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| 2005/12/19-20 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:41069 Activity:moderate |
12/18 Dear Chinese people. In what context do you consider yourselves
to be Han-ren, Tan-ren, Manchu, Hwa-ren, and finally Zho-Quo-ren?
\_ Huh? I consider myself an American.
\_ You're most likely an ignorant, apathetic, and
pathetic ABC banana. And no, I'm not a FOB, thank you.
\_ bad troll.
\_ I prefer the term Twinkie.
\_ If you don't even consider yourself an American, then how
can you expect other people to treat you like one?
\_ Exactly! I've been wanting to say this to my uncles and
aunts and in-laws. But I dare not since they are senior
to me. BTW I am a 16-yr FOB and I'm not a citizen yet.
\_ OTOH, please don't mis-characterize all first
generation immigrants to be like your uncles and aunts.
\_ Most people consider themselves Han, eventhough a lot of them are
not aware of their minority ancestory. Certain Last names are
popular with minorities and thus, if you have that last name, there
is a good chance that somewhere in history you were once a minority.
Example: Jin, Bao, Mu (Mu Rong), Ma (Mohammad). Due to 2000
years of mixing, the notion of being a pure Han has become a very
silly idea. That is why we have the term "Zhong Guo Ren."
In Taiwan, pro-independent minded people demonized the word
"Zhong Guo." They want to replace it with "Hua," which is even
more silly because even though the Han culture originalted from
the tribe of Hua 3000-4000 years ago, Han has constitute a lot of
minor tribes other than "Hua."
So, in a way, being a Chinese has more to do with the Han-dominated
culture than what runs in your blood. This notio of "define race by
culture than color of skin" only start to surface in the Western
world sometime toward the end of 20th century.
\_ i guess no one would think about this kind of stuff unless
he or she is a purist. as in hk, i think 99% would tell you
they are hongkonger or chinese.
\_ The young Chinese pianist Lang Lang is a Manchu. In fact he's a
distant descendant of the royal family of the Qin Dynasty.
\_ so is the actress/singer wang2 fei1. I have a acquaintance
whose last name is wan2 yan2, and falls under the yellow
banner of the eight manchu banners.
\_ ohh my gosh, minority exists... so what?
\_ it's often kool to be minority these days. |
| 2005/12/19-20 [Uncategorized] UID:41070 Activity:nil |
12/19 In UrbanDead, do you have to be a Zombie standing up to be
revivied? If you're HP goes to 0, you cant be revivied until
your stand up, right?
\_ right |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Recreation/Humor, Recreation/Interesting] UID:41071 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
12/19 the video at
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/12/sushiya_etiquet.html
is totally awesome. - danh
\_ http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6905089586228877019
(better net) --dbushong
\_ Kikkoman sauce: http://yoga.at.infoseek.co.jp/flash/kikkomaso.swf
\_ Kikkoman sauce: http://yoga.at.infoseek.co.jp/flash/kikkomaso.swf |
| 2005/12/19-20 [Consumer/Audio] UID:41072 Activity:nil |
12/19 The new iPod update finally has a category for Composers.
