Can anyone explain how come US economy is in great shape amidst war in Iraq

Alcohol from Brazil has a tariff of 54 cents per gallon and the corn based alcohol gets direct gift of 51 cents per gallon, not to mention the fact corn recieves approximately half of all the huge US farm subsidies!

This US MONOPLY is supported by tax dollars to make your taxes higher, your cost of driving higher, protect Detroit's gas based car investment, and give the ILLUSION of doing something about oil dependancy.* - All studies not supported by the oil industry or "corn belt univeristies" show that changes in oil consumption by US corn based alcohol will at best be insignificant or probably slightly increased! (See study by Cornell or UCLA - Berkely, not the Un of Indiana, where many of the new refineries for corn alcohol are being located. - Close to main markets and well served by the railroads that have brought corn to market and feed lots for years.)
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*My thread "How DUMB can US voters be?" is more than a year old and I can not find it now. (I have been telling this story for a long time.) US voter is still being keep ignorant by the vested interest, that have exploited him for years and now need to find a new way to do so, as US oil based cars are not selling.

 

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MicroSoft makes Windows software. - Does not make hardware (IC chip, processors, etc.)
Intel does not make software. - wants to sell as many chips as possible, plain and simple ...

Have you never heard of WinTel? If not, then here is brief discription:

WinTel, a mythical company, has two operating divisions:

(1) The MS division constantly brings out much more complex software, which will not run in your old computer and somehow makes you think (power of Madison Avenue) that you will not be able to send Emails, write documents etc. without this "wonderful new software.”
(Perhaps I should start new thread called "How DUMB can US buyers be?")

(2) The IC division constantly brings out much more complex processors, which the MS division's new software requires to run.

Please explain to me how oil industry and car industry different from WinTel. - Only difference I can see is that no one has coined a name for this collusion. - To correct that oversight, let me suggest "OilCar" as the name of this mythical, two-division, company.

 

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Autoil

 

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Microsoft, Windows operating system.

Edit: Well, Billy already said this...

 

Swivel, you think that competition always equals lower prices and better service for the costumer. It should, but it doesn't always work like that.

Several times the competitors instead of having a pricewar that is bad for them AGREE on the price and keep it artifically high. Or there is a pricewar and the weak gets shaken out, but once only one big producer left, they can rise the price higher then it was before when there was still com petition.

Read about price cartells. OPEC is one....

 

Post 61 & 62 are closely related, but not obviously so. I will make it explicit:

Tariffs, price supports, subsidies are actions of the government. The current US government is a government of the oil industry, not the people. The oil industry pays well for these tariffs etc. in the form of campaign contribution. The Saudi Royal house has been an especially big financial supporter of Bush family for more than three decades. They could sell oil to anyone, and for Euros if they liked, but they need the US military bases and implicit support to keep the throne against the popular will, dissatisfied with so much wealth being used mainly for so few. The US / Bush deal with the Saudi Royal family is that they keep the throne (Not even lip service about the US need to support democracy in this case.) and US gets backing for the dollar (oil only sold for dollars) When Saddam tried selling for Euros in Bush the father's era, the Saudis drove the price of oil down to $10/barrel and the US invaded soon there after when Saddam foolishly tried to get the breakaway state, call Kuwait, back into Iraq.

What we see now being created is the new mythical company "CornOil" - it will keep oil consumption high even if Detroit is cut out of the deal by conversion to the Alcohol powered cars. As the international automotive industry has made them for years in Brazil, Detroit may be able to survive. I.e. hard to say if the new mythical company should be called "CornOilCar" or just "CornOil" but in any case the generous campaign funds will continue and Joe American will continue to pay more to drive, higher food prices and higher taxes.

Someone should start thread "How DUMB can US voter/buyers be?"

 

Yes that is good one. Name not too important if you realized your being had by it.

 

Windows is the only operating system?

I thought there were others... hmm...

 

I recall that in some tv-program someone mentioned that 90% of all
operating systems used are Windows. (can somebody verify that ?)
Only serious competition is coming from Linux based systems and
this system is free software.
That sounds like monopoly to me.

 

Not very well advanced in monopolies or the in history of computers are you?

 

http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/31855.html

It's Itron, actually. And more computers run Linux, for web serving, than run Microsoft OS's.

And since Microsoft has Apple as a competitor, it isn't a monopoly, no matter how high their share of personal computers gets. A monopoly is complete control of a market, with entry by competitors almost impossible. I don't think one has ever existed, even though that term gets bandied about a lot. Even when Standard Oil was prosecuted, they had dozens of competitors.

Only government-run and regulated entities qualify as monopolies. The Army, the USPS, etc...

