Of course... sometimes the markup is too high. I really wanted to buy a TV locally, but they "don't price match amazon," which means that the same TV at amazon was $1500 less... you've got to at least make the same ballpark.
Used to work at a computer store which ordered from NewEgg and Amazon at least twice a day. Having noticed that the owner was putting a minimum 35-60% markup on these items...I lost my job when I was overheard telling a customer who couldn't believe the prices that we ordered from those two online places. They thanked me and my a$$hole of a manager reamed me in front of the other employees. Ended up walking out later that day.
There was a golden lining to this though. Saw that same a$$hole working as a salesperson in a store which was closing two weeks later. Too bad my reaming lasted a few minutes...but his ended up lasting over and over...since I've heard he's been out of work and lost his house two years ago. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
Additionally, the smartphone apps are probably shedding the light on the fact that stores other than Wal-Mart often have a better price on many items. That is something I had observed in comparing prices on groceries when a Super-Center threatened the existence of the local grocery stores in the town in which I previously lived. Just because a store says it always has the low price in its advertisement, it doesn't make it true.
Discovered this the other day while shopping at Wal-Mart for a few grocery items they sell that have better quality than at other stores I frequent. Buying a bag of Cheetos for $2...I thought I had a bargain. That was until I got to WinCo and found the same bag for $1.68. Going over to CostCo...found a giant box of chips would've been cheaper than anything Wal-Mart had for sell for the same quantity.
Anymore...I do everything I can do to keep from shopping at Wal-Mart (except for specialty items I like that no one else sells)...such as thrift stores and almost any other grocery store but them...because they don't have the lowest price...the best selection or even the item I'm looking for. Not only that...but when I see the Assistant Manager running the register I'm at and he can't get other employees to take over for him because they won't answer his page from being busy...something is terribly wrong at the "lowest price leader".
This obviously means that we are going to need better technology.
This is what you get when you purchase your equipment from the lowest bidder who happens to have previously run the agency who runs these porno machines.
In the future when this happens again...the perpetrator shouldn't be prosecuted...but those responsible for the security of the information. They are the ones responsible for things happening like this.
Horseshit. Punish the victim?
The company who failed to secure their property made a mistake, and they suffered for it already. That alone should be an incentive to do things right in the future, and other companies who find out about it will hopefully think twice about their policies.
Have seen it happen too many times that the ones in control of the network are the ones who will walk away without any punishment. With this mentality...they never will learn and will allow the same thing to happen at the next company too stupid to hire them.
This does not change the fact that the perpetrator should be prosecuted and punished if found guilty.
Along with those who allowed it to happen by not following established security perimeters. They are just as responsible as the perpetrator...if not more. They were the ones who allowed it to happen.
Am so glad you clarified yourself on exactly how I WAS an idiot. Sounds almost like you are for leaving/hacking systems. If that is so...I am an idiot...but at least I have a clear conscience.
Really, I think this just highlights something I've said for years: If you don't trust your IT people, they shouldn't be your IT people.
It goes MUCH deeper than just a trust issue.
What should have happened and didn't within less than an hour of her walking out the door is she should have locked out of everything. This company did not and paid the cost for their stupidity and laziness. This being the case...all executives/HR/whole IT department should have been fired/prosecuted for allowing this to happen. For that matter...the whole business should have been shuttered by the state of Florida and the FBI.
What she did was wrong...but it could/should have been prevented in the first place. Everyone there dropped the ball when it could have been prevented so easily.
In the future when this happens again...the perpetrator shouldn't be prosecuted...but those responsible for the security of the information. They are the ones responsible for things happening like this. What did they think was going to happen when they left raw meat out for the dog to see?
We'd typically do 2 or 3 five gallon batches at a time. Trust me, 10-15 gallons of wine at 10-12% ABV lasts a while.
Had a roommate after I left college who would make his own Grapa with 2 5 gal water bottles...some grape juice & sugar from the grocery store. He had balloons...surgical tubing running from one of the bottles on the dresser to the other on the floor.
Never had the balls to try it...but from him being 60-70 years old and passing out from 1/2 a bottle of it...it was a great thing I never did.
On the other hand...a buddy and I want to make hard root beer...but we can't find any recipes...except for the stuff for the kids. For that matter...Sam Adams used to make the stuff several years ago in a holiday pack...but they haven't since that time.
