I'm so glad that they had Wyatt do this report because his reaction caused the guy to instantly realize the absurdity of his statement.
I think many entreprenuers like the pull my finger developer fail to realize that several other people have the same epiphany as them all it is a matter of skill, luck, planning, and timing that can lead to their success. And no matter what industry your in someone will eventually duplicate and reimagine your product or ideas to make money.
I think PullMyFinger is selling itself short. Not only is it the Jackie Robinson of iPhone apps, but the Jesus Christ, the Polish Jew, and the first upright walking Cro-magnon of the iPhone app store.
If your going to paint yourself pretty, go all out man, go all out.
This kind of talk has to be a corollary (sp?) of Godwin. At some point, a talking ass will eventually make an outlandish comparison of their trivial problem to that of a major event.
Saw this last night, laughed my ass off. I love how people always try to portray themselves in the greatest light, because they can obviously do no wrong. It always fascinates me how people can be so oblivious to their own reality.
I once heard a black man say that Jackie Robinson did more harm than good. He said that once JR crossed over, the Negro Leagues slowly faded away and thousands of players were left with out jobs. He said that it was better when the N.L. existed cause they employed so many African Americans. I thought that was an interesting point.
@LEWD98: Interesting idea, yes, but Jackie Robinson playing in the Majors meant so much more for advancing civil rights. I imagine that black athletes of the day were inspired by Robinson, not begrudging his success.
@LEWD98: It is an interesting point. Nothing comes free - in some way, someone is going to suffer for progress. It's sad that they lost their jobs, but that opened the door for many African-Americans to play - and be accepted - at the highest level of baseball.
It terrifies me that millions of people base their ill-formed opinions about public policy on this twerp and his insipid show. As comedy, it's lame, but harmless (how many times can you watch John Stewart smirk in response to news video before you don't find it funny anymore?). As political instruction, it's insidious. No wonder just about everyone I talk to under 30 is so fucking clueless and uninformed.
Such a shame. A small fleet of these would have really been a deterrant against any attacks via ICBM on the US homeland and likely on those of our allies. I hope the progress isn't lost and we can pick this up soon.
@rolfo87: Contrary to popular belief US foreign policy is not a divine instrument of fate/providence/etc, and as such we can't make bullets collide (or even curve).
@kizzie33: CNN international plays (or at least used to play) an "international" version of the daily show (they edit out some of the US political coverage, but leave in everything with international significance).
In order to prepare the budget, Gates had to do it in secret and then get all the key officers to sign NDAs - promising that they would not even talk to other high-ranking serving officers. Even Rumsfeld never tried anything that high-handed - Gates is deliberately and publicly muzzling the top uniformed personnel, lest they actually express an opinion. Remember how under Bush any officer who raised an objection to anything was oh-so-brave?
I love how Stewart slams everybody else for not upholding his high standards for the type of info they should dish out, then turns around and uses his bully pulpit to spew the administrations talking points. They should really officially list him on the payroll.
And the military budget is being cut, at least on paper. The Bush admin used the baseline military budget for normal operational expenses, and then special/supplemental appropriations for war fighting and one expenses. Obama has called this "dishonest" (despite the fact he intends to do the same into the forseeable future). Whether is is or not is debatable, but the point is while his baseline budget will increase, the other appropriations will be dramatically cut, meaning the total amount of cash projected to go to the military will be reduced. But don't let facts stand in the way of a good joke/administration spin. And I'm sure those missile defense systems won't be needed, Obama will put on some Marvin Gaye and charm the nukes right off the Norks, and then they'll all have a sing along with the Somali pirates. Yay.
@junyo: The fact that feathers are being ruffled by a comedy show poking fun at the military industrial complex is pretty telling.
Could it be that Steward's jabs are getting too close to exposing the ridiculousness of the situation?
The problem may not be whether the missile defense system are needed or not, but whether they will actually work even when needed. At this point, some Marvin Gaye and some charm appears to be just as effective as a system that can't even find the side of a barn, let alone hit it.
@RainyDayInterns: Could it be that Steward's jabs are getting too close to exposing the ridiculousness of the situation?
