I've seen a lot of parents just pick the game up and not even care about the content, cause Jimmy was pitching a fit about getting the game.
A lot of people are too lazy in society, and don't want to take the time to inform themselves about the content they allow their children to view or hear.
Should kids be playing GTA or any M-rated game, no, but that doesn't mean its the industries fault. The gaming industry has a far better rating system than the movie industry, most of the time having the type of content to expect in the game.
If some parents would stop thinking that all video games are for children, than maybe they wake up and take a look at the back of the box before they by them.
I know its alot harder to track virus writers, but why doesn't the FBI, instead of monitoring these type of operations, spend more time trying to track down the latest virus writers?
It seems to me, that even a middle of the road virus does alot more damage than any p2p group can. Not to mention, there is malicious intent behind the people who write viruses.
In an age, where the number of viruses released each year continues to rise at an incredible rate. It would seem a better use of taxpayers fund to find the people who are trying to maliciously attack other computer user's computers.
Well, this is a good idea for the blind. Though, I wonder if images will be rendered into soundwaves? For the rest of us, I much rather just type on a keyboard and read text on the screen, then having my computer screaming every word on a particular page.
I just wonder how well the voice recognition software has become, to actually have a voice-to-website a viable solution. Considering the last time I tried using voice recognition was back '96 on an old Acer I had. Basically, you had to program every command that you wanted the computer to recognize. On top of that, you basically had to scream into the mic for the computer to pick up the sound.
Isn't this what carnivore and the other FBI program was created for. I mean Carnivore has been around for years now, and most email traffic is already scanned and checked by the NSA, through routing the messages to England, where the laws allow for such actions.
I don't know why this is a suprise to anyone. It's been happening for years. They'll probably set up search programs to go through the databases they've stored on everyone, looking for keywords. The problem is, everytime a keyword is found out, the terrorists will word for that keyword; hence, the search for the keywords becomes useless for the purposes of finding terrorists.
All this program would do is put us one step closer to having video cameras throughout our house, being monitored by some government agency. The tapes will be inadvertly given to corporations, allowing new marketing campaigns to be produced for each American.
$85 million isn't the real figure. We are spending $6 billion a year on missile defense, and that started back in the 1980's with the Star Wars project. So, the real estimated cost is in the close to $100 billion. $85 million was probably just for this test.
Here's the problem with missile defense. It doesn't stop all those people carrying nukes by hand, or ship, or on trucks. Sure, they can fire conventional missiles at the those targets, but it's alot harder to tell who is carrying a nuclear weapon, than when some country fires an ICBM.
Personally, I'm more worried about someone buying an old used russian warhead, or suitcase bomb the russians produced to use on us, and have them walk into a major metropolitian area.
Yes, having a MDS would but some at ease, but remember. Russia still has appox. 3,000 ICBM's, China has 200+ warheads. No, system has a 100% success rate(the patriot missile had a pretty low success rate). So, even with an operational MDS, it would be hard to take down an all out nuclear strike.
Not really. I just rent most of the movies I want to see. If its a big enough title, someone else in my family might buy it.
I rarely go to the theater, cause the one where I live has poor equipment and seating(been to 3 this year, which is the most I've seen in one year in a long time).
As for music. I rather just listen to the radio. Sure, there are the commercials, and I don't get to pick the playlist. Then again, I like listening to the morning DJ's here, and lately been getting access to more music I prefer over the radio. If I really like a song, I might by it on itunes, but eve thats a rare.
Fact is, I've been burnt by buying CD's. Only 2-3 songs on the album I would like, and 2-3 songs are not worth $12-18.
If the industry thinks that its going to generate billions more in cash flow cause they stopped P2P networks, than I know of a bridge they can buy for cheap.
I doubt most of the people currently sharing files over the internet will go out and buy the corresponding product. For the fact, they probably don't have the income to do so. Sure, they might make generate a small amount, but nothing like the so-called projected losses from file-sharing is estimated at.
It's amazing that all these people complain about each and every power producing system. The problem I see is more these people complaining, not the power production methods. All these complaints are partly the reason(along with decaying infrastructure) California, and many other states have sever power problems, and they are not going to get any better if all people do is complain that this system is bad cause of birds, or this system produces a waste that we still haven't found a place for.
