"This is like passing a law requiring the electric company to turn you in should they discover marijuana growing in your backyard when they check the meter!"
Yep - come to Toledo, OH - home of the city government that routinely harrasses its (remaining) citizens. Meter readers are being essentially 'deputized' under a new ordinance requiring them to report 'housing code' violations back to the city for the expressed purpose of extracting more money from the already cash/job strapped citizenry. One of the big violations - firewood that not lifted a mininum of 6 inches off the ground. Yep - thats right, if you have firewood, it can't be on the ground. This is insanity at its finest - and is just typical of the dispicable democrat nepotisitic regime that has run the city into the ground over the past 30 years - now complete with a nutty (in my opinion) mayor that interferes with business as a rule. No wonder no jobs are coming to the city! We are moving out at as soon as next year.
Right, lower balances on high limit cards do not decrease the 'score'. However, a mortgage lender doesn't just look at the score - they look at the whole report, and the combination of score/report is used to place you in the worst rate category they have for your 'category'. Everything is done to maximize their take - not get you the best deal. Now for FHA loans, they only look at the contents of the report, not the score.
ID theft is just one of the many, many problems with the credit system in the US. The worst problem is with reporting - things are reported to credit bureaus that have nothing to do with credit, much of it is deliberately false both from credit companies and third party debt collector scum, and finally what the credit report is permitted to be used for.
Good examples are credit card companies deliberately not reporting credit limits to drop your coveted 'score' (so you are ALWAYS over the limit), to third party debt collectors re-aging old debt, to out and out falsifying payment records, etc...
And, then there are other things like medical bills. Why are unpaid medical bills on a credit report? It is not credit, and has no bearing on your ability or desire to pay your mortgage or car loan. Tough luck that you didn't have insurance - you should have thought about that before you went and got cancer. Or what about that fenceline dispute you had with your neighbor that you took to small claims court. You lost, there was no monetary award, yet a judgement still appears on your 'credit' report. Plain wrong.
Oh, and then there is permissible purpose. Exactly what does a credit report have to do with a job? How about insurance? How many people were 'right-sized' into 'bad credit'? Now you can't get another job because your credit is bad? C'mon, does anyone see something wrong with this? Credit reports are about useless for determining credit worthiness for a myriad of reasons, and we want them applied here to? Give me a break. Got 'bad' credit? Can't rent now either - so where the hell are you supposed to live? The problem of people using credit reports for things other than granting credit is big and getting a lot bigger, but will anyone stand up an write Congress about it? And you can forget cable, direct tv, cell phone plans, satellite radio, or any other services. Down in Texas they are raising gas utility rates on people who have bad credit. Wake up people! Not all people have bad credit on purpose even in the absence of ID theft.
The system is a horrible disgrace - designed to bilk billions out of the public - nothing more, even if you leave ID theft out of it altogether.
Until there are laws passed that are stronger than the FCRA and impose criminal penalties and much higher fines, you will never see the end of this.
which doesn't operate as "cleanly" as the credit rating system
You can quintuple quote "Cleanly". The credit system in the US is so riddled with fraud and inaccuracies (most being deliberate) that it is not even an effective tool for determining creditworthiness. At last check, most statistics indicate that 75% (roughly) of credit reports have errors - and many of these are serious enough to cause a substantial decline in this stupid 'score'. Essentially the whole system is rigged so that you pay more. No longer is it about getting credit - it is about how much you will pay for the privlege. This has the largest impact on those who can afford to pay the least.
Shit happens in life. Many without health insurance who experience a catestrophic health event can be left with nothing. You cannot plan for that, and those situations disproportionately affect young families and minorities. What about loss of job due to 'rightsizing'? That is another major cause of so-called bad credit. The fact the FCRA ("Fair" Credit Reporting Act) permits these reports to be used by prospective and current employers to evaluate a persons 'character' is an absolute abomination. Imagine the person who has so-called bad credit because of a job loss. Now they cant get another? Does the fact that he/she had to make a choice of paying a couple bills late vs. feeding the kids make someone untrustworthy? What about identity theft? This list goes on. Is this acceptable to our citizenry? It should not be.