It's about time. I got sick and tired of scrolling through
Sonata and Opus numbers. |
| 2005/12/19-20 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:41073 Activity:moderate |
12/19 http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm No abuses of the patriot act my ass. \_ No talk of abusing your ass! \_ I'm pretty anti-US PATRIOT act, but that's pretty damn mild. They "visited" him. Oh noes! They didn't detain him, arrest him, confiscate his stuff, or anything like that that I can see. It sounded like "you a terrorist? ok, just checking, our lame computer algorithm said you might be. be good, ttyl." \_ "The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number. He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors said." It doesn't scare the hell out of you that he got a visit from DoHS for checking out a copy Mao's Little Red Book? What would scare you, a 4am door-knockdown and unlawful detention? \_ This should piss off conservatives since it's such a sensless waste of taxpayer money. Of course that would be if any of them actually believed in anything but power. \_ I agree. I can't believe that first they ARE monitoring and second that they would visit him? What exactly was the purpose of the visit? To check if he is a terrorist? How is that not a violation of the kid's civil rights (undue search and siezure?). How long before it turns into secret police and arrests? -!pp \_ That's unreasonable search and seizure, and asking him a few questions is neither a search nor a seizure. Also, the 4th mostly only applies to searches of your home; they didn't search his home did they? This doesn't scare me one bit. The gov. has been doing this sort of thing for decades. Better they monitor everything, than they not monitor. If you don't like monitoring, then don't do things that will be flagged by the filters. \_ Man, I can't tell if you're being facetious or not. What causes their filters to flag you? If you're serious, I seriously hope you get visited for something you consider innocuous. They say a moderate is a conservative with an illness in the family or a liberal who's been mugged; maybe a good Q&A session will cure you. \_ I expect to be visited every single day, so it won't bother me at all if and when they do visit. In fact, I expect to be incarcerated for extended periods w/o being charged or tried. I expected this even before 9/11. I live here in full knowledge of the possible drawbacks b/c I think there is no other place in the world that is even this good. Yes, the const. says that this sort of thing shouldn't happen, but no piece of paper can stand in the way of society. \_ So you've accepted that you live in a police state. I'm happy for you but I'm not willing to throw out what makes this country great. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) has something to hide. That's why freedom matters. to hide even if it isn't that big of a deal. That's why freedom matters. \_ I guess the differnece between us is that \_ I guess the difference between us is that you think there is something left to throw out, and I think that is is already gone out, and I think that it is already gone and can never be regained w/o giving up all of the benefits of science/technology. I would like the words of the BoR to mean something substantial, but I accept that the very nature of civilization prevents this. the very nature of modern civilization prevents this. \_ you're a moron. -tom \_ Thank you. \_ You always add so much to the motd. Keep up the good work! \_ Yes the government obviously has a large interest in monitoring what I read/think. We wouldn't want any dangerous opinions getting around. Sarcasm aside, using a terrorist threat to completely destroy our civil liberties is worse than the occasional terrorist attack. I would rather loose 10k people a year to \_ "lose". if you "loosed" that many people each year to terrorism there'd be a helluva lot of terrorists running around loose. terrorism rather than deprive 300 million people of freedom. \_ I don't think terrorism will destroy our civil liberties, b/c I think they were lost at the start of the cold war. I also do not believe that these liberties can be effectively regained in a technological society. \_ "If you don't like monitoring, then don't do things that will be flagged by the filters." <- This is hilarious! So, if the filters include "Harry Potter" books, and you happen to be a fan, you have to abstain reading those books in fear of being "monitored" and "visited"? What a load of crap. this sort of thing for decades. Who cares? You don't wan't to be monitored, don't do things that will cause their filters to flag you. \_ You can argue about how the world OUGHT to work or you can accept the reality of how it does work and get on w/ your life. The price of retrieving any piece of info is the fact that the gov may ask you about it. If you are not willing to pay that price, don't obtain the information. \_ Or I can stop replying to trolls. \_ This was my first thought. However, the abuse is not in the visiting, it's in the broad net cast by the listening. Consider that they correlated a travel history with an interlibrary loan of "The Little Red Book". Unless the man has some previous terrorist ties, this looks a lot like abuse to me. -emarkp \_ Possibly a hoax. See http://www.boingboing.net/2005/12/18/dhs_agents_visit_stu.html \_ Updated update. The reporter stands by the story and is trying to get the student to come forward. Same URL. \_ Cool! Keep the updates coming! -pp \_ If the kid is smart, he'll go about his life and not help make some reporter win a prize. |