I like the idea of renewable energy systems. Wind/Solar/Geothermal seem like nice ways to generate power, without damaging the eco-system to the point of a coal burning power plant. Shoot, even a Nuclear power plant is a better option, in my opinion, than plants powered by fossil fuels.
After these systems are in place, then come up with solutions to the problems that are produced.
I think teachers are respected, maybe not by the majority of students they are teaching, but by society as a whole.
I also agree that Boards of Education have way too much influence; not to mention, there are far too many of them. In Oklahoma, more than 50% of the people in the education system are in supervisorary poisitions(talking bout people who are not at the schools themselves). The positions pay far more than the teachers make(some of them make $125k a year compared to just under $30k for a teacher). The massive amount of funding flowing to them is the reason education taxes are so expensive in this state(maybe the same for other states as well).
The parents do hold a lot of blame as well, as studies show an overwhelming correlation between parental envolvement and success of students.
On another note pertaining to this posting. Fact is the average American is swimming in tons of debt, whereas the average Japanese person is saving a decent amount. A problem the Japanese government has being trying to remedy for years now.
Just stinks that countries like Japan have things like, TV-to-celluar and fiber-optic-to-home(have a friend that lives in Japan and pays $20 less than I pay for broadband, yet he has an OC-3 connection and I have a 3M/300k). I guess some of these can be atrributed to the fact that Japan is far smaller than the US in terms of population.
First virus writers trying to destroy each others works, now malware creators. Whats next, is the FBI's snorting software going to be destroyed by the CIA's snorting software.
Personally, I'm glad they are fighting amongst themselves. Maybe they'll take out each other, and it'll be a better day for the rest of us.
It's not like the machines hadn't been known to be able to rig voting.
They showed how to do it on The Screen Savers several months back, where by pressing a specific sequence allowed the user to get into the developers screen. The person then could rig the machine to change the choice of the voter w/o the voter even knowing about it.
Again, this concerns were voiced weeks before the election, when the President of the company who makes the machines put his support behind Bush.
The problem is it would be hard to verify that systems were recording the accurate votes. Though, voter fraud is not just limited to voting machines, as ballot stuffing is a long held practice by both parties.
I'm not a fan of Bush, but he was re-elected by a majority and I will live with that. Though, if the RNC gets caught like the RNC got caught during the Nixon re-election campaign in 1972, I say throw him out. Too bad there are not many reporters today that would take the risks that Woodward did.
I got one of those RCA flash memory mp3 players w/ an armband(RD 1080), and its a piece of junk. Wish I would have went with something else, cause its cheaply made. The only real good thing about it is that it comes with 128mb built-in memory, with an expansion slot.
I wish Apple would have come out with these players a 2 years ago, wouldn't have wasted my money on it. $99 for a 256mb flash player is a resonable price, so look to them to sell alot of these, for people who don't want to pay $250 for a mini.
Well, if they get the networks premission. Then they probably can archive freely. It's like major league sports telecasts, you have to get premission if you are going to use the it for anything other than personal use.
If not, hopefully the Networks/Corporate Parents sue the pants of the PTC.
If the PTC really wants to change content on television, then don't watch the actual programs(including their archiving efforts). Nothing will get a show changed more, than no advertisers due to low ratings. Then again, since they are probably in the minority of television viewers to begin with.
I wouldn't call making a donation to Mozilla a waste, but this reminds me of the people selling acres on the moon(or any other entity in space) to people. Like those people have any real right to that property. It's just another way for people to scam people for money.
Well, thats cause McAfee wants you to buy their Anti-spyware program, which does run in resident memory and blocks most spyware installation. Currently Anti-virius companies don't take spyware that serious, and thats partly the consumers fault. Shoot, I tried to get my parents to put Spybot & Ad-aware on their computer, but they weren't having any part of that.
As for the story. The commercial spyware programs the people tested, I've never heard of. Thats probably a major problem. Maybe if they would have tested pest patrol, McAfee Antispyware, Ad-aware Pro and Webroot's Spy Sweeper, they might have gotten better results. Though, Ad-aware & Spybot are still great to have, especially since there free.
I basically do the opposite of what you do. I download alot of subbed anime(most of which is being broadcast currently on Japanese TV). Mostly cause the quality is pretty good, the subbers do a good job translating, and I don't have to wait 2-3 years to see some great anime.