I could go on and on about deliberate mis-reporting, items that do not belong on credit reports, items staying on way too long etc..., but the crux of the issue is permitting non-credit grantors from using the report - what is called 'permissible purpose'. Credit reports should be used for one purpose, and one purpose only - applying for and receiving credit. That's it, nothing else. And, serious reform is needed to make them a useful tool for even that. The tentacles that have grown out of it are the result of irresponsible on-sided lobbying by the financial industry of our stupid congressional representatives.
I encourage everyone out there to read the FCRA (it does give you some rights in suing the debt collector scum that reports incorrectly), and write your representative with your personal story about how this law needs to be changed.
Thank you for posting a logical voice of reason in this forum. Such sanity has become so scarce on Slashdot, I have headed for Digg to wait the inevitable there as well...
Are you aware that Insurance companies also do credit checks to arrive at an 'insurance score'. People are getting screwed left and right on this too. And that is also specifically allowed in the FCRA as permissible purpose - review for granting insurance.
For every weapon the FCRA gives, it takes away somewhere else.
The very unfortunate fact, is that it IS legal (no matter how unethical) for an employer to do a credit check. It is spelled out in black and white in the FCRA (now called the FACT act) under the permissible purpose section. The law needs to be changed - credit checks should only be done for the purpose of obtaining credit, nothing more.
Oh, and ID theft is not half the problem - collection agencies and so-called junk debt buyers (scumbag buyers of out of statute debt) deliberately put false information on reports (reaging, reporting collections as 'past-due' installment accounts, etc...) is the REAL problem. You can fight this and win, but it will take many many months of hell.
The worst, I mean absolute worst part of all this hysterical "Global Warming" nonsense is that there is no possible way to take the "Global Temperature". "Global Temperature", consists of a scattered network of surface based temperature sensors, with higher concentrations in the Westernized nations (near cities and airports), much less in Africa, The Middle East, Old Soviet republics, etc... In addition to that, the radiosonde network and newer satellite based temperature measurements (since 1979) can measure the lower troposphere temperature. These measurements have shown no discernable change in temperature over the course of this period.
There are several inherent problems with surface data - the first of which is the well known, well documented urban heat island effect, which has nothing whatsoever to do with CO2, and everything to do with the albedo of asphalt, and the release of latent heat. Second, many of the world weather stations are not excessible for data gathering - either due to non-automation, or government protection of the data. So, I do not give a crap what the prevailing 'political consensus' is - there is no evidence whatsoever that there is any warming or cooling trend globally because it cannot be measured - only some hysteria surrounding the CO2 concentration and it's supposed drastic effect on the global mean temperature. And, on top of that, there is a tremendous amount of debate on exactly how much CO2 does actually contribute to warming the lower atmosphere.
So the crux of it, is that we do not have accurate data to feed into already dubious models. Hell, even the short term RUC models, used by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center fail to pinpoint convective initiation quite frequently - and you all think we can predict the climate in 100 years? That is just nuts. Go ahead and have another swog of the grape kool-aid.
One other 'missed' point in all of this nonsense is the difference between lower tropospheric temperatures and surface temperatures. "Global Warming", if any substantial amount of it were the result of increased CO2 concentrations would show up in the lower troposphere (around 850mb and upward). No data, other than twice daily soundings (sometimes more in severe weather events) was available until the last 20 years, when temperature measurements could be made by satellite. From what I understand, this data shows no change in 'average' temperature of the lower troposphere for the period (although I am not certain exactly how these measurements are taken).
When people speak of the 1C 'average' warming in the past hundred years they are referring to land based observations from a limited amount of stations worldwide (with the vast majority of those stations located in the continental US and western Europe). Many, though not all of these stations are located at or near urban areas or airports. The urban heat island effect is well documented. The more black pavement (very, very low albedo) you have the more solar energy is absorbed and released at the surface. This has nothing whatsoever to do with CO2, it is simple solar energy absorption and radiation - the same phenomenon that is required to sustain life on earth, as the sun does not heat the air - the earth does. Why do you think it is hotter at 5PM than Noon? Latent heat absorbed under full sun radiates all day, the vast majority several hours after full exposure. That said, the surface temperature of the earth is not really a reflection of CO2 concentration, but rather the vast amounts of pavement that has been laid down (and other non-reflective surfaces). Latent heat is the driver of most of the weather that we experience here on earth.
