Indeed, which is why I refer to them as Christian Taliban. They don't have incentive to use some of the dramatic Taliban methods (because they have political power) but their goals of enslaving us to their superstition are the same. Theocracy is to be resisted, not respected.
"he electrical engineer undoubtedly would have a better theoretical understanding, but I would not want him wiring my house."
He could probably wire your house nicely, but not nearly as quickly as an experienced electrician.
Designing does not exclude hands-on task performance, but people whose career is working on the product are often highly proficient at "real world" tasks. If you don't do complex tasks like wiring, (especially) welding, or mechanical work often your proficiency and speed will tend to deteriorate. In the case of welding, an engineer need have no personal welding skill to specify a weld properly.
"So what you're saying is that it is irresponsible to enjoy life and that we should all live as misers on the chance that we might live to 70 and hope that by that time we aren't senile/disabled/blind/whatever and able to enjoy the money you saved by not living?"
Miser my happy ass! It is quite practical to live well, spend carefully, have lots of toys, and enjoy life. I bought houses below what I could afford, because the functional different between a modest house and a luxurious house isn't much. My modest houses are paid for, and since I bothered to learn how to build/rebuild/repair nearly everything I own I can enjoy the freedom that brings too. I bought used vehicles, because letting the other shmuck eat the depreciation makes sense. I'm a mechanic so my operations and maintenance cost isn't squat. Every tool I bought made me money, and I keep the tools as opposed to paying some uncaring wage slave to half-arse the job. If I want to change something in my "owned environment" I do it.
There are all sorts of fun coping skills to learn that empower you and make your life easier, and they don't involve going up to your eyeballs in debt. It's not about saving money just to spend when you have one foot in the grave, it's about thinking and planning ahead so you can enjoy the whole ride with a reasonable degree of comfort and fun.
"Trying to convince the religious that their religion is a sham is next to impossible. Trying to convince the poor that they can become rich overnight is easy."
The only cure for Newark is gentrification, because crime is a function of the people who live in an area. The cameras may help lure more businesses to Newark, which will disperse the problem people.
The mass of poor in Newark will never have jobs, because the business model that lured their grandparents to the area is long dead and not coming back.
"Yes, the Kremlin is hard at work on another Soviet Union. "
Logical enough. It may be argued that sort of government was the best fit for Russia in its history. So long as we can contain Russia (which is a matter of will and military power, including the willingness to use tactical nuclear warfare if they invade NATO) it is tolerable.
Just as China is doing better than ever in its history without democracy, likewise Russia may find that keeping order over hordes of simple people requires non-democratic methods. (Any Russians who hoped for democracy should have already left for the West.) The gains NATO made with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc should be consolidated, while understanding that some pushback by Russia was inevitable.
We should use the threat of this pushback to restore NATO armed forces to their proper Cold War size.
"As for switching plates, yeah, that's suspicious, but there are legitimate reasons for doing that too. Say the car got sold or something. (In [wikipedia.org] some [wikipedia.org] places [wikipedia.org], the plates are for a person, not a car, your jurisdiction may vary.)"
It's easy for law enforcement to run the tags and verify if they are legit. As for using a bong to smoke tobacco, that probability in the US would be vanishingly small.
You got the pics, but what is needed is a very public scandal.
This might be good material for muckraking by a newspaper or website out of reach of your corrupt/uncaring police department. Get lots of material and find a reporter who can enhance his/her career by airing it.
Information isn't enough. There must be a plan to use it to stir the most shit possible. Good luck to you.
"And at the very least, do consider the base economical importance that NOLA and the surrounding regions have to the US as a whole before you start spouting off nonsense like moving an entire fucking city and its people."
Not the entire city, just the bits that require levees. There is no reason to build below sea level in an area with plenty of room inland.
"If that is the argument, then lets be fair and suggest to most everyone else in CA that in in wildfire zones to relocate,"
Wildfire zones are (also!) the result of voluntary poor land management. Remove the vegetation around homes and fire will not reach them. That is an affordable choice, and perhaps Californians who like their homes will groom accordingly. I don't have any problem felling the trees near my house and keeping my field mowed. If they lose their homes because they were too busy hugging trees to remove fire hazards, too bad. My chainsaw works fine.
"and lets move NYC, since it is a hotspot for terrorist attacks, and the coming hurricane there...just to be proactive."
Poor comparison. Terrorists would simply switch targets, and NYC wasn't deliberately built and rebuilt below sea level. NOLA was originally built above sea level, and those are the historic/culturally important parts. We can afford to lose the rest.
There is plenty of land in the rest of Louisiana to build on that isn't storm bait. New Orleans isn't some cultural jewel, excepting the few antebellum parts. The rest is just generic Southern city architecture that can be built elsewhere. It's no Amsterdam, it never was. so precisely what is it about the areas of NOLA that are BELOW sea level that merits protection?
