Aren't the ones doing the implementations private companies though? Private companies that bid on getting lucrative contracts? Private companies who know they can and will milk the govt for all its worth?
So sure, you can blame the govt, but the private sector, who has no skin in the game and has a huge straw sucking all the taxpayer money away to line the pockets of their greedy boardmembers and shareholders are just as much to blame.
This is what you should be reading:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0...
There are so many problems with our voting system, it can't be attributed to mere greed and stupidity...
When those I knew were hot about it around 2009, I decided not to join because of its "keeping up with Joneses" and fake "happy sunshine" vibe. I could see how people were creating this unreal facade of themselves and it really irritated me.
From 2009 to around 2014 People were astonished I didn't have an account.
Another reason I didn't have one was because I saw how much strife was there. I would hear stories from friends/relatives about the arguments and drama, whether political or personal. I would look around on peoples accounts and I saw how the nutty political side was coming out.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I started noticing that many organizations of all stripes were migrating away from email logins to FB logins, which to me was reprehensible. FB was taking over the online sphere of influence and that irritated me greatly.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I heard about all the privacy implications, and the underhanded shit FB was doing with user data. The shadow accounts, etc. Yes, I'm sure FB has a nice, juicy dossier on me as well.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I started hearing from Gen Z that FB was for older peeps, and that they were using other platforms. I also heard they didn't like the underhanded shit FB was doing, which surprised me.
Still, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then during and after the election of Trump the shit hit the fan with how slimy FB really was.
So by 2017, people were no longer surprised that I didn't have an account.
China has many, many problems it is facing.
More problems than the US.
For as much power, wealth and influence they have at the moment, their window of opportunity for world domination, eg, "The Chinese Century" is rapidly closing and they know it.
The reason Xi is tightening control is because he knows the people of China are sick of the CCP and the corruption, etc;
Also, as others have pointed out, the BRI is having problems also. Those who have signed onto it are now seeing the error of their ways and that they are now beholden to China. The beginning of the backlash to Chinese influence is what we are seeing.
Precisely this. Complaints about our President's morality, mental state, etc. are opinions. Factual bases for these complaints do not exist, for some require knowing his state of mind, and well that's pretty much impossible. For anyone.
But the opposition isn't opposing him because of that. It's other things.
There have been many examples by Trump of erratic and/or aberrant behavior. It is one thing to disagree with someones politics or policies. It is quite another to see someone behaving dangerously.
Can you explain your reasons for supporting Trumps behavior? Can you explain how you think he is good for America?
So, if anyone had any doubts that the deep state exists, this should pretty much put an end to them.
Again, you show yourself to be the poseur that you are with comments like this. Do you have no knowledge or understanding of history? Do you not read history? From your comments you have shown yourself over and over to be a dilettante, another talk radio superhero who never gave a F$%^ about current events or history until the internet and talk radio made it easy for you to understand. Easy for you to see everything in black and white terms without any nuance.
Deep State?
There has been a deep state since the Pharaohs.
Again, you're weak attempts to vindicate and apologize for Trump and all that he stands for based on "common man" concerns shows you for what you really are, an authoritarian.
I could easily pick apart your arguments, but they fall flat on their face right out of the gate, whether it is globalism, "the left" or any of the other nonsense concerns you bring up.
And from someone who doesn't use social media, I find it quite entertaining that you are up in arms about getting unfriended by "friends" who don't like your support for the absolute worst president in American history.
Oh, and by the way, how is that Brexit thing coming along? How many medical professionals are going to leave the UK or already have left? What about the price and availability of fresh produce?
You're describing a sentiment that has existed for centuries between the governing classes and the the rest of the population, whether you go back to ancient Rome, China, or the colonial America. This is nothing new, and by acting like you are some how enlightening people to some deeply uncovered fact you dug up shows just how much of a poseur you are. But I digress.
What is interesting is your use of the word "we're". Who is the we you are referring to? You certainly aren't referring to the "American people". The group you are identifying with is not the majority of the American people. Not even close.
