It's not quite as cheap as it seems if you don't have a power drill, a 1/4" steel drill bit, a good wrench, and a hammer. I imagine the first item would be the most expensive, followed by the rench, the drill bit, and then the hammer. (I managed to grab a really nice hammer from Ace during their "dollar days" sale, a year or so ago. Oak handle, steel head... $1.:-) The others were around five bucks, though....)
We are fucking pilgrims. The news just showed a couple american contractors dangled and burned publicly in Iraq. Where's the damn label for the news. Parents blame rock music in the 70s, then video games in the 80s, then internet in the 90s.... and then video games again in the '00s. Ever feel like this society is regressing?
The question is, once all the regression is achieved, what will these people do? They certainly won't be living in bliss, that's for sure; they'll still be dealing with the same problems, only they won't have their favorite scapegoats around anymore.
I don't live in California, but I sure wish I could talk some sense into these people, because I know it'll only embolden their peers elsewhere. I don't want to live in a society that is afraid of itself.
I also do not want to be guilty of a crime by association, which is where this is heading. Make it "Adult-only" now, so that you can control it, then move to eliminate it by criminalizing it.
I read, recently, that the DoJ is looking to tear into the pornography industry. I read that, not satisfied with attacking the "extreme" of pornography, the DoJ is going to go after some of the "plain vanilla" and softcore mainstream pornography. First they seized control of it by limiting access to it, and now they are moving to eliminate it by criminalizing it. Evidently, some people take offense to other people seeing a naked human being in private.
Evidently, some people take offense to other people playing video games in private.
How long before the moderates speak out against this assault? How long before they act?
Needless to say, the comments here are a sociologist's wet dream.
But I'm no sociologist, so my comments will take a different tack.
First off, I say we put this whole thing into some perspective. The question with Gmail is not "is my data (including communication(s)) safe?" The question is, "relative to the similar service I use now, is Gmail safe?"
Personally, I'm going to take up Gmail simply because I'm of the inclination that it is much, much better than Yahoo! or Hotmail email services. I think it will be more secure, and I believe that it will be better in every other respect, as well.
I will treat my use of Gmail with as much trust as I treat my (prior) use of Yahoo! and Hotmail. Right now, I have 'personal' communications over a free web-based account, but nothing is said or done which would bother me were it to be aired as a headline on CNN (and it wouldn't be).
From my background as a student of history (literally, at the moment), I am fully aware that no communication or transaction is inherently private for all time. The unusual thing is that lightspeed communications (radio, telephone, internet, etc.) are relatively new, and it is therefore difficult to use the past (history) as a lense through which we may examine the "present." Because this situation is unusual and relatively "new," it is very frightening to some, very exhilarating to others, and a simple curiosity to yet others.
If someone with the right tools really wants to keep anyone under surveillance, then a concerted effort can certainly yield that. If someone in the FBI, or the NSA, or even just a resourceful employee of a MegaCorporation, really wants to track you, you'll be tracked, and you can be tracked by those methods, I'll concede.
But for casual surveillance, which I was thinking of when I wrote that other post, the methods of tracking someone through commercial transactions and traffic stops would be rather spotty when compared to typing an RFID into a text field on an application or search engine and clicking a "search" button to have the current location of someone with an implant come up on a nice GPS display.
(Sorry... I'm in a bad mood and I have some karma to burn. 'Twas not intended as a comment on you as a person, of course.)
The RFID chips would be tracking realtime movement rather than traffic stops, debts, or purchases. While the items in your list can track the periodic locations of a person, they do not provide realtime location data.
As for the article: I'm pretty sure it's an "April Fool's" prank, just picked up a bit late. After all, the RFID detectors would need some kind of return response, and I don't imagine that the RFID tags could have that much antenna power (or electric power at all, for that matter). Not to mention that the whole thing would be flawed by the problems encountered with underground telephone lines and cutting tools which might be used to remove an RFID chip (and for extra fun, that chip could be placed underneath a stray cat's collar or wrapped in tin foil for a magpie or crow to pick up).
So... I'm not ready to believe this information, just yet.
If I see it a week from now, I'll consider it with more weight.
... the Japanese have a past of naming their kids with numbers (not "1337534K"). Well, that's what I heard in my Etymology class, yesterday, at least.
So numbers in names isn't exactly without precident.
