I dont know if its true for Jets but I know prop powered passenger planes appreciate in value. So it might be cheaper to buy new. It would be nice if they bought an American Plane with America's Money!!!
You guys use this excuse all the time to justify it but if I had a kid who needed an operation and I was going to have friends help should I spend it on him or a party? I mean there is a moral obligation and an example to set too right?
Yeah! And if the government provides health care for everyone they have the right to tell us we can't eat french fries or cheeseburgers! And... and... This is some scary ****.
"The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Alexander Tyler
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under
the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist
program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without
"Greed that President Obama is trying to put an end to"
oh yea? hummmmm i wonder what he was doing a few years ago when regulation rules came in for a vote.
Gizmodo sucks overall now. Besides the apple-centric coverage but total political bias that they do not even TRY to hide.... im off to get my GIZMO and Tech information from another site..
@chuloallen: I agree with you Sir. I love Gizmodo like no other site out there, however, being christian and conservative I am finding myself being bombarded here. Giz is about the latest tech and stuff lathered up with stories and humor. I don't come here to feel like the bad guy or to listen to contrived political stories.
This article (like others) has rose colored glasses on. OMG he saved us tax payers 50 million dollars! No he did not, that money has already been striped from tax payers pockets. It will be spent on "other necessities" I'm just sure.
Does this other Obama article mean anything to you?
[i.gizmodo.com] It's only a 3 million projector, but its cool, It's Obamatastic! If the economy spirals downward under Obama, he just needs one more term to fix it. If it's worse... Bush did it. I get it.
And I'll agree with you on the inauguration, but crazily enough that was possible because even in this economy thousands and thousands of private citizens thought an inauguration was the best place to donate their money. And they did.
@Bilal Belagam: Inaugurations are good things too. It's a good thing for a country to celebrate the successful succession of power, and to celebrate itself every few years. Particularly given the significance of inaugurating the first black president in a country born with the birth defect of slavery, the inauguration had historical, cultural, social, diplomatic, and educational benefits worth paying for.
@92BuickLeSabre: I'm torn on that point. I'm vehemently against socialism, communism and nationalization of anything privatized (none of those isms ever work in the real world)... but at the same time, that would be a HUGE uptick to the unemployment lines. Not to mention--what would come of any investments or actual banking balances in the banks if they did fall? I wonder if the FDIC impact would be greater than the bail-out...
@fluidexistence: Honestly, if the banks had actually collapsed, I think it would have been a level of chaos that we probably don't even believe could occur in the U.S.
@92BuickLeSabre: I don't know if I agree with that. I think the government should be forcing tax payers to give their money to failing companies that time and time again make piss poor business decisions.
Just an FYI, if the site continues in the overtly partisan political vein, I think you will lose a number of readers.
Oh and does anyone know how much Citi is now going to have to pay in penalties and a possible breach of contract suit for breaking a contract that was entered into several years ago?
@dbett: What are you talking about? The election's over, he's in charge of the whole thing. I don't think telling the recipient of a corporate handout that they don't have the right to "roll deep" with the money is in anyway partisan.
It's a little slack on the "gizmo" side of things, but is not the worst offender on that front by far.
@dbett: Shhhhhh, don't drag facts into this. The news media hates it, which is why they say them really quickly/quietly/not at all, and let the public whip themselves into a outrage. After all, even though this jet would have let them REDUCE their existing fleet, it's wrong for them to try and save money by spending some, and honoring their contract from 4 years ago.
@Halfwit: Didn't you get the memo? It used to be that if you didn't support every single thing the President did, you hated America. Now if you like anything the President does, you're a partisan.
@dbett: People have no clue. Those planes have to be ordered years in advance (with payments made along the way), they didn't run down to JetMax with all the money the government just printed for them.
But forget the legitimate excess of our government, there's class envy to be had!
@dbett: Just an FYI backatcha: Giz isn't under any obligation to be bipartisan. They have no obligation to give "equal time" or even to show impartiality, or be unbiased. It's a blog, not an official network news source. I'm fairly certain that the obvious biases they hold have already pretty much cemented their readership, and they don't seem to be too worried about it.
