I agree with the premise here, but I must correct you on something. About dropping the price to a rental...uhm...by all means...compare the cost of renting a game for 2 years to the cost of purchasing it and playing it for 2 years. Even assuming that you are locked out after the two years it is still a MUCH cheaper rental. Hell, even at 3 months compared to a normal game rental place you are still saving a ton of money.
You are marginally correct. When I dial 911 I immediately tell them the nature of the call so they can transfer me to the local police. That is sort of the secondary purpose of 911, to get you to the local fire/police. Otherwise I would have to add every known local police station to my phone, figure out which one applies to my current location, and then call that specific one. Arguably I would only have to add the ones I am frequently near, but that would exclude any abnormal travel and would still require me to figure out which local number I need. All in all the 911 operators aren't tied up for long while they get my location and transfer me.
As far as the disabled vehicle (I only call if it is occupied) or people walking the immediate risk would be to those individuals, not necessarily anyone else. Getting hit by a vehicle or getting picked up by a psycho or otherwise just stranded far from civilization. The calls I make for vehicles are typically when they aren't within short or safe walking distance from help anyways. At that point it is good samaritan more than public defender behavior. Unfortunately the way the world is these days it is safer to call police to help them then to be stopping yourself. Guns be damned for safety at that point, the radio with backup on the other end is the real life saver in those situations.
Actually, it is probably better that they call. Because quite frequently there are morons that walk around with guns, and shoot up schools, shoot up malls, shoot up churches...and you can find an example of each of those in the last 12 months. I am all for concerned citizens making phone calls, in fact, it is the next best thing for a citizen to do other than intervening themselves (and in many cases better than intervening themselves). In fact, I am quite proud that I am a frequent dialer of 911 (though never for guns). I have called in erratic driving, dangerous driving, disabled vehicles, people walking along the highway, etc. Could be drunk, could be having a medical problem, could be stranded, could be a criminal, but in all cases the police had information from a citizen with situational awareness rather than the standard look the other way and ignore everything approach.
To add to your point, I remember seeing a story about a cop that managed to shoot himself while going to the restroom because he didn't properly secure his weapon. I imagine he wished he hadn't survived to live through that unbelievably embarrasing story.
I don't know how much experience you have with handguns, but 100 rounds is a pretty low number and will usually get burned off by a single shooter in less than an afternoon. This of course only reinforces your point.:) Now, this certainly isn't true in all instances, and depending on actual need of the person's position the military and police get far better training and will have far more experience, but on average it is probably very correct.
On that note, I think the notion that a law abiding citizen shouldn't be allowed to carry a weapon is frightening to an alarming degree. In fact the whole point of that pesky "right to bear arms" thing has nothing to do with defending ourselves from our fellow citizens. It was and always will be about ensuring that the citizens are capable of armed revolt against an oppresive government. It is described that way and very clearly in numerous writings of the time. Of course, all the politicians (for or against) choose to frame it in private defense. And for all those anti-gun weenies that cry about "we couldn't do anything against the military anyways" I urge you to actually read some history or even current events. America was won by a rag tag group of guerilla fighters against the largest military force of the day...and a bunch of rag tag terrorists are doing some significant damage against one of the most sophisticated military forces of the day.
The approach that laws will stop weapons is amusing to me as well. Oh gee golly willickers, buying a gun is illegal, well I guess I should find another way to commit a murder/rape/robbery that isn't illegal. Fucking nonsense. If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
That isn't true at all! A 6 foot tall blonde virgin would indeed conduct (mostly). Unless you were refering to a slashdotter not knowing what to do with the 6 foot tall blonde virgin. However, there are some assumptions there. I am sure that any slashdotter would know exactly what to do with a 6 foot tall blonde virgin as they are likely some variant of virgin as well. However, I doubt either party at that point would be thinking about something obvious like sex as being a 6ft tall virgin would most likely indicate some age. In all likelyhood a slashdotter would probably play board games, role playing games, computer games, or just speek geek to another aged virgin. In fact, that same 6 ft tall virgin is likely to be another slashdotter.
