When 1 in 7 is using food stamps, there's a problem. Aren't we supposed to be in the middle of an economic recovery, with unemployment at 6.7% and falling? Why is food stamp use growing at and unprecedented rates?
Because employers today factor in government assistance when calculating their compensation programs?
That's part of it, as we've seen with companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald's.
Another issue is that "employed" does not necessarily equal "making enough money to feed your family." Under-employment is a serious issue here, often compounded by the aforementioned corporate calculations.
Hell, even Fortune 500 employees are getting the shaft; I know one person in particular that's worked at the same company for 15 years who, thanks to inflation and ever-increasing insurance rates, actually brings home less money today than she did when she started.
And religion is their solution, because it teaches people about long-held human moral principals like don't have kids out of wedlock, families should stick together, and communities should help each other.
They talk a big game, but when push comes to shove, let's face facts - most 'Christians' in America ('cuz let's face it, when we say "religion," they're the group we're likely discussing) don't give a fuck about helping the poor. They just don't.
Most of them spend their hour with Jesus on Sunday (an extra one on Wednesday for the AoG scammers), and the minute they hit the fucking parking lot, they go back to being the same selfish, narcissistic assclowns they are every other day of the week. I get to see the behavior regularly, by virtue of the fact my home is surrounded by churches; I've learned that leaving the house at noon on a Sunday is just not going to happen, because most of those goodly "Christians" would sooner run you into the ditch than let you out of your own fucking driveway.
You can talk about all the moralistic high-ground as you want, but until that talk translates into actually helping people, you're not accomplishing anything except paying lip-service. To me, that's worse than doing nothing at all.
To be fair, there's also that not-having-sex-until-marriage part>
Realistic things like that.
Tell us how you never had sex until marriage.
Better yet, tell us how the Constitution grants you the right to dictate how everyone else is allowed to live, while simultaneously protecting your right to not do what anyone else says.
We're not talking about sharing natural resources. We're talking about forced sharing of the fruits of somebody's hard work against his will with people he doesnt like. It is indistinguishable from mugging.
Let me guess: You're one of those people who bitches endlessly about how all types of taxation are "mugging," then bitch even louder the first time you can't get your Social Security check on time because a road crew is fixing the street in front of your house.
Or the lower classes could join together, rise up, murder the rich people in horrific ways, and redistribute all their stuff.
Which do you think is more likely to happen? Ask yourself, if you were in the poor's worn-out shoes, would you just roll over and die, or try to do something about it?
When my wife and I were dating, a couple of broke-ass college students trying to make ends meet on less than $22,000/yr, we had to pay about $60 a month for her birth control. Early on we could have gotten those cheap, impossible to trust off-brand condoms from Planned Parenthood for free, but they started charging for them a few scant months after we got together. They still weren't expensive, but when you've got 2 people surviving on less than $13/hr, every penny starts to matter.
Here's the part that blows my mind: Now that we're both educated, employed adults, who can actually afford to pay $60/month for medication.... they give it to us for free.
WTF, my fellow Americans; WTF.
Hell, I can walk in to a local head shop I know and they have a large tub of them for free.....
Yea, because everywhere is exactly like where you live, and everyone is exactly like you. Or you've got your head too far up your ass to see the forest for the trees... tough call./sarc
Yes I have tons of friends that have retired either because they took bullets, lost legs, or were lucky and mustered out. Vets are not american soldiers, they are vets. They will shoot officers, they have a healthy hate for the military and have seen the evil first hand and do not want to be a part of it anymore.
Active duty, specifically fresh ones will go and kill your family in your home if told to by their commanding officer.
Yes sir, right away sir, kill the children too sir?
I'll respond to this with one of my favorite quotes:
Most generalizations are false, including this one.
Yes, some people, regardless of whether or not they're active duty military, have absolutely zero compunction about spilling innocent blood; but to say it like you have, generalizing to the point that you're basically saying all active duty soldiers are bloodthirsty sociopaths, is just plain incorrect.
According to the local fisherman, several 747s and at least one Russian space capsule have been swallowed whole by jumping fish. At 20,000 feet. In a blizzard. Uphill both ways.
But you are also right car manufactures will also want to avoid liability. It will probably/should go to as long as they where not negligent in developing the car/software then it will probably be nobody's fault. You will still have to get insurance, it will be like an natural disaster destroyed you home. It is nobody fault, insurance still pays out.