| 2005/12/19-20 [Consumer/CellPhone, Recreation/Media] UID:41074 Activity:high |
12/19 http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20051217-074635-6362r So theaters want to allow cell phone blocking in theaters. Here's a better idea: throw the people who talk on their cell phones in theaters out. And allow responsible cell phone owners to receive emergency calls. \_ Wow -- you are the troll master! I bow before your trollish expertise! I've seldom seen so much traffic generated with such an innocuous post. \_ Sadly, I was serious, not trolling. \_ I think throwing someone out of a movie theater when they're not willing to give up their $10-15 is likely to be far more disruptive than a typical phone call. \_ Huh? What does that even mean? \_ how do you throw them out from the middle of a packed theater? \_ I think when calls are being blocked signs should be required saying so. I've been in several stores where they are obviously blocked and could've lost important calls. If they block signals they should be obligated to say so. \_ Sure. That seems pretty reasonable. \_ No it doesn't. I want to receive emergency calls. I set my phone to silent when I go to the movies, and I want to receive emergency calls. \_ Don't go to those theatres that block calls then. No one is forcing you to patronize those establishments. \_ Well, yes that's the point. If they don't want my business, I guess they won't get it. \_ If they want mine, they'll block your calls. Your emergency is my disturbance. I paid to be there to see a movie, not hear your conversation. If you are so important you can't be out of touch for 2 hours, don't go to the movies. Question: are these "emergency calls" from work? No one's work is that important. If you're a brain surgeon you can afford a nice home theatre. If you're some techie, they should hire more people and get an oncall rotation. \_ What if it's the babysitter calling you to let you know the kid's in an accident? \_ the babysitter should know where you are. At least this was how it was before cell phones. \_ I'm confused. Are you saying that there are some circumstances (babysitter/ accidental kid) where it's ok to interrupt a public event with a cell phone call? Or that since the babysitter should know the number of the venue, it's never ok? I can imagine it could be difficult to find a movie theatre employee to communicate an emergency if cell is blocked. Also, what happens if you make an unscheduled stop in a cell-blocking venue, or if you don't realize the venue is cell-blocking? \_ There was life before cell phones. If you make the decision to watch a movie you should be able to be incommunicado for that time. \_ There was also life before fire. Are you saying that there is no circumstance under which you would consider acceptible to interrupt a public venue with a cell phone call? \_ Give me an example. Whatever it is probably won't be helped by someone being notified in their movie, or else someone didn't plan properly. \_ Movie theatre, babysitter, accidental child. Let's even say accident serious enough for ambulance and hospital emergency room. Movie theatre number leads to voicemail (at best) or just infomercial (at worst). Is it ok to call the cell directly then? \_ I thought "accidental children" are what you MAKE at the [drive in] movie theater. \_ How would it help? Sure, leave a message in their cell voicemail. I don't care if people call the cell, I care if they answer it. I'm just saying blocking it wouldn't be a big deal. Honestly in that situation calling the parent RIGHT NOW would probably not even matter. Parent will go OMG and race over to hospital etc, who cares. I don't know why I'm discussing this though because I don't even care about this subject. Damn you motd! \_ If it were your child, would you want to take the call immediately, or would a message be good enough? If you have trouble imagining a child, what if a parent/sibling/other loved one had an accident? Would a message be good enough or would you want the call? Don't we all have children or other loved ones? You might find the question difficult because your position that no responsible would want to take a cell call in a theatre is untenable. What if you have a stroke, and you need emergency medical help? Do you want to wait for someone to find a land line or to find the theatre staff? Or would you want someone to call 911 on a cell? If you're this _/ neurotic about it, then either don't go to the movies or find a theater that doesn't block (if it should come to that). Making the rest of the theater suffer rude morons because of your hangups is stupid. Of course they'd WANT the call, that _/ is beside the point. They would have the choice not to