Like all unpopular legislature, first its tried legitimately. Secondly it is passed by governmental or bureaucratic fiat. They will simply make a regulation to cover it if actual legislation does not work. BATFE did it with guns in the USA, DEA did it with drugs in the USA, FDA does it to various foods, OSHA does it with workplaces (though the enforcement, from my days doing construction is haphazard at worst and selective at best).
So, it will go to a small blip or nonexistent blip on the radar, and a year down the road, the RCMP will be kicking in doors or seizing equipment based on a treaty ratified with Bun-fuk-u-stan, which states that they have to enforce whatever treaty was accepted for the "benefits of Canda's socialized welfare system".
That or the UN, intergovernmental panel on climate change will discover that Britney's pirated MP3's are actually causing global warming or costing Britney so much in lost royalties that she can't afford to feed those starving children that the UN has failed to care for over the years (Kofi Anan's son, however, managed to buy himself a pair of Lamborghinis with the money he received as "salary")
(And we know that a bunch of politically appointed "scientists" and bureaucrats are going to be FAR more correct on telling us why the earth is getting warmer each morning and colder each evening, because that damn glowing orb in the sky that has had variable output over several million/billion years is just too insignificant to really matter... its wooden stoves that heat up the earth and diesel engines, so shut down that goddamn sun and stop wasting that heat!!)
What stops them from offering private lessons to those willing to go that route? There's a shortage of private tutors and homeschool teachers. Its better paid work and runs far better chances of turning out good kids. There are plenty of parents without the time but with PLENTY of cash who would love that sort of service being offered where you live... why not do it? Mix in age groups too. I was in Calculus in high school 2 years early and would've been in it 4 years or 5 years earlier had they not had "too little demand" when I wanted to go through the course. I had to take schedule fillers and be bored, and I can guarantee there are LOTS of other kids who get hammered into submission. I got away because I was hard to hammer down, but many eventually buck no more and yield to the whip master. Why not offer them an environment that helps them grow, and what better than a teacher that is paid and hired by the parents, based on that teacher's merits... and have them teach in the safest location possible. AT HOME! Socializing can be done at the mall, without forcing it to be done through age segregated classes. The whole concept screams regimented squads of puppets and has been commented on it before.
If you think that full time teaching is great, you should put together a curriculum for the home student, and sell it. If it works and the kids come out well trained in the subject matter and can apply it, not just regurgitate it... or if you offer the service in person and not in paper, and your students ACE the tests AND can apply what they learn, then you've just done a great thing for those whose lives you touched. You can do little more than that anyways. Usually, when working IN the system as it is designed, you get done a lot less.
Such as "willful beneficence" not "taxed out of you and redistributed by bureaucracy".
I've been a big advocate of "take that bum on the street to a restaurant and buy him lunch, then pack all his left overs in a to go doggy bag... it'll be the best meal he's probably had since he's been homeless and might make him feel human again."
So I am not challenging the "do what makes you feel good, if that means helping mankind, great, but make no mistake, you're not being selfless, you're doing it because you value what you're doing more than the discomfort you go through to do it. That's how we all work as independent little "I"ndividuals, regardless of how brainwashed each one is into the whole "we" thing.
I also fall partly on the objectivist scale, but not quite as heavily as some. I think there's more to this mess than just the material world, but the reason I compare things to animals, is because 90% of humans are animals and their behavior and attitudes are EXACTLY those of mere herd animals, and not just ANY mere herd animals but DOMESTICATED herd animals awaiting slaughter, completely reacting, never actually responding to a situation.
Humans in general (exception follows this statement) fall into two categories, those who consume their own species (or at least its labor and children) and those who are consumed. There is a SMALL third group that will have no part of either (known as "neither predator nor prey, upon my own species"), and as such will also not get involved except to provide the knowledge or ideas to get whatever members of the herd wish to do so, to think for themselves. Then as time goes on, each individual member of that third grouping discovers what the earliest ones did before them. The mass does NOT want enlightenment, or freedom, some individual members do, but the vast majority just wants to feel good and join the predator class if it gets a chance and feast upon their fellows without that nasty nagging conscience that's been trained into the herd itself. If they can prey on their own kind without repercussions or nightmares afterwards, they will do so without hesitation. Those who were already bred to be the ruling caste are a separate breed apart. Vicious, predatory and wholly cannibalistic in their approach. Oddly enough, with them you can probably reason more quickly than you can with the herd. The herd will stampede or lynch you LONG before it will give your words a chance. The predatory rulers, while evil, are a very "lawful evil" and will work within the system that applies to them. More than this I cannot explain... but it can be discovered. It took me 2 years of research and experimentation, it may take many on this board longer. Some will take shorter, but at least 2 years seems to be the norm among those doing research. Good luck.
As far as I see it, the rulers will do as they please, and the sooner the herd stops being their food and power source, the rulers will topple themselves. You cannot beat them by playing THEIR game (choosing between Bill or George, since they vacation together and are good friends, just like many Pro Wrestling stars are friends, despite portraying fierce enemies on stage... in fact politics is pretty much no different than Pro Wrestling, and you've seen how many people believe that Pro Wrestling is 100% real? Politics has been around for a few millennia and has billions of adherents. A lot harder to sway.)
As I've said. I lost the delusions that I can "help mankind" or "save mankind".
To put it as Ayn Rand did... (and I came from being one of her strongest opponents for a LONG time): "I worship individualsfor their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity for its failure to live up to these possibilities."~Ayn Rand (personal quote)
I would agree with her, other than to say I don't loathe humanity, it merely disgusts me. I've long gotten past hatred and raging anger... those too are mere signs of the masses... emotions they cultivate and yet cannot control.
(Similar to this, it boggles the mind how many people have NO fire extinguishers in the house, or they let them expire, run low charges, etc.) Too much of society is conditioned to believe that "someone else will handle it"... and in a country like the USA, where individualism and self sufficiency were founding virtues (they really are virtues, ask any Katrina survivor, both those who prepared and those who didn't) it amazes one to see so many people who not only call such virtues "bad traits" but who actively partake of unpreparedness and actively encourage others to be as unprepared as possible. Then, when the trouble starts, they are the first to blame others for not having come to their aid. Institutionalized help rarely works the way it is meant to, but most people still expect their rulers to come to their aid, and consistently, throughout history, the rulers have shown exactly how nature works. Each animal takes care of its own. Rulers are no different, but they are intelligent enough to realize that the majority can be fleeced dry by banking on their desire to have someone else do all their thinking, preparing and living. It is only natural that a higher order parasite would then use this vulnerability as its way in.
