Spoken like someone who is not a structural engineer.

Parent is ignorant of how the government buys. The days of low price are gone. -- That's a how to buy question anyway, not *what to buy* which is discussed in the article.

Today most of the buys are still encumbered by perfection.

Examples? How about the IRS and FAA computer systems. Or the F22 fighter. Or the continuing drive to put humans in space.

And I thought Engineers trolled Slashdot...

So Copper and Concrete. Fine combo, no worries. But concrete and steel, there is a magical combination! --
- Concrete is weak in tension, steel is strong.
- Concrete is cheap, steel is expensive.
- Concrete is durable against wind and water, steel needs protection.
- And when it counts, they get together -- they expand and contract nearly at the same rate with changing temperature.

Concrete and steel, are a perfect match, just mix the proportions for the job at hand!

Mod parent up!

He hit the nail on the head.

The F-22is a relic of the cold war, and has taken a back seat to the Predator. The future of air-superiority and air-to-ground is unmanned aerial vehciles (UAVs) aka drones.

The USAF should begin planning it's reintegration with the Army.

That's also a little misleading. The majority of any weapon's cost is in operation, maintenance and training. The production is a fraction of the cost.

I agree with your point, but reasons the poor American train network are more complex than 'car subsidies killed the train'. -- The large mass transit systems at the turn of the century were created and subsidized by land speculators.

Your essential point is correct though, developed nations subsidize transit. We just have to decide which transit we want to subsidize. That will decide development patterns for generations.

BTW, an enlightening history of Suburbs and 20th century development is 'Crabgrass Frontier' by Kenneth Jackson. Worth a read for anyone interested in urban planning.

I can assure you, good people are trying to accurately report. Check out USASpending.gov. The hard part is really finding what you are after. Each agency spends in different ways for different things and products are generally embedded in larger programs. There is no transparency panacea. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and a stubby pencil remain our best tools.

You are right, you can sell GPL software. Mea Culpa.

I should have said "you can't make money selling GPL software" because anyone/everyone else can give it away.

In effect, you can't sell the software even if legally you can.

I beleive the total energy of water consists of static and dynamic pressure, velocity and the gravitational potential. At 1700ft, all of the energy in the water was converted to gravitational potential. Perhaps someone who knows wave mechanics could enlighten us of the relative energy proportions at an arbitrary position?