
If the slackers are getting promoted and you aren't there are a few possibilities:
1) your manager is an asshat.
2) your skills are ideal for your position, but not for the next one. Thier skills are good for the next position, but not for one similar to yours.
2b) you haven't displayed the skills that can get you to the next level.
3) Those people are doing work that you don't know about (unlikely) or give really good head.
Above everything, just be thankful to have a job and an income.
Only if you use Windows ;-)
Did you forget you're on /.?
I guess this article is more important to respond to than to mod...
Did you ever notice that all modern cell phones have caller ID? Just don't answer! I know this is like sacrilege to those younger than I, or those debt free, but just don't fucking answer!
I use my personal cell phone for work. I don't get reimbursed, the company doesn't pay for it. If it is Saturday and I don't feel like dealing with a customer or a work issue, I - wait for it - I don't answer my phone!
If its my family or a friend, I pick up, if not, I'll check the voice mail in case it is a _real_ emergency.
It is possible to keep the idiots from interfering with your life too much.
"They don't gotta burn the books they just remove 'em" - RATM
If you don't want your kids reading something - DON'T FUCKING LET THEM!!
The last thing that should be advocated is to suggest the library shouldn't have the books on thier shelf (at least public libraries). If Barnes & Noble won't carry a book, fine, they are reacting to market forces, but for a public library to remove a book from thier shelf due to the pressure of a small group is censorship.
Removing the book from the library shelf is just as bad as burning it (maybe worse because of the subversion).
That's part of the point. In the short run, some IT workers are out of a job. But in the long run, the entire industry is better off and more jobs are created, locally and globally.
At the same, you comment is the arguement the broken window parable addresses. As in the broken window arguement, someone could point out that had the US workers been kept on and paid well they would have bought things and helped the economy too.
The problem is that protecting US IT workers in the short run, hurts the IT industry in the long run, and would reinforce the depressed market for software and IT services. Companies' IT budgets are tight. If you can reduce the cost of service (and TCO) you can get a peice of that money that would otherwise go unspent.
From an economist's perspective on this issue, it seems the broken window/law of unintended consequences does not really address the issue at hand. Your excellent link describes the parable well, but you fail to apply it to the present situation, because it doesn't.
Assume that:
1) we would like to increase the number of US technology jobs
2) US businesses, arguably the largest purchasers of technology products and services have been buying less in the last 3-4 years.
3) US businesses are more likely to buy technology products and services at a lower cost than a higher cost.
4) technology companies need people with tech/development experience who can also communicate easily with customers and developers.
Based ont these four assumptions, which seem reasonable, we can refute the broken window arguement. First, the IT _industry_ does not 'lose' money at all, the cost to the customer becomes lower, and the volume becomes higher. In professional services, this means more work for IT people. Its probably not banging out code all day, but a lot of that work demands someone who _could_ bang out code all day. That work also prefers someone in the North American time zone, with a generally US accent. That work also tends to be more highly paid.
Now, are there enough of these new jobs for all the displaced US coders? Probably not, yet. But as new opportunities arise in the market (that is now broadly making more, smaller $ purchases) all the ancillary services come up and companies spring up to meet new needs, and need the skills these displaced programmers have to offer. Not to mention the fact that new markets tend to be created in the process.
Yes, this takes time, and doesn't help that displaced coder/IT worker NOW. But we don't want IT to become like the steel industry, relying on government protection to keep from going under.
This is also another way that F/OSS is really good for everyone. If you've moved to a postition where you don't code much, but want/need to keep doing it there are tons of places to do it.
Thank you for bringing up the actual economic theory behind this. Everyone should take a 2000 level international econ class and understand the economic theory as well as the assumptions behind the theory. Ricardo is +5 insightful for solid theory with clearly expressed assumptions. It was Dell - the market forced them to move support back to the US. >Rather than gripe about losing your job, explain why it's better >that you have it than someone in another hemisphere. Yes, or use the situation and your extensive knowledge or programming, technology, the company business practices and everything else to move your career along. By way of example, I'll share a bit of my story. Got hired at a small software company doing development. I was self taught, making some extra doing work on the side, and wanted to get out of the line of work I had been doing, so I went for less money than I would have liked. In a year of development I learned a lot about the market space we were in, a lot more about coding, and developed positive relationships with my managers (small company). We were lucky enough to be purchased by a large organization (not MS thank god), that does a lot of offshore work. We were all a little worried about our jobs, but they kept us on because of our business knowledge as much as for our development ability. Within a month I was leading a team of developers in India. What counted was that I understood the customer's needs, the business, the software, development in general, and was willing to come in early in the morning to work with people in India. It was a very positive, upward move. Point being, make youself valuable to the organisation and foster positive relationships with your managers (and thier managers). Its not a sure bet you won't get laid off (and I don't think it couldn't happen to me), but you have the ability to increase your chances of success. I also won't deny that there have been some frustrations working with offshore people, but I have projects that would have lost money if I had done the work myself. They're my co-workers, I get along with them the same as the guy in the next cube. Why don't /. folks get so upset when companies move work between states?