In other news, Slashdot ate one of my posts, earlier this morning. I'm still trying to figure out if it was an April Fool's joke to have my post up and dissapear or if it's just Cowboy Neal going on the Atkins diet. (I suspect that Slashdot posts have low carbs.)
Anyhow, happy pre-Gregorian calendar/"Pagan" New Year, everyone!
Hmmm... I was just struck with a thought; what if the record industries are being rabid about piracy because they want to shift to a more advanced sales strategy?
I mean, if piracy increases sales of physical CDs, then it might be reasonable to assume that the first step in getting away from the physical-media-based distribution system would be to stop that which drives those sales. If the record industries are trying to impliment a download-based distribution system, it'd make sense for them to [persecute|prosecute] online piracy. After all, which is more appealing to the average consumer, downloading a song for free or downloading a song for a dollar/pound/yen/whatever?
If this is the case (and I make no claims that it is), then I can't say that I like the methods that have been taken (suing ISPs, suing impoverished little girls, etc.), but it would at least make the whole thing a bit more sensical/sane/intelligent, in my opinion.
(FYI, I have not read the article... yet, and it should under no circumstances be construed that I'm making excuses for the recording industries of the world and their lawyers. Quite frankly, I think I hate the bastards.)
First off, this information is flawed because it is incomplete. As one poster above mentioned, his donation went unrecorded (according to this website). You should probably take it with about as much salt as your average slashdot poll--it obviously mentions some donators, but not others. So long as this is so, it cannot be trusted to give a clear picture.
Second, when looking at the national map, remember the following:
1) This is by area only, and does not take into account population density.
2)As mentioned above, the information is incomplete.
3)The map does not say whether it goes by amount or number of donations.
4)These are donations, not votes. Opinions can change over time.
As for my opinion on the good vs. bad thing debate, I'm thinking that this is a bad thing, overall. It's too easy to use information like this to make decisions about a person's quality of character or whether or not to do business with someone. Even beyond the privacy and secrecy of the vote issues, I think that there is good reason why this sort of information shouldn't be allowed to be tracked or stored.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle, though, I'm glad that this information is available to all rather than just a select few.
One nation-state, any gender; must be at least thirty years of age. Relative political and economic stability necessary. Respect for individual citizens and their rights required; willingness to accept a college grad by June 2005 also a must. Benefits offered include yearly tax salary, degree-holder in History (with experience & training in network wiring and computer hardware & software troubleshooting), and loyalty to the nation-state itself. English-speaking society with a tolerance for itself a plus. To apply, please contact Undefined Parameter (726857) by available means.
NOTICE: This "Want Ad" does not imply hostility or malevolent intent toward individual's current nation-state. Individual is as fully compliant with laws in both letter and spirit as he can possibly be.
The operative word was "random." There are still a few people who die by falling or jumping into a hotspring in or near Yellowstone National Park. The problem isn't in the purity of the water, it's in the temperature. There are still quite a few hotsprings which are "unlabled"; that is, they don't have signs posted as to whether or not they are safe.
A greater majority of people who run into these hotsprings are smart enough to know to steer clear of them, but there are a few who want to get a closer look, and then fall in, or stupidly assume that every hotspring is safe or that the random, deep pool of water isn't a hotspring, and then jump into one. Even worse is when someone decides to "take a closer look" or take a swim in one despite warning signs and metal handrails constructed to prevent them from doing so. Unfortunately, the usual result is a gruesome death (I'll spare you the details).
So that line about the hotsprings was a bit of black humor.
Google can probably help you find more information on this and the other dangers of being a tourist in the Yellowstone/Wyoming area. If you'd like to get more out of me, I'd request it be done through email, as we're rather off-topic as it is.
This deed that you have done is invaluable. As a human being and as a historian-in-training, I am humbled by what you have presented. The impact, emotionally and otherwise, that this gives... I don't think I have any words suitable to describe it.
All I can say is that you are a beautiful person, both inside and out.
Though they've made around 6M dollars, this is a losing strategy in the long run.
That brings up a good question: how much is it costing the RIAA per subpeona and lawsuit/settlement? I know that the RIAA is essentially the music industry's law firm, but they still have to pay the lawyers, assistants, secretaries, etc. and court fees, right?
I get the feeling that the total figure is a bit higher than the 3k average they get in a settlement. If these tactics don't actually stamp out peer-to-peer filesharing of music somehow, and I have my doubts that the lawsuits alone will, then their strategy truly is a "losing strategy in the long run."