Honestly, I doubt it is that simple. I suspect that the vast majority of people don't really "accept" non police/military people carrying. I doubt I would "accept" it and the only thing that has prevented me from getting my conceal n carry in my current state is I have been too lazy and/or busy. I suspect that if these people saw a guy dressed like gangsta thug carrying a blackberry they would assume it was a firearm at a glance. The same goes in the reverse, I suspect most people that see the average person carrying that their mind will write off the firearm as something else at a glance. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if I have seen people carrying concealed or unconcealed and just not noticed because my mind glossed over it not expecting to see a weapon. You expect to see weapons of uniformed forces, military, police, or even some security guards. I imagine it has more to do with what your mind "accepts" than how well it really is concealed.
Either way, the notion that firearms are inherently dangerous bothers me. I mean...yes...a loaded firearm is incredibly dangerous, that is kind of the point, but it isn't really inherently more dangerous than any number of tools. How many people keep their table saws locked up? You can bet your ass a kid could tear themselves up pretty bad trying to be like dad and playing with one of those. Realistically though, someone who is legally carrying a firearm is probably the safest person out there. They are at the very least more likely to have decent training and experience, they have gone through the trouble of getting whatever licenses and whatnot are required, AND in many cases they have had more background investigations done on them than your average joe when being sold that firearm. Personally, I am more nervous standing next to the guy carrying a lock blade knife than I am standing next to the guy with a handgun.
Well duh. If it was made of 6 foot tall blond virgins' pubic hair it wouldn't actually conduct, it would be worthless as an ethernet cable, and no slashdotter would have any idea what to actually do with it.
I actually stumbled across that once. I never thought I could be so completely disgusted whie laughing that hard at the same time. That is really like a horrible car wreck that you just can't pull your eyes away from no matter how aweful it is.
Yup yup. The other branches rely on officers for that stuff more than the Air Force does, but other than that you are 100% correct. Guard and Reserve are basically the same type of deal with a few differences. The quirks and differences come from Guard being state controlled and the Reserves are federally controlled.
Not exactly. You can get your contract to promise a specific job. This basically means that you will only ship off when they have an opening to get you into that field. However, with all things military it isn't quite that simple. Typically it will be one of three things. 1. Specific job. 2. Open area (electronics, mechanics, etc), or 3. Open (they can make you do anything). Now even with a specific job it isn't exactly a promise that that will be your only job. The quickest way to lose that job is to wash out of your school at which point they can make you do anything. The Navy does this a ton with their Nuclear career fields. The schools are incredibly fast paced and very difficult, but they get tons of people in with flashy bonuses and the like. However, once you wash out they can give you whatever shit job they can't get enough people to sign up for.
However, in the end it does boil down to the needs of the service and they CAN hose you, but it doesn't happen as often as people thing it does. Typically what I have seen happen in situations outside of doing something stupid to lose your job is "change jobs or go home".
That was my point. That really was a real story with a headline that could kill. As is this (despite how insane the claim being made really is). Though I did ponder saying "Openly Gay Pope Chosen", but I was afraid it might be more believable due to that problem they have been having with the priests.
Personally...the murderous headline I am waiting for is "Ann Coulter proven to be a man" just so I can hear the simultaneous gunshots of thousands of right wingers kill themselves after realizing they have been jerking it to a man.
I can answer this one for you. Yes they do. The Air Force in particular has been getting much more active in advertising it's increasing need for the intel/cyber style missions. You basically go through the same process everyone else does.
1. Go to the recruiter and say "I want to do XYZ". If you are lucky you will get a recruiter that isn't a slimeball and will actually help you do specifically what you want. Hit or miss here, some are really amazing folks that know how to work things, others are asshats that know how to sleaze kids in. Do your research first. Non military and recruiters are about the last people you want to talk to for "how it really is" information, one is clueless and comes up with nonsense stories, the other has a clue and comes up with nonsense stories. Currently active or recently retired people will have the best information, though it will frequently be a bit dated. It is best to refine your questions with them and then ask specific pointed questions of the recruiters.