Of course, when you have a political and monetary agenda, these types of facts just get in the way of progress.
And most certainly the Democrats do this with this nonsensical almost religeous-like bonding to "global warming" - a claim which utilizes more dubious models, and political agenda than any real science.
But of course, I am sure you will cite Al Gore's nonsensical film which is brimming over with lies, half truths, manipulated statistics, garbage-in garbage out models, massive unknown parameters, etc.... - as a masterpiece of science. Gimme a Break. So, I can certainly lampoon a moron like Gore who subverts real science to promote his nutty envirowacko agenda.
But I am aure all you "global warming" evangelists will come out in force and attack. Like I said, it is nothing more than a fruity religeon.
Pretty soon you will buy a CD and not be able to listen to the content, or buy a movie without being able to watch it. Because, after all, if you can see/hear the content - then you just might be able to record it.
xxAA should just sell blanks if they don't want anyone re-recording the content.
I am dead center middle class total family size of 5, and I got what would end up being a HUGE tax cut, relative to income. You keep forgetting that people who make more money will receive a higher cut because they PAID more taxes. We already disproportionally tax the rich with the graduated income tax. You forget that the rich people you seem to loathe are the ones creating the jobs, and thus creating wealth. I have never seen a pverty stricken person employ anyone.
I swear, everyone in Slashdot anymore is just out to Bush bash, no matter what the cause, no matter what the issue. I personally will thank him for a nice extra chunk of change in my wallet.
I agree he is bought and sold by Accuweather and other regional contributors who crafted this pile of trash as of a bill. On the other hand, please show me a legislator (R or D) who isn't. They all pander to business interests - they just pander to different ones than maybe you support. Where do you think buffoons like Ted kennedy get their cash? Hint - it's not joe public contributions.
I also get tired of the 'greedy' corporation statement. Yes, there are some greedy corporations, and accuweather may very well be one of them, but what you fail to realize is that there are many, many others that have contributed vast amounts of technology and wealth to the world - through innovation, and creation of jobs. Without 'greedy' corporations, you wouldn't be able to spread your beloved opinion on places like Slashdot - as they would not exist.
Oh, and all 'young' people do not think like you, so don't get this looney idea the the nations youth will come out in force and vote for nutty liberal politicos either.
So, yeah, as an experienced amateur meteorologist, I love the NWS, and have no use for in-Accuweather (which is a lousy forecast company to begin with), and I hate the bill - recognizing that the contributing Senator probably did not write it, doesn't understand it, and got a forward contribution for submitting it. And, the Democrats differ exactly how???
Ummm.... In case you didn't read, your so-called evil conservatives were the ones writing the dissent on the emminent domain ruling. Yes, Clarence Thomas, Rhenquist, Scalia, and O'Connor all felt strongly that the government should NOT be allowed to seize your property - whilst all the liberal judges (yes - some of the liberal judges were appointed in compromise by Republican presidents) voted that the government should be allowed to take your property under any circumstances.
Therefore - your post makes no sense - in the first sentence you laud the ruling as blatently criminal, and then go on to criticize those who voted against it. Usually when liberals talk out of both sides of their mouth, they reserve it for at least a seperate paragraph - not the next sentence.
I normally do not waste my time with such drivel, but I am growing so tired of the faulty global warming arguement, I just could not resist.
What y'all miss is that the data that is fed into these 'models' is faulty by its very nature. Surface data - which has slightly increased (about.6 degrees Centigrade over the last 100 years) is LIKELY the result of the urban heat island effect. Please note that satellite measurements of lower tropospheric temps have had 0% change in the last 19 years - as well as hard measurements - the guaranteed twice daily radiosonde readings at scads of stations across the globe also show no change. Also, the VAST majority of this so-called warming occurred prior to what is known as the thermal maximum of 1945. Certainly, there were far less CO2 sources prior to 1945, but go ahead and ignore the fact that is has cooled a great deal since 45.