I'm no expert on the subject so I can only guess, but I think that the economies of Switzerland and the U.S. are different enough that a solution worked out in Switzerland would probably not work out for the U.S. Aside from the whole population size differences thing, there's the composition of the economy and upper/middle/lower -class ratio differences. Beyond even that, there are already considerable tax incentives given to businesses, large and small alike.
In the case of the "mega-corporations," the state and federal governments give enough breaks and incentives for even one factory, that they can produce a net profit for the company. The reasoning behind it is that the corporation is getting paid to give local (relatively speaking) citizens jobs.
Tax cuts won't make much difference, unless they are specifically for small businesses, as small businesses typically are not the ones which are outsourcing jobs.
Tariffs, bans, and boycotts probably won't work, no, and I'm not so sure about quotas (of outsourced jobs per year?) because the highest penalty which can be given to a corporation in the U.S. is (if I recall correctly) 500,000 USD per day. I haven't taken a look at the numbers, but I assume that the 'mega-corps' are the ones who contribute the most number of jobs outsourced. If those corporations can still make up for that 500k USD in "savings" produced by outsourcing, they'll just shrug off the fine.
Taxes, if targetted correctly, may help, but only if the tax revenue goes toward job creation (ala FDR's New Deal). What may eventually slow or stop U.S. outsourcing is a combination of "New Deal"-like job creation programs and "quotas" or other restrictions on the numbers of jobs outsourced, along with bold courts or a bold FTC to enforce the fines and new law(s) appropriately.
But that's only a guess, and probably not a very accurate one at that. I also have my doubts that any of the above would be done.
Personally... I may try to move out of country if I can. I've been limited to a fairly homogenized view of the world, and I'd like to experience another perspective of the U.S. and the world. (BBC World News over the radio can only do so much....) If it will help me financially, then all the better.
Strangely enough, cult cinema may provide a clue as to what's going on with this kind of corporate behavior.
Think about it this way: about five years ago, the Bill Lumberghs of the world were mid-level managers. If they've sucked up enough, and been lucky enough to not have their office burned to a smoldering pile of ash, they've probably reached upper-management levels by now.
Outsourcing is just the kind of moronic, inconsiderate idea that a Bill Lumbergh would jump on as a way of sucking up, too. As so many others have pointed out, it's a short-sighted maneuver, but it looks good on paper with the company letterhead at the top.
In the mean time, the outlook from the working-man's perspective is getting dimmer; for the US working man, it could get as bad as it was in the late twenties and thirties.
I've been unemployed for seven months, and I need to make at least seven thousand per year to stay in university and keep myself alive. Once I'm out of uni, I'll need at least twenty thousand to keep myself alive (due mainly to medical expenses and the fact that my parents will not be supporting me, anymore). Working for road construction is an option, but it's a hard industry to get (back) into, and it's in decline, too.
I have skills and talents, but I don't have (much of) a credit history, so getting a business loan to start my own company is probably going to be difficult if not impossible. Minimum wage won't be enough; it isn't enough even now.
I have very few options open to me now, and I recognize that my situation is equal to or better than tens of millions of other people's situation just in the northern half of the "New World". I hate to drag out a tired and ragged "rally cry," but all of us can and should vote this November to do what we can to improve things for ourselves. If you're lazy or if you're probably going to be working on polling day, get an absentee ballot. It's not that hard, and it ensures that you have a vote. Maybe it's not an immediate one, but it leaves a paper trail and it does count.
In the mean time, all I can do is plod along, try to get a job, and hope for the best but plan for the worst. It's probably all anyone else in a similar situation can do, too.
(I'm sorry if I've sounded whining, trite, or naive, and for dragging the conversation a bit off topic.)
In the mean time, good luck to everyone out there. I think we all need it.
The blurb reminds me of this classic. Only six percent of the lobsters survive being frozen.
On the other hand, I seem to recall watching a PBS "Nature" show which included a bit about a species frog (or toad?) that survived the frozen winter through some sort of hibernation, and I have to wonder if that's similar to what is going on with these lobsters.
In the mean time, I'm going to stay away from the lobster ice cream.
I used to live in Wyoming, and I still have some relatives there. Back when I was in middle school there, we learned all about the Yellowstone Cauldera; Wyoming school kids are lucky in that the state is so geologically diverse and interesting.
