I have no idea if the practice continues under Apple's current Great Leader.
Apparently, it still is:
In a recent interview with Business Week, Tim Cook said the practice is still in-place and even mentioned that he feels privileged to communicate with Apple's customers in this way. Here is a link to the story:
The credit card reform act did nothing to profit the credit card companies in any way whatsoever. There were a few (relatively speaking) financial institutions/credit card companies that were abusing their "powers" and charging their customers incredibly high penalty interest rates and fees (Capital One, MBNA, etc.).
An entire industry got penalized due to the egregious actions of a few bad guys.
The only thing I appreciated from this regulation is that the credit card companies now have to disclose how long it would take to pay off the entire balance (and how much it would cost in interest) by paying only the minimum payment - that is actually an informative bit of information.
Complying with each piece of the new regulation has cost the affected institutions a lot of money in reprogramming and retraining as well as direct loss of income on not being able to charge overlimit fees (certain situations can create an overlimit condition without the credit card company being at fault) without the customer opting in.
That isn't possible because you'd have packets in the same stream taking different routes and TCP/IP doesn't allow for that, that I know of.
Actually you can do it. We used to do it at work between a couple of sites. We had a T1 and a DSL line. We used an off-the-shelf product from Fatpipe (http://www.fatpipeinc.com/) that can do just that over various types of connections. Not cheap/free, though, so it doesn't fit the poster's need.
I am sure there are several methods of accomplishing the same end. We liked the support they provided.
Do your homework on the company. Get a list of their current and former clients and call at least 10 of them (at least two of them that joined in the past 6 months).
Don't hire an individual. Make sure when you contract with an outsourced IT company that you have the following in place:
1. They must notify you prior to outsourcing any of their work to another party (subcontract the work to someone you may or may not approve of).
2. They provide background checks on their employees.
3. They have privacy and other policies which they follow that comply with GLBA, HIPPA, or Sarbanes-Oxley (if necessary for your industry)
4. They will provide you with audited financial statements on at least an annual basis (you don't want to trust your goodies to someone that is going under and my be "pushed" towards unscrupulous behavior when the going gets tough).
5. There is no "automatic" renewal of the contract. (you should review their service at least annually to ensure they are doing the right thing)
6. They provide you with a copy of their support practices. (how many privileges does each employee have? Do they each have separate logins so you can tell who was doing what, etc.)
7. What State (if in the USA) laws is the contract governed by. Make sure it's not a State which is highly favorable to the outsourcing company.
8. The company is to maintain an insurance/bond policy against it employee negligent or malicious actions that harm your company. The amount of the insurance or bond should be sufficient to cover your assets and your liabilities if data stolen from you led to a lawsuit against you or your company.
There is a lot more you can/should do. I would also have an attorney well-versed in contract law examine the contract to ensure it completely spells out the outsourcing company's responsibility and yours without favoring one party over the other.
hmmm... it would seem a gun may help a criminal more easily control a situation if he has a gun in his possession.
Even without a firearm, the victims may be armed, but only with knives, fists, canes, bats, fingernails, teeth, old AOL disks, whatever they can get a hold of. The threat of using a gun will usually trump any of those weapons and can hold multiple individuals at bay so the criminal can get what he wants. That's the more likely reason criminals will use/carry guns... that and because their criminal cronies aren't too trustworthy, either. They may feel the need to protect themselves from the other criminal elements.
I'm more interested in talking with sensible people about how to rebuild the country
I'd suggest ridding the USA of both the Republican and Democrat parties. I'd also like to see fewer (actually, zero) career politicians. I'm sick and tired of seeing Ted Kennedy, Orin Hatch, Arlen Specter, et al. Rid us of the people who are "serving the country" by being Senators/Congressmen only to build up their own mini-kingdoms of power, wealth, and status. There is a congressman from Utah County (Chris Cannon) who is facing a Republican run-off in the Primaries this year mainly because a gentleman decided to run against him to get Mr. Cannon out of becoming a career politician. Mr Cannon states that his experience is needed the Congress... I look around at all the crap that we're dealing with around the country and think to myself, "Why would we keep electing these fools to represent us... this is what their experience has brought upon us." - just my opinion.
There is no true difference between a Republican and a Democrat - speaking of the politicians, not actual voters. They may say different things and appear to stand for different things, but in the end, they just want to be in power for as long as possible, never mind the consequences to the people their decisions/vote will create. The only potential difference between Republicans and Democrats is the manner of control they wish to extend upon the masses: Republicans seem to want to control your thinking/behavior, your morals - impeding your life, liberty, and pursuit of happieness. Democrats want to control your money and thereby control a large part of your life, liberty, and pursuit of happieness. I don't like either choice.
Opinion polls drive me nuts, too; before any decisions or votes politicians better check the poles for the general popular attitude towards the issue at hand. It's as if politicians have no minds of their own. I know they're elected to represent their consituents (Senators should represent their States, but that's a separate topic), but they supposedly had platforms and personal convictions upon which they campaigned... they should stick to their convictions (conservative/liberal, or otherwise) rather than bending in the wind of the current public opinion.
You see jokes about how Americans get to choose from among 50 women for Miss America, but only 2 people for President. Maybe it's not really that funny. It's quite screwed that we have only two real choices presented to us in any election.
I am a conservative (not too popular on/. - oh well), but I am not a Republican and don't really consider the party as a conservative one at this time. I used to be a Republican, but have since rescinded my affiliation with the party. I am not particularly fond of George W. Bush or Bill Clinton, they're about the same in my thinking. One is a liar, the other is a liar. One wants personal power, the other wants personal power.