When you pontificate about how you are such a "salt of the earth" protector of the common man, you actually come off as just another Alex Jones authoritarian.
so i was at the supermarket the other day, and i walks up researchers, and i says to researchers, i says, i says, "excuse me, but is that your research, or are you just happy to see me?"
Guess which one gets the raise. Guess who gets laid off when business is slow.
As much as I detest that, you are absolutely correct here.
The way American business is setup, employees are expected to(and some want to) constantly pay attention to their email.
CNN does lie. They lie all the time. They have been caught red-handed.
Only a poseur would make a comment like that.
Anyone with a clue knows the press has been criticized for centuries.
But keep up with your twitter feed to tell you how to think!
You aren't wrong, but there is a point where skepticism turns to cynicism. Now that is not me calling any single person here as being a cynic. What it is me saying is that we all need to be careful to not let our well founded skepticism turn us into cynics. It's one of those things I too struggle with, trying to prevent myself from going full on, "everything Trump does is bad!". That's cynicism and it's not good intellectually.
You are absolutely right.
As much as I think Trump is a festering pile, I agree with him on some points...
The problem is how he goes about doing things, which I rarely agree with.
Sadly manipulation in US journalism is routine... and almost none of it is by government agencies.
Can you hear that?
That my friends is the sound of a chest beating wannabe patriot complaining about the Press again.
You see, these wannabes somehow don't know that journalism has always been attacked by those in power.
These wannabes haven't read history and didn't know "Yellow Journalism" or the way the press was attacked during and after the American Revolution, or in the UK in the 19th century.
These wannabes, who most likely never had a clue what was going on in the US before the internet so kindly showed it to them in an easy to digest, less than 40 character format, and couldn't find Viet Nam or Iraq on a world map without the aid of Google, have now been shown how bad the press is, how the press is the "enemy of the people" by their Great Leader.
Their Great Leader, who would have everyone believe he is their only and true savior, has accused the press of being unfair to him, of being bad, bad people. So unfair, so hurtful to Great Leader these press people are!
So now the wannabes cry foul! They want to wake everyone up to their twitter/facebook epiphany that a free press is bad. BAD!
The aganda here is not what many think. The agenda is to get you to stop paying attention because you are tired of hearing about it, so you'll demand we start burning coal. Peace out.
While I agree with your sentiment about paying attention, coal is going away because of natural gas.
trivial to supplement even in the unlikely event that people don't get enough from their diet and the issue can't be addressed by simple breeding.
I only read the summary but it sounded like the "alarm" was about the billions of poor people whose diets are already not the best. Trivial the supplement is correct for those in the First World, however it would be much more of a challenge to supplement in poorer populations.
It was the experts who had the brilliant idea of the Iraq war. And the Syria war. And the Libya war. And the Yemen war. Shall I go on?
No, but your examples show that you need to read some history before you throw up such obvious and trite examples.
The American government has used all sorts of chicanery to get the US into wars since its inception.
There is nothing new about governments using propaganda and subterfuge to get citizens to follow them into questionable wars. and history is replete with examples of that behavior.
Your passion about these examples shows your naivete.
Well, I guess it is how you define expert.
For the majority of human history, people completely trusted experts, unfailingly.
Since the advent of the Age of Reason - Industrial Revolution - Information Age, experts were glorified. Look at the scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century, then the 20th. Scientists were routinely held up as heroes in that earlier time, and to some extent this is still the case.
Society is dysfunctional due to the rise of identity/group politics and "intersectionality"-driven/generated hatred that the Left has pushed for decades in order to divide the people and empower themselves. What is seen on the internet is merely a symptom of a sick society suffering the inevitable outcomes of Leftist ideology and political agendas, it's not a cause.
I would propose that what we have seen recently in the online sphere are just examples of normal human behavior, when certain outside influences are applied(see social networking).
Your opinion that "the Left" is to blame here is ridiculous.
There have been influences pushing agendas on both sides, and the Right has shown a far higher level of expertise in using social media to these ends.
