I used to think, as you do, that anyone who really wants work can get it. However, I've discovered that getting suitable work sufficient to support a family, pay a mortgage, pay for health insurance, etc., was a different animal. Good for you that you were able to do what you did. But not everyone is capable of it. I'd guess that you were in your 20's or 30's and in excellent health at the time. Pushing 50, dealing with sleep apnea, clinical depression and other health issues significantly changes what one is able to do. If I were to work 90+ hours a week, it wouldn't be all that long before I dropped dead, literally. I have tried to find consulting work, and it really hasn't worked out; the competition out there is fierce, and most of them are a lot younger than I am. So far, all I've taken from the government has been unemployment; I've used that up, as well as my severance package and my savings. OTOH, I've paid plenty of taxes into the system over the past 30-odd years, and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't get some of that back now.
But if it helps you sleep better to dismiss me as lazy so you can smugly go off and tell yourself how much better you are than me, go ahead.
It's not bums who don't get coverage - it's blue collar people who need to take several jobs and *still* can't get decent coverage.
It's also white collar workers who find themselves unemployed for an extended period, and can't convince an employer that he/she is willing to work for $20-30K less than he was making when he/she got laid off.
I once had a little wooden plaque on my desk that read, "To avoid criticism: Say nothing, do nothing, BE nothing!" Even though it's long gone, I've always tried to keep that in mind.
Having numerous copies floating around is a good thing if disclosure of security holes is encouraged, and the fact that Diabold are implying that the security of their systems rely on people not having access to the source code is a very bad thing.
Did you spell "Diabold" that way on purpose (i.e., to evoke "diabolical" in our minds)? Either way, I'm ROTFLMAO!
I haven't read GL since I was a teenager (30+ years ago), but I was under the impression that originally, the yellow weakness was intentionally placed in the ring by the Guardians to give them a way to counter a Green Lantern gone rogue. Am I misremembering, or did they change the backstory as the DC universe evolved?
So you're saying that in your state/city, the primary races are merged with the local general election, and you're constrained to vote a straight party line in the general election if you want to vote in the primary? That is wrong. Where exactly is this?
Why should you be allowed to vote in more than one party's primary? The whole point of the primary election is to determine which candidate the members of each party wish to nominate for the general election. If you allow unlimited cross-over voting, that opens the door to efforts by one party to attempt to derail the nomination of the strongest candidate of the other; i.e., Democrats could go to the polls and vote for some fringe Republican whom nobody wants to elect, and vice-versa. I do agree that there are laws that favor the two major parties, such as higher signature requirements to get on the ballot; but if you're going to have a primary system in the first place, you have to make sure that partisans of one party can't play games with the nomination process of the other.
In some states (such as Massachusetts, where I live), unenrolled/independent voters may choose to vote in whichever party's primary they choose, but they may only choose one of them. I don't know about other states which allow this, but in MA, you select the party and get that party's ballot. This is what I do, and I generally pick the ballot on the basis of which races I consider more important; in 2000, I voted Republican so I could vote for John McCain, but in other elections, I've voted Democratic because I liked candidates on that side better. But I never expect to have the option of voting in both parties' primaries. Some have complained that the unenrolled voter rules here allow the above abuses by people who are actually Democrats at heart, but want to screw with the Republican primaries (or, again, vice-versa), but at least they can't influence the nomination process for more than one party.
In most law situations, if the defendant shows up to court and the plaintiff is MIA, the defendant could have a mistrial and go free. If the defendant does show up for the case, the case is usually stayed and a warrent issue for appearence. The law says the defendant and/or council MUST be present for judgement.
There was recently a series of articles in the Boston Globe about debt-collection agencies. It seems that one of the favorite tactics of the sleazier agencies around here is to have the papers sent to an outdated address, since there is no requirement in MA to use certified mail(?!). The papers get returned, everybody shrugs, the proceedings happen as scheduled, and the agency wins a default judgment. Armed with this, they then go to the correct address, and demand payment or seize their car. As a result of these articles, various officials are promising to look into the problem, but the current status apparently remains the same. They did do a follow-up article the other day, and a couple of the worst offenders have abruptly closed down their operations in MA, so hopefully things will get better.
So, in MA, at least, there apparently is no requirement that both parties (or their lawyers) be present before a judgment is handed down. It's wrong, but it appears to be the case. So maybe that's true of this particular case, as well.
Well, there are many people that eat halal meals only due to their religious background while vegetarians (and especially vegans) often have chosed their dietary preference for political reasons.
Political reasons?! All of the vegetarians I've ever known have made that choice for ethical reasons (they don't approve of killing animals for food), esthetic reasons (they don't like the idea of eating comprised of flesh and blood), health reasons, or varying combinations of the three. Some were liberal, others were more conservative or libertarian. PETA members (which is the sort of thing I'm guessing you're thinking of) hardly comprise the majority of vegetarians.
I don't think profiling is that great a tool in the first place, but inferring political beliefs based on someone's choice of a vegetarian meal really sucks.