In Oklahoma/Mississippi...you couldn't show anything more than beer ads on TV...even on cable. Remember how the cable companies were legally required to blank out any commercials.
[citation needed]
Seriously, I'd like to know how they were required to do that on cable. At least for the FCC, they do not have authority over 'basic cable' stations, even though most of them seem to follow approximately the same censorship paradigm as the broadcast networks, at least the majority of the time.
Was in broadcasting school at the time and the state laws specified that no hard liqueur/wine commercials were to be shown. For the most part...they ran a local spot over it or just blacked it out. The reasoning was that if you ran ads on hard liqueur...it would make people want to consume more. Finally...by '84...the Commission & the courts outlawed states overriding a signal from out of state...no matter what the content. This is what you get when you let moronic/religious mouth-breathers run a state government as their own theocracy.
As for the 'anything more than beer ads' nationally, I think (I could be wrong) that that was a voluntary decision by at least hard liquor makers, and it's only been relatively recently that those have done TV advertising.
I seem to remember this as well...but I have a recollection of seeing Jim Beam/Jack Daniels ad on the tube.
A little 101 on alcohol sales in Pennsylvania. The first thing you must realize about alcohol sales in PA is that it's one step above prohibition.
The rules go a little like this...
Liquor & Wine - sold in state-run stores
6-packs and 40s - sold in restaurants and bars
Cases/Kegs of Beer - sold by private distributors.
This isn't surprising for a state with such asinine liquor laws such that regulate where you can purchase (previously mentioned), until recently had no sales on Sunday or on election days.
Sounds as bad as Oklahoma/Utah/Mississippi.
In Oklahoma/Mississippi...you couldn't show anything more than beer ads on TV...even on cable. Remember how the cable companies were legally required to blank out any commercials. Many times...there would be a blank screen where the commercial used to be.
When I used to live in Oklahoma...you could buy 3.2 (horse urine) beer/malt liqueur 24/7 in grocery stores. Anything else...you would run to a state-run store...including 6.0 beer/wine/liqueur. In my younger days...we had friends with pickups...so we'd drive to the Dallas area with several hundred dollars...load up and head back to Oklahoma. That would last us less than a month...but at least we knew the places where we could buy 2-4 cases at a time.
Seems kinda stupid to me. Car makers overcharge for the things already. Consumer Reports just did some article about how big the blind spot in cars is and depending on model and driver height it varies between 6 and 150+ feet (for spotting a toddler).
Have heard this story too many times from parents who will pay more attention to their cell phones than watching to make sure their children are safe. You get some mother crying on a morning news show how they or someone else backed over their child...then people think it's a problem with cars that cameras will solve. It's like Helen Lovejoy crying..."Think about the children"...rather than having the cell phone plugged in your ear...not checking around your car or doing anything you have no business doing behind the wheel of a car.
How about the parents/owners who leave their kids or pets in the car during the summer time? How is a camera going to solve this? I seem to remember more kids/pets die from heat exhaustion than being run over. Of course...the excuse that I got distracted...I forgot...I'm stupid is enough to keep them out of jail or have children.
I have a solution! If you're too damned stupid to look out for your kids...don't have them or have them given to someone who will care for them. It's like everything else...if you're not old enough/intelligent enough to do the puzzle or watch after your kids...you don't need them.
With her track record of quitting and going after revenge...she will last about 2 years before impeachment proceedings begin against her. That happens...she folds since she doesn't have the balls to stand up against the truth.
People who are abusing their powers will suffer. People who do dirty deeds and want clean hands will suffer. People who believe that their position protects them from personal responsibility will suffer.
Sadly...it goes back to who has the deepest pockets...the best lawyers and the best friends who can silence the critics who will keep these people in the appointment or office. Just as long as they can serve a purpose and keep their name out of the news will be assured a lifetime position.
Diplomats are not politicians, they are not elected. They are supposed to give uncut views about their foreign circumstances.
For the most part...diplomats are political appointees who got the job because they or a friend of theirs gave the most money to the winner. It has nothing to do with intelligence...being able to construct a sentence in French or the best person for the job...but someone with their hand out after the election who can usually win Senate confirmation.
Clearly, it's George Soros! My bedroom is full of puppets and chalk boards that show evidence of this. Unfortunately, the world is full of idiots who can't see the logic behind it all.