Wow, you think the point of insurance is to pay out? I take it you've never had to make a claim.
FYI, to save you some heartache when you finally do need to make an insurance claim: They will fight tooth and nail to avoid paying you. That, for the most part, is why personal injury lawyers exist - to force insurance companies to pay what they owe.
I don't see why everything has to be someones fault.
Yea, that's obvious.
The answer is, because 99% of the time it is somebodies fault, and that person very well should be held liable for their negligence, malice, or what-have-you.
I mean, really? You honestly don't understand the concepts of personal responsibility and liability? Did you sleep through freshman Civics or something? This is basic, living-with-other-humans stuff, been around since the days of Hammurabi.
Hopefully this may also put some lawyers out of business as well.
Careful what you wish for - no more lawyers means corporations get away with murder, quite literally, and no legal or fiscal repercussions are felt. Is that really a world you want to live in, where Walmart can hire assassins to take out pro-union employees?
I don't know what crazy laws they will put in place, I am not a fortune teller, but that seems like the best solution
Your intentions seem good, but your plan is poorly thought out. Makes for great pavement on the road to Hell, but actually pretty bad policy.
would they do that for strangers? They took an OATH to protect the American people. Will they disobey an order or put a bullet through their commanders head to protect American citizens? The military beats the ability to go against order out of new recruits. That's what Boot camp is for.
Have you ever actually interacted with a post-boot soldier? It's not like they go through some mechanical separator that removes their ability to think for themselves. Jesus, man, they aren't fucking robots, you know.
Hey, speaking of robots, isn't that the point of this entire thread?
Yeah, more predictable and usually more space to maneuvre too.
Yea, 'more predictable' in that you can predict that a handful of morons are going to try and kill you.
As for more space to maneuver... sometimes. Other times, you're packed in between 2 semi's with a third one bearing down on your ass end like a cheetah on a wounded gazelle.
Anyway, all that's non sequitur to the point - Google can't claim to have done complete, realistic field tests of the auto-car system until it gets some highway hours. Personally, I find the fact that out of half a million test miles, not one was done on an interstate to mean that Google is not confident that their system will operate properly under those conditions.
I figure no such thing; my post was a direct rebuttal to the post before it, specifically the claim of "American sickness," whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean.
Too bad I didn't say a *car* windshield, because my point was that it's not an occurrence an autonomous car would need to be able to handle.
You'd still be wrong.
But then surely a condor, albatross or at least an ostrich could break a regular car's smaller sloped windshield, if you want to argue about birds and windshields instead of autonomous cars.
You don't have to go reductio ad absurdum to find a species of bird large enough to go through a common automotive windshield at highway speeds; ever seen a turkey buzzard? Damn things are everywhere, and I, personally, have seen them enter passenger compartments by way of the windscreen on no less than two separate occasions.
You absolutely need to keep him from books. Good God, the man could copy/steal Pride and Prejudice and post it to a website! Or he could read the Daily Telegraph and learn how poorly Manchester United is doing.
For the love of Pete. Has this American sickness infected everyone?
Well, you could always get a bunch of your friends together, storm the prison, and free him yourself.
What's that? Your 'moral code' doesn't involve risking your own life to save someone with whom you ideologically agree?
Slashdot Mirror
When 1 in 7 is using food stamps, there's a problem. Aren't we supposed to be in the middle of an economic recovery, with unemployment at 6.7% and falling? Why is food stamp use growing at and unprecedented rates?
Because employers today factor in government assistance when calculating their compensation programs?
That's part of it, as we've seen with companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald's.
Another issue is that "employed" does not necessarily equal "making enough money to feed your family." Under-employment is a serious issue here, often compounded by the aforementioned corporate calculations.
Hell, even Fortune 500 employees are getting the shaft; I know one person in particular that's worked at the same company for 15 years who, thanks to inflation and ever-increasing insurance rates, actually brings home less money today than she did when she started.
And religion is their solution, because it teaches people about long-held human moral principals like don't have kids out of wedlock, families should stick together, and communities should help each other.
They talk a big game, but when push comes to shove, let's face facts - most 'Christians' in America ('cuz let's face it, when we say "religion," they're the group we're likely discussing) don't give a fuck about helping the poor. They just don't.
