As I've heard somebody say (my experience confirms it too): "People on drugs think they are creative and productive. Everyone else thinks they are on drugs." The same can be said about alcohol.
Get into contracting. If you've not done it before...look around and get with a contracting company....preferrably one that does Federal Govt Contracting.
Can you survive a clearance check?
If so, you should have no problem getting on with a company doing DoD contracting....they OFTEN look for years of experience. If you're good, have a decent resume, they will submit you in....they want you to get the jobs so they can get $$ off you.
The market is often dying to hire people with lots of resume experience.
You definitely have a leg up on younger programmers.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." The Oath.
When the people within the government abandon their principals, commit crimes, and use secrecy as a cover, they become a domestic enemy of the United States and its Constitution.
Seems to work just fine for the current administration though....
I mean, Eric Holder *is* still in office, isn't he?
I also want to add that the prison population also tends to be largely poor male minorities of black or latino ancestry, and this fact has been noticed and people have tried to target those populations in their efforts to reduce the prison population.
Well, they DO seem to be committing most of the crimes...especially the violent ones...
Not having the means to pay for your kids to go to college isn't short sighted and bad parenting - sometimes it's just your income. I don't disagree that parents need to be involved, there are all sorts of middle class kids going to school on grants and scholarships that they don't need. Unfortunately, there are also all sorts of kids who don't have those middle class parents but still have the drive to succeed in life. You don't want a society that condemns a kid to be stuck in the lower class just because they have poor (or simply bad) parents.
Well, everyone is dealt a different 'starting hand'...that's just a fact of life.
It is up to the individual (and family) to go from there and do the best with what they're dealt.
It isn't up to the rest of society to make up for that, or pay for it...
There are grants and all out there...those students just need to work harder, value and education more and compete for them a little better than those other kids that were born to a bit more privilege.
|
The opportunities are out there....but equal access to opportunities doesn't mean equal outcomes at all.
Everyone is equally free to pursue these things...but you can't and shouldn't legislate moving people around because of where they were born in life...
And I would argue that even though it feels very unfair to see someone receive money or other help simply because of how they were born, it's important to keep in mind that for historic and cultural reasons that still have effect today, they really don't have the same advantages as a white or a male in the US does.
I'm sorry, but I believe we have reached the day in age, when that kind of special privilege has passed us.
We need to get rid of the quotas, and the affirmative action, and other things that are now, rather than being helpful, are just plain discriminatory.
In the US, the whites aren't going to be the majority very soon...I think we can now stand to tank the "special privs" for minorities now, as that there is enough parity.
Those programs now, are being used as a crutch, the time for victimhood is over.
That's a load of BS. Companies that represent the bulk of US contracting dollars are overwhelmingly run by white males: Boeing, Lockheed, Haliburton, General Dynamics, GE, Cisco, Mircosoft, GM... Which large government contracts are being awarded to minority/female run companies?
Actually...a lot of them, BIG ones....are targeted often as "small business" projects. If a 'small business' gets it...the project is so large that it automatically negates their eligibility for renewal when it comes around again.
So, what happens is...and minority/female owned small business 'partners' with a Lockheed or others that you mentioned, and basically is a front to apply for the contract.
The contract is won, the small minority/female business sits for the duration of the work as a figurehead, making a decent bit of money, while the bulk goes to the established behemoth company.
At the completion of the contract, the small business is brushed aside,and the cycle continues.
This type thing also happens with contracts not specifically targeted at 'small business'....they put out or partner with a small set up company that is female/minority "owned"....and get the contracts.
We need a very different answer. The best one I've come up with is free college education combined with a linear income tax, and no exemptions. Note that a linear tax can easily be adjusted so that persons making below some particular amount receive money rather than paying it. And at every step along the way you're better off if you earn more money. It goes:
y = mx + b
y is the tax owed. x is the income. m is the tax rate. b is the location where you've decided the tax should intersect the y axis. If b is negative then mx abs(b) you get money back instead of paying.
Why in the world should ANYONE get money back, rather than pay in their fair share?
That's a problem we currently have and desperately need to get rid of....