So...you're more worried about an 80 year old survivor of the Holocaust who decides to donate money to causes you don't believe in? Being that he saw first-hand what happens when right-wing fanatics get their way...I don't blame him for giving money to any organization which is against what has happened in this country...because of "keeping others safe".
Sounds like you need to get hold of those East German puppets they used on their TV shows to more drastically make your point. If you start using dry boards...they are easier to clean up and don't leave chalk dust. Plus...you can show every second of video on Palin on the board. So...you're now recycling...the bane of urban liberals.
In my area sales tax is down around 5%, but if I go into the city it jumps to something like 12% (at least for restaurants).
At least living in Idaho now...the sales tax is 6% everywhere. None of this BS 6% for the state...3-4% for city/county.
as long as the selection is better and prices are 20% cheaper to begin with, not paying sales tax is just icing on the cake.
Very true. Of course...if the states/cities/counties had never gotten hooked on the sales tax in the first place...this would have never happened. The biggest problem is that the governments have no problem giving OUR taxes away to any/all businesses...but when the citizen wants the same deal...it's not right.
What's even sadder is this never used to be an issue years ago when the one of the only ways for someone to get something you couldn't find locally was to order it from a catalog.
Amazon.co.uk Ltd, Amazon.de GmBH and Amazon EU Sarl most assuredly do not, yet we Old Europeans still shop there.
It's about the long-tail of products in the range, not prices. A lot of the items in the Amazon catalogue aren't even available through high-street shops, so what difference would a few dollars more make?
In many rural places (most of the land mass of the US)...the catalog...now online has been the only way for many people to get items they need/want. Just because Congress refused to enact tax laws...doesn't mean much of the population of the US needs to pay higher prices because some chain store believes they need to level the playing field.
You want to do this...learn customer service and don't treat me like an annoyance while I'm in your store. Online...I don't have to look for a salesperson. I can read what experience others have had with the product. Online...I'm not having to wait in long lines at a cash register while you're standing around/talking/laughing about whatever stupid thing you saw or did. This is why you have people leave their items on the belt or in their cart and either order what they are looking for online or goto another store.
Neither Best Buy nor Amazon include sales tax in their advertised prices. Yet Amazon's (and Neweggs, and etc.) prices are typically discounted 20% or more compared to the brick and mortar stores. Even after accounting for shipping. I don't think lack of sales tax is why people pick Amazon and Newegg.
For the big ticket items...you better believe it is the reason. Used to live in Arizona where the sales tax was almost 9%...with the legislature doing everything they could do to keep it rising to 10% or better. Don't feel sorry for any brick/mortar business who says they can't compete. They refuse to do so...because in many small towns they can't AND the owners love their big homes/expensive cars.
In the town where I used to live in Arizona...no place (including the only big box store from Arkansas in this town for too many years) would carry many of the big ticket items you wanted without driving the 100+ miles to Las Vegas or Phoenix. If you wanted to drive this trip...you still had gas/time to spend.
Finding the item locally (if you could)...you would pay usually over 40-50% of what I could get it for online. That was after it was ordered from NewEgg or Amazon by the business with their 40-50% markup.
You do not have a right to shirk your civic duties.
You certainly do have a right to shirk civic duties...especially when those duties go against what is the right thing to do. Best example would the fight for Civil Rights in the 50/60's. If your conscience tells you what your government is doing is wrong...it is your right to stand up to that government to right that wrong. For instance...a jury of your peers is a cross section of the community...not just a bunch of old white guys.
In addition...if you are forced to serve on a jury and you feel the proceedings/verdict are wrong...it is your moral/ethical right to stand up against that or to fight against whatever it may be.
According to you...any Amish/Mennonites should be imprisoned because they refuse to serve on juries...have anything to do with the running of the government or to even take an oath.
First: For those of you who think avoiding jury duty is an option rather than a duty -- thanks for avoiding one of the simplest and most basic requests that our country makes of you in exchange for citizenship. You must be proud.
When you miss that time from work and can't pay your bills because your employer will not reimburse you for serving (worked for too many which will not)...let me know how good you feel when my family goes hungry or loses our home. I am proud when I'm providing for myself/my family.
It's not as simple or as basic as you paint this to be. Putting a hardship on someone or their family makes this "simple and most basic request" not simple and most complex.