go to the theater. How are you going to call while you are having a stroke? Just yell help. There should be plenty of other ways to get help. \_ Ob I said "want someone to call". Ob I also said "do you want to wait..." You realize you'r grasping because your position is not defendable. \_ Ob you kept adding to your post and I kept merging my reply. You realize you're stupid. \_ You realize that accidents and medical emergencies are by definition not likely to be predictable. You're still grasping because your position is still not defendable. \_ This reply is not relevant. Non-cell-phone communication is sufficient. QED. (I suppose you never fly because your precious cell phones have to be turned off.) \_ Quite the contrary. This directly addresses your repeated claim that "they would have the choice not to go". If they knew they were slated for an emergency, then they would have a choice. But accidents and emergencies are by definition not predictable. So you asked for a scenario, and I've given it. Are you saying that even under the 2 scenarioes I've described (accident to loved one and stroke), a cell phone call in the theatre is still not acceptable? \_ As a patron that doesn't give a shit about your problems, yes. I'm there to spend my $10 and have a good time, not listen to every doofus in the theater dealing with their 'emergencies'. \_ You mean you will be more annoyed than sympathetic if some- one in the theatre has a stroke? \_ I don't see that as likely enough to take seriously. \_ That's exactly what I am saying, yes. Well, to be more precise, the possible benefit is outweighed by the negatives. \_ OK. And I am sure everyone agrees with you. Let's just pray that you and yours are not accident prone. \_ I bet > 90% of the people in the theater agree that your emergencies are annoying. \_ Do you never travel to anywhere without cell phone coverage? \_ Often. But in those cases there is always someone (airline, hotel, office, etc.) who will be responsible for messages. \_ so you never like go hiking in a national park, or go biking or rafting? Right because if the world isn't _/ stopped and you notified, then your loved ones would die. How else are you gonna know to put on your supersuit and fly into orbit to divert the rogue asteroid? \_ You're saying because I couldn't instantenously fly home from Europe (let's say), I shouldn't want to drive across town to a hospital? \_ You'll do it when you find out. Chill. \_ And if the health of a loved one is at stake, would you want to go immediately or wait for the movie to be over? \_ Not everything revolves around what you want. \_ No, I am asking you. What would *you* want? And we're all "you", since all of us have loved ones. want? I wouldn't know, _/ seeing as how my cell was off, so I'd wait for the movie to be over. What is your job? Do you micromanage everything and never delegate any responsibility? \_ I asked what you would *want* to be able to do, not what you might be able to do. Why is this such a difficult question to answer? And I notice that you keep try- ing to this a professional responsiblity question, while I keep trying to ask questions about family and loved ones. Why try so hard to dodge a simple question? If it were your loved one who had an acci- dent, when do you *want* to be notified? [tick tock] Still no answer? Tsk tsk. Scared of answering the question, no? In any case, I have a meeting I have to take, so you're off the hook. Would you *want* to _/ get paid $20000/yr for no reason by the government? Quite honestly, I wouldn't want to be paid _/ $20k by the government. I make plenty on my own, and I am sure there are others who need the money more. To answer your question generally, the government does in fact give out money, and there are processes set up to determine if your have governmentally- approved need to qualify for the money. You don't understand the context of the question. It's an either/or thing. Would I want to know? yes. I also want not to be bothered by phones. I don't arrange my life such that being on instant's notice is important, and when it is I don't go to thtrs You keep saying that you are able to arrange _/ your life such that you don't have emergencies. You seem to not understand that by definition you cannot predict when an emergency will occur. So when an emergency occurs (when your child is hospitalized, to use the current example), you are willing to wait until you are out of the theatre to be notified. Can you predict when your child will be in an accident and require medical attention? You seem to claim you can, and you can therefore arrange your life around that event. I tend to believe you can never predict when an accident will happen, and therefore arranging to be available for one is impossible. But your position is clear, and your claims are consistent. (Though to be quite honest I don't believe in your claim one whit when an actual emergency does accur. YOu'll want that phone call and scramble out the theatre like everyone else). impossible. \_ now you're putting words in my mouth. just forget it. look, *I* am not the one who will adminster medical attention, comprende? \_ you can always hire