Comments on: Balancing Act

By: drouse

drouse — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:42:54 +0000

If you want to send them some good SF and have the bandwidth to download complete ISO images try this link: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/
There are six CDs of good SF and a lot of it is military SF. The only copright limitation on them is no commercial use. I’d do it myself but I’m on dialup and 100 plus meg files are a bit much.

By: Robert Paehlke

Robert Paehlke — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 19:05:00 +0000

I concur with John Casper at 16. This is the key to the election. My mix would be 50% or so for Homeland Security and defense related item, which will look very, very good and then say, oh by the way, you could also provide health care for every child in the United States under the age of 10 or 12 or whatever it would be and still reduce the deficit by 5 or 10%.

By: Rayne

Rayne — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:28:07 +0000

meta 8:23 — if memory serves, Google, Cisco and a few other companies were in a bidding war to provide community-wide WiFi in SF, yes? These are the same players that could also provide VoIP in competition to AT&T’s services. Google in particular is in the best position since it has bought up numerous dark fiber contracts and may have the actual “tubes” to carry voice already.

What I have wondered for some time now is whether AT&T sold its sole to the devil to save its life. Did AT&T negotiate with the right-wing leadership of this country to provide access at the root of its system for domestic surveillance in exchange for assistance legislatively that would perpetuate and prolong AT&T’s current business model? In other countries, voice is not locked into POTS (plain old telephone service - over landlines) but has been leapfrogged into more sophisticated service by advances in cellular and VoIP coverage. We frankly have a crappy voice network and service compared to many countries — and much of the blame lies solidly at the feet of AT&T and its Ma Bell-borne siblings. AT&T is in a fight for its life (meaning, its current business model is antiquated) and it’s willing to throw everything at consumers to avoid the impending death of AT&T as we’ve known it. Did they sell us out to save themselves?

Here’s the argument I see SanFran needing to make, one based purely on business motivations: communications are not only a fundamental human and civil right, but are essential to a free market economy. Anything that poses a threat to a free market — any possibility of interference with trade through the breach of proprietary information flow — is something that cannot be tolerated by a community. Therefore, in the interests of protecting its economy, SanFran must evaluate security risks as a factor in permitting any carrier to access its market, along with other traditional measures used in permitting access.

By the way, any chance you might have time to attend a speech tomorrow in SanFran? Would love someone to attend on my behalf.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 16:03:17 +0000

I remember a calculation done during Vietnam that took a month’s worth of the money spent there and gave everyone in Los Angeles a new car, fixed the roads, paid the groceries, etc. and etc.; pretty much everything anyone would want for a life of peace… The punchline was “So, that takes care of spending that money, what would you do with another month’s worth?”

The reality of the lives and money that have been and are being squandered in Bush’s Occupation of Iraq should be on a poster that should be pasted on every available surface before the November elections. The responsibility for this waste must be tied to George Bush and his Rubber-Stamp Republican Congress, AND their enablers, like Lieberman.

By: bonkers

bonkers — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:41:03 +0000

This post should be required reading for anyone voting this Fall. This is how to get through to Joe NASCAR nowadaze. Unfortunately, appeals to common decency and helping people doesn’t work with much of our country today. Very powerful way to tell the story.

By: ironranger

ironranger — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:33:55 +0000

Mindboggling & infuriating how all that $ could have been put to so much better use. How anyone with any sense could vote for a republican today has screws loose. Forget about the 29 percenters, they’re hopeless. When the shit hits the fan for them because of this administration they will just blame Clinton, Michael Moore & Jane Fonda. It’s the other republican voters that need to wake up.
Just read Alter’s piece. Latest Newsweek has a bit on Newt Gingrich, is he running? He said, “I’m really going to be focused on the notion of trying to create a grass-roots movement that would radically change Washington, not just preside over it.” Radically??? These bastards have a lot more hell in store for us than they have already accomplished.
On Mike Malloy last night, Mike P on the lawsuits being prepared on voting machine companies said of the Kerry, Gore & other dem candidate voting discrepancies that dem leadership wouldn’t pursue it because they were afraid they would look “whiney”!!!

By: meta

meta — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:23:24 +0000

Rayne – actually, the mayor is considering the possibility of looking for another vendor. He’s pissed off about the infringement on our rights, so I read it differently. Please explain – I’d love your take on it.

By: T-

T- — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:22:20 +0000

Prober -
Welcome to FDL. Stay tuned.
The folks around here cut through the BS pretty quick and are very friendly too.

By: Rayne

Rayne — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:16:05 +0000

meta 8:02 am — did you read that AT&T response as a threat? I sure did.

Hello, Tele-Google?

By: Christy Hardin Smith

Christy Hardin Smith — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 15:08:32 +0000

Peterr at 123 — hehehehe I thought you’d be amused. *g* It’s truly a darkblack masterpiece. ;-)