Is this new? When did this start? I mean, I used to get money back, but never more than I paid. I don't have kids, though, maybe that is the difference?
Who gets back more money than they paid? Certainly, when I was young and poor, I got money back at the end of the year, but never more than I had paid in withholding. I see people make this claim all the time, that poor people get more money back than they pay in taxes, and I just want to know, uh, how do they do it?
No one I know vilifies the rich for being successful. In fact, people tend to idolize successful achievers. IF they deserve that success. People love it when smart, plucky, hard working go-getters make it big, but they hate it when conniving sociopathic weasels do. And quite frankly, for every one upstanding rich man who made it big without stepping on anyone along the way, there are ten selfish, amoral pricks who fucked anyone and anything that got in their way. It's not the bad apple that spoils the rich bunch, it is the one lone good apple that somehow resists the all encompassing rot.
Now look at the people who really make a difference, the scientists and engineers who actually make the world a better place. Despite the fact that there work is infinitely more important than that of so called 'industrial leaders' who are mere paper pushers adding nothing of benefit to human society, these scientists and engineers are almost never rich, unless they come from a rich family, or happen to be sociopathic enough to stab their friends in the back when the time comes.
Remember, if you are making a quarter of a million dollars nowadays, you are barely upper middle class. "Rich" doesn't start until you hit eight figures. I know a lot of middle class Americans think they might become rich someday. They won't.
Whoa there cowboy, don't go blaming the victim, it's not like he was "asking for it." He is not the reason why people are underpaid. You confuse symptom with cause. The cause is C*O pay, plain and simple. These guys call the shots, and surprise, surprise, they decided they need to get paid more, at the expense of people who actually create value instead of shuffle papers.
The whole reason we have a government is to have someone to blame when things go wrong. That doesn't really work if we remember we are the government, so shut it. Comforting myths are comforting.
You seemed to have addressed only one side of OP's post Besides reporting, which was a minor point, what about the issue of non response endangering legitimate customers? This is why a free market fire service will never and can never work right, and why all civilized countries, for the last several hundred years or so, have had socialized fire departments.
But those are more technically philosophies rather than religions. "You create your own reality" does not mean we are creator-Gods. It means that nothing means anything unless someone says it means something. Our minds create meaning out of raw experience.
I can prove to myself that space or antarctica exist without having to rely on someone else's experience. The difference between space and Antarctica, on the one hand, and God, on the other, are that, at least according to people who have been there, space and antarctica are physical, tangible things with discernible properties. God is not. I can watch a rocket taking off. I can not watch a person experiencing God. That experience is entirely subjective, and exists only in the person having it. Space and Antarctica are things that can be seen directly or videotaped. Sure, someone may be faking those videos, but that is stretching the definition of faith. Do you have to have faith to walk? According to you, you do. You need to have faith that the ground is solid, because you have not experienced the solidity of this piece of ground at this time. But don't you see that defining "faith" that way destroys any meaning the word has?
Science is not based on faith, because science does not even claim to tell us what is "true." If you think science tells us what is true and what is false, you drastically and fundamentally misunderstand what science is and how it works. True and false aren't part of it. It doesn't matter if a theory is true or not. We still use theories we absolutely know to be false, like Newton's theory of gravity. We use that instead of Einstein's theory in almost all engineering, because it is useful, that is to say, it makes accurate predictions in known circumstances. And it is much simpler to calculate. As long as your building is not traveling at light speed, Newton's theories are close enough to be useful. And that is all science tries to do, find theories that are useful, that make accurate and important predictions in given circumstances.
The thing about theories, you can test them. Science works because anyone can look at a theory, see what it predicts, and look at the real world, and see if it matches the theory. Personally, I have tested a great many theories of God, and none of them work as purported for me. I've lived as just a life as possible, believing in God. I've opened my heart. I've prayed. I've fasted. I've meditated. You know what I got for my troubles?