a part-time personal secretary (kind of like a baby sitter) to stay outside the theatre with a cell phone in case there's an emergency. I mean isn't your child's life more important than the $40 per hour cost of hiring a personal cell phone answering messenger? In fact, I don't think you should even go out to watch a movie. It's mere entertainment. what if some drunk driver hit your car and kill you. Your kids would be left without a parent. Would you want your kids to lose a parent because of your selfish desire to watch a movie?! Also, why are you carrying a cell phone? Didn't you know that many people believe that they cause tumors? Do you want to die of cancer and leave your kids without a parent?! You motherfucking selfish bastard! Please answer the simple choice questions above. If you can't, please STFU! movie to be over. \_ You're an idiot. Just because medical emergencies are unpredictable doesn't mean you can't prepare for the worst. Stay home and let other theater-goers be, okay? \_ I didn't say I wanted to have a conversation in a theater. My phone is silent when I go to the movies. If it vibrates, I'll leave the theater to answer it. Pay attention kid. \_ I agree. Like it or not there ARE people who use the cell phone infrastructure to do emergency preparedness, and this is something the government wants. Cell phones are quite good at fullfilling these tasks while allowing freedom of movement. What will happen when a cell phone jammer blocks a call from someone say at a cafe right next to a theater? \_ Oh fuck! Good point! You might have to go OUTSIDE and make the call! Oh woe, woooooe! \_ Hell, what if you have a stroke while you're watching a movie? What additional damage will your body suffer while you're trying to find a land line if cell phones are blocked? \_ I've got an easier solution: kick out anyone who makes noise in the theater. Really, which is worse: a) someone whose phone is on vibrate, answers it, then TALKS on it b) someone whose phone rings, but they quickly silence it c) screaming kid d) non-stop yakkers See my point? \_ a) hit them with a bat, b) boot to the head for having it on in the first place, c) hit their parents with a bat, d) hit both of them with a bat. \_ You know.. that's not the solution to everything. What would you do if someone threw a ball at you? Huh? \_ CSUA bat uber alles! \_ The kid should be hit with a small bat so it will learn. \_ My personal opinion is that if you block cell phone signals, then you also need to not allow people to bring infants into the theater. Afterall, if a cell phone rings, most people can turn it off within seconds. Not so easy with a baby. I think that in the future, maybe they can have a system that will automatically turn everyone's cell phone to silent mode if they are in the theater. Restricting the signal might be the best solution in some ways, but that's unfortunate. People should just have the courtesy not to have a conversation (phone or to the person next to them) during a movie. \- i actually would be perfectly happy with the disruption of a movie to see the spectacle of somebody thrown out. in fact if that were a likely possibility, i would go to theathers so that were a likely possibility, i would go to theathers to see that and would feel disappointed if it didnt happen. in fact i think if it happened 5 times, that would be fine too. i dunno where marginal returns become negative. i realize this will never happen in amercica tho. i also wish a strong norm would evolve about how late you can save seats in a crowded theater. the problem of somebody tall sitting in front of you at the last min doesnt seem solvable. minute doesnt seem solvable. |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Politics/Domestic/911, Reference/Religion] UID:41075 Activity:nil |
12/19 This hadn't been foremost in my mind recently, so I'd forgotten
about it, but this article reminded me of some of the things
to be angry about. (The Strange Case of Chaplain Yee)
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/18550
\- not to be confused with the Celebrated Case of Judge Dee |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Computer/SW/SpamAssassin] UID:41076 Activity:nil |
12/19 Have other people been getting spam with paragraph snippets from the
'Bourne Ultimatum' in them? It's very bizarre (I only recognized it
because I recently re-read the book... which makes it very
disturbing?)
\_ what makes that disturbing? do you think they're watching you?
\_ I got some with snippets from Aesop's Fables. Someone's ripping
off ebooks and such.
\_ No, it's just a method to get pass the spam filters. I've seen
ones with Tom Sawyer, etc. ripped off in the past. |
| 2005/12/19 [Uncategorized] UID:41077 Activity:nil |
12/19 Bend over, Bitch! (SFW)
http://www.larrytt.com/celebrities_playing_tt/bill_hillary_clinton.jpg |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41078 Activity:moderate |
12/19 Bush approval rating at 47%
http://abcnews.go.com/International/PollVault/story?id=1421748
\_ Bush approval rating unchanged at 41%
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush.poll/index.html
\_ I guess the +/- of these polls sucks.