And I see what you do here, which is what I refer to as backpedalling:
Get people to realize that almost everyone agrees on basic principles of liberty and civil rights, the differences are simply about how best to address issues we all agree need to be addressed, and that hating someone because they want to solve the same problems you do but in a different way does not make regular folks on the Right Nazis or those on the Left communist dictators. There's no peaceful end-game if people can't look past group-identity-driven hate.
So yes, we can assume that the majority of people would agree with your statement here. But by blabbering about "the Left" at the beginning of your post, you've lost all credibility.
The false can drive out the true, because it can be crafted to play to people's wants and needs and prejudices.
This is a problem. Does it have a solution?
No, there is no solution, and with more and more billions getting online, the voices of reason will be drowned out even more.
As you said, the prejudices, the easy hook that social networking uses to play on the baser instincts of human behavior, ensures that a solution won't be found.
The reality is, there is too much money invested in keeping people at each others throats for a solution to be found.
Pretty much, yeah. American society has not been coarsened or dumbed down in the last generation or two.
Fair enough, you give your opinion, however I disagree wholeheartedly with it.
In my opinion, American society has been coarsened or dumbed down in the last generation or two, and greatly so.
Whether you look at how our political discourse has "evolved", or how easily people take offense at things, it is quite obvious that Americans today are less understanding, less polite, etc; than they were even ten years ago, let alone 30 or 40.
Now, as I said previously, I don't blame this totally on the fact that less people read today. I just feel that because less people read, less people have the more deliberate mindset to absorb information, and to have the patience that reading requires. Also, I feel that reading books in particular gives people a broader perspective on many different topics.
The loss of this broader perspective, the loss of patience and the loss of cognition in the population as a whole has accelerated this coarsening and dumbing down.
Slashdot Mirror
Aren't the ones doing the implementations private companies though? Private companies that bid on getting lucrative contracts? Private companies who know they can and will milk the govt for all its worth?
So sure, you can blame the govt, but the private sector, who has no skin in the game and has a huge straw sucking all the taxpayer money away to line the pockets of their greedy boardmembers and shareholders are just as much to blame.
They don't call it pork for nothing.
This is what you should be reading: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/0... There are so many problems with our voting system, it can't be attributed to mere greed and stupidity...
I never had a FB account.
When those I knew were hot about it around 2009, I decided not to join because of its "keeping up with Joneses" and fake "happy sunshine" vibe. I could see how people were creating this unreal facade of themselves and it really irritated me.
From 2009 to around 2014 People were astonished I didn't have an account.
Another reason I didn't have one was because I saw how much strife was there. I would hear stories from friends/relatives about the arguments and drama, whether political or personal. I would look around on peoples accounts and I saw how the nutty political side was coming out.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I started noticing that many organizations of all stripes were migrating away from email logins to FB logins, which to me was reprehensible. FB was taking over the online sphere of influence and that irritated me greatly.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I heard about all the privacy implications, and the underhanded shit FB was doing with user data. The shadow accounts, etc. Yes, I'm sure FB has a nice, juicy dossier on me as well.
Again, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then I started hearing from Gen Z that FB was for older peeps, and that they were using other platforms. I also heard they didn't like the underhanded shit FB was doing, which surprised me.
Still, people couldn't understand why I didn't have an account on FB.
Then during and after the election of Trump the shit hit the fan with how slimy FB really was.
So by 2017, people were no longer surprised that I didn't have an account.
China has many, many problems it is facing.
More problems than the US.
For as much power, wealth and influence they have at the moment, their window of opportunity for world domination, eg, "The Chinese Century" is rapidly closing and they know it.
The reason Xi is tightening control is because he knows the people of China are sick of the CCP and the corruption, etc;
Also, as others have pointed out, the BRI is having problems also. Those who have signed onto it are now seeing the error of their ways and that they are now beholden to China. The beginning of the backlash to Chinese influence is what we are seeing.
I see a lot of these comments, and when I read them I hear a Russian accent.
So you're admitting that you're Russian? My God, you're famous -- you're the Russian troll everyone's talking about! Inquiring minds want to know!
You got me!
I see a lot of these comments, and when I read them I hear a Russian accent.
