And Bush blew up the WTC, and caused Hurricane Katrina, and my gosh, he is just responsible for everything bad. Well, maybe the economy is pretty good. And, oh yeah, we haven't had any terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11. And now that I think of it, unemployment is at historic lows. And perhaps our standard of living is better than ever (more fat Americans). And, let's see, our longevity just increased again. And he decreased taxes for almost all Americans. And the Federal deficit is decreasing. And, and,....
We do not have enough energy because of environmental extremism. We do not have enough oil because of environmental extremism. If it weren't for them, Bush would have a couple more kudos.
Iraq may someday revert back to its warlike ways, but it can't be allowed to be a rich, anti-American stronghold for terrorists. Have you not noticed the Muslim extremist's stated objective of killing every non-Muslim? I for one would rather live.
I read the Q.o.S. stuff, but it was a tad bit beyond my level of comprehension. Just for the Record I have WildBlue satellite service (have since June '06), but it is very limiting on what it allows me to do. I pay the maximum for the highest rate ($80/1.5Mbps) and download certainly no more than about 1 GB per month. Yet WildBlue severely throttles my rate every day by just cutting off the satellite link to the modem. Yesterday, for example, I was cut off from 9:30 AM until 8:00 PM. Absolutely NO connection during that time. That was a little severe, but every day I am cut off for several hours, generally starting around noon and lasting until about 7 PM. They "throttle" by cutting you off. Their service sucks considering they advertise "You are always connected -- 24/7" -- what B.S.! I called HughesNet, and they said they couldn't guarantee any better service, so I am stuck.
HA! I used to laugh when I would watch computers exploding on the old "STAR TREK" episodes, telling my wife, "That can't happen!" Little did I know.......
Evolution doesn't need to be proven to those with an open mind. Life will evolve to fill in any ecological niche. Bacteria evolve almost before our eyes (as do viruses, though some say viruses aren't "alive"). Even multiple species can fill the same niche, as long as there is room for them. What we can only speculate on is whether there is another driver for evolution, perhaps a divine one. I think the real reason for studying the evolution of man or any other species is to fill in the curiosity gaps.
I believe you are correct on many counts. Power breeds corruption, and the need for votes breeds all kinds of bad things. We are headed downhill no doubt. Still, I'm proud to be an American where at least your voice can be heard, and through the power of your efforts and intellect, you can do anything. In some cases we are acting as the force of enlightment and justice, to use your words. For example, the lame excuse for Iraq was WMDs, but the effect was to free millions of people from a horrible dictator and give them a chance for a free, democratic society. When we depart, they may sink back to where they were, but at least they won't be a base for terrorism. Our Constitution is the oldest governing document on the earth (believe it or not), possibly because the Founding Fathers were blessed with a knowledge of history and perhaps devine oversight. In the early days, even with a Constitution, we had slavery, no vote for women, etc, but we grew out of those dark times. Will we grow out of these dark times with social security benefits for illegal aliens, and voting irregularities? Time will tell. I'm not so sure the current government exists to maintain the military-industrial complex (which we need in my opinion, although with caution and open eyes), but rather to maintain itself and its power. After the Revolution, George Washington could have become emperor but chose a more enlightened path. How many of our current leaders would become emperor if given half a chance? I'll bet most of them, and that is a big problem. People like Fred Thompson don't grow on trees. Internet forums allow us to rant and rave about our positions and even have our own websites to express them. When that goes away, our days are numbered. I believe we have many problems, and we are headed downhill, but I'd rather have MY country being the most powerful in the world than any other. We do need to be vigilant about too much power in the hands of too few....Support the second amendment to the Bill of Rights -- it protects the rest.
