News Stories

[Kagayaki]

NVIDIA and Intel settled their legal disputes today, with Intel agreeing to pay NVIDIA 1.5 billion. In exchange, both companies will be allowed to use many of each others' patents.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/int...-01-10-1645170

I wonder how this will affect claims of anticompetitive behavior against Intel...

[synaesthetic]

Originally Posted by Kagayaki

NVIDIA and Intel settled their legal disputes today, with Intel agreeing to pay NVIDIA 1.5 billion. In exchange, both companies will be allowed to use many of each others' patents.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/int...-01-10-1645170

I wonder how this will affect claims of anticompetitive behavior against Intel...

oh my god please please please let NVIDIA get licensing for QPI

PLEASE

some non-Intel chipsets would be really, really nice.

[Kaijo]

Originally Posted by Kagayaki

NVIDIA and Intel settled their legal disputes today, with Intel agreeing to pay NVIDIA 1.5 billion. In exchange, both companies will be allowed to use many of each others' patents.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/int...-01-10-1645170

I wonder how this will affect claims of anticompetitive behavior against Intel...

In other words, business as usual. Lawsuits between businesses these days are all about who can bring out the most patents from their war chest to slap the other guys with. When the dick measuring is over, one company pays another and they cross-license each others patents.

It's really a great little system. Because of the way patents are written and granted, every business is technically infringing on everyone else's patents, and only the big guys can afford the long and costly court battle. Result is that new businesses can be easily squashed if needed.

"Nice little business ya got here; would be a shame if something happened to it..."

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by solomon

Well I guess it makes little sense to leave K-12 off the table,

Otherwise the points you made are interesting but almost veer off on another debate entirely.

A caller on Southern California Public Radio said that the government itself needs to slash benefits to state workers. Another said that they need to cut loopholes for corporate fatcats.

I think Brown will have to cut deeper into higher level state service benefits before this gets passed, it sounds scary and kind of plausible but I bet many people will just vote it down anyways.

This is gonna be real center stage for the next 5 years.



Well, they say that those people (the rich) are hauling ass to Texas who seems to kinda sneer at places like the Golden State and it's budgetary woes.

Still, I think Texas has hidden problems in Health and Education that they will have to deal with some time in the future.

Texas has a projected $25billion shortfall in their budget.

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by solomon

Dude.....

Has anyone seen what DEMOCRAT Jerry Brown is calling for in State Budget cuts?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...6RON.DTL&tsp=1

It's brutal, yet kinda sorta.....makes sense. Couple that with Tax extentions, and he's sure to piss off EVERYBODY (good job). This guy was called MOONBEAM? If not for the taxes (which frankly is the only real way to ensure funding IMHO) He sounds downright TEXAN.

...

This is part of why my life is a living hell right now. My family and I cannot afford to live in California any longer. We also cannot afford to move out of California. And hell, I just signed up for college classes again. Fuck.

[flying ^]

talk radio is on the defensive

notably this guy

Spoiler for some interesting tidbits:

The political coverage of the Loughner story is "childish and immature," Limbaugh said, but apparently threatening enough for the top-rated talk show host to spend his entire show undermining it as best he could.

His very long list of points:

LOUGHNER IS A LONE NUT.
Even "the Obama government" -- the FBI -- calls Loughner a "deranged, insular irrational kid" who acted alone, Limbaugh said. "The kid was evil. He was into the occult. He had an altar with a skull in his yard. Was God in his life? He was stalking the congresswoman."

HEAVY METAL.
"The guy listened to heavy metal, and some of that anarchist stuff. We're dealing with an insane individual."

DIDN'T WATCH FOX.
"There is no evidence that he listened to talk radio. There is no evidence he listened to Fox News. There is no evidence that he saw Sarah Palin's Facebook page. No evidence he saw her lame website with the crosshairs."

BLAME THE PARENTS.
"Where are the parents? Are they derelicts? He was so devoted to marijuana he wanted to make it the new U.S. currency. Did anyone try to institutionalize him?"

SHERIFF COVERING HIS OWN BUTT.
"This kid sounds like he was very well known as a dangerous element around town. If there is a file somewhere about this kid in the sheriff's office," said Rush, and the sheriff had failed to act, then he would be partly responsible for the tragedy in Arizona on Saturday. "If he was so concerned about the Tea Party, where was security for this congresswoman's event on Saturday?"