Anyway, I'll end my rant, I'm tired and it's likely not too coherent, but I'll post anyway.
Enjoy your early morning (maybe night depending on your TZ)
"So you get a system that is = person + skin tight body suit + nonvolatile fluid + bubble helmet + Air supply"
I guess if you got a couple of Slashdotters to try it out in space you'd have two less lonely people in the world.
I dunno, it's entirely possible that Air Supply already has quite a bit of experience with vasoline, skin-tight body suits, etc... maybe they could go up and try it out.
"Those large trucks on the Interstate that you see every day have a weight limit of about 65,000 lbs."
Here's a link http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600155076,00 .html to a story of an explosion caused when a semi overturned and caught fire in a canyon about 35 miles from my home. It occurred last Wednesday. The semi was hauling 38,000 lbs. of explosives. Not one person died! That stretch of highway is highly-travelled and pretty dangerous on its own without exploding vehicles. If you look at the images of the road, you'll likely agree that it's quite an amazing thing that no one died. Nearly the entire semi and trailer were gone. The explosion left a crater about 20 to 35 feet deep and 60 to 80 feet wide.
Here is another link http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_226191800.h tml to a Salt Lake TV station that received a video taken by someone travelling on the highway during the explosion. (The streaming video worked quite well on my Mac - Tiger & Safari - , so I'm pretty sure it'll work for most anyone)
I plan to give those truckers an even wider berth from now on.
Yes, I am lucky and blessed to have been born a citizen of the United States of America.
I didn't intend to come off like a jerk, but if that's the way you take it, so be it.
I live in an area that is literally being overrun by illegals.
I work in the banking industry and see several loan applications each week with invalid (stolen, "borrowed") social security numbers, applicants that can't prove income because they're paid under the table. The applicants (who are illegally here) throw a fit when I deny them service and then tell me, in Spanish, than I am racist and discriminating against them. Others come in from a local drywall company and cash $4000 checks each week only to go outside and pay others without social security or tax IDs cash out of that check. It's saddening to think of the local, legal worker that is missing out of his or her check because some drywall company is dishonest and keeps paying illegals through whatever channels they can because it's so much cheaper - no OSHA problems, no matching social security deposit, no payroll taxes to track, no unemployment insurance, etc.
Had you read my post you'd have seen that I understand why they want to come here, I just don't believe a blind eye should be turned to their ever-growing presence here. I don't want them here expecting to get a handout from the government (public schools, health care, etc) if they got here illegally. The laws are in place and need to be enforced.
Wished you had to live for a couple of years in Mx or Colombia or so and we'll see what you think about illegal immigration, you just might find yourself on a little boat trying to do just that (or sneaking across a border at night).
I don't need to live somewhere else to know that it's better here. I stated in my original post that these people come from beautiful places with ample room for opportunity, but their own leaders have screwed it up and corrupted the place. For the most part they are hard-working people and will do whatever it takes to put food on their families' plates.
Regardless of my respect for their desires and situations, the illegals have no right to be here and should not be allowed to stay and benefit from our public services.
Amen to that. My wife's Hispanic, her grandparents came here legally and resent the illegals. I am personally disgusted by the way people on my side of the debate are made out to be racist when all we are trying to do is have the law enforced to protect our borders. No medicare, social security, public schools, or anything like unto it if you are illegal. Immigrate legally and I'm all for welcoming any individual here.
President Bush has shown he is too weak-willed to do anything about the illegals. We don't need the illegals to come here to pick our fruit or dig our ditches (both of which are honorable and honest jobs), we have millions of homeless men throughout the USA who could do the job. Americans have just gotten fat and lazy and too full of pride to think that working with their hands (other than typing) is an actul option. I'm sure I'll get a response like, "How are we going to pay a worker $2.50 per hour if he's from this country? Won't food prices go up?" and so on. My answer to that would be, "I'm not sure". I do know that health care in California (and many other border states) would be much less expensive if the paying populace didn't have to foot the bill for every illegal who didn't pay (I know there are citizens who don't pay either).
As an aside... I've been to Mexico (Cozumel & Cabo) recently and I don't blame any of the people there who try to get here any way they can. It's amazing what a totally corrupted government can do to a place that could so very productive. Beautiful lands and intelligent people going to waste.
My credit union's bill paying site asks for a separate PIN/password on your initial login. The purpose of this separate PIN is that on any subsequent login to the site, your chosen PIN will appear in the browser window. This supposedly should calm the worries of the user by letting him know that he really is communicating with the site he thinks he is.
I have no problem with anyone expressing their opinions on any subject. But as things are, people are telling their government what they believe is right and what they believe is wrong. Some on one side of an issue, some on the other. I don't think it's fair for someone to be able to petition the government for, let's say, same-sex marriage and then not allow others to petition for the disallowance of such. The world needs to know that there are other viewpoints - yours, mine, others - that need to be addressed. If I were to sit idly by without expressing my opinion to those who have some power to make changes or keep what I consider "bad" changes from happening.
There are groups on all sides trying to legislate their morality on others.
"HOW in the hell can you claim that? Most of the things you mention are the complete opposite of Libertarian ideals. What DO you agree with them (us) about? Isolationist foreign policy? Tax policy -- where does the FCC's budget to censor come from?"
Mostly tax policy and a lassiez-faire (sp?) attitude towards the economy. I didn't speak too clearly about the FCC. I was only speaking of how things are now.