Anyhow, I'm just establishing that I have some tiny bit of credibility, despite the fact that I admit I'm not a fully-trained or professional geologist.
I think, aside from the tinfoil-hat bent, the issue here boils down to two questions: Is Yellowstone a danger? And, Is the danger immediate?
To the first, the answer is a powerful yes. Were Yellowstone to blow like it has before, there's a pretty good chance most of the human population would be wiped out.
To the second question, the answer is: probably not. Overall, the geothermal activity in Yellowstone has been cooling down in the last fifty years. There is an increase in geothermal activity North of Yellowstone, but I've been informed that it's new and a relatively small danger. The theory is, in regards to that, that the hot spot which has caused all the fun activity in Yellowstone is simply moving northward.
As for the rest... well, you can draw your own conclusions.
(Apologies for any errors or typos; I'm literally half asleep as I type this.)
What's often important is the methods of data collection rather than how the data is stored. If it's not written down on paper or into a database, it doesn't mean that the data hasn't been collected, it just means that not everyone can access the information at the same time.
How are they going to collect the information? Are they going to log your keystrokes? Use visual surveilance (which does not require a subpeona if it does not include an audio portion)? Either of the two require a human filter to be "recorded," and that human filter will have recorded it. Someone you have not authorized will know the information, and can spread it almost as easily as through written means--they can still talk to other people. You can order someone to forget something, but actually forgetting that thing forever is a bit more difficult.
Yes, but not often. I have a culturally diverse vocabulary and I don't mind using it vocally or through the written word. I'm working on learning morse code so that I can use it through the tactile medium, too.;-)
Slashdot Mirror
It's not quite as cheap as it seems if you don't have a power drill, a 1/4" steel drill bit, a good wrench, and a hammer. I imagine the first item would be the most expensive, followed by the rench, the drill bit, and then the hammer. (I managed to grab a really nice hammer from Ace during their "dollar days" sale, a year or so ago. Oak handle, steel head... $1. :-) The others were around five bucks, though....)
Impoverished College Kid perspective by:
Undefined Parameter
We are fucking pilgrims. The news just showed a couple american contractors dangled and burned publicly in Iraq. Where's the damn label for the news. Parents blame rock music in the 70s, then video games in the 80s, then internet in the 90s. ... and then video games again in the '00s. Ever feel like this society is regressing?
The question is, once all the regression is achieved, what will these people do? They certainly won't be living in bliss, that's for sure; they'll still be dealing with the same problems, only they won't have their favorite scapegoats around anymore.
I don't live in California, but I sure wish I could talk some sense into these people, because I know it'll only embolden their peers elsewhere. I don't want to live in a society that is afraid of itself.
I also do not want to be guilty of a crime by association, which is where this is heading. Make it "Adult-only" now, so that you can control it, then move to eliminate it by criminalizing it.
I read, recently, that the DoJ is looking to tear into the pornography industry. I read that, not satisfied with attacking the "extreme" of pornography, the DoJ is going to go after some of the "plain vanilla" and softcore mainstream pornography. First they seized control of it by limiting access to it, and now they are moving to eliminate it by criminalizing it. Evidently, some people take offense to other people seeing a naked human being in private.
Evidently, some people take offense to other people playing video games in private.
How long before the moderates speak out against this assault? How long before they act?
~UP
Needless to say, the comments here are a sociologist's wet dream.
But I'm no sociologist, so my comments will take a different tack.
First off, I say we put this whole thing into some perspective. The question with Gmail is not "is my data (including communication(s)) safe?" The question is, "relative to the similar service I use now, is Gmail safe?"
Personally, I'm going to take up Gmail simply because I'm of the inclination that it is much, much better than Yahoo! or Hotmail email services. I think it will be more secure, and I believe that it will be better in every other respect, as well.
I will treat my use of Gmail with as much trust as I treat my (prior) use of Yahoo! and Hotmail. Right now, I have 'personal' communications over a free web-based account, but nothing is said or done which would bother me were it to be aired as a headline on CNN (and it wouldn't be).
From my background as a student of history (literally, at the moment), I am fully aware that no communication or transaction is inherently private for all time. The unusual thing is that lightspeed communications (radio, telephone, internet, etc.) are relatively new, and it is therefore difficult to use the past (history) as a lense through which we may examine the "present." Because this situation is unusual and relatively "new," it is very frightening to some, very exhilarating to others, and a simple curiosity to yet others.