Nothing. Do you understand? I have done everything that the people who claim to have personally experienced God told me would work, and it didn't. That is the cold hard truth for most people. But I bet they said they did, because who wants to look impious? Now, science has given us other tools for looking at this dilemma. I could, with the help of science, personally experience God. Just shoot a beam at the right spot on a person's head, and they will experience everything the saints and mystics do, direct personal experience of God. Even knowing it came from a beam of electrons, most people who have experienced it still believe it was real, because it "felt real." But it wasn't really God, it was a particular region of the brain getting triggered by electricity.
Now, I have two possible explanations for this God thing. One is, he exists but is hiding from me personally. The other, everyone who had a direct experience of God just had a particular region of the brain triggered by some event.
And just to be clear, I do not want your advice on how to find God. Whatever you have to say, I've tried it already and it didn't work. No God for me. But that is really okay, I do not need a God. I do not need an external reason for this. This exists, and that is enough. All else is fantasy. There is no ultimate meaning or purpose to life or the universe, and that is a good thing, because it means we are free to create any meaning or purpose we like. I know that kind of freedom scares some small minded people, which is why they invented a God that, according to their books, is far, far less awe inspiring than the real universe.
I'll take reality, you can keep your useless schizophrenic God. You want to know who created reality? I did. Everything I see, I have given it all the meaning it
That is the way laws are written, for heinous crimes that are hard to catch. You may not like it, but that is how the law works. Not disposing of CFL bulbs is hardly a heinous crime.
2 year olds. Violence. Incest. Admitted guilt to the police on the spot. I'll diary the details when I get my shit back together. The wife and I spent last night consoling his girlfriend, and hearing all the gory details.
Yes, it would have. Evidence points to him being a victim of childhood abuse himself, and contributing to the cycle of abuse, as is common in cases like that. He was a broken man, and what he contributed to broke others, who may well go on to hurt even more people when they grow up. The burden placed on society by his actions far outweighs that of murder.
Going over things his girlfriend has told us and other things we know, he was abused as a child himself. His mom treats him like a boyfriend, sitting on his lap, for instance. He doesn't remember much of his childhood. His dad was a hoarder. Both his parents were totally crazy. And the titles of the movies they were searching for, and found, on his computer, indicated incest and violence to children.
His condition was obviously deteriorating. He didn't work, and lived off his girlfriend, even though he was obviously intelligent and skilled with computers, for the last two years since his dad died. She frequently came home to find him lying on the couch, crying.
He needs help. He did not seek it out on his own. I'm hoping the system actually works for him, and he gets some much needed counseling. I do not think he will recover otherwise.
He admitted it to the police. I'm going to provide more details in a diary, but my wife and I spent all last night consoling his girlfriend and I'm pretty damn tired.
Just watching it contributes to it getting made. And this was not an isolated bust, they were going after 15 people Friday. Couple that with the fact of a previous bust of about ten or so a month ago, I think we've got a child porn ring producing the stuff here. And it's not just child porn, the titles they listed on the warrant and found on his computer included incest and violence to children.
I was reacting out of shock yesterday and didn't have time to think things through. I probably shouldn't have posted anything. I don't think he should kill himself. It is obvious (from other things his girlfriend has told us) that he was a victim himself as a child. The chances of getting better and becoming a functioning member of society after something like that are slim, and especially in cases stemming from childhood abuse, people tend to get worse as time goes on unless they dedicate everything they've got to overcoming it. I hope our system provides him with some sort of counseling. He needs it.
If no one watched child porn, no one would produce it. Because it is so hard to catch people watching or producing it, the punishment must be very harsh in order to act as an effective deterrent. And people who watch child porn are at greater risk of abusing children themselves.
No, sorry, I haven't. I'll write a diary about it, but this is real, and it is serious, and it answers a lot of questions I had about his behavior and his childhood.
No, as I said, I never said it was the "right" thing to do. I said it was the company's right to do so.
As an example, if a woman dumps you and I say, "Bitch did you a favor," does that mean I think she did the right thing? No, it means, I think it is better you are no longer with her. And no one would argue her right to dump you, obviously she has that right.