Right, they do not even provide basic service during peak hours, which could be, and ususally is, SEVERAL hours per day. I'm not savy enough to know about packets and torrents; I'm just your run-of-the-mill EE. I will do some research to get smarter in this regard. Anyway, I've called the ISP, WildBlue (shortest hold time 1 hr 20 min so far), and been told, "We are a shared service, so there is nothing we can do." What a copout. Well, it works fine from midnight until about 7 AM; at least that's something. A few months ago they would throttle me by sending text only, not videos or images (just the Red X); now they just cut off the connection after one mouse click to connect to the Internet. The modem tries futiley for hours trying to register, but to no avail. Those WildBlue folks even had the audacity to ask if my antivirus software was current; I told them even with my router disconnected from the modem, it won't connect for hours. They suck, but I don't have a choice really. A neighbor has the same problem (I only have one neighbor out here in the boondocks who is willing to pay big bucks for broadband). That neighbor is considering buying an amplifier for his cell phone, and trying their unlimited data option. I asked him to keep me posted. Any other advice from you will be appreciated. I'll pay almost anything to get broadband, but so far it simply doesn't exist where I live. Thanks. David
Well, of course, this analysis assumes the ISP/carrier will then sell their services accordingly, and not severely oversubscribe, then throttle the subscribers. I have WildBlue satellite service, and throttling starts around 8 AM. By 10:30 AM, it is severely degraded. Around noon, plus or minus an hour, service drops to near-zero. Repeat, NO service from noon until, say, 7 PM. Then it starts to pick up slowly again, until by about 10 PM, it is back to 1.5 Mbps. It isn't that we are just throttled, we are totally disconnected for hours at a time EVERY AFTERNOON - Saturdays and Sundays included. $80/mo for that "service" is BS no mater what you say.
Ever hear of the Dust Bowl Days? Weren't many SUVs around then. Global Warming - humbug. NASA just admitted it was wrong about its temp records over the past century. Darn, another chicken-little vision dashed!
I don't have decent cell service at my location (south central Tennessee), and there are VAST portions of this country with no cell service at all; therefore, cell phones CANNOT solve our broadband problems. And this doesn't even factor in that once cell phone broadband becomes common, the bandwidth will vanish in a heartbeat. There may be cell service provided sometime in the next 20 years or so, maybe....Meanwhile I have WildBlue satellite "broadband" service. Max download speed is 1.5 Mbps (@$80/mo!!), but that is only in the middle of the night. Between about noon and 8 PM there is virtually NO service. If you try to get info to or from the satellite faster than about one click per minute, they cut you off for three or four minutes. No cable, no DSL, no nothing (oh, I forgot, we do have dial-up); and they wonder why we can't attract higher-income people to the county. Holy cow -- the ignorance.....
In Tennessee you neither have to be driving nor be intoxicated to get a DUI. It is illegal to knowingly let someone intoxicated drive your vehicle, and if you are stopped and blow >0.08, you BOTH get a DUI, even if you haven't been driving. How you are supposed to know the other person might blow 0.08 is not clear. There are even local cops who protrol the parking lots of bars waiting for patrons to come out. If they have keys with them, the presumption is that they intend to drive, and they can be given a DUI based on that (if they blow 0.08 that is). That you MIGHT drive is sufficient to get a DUI.
You are 100% correct that alcohol doesn't affect all people the same. Example: My brother and I each over 60 year old, are over six feet tall and weigh about 220 lbs. He drinks all day (after the morning coffee), yet he has never had a DUI in 44 years of driving. It clearly affects his behavior, but apparently not his driving. I, on the other hand, can feel light-headed after even two beers. After four of them, I limit myself to one an hour because I like the slight high, but hate the "buzz." People should be held accountable if they cause accidents, not because they MIGHT cause accidents. Do they give tickets to people who drive stupid? Or who are too old? Or for eating a Big Mac? NO!! They only get a ticket if they cause an accident or commit some other moving violation. Only with alcohol are you guilty for what you MIGHT do. And in some states you can get a DUI even if you didn't have a drink at all, are totally sober, and weren't even driving!! How can that be possible? Imagine you are at a bar with friends. You are not drinking (for whatever reason), but your friends are. You are not paying much attention to who is drinking what, but when you are ready to go home, you decide you are too sleepy to drive and ask one of your apparently sober friends to drive. So your vehicle is stopped, the driver turns out to blow 0.08, and BOTH of you are arrested for DUI. Him for being 0.08 and you for LETTING him drive. Believe it or not. I've also heard that in some states you can get a DUI in a bar just for having car keys with you. Amazing. Pretty soon they'll be going door to door and giving DUIs to folks because they have alcohol in their house and own a car. Let's see....they MIGHT decide to drink some alcohol, then they MIGHT decide to drive the car, then they MIGHT cause an accident. We have got to get off this liberal attitude of not being responsible for our actions. If I cause an accident, who cares what the reason is???? I caused an accident, and should be held accountable for that, period.
