>>>Its amazing how much detail and error checking go into any system dealing with money, but not with human lives.
Humans are self-generating. About 120 million new ones every year. It's not as if we're having a shortage of them (hence the ~10% unemployment rate... there are more humans than jobs).
- engines sludging after only 20-30,000 miles - prematurely dying hybrid batteries - out-of-control cars hitting walls or driving off ledges at 100mph
Ford has also had problems since some of their engines/batteries are supplied by Toyota. The KEY difference is that Ford honored the warranty and replaced those items free-of-charge. Toyota stuck their customers with ~$7000 bills to buy new engines or hybrid batteries, and pretended the warranty didn't exist.
Toyota found itself in a class-action lawsuit in 2008 as a result. Toyota lost.
>>>pedal and floormat "problems" were simply a smokescreen to hide the actual cause of the problem
Yes it's been Toyota's modus operandi since about 2000 - blame the customer not Toyota: - "My car accelerated out of control, even when I shifted to neutral!". - It was your fault, not ours. - TOYOTA. - "My car's engine (times about 100,000 other engines) died after only 20,000 miles. It's under warranty and would like a new one." No. It is the fault of the customer for not changing oil. - TOYOTA. "But my dealer did the oil changes. They have records and said they will back me up." No it is the fault of the customer. Warranty denied. - TOYOTA
- "My Prius battery died after only 50,000. Warranty entitles me to a new one upto 100,000 miles." No. Not our problem because our tests show Prius batteries will last 200,000 miles. You abused the battery, so it's your fault. - TOYOTA.
.
Yes Toyota did eventually go back and fix all these problems. They extended Prius battery warranty to 150,000 miles. They replaced or reimbursed customers for their damaged engines. They recalled the cars and reprogrammed the ECU so it would not ignore the brake or neutral commands..........AFTER the U.S. DOJ stepped in. Toyota of the 2000s acted like Ford of the 1970s. (Remember the exploding Fords?) Every company screws up, but to deny warranty to innocent customers, and force them to spend $7000 replacing new engines, shows the height of arrogance. What's the point of having a warranty if the corporation can randomly refuse to honor the damn thing?
>>>1. the angry tea partiers, with their brick throwing and insane murderous anger, IS kristallnacht, on a smaller scale
You clearly don't know history. The destruction of Jewish stores/homes was perpetrated by government employees working for the National Socialist Party. Tea Party supporters are not government employees. .
>>>2. intolerant deluded propagandized fools hording guns in the woods are the seeds of fascism
No. Hitler banned private ownership of guns in order to prevent backlash, because he knew the danger if citizens finally got fed-up and started shooting back. (See the Jewish Ghetto uprisings for examples.)
In a truly free society government does not need to fear the gun, because it is obeying the people's wishes rather than ignoring them.
>>>without the mandate of the people who were already governed by a decentralized Articles of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation was a contract between sovereign States. The U.S. Constitution was a contract between sovereign States.
Nothing really changed, other than the organization of the central government. And you say it was "hidden" but the words are right there on the page. Just read them. If you have doubt of their meaning, do what the U.S. Court does and read the original intent of the words from Madison (the guy who wrote the thing) - a weak central government with specific, enumerated powers, where most power was reserved to the original 13 State Governments.
>>>Stewart's last-night moment of Zen - they had a clip from Fox
No they didn't. That was a comedy bit. It was fake. You can't tell the difference? As for the communist bit, I think Obama's policies are more simply: Anti-choice. And being I'm a Pro-Choice kind of guy, I find Obama's taking away of my choices ("buy healthcare or be fined!") to be objectionable. It makes me feel like I'm a serf rather than a free individual.
I have no great love for the GOP, but if they keep their promise to return to conservatism, they are still the lesser evil from the Tea Party point-of-view.
After all, it's not the GOP that's trying to shove ACTA down our throats and the Mandatory Hospitalization Suppository up our ass. ACTA and this recent healthcare reform directly benefits the Democrats' buddies in Hollywood and the Insurance Corporations. Pople who think the Dems are not in bed with corporations are in denial.
BTW your pie chart is wrong.
For some odd reason it excludes Social Security and Medicare which are the biggest pieces of the pie. It would have to be, what with the government sending ~$700 checks to ~60 million Americans each month. That's about 6 times the military budget. (Please note I'm not saying military is okay; I'm antiwar and think Obama is an ___ for not ending it in 2010 as he promised.)
>>>you can't count on many African countries to keep the same name for more than a generation.