~UP
"Invulnerable" and "waterproof," eh? That reminds me of another technological marvel that made headlines.
It was called the Titanic.
~UP
If someone with the right tools really wants to keep anyone under surveillance, then a concerted effort can certainly yield that. If someone in the FBI, or the NSA, or even just a resourceful employee of a MegaCorporation, really wants to track you, you'll be tracked, and you can be tracked by those methods, I'll concede.
But for casual surveillance, which I was thinking of when I wrote that other post, the methods of tracking someone through commercial transactions and traffic stops would be rather spotty when compared to typing an RFID into a text field on an application or search engine and clicking a "search" button to have the current location of someone with an implant come up on a nice GPS display.
~UP
You got that right! Gateway would have to pay me to own one of their POS computers.
I've done enough tech support to know that Gateway doing bad has a high probability of making tech support geeks everywhere that much more happier.
~UP
Did I miss anything?
Only your brain.
(Sorry... I'm in a bad mood and I have some karma to burn. 'Twas not intended as a comment on you as a person, of course.)
The RFID chips would be tracking realtime movement rather than traffic stops, debts, or purchases. While the items in your list can track the periodic locations of a person, they do not provide realtime location data.
As for the article: I'm pretty sure it's an "April Fool's" prank, just picked up a bit late. After all, the RFID detectors would need some kind of return response, and I don't imagine that the RFID tags could have that much antenna power (or electric power at all, for that matter). Not to mention that the whole thing would be flawed by the problems encountered with underground telephone lines and cutting tools which might be used to remove an RFID chip (and for extra fun, that chip could be placed underneath a stray cat's collar or wrapped in tin foil for a magpie or crow to pick up).
So... I'm not ready to believe this information, just yet.
If I see it a week from now, I'll consider it with more weight.
~UP
... the Japanese have a past of naming their kids with numbers (not "1337534K"). Well, that's what I heard in my Etymology class, yesterday, at least.
So numbers in names isn't exactly without precident.
In other news, Slashdot ate one of my posts, earlier this morning. I'm still trying to figure out if it was an April Fool's joke to have my post up and dissapear or if it's just Cowboy Neal going on the Atkins diet. (I suspect that Slashdot posts have low carbs.)
Anyhow, happy pre-Gregorian calendar/"Pagan" New Year, everyone!
~UP
Hmmm... I was just struck with a thought; what if the record industries are being rabid about piracy because they want to shift to a more advanced sales strategy?
I mean, if piracy increases sales of physical CDs, then it might be reasonable to assume that the first step in getting away from the physical-media-based distribution system would be to stop that which drives those sales. If the record industries are trying to impliment a download-based distribution system, it'd make sense for them to [persecute|prosecute] online piracy. After all, which is more appealing to the average consumer, downloading a song for free or downloading a song for a dollar/pound/yen/whatever?
If this is the case (and I make no claims that it is), then I can't say that I like the methods that have been taken (suing ISPs, suing impoverished little girls, etc.), but it would at least make the whole thing a bit more sensical/sane/intelligent, in my opinion.
(FYI, I have not read the article... yet, and it should under no circumstances be construed that I'm making excuses for the recording industries of the world and their lawyers. Quite frankly, I think I hate the bastards.)
~UP
First off, this information is flawed because it is incomplete. As one poster above mentioned, his donation went unrecorded (according to this website). You should probably take it with about as much salt as your average slashdot poll--it obviously mentions some donators, but not others. So long as this is so, it cannot be trusted to give a clear picture.
Second, when looking at the national map, remember the following:
1) This is by area only, and does not take into account population density.
2)As mentioned above, the information is incomplete.
3)The map does not say whether it goes by amount or number of donations.
4)These are donations, not votes. Opinions can change over time.
As for my opinion on the good vs. bad thing debate, I'm thinking that this is a bad thing, overall. It's too easy to use information like this to make decisions about a person's quality of character or whether or not to do business with someone. Even beyond the privacy and secrecy of the vote issues, I think that there is good reason why this sort of information shouldn't be allowed to be tracked or stored.
Now that the genie is out of the bottle, though, I'm glad that this information is available to all rather than just a select few.
~UP
One nation-state, any gender; must be at least thirty years of age. Relative political and economic stability necessary. Respect for individual citizens and their rights required; willingness to accept a college grad by June 2005 also a must. Benefits offered include yearly tax salary, degree-holder in History (with experience & training in network wiring and computer hardware & software troubleshooting), and loyalty to the nation-state itself. English-speaking society with a tolerance for itself a plus. To apply, please contact Undefined Parameter (726857) by available means.
