Anyone can just look at East Germany for how well welfare state's work out! A true bastion of corporate enterprise and success!

I'm rather confused, but isn't California calling the national deficit a bit of the pot calling the kettle black. Then you say you'd take Oregon over Texas; look at the figures, Texas is basically sucking away huge part of that California economy you seem to think so highly of... I guess California would need more messanger bikers and Chefs if it seceded!

The previous administration screwed up royally with regards to overspending; however, that doesn't mean you don't try your best to correct the problem going forward. Maintaining the status quo when it comes to things like excessive spending don't usually work out well, just ask someone who foreclosed on their house this past year.

But what about the youth and their desire to be overpaid and work in a hip workplace!? Ohh god think of the youth!

I would say this is more like buying a family sedan and saying that you don't want the engine they provide. Essentailly your saying, I have my own engine I'm going to use, just ship me the shell with everything else.
The only part I agree with is the part in this specific contract where it say's if you want it, they will refund you the value. Other than that people need to stop complaning they can't get a large manufacturer's PC without paying for windows. The BUYER has the choice whether they want to buy a product or not, just as the seller has the right to decide whether they want to sell you a computer with an OS or not. Don't complain when you go to Ford demanding a car without an engine and expecting them to bow down to your needs, there's always kit cars.

Additionally, most competent people realize that there isn't really much a "black market" for IP. Most companies won't touch other companies IP with a 100 foot pole understanding that if they get caught all the work they have done is null and void.

Look at the woman who tried to sell the Coke recipe to Pepsi. Pepsi didn't just not buy the formula, they turned her in to the police. This isn't the 1800's anymore where you can just steal peoples things willy-nilly and pass it off as your own.

This reminds me of a conversation I overheard at the gym last night. A guy told a girl he was climbing with, "So I was at a friends house and I told one of the people there I went to MIT; the person responded 'I dont't even know how to talk to you.'"

That was the end of the conversation, his acceptance that he was so smart that normal people couldn't talk to him. Although I am by no means advocating that all scientific people are like this (I have many friends who aren't); the acceptance of this stereotype within the scientific community may be part of the underlying issue you mentioned.

Yes, but in the case of the Nazis, they individual soldiers were acting as judge and executioner (i.e. physically shooting the person). Here the cops are not judge and do not execute the sentence. The cops wouldn not be morally wrong in this situation, the judge who puts through the order to have the kid actually put in jail for 10 yaers is.

I don't know about you, but I am typically not intimidated by the average Segway rider. My natural instinct is to figure out a way to make them fall over, typically I think of Segway riders as being weak/lazy.

Smug is definetly the right word though.

Why would thsee ET like civilizations would be any different in their evolutionary development than humans? If this is the case, than many intelligent species will most likely follow the path that we seem to be on. With varying religious factions/greed/war/and depletion of natural resources reaching a point where they kill themselves.

Maybe there was a civiliation considerably more advanced than us, but whose to say they didn't destroy themselves by electing leaders who entered into wars over natural resources?

Except those greedy bastards over at Verizon who were smart enough to realize that since every other provider makes you hit the #, they make # go to accessing your personal voicemail. This forces the caller to go all the way back and RE-CALL if they want to leave a voicemail. That little tactic must tack on countless minuets.

I would fully agree with you on the new Firewall. It's especially nice in conjunction with new Wifi for those who connect to a lot of different hotspots. The groups are general enough that any idiot, like my parents, can figure it out.

My issue with texting while driving is that not for the concern of the individual who is texting but of the innocent bystandard who faces the consequences of said texters actions. Unlike wearing a seatbelt while driving, you're not endangering the your life as much as that of another.

Freedom should never be granted at the expense of anothers.

How can you not say that there is collusion and anti-trust practices going on with text-messaging. A study was posted on /. a while back that it is less expensive per byte of information sent to the hubble than a text message.

Collusion is clearly seen in Apple's recent ban on the Google Voice application that allows for free texting over a data plan that YOU THE CONSUMER ARE PAYING FOR. Furthemore, how can you justify the price increases over the years for the same product? Technology works by decreasing prices while at the same time increasing service, not by offering the exact same service at a higher price over time.

Isn't this similar to the 21 year old drinking age though? State laws dictate the actual drinking age (hence why you can have a beer at 18 with your parents in a resteraunt in Texas); however, don't expect to get federal road funding if it's not 21. Not saying that I agree with it, but the 21 year old drinking age is something that's widley accepted and rarely critized.