That is just the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended), but I lack the time to post it. Are some areas of the Globe getting warmer? Yes. Are some areas of the Globe getting cooler? Yes. The climate is not constant, it does change. This is a fact of the planet that you live on.
This is nothing more than a nonsensical fatalist, chicken little, political folly to garner enormous amounts of public funds for research - good or bad. When facts indicate you are wrong you fight on because you would lose your reason to exist. I put it in the same category as the seasonal ozone hole over the poles - and all the alarmist nonsense that went with that. Yeah, it is seasonal, has been conclusively proven to be based on lack solar radiation in the winter months - yet it is STILL being touted as fact (only a lot quieter now;) ).
I just hope the well dries up on all this before a lot of people are needlessly out of work in real industry. Fortunately, many scientists are starting to reject this nonsense (see the Oregon Petition - 18,000 strong and growing), so it may not be too late.
Climatologists have been pointing out that weather patterns have been getting more extreme for some time now
Nonesense. None of the observed patterns are anymore unusual than say, 50 years ago. This is factual and you can look it up. Two major hurricanes hit Florida in the 50's within 6 weeks of each other (Easy and King). Hurricane Andrew was a modified cat 5 in 1992, and the list goes on. Hurricanes happen - they are a natural part of atmospheric stabilization process (cold air on top of warm air - as a simple explanation of instability). Certain years have more hurricanes than other years - you can look up the cycles the National Climatic Data Center, and the Hurricane Forcast Center. It just happens that way - and the cycles have not appreciably modified in past 30 years (keep in mind that the most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in the US was Camille in the late 60's).
Be careful which 'climatologists' you listen to - many of them follow a political agenda when they give 'expert' opinions. Just take a couple of days and check the data yourself.
To many of the opinions on global climate are driven by nothing more than politics, which is downright stupid. Almost as bad as saying the Hurricane Frances is a deliberate attempt by the Bush administration to disenfranchise the voters in S. FLorida.
Wow - couldn't have said that better myself. The only difference is that I have been moving more into the business process analysis activities, and other activities which revolve around saving the client money through efficiently designed business practices - married with IT solutions. That is a great way to get out of the monotany that you are talking about - think of the big picture and know the business better than those you work for.
Sure, I still program, but it has taken a backseat to high level problem solving. High level problem solving will get you noticed as well.
I hear you on the hardware - I hate computer hardware now, even though I used to be a big upgrade geek. Now, I never use the computer at home anymore.
Most of the video stores here in the Midwest (N. Ohio to be specific) have prices that range from $1 for old to 2.49 for new releases. East cost costs are ridiculous on everything.
I agree - 90% of the problem is the cost. I could never understand why 2 Cent plastic cost so much. I imagined that a lot of it was due to new mold creation cost, etc...
Now, they are priced out of most people budgets - and that is why the stuff is not selling well.
On the flipside - Megablocks are garbage - They are cheaper, but they do not stay together at all.
I agree - my kids absolutely love Star Wars, and they love Lego. The marriage of the two products generated unbelieveable excitement this Christmas when they were able to get the two Lego AT-AT walkers.
Seriously folks, didn't a lot of tea get tossed into Boston Harbor because of crap like this?
Hint: Stop voting for the goons that are doing this stuff - take back your government from these idiots. Start locally and the trend will expand nationally - eventually.
Stop calling it 'stealing', it is copyright infringement. Why the hell do you people have such a hard time understanding that concept?
To 'steal', you take someones tangible good/property. Now you have it, they do not - you have deprived them of their property. Not so with so-called IP. You copy it, and they still have their own copy. Now if you were take a CD, say from a store - you have 'stolen' something tangible - but you have not committed copyright infringement under the law. Curiously, the penalty for swiping a CD is leagues lower than trading a song on the internet.
People sound so stupid and uneducated when they make posts such as yours. Get your facts and definitions straight before you blurt it out.
Slashdot Mirror
"This is like passing a law requiring the electric company to turn you in should they discover marijuana growing in your backyard when they check the meter!"