Cooper was the founder of the American Pistol Institute (now known as Gunsite School) and one of those really nasty fellows you just didn't mess with. Also spent a lot of time writing freelance (Guns & Ammo magazine) and has a slew of his own books out in the rare book shops. (Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip 1 & 2 are selling for upwards of 120 bucks in mint condition on amazon, unless you manage to dig up a copy at a gunshow for less, but they're remarkably rare.)
That being said, Cooper coined the color coded awareness system for armed individuals seeking to detect or engage threats rather than be detected and engaged by them I've found it just as useful for those not armed seeking to avoid or detect possible conflict or fraud before it detects them. I actually have a funny feeling George Bush's people actually ripped off Cooper on their "threat level" coloring scheme.
White - Completely unaware, tunnel vision, the kind of individual that could be armed to the gills, trained in martial arts and still taken by surprise by the first determined aggressor. Typical drunken college kid, helpless socialist type or soccer mom going to her minivan. Also typical of people who get defrauded by Nigerian bank scams or raped in parking lots. Typically a human or domesticated animal behavior. Wild or feral animals tend to generally be in a passive condition Yellow. This is known as the "trouble finds YOU" or "taken by surprise" mindset. Some also call this the "sleeping at the wheel" syndrome.
Yellow - Passive awareness. You consistently assess your environs and are aware of your surroundings. You can tell who is a threat and who isn't, but at the moment nothing has piqued your interest. Typical behavior for someone who has either been assaulted before and gotten over it, or someone who has trained his or her awareness. This is a stress free condition just like White. Casual scans of your surroundings are shown in movies as a sign of paranoia, but they actually are a good thing to do, even if all it helps you is see that drunk driver that lost control and is swerving towards your car. I've seen and observed people during traffic who are COMPLETELY unaware of their surroundings. Having driven truck for a year or two, condition Yellow is actually a remarkably common thing among truckers, though they often just call it "being aware of your surroundings." This is known as the "trouble can never surprise you" mindset.
Orange - Directed awareness. A highly likely threat has emerged, and you have detected it and are now actively assessing it, preparing your response. You haven't engaged it, but are ready to do so. A big guy in a dark parking lot is approaching you, he hasn't reached into his jacket yet, but he's suspicious enough as it is. As he hasn't attacked you yet, you are alert but not yet engaging a verified threat. You feel uneasy and have reason to suspect aggression.
Red - The threat is verified. Possible assailant has drawn a weapon, or another vehicle swerves your way in traffic. At this point, if you are armed, your hand has achieved a positive grip with your weapon and you are drawing it from its retaining harness/holster, and you are waiting for either your conscious decision or the unconscious reflex you have trained to break the mental sear and neutralize the threat. This is when your mental trigger is cocked, regardless of whether the threat is a mugger with a knife or a gun drawn, or some headlights approaching your car from the side at very high speed. You are being directly targeted or threatened with injury, at this point you are ready to respond to the aggressor directly. Most people who get mugged or robbed get taken completely by surprise and reach Yellow/Orange after the assault or fraud is already under way.
The military thought this progressive system of evaluation/awareness a good idea, took it on, and even added their own awareness level beyond Red. They call it:
Despite your presumptions, that lady received her tenure a year after I left her advanced comp sci course. She was probably the most knowledgeable comp sci professor I've had... and not only did I get comp sci classes with her, but she used to throw advanced math concepts in for free (so to speak) by giving us advanced math problems and theoretical math to think about solving with our newly learned skills.
She was a damn good teacher, she just wasn't stupid enough to let HER WORK, rule her LIFE... two different terms, which are strongly encouraged to not be differentiated in the socialist systems of the world. They want production units, not men and women. Men and women desire lives of their own and live them, production units live to work, and once their useful life is over, they are discarded in warehousing storage (retirement homes?) where they end their lives waiting for death. Sort of explains a lot about the western world... doesn't it?
I learned this while researching philosophy, surprisingly, so ask yourself this question. Who am I? What am I?
If you answer by saying you are your job... you are a production unit. You have no other purpose, when your job is up, you are done for. If the first thing you answer with is either "I am me." or "I don't know." there might be some hope for you actually being more than just a robot after all.
Just a thought. Intelligent responses would be much appreciated, but just as with the Brawndo, I doubt I'll receive many.
Actually hemp paper was used for centuries and only really was replaced by wood fiber because somehow, for some reason, both the UK and the US, some hundred years and some spare change ago, used the treaty loophole to stop each other's citizens from growing hemp. One has to wonder why, but then all the OTHER prohibitions on mostly harmless hobbies and habits have been for no real apparent reason as well, except of course, to be used by ONE group of voting lottery winners to tell the OTHER group of lottery losers what to do, how to live, and where and why. Nothing new. Tyranny carries on, whether its lots of small tyrants or a few big tyrants. Men love their slavery and will fight to the death to prevent its end.
Private schools tend to have a bit less government bureaucracy enforced. The money is better, but so are the chances of being fired for lack of quality education. People tend to vote with their feet and wallets at private schools. Not so with public schools. Hard to go to a nearby school if it is too far away. If he's in it for the money, good for him, if he's providing value to those kids and parents, he's still doing a better job, and nobody's putting a gun to the kids parents threatening them with "pay for this or go to prison (or die, as was the situation with Waco Texas)"... joyful stuff man. Thanks.
I.E. a private school is STILL a private jurisdiction, i.e. private property, and government still has to ask permission to come in, unless they have some specialty warrant. Not so with a school where they can heap on the abuse as they feel fit (remember those schools where SWAT conducted "compliance" and "submission" tests with little 12 year olds?)
Yep, I sure want my kids somewhere they can be threatened by steroid abusing thugs at gun point... yep... in any other situation, what SWAT did would be called "hostage taking" or "brandishing deadly arms" or "threatening lethal violence" or any number of other FELONIOUS activities. However, since those parents put their kids in that jurisdiction (despite being forced to do so by law), it was considered "consent" and the SWAT boys offered a mere apology and got the barest of slaps on the wrist.
It is like saying that the fellows who ran the Gulags for Stalin (many of them Jews, surprisingly) were NOT guilty of staying within the system because Stalin told them all what to do. Bullshit, and I call it supreme bullshit.