2. Go to the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station I believe) and do the tests. ASVAB being the big one here, all branches use these scores in one way or another to determine what jobs you are qualified to do. This isn't exactly a hard test by any stretch, more than anything it gives the military a guess as to how complex of a school they can send you to without wasting money on you failing out. You will also go through the whole physical thing, eye tests, piss tests, blah blah blah.
3. Go to the career manager folks. Each branch has a different name for them and this part will typically happen at the MEPS. Again, much like recruiters they are hit or miss. However, they have a bit better of an excuse. They aren't there to convince you to join so much as for you to tell them what specific job you want to do. These are the people that look up your scores and compare that to job requirements and then check for openings in that job. They process tons of people per day, many of which have no idea what they want to do other than "work on computers" or "fix planes" or whatever. The key to coming out of this is to do your research well before you go. Narrow down what you want to do to a few jobs and know their code for whichever branch you are talking to. These people are experts at human resources stuff, not the details of whatever career you want. They probably won't be able to answer much unless they came from that career or know someone in that career. The best bet is to get your recruiter to arrange some time to meet people in the career field you are interested in and get the answers that way.
4. Go to basic training. Everyone goes, no way past that.
5. Go to your school. Each branch does this a bit differently, but after basic training you will go to the school for your chosen job. This could be 2 weeks long, it could be 2 years long, all depends on the job.
6. Pray for your assignment. Now you are in, you have the career you want, and now it is a roll of the dice. You go where they need your career, period. There are a number of programs to finagle your way around to places you want, but don't expect any of them to help you much in your early days. Your best bet here is to do a damned good job, don't be a fuckup, and let your supervisors know what your goals are. Good supervisors will help you get where you want to go. Above all else, don't expect it to happen quickly.
National Guard units basically follow the same steps, except for the assignment process. With the Guard you will be joining a specific unit when you enlist. So you will already know exactly what your assignment will be. The Guard units are able to do much more targeted recruiting because of this. The Active Duty world you kind of go into a big pot and stay there unless you managed to get into special assignments (usually by being really good at what you do and leaning forward for opportunities).
I have actually seen this come up in a variety of forms. I was reading about this in a business journal talking about how the elderly tend to ignore the negative information. They respond more to positive emotional ads and tend to look past any drawbacks. The argument is this is how they get drawn into bad deals.
However, young doesn't help much either. Look how far we have gotten with a president with the mentality of a 4yr old.
I almost died! I almost choked on my lunch reading this summary. I sit down...take a bite, open slashdot, and nearly choke! Damn you editors!
I propose that stories with claims THAT ridiculous this should have title and summary hidden with a warning so that readers eating or drinking can be prepared! I mean really...think how many geeks you might endager with a headline of "Openly Gay Republican Elected to Office"
Right...he stands up and says I don't support torture. But then he sits down and quietly says "But, I don't think any of the torture we are doing is actually torture". So the point is a wash. Even worse, he has done nothing to stop the extradition bit where we send suspects to foreign countries to be tortured by someone else so we don't get our hands dirty. So no...I think it is unbeleivably disgusting that he has had such a reversal.
It also worries me as to what depth you must go to convince a POW who had been tortured to allow this to continue. Something is clearly wrong with McCain these days...
You are either unbelievably ignorant or unbelievably insane. Trade came about as a way to improve everyones lives. It is simple economics. I can produce grain, you know how to raise cows. I give you grain to feed the cows and you give me milk and meat. Because the excess grain has higher value to you than it does to me, and the excess meat/milk has more value to me than it does to you. Mutually beneficial. Money was a natural extension of that as a measure of value so that if you didn't want fruit the fruit grower could still get milk and meat through trading with people who had products that you did want.
The fact that a handful of pricks have figured out how to game the system and engage in trade without actually producing something worthwhile does not negate the unbelievable growth and benefit it has provided most of the world. (By the way, production isn't always a physical thing, a good leader can produce improved output, a scientist can produce improved methods, etc). In fact, trade enabled science and higher learning. Without trade there would be noone to research and develop new things because they would be too busy attempting to grow/raise whatever food they need to survive. This is all without touching that difficult problem of natural resources such as fresh water.
