Corporations give tax purposes, Oprah & the rest of Hollywood give for PR, Chrisitans give because they think its a ticket to heaven, and middle class white people give to ease their concience. Its all selfish, but it doesn't mean that its not helpful. Isn't the point of society to reward people for doing the "right" thing?
Wal-Mart saves low-income shoppers $50 billion a year by having an efficient supply chain.
Yes, but it also destroys the local retail outlets. That can really hurt a tight-knigt community (just think of how different the vibe is at your favorite local shop vs Wal Mart), and said storekeepers will have to adjust. And working at Wal-Mart is NOT an improvement. Sure Wal-Mart might throw jobs at those whow might otherwise have difficulty finding employment (particularly the mentally handicapped), but it doesn't change the fact that they pay starvation wages and make it exceedingly difficult to rise in the ranks.
Infact, Bill Gates, who had a lot to do with the success of the modern PC revolution has helped hundreds of millions of people get jobs that made them trillions of dollars.
I think you have it backwards. Windows was fueled by the success of the PC revolution, not vice versa. If we didn't have Windows, we'd be running some sucessor to OS/2 instead... which would probably be an improvement. MS didn't create the market, and their near-monopoly status has resulted in less competition which means less jobs then their could/should be.
Every market transaction makes both parties better off, or else they would not engage in the transaction.
Sure. But that doesn't mean one side isn't getting the better deal (usually due to a lack of choice). Like the check I write to my ISP every moth since they're the broadband operation in town. Or when the Lakers traded Shaq for Lamar Odom.
I think a lot of gamers recognize that talking while gaming is perfectly natural, but also recognize that their gaming ability is reduced when one hand is dedicated to the phone. Hence a good number of gamers own headsets (for CS
Teamspeak and the like, or the ability to game while on the phone). I know, at least for me, that the mentality carries over into my phone use in the car. I always use a headset.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. Titles cost $40-$60 these days... they've cost that since the early 90's when I started gaming on the SNES. Factor in the rate of inflation over that span of time, and gaming is a much more affordable hobby then it was back then.
[MMO games] run like ass on my system. A new system is out of the question
A lot of gamers think that they need to stay 100% bleeding edge when 9/10 times the only problem with their current system is RAM and the Video Card - both of which are fairly cheap upgrades. Don't let Intel/AMD/Alienware fool you... the processor usually isn't the bottleneck, and Windows/most games aren't compiled for 64 bit machines (yet, and probably not for another year or two). 1 Gig of (midrange) RAM and a Vid card with hardware directx9 (no need to drop more than $180 on one) and you should be fine. The lifetime of a gaming machine has always been 3-4 years with an upgrade or two in between, and the price has only gotten cheaper. I reccomend building your own machine too, most PC manufacturers SUCK royally, and upgrading them is often not trivial.
I recommend you get your degree from MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc.
People probably won't remember Tulane after a while, but those schools will still have engineering programs and a good reputation.
It's easy to reccomend the top 3 CS Universities on the planet, but it assumes that money isn't a concern and getting in is a piece of cake (I don't care how smart you are... unless you're fabulously weathly/alumni relative/favored by affermative action, your chances of being accepted just aren't great). There are plenty of state schools with great reputations that offer almost as much at a fraction of the cost (the reputation of the program matters a lot more than the prestige of the University to any good HR person). Education is what you put into it, and it doesn't take long for your work experience to overshadow your education backround. Coming out debt free (or close to it) is a MAJOR plus too.
Come on, the LA public transit system isn't that bad. At least they have 24h bus lines.
Now San Jose, on the other hand... *sigh*
Please, [dirty US 24h] buses have to be the most gawd-awful form of travel on the planet. Sure they have that great packed-in-a-sardine-can feeling, but they can't escape traffic jams and take an enormous amount of time to cover small distances. LA just doesn't have a solution for moving comuters/travelers around. Period. Even the Bay Area does a better job in that respect with CalTrain & Bart.
Come visit Boston (or NYC/Chicago/Washington if you prefer) sometime... the combination of the commuter rail & subway make it a piece of cake.
