“Last week, European Union commissioner Mario Monti inflicted a 497 million Euros fine on Microsoft – the highest fine in the history of European antitrust regulation. The case against Microsoft was waged, in Europe as it was in the United States, by its competitors. What these companies don’t want is for Microsoft to ‘prevent’ them from succeeding in the European market. What competitors really fear is Microsoft’s ability to satisfy consumers better than they do, at a cheaper price,” Alberto Mingardi writes for The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.
“Microsoft is far from the only practitioner of integrated applications. Apple integrates and bundles its own software for Internet browsing (‘Safari’) as well as for multimedia applications (‘Itunes’). In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), the ‘wicked and lazy’ servant who hid his talent in the ground is punished and the money is taken away from him. The productive and the entrepreneurial are praised, whereas the lazy is blamed. Antitrust rulings such as Mario Monti
nomacshere,
Netscape Navigator was originally a pretty good browser. MSIE was originally a very bad browser. MSIE did not get to a point where it was better than NN until well after Microshaft decided to go after them. MS put a lot of time & effort into making their browser better, but only after Netscape had begun to lose the war based solely on MS’s tactics of giving it for free and putting it on all MS computers. At that point, Netscape attempted to change the way their browser worked in order to differentiate the way it looked and to try to capture more of the market. But they were already beaten. Had they competed solely on their merits, most folks would be on Netscape Navigator X today.
What??!! I should seriously consider the commentary of a pack of Pentecostal Crazies? Not in a billion years! And just how entreprenurial and free enterprise is the recommendation to sell all you have and give it to the poor? Please, this is just more Religious Right Bible abuse.
Hmmm … “The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty”
Religion and Liberty? Is that where former members of Military Intelligence wind up? You have the liberty to do only what our Book allows?
Oh great, now apparently not giving over to Microsoft’s every whim is a sin. Has this man been reading the Bible as abridged on Encarta?
Aryugaetu,
Well done! You pre-empted me, but I’ll submit this version in its entirety, along with the set-up, for your amusement. It’s even more sarcastic:
Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a US radio personality who
dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio
show. Recently, she said that, as an observant
Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination
according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned
under any circumstance.
�
The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by
a US resident, which was posted on the Internet.
�
Dear Dr. Laura:
�
Thank you for doing so much to educate people
regarding God’s Law I have learned a great deal from
your show, and try to share that knowledge with as
many people as I can. When someone tries to defend
the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind
them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an
abomination. End of debate.
�
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding
some of the other specific laws and how to follow them.
�
1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I
know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord –
Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the
odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
�
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as
sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what
do you think would be a fair price for her?
�
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman
while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness –
Lev.15:19-24. The problem is how do I tell? �I have
tried asking, but most women take offense.
�
4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess
slaves, both male and female, provided they are
purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine
claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not
Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
�
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the
Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put
to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
Continued…
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating
shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a
lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree.
Can you settle this?
�
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the
altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have
to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision
have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
�
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed,
including the hair around their temples, even though
this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
�
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of
a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play
football if I wear gloves?
�
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by
planting two different crops in the same field, as
does his wife by wearing garments made of two
different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend).
He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot.
Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of
getting the whole town together to stone them?
Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a
private family affair like we do with people who
sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14)
�
I know you have studied these things extensively,
so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is
eternal and unchanging. Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.
�
Jim
Herein lies the greatest weakness of fundamental Christianity. They have lost their way and become shills for the right wing, ultra-conservative free-market capitlaism that grinds the poor down and turns their religion into a apologist for the very thing Jesus railed againt – money changers in the temple.
All ya gotta do is wave a flag and sing yankee doodle and they forget about truth, and justice and peace. Mostly justice.
Heh, Dave H.,
Maybe Microsoft’s goal is to “tithe” the world?
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HEY WAIT A MINUTE!!!
I thought the monopoly was only illegal because they could leverage profitable ventures like Windows Media..
but wait..
doesn’t a monopoly mean they can save money by not doing as much development, while not having to worry about losing business..!? yes!!! how profitable.. i think i gave ms too much credit… i thought they could strip windows and it would be fine.. but it’s still BS> that they dev. so slowly…
Aryugaetu is absolutly right. We should in no way bring in weird, twisted, ancient writings of the Jews into discussions of modern civilization. The problem is too many people take that seriously which goes to explain the Jews treatment of the Palestinians.
Bill gates is deceiving the righteous. see http://egomania.nu/gates.html
You guys take stories like this waaaay too seriously
For an intelligent, albeit rough, discussion of the ethics, I suggest reading my remarks to the National Association of Attorneys General:
http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/recent2/272.pdf
Jadisone. Here is a Joke for you.
The president of Lotus walks into an elevator with a gun in his hand.
In the elevator are: Sadam Hussein, Timmothy McVeigh, and Bill Gates,�
but there are only two bullets in the gun!
Who does he shoot???
Gates, twice to be sure.
Hello Aryugaetu
I have some answers for your questions they should help.
1. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery�. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
Market prices for slaves should be competitively priced with local hookers according to the grid scale used for pimps which should include:
a. Deep knob
b. Deep throat
c. All phall & balls
d. All phall & balls with tongue to the crack
Usually there is a 10-20% add on for swallowers.
2. Contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness.
There are several forhermoan detectors on the market which can give you an accurate measurement of the menstrual cycle. Conslut your local pharmacist.
3. Why can’t I own Canadians?
Your friend is wrong, Canada and the US have a free slave deal so that they can be shipped across the border without any extra tariffs. Of course the market for US slaves is pretty well non existent unless as they are pretty well useless.
4. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
No, leave that to the three horseman of the apocalypse. There used to be four but one was found working on Sabbath days killing people who did not go to church.
5. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this?
Yes, eating shellfish involves killing another defenseless creature, where as the latter involves sex, and sex is much better for guilt cause the homos still hang around, but after the dinner the shellfish is gone.
6. Defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
As long as you can see aura with your third eye, this should no be a problem.
7. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
Better yet, how should they not die?
8. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
As long as they are not pig skin.
Hope this helps, good luck with eternal salvation.
Jack A,
That joke was too funny. Thanks! LMAO.
Don’t these people call themselves christians? How come they only search the old testimony for convenient citations? You can find justification for just about everything in the Old Testimony.
Does anybody know how the “prophets” achieved the state of enlightenment? They starved and dehydrated themselves walking or sitting in the desert for days. Take dehydration, hypoglycemia, and sun stroke, and you have some serious shit happening to your brain. How anyone can take the delusions of some 200 B.C. freak as a guideline for today’s life, let alone political decisions, is beyond me.
hagar57
Yes, let comon sense of modern man rule! Countless years of pain and misery prove you’re right…
webbyswim: you hate stupid people?
me: I “hate” people’s stupidity.
You can find outdated moralistic BS in the New Testament as well:
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the Saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they wish to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.”
1 Corinthians 14:33-35
Cheers,
the dude
ironic: we still have to see a rule of common sense, the pain and misery you are referring to have been brought upon mankind mostly by powerhungry cynics who hid their cruelties behind pseudo-religious babble.
dude: you’re right, I never got past the gospels at school.
The greatest inhibitors to understanding the mind of G-d are insincerity and laziness.