"the overall knowledge of important issues is plummeting."

This is true. But, allowing CNN or MSNBC or Fox or even the New York Times do your analysis and filtering won't help. Drilling down to the root causes and drivers impacting the issues you care about most reveals dynamics that are never discussed by media conglomerate news outlets.

whoa, that's depressing...

Yeah, people should just be happy they have a job... and if they can't find a job it's their own fault.

sanman2 has got a job and if sanman2 has got a job anybody can get one. Really. When ever sanman2 does something really competent people don't say "hey, sanman2 is unusually skilled and capable of doing things that the average joe isn't able to do." No. They say "Hell, if sanman2 can do it. Anybody can do it."

Corollary: If sanman2 has to go work everyday and make himself appealing to people who only hire him to profit from his labor, well then everyone else should have to do it too. It's only fair.

And if there aren't enough jobs to go around well you are probably just too ugly to deserve one. And, that's fair as long as you don't get any of sanman2's money.

At least in China they know how to kowtow. Or they used to.

I'm running a dual boot xp / hardy heron on a foxconn board no problem...