This reminds me of another stupid law -- the "open container" laws that many, if not most, states have. So now people drink and throw the can/bottle out the window -- so the only result of the law is a bunch of litter on the road. Really stupid law.
How come they all seem to have the latest trendy trainers (sneakers), mobiles and satellite TV when they don't work?
Good question. One answer could be they know they can never have all the spoils of "the rich," so just get a few to feel better about themselves, or maybe just to "taste" what the wealthy have. A few years ago in Mexico I saw small homes with no doors or windows or furniture (save a few hammocks), but they had a satellite dish -- astounding.
Check this site http://home.rochester.rr.com/jbxroads/interests/al t.sci.math.probability/model.html
Doesn't matter whether its muscle or fat -- being big costs you years. Muscle is better than fat for living longer, but you and I are still going to die earlier than if we were lighter. I am 61 years old, work out three times a week, have within the past two years had body fat percentage less than 10% (about 15% now); weigh 220 and am 74 inches tall (obese by their definition, but my waist is 37 inches -- supposedly ideal). All my "health statistics" are in an acceptable catatory, but heart disease will probably develop within the next 10 to 15 years (or maybe terminal senility LOL). Most of us won't live forever anyway. Good luck dude -- stay in shape no matter what they tell you!! Oh yeah, to the other guy, I had a friend who was 6'7" tall and weighed 300 lbs; he ran marathons in under 4 hours; a 6-min mile was no problem for him.
You are 99% right on! The other 1% is for the time when we only have enough money to fix one bridge but have two bridges that need maintenance. Should I close the other one? Oops, there goes my job. Well, it might last another year.....
That is a very good point, but hardly nothing new. Remember the Ford Pinto? There are always design and maintenance trade-offs, and they often involve safety versus cost. Can we save money by not putting in the little piece of plastic that protects the gas tank? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Can we save money by putting off bridge maintenance? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Can we take off in this weather? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Sure, I've had a few drinks, but it'll save money to drive myself home rather than take a cab...Blah blah. We individually and communaly are every minute trading off cost versus something, often safety. Sometimes we are unlucky and the odds catch up with us. Sometimes we are stupid, and they catch up with us faster. Sometimes we are negligent to the point of criminality, and then we should go to jail for our mistakes (or if you are in China, you get EXECUTED). To be always absolutely safe is cost-prohibitive. Why don't you have a 100 foot thick steel ceiling to protect you from debris falling from the sky. Answer: the probability is so low, spending that kind of money for safety is just crazy. Thus, building a simple roof that protects from at least medium size hail is sufficient. It is all just a matter of degree. The result of the bridge disaster study MIGHT be this: Everything was done just right. That is, we build bridges with certain design and maintenance standards and that is almost always good enough, but sometimes they fall. To improve the standards to where they will never fall will be cost-prohibitive.
The failures in N.O. were due to the fact that Federal monies supposed to be spend on the levies had been instead diverted to pet projects of the various agencies in N.O. And of course rescue efforts that might have been put in place were exaserbated by the mayor and governor who refused to ask for Federal assistance prior to the event, even though President Bush almost begged them to ask for help. Note: It is a violation of Federal law to intervene in local affairs without the local's request; otherwise, we are a police state. The overall infrastructure problems we have in the United States have been with us long before we went into Iraq. And if we need money for this, we might get rid of the illegal immigrants who are here using up our infrastructure and costing us $billions to support those people, but contributing next to nothing to support us. You are right that we are not being good stewards of our stuff, but don't blame George Bush. Anyway you're too late: Rosie blames every disaster on George Bush, and she is way ahead of you.
