Well of course not! The streets that you'd be tearing up are a public concern and I - for one - do not want just any knucklehead to be able to come tear up the street, then have another do the same next week, rinse, repeat. I'd rather the government either own the fiber and sell access to ISPs at RAND rates or have an incumbent telco required to offer the same. Then you can start up your ISP without screwing up my streets.

Not to burst your bubble, ganjadude, but the reality is that Obama is not "breaking the law" in making the changes he has. Specifically, the law itself - you know the actual legislation - does not have all of these dates hard-coded. Typically, it just allows the secretary of HHS to establish them. If not, the House Republicans would already be drafting their impeachment articles.

(Formerly - I'm in sales now...) I was lucky in that A) I had some basic coding skills, though no one in their right mind would hire me as a real programmer. At least I understood the basics. And, B) I'd spent many more years as a worker-bee than a manager so I had *lots* of experience on how NOT to manage people. I always adhered to a few basic principles; first, they are people, dammit, not "resources" and they have skills, desires and aspirations that must be acknowledged and rewarded or they'll fly the coop to some place that will recognize them. Secondly, my success as a manager depends on what they produce, both in quantity and quality. Period. Therefore, it's my main goal to make sure that they have the tools and guidance to be successful. Finally, the age-old saying: praise publicly and punish privately. Again, they're people and deserve to be treated with respect. Even when you have to fire someone.

Care to present any citation other than Fox News or other RWNJ outlet that there was any actual corruption involved, rather than just a random association of someone who'd gone to school with someone else? Thought not.... You guys are rich.

Errr, Reagan was elected in November of 1980, and I - for one - never heard Al Gore predict anything like this for 2013. 2035, maybe, but - let's try to be just a tiny bit accurate, OK?

I agree - this sounds much more like, say, mPesa which allows cash transfers using mobile phones. Wildly popular and growing like mad in Africa.

" My proof is simple.. Chicago and NYC." If by "proof", you mean that there is no pee-free part of the swimming pool - metaphorically speaking, of course - you're right. Chicago's gun restrictions are applicable only within the city limits, for example. Go just a couple of miles and it's Wild West time for gun buying. PS - I'm a gun owner myself, but let's please try to keep the discussion at a realistic level.

Typical - one isolated (and out of context) quote and you conserva-idiots are all done! No discussion of the broad issues of how to more effectively deliver health care (not insurance) to all American citizens. No realistic options ("but - sell insurance across state lines and tort reform! That's all the fixing it needs"), just soundbites and slogans. Sad....

Close. In my case, as head of technology and development at a small outfit then using SCO Unix, it was a combination of factors. First, and most important, was gaining some level of control of the underlying software stack. A couple of examples: We installed the SMP package on a customer's system. Random crashes and panics became too common. We replaced the server - no joy. Having a support agreement with SCO ($$$), we called them for assistance and their response was "re-install the SMP package". When I explained that we'd already done that, they said "well, do it again". Another time, we needed their DDE-RPC package to run some CSTA software. When I tried to buy a copy, they said "nope, we discontinued that package". I offered several options: we'll pay for it, but not ask them for support, etc. No, no and no. It was about this time one of my techs who'd been singing the Linux song finally handed me the pack of Yggdrasil floppies and once I finally got it loaded and started looking at the source code for *everything*: kernel, compiler, utilities, etc. my jaw hit the floor and I knew that the world had shifted forever. We started then on a migration project - which took a couple of years - and we've never looked back. Worth every penny that we didn't pay to SCO, but did pay to our engineers.

For all of those if us concerned about the privacy/sanctity of our medical information, it doesn't exist *now*. If you are treated under any private health insurance plan, all of the diagnoses and treatments are fed into a database (http://www.mib.com/facts_about_mib.html) that all the insurance companies share to protect themselves against people applying for insurance and "forgetting" about a pre-existing condition. Next time you have a few minutes, pull out the mice-type on your health insurance plan and read up on how they can collect and share that information.

Not to denigrate your concept of faith, but I fail to connect the dots between there being "meaning or justice in the world" and "God". The meaning or justice that we get out of life is based on A) shit that happens to us and - more importantly - B) how we react to that shit, good or bad. Ascribing any of that to God negates our own responsibility and our embracing life for what it is, not as an abject worshiper of a self-created deity.

Dang, I wish I had mod points! Listen, I absolutely believe that all of our natural rights are just that - rights. However, without a strong government to enforce that those rights are not infringed on by religious groups or "local" governments (both big backers of denying voting rights to blacks in the south, etc.) or ... those "rights" translate into nothing.

I stand corrected. I should have added the "not" and - yes, I am in North America. Georgia, to be specific.

If you are going to be training senior management, focus 100% on the ERM software and how they can use it for their business needs. They could likely care less about the underlying plumbing and it would take much more time and effort than they'd be willing to undergo, plus it's not in their interests to do that. That's why they hire smart IT guys, right?

Dang! Just lost my mod points but - you're right. In my long career I've worked at lots of companies of all sizes, including 7 years at Intel. Easily one of the best run and most open-source friendly companies going. I was there when Andy Grove told Bill Gates to shove it when Bill asked them not to send any execs to speak at a Linux conference. Andy went himself.