In my opinion the stores should have done a better job when hiring to prevent their employees from stealing
Perhaps they should pay them more than minimum wage then. When the pay isn't great and they employees aren't held accountable, are we supprised when we see incompetence and corruption? Like Congress.
In the article is says it weighs 700,000 tons, when it actually a a weighs 800,000 tons (read the facts).
1 short ton = 0.90718474 metric tons. I believe emporis.com is a US-centric site and the Guardian is a UK newspaper. Can't we all just use the metric system already?
Absolutley, I refuse to purchase any machine with the display married to the computer. I kind of think the iMac is fugly, but that's beside the point.
I love their PowerBooks, and if Apple made a decent mid-level desktop without a display (say, a G5 with a Geforce6600 for about $1,000), I would have already purchased it. The Mini is nice and all, but a G4 & 32 meg vid card doesn't cut it for even occasional gaming, and starting at $2,500, the dual G5 PowerMac is total overkill for my needs.
I would fucking knock your overweight ass into next week. I'd also stay around long enough for the police to show up so I could explain myself. Lucky for you, you only have the balls to say this from behind a keyboard.
Thats awful tough talk for someone that's just saying it 'from behind a keyboard', isn't it?
I wonder, have you ever approached my contemporaries and engaged them respectfully as to the volume of their voice? As it's a free country you have no business in _what_ they say, but who's to deny someone who respectfully asks you only to lower the volume. Perhaps some would, others may even tell you to fuck off, but even that is not license for random aural invasion.
Why is it that a bunch of loud people (I couldn't care less if they're kids or not) is ok, because its "a free country", but a high pitch noise is "aural invasion"? I would consider both of them offensive to my ears.
And while we're on the subject, who is actually at fault for society's current situation? Who's to blame for our crushing debt and rampant tyranical government?...it was the 40 somethings. You guys were all 100% fucking complacent, and you all have blood on your hands.
It's rather easy to criticize monumental change in the right direction as not being good enough. In the past 60 years our 'tyrannical' government has reconstructed and reunited post-war Europe & Japan, stepped in to prevent atrocites (Gulf War #1, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Israli peace process, etc), led an information/communication revolution, and largely erased the race/gender barriers at home.
Typicaly when a young person today rants about the 'tyrannical' government they're specificaly referring to Bush & co. and his Iraqi war and PATRIOT act. I'm certainly not fond of him, but being involved in the Dean (and later Kerry) campaigns, I blame young people the most for Bush's re-election. Young, mostly college-age city kids (a group with notoriously poor voter turnout) were taking an interest in politics like never before, and were supposed to turn the tide in the '04 election. But they never showed up at the polls. The Christian right (of all ages) did though.
In closing, Bush is over 40. So was Hitler. And Osama! And now that I think about it, probably every single war criminal on record is over 40.
What a brilliant argument. But I wonder, how do you account for the fact that despite these criminals being 'old', the soldiers who carried out their orders were not? Don't soldiers tend to be 17-25 years old? Let me try that logic - how about "JFK, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and the Dali Lama are all over 40. Come to think of it, probably every single great leader in history was over 40. Therefore young people have no value in society"
The food-for-oil scandal is proof enough that the UN is *hardly* free from these kinds of issues.
And frankly, as valuble as the UN is as an open discussion among nations, it really isn't qualified to run anything. It tries give every nation, regardless of population/economy/technology/human rights/etc, an equal say - and lacks a means of enforcing its resolutions (be it economic sanctions or military). I fail to see how politicizing the internet, handing over its control from a tech-based non-profit organization to an non-technical organization equally (though arguably MUCH MORE) succeptable to corruption and corporate influence, and allowing nations with extreme censorship issues a say benifits the internet and global communications as a whole.
Frankly, if we could get our fair share of royalties for letting all the oil/gas be mined on and off our coast...get the 40%-50% that other states do when natural resources like oil are harvested (many interior states)...revenue that we've not had, but, should have for years...we could easily take care of ourselves and build a system that would make Holland blush. It is money that is ours, and should be ours...but, we can't seem to get it out of congress.