I really wonder why so many people expect Giz to be balanced, fair and non-opinionated. It's just a collection of people who enjoy writing about technology, and occasionally tossing their opinions into the ring. There is no promise of impartiality, fairness or even "nothing but gadgets, gadgets, gadgets!"
People need to pull their heads out of their asses, take the blinders off and stop bitching about the free articles they choose to read.
And, just to head you off at the pass, dear rebuttal writer: Sure, your entitled to your dumb opinion, but it's rather stupid to complain that a bunch of bloggers aren't being fair or living up to your expectations of a free service.
This site is "The Gadget Blog." That's what the site is named. And that's why most people come here. Maybe a majority agree with the partisan slant of the contributors, but it's likely they get their political fix elsewhere.
The recent rash of political stories - wholly unrelated to gadgets - is going to result in some folks who don't agree with the slant (or simply want to read about gadgets without dealing with more political garbage - me) deciding they can get their gadget fix elsewhere. Engadget comes quickly to mind.
@dbett: I'd wager <50 million dollars USD. Additionally, if the agreement was entered into years ago, I'd be interested to see if the penalty structure was in USD, euros or francs...
Well we kinda expect Giz to be unbiased because they are respected journalists. And I personally read because they report news. Crazy, I know. So good job on berating everyone who takes the time to read this blog, even better job on essentially telling the sponsors of this site they are wasting their money, and Finally Fantatsitc job on informing Gizmodo they aren't worthy of respect and the work they do is worth more than that cheese you get after a long run when you pull back the foreskin on your penis, God I hate that!! But yeah thanks!
@Nemesisesq: As the famous quote goes, "Come, let us retract the foreskin of misconception and apply the wire
brush of enlightenment."
If anyone feels slighted, insulted, disenchanted, jaded or otherwise discombobulated while reading my comments, then good. I'm not here to stroke egos or make sure everybody feels warm and fuzzy inside.
Gizmodo is not a respected news site staffed by respected journalists. While some have a journalistic background, that does not unequivocally make them "respected journalists" by any stretch of the imagination. By and large they are childish technology lovers who've made a bad name for themselves by acting irresponsibly, both in writing false articles and pulling childish (and potentially legally actionable) stunts at tradeshows.
Do I like the Giz? Sure, there's plenty to like. But does that mean I'm going to pull the blinders on and pretend they are ethical, unbiased, professional reporters? Absolutely not. The Giz makes money (as do all Gawker Media affiliates) based on click-throughs, hence it behooves them to makes catchy eyecandy headlines and generate as much troll-like buzz as possible. This, in and of itself, leads to unethical reporting.
They are not automatically worthy of respect after a number of stunts they've pulled, but overall I enjoy the atmosphere here which is, for the most part, better than other tech blogs. All the above does not automatically imply that I wouldn't think any of them isn't a fun, interesting and personable individual, either.
I can see how you got your star. You're an ass kisser who doesn't bother to question anything. Who the fuck are you, the Good Feeling Fairy?
"The high-flying execs at Citigroup caved under pressure from President Obama and decided today to abandon plans for a luxurious new $50 million corporate jet from France. "
Be worried. Be very worried. When the government starts telling those people what to do what's to stop the government from telling you what to do. How about the government telling you that you're making too much money.
What Citibank, Starbucks or any company does with their money is nobody's business but their own. If they want to do something that you think is stupid why don't you take the risk and start your own company and do it the way you'd like.
a) The government has been telling me that I'm making too much money since I started making money.
b) When I asked my gramma for $5 to go buy her her denture-paste, and then my gramma gave me $5 to go buy her denture-paste, and then I ran off and used it to purchase Everlasting Gobstoppers, she had every right to tell me to take the Gobstoppers back and smack me on the wrist. Which she did.
@SpencerBabanya: It's not really their money when they just go thanded billions of our dollars, is it?
They claimed they were in such dire straits that they required billions of dollars. Is it really too much to ask that they don't go spending it on pimped out private jets? And, so far as I can see, he didn't force them not to buy it, he's simply suggesting, in rather firm tones, that they rethink their spending spree plans.
@Jon B.: what to Jon B. is pointless is President Obama being in touch with the poorer members of the electorate and being responsive to THEIR needs. I know, it is a radical change from the last 60 years, but get used to it!