Other than that, South Park is something I regularly get, since my cable company refuses to carry Comedy Central. I'd definitely be willing to pay-per-episode(at a reasonable cost) to download it. Until then, I'll just get the torrent for free.
It's amazing how the TV has changed, now every show has a box set, no matter how crappy it is.
That could possibly be the situation. I know I uninstalled all the extensions which were not compatiable with 1.0. PR1 crashed a whole lot more than 1.0. Actually, I don't think its crashed yet.
Also, something you might want to do is to create a new agent. Just make sure you save your bookmarks.
I don't get the gamepot score. Graphics only got a 9 out of 10, yet from what I've seen of screens and the trailer, its the best looking console game on the market(in terms of realistic graphics).
Too many good games coming out this season. I mean the game industry could hold out on some of their big titles, like Rachet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and Jak 3.
Well, just by watching the RIAA's actions, suing people ins't really a money making venture. Why? Cause most of the people they sue, might give up a few thousand dollars at most, if not going bankrupt to cause they can't even afford those cots.
The amount they spend on lawyers to go in and try a case, they probably be lucky if they break even on the venture.
The only reason I can see the MPAA to start sueing, is more just cause they think they can deter future file sharers from hopping on the train.
Taking the RIAA as an example, again, it seems that file sharing is up, not down since they started suing people. Part of the reason, might be because of all the attention shown on the problem.
Before the media started talking about file sharing, it was pretty much limited. I mean, I didn't know about Napster, till an episode of 60 minutes(though, I had heard of other file sharing communities).
My dad also learned about file sharing throw the news media. Though, he's given it up, not cause of lawsuits, but cause he got XM, and doesn't listen to cd's anymore.
I've gone to the movies lately, though its not a regular occurance. Spiderman 2, LoTR:RoTK, Michael Moore's Movie(cause a professor requested that our class go see it, to discuss it as part of a political course I was taking), and Team America World Police. Other than those movies, I haven't really seen a movie worth seeing to me, but thats just based on my personal prefences.
Well, the conservatives actually were fiscally conservative till Bush got into office. It was a Republican congress that passed the Balance budget. Too bad they don't really seem to care about deficits anymore with the Democrats not having a message(vote for me, cause I'm not him isn't a way to run a campaign).
Sooner or later Bush will probably swing the other way. Why you ask, cause all this lawsuits are killing the economy and hurting the future prospects of American companies.
I'm not a Bush fan, but I don't think he would be stupid enough to let these large coporations kill the economy. He already saw the affect the effect lawsuits have had on the health care area. Switching the emphasis to other aspects of the economy shouldn't be too much of a stretch.
I guess I must be lucky. Cause ticket prices have remained pretty much the same. Only really seen a few movies at the theaters in the last few years though(Spiderman 2, LOTR:ROTK, Team America). All for $5, cause I go to the during Saturday afternoon.
Personally, I hope the entertainment industry, instead of raising prices. Stops paying actors/musicians/athletes so much.
The biggest laugh of the week came from Sprewell complaining that he couldn't feed his family on a $10 million/year salary. Seriously, I know these people only have about 10-15 years at most, but its straight up nutz that players are complaining about being paid $10 million a year.
Actually, Hoover was collecting infromation on influential people far beyond the Nixon administration. Hey seemed to have a particular liking to Frank Sinatra & the rest of the rat pack, Lucy & Desi, and almost any other person who affliated with with said people.
This information, which he held in a special vault, was thought to be used to help him keep his reign over the FBI.
What type of data were in the files. Not just allegations of potential wrong doing, but sexual relations, money transactions, friends lists, and any other piece of gossip attached to the persons name.
This was done by a man, whose purpose of being brought into the position, was to clean-up the same type of corruption that he was doing. If you think these tactics have changed, then your far more trusting than me.
Shoot, even Orson Wells was trying to get Hoovers endorsement on '1984', hopefully to sell books.
Now on to the topic.
How has the Patriot Act affected me. Well to my knowledge, it hasn't. Then again, I doubt most of the Celeb's who Hoover investigated knew about the massive file built up on them. The said files, never we destroyed, until Hoover died, and his secretary thought it wouldn't really do Hoover any justice to have these files found by the public.
