Corporation Microsoft and its president Bill Gates are still haunted with troubles. This time the troubles don’t concern accusations of monopolization of the operating systems market. As it turned out, the corporation sponsored bin Laden.

Pravda.RU How Bill Gates Sponsored bin Laden

Scroll down a ways for the true story of where the One-Ring has ended up...

Frodo Fails...

] Brilliantly, seditiously remixed State of the Union
] address video.

It's refreshing to hear the fellow addressing us with the plain truth for once.

Deconstructing Bush...

Rattle wrote:

] I am geek and I hate the whole anti-SUV thing. I own an SUV.
] I love my SUV. It gets better fuel milage then my previous
] car. It served my old office car pool very well. It also
] serves my friends interests very well, as I'm always moving
] stuff for them that they can't fit in their cars.
]
] I wish people would at least get specific with their bitching,

SUV's have been estimated to kill 30 people for every life they save due to their tendency to rollover in accidents and cause extra damage in "T-bone" crashes. Not only are they killing other's on the road at a higher rate, they're also killing their own drivers at a good clip.

Automobile manufacturers have known about the rollover danger of SUV's, which is caused by a higher center of gravity, since at least '96, and yet have continued to market them as safer vehicles. They have also blocked any atempts at regulating bumper heights which would give small vehicle drivers a fighting chance in end-to-end collisions.

In the time that the Firestone tire problem killed approximately 200 people, I've read that the SUV rollover issue killed over 8,000.

Furthermore, 20 MPG is crappy gas efficiency. My 1971 VW bus got 23 MPG 32 years ago. Automobile manufacturers, many believe, should be doing more to offer consumers more efficient choices. Consumers however seem happy with their SUVs.

Additionally, many get upset that SUV's have replaced the perennially nerdy Minivans. Minivans have the same large carrying capacity of SUV's but much better safety records. The difference is they're not macho. Of course, over 90% of SUV's are never driven off-road, but that doesn't make their drivers feel any less tough.

So basically, driving an SUV the trade off is you get to feel cool while increasing your chance of killing other people, killing yourself, destroying the environment, and contributing to Americas entangling relations with nations like Iraq.

Many view this as a typical expression of vain American consumerism, and a representative of everything that's wrong with what we do. Sure, driving an SUV may be selfish and illogical but screw you, I love my SUV. ie I'm willing to damage you for my own comfort and convenience.

SUV's have been credited with the singlehanded revitalization of the American car industry. 12 out of the largest 15 American companies by annual revenue are in the oil or automobile business. Driving up their revenues is seen as good for America. Buy bigger more expensive cars, and use more oil. To some this seems patriotic and good business, but to others it's unethical, shortsighted, and profoundly sick.

But lastly, most people who drive shitty old cars do so because they're broke and can't afford SUVs. There's definitely a class issue going on here between the have's and have-not's which is contrary to logic. People hate SUV's and still desire one at the same time. It's just good old fashioned jealosy at work.

It would be great to see some real innovation and competition in the person and stuff transportation business. In the time that we've seen computer and communications costs fall drastically, costs for transportation have stayed flat. This sucks. We should be able to do better than this. Where's my carbon-fiber hydrogen powered bubble car? I need somewhere to stick my "SUV's Suck" sticker.

RE: WSJ.com - The Scarlet SUV

] The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to slap
] restrictions on a controversial Pentagon data-mining
] program that critics say would amount to a domestic
] spying apparatus.

Senate limits Pentagon 'snooping' plan - Tech News - CNET.com

The U.S. military has spent millions of dollars demonstrating that shared situational awareness improves combat effectiveness. If we apply the same ideas to intranets and to corporate use of the Internet, does better distribution of corporate information lead to shared awareness and increased business competitiveness?

Combat Power and Enterprise Competitiveness

] Proponents of the machines assert that any invasion of
] privacy is not alarming because there's not much privacy
] left to invade. Grocery stores already track customers'
] personal information with loyalty cards, for example.

Aah, my home town. Way to go!
Bars in Northern California start collecting your detailed personal information in the process of doing an age check. The arguement above is particularly disturbing.

SacTicket // Nightlife // Taking license

Even the Economist recommends maximum 14 year copyrights... but then goes on to blow it:

However, to provide any incentive at all, more limited copyrights would have to be enforceable, and in the digital age this would mean giving content industries much of the legal backing which they are seeking for copy-protection technologies. Many cyber activists would loathe this idea. But if copyright is to continue to work at all, it is necessary.

Economist.com | Copyrights

] A popular Japanese show turns VC pitches into reality TV.

Maybe that's why all our ISP's failed: we weren't selling noodles out of the back of a pickup in Tokyo!

Sand Hill Road Rules:

A nice little graph that sums it all up.

Nothing we haven't heard before but a good reference place for the block-headed to clue in.

Number of corporations that control major US Media