No it couldn't. In addition to being a comedian, Jon Stewart is a citizen. And he's a citizen with more reach and access than most (Giz doesn't link to the opinions of my Uncle Carl three times a week). He lectures journalists on their ethics without wondering why those journalists can't ask hard questions. They can't because of people like him. Whether he labels it as such, his show is just as much of a news source than any other mainstream news organization, if not more so. And Stewart puts on a clown nose and says 'I excepted from my own rules because I'm a clown. I do everything a journalist does, I use all of the trappings to my advantage, I opine constantly, but at the end of the day, because I choose not to apply this label to myself, then the rules don't apply to me.' Which is either extremely disingenuous or extremely naive.
During the '04 campaign John Kerry wouldn't do any hard news shows, but he did TDS, because he knew it would be a friendly venue. So Kerry gave the appearance of having been interviewed by a news anchor, when what he got was on-air verbal fellatio from Stewart In the midst of the Swift Boat issue, when Kerry could've been given the chance to clearly state his case, Stewart asked "So how you holding up?" One question, right before the play-out music, no chance for a response, on the biggest controversy of the biggest election (to that point) in recent history, Stewart's the only one given a chance at a public question, and he fucking doesn't bother. Jim Cramer wishes he got such a pat on the head. Stewart Had a candidate for POTUS, and he tossed him softballs. And because Stewart was available and tossing softballs, no journalists that looked like he might do a hard interview had a shot. Stewart's show (and Rush and Glenn Beck, et al.) makes venue shopping by politicians much more viable. And it lowers the standard for everybody, since TV is a business. If you want the big, rating bonanza interview, you better not bring any more heat than TDS. The fact that progressives go apoplectic over Fox News' bias, and then want to offer Stewart tongue baths from their virgin daughters is a sign of cognitive dissonance on a mind boggling scale. Fine, Fox News is officialy declared a comedy channel, therefore all bets are off, right? Right.
Essentially, we'd be giving up a lot of our air superiority for an enormous savings in defense spending. Can it be overcome more cheaply, with, as Stewart notes, a little less porcine spending? Sure.
But will cutting it altogether contribute to American military deaths? Probably. And that's an unfortunate problem in the construction of any budget.
@Rock You Like An Iracane: Plus on the F-22 the R&D is already a sunk cost. A lot of the per plane cost is a result of congress stretching out the development period and funding a low-rate, inefficient production run. If we ever do tangle with the Chinese or another major power in the air, we will very likely be massively outnumbered, so we better have a huge qualitative edge. Buying more F-22s would have been much better stimulus spending than half the crap in the Pokulus Bill - the $ would be spend in the US and rather quickly, unlike a lot of projects in the bill that won't even get rolling for years.
I get the cutting of the Army's Future Combat Systems - the program was massive, going nowhere fast and America's present qualitative edge in ground combat vehicles is a lot more secure than in the air. If we do have to fight a major power like China or Russia, it will be in the air and at sea - any land war is likely to be against low-tech forces like Iraq, Iran or the Norks - and I say this as a former Army guy - the Army's stuff is good enough, whereas the Air Force has to keep pushing the technical envelope.
@Canoehead: Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Future Combat Systems program trying to build a single vehicle to take the place of several? The term jack of all trades, king of none comes to mind.
@Canoehead: Hehehe, man an F-4 with the right load-out could shoot down anything any other country could throw at us.
But I actually agree that canceling the F-22 sucked, yeah it ran over-budget and took too long, but it is pretty much done at this point. So we're going to give up and stop signing checks when the project is ~95% complete.
And don't even get me started on the F-23, what a chunk of commercialized BS. VERY WELL PUT GANN - "The term jack of all trades, king of none comes to mind." Not to mention the fact that they are going to be sold to pretty much any country that can afford them, so air combat is a spec racing series now? WTF?
07/22/09
I think many entreprenuers like the pull my finger developer fail to realize that several other people have the same epiphany as them all it is a matter of skill, luck, planning, and timing that can lead to their success. And no matter what industry your in someone will eventually duplicate and reimagine your product or ideas to make money.
07/22/09
If your going to paint yourself pretty, go all out man, go all out.
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
07/22/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
It would be like carrying around an elephant-gun for protection from wildlife... in Manhattan.
04/10/09
would you kill htat?!
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
and Rush is not a source of anything but bullshit.