They can quit and find private sector jobs. I've even met a few who offered home schooling curricula/services. From what I've heard of the ones around here, they're not bad at all, and the kids like it more than they like public school and have a LOT more spare time when the day is done.
Also, parents have a say in how its done. FAR different than public or even private schools. Course its not government sanctioned, but then again, nothing good ever is.
You'll come to understand what I'm talking about sooner or later.
The upside is that right now you're where I was as a child, when I first got political, thinking it was changing the world. Regardless of who won elections, NOTHING changed. Then I began to research beyond the system and learned what forged thew viewpoint I hold now. Good luck with the research, its intensive and lengthy.
That being said, the people I care for are people whom I didn't have to enlighten, they helped enlighten me, and I didn't put a gun to their heads and say "pay my way or die" the way the tax system does to protect those who are unwilling to feed and protect themselves.
The people I care for return the favor, and neither of us puts a gun to the other's head, or hires "public officials" to tell us how to live or what to do.
Take my mom... mom's know best, right? My mom hates that I like certain high priced liquors and certain high priced cigars... she worries when I drive halfway across the country to participate in tournaments, or go racing, or camping on some remote mountain range, or fishing in some alpine river, or whatever other adventure I pick on at the time. She thought I was crazy the first time I took her to my favorite gun club and taught her to shoot paper and bowling pins. Year in and out she thought poorly of my many hobbies, attitudes and even bad habits (expensive cigars and liquor) and was upset that I spent money to make things available to me that were "bad" for my health. And then she understood. I abuse neither alcohol, nor tobacco, nor do I commit any crimes using my various arms I have trained with. Why do I not do this? I like to believe it is reason, ethics, whatever you call it. Principles to which I adhere, if nothing else. I am free to do as I please, and because nothing is denied to me, and because nobody really holds me back from doing what I enjoy, I have no urge or desire to abuse anything. When any of us is free to do as he or she pleases, and enlightened enough to know that we are each responsible for our own fates, then the likelihood of those freedoms being abused against another decreases drastically.
Society, however, is a system of restraint, developed by tyrants who were afraid that others might get to eat as well as themselves. It is a system designed by those who enjoy abusing the rights of others. Society is basically a system where those who make the rules eat better than those for whom they make and enforce those rules. Basically it is the ultimate hell, a system of "do as we say, not as we do, and shut the hell up!"
What about those that want their kids OUT of the system, that want property to NOT be taxable because the system does NOT represent them, what about those that would prefer to no longer be restricted in the natural right to DEFEND themselves when attacked or robbed, what about those people? Why should they be lumped in with those who cannot think or act for themselves and require that someone consistently rob someone else to pump into those who choose to remain helpless, and neither educate themselves nor learn about the environment within which they find themselves immersed?
Raising teacher salaries is like raising cop salaries. Crime decreases when bad guys get killed, not put in jail on the dime of the innocents who've neither committed a real crime nor when judges draw fat paychecks enforcing taboos and social prohibitions.
The whole world has turned into a tyrannically run shithole, and there is almost no place to run to that isn't already run by some tin pot dictator or a group thereof. This will lead to a bloody row sooner or later, as the pressure cooker reaches too high a pressure. Until now, America was where people ran to get free... but now, even this place is losing its luster, as more and more collectivists have moved here, and whatever ideals were maintained have been voted out.
EXACTLY my point. He's not in it for the money. He got to the top, or close to, has the resources and is doing it because he wants to.
Big difference from those folks who do it because they have to make rent and are under pressure to do so. You supremely made my point:) Teaching to him is not a vocation, its more a hobby, a passion, something he does to enjoy the day or make a difference or just plain feel good about himself. He's not doing it for the money and doesn't need the money (if he made 200k/year and was the son of two judges, he would've been among those I consider "peers", not by wealth but by the knowledge of WHAT TO DO WITH IT... aka, not waste it but use it wisely.) Hopefully he was one of those, and he passes that knowledge unto his students as well. He'll help change lives if he does that.
No the teacher's dont, those guaranteeing that they exist and have a job do. Try skipping on school if you're young enough and see if "society" lets you. Those with guns and badges claim authority but put the responsibility on YOU who pay them. Interesting how that works. Same with teachers. Their job is guaranteed, they're merely feeding at the trough. Those that are actually good at least produce something, but they are RARELY primarily teachers by vocation. They usually have a real job elsewhere. Tax feeders usually don't produce as much as they consume... I think they used to be called "net resource sinks" when I was in school... they call them "underpaid" now.
I've learned at least 6 or 7 different trades, mastered several skills, speak several languages fluently (read, write, etc), have traveled some of Europe and some of the USA, and have gotten to the point where I just plain don't give a shit. AND ALL THAT before I hit 30... Why? What's the point? To have my name on a plaque? What does that accomplish? What do **I** get out of it? I'm not a damn cell. You might be, but I'm not. I don't feel like being one. Tough shit eh? I can work with a team, but plain don't care to. So what's the point you ask? Exactly. I have mastered more subjects than a specialist has, and I can probably run around specialists in quite a few of those. Why? I don't know, because I actually took the time to learn and shut off the damn boob tube.
And that's the real secret. I do a pretty good job of living life, not having it lived for me.
These really smart guys you talk of were all self made. They undertook the effort necessary along with insight to bring themselves to the forefront. It was neither done for them, nor was it purely genetic. All the talent in the world is worthless without application.
Wow, you people really do think in the box. Why the fsck would they have to take TWO jobs instead of dropping one?? There is such a thing as PART TIME teaching (you can do it, but you have to have the courage to NEGOTIATE your contract and be worth hiring as a teacher in the first place, if you are, then you can name your terms and be willing to walk out and make a big noise about it if they aren't met.)
Or they could do what my comp sci professor did. Teach 20 hours a week for tenure and spend the rest of the time at her big bucks job. Her job wasn't her life, she did it for the money, and I respect her for that. She impressed upon me something my father often forgot. Don't let work be your life. Let your life be your life, work is what you do in order to pay for your life. You don't live at work, and you NEVER take it home. She made about 300.00/USD per hour at her contractor position, yet she impressed upon all of us who studied with her, regardless of how much you make, if you take your work home, it will destroy your life and no amount of cash or toys will make life as enjoyable as life can be. Leave work at work. Keep the pager for emergency situations only, get a different cellphone for personal use. Don't take anything short of true emergency work calls during vacation or retreat. Surround yourself with competent people who, when left behind at the office can actually answer the phone and be competent enough to handle issues so that you can vacation or retreat without worrying.