Precisely this. Complaints about our President's morality, mental state, etc. are opinions. Factual bases for these complaints do not exist, for some require knowing his state of mind, and well that's pretty much impossible. For anyone.
But the opposition isn't opposing him because of that. It's other things.
There have been many examples by Trump of erratic and/or aberrant behavior. It is one thing to disagree with someones politics or policies. It is quite another to see someone behaving dangerously.
Can you explain your reasons for supporting Trumps behavior? Can you explain how you think he is good for America?
So, if anyone had any doubts that the deep state exists, this should pretty much put an end to them.
Again, you show yourself to be the poseur that you are with comments like this. Do you have no knowledge or understanding of history? Do you not read history? From your comments you have shown yourself over and over to be a dilettante, another talk radio superhero who never gave a F$%^ about current events or history until the internet and talk radio made it easy for you to understand. Easy for you to see everything in black and white terms without any nuance.
Deep State?
There has been a deep state since the Pharaohs.
Again, you're weak attempts to vindicate and apologize for Trump and all that he stands for based on "common man" concerns shows you for what you really are, an authoritarian.
I could easily pick apart your arguments, but they fall flat on their face right out of the gate, whether it is globalism, "the left" or any of the other nonsense concerns you bring up.
And from someone who doesn't use social media, I find it quite entertaining that you are up in arms about getting unfriended by "friends" who don't like your support for the absolute worst president in American history.
Oh, and by the way, how is that Brexit thing coming along? How many medical professionals are going to leave the UK or already have left? What about the price and availability of fresh produce?
they think we're scum.
You're describing a sentiment that has existed for centuries between the governing classes and the the rest of the population, whether you go back to ancient Rome, China, or the colonial America. This is nothing new, and by acting like you are some how enlightening people to some deeply uncovered fact you dug up shows just how much of a poseur you are. But I digress.
What is interesting is your use of the word "we're". Who is the we you are referring to? You certainly aren't referring to the "American people". The group you are identifying with is not the majority of the American people. Not even close.
When you pontificate about how you are such a "salt of the earth" protector of the common man, you actually come off as just another Alex Jones authoritarian.
so i was at the supermarket the other day, and i walks up researchers, and i says to researchers, i says, i says, "excuse me, but is that your research, or are you just happy to see me?"
Guess which one gets the raise. Guess who gets laid off when business is slow.
As much as I detest that, you are absolutely correct here.
The way American business is setup, employees are expected to(and some want to) constantly pay attention to their email.
Way to put the cunt in being a cunt. In case that was too subtle, you're a cunt.
Why such rough language my friend?
His comment was actually spot on!
Why should the media be above criticism?
CNN does lie. They lie all the time. They have been caught red-handed.
Only a poseur would make a comment like that.
Anyone with a clue knows the press has been criticized for centuries.
But keep up with your twitter feed to tell you how to think!
You aren't wrong, but there is a point where skepticism turns to cynicism. Now that is not me calling any single person here as being a cynic. What it is me saying is that we all need to be careful to not let our well founded skepticism turn us into cynics. It's one of those things I too struggle with, trying to prevent myself from going full on, "everything Trump does is bad!". That's cynicism and it's not good intellectually.
You are absolutely right.
As much as I think Trump is a festering pile, I agree with him on some points...
The problem is how he goes about doing things, which I rarely agree with.
I guess I'll just have to do even more to debunk & destroy Leftist/SJW Post-Modernist nonsense and hateful intolerance.
So you don't consider yourself hateful and intolerant?
Sadly manipulation in US journalism is routine... and almost none of it is by government agencies.
Can you hear that?
That my friends is the sound of a chest beating wannabe patriot complaining about the Press again.
You see, these wannabes somehow don't know that journalism has always been attacked by those in power.
These wannabes haven't read history and didn't know "Yellow Journalism" or the way the press was attacked during and after the American Revolution, or in the UK in the 19th century.
These wannabes, who most likely never had a clue what was going on in the US before the internet so kindly showed it to them in an easy to digest, less than 40 character format, and couldn't find Viet Nam or Iraq on a world map without the aid of Google, have now been shown how bad the press is, how the press is the "enemy of the people" by their Great Leader.