Precisely. I know South Africa and Egypt and Sudan, but that's about it. The rest of the continent is a blur, what with constantly changing names and redrawing of borders. Afirca doesn't have the stability of, say, Europe which was pretty constant from 1800 to 1918... and 1945 to the present... and easy to memorize.
>>>Slashdotters, I love you, but I hope you never have to endure governments as powerless as you desire them to be.
You mean like the USA circa 1820s. We seemed to do okay. The government was limited to only those powers granted by the Constitution, and men were free to pursue happiness in whatever way they desired. There was the problem of slavery and sexism, but we were still making progress.
Now contrast to the present, where citizens are treated like serfs: - "Buy healthcare or be fined ~$1000." - "Give us half your income every year, or else face jail time." - "Your 18. Time to join the draft in case we need you to give up your Right to Life in some foreign hellhole." - "You can speak on the net, unless we don't like what you say, then we'll charge you with hatespeech. Or just yank your site. Or search your home without warrant to arrest you for some other made-up charge."
It took about 200 years but the leaders have successfully restored the monarchy/nobility. True it's an elected monarchy/nobility, but still the same old Medieval-style power structure.
>>>Would you want your cops to stop an arson in progress, or should they be forced to go through the courts first?
The question you should be asking: "If my wife and I are having vigorous sex, and a neighbor reports screams, do you want the cops busting down your door?" My answer is no. They should investigate, but if they don't hear the screams themselves, then they need to go get a search warrant first (per the Supreme Law).
Otherwise you could have the recent case in New Hampshire where the police heard no noise whatsoever, but on the basis of the neighbor's report busted into the house, found that nobody was getting hurt, but then arrested the guy & gal for possession of sex toys.
You can't have freedom if the government can enter your house for any flimsy excuse.
You can't have a liberated internet if the president can turn it off for any random reason (like claiming Tea Party sites are planning to assassinate congressmen & need to be yanked). Remember: They are not as honest as you. They WILL make up non-existent stuff.
Let's see. I've driven a little over 500,000 miles in my various cars, and the one and only time I've ever wrecked was at a stop light. (The guy in front of me took-off at a green, and then suddenly stopped. I wasn't expecting that.)
The interstates are not the problem. They are the safest roads we have.
It's the close-in urban or suburban driving that causes most problems, simply because there's crisscrossing cars, cars traveling in opposite directions w/ no separation, and more opportunity to make mistakes (like get distracted and sideswipe parked cars).
Most voters don't know what rule of law is either. Look how many of them think the Constitution is just a piece of paper, and therefore Parliament can do whatever it wants.
Since slashdot doesn't link to the actual comments, here's what was said:
Conroy went on television to take a shot at Google: "Recently the founders of Google have got themselves into a little bit of trouble because notwithstanding their alleged 'do no evil' policy, they recently created something called Buzz, and there was a reaction and people said, well look aren't you publishing private information?"
"They said the following: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place'. This is the founder of Google. He also said recently to Wall Street analysts, 'we love cash', so when people say, shouldn't we just leave it up to the Googles of this world to determine what the filtering policy should be...."
Notice how this politicians ASSUMES that we want filtering (either by google or the government). We. Do. Not. I don't need my internet filtered either for me or my kids. Show me all the dirt and disgusting things that exist in the world. I can handle it.
So fuck off Conroy. (Yes I'm angry - I'm tired of politicians treating adults like their children to be babied.)
The liver turns fructose into NON-useful forms (fatty acids) which not only damages your body, but also damages the liver in the process. Eat enough fructose and you'll develop cirrhosis just like an alcoholic.
>>>Nintendo has made a killing with Gamecube 1.5 (Wii) games.
It also helps that a lot of Americans/Europeans still don't have greater than 480i televisions, so the difference between the Wii and PS3/X360 is not as obvious.
Even those who have high-def TVs often can't see the difference between SD and HD (maybe they have bad eyes).
Slashdot Mirror
Nice theory, but Toyota's problems predate the Government acquisition of GM (by several years).
>>>Its amazing how much detail and error checking go into any system dealing with money, but not with human lives.
Humans are self-generating. About 120 million new ones every year. It's not as if we're having a shortage of them (hence the ~10% unemployment rate... there are more humans than jobs).
Money on the other hand is scarce.
Toyota has had problems with:
- engines sludging after only 20-30,000 miles
- prematurely dying hybrid batteries
- out-of-control cars hitting walls or driving off ledges at 100mph
Ford has also had problems since some of their engines/batteries are supplied by Toyota. The KEY difference is that Ford honored the warranty and replaced those items free-of-charge. Toyota stuck their customers with ~$7000 bills to buy new engines or hybrid batteries, and pretended the warranty didn't exist.
