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I have a funny feeling (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I have a funny feeling (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:I have a funny feeling (Score:5, Insightful)
All of the people attempting to hack into the DoD, Bank of America and so forth come in a distant second so he will just ignore them.
He/She wont ignore them... They will make great headlines, followed by lots of promises to regulate/police the internet to protect american (business) interests.
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Re:I have a funny feeling (Score:4, Interesting)
I have more faith in the czar. He/she won't stop at headlines. There will be a few studies commissioned and a hearing or two also. They may even get some guidelines passed that everyone who knows anything about the subject will agree are impossible to enforce and/or contain loopholes large enough to drive a Mack truck through.
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Re:Black Racism Against Whites and Asians (Score:4, Interesting)
If you're old enough to vote, and old enough to be drafted, shouldn't you be old enough to be given a line of credit from a bank much less drink a controlled substance?
I understand his intent was to protect college students from getting into debt but that falls into the asinine thinking that 260 million people that have health care in the US need government health care and that the 73% of mortgage holders that pay on time need some sort of bailout.
This country is fucked. And if there is a politician that believes that defending the Constitution is an act of terror, that politician should be promptly voted out of office. I thought that's what their oath is.
Next, it will be OK for doctors to no longer adhere to "Do no harm."
Parent
Re:I have a funny feeling (Score:5, Interesting)
Why do I suspect that this "czar" will spend about 10% of his time dealing with security issues and 90% of his time finding ways to help big media companies protect their IP from evil pirates, teenagers, and Youtube?
Why do I have a feeling that this "czar" will accomplish nothing on either of those fronts and will prove to be as effective as all the other "czars" that have come before him?
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Re:I have a funny feeling (Score:5, Insightful)
Because 90% of what the government already does is to help big corporations?
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Why do I suspect that this "czar" will spend about 10% of his time dealing with security issues and 90% of his time finding ways to help big media companies protect their IP from evil pirates, teenagers, and Youtube?
So would this make pirate bay be the internet Bolsheviks? Or would that only be the case if they had real guns and actually killed people?
WTF "Czars" (Score:5, Funny)
Is it really that necessary to appoint a czar fro EVERY issue? I'm waiting for the Toilet Paper Czar, who will coordinate government efforts to regulate both the orientation of the roll in the holder as well as the direction of wipe.
Re:WTF "Czars" (Score:5, Funny)
I'm waiting for the Toilet Paper Czar, who will coordinate government efforts to regulate both the orientation of the roll in the holder as well as the direction of wipe.
Nah, I like the idea I heard in another article. We need a Czar Czar to coordinate the activities of all of the Czar's that we are appointing ;)
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Nah, I like the idea I heard in another article. We need a Czar Czar to coordinate the activities of all of the Czar's that we are appointing ;)
And one Czar to bind them all.
Re: (Score:2)
Just to avoid all the old arguments on the topic, or maybe, by reference, repeating them: Czar Czar [slashdot.org].
Re:WTF "Czars" (Score:4, Funny)
Yo Dawg! I heard you like Czars. So we put a Czar in your Czar so you can be be censored while being censored!
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
And I love the sound of Czar Czar Binks
It's Corporate America, Baby! (Score:5, Insightful)
We need someone to scapegoat and fire today when fundamental errors made 20 years ago finally become manifest.
That's how we roll.
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Re: (Score:2)
Don't worry. They'll be the first against the wall when the Revolution comes.
Re:WTF "Czars" (Score:5, Insightful)
Czars have a mandate and little authority, they're not supposed to actually accomplish anything. They get appointed for two reasons:
1. To give the appearance of activity without actually doing anything. ("Of course we care about issue X! We appointed a czar to oversee it.")
2. To reward allies and contributors with plum patronage positions but few actual responsibilities to worry about.
The "best" part is everybody cynically expects them to fail, so there's no complaint or comment when the appointee accomplishes nothing. It's really quite brilliant... Bush's mistake was making patronage appointments to positions which actually hold responsibilities, like managing FEMA.
Parent
Re:WTF "Czars" Keeping score! (Score:3, Informative)
So as I count them...
The Romanov Dynasty: 15 Czars (Peter I - Nicholas II)
The Obama Administration: 15 Czars (Border Czar, Climate Czar, Cyberspace Czar, Copyright Czar, Climate Czar, Car Czar, Drug Czar, Energy Czar, Education Czar, Economic Czar, Health Care Czar, Housing Czar, Mortgage Czar, Technology Czar, WMD Czar)
I may have missed some in either category, but I'm still betting Obama will wind up with more.