\_ Bush approval rating unchanged at 41%
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/12/19/bush.poll/index.html
\_ I guess the +/- of these polls sucks.
\_ So when is the impeachment? Where is Motd Poll Guy? We haven't
had an official update in weeks.
\_ He's been a lot more contrite lately and in fact the Iraq
election was pretty calm. The number of suicide bombing
have gone done drastically in the past few months and
things are in fact improving. I don't like Bush but I'm
glad to see things starting to improve. Who knows, maybe
we'll have a lot of troop reduction by next year. One can
only hope so.
\_ "The number of suicide bombing have gone down drastically"?
I thought it was: More attacks, less areas.
\_ Only limited data points, but 23 suicide bombings in
11/05, 50+ in 10/05, ~35 in 8/05, 70 in 5/05. So it is
true that the number dropped drastically in 11/05, and
that drop may be part of a trend. But the article doesn't
provide enough information to be certain. The number of
car bombings are also lower (from 130 in 2/05 to 68 in
car bombings is also lower (from 130 in 2/05 to 68 in
11/05), but again the article doesn't provide enough
information to know if that's a trend or an aberration.
In general, I again find it discouraging how *little*
useful information is provided by news sources.
http://csua.org/u/edg
\_ Isn't there supposed to be a quarterly report to
Congress measuring progress?
Oh goodie, I answered my own question, it's the first
google hit for "congressional report iraq progress".
I see, the report is only up to October. |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Uncategorized] UID:41079 Activity:nil |
12/19 Do you ever hit on chicks that are with their mom or dad?
(um, not talking about teenagers here...)
\_ If they're not teens, they're not chicks.
\_ You're talking about little kids? Eww.
\_ He's talking about birds.
\_ Store on Main Street in HMB that sells various farming
sundries has a sign: "The best place in town to pick up
chicks"
\_ No. I'd hit on the moms instead. |
| 2005/12/19-20 [Uncategorized] UID:41080 Activity:nil |
12/19 [800 line thread deleted]
\- moved to bottom. |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Politics/Domestic/SocialSecurity, Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:41081 Activity:high |
12/19 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051220/ap_on_go_co/congress_high_tech_visas Bye bye high-tech VISA, HELLLLLLOOOO outsourcing! Hello CS majors who are still in school, it's not too late to change your major. If you already graduated, it's not too late to go into other useful things, like real-estate. Fuck CS. Fuck tech. \_ Let me ask you this question. Do you have problem with GM workers with a high school degree making $60-80k a year with full benefit? You commands a higher wage than China and India, you need to think about what makes you worth your pay. If you can't compete, then find something else to do and stop blaming everyone. \_ Um. High-tech VISAs are a form of outsourcing. \_ My preference would be to allow more visas especially for US educated foreign students, but to slow down or educated foreign students, but at the same time, to slow down or stop "real" outsourcing - the moving of jobs overseas. This will attract the best talents from abroad, maintain critical mass of talented workers here, and also force companies to invest in their US based workers. US companies should be given incentive not to outsource but to adapt and move up the technology food chain, especially in critical industries. Outsourcing means companies do well in the short term while US workers lose their jobs. In the long term, however, it means transfer and loss of critical technology to countries like China and India. Unfortunately, US business leaders mostly have short term views. China, OTOH, plan for the long term, and almost always request technology and knowledge transfer before agreeing to a business partnership with foreign companies. -!op partnership with foreign companies. The way it's going, US will have fewer and fewer engineers and even scientists, while the outsource recipient countries will have more and more, and they will be doing more and more interesting work, while there will be less and less interest for students in the US, be they American or foreign students, to do science and engineering, and less incentive for those who did, to stay here. -!op stop "real" outsourcing - the moving of jobs overseas. This will attract the best talents from abroad, maintain critical mass of talented workers here, and also force companies to invest in their US based workers. US companies should be given incentive not to outsource but to adapt and move up the technology food chain, especially in critical industries. Outsourcing means companies do well in the short term while US workers lose their jobs. In the long term, however, it means transfer and loss of critical technology to countries like China and India. Unfortunately, US business leaders mostly have short term views. China, OTOH, plan for the long term, and almost