Also, since the Patriot Act isn't permament, I would believe law enforcement officials would be less likely to push the boundaries of the Act.
For Americans to be willing to be so trusting of a government that has not been very great at protecting the rights of its citizens, seems to be unAmerican.
I rather not have a President that will do anything to win the war on Terror, than a President that will win the war on Terror while upholding the aspects that make us Americans to begin with.
There is actually, far far more than just 2. It's only the national media focuses on 2 cause it keeps the same 2 groups in power, meaning they don't have to suck up to every candidate running. Think about it if we actually had a government that worked for the people, instead of multi-national corporations.
Now, most of the people running for president, woun't even get.00000001%, mostly cause they're are some people that run in a certain area every year, even though they get at most 20 votes.
Personally, I'd like to have the opportunity to vote for Nader, but my State isn't a part of this Republic any more, considering this is the second time that Nader has been left off the ballot.
Personally, I think the current 2 default choices make a rock and a cheese sandwich look pretty good. At least with those 2, you know they couldn't mess something up.
My 2 cents on the candidates.
Bush: Sends troops in, lets their equipment breakdown, gives them equipment used to fight wars not stuff needed to try to keep the peace in a hositle environment. Doesn't fire anybody for making mistakes, shoot wont even admit any mistakes. Killed bi-partisanship in every sense of the word.
Kerry: Coasted during his stint as a Senator. Can't seem to get his message across, without putting out bits and pieces of his idea throughout a slew of speaches. Wants to continue to push America towards default, by pushing a ton of spending plans. Seems to want to do the exact same thing that Bush has said he would do in the 'War on Terror'. Doesn't seem to be able to inspire anybody, people are just voting for him, cause he's not Bush and cause the lemmings can't see past a wrinkled packaderm and a Jackass
People should vote for none of the above, and get 2 people that would actually do something for more than 1% of the population. But that would never happen, cause the bulk of the population are content with not caring about their country, other than paying lip service.
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Ever since 1.0.1 and Adobe Acrobat 7 came out, I haven't had a slow down or a crash when loading pdf files.
I've seen a lot of parents just pick the game up and not even care about the content, cause Jimmy was pitching a fit about getting the game.
A lot of people are too lazy in society, and don't want to take the time to inform themselves about the content they allow their children to view or hear.
Should kids be playing GTA or any M-rated game, no, but that doesn't mean its the industries fault. The gaming industry has a far better rating system than the movie industry, most of the time having the type of content to expect in the game.
If some parents would stop thinking that all video games are for children, than maybe they wake up and take a look at the back of the box before they by them.
The *AA is a way of people encompassing both the RIAA & MPAA into one lump organization.
I know its alot harder to track virus writers, but why doesn't the FBI, instead of monitoring these type of operations, spend more time trying to track down the latest virus writers?
It seems to me, that even a middle of the road virus does alot more damage than any p2p group can. Not to mention, there is malicious intent behind the people who write viruses.
In an age, where the number of viruses released each year continues to rise at an incredible rate. It would seem a better use of taxpayers fund to find the people who are trying to maliciously attack other computer user's computers.
Well, this is a good idea for the blind. Though, I wonder if images will be rendered into soundwaves? For the rest of us, I much rather just type on a keyboard and read text on the screen, then having my computer screaming every word on a particular page.
I just wonder how well the voice recognition software has become, to actually have a voice-to-website a viable solution. Considering the last time I tried using voice recognition was back '96 on an old Acer I had. Basically, you had to program every command that you wanted the computer to recognize. On top of that, you basically had to scream into the mic for the computer to pick up the sound.
Isn't this what carnivore and the other FBI program was created for. I mean Carnivore has been around for years now, and most email traffic is already scanned and checked by the NSA, through routing the messages to England, where the laws allow for such actions.
I don't know why this is a suprise to anyone. It's been happening for years. They'll probably set up search programs to go through the databases they've stored on everyone, looking for keywords. The problem is, everytime a keyword is found out, the terrorists will word for that keyword; hence, the search for the keywords becomes useless for the purposes of finding terrorists.
All this program would do is put us one step closer to having video cameras throughout our house, being monitored by some government agency. The tapes will be inadvertly given to corporations, allowing new marketing campaigns to be produced for each American.
