The government needs to legislate that holding a bank account is a basic civil right, along with electricity, clean water, and ideally internet. Of course the banking sector will fight against this tooth and nail.
But if I can't earn a wage (most wages are paid electronically) and I can't pay my taxes (try taking cash to the tax office) without a bank account, then my interpretation of the social contract is that a basic bank account must be provided to me free of charge. My idea of a basic account is no interest, no fees, no overdraft, no card, withdrawal and deposits at the branch, and online access for making payments and checking on it. Either the government mandates that part of holding a "bank license" (they are regulated aren't they?) is they provide this basic service, or the government makes their own bank and offers this service themselves.
In other (more drunken) words why the fuck must I pay a third-party form time to time to partake in modern society? How fucked up are we that we just *let* our society become that way and accept it as "the way it is"? I put it like that because invariably that's the reply I get when I try to discuss this with people IRL.
I know what you are saying but what possible hanky panky can be performed with a regular chequing account? Money goes in and money comes out. The account owner can't draw more money than they have. Overdrawn cheques are bounced.
Oh, wait, that's it. The reason the bank is checking the credit score is that they force credit upon you as part of holding the account. I've seen this practice in the US, the UK, and to a lesser extent in AU. It is often almost impossible to hold an account with no overdraft. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but the vast majority of regular accounts come with this "feature" that nearly 99% of users do not want. The US banks were the worst: mine would process payments in the order that maximized their overdraft fees ($35 a hit back in 2009 when I worked there).
And China-Japan tensions have been, er, tense, for thousands of years, and especially since WWII.
It's because of the China-Japan confrontation that the US is involved. By ensuring Japan could not rebuild its military post-WWII the US had to promise to protect Japan. So if China acts against Japan then the US has to step in and before you know it we have WWIII on our hands. This is why the South China Sea situation is such a concern. One nasty flair-up over some sandy reefs (the ecology of which China has trashed btw) and drilling rights and I worry which way the future could go.
The GPP was being funny about China's space station "accidentally-on-purpose" crashing into Tokyo. The PP then made a quip that Japan's giant robots would defend them. And now here I am, explaining all of this like a moron to some idiot AC on/....damn, I need another drink!
Only challenge is choosing the dose, but a safety margin can be built into it by making the vials limited to a sub-lethal dose for children of a certain size/age range.
Most large combined houses like that are hot-spots for sexual abuse, often from the other children. In a large family the taboo and social pressures against incest suppress such activities. But in foster homes that beneficial affect is significantly removed.
That was a terrible accident. I know they were short on time and there was some justification for pushing ahead with the test, but you couldn't pay me a million dollars to get inside a pure O2 atmosphere. It kind of suggests how trusting the team was during the Apollo days: the astronauts had to trust everyone, and everyone had to trust everyone else to do their job properly and keep an eye out in case anything was amiss.
Our concept of self drives a latent sense of self-importance and self-identity. If I believe I am a special snowflake then I will go to great lengths to protect myself, nourish myself, and exist to the best of my ability. The prospect that I am nothing more than a simulated entity, regardless of how real it may seem, fundamentally devalues my own perceptions of my identity. Meditate on this a while, and you will see that the same concept is trivially extended to anything else in the universe, for if I do not value myself then I surely do not value you, or the whales, or the beetles that swarm and multiply upon the earth.
This is not new philosophy, but I lack the formal education to point you towards the exact philosophical classification or identify masters who espoused these views. Perhaps someone can help? Comments from those who identify as "real people" only please:)
Just to support your comments Rei: I'd like to point out that sulfuric acid is the most widely manufactured industrial chemicals on the planet.
From the Wikipedia page (for those too lazy to find it themselves):
Sulfuric acid is a very important commodity chemical, and indeed, a nation's sulfuric acid production is a good indicator of its industrial strength.[27] World production in 2004 was about 180 million tonnes, with the following geographic distribution: Asia 35%, North America (including Mexico) 24%, Africa 11%, Western Europe 10%, Eastern Europe and Russia 10%, Australia and Oceania 7%, South America 7%.[28] Most of this amount (~60%) is consumed for fertilizers, particularly superphosphates, ammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfates. About 20% is used in chemical industry for production of detergents, synthetic resins, dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, petroleum catalysts, insecticides and antifreeze, as well as in various processes such as oil well acidicizing, aluminium reduction, paper sizing, water treatment. About 6% of uses are related to pigments and include paints, enamels, printing inks, coated fabrics and paper, and the rest is dispersed into a multitude of applications such as production of explosives, cellophane, acetate and viscose textiles, lubricants, non-ferrous metals and batteries.[29]
There is no news about it because pretty much nothing happened. The footage released today of the "bombs" makes them look like high school kids messing around. The fact there is "wreckage" of the mostly intact device that exploded shows you how under-powered it actually was.
Of course no international terrorist group will claim responsibility this was simply a piss poor act of crime and nothing more. If I was a local cop then I'd be looking into local connections; domestic cases, high school or small gang confrontations, or perhaps a disgruntled customer pulled this stunt to shut down a restaurant that has slighted them.