Um, the oil/gas isn't mined in your state, or in your waters. Regardless, if Army Corps. of Engineers money combined with having a monopoloy on the delta of the largest river in the nation and being a tourist mecca is insufficent pay for the required protections, the city/state is horribly managed and/or isn't worth the cost of maintaining.
I don't want you to think I'm insensitive of the human suffering or anything, but its massivley frustrating to be in states that plan ahead and pay for enormous projects largely out of their own pockets* while watching Louisania for 50 years decimate its coast, put all its money into tourist attractions instead of levees, tolerate political corruption, fail to plan for emergencies, let all of its industry move to Huston, then to claim the issue wasn't enough federal help when the inviteable happens.
* Massachusetts with the Big Dig & Cali with eathquake-proofing the Bridges & buildings. Both of whom happen to recieve far less in federal benifits than they pay into the federal system, unlike most of the south.
Free WiFi while significant portions of their population are still displaced and / or homeless.
Perhaps their priorities are a bit backward?
I don't think so... the interent isn't just for HalfLife2 you know;)
The communication infrastructure is a major priority in any large reconstruction, as improved communication makes rescue/rebuilding efforts easier and is a requirement for drawing residents and buisness back. With power/internet still spotty around the city, I would think tossing up access points where you can would be a quicker and cheaper solution than fixing all wired connections. Just like I wouldn't be suprised or upset if a few cell phone towers are repaired before all of the ground lines.
I know that was a joke, but the appeal of getting linux on the Xbox for me is to be able to run MythFrontend for all my video needs... which requires QT and tends to be a little clunky on ancient machines. Not that you need 3.2 ghz processors, but hey, the XBox is cheaper than a new machine.
Thanks for the correction on South Africa. Though I don't think I'm incorrect in believing that the British colonial era only ended in the 1940's.
My comments weren't meant as an insult or anything. I totally agree that "there's a time when everyone has to look after themselves, and stop blaming the past" - but when Europeans are such harsh critics of US policy, past and present, I do wonder what they feel like their own level of responsibility is/should be & where the line is between 'moral obligation' and 'history'. Just like I wonder what level of resposibility the US owes to relativley recent blunders (Cold War involvment in South America and Southeast Asia and Civil rights issues, etc).
The reason being that the best doctors get offered obscene amounts of money to move to the states.
If you are editorializing on that point, I'm not sure what your two cents is. Are you claiming that the US is (immoraly?) poaching doctors from countries that need them, or that Socailist nations are failing to reward the obscene amount of work required to become a doctor and that their resulting mediocre health care system is their own fault?
I'm going to have to agree with afidel on this one. 99/100 times, the failure to get heath insurance in the US is a result of stupidity - either you don't have the skills to get a halfway decent job, or you're stupid enough to opt out of it or get pushed around by your employer.
By the way, I never made the claim that US healthcare is perfect. Its just better than socialist health care, thats all. A lot could be done to reduce the cost and increase affordability in the US - IANAL, but it seems like an enormous percentage of the costs associated with the health care system are legal costs (malpractice insurance, FDA approval, settlements) that could be reduced.
Ah yes, I forgot the slashdot rules. A Brit with a gentle poke at Americans is all in good fun, but an American doing it is xeonphobic;)
In all seriousness though, I agree with you that the American and British laws and/or their enforcement tend to be favorable to immigrants and are prone to abuse. It doesn't particularly bother me though, I'd certainly rather that then the inverse elitist anti-immigrant mentality (anyone heard of the hoops one has to jump through to earn Swiss or Japanese citizenship?). I'm not sure if say that because of the old American give-us-your-wretched mentality, or because the population density of the US still allows it, or because the US economy benifits from it (IMHO anyways, I'm sure someone would argue it).
This is kind of an aside, but I've kind of always wondered this about the English. You're example an abuse of NHS was that of a South African man... but do you feel any obligation towards South Africa? I mean, the British rape of India & Sub-Saharan Africa only ended
~60 years ago, and has yet to recover. Not that the US (or any other nation) doesn't have skeletons in its closet, of course - but do you think such relativley recent disadvantages should factor into said immigration laws, college admissions, job applications, tax breaks, et cetra? The US has decided "yes" (hotly debated though), and I was wondering the take on it over in the UK.