People should be encouraged to serve on juries -- it's your civic duty and provides an invaluable check against Governmental power.
Was forced to serve on a jury...because many people who didn't goto college in the town had been excused...while they knew the college students wouldn't have the time/money to get out of it.
It's your civic duty...but just because it says it in the Constitution doesn't make it so. Ended up wasting my time during finals for $12 a day to hear cases I have no idea why a jury would be required. On one felony case I knew would take more time than I had to waste...made sure either of the lawyers would never pick me by presenting an extreme excuse. It may not have been right...but when you're paying thousands of dollars to attend college to forceably attend court proceedings in a city where you're not a citizen or you are forced to travel for several hours on your own dollar...appearing unstable keeps you from losing money the court system/many employers are not willing to reimburse you.
As for a check on governmental power... VERY wrong again. Been too many cases where the Golden Rule has been applied throughout the history of the US. Just look at the current cases of debt collectors using the law enforcement/court systems to collect what they are owed. Debtor Courts were outlawed over 100 years ago...but in many cities/counties...the debt collector will have a warrant sworn out on you. Until you pay the amount owed to the debt collector...you're sitting in jail.
I am all for anything you need to do to get out of jury duty. They want me to serve...they can pay me the prevailing union wages in the city where the US Circuit Court for that region is located and pick me up in a limo for each leg of the trip. I am going to lose my freedom by being forced to serve on a jury...the government should pay for that privilege.
Nah, I just think it is just the way they see things in Microsoft. When an OS is stable and works reliably, then it is at the end of its life cycle (like Windows XP).
Plus...heaven forbid that a Linux distro would use it's power/money to help the police turn in people for software privacy when you want to quash dissent from your distractors. Would never happen in Russia...NO!!!!
There are those who say the terrorists have already won.
Had to watch this at least 3 times to catch the whole thing...was laughing so hard that these rent-a-cops think they're keeping the terrorists away from flying. The saddest part of the video was the "private" scanning room...since I can see this happening.
hey I am not in a death row, and I would volunteer. I am already well trained for that mission.
If they provide enough resources for a lifetime, I would not feel more alone on Mars than right now here among billions of people who do not give a shit about me.
True! Plus...all of those who hassle you now would be 9 months away and probably starving on this dying world.
the 'you must go to college' meme is slowly dying.
actually, it should. not everyone should be in college. furthermore, the 'thinking arts' that america uses to be known for is fading (overseas). the notion of going to school, doing your time in studies and having it pay back is a BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT and those of us already at-age know this;(
I thought I was the only one who discovered this. Having spent 6 years in college about 30 years ago (as well as getting an IT cert about 10 of those years ago as well)...college and some of the trades...at least those you see advertised on TV...are worthless. I had tons of fun in college and grew up during that time...but was it actually worth the time/money I spent? The answer would be no! The reason...too many employers will not talk to college grads...thinking they're going to cost too much and leave the first chance they get a better job. Even the old joke of what a college graduate needs to say for a job "You want fries with that" doesn't work anymore. Instead...many of us college grads are living on food stamps...in housing with our parents/friends and thousands of dollars in debt with no way to pay it back. As for jobs...substitute teaching or part-time...if these are even open.
Just like you'd suggested...getting a trade education for free or at a MUCH lower cost than what my college education cost me...would have made me a much happier and productive person. Too bad too many parents and those inside the education racket won't believe or tell the truth to those who need to hear it the worst.
If I were running a police department, with limited resources, and suddenly began receiving a large number of false accusations from the local college, at the very least I would want to get the college's administration in for a polite but firm chat about the appropriate use of police resources.
Having gone to a small college in a small town...I learned first hand what happens when a college body starts exerting it's will over local affairs...such as elections...excessive use of police and putting excessive demands on public resources. The city council will begin enacting local laws making said college and their student bodies (which move in/out of the area every semester) the brunt of their displeasure. For instance...because students had swayed several local elections and used excessive amounts of police (drunken parties and such)...said students were forced to serve on juries (no matter the excuse/time of the year)...police speed traps...police presence outside of local bars and anything else the citizens of the city/city council could do to dampen their civic duties in said communities.