To be fair spending large sums of money actually does help lots of people. Its the money hoarding that is the real problem. Now granted it is a little less direct, and the people it helps aren't exactly in dire need of help. But, the fact remains, there are a shitton of people who benefit as a result of this. It takes a ton of people to get a spacecraft off the ground, and a significant chunk of that money goes to pay all of those people that make it possible.
Now, at the same time, the ammount of people it helps is also directly proportionate to the complexity of the purchase. Purchase a flight into space = lots of people get a piece of the cost. Purchase a $5million diamond encrusted golden codpiece and only a few people will really see that wealth.
Re:Phoronix will pay to fix X
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person or in breach of law.
Your problem here is fixing bugs in X is consistent with the duties of that person. In fact, you could even go so far as to saying writing code is consistent with the duties of that person.
What you are attempting to call bribery is what damn near everyone else in the world calls a job offer. He was attempting to hire someone, not to bribe them. If that was indeed bribery the job market would be a very scary place where employers could be convicted for making job offers for perfectly legitimate work.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you wanted to buy was a steak. I imagine a steak would have tasted much better than a stake. Since most stakes are made out of wood it would explain the dryness and lack of flavor.
Come now. Don't be mean. It isn't their fault that they don't understand logic and frequently fight science. It is only natural to their belief structure. Watch...
God is infalible. The Bible is the word of God. The Bible is infalible. We know this because the Bible says God is infalible and that the Bible is the word of God.
If you spent more than a few years having that kind of circular logic drilled into your brain at the threat of eternal damnation for not accepting it you would have a really hard time with that whole science and logic business too. Especially since they start at a VERY young age. I almost laughed myself sick listening to the complaints about that athiest Golden Compass movie leading children away from God...clearly a threat since so much money was spent on Veggie Tales and the like luring those same children into believing the delusionsl
*Disclaimer* I believe many of the bible stories that circulate actually do teach valuable lessons, at least the parable ones. Many of the others are a bit deranged and VERY distorted to bring all the little ones into the fold at an early age.
What Clinton did was a disgrace! It was not about a BJ. It was conspiracy to commit mass murder and cannibalism! Monica Lewinsky had a last minute change of heart and failed to follow up with her part of swallowing. Instead she reformed and was instrumental in bringing the evidence of the crime to the light in front of the world!Clinton's actions are the equivilent of millions of abortions! Our Glorious Leader President Bush on the other hand is not responsible for any deaths! He has had the courage and integrity to do whatever he needs in the face of cowards and pacifists to ensure those evil terrorists are brought to justice for all of their murders!
You see...THIS is how the Republican mind works. That and Republicans are predominately that whole religious right group which has had huge problems with anything sexual from the getgo and has had no problem with violence. So anything sex related is already an order of magnitude worse than violence. Hence why a nipple slip on TV is a damned national crisis but you can watch a few thousand people get shot, killed, tortured, or whatever on any given day across the variety of TV channels beamed into every home.
Actually them putting it on hold is compliance with the OOXML specification as written by Microsoft.
"No Microsoft product shall have the features promised or be released when scheduled".
So all of you cheering this decision are incredibly misguided. Look a little closer and you will see this is clearly evidence of more MS tampering in the process.
I think you are right to a degree. I have read some of his stuff but quickly became irritated with him. His tone quickly became anyone who doesn't believe is stupid and they believe in nonsense. He made a large number of assertions that morality can only exist because of God, but he relies on a terribly flawed model to make his proof. He ignores the fact that humans by nature are herd/community animals and not loners. Humans tend to go quite insane without other humans around.
The greatest irony for me is that Jesus was VERY vocal about the whole Pharisee approach to the religion. He advocated the "love thy neighbor" and everything else falls into place naturally approach rather than the Pharisees and their "you must follow this monsterous list of rules and rituals" approach. Interestingly enough he also talks about how many of you will have claimed to know me and I will say I have never known you, get away from me. Even from the getgo he predicted that a large number of his "followers" would fall right back into that rules and rituals approach over kindness and compassion. He was ridiculed for spending so much time with the various sinners of his time and his answer was "A healthy man has no need for a doctor." What is preached today in the name of Christianity is almost identical to the very same religious structure that Jesus fought against.