A few years ago an ATM short-changed me by $20 on a $200 cash withdrawal. I called the bank a couple of hours later, and they said cash not dispensed is dropped into a "cash drawer" each day, and people can come by the bank to pick up any money they should have received but didn't. Later that day I went to the bank and relayed this info to a teller who promptly gave me $20 in cash. I think I had to sign something. I assume there are many malfunctions that could cause customers to be short-changed, but you hardly ever hear of it, and there are probably just as few times when an ATM pays out too much. If there are defective ATMs around, I think banks would not want it generally known, and would fix them instantly leading to minimal losses and concommitant customer satisfaction.
I wish I were paying $10/Mbps. If you only have satellite access (evidently at least 10% of U.S.A.), you pay over $50/Mbps. Oh, and you are limited to 1.5 Mpbs download. Stone Age speed through Space Age link.....
In Alabama until a couple of years ago, you could vote as many times as you wanted since voter ID wasn't required. You just looked down at the book and pointed to a name that hadn't been crossed out yet. Many states have screwed up processes for voting, so voting machine accuracy is hardly the issue. Polls are mysteriously "out of ballots." Or they close before the appointed time, or they don't open on time because "they forgot to send me the voting materials." Or un-registered voters are bussed to the polling places in the wee hours of the morning to cast their ballot, or, or, or.....
Answer: 1) You must prove you are a U.S. citizen before you get a state-issued ID such as a driver's license (e.g., birth certificate -- this is now required in TN) 2) You must register to vote. 3) You must produce the state-issued ID and registration card at the polling place. 4) All election officials right down to the poll workers will be held accountable as potential felons if they fail to perform their job. Once 1)-4) are in place, THEN worry about accuracy in counting votes.
You could have had Hughes Net or WildBlue satellite connections at $80/month for 1.5 Mb/s (download). I live in the boondocks and will be lucky if I EVER see faster than 1.5 Mb/s. Your fiber will be twice the speed at half the cost - don't worry, be happy!
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for the info. Apparently WildBlue doesn't implement QoS.
And Bush blew up the WTC, and caused Hurricane Katrina, and my gosh, he is just responsible for everything bad. Well, maybe the economy is pretty good. And, oh yeah, we haven't had any terrorist attacks in the United States since 9/11. And now that I think of it, unemployment is at historic lows. And perhaps our standard of living is better than ever (more fat Americans). And, let's see, our longevity just increased again. And he decreased taxes for almost all Americans. And the Federal deficit is decreasing. And, and, ....
We do not have enough energy because of environmental extremism. We do not have enough oil because of environmental extremism. If it weren't for them, Bush would have a couple more kudos.
Iraq may someday revert back to its warlike ways, but it can't be allowed to be a rich, anti-American stronghold for terrorists. Have you not noticed the Muslim extremist's stated objective of killing every non-Muslim? I for one would rather live.
I read the Q.o.S. stuff, but it was a tad bit beyond my level of comprehension. Just for the Record I have WildBlue satellite service (have since June '06), but it is very limiting on what it allows me to do. I pay the maximum for the highest rate ($80/1.5Mbps) and download certainly no more than about 1 GB per month. Yet WildBlue severely throttles my rate every day by just cutting off the satellite link to the modem. Yesterday, for example, I was cut off from 9:30 AM until 8:00 PM. Absolutely NO connection during that time. That was a little severe, but every day I am cut off for several hours, generally starting around noon and lasting until about 7 PM. They "throttle" by cutting you off. Their service sucks considering they advertise "You are always connected -- 24/7" -- what B.S.! I called HughesNet, and they said they couldn't guarantee any better service, so I am stuck.
HA! I used to laugh when I would watch computers exploding on the old "STAR TREK" episodes, telling my wife, "That can't happen!" Little did I know.......
Evolution doesn't need to be proven to those with an open mind. Life will evolve to fill in any ecological niche. Bacteria evolve almost before our eyes (as do viruses, though some say viruses aren't "alive"). Even multiple species can fill the same niche, as long as there is room for them. What we can only speculate on is whether there is another driver for evolution, perhaps a divine one. I think the real reason for studying the evolution of man or any other species is to fill in the curiosity gaps.