I really don't understand why this isn't the norm. With any other loan, your loan and interest rate are based on your ability to pay it back, or for the bank to repossess collateral to cover the loan. The same should be true for student loans.
Well, that's because doing the student loans differently gets VOTES....apparently you've been missing some of the exalted leader...er...Obama's rhetoric these past couple years...
Given how much of a disadvantage not being white and male start of as, I think, at the macro level, it evens out...maybe....
In this day in age of reverse discrimination in high gear..t.hat is simply a fallacy.
Most every grant or opportunity offered by the govt (especially the Feds) is geared to minorities and women (if you are a minority woman, you are a goldmine).
Take a look at Federal Contracting. About the only way to land one, is to be a minority or female.
That's why so many bigger companies, in order to land Federal contracts, will "partner" with a minority woman, or even white women owned company, to apply for the contracts.
Usually the winning minority/female owned company, is merely a front for the deal, but these days, if you are a white male owned company, you stand virtually NO chance of landing a Federal contract.
And as far as just being male....have you seen the scary number of just how badly graduation rates for males in the US has become?
We've spent so much time and effort promoting women through the school systems, that we've gone overboard, and abandoned our young men....look at the college graduating stats.
Most people don't have the luxury of having their parents helping to pay
Sounds like short sighted bad parenting, if in fact, that is that case that the majority of kids don't have parents to help if not outright pay for college.
The parents should have been ready to sacrifice as required to not only feed and clothe the kids they produced, but to also SAVE for their education, or make damned sure the kids worked and studied hard enough in HS to get grades good enough for scholarships and grants....
Sorry...but college is not a right, it is a privilege that someone has to pay for....and it should be parents for most kids.
Bush went into office with a balanced budget and a booming economy, and left it with the largest defecit in US history and the economy in ruins. You expected Obama to fix in four years what Bush took eight to destroy? Are you mad?
Actually, not entirely true.
The economy was in a bit of a downslide when Bush took office, due in part to the dotcom bubble bursting at the end of the Clinton era.
And I'd dare say, that Obama has done as much to ruing the economy, running up the deficit in his four years, that almost doubles everything prior to him (Bush included).
If Obama keeps pushing us the same in the next 4 years as was done the previous ones....well, the US will be looking a great deal like Greece I fear....
We're getting dangerously close to the fiscal edge.
It isn't the terrorists that will bring down the US...it will be our mismanagement of the economy, and I'm afraid we as a country put a few nails in the coffin with the re-election of this guy.
Since they can't see whom you voted for how can they intimidate you into voting a certain way? I guess they could intimidate you into not voting, but I would suspect they'd get moved along if they tried that in anywhere except the poor inner city and hence are only reducing democrat votes.
I guess you haven't (somehow) seen the videos of them doing just that last presidential election?
Google a bit...and you should likely be able to find it pretty readily.
I'd rather the current dipshit get his full 8 years to try to get anything accomplished rather than yanking the rug out from under and throwing it all in the trash.
The trouble is, I fear that what the current dipshit (as you put it) is wanting to accomplish is in direct opposition to what is good for the continued health of the USA.
I think he would like to fundamentally change the US...and has actually started trying to implement this...much of it based on what I read from Saul Alinsky, this quote here from his book Rules for Radicals seems to ring true:
I see his continued push to spend the US into oblivion as part of that possible concerted effort.
Obama is quite the student of this community organizer philosophy, and the quotes along these lines (and even those praising Mao) from his early choices for his administration seem to confirm this somewhat.
Ah yes, the deficit that Republicans didn't give two shits about until they had someone else to blame it on.
I don't consider myself a republican.
I'm independent...leaning more right to fiscal conservatism, but leaning left on social policy....and I guess some libertarian in that I want as little govt size and as little govt intrusion into my life as possible.
Stating that...I'm not happy with the previous republican admins. run up of the deficit budget either, but two wrongs don't make a right.
And especially not when the 2nd wrong pretty much doubles the first wrong's build up of the deficit.
What has he done other than give some pretty speeches and pass what was the Republican health care plan until he decided to support it so they suddenly decided their own plan must be "socialism"...