Great post, its funny from both a Notes hater and a Notes lover point of view.
;-)
Personally, I think its funny that MS is trying so hard to catch up with what Notes/Domino has been offering for a long time - and integrating MS Office docs (the 'standard') in to the process. Businesses like to keep thier documents, I doubt they'll let them be stored on MS servers (no I didn't RTFA).
Point being that I'm a pretty new Notes user, coming from a MS/Outlook world, and I see a lot of value in Notes, even though my company uses the very old R5. I also see bugs and problems, but I'm lucky enough to be closely related to an IBM employee who works with Notes/Domino so I find out that they are fixed or they get added to the bug list (always let the customer test
Lotus has leveraged the MS dominance and improved upon it by managing MS documents and becoming embedded in large organizations. I can't imagine my day without the document management that Notes offers me and my team.
While I fully agree with you in spirit, I have take arguement with one point: the right to try before you buy,
There is no such right, check the Constitution. 'Try before you buy' is something brought about by market forces to sell more product (RIAA take note), not an inaliable right.
Being pedantic aside, you are 100% correct, there have been studies showing that file sharing is actually increasing music sales (where's that link?!), its the shitty music that is hurting the record industry. If they'd just stop pouring $ in to Britteny Spears et. al., send them to the porn industry where they'd actually excel, and make good music, the profits will not fail.
Oh come on, are you serious or this a joke?
/.) while at work then you're under-utilized and at risk, fat ready to trim.
If you ask me, the more interesting question is: To what extent should an employer have a right to decide what their employees do on company time.
When you're on the company's time you should be working. That's why its called 'work.' If the guy was getting his job done and still playing solitare 70% of the time either A) the guy needs more tasks or B) someone else probably has the capicity get the tasks done. The point of the article is that there is incredible waste in government and when someone tries to do something about it they get canned.
Simply put, if you're getting your job done and still have a lot of time to play games (or troll
I've become more of a boss-type, writing very little code and spending my time gathering requirements, talking to customers, and managing the people who write the code and I'll tell you this: when I'm on conference calls I'm not about to be playing games, I'm taking notes, and that is what any member of a call or meeting should be doing.
I also walk through the cubicle farm and notice that many people are playing games, at all levels (especially true toward the end of the day and end of the week).
So while I appreciate you nobaly playing the devil's advocate, there is no excuse for someone in a management/leadership role to be fucking about while in the office. Also, all the arguements that if the boss wasn't getting his job done the uppers would have fired him is bullshit - this is government work, its almost impossible to fire someone, especially someone with many years on the job. I'm almost surprised that the protagonist in this story actually did get fired!
Many of these points are a matter of opinion, but you make very good arguements. I'm not sure that your source on taxes proves your point. The source seems to show that the lower middle class bore the heaviest increase in taxes. It is also important to note that income tax is not the whole picture. The very wealthy do not make thier money on income, but on investment. When you include capital gains, the very wealthy tend to have a pretty small tax burden (also note the many loopholes). If you have enough money there are many ways to get around taxes. The schedule does not represent how much anyone actually pays in taxes.
I can grant your point on UN resolutions in Iraq, but really, did they have a choice? And were 'no fly zones' really needed? I agree that Saddam is a bad guy, and I'm glad he is in custody, but were we the ones who should have done it?
There is real, proven evidence of what Saddam was doing. And these arguments are eerily similar to the arguments back in 1941, that getting involved with Germany was just going to distract us from the true enemy: Japan.
huh? President Shrub all but admitted that Iraq did not have WMDs, but we were right to what we did anyway. And please explain how it relates to WWII? The US had an isolationist policy and it wasn't until the Lusitania was attacked that we got involved on a military basis. And isn't N. Korea the 'true enemy'? They admit to, almost brag about, working on WMD, but they don't have oil, and they didn't 'try to kill my dad' so we can go with a diplomatic approach. Just seems inconsistent.