I believe you are correct on many counts. Power breeds corruption, and the need for votes breeds all kinds of bad things. We are headed downhill no doubt. Still, I'm proud to be an American where at least your voice can be heard, and through the power of your efforts and intellect, you can do anything. In some cases we are acting as the force of enlightment and justice, to use your words. For example, the lame excuse for Iraq was WMDs, but the effect was to free millions of people from a horrible dictator and give them a chance for a free, democratic society. When we depart, they may sink back to where they were, but at least they won't be a base for terrorism. Our Constitution is the oldest governing document on the earth (believe it or not), possibly because the Founding Fathers were blessed with a knowledge of history and perhaps devine oversight. In the early days, even with a Constitution, we had slavery, no vote for women, etc, but we grew out of those dark times. Will we grow out of these dark times with social security benefits for illegal aliens, and voting irregularities? Time will tell. I'm not so sure the current government exists to maintain the military-industrial complex (which we need in my opinion, although with caution and open eyes), but rather to maintain itself and its power. After the Revolution, George Washington could have become emperor but chose a more enlightened path. How many of our current leaders would become emperor if given half a chance? I'll bet most of them, and that is a big problem. People like Fred Thompson don't grow on trees. Internet forums allow us to rant and rave about our positions and even have our own websites to express them. When that goes away, our days are numbered. I believe we have many problems, and we are headed downhill, but I'd rather have MY country being the most powerful in the world than any other. We do need to be vigilant about too much power in the hands of too few....Support the second amendment to the Bill of Rights -- it protects the rest.
Right, they do not even provide basic service during peak hours, which could be, and ususally is, SEVERAL hours per day. I'm not savy enough to know about packets and torrents; I'm just your run-of-the-mill EE. I will do some research to get smarter in this regard. Anyway, I've called the ISP, WildBlue (shortest hold time 1 hr 20 min so far), and been told, "We are a shared service, so there is nothing we can do." What a copout. Well, it works fine from midnight until about 7 AM; at least that's something. A few months ago they would throttle me by sending text only, not videos or images (just the Red X); now they just cut off the connection after one mouse click to connect to the Internet. The modem tries futiley for hours trying to register, but to no avail. Those WildBlue folks even had the audacity to ask if my antivirus software was current; I told them even with my router disconnected from the modem, it won't connect for hours. They suck, but I don't have a choice really. A neighbor has the same problem (I only have one neighbor out here in the boondocks who is willing to pay big bucks for broadband). That neighbor is considering buying an amplifier for his cell phone, and trying their unlimited data option. I asked him to keep me posted. Any other advice from you will be appreciated. I'll pay almost anything to get broadband, but so far it simply doesn't exist where I live. Thanks. David
If you are ashamed to be American, why not emigrate to another country, where you will feel better?
Well, of course, this analysis assumes the ISP/carrier will then sell their services accordingly, and not severely oversubscribe, then throttle the subscribers. I have WildBlue satellite service, and throttling starts around 8 AM. By 10:30 AM, it is severely degraded. Around noon, plus or minus an hour, service drops to near-zero. Repeat, NO service from noon until, say, 7 PM. Then it starts to pick up slowly again, until by about 10 PM, it is back to 1.5 Mbps. It isn't that we are just throttled, we are totally disconnected for hours at a time EVERY AFTERNOON - Saturdays and Sundays included. $80/mo for that "service" is BS no mater what you say.
Ever hear of the Dust Bowl Days? Weren't many SUVs around then. Global Warming - humbug. NASA just admitted it was wrong about its temp records over the past century. Darn, another chicken-little vision dashed!
I don't have decent cell service at my location (south central Tennessee), and there are VAST portions of this country with no cell service at all; therefore, cell phones CANNOT solve our broadband problems. And this doesn't even factor in that once cell phone broadband becomes common, the bandwidth will vanish in a heartbeat. There may be cell service provided sometime in the next 20 years or so, maybe....Meanwhile I have WildBlue satellite "broadband" service. Max download speed is 1.5 Mbps (@$80/mo!!), but that is only in the middle of the night. Between about noon and 8 PM there is virtually NO service. If you try to get info to or from the satellite faster than about one click per minute, they cut you off for three or four minutes. No cable, no DSL, no nothing (oh, I forgot, we do have dial-up); and they wonder why we can't attract higher-income people to the county. Holy cow -- the ignorance.....