DUPNIK IS A DEMOCRAT.
"This Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik, is an anti-conservative."

WHERE'S THE SAFETY NET?
"Loughner is obviously deranged, so where's the left's safety net? Haven't we spent trillions of dollars to build a system to catch these disturbed people? Where is the evidence that their compassion works?"

THE OKLAHOMA CITY TEMPLATE.
"Sad tragedies, where people die, are seen first as political opportunities by these people," Rush said. "The Republicans had nothing to do with the bombing at Oklahoma City, but it was seen as a political opportunity for Bill Clinton. This is now the same template."

CRIMINALIZING SPEECH.
"They're shutting down any opposition and criminalizing it. They've had a plan filed away in a drawer to take away as many of our political freedoms as they can. The Democrats just lost an election, and now the only other thing they can try to do is silence the opposition."

HYPOCRITES ON VIOLENCE.
It's not the right, Limbaugh said, but the left that glorifies criminal behavior and violent imagery. "'No, no,' they say, 'that's art!' Rap music? 'That's art!'"

DEMOCRATS ARE GHOULS.
They privately are thankful for Tucson because "they think it advances their sick and perverted purposes." Mark Penn, who was Bill Clinton's polltaker, said -- before Tucson -- that "Obama needs his own Oklahoma City."

DEMOCRATS v. THE MAJORITY.
By linking Loughner to the right, Limbaugh warned, Democrats are "taking aim at a majority of the people in the country. This is not 1988, or 1993, when the drive-by media had total control. I am not going to be silenced," he said, but now he has too many allies. "They're accusing a majority of Americans of being accomplices to murder."

A DIRECT DENIAL.
"At no time has anybody ever called for violence," Limbaugh said. "We've never subtly promoted it." And, by the way, the Democrats' language is and was worse.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_806912.html

[Urzu 7]

I used to get mad at many republicans, but I've learned that the dems are pretty much just as bad. Of course, I'm talking about some (and yet many) republicans and dems, but certainly not all of them.

A lot of dems are exploiting this tragedy, it's true.

[ZephyrLeanne]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

I hate the Westboro church so much. Terrible bunch of people, especially the leaders of the church. They are not real Christians, that is for sure. Stupid jerks and lunatics, they are.

Here we go again with the almost in-breds.

Originally Posted by Kaijo

If there are some who aren't aware, the Westboro Baptist Church isn't really a church. It's made up of a guy and his family(about 18 people total),

All nearly in-bred. No wonder they're loony.

Originally Posted by Kaijo

They will attend gay pride rallies carrying signs that says "God Hates Gays" and they will loudly proclaim "God Hates Gays!" and then they will look at you. It's very calculated to not cross the line, as they aren't technically directing any hate at you. They are simply stating what God supposedly says, and you can't take God into court. But they are hoping the effect makes you mad enough to respond in a way that they can sue you for.

As always, the best response to a troll is to ignore them. Unless you are prepared to kill each and everyone of them and slam a "God Hates Posers" sign into their dead corpses.

Look, my church states that a DADT policy is enough for us.
Point is, WE DON'T CARE what you're doing in bed. No, we REALLY don't wanna know.
And don't tell us.

Originally Posted by solomon

Dude.....

Has anyone seen what DEMOCRAT Jerry Brown is calling for in State Budget cuts?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...6RON.DTL&tsp=1

It's brutal, yet kinda sorta.....makes sense. Couple that with Tax extentions, and he's sure to piss off EVERYBODY (good job). This guy was called MOONBEAM? If not for the taxes (which frankly is the only real way to ensure funding IMHO) He sounds downright TEXAN.

Hah. This person, remember, was in Arnold "Guvunah of Kallyfurniah" Schwarzenegger's cabinet as A-G, so I pretty much believe he's more Blue Dog than Pelosi-Dem.

And you haven't seen Michael Bloomberg's death by a thousand cuts on New York (specifically, the MTA.)

Originally Posted by flying ^

He was so devoted to marijuana he wanted to make it the new U.S. currency. Did anyone try to institutionalize him?"

Well, anyone realise pot is a PERISHABLE!?
At least Ron Paul called for GOLD to be the currency of the US, which has a point (I personally thought sterling silver made more sense, but... that's so British. Remember the sterling pound?)