Dunno about the whole religious aspect of it all, but I think Jesus himself seems to be a pretty good example of how humans should behave. Which is why I think Jesus as a man is more impressive than Jesus as a divine instrument. As a man it means we should all be able to emulate that behavior. As a divine figure it gives the copout crap about how "he died for our sins, all you have to do is accept that".
Either way my two most favorite things to mess with the overly religious is walking past them as the pass out their bibles, preach on the corner, or pray in public(all of which was specifically advised AGAINST by Jesus "pray alone in your room for when noone else can hear you pray God does") and saying "Jesus was such a jew" and watching them get up in arms because they are so ignorant of their own faith. The other fun one is a similar exploit, when asked some variant of "Do you accept Jesus?!" I answer something to the effect of "I follow the teachings of Yeshua" and laugh as they blather on about how I must accept Jesus instead.
Personally I think the historical Jesus is more impressive. Assuming his teachings and actions are recorded correctly (just the way he behaved personally and what he spoke about, ignoring the flashy miracle business) I think he is a FAR more impressive figure.
Think about it...mere mortal man upholding that kind of teaching and behavior. (By the way, read some of the stuff HE said or did...drastically different than what Christians these days say or do.) Even when faced with torture and execution he held fast to those beliefs. The idea that a mere mortal man can uphold that kind of integrity is awe inspiring. The idea that some divine half God half man could uphold that kind of integrity and endure that kind of suffering is not exactly impressive, specially "knowing" those ultimate answers of life/universe/everything.
I like Deism and Buddhism...more to life than skin n bones, but not much in the way of miracles and magic.
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I agree with the premise here, but I must correct you on something. About dropping the price to a rental...uhm...by all means...compare the cost of renting a game for 2 years to the cost of purchasing it and playing it for 2 years. Even assuming that you are locked out after the two years it is still a MUCH cheaper rental. Hell, even at 3 months compared to a normal game rental place you are still saving a ton of money.
You are marginally correct. When I dial 911 I immediately tell them the nature of the call so they can transfer me to the local police. That is sort of the secondary purpose of 911, to get you to the local fire/police. Otherwise I would have to add every known local police station to my phone, figure out which one applies to my current location, and then call that specific one. Arguably I would only have to add the ones I am frequently near, but that would exclude any abnormal travel and would still require me to figure out which local number I need. All in all the 911 operators aren't tied up for long while they get my location and transfer me.
As far as the disabled vehicle (I only call if it is occupied) or people walking the immediate risk would be to those individuals, not necessarily anyone else. Getting hit by a vehicle or getting picked up by a psycho or otherwise just stranded far from civilization. The calls I make for vehicles are typically when they aren't within short or safe walking distance from help anyways. At that point it is good samaritan more than public defender behavior. Unfortunately the way the world is these days it is safer to call police to help them then to be stopping yourself. Guns be damned for safety at that point, the radio with backup on the other end is the real life saver in those situations.
Actually, it is probably better that they call. Because quite frequently there are morons that walk around with guns, and shoot up schools, shoot up malls, shoot up churches...and you can find an example of each of those in the last 12 months. I am all for concerned citizens making phone calls, in fact, it is the next best thing for a citizen to do other than intervening themselves (and in many cases better than intervening themselves). In fact, I am quite proud that I am a frequent dialer of 911 (though never for guns). I have called in erratic driving, dangerous driving, disabled vehicles, people walking along the highway, etc. Could be drunk, could be having a medical problem, could be stranded, could be a criminal, but in all cases the police had information from a citizen with situational awareness rather than the standard look the other way and ignore everything approach.
To add to your point, I remember seeing a story about a cop that managed to shoot himself while going to the restroom because he didn't properly secure his weapon. I imagine he wished he hadn't survived to live through that unbelievably embarrasing story.
:) Now, this certainly isn't true in all instances, and depending on actual need of the person's position the military and police get far better training and will have far more experience, but on average it is probably very correct.
I don't know how much experience you have with handguns, but 100 rounds is a pretty low number and will usually get burned off by a single shooter in less than an afternoon. This of course only reinforces your point.