NOTICE: This "Want Ad" does not imply hostility or malevolent intent toward individual's current nation-state. Individual is as fully compliant with laws in both letter and spirit as he can possibly be.
*****
~UP
The operative word was "random." There are still a few people who die by falling or jumping into a hotspring in or near Yellowstone National Park. The problem isn't in the purity of the water, it's in the temperature. There are still quite a few hotsprings which are "unlabled"; that is, they don't have signs posted as to whether or not they are safe.
A greater majority of people who run into these hotsprings are smart enough to know to steer clear of them, but there are a few who want to get a closer look, and then fall in, or stupidly assume that every hotspring is safe or that the random, deep pool of water isn't a hotspring, and then jump into one. Even worse is when someone decides to "take a closer look" or take a swim in one despite warning signs and metal handrails constructed to prevent them from doing so. Unfortunately, the usual result is a gruesome death (I'll spare you the details).
So that line about the hotsprings was a bit of black humor.
Google can probably help you find more information on this and the other dangers of being a tourist in the Yellowstone/Wyoming area. If you'd like to get more out of me, I'd request it be done through email, as we're rather off-topic as it is.
Thanks,
UP
This deed that you have done is invaluable. As a human being and as a historian-in-training, I am humbled by what you have presented. The impact, emotionally and otherwise, that this gives... I don't think I have any words suitable to describe it.
All I can say is that you are a beautiful person, both inside and out.
Pax Vobiscum,
Ted
I lived for a year in a brick house in Wyoming, which is chock full of granite and uranium.
Wyoming: if the weather, the animals, or the locals won't kill ya', the radiation will!
(Assuming, of course, that you're smart enough to not go skinny dipping in a random hotspring....)
~UP
Now I'm not thinking to myself, "gee, that cyclone could be a good thing, sweeping out all those smog-yellow clouds like that...."
~UP
Though they've made around 6M dollars, this is a losing strategy in the long run.
That brings up a good question: how much is it costing the RIAA per subpeona and lawsuit/settlement? I know that the RIAA is essentially the music industry's law firm, but they still have to pay the lawyers, assistants, secretaries, etc. and court fees, right?
I get the feeling that the total figure is a bit higher than the 3k average they get in a settlement. If these tactics don't actually stamp out peer-to-peer filesharing of music somehow, and I have my doubts that the lawsuits alone will, then their strategy truly is a "losing strategy in the long run."
~UP
...is there anything they can't do?
~UP
I'm no expert on the subject so I can only guess, but I think that the economies of Switzerland and the U.S. are different enough that a solution worked out in Switzerland would probably not work out for the U.S. Aside from the whole population size differences thing, there's the composition of the economy and upper/middle/lower -class ratio differences. Beyond even that, there are already considerable tax incentives given to businesses, large and small alike.
In the case of the "mega-corporations," the state and federal governments give enough breaks and incentives for even one factory, that they can produce a net profit for the company. The reasoning behind it is that the corporation is getting paid to give local (relatively speaking) citizens jobs.
Tax cuts won't make much difference, unless they are specifically for small businesses, as small businesses typically are not the ones which are outsourcing jobs.
Tariffs, bans, and boycotts probably won't work, no, and I'm not so sure about quotas (of outsourced jobs per year?) because the highest penalty which can be given to a corporation in the U.S. is (if I recall correctly) 500,000 USD per day. I haven't taken a look at the numbers, but I assume that the 'mega-corps' are the ones who contribute the most number of jobs outsourced. If those corporations can still make up for that 500k USD in "savings" produced by outsourcing, they'll just shrug off the fine.
Taxes, if targetted correctly, may help, but only if the tax revenue goes toward job creation (ala FDR's New Deal). What may eventually slow or stop U.S. outsourcing is a combination of "New Deal"-like job creation programs and "quotas" or other restrictions on the numbers of jobs outsourced, along with bold courts or a bold FTC to enforce the fines and new law(s) appropriately.
But that's only a guess, and probably not a very accurate one at that. I also have my doubts that any of the above would be done.
Personally... I may try to move out of country if I can. I've been limited to a fairly homogenized view of the world, and I'd like to experience another perspective of the U.S. and the world. (BBC World News over the radio can only do so much....) If it will help me financially, then all the better.