And, on a different note.
If the GOP or the TEA wants to capitalize on this, watch their vote effectively collapse in 2012, where the electorate is younger and less white than mid-terms.

Elsewhere, some advice.

Three Steps to a More Civil Congress?
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2.../?ref=politics

Third Way, the centrist Democratic group, sent a letter to Congressional leaders on Monday outlining some suggestions to help promote civility in Congress and perhaps help moderate the nation’s overall political discourse.

The letter was in response to the shooting rampage in Arizona over the weekend that killed six people, and gravely wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who is an honorary chairwoman of Third Way.

The proposed steps include mixed, bipartisan seating in the House chamber for President Obama’s State of the Union address “to avoid the spectacle” of one side jumping up to applaud while the other side sits stone-faced with hands in laps.

In the letter, the group also suggested a bipartisan retreat for each chamber of Congress. The two parties often hold separate retreats for lawmakers to confer with each other on policy issues, party priorities and other matters.

And the group also proposed a sort of cultural exchange program by which lawmakers would make regular visits to the home states or districts of a member of the opposing party.

“Given the sad reflection going on in Congress at the moment, we have offered these ideas to help make concrete some of the spirit of unity that is forged through tragedy,” said Jill Pike a spokeswoman for the group.

In the letter, the president of Third Way, Jonathan Cowan, wrote: “This is a moment of tragedy and reflection for the great body you lead. We believe—as you all do—that perhaps a greater, more enduring sense of comity and common purpose can emerge from the senselessness in Tucson.

Here is the full letter:

The Honorable John Boehner The Honorable Harry Reid
Speaker Majority Leader
United States House of Representatives United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader Minority Leader
United States House of Representatives United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Pelosi, Leader Reid, and Leader McConnell:
I write to each of you with the utmost respect for your nearly 100 years of combined service in the United States Congress, in which you have striven to debate passionately, yet thoughtfully on the most important issues facing the nation. And at Third Way, we have sought to find common ground answers that unite more than they divide.
This is a moment of tragedy and reflection for the great body you lead. We believe—as you all do—that perhaps a greater, more enduring sense of comity and common purpose can emerge from the senselessness in Tucson. We also share your belief that civility can fit comfortably with strong political views and that profound substantive disagreements about the governance of our nation can be deliberated without vitriol. Moreover, we believe that Americans want and expect our leaders to truly work together on the great challenges facing our nation.
To that end, we respectfully offer three suggestions that take small but important steps toward increasing respectful debate:
First, we urge the leaders of both houses of Congress to agree to end the partisan seating for the State of the Union. We do not see any purpose behind putting Democrats on one side of the floor and Republicans on the other. The spectacle of one side of the room leaping to its feet while the other sits glumly on its hands is just that—a spectacle. Perhaps having both parties sit together, intermingled, would help control the choreography of partisanship that accompanies the President’s remarks. Most importantly, it would demonstrate what is true but not always apparent—that we are one nation, not two, and that Members are unified by their service to our country.
Second, we propose that one weekend should be set aside each year—or at the very least each Congress—where the House and Senate each hold bipartisan retreats that are off-the-record and not public. Currently, all four of you are planning your regular Republican and Democratic retreats. These are important and serve a critical function. But while the parties must do some planning on their own, it is also vital that members of opposing parties come together as one body and spend time breaking bread and having more in-depth discussions than the intensity of regular congressional business allows.
Third, we suggest that funds be set aside to pay—at least once a year—for members to travel to the district or state of someone from the other party. These bipartisan visits would entail the two Members spending a weekend in public and private events together. Elected officials come to Washington to represent both their constituency and the nation. This kind of travel could lead to more bipartisan legislation or perhaps just greater professional kinship. In either event, it would benefit Congress and the country to have people of different parties and backgrounds know each other, their views and needs, and the unique concerns of each other’s constituents.
We hope that you will consider these small suggestions. They will not mend our economy or win a war, but they can help you make some progress in restoring a sense of common purpose in the institution you lead. We know that it is possible to argue passionately and disagree vehemently, yet do so in an uplifting and unifying manner.
With great respect and admiration,

Jonathan Cowan
President, Third Way

Sounds like something that can be, and should be done.

Along with spacing out the legislative cycle.
I believe that Senators should be moved into 2, instead of 3 classes, and each class being elected 3 (instead of 2) years apart of each other. That would mean the WHOLE nation goes to vote for a senator every 3 years.