Found out later that many of the town's people got out of jury duty by using telling the City Clerk whatever excuse they would normally use. Because many of the students had nicer cars than the town's people...that's why the police knew who to go after for underage drinking.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course... sometimes the markup is too high. I really wanted to buy a TV locally, but they "don't price match amazon," which means that the same TV at amazon was $1500 less... you've got to at least make the same ballpark.
Used to work at a computer store which ordered from NewEgg and Amazon at least twice a day. Having noticed that the owner was putting a minimum 35-60% markup on these items...I lost my job when I was overheard telling a customer who couldn't believe the prices that we ordered from those two online places. They thanked me and my a$$hole of a manager reamed me in front of the other employees. Ended up walking out later that day.
There was a golden lining to this though. Saw that same a$$hole working as a salesperson in a store which was closing two weeks later. Too bad my reaming lasted a few minutes...but his ended up lasting over and over...since I've heard he's been out of work and lost his house two years ago. Couldn't have happened to a better guy.
Additionally, the smartphone apps are probably shedding the light on the fact that stores other than Wal-Mart often have a better price on many items. That is something I had observed in comparing prices on groceries when a Super-Center threatened the existence of the local grocery stores in the town in which I previously lived. Just because a store says it always has the low price in its advertisement, it doesn't make it true.
Discovered this the other day while shopping at Wal-Mart for a few grocery items they sell that have better quality than at other stores I frequent. Buying a bag of Cheetos for $2...I thought I had a bargain. That was until I got to WinCo and found the same bag for $1.68. Going over to CostCo...found a giant box of chips would've been cheaper than anything Wal-Mart had for sell for the same quantity.
Anymore...I do everything I can do to keep from shopping at Wal-Mart (except for specialty items I like that no one else sells)...such as thrift stores and almost any other grocery store but them...because they don't have the lowest price...the best selection or even the item I'm looking for. Not only that...but when I see the Assistant Manager running the register I'm at and he can't get other employees to take over for him because they won't answer his page from being busy...something is terribly wrong at the "lowest price leader".
This obviously means that we are going to need better technology.
This is what you get when you purchase your equipment from the lowest bidder who happens to have previously run the agency who runs these porno machines.
Horseshit. Punish the victim? The company who failed to secure their property made a mistake, and they suffered for it already. That alone should be an incentive to do things right in the future, and other companies who find out about it will hopefully think twice about their policies.
Have seen it happen too many times that the ones in control of the network are the ones who will walk away without any punishment. With this mentality...they never will learn and will allow the same thing to happen at the next company too stupid to hire them.
This does not change the fact that the perpetrator should be prosecuted and punished if found guilty.
Along with those who allowed it to happen by not following established security perimeters. They are just as responsible as the perpetrator...if not more. They were the ones who allowed it to happen.
Am so glad you clarified yourself on exactly how I WAS an idiot. Sounds almost like you are for leaving/hacking systems. If that is so...I am an idiot...but at least I have a clear conscience.
Really, I think this just highlights something I've said for years: If you don't trust your IT people, they shouldn't be your IT people.
It goes MUCH deeper than just a trust issue.
What should have happened and didn't within less than an hour of her walking out the door is she should have locked out of everything. This company did not and paid the cost for their stupidity and laziness. This being the case...all executives/HR/whole IT department should have been fired/prosecuted for allowing this to happen. For that matter...the whole business should have been shuttered by the state of Florida and the FBI.
What she did was wrong...but it could/should have been prevented in the first place. Everyone there dropped the ball when it could have been prevented so easily.
In the future when this happens again...the perpetrator shouldn't be prosecuted...but those responsible for the security of the information. They are the ones responsible for things happening like this. What did they think was going to happen when they left raw meat out for the dog to see?
We'd typically do 2 or 3 five gallon batches at a time. Trust me, 10-15 gallons of wine at 10-12% ABV lasts a while.
Had a roommate after I left college who would make his own Grapa with 2 5 gal water bottles...some grape juice & sugar from the grocery store. He had balloons...surgical tubing running from one of the bottles on the dresser to the other on the floor.
Never had the balls to try it...but from him being 60-70 years old and passing out from 1/2 a bottle of it...it was a great thing I never did.
On the other hand...a buddy and I want to make hard root beer...but we can't find any recipes...except for the stuff for the kids. For that matter...Sam Adams used to make the stuff several years ago in a holiday pack...but they haven't since that time.