He's run the deficit up almost double as much in 4 years as Bush did in 8 years.
Quite an accomplishment.
Didn't Obama say on his first election swing...that if he couldn't bring the deficit down substantially (paraphrasing), that he didn't deserve to be more than a ONE term president?
Now THAT would be a promise I could get excited about him keeping.
At this point, hell...I'd vote Charlie Sheen in before I'd cast a vote for Obama....
Voted first thing this morning as well. Went fine. Bigger turnout than I was expecting at that time.
I'm curious...why is OH pretty much always a swing state?!?!
I mean, I can understand a state changing slowly over years from one side to the other with population change/growth, but it seems with most states, the population grows more homogenous over time.
why do a very few states, like OH, seem to never 'come together' one way or the other politically? What keeps them from doing what most states seem to naturally do, which is to move to predominately one side or the other?
LA - Went to my polling place about 8:50am this morning. Small line, about 4 people in front of me.
Electronic voting, but is not a computer terminal or touch screen. It is a large sheet of paper with candidates and referendum items on it, that allow the buttons for each choice to show through.
You push the screen to see a 'X' appear by the choices you like, push the OK button, and your done.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll drink to that....err....wait...
Can you survive a clearance check?
If so, you should have no problem getting on with a company doing DoD contracting....they OFTEN look for years of experience. If you're good, have a decent resume, they will submit you in....they want you to get the jobs so they can get $$ off you.
The market is often dying to hire people with lots of resume experience.
You definitely have a leg up on younger programmers.
I just went to Dell site....looking in the Home and Small business offerings, they all seemed to be Win7 as the OS they come installed with.
Seriously?
Ok...maybe you can name the last few actual formal declarations of WAR that congress has passed...?
Tick-Tock....we're still waiting....
Seems to work just fine for the current administration though....
I mean, Eric Holder *is* still in office, isn't he?
Yeah...that one didn't work out very well during Mardi Gras...
A girl distracting the cops with big hooters, however DID work and allowed everyone to disappear back into the crowd.
And no...she didn't get arrested or convicted.
Well, they DO seem to be committing most of the crimes...especially the violent ones...
Well, everyone is dealt a different 'starting hand'...that's just a fact of life.
It is up to the individual (and family) to go from there and do the best with what they're dealt.
It isn't up to the rest of society to make up for that, or pay for it...
There are grants and all out there...those students just need to work harder, value and education more and compete for them a little better than those other kids that were born to a bit more privilege.
| The opportunities are out there....but equal access to opportunities doesn't mean equal outcomes at all.
Everyone is equally free to pursue these things...but you can't and shouldn't legislate moving people around because of where they were born in life...
I'm sorry, but I believe we have reached the day in age, when that kind of special privilege has passed us.
We need to get rid of the quotas, and the affirmative action, and other things that are now, rather than being helpful, are just plain discriminatory.
In the US, the whites aren't going to be the majority very soon...I think we can now stand to tank the "special privs" for minorities now, as that there is enough parity.
Those programs now, are being used as a crutch, the time for victimhood is over.
Actually...a lot of them, BIG ones....are targeted often as "small business" projects. If a 'small business' gets it...the project is so large that it automatically negates their eligibility for renewal when it comes around again.
So, what happens is...and minority/female owned small business 'partners' with a Lockheed or others that you mentioned, and basically is a front to apply for the contract.
The contract is won, the small minority/female business sits for the duration of the work as a figurehead, making a decent bit of money, while the bulk goes to the established behemoth company.
At the completion of the contract, the small business is brushed aside,and the cycle continues.
This type thing also happens with contracts not specifically targeted at 'small business'....they put out or partner with a small set up company that is female/minority "owned"....and get the contracts.
Hey...the world needs ditchdiggers too.
Why in the world should ANYONE get money back, rather than pay in their fair share?
That's a problem we currently have and desperately need to get rid of....
Well, that's because doing the student loans differently gets VOTES....apparently you've been missing some of the exalted leader...er...Obama's rhetoric these past couple years...
In this day in age of reverse discrimination in high gear..t.hat is simply a fallacy.