~UP
Strangely enough, cult cinema may provide a clue as to what's going on with this kind of corporate behavior.
Think about it this way: about five years ago, the Bill Lumberghs of the world were mid-level managers. If they've sucked up enough, and been lucky enough to not have their office burned to a smoldering pile of ash, they've probably reached upper-management levels by now.
Outsourcing is just the kind of moronic, inconsiderate idea that a Bill Lumbergh would jump on as a way of sucking up, too. As so many others have pointed out, it's a short-sighted maneuver, but it looks good on paper with the company letterhead at the top.
In the mean time, the outlook from the working-man's perspective is getting dimmer; for the US working man, it could get as bad as it was in the late twenties and thirties.
I've been unemployed for seven months, and I need to make at least seven thousand per year to stay in university and keep myself alive. Once I'm out of uni, I'll need at least twenty thousand to keep myself alive (due mainly to medical expenses and the fact that my parents will not be supporting me, anymore). Working for road construction is an option, but it's a hard industry to get (back) into, and it's in decline, too.
I have skills and talents, but I don't have (much of) a credit history, so getting a business loan to start my own company is probably going to be difficult if not impossible. Minimum wage won't be enough; it isn't enough even now.
I have very few options open to me now, and I recognize that my situation is equal to or better than tens of millions of other people's situation just in the northern half of the "New World". I hate to drag out a tired and ragged "rally cry," but all of us can and should vote this November to do what we can to improve things for ourselves. If you're lazy or if you're probably going to be working on polling day, get an absentee ballot. It's not that hard, and it ensures that you have a vote. Maybe it's not an immediate one, but it leaves a paper trail and it does count.
In the mean time, all I can do is plod along, try to get a job, and hope for the best but plan for the worst. It's probably all anyone else in a similar situation can do, too.
(I'm sorry if I've sounded whining, trite, or naive, and for dragging the conversation a bit off topic.)
In the mean time, good luck to everyone out there. I think we all need it.
~UP
The blurb reminds me of this classic. Only six percent of the lobsters survive being frozen.
On the other hand, I seem to recall watching a PBS "Nature" show which included a bit about a species frog (or toad?) that survived the frozen winter through some sort of hibernation, and I have to wonder if that's similar to what is going on with these lobsters.
In the mean time, I'm going to stay away from the lobster ice cream.
~UP
I used to live in Wyoming, and I still have some relatives there. Back when I was in middle school there, we learned all about the Yellowstone Cauldera; Wyoming school kids are lucky in that the state is so geologically diverse and interesting.
Anyhow, I'm just establishing that I have some tiny bit of credibility, despite the fact that I admit I'm not a fully-trained or professional geologist.
I think, aside from the tinfoil-hat bent, the issue here boils down to two questions: Is Yellowstone a danger? And, Is the danger immediate?
To the first, the answer is a powerful yes. Were Yellowstone to blow like it has before, there's a pretty good chance most of the human population would be wiped out.
To the second question, the answer is: probably not. Overall, the geothermal activity in Yellowstone has been cooling down in the last fifty years. There is an increase in geothermal activity North of Yellowstone, but I've been informed that it's new and a relatively small danger. The theory is, in regards to that, that the hot spot which has caused all the fun activity in Yellowstone is simply moving northward.
As for the rest... well, you can draw your own conclusions.
(Apologies for any errors or typos; I'm literally half asleep as I type this.)
~UP
What's often important is the methods of data collection rather than how the data is stored. If it's not written down on paper or into a database, it doesn't mean that the data hasn't been collected, it just means that not everyone can access the information at the same time.
How are they going to collect the information? Are they going to log your keystrokes? Use visual surveilance (which does not require a subpeona if it does not include an audio portion)? Either of the two require a human filter to be "recorded," and that human filter will have recorded it. Someone you have not authorized will know the information, and can spread it almost as easily as through written means--they can still talk to other people. You can order someone to forget something, but actually forgetting that thing forever is a bit more difficult.
~UP
Whoops! Sorry... but at least I didn't tell them about The One Ring.
Wait... D'OH!
~UP
Yes, but not often. I have a culturally diverse vocabulary and I don't mind using it vocally or through the written word. I'm working on learning morse code so that I can use it through the tactile medium, too. ;-)
~UP
Thanks, man! I'll take a long look at it later today! :-)
~UP