[citation needed]
Seriously, I'd like to know how they were required to do that on cable. At least for the FCC, they do not have authority over 'basic cable' stations, even though most of them seem to follow approximately the same censorship paradigm as the broadcast networks, at least the majority of the time.
Was in broadcasting school at the time and the state laws specified that no hard liqueur/wine commercials were to be shown. For the most part...they ran a local spot over it or just blacked it out. The reasoning was that if you ran ads on hard liqueur...it would make people want to consume more. Finally...by '84...the Commission & the courts outlawed states overriding a signal from out of state...no matter what the content. This is what you get when you let moronic/religious mouth-breathers run a state government as their own theocracy.
As for the 'anything more than beer ads' nationally, I think (I could be wrong) that that was a voluntary decision by at least hard liquor makers, and it's only been relatively recently that those have done TV advertising.
I seem to remember this as well...but I have a recollection of seeing Jim Beam/Jack Daniels ad on the tube.
A little 101 on alcohol sales in Pennsylvania. The first thing you must realize about alcohol sales in PA is that it's one step above prohibition.
The rules go a little like this...
This isn't surprising for a state with such asinine liquor laws such that regulate where you can purchase (previously mentioned), until recently had no sales on Sunday or on election days.
Sounds as bad as Oklahoma/Utah/Mississippi.
In Oklahoma/Mississippi...you couldn't show anything more than beer ads on TV...even on cable. Remember how the cable companies were legally required to blank out any commercials. Many times...there would be a blank screen where the commercial used to be.
When I used to live in Oklahoma...you could buy 3.2 (horse urine) beer/malt liqueur 24/7 in grocery stores. Anything else...you would run to a state-run store...including 6.0 beer/wine/liqueur. In my younger days...we had friends with pickups...so we'd drive to the Dallas area with several hundred dollars...load up and head back to Oklahoma. That would last us less than a month...but at least we knew the places where we could buy 2-4 cases at a time.
Seems kinda stupid to me. Car makers overcharge for the things already. Consumer Reports just did some article about how big the blind spot in cars is and depending on model and driver height it varies between 6 and 150+ feet (for spotting a toddler).
Have heard this story too many times from parents who will pay more attention to their cell phones than watching to make sure their children are safe. You get some mother crying on a morning news show how they or someone else backed over their child...then people think it's a problem with cars that cameras will solve. It's like Helen Lovejoy crying..."Think about the children"...rather than having the cell phone plugged in your ear...not checking around your car or doing anything you have no business doing behind the wheel of a car.
How about the parents/owners who leave their kids or pets in the car during the summer time? How is a camera going to solve this? I seem to remember more kids/pets die from heat exhaustion than being run over. Of course...the excuse that I got distracted...I forgot...I'm stupid is enough to keep them out of jail or have children.
I have a solution! If you're too damned stupid to look out for your kids...don't have them or have them given to someone who will care for them. It's like everything else...if you're not old enough/intelligent enough to do the puzzle or watch after your kids...you don't need them.
With her track record of quitting and going after revenge...she will last about 2 years before impeachment proceedings begin against her. That happens...she folds since she doesn't have the balls to stand up against the truth.
People who are abusing their powers will suffer. People who do dirty deeds and want clean hands will suffer. People who believe that their position protects them from personal responsibility will suffer.
Sadly...it goes back to who has the deepest pockets...the best lawyers and the best friends who can silence the critics who will keep these people in the appointment or office. Just as long as they can serve a purpose and keep their name out of the news will be assured a lifetime position.
Diplomats are not politicians, they are not elected. They are supposed to give uncut views about their foreign circumstances.
For the most part...diplomats are political appointees who got the job because they or a friend of theirs gave the most money to the winner. It has nothing to do with intelligence...being able to construct a sentence in French or the best person for the job...but someone with their hand out after the election who can usually win Senate confirmation.
Clearly, it's George Soros! My bedroom is full of puppets and chalk boards that show evidence of this. Unfortunately, the world is full of idiots who can't see the logic behind it all.
So...you're more worried about an 80 year old survivor of the Holocaust who decides to donate money to causes you don't believe in? Being that he saw first-hand what happens when right-wing fanatics get their way...I don't blame him for giving money to any organization which is against what has happened in this country...because of "keeping others safe".
