What's potentially scary about this, as of yesterday, you could purchase a controlling share of Worldcom for about $10 million. Of course, the low price is due to the impending bankrupcy. However, as daunting as the billions of dollars of debt might seem, Worldcom is still a viable company for someone who might be able to refinance the debt. Know of any large software companies that have that much working cash available?? Who might want to own a significant percentage of the backbone? Think its too far fetched??
$10,000,000 US is not much for many entities or individuals - not just Gates.
frankly, i'm more concerned about controlling interest of the company falling into the hands of those that intentionally want to inflict harm on the public... .
farfetched?
i have been observing this thread and would like to respond to some assertions made in the parent (and children):
You think telling him, "It's not your fault, you can't do anything about it..." is going to help?
actually, this statement conforms to my personal experience and my observations of the lives of others dealing with mental illness. one simple rule of human behavior that seems to be well-established for all of us is that behavior rarely exceeds expectations. those with mental illness that are moderately/highly functional and reasonably happy (it is possible, for there are such people) tend to believe that a great deal of their behavior is in their control and act on that belief by taking responsibility for behavior that they believe is in their control.
having said that...
...expect people to struggle along and compensate for their weaknesses the best they can with their strength and whatever crutches they can lay their hands on, and live with the honestly-earned status their performance merits.
...with their strength and whatever crutches they can lay their hands on...
people's strength (and the availability of crutches) varies. please take this in to account when considering "absolution." like strength, absolution can come in degrees (beware of the evil false dichotomy), and i would encourage people to relate the degree of absolution to the resources available to the person in question (e.g., "strength,", "availability of crutches").
btw, one can have character issues (like all of us)and have bpd. i know that sometimes i have behaved poorly because of bpd, and sometimes because i can be an ass/unenlightened i'm working on that too...
//tongue_in_cheek_food_for_thought following:
hope this post doesn't come across as too preachy/sententious/pedantic.
if it is, is it because of:
a) me by character being preachy/sententious/pedagologic; b) me dealing with BP whose symptoms include the above behavior.
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and thank you. the forum does make it difficult to present a fully balanced argument. take care.
//possibly dubious appeal to authority following:
...expect people to struggle along and compensate for their weaknesses the best they can with their strength and whatever crutches they can lay their hands on, and live with the honestly-earned status their performance merits.
...with their strength and whatever crutches they can lay their hands on...
//tongue_in_cheek_food_for_thought following:
i personally struggle/deal with bipolar disorder.
i have been observing this thread and would like to respond to some assertions made in the parent (and children):
You think telling him, "It's not your fault, you can't do anything about it..." is going to help?
actually, this statement conforms to my personal experience and my observations of the lives of others dealing with mental illness. one simple rule of human behavior that seems to be well-established for all of us is that behavior rarely exceeds expectations. those with mental illness that are moderately/highly functional and reasonably happy (it is possible, for there are such people) tend to believe that a great deal of their behavior is in their control and act on that belief by taking responsibility for behavior that they believe is in their control.
having said that...
people's strength (and the availability of crutches) varies. please take this in to account when considering "absolution." like strength, absolution can come in degrees (beware of the evil false dichotomy), and i would encourage people to relate the degree of absolution to the resources available to the person in question (e.g., "strength,", "availability of crutches").
btw, one can have character issues (like all of us)and have bpd. i know that sometimes i have behaved poorly because of bpd, and sometimes because i can be an ass/unenlightened i'm working on that too...
hope this post doesn't come across as too preachy/sententious/pedantic. if it is, is it because of:
a) me by character being preachy/sententious/pedagologic;
b) me dealing with BP whose symptoms include the above behavior.