Random? 2 out of 2 children in a family. I only spoke of one family that I know of. I am sure there are plenty of people out there - maybe yourself - that use pornography for their own fun and pleasure without becoming a plague to society. I am certain, though, that the use of pornography will ruin marriages and destroy families more often than not.
Also, it appears that you are a kindly person with a polite manner of speaking.
First off, I don't believe that everyone who disagrees with me is an idiot. I do not believe that you are an idiot. You sound intelligent. I still believe that the act they committed was idiotic. They may not have believed what they were doing was "wrong", but it does not excuse them. All of them have been purposely taught to hate America, Christians, and Jews and that killing them will delight Allah.
What did the people aboard those planes do to them? What about those in the buildings? What about their families? What exactly did the USA do to the Egyptians, Saudi's, Iraqi's? Looking over there, I'd say they've ("they" being the radical Islamists) done it to themselves. Women not allowed any position, absolute religious rule (which in NOT what I want), and nothing western is acceptable (religion especially). The concentration of wealth in the middle east is astonishing, but only the manner to which it is used is apalling. They generally don't use it for the common good. Looking at the pictures brought back by my cousin (he served in the Army over there) after spending some time there, I'd say it's rather like Mexico - many very wealthy people and many, many more extremely poor people.
You say it was American bullets killing someone's brother. You say we destablized regions. You say we and our allies are the cause of their distress. I don't accept that as an absolute truth. I believe that most of the people living in the middle east and Muslims worldwide would rather go about their daily lives without bothering with the "great evil" of the USA. It is the few that seem to incite fear and hatred towards their fellow man.
In this thread it's been said that I should think about the other side: What if the US became 60% Muslim and they all wanted the word Jesus banned from print, the Bill of Rights is to protect the minority from the majority(supposedly those of us who don't want the crap on broadcast TV),etc. I have thought about it. The Bill of Rights is there to protect the minority from the majority, but there is another side. What about the rights of the majority? We already are sued for saying "Merry Christmas". We are turning into an oligarchy where the few elitists believe the rest of the country is too stupid and backwards to rule themselves. Judges and courts now make laws rather than interpret the law. The ACLU goes about on behalf of the supposed minority groups out there and misconstrues the Constitution to its benefit. They even go about defending terrorists and captured soldiers held at Guantanamo. (Rant)
I do not believe in a theocracy either. I believe people should be able to choose for themselves between right and wrong. The problem I have is when a minority of the people try to push or promote a wrong (homosexual marriage, pornography as free speech, etc.) as a right. That is when I feel compelled to stand up and make my voice heard - be it alone or grouped in with others. The First Amendment of the USA Constition states the following: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
I stand by it wholesale. I do not like the currently interpreted separation of church and State, though. It only says it shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
About my speaking to my little ones about sex... I know that they will learn bits and pieces from friends at school, from television, from their watered-down sex ed. classes at school. As I said before, I will tell them the honest truth of what sex is, how it is done, and why. The reason I stated that I my kids may not necessarily follow my example of abstinence prior to marriage is that I will not compel my children in all things. I will teach them and guide them, but they have to choose for themselves. I cannot be with them 100% of the ti
"The terrorists who killed people on 9/11 were not idiots. They decided that their beliefs were more important than other people's and took away the rights of others to choose. They did so because of their religion, philosophy, and because they felt wronged."
You are in idiot for believing that. They felt *wronged*. Give me a break. What hole did you climb out of? I have worked with and gone to school with several Muslims, I never got the impression that they felt wronged. The terrorists and their kind are IDIOTS and Satanists. They claim Islam as their religion, but in practise they are Satanists. Just as any Christian or jew would be if they killed others in the name of their gods.
I personally don't care if someone is Christian, Jew, Muslim, Satanist, or and otherwise. Let each man (and woman) choose what and how to worship (excepting the killing of others in the name of their god - your *misunderstood-by-the-most-of-us* terrorist friends). You call me prejudiced, and I am. I am prejudice because of my experience, I see a terrorist and their supporters and call it like I see it: They ARE whacko, sick, crazy, insane, un-loving, hating bastards - you should be ashamed for even symathizing with their *plight*.
I will teach my children about sex. I will teach them honestly and frankly because there is no other way. I will also teach them abstinence until marriage, if they choose otherwise, so be it, but I've taught them.
When the TV is basically a government-provided or government-approved (the FCC - rightly or wrongly - gives out licenses to use companies to transmit over the air and cable), there is nothing wrong with people trying to convince the government that some things should not air over the *free* channels or at least not at time when children will likely be watching.
I am not a threat to this republic. I am a mostly Libertarian-thinking and acting person, but I do not ally myself with their abortion and drug policies.This country is going to hell in a handbasket because the people have lost any moral compass not because people like me want to go back to real comedy and not-so-real action shows. They seem to think that if some "old-fashioned" people want to keep some things sacred that they are prudes and trying to censor everyone's thinking.
I know the/. crowd is mostly leftist and mostly stuck in their own academia world, but in the real world where I live, work, and raise children porn hurts families. The general homosexual agenda hurts real families. The environmentalist agendas hurt American people is an effort to get the US to be slave to the world's demands.
Some replies back I noticed that someone posted about violence being worse and I partly agree. There is a difference, though. Most people can tell the difference between real life and television. Most of the violence on TV is acted out (musch like a lot of the sex), but the sex on TV is "real" - you can't fake the nudity, touching, etc. of sex.