Of course the vast majority will take their work home thinking it will vanish if they don't micro manage, and that is the same thing that occurs with money. The more you meddle with it, the less returns it brings when compared to time vested in. I'll hammer that subject to death if I keep talking about it, so rather than do so, I'll suggest this. Get out of the box, live your life, work to pay for living life the way you want to, don't live life so you can work. Serfs do that.
I wasn't complaining, I was restating the obvious.
As for teachers being in demand, they aren't, good teachers are always in demand, because the best ones are those we meet in real life, not in school, but somehow those who spend money that isn't their own (all tax fed institutions) proclaim they know what's best for everyone, and they don't, but they got all the guns in most societies and in those where they don't, authority is seen as coming straight from God (Israel, USA, etc.)
Best lessons are learned out there in the field, or at home, but rarely in school, because school tends to only teach one to sit down, shut up, and do what they're told, which is a lesson that can just as easily be learned from your typical household.
Like I said, I had 3 or 4 GOOD teachers, perhaps a few more, a half dozen okay ones (I liked them as people, but they weren't all that great as teachers, but then neither was the subject matter) and then a whole bunch that made me sick to my stomach. However, had I skipped out on school, my parents would've probably gone to prison and I would've gone to a home for the delinquent. DESPITE the fact that anything my physics and calculus teachers couldn't explain, my father could explain and even provide real life scenarios. Despite the fact that I read more on my own each year than the rest of my classmates did in their entire schooling careers. Despite the fact that I had more working experience by the time I was 18 than most of my classmates. That all didn't matter. What mattered was my "attendance" and "good behavior". My parents were taxed for what THEY could've taught me FOR FAR LESS and in a MUCH better environment (safer too.)
Sometimes I ponder that I got where I am DESPITE my schooling, not "because" of it.
I've also begun applying the Jeff Cooper awareness system to it. If you spend life in condition YELLOW (not harmful and not really stressful, but merely active awareness of your surroundings) you begin to spot this kind of stuff, and even get to find it funny. I travel with friends whom I'm teaching that system of awareness to, and I'm noticing the change as they begin to apply it. All of a sudden they're harder to trick and to fool into things, harder to bait, why? Because they are aware of it. Animals have mastered this intrinsically but humans have it weeded out of themselves by the official schooling organs of the government that does their thinking for them in any particular region to "keep them safe". Generally it takes a massive failure to prove the government ISN'T in their best interest. However, short that, it takes active self training and teaching to become aware of this brainwashing you speak of.
Yes. I even go to movies and enjoy the cola commercials. How do I resist? I take a piss and drink a cup of espresso (home made) before leaving the house. Then I enjoy watching the commercials and try to spot the subliminal ads and what they're meant for.
You'd be amazed how far you go training your self control by resisting those commercials. And you can, but you have to actively feed your subconscious YOUR point of view, not what the system teaches. That sort of resistance is hard at first and takes a LOT of willpower. Later, over the years you can turn it on and off like a switch.
I like to personally believe that there is more to being a man or woman than merely being an upright walking ape with sparse fur. Call it spirituality, call it enlightenment, or insight, whatever you want.
Of course, the vast majority of humanity I've met quickly reminds me that in fact, homo sapiens IS just a stupid monkey, of which a few mutated to great intelligence and managed to drag the rest of the unthinking herd (for they truly are a herd, not a pack of hunters) out of the primordial slime.
That being said, the herd occasionally gets upset with the intelligent ones either demanding that the rest of the herd carry its own weight, or, upon seeing that the herd has NO inclination of carrying its own weight, the intelligent killer apes decide to harvest their pound of flesh from each member of the herd. I don't say unwitting because the vast majority when faced with the truth, stumble upon it, and then pick themselves up and continue on their way. If the truth tries to awaken them, they viciously fight back to keep their membership of the herd.
Herds are there for predators to eat. That is the way the system is designed, the entire exchange of energy. When no other predators exist upon the herd, the opportunistic members of the herd (the same intelligent apes who dragged the others out of the mud) reserve the right to cull the bleating unthinking group as they desire.
Frankly, I've lost the interest in "furthering human rights" because the vast herd deserves nothing but what it asks for, and they ask for slavery and cullings by the masters (the intelligent apes).
Who would I be, to trespass upon the rights of the owners, when the property DESIRES its slavery and will argue every which way to remain enslaved? As far as I care, those who want freedom get it, take it, or have it, those who hate it, never get it to begin with, so the supply is never really endangered. There is far more freedom in the warehouse than is being claimed by the human herd. Forcing freedom upon those who don't want it, is no different than the so called "tyranny of good intentions." I will have no part of such actions. To each according to their will.
I said it in another post, and I'll reply to your ad hominem with a simple remark.
They could work another job.
Read that again... THEY COULD WORK ANOTHER JOB!
Speaking of so called "capitalism" (of which we really do not have, we have a fascist socialism, but that's a bigger point for a crowd that understands what an actual free market is... and slashdot is not it.)
If your precious teachers actually KNOW a subject well enough to teach it, what prevents them from making a ton of cash doing that subject for a living, writing a book on the subject they know so well, or perhaps taking on an apprentice and actually passing on their vast storehouse of knowledge. I've learned more from those who mentored me while making use of my other skills (mechanical, financial and artistic). In the end it was a fair exchange of value. They gained a peer (as I could now discuss the subject with them) as well as a future ally, while I gained the skills I needed. Out of courtesy and not because of a contract I could invalidate based on poor legal craftsmanship, I kept a non compete policy of my own to this day, and I don't compete with my mentors except as a form of play. As a result we all grew, got wealthier and didn't kill each other in the process. It is possible, but it takes a degree of wisdom and a degree of enlightenment to actually get something like this done. The vast masses are going to avoid it because of their great fear of change, risk and the unknown. That cannot be changed. Slashdotters alone (and the numbers are vast) have already proven this to me. I won't need to actually lose any sleep over the consequences that will be reaped by others for their fears, and I've yet to actually do so.
Slashdot Mirror
Like all unpopular legislature, first its tried legitimately. Secondly it is passed by governmental or bureaucratic fiat. They will simply make a regulation to cover it if actual legislation does not work. BATFE did it with guns in the USA, DEA did it with drugs in the USA, FDA does it to various foods, OSHA does it with workplaces (though the enforcement, from my days doing construction is haphazard at worst and selective at best).