$85 million isn't the real figure. We are spending $6 billion a year on missile defense, and that started back in the 1980's with the Star Wars project. So, the real estimated cost is in the close to $100 billion. $85 million was probably just for this test.
Here's the problem with missile defense. It doesn't stop all those people carrying nukes by hand, or ship, or on trucks. Sure, they can fire conventional missiles at the those targets, but it's alot harder to tell who is carrying a nuclear weapon, than when some country fires an ICBM.
Personally, I'm more worried about someone buying an old used russian warhead, or suitcase bomb the russians produced to use on us, and have them walk into a major metropolitian area.
Yes, having a MDS would but some at ease, but remember. Russia still has appox. 3,000 ICBM's, China has 200+ warheads. No, system has a 100% success rate(the patriot missile had a pretty low success rate). So, even with an operational MDS, it would be hard to take down an all out nuclear strike.
Not really. I just rent most of the movies I want to see. If its a big enough title, someone else in my family might buy it.
I rarely go to the theater, cause the one where I live has poor equipment and seating(been to 3 this year, which is the most I've seen in one year in a long time).
As for music. I rather just listen to the radio. Sure, there are the commercials, and I don't get to pick the playlist. Then again, I like listening to the morning DJ's here, and lately been getting access to more music I prefer over the radio. If I really like a song, I might by it on itunes, but eve thats a rare.
Fact is, I've been burnt by buying CD's. Only 2-3 songs on the album I would like, and 2-3 songs are not worth $12-18.
If the industry thinks that its going to generate billions more in cash flow cause they stopped P2P networks, than I know of a bridge they can buy for cheap.
I doubt most of the people currently sharing files over the internet will go out and buy the corresponding product. For the fact, they probably don't have the income to do so. Sure, they might make generate a small amount, but nothing like the so-called projected losses from file-sharing is estimated at.
It's amazing that all these people complain about each and every power producing system. The problem I see is more these people complaining, not the power production methods. All these complaints are partly the reason(along with decaying infrastructure) California, and many other states have sever power problems, and they are not going to get any better if all people do is complain that this system is bad cause of birds, or this system produces a waste that we still haven't found a place for.
I like the idea of renewable energy systems. Wind/Solar/Geothermal seem like nice ways to generate power, without damaging the eco-system to the point of a coal burning power plant. Shoot, even a Nuclear power plant is a better option, in my opinion, than plants powered by fossil fuels.
After these systems are in place, then come up with solutions to the problems that are produced.
I think teachers are respected, maybe not by the majority of students they are teaching, but by society as a whole.
I also agree that Boards of Education have way too much influence; not to mention, there are far too many of them. In Oklahoma, more than 50% of the people in the education system are in supervisorary poisitions(talking bout people who are not at the schools themselves). The positions pay far more than the teachers make(some of them make $125k a year compared to just under $30k for a teacher). The massive amount of funding flowing to them is the reason education taxes are so expensive in this state(maybe the same for other states as well).
The parents do hold a lot of blame as well, as studies show an overwhelming correlation between parental envolvement and success of students.
On another note pertaining to this posting. Fact is the average American is swimming in tons of debt, whereas the average Japanese person is saving a decent amount. A problem the Japanese government has being trying to remedy for years now.
Just stinks that countries like Japan have things like, TV-to-celluar and fiber-optic-to-home(have a friend that lives in Japan and pays $20 less than I pay for broadband, yet he has an OC-3 connection and I have a 3M/300k). I guess some of these can be atrributed to the fact that Japan is far smaller than the US in terms of population.
I remember not to long ago this same exploit. Same thing, affected all browsers. Was fixed by Firefox not too long after.
Guess the exploit has been updated, or the exploit was accidently created again by the Mozilla team.
First virus writers trying to destroy each others works, now malware creators. Whats next, is the FBI's snorting software going to be destroyed by the CIA's snorting software.
Personally, I'm glad they are fighting amongst themselves. Maybe they'll take out each other, and it'll be a better day for the rest of us.
It's not like the machines hadn't been known to be able to rig voting.
They showed how to do it on The Screen Savers several months back, where by pressing a specific sequence allowed the user to get into the developers screen. The person then could rig the machine to change the choice of the voter w/o the voter even knowing about it.
Again, this concerns were voiced weeks before the election, when the President of the company who makes the machines put his support behind Bush.