The problem, America, with claiming that all the big bad terrorists are out to get you is that you look fucking stupid when you over-react to what is just every day regular crime. How many people were murdered in New York city on Saturday? Why should we even care about a couple of dozen *injuries*???
Not saying this has occurred in your case, but CYMK printers will mix colour (CYM) ink in with black (K) ink to produce "rich black". Just keep in mind that if your printer was doing this then you would indeed be losing colour ink/toner on monochrome/B&W prints.
For me I have the Laserjet 5M, been running since 2003 when I bought it second hand at a surplus-sale.
Works very well as a network printer using the built in HP print server, though I always found it funny when configuring the printer on Windows (XP and 7) PCs I had to add it as a "local port" and then create a TCP/IP port for it.
Apple shill, not one bit. Their products are absolutely over-priced and under-featured.
The problem here is that why would you even choose to line up over issues as banal as smart phone choice? Young men have lined up and shot at each other over the fancies of the rich and powerful and I've always regarded that as tragic. But the older I get the more I realise that those instincts are more intrinsic than I realised.
Have been flying around Germany the past few days. Every Lufthansa flight was prefaced with a warning about the Note 7 stating that it should not be turned on or charged.
"The rate of earnings of a hedge fund manager is in fact a tax on returns to mutual funds, 401Ks and pension funds; whether the hedge fund manager takes it home to stuff under his pillow or the government takes it to fund education, medical care for all, build highways and assorted infrastructure does not change one whit that the money was removed as a return on investment to the investor."
Well that's a steaming pile of bullshit right there mate.
Slashdot Mirror
PS: Sorry to self-reply.
The government needs to legislate that holding a bank account is a basic civil right, along with electricity, clean water, and ideally internet. Of course the banking sector will fight against this tooth and nail.
But if I can't earn a wage (most wages are paid electronically) and I can't pay my taxes (try taking cash to the tax office) without a bank account, then my interpretation of the social contract is that a basic bank account must be provided to me free of charge. My idea of a basic account is no interest, no fees, no overdraft, no card, withdrawal and deposits at the branch, and online access for making payments and checking on it. Either the government mandates that part of holding a "bank license" (they are regulated aren't they?) is they provide this basic service, or the government makes their own bank and offers this service themselves.
In other (more drunken) words why the fuck must I pay a third-party form time to time to partake in modern society? How fucked up are we that we just *let* our society become that way and accept it as "the way it is"? I put it like that because invariably that's the reply I get when I try to discuss this with people IRL.
I know what you are saying but what possible hanky panky can be performed with a regular chequing account? Money goes in and money comes out. The account owner can't draw more money than they have. Overdrawn cheques are bounced.
Oh, wait, that's it. The reason the bank is checking the credit score is that they force credit upon you as part of holding the account. I've seen this practice in the US, the UK, and to a lesser extent in AU. It is often almost impossible to hold an account with no overdraft. Yes, I know there are exceptions, but the vast majority of regular accounts come with this "feature" that nearly 99% of users do not want. The US banks were the worst: mine would process payments in the order that maximized their overdraft fees ($35 a hit back in 2009 when I worked there).
Did I say I fucking hate banks? Total scum.
Cheers my friend! Right back at ya!
And China-Japan tensions have been, er, tense, for thousands of years, and especially since WWII.
It's because of the China-Japan confrontation that the US is involved. By ensuring Japan could not rebuild its military post-WWII the US had to promise to protect Japan. So if China acts against Japan then the US has to step in and before you know it we have WWIII on our hands. This is why the South China Sea situation is such a concern. One nasty flair-up over some sandy reefs (the ecology of which China has trashed btw) and drilling rights and I worry which way the future could go.
The GPP was being funny about China's space station "accidentally-on-purpose" crashing into Tokyo. The PP then made a quip that Japan's giant robots would defend them. And now here I am, explaining all of this like a moron to some idiot AC on /. ...damn, I need another drink!
Not if the 4K screen is only 4" across.
And 512GB.
Only challenge is choosing the dose, but a safety margin can be built into it by making the vials limited to a sub-lethal dose for children of a certain size/age range.
Or aiming straight for the heart a la Pulp Fiction.
There are other types of "pens" that take replaceable vials. They're really nice and durable, as the poster points out. Link.
Most large combined houses like that are hot-spots for sexual abuse, often from the other children. In a large family the taboo and social pressures against incest suppress such activities. But in foster homes that beneficial affect is significantly removed.
The definition of "terrorist" has been utterly destroyed by the political and media interests since 2001.
It has no meaning now.
All I do is replace the word with "crime" (and "criminal" as appropriate) when consuming news reports.
That was a terrible accident. I know they were short on time and there was some justification for pushing ahead with the test, but you couldn't pay me a million dollars to get inside a pure O2 atmosphere. It kind of suggests how trusting the team was during the Apollo days: the astronauts had to trust everyone, and everyone had to trust everyone else to do their job properly and keep an eye out in case anything was amiss.