Toyota found itself in a class-action lawsuit in 2008 as a result.
Toyota lost.
>>>pedal and floormat "problems" were simply a smokescreen to hide the actual cause of the problem
Yes it's been Toyota's modus operandi since about 2000 - blame the customer not Toyota:
- "My car accelerated out of control, even when I shifted to neutral!". - It was your fault, not ours. - TOYOTA.
- "My car's engine (times about 100,000 other engines) died after only 20,000 miles. It's under warranty and would like a new one." No. It is the fault of the customer for not changing oil. - TOYOTA. "But my dealer did the oil changes. They have records and said they will back me up." No it is the fault of the customer. Warranty denied. - TOYOTA
- "My Prius battery died after only 50,000. Warranty entitles me to a new one upto 100,000 miles." No. Not our problem because our tests show Prius batteries will last 200,000 miles. You abused the battery, so it's your fault. - TOYOTA.
.
Yes Toyota did eventually go back and fix all these problems. They extended Prius battery warranty to 150,000 miles. They replaced or reimbursed customers for their damaged engines. They recalled the cars and reprogrammed the ECU so it would not ignore the brake or neutral commands..... .....AFTER the U.S. DOJ stepped in. Toyota of the 2000s acted like Ford of the 1970s. (Remember the exploding Fords?) Every company screws up, but to deny warranty to innocent customers, and force them to spend $7000 replacing new engines, shows the height of arrogance. What's the point of having a warranty if the corporation can randomly refuse to honor the damn thing?
Source -
I've been following the Toyota mess for almost a decade now, so I have a lot of sources. Here's a good starting point: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toyota_engine.html
I argue that if nobody is harmed, it's not immoral. Stupid perhaps (like eating cyanide), but not immoral.
>>> "Your Honor, I had a giant morals-scrambling magnet pressed against my head at the time"
That's what she said.
>>> 'I like to be touched' in Chinese?
I like this version better. :-) Reminds me of those old Nintendo DS ads. Or this old Samatha Fox song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiuimDNlyuQ
And still looking rather fine at age 40: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tr7omqkY5A
Italy was peaceful.
Spain was peaceful.
Cambodia was peaceful.
They all fell to facism (aka corporatism).
>>>1. the angry tea partiers, with their brick throwing and insane murderous anger, IS kristallnacht, on a smaller scale
You clearly don't know history. The destruction of Jewish stores/homes was perpetrated by government employees working for the National Socialist Party. Tea Party supporters are not government employees.
.
>>>2. intolerant deluded propagandized fools hording guns in the woods are the seeds of fascism
No. Hitler banned private ownership of guns in order to prevent backlash, because he knew the danger if citizens finally got fed-up and started shooting back. (See the Jewish Ghetto uprisings for examples.)
In a truly free society government does not need to fear the gun, because it is obeying the people's wishes rather than ignoring them.
>>>without the mandate of the people who were already governed by a decentralized Articles of Confederation.
The Articles of Confederation was a contract between sovereign States.
The U.S. Constitution was a contract between sovereign States.
Nothing really changed, other than the organization of the central government. And you say it was "hidden" but the words are right there on the page. Just read them. If you have doubt of their meaning, do what the U.S. Court does and read the original intent of the words from Madison (the guy who wrote the thing) - a weak central government with specific, enumerated powers, where most power was reserved to the original 13 State Governments.
>>>Stewart's last-night moment of Zen - they had a clip from Fox
No they didn't. That was a comedy bit. It was fake. You can't tell the difference? As for the communist bit, I think Obama's policies are more simply: Anti-choice. And being I'm a Pro-Choice kind of guy, I find Obama's taking away of my choices ("buy healthcare or be fined!") to be objectionable. It makes me feel like I'm a serf rather than a free individual.
>>>GOP and it's corporate outlets
I have no great love for the GOP, but if they keep their promise to return to conservatism, they are still the lesser evil from the Tea Party point-of-view.
After all, it's not the GOP that's trying to shove ACTA down our throats and the Mandatory Hospitalization Suppository up our ass. ACTA and this recent healthcare reform directly benefits the Democrats' buddies in Hollywood and the Insurance Corporations. Pople who think the Dems are not in bed with corporations are in denial.
BTW your pie chart is wrong.
For some odd reason it excludes Social Security and Medicare which are the biggest pieces of the pie. It would have to be, what with the government sending ~$700 checks to ~60 million Americans each month. That's about 6 times the military budget. (Please note I'm not saying military is okay; I'm antiwar and think Obama is an ___ for not ending it in 2010 as he promised.)
