Thanx for the very detailed and interesting analysis. Part of what would determine US global leadership is how fast it adapts to the changing world order and accepts the facts instead of hanging on to the past world where it was dominant by a huge distance. This is not going to be easy though.
I think the most important set of folks that should receive their share of blame is folks who voted the current crop of congressmen. I really feel that we should have a "how to choose whom to vote for" as part of core curriculum :)
I think there is some truth to what you say - but to say that it is "utterly irrelevant" who you vote is a bit of hyperbole. In a democracy voting ultimately decides who gets into power and what the policies would be.
I'm going to stand by my statement. Please watch that video I shared. Yes they can effect small changes but Congress is so captured by a few interests that you can't stay within the confines of its day-to-day activities and change the long-term trajectory. And the long-term trajectory alone matters. Who cares about swipe fees or any other such persnickety nonsense if the underlying rot is ignored? It doesn't matter who you vote in, you won't be able to change Congress's reliance on funding without doing something radical. And if you can't do that, anything else is utterly irrelevant.
Sure, I watched the video. Thanks - it was a nice, instructive video.
All I am saying is that your statement is a "bit of hyperbole". Things are never black and white when we are talking about such complicated topics.
As an example, according to your statement, it would not have mattered if someone else had been elected instead of Bush. Whereas I think it is highly likely that Iraq war (for better or worse) would not have happened if Bush had not been elected.
Sure that certainly is one way of looking at it. When I said Bush - I did not mean literally Bush. I think we both made our points - so I give it a rest :)
One of the foremost intellectuals - I disagreed with him on Iraq but scoured youtube to watch his debates - mostly against religious rabbis. There really was no one like him.
"“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."
- Christopher Hitchens
@zck - no idea - I spent almost an hour looking for the item and then was told that it had already been converted to a live auction due to high demand.
I think it is a silent auction. So you go in and put your bid. So it is not going to be like what I believe you imagine.
I am not sure whether
1. you know what others have bid(my guess is this would be the case to raise more money from charity's point of view)
2. you can bid again.
The way silent auctions (charity or otherwise) I've participated in usually do it is to have a list of bids near each item. You can circulate throughout the evening, changing your bid until bidding closes.
I plan to be there...And hope to win:) @callmeed, i can bid on ur behalf assuming it is a straightforward one time bid...i can contact you on email if you want..though there is a conflict of interest :)
edit: edited some portion once i learned about silent auction
If you are bidding yourself, I think you cannot bid for someone else (morally speaking).
Otherwise you can be sure to beat his bid by bidding just one dollar more.
@arn, I agree and you give a lovely example of parents wanting to have children and point to an even lovelier set of cartoons - they totally cracked me up - thank you!!:)
I am in the same bind. I am wondering what a decent rate for a good design is. I need to design two simple pages ("simple" may be subjective.) I have been quoted $400 - just for design - by htmlburger (they seem good). Would you consider that too pricey?
No, that's not pricey. Consider all the elements that would need to be created to make even one page. Once you have elements in place, you can reuse them on other pages. So the first page has a bigger cost for the designer.