always request technology and knowledge transfer before agreeing to a business partnership with foreign companies. The way it's going, US will have fewer and fewer engineers and even scientists, while the outsource recipient countries will have more and more, and they will be doing more and more interesting work, while there will be less and less interest for students in the US, be they American or foreign students, to do science and engineering, and less incentive for those who did, to stay here. -!op \- it may not be a matter of short term views but elite interest diverging from rank and file interest. \_ Are you seriously going to claim that it's in the longterm best interest of owners of American companies to have America lose its competitive edge in science and engineering? That's ridiculous. I would argue that American science is so good for the world that anything that hurts American science hurts the whole world at all economic levels. This is not a zero sum game. \- i'm not suggesting it is 0 sum. i simply think if you have say $10m today, you are not especially affected by say the dollar weakening, poor public schools, pensions failing, social security having problems etc. i.e. people who "get their own" early, can route around a lot of problems in the future. rather than thinking only temporally, you might consider thing "spatially" ... meaning you stand where you sit. more formally some of the incentive problems are those that come from principal-agent issues. i think part of the issue is corporate governance not just globalization. globalization in mfgring has been going on for decades. i also think factors like amaerica's 0 agg private saving rate are going to play a role in shaping the future as well as "globalization". \- oh and i think your discussion has some status quo biases. like when you say "american science declining hurts everybody". well you are a poor person exposed to say cholera and malaria and poor nutrition and no clean water supply, advances in ass-related plastic surgery or botox or the erectile dysfunction treatment meds arent your priorities. yes i relalize a lot of important research behind the Green Revolution or techniques for purifying water with UV and such have come out of the US, but it's also true relatively frivolous stuff is often vastly better rewarded than stuff that kills poor people. again compare the spending on ED drugs [i think there were something like a dozen in the pipeline [npi] in the last couple of decades, but almost no work on common orphan diseases. much of the economic logic behind free trade and free movement of the factors of production and capital also apply to free movement of labor, but nobody is seriously proposing something like that to max overall efficiency. if anything the recent EU negotiations over the CAP/refund and the US pushing IP negotiations over the CAP and the US pushing IP issues in the WTO negotiations show how far people will go to protect their parochial interest and ignore all the ideology when it doesnt go their way. just out of curiosity, do you drive and american [sic] car? do you have an american TV ... oh never mind ... an american stereo? TV ... oh never mind ... and american stereo? where are your shoes made? do you support negotiations over the CAP/refund and the US pushing IP issues in the WTO negotiations show how far people will go to protect their parochial interest and ignore all the ideology when it doesnt go their way. just out of curiosity, do you drive and american [sic] car? do you have an american TV ... oh never mind ... an american stereo? where are your shoes made? do you support sever penalites for those employing illegal aliens, or should we just keep deporting the persons themselves? \_ Who says that science and technology will decline in the US? Why wouldn't they increase as Americans spend more effort on research and diving into more technically challenging roles to become more competitive than an outsourced counterpart? to become more competitve than an outsourced counterpart? \_ Because the competitive advantage from the discoveries you have made, that is the fruits of your labour, will be knowledge transferred to your counterpart in China and India, and they are 10x cheaper than you, and just as smart as you. With globalization, there is now no incentive for companies to build up a technology gap between US and foreign countries, there is no longer much incentive to invest in technology development in between US and foreign countries, there is less and less incentive to invest in technology development in the US. Also, China and India are constantly encouraging US companies to invest in R&D over there with all kinds of tax incentives and business partner- with all kinds of tax breaks and business partner- ship lures. Is this bad for the world? I don't know. What I do know, is that it's good for China and India, but bad for the US. Anything to do with research and that is "technical challenging" is not hard to but bad for the US. Anything to do with research or that is "technically challenging" is not