Game Shows and soaps - targets the elderly (medicare/medicade supplement insurance, diabetics testing supplies, home medical equipment, life insurance, etc)
Discovery, Law and Order flavor of the week, cooking shows...
You get a lot of stuff targeted towards stay at home parents (diapers, life insurance, baby formula, your-baby-can-read and be super smart if you buy this product, your baby will die if you don't buy thing product, etc).
Not everyone watching daytime TV is poor and uneducated. I know a number of people in the stay-at-home-parent crowd that have masters degrees in a technical field, but choose to stay home with the kids.
What kind of TV do you watch? Perhaps you should try watching something other than the latest reality tv show if you want good commercials. Here's a hint: different channels target different audiences.
But that would require time and effort. It's much easier to throw money at buying shinies. In all honesty though, I'm sure he visits his grandma regularly like a good grandson and is just trying to get her something for when he is at work, etc. You can't visit grandma every second of every day.
The real question is why he doesn't think she needs the internet? You can play bridge and Kanasta on the internet with other people and have way more fun than playing solitaire.
I believe you missed my point... While other people's furnaces have indeed exploded, mine has not. It is still in my basement and I have no intentions of removing it simply because the possibility of it exploding exists. As you pointed out, all the disasters I listed are valid possibilities. That doesn't mean that we panic prematurely. We are not going to abandon NY just because the distinct possibility of a tsunami leveling it exists. There is a distinct possibility that I can walk outside and get hit by a buss and killed. The longer I live the more likely I am to be killed by some freak accident. I'm still going to walk outside.
Risk exists in pretty much everything that we do. It is important that we understand the risk and take *appropriate* mitigation steps. You claim that it is pure luck that has kept disaster at bay this long. If that is true, then it is pure luck that prevents an asteroid from colliding with the planet and destroying our atmosphere. Pure luck keeps a lot of disasters at bay. If, however, an oil disaster would be caused by humans, then it is not pure luck that keeps it at bay. Oil companies *do* pay geologists and other highly educated individuals lots of money to help them conduct risk analysis and understand the risks of their operations. There is a difference between understanding and accounting for risk and abandoning an activity simply because it is dangerous.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that oil companies be permitted to abdicate responsibility. If they break something, they should fix it, but to say that oil explorations should stop because there are risks associated with it and eventually something bad will happen is also irresponsible. I suspect you agree with that sentiment since you are in the oil business. What I object to is the idea that the possibility of an event occurring equates to that event definitively occurring when we all know that there are many events that are possible, but most likely will never happen. Pointing out all the unlikely, yet possible, disasters that can happen is a waste of time serving only scare and confuse the general public thus resulting in idiotic legislation and policy decisions with no basis on fact.
Point 1: Not all children are intentionally created.
Point 2: Life keeps on moving. Let's say you are in the military and married. You and your wife want to have kids at some point. There is a war going on and you are spending a lot of time deployed... do you wait for the war to end? That could be years or decades... You might get killed. The best time to have kids is when you are young. Do you wait and potentially give up the possibility of EVER having kids? When I got married someone told me that you can never afford to have children so you might as well do it when you are young. The world will NEVER be completely safe and stable.
Point 3: It's not exactly fair to say that military personal or other parents that travel a lot are not supporting their families. They are sending paychecks home that pay the bills.
Point 4: Different lifestyles work for different people. Just because one family's situation wouldn't work for you and your family, doesn't make it wrong or less valid. Some people can't fathom having ANY children and some people have 18. Presumably people traveling like that derive value from their work and it is a situation both parts of the marriage signed up for. Also, today, we have the internet. My child gets to see her grandparents who live over 1000 miles away every week. I have friends where the husband spends 5 days out of every week traveling and he still sees and talks to his children every day. Yes, you don't get to pick them up and toss them in the air, but it is rather disingenuous to imply you are absent from their lives. Some parents live with their children and manage to be more absent than parents that spend most of their time away.
I have a problem with giving them PS3's because they are expensive. If they want to play a board game or football or anything else that is relatively cheap, I have no problem with that. If YOU are going to give them the PS3 and all the games, that's fine too. But in a time when our governments are strapped for cash, don't go wasting my tax dollars on buying prisoners expensive gaming systems. I also don't own a Kindel or other e-reader because they are expensive. Not all shiny electronics are necessary and I would rather pay my bills on time than have the latest and greatest shiny.
Slavery would imply that the prisoners are property and thus can be sold. It would also imply that they would never be released. The term you are looking for is 'indentured servant.'
If by "drive to Barnes and Nobel" you mean "log onto a webpage," then yes. Personally I find logging into a webpage a lot simpler than driving to a store...
Libraries should use this system and set it up exactly the way it is setup for printed books: limited number of available copies, queues, limited checkout time for hot books, free use.
Then give them a useful task like building roads... Let them read a book or go to school. I don't have a PS3. Why should gang-banger joe in prison have better stuff than me?