So, it will go to a small blip or nonexistent blip on the radar, and a year down the road, the RCMP will be kicking in doors or seizing equipment based on a treaty ratified with Bun-fuk-u-stan, which states that they have to enforce whatever treaty was accepted for the "benefits of Canda's socialized welfare system".
That or the UN, intergovernmental panel on climate change will discover that Britney's pirated MP3's are actually causing global warming or costing Britney so much in lost royalties that she can't afford to feed those starving children that the UN has failed to care for over the years (Kofi Anan's son, however, managed to buy himself a pair of Lamborghinis with the money he received as "salary")
(And we know that a bunch of politically appointed "scientists" and bureaucrats are going to be FAR more correct on telling us why the earth is getting warmer each morning and colder each evening, because that damn glowing orb in the sky that has had variable output over several million/billion years is just too insignificant to really matter... its wooden stoves that heat up the earth and diesel engines, so shut down that goddamn sun and stop wasting that heat!!)
What stops them from offering private lessons to those willing to go that route? There's a shortage of private tutors and homeschool teachers. Its better paid work and runs far better chances of turning out good kids. There are plenty of parents without the time but with PLENTY of cash who would love that sort of service being offered where you live... why not do it? Mix in age groups too. I was in Calculus in high school 2 years early and would've been in it 4 years or 5 years earlier had they not had "too little demand" when I wanted to go through the course. I had to take schedule fillers and be bored, and I can guarantee there are LOTS of other kids who get hammered into submission. I got away because I was hard to hammer down, but many eventually buck no more and yield to the whip master. Why not offer them an environment that helps them grow, and what better than a teacher that is paid and hired by the parents, based on that teacher's merits... and have them teach in the safest location possible. AT HOME! Socializing can be done at the mall, without forcing it to be done through age segregated classes. The whole concept screams regimented squads of puppets and has been commented on it before.
If you think that full time teaching is great, you should put together a curriculum for the home student, and sell it. If it works and the kids come out well trained in the subject matter and can apply it, not just regurgitate it... or if you offer the service in person and not in paper, and your students ACE the tests AND can apply what they learn, then you've just done a great thing for those whose lives you touched. You can do little more than that anyways. Usually, when working IN the system as it is designed, you get done a lot less.
Such as "willful beneficence" not "taxed out of you and redistributed by bureaucracy".
I've been a big advocate of "take that bum on the street to a restaurant and buy him lunch, then pack all his left overs in a to go doggy bag... it'll be the best meal he's probably had since he's been homeless and might make him feel human again."
So I am not challenging the "do what makes you feel good, if that means helping mankind, great, but make no mistake, you're not being selfless, you're doing it because you value what you're doing more than the discomfort you go through to do it. That's how we all work as independent little "I"ndividuals, regardless of how brainwashed each one is into the whole "we" thing.
I also fall partly on the objectivist scale, but not quite as heavily as some. I think there's more to this mess than just the material world, but the reason I compare things to animals, is because 90% of humans are animals and their behavior and attitudes are EXACTLY those of mere herd animals, and not just ANY mere herd animals but DOMESTICATED herd animals awaiting slaughter, completely reacting, never actually responding to a situation.
Humans in general (exception follows this statement) fall into two categories, those who consume their own species (or at least its labor and children) and those who are consumed. There is a SMALL third group that will have no part of either (known as "neither predator nor prey, upon my own species"), and as such will also not get involved except to provide the knowledge or ideas to get whatever members of the herd wish to do so, to think for themselves. Then as time goes on, each individual member of that third grouping discovers what the earliest ones did before them. The mass does NOT want enlightenment, or freedom, some individual members do, but the vast majority just wants to feel good and join the predator class if it gets a chance and feast upon their fellows without that nasty nagging conscience that's been trained into the herd itself. If they can prey on their own kind without repercussions or nightmares afterwards, they will do so without hesitation. Those who were already bred to be the ruling caste are a separate breed apart. Vicious, predatory and wholly cannibalistic in their approach. Oddly enough, with them you can probably reason more quickly than you can with the herd. The herd will stampede or lynch you LONG before it will give your words a chance. The predatory rulers, while evil, are a very "lawful evil" and will work within the system that applies to them. More than this I cannot explain... but it can be discovered. It took me 2 years of research and experimentation, it may take many on this board longer. Some will take shorter, but at least 2 years seems to be the norm among those doing research. Good luck.
As far as I see it, the rulers will do as they please, and the sooner the herd stops being their food and power source, the rulers will topple themselves. You cannot beat them by playing THEIR game (choosing between Bill or George, since they vacation together and are good friends, just like many Pro Wrestling stars are friends, despite portraying fierce enemies on stage... in fact politics is pretty much no different than Pro Wrestling, and you've seen how many people believe that Pro Wrestling is 100% real? Politics has been around for a few millennia and has billions of adherents. A lot harder to sway.)
As I've said. I lost the delusions that I can "help mankind" or "save mankind".
To put it as Ayn Rand did... (and I came from being one of her strongest opponents for a LONG time):
"I worship individualsfor their highest possibilities as individuals, and I loathe humanity for its failure to live up to these possibilities."~Ayn Rand (personal quote)
I would agree with her, other than to say I don't loathe humanity, it merely disgusts me. I've long gotten past hatred and raging anger... those too are mere signs of the masses... emotions they cultivate and yet cannot control.
(Similar to this, it boggles the mind how many people have NO fire extinguishers in the house, or they let them expire, run low charges, etc.) Too much of society is conditioned to believe that "someone else will handle it"... and in a country like the USA, where individualism and self sufficiency were founding virtues (they really are virtues, ask any Katrina survivor, both those who prepared and those who didn't) it amazes one to see so many people who not only call such virtues "bad traits" but who actively partake of unpreparedness and actively encourage others to be as unprepared as possible. Then, when the trouble starts, they are the first to blame others for not having come to their aid. Institutionalized help rarely works the way it is meant to, but most people still expect their rulers to come to their aid, and consistently, throughout history, the rulers have shown exactly how nature works. Each animal takes care of its own. Rulers are no different, but they are intelligent enough to realize that the majority can be fleeced dry by banking on their desire to have someone else do all their thinking, preparing and living. It is only natural that a higher order parasite would then use this vulnerability as its way in.
Here.