Well i'm not in the US, i'm in the UK...That said, we haven't exactly done a grand job of keeping anyone out anyway...
More precisley, you haven't exactly figured out who to keep in. I guess the Americans and Australians weren't the rejects that you suspected they were;)
I haven't heard of boiled beef. I thought New England was home of Clam Chowder, Lobster, and Dunkin Donuts. But I suppose you're right... I'm not really from a region that can rag on anyone's cooking (well, except for the British and the Texans, of course;)
Mod parent up. There is a reason weathly Europeans and Canadians often have private doctors (despite the "free" healthcare system) - and flying to Boston is not unheard of for exceptionaly dangerous procedures. While we can argue the merits of applying Capatilism to the health care system - skilled US workers (which would include everyone reading this site in the US) have the best health care. Period.
The donuts taste like they're made out of plastic, and the coffee somehow manages to taste morke like ash than Starbucks. But if thats your thing, you don't need to go to Canada for it. They're everywhere around here (here being Southern New England).
Well, my problems with your orginial post were that it implied:
a) That having difficulty with a Windows machine automaticaly equals a dumb user and/or dumb IT department (and not a poor notebook and/or poor OS)
b) A Mac is as difficult (if not more) to configure than a Windows machine, and equally prone to hardware problems.
And I would disagree with both implications. Thats all.
I was at a conference, a week ago, where the presenters were using powerbooks. I think you can tell a lot about a product by how people use it. These things looked really smooth and after all my fits with a WinXP laptop, I desperately want one. Problem is we're a Windoze shop.:p
Well, you might be suprised at how well the integrate with Windows. There is an OSX version of MS Office, a Mac Remote Desktop client, Virtual PC for emulating the Windows environment, and AFAIK they can join Windows domains. I mean, unless you're on Visual Studio 24/7, you could probably get away with a switch. Or just wait 8 months for Intel Powerbooks and dual boot:)
Slashdot Mirror
Corporations give tax purposes, Oprah & the rest of Hollywood give for PR, Chrisitans give because they think its a ticket to heaven, and middle class white people give to ease their concience. Its all selfish, but it doesn't mean that its not helpful. Isn't the point of society to reward people for doing the "right" thing?
Wal-Mart saves low-income shoppers $50 billion a year by having an efficient supply chain.
Yes, but it also destroys the local retail outlets. That can really hurt a tight-knigt community (just think of how different the vibe is at your favorite local shop vs Wal Mart), and said storekeepers will have to adjust. And working at Wal-Mart is NOT an improvement. Sure Wal-Mart might throw jobs at those whow might otherwise have difficulty finding employment (particularly the mentally handicapped), but it doesn't change the fact that they pay starvation wages and make it exceedingly difficult to rise in the ranks.
Infact, Bill Gates, who had a lot to do with the success of the modern PC revolution has helped hundreds of millions of people get jobs that made them trillions of dollars.
I think you have it backwards. Windows was fueled by the success of the PC revolution, not vice versa. If we didn't have Windows, we'd be running some sucessor to OS/2 instead... which would probably be an improvement. MS didn't create the market, and their near-monopoly status has resulted in less competition which means less jobs then their could/should be.
Every market transaction makes both parties better off, or else they would not engage in the transaction.
Sure. But that doesn't mean one side isn't getting the better deal (usually due to a lack of choice). Like the check I write to my ISP every moth since they're the broadband operation in town. Or when the Lakers traded Shaq for Lamar Odom.
I think a lot of gamers recognize that talking while gaming is perfectly natural, but also recognize that their gaming ability is reduced when one hand is dedicated to the phone. Hence a good number of gamers own headsets (for CS Teamspeak and the like, or the ability to game while on the phone). I know, at least for me, that the mentality carries over into my phone use in the car. I always use a headset.
Games cost more and more.
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. Titles cost $40-$60 these days... they've cost that since the early 90's when I started gaming on the SNES. Factor in the rate of inflation over that span of time, and gaming is a much more affordable hobby then it was back then.