Re: (Score:2)
Anyone he nominates for that position would be in direct conflict of the directives of the locally-elected Czar of Toilet Paper, my wife.
You mean your wife tells you how to wipe your ass?
now thats controlling!
I'm really sick to death of Czars (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You mean something like a king?
Re:I'm really sick to death of Czars (Score:4, Interesting)
"You mean something like a king?"
Being of Italian descent, I'm partial to "Caesar." But that's a bit of a mouthful for the one-syllable-only press, so we could shorten it to Cs...wait a minute...uh, nevermind.
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Re:I'm really sick to death of Czars (Score:5, Insightful)
"Czar" title has a distinct advantage. Czars were abolished when the last of them had been put against a wall and the shot.
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Re:I'm really sick to death of Czars (Score:5, Insightful)
I think in this case the parallels with the excess and oppression of imperial Czars, and the ruling of the Internet, will be quite apt.
Of course it's just as likely that this new Czar will be just as effective as other previous government Czars. The Drugs Czar for example. Since being appointed in 1982 we can congratulate the holders of that office as having done a great job. There is now no drug problem whatsoever, as everyone knows.
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More Cynicism (Score:5, Insightful)
Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said.
Economic concerns like what? The fact that internet commerce explodes on Cyber Monday [wikipedia.org] as consumers and businesses enjoy a wealth of increased buying/spending? Or would you so happen to be referring to economic concerns like the MPAA/RIAA are short one ivory back scratcher? Perhaps the concerns that all that internet commerce is happening with most of it untaxed? Maybe concerns that used books, DVDs and games are being sold increasingly with a down-turned economy?
I am certain the economic concerns you speak of are only economic concerns of lobbyists when you should maybe be paying attention to what consumers are interested in?
You want to help the consumer, you should mandate that proprietary DRM violates anti-trust laws as it locks consumers into the software and hardware associated with their music service. Or maybe you should look into allowing people to use whatever level of encryption they want to secure their financial transactions [cnet.com]? Nah, nobody's paying you for that.
Throw on top of that the fact that Biden's good friends with the MPAA and RIAA [p2pnet.net] (and I'm sure Obama's not far behind [wired.com]) there may be cause for concern.
Re:More Cynicism (Score:4, Insightful)
....any new Czar will soon realise that most of the Internet is outside his jurisdiction, and most US laws do not apply to the the people involved ....
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Re: (Score:2)
He has a point, this is area where if dark clouds come over and rain falls from the sky you are called cynic for saying that someone is going to get wet, but anywhere else the positivist/naysayer/shill would be called insane.
Re:More Cynicism (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps the concerns that all that internet commerce is happening with most of it untaxed?
BINGO!!!
This Czar's job is to figure out how the government is going to get their piece of the pie. Don't be fooled into thinking otherwise.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said.
I am certain the economic concerns you speak of are only economic concerns of lobbyists when you should maybe be paying attention to what consumers are interested in?
I share a great deal of your cynicism. I've seen the US Government make a fine mess of it's information security initiatives. And I've witnesses beurocrats twist such initiatives and policy around until they do something entirely different than what they should be. So I completely agree that the danger of this sort of thing is very real. However, having said that, let's not get too carried away. The full paragraph from the article reads:
Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said. It also indicates an effort to quell an internal political battle in which Lawrence H. Summers, the senior White House economic adviser, is pushing for the National Economic Council to have a key role in cybersecurity to ensure that efforts to protect private networks do not unduly threaten economic growth, the sources said.
What we have is the standard inverse relationship between secur
Re:More Cynicism (Score:4, Insightful)
"Honestly I think the powers that be have no f'in clue. Really they just need to be told what to do...but instead we all go off and download crap illegally...and then wonder why the RIAA and MPAA exists? Really...what are we f'in stupid."
Need to be told what to do? We have been telling them for years what they should do, but the only language they know is brute force and manipulation. It took Wal-Mart to lower CD prices, not consumer advocacy. It took Apple's strong arming to get decent rates for downloadable music, not kids in t-shirts at a rally. The *AAs exist because they are an industry cartel. To them you are idiot cattle consuming product and they only know how to talk to people who speak their own language on other words professionals, people they respect by way of fear.
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Re: (Score:2)
I'm no fan of DRM or good friedns with the *AAs, but I'm not their enemy either.
Yes I'd like the songs I buy on Apple to be MP3s, but downloading songs for free from thepiratebay is not protesting anymore it is just stealing.