We could reprocess it and reuse it, but a bunch of politicians passed a law making it illegal. So yes, we know exactly what to do with the waste, but politicians won't let us. I suppose we know what to do about all the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere? That's like saying "aside from the radiation, nuclear is perfectly safe and clean." Yes, if you ignore all the problems then your coal plant is safe, clean, and happy. Coal has STILL killed more people than nuclear has.
You cannot condemn nuclear while at the same time refusing to recognize that the other electricity methods we have present their own problems. Doing so shows an irrational fear of nuclear because it involves the mystical, magical radiation that no one understands. When you actually look at the real impact of things like coal, nuclear looks pretty damn good. When you look at the real efficiency and cost of things like wind and solar, nuclear looks pretty damn good.
And I suppose coal is clean and safe and happy? No one dies in coal mining accidents? No one dies from coal pollution? No one dies from coal plant fires? No land is rendered unusable by strip mining?
Aliens have not yet invaded. My furnace has not yet exploded. A nuclear bomb has not yet been dropped on the US. A tsunami has not yet wiped NY off the map. What's your point?
Sounds like the system worked as designed. It shouldn't be easy to just declare someone dead and transfer all their accounts over to another person. You actually WANT people to have go through the 'hassle' of getting the death certificate, administering the estate, etc. Death is messy, but it is even messier if the person turns out to still be alive and tries to get their life back. It takes time to sort it out.
I'm not sure why when your father died you didn't just fax the bank the death certificate and have them freeze his accounts like they are supposed to. All the tasks you want to accomplish have prescribed legal methods for accomplishing them. As other people have said, assign an executor or hire an attorney and don't worry about it. If you don't trust your siblings in life, why are trusting them to properly manage your estate?
And how many people will die because blood supplies are short? One of the big problems facing the medical community is that blood cannot be manufactured and so they have to rely on donations which people tend to be reluctant to give for a variety of reasons both valid and invalid. If we can reduce the demand of actual human blood donated by real humans then that is a big win that saves lives.
The food 'shortage' problem is really a distribution problem anyway, not a supply problem so someone growing rice in Montana isn't going to help starving children in Africa.
Don't forget the NIMBY folk. There have been several instances where someone has tried to put in a high speed rail line or whatnot and then got shot down because no one would let it go through their town.
Slashdot Mirror
We called that 'collaboration' and 'working together' and it was a good thing. Also, it's not plagiarism if you cite your sources.
PBS - no commercials
Game Shows and soaps - targets the elderly (medicare/medicade supplement insurance, diabetics testing supplies, home medical equipment, life insurance, etc)
Discovery, Law and Order flavor of the week, cooking shows...
You get a lot of stuff targeted towards stay at home parents (diapers, life insurance, baby formula, your-baby-can-read and be super smart if you buy this product, your baby will die if you don't buy thing product, etc).
Not everyone watching daytime TV is poor and uneducated. I know a number of people in the stay-at-home-parent crowd that have masters degrees in a technical field, but choose to stay home with the kids.
What kind of TV do you watch? Perhaps you should try watching something other than the latest reality tv show if you want good commercials. Here's a hint: different channels target different audiences.
But that would require time and effort. It's much easier to throw money at buying shinies. In all honesty though, I'm sure he visits his grandma regularly like a good grandson and is just trying to get her something for when he is at work, etc. You can't visit grandma every second of every day.
The real question is why he doesn't think she needs the internet? You can play bridge and Kanasta on the internet with other people and have way more fun than playing solitaire.
I believe you missed my point... While other people's furnaces have indeed exploded, mine has not. It is still in my basement and I have no intentions of removing it simply because the possibility of it exploding exists. As you pointed out, all the disasters I listed are valid possibilities. That doesn't mean that we panic prematurely. We are not going to abandon NY just because the distinct possibility of a tsunami leveling it exists. There is a distinct possibility that I can walk outside and get hit by a buss and killed. The longer I live the more likely I am to be killed by some freak accident. I'm still going to walk outside.
Risk exists in pretty much everything that we do. It is important that we understand the risk and take *appropriate* mitigation steps. You claim that it is pure luck that has kept disaster at bay this long. If that is true, then it is pure luck that prevents an asteroid from colliding with the planet and destroying our atmosphere. Pure luck keeps a lot of disasters at bay. If, however, an oil disaster would be caused by humans, then it is not pure luck that keeps it at bay. Oil companies *do* pay geologists and other highly educated individuals lots of money to help them conduct risk analysis and understand the risks of their operations. There is a difference between understanding and accounting for risk and abandoning an activity simply because it is dangerous.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that oil companies be permitted to abdicate responsibility. If they break something, they should fix it, but to say that oil explorations should stop because there are risks associated with it and eventually something bad will happen is also irresponsible. I suspect you agree with that sentiment since you are in the oil business. What I object to is the idea that the possibility of an event occurring equates to that event definitively occurring when we all know that there are many events that are possible, but most likely will never happen. Pointing out all the unlikely, yet possible, disasters that can happen is a waste of time serving only scare and confuse the general public thus resulting in idiotic legislation and policy decisions with no basis on fact.
Point 1: Not all children are intentionally created.