And House Reps to get 3 years instead of 2.
The President should get 6 years, and up to a max of 2 terms, in total 12 years. And once having left office, to leave his political party.

The current legislative cycle places great strain on members to continually raise money, leaving little time to actually care for constituents, and allowing such issues to fester.

Additionally, I think the HoR can be cut down to 300 members (and incl. a VOTING DC rep) such that funding is easier to obtain. The current 435 is a BIG HUGE problem - attendance rates are pretty low, since fundraising is forever.

Oh and finally.
Change the voting system from Winner-takes-all in every multi-member district, into a new format:

States with one or two members: Each district does Australian-style preferential voting (list of candidates, mark ALL boxes in order of preference)

States with at least 3 members: Group districts to form 3-member (ELECTORAL) districts, and conduct optional preferential voting (list of candidates, mark minimum 3 boxes in order of preference)

This gives minor parties more say and would help to end the D/R headache.

[Knightrunner]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

...

This is part of why my life is a living hell right now. My family and I cannot afford to live in California any longer. We also cannot afford to move out of California. And hell, I just signed up for college classes again. Fuck.

LOL. Every college Californian is suffering from this. I can't wait to get my college degree and be done with everything. Who knows I may live the New Jersey Shore lifestyle this summer after tuition and book payments kick my butt.

College is really going to be for the rich soon enough.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Urzu 7

I used to get mad at many republicans, but I've learned that the dems are pretty much just as bad. Of course, I'm talking about some (and yet many) republicans and dems, but certainly not all of them.

A lot of dems are exploiting this tragedy, it's true.

It's called politic; while one camp might tried to exploit this, the other shouldd try to cover their ass/ be in damage control mode.

Ever wondering how we are supposed to go foward ?

[RandySyler]

This exploitation of death...

#1 reason why I hate American politics. And I'm only 14.

[Asuras]

That's not just politics my friend.

That's civilization.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by RandySyler

This exploitation of death...

#1 reason why I hate American politics. And I'm only 14.

Sorry to tell you this but, it's like that everywhere.It's just than the American might have more occasion to do it.

[AnimeFan188]

"Evidence is gradually emerging that Loughner was not a “Black Swan”, but the
whitest of swans. The Washington Post has printed emails from his community
college classmates expressing the fear that he would run amuck in class. His
professors took him aside. Loughner had several run-ins with the law.

He had a skull-shrine at home.

Everyone saw something coming, yet no one took decisive action. Part of the
problem may been the normalization of crazy behavior. When weird is cool and
“conscious dreaming” evokes the Matrix and the movie Inception rather than the
arrival of the funny farm wagon the line between madness and eccentricity gets a
little blurred.

Things are always clearer in 20-20 hindsight, but are there any set of rules that can
reliably anticipate the next wacko? Or is this kind of thing just an occupational
hazard of the modern world?"

See:

http://pajamasmedia.com/richardferna...m-for-a-dream/

Interesting question. How do you tell a "colorful character" from a dangerous loon?

[Asuras]

Because dangerous loons don't ramble nonsense that inherently scares others without an obvious reason.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by Knightrunner

College is really going to be for the rich soon enough.

there's still a lot of options... grants, gov. backed loans

you can take private student loans but make sure you pick a major/degree that will land you a job right away

[Asuras]

It really sucks how down in the ditch Schwarzenegger put us into, as well as the depression that accompanied it. California is my home state, and I'm not leaving, no matter how many mansions I could buy in Texas.

Hopefully Brown can get us back on track, or at least steer us into the right direction. I interned for his campaign, so it'd be a shame to see nothing happen.

[Washu-Chan]

Here's the latest mugshot of Loughner:



A real-life Travis Bickle, if there's one.

Oh, and he's going to be defended by Judy Clarke, who defended The Unabomber, Tim McVeigh, and the Atlanta Olympics bomber.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by Asuras

It really sucks how down in the ditch Schwarzenegger put us into

your giving him a bit too much credit

Hopefully Brown can get us back on track, or at least steer us into the right direction. I interned for his campaign, so it'd be a shame to see nothing happen.

Brown can't do it alone

he needs cooperation from his own party to balance teh budget and get it back to surplus levels unseen since Pete Wilson left office

[Asuras]

Reagan-wannabe.

Well of course a governor needs cooperation from his/her own party. That's a little obvious, don't you think?