@Jon B.: Ha. Nice point Jon. I like how everyone made a big stink when when Bush spent $60 mil on his inauguration, but when Obama spends $160 mil on his, the fickle demagogs are silent.
@marm0lade: Bush's inauguration had maybe 1/3 the number of people attending. And the right-wing estimate of Bush's cost does not include the cost for security, which added $115 million to the total.
He tells a bank not to buy a plane but at the same time how much of our hard earned money is he sending abroad to aid abortion. Such double standards! Makes me sick!
@faintandfuzzies: Be straight with the facts then criticize.
The question is whether we can provide aid to health organizations that provide health services and education and which also support talk about or provide abortions. It is not money to aid abortions.
You can still oppose it but it's an important distinction.
@92BuickLeSabre: Someone please explain to me why this argument is continuing. If you want to have the hippie liberal/evil conservative argument please go to cnn.com or foxnews.com You can fight all day there.
@plyhard13: Why read it then? You have to scroll down and open this old post expand the comments and read for new comments just to be a part of it at this point. It's not hurting anyone. It's not like it's being continued over on the X-Ray Lamp post.
In fact I think Giz sometimes does this just to trap these discussions in one place so we can all vent about random stuff without polluting the rest of the site.
These conversations have been going on at Giz as long as I've been here. Shoot nutbastard made his name on Giz not due to his tech manual writing skills but because of his ability to craft an interesting sharp and humorous comment on libertarianism. But back then it would infect at least an entire post. With the collapsible threads it's even easier to ignore.
01/28/09
It would be nice if they bought an American Plane with America's Money!!!
01/28/09
01/27/09
then why did he allow $150 million to be spent on his inauguration events? that's more than 5 times what was spent on bush's inauguration.
obama...what a fraud.
01/28/09
01/28/09
You guys use this excuse all the time to justify it but if I had a kid who needed an operation and I was going to have friends help should I spend it on him or a party? I mean there is a moral obligation and an example to set too right?
01/28/09
I can think of plenty of lefty bleeding-heart organizations that I would have preferred people give their money to.
I get why people wanted to celebrate but I also can think of a lot of good that could have been done with that money.
01/27/09
"The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage." Alexander Tyler
"The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under
the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist
program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without
knowing how it happened." Norman Thomas
01/27/09
Jeez. How do you even go outside with that kind of fear complex?
01/27/09
oh yea? hummmmm i wonder what he was doing a few years ago when regulation rules came in for a vote.
Gizmodo sucks overall now. Besides the apple-centric coverage but total political bias that they do not even TRY to hide.... im off to get my GIZMO and Tech information from another site..
01/27/09
This article (like others) has rose colored glasses on. OMG he saved us tax payers 50 million dollars! No he did not, that money has already been striped from tax payers pockets. It will be spent on "other necessities" I'm just sure.
Does this other Obama article mean anything to you?
[i.gizmodo.com] It's only a 3 million projector, but its cool, It's Obamatastic! If the economy spirals downward under Obama, he just needs one more term to fix it. If it's worse... Bush did it. I get it.
01/28/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
And I'll agree with you on the inauguration, but crazily enough that was possible because even in this economy thousands and thousands of private citizens thought an inauguration was the best place to donate their money. And they did.
01/27/09
Do as I say, not as I do.
01/27/09
The guy is so thrifty they live with her mother!
01/27/09
01/27/09
..it smells like.... hmmmm....
Socialism.
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
But think of how much fun it would be!
01/28/09
01/27/09
Just an FYI, if the site continues in the overtly partisan political vein, I think you will lose a number of readers.
Oh and does anyone know how much Citi is now going to have to pay in penalties and a possible breach of contract suit for breaking a contract that was entered into several years ago?
01/27/09
It's a little slack on the "gizmo" side of things, but is not the worst offender on that front by far.
01/27/09
01/27/09
It's pretty straight-forward.
01/27/09
But forget the legitimate excess of our government, there's class envy to be had!
01/27/09
Some of us have class envy, but others of us are simply class traitors.
01/27/09
I really wonder why so many people expect Giz to be balanced, fair and non-opinionated. It's just a collection of people who enjoy writing about technology, and occasionally tossing their opinions into the ring. There is no promise of impartiality, fairness or even "nothing but gadgets, gadgets, gadgets!"