On that note, I think the notion that a law abiding citizen shouldn't be allowed to carry a weapon is frightening to an alarming degree. In fact the whole point of that pesky "right to bear arms" thing has nothing to do with defending ourselves from our fellow citizens. It was and always will be about ensuring that the citizens are capable of armed revolt against an oppresive government. It is described that way and very clearly in numerous writings of the time. Of course, all the politicians (for or against) choose to frame it in private defense. And for all those anti-gun weenies that cry about "we couldn't do anything against the military anyways" I urge you to actually read some history or even current events. America was won by a rag tag group of guerilla fighters against the largest military force of the day...and a bunch of rag tag terrorists are doing some significant damage against one of the most sophisticated military forces of the day.
The approach that laws will stop weapons is amusing to me as well. Oh gee golly willickers, buying a gun is illegal, well I guess I should find another way to commit a murder/rape/robbery that isn't illegal. Fucking nonsense. If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
That isn't true at all! A 6 foot tall blonde virgin would indeed conduct (mostly). Unless you were refering to a slashdotter not knowing what to do with the 6 foot tall blonde virgin. However, there are some assumptions there. I am sure that any slashdotter would know exactly what to do with a 6 foot tall blonde virgin as they are likely some variant of virgin as well. However, I doubt either party at that point would be thinking about something obvious like sex as being a 6ft tall virgin would most likely indicate some age. In all likelyhood a slashdotter would probably play board games, role playing games, computer games, or just speek geek to another aged virgin. In fact, that same 6 ft tall virgin is likely to be another slashdotter.
Honestly, I doubt it is that simple. I suspect that the vast majority of people don't really "accept" non police/military people carrying. I doubt I would "accept" it and the only thing that has prevented me from getting my conceal n carry in my current state is I have been too lazy and/or busy. I suspect that if these people saw a guy dressed like gangsta thug carrying a blackberry they would assume it was a firearm at a glance. The same goes in the reverse, I suspect most people that see the average person carrying that their mind will write off the firearm as something else at a glance. To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if I have seen people carrying concealed or unconcealed and just not noticed because my mind glossed over it not expecting to see a weapon. You expect to see weapons of uniformed forces, military, police, or even some security guards. I imagine it has more to do with what your mind "accepts" than how well it really is concealed.
Either way, the notion that firearms are inherently dangerous bothers me. I mean...yes...a loaded firearm is incredibly dangerous, that is kind of the point, but it isn't really inherently more dangerous than any number of tools. How many people keep their table saws locked up? You can bet your ass a kid could tear themselves up pretty bad trying to be like dad and playing with one of those. Realistically though, someone who is legally carrying a firearm is probably the safest person out there. They are at the very least more likely to have decent training and experience, they have gone through the trouble of getting whatever licenses and whatnot are required, AND in many cases they have had more background investigations done on them than your average joe when being sold that firearm. Personally, I am more nervous standing next to the guy carrying a lock blade knife than I am standing next to the guy with a handgun.
Well duh. If it was made of 6 foot tall blond virgins' pubic hair it wouldn't actually conduct, it would be worthless as an ethernet cable, and no slashdotter would have any idea what to actually do with it.
Damned greenskins...
I actually stumbled across that once. I never thought I could be so completely disgusted whie laughing that hard at the same time. That is really like a horrible car wreck that you just can't pull your eyes away from no matter how aweful it is.
Yup yup. The other branches rely on officers for that stuff more than the Air Force does, but other than that you are 100% correct. Guard and Reserve are basically the same type of deal with a few differences. The quirks and differences come from Guard being state controlled and the Reserves are federally controlled.
Not exactly. You can get your contract to promise a specific job. This basically means that you will only ship off when they have an opening to get you into that field. However, with all things military it isn't quite that simple. Typically it will be one of three things. 1. Specific job. 2. Open area (electronics, mechanics, etc), or 3. Open (they can make you do anything). Now even with a specific job it isn't exactly a promise that that will be your only job. The quickest way to lose that job is to wash out of your school at which point they can make you do anything. The Navy does this a ton with their Nuclear career fields. The schools are incredibly fast paced and very difficult, but they get tons of people in with flashy bonuses and the like. However, once you wash out they can give you whatever shit job they can't get enough people to sign up for.