Yes, I'm physically depriving someone of physical property when I download a song from the thepiratebay. I think the term you mean to say is copyright infringement.
Honestly I think the powers that be have no f'in clue. Really they just need to be told what to do...but instead we all go off and download crap illegally...and then wonder why the RIAA and MPAA exists? Really...what are we f'in stupid.
the RIAA/MPAA exists long before the internet. I really think you should do some research before you post on this topic again
Again? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
At least one more, when the kdawson cron job dupes it.
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No, let's flood slashdot with this story however many times it takes to get the message across. We must be ever vigilant with regards to humanities last bastion of freedom in the world!
XKCD (Score:5, Funny)
http://xkcd.com/494/
through
http://xkcd.com/498/
Czars (Score:2, Interesting)
what... (Score:3, Funny)
... could possibly go wrong?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I don't know, but I strongly object to an Internet CzNO CARRIER
What do they call the Russia expert? (Score:2)
Would he be the Russian czar? Condi Rice was an alleged expert on the topic, would that make her the Russian czarina?
!!democracy (Score:4, Insightful)
This *is* democracy. Democracy isn't a synonym of "good" and it doesn't imply a just or free society, it's not a poney filled land. Democracy is a political system and this is the result of such a system.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It is what happens when you have an uneducated public that can't look past the carrot dangled in front of them. It's hard to even argue against people that can't look past one iteration of a loop that contains great phrases like "the poor will be fed" and "free health care". No one cares where the money comes from as long as it isn't from them. My point is everyone looks at the first possible solution rather than thinking forward.
So you are correct this is a result of Democracy + Dumb People + Smooth Tal
are you 13 years old? (Score:3, Insightful)
the words you say are so humorously ignorant of reality one hopes that you are merely green
you do realize that a country that doesn't have legal guarantees of your freedoms has no such freedoms, that you somehow miracuolously exist in dubai, or an ancient monarchy
as for no government: allow me to come over and shoot you in the face. who's to punish me? that's what "no government" means
Freudian slip? (Score:3, Insightful)
They rail against state control over personal freedoms and here the government are trying to let people know where they stand and the people don't notice. Not only that, but many right wingers are thrilled that a Czar is taking charge to impose order, although presumably that only applies when the order being imposed is on an area they agree with and not with their rights to own guns etc.
It's like the story telling entertainment industries. They tell so many stories of corporate / political abuse of citizens which resonate with the audience and the audience never notices why. Stories resonate because they have enough basis in reality for the audience to relate to, yes they are fictional characters, fictional corporations, fictional laws etc but the base is real, and believable. It's believable because there is plenty of news about REAL people committing similar crimes and abuses and often getting away with it. The entertainment industry is showing us the world as it is through fictional rewrites and what do we do about it? Fuck all.
How many more times do we have to be shown reality before we decide that enough is enough?
Oblig. (Score:2)
G-d bless and keep the Czar... (Score:3, Funny)
...far away from us!
- "Fiddler on the Roof"
ah the internet czar (Score:2, Funny)
if i recall correctly, after the browser wars of the 1990s, the internet czar abdicated following the y2k debacle during which he and his family were imprisoned first in a cisco router at a server farm in virginia beach, then later in a backup tape at an ibm server facility in omaha, and finally at an iPod nano in spokane. The internet czar, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the czar's valet, the empress' lady in waiting and the family's cook were all killed in the same dis
ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING "CZAR" TITLE!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Dammit these people in power in America piss me off. STOP USING THE TERM 'CZAR', 'TSAR', whatever! STOP STOP STOP.
I can't wait until a President is ready to march to Congress and appoint Der Fuehrer of Alternative Energy, which would prove that they have no clue what these titles mean to people around the world as well as citizens in our own country. I doubt Obama would appoint an Imperial Wizard of Credit Debt or Grand Dragon of Terrorism.
The term 'Czar' relates to a despicable history of oppression and murder. The term itself comes from Caesar, not exactly a bright point in Europe's history. There are better terms, and we as a Democratic people are more creative than this.
Cynics are expecting... (Score:3, Interesting)
No, I expect he'll hire someone with actual internet experience, like a "private investigator" from MediaSentry.
Re: (Score:2)
what part "Change" did you not understand while he was campaigning?
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
And while we're at it...
Election != Mandate
Though I'm open to suggestions about which percentage would establish a "mandate" I certainly think it should be higher than ~52%. Especially considering the collected intelligence (read "clue") of the middle 40%.