The problem is it would be hard to verify that systems were recording the accurate votes. Though, voter fraud is not just limited to voting machines, as ballot stuffing is a long held practice by both parties.
I'm not a fan of Bush, but he was re-elected by a majority and I will live with that. Though, if the RNC gets caught like the RNC got caught during the Nixon re-election campaign in 1972, I say throw him out. Too bad there are not many reporters today that would take the risks that Woodward did.
I got one of those RCA flash memory mp3 players w/ an armband(RD 1080), and its a piece of junk. Wish I would have went with something else, cause its cheaply made. The only real good thing about it is that it comes with 128mb built-in memory, with an expansion slot.
I wish Apple would have come out with these players a 2 years ago, wouldn't have wasted my money on it. $99 for a 256mb flash player is a resonable price, so look to them to sell alot of these, for people who don't want to pay $250 for a mini.
Well, if they get the networks premission. Then they probably can archive freely. It's like major league sports telecasts, you have to get premission if you are going to use the it for anything other than personal use.
If not, hopefully the Networks/Corporate Parents sue the pants of the PTC.
If the PTC really wants to change content on television, then don't watch the actual programs(including their archiving efforts). Nothing will get a show changed more, than no advertisers due to low ratings. Then again, since they are probably in the minority of television viewers to begin with.
I wouldn't call making a donation to Mozilla a waste, but this reminds me of the people selling acres on the moon(or any other entity in space) to people. Like those people have any real right to that property. It's just another way for people to scam people for money.
Well, thats cause McAfee wants you to buy their Anti-spyware program, which does run in resident memory and blocks most spyware installation. Currently Anti-virius companies don't take spyware that serious, and thats partly the consumers fault. Shoot, I tried to get my parents to put Spybot & Ad-aware on their computer, but they weren't having any part of that.
As for the story. The commercial spyware programs the people tested, I've never heard of. Thats probably a major problem. Maybe if they would have tested pest patrol, McAfee Antispyware, Ad-aware Pro and Webroot's Spy Sweeper, they might have gotten better results. Though, Ad-aware & Spybot are still great to have, especially since there free.
I basically do the opposite of what you do. I download alot of subbed anime(most of which is being broadcast currently on Japanese TV). Mostly cause the quality is pretty good, the subbers do a good job translating, and I don't have to wait 2-3 years to see some great anime.
Other than that, South Park is something I regularly get, since my cable company refuses to carry Comedy Central. I'd definitely be willing to pay-per-episode(at a reasonable cost) to download it. Until then, I'll just get the torrent for free.
It's amazing how the TV has changed, now every show has a box set, no matter how crappy it is.
That could possibly be the situation. I know I uninstalled all the extensions which were not compatiable with 1.0. PR1 crashed a whole lot more than 1.0. Actually, I don't think its crashed yet.
Also, something you might want to do is to create a new agent. Just make sure you save your bookmarks.
I don't get the gamepot score. Graphics only got a 9 out of 10, yet from what I've seen of screens and the trailer, its the best looking console game on the market(in terms of realistic graphics).
Too many good games coming out this season. I mean the game industry could hold out on some of their big titles, like Rachet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal and Jak 3.
Hopefully, I'll get an Xbox+Halo2 for Christmas.
Well, just by watching the RIAA's actions, suing people ins't really a money making venture. Why? Cause most of the people they sue, might give up a few thousand dollars at most, if not going bankrupt to cause they can't even afford those cots.
The amount they spend on lawyers to go in and try a case, they probably be lucky if they break even on the venture.
The only reason I can see the MPAA to start sueing, is more just cause they think they can deter future file sharers from hopping on the train.
Taking the RIAA as an example, again, it seems that file sharing is up, not down since they started suing people. Part of the reason, might be because of all the attention shown on the problem.
Before the media started talking about file sharing, it was pretty much limited. I mean, I didn't know about Napster, till an episode of 60 minutes(though, I had heard of other file sharing communities).
My dad also learned about file sharing throw the news media. Though, he's given it up, not cause of lawsuits, but cause he got XM, and doesn't listen to cd's anymore.
I've gone to the movies lately, though its not a regular occurance. Spiderman 2, LoTR:RoTK, Michael Moore's Movie(cause a professor requested that our class go see it, to discuss it as part of a political course I was taking), and Team America World Police. Other than those movies, I haven't really seen a movie worth seeing to me, but thats just based on my personal prefences.