My observations about Fox News were coincidental to the discussion at hand, meaning, it is perhaps a coincidence that both Fox News viewers and the poster are hypocritical and vindictive,
He was not fired for having the wrong political beliefs. He was let out of his contract for reasons we can only guess at. Contractors can not be fired, they were never employees. If he'd wanted protection, he should have asked for it. He didn't, and now he wants to ruin this person's life because he made a mistake when bargaining for the position. He is stupid, for not asking for what he wanted. He is hypocritical because I have seen him castigate others for not taking personal responsibility, but does not do so here, and he is vindictive because he fantasized about putting kiddie porn on his ex-bosses computer.
His boss would not merely be fired if he planted kiddie porn on her computer, and you know it.
And once again, I must point out that he wasn't fired. As a contractor, he was never an employee. He was a supplier of services, an independent business that did work for another business. If he wanted the protections that come with being an employee, he should have become an employee, not a contractor.
I have no sympathy because, and this bears repeating, commodore64_love fantasized about putting kiddie porn on his ex-bosses computer for revenge.
I wasn't saying you were a Fox News viewer. I was saying, the Fox News viewers I've met have mostly been hypocritical and vindictive. If you are not a Fox News viewer, I suppose it is mere coincidence that you are.
Take responsibility for your own life, stop blaming others, and stop fantasizing about brutal revenge against those you don't like. Or at least stop talking about it in public, people might get the idea that you are dangerous to hire. Most people won't hire anyone who fantasizes about that kind of revenge.
I'm not insinuating it was right. I'm saying it was the company's right to do so, and if he wanted a different bargain he should have asked for it. He agreed to the contract, and has no one to blame but himself if the contract did not protect his rights.
Personal responsibility is something that Fox News viewers seem to only want for other people. When it comes to their own life, they blame everyone but themselves for their problems, and they fantasize about utterly destroying anyone who slights them in the least. Proving once again that right wingers tend to be vindictive and hypocritical.
One of her best friends just called her. This woman's house was just raided by the FBI this morning. Turns out that her boyfriend was into child porn. I've hung out with them, he seemed like a regular guy. I liked him. Now I don't know what to think, or feel. I know I feel a little dirty just from having hung out with him. But I also feel some sympathy, because I know the guy, and before I found this out, I liked him. I can't imagine what his girlfriend is going through. Can you ever take enough showers to feel clean after that?
I know he had a screwed up childhood. I guess I just didn't know how screwed up. And now I can't help but contemplate his future. It isn't pretty. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, kiddie porn is inexcusable. But his life is over now. If I were somehow in his position, I know what I'd do. I know the man owns guns. There aren't many situations where suicide might just be the best answer, but along with painful terminal illness, this is one of them.
I just feel sick now, I could barely eat lunch today. The wife and I offered to help clean up after the mess the FBI left, tearing up the place. But cleaning the physical mess is only the first step.
As others have pointed out, you were a contractor. Your choice. And this is your side of the story, I'm sure it leaves out some details. If you had an actual case, you could go to court. But you don't, do you? And so you daydream about ruining someone's entire life. Did you know the idea of "an eye for an eye" was originally not seen as harsh,because it was meant to replace "Your life for an eye." Of course nowadays, even "an eye for an eye" is seen as unjust. But you seem to think that even "an eye for an eye" is not harsh enough.
If your boss had a problem with you watching Fox News, it sounds like you were simply not a good fit. Why stay at a place you are not wanted, especially as a contractor? Do you not feel confident in your abilities to find work? If that's the case, perhaps you should not be a contractor. She did you a favor, enabling you to look for a job where your political views would not be an issue. If you were a real employee, you might have a case. If you had some sort of protections written into your contract, you might have a case. But that is not how contractors generally work, they generally work at the whims of those that employ them, and can be let go for any reason or none, at any time.
My goodness. I suspect I may be the one who, being the younger, needs to remove himself from your lawn. Even in the backwoods of West Virginia circa 1975, the year I turned five and was old enough to inhabit lawns on my own, neighbors did not use shotguns with rocksalt. But maybe that's just because people are very polite in WV.
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Is this new? When did this start? I mean, I used to get money back, but never more than I paid. I don't have kids, though, maybe that is the difference?