In Tennessee you neither have to be driving nor be intoxicated to get a DUI. It is illegal to knowingly let someone intoxicated drive your vehicle, and if you are stopped and blow >0.08, you BOTH get a DUI, even if you haven't been driving. How you are supposed to know the other person might blow 0.08 is not clear. There are even local cops who protrol the parking lots of bars waiting for patrons to come out. If they have keys with them, the presumption is that they intend to drive, and they can be given a DUI based on that (if they blow 0.08 that is). That you MIGHT drive is sufficient to get a DUI.
You are 100% correct that alcohol doesn't affect all people the same. Example: My brother and I each over 60 year old, are over six feet tall and weigh about 220 lbs. He drinks all day (after the morning coffee), yet he has never had a DUI in 44 years of driving. It clearly affects his behavior, but apparently not his driving. I, on the other hand, can feel light-headed after even two beers. After four of them, I limit myself to one an hour because I like the slight high, but hate the "buzz." People should be held accountable if they cause accidents, not because they MIGHT cause accidents. Do they give tickets to people who drive stupid? Or who are too old? Or for eating a Big Mac? NO!! They only get a ticket if they cause an accident or commit some other moving violation. Only with alcohol are you guilty for what you MIGHT do. And in some states you can get a DUI even if you didn't have a drink at all, are totally sober, and weren't even driving!! How can that be possible? Imagine you are at a bar with friends. You are not drinking (for whatever reason), but your friends are. You are not paying much attention to who is drinking what, but when you are ready to go home, you decide you are too sleepy to drive and ask one of your apparently sober friends to drive. So your vehicle is stopped, the driver turns out to blow 0.08, and BOTH of you are arrested for DUI. Him for being 0.08 and you for LETTING him drive. Believe it or not. I've also heard that in some states you can get a DUI in a bar just for having car keys with you. Amazing. Pretty soon they'll be going door to door and giving DUIs to folks because they have alcohol in their house and own a car. Let's see....they MIGHT decide to drink some alcohol, then they MIGHT decide to drive the car, then they MIGHT cause an accident. We have got to get off this liberal attitude of not being responsible for our actions. If I cause an accident, who cares what the reason is???? I caused an accident, and should be held accountable for that, period. This reminds me of another stupid law -- the "open container" laws that many, if not most, states have. So now people drink and throw the can/bottle out the window -- so the only result of the law is a bunch of litter on the road. Really stupid law.
How come they all seem to have the latest trendy trainers (sneakers), mobiles and satellite TV when they don't work? Good question. One answer could be they know they can never have all the spoils of "the rich," so just get a few to feel better about themselves, or maybe just to "taste" what the wealthy have. A few years ago in Mexico I saw small homes with no doors or windows or furniture (save a few hammocks), but they had a satellite dish -- astounding.
Check this site http://home.rochester.rr.com/jbxroads/interests/al t.sci.math.probability/model.html
Doesn't matter whether its muscle or fat -- being big costs you years. Muscle is better than fat for living longer, but you and I are still going to die earlier than if we were lighter. I am 61 years old, work out three times a week, have within the past two years had body fat percentage less than 10% (about 15% now); weigh 220 and am 74 inches tall (obese by their definition, but my waist is 37 inches -- supposedly ideal). All my "health statistics" are in an acceptable catatory, but heart disease will probably develop within the next 10 to 15 years (or maybe terminal senility LOL). Most of us won't live forever anyway. Good luck dude -- stay in shape no matter what they tell you!! Oh yeah, to the other guy, I had a friend who was 6'7" tall and weighed 300 lbs; he ran marathons in under 4 hours; a 6-min mile was no problem for him.
You are 99% right on! The other 1% is for the time when we only have enough money to fix one bridge but have two bridges that need maintenance. Should I close the other one? Oops, there goes my job. Well, it might last another year.....