Yep - come to Toledo, OH - home of the city government that routinely harrasses its (remaining) citizens. Meter readers are being essentially 'deputized' under a new ordinance requiring them to report 'housing code' violations back to the city for the expressed purpose of extracting more money from the already cash/job strapped citizenry. One of the big violations - firewood that not lifted a mininum of 6 inches off the ground. Yep - thats right, if you have firewood, it can't be on the ground. This is insanity at its finest - and is just typical of the dispicable democrat nepotisitic regime that has run the city into the ground over the past 30 years - now complete with a nutty (in my opinion) mayor that interferes with business as a rule. No wonder no jobs are coming to the city! We are moving out at as soon as next year.
Right, lower balances on high limit cards do not decrease the 'score'. However, a mortgage lender doesn't just look at the score - they look at the whole report, and the combination of score/report is used to place you in the worst rate category they have for your 'category'. Everything is done to maximize their take - not get you the best deal. Now for FHA loans, they only look at the contents of the report, not the score.
ID theft is just one of the many, many problems with the credit system in the US. The worst problem is with reporting - things are reported to credit bureaus that have nothing to do with credit, much of it is deliberately false both from credit companies and third party debt collector scum, and finally what the credit report is permitted to be used for.
Good examples are credit card companies deliberately not reporting credit limits to drop your coveted 'score' (so you are ALWAYS over the limit), to third party debt collectors re-aging old debt, to out and out falsifying payment records, etc...
And, then there are other things like medical bills. Why are unpaid medical bills on a credit report? It is not credit, and has no bearing on your ability or desire to pay your mortgage or car loan. Tough luck that you didn't have insurance - you should have thought about that before you went and got cancer. Or what about that fenceline dispute you had with your neighbor that you took to small claims court. You lost, there was no monetary award, yet a judgement still appears on your 'credit' report. Plain wrong.
Oh, and then there is permissible purpose. Exactly what does a credit report have to do with a job? How about insurance? How many people were 'right-sized' into 'bad credit'? Now you can't get another job because your credit is bad? C'mon, does anyone see something wrong with this? Credit reports are about useless for determining credit worthiness for a myriad of reasons, and we want them applied here to? Give me a break. Got 'bad' credit? Can't rent now either - so where the hell are you supposed to live? The problem of people using credit reports for things other than granting credit is big and getting a lot bigger, but will anyone stand up an write Congress about it? And you can forget cable, direct tv, cell phone plans, satellite radio, or any other services. Down in Texas they are raising gas utility rates on people who have bad credit. Wake up people! Not all people have bad credit on purpose even in the absence of ID theft.
The system is a horrible disgrace - designed to bilk billions out of the public - nothing more, even if you leave ID theft out of it altogether.
Until there are laws passed that are stronger than the FCRA and impose criminal penalties and much higher fines, you will never see the end of this.
which doesn't operate as "cleanly" as the credit rating system
You can quintuple quote "Cleanly". The credit system in the US is so riddled with fraud and inaccuracies (most being deliberate) that it is not even an effective tool for determining creditworthiness. At last check, most statistics indicate that 75% (roughly) of credit reports have errors - and many of these are serious enough to cause a substantial decline in this stupid 'score'. Essentially the whole system is rigged so that you pay more. No longer is it about getting credit - it is about how much you will pay for the privlege. This has the largest impact on those who can afford to pay the least.
Shit happens in life. Many without health insurance who experience a catestrophic health event can be left with nothing. You cannot plan for that, and those situations disproportionately affect young families and minorities. What about loss of job due to 'rightsizing'? That is another major cause of so-called bad credit. The fact the FCRA ("Fair" Credit Reporting Act) permits these reports to be used by prospective and current employers to evaluate a persons 'character' is an absolute abomination. Imagine the person who has so-called bad credit because of a job loss. Now they cant get another? Does the fact that he/she had to make a choice of paying a couple bills late vs. feeding the kids make someone untrustworthy? What about identity theft? This list goes on. Is this acceptable to our citizenry? It should not be.