Who gets back more money than they paid? Certainly, when I was young and poor, I got money back at the end of the year, but never more than I had paid in withholding. I see people make this claim all the time, that poor people get more money back than they pay in taxes, and I just want to know, uh, how do they do it?
No one I know vilifies the rich for being successful. In fact, people tend to idolize successful achievers. IF they deserve that success. People love it when smart, plucky, hard working go-getters make it big, but they hate it when conniving sociopathic weasels do. And quite frankly, for every one upstanding rich man who made it big without stepping on anyone along the way, there are ten selfish, amoral pricks who fucked anyone and anything that got in their way. It's not the bad apple that spoils the rich bunch, it is the one lone good apple that somehow resists the all encompassing rot.
Now look at the people who really make a difference, the scientists and engineers who actually make the world a better place. Despite the fact that there work is infinitely more important than that of so called 'industrial leaders' who are mere paper pushers adding nothing of benefit to human society, these scientists and engineers are almost never rich, unless they come from a rich family, or happen to be sociopathic enough to stab their friends in the back when the time comes.
Remember, if you are making a quarter of a million dollars nowadays, you are barely upper middle class. "Rich" doesn't start until you hit eight figures. I know a lot of middle class Americans think they might become rich someday. They won't.
Not exactly curvilinear/feminine shaped, is it? I think what she wants is a house made out of large sheets of ham thrown against the side of a cliff.
Whoa there cowboy, don't go blaming the victim, it's not like he was "asking for it." He is not the reason why people are underpaid. You confuse symptom with cause. The cause is C*O pay, plain and simple. These guys call the shots, and surprise, surprise, they decided they need to get paid more, at the expense of people who actually create value instead of shuffle papers.
The whole reason we have a government is to have someone to blame when things go wrong. That doesn't really work if we remember we are the government, so shut it. Comforting myths are comforting.
You seemed to have addressed only one side of OP's post Besides reporting, which was a minor point, what about the issue of non response endangering legitimate customers? This is why a free market fire service will never and can never work right, and why all civilized countries, for the last several hundred years or so, have had socialized fire departments.
But those are more technically philosophies rather than religions. "You create your own reality" does not mean we are creator-Gods. It means that nothing means anything unless someone says it means something. Our minds create meaning out of raw experience.
I can prove to myself that space or antarctica exist without having to rely on someone else's experience. The difference between space and Antarctica, on the one hand, and God, on the other, are that, at least according to people who have been there, space and antarctica are physical, tangible things with discernible properties. God is not. I can watch a rocket taking off. I can not watch a person experiencing God. That experience is entirely subjective, and exists only in the person having it. Space and Antarctica are things that can be seen directly or videotaped. Sure, someone may be faking those videos, but that is stretching the definition of faith. Do you have to have faith to walk? According to you, you do. You need to have faith that the ground is solid, because you have not experienced the solidity of this piece of ground at this time. But don't you see that defining "faith" that way destroys any meaning the word has?
Science is not based on faith, because science does not even claim to tell us what is "true." If you think science tells us what is true and what is false, you drastically and fundamentally misunderstand what science is and how it works. True and false aren't part of it. It doesn't matter if a theory is true or not. We still use theories we absolutely know to be false, like Newton's theory of gravity. We use that instead of Einstein's theory in almost all engineering, because it is useful, that is to say, it makes accurate predictions in known circumstances. And it is much simpler to calculate. As long as your building is not traveling at light speed, Newton's theories are close enough to be useful. And that is all science tries to do, find theories that are useful, that make accurate and important predictions in given circumstances.
The thing about theories, you can test them. Science works because anyone can look at a theory, see what it predicts, and look at the real world, and see if it matches the theory. Personally, I have tested a great many theories of God, and none of them work as purported for me. I've lived as just a life as possible, believing in God. I've opened my heart. I've prayed. I've fasted. I've meditated. You know what I got for my troubles?
Nothing. Do you understand? I have done everything that the people who claim to have personally experienced God told me would work, and it didn't. That is the cold hard truth for most people. But I bet they said they did, because who wants to look impious? Now, science has given us other tools for looking at this dilemma. I could, with the help of science, personally experience God. Just shoot a beam at the right spot on a person's head, and they will experience everything the saints and mystics do, direct personal experience of God. Even knowing it came from a beam of electrons, most people who have experienced it still believe it was real, because it "felt real." But it wasn't really God, it was a particular region of the brain getting triggered by electricity.
