From now on every mondy is a happy day

oh ....HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

From BBC world news
Bill Gates: Back in court again?

The state of Massachusetts has said it will appeal against a federal court ruling upholding Microsoft\'s controversial anti-trust deal with the US government.


Left to its own devices, Microsoft will continue to engage in predatory practices
 
Tom Reilly, Massachusetts attorney general  

The appeal, if successful, could revive attempts by Microsoft\'s opponents to break the firm\'s dominance of the software market through legal sanctions.

Massachusetts is one of nine US states that refused to go along with a settlement last year which ended a federal government inquiry into alleged market abuse by the software giant.

The nine \'rebel\' states argued that the original settlement let Microsoft off too lightly, and went back to court to press for tougher penalties.

Last stand

But US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected their arguments earlier this month in a ruling which endorsed the original anti-trust deal.

Seven of the other eight rebel states said on Friday they would not challenge the decision, with the remaining state - West Virginia - due to decide by Monday.

Monday is the deadline for state authorities to decide whether to contest Ms Kollar Kotelly\'s ruling.

Massachusetts state officials said they would if necessary act alone in an effort to prevent possible future competitive abuses by Mircosoft.

"We are prepared to go our own way," said Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly.

"Left to its own devices ... Microsoft will contine to engage in predatory practices and eliminate any real chance for consumer choice or business innovation."

Market dominance

The original anti-trust probe came in response to complaints that Microsoft had designed its Windows operating system - used on 80% of the world\'s personal computers - in such a way that it was difficult to run non-Microsoft products alongside it.

Microsoft was found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, and, under the terms of the final settlement, was ordered to make technical information available to competitors so that they could design software that would run smoothly with Windows.

But the settlement stopped short of breaking Microsoft up into two separate companies, a measure that many of its opponents had called for.

We hate them yes, but for **** sake, he built it, he owns, let  him own, I\'d be really pissed if I built up a company like M$ and some tossers tried to kill me.

I\'m disgusted with this scumbag state. We have some of the most corrupt politicians and the only thing I can think that is fueling this is money and votes.

Ace

Ace are you the only Republican in MA besides the governor?

Hey, I know this is a bit off-topic... but do you guys have a link that shows the (supposed) differences between the Democrat and the Republican parties?

Here you go Samwise:  You have to do some reading -

Republican (RNC):

http://www.rnc.org/

Democrats:

http://www.democrats.org/

Heh. Well, thanks anyway.

GigaShadow,

It seems like that sometimes. There\'s a few of us floating around in the shadows.


Samwise,

That might be hard to find. Here are the definitions as I see them: Dem= Big bloated government. The goal of any self respecting  Dem (kind of an oxymoron) is to redistribute wealth. To accomplish this goal they tax the life out of business and successful Americans. They also believe that government is the mommy and daddy of the citizens of this country and that if they don\'t do it, no one will.

Rep= Smaller government, less taxes to stimulate the economy and and a belief that every American should have the opportunity to be the best that they can be. There is more but I have to get back to work.

By the way, there are scoundrels on both sides.

Ace

Ah, thanks Ace. That was kinda what I was looking for. *It helps being aware of the main differences between the two when reading discussions about American politics.

*Even if I got the slighty biased version.

EDIT: The two major parties in Denmark are kinda like that as well. I guess I\'m a Republican. :eek:

Exactly what Ace said... he is definitely right about there being some characters within each party that aren\'t too ethical.  

The younger peeps here tend to be more liberal (democrats) until they start earning money and have a family.  In general, the older you get, the more conservative you become.

Originally posted by Samwise

*Even if I got the slighty biased version.

Me biased?

Ace

Yeah, there is a saying that a Republican is a former Democrat that has been mugged.

I like to say a Republican is a Democrat that has been raped by Uncle Sam. I would love if the laws changed and everybody had to pay their taxes quarterly. There would be a revolution in this country if the average Joe had to pony up the cash every three months and had to see how much money goes bye bye.

Ace

That is what most people don\'t understand.  There was no such thing as an income tax until FDR (a Democrat) came along.  In essence the Federal Income Tax is unconstitutional in itself.

democrat=commie pinko
republican=capitalist pig

How come I have no problem with the term capitalist pig?

I know why, I am one.

Ace