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Well, its mostly the Democrats' fault. Every member of congress has a part in it ---
personally, I think to dissuade this behavior, the law ought to be written so that in the event of a funding deficiency -
current congress members' pay and funding of their future benefits will be the very first things that become unfunded:
following that, all congressional office funding and allowances will be suspended - further office supply expenses will be paid for out of pocket with no reimbursement, next suspension of government funding for congressional aides, personal secretaries, office managers, press secretaries, legislative assistants, legislative correspondents, Pages, and other employees caring for the legislators, and the legislative chambers; in that order -- they will be paid for out of pocket by the member they work for, Or be re-assigned away from congress to more critical duties during the shortfall.

Next, the congress will be convened with mandatory attendance of all members - members of congress will be restrained to the house chambers; exiting the building is an automatic resignation from office - Security should confine members of congress to the premises, and confiscate portable communications devices such as cell phones - providing each member an opportunity to use their cell phone for 2 hours a day, with the ability to leave or communicate outside in general withdrawn until the government is no longer unfunded ---- Basic needs such as 2 Basic Meals a day and Water, Bathroom, Bedding, and Clean clothes are to be provided, but nothing luxurious.

Well, let's see. The so-called "death threats" against you are not death threats at all. A couple of them are asking you to commit suicide, another is even stating you will eventually self destruct. A "death threat" is where someone threatens to kill someone else. None of the comments had such wording or even remotely resembling the wording.

Also, those you call Microsoft or "M$" lovers and haters of free software are nothing of the sort. It is possible to like both closed source and open source software. Just because someone doesn't use M$, Micro$haft, or Windoze doesn't mean they hate open source or Linux. One example you gave was Keith Russell. If he hated open-source software and loved Microsoft as you claim, then he wouldn't be making statements like "This is one of the things that will allow Linux, and FOSS in general, to win in the long term. The multitude of voices and opinions tend to be self-correcting, with benelovent dictators like Linus Torvalds keeping the focus on building up their own products, not tearing down the opposition."1 or "I don't think Microsoft cares that Blu-Ray is Sony's standard, just that it's not Microsoft's standard."

There is no Microsoft conspiracy against you. The reason you have been modded down is because you use "M$" and "Windoze" Microsoft and Windows, which is just as childish as using "Linsux" and "Open Sores" when describing "GNU/Linux" and "Open Source" There are many people on Slashdot who speak against Microsoft and still get modded up. If it were a conspiracy then anyone speaking against Microsoft would be modded down on the spot.

As for Apple, if this is true then a lawsuit is the least of their worries. Apple should worry more about their customers leaving them. Microsoft does at least treats their employees well, homosexuals included.3456 Apple should be treating their employees with more respect.

Sources :
1 - http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=197140&cid=16158708
2 - http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=497526&cid=22846284
3 - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3128913
4 - http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/346431_antiochmsft08.html
5 - http://www.vault.com/survey/employee/Microsoft-Corporation-EMPLOYEER-3726.html
6 - http://www.brianblog.com/archives/2005_05.html

Management consulting is a great career path for someone like you. They will teach you everything you need on top of your IT skills and given your long experience you should be able to get into some interesting work right away. Take a gander at some of the companies in this list, look for jobs for "experienced professionals": http://www.vault.com/nr/consulting_rankings/consul ting_rankings.jsp?consulting2007=2&ch_id=252

Vault.com tried this with their message boards in the late 90's. It failed spectacularly because disgruntled employees would post personal attacks against management on the site (accusations of illegal behavior, affairs, etc.), which would cause the companies to threaten law suits, etc. In extreme situations, managers who had been attacked on the site started posting offensive / racist postings, which led to even more lawsuits, harmed the site's reputation etc. In the end, they had to close off the message boards and make them subscription only.

Hmm...some of that sounds familiar actually!

Check the community page on Vault.com
http://www.vault.com/community/mb/mb_home.jsp
for the organization...