Now, I have two possible explanations for this God thing. One is, he exists but is hiding from me personally. The other, everyone who had a direct experience of God just had a particular region of the brain triggered by some event.
And just to be clear, I do not want your advice on how to find God. Whatever you have to say, I've tried it already and it didn't work. No God for me. But that is really okay, I do not need a God. I do not need an external reason for this. This exists, and that is enough. All else is fantasy. There is no ultimate meaning or purpose to life or the universe, and that is a good thing, because it means we are free to create any meaning or purpose we like. I know that kind of freedom scares some small minded people, which is why they invented a God that, according to their books, is far, far less awe inspiring than the real universe.
I'll take reality, you can keep your useless schizophrenic God. You want to know who created reality? I did. Everything I see, I have given it all the meaning it
Please, just read my diary on the matter before you leap to judge me, okay? There is A LOT more information that you are unaware of.
That is the way laws are written, for heinous crimes that are hard to catch. You may not like it, but that is how the law works. Not disposing of CFL bulbs is hardly a heinous crime.
http://slashdot.org/journal/256272/Oh-shit
2 year olds. Violence. Incest. Admitted guilt to the police on the spot. I'll diary the details when I get my shit back together. The wife and I spent last night consoling his girlfriend, and hearing all the gory details.
Yes, it would have. Evidence points to him being a victim of childhood abuse himself, and contributing to the cycle of abuse, as is common in cases like that. He was a broken man, and what he contributed to broke others, who may well go on to hurt even more people when they grow up. The burden placed on society by his actions far outweighs that of murder.
Going over things his girlfriend has told us and other things we know, he was abused as a child himself. His mom treats him like a boyfriend, sitting on his lap, for instance. He doesn't remember much of his childhood. His dad was a hoarder. Both his parents were totally crazy. And the titles of the movies they were searching for, and found, on his computer, indicated incest and violence to children.
His condition was obviously deteriorating. He didn't work, and lived off his girlfriend, even though he was obviously intelligent and skilled with computers, for the last two years since his dad died. She frequently came home to find him lying on the couch, crying.
He needs help. He did not seek it out on his own. I'm hoping the system actually works for him, and he gets some much needed counseling. I do not think he will recover otherwise.
He admitted it to the police. I'm going to provide more details in a diary, but my wife and I spent all last night consoling his girlfriend and I'm pretty damn tired.
I do know, because he admitted it to the police, okay?
Just watching it contributes to it getting made. And this was not an isolated bust, they were going after 15 people Friday. Couple that with the fact of a previous bust of about ten or so a month ago, I think we've got a child porn ring producing the stuff here. And it's not just child porn, the titles they listed on the warrant and found on his computer included incest and violence to children.
I was reacting out of shock yesterday and didn't have time to think things through. I probably shouldn't have posted anything. I don't think he should kill himself. It is obvious (from other things his girlfriend has told us) that he was a victim himself as a child. The chances of getting better and becoming a functioning member of society after something like that are slim, and especially in cases stemming from childhood abuse, people tend to get worse as time goes on unless they dedicate everything they've got to overcoming it. I hope our system provides him with some sort of counseling. He needs it.
If no one watched child porn, no one would produce it. Because it is so hard to catch people watching or producing it, the punishment must be very harsh in order to act as an effective deterrent. And people who watch child porn are at greater risk of abusing children themselves.
No, sorry, I haven't. I'll write a diary about it, but this is real, and it is serious, and it answers a lot of questions I had about his behavior and his childhood.
No, as I said, I never said it was the "right" thing to do. I said it was the company's right to do so.
As an example, if a woman dumps you and I say, "Bitch did you a favor," does that mean I think she did the right thing? No, it means, I think it is better you are no longer with her. And no one would argue her right to dump you, obviously she has that right.