[MMO games] run like ass on my system. A new system is out of the question
A lot of gamers think that they need to stay 100% bleeding edge when 9/10 times the only problem with their current system is RAM and the Video Card - both of which are fairly cheap upgrades. Don't let Intel/AMD/Alienware fool you... the processor usually isn't the bottleneck, and Windows/most games aren't compiled for 64 bit machines (yet, and probably not for another year or two). 1 Gig of (midrange) RAM and a Vid card with hardware directx9 (no need to drop more than $180 on one) and you should be fine. The lifetime of a gaming machine has always been 3-4 years with an upgrade or two in between, and the price has only gotten cheaper. I reccomend building your own machine too, most PC manufacturers SUCK royally, and upgrading them is often not trivial.
I recommend you get your degree from MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, etc. People probably won't remember Tulane after a while, but those schools will still have engineering programs and a good reputation.
It's easy to reccomend the top 3 CS Universities on the planet, but it assumes that money isn't a concern and getting in is a piece of cake (I don't care how smart you are... unless you're fabulously weathly/alumni relative/favored by affermative action, your chances of being accepted just aren't great). There are plenty of state schools with great reputations that offer almost as much at a fraction of the cost (the reputation of the program matters a lot more than the prestige of the University to any good HR person). Education is what you put into it, and it doesn't take long for your work experience to overshadow your education backround. Coming out debt free (or close to it) is a MAJOR plus too.
Come on, the LA public transit system isn't that bad. At least they have 24h bus lines. Now San Jose, on the other hand... *sigh*
Please, [dirty US 24h] buses have to be the most gawd-awful form of travel on the planet. Sure they have that great packed-in-a-sardine-can feeling, but they can't escape traffic jams and take an enormous amount of time to cover small distances. LA just doesn't have a solution for moving comuters/travelers around. Period. Even the Bay Area does a better job in that respect with CalTrain & Bart.
Come visit Boston (or NYC/Chicago/Washington if you prefer) sometime... the combination of the commuter rail & subway make it a piece of cake.
Is there nothing Google can't do? ... Just do Los Angeles next.
You're aware that Google is only mapping public transit systems, not building them, right?
In my opinion the stores should have done a better job when hiring to prevent their employees from stealing
Perhaps they should pay them more than minimum wage then. When the pay isn't great and they employees aren't held accountable, are we supprised when we see incompetence and corruption? Like Congress.
In the article is says it weighs 700,000 tons, when it actually a a weighs 800,000 tons (read the facts).
1 short ton = 0.90718474 metric tons. I believe emporis.com is a US-centric site and the Guardian is a UK newspaper. Can't we all just use the metric system already?
Absolutley, I refuse to purchase any machine with the display married to the computer. I kind of think the iMac is fugly, but that's beside the point.
I love their PowerBooks, and if Apple made a decent mid-level desktop without a display (say, a G5 with a Geforce6600 for about $1,000), I would have already purchased it. The Mini is nice and all, but a G4 & 32 meg vid card doesn't cut it for even occasional gaming, and starting at $2,500, the dual G5 PowerMac is total overkill for my needs.
I would fucking knock your overweight ass into next week. I'd also stay around long enough for the police to show up so I could explain myself. Lucky for you, you only have the balls to say this from behind a keyboard.
Thats awful tough talk for someone that's just saying it 'from behind a keyboard', isn't it?
I wonder, have you ever approached my contemporaries and engaged them respectfully as to the volume of their voice? As it's a free country you have no business in _what_ they say, but who's to deny someone who respectfully asks you only to lower the volume. Perhaps some would, others may even tell you to fuck off, but even that is not license for random aural invasion.
Why is it that a bunch of loud people (I couldn't care less if they're kids or not) is ok, because its "a free country", but a high pitch noise is "aural invasion"? I would consider both of them offensive to my ears.
And while we're on the subject, who is actually at fault for society's current situation? Who's to blame for our crushing debt and rampant tyranical government?...it was the 40 somethings. You guys were all 100% fucking complacent, and you all have blood on your hands.
It's rather easy to criticize monumental change in the right direction as not being good enough. In the past 60 years our 'tyrannical' government has reconstructed and reunited post-war Europe & Japan, stepped in to prevent atrocites (Gulf War #1, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Israli peace process, etc), led an information/communication revolution, and largely erased the race/gender barriers at home.