"On the contrary, they have *NO* right to do this. The first amendment protects freedom of speech, it doesn't offer a person the ability to take away someone elses speech becuase they disagree with what is being said."
They do have a right to do this (although they are not *taking* away anyone's speech, just to make sure that the "speech" in question is done in a different venue) and represent the views of their members because the government has decided that it has to control the radio frequencies over which everything is transmitted. We the people (individually or as a group) can petition the government for change, etc. (Who says it really listens, though)
The PTC is a group that sends its propaganda out to people in order to get them to sign up and petition lawmakers to change laws or write new ones. It is no different than the Sierra Club trying to censor my choice in vehicle or anti-freeze. They each have constituent members that want to have a louder voice than if they shouted alone.
My opinion: I personally think much of what is shown on broadcast TV in the U.S. is trash. Take all the "reality" shows and chuck 'em. There is too much profanity and explicit sex on broadcast TV. There are too many preachy shows on for kids. Commercials often go overboard with their use of sex. I have a difficult time watching sports with my kids because I have to keep turning the channel during commercial breaks so my kids don't have to see a lot of the smut out there - try explaining an Herbal Essences commercial to a five year old. I am not speaking of cable TV (I think if you 're going to pay a monthly fee for this stuff, the TV show creators can show whatever they want 'cause you're asking for it). I know that there are things called ON/OFF switches and buttons to change channels, but I know of no one who can watch what their kids watch 100% of the time - the Internet only makes it harder. I also believe that those who argue that frequent exposure to porn and explicit sexual situations does not harm children are just plain stupid and haven't seen the results of the frequent exposure. I have cousins whose parents were heavy into porn when they were children. Both of them were sexually active by the time they were 8 years old (I am certain the uncle abused them, too) and one is HIV positive. I know that porn did not cause them to make every poor decision in their lives, but I am quite certain that their addiction along with their father's addiction led to their perception that such behavior is acceptable and normal. Call me prude, I don't care. I often wonder why I feel compelled to express my opinions on this site because I know a good 75% of you are left-wing nutjobs that think anyone who is a Christian or Jew (and adheres to the standards of their respective religions) is a whacko in the same vein as those idiot terrorist who killed over 3,000 people on 9/11.
Anyway, this is just my opinion and I know that some 34 year old living in mom's basement will reply with something base and rude just because I actually think there should be limits to what is shown on TV.
While NONE of the parameters are officially public, there is nothing in the parameters regarding race, religion, or any other protected class. The reason the FICO and other credit scoring programs exist is to help creditors determine the risk of approving a new loan based on the applicant's existing credit history. The bureaus pay to have their risk scores validated that they are not discriminatory in any illegal way. If you ran a financial institution and wanted to come up with your own scoring system, you'd have to have it validated against illegal discrimination at least every 18 months which is an expensive (time & money) process. They bureaus don't make the exact algorithms public because they want to charge the banks, credit unions, etc. $1.50 - $4.00 per score derived.
Also, I mention they are validated against "illegal discrimination", any type of decision either related to lending or choosing between Coke or Pepsi requires a certain amount of discrimination...
ZIP codes do not affect the score. Types of debt do, though (banks, credit unions = GOOD, finance companies, high-risk lenders = NOT GOOD or NOT AS GOOD depending on the exact circumstances). A big factor in the scoring (besides delinquent accounts and public records) is the amount of outstanding revolving credit you have. If you have an aggregate credit card limit of 10,000 and you have more than 50% (5,000) in balances, your score will likely be adversly affected.
I recently held a short memorial service for a 35 year old stapler. It had been in my possession for the past 10 years. I inherited it from someone who'd been there for about 25 years and used it the entire time. It finally met its demise in a short fall off my desk.
Kinda pathetic, I can't say I had an emotional attatchment to it, but it was the best stapler at work. Pretty groovy looking, too.
I have to ask, is this company a provider of (dis)services for credit unions? If so, is it ICSI out of Overland Park, KS? A company called ICSI used to provide our dataprocessing on OS/2 and used REXX to interface to a PVR (with C & COBOL programs in between).
Just curious... they were awful to have as a provider of anything.
Although, our CU ran on a Gateway PC with 128MB RAM (scary) and OS/2 without any problems, other than the PITA it was to work with ICSI.
I wouldn't call it racism. I would call it a mostly-correct depiction of our real enemy. You don't see/hear about Catholics in the Vatican or Buddists in Japan plotting the demise of the USA or anything remotely western simply based upon our religion, manner of government, use of their oil (the money made from that can be used to better their circumstances), etc.
Should they have depicted the terrorists as little-old white ladies or even children? No, they should depict them as who they are most likely to be. I would like to see the statistics in plane hijackings, night club bombings, and car bombings worldwide... see who did it. Were they Muslim Extremists? I can think of 1 incident in the U.S.A. that wasn't a Muslim Extremist (Oklahoma City). I believe the vast majority would involve to Muslim Extremists.
Who determines what propaganda is? If it's the government then it's bad. What may be "propganda" to one set of people may be considered truths by another set. Look at the different views in America between the left and the right - speaking politically. Liberals put out propaganda and conservatives put out their own. Other groups have their own propaganda.
Allowing the government to determine what is or isn't harmful is a "bad thing" because once you give the government an inch (or centimeter for you Europeans) they'll run with it and take much more than a mile. Good intentions notwithstanding, people should be allowed to say what they want - although I agree with punishment for abuse like you said.
Slashdot Mirror
I have no idea if the practice continues under Apple's current Great Leader.