People need to pull their heads out of their asses, take the blinders off and stop bitching about the free articles they choose to read.
And, just to head you off at the pass, dear rebuttal writer: Sure, your entitled to your dumb opinion, but it's rather stupid to complain that a bunch of bloggers aren't being fair or living up to your expectations of a free service.
01/27/09
This site is "The Gadget Blog." That's what the site is named. And that's why most people come here. Maybe a majority agree with the partisan slant of the contributors, but it's likely they get their political fix elsewhere.
The recent rash of political stories - wholly unrelated to gadgets - is going to result in some folks who don't agree with the slant (or simply want to read about gadgets without dealing with more political garbage - me) deciding they can get their gadget fix elsewhere. Engadget comes quickly to mind.
:shrug:
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/28/09
Well we kinda expect Giz to be unbiased because they are respected journalists. And I personally read because they report news. Crazy, I know. So good job on berating everyone who takes the time to read this blog, even better job on essentially telling the sponsors of this site they are wasting their money, and Finally Fantatsitc job on informing Gizmodo they aren't worthy of respect and the work they do is worth more than that cheese you get after a long run when you pull back the foreskin on your penis, God I hate that!! But yeah thanks!
01/28/09
brush of enlightenment."
If anyone feels slighted, insulted, disenchanted, jaded or otherwise discombobulated while reading my comments, then good. I'm not here to stroke egos or make sure everybody feels warm and fuzzy inside.
Gizmodo is not a respected news site staffed by respected journalists. While some have a journalistic background, that does not unequivocally make them "respected journalists" by any stretch of the imagination. By and large they are childish technology lovers who've made a bad name for themselves by acting irresponsibly, both in writing false articles and pulling childish (and potentially legally actionable) stunts at tradeshows.
Do I like the Giz? Sure, there's plenty to like. But does that mean I'm going to pull the blinders on and pretend they are ethical, unbiased, professional reporters? Absolutely not. The Giz makes money (as do all Gawker Media affiliates) based on click-throughs, hence it behooves them to makes catchy eyecandy headlines and generate as much troll-like buzz as possible. This, in and of itself, leads to unethical reporting.
They are not automatically worthy of respect after a number of stunts they've pulled, but overall I enjoy the atmosphere here which is, for the most part, better than other tech blogs. All the above does not automatically imply that I wouldn't think any of them isn't a fun, interesting and personable individual, either.
I can see how you got your star. You're an ass kisser who doesn't bother to question anything. Who the fuck are you, the Good Feeling Fairy?
01/27/09
01/27/09
-ABC News
01/27/09
What Citibank, Starbucks or any company does with their money is nobody's business but their own. If they want to do something that you think is stupid why don't you take the risk and start your own company and do it the way you'd like.
01/27/09
a) The government has been telling me that I'm making too much money since I started making money.
b) When I asked my gramma for $5 to go buy her her denture-paste, and then my gramma gave me $5 to go buy her denture-paste, and then I ran off and used it to purchase Everlasting Gobstoppers, she had every right to tell me to take the Gobstoppers back and smack me on the wrist. Which she did.
01/27/09
They claimed they were in such dire straits that they required billions of dollars. Is it really too much to ask that they don't go spending it on pimped out private jets? And, so far as I can see, he didn't force them not to buy it, he's simply suggesting, in rather firm tones, that they rethink their spending spree plans.
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
What gives? :)
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/27/09
01/28/09
He tells a bank not to buy a plane but at the same time how much of our hard earned money is he sending abroad to aid abortion. Such double standards! Makes me sick!
01/28/09
The question is whether we can provide aid to health organizations that provide health services and education and which also support talk about or provide abortions. It is not money to aid abortions.
You can still oppose it but it's an important distinction.
01/28/09
01/28/09
In fact I think Giz sometimes does this just to trap these discussions in one place so we can all vent about random stuff without polluting the rest of the site.
These conversations have been going on at Giz as long as I've been here. Shoot nutbastard made his name on Giz not due to his tech manual writing skills but because of his ability to craft an interesting sharp and humorous comment on libertarianism. But back then it would infect at least an entire post. With the collapsible threads it's even easier to ignore.
In short: it continues because it continues.
Live and let love. *flashes peace sign*