My observations about Fox News were coincidental to the discussion at hand, meaning, it is perhaps a coincidence that both Fox News viewers and the poster are hypocritical and vindictive,
He was not fired for having the wrong political beliefs. He was let out of his contract for reasons we can only guess at. Contractors can not be fired, they were never employees. If he'd wanted protection, he should have asked for it. He didn't, and now he wants to ruin this person's life because he made a mistake when bargaining for the position. He is stupid, for not asking for what he wanted. He is hypocritical because I have seen him castigate others for not taking personal responsibility, but does not do so here, and he is vindictive because he fantasized about putting kiddie porn on his ex-bosses computer.
His boss would not merely be fired if he planted kiddie porn on her computer, and you know it.
And once again, I must point out that he wasn't fired. As a contractor, he was never an employee. He was a supplier of services, an independent business that did work for another business. If he wanted the protections that come with being an employee, he should have become an employee, not a contractor.
I have no sympathy because, and this bears repeating, commodore64_love fantasized about putting kiddie porn on his ex-bosses computer for revenge.
I wasn't saying you were a Fox News viewer. I was saying, the Fox News viewers I've met have mostly been hypocritical and vindictive. If you are not a Fox News viewer, I suppose it is mere coincidence that you are.
Take responsibility for your own life, stop blaming others, and stop fantasizing about brutal revenge against those you don't like. Or at least stop talking about it in public, people might get the idea that you are dangerous to hire. Most people won't hire anyone who fantasizes about that kind of revenge.
I'm not insinuating it was right. I'm saying it was the company's right to do so, and if he wanted a different bargain he should have asked for it. He agreed to the contract, and has no one to blame but himself if the contract did not protect his rights.
Personal responsibility is something that Fox News viewers seem to only want for other people. When it comes to their own life, they blame everyone but themselves for their problems, and they fantasize about utterly destroying anyone who slights them in the least. Proving once again that right wingers tend to be vindictive and hypocritical.
One of her best friends just called her. This woman's house was just raided by the FBI this morning. Turns out that her boyfriend was into child porn. I've hung out with them, he seemed like a regular guy. I liked him. Now I don't know what to think, or feel. I know I feel a little dirty just from having hung out with him. But I also feel some sympathy, because I know the guy, and before I found this out, I liked him. I can't imagine what his girlfriend is going through. Can you ever take enough showers to feel clean after that?
I know he had a screwed up childhood. I guess I just didn't know how screwed up. And now I can't help but contemplate his future. It isn't pretty. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it, kiddie porn is inexcusable. But his life is over now. If I were somehow in his position, I know what I'd do. I know the man owns guns. There aren't many situations where suicide might just be the best answer, but along with painful terminal illness, this is one of them.
I just feel sick now, I could barely eat lunch today. The wife and I offered to help clean up after the mess the FBI left, tearing up the place. But cleaning the physical mess is only the first step.
As others have pointed out, you were a contractor. Your choice. And this is your side of the story, I'm sure it leaves out some details. If you had an actual case, you could go to court. But you don't, do you? And so you daydream about ruining someone's entire life. Did you know the idea of "an eye for an eye" was originally not seen as harsh,because it was meant to replace "Your life for an eye." Of course nowadays, even "an eye for an eye" is seen as unjust. But you seem to think that even "an eye for an eye" is not harsh enough.
If your boss had a problem with you watching Fox News, it sounds like you were simply not a good fit. Why stay at a place you are not wanted, especially as a contractor? Do you not feel confident in your abilities to find work? If that's the case, perhaps you should not be a contractor. She did you a favor, enabling you to look for a job where your political views would not be an issue. If you were a real employee, you might have a case. If you had some sort of protections written into your contract, you might have a case. But that is not how contractors generally work, they generally work at the whims of those that employ them, and can be let go for any reason or none, at any time.
The ultimate weapon of the twenty first century: a catapult that fires naked children at your enemies.
My goodness. I suspect I may be the one who, being the younger, needs to remove himself from your lawn. Even in the backwoods of West Virginia circa 1975, the year I turned five and was old enough to inhabit lawns on my own, neighbors did not use shotguns with rocksalt. But maybe that's just because people are very polite in WV.