There's a lot of ugly little comments here from ugly little Assholes. Naturally, most of them are anonymous. Cowards....

Reading the replies here should be enough proof that there IS a gender and race issue in tech. Reading the petty little comments in here should be proof enough that we need more women and minorities in tech, just so these petty little !@#$s can get some exposure and empathy to real people....

Some of you disgust me quite a bit.

I would say we have a completely manipulated market. The simplest of goods has many many invisible little hands tugging at it. Take corn flakes: corn subsidies, advertising, trademark law, FDA labeling regulations, they way they bill it as a health food by putting athletes on the cover even though it's as far from a health food as you can get, farming regulations, worker regulations, etc etc etc.

Every little good in our economy is touched, pushed, and prodded by companies and governments in an attempt to maximized profit and ensure safety, which are often at odds with each other... Our markets are manipulated by advertising, trade regulations, etc forever.

There are NO free markets on this planet.

I know what a redneck is. I grew up on a tractor.

So much bullshit lawyerism. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Racism is entirely based on intent, and that's hard to define or pin down.

It's really disheartening to see all the assholes here trying to define it so they're not the racist assholes that they are. Yeah Yeah, Political Correctness is bad...

If I call my uncle a redneck, that's an in joke, and it's OK. If some black dude says "what up nigga!?" to his buddy, that's in in joke, and it's OK. If I said that to him, or he call me a redneck.... we look at intent. Was it meant to degrade? Then it's racism. And yes, it's racism if some black dude calls me a redneck with intent to belittle me. It's wrong, no matter who does it.

Yeah, yeah, a couple of stories about overly sensitive people don't equal the whole trend. That's just a Logical Fallacy: Anecdotal. I maintain, it's not up to the racist bastard to determine what counts as racism. It's up to the victim. One of the two has to decide, and it sure as hell shouldn't be the racist bastard...

I really shouldn't have to explain this shit to people.... Be nice to each other. Any less and you're a dick. It's that simple.

You're actually going to say that gas is ... Dude. Everyone and their aunt Berthilda has their grubby little hands in the gas market! It's the most Un Free Market on the planet! The supply is tinkered with by governments and companies. The refining is tinkered with by governments and companies. The distribution is tinkered with by governments and companies. The prices are tinkered with by governments and companies. ... I just... wow. How'd you even think that?

I didn't say economics was useless. I DID say that there's no such thing as a free market. It's an example used to explain concepts... much like an imaginary perfect spehere with no friction. In No Way did I say economics was useless. You got that completely backwards....

that's funny, 'cause I own a gun... weird. It's almost like the second amendment is fine and dandy, and you're just whining....

Everyone's arguing about this or that net neutrality opinion... They're missing the big point. The internet is a miracle, and we shouldn't fuck it up.

I didn't have the internet when I grew up. When I wanted to know something, I had to go to the library and read for hours. When I wanted to communicate with someone, I had to write a letter and wait weeks. When I wanted to shop remotely, I had to get a catalog, fill out a form, send a check, and wait 4-6 weeks for delivery...

The idea of instantaneous (or near enough) access to all the knowledge and culture of humanity was a science fiction pipe dream that would only come in a fantastic future. We don't have flying cars, but we DO have access to all the knowledge and culture of humanity. That's AMAZING. That's a miracle.

We finally invented the future. It's here. We have an amazing tool. Now some assholes want to gate it off and double dip, to charge you more than they should, and to charge the giver of knowledge or culture more to be seen, even though we're both already paying for connection.

This is outrageous. This is why we need net neutrality. Real net neutrality. The pipes should not be allowed to dictate WHO gets to play in the bright future.

I love the Free Market crowd. I usually just challenge them to show me a free market, one that isn't tinkered with by a large organization (government or private) anywhere in the world.... I'll wait.

Free Markets are a useful tool to explain some economics concepts, but do not exist in real life.

Perhaps if the restaurant charges you for the hamburger, and then turns around and ALSO tells the farmer that he'd better pay up or they won't serve his beef to the customers, while the restaurant is starting a beef farm.

Ok, ignoring all the armchair generals who are saying How It Should Be...

This is a good thing. It's not the RIGHT thing. Ahem. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized" Frankly, warrantless wiretapping IS illegal, per the US Constitution.

I don't blame the government. I blame us. There's less than 50% voter turnout. People ramble about the ammo box, but we haven't even TRIED the ballot box yet, and apparently we can't be bothered to. This is OUR fault.

That the House of Reps actually did this is an amazing step in the right direction. Everyone whines that it's not enough, but you NEVER get what you want in one go. It's always a slow series of steps. It's a continual fight.

Anyway, just a note... Dems: 158 yes, 29 no. Repubs: 135 yes, 94 no. Many more Dems voted for this. Think on that next time someone (possibly you) trots out how much Dems love big government and spending, and hate freedom. Sigh... The really sad thing is that there are no Independant votes on this, because there are no Independant reps, because you bastards can't be bothered to vote. :(

I hardly think ONE socialist on the city council counts as the whole city voting for socialism... And frankly, she's done a lot of good things for the city. Also, that higher min wage isn't really that insane... It's actually right around what it would be if minimum wage had kept up with inflation through the years. That's kind of the point.

What will you do when Seattle rolls along just fine, it's economy does fine, no jobs are lost, and the extra money in the economy helps it grow? Are you prepared to think about your beliefs when Seattle doesn't turn into Mad Max?

Oh God... No.

I help with the hardware grants program at Free Geek. I've seen and interacted with just about every non profit there IS in Portland, and handed over computer gear to most of them. There are some non profits that do AMAZING work. Free Geek is one of them. There are a LOT of non profits that do... Stuff.

If we're going to hand out kick as internet connections, I want them going to the Non Profit organizations that do a lot of immediate good work. I love the Portland Fruit Tree project. They are NEAT, and they do good things. The Urban Farm Collective does a LOT of good work for people.... but Free Geek can put a kick ass connection to WORK in a way that the PFTP and the UFC cannot.

You're both very principled. Good for you. But this is the real world.

Also, at this level, the corruption you're so worried about is pretty minimal. I assure you, there are no non profits housed at the mayors house.

OOps! Sorry, was directed at Ganjadude.. My apologies, I made a forum faux pas. Sorry Rokstar!

Rokstar? What's it like to be able to just pull conspiracies out of your ass to support your own beliefs like that? I can't quite seem to manage it. I'm always bothered by a lack of evidence when I do it, and I can't hold it together.

If you seriously think there's a secret cabal of white people who bothered to give a SHIT about the name Redskins, and actually managed to scrape together funding to prop up some token natives with fancy cars and new clothes... vs. Some natives who've been fighting this fight for forever actually manage to make some headway in a long standing legal fight.... I don't know man. Occam's razor is looking pretty bad for your case there....

If you were a decent human being you'd know that it's the intent behind the words as much as the words themselves, you redneck honky. That high school filled with Navajo CAN use the term Redskin, just as it's quite acceptable for one black person to call another "nigga". You try it. It doesn't work for you. That's because it's up to the person being derided to decide if something is offensive. It's NOT up to the ignorant racist prick doing the deriding.

I'm quite fine with making Redneck jokes with my family. I'd actually be offended if someone else called my family rednecks in a derogatory manner.

This is common sense, and you should know this sort of empathic human social skill by this point in your life.