Most of them spend their hour with Jesus on Sunday (an extra one on Wednesday for the AoG scammers), and the minute they hit the fucking parking lot, they go back to being the same selfish, narcissistic assclowns they are every other day of the week. I get to see the behavior regularly, by virtue of the fact my home is surrounded by churches; I've learned that leaving the house at noon on a Sunday is just not going to happen, because most of those goodly "Christians" would sooner run you into the ditch than let you out of your own fucking driveway.
You can talk about all the moralistic high-ground as you want, but until that talk translates into actually helping people, you're not accomplishing anything except paying lip-service. To me, that's worse than doing nothing at all.
To be fair, there's also that not-having-sex-until-marriage part>
Realistic things like that.
Tell us how you never had sex until marriage.
Better yet, tell us how the Constitution grants you the right to dictate how everyone else is allowed to live, while simultaneously protecting your right to not do what anyone else says.
We're not talking about sharing natural resources. We're talking about forced sharing of the fruits of somebody's hard work against his will with people he doesnt like. It is indistinguishable from mugging.
Let me guess: You're one of those people who bitches endlessly about how all types of taxation are "mugging," then bitch even louder the first time you can't get your Social Security check on time because a road crew is fixing the street in front of your house.
No money. No food. Starve. Die. Problem solved.
Or the lower classes could join together, rise up, murder the rich people in horrific ways, and redistribute all their stuff.
Which do you think is more likely to happen? Ask yourself, if you were in the poor's worn-out shoes, would you just roll over and die, or try to do something about it?
FWIW, History is on my side here.
Actually the pill and [condoms?] are free.
No they aren't.
When my wife and I were dating, a couple of broke-ass college students trying to make ends meet on less than $22,000/yr, we had to pay about $60 a month for her birth control. Early on we could have gotten those cheap, impossible to trust off-brand condoms from Planned Parenthood for free, but they started charging for them a few scant months after we got together. They still weren't expensive, but when you've got 2 people surviving on less than $13/hr, every penny starts to matter.
Here's the part that blows my mind: Now that we're both educated, employed adults, who can actually afford to pay $60/month for medication.... they give it to us for free.
WTF, my fellow Americans; WTF.
Hell, I can walk in to a local head shop I know and they have a large tub of them for free.....
Yea, because everywhere is exactly like where you live, and everyone is exactly like you. Or you've got your head too far up your ass to see the forest for the trees... tough call. /sarc
So you're saying the poor are animals who cannot fathom abstinence? Nice attitude you have there.
No, he said that birth control isn't free. Which is a fact.
That you've extrapolated the obvious conclusion to... whatever it is you're trying to say, tells us more about you than it says about GP.
Yes I have tons of friends that have retired either because they took bullets, lost legs, or were lucky and mustered out. Vets are not american soldiers, they are vets. They will shoot officers, they have a healthy hate for the military and have seen the evil first hand and do not want to be a part of it anymore.
Active duty, specifically fresh ones will go and kill your family in your home if told to by their commanding officer.
Yes sir, right away sir, kill the children too sir?
I'll respond to this with one of my favorite quotes:
Most generalizations are false, including this one.
Yes, some people, regardless of whether or not they're active duty military, have absolutely zero compunction about spilling innocent blood; but to say it like you have, generalizing to the point that you're basically saying all active duty soldiers are bloodthirsty sociopaths, is just plain incorrect.
I was thinking it would be the perfect platform for Google's self-driving vehicle technology.
According to the local fisherman, several 747s and at least one Russian space capsule have been swallowed whole by jumping fish. At 20,000 feet. In a blizzard. Uphill both ways.
Because of black magic.
And hallucinations.
Hence the phrase, "Choose your poison."
Alternate phrasing - Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
>
But you are also right car manufactures will also want to avoid liability. It will probably/should go to as long as they where not negligent in developing the car/software then it will probably be nobody's fault. You will still have to get insurance, it will be like an natural disaster destroyed you home. It is nobody fault, insurance still pays out.
Wow, you think the point of insurance is to pay out? I take it you've never had to make a claim.
FYI, to save you some heartache when you finally do need to make an insurance claim: They will fight tooth and nail to avoid paying you. That, for the most part, is why personal injury lawyers exist - to force insurance companies to pay what they owe.
I don't see why everything has to be someones fault.