Apparently, it still is:
In a recent interview with Business Week, Tim Cook said the practice is still in-place and even mentioned that he feels privileged to communicate with Apple's customers in this way. Here is a link to the story:
http://tinyurl.com/azzzbhy (BusinessWeek via TinyURL)
The credit card reform act did nothing to profit the credit card companies in any way whatsoever. There were a few (relatively speaking) financial institutions/credit card companies that were abusing their "powers" and charging their customers incredibly high penalty interest rates and fees (Capital One, MBNA, etc.).
An entire industry got penalized due to the egregious actions of a few bad guys.
The only thing I appreciated from this regulation is that the credit card companies now have to disclose how long it would take to pay off the entire balance (and how much it would cost in interest) by paying only the minimum payment - that is actually an informative bit of information.
Complying with each piece of the new regulation has cost the affected institutions a lot of money in reprogramming and retraining as well as direct loss of income on not being able to charge overlimit fees (certain situations can create an overlimit condition without the credit card company being at fault) without the customer opting in.
Disclaimer: I work in the industry
That isn't possible because you'd have packets in the same stream taking different routes and TCP/IP doesn't allow for that, that I know of.
Actually you can do it. We used to do it at work between a couple of sites. We had a T1 and a DSL line. We used an off-the-shelf product from Fatpipe (http://www.fatpipeinc.com/) that can do just that over various types of connections. Not cheap/free, though, so it doesn't fit the poster's need.
I am sure there are several methods of accomplishing the same end. We liked the support they provided.
Do your homework on the company. Get a list of their current and former clients and call at least 10 of them (at least two of them that joined in the past 6 months).
Don't hire an individual. Make sure when you contract with an outsourced IT company that you have the following in place:
1. They must notify you prior to outsourcing any of their work to another party (subcontract the work to someone you may or may not approve of).
2. They provide background checks on their employees.
3. They have privacy and other policies which they follow that comply with GLBA, HIPPA, or Sarbanes-Oxley (if necessary for your industry)
4. They will provide you with audited financial statements on at least an annual basis (you don't want to trust your goodies to someone that is going under and my be "pushed" towards unscrupulous behavior when the going gets tough).
5. There is no "automatic" renewal of the contract. (you should review their service at least annually to ensure they are doing the right thing)
6. They provide you with a copy of their support practices. (how many privileges does each employee have? Do they each have separate logins so you can tell who was doing what, etc.)
7. What State (if in the USA) laws is the contract governed by. Make sure it's not a State which is highly favorable to the outsourcing company.
8. The company is to maintain an insurance/bond policy against it employee negligent or malicious actions that harm your company. The amount of the insurance or bond should be sufficient to cover your assets and your liabilities if data stolen from you led to a lawsuit against you or your company.
There is a lot more you can/should do. I would also have an attorney well-versed in contract law examine the contract to ensure it completely spells out the outsourcing company's responsibility and yours without favoring one party over the other.
Good luck!
hmmm... it would seem a gun may help a criminal more easily control a situation if he has a gun in his possession.
Even without a firearm, the victims may be armed, but only with knives, fists, canes, bats, fingernails, teeth, old AOL disks, whatever they can get a hold of. The threat of using a gun will usually trump any of those weapons and can hold multiple individuals at bay so the criminal can get what he wants. That's the more likely reason criminals will use/carry guns... that and because their criminal cronies aren't too trustworthy, either. They may feel the need to protect themselves from the other criminal elements.
I'll just have to generally agree with most of your post.
G'day
I'm more interested in talking with sensible people about how to rebuild the country
/. - oh well), but I am not a Republican and don't really consider the party as a conservative one at this time. I used to be a Republican, but have since rescinded my affiliation with the party. I am not particularly fond of George W. Bush or Bill Clinton, they're about the same in my thinking. One is a liar, the other is a liar. One wants personal power, the other wants personal power.
I'd suggest ridding the USA of both the Republican and Democrat parties. I'd also like to see fewer (actually, zero) career politicians. I'm sick and tired of seeing Ted Kennedy, Orin Hatch, Arlen Specter, et al. Rid us of the people who are "serving the country" by being Senators/Congressmen only to build up their own mini-kingdoms of power, wealth, and status. There is a congressman from Utah County (Chris Cannon) who is facing a Republican
run-off in the Primaries this year mainly because a gentleman decided to run against him to get Mr. Cannon out of becoming a career politician. Mr Cannon states that his experience is needed the Congress... I look around at all the crap that we're dealing with around the country and think to myself, "Why would we keep electing these fools to represent us... this is what their experience has brought upon us." - just my opinion.
There is no true difference between a Republican and a Democrat - speaking of the politicians, not actual voters. They may say different things and appear to stand for different things, but in the end, they just want to be in power for as long as possible, never mind the consequences to the people their decisions/vote will create. The only potential difference between Republicans and Democrats is the manner of control they wish to extend upon the masses: Republicans seem to want to control your thinking/behavior, your morals - impeding your life, liberty, and pursuit of happieness. Democrats want to control your money and thereby control a large part of your life, liberty, and pursuit of happieness. I don't like either choice.
Opinion polls drive me nuts, too; before any decisions or votes politicians better check the poles for the general popular attitude towards the issue at hand. It's as if politicians have no minds of their own. I know they're elected to represent their consituents (Senators should represent their States, but that's a separate topic), but they supposedly had platforms and personal convictions upon which they campaigned... they should stick to their convictions (conservative/liberal, or otherwise) rather than bending in the wind of the current public opinion.