"There is a cost of learned helplessness beyond dependence on the dole. When it came time for them to do for themselves they fell flat of their faces (as will most)."
There is a cost of "embraced helplessness" beyond dependence on the dole.
New Orleans citizen behavior during and after the disaster has triggered considerable resentment.
It has caused many to view the place as a corrupt, thug-ridden, and better off dispersed, even if the folks who live there don't like it. The historic parts will survive, as well as the container port. The rest are not necessary.
"you have to have a city close to house the people that work those oil rigs and refineries...not to mention the fishing industry that works out of near there and below NOLA...supplying a large amount of seafood to the country."
It does not have to be located in the flood zone, nor does it have to be a single community. The slums and other areas that were hellholes before Katrina should not be replaced because that perpetuates everything bad about New Orleans.
"because it's their home and this isn't china where the government can forcibly move millions of people at their whim."
That does not equate to a requirement to humor their stupid choice of a place to live. Cut them a check and condemn the areas that require levee protection.
I'd take that deal myself, because there is plenty of America left to live in without clinging to such plague spots. There is no quaint decadence that can not be duplicated further inland. (In fact, the people who built the "quaint" bits like the French Quarter were smart enough to select HIGH GROUND.)
Slashdot Mirror
"Impossible, as every one in florida knows the world is only 6000 years old"
They are correct.
DNA will prove the skeleton is Strom Thurmond's other illegitimate daughter.
Indeed, which is why I refer to them as Christian Taliban.
They don't have incentive to use some of the dramatic Taliban methods (because they have political power) but their goals of enslaving us to their superstition are the same. Theocracy is to be resisted, not respected.
"All those that don't wish to be part of a Union are now part of the Anti-union Union. Union dues are payable to me."
Cat herds against cat herding unite!
"he electrical engineer undoubtedly would have a better theoretical understanding, but I would not want him wiring my house."
He could probably wire your house nicely, but not nearly as quickly as an experienced electrician.
Designing does not exclude hands-on task performance, but people whose career is working on the product are often highly proficient at "real world" tasks. If you don't do complex tasks like wiring, (especially) welding, or mechanical work often your proficiency and speed will tend to deteriorate. In the case of welding, an engineer need have no personal welding skill to specify a weld properly.
"...are the screams of millions of spelling nazis."
That's "Nazis", by the way.
"Nothing to see here... (except my dwindling karma... ;) )"
Wouldn't that the "melting karma"? :)
"no that is a terrible idea, the last thing I want is a ton of USB drives laying around while I try to find any form of media."
I'll take a "ton" of USB drives over my mound of DVD media any day. No cases to hassle with is a huge plus.
"50cm restriction? do they have something to hide??"
Roseanne Barr's favorite nude beach.
"So... lets outsource the caregiving to countries with young populations..."
We do. Ever notice the number of Filipina nurses?
The P.I. exports labor, the people speak English as well as Tagalog, and they are usually model legal immigrants.
"So what you're saying is that it is irresponsible to enjoy life and that we should all live as misers on the chance that we might live to 70 and hope that by that time we aren't senile/disabled/blind/whatever and able to enjoy the money you saved by not living?"
Miser my happy ass!
It is quite practical to live well, spend carefully, have lots of toys, and enjoy life. I bought houses below what I could afford, because the functional different between a modest house and a luxurious house isn't much. My modest houses are paid for, and since I bothered to learn how to build/rebuild/repair nearly everything I own I can enjoy the freedom that brings too. I bought used vehicles, because letting the other shmuck eat the depreciation makes sense. I'm a mechanic so my operations and maintenance cost isn't squat. Every tool I bought made me money, and I keep the tools as opposed to paying some uncaring wage slave to half-arse the job. If I want to change something in my "owned environment" I do it.
There are all sorts of fun coping skills to learn that empower you and make your life easier, and they don't involve going up to your eyeballs in debt. It's not about saving money just to spend when you have one foot in the grave, it's about thinking and planning ahead so you can enjoy the whole ride with a reasonable degree of comfort and fun.
"America is holding steady.
But holding steady isn't good enough if you want to have some huge nanny state (universal health care, Social Security, etc.)"
I, for one, welcome our fecund Beaner overlords!
"And Europe is placing their faith in...?"
The same Arab, African, Pakistani, etc ,immigrants they are worried about diluting their culture.
"I don't cheat on my taxes, and I have to pay more because of the people who do."
That assumes tax rates have a direct relationship to anything other than what those imposing the taxes decide upon.
"Why not make him empty bedpans in retirement homes or some other yucky community service for a few years instead?"