FWIW, I don't care whether someone is a vegetarian for any reason, but I do object to having someone try to convince me that I'm doing something immoral by eating meat. My response to those types is, "Life feeds on life. Get over it."
-Mike
Well, the arguments sound almost exactly like the ones I've heard from people who use bots to play online poker (so far as I know, not all that well yet, but they may get significantly better in the future), or who collude with other players, sharing information so they can get an edge on the honest players in the game. If you try to call them on it, their first response is, "Everyone else does it, why shouldn't I?!" and their second is, "If you're not doing it, you're just a sucker". Arguments about fairness and morality just don't register with them.
This reminds me of something I've been wondering about lately. Do moderators get any sort of direct feedback from meta-moderation? I'm curious to know how my moderations have been rated, but I haven't been able to figure out how to find out. Is there a way to do so?
I'm aware that my post was not directly responsive to your point, but I could smell it provoking an attack of the "It's only a theory" people and I wanted do what I could to head them off at the pass.
This analogy would be better if you said that you printed a book of checks and then fooled the customer to sign them all.
Really? Then why was I able to set up a telephone transaction to pay a bill yesterday? All they did was ask for my account number with the merchant and the routing and bank account numbers from the bottom of one of my checks. Everything was automated, no signature required.
Anonymously doesn't mean anonymously. Slashdot knows who made what posts, or at the very least, who has contributed to a discussion. (I haven't studied slashcode, so I do not pretend to know precisely what is going on.) Try it sometime, post anon to a discussion when you have mod points, then come back and try to moderate in that discussion.
I've found that if I actually log out, it works fine. However, Firefox automatically fills in my login information on the reply form, so if I neglect to remove it, I get logged back in anyway. Oops....
Sometimes, some idiot on crack just happens to get mod points. I should be getting some mod points myself soon; I'll make a note and bump it back up when I do.
Slashdot Mirror
I used to think, as you do, that anyone who really wants work can get it. However, I've discovered that getting suitable work sufficient to support a family, pay a mortgage, pay for health insurance, etc., was a different animal. Good for you that you were able to do what you did. But not everyone is capable of it. I'd guess that you were in your 20's or 30's and in excellent health at the time. Pushing 50, dealing with sleep apnea, clinical depression and other health issues significantly changes what one is able to do. If I were to work 90+ hours a week, it wouldn't be all that long before I dropped dead, literally. I have tried to find consulting work, and it really hasn't worked out; the competition out there is fierce, and most of them are a lot younger than I am. So far, all I've taken from the government has been unemployment; I've used that up, as well as my severance package and my savings. OTOH, I've paid plenty of taxes into the system over the past 30-odd years, and I don't see any reason why I shouldn't get some of that back now.
But if it helps you sleep better to dismiss me as lazy so you can smugly go off and tell yourself how much better you are than me, go ahead.
-Mike
It's not bums who don't get coverage - it's blue collar people who need to take several jobs and *still* can't get decent coverage.
It's also white collar workers who find themselves unemployed for an extended period, and can't convince an employer that he/she is willing to work for $20-30K less than he was making when he/she got laid off.
-Mike
I once had a little wooden plaque on my desk that read, "To avoid criticism: Say nothing, do nothing, BE nothing!" Even though it's long gone, I've always tried to keep that in mind.
-Mike
I said, "Put the butter on. Those. Trays!"
-Basil
Having numerous copies floating around is a good thing if disclosure of security holes is encouraged, and the fact that Diabold are implying that the security of their systems rely on people not having access to the source code is a very bad thing.
Did you spell "Diabold" that way on purpose (i.e., to evoke "diabolical" in our minds)? Either way, I'm ROTFLMAO!
-Mike
I've owned an HP Pavilion zv6000 for a year, and have had no trouble at all with it.
-Mike
I haven't read GL since I was a teenager (30+ years ago), but I was under the impression that originally, the yellow weakness was intentionally placed in the ring by the Guardians to give them a way to counter a Green Lantern gone rogue. Am I misremembering, or did they change the backstory as the DC universe evolved?
-Mike
So you're saying that in your state/city, the primary races are merged with the local general election, and you're constrained to vote a straight party line in the general election if you want to vote in the primary? That is wrong. Where exactly is this?
-Mike
Why should you be allowed to vote in more than one party's primary? The whole point of the primary election is to determine which candidate the members of each party wish to nominate for the general election. If you allow unlimited cross-over voting, that opens the door to efforts by one party to attempt to derail the nomination of the strongest candidate of the other; i.e., Democrats could go to the polls and vote for some fringe Republican whom nobody wants to elect, and vice-versa. I do agree that there are laws that favor the two major parties, such as higher signature requirements to get on the ballot; but if you're going to have a primary system in the first place, you have to make sure that partisans of one party can't play games with the nomination process of the other.