Our concept of self drives a latent sense of self-importance and self-identity. If I believe I am a special snowflake then I will go to great lengths to protect myself, nourish myself, and exist to the best of my ability. The prospect that I am nothing more than a simulated entity, regardless of how real it may seem, fundamentally devalues my own perceptions of my identity. Meditate on this a while, and you will see that the same concept is trivially extended to anything else in the universe, for if I do not value myself then I surely do not value you, or the whales, or the beetles that swarm and multiply upon the earth.
This is not new philosophy, but I lack the formal education to point you towards the exact philosophical classification or identify masters who espoused these views. Perhaps someone can help? Comments from those who identify as "real people" only please :)
Of course they aren't, read about Howard Hughes some time, or if you don't like reading, watch the film starring Di Caprio, it wasn't too bad.
Just to support your comments Rei: I'd like to point out that sulfuric acid is the most widely manufactured industrial chemicals on the planet.
From the Wikipedia page (for those too lazy to find it themselves):
Sulfuric acid is a very important commodity chemical, and indeed, a nation's sulfuric acid production is a good indicator of its industrial strength.[27] World production in 2004 was about 180 million tonnes, with the following geographic distribution: Asia 35%, North America (including Mexico) 24%, Africa 11%, Western Europe 10%, Eastern Europe and Russia 10%, Australia and Oceania 7%, South America 7%.[28] Most of this amount (~60%) is consumed for fertilizers, particularly superphosphates, ammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfates. About 20% is used in chemical industry for production of detergents, synthetic resins, dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, petroleum catalysts, insecticides and antifreeze, as well as in various processes such as oil well acidicizing, aluminium reduction, paper sizing, water treatment. About 6% of uses are related to pigments and include paints, enamels, printing inks, coated fabrics and paper, and the rest is dispersed into a multitude of applications such as production of explosives, cellophane, acetate and viscose textiles, lubricants, non-ferrous metals and batteries.[29]
I don't have to: NASA lost two space shuttles with the loss of 14 lives.
"as a model it may actually be useful for us to adopt this view at least for the next few hundred years"
Not really.
The negative aspect of embracing this idea is that ramifications of bad decisions suddenly no longer matter.
Wipe out half the world's biodiversity due to AGW? Doesn't matter, those animals were just simulated... etc...
Alternatively, why be risk-averse with your investment choices? It doesn't matter don't you know, we live in a simulation!
Why do you think a *bank* made that announcement?
No Slashdot?
Still Perl isn't it?
There is no news about it because pretty much nothing happened. The footage released today of the "bombs" makes them look like high school kids messing around. The fact there is "wreckage" of the mostly intact device that exploded shows you how under-powered it actually was.
Of course no international terrorist group will claim responsibility this was simply a piss poor act of crime and nothing more. If I was a local cop then I'd be looking into local connections; domestic cases, high school or small gang confrontations, or perhaps a disgruntled customer pulled this stunt to shut down a restaurant that has slighted them.
The problem, America, with claiming that all the big bad terrorists are out to get you is that you look fucking stupid when you over-react to what is just every day regular crime. How many people were murdered in New York city on Saturday? Why should we even care about a couple of dozen *injuries*???
Not saying this has occurred in your case, but CYMK printers will mix colour (CYM) ink in with black (K) ink to produce "rich black". Just keep in mind that if your printer was doing this then you would indeed be losing colour ink/toner on monochrome/B&W prints.
For me I have the Laserjet 5M, been running since 2003 when I bought it second hand at a surplus-sale.
Works very well as a network printer using the built in HP print server, though I always found it funny when configuring the printer on Windows (XP and 7) PCs I had to add it as a "local port" and then create a TCP/IP port for it.
He he, offtopic absolutely.
Apple shill, not one bit. Their products are absolutely over-priced and under-featured.
The problem here is that why would you even choose to line up over issues as banal as smart phone choice? Young men have lined up and shot at each other over the fancies of the rich and powerful and I've always regarded that as tragic. But the older I get the more I realise that those instincts are more intrinsic than I realised.
It's a real shame that Samsung have wasted all that effort producing a product that does not work. It was not the first and it won't be the last company to do so. What is terrifying is that aircrew have 17 minutes to get an aircraft on the ground following a cabin fire, otherwise the result is total loss of the aircraft. Think about that for a minute and then decide whether you wish to fly anywhere, let alone over the Atlantic, while these products are in circulation.
"It helps to keep the inside of the phone dry."
It can't unless it is magically one way (see Maxwell's Demon) and only lets water vapor out and not in.
In a warm damp environment water vapour will enter the phone through the vent.
On transition to a cold environment that water will condense and you now have liquid water inside the phone.
Have been flying around Germany the past few days. Every Lufthansa flight was prefaced with a warning about the Note 7 stating that it should not be turned on or charged.
What amazing free publicity!!!
"The rate of earnings of a hedge fund manager is in fact a tax on returns to mutual funds, 401Ks and pension funds; whether the hedge fund manager takes it home to stuff under his pillow or the government takes it to fund education, medical care for all, build highways and assorted infrastructure does not change one whit that the money was removed as a return on investment to the investor."
Well that's a steaming pile of bullshit right there mate.