You see jokes about how Americans get to choose from among 50 women for Miss America, but only 2 people for President. Maybe it's not really that funny. It's quite screwed that we have only two real choices presented to us in any election.
I am a conservative (not too popular on
Anyway, I'll end my rant, I'm tired and it's likely not too coherent, but I'll post anyway.
Enjoy your early morning (maybe night depending on your TZ)
I guess if you got a couple of Slashdotters to try it out in space you'd have two less lonely people in the world.
I dunno, it's entirely possible that Air Supply already has quite a bit of experience with vasoline, skin-tight body suits, etc... maybe they could go up and try it out.
"Those large trucks on the Interstate that you see every day have a weight limit of about 65,000 lbs."
0 .html to a story of an explosion caused when a semi overturned and caught fire in a canyon about 35 miles from my home. It occurred last Wednesday. The semi was hauling 38,000 lbs. of explosives. Not one person died! That stretch of highway is highly-travelled and pretty dangerous on its own without exploding vehicles. If you look at the images of the road, you'll likely agree that it's quite an amazing thing that no one died. Nearly the entire semi and trailer were gone. The explosion left a crater about 20 to 35 feet deep and 60 to 80 feet wide.
h tml to a Salt Lake TV station that received a video taken by someone travelling on the highway during the explosion. (The streaming video worked quite well on my Mac - Tiger & Safari - , so I'm pretty sure it'll work for most anyone)
Here's a link http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600155076,0
Here is another link http://kutv.com/topstories/local_story_226191800.
I plan to give those truckers an even wider berth from now on.
Yes, I am lucky and blessed to have been born a citizen of the United States of America.
I didn't intend to come off like a jerk, but if that's the way you take it, so be it.
I live in an area that is literally being overrun by illegals.
I work in the banking industry and see several loan applications each week with invalid (stolen, "borrowed") social security numbers, applicants that can't prove income because they're paid under the table. The applicants (who are illegally here) throw a fit when I deny them service and then tell me, in Spanish, than I am racist and discriminating against them. Others come in from a local drywall company and cash $4000 checks each week only to go outside and pay others without social security or tax IDs cash out of that check. It's saddening to think of the local, legal worker that is missing out of his or her check because some drywall company is dishonest and keeps paying illegals through whatever channels they can because it's so much cheaper - no OSHA problems, no matching social security deposit, no payroll taxes to track, no unemployment insurance, etc.
Had you read my post you'd have seen that I understand why they want to come here, I just don't believe a blind eye should be turned to their ever-growing presence here. I don't want them here expecting to get a handout from the government (public schools, health care, etc) if they got here illegally. The laws are in place and need to be enforced.
I don't need to live somewhere else to know that it's better here. I stated in my original post that these people come from beautiful places with ample room for opportunity, but their own leaders have screwed it up and corrupted the place. For the most part they are hard-working people and will do whatever it takes to put food on their families' plates.
Regardless of my respect for their desires and situations, the illegals have no right to be here and should not be allowed to stay and benefit from our public services.
Amen to that. My wife's Hispanic, her grandparents came here legally and resent the illegals. I am personally disgusted by the way people on my side of the debate are made out to be racist when all we are trying to do is have the law enforced to protect our borders. No medicare, social security, public schools, or anything like unto it if you are illegal. Immigrate legally and I'm all for welcoming any individual here.
President Bush has shown he is too weak-willed to do anything about the illegals. We don't need the illegals to come here to pick our fruit or dig our ditches (both of which are honorable and honest jobs), we have millions of homeless men throughout the USA who could do the job. Americans have just gotten fat and lazy and too full of pride to think that working with their hands (other than typing) is an actul option. I'm sure I'll get a response like, "How are we going to pay a worker $2.50 per hour if he's from this country? Won't food prices go up?" and so on. My answer to that would be, "I'm not sure". I do know that health care in California (and many other border states) would be much less expensive if the paying populace didn't have to foot the bill for every illegal who didn't pay (I know there are citizens who don't pay either).
As an aside... I've been to Mexico (Cozumel & Cabo) recently and I don't blame any of the people there who try to get here any way they can. It's amazing what a totally corrupted government can do to a place that could so very productive. Beautiful lands and intelligent people going to waste.
My credit union's bill paying site asks for a separate PIN/password on your initial login. The purpose of this separate PIN is that on any subsequent login to the site, your chosen PIN will appear in the browser window. This supposedly should calm the worries of the user by letting him know that he really is communicating with the site he thinks he is.
Kind of interesting approach.
I have no problem with anyone expressing their opinions on any subject. But as things are, people are telling their government what they believe is right and what they believe is wrong. Some on one side of an issue, some on the other. I don't think it's fair for someone to be able to petition the government for, let's say, same-sex marriage and then not allow others to petition for the disallowance of such. The world needs to know that there are other viewpoints - yours, mine, others - that need to be addressed. If I were to sit idly by without expressing my opinion to those who have some power to make changes or keep what I consider "bad" changes from happening.
There are groups on all sides trying to legislate their morality on others.
"HOW in the hell can you claim that? Most of the things you mention are the complete opposite of Libertarian ideals. What DO you agree with them (us) about? Isolationist foreign policy? Tax policy -- where does the FCC's budget to censor come from?"
Mostly tax policy and a lassiez-faire (sp?) attitude towards the economy. I didn't speak too clearly about the FCC. I was only speaking of how things are now.
I think the parents were screwed up due to their addiction to porn. They then let that addiction get to their kids and screw up their lives, too.
Any more clear than that? I apologize for not being more clear before.