"Can you elaborate on why (ANSWER$) bothers you?" - ELIZA
"What's a Pacman?" - teenager
.
"What's an Eliza?" - ditto
>>>you can't count on many African countries to keep the same name for more than a generation.
Precisely. I know South Africa and Egypt and Sudan, but that's about it. The rest of the continent is a blur, what with constantly changing names and redrawing of borders. Afirca doesn't have the stability of, say, Europe which was pretty constant from 1800 to 1918... and 1945 to the present... and easy to memorize.
>>>Slashdotters, I love you, but I hope you never have to endure governments as powerless as you desire them to be.
You mean like the USA circa 1820s. We seemed to do okay. The government was limited to only those powers granted by the Constitution, and men were free to pursue happiness in whatever way they desired. There was the problem of slavery and sexism, but we were still making progress.
Now contrast to the present, where citizens are treated like serfs:
- "Buy healthcare or be fined ~$1000."
- "Give us half your income every year, or else face jail time."
- "Your 18. Time to join the draft in case we need you to give up your Right to Life in some foreign hellhole."
- "You can speak on the net, unless we don't like what you say, then we'll charge you with hatespeech. Or just yank your site. Or search your home without warrant to arrest you for some other made-up charge."
It took about 200 years but the leaders have successfully restored the monarchy/nobility. True it's an elected monarchy/nobility, but still the same old Medieval-style power structure.
>>>Would you want your cops to stop an arson in progress, or should they be forced to go through the courts first?
The question you should be asking: "If my wife and I are having vigorous sex, and a neighbor reports screams, do you want the cops busting down your door?" My answer is no. They should investigate, but if they don't hear the screams themselves, then they need to go get a search warrant first (per the Supreme Law).
Otherwise you could have the recent case in New Hampshire where the police heard no noise whatsoever, but on the basis of the neighbor's report busted into the house, found that nobody was getting hurt, but then arrested the guy & gal for possession of sex toys.
You can't have freedom if the government can enter your house for any flimsy excuse.
You can't have a liberated internet if the president can turn it off for any random reason (like claiming Tea Party sites are planning to assassinate congressmen & need to be yanked). Remember: They are not as honest as you. They WILL make up non-existent stuff.
Bush did. (WMDs)
Let's see. I've driven a little over 500,000 miles in my various cars, and the one and only time I've ever wrecked was at a stop light. (The guy in front of me took-off at a green, and then suddenly stopped. I wasn't expecting that.)
The interstates are not the problem. They are the safest roads we have.
It's the close-in urban or suburban driving that causes most problems, simply because there's crisscrossing cars, cars traveling in opposite directions w/ no separation, and more opportunity to make mistakes (like get distracted and sideswipe parked cars).
Most voters don't know what rule of law is either.
Look how many of them think the Constitution is just a piece of paper,
and therefore Parliament can do whatever it wants.
Since slashdot doesn't link to the actual comments, here's what was said:
Conroy went on television to take a shot at Google: "Recently the founders of Google have got themselves into a little bit of trouble because notwithstanding their alleged 'do no evil' policy, they recently created something called Buzz, and there was a reaction and people said, well look aren't you publishing private information?"
"They said the following: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place'. This is the founder of Google. He also said recently to Wall Street analysts, 'we love cash', so when people say, shouldn't we just leave it up to the Googles of this world to determine what the filtering policy should be...."
Notice how this politicians ASSUMES that we want filtering (either by google or the government). We. Do. Not. I don't need my internet filtered either for me or my kids. Show me all the dirt and disgusting things that exist in the world. I can handle it.
So fuck off Conroy. (Yes I'm angry - I'm tired of politicians treating adults like their children to be babied.)
>>>rule of law.
"What's that?" - leader
"No clue." - other leader
Only a matter of time until the former discredits himself like the latter did. His railing against Google makes him sound foolish.
The liver turns fructose into NON-useful forms (fatty acids) which not only damages your body, but also damages the liver in the process. Eat enough fructose and you'll develop cirrhosis just like an alcoholic.
See "Sugar the Bitter Truth" on youtube.
Anonymous Coward wrote:
>>>>>live off the interest
>>
>>I always figured you were a Rethuglican Jew.
.
President Carter? Is that you? I love Democrats. C'mere and give me a hug you name-calling sweet-talking SOB.
>>>Nintendo has made a killing with Gamecube 1.5 (Wii) games.
It also helps that a lot of Americans/Europeans still don't have greater than 480i televisions, so the difference between the Wii and PS3/X360 is not as obvious.
Even those who have high-def TVs often can't see the difference between SD and HD (maybe they have bad eyes).