Yes, blah, blah, blah.

There comes a time when taking a stand is past due; especially the "right" (moral, ethical, and other synonym) stand. Democrats have, over the past four or five years taken a stand of ambiguous rightousness. Great for claiming a position in the then and future elections, but not enough to put stakes down. I say that as a whole of that party- not reflective of some exemplary individuals. Worse, as a whole, they seem to take turns, voting for or against this or that, so that they may cover their asses in just about any situation- previously stated individuals exempted. I do understand why they are reluctant. Iraq, Iran, et, al, is a chronically volitale region. To think --or worse-- speak, that the hated Saddam Hussein kept the region balanced, is heresey. Any "solution" at this point is the wrong one. The Republican Party is exactly correct that there is no good political solution now. They set it up this way. On purpose. Do the Democrats punt, and let the Republicans (neocons) go down in flames, while at the same time solidifying and entrenching their domestic tentacles, or fight through a bitter domestic war --yes it would be close to a civil war-- to gain control of a country in shambles? is there a good answer?

I blame not the politicians, not the corporations, not the velvet hand of unseen interests. I blame the PS3 playing, the gadget fetishizing, disinterested masses. Those who have broadband, but only respond to chain emails by well meaning organizations. Those who could, yet don't, get off their asses. A little too comfortable to bother doing anything?

Set a date. Go to Washington. All under one banner. Anyone? Anyone?? Anyone???

... of Mr Manjoo firing off a column on a topic he has obviously not done his homework on. The only other conceivable possibility is that he is shorting Apple stock! Propaganda In The Digital Age indeed!

The "threat" reported by the Times wasn't discovered because hackers have been taking over people's iPhones. The security team that found the exploit did so because that's their job. But I guess if the headline simply said "Researchers find iPhone security hole" you'd get less click-throughs. Geez Farhad, don't forget to turn off your phone's bluetooth, someone could gain access to your Nigerian lottery riches.

I'm beginning to think that pushing the United States into "loser status" is one of the Bush cabal's prime objectives. I may be looking at history through rose-colored glasses, but after WW2, I believe the U.S. truly enjoyed a moral leadership position in the world; one that lasted a good long time. We as Americans were able to look across the waters and wish that our foreign brethren had what we did. For the most part we had freedom, family-supporting jobs, and an egalitarian sense of right and wrong. People around the world looked to us and wanted to emulate us.

By weakening the stature and power of the U.S. to the point that our neighbors will no longer listen to us, it opens up a new wild frontier of exploitation around the globe. Isn't this what Bush's version of the "free market" begins to look like when you take a step back and look at the big picture?

We no longer dream of helping the people of China become free. We've abandoned all hope of raising labor, environmental, and safety standards through diplomacy, and instead have joined the race to the lowest common denominator in the name of "competition".

It is about subverting governmental (representative) power in favor of a small group of private interests, who must own and control more and more, at any cost to "the others". Mr. Bush and his allies wouldn't care about who is running the U.S. government, as long as those doing so were powerless to oppose the multinational/extranational powers he truly represents.

However, the concept of freedom is open to interpretation, and perhaps it is time to do away with that quaint little "...as long as it doesn't negatively affect others" bit that comes after "free to do as you choose...".

Who knows? Maybe Grover Norquist was a little too ahead of his time, and almost blew it with his big mouth.

Wow Farhad,

Just when I thought you'd turned the corner into interesting tech journalism, it's back to the bitchfest. Because something appears on the net, doesn't make it technology. Really, we can do without devoting pixels to the overdramatic acting of an obviously disturbed individual whose goal of becoming the web's effette "it" girl are just sad.

As long as we're being dramatic, I feel betrayed that you posted this in a column. This is not "Gizmos, people and big ideas". If this is what your "occasional Machinist feature" is going to be, the kick off should have been a kick to the curb.

Whatev, Farhad.

I can finally say in good conscience that I never need to read this column again.

Granted, the plastics industry and FDA so far deny any link between bisphenol A (polycarbonate plastics) and health issues ranging from cancers to reproductive and developmental issues.

Below are a few links on the side advising caution.

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NewScience/oncompounds/bisphenola/bpauses.htm

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa

While being aware that Mr. Scherer was trying to entertain and add life to what is presented to the public as boring politics, this kind of "Access Holywood" style treatment fails miserably in it's sarcasm, becoming a parody only of itself, instead of the sendup of the debate it was meant to be. The line about Bill Richardson slinging mud while decrying it was particularly telling. It never ceases to amaze me that journalists and organizations who wail the loudest about the lack of substance in our discourse are the first to trivialize it.