What in the world made you think that gtall disagrees with assisting the rebels? Nothing in his post indicated that.

If anything I think he was trying to suggest that the U.S. decision to intervene wasn't motivated by a desire for oil.

If you bothered to RTFA you'd see that the reduction in channels is temporary.

Stop creating explanations for the existence of life and the universe without evidence and then trying to make the available evidence fit into your explanation. That is a sure-fire way to end up with a faulty scientific process and a biased opinion to boot.

Sincerely, an agnostic.

One of the great things about universities - if you want a random scientific article you can often go online and download it, as opposed to coughing up $30

So true.

Virtual reality casual sex with no chances of catching an STD.

Of course, you might get ANOTHER kind of virus ...

"Attention! Your cerebral cortex is infected with a virus! Upgrade to the premium version of Brainsecure immediately for the low price of 1,999 credits!"

What is this I don't even

You're a moron.

If you're being even remotely serious, then you are an idiot.

Making a few quick bucks isn't worth ruining your reputation, not in the long run, no matter what your profession is. That's just a great way to get yourself blacklisted and disrespected by the community.

I think it's due to color blindness.

This is like, the only remotely valid criticism of OP's post that I've read so far -- although the Keynesian model would suggest that perhaps making you pay to develop infrastructure that everyone can benefit from, including those with low incomes who don't have a high tax liability, is a good investment that will make us all better off as a whole by reducing unemployment and crime while increasing productivity.

Everybody else is whining saying "why do we have to pay for it twice!?"

They seem not to realize that the network can't be maintained for free. Do they want the gov't to start paying the wages of all the telecom's workers as well, or would they like to start paying a bigger monthly cost for their telephone service? That is essentially their choice if they don't want to feel like they're getting "double-billed." Just because the gov't picks up part of the tab for a new project and you pick up the tab for the maintenance if you decide to use the thing, doesn't mean that you're necessarily getting ripped off (of course, you probably are, because this is the gov't we're talking about here, but still).

And you managed to come across as condescending at the same time.

The network doesn't run itself for free. It requires maintenance and repairs. That is what your monthly service fees pay for -- the gov't subsidy, at least in theory (I don't know how well the telecoms are managed), is used to pay simply for the installation of new lines. If you don't want to pay a monthly service fee, then you're going to have to support all of the company's employees and other business expenses with tax money instead.

As a side note, Obama's "infrastructure" plans as you describe them in the Chinese comparison are actually straight out of FDR's "new deal" legislation that was enacted in 1933. Does your knowledge of American history only go back to the beginning of WW2, or what?

You must think that the network runs on fairy dust.

Who is going to pay for the customer service operator who you call when you have a problem with your account or want to sign up for a new one? Who is going to pay for the web developer to maintain the company website? Who is going to pay for the technician to repair the telephone lines when they get knocked out in a storm? Who is going to pay for the janitor who cleans up the company office? Who is going to pay for the human resource managers that are required to select and supervise all of these employees?

A network is not a "build it and forget about it" project. It requires maintenance, and that's the useful thing that the company provides -- maintenance and oversight.

So, you can either have the government pay the salaries and wages of all the telephone company's workers, as well as the costs of all the company's equipment and supplies -- or you can have the users of the service pay monthly fees like they do in the current model. Those are your choices. Just don't pretend like you can maintain network infrastructure for free.

Microsoft sucks and they do a lot of really under-handed, unethical shit but just because someone looks at Microsoft's behavior and doesn't ALWAYS conclude that they are evil, terrible and completely wrong in every instance does NOT make them a "fanboi."

I could just as easily say something like "geeez, FOSS fanbois will go to extremes to vilify anything and everything that Microsoft does," but I won't, because that would be extremely derogatory and probably an over-simplification of your opinions and viewpoints as a person. Basically, it would make me a huge self-righteous prick, kinda like you.

Maybe some of the groups like Axxo and Klaxxon and Skidrow are cover identities used by the people who run the indexing sites and make the ad revenue. If that was the case, they wouldn't have to cut anyone a "big check" to drive content on their site because they're doing it themselves.

Man, who shit in your cereal?