Cooper was the founder of the American Pistol Institute (now known as Gunsite School) and one of those really nasty fellows you just didn't mess with. Also spent a lot of time writing freelance (Guns & Ammo magazine) and has a slew of his own books out in the rare book shops. (Gargantuan Gunsite Gossip 1 & 2 are selling for upwards of 120 bucks in mint condition on amazon, unless you manage to dig up a copy at a gunshow for less, but they're remarkably rare.)
That being said, Cooper coined the color coded awareness system for armed individuals seeking to detect or engage threats rather than be detected and engaged by them I've found it just as useful for those not armed seeking to avoid or detect possible conflict or fraud before it detects them. I actually have a funny feeling George Bush's people actually ripped off Cooper on their "threat level" coloring scheme.
White - Completely unaware, tunnel vision, the kind of individual that could be armed to the gills, trained in martial arts and still taken by surprise by the first determined aggressor. Typical drunken college kid, helpless socialist type or soccer mom going to her minivan. Also typical of people who get defrauded by Nigerian bank scams or raped in parking lots. Typically a human or domesticated animal behavior. Wild or feral animals tend to generally be in a passive condition Yellow. This is known as the "trouble finds YOU" or "taken by surprise" mindset. Some also call this the "sleeping at the wheel" syndrome.
Yellow - Passive awareness. You consistently assess your environs and are aware of your surroundings. You can tell who is a threat and who isn't, but at the moment nothing has piqued your interest. Typical behavior for someone who has either been assaulted before and gotten over it, or someone who has trained his or her awareness. This is a stress free condition just like White. Casual scans of your surroundings are shown in movies as a sign of paranoia, but they actually are a good thing to do, even if all it helps you is see that drunk driver that lost control and is swerving towards your car. I've seen and observed people during traffic who are COMPLETELY unaware of their surroundings. Having driven truck for a year or two, condition Yellow is actually a remarkably common thing among truckers, though they often just call it "being aware of your surroundings." This is known as the "trouble can never surprise you" mindset.
Orange - Directed awareness. A highly likely threat has emerged, and you have detected it and are now actively assessing it, preparing your response. You haven't engaged it, but are ready to do so. A big guy in a dark parking lot is approaching you, he hasn't reached into his jacket yet, but he's suspicious enough as it is. As he hasn't attacked you yet, you are alert but not yet engaging a verified threat. You feel uneasy and have reason to suspect aggression.
Red - The threat is verified. Possible assailant has drawn a weapon, or another vehicle swerves your way in traffic. At this point, if you are armed, your hand has achieved a positive grip with your weapon and you are drawing it from its retaining harness/holster, and you are waiting for either your conscious decision or the unconscious reflex you have trained to break the mental sear and neutralize the threat. This is when your mental trigger is cocked, regardless of whether the threat is a mugger with a knife or a gun drawn, or some headlights approaching your car from the side at very high speed. You are being directly targeted or threatened with injury, at this point you are ready to respond to the aggressor directly. Most people who get mugged or robbed get taken completely by surprise and reach Yellow/Orange after the assault or fraud is already under way.
The military thought this progressive system of evaluation/awareness a good idea, took it on, and even added their own awareness level beyond Red. They call it:
Black - Actively engaged in combat. Directl
Despite your presumptions, that lady received her tenure a year after I left her advanced comp sci course. She was probably the most knowledgeable comp sci professor I've had... and not only did I get comp sci classes with her, but she used to throw advanced math concepts in for free (so to speak) by giving us advanced math problems and theoretical math to think about solving with our newly learned skills.
She was a damn good teacher, she just wasn't stupid enough to let HER WORK, rule her LIFE... two different terms, which are strongly encouraged to not be differentiated in the socialist systems of the world. They want production units, not men and women. Men and women desire lives of their own and live them, production units live to work, and once their useful life is over, they are discarded in warehousing storage (retirement homes?) where they end their lives waiting for death. Sort of explains a lot about the western world... doesn't it?
I learned this while researching philosophy, surprisingly, so ask yourself this question. Who am I? What am I?
If you answer by saying you are your job... you are a production unit. You have no other purpose, when your job is up, you are done for. If the first thing you answer with is either "I am me." or "I don't know." there might be some hope for you actually being more than just a robot after all.
Just a thought. Intelligent responses would be much appreciated, but just as with the Brawndo, I doubt I'll receive many.
Actually hemp paper was used for centuries and only really was replaced by wood fiber because somehow, for some reason, both the UK and the US, some hundred years and some spare change ago, used the treaty loophole to stop each other's citizens from growing hemp. One has to wonder why, but then all the OTHER prohibitions on mostly harmless hobbies and habits have been for no real apparent reason as well, except of course, to be used by ONE group of voting lottery winners to tell the OTHER group of lottery losers what to do, how to live, and where and why. Nothing new. Tyranny carries on, whether its lots of small tyrants or a few big tyrants. Men love their slavery and will fight to the death to prevent its end.
Private schools tend to have a bit less government bureaucracy enforced. The money is better, but so are the chances of being fired for lack of quality education. People tend to vote with their feet and wallets at private schools. Not so with public schools. Hard to go to a nearby school if it is too far away. If he's in it for the money, good for him, if he's providing value to those kids and parents, he's still doing a better job, and nobody's putting a gun to the kids parents threatening them with "pay for this or go to prison (or die, as was the situation with Waco Texas)"... joyful stuff man. Thanks.
I.E. a private school is STILL a private jurisdiction, i.e. private property, and government still has to ask permission to come in, unless they have some specialty warrant. Not so with a school where they can heap on the abuse as they feel fit (remember those schools where SWAT conducted "compliance" and "submission" tests with little 12 year olds?)
Yep, I sure want my kids somewhere they can be threatened by steroid abusing thugs at gun point... yep... in any other situation, what SWAT did would be called "hostage taking" or "brandishing deadly arms" or "threatening lethal violence" or any number of other FELONIOUS activities. However, since those parents put their kids in that jurisdiction (despite being forced to do so by law), it was considered "consent" and the SWAT boys offered a mere apology and got the barest of slaps on the wrist.
God Bless America, eh? What's left of her.
Way to go not actually addressing the important part of my post, but not atypical of slashdot or the usual collectivist crowd. Congrats :)
It is like saying that the fellows who ran the Gulags for Stalin (many of them Jews, surprisingly) were NOT guilty of staying within the system because Stalin told them all what to do. Bullshit, and I call it supreme bullshit.