I could go on and on about deliberate mis-reporting, items that do not belong on credit reports, items staying on way too long etc..., but the crux of the issue is permitting non-credit grantors from using the report - what is called 'permissible purpose'. Credit reports should be used for one purpose, and one purpose only - applying for and receiving credit. That's it, nothing else. And, serious reform is needed to make them a useful tool for even that. The tentacles that have grown out of it are the result of irresponsible on-sided lobbying by the financial industry of our stupid congressional representatives.
I encourage everyone out there to read the FCRA (it does give you some rights in suing the debt collector scum that reports incorrectly), and write your representative with your personal story about how this law needs to be changed.
Chris...
Thank you for posting a logical voice of reason in this forum. Such sanity has become so scarce on Slashdot, I have headed for Digg to wait the inevitable there as well...
Are you aware that Insurance companies also do credit checks to arrive at an 'insurance score'. People are getting screwed left and right on this too. And that is also specifically allowed in the FCRA as permissible purpose - review for granting insurance.
For every weapon the FCRA gives, it takes away somewhere else.
The very unfortunate fact, is that it IS legal (no matter how unethical) for an employer to do a credit check. It is spelled out in black and white in the FCRA (now called the FACT act) under the permissible purpose section. The law needs to be changed - credit checks should only be done for the purpose of obtaining credit, nothing more.
Oh, and ID theft is not half the problem - collection agencies and so-called junk debt buyers (scumbag buyers of out of statute debt) deliberately put false information on reports (reaging, reporting collections as 'past-due' installment accounts, etc...) is the REAL problem. You can fight this and win, but it will take many many months of hell.
The worst, I mean absolute worst part of all this hysterical "Global Warming" nonsense is that there is no possible way to take the "Global Temperature". "Global Temperature", consists of a scattered network of surface based temperature sensors, with higher concentrations in the Westernized nations (near cities and airports), much less in Africa, The Middle East, Old Soviet republics, etc... In addition to that, the radiosonde network and newer satellite based temperature measurements (since 1979) can measure the lower troposphere temperature. These measurements have shown no discernable change in temperature over the course of this period.
There are several inherent problems with surface data - the first of which is the well known, well documented urban heat island effect, which has nothing whatsoever to do with CO2, and everything to do with the albedo of asphalt, and the release of latent heat. Second, many of the world weather stations are not excessible for data gathering - either due to non-automation, or government protection of the data. So, I do not give a crap what the prevailing 'political consensus' is - there is no evidence whatsoever that there is any warming or cooling trend globally because it cannot be measured - only some hysteria surrounding the CO2 concentration and it's supposed drastic effect on the global mean temperature. And, on top of that, there is a tremendous amount of debate on exactly how much CO2 does actually contribute to warming the lower atmosphere.
So the crux of it, is that we do not have accurate data to feed into already dubious models. Hell, even the short term RUC models, used by the NOAA Storm Prediction Center fail to pinpoint convective initiation quite frequently - and you all think we can predict the climate in 100 years? That is just nuts. Go ahead and have another swog of the grape kool-aid.
One other 'missed' point in all of this nonsense is the difference between lower tropospheric temperatures and surface temperatures. "Global Warming", if any substantial amount of it were the result of increased CO2 concentrations would show up in the lower troposphere (around 850mb and upward). No data, other than twice daily soundings (sometimes more in severe weather events) was available until the last 20 years, when temperature measurements could be made by satellite. From what I understand, this data shows no change in 'average' temperature of the lower troposphere for the period (although I am not certain exactly how these measurements are taken).
When people speak of the 1C 'average' warming in the past hundred years they are referring to land based observations from a limited amount of stations worldwide (with the vast majority of those stations located in the continental US and western Europe). Many, though not all of these stations are located at or near urban areas or airports. The urban heat island effect is well documented. The more black pavement (very, very low albedo) you have the more solar energy is absorbed and released at the surface. This has nothing whatsoever to do with CO2, it is simple solar energy absorption and radiation - the same phenomenon that is required to sustain life on earth, as the sun does not heat the air - the earth does. Why do you think it is hotter at 5PM than Noon? Latent heat absorbed under full sun radiates all day, the vast majority several hours after full exposure. That said, the surface temperature of the earth is not really a reflection of CO2 concentration, but rather the vast amounts of pavement that has been laid down (and other non-reflective surfaces). Latent heat is the driver of most of the weather that we experience here on earth.