In some states (such as Massachusetts, where I live), unenrolled/independent voters may choose to vote in whichever party's primary they choose, but they may only choose one of them. I don't know about other states which allow this, but in MA, you select the party and get that party's ballot. This is what I do, and I generally pick the ballot on the basis of which races I consider more important; in 2000, I voted Republican so I could vote for John McCain, but in other elections, I've voted Democratic because I liked candidates on that side better. But I never expect to have the option of voting in both parties' primaries. Some have complained that the unenrolled voter rules here allow the above abuses by people who are actually Democrats at heart, but want to screw with the Republican primaries (or, again, vice-versa), but at least they can't influence the nomination process for more than one party.
-Mike
Actually, I just went to Main and got the Meta-Mod link myself.
-Mike
In most law situations, if the defendant shows up to court and the plaintiff is MIA, the defendant could have a mistrial and go free. If the defendant does show up for the case, the case is usually stayed and a warrent issue for appearence. The law says the defendant and/or council MUST be present for judgement.
There was recently a series of articles in the Boston Globe about debt-collection agencies. It seems that one of the favorite tactics of the sleazier agencies around here is to have the papers sent to an outdated address, since there is no requirement in MA to use certified mail(?!). The papers get returned, everybody shrugs, the proceedings happen as scheduled, and the agency wins a default judgment. Armed with this, they then go to the correct address, and demand payment or seize their car. As a result of these articles, various officials are promising to look into the problem, but the current status apparently remains the same. They did do a follow-up article the other day, and a couple of the worst offenders have abruptly closed down their operations in MA, so hopefully things will get better.
So, in MA, at least, there apparently is no requirement that both parties (or their lawyers) be present before a judgment is handed down. It's wrong, but it appears to be the case. So maybe that's true of this particular case, as well.
-Mike
I'm sure he meant no offense to Administrative Assistant-Americans....
-Mike
Americans also know that The Netherlands can beat up Holland, no problem. ;)
Informative?! Informative??!?!? Funny, ok, but.... C'mon, mods!
-Mike
Some mods will use their points to disagree with a post anyway; the fact that you said that turned it into a dare, in effect.
-Mike
Well, there are many people that eat halal meals only due to their religious background while vegetarians (and especially vegans) often have chosed their dietary preference for political reasons.
Political reasons?! All of the vegetarians I've ever known have made that choice for ethical reasons (they don't approve of killing animals for food), esthetic reasons (they don't like the idea of eating comprised of flesh and blood), health reasons, or varying combinations of the three. Some were liberal, others were more conservative or libertarian. PETA members (which is the sort of thing I'm guessing you're thinking of) hardly comprise the majority of vegetarians.
I don't think profiling is that great a tool in the first place, but inferring political beliefs based on someone's choice of a vegetarian meal really sucks.
FWIW, I don't care whether someone is a vegetarian for any reason, but I do object to having someone try to convince me that I'm doing something immoral by eating meat. My response to those types is, "Life feeds on life. Get over it." -Mike
HP w/ AMD is actually a good computer.
I have to agree; I have a nice little HP Pavilion zv6000, with an Athlon 64 processor. I love it.
-Mike
Well, the arguments sound almost exactly like the ones I've heard from people who use bots to play online poker (so far as I know, not all that well yet, but they may get significantly better in the future), or who collude with other players, sharing information so they can get an edge on the honest players in the game. If you try to call them on it, their first response is, "Everyone else does it, why shouldn't I?!" and their second is, "If you're not doing it, you're just a sucker". Arguments about fairness and morality just don't register with them.
-Mike
Ah-hah, so that's where it is! Thanks!
-Mike
This reminds me of something I've been wondering about lately. Do moderators get any sort of direct feedback from meta-moderation? I'm curious to know how my moderations have been rated, but I haven't been able to figure out how to find out. Is there a way to do so?
-Mike
I'm aware that my post was not directly responsive to your point, but I could smell it provoking an attack of the "It's only a theory" people and I wanted do what I could to head them off at the pass.
:)
Tilt at windmills in your spare time, do you?
-Mike
This analogy would be better if you said that you printed a book of checks and then fooled the customer to sign them all.
Really? Then why was I able to set up a telephone transaction to pay a bill yesterday? All they did was ask for my account number with the merchant and the routing and bank account numbers from the bottom of one of my checks. Everything was automated, no signature required.
-Mike
Anonymously doesn't mean anonymously. Slashdot knows who made what posts, or at the very least, who has contributed to a discussion. (I haven't studied slashcode, so I do not pretend to know precisely what is going on.) Try it sometime, post anon to a discussion when you have mod points, then come back and try to moderate in that discussion.
I've found that if I actually log out, it works fine. However, Firefox automatically fills in my login information on the reply form, so if I neglect to remove it, I get logged back in anyway. Oops....
-Mike
Good point. Maybe download Process Explorer instead.
-Mike
I meant to post that anonymously so I could come back and mod it up later. Sorry, guess I was on crack myself. :(
-Mike
Sometimes, some idiot on crack just happens to get mod points. I should be getting some mod points myself soon; I'll make a note and bump it back up when I do.
-Mike