I my post was on capitalism because that is the word the GP used. Capitalism exists with government interference, and in that case cannot be considered free enterprise. For example, corporations that received assistance from the government during the bail-out, while still part of a capitalist system, are not operating on free enterprise principles, as they depend on the government.

It would seem that by economics of scale (you can fit several hundred people on a train), if you can get most people to use the rail system, it would become profitable within a short time. While Amtrack is certainly a money hole, I would be surprised if something like the NYC metro system or the Deutsche Bahn had the same problem. As for the US Military, while it is not likely to ever turn a profit directly, it can shape foreign policy in a way that would improve trade, thus assisting the economy overall.

How is desiring that the government only concern itself with governance anti-capitalistic? it seems that you are using the terms free enterprise and capitalism interchangeably. While free enterprise is definitely a major factor in capitalism, equally important factors are that capitalism is privately funded and the objective is generating capital (i.e. financial wealth). Publicly funded projects focussed on helping a community or the greater good are not in line with capitalism in any way. One distinct characteristic of laissez faire capitalism is that if it does not turn a profit it fails. Publicly funded projects often have no such limiting factor, which is one reason many people prefer to see projects that are not relevant to governance to be managed by the private sector.

What exactly does the new driver offer that makes such a huge difference? I'm using 180, which is offered through the Ubuntu repository.

I always wondered why marriage has anything to do with the government anyway.

Certainly I agree with you on how much the war effort has been a waste of money, but congress approves the funding for this war, so your point is mute. You are also being rather deceptive stating that congress authorized force in Iraq after the fact. The authorization was approved by Congress in October 2002, while the invasion occured in March 2003

I've talked to a lot of people that have tried the new office. None of them like the ribbon interface. Certainly my experience is limited, but I have been unable to find a person that found it intuitive. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that no other program interface uses this system. Then again, I thought personalised menus were a major pain in the ass as well.

Placing all the blame on a president shows that you are either terribly ignorant of the structure of the US government and the concept of a balance of powers, or that you believe the US constitution has utterly failed to create and sustain said balance.

Are you saying an Australian CAN'T have a pet kangaroo or love Crocodile Dundee? How presumptuous. You must be racist.

Thats are really idiotic statement. I'd rather have restricted access to a resource than none at all. Your little idealistic thought would be great in a world where the books could digitize themselves at no cost or effort to anyone. That is not the case and the books in question are still protected by copyright, which by definition prevents them from being 'scannable/distributable by everyone'. Are you telling me you never access any copyrighted material because copyright restricts your "freedom requirement"?

You could make casual games about as easily with javascript libraries like jquery or prototype/script.aculo.us as you can with flash these days. Its probably preferable considering there is no need for proprietary tools or learning actionscript...

How is that relevant to the discussion of Google competing with their core product?

Well, I'm certain they could easily incorporate a 'What kind of movie are you in the mood for today?' question and a dropdown for the different options....

I'm in the army. I loathe anything that is 'milspec'. Milspec means that they take something like, say, a $5 cable that is available on the commercial market as a standard, make the rubber thicker and replace the easy-to-use connector with some crazy screw-on piece of crap. The cable is now ridiculously expensive and if it goes bad, requires that the entire unit be turned in for repairs. There is commercially available equipment for nearly every task out there, with the occasional exception to equipment designed to kill, etc, and its often cheap, reliable, and easy to replace. For the cost of one 'milspec' iPod device, you could likely buy a dozen iPods and save yourself the headache of a costly government contract.

Adobe claims over 98% penetration for Flash player version 9 across the board.