Until we have a different choice, yes nothing will change. One odd thing about America. We love an underdog unless that dog is running for office. Then we only want the most popular and prettiest winner.

Funny that you mention the iPhone. A product that "Joe Average" never needed or wanted until it was available. I think future governments, liberal or conservative, won't have the will to fund serious space exploration. Government's new role is that of providing over priced and under funded services to a vast entitlement class. No, the duty for producing "Great Things" will fall to private citizens with deep pockets. We are seeing the first forays into private space launches. If this drops the price per pound, some current or future citizen will fund and change deep space exploration in the same way that Bill Gates is changing philanthropy. Who knows what Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page will do once they reach Bill Gates' age?

Agreed. It is a shame that that we spend so much on mindless violence. It's an even bigger shame how many jobs and bi-partisan economic stimulus dollars all of this spending represents.

I'd argue that the consensus built by the current crop of Democrats is more of a monotone than a considered debate. The same holds true for the GOP. The Heritage Foundation didn't achieve its successes without first building a set of core beliefs and a dogma.

So what have we gotten? A Healthcare Reform Bill which is more concerned about the Healthcare industry and the idea of "profits are privatized, losses are socialized." I have no idea what the new state-run insurance companies are going to charge per month, nor do I know if I'll qualify for the tax code hand outs that are designed to ease the pain from paying for healthcare. I guess we'll see in 2014. 2014. Why did we wait so long to implement change? That's another question the Administration failed to answer, and no one was willing to ask. Previously GW Bush, a "conservative," made the largest "free healthcare" expansion since LBJ created Medicare.

Back to GOP vs DNK. Obama was elected partly because "he got it." Candidate Obama could send a text message and update his Twitter account. He also supported Net Neutrality. That was big four years ago. Now we have a Comcast/Verizon/ATT/ETC driven broadband policy and a lukewarm Net Neutrality policy. President Obama bowed down to corporate interests just as GW Bush did when he was President. There are more examples, like the on-going budget crisis and the impending Super Committee's upcoming Final Failure 2 release. I think I've made my point. It's getting hard to identify what each party and politician supports. Both parties are so close in action, yet so far apart in dogma I get a 1K mile stare whenever I encounter someone who clings to dogma and ignores action.

The original poster's question stands: How can we choose, when you can't identify real and meaningful differences between the candidates and the parties?"

As with any war, maneuvers lead to counter maneuvers. Escalation leads to further escalation. The only way to end a war is either by choice (as we did in Vietnam and now in Afghanistan), out maneuvering your enemy (siege of Stalingrad, battle of the Bulge), or if the enemy destroys its own credibility with the people (Iraq insurgency movement).

So good going China, you've managed to shut down TOR. I'm sure you have shared your successes with other "Great Firewall" regimes and those who desire "Great Firewall" status. But those who created TOR gained legitimacy, so they will be back with better weapons and in greater numbers.

Here's the way I see it. If I can download my content apps: Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon On-Demand, Pandora, etc from the Marketplace and get TV screen sized content from the Android Marketplace I'm buying.
Now if Google TV acts as a content organizer ACROSS these apps and marketplaces, then Google TV provides something I can't get from any other set top box - Integration. I want the couch friendly schedule, but I don't want to jump between apps to view my content. If the price is right, you'll blow competitors like Roku (which I own) out of the water.

Here's how you do it: Get the content delivery companies to allow you to grab the customer's content listings and the providers' catalogs and sort them into Google TV's database. Customers can search the new, bigger catalog and choose the most competitive price (don't mention competition to content providers, it makes them cry). Give customers a day-by-day listing of new subscribed content, replicating the look-and-feel from current set top boxes.
Include your YouTube rentals and users' subscriptions and user's podcast subscriptions and now you have something I saw when I was a kid and they talked about "the future." Now if Hulu can't cut a deal with USA Network to stream TV shows to set top boxes, it won't matter. I can get them from my Cable or Satellite providers' On-Demand service. If I change providers, I don't have to completely re-program a new set top box or deal with ugliness that is the Comcast/Cox interface.

How true, how true. I'm more interested in corporate/government applications for refreshing machines across the enterprise, but we all know it'll take 3-5 years just top upgrade everyone to Windows 7, much less Windows 8.

Agreed. Companies that don't need political protection to survive, don't need favors from politicians, nor seek value by political manipulation of the marketplace don't need to be Occupied.
Now can someone tell me about the Occupy movement's actual goals and desired outcomes?
It seems to me that without an end in mind, this movement could be corrupted and taken over by celebs just like the Tea Party.

Climate change linked changes to agriculture has greatly influenced society. The Medieval Warm Period led to an explosion of population, which led to Viking Raids for lands and plunder. The ending of Viking Raids and the glut of soldiers led to the Crusades - remember, the Moors conquered the Holy Land well before the first Crusade. The mini-Ice Age has been linked to everything from literature to the American Revolution. Likewise, periods of population growth led to plague outbreaks which curtailed populations prior to the 1960s and mass vaccinations. Now most civilians believe the flu is a nuisance disease. No one remembers the pandemic of the 60s or the quarantines of the early United States.

I bet he goes for both parties as a lot of PACs do today. Why limit yourself, when both parties are equally malleable? All he has to do is make a case for job creation and the politicians will line up to hear his pitch (after collecting the checks of course).