Sounds like you need to get hold of those East German puppets they used on their TV shows to more drastically make your point. If you start using dry boards...they are easier to clean up and don't leave chalk dust. Plus...you can show every second of video on Palin on the board. So...you're now recycling...the bane of urban liberals.
In my area sales tax is down around 5%, but if I go into the city it jumps to something like 12% (at least for restaurants).
At least living in Idaho now...the sales tax is 6% everywhere. None of this BS 6% for the state...3-4% for city/county.
as long as the selection is better and prices are 20% cheaper to begin with, not paying sales tax is just icing on the cake.
Very true. Of course...if the states/cities/counties had never gotten hooked on the sales tax in the first place...this would have never happened. The biggest problem is that the governments have no problem giving OUR taxes away to any/all businesses...but when the citizen wants the same deal...it's not right.
What's even sadder is this never used to be an issue years ago when the one of the only ways for someone to get something you couldn't find locally was to order it from a catalog.
> So, is Amazon's tax-free status unfair?
Amazon.com Inc may have "tax-free status"...
Amazon.co.uk Ltd, Amazon.de GmBH and Amazon EU Sarl most assuredly do not, yet we Old Europeans still shop there.
It's about the long-tail of products in the range, not prices. A lot of the items in the Amazon catalogue aren't even available through high-street shops, so what difference would a few dollars more make?
In many rural places (most of the land mass of the US)...the catalog...now online has been the only way for many people to get items they need/want. Just because Congress refused to enact tax laws...doesn't mean much of the population of the US needs to pay higher prices because some chain store believes they need to level the playing field.
You want to do this...learn customer service and don't treat me like an annoyance while I'm in your store. Online...I don't have to look for a salesperson. I can read what experience others have had with the product. Online...I'm not having to wait in long lines at a cash register while you're standing around/talking/laughing about whatever stupid thing you saw or did. This is why you have people leave their items on the belt or in their cart and either order what they are looking for online or goto another store.
Neither Best Buy nor Amazon include sales tax in their advertised prices. Yet Amazon's (and Neweggs, and etc.) prices are typically discounted 20% or more compared to the brick and mortar stores. Even after accounting for shipping. I don't think lack of sales tax is why people pick Amazon and Newegg.
For the big ticket items...you better believe it is the reason. Used to live in Arizona where the sales tax was almost 9%...with the legislature doing everything they could do to keep it rising to 10% or better. Don't feel sorry for any brick/mortar business who says they can't compete. They refuse to do so...because in many small towns they can't AND the owners love their big homes/expensive cars.
...you would pay usually over 40-50% of what I could get it for online. That was after it was ordered from NewEgg or Amazon by the business with their 40-50% markup.
In the town where I used to live in Arizona...no place (including the only big box store from Arkansas in this town for too many years) would carry many of the big ticket items you wanted without driving the 100+ miles to Las Vegas or Phoenix. If you wanted to drive this trip...you still had gas/time to spend.
Finding the item locally (if you could)
You do not have a right to shirk your civic duties.
You certainly do have a right to shirk civic duties...especially when those duties go against what is the right thing to do. Best example would the fight for Civil Rights in the 50/60's. If your conscience tells you what your government is doing is wrong...it is your right to stand up to that government to right that wrong. For instance...a jury of your peers is a cross section of the community...not just a bunch of old white guys.
In addition...if you are forced to serve on a jury and you feel the proceedings/verdict are wrong...it is your moral/ethical right to stand up against that or to fight against whatever it may be.
According to you...any Amish/Mennonites should be imprisoned because they refuse to serve on juries...have anything to do with the running of the government or to even take an oath.
First: For those of you who think avoiding jury duty is an option rather than a duty -- thanks for avoiding one of the simplest and most basic requests that our country makes of you in exchange for citizenship. You must be proud.
When you miss that time from work and can't pay your bills because your employer will not reimburse you for serving (worked for too many which will not) ...let me know how good you feel when my family goes hungry or loses our home. I am proud when I'm providing for myself/my family.
It's not as simple or as basic as you paint this to be. Putting a hardship on someone or their family makes this "simple and most basic request" not simple and most complex.
People should be encouraged to serve on juries -- it's your civic duty and provides an invaluable check against Governmental power.
Was forced to serve on a jury...because many people who didn't goto college in the town had been excused...while they knew the college students wouldn't have the time/money to get out of it.