Because that would not be a deterrent. If I could make enough money to afford a half-billion dollar fine, I'd volunteer to do five years in solitary!
"Trying to convince the religious that their religion is a sham is next to impossible.
Trying to convince the poor that they can become rich overnight is easy."
Joel Osteen might agree with you:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1533448,00.html
"It is Newark."
The only cure for Newark is gentrification, because crime is a function of the people who live in an area. The cameras may help lure more businesses to Newark, which will disperse the problem people.
The mass of poor in Newark will never have jobs, because the business model that lured their grandparents to the area is long dead and not coming back.
"Yes, the Kremlin is hard at work on another Soviet Union. "
Logical enough. It may be argued that sort of government was the best fit for Russia in its history. So long as we can contain Russia (which is a matter of will and military power, including the willingness to use tactical nuclear warfare if they invade NATO) it is tolerable.
Just as China is doing better than ever in its history without democracy, likewise Russia may find that keeping order over hordes of simple people requires non-democratic methods. (Any Russians who hoped for democracy should have already left for the West.) The gains NATO made with the collapse of the Soviet Bloc should be consolidated, while understanding that some pushback by Russia was inevitable.
We should use the threat of this pushback to restore NATO armed forces to their proper Cold War size.
"As for switching plates, yeah, that's suspicious, but there are legitimate reasons for doing that too. Say the car got sold or something. (In [wikipedia.org] some [wikipedia.org] places [wikipedia.org], the plates are for a person, not a car, your jurisdiction may vary.)"
It's easy for law enforcement to run the tags and verify if they are legit. As for using a bong to smoke tobacco, that probability in the US would be vanishingly small.
You got the pics, but what is needed is a very public scandal.
This might be good material for muckraking by a newspaper or website out of reach of your corrupt/uncaring police department. Get lots of material and find a reporter who can enhance his/her career by airing it.
Information isn't enough. There must be a plan to use it to stir the most shit possible.
Good luck to you.
"And at the very least, do consider the base economical importance that NOLA and the surrounding regions have to the US as a whole before you start spouting off nonsense like moving an entire fucking city and its people."
Not the entire city, just the bits that require levees. There is no reason to build below sea level in an area with plenty of room inland.
"If that is the argument, then lets be fair and suggest to most everyone else in CA that in in wildfire zones to relocate,"
Wildfire zones are (also!) the result of voluntary poor land management. Remove the vegetation around homes and fire will not reach them. That is an affordable choice, and perhaps Californians who like their homes will groom accordingly. I don't have any problem felling the trees near my house and keeping my field mowed. If they lose their homes because they were too busy hugging trees to remove fire hazards, too bad. My chainsaw works fine.
"and lets move NYC, since it is a hotspot for terrorist attacks, and the coming hurricane there...just to be proactive."
Poor comparison. Terrorists would simply switch targets, and NYC wasn't deliberately built and rebuilt below sea level. NOLA was originally built above sea level, and those are the historic/culturally important parts. We can afford to lose the rest.
There is plenty of land in the rest of Louisiana to build on that isn't storm bait. New Orleans isn't some cultural jewel, excepting the few antebellum parts. The rest is just generic Southern city architecture that can be built elsewhere. It's no Amsterdam, it never was. so precisely what is it about the areas of NOLA that are BELOW sea level that merits protection?
"There is a cost of learned helplessness beyond dependence on the dole. When it came time for them to do for themselves they fell flat of their faces (as will most)."
There is a cost of "embraced helplessness" beyond dependence on the dole.
New Orleans citizen behavior during and after the disaster has triggered considerable resentment.
It has caused many to view the place as a corrupt, thug-ridden, and better off dispersed, even if the folks who live there don't like it. The historic parts will survive, as well as the container port. The rest are not necessary.
"you have to have a city close to house the people that work those oil rigs and refineries...not to mention the fishing industry that works out of near there and below NOLA...supplying a large amount of seafood to the country."
It does not have to be located in the flood zone, nor does it have to be a single community. The slums and other areas that were hellholes before Katrina should not be replaced because that perpetuates everything bad about New Orleans.
"because it's their home and this isn't china where the government can forcibly move millions of people at their whim."
That does not equate to a requirement to humor their stupid choice of a place to live. Cut them a check and condemn the areas that require levee protection.
I'd take that deal myself, because there is plenty of America left to live in without clinging to such plague spots. There is no quaint decadence that can not be duplicated further inland. (In fact, the people who built the "quaint" bits like the French Quarter were smart enough to select HIGH GROUND.)
"It's only a matter of time before this gets pulled off Youtube."
Save a copy to repost or post elsewhere.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006
"99% of men masturbate. The other 1% are lying."
I never masturbate, but I don't advise licking the stalactites in my cubicle.