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We're screwed!

I think we are screwed in lots of ways, and this is just a small piece of it:

  • Budget deficit
  • Decreasing scientific and engineering competitiveness
  • Civil liberties
  • Unprovoked and unnecessary wars
  • Iran persuing Nukes. (Hope it is a bluff)
  • Pakistan selling Nukes
  • Etc.
 
mbbrutman said:
I think we are screwed in lots of ways, and this is just a small piece of it:

  • Budget deficit
  • Decreasing scientific and engineering competitiveness
  • Civil liberties
  • Unprovoked and unnecessary wars
  • Iran persuing Nukes. (Hope it is a bluff)
  • Pakistan selling Nukes
  • Etc.
I think you've hit the nail on the head. But some of the above is caused by crazy f'ed up republicans.
 
I hear a lot of whining and hand wringing and yet they keep getting elected. They must be doing something right (right, get it..). Or the Dems are just plain un-electable right now.

I'm pretty fiscally conservative, but can't wait for 2008. Let us hope that SOME party comes up with something reasonable for a change.
 
I'm not sure about politics over in the US, which are the biggest parties? where are they on the political spectrum? which ones are generally held to be idiots?
 
There's the Democratic Party & Republican Party. Democrats are usually associated with middle-of-the-road to Liberal, or Leftist beliefs, and the Republicans range from mid to Conservative, or Right-wing beliefs. The extremes would be Communist on the left and Facist on the right, if that's any help. As for the last question, all professional politicians are generally considered idjits (at least, by some of us).

--T
 
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LOL, nice ex. Terry.
Basically, I am aware of what republicans are responsible for this term.
My issue immediately(besides the war in iraq where thousand of soldiers are dying for oil) is with net nuetrality.
Basically, a internet company (ex. SBC) can charge vintage computer say $15 extra a month so his site will run faster on their server, or even be accessible at all.
Several Canadian companies are already doing this to websites.
The bill in question not passed, because of republican senators, would protect users and hosts from this type of gauging.
 
bbcmicro said:
which ones are generally held to be idiots?

Our current president is a republican. Form your own opinion.
Granted, there are respectible republican politions, but most just make asses out of themselves. I'm not saying that the democrats don't make asses out of themselves, look at Clinton and Howard Dean, but IMO, it happens more often with reps.
 
Ya really can't tell the players without a program these days (especially the 'Moderates', both real and imagined (even the most extreme partisans try to paint themselves as Moderates)). There's just too little difference. Voting, for me, usually involves trying to decide which candidate will do the least damage. The lesser of two evils is never a good choice to have to make.

--T
 
True story: The democratic party was started by a guy who was such a prick that his opponents called him a jackass. He liked it so much he adopted the jackass as the party mascot.
 
Alexkerhead was originally commenting on network neutrality, but that's just part of a larger pattern of problems. I'm actually not too concerned about network neutrality. The 'players' that the telcos are going after have fairly deep pockets.

Speaking of tech fiascos in the making, here are some more problems we are facing:

  • Keyword scanning of email and other traffic
  • Log retention .. the Feds want to be able to lookup what you've looked at
  • Telephone number harvesting


Surfing isn't anonymous or private anymore. Just assume that. It's being logged and scanned in lots of ways, and it will get worse.
 
Umhmm, over here, David Cameron or (Probably) Gordon Brown!

Eeeugh.

Glad I dont have to choose. My parents have been labour all their life but they're probably going to vote for the Lib Dems or the Green Party. If I were absolutely cornered, I would vote for the Monster Raving Looney party (I believe their leader or some other high ranking member is a rabbit...Actually, I think I wouldnt vote)

The most scary thing is, most of us sleep at night. We have become de-sensitised and it is the only way to live, but it shouldn't be. We should feel morbidly outraged and depressed at every horrifying news story that spurts out every day, but we don't, purely because it does happen every day.

A cheerful note to end my day on.
 