It's your civic duty...but just because it says it in the Constitution doesn't make it so. Ended up wasting my time during finals for $12 a day to hear cases I have no idea why a jury would be required. On one felony case I knew would take more time than I had to waste...made sure either of the lawyers would never pick me by presenting an extreme excuse. It may not have been right...but when you're paying thousands of dollars to attend college to forceably attend court proceedings in a city where you're not a citizen or you are forced to travel for several hours on your own dollar...appearing unstable keeps you from losing money the court system/many employers are not willing to reimburse you.
As for a check on governmental power... VERY wrong again. Been too many cases where the Golden Rule has been applied throughout the history of the US. Just look at the current cases of debt collectors using the law enforcement/court systems to collect what they are owed. Debtor Courts were outlawed over 100 years ago...but in many cities/counties...the debt collector will have a warrant sworn out on you. Until you pay the amount owed to the debt collector...you're sitting in jail.
I am all for anything you need to do to get out of jury duty. They want me to serve...they can pay me the prevailing union wages in the city where the US Circuit Court for that region is located and pick me up in a limo for each leg of the trip. I am going to lose my freedom by being forced to serve on a jury...the government should pay for that privilege.
Nah, I just think it is just the way they see things in Microsoft. When an OS is stable and works reliably, then it is at the end of its life cycle (like Windows XP).
Plus...heaven forbid that a Linux distro would use it's power/money to help the police turn in people for software privacy when you want to quash dissent from your distractors. Would never happen in Russia...NO!!!!
And there's a reason for that. Check out the "buxom younger woman" in this video:
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/16/the-inevitable-taiwa.html
There are those who say the terrorists have already won.
Had to watch this at least 3 times to catch the whole thing...was laughing so hard that these rent-a-cops think they're keeping the terrorists away from flying. The saddest part of the video was the "private" scanning room...since I can see this happening.
hey I am not in a death row, and I would volunteer. I am already well trained for that mission. If they provide enough resources for a lifetime, I would not feel more alone on Mars than right now here among billions of people who do not give a shit about me.
True! Plus...all of those who hassle you now would be 9 months away and probably starving on this dying world.
the 'you must go to college' meme is slowly dying.
actually, it should. not everyone should be in college. furthermore, the 'thinking arts' that america uses to be known for is fading (overseas). the notion of going to school, doing your time in studies and having it pay back is a BROKEN SOCIAL CONTRACT and those of us already at-age know this ;(
I thought I was the only one who discovered this. Having spent 6 years in college about 30 years ago (as well as getting an IT cert about 10 of those years ago as well)...college and some of the trades...at least those you see advertised on TV...are worthless. I had tons of fun in college and grew up during that time...but was it actually worth the time/money I spent? The answer would be no! The reason...too many employers will not talk to college grads...thinking they're going to cost too much and leave the first chance they get a better job. Even the old joke of what a college graduate needs to say for a job "You want fries with that" doesn't work anymore. Instead...many of us college grads are living on food stamps...in housing with our parents/friends and thousands of dollars in debt with no way to pay it back. As for jobs...substitute teaching or part-time...if these are even open.
Just like you'd suggested...getting a trade education for free or at a MUCH lower cost than what my college education cost me...would have made me a much happier and productive person. Too bad too many parents and those inside the education racket won't believe or tell the truth to those who need to hear it the worst.
If I were running a police department, with limited resources, and suddenly began receiving a large number of false accusations from the local college, at the very least I would want to get the college's administration in for a polite but firm chat about the appropriate use of police resources.
Having gone to a small college in a small town...I learned first hand what happens when a college body starts exerting it's will over local affairs...such as elections...excessive use of police and putting excessive demands on public resources. The city council will begin enacting local laws making said college and their student bodies (which move in/out of the area every semester) the brunt of their displeasure. For instance...because students had swayed several local elections and used excessive amounts of police (drunken parties and such)...said students were forced to serve on juries (no matter the excuse/time of the year)...police speed traps...police presence outside of local bars and anything else the citizens of the city/city council could do to dampen their civic duties in said communities.
Found out later that many of the town's people got out of jury duty by using telling the City Clerk whatever excuse they would normally use. Because many of the students had nicer cars than the town's people...that's why the police knew who to go after for underage drinking.