That is a very good point, but hardly nothing new. Remember the Ford Pinto? There are always design and maintenance trade-offs, and they often involve safety versus cost. Can we save money by not putting in the little piece of plastic that protects the gas tank? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Can we save money by putting off bridge maintenance? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Can we take off in this weather? Yes, but it may cost lives (if we're wrong). Sure, I've had a few drinks, but it'll save money to drive myself home rather than take a cab...Blah blah. We individually and communaly are every minute trading off cost versus something, often safety. Sometimes we are unlucky and the odds catch up with us. Sometimes we are stupid, and they catch up with us faster. Sometimes we are negligent to the point of criminality, and then we should go to jail for our mistakes (or if you are in China, you get EXECUTED). To be always absolutely safe is cost-prohibitive. Why don't you have a 100 foot thick steel ceiling to protect you from debris falling from the sky. Answer: the probability is so low, spending that kind of money for safety is just crazy. Thus, building a simple roof that protects from at least medium size hail is sufficient. It is all just a matter of degree. The result of the bridge disaster study MIGHT be this: Everything was done just right. That is, we build bridges with certain design and maintenance standards and that is almost always good enough, but sometimes they fall. To improve the standards to where they will never fall will be cost-prohibitive.
The failures in N.O. were due to the fact that Federal monies supposed to be spend on the levies had been instead diverted to pet projects of the various agencies in N.O. And of course rescue efforts that might have been put in place were exaserbated by the mayor and governor who refused to ask for Federal assistance prior to the event, even though President Bush almost begged them to ask for help. Note: It is a violation of Federal law to intervene in local affairs without the local's request; otherwise, we are a police state. The overall infrastructure problems we have in the United States have been with us long before we went into Iraq. And if we need money for this, we might get rid of the illegal immigrants who are here using up our infrastructure and costing us $billions to support those people, but contributing next to nothing to support us. You are right that we are not being good stewards of our stuff, but don't blame George Bush. Anyway you're too late: Rosie blames every disaster on George Bush, and she is way ahead of you.
In Iraq's first vote last year, each person who cast a written ballot then dunked a finger into a purple dye that would last a few days.
A few years ago an ATM short-changed me by $20 on a $200 cash withdrawal. I called the bank a couple of hours later, and they said cash not dispensed is dropped into a "cash drawer" each day, and people can come by the bank to pick up any money they should have received but didn't. Later that day I went to the bank and relayed this info to a teller who promptly gave me $20 in cash. I think I had to sign something. I assume there are many malfunctions that could cause customers to be short-changed, but you hardly ever hear of it, and there are probably just as few times when an ATM pays out too much. If there are defective ATMs around, I think banks would not want it generally known, and would fix them instantly leading to minimal losses and concommitant customer satisfaction.
Chrome plating is far from simple and the maximum reflectivity that can be achieved is about 65%.
I wish I were paying $10/Mbps. If you only have satellite access (evidently at least 10% of U.S.A.), you pay over $50/Mbps. Oh, and you are limited to 1.5 Mpbs download. Stone Age speed through Space Age link.....
In Alabama until a couple of years ago, you could vote as many times as you wanted since voter ID wasn't required. You just looked down at the book and pointed to a name that hadn't been crossed out yet. Many states have screwed up processes for voting, so voting machine accuracy is hardly the issue. Polls are mysteriously "out of ballots." Or they close before the appointed time, or they don't open on time because "they forgot to send me the voting materials." Or un-registered voters are bussed to the polling places in the wee hours of the morning to cast their ballot, or, or, or..... Answer: 1) You must prove you are a U.S. citizen before you get a state-issued ID such as a driver's license (e.g., birth certificate -- this is now required in TN) 2) You must register to vote. 3) You must produce the state-issued ID and registration card at the polling place. 4) All election officials right down to the poll workers will be held accountable as potential felons if they fail to perform their job. Once 1)-4) are in place, THEN worry about accuracy in counting votes.
You could have had Hughes Net or WildBlue satellite connections at $80/month for 1.5 Mb/s (download). I live in the boondocks and will be lucky if I EVER see faster than 1.5 Mb/s. Your fiber will be twice the speed at half the cost - don't worry, be happy!
And don't forget affect = verb: to produce an effect upon and effect = noun: result