You could always check out Vault.com

One stroke of luck that came my way after graduation was when my college professor, whom I had done some work for in the past, hired me to work on a project for about 2 months. Although the project wasn't long-term, it benefited me in 2 ways. Firstly, it helped put food on the table and secondly it helped to beef up my resume. The second reason really helped me in my job hunt because I was able to use that project as an example of how I had experience in a fairly large (okay, larger than CS homework) software project. People often say that internships are the best way to land you a job right after college, but if you're like me and was not lucky or did not try hard enough to get an internship, look for professors who need help with projects because those can serve the purpose equally well. I also worked as a Java developer for my campus computer store and was paid a pittance but that also served as a great resume item as it showed that I had programming experience outside of classes. Incidentally, I did not list my job as a computer lab assistant because it would not help my chances a whole lot. My advice would be to look for jobs with professors or with the offices and establishments on campus which will give you exposure to software development outside of class.

On a related note, a fellow classmate of mine got a job at Microsoft because of research he had done while doing his undergrad degree. I do not think it takes a phenomenally talented person to do that sort of research. Instead luck, hard work and perseverance are the main factors. How to go about doing research alone could become an Ask Slashdot article by itself so I won't go into detail, but the vital points are to look for a professor who'll guide you and who is doing good and groundbreaking research. Of course being thoroughly enthusiastic about the research helps too.

During my job search, I made numerous revisions to my resume and had multiple friends critique it. I also had the luck of reading the Interview and Resume Guide from Vault.com which proved invaluable for revising my resume and performing during an interview. Try and read good resume and interviewing guide books.

I also kept a brief journal of my job hunting experience. This helped me keep track of the companies that I talked to as well as how many companies I sent my resume out to. I am a lazy person by nature but keeping a journal helped to motivate me into sending out at least a resume a day.

Another stroke of luck for me was when I decided to travel to a job fair in the Bay Area even though I live in Southern California. That was a pivotal point for me because I met my future employers at that job fair. That made the 12 hour round trip drive I made all the more worthwhile. You have to be very determined in job hunting and grab every opportunity you come across even when it doesn't work out in the end. I went to another job fair in Los Angeles which turned out to be crap but it was a good experience talking to recruiters nonetheless. It also helped that I didn't have any preference as to where I wanted to work. The lesson here is to go to job fairs in places with a large tech industry such as Silicon Valley or Austin, Texas, and you'll definitely increase your chances of find a job.

Networking is also very important. Tell ALL the people you know that you are looking for a job. I got to know of the job fair in the Bay Area through a friend who was living there even though I don't talk to him on a regular basis. Other friends I talked to also got me phone conversations with hiring managers they know and even though those didn't work out I made the effort which is the most important point.

Good luck with your job hunt!

http://vault.com/community/mb/getmessage.jsp?messa ge_id=1008106&tidx=0 http://vault.com/community/mb/mbtopics.jsp?forum_i d=5514&expandThread=173410#Topic173410

http://vault.com/community/mb/getmessage.jsp?messa ge_id=1008106&tidx=0 http://vault.com/community/mb/mbtopics.jsp?forum_i d=5514&expandThread=173410#Topic173410

Lawyers win

According to a 1992 poll conducted by California Lawyer magazine, 70 percent of lawyers surveyed said they would start a new career if they could. A 1990 American Bar Association survey indicated that 23 percent of all lawyers were dissatisfied with their careers. A 1990 John Hopkins University study found that lawyers had a greater rate of depression than workers in any of the 104 other occupations studied.
......
Lawyers have among the highest suicide rates, lowest popularity ratings, highest pressure, and longest hours of almost any profession that exists.

Go to vault.com. They can answer, in general terms, "What is it like working for company X?" Go to the "research" section. You'll probably want a free account. Oh, they sell a book, too. Actually, it doesn't look like it'd be bad at all. The message board and site's text that describes WCOM is a little stale,