Typicaly when a young person today rants about the 'tyrannical' government they're specificaly referring to Bush & co. and his Iraqi war and PATRIOT act. I'm certainly not fond of him, but being involved in the Dean (and later Kerry) campaigns, I blame young people the most for Bush's re-election. Young, mostly college-age city kids (a group with notoriously poor voter turnout) were taking an interest in politics like never before, and were supposed to turn the tide in the '04 election. But they never showed up at the polls. The Christian right (of all ages) did though.
In closing, Bush is over 40. So was Hitler. And Osama! And now that I think about it, probably every single war criminal on record is over 40.
What a brilliant argument. But I wonder, how do you account for the fact that despite these criminals being 'old', the soldiers who carried out their orders were not? Don't soldiers tend to be 17-25 years old? Let me try that logic - how about "JFK, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and the Dali Lama are all over 40. Come to think of it, probably every single great leader in history was over 40. Therefore young people have no value in society"
I'm 23 by the way, in case you were wondering.
The food-for-oil scandal is proof enough that the UN is *hardly* free from these kinds of issues.
And frankly, as valuble as the UN is as an open discussion among nations, it really isn't qualified to run anything. It tries give every nation, regardless of population/economy/technology/human rights/etc, an equal say - and lacks a means of enforcing its resolutions (be it economic sanctions or military). I fail to see how politicizing the internet, handing over its control from a tech-based non-profit organization to an non-technical organization equally (though arguably MUCH MORE) succeptable to corruption and corporate influence, and allowing nations with extreme censorship issues a say benifits the internet and global communications as a whole.
Frankly, if we could get our fair share of royalties for letting all the oil/gas be mined on and off our coast...get the 40%-50% that other states do when natural resources like oil are harvested (many interior states)...revenue that we've not had, but, should have for years...we could easily take care of ourselves and build a system that would make Holland blush. It is money that is ours, and should be ours...but, we can't seem to get it out of congress.
Um, the oil/gas isn't mined in your state, or in your waters. Regardless, if Army Corps. of Engineers money combined with having a monopoloy on the delta of the largest river in the nation and being a tourist mecca is insufficent pay for the required protections, the city/state is horribly managed and/or isn't worth the cost of maintaining.
I don't want you to think I'm insensitive of the human suffering or anything, but its massivley frustrating to be in states that plan ahead and pay for enormous projects largely out of their own pockets* while watching Louisania for 50 years decimate its coast, put all its money into tourist attractions instead of levees, tolerate political corruption, fail to plan for emergencies, let all of its industry move to Huston, then to claim the issue wasn't enough federal help when the inviteable happens.
* Massachusetts with the Big Dig & Cali with eathquake-proofing the Bridges & buildings. Both of whom happen to recieve far less in federal benifits than they pay into the federal system, unlike most of the south.
Free WiFi while significant portions of their population are still displaced and / or homeless. Perhaps their priorities are a bit backward?
;)
I don't think so... the interent isn't just for HalfLife2 you know
The communication infrastructure is a major priority in any large reconstruction, as improved communication makes rescue/rebuilding efforts easier and is a requirement for drawing residents and buisness back. With power/internet still spotty around the city, I would think tossing up access points where you can would be a quicker and cheaper solution than fixing all wired connections. Just like I wouldn't be suprised or upset if a few cell phone towers are repaired before all of the ground lines.
I know that was a joke, but the appeal of getting linux on the Xbox for me is to be able to run MythFrontend for all my video needs... which requires QT and tends to be a little clunky on ancient machines. Not that you need 3.2 ghz processors, but hey, the XBox is cheaper than a new machine.
Thanks for the correction on South Africa. Though I don't think I'm incorrect in believing that the British colonial era only ended in the 1940's.
My comments weren't meant as an insult or anything. I totally agree that "there's a time when everyone has to look after themselves, and stop blaming the past" - but when Europeans are such harsh critics of US policy, past and present, I do wonder what they feel like their own level of responsibility is/should be & where the line is between 'moral obligation' and 'history'. Just like I wonder what level of resposibility the US owes to relativley recent blunders (Cold War involvment in South America and Southeast Asia and Civil rights issues, etc).
