It seems there is no intention to ever leave Afghanistan if they plan to deploy this airship in two years.

They maximize their value for their shareholders. Since they have so much money, they have so much power. I don't understand why people oppose big governments but don't have problems with big corporations. They are the same kind of authoritarian entities, but at least you can elect officials for a government. Change the laws regarding corporations.

Yes, the device is supposedly rechargeable and new content can be uploaded, but why would you make the effort to upload ads? How is this better than reading the same info on the internet, on a bigger screen and better interactivity? Whit will surely end in a landfill. How fucking wasteful.

While I fully support green causes for my own selfish reasons (my children), I am skeptical about the motivations of "green" groups.

Why do you suppose they have reasons so different from yours? Maybe they are concerned by their children too...

Their OS, VxWorks, was/is used on many spacecrafts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VxWorks#Spacecraft_using_VxWorks

Another detail about the US support to the Contras. Nicaragua took the case to the International Court of Justice, and won http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_v._United_States/. The US then vetoed any resolution int the UN Security Council trying to enforce the ICJ resolution.

With 1 million new Steve Jobs the reality destortion field will be stronger than ever.

It's funny how free-market advocates call for no government intervention in the economy. It's ok for it to take risks and invest (with taxpayer money), just keep away from the rewards, those will remain private.

Communism is not the ONLY alternative to capitalism. So don't use a false dichotomy to defend capitalism. It always surprises me how many people defend big corporations, maybe they think sometime they will get to own one. Statistically, it won't happen for everyone.