hard to outsource. All you need is top local talent, of which India and China has plenty, a technology transfer so they get up to speed, which US companies are happy to do, and lots of money for the research facilities, which US companies are happy to invest. \_ Says who? All evidence I've seen so far shows that outsourced work, while cheaper, is significantly inferior too. Outsourced code sucks. Speedy communication still remains an issue. If you're good at what you do, then I maintain that you're not expendible and your job won't be shipped overseas. If that isn't the case, then it's time for you to improve your skills and make yourself more marketable. \_ Even with outsourcing, I'd like to know which major should one choose other than business administration or engineering in order to have the jobs with comparable salaries that are as readily available as in CS. \_ I am in 3G wireless infrastructure, and my employer is systematically moving the whole division to China. It doesn't matter if I am good or bad. Even if I am good, I would be good or bad. Either way, I would be forced to either move to a different field, move to a different part of the country, stay move to a different part of the country, or stay on and do peripheral type work. As for foreign coders, it is the same as over here, some are idiots, some are good, but they are improving fast. And of course, 3G wireless has lots of military applications, pretty kool for China. pretty kool for China to have a large pool of engineers with experience in this area. \_ Even with outsourcing, I'd like to know which major should one choose other than business administration or engineering in order to have the jobs with comparable salaries that are as readily available as in CS. \_ Anything that gets you into law school or medical school. \- self-regulating indistries are in better positions to protect themselves. there was a large influx of indian and russian doctors in the 70s i believe and i assume the AMA either ahead of time or in response took steps to keep them from competing. typically they do so by insisiting on certifications [we are here to protect you] and then defining the area of practice very broadly. see e.g. the nolo v texas case. my understanding is dental hyginists must work for a dentist and cannot operate a $19.95 only-teeth-cleaning service. i believe there are regulations on opticians as well. civil engineers, ME, software engineers either missed the boat or were never in a position to similarly dictate competition terms. \_ Actually, engineering is probably a good choice if you want to go to law school. IP lawyers (patent and copyright) are generally paid more and have better working conditions that the pol sci majors. \_ I can feel nothing but pity for people chosing majors based ONLY on how much they're gonna make. It's gonna take 5 to 10 possibly best years of your life spent on learning something that you're not passionate about before he/she can even start earning money. Of course, most of them are probably too dumb to make it into and through the medical or law school or a rigorous CS program like at UCB anyways but I pity both kinds. \_ Law school doesn't require being smart. \_ Just learn to say "would you like fries with that?" like all th PolySci/English majors have been doing for decades. \_ Actually, I say "Have you rtfm?" these days. -English major |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China] UID:41082 Activity:nil |
12/19 http://www.chung-hoon.navy.mil USS Chung-Hoon: US destroyer named after Chinese-American Rear Admiral. \_ Is "Imua e na Koa Kai" Chinese? It sounds like Japanes to me. \_ It sounds hawaiian, actually. |
| 2005/12/19-21 [Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:41083 Activity:kinda low |
12/19 "The round-table with the vice president came after hundreds of troops
had gathered in an aircraft hangar to hear from a mystery guest. When
Cheney emerged at the podium, he drew laughs when he deadpanned, 'I'm
not Jessica Simpson.' Shouts of 'hooah!' from the audience interrupted
Cheney a few times, but mostly the service members listened intently.
When he delivered the applause line, 'We're in this fight to win. These
colors don't run,' the only sound was a lone whistle."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1543165/posts
\_ Uh, hello jblack?
\_ Is there a reason why you are posting this as a link through
freerepublic when in fact the actual story itself is from
SFGate? Seems like a rather convoluted way to post a story.
BTW, the part you excerpted is not part of the freeper excerpt,
but is part of the main article.
freerepublic when in fact the actual story itself is from SFGate?
Seems like a rather convoluted way to post a story. BTW, the part
you excerpted is not part of the freeper excerpt, but is part of
the main article.
\_ You get two links for the price of one!
And you desensitize the freeper-link-deleter.
As for your BTW statement, you get info that people may not
notice unless they click through twice.
\_ Plus, you get your daily dose of Freeper rants! |
| 4/15 |