Point 2: Life keeps on moving. Let's say you are in the military and married. You and your wife want to have kids at some point. There is a war going on and you are spending a lot of time deployed... do you wait for the war to end? That could be years or decades... You might get killed. The best time to have kids is when you are young. Do you wait and potentially give up the possibility of EVER having kids? When I got married someone told me that you can never afford to have children so you might as well do it when you are young. The world will NEVER be completely safe and stable.
Point 3: It's not exactly fair to say that military personal or other parents that travel a lot are not supporting their families. They are sending paychecks home that pay the bills.
Point 4: Different lifestyles work for different people. Just because one family's situation wouldn't work for you and your family, doesn't make it wrong or less valid. Some people can't fathom having ANY children and some people have 18. Presumably people traveling like that derive value from their work and it is a situation both parts of the marriage signed up for. Also, today, we have the internet. My child gets to see her grandparents who live over 1000 miles away every week. I have friends where the husband spends 5 days out of every week traveling and he still sees and talks to his children every day. Yes, you don't get to pick them up and toss them in the air, but it is rather disingenuous to imply you are absent from their lives. Some parents live with their children and manage to be more absent than parents that spend most of their time away.
I have a problem with giving them PS3's because they are expensive. If they want to play a board game or football or anything else that is relatively cheap, I have no problem with that. If YOU are going to give them the PS3 and all the games, that's fine too. But in a time when our governments are strapped for cash, don't go wasting my tax dollars on buying prisoners expensive gaming systems. I also don't own a Kindel or other e-reader because they are expensive. Not all shiny electronics are necessary and I would rather pay my bills on time than have the latest and greatest shiny.
Slavery would imply that the prisoners are property and thus can be sold. It would also imply that they would never be released. The term you are looking for is 'indentured servant.'
I think they usually involve similar things... not sure though. Perhaps the word you are looking for is hyperbole?
You aren't buying things anymore. You are buying a license to use the thing. Please report for re-training.
If by "drive to Barnes and Nobel" you mean "log onto a webpage," then yes. Personally I find logging into a webpage a lot simpler than driving to a store...
Libraries should use this system and set it up exactly the way it is setup for printed books: limited number of available copies, queues, limited checkout time for hot books, free use.
They do!
And if the artists all marry engineers they won't be starving anymore so it's win-win!
Then give them a useful task like building roads... Let them read a book or go to school. I don't have a PS3. Why should gang-banger joe in prison have better stuff than me?
I bet those solar panels will work great when they are covered with snow!
We could reprocess it and reuse it, but a bunch of politicians passed a law making it illegal. So yes, we know exactly what to do with the waste, but politicians won't let us. I suppose we know what to do about all the CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere? That's like saying "aside from the radiation, nuclear is perfectly safe and clean." Yes, if you ignore all the problems then your coal plant is safe, clean, and happy. Coal has STILL killed more people than nuclear has.
You cannot condemn nuclear while at the same time refusing to recognize that the other electricity methods we have present their own problems. Doing so shows an irrational fear of nuclear because it involves the mystical, magical radiation that no one understands. When you actually look at the real impact of things like coal, nuclear looks pretty damn good. When you look at the real efficiency and cost of things like wind and solar, nuclear looks pretty damn good.
And I suppose coal is clean and safe and happy? No one dies in coal mining accidents? No one dies from coal pollution? No one dies from coal plant fires? No land is rendered unusable by strip mining?
Aliens have not yet invaded. My furnace has not yet exploded. A nuclear bomb has not yet been dropped on the US. A tsunami has not yet wiped NY off the map. What's your point?
It's actually pretty easy... you don't connect it to the internet.
We could blame the tsunami on George Bush, Microsoft, and Apple.
Sounds like the system worked as designed. It shouldn't be easy to just declare someone dead and transfer all their accounts over to another person. You actually WANT people to have go through the 'hassle' of getting the death certificate, administering the estate, etc. Death is messy, but it is even messier if the person turns out to still be alive and tries to get their life back. It takes time to sort it out.
I'm not sure why when your father died you didn't just fax the bank the death certificate and have them freeze his accounts like they are supposed to. All the tasks you want to accomplish have prescribed legal methods for accomplishing them. As other people have said, assign an executor or hire an attorney and don't worry about it. If you don't trust your siblings in life, why are trusting them to properly manage your estate?
Because users occasionally need to actually, you know, use the computer to do their job?
And how many people will die because blood supplies are short? One of the big problems facing the medical community is that blood cannot be manufactured and so they have to rely on donations which people tend to be reluctant to give for a variety of reasons both valid and invalid. If we can reduce the demand of actual human blood donated by real humans then that is a big win that saves lives.
The food 'shortage' problem is really a distribution problem anyway, not a supply problem so someone growing rice in Montana isn't going to help starving children in Africa.
Don't forget the NIMBY folk. There have been several instances where someone has tried to put in a high speed rail line or whatnot and then got shot down because no one would let it go through their town.
For starters... lightning is not human-initiated. And planes do typically have massive problems when they get struck by lightning.