<Wild-eyed, brandishing a revolver>
OTOH, bi-partisan politics in America have long been obsolete, even extinct. We no longer have a three-headed government here, with checks & balances. This country has become a dictatorship. The President & Congress are no longer relevant. All law is ultimately decided by the nine learned individuals in black robes. It's the Dictatorship of the Supreme Court! Executive & Legislative branches are mere figureheads, intended to placate the body politic with the appearance of free elections.
<Falls off from soap-box>

--T
 
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It is the first time I see someone describing Democrats ranging all the way to left wing (for some value of left). Movements such as socialism and communism aren't big in the USA, right? I realize there are more registered parties than the two (sometimes three) biggest you hear about, but do any of the others play any role e.g. in the senate?

Sweden have our election to parliament this fall. At the moment, the polls indicate a very even race between the two blocks:

1. Social democrats, left wing (former communists) and green party (3)
2. Liberals, center party, Christian democrats and conservatives (4)

There are a bunch of newcomer parties who get a lot of publicitity but probably won't make it to the parliament; some nationalistic/racistic parties and the infamous pirate party, who have one major standpoint and that is to ban copyright laws and make free downloading of music, movies, computer games etc entirely legal. Everyone knows it will never happen, but probably they will get some support votes.

If Sweden would apply a law that voids all copyright laws, not a single record, movie, computer program etc would be distributed here. Probably we'd be cut off Internet as a country too. There was a major site linking to where you can download files shut down a few weeks ago, by a major police activity. It is said Hollywood had forced Swedish politicians and authorities to do something about the site, or they would take measures towards the country (hmm.. would Bush bomb us?).

Oh well, maybe I strived a bit from the strictly political issue.
 
Yes, I realize that the words 'Democrat' & 'Republican' have different meanings here than in most of the world, along with the terms 'Liberal' & 'Conservative'. Mostly, the latter are usually used as code-words, by those who percieve themselves on the opposite side of the equation. Terms like 'Communist' & 'Socialist' are considered anathema to most Americans, despite the fact that our country has become, in the last century, more Socialist than ever concieved by our founding fathers.

--T
 
mbbrutman said:
Alexkerhead was originally commenting on network neutrality, but that's just part of a larger pattern of problems. I'm actually not too concerned about network neutrality. The 'players' that the telcos are going after have fairly deep pockets.

Speaking of tech fiascos in the making, here are some more problems we are facing:

  • Keyword scanning of email and other traffic
  • Log retention .. the Feds want to be able to lookup what you've looked at
  • Telephone number harvesting


Surfing isn't anonymous or private anymore. Just assume that. It's being logged and scanned in lots of ways, and it will get worse.
Agreed, those are huge concerns as well. And the end of net nuetrality will instigate every other problem to arise.
Looks like the end of the internet era is closing in fast. Big brother is watching.
 
mbbrutman wrote:

> I think we are screwed in lots of ways

Not to mention about the impacts people have on the
Environment - the list there is huge.

Some which springs to mind:
  • Land Clearning
  • Land Disturbance
  • Soil Erosion created by man
  • Salinity
  • Public Awareness
  • Public Views (perception)
  • Weeds (you name it)
There's probably heaps of other things which are all
interconnecting have relationships with - and it's all about
how the sector is run or seen though the eyes of the Govt.

CP/M User.
 
CP/M User said:
mbbrutman wrote:

> I think we are screwed in lots of ways

Not to mention about the impacts people have on the
Environment - the list there is huge.

Some which springs to mind:
  • Land Clearning
  • Land Disturbance
  • Soil Erosion created by man
  • Salinity
  • Public Awareness
  • Public Views (perception)
  • Weeds (you name it)
There's probably heaps of other things which are all
interconnecting have relationships with - and it's all about
how the sector is run or seen though the eyes of the Govt.

CP/M User.

What will we all breathe when daRainForrests are all gone?

--T
 
alexkerhead said:
Agreed, those are huge concerns as well. And the end of net nuetrality will instigate every other problem to arise.
Looks like the end of the internet era is closing in fast. Big brother is watching.

BB is and has been on dat sh!t right from the start. (You didn't really ever believe in the privacy of electronic communications, did you?)...

--T
 
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