Their Great Leader, who would have everyone believe he is their only and true savior, has accused the press of being unfair to him, of being bad, bad people. So unfair, so hurtful to Great Leader these press people are!
So now the wannabes cry foul! They want to wake everyone up to their twitter/facebook epiphany that a free press is bad. BAD!
The aganda here is not what many think. The agenda is to get you to stop paying attention because you are tired of hearing about it, so you'll demand we start burning coal. Peace out.
While I agree with your sentiment about paying attention, coal is going away because of natural gas.
trivial to supplement even in the unlikely event that people don't get enough from their diet and the issue can't be addressed by simple breeding.
I only read the summary but it sounded like the "alarm" was about the billions of poor people whose diets are already not the best. Trivial the supplement is correct for those in the First World, however it would be much more of a challenge to supplement in poorer populations.
It was the experts who had the brilliant idea of the Iraq war. And the Syria war. And the Libya war. And the Yemen war. Shall I go on?
No, but your examples show that you need to read some history before you throw up such obvious and trite examples.
The American government has used all sorts of chicanery to get the US into wars since its inception.
There is nothing new about governments using propaganda and subterfuge to get citizens to follow them into questionable wars. and history is replete with examples of that behavior.
Your passion about these examples shows your naivete.
Most people have never trusted the "experts".
Well, I guess it is how you define expert.
For the majority of human history, people completely trusted experts, unfailingly.
Since the advent of the Age of Reason - Industrial Revolution - Information Age, experts were glorified. Look at the scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century, then the 20th. Scientists were routinely held up as heroes in that earlier time, and to some extent this is still the case.
Society is dysfunctional due to the rise of identity/group politics and "intersectionality"-driven/generated hatred that the Left has pushed for decades in order to divide the people and empower themselves. What is seen on the internet is merely a symptom of a sick society suffering the inevitable outcomes of Leftist ideology and political agendas, it's not a cause.
I would propose that what we have seen recently in the online sphere are just examples of normal human behavior, when certain outside influences are applied(see social networking).
Your opinion that "the Left" is to blame here is ridiculous.
There have been influences pushing agendas on both sides, and the Right has shown a far higher level of expertise in using social media to these ends.
And I see what you do here, which is what I refer to as backpedalling:
Get people to realize that almost everyone agrees on basic principles of liberty and civil rights, the differences are simply about how best to address issues we all agree need to be addressed, and that hating someone because they want to solve the same problems you do but in a different way does not make regular folks on the Right Nazis or those on the Left communist dictators. There's no peaceful end-game if people can't look past group-identity-driven hate.
So yes, we can assume that the majority of people would agree with your statement here. But by blabbering about "the Left" at the beginning of your post, you've lost all credibility.
The false can drive out the true, because it can be crafted to play to people's wants and needs and prejudices.
This is a problem. Does it have a solution?
No, there is no solution, and with more and more billions getting online, the voices of reason will be drowned out even more.
As you said, the prejudices, the easy hook that social networking uses to play on the baser instincts of human behavior, ensures that a solution won't be found.
The reality is, there is too much money invested in keeping people at each others throats for a solution to be found.
Wherever did the "intensive purposes" misspelling come from, anyway? Never saw it before I started reading /.
To "whoosh" or not to "whoosh", that is the question...
Pretty much, yeah. American society has not been coarsened or dumbed down in the last generation or two.
Fair enough, you give your opinion, however I disagree wholeheartedly with it.
In my opinion, American society has been coarsened or dumbed down in the last generation or two, and greatly so.
Whether you look at how our political discourse has "evolved", or how easily people take offense at things, it is quite obvious that Americans today are less understanding, less polite, etc; than they were even ten years ago, let alone 30 or 40.
Now, as I said previously, I don't blame this totally on the fact that less people read today. I just feel that because less people read, less people have the more deliberate mindset to absorb information, and to have the patience that reading requires. Also, I feel that reading books in particular gives people a broader perspective on many different topics.
The loss of this broader perspective, the loss of patience and the loss of cognition in the population as a whole has accelerated this coarsening and dumbing down.