Later
Random? 2 out of 2 children in a family. I only spoke of one family that I know of. I am sure there are plenty of people out there - maybe yourself - that use pornography for their own fun and pleasure without becoming a plague to society. I am certain, though, that the use of pornography will ruin marriages and destroy families more often than not.
Also, it appears that you are a kindly person with a polite manner of speaking.
Merry Christmas!
First off, I don't believe that everyone who disagrees with me is an idiot. I do not believe that you are an idiot. You sound intelligent. I still believe that the act they committed was idiotic. They may not have believed what they were doing was "wrong", but it does not excuse them. All of them have been purposely taught to hate America, Christians, and Jews and that killing them will delight Allah.
What did the people aboard those planes do to them? What about those in the buildings? What about their families? What exactly did the USA do to the Egyptians, Saudi's, Iraqi's? Looking over there, I'd say they've ("they" being the radical Islamists) done it to themselves. Women not allowed any position, absolute religious rule (which in NOT what I want), and nothing western is acceptable (religion especially). The concentration of wealth in the middle east is astonishing, but only the manner to which it is used is apalling. They generally don't use it for the common good. Looking at the pictures brought back by my cousin (he served in the Army over there) after spending some time there, I'd say it's rather like Mexico - many very wealthy people and many, many more extremely poor people.
You say it was American bullets killing someone's brother. You say we destablized regions. You say we and our allies are the cause of their distress. I don't accept that as an absolute truth. I believe that most of the people living in the middle east and Muslims worldwide would rather go about their daily lives without bothering with the "great evil" of the USA. It is the few that seem to incite fear and hatred towards their fellow man.
In this thread it's been said that I should think about the other side: What if the US became 60% Muslim and they all wanted the word Jesus banned from print, the Bill of Rights is to protect the minority from the majority(supposedly those of us who don't want the crap on broadcast TV),etc. I have thought about it. The Bill of Rights is there to protect the minority from the majority, but there is another side. What about the rights of the majority? We already are sued for saying "Merry Christmas". We are turning into an oligarchy where the few elitists believe the rest of the country is too stupid and backwards to rule themselves. Judges and courts now make laws rather than interpret the law. The ACLU goes about on behalf of the supposed minority groups out there and misconstrues the Constitution to its benefit. They even go about defending terrorists and captured soldiers held at Guantanamo. (Rant)
I do not believe in a theocracy either. I believe people should be able to choose for themselves between right and wrong. The problem I have is when a minority of the people try to push or promote a wrong (homosexual marriage, pornography as free speech, etc.) as a right. That is when I feel compelled to stand up and make my voice heard - be it alone or grouped in with others. The First Amendment of the USA Constition states the following:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
I stand by it wholesale. I do not like the currently interpreted separation of church and State, though. It only says it shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
About my speaking to my little ones about sex... I know that they will learn bits and pieces from friends at school, from television, from their watered-down sex ed. classes at school. As I said before, I will tell them the honest truth of what sex is, how it is done, and why. The reason I stated that I my kids may not necessarily follow my example of abstinence prior to marriage is that I will not compel my children in all things. I will teach them and guide them, but they have to choose for themselves. I cannot be with them 100% of the ti
"The terrorists who killed people on 9/11 were not idiots. They decided that their beliefs were more important than other people's and took away the rights of others to choose. They did so because of their religion, philosophy, and because they felt wronged."
You are in idiot for believing that. They felt *wronged*. Give me a break. What hole did you climb out of? I have worked with and gone to school with several Muslims, I never got the impression that they felt wronged. The terrorists and their kind are IDIOTS and Satanists. They claim Islam as their religion, but in practise they are Satanists. Just as any Christian or jew would be if they killed others in the name of their gods.
I personally don't care if someone is Christian, Jew, Muslim, Satanist, or and otherwise. Let each man (and woman) choose what and how to worship (excepting the killing of others in the name of their god - your *misunderstood-by-the-most-of-us* terrorist friends). You call me prejudiced, and I am. I am prejudice because of my experience, I see a terrorist and their supporters and call it like I see it: They ARE whacko, sick, crazy, insane, un-loving, hating bastards - you should be ashamed for even symathizing with their *plight*.
I will teach my children about sex. I will teach them honestly and frankly because there is no other way. I will also teach them abstinence until marriage, if they choose otherwise, so be it, but I've taught them.
Later
When the TV is basically a government-provided or government-approved (the FCC - rightly or wrongly - gives out licenses to use companies to transmit over the air and cable), there is nothing wrong with people trying to convince the government that some things should not air over the *free* channels or at least not at time when children will likely be watching.
/. crowd is mostly leftist and mostly stuck in their own academia world, but in the real world where I live, work, and raise children porn hurts families. The general homosexual agenda hurts real families. The environmentalist agendas hurt American people is an effort to get the US to be slave to the world's demands.
I am not a threat to this republic. I am a mostly Libertarian-thinking and acting person, but I do not ally myself with their abortion and drug policies.This country is going to hell in a handbasket because the people have lost any moral compass not because people like me want to go back to real comedy and not-so-real action shows. They seem to think that if some "old-fashioned" people want to keep some things sacred that they are prudes and trying to censor everyone's thinking.
I know the
Some replies back I noticed that someone posted about violence being worse and I partly agree. There is a difference, though. Most people can tell the difference between real life and television. Most of the violence on TV is acted out (musch like a lot of the sex), but the sex on TV is "real" - you can't fake the nudity, touching, etc. of sex.
Later.