The reason being that the best doctors get offered obscene amounts of money to move to the states.
If you are editorializing on that point, I'm not sure what your two cents is. Are you claiming that the US is (immoraly?) poaching doctors from countries that need them, or that Socailist nations are failing to reward the obscene amount of work required to become a doctor and that their resulting mediocre health care system is their own fault?
I'm going to have to agree with afidel on this one. 99/100 times, the failure to get heath insurance in the US is a result of stupidity - either you don't have the skills to get a halfway decent job, or you're stupid enough to opt out of it or get pushed around by your employer.
By the way, I never made the claim that US healthcare is perfect. Its just better than socialist health care, thats all. A lot could be done to reduce the cost and increase affordability in the US - IANAL, but it seems like an enormous percentage of the costs associated with the health care system are legal costs (malpractice insurance, FDA approval, settlements) that could be reduced.
Ah yes, I forgot the slashdot rules. A Brit with a gentle poke at Americans is all in good fun, but an American doing it is xeonphobic ;)
In all seriousness though, I agree with you that the American and British laws and/or their enforcement tend to be favorable to immigrants and are prone to abuse. It doesn't particularly bother me though, I'd certainly rather that then the inverse elitist anti-immigrant mentality (anyone heard of the hoops one has to jump through to earn Swiss or Japanese citizenship?). I'm not sure if say that because of the old American give-us-your-wretched mentality, or because the population density of the US still allows it, or because the US economy benifits from it (IMHO anyways, I'm sure someone would argue it).
This is kind of an aside, but I've kind of always wondered this about the English. You're example an abuse of NHS was that of a South African man... but do you feel any obligation towards South Africa? I mean, the British rape of India & Sub-Saharan Africa only ended ~60 years ago, and has yet to recover. Not that the US (or any other nation) doesn't have skeletons in its closet, of course - but do you think such relativley recent disadvantages should factor into said immigration laws, college admissions, job applications, tax breaks, et cetra? The US has decided "yes" (hotly debated though), and I was wondering the take on it over in the UK.
Well i'm not in the US, i'm in the UK...That said, we haven't exactly done a grand job of keeping anyone out anyway...
;)
More precisley, you haven't exactly figured out who to keep in. I guess the Americans and Australians weren't the rejects that you suspected they were
I haven't heard of boiled beef. I thought New England was home of Clam Chowder, Lobster, and Dunkin Donuts. But I suppose you're right... I'm not really from a region that can rag on anyone's cooking (well, except for the British and the Texans, of course ;)
Mod parent up. There is a reason weathly Europeans and Canadians often have private doctors (despite the "free" healthcare system) - and flying to Boston is not unheard of for exceptionaly dangerous procedures. While we can argue the merits of applying Capatilism to the health care system - skilled US workers (which would include everyone reading this site in the US) have the best health care. Period.
Tim Hortons though, its fantastic.
The donuts taste like they're made out of plastic, and the coffee somehow manages to taste morke like ash than Starbucks. But if thats your thing, you don't need to go to Canada for it. They're everywhere around here (here being Southern New England).
Well, my problems with your orginial post were that it implied:
a) That having difficulty with a Windows machine automaticaly equals a dumb user and/or dumb IT department (and not a poor notebook and/or poor OS)
b) A Mac is as difficult (if not more) to configure than a Windows machine, and equally prone to hardware problems.
And I would disagree with both implications. Thats all.
I was at a conference, a week ago, where the presenters were using powerbooks. I think you can tell a lot about a product by how people use it. These things looked really smooth and after all my fits with a WinXP laptop, I desperately want one. Problem is we're a Windoze shop. :p
:)
Well, you might be suprised at how well the integrate with Windows. There is an OSX version of MS Office, a Mac Remote Desktop client, Virtual PC for emulating the Windows environment, and AFAIK they can join Windows domains. I mean, unless you're on Visual Studio 24/7, you could probably get away with a switch. Or just wait 8 months for Intel Powerbooks and dual boot