They can quit and find private sector jobs. I've even met a few who offered home schooling curricula/services. From what I've heard of the ones around here, they're not bad at all, and the kids like it more than they like public school and have a LOT more spare time when the day is done.
Also, parents have a say in how its done. FAR different than public or even private schools. Course its not government sanctioned, but then again, nothing good ever is.
You'll come to understand what I'm talking about sooner or later.
The upside is that right now you're where I was as a child, when I first got political, thinking it was changing the world. Regardless of who won elections, NOTHING changed. Then I began to research beyond the system and learned what forged thew viewpoint I hold now. Good luck with the research, its intensive and lengthy.
That being said, the people I care for are people whom I didn't have to enlighten, they helped enlighten me, and I didn't put a gun to their heads and say "pay my way or die" the way the tax system does to protect those who are unwilling to feed and protect themselves.
The people I care for return the favor, and neither of us puts a gun to the other's head, or hires "public officials" to tell us how to live or what to do.
Take my mom... mom's know best, right? My mom hates that I like certain high priced liquors and certain high priced cigars... she worries when I drive halfway across the country to participate in tournaments, or go racing, or camping on some remote mountain range, or fishing in some alpine river, or whatever other adventure I pick on at the time. She thought I was crazy the first time I took her to my favorite gun club and taught her to shoot paper and bowling pins. Year in and out she thought poorly of my many hobbies, attitudes and even bad habits (expensive cigars and liquor) and was upset that I spent money to make things available to me that were "bad" for my health. And then she understood. I abuse neither alcohol, nor tobacco, nor do I commit any crimes using my various arms I have trained with. Why do I not do this? I like to believe it is reason, ethics, whatever you call it. Principles to which I adhere, if nothing else. I am free to do as I please, and because nothing is denied to me, and because nobody really holds me back from doing what I enjoy, I have no urge or desire to abuse anything. When any of us is free to do as he or she pleases, and enlightened enough to know that we are each responsible for our own fates, then the likelihood of those freedoms being abused against another decreases drastically.
Society, however, is a system of restraint, developed by tyrants who were afraid that others might get to eat as well as themselves. It is a system designed by those who enjoy abusing the rights of others. Society is basically a system where those who make the rules eat better than those for whom they make and enforce those rules. Basically it is the ultimate hell, a system of "do as we say, not as we do, and shut the hell up!"
What about those that want their kids OUT of the system, that want property to NOT be taxable because the system does NOT represent them, what about those that would prefer to no longer be restricted in the natural right to DEFEND themselves when attacked or robbed, what about those people? Why should they be lumped in with those who cannot think or act for themselves and require that someone consistently rob someone else to pump into those who choose to remain helpless, and neither educate themselves nor learn about the environment within which they find themselves immersed?
Raising teacher salaries is like raising cop salaries. Crime decreases when bad guys get killed, not put in jail on the dime of the innocents who've neither committed a real crime nor when judges draw fat paychecks enforcing taboos and social prohibitions.
The whole world has turned into a tyrannically run shithole, and there is almost no place to run to that isn't already run by some tin pot dictator or a group thereof. This will lead to a bloody row sooner or later, as the pressure cooker reaches too high a pressure. Until now, America was where people ran to get free... but now, even this place is losing its luster, as more and more collectivists have moved here, and whatever ideals were maintained have been voted out.
EXACTLY my point. He's not in it for the money. He got to the top, or close to, has the resources and is doing it because he wants to.
:) Teaching to him is not a vocation, its more a hobby, a passion, something he does to enjoy the day or make a difference or just plain feel good about himself. He's not doing it for the money and doesn't need the money (if he made 200k/year and was the son of two judges, he would've been among those I consider "peers", not by wealth but by the knowledge of WHAT TO DO WITH IT... aka, not waste it but use it wisely.) Hopefully he was one of those, and he passes that knowledge unto his students as well. He'll help change lives if he does that.
Big difference from those folks who do it because they have to make rent and are under pressure to do so. You supremely made my point
No the teacher's dont, those guaranteeing that they exist and have a job do. Try skipping on school if you're young enough and see if "society" lets you. Those with guns and badges claim authority but put the responsibility on YOU who pay them. Interesting how that works. Same with teachers. Their job is guaranteed, they're merely feeding at the trough. Those that are actually good at least produce something, but they are RARELY primarily teachers by vocation. They usually have a real job elsewhere. Tax feeders usually don't produce as much as they consume... I think they used to be called "net resource sinks" when I was in school... they call them "underpaid" now.
Specialization is for insects.
I can use my life (once more) as a case in point.
I've learned at least 6 or 7 different trades, mastered several skills, speak several languages fluently (read, write, etc), have traveled some of Europe and some of the USA, and have gotten to the point where I just plain don't give a shit. AND ALL THAT before I hit 30... Why? What's the point? To have my name on a plaque? What does that accomplish? What do **I** get out of it? I'm not a damn cell. You might be, but I'm not. I don't feel like being one. Tough shit eh? I can work with a team, but plain don't care to. So what's the point you ask? Exactly. I have mastered more subjects than a specialist has, and I can probably run around specialists in quite a few of those. Why? I don't know, because I actually took the time to learn and shut off the damn boob tube.
And that's the real secret. I do a pretty good job of living life, not having it lived for me.
These really smart guys you talk of were all self made. They undertook the effort necessary along with insight to bring themselves to the forefront. It was neither done for them, nor was it purely genetic. All the talent in the world is worthless without application.
I can also go to another restaurant or go home and use my well to pull up a glass of clean water :) Oops, that's another of my "do it yourself" advice.
I hear what you're saying.
:) I was actually just providing similar sources and other related and unrelated info :)
Vaporware advertised as the real thing.
I wasn't arguing your point
Wow, you people really do think in the box. Why the fsck would they have to take TWO jobs instead of dropping one?? There is such a thing as PART TIME teaching (you can do it, but you have to have the courage to NEGOTIATE your contract and be worth hiring as a teacher in the first place, if you are, then you can name your terms and be willing to walk out and make a big noise about it if they aren't met.)
Or they could do what my comp sci professor did. Teach 20 hours a week for tenure and spend the rest of the time at her big bucks job. Her job wasn't her life, she did it for the money, and I respect her for that. She impressed upon me something my father often forgot. Don't let work be your life. Let your life be your life, work is what you do in order to pay for your life. You don't live at work, and you NEVER take it home. She made about 300.00/USD per hour at her contractor position, yet she impressed upon all of us who studied with her, regardless of how much you make, if you take your work home, it will destroy your life and no amount of cash or toys will make life as enjoyable as life can be. Leave work at work. Keep the pager for emergency situations only, get a different cellphone for personal use. Don't take anything short of true emergency work calls during vacation or retreat. Surround yourself with competent people who, when left behind at the office can actually answer the phone and be competent enough to handle issues so that you can vacation or retreat without worrying.