"On the contrary, they have *NO* right to do this. The first amendment protects freedom of speech, it doesn't offer a person the ability to take away someone elses speech becuase they disagree with what is being said."
They do have a right to do this (although they are not *taking* away anyone's speech, just to make sure that the "speech" in question is done in a different venue) and represent the views of their members because the government has decided that it has to control the radio frequencies over which everything is transmitted. We the people (individually or as a group) can petition the government for change, etc. (Who says it really listens, though)
The PTC is a group that sends its propaganda out to people in order to get them to sign up and petition lawmakers to change laws or write new ones. It is no different than the Sierra Club trying to censor my choice in vehicle or anti-freeze. They each have constituent members that want to have a louder voice than if they shouted alone.
My opinion:
I personally think much of what is shown on broadcast TV in the U.S. is trash. Take all the "reality" shows and chuck 'em. There is too much profanity and explicit sex on broadcast TV. There are too many preachy shows on for kids. Commercials often go overboard with their use of sex. I have a difficult time watching sports with my kids because I have to keep turning the channel during commercial breaks so my kids don't have to see a lot of the smut out there - try explaining an Herbal Essences commercial to a five year old. I am not speaking of cable TV (I think if you 're going to pay a monthly fee for this stuff, the TV show creators can show whatever they want 'cause you're asking for it). I know that there are things called ON/OFF switches and buttons to change channels, but I know of no one who can watch what their kids watch 100% of the time - the Internet only makes it harder.
I also believe that those who argue that frequent exposure to porn and explicit sexual situations does not harm children are just plain stupid and haven't seen the results of the frequent exposure. I have cousins whose parents were heavy into porn when they were children. Both of them were sexually active by the time they were 8 years old (I am certain the uncle abused them, too) and one is HIV positive. I know that porn did not cause them to make every poor decision in their lives, but I am quite certain that their addiction along with their father's addiction led to their perception that such behavior is acceptable and normal. Call me prude, I don't care. I often wonder why I feel compelled to express my opinions on this site because I know a good 75% of you are left-wing nutjobs that think anyone who is a Christian or Jew (and adheres to the standards of their respective religions) is a whacko in the same vein as those idiot terrorist who killed over 3,000 people on 9/11.
Anyway, this is just my opinion and I know that some 34 year old living in mom's basement will reply with something base and rude just because I actually think there should be limits to what is shown on TV.
Later
While NONE of the parameters are officially public, there is nothing in the parameters regarding race, religion, or any other protected class. The reason the FICO and other credit scoring programs exist is to help creditors determine the risk of approving a new loan based on the applicant's existing credit history. The bureaus pay to have their risk scores validated that they are not discriminatory in any illegal way. If you ran a financial institution and wanted to come up with your own scoring system, you'd have to have it validated against illegal discrimination at least every 18 months which is an expensive (time & money) process. They bureaus don't make the exact algorithms public because they want to charge the banks, credit unions, etc. $1.50 - $4.00 per score derived.
Also, I mention they are validated against "illegal discrimination", any type of decision either related to lending or choosing between Coke or Pepsi requires a certain amount of discrimination...
ZIP codes do not affect the score. Types of debt do, though (banks, credit unions = GOOD, finance companies, high-risk lenders = NOT GOOD or NOT AS GOOD depending on the exact circumstances). A big factor in the scoring (besides delinquent accounts and public records) is the amount of outstanding revolving credit you have. If you have an aggregate credit card limit of 10,000 and you have more than 50% (5,000) in balances, your score will likely be adversly affected.
Later.
I recently held a short memorial service for a 35 year old stapler. It had been in my possession for the past 10 years. I inherited it from someone who'd been there for about 25 years and used it the entire time. It finally met its demise in a short fall off my desk.
Kinda pathetic, I can't say I had an emotional attatchment to it, but it was the best stapler at work. Pretty groovy looking, too.
I have to ask, is this company a provider of (dis)services for credit unions? If so, is it ICSI out of Overland Park, KS?
A company called ICSI used to provide our dataprocessing on OS/2 and used REXX to interface to a PVR (with C & COBOL programs in between).
Just curious... they were awful to have as a provider of anything.
Although, our CU ran on a Gateway PC with 128MB RAM (scary) and OS/2 without any problems, other than the PITA it was to work with ICSI.
thanks
I wouldn't call it racism. I would call it a mostly-correct depiction of our real enemy. You don't see/hear about Catholics in the Vatican or Buddists in Japan plotting the demise of the USA or anything remotely western simply based upon our religion, manner of government, use of their oil (the money made from that can be used to better their circumstances), etc.
Should they have depicted the terrorists as little-old white ladies or even children? No, they should depict them as who they are most likely to be. I would like to see the statistics in plane hijackings, night club bombings, and car bombings worldwide... see who did it. Were they Muslim Extremists? I can think of 1 incident in the U.S.A. that wasn't a Muslim Extremist (Oklahoma City). I believe the vast majority would involve to Muslim Extremists.
I could be wrong, though.
Who determines what propaganda is? If it's the government then it's bad. What may be "propganda" to one set of people may be considered truths by another set. Look at the different views in America between the left and the right - speaking politically. Liberals put out propaganda and conservatives put out their own. Other groups have their own propaganda.
Allowing the government to determine what is or isn't harmful is a "bad thing" because once you give the government an inch (or centimeter for you Europeans) they'll run with it and take much more than a mile. Good intentions notwithstanding, people should be allowed to say what they want - although I agree with punishment for abuse like you said.
Thanks