Of course, when you have a political and monetary agenda, these types of facts just get in the way of progress.
And most certainly the Democrats do this with this nonsensical almost religeous-like bonding to "global warming" - a claim which utilizes more dubious models, and political agenda than any real science.
But of course, I am sure you will cite Al Gore's nonsensical film which is brimming over with lies, half truths, manipulated statistics, garbage-in garbage out models, massive unknown parameters, etc.... - as a masterpiece of science. Gimme a Break. So, I can certainly lampoon a moron like Gore who subverts real science to promote his nutty envirowacko agenda.
But I am aure all you "global warming" evangelists will come out in force and attack. Like I said, it is nothing more than a fruity religeon.
Pretty soon you will buy a CD and not be able to listen to the content, or buy a movie without being able to watch it. Because, after all, if you can see/hear the content - then you just might be able to record it.
xxAA should just sell blanks if they don't want anyone re-recording the content.
I am dead center middle class total family size of 5, and I got what would end up being a HUGE tax cut, relative to income. You keep forgetting that people who make more money will receive a higher cut because they PAID more taxes. We already disproportionally tax the rich with the graduated income tax. You forget that the rich people you seem to loathe are the ones creating the jobs, and thus creating wealth. I have never seen a pverty stricken person employ anyone.
I swear, everyone in Slashdot anymore is just out to Bush bash, no matter what the cause, no matter what the issue. I personally will thank him for a nice extra chunk of change in my wallet.
I agree he is bought and sold by Accuweather and other regional contributors who crafted this pile of trash as of a bill. On the other hand, please show me a legislator (R or D) who isn't. They all pander to business interests - they just pander to different ones than maybe you support. Where do you think buffoons like Ted kennedy get their cash? Hint - it's not joe public contributions.
I also get tired of the 'greedy' corporation statement. Yes, there are some greedy corporations, and accuweather may very well be one of them, but what you fail to realize is that there are many, many others that have contributed vast amounts of technology and wealth to the world - through innovation, and creation of jobs. Without 'greedy' corporations, you wouldn't be able to spread your beloved opinion on places like Slashdot - as they would not exist.
Oh, and all 'young' people do not think like you, so don't get this looney idea the the nations youth will come out in force and vote for nutty liberal politicos either.
So, yeah, as an experienced amateur meteorologist, I love the NWS, and have no use for in-Accuweather (which is a lousy forecast company to begin with), and I hate the bill - recognizing that the contributing Senator probably did not write it, doesn't understand it, and got a forward contribution for submitting it. And, the Democrats differ exactly how???
Ummm.... In case you didn't read, your so-called evil conservatives were the ones writing the dissent on the emminent domain ruling. Yes, Clarence Thomas, Rhenquist, Scalia, and O'Connor all felt strongly that the government should NOT be allowed to seize your property - whilst all the liberal judges (yes - some of the liberal judges were appointed in compromise by Republican presidents) voted that the government should be allowed to take your property under any circumstances.
Therefore - your post makes no sense - in the first sentence you laud the ruling as blatently criminal, and then go on to criticize those who voted against it. Usually when liberals talk out of both sides of their mouth, they reserve it for at least a seperate paragraph - not the next sentence.
I normally do not waste my time with such drivel, but I am growing so tired of the faulty global warming arguement, I just could not resist.
.6 degrees Centigrade over the last 100 years) is LIKELY the result of the urban heat island effect. Please note that satellite measurements of lower tropospheric temps have had 0% change in the last 19 years - as well as hard measurements - the guaranteed twice daily radiosonde readings at scads of stations across the globe also show no change. Also, the VAST majority of this so-called warming occurred prior to what is known as the thermal maximum of 1945. Certainly, there were far less CO2 sources prior to 1945, but go ahead and ignore the fact that is has cooled a great deal since 45.
;) ).