Of course the vast majority will take their work home thinking it will vanish if they don't micro manage, and that is the same thing that occurs with money. The more you meddle with it, the less returns it brings when compared to time vested in. I'll hammer that subject to death if I keep talking about it, so rather than do so, I'll suggest this. Get out of the box, live your life, work to pay for living life the way you want to, don't live life so you can work. Serfs do that.
I wasn't complaining, I was restating the obvious.
As for teachers being in demand, they aren't, good teachers are always in demand, because the best ones are those we meet in real life, not in school, but somehow those who spend money that isn't their own (all tax fed institutions) proclaim they know what's best for everyone, and they don't, but they got all the guns in most societies and in those where they don't, authority is seen as coming straight from God (Israel, USA, etc.)
Best lessons are learned out there in the field, or at home, but rarely in school, because school tends to only teach one to sit down, shut up, and do what they're told, which is a lesson that can just as easily be learned from your typical household.
Like I said, I had 3 or 4 GOOD teachers, perhaps a few more, a half dozen okay ones (I liked them as people, but they weren't all that great as teachers, but then neither was the subject matter) and then a whole bunch that made me sick to my stomach. However, had I skipped out on school, my parents would've probably gone to prison and I would've gone to a home for the delinquent. DESPITE the fact that anything my physics and calculus teachers couldn't explain, my father could explain and even provide real life scenarios. Despite the fact that I read more on my own each year than the rest of my classmates did in their entire schooling careers. Despite the fact that I had more working experience by the time I was 18 than most of my classmates. That all didn't matter. What mattered was my "attendance" and "good behavior". My parents were taxed for what THEY could've taught me FOR FAR LESS and in a MUCH better environment (safer too.)
Sometimes I ponder that I got where I am DESPITE my schooling, not "because" of it.
Regarding the PR system, I've studied it.
I've also begun applying the Jeff Cooper awareness system to it. If you spend life in condition YELLOW (not harmful and not really stressful, but merely active awareness of your surroundings) you begin to spot this kind of stuff, and even get to find it funny. I travel with friends whom I'm teaching that system of awareness to, and I'm noticing the change as they begin to apply it. All of a sudden they're harder to trick and to fool into things, harder to bait, why? Because they are aware of it. Animals have mastered this intrinsically but humans have it weeded out of themselves by the official schooling organs of the government that does their thinking for them in any particular region to "keep them safe". Generally it takes a massive failure to prove the government ISN'T in their best interest. However, short that, it takes active self training and teaching to become aware of this brainwashing you speak of.
Yes. I even go to movies and enjoy the cola commercials. How do I resist? I take a piss and drink a cup of espresso (home made) before leaving the house. Then I enjoy watching the commercials and try to spot the subliminal ads and what they're meant for.
You'd be amazed how far you go training your self control by resisting those commercials. And you can, but you have to actively feed your subconscious YOUR point of view, not what the system teaches. That sort of resistance is hard at first and takes a LOT of willpower. Later, over the years you can turn it on and off like a switch.
I like to personally believe that there is more to being a man or woman than merely being an upright walking ape with sparse fur. Call it spirituality, call it enlightenment, or insight, whatever you want.
Of course, the vast majority of humanity I've met quickly reminds me that in fact, homo sapiens IS just a stupid monkey, of which a few mutated to great intelligence and managed to drag the rest of the unthinking herd (for they truly are a herd, not a pack of hunters) out of the primordial slime.
That being said, the herd occasionally gets upset with the intelligent ones either demanding that the rest of the herd carry its own weight, or, upon seeing that the herd has NO inclination of carrying its own weight, the intelligent killer apes decide to harvest their pound of flesh from each member of the herd. I don't say unwitting because the vast majority when faced with the truth, stumble upon it, and then pick themselves up and continue on their way. If the truth tries to awaken them, they viciously fight back to keep their membership of the herd.
Herds are there for predators to eat. That is the way the system is designed, the entire exchange of energy. When no other predators exist upon the herd, the opportunistic members of the herd (the same intelligent apes who dragged the others out of the mud) reserve the right to cull the bleating unthinking group as they desire.
Frankly, I've lost the interest in "furthering human rights" because the vast herd deserves nothing but what it asks for, and they ask for slavery and cullings by the masters (the intelligent apes).
Who would I be, to trespass upon the rights of the owners, when the property DESIRES its slavery and will argue every which way to remain enslaved? As far as I care, those who want freedom get it, take it, or have it, those who hate it, never get it to begin with, so the supply is never really endangered. There is far more freedom in the warehouse than is being claimed by the human herd. Forcing freedom upon those who don't want it, is no different than the so called "tyranny of good intentions." I will have no part of such actions. To each according to their will.
I said it in another post, and I'll reply to your ad hominem with a simple remark.
They could work another job.
Read that again... THEY COULD WORK ANOTHER JOB!
Speaking of so called "capitalism" (of which we really do not have, we have a fascist socialism, but that's a bigger point for a crowd that understands what an actual free market is... and slashdot is not it.)
If your precious teachers actually KNOW a subject well enough to teach it, what prevents them from making a ton of cash doing that subject for a living, writing a book on the subject they know so well, or perhaps taking on an apprentice and actually passing on their vast storehouse of knowledge. I've learned more from those who mentored me while making use of my other skills (mechanical, financial and artistic). In the end it was a fair exchange of value. They gained a peer (as I could now discuss the subject with them) as well as a future ally, while I gained the skills I needed. Out of courtesy and not because of a contract I could invalidate based on poor legal craftsmanship, I kept a non compete policy of my own to this day, and I don't compete with my mentors except as a form of play. As a result we all grew, got wealthier and didn't kill each other in the process. It is possible, but it takes a degree of wisdom and a degree of enlightenment to actually get something like this done. The vast masses are going to avoid it because of their great fear of change, risk and the unknown. That cannot be changed. Slashdotters alone (and the numbers are vast) have already proven this to me. I won't need to actually lose any sleep over the consequences that will be reaped by others for their fears, and I've yet to actually do so.