Most every grant or opportunity offered by the govt (especially the Feds) is geared to minorities and women (if you are a minority woman, you are a goldmine).
Take a look at Federal Contracting. About the only way to land one, is to be a minority or female.
That's why so many bigger companies, in order to land Federal contracts, will "partner" with a minority woman, or even white women owned company, to apply for the contracts.
Usually the winning minority/female owned company, is merely a front for the deal, but these days, if you are a white male owned company, you stand virtually NO chance of landing a Federal contract.
And as far as just being male....have you seen the scary number of just how badly graduation rates for males in the US has become?
We've spent so much time and effort promoting women through the school systems, that we've gone overboard, and abandoned our young men....look at the college graduating stats.
Sounds like short sighted bad parenting, if in fact, that is that case that the majority of kids don't have parents to help if not outright pay for college.
The parents should have been ready to sacrifice as required to not only feed and clothe the kids they produced, but to also SAVE for their education, or make damned sure the kids worked and studied hard enough in HS to get grades good enough for scholarships and grants....
Sorry...but college is not a right, it is a privilege that someone has to pay for....and it should be parents for most kids.
Actually, not entirely true.
The economy was in a bit of a downslide when Bush took office, due in part to the dotcom bubble bursting at the end of the Clinton era.
And I'd dare say, that Obama has done as much to ruing the economy, running up the deficit in his four years, that almost doubles everything prior to him (Bush included).
If Obama keeps pushing us the same in the next 4 years as was done the previous ones....well, the US will be looking a great deal like Greece I fear....
We're getting dangerously close to the fiscal edge.
Seriously too..unemployment lower? More jobs?
Where are you getting those numbers?
Sad day for the US....
For free...?
I guess you haven't (somehow) seen the videos of them doing just that last presidential election?
Google a bit...and you should likely be able to find it pretty readily.
Here's one video of an incident.
Seriously, dressed up on combat style gear with a club in your hand, outside a polling place...what was that about?
The trouble is, I fear that what the current dipshit (as you put it) is wanting to accomplish is in direct opposition to what is good for the continued health of the USA.
I think he would like to fundamentally change the US...and has actually started trying to implement this...much of it based on what I read from Saul Alinsky, this quote here from his book Rules for Radicals seems to ring true:
"There's another reason for working inside the system. Dostoyevsky said that taking a new step is what people fear most. Any revolutionary change must be preceded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. ".
I see his continued push to spend the US into oblivion as part of that possible concerted effort.
Obama is quite the student of this community organizer philosophy, and the quotes along these lines (and even those praising Mao) from his early choices for his administration seem to confirm this somewhat.
I don't consider myself a republican.
I'm independent...leaning more right to fiscal conservatism, but leaning left on social policy....and I guess some libertarian in that I want as little govt size and as little govt intrusion into my life as possible.
Stating that...I'm not happy with the previous republican admins. run up of the deficit budget either, but two wrongs don't make a right.
And especially not when the 2nd wrong pretty much doubles the first wrong's build up of the deficit.
He's run the deficit up almost double as much in 4 years as Bush did in 8 years.
Quite an accomplishment.
Didn't Obama say on his first election swing...that if he couldn't bring the deficit down substantially (paraphrasing), that he didn't deserve to be more than a ONE term president?
Now THAT would be a promise I could get excited about him keeping.
At this point, hell...I'd vote Charlie Sheen in before I'd cast a vote for Obama....
I'm curious...why is OH pretty much always a swing state?!?!
I mean, I can understand a state changing slowly over years from one side to the other with population change/growth, but it seems with most states, the population grows more homogenous over time.
why do a very few states, like OH, seem to never 'come together' one way or the other politically? What keeps them from doing what most states seem to naturally do, which is to move to predominately one side or the other?
Yeah, easy for YOU to say...you won't have to live with him for 4x more years ruining your country.
Electronic voting, but is not a computer terminal or touch screen. It is a large sheet of paper with candidates and referendum items on it, that allow the buttons for each choice to show through.
You push the screen to see a 'X' appear by the choices you like, push the OK button, and your done.