And syzygys, you are baffling me. Why so hostile all the time? Are you angry with your life? Trying to start an online feud so you can beat someone down and feed your ego? I don't get you, friend. You have enough to offer in conversation that you don't have to be a bully to establish yourself.

 

I don't know, I guess I am tired of stupidity and people not understanding simple concepts. I don't just mean you, there are several others here, most likely they are too young to know better.

Anyway, we are getting offtopic with this monopoly thing, just take my word and Billy mentoned the same. Also for Microsoft the existence of Apple is very useful because they can't be accused to be a complete monopolty and they won't get sliced up like AT&T.

Now let's get back to the originaltopic.

P.S.: USPS? Never heard of FEDEX, UPS or DHL? But we are getting offtopic again..

P.S.S.: In the Wikipedia entry of Monopoly among the historical examples there is a company called: (you guessed it right) Microsoft

 

Maybe back in the 1950's the Army was a monopoly. Private security firms are big business nowadays. There's like 20000 of them in Iraq right now.

 

And they are fleeing in the hundreds by the week. Targeted by rebels they have suffered tremendous loss, especially financially. After it was made public these 'soldier of fortune' wannabes were guarding Army convoys, and not doing a good job at it the outrage put an end to this swashbuckling adventurism by the profiteers in government. These self proclaimed 'mercenaries' were at Abu Ghraib, implicated and charged in beating & killing Iraqi detainees, civilians and shooting up cars for fun while driving on public roads. These cowboy's days are over. Charges are on the way for dozens of firms.

 

"ITRON runs on mobile phones, digital cameras, CD players and countless other electronic devices."

Well, I was talking about PC operating systems, like in my PC, its windows.
But that was my bad, should be more specific.
Go to PC shop, buy PC and then go to shelf where operating systems are,
I quess there is not that much to choose with.
Thats it for me now, great posts everybody.

 

I've never had a parcel company put anything into my mailbox. As a matter of a fact, I think that is a federal offense.

Well, I guess I could go edit Wiki for a few minutes, and prove you wrong, then. Wikipedia is a fine place to do some reading, but it isn't the thing to use for serious debate. This is one of those simple concepts that you love.

Also, I'm not taking your word on Microsoft being a monopoly. It isn't. And finding someone else to agree with you does not change this. You are wrong. The courts of the United States agree with me, and I think they went over the issue with more rigor than you and Billy combined.

Grow up.

 

Educate yourself before you open your mouth! Otherwise you just look silly...

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4117217.stm

"In March, the European Commission imposed the sanctions on Microsoft after finding that it had abused the virtual monopoly of its Windows computer operating system. The Commission demanded Microsoft change its business practices, and levied a fine of 497m euros (£331m; $613m), the biggest it had ever imposed in an anti-trust case."

This was in 2004, where have you been?

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Now I am done with you until you learn to use google and wiki....

 

Obviously, world keeps USA well supplied with goods and capital so it can wage wars with no economic sacrifices.

 

Hmmm. I said US courts and you give me a European decision. Is this the sort of stupid behavior that annoys you when other people do it? Could it be that the Europeans are looking for a handout from the big, bad American meany? Am I supposed to believe that the European courts have a preferred vantage on the business of Microsoft than the US courts? Google and Wiki just make dumb people look insane, while making them feel empowered.

Syzygy, you are grasping at straws in order to "win" an argument rather than trying to understand the situation. You are acting like a petulant child.

Again, grow up.


For the more mature in our audience, I would like to remind you that "monopoly" means "one seller" literally. Since Microsoft isn't the only seller of operating systems for home pc's, they are not a monopoly. There is a wonderful alternative which is completely free in Linux, which has dozens of popular iterations. And people are constantly digging Windows for being inferior to the Apple OS, which is a very viable competitor. "One seller", Microsoft isn't.

 

OK, I set you up, my bad...

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But you deserved it because you very childishly argue a LOST case.

Here you go:

United States v. Microsoft 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000) was a court case filed against Microsoft Corporation on May 18, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and twenty U.S. states.

"Judge Jackson issued his findings of fact on November 5, 1999, which stated that Microsoft's dominance of the personal computer operating systems market constituted a monopoly, and that Microsoft had taken actions to crush threats to the monopoly, including Apple, Java, Netscape, Lotus Notes, Real Networks, Linux, and others. Then on April 3, 2000, he issued a two-part ruling: his conclusions of law were that Microsoft had committed monopolization, attempted monopolization, and tying in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, and his remedy was that Microsoft must be broken into two separate units, one to produce the operating system, and one to produce other software components."

Is that good for a KO? I apologize again for setting you up, but just wanted to prove that you know SHIT what you talk about...

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Your honour, I rest my case....

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P.S.: I found that in Wiki... Case closed...