Well, the conservatives actually were fiscally conservative till Bush got into office. It was a Republican congress that passed the Balance budget. Too bad they don't really seem to care about deficits anymore with the Democrats not having a message(vote for me, cause I'm not him isn't a way to run a campaign).
Sooner or later Bush will probably swing the other way. Why you ask, cause all this lawsuits are killing the economy and hurting the future prospects of American companies.
I'm not a Bush fan, but I don't think he would be stupid enough to let these large coporations kill the economy. He already saw the affect the effect lawsuits have had on the health care area. Switching the emphasis to other aspects of the economy shouldn't be too much of a stretch.
I guess I must be lucky. Cause ticket prices have remained pretty much the same. Only really seen a few movies at the theaters in the last few years though(Spiderman 2, LOTR:ROTK, Team America). All for $5, cause I go to the during Saturday afternoon.
Personally, I hope the entertainment industry, instead of raising prices. Stops paying actors/musicians/athletes so much.
The biggest laugh of the week came from Sprewell complaining that he couldn't feed his family on a $10 million/year salary. Seriously, I know these people only have about 10-15 years at most, but its straight up nutz that players are complaining about being paid $10 million a year.
Actually, Hoover was collecting infromation on influential people far beyond the Nixon administration. Hey seemed to have a particular liking to Frank Sinatra & the rest of the rat pack, Lucy & Desi, and almost any other person who affliated with with said people.
This information, which he held in a special vault, was thought to be used to help him keep his reign over the FBI.
What type of data were in the files. Not just allegations of potential wrong doing, but sexual relations, money transactions, friends lists, and any other piece of gossip attached to the persons name.
This was done by a man, whose purpose of being brought into the position, was to clean-up the same type of corruption that he was doing. If you think these tactics have changed, then your far more trusting than me.
Shoot, even Orson Wells was trying to get Hoovers endorsement on '1984', hopefully to sell books.
Now on to the topic.
How has the Patriot Act affected me. Well to my knowledge, it hasn't. Then again, I doubt most of the Celeb's who Hoover investigated knew about the massive file built up on them. The said files, never we destroyed, until Hoover died, and his secretary thought it wouldn't really do Hoover any justice to have these files found by the public.
Also, since the Patriot Act isn't permament, I would believe law enforcement officials would be less likely to push the boundaries of the Act.
For Americans to be willing to be so trusting of a government that has not been very great at protecting the rights of its citizens, seems to be unAmerican.
I rather not have a President that will do anything to win the war on Terror, than a President that will win the war on Terror while upholding the aspects that make us Americans to begin with.
There is actually, far far more than just 2. It's only the national media focuses on 2 cause it keeps the same 2 groups in power, meaning they don't have to suck up to every candidate running. Think about it if we actually had a government that worked for the people, instead of multi-national corporations. Now, most of the people running for president, woun't even get .00000001%, mostly cause they're are some people that run in a certain area every year, even though they get at most 20 votes.
Personally, I'd like to have the opportunity to vote for Nader, but my State isn't a part of this Republic any more, considering this is the second time that Nader has been left off the ballot.
Personally, I think the current 2 default choices make a rock and a cheese sandwich look pretty good. At least with those 2, you know they couldn't mess something up.
My 2 cents on the candidates.
Bush: Sends troops in, lets their equipment breakdown, gives them equipment used to fight wars not stuff needed to try to keep the peace in a hositle environment. Doesn't fire anybody for making mistakes, shoot wont even admit any mistakes. Killed bi-partisanship in every sense of the word.
Kerry: Coasted during his stint as a Senator. Can't seem to get his message across, without putting out bits and pieces of his idea throughout a slew of speaches. Wants to continue to push America towards default, by pushing a ton of spending plans. Seems to want to do the exact same thing that Bush has said he would do in the 'War on Terror'. Doesn't seem to be able to inspire anybody, people are just voting for him, cause he's not Bush and cause the lemmings can't see past a wrinkled packaderm and a Jackass
People should vote for none of the above, and get 2 people that would actually do something for more than 1% of the population. But that would never happen, cause the bulk of the population are content with not caring about their country, other than paying lip service.