What y'all miss is that the data that is fed into these 'models' is faulty by its very nature. Surface data - which has slightly increased (about
That is just the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended), but I lack the time to post it. Are some areas of the Globe getting warmer? Yes. Are some areas of the Globe getting cooler? Yes. The climate is not constant, it does change. This is a fact of the planet that you live on.
This is nothing more than a nonsensical fatalist, chicken little, political folly to garner enormous amounts of public funds for research - good or bad. When facts indicate you are wrong you fight on because you would lose your reason to exist. I put it in the same category as the seasonal ozone hole over the poles - and all the alarmist nonsense that went with that. Yeah, it is seasonal, has been conclusively proven to be based on lack solar radiation in the winter months - yet it is STILL being touted as fact (only a lot quieter now
I just hope the well dries up on all this before a lot of people are needlessly out of work in real industry. Fortunately, many scientists are starting to reject this nonsense (see the Oregon Petition - 18,000 strong and growing), so it may not be too late.
Well said. Nice to see some conservatism here on Slashdot.
Climatologists have been pointing out that weather patterns have been getting more extreme for some time now
Nonesense. None of the observed patterns are anymore unusual than say, 50 years ago. This is factual and you can look it up. Two major hurricanes hit Florida in the 50's within 6 weeks of each other (Easy and King). Hurricane Andrew was a modified cat 5 in 1992, and the list goes on. Hurricanes happen - they are a natural part of atmospheric stabilization process (cold air on top of warm air - as a simple explanation of instability). Certain years have more hurricanes than other years - you can look up the cycles the National Climatic Data Center, and the Hurricane Forcast Center. It just happens that way - and the cycles have not appreciably modified in past 30 years (keep in mind that the most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in the US was Camille in the late 60's).
Be careful which 'climatologists' you listen to - many of them follow a political agenda when they give 'expert' opinions. Just take a couple of days and check the data yourself.
To many of the opinions on global climate are driven by nothing more than politics, which is downright stupid. Almost as bad as saying the Hurricane Frances is a deliberate attempt by the Bush administration to disenfranchise the voters in S. FLorida.
Wow - couldn't have said that better myself. The only difference is that I have been moving more into the business process analysis activities, and other activities which revolve around saving the client money through efficiently designed business practices - married with IT solutions. That is a great way to get out of the monotany that you are talking about - think of the big picture and know the business better than those you work for.
Sure, I still program, but it has taken a backseat to high level problem solving. High level problem solving will get you noticed as well.
I hear you on the hardware - I hate computer hardware now, even though I used to be a big upgrade geek. Now, I never use the computer at home anymore.
Most of the video stores here in the Midwest (N. Ohio to be specific) have prices that range from $1 for old to 2.49 for new releases. East cost costs are ridiculous on everything.
I agree - 90% of the problem is the cost. I could never understand why 2 Cent plastic cost so much. I imagined that a lot of it was due to new mold creation cost, etc...
Now, they are priced out of most people budgets - and that is why the stuff is not selling well.
On the flipside - Megablocks are garbage - They are cheaper, but they do not stay together at all.
I agree - my kids absolutely love Star Wars, and they love Lego. The marriage of the two products generated unbelieveable excitement this Christmas when they were able to get the two Lego AT-AT walkers.
A neutron walks into a bar and asks - "How much for a beer?" Bartender answers - "For you, No Charge".
Seriously folks, didn't a lot of tea get tossed into Boston Harbor because of crap like this?
Hint: Stop voting for the goons that are doing this stuff - take back your government from these idiots. Start locally and the trend will expand nationally - eventually.
Ummmm.... Not too good at context interpretation are you? He obviously meant to say 'doesn't'.
Stop calling it 'stealing', it is copyright infringement. Why the hell do you people have such a hard time understanding that concept?
To 'steal', you take someones tangible good/property. Now you have it, they do not - you have deprived them of their property. Not so with so-called IP. You copy it, and they still have their own copy. Now if you were take a CD, say from a store - you have 'stolen' something tangible - but you have not committed copyright infringement under the law. Curiously, the penalty for swiping a CD is leagues lower than trading a song on the internet.
People sound so stupid and uneducated when they make posts such as yours. Get your facts and definitions straight before you blurt it out.