Yea, that's obvious.
The answer is, because 99% of the time it is somebodies fault, and that person very well should be held liable for their negligence, malice, or what-have-you.
I mean, really? You honestly don't understand the concepts of personal responsibility and liability? Did you sleep through freshman Civics or something? This is basic, living-with-other-humans stuff, been around since the days of Hammurabi.
Hopefully this may also put some lawyers out of business as well.
Careful what you wish for - no more lawyers means corporations get away with murder, quite literally, and no legal or fiscal repercussions are felt. Is that really a world you want to live in, where Walmart can hire assassins to take out pro-union employees?
I don't know what crazy laws they will put in place, I am not a fortune teller, but that seems like the best solution
Your intentions seem good, but your plan is poorly thought out. Makes for great pavement on the road to Hell, but actually pretty bad policy.
would they do that for strangers? They took an OATH to protect the American people. Will they disobey an order or put a bullet through their commanders head to protect American citizens? The military beats the ability to go against order out of new recruits. That's what Boot camp is for.
Have you ever actually interacted with a post-boot soldier? It's not like they go through some mechanical separator that removes their ability to think for themselves. Jesus, man, they aren't fucking robots, you know.
Hey, speaking of robots, isn't that the point of this entire thread?
Yeah, more predictable and usually more space to maneuvre too.
Yea, 'more predictable' in that you can predict that a handful of morons are going to try and kill you.
As for more space to maneuver... sometimes. Other times, you're packed in between 2 semi's with a third one bearing down on your ass end like a cheetah on a wounded gazelle.
Anyway, all that's non sequitur to the point - Google can't claim to have done complete, realistic field tests of the auto-car system until it gets some highway hours. Personally, I find the fact that out of half a million test miles, not one was done on an interstate to mean that Google is not confident that their system will operate properly under those conditions.
GPS is not 2 way communication. How exactly are they retrieving the information from a car? Do they have a secret cellular connection?
I wonder, has anyone tried to Wireshark their car?
And no money left once you buy gas for 1000 km.
You might be surprised; I used to have a 1989 GMC Sierra that got almost the same mileage as the 2009 Sierra I drive now.
Mileage in trucks hasn't really changed much the last 20 years or so.
I figure no such thing; my post was a direct rebuttal to the post before it, specifically the claim of "American sickness," whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean.
You're reading waaaaay too much into this.
That has to be the most awesomely written account of kick-ass events I've ever seen, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Too bad I didn't say a *car* windshield, because my point was that it's not an occurrence an autonomous car would need to be able to handle.
You'd still be wrong.
But then surely a condor, albatross or at least an ostrich could break a regular car's smaller sloped windshield, if you want to argue about birds and windshields instead of autonomous cars.
You don't have to go reductio ad absurdum to find a species of bird large enough to go through a common automotive windshield at highway speeds; ever seen a turkey buzzard? Damn things are everywhere, and I, personally, have seen them enter passenger compartments by way of the windscreen on no less than two separate occasions.
Your claim that you're either a violent revolutionary anarchist or you are the oppressor is a false dichotomy, but thanks for playing.
Never made any such statement, you chose to interpret my words that way.
That's on you, bud.
You absolutely need to keep him from books. Good God, the man could copy/steal Pride and Prejudice and post it to a website! Or he could read the Daily Telegraph and learn how poorly Manchester United is doing.
For the love of Pete. Has this American sickness infected everyone?
Well, you could always get a bunch of your friends together, storm the prison, and free him yourself.
What's that? Your 'moral code' doesn't involve risking your own life to save someone with whom you ideologically agree?
Hmph. "American sickness" my ass.
Well said.
Now, all we have to do is figure out who gets sued when one of these auto-cars does fuck up.
The fact is, you said "A bird won't penetrate a windshield," which I proved to be an untrue statement.
Instead of saying, "Oh, hey, you're right, I must've been mistaken," you chose to double-down on being wrong, albeit with a few caveats.
If you're unable or unwilling to recognize when you're wrong, I don't think there's anymore conversation to be had here.
No, it's not in production because automated cars aren't legal in but 4 states.
Things will improve.
Not until they do testing to find out what needs improved; I wonder, what's the holdup?
Per the article, no highway time whatsoever.
Shit's a lot different at 70 Mph than it is at 30.