04/10/09
And the military budget is being cut, at least on paper. The Bush admin used the baseline military budget for normal operational expenses, and then special/supplemental appropriations for war fighting and one expenses. Obama has called this "dishonest" (despite the fact he intends to do the same into the forseeable future). Whether is is or not is debatable, but the point is while his baseline budget will increase, the other appropriations will be dramatically cut, meaning the total amount of cash projected to go to the military will be reduced. But don't let facts stand in the way of a good joke/administration spin. And I'm sure those missile defense systems won't be needed, Obama will put on some Marvin Gaye and charm the nukes right off the Norks, and then they'll all have a sing along with the Somali pirates. Yay.
04/10/09
04/10/09
Could it be that Steward's jabs are getting too close to exposing the ridiculousness of the situation?
The problem may not be whether the missile defense system are needed or not, but whether they will actually work even when needed. At this point, some Marvin Gaye and some charm appears to be just as effective as a system that can't even find the side of a barn, let alone hit it.
04/10/09
No it couldn't. In addition to being a comedian, Jon Stewart is a citizen. And he's a citizen with more reach and access than most (Giz doesn't link to the opinions of my Uncle Carl three times a week). He lectures journalists on their ethics without wondering why those journalists can't ask hard questions. They can't because of people like him. Whether he labels it as such, his show is just as much of a news source than any other mainstream news organization, if not more so. And Stewart puts on a clown nose and says 'I excepted from my own rules because I'm a clown. I do everything a journalist does, I use all of the trappings to my advantage, I opine constantly, but at the end of the day, because I choose not to apply this label to myself, then the rules don't apply to me.' Which is either extremely disingenuous or extremely naive.
During the '04 campaign John Kerry wouldn't do any hard news shows, but he did TDS, because he knew it would be a friendly venue. So Kerry gave the appearance of having been interviewed by a news anchor, when what he got was on-air verbal fellatio from Stewart In the midst of the Swift Boat issue, when Kerry could've been given the chance to clearly state his case, Stewart asked "So how you holding up?" One question, right before the play-out music, no chance for a response, on the biggest controversy of the biggest election (to that point) in recent history, Stewart's the only one given a chance at a public question, and he fucking doesn't bother. Jim Cramer wishes he got such a pat on the head. Stewart Had a candidate for POTUS, and he tossed him softballs. And because Stewart was available and tossing softballs, no journalists that looked like he might do a hard interview had a shot. Stewart's show (and Rush and Glenn Beck, et al.) makes venue shopping by politicians much more viable. And it lowers the standard for everybody, since TV is a business. If you want the big, rating bonanza interview, you better not bring any more heat than TDS. The fact that progressives go apoplectic over Fox News' bias, and then want to offer Stewart tongue baths from their virgin daughters is a sign of cognitive dissonance on a mind boggling scale. Fine, Fox News is officialy declared a comedy channel, therefore all bets are off, right? Right.
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
04/10/09
Essentially, we'd be giving up a lot of our air superiority for an enormous savings in defense spending. Can it be overcome more cheaply, with, as Stewart notes, a little less porcine spending? Sure.
But will cutting it altogether contribute to American military deaths? Probably. And that's an unfortunate problem in the construction of any budget.
04/10/09
I get the cutting of the Army's Future Combat Systems - the program was massive, going nowhere fast and America's present qualitative edge in ground combat vehicles is a lot more secure than in the air. If we do have to fight a major power like China or Russia, it will be in the air and at sea - any land war is likely to be against low-tech forces like Iraq, Iran or the Norks - and I say this as a former Army guy - the Army's stuff is good enough, whereas the Air Force has to keep pushing the technical envelope.
04/10/09
04/10/09
But I actually agree that canceling the F-22 sucked, yeah it ran over-budget and took too long, but it is pretty much done at this point. So we're going to give up and stop signing checks when the project is ~95% complete.
And don't even get me started on the F-23, what a chunk of commercialized BS. VERY WELL PUT GANN - "The term jack of all trades, king of none comes to mind." Not to mention the fact that they are going to be sold to pretty much any country that can afford them, so air combat is a spec racing series now? WTF?
04/10/09
04/10/09
Until then STFU...
04/10/09
damn.
04/10/09
04/10/09
I was thinking of the CBU-97 sensor-fuzed weapon.