However, in the end it does boil down to the needs of the service and they CAN hose you, but it doesn't happen as often as people thing it does. Typically what I have seen happen in situations outside of doing something stupid to lose your job is "change jobs or go home".
That was my point. That really was a real story with a headline that could kill. As is this (despite how insane the claim being made really is). Though I did ponder saying "Openly Gay Pope Chosen", but I was afraid it might be more believable due to that problem they have been having with the priests.
Personally...the murderous headline I am waiting for is "Ann Coulter proven to be a man" just so I can hear the simultaneous gunshots of thousands of right wingers kill themselves after realizing they have been jerking it to a man.
I can answer this one for you. Yes they do. The Air Force in particular has been getting much more active in advertising it's increasing need for the intel/cyber style missions. You basically go through the same process everyone else does.
1. Go to the recruiter and say "I want to do XYZ". If you are lucky you will get a recruiter that isn't a slimeball and will actually help you do specifically what you want. Hit or miss here, some are really amazing folks that know how to work things, others are asshats that know how to sleaze kids in. Do your research first. Non military and recruiters are about the last people you want to talk to for "how it really is" information, one is clueless and comes up with nonsense stories, the other has a clue and comes up with nonsense stories. Currently active or recently retired people will have the best information, though it will frequently be a bit dated. It is best to refine your questions with them and then ask specific pointed questions of the recruiters.
2. Go to the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station I believe) and do the tests. ASVAB being the big one here, all branches use these scores in one way or another to determine what jobs you are qualified to do. This isn't exactly a hard test by any stretch, more than anything it gives the military a guess as to how complex of a school they can send you to without wasting money on you failing out. You will also go through the whole physical thing, eye tests, piss tests, blah blah blah.
3. Go to the career manager folks. Each branch has a different name for them and this part will typically happen at the MEPS. Again, much like recruiters they are hit or miss. However, they have a bit better of an excuse. They aren't there to convince you to join so much as for you to tell them what specific job you want to do. These are the people that look up your scores and compare that to job requirements and then check for openings in that job. They process tons of people per day, many of which have no idea what they want to do other than "work on computers" or "fix planes" or whatever. The key to coming out of this is to do your research well before you go. Narrow down what you want to do to a few jobs and know their code for whichever branch you are talking to. These people are experts at human resources stuff, not the details of whatever career you want. They probably won't be able to answer much unless they came from that career or know someone in that career. The best bet is to get your recruiter to arrange some time to meet people in the career field you are interested in and get the answers that way.
4. Go to basic training. Everyone goes, no way past that.
5. Go to your school. Each branch does this a bit differently, but after basic training you will go to the school for your chosen job. This could be 2 weeks long, it could be 2 years long, all depends on the job.
6. Pray for your assignment. Now you are in, you have the career you want, and now it is a roll of the dice. You go where they need your career, period. There are a number of programs to finagle your way around to places you want, but don't expect any of them to help you much in your early days. Your best bet here is to do a damned good job, don't be a fuckup, and let your supervisors know what your goals are. Good supervisors will help you get where you want to go. Above all else, don't expect it to happen quickly.
National Guard units basically follow the same steps, except for the assignment process. With the Guard you will be joining a specific unit when you enlist. So you will already know exactly what your assignment will be. The Guard units are able to do much more targeted recruiting because of this. The Active Duty world you kind of go into a big pot and stay there unless you managed to get into special assignments (usually by being really good at what you do and leaning forward for opportunities).
I have actually seen this come up in a variety of forms. I was reading about this in a business journal talking about how the elderly tend to ignore the negative information. They respond more to positive emotional ads and tend to look past any drawbacks. The argument is this is how they get drawn into bad deals.
However, young doesn't help much either. Look how far we have gotten with a president with the mentality of a 4yr old.
I almost died! I almost choked on my lunch reading this summary. I sit down...take a bite, open slashdot, and nearly choke! Damn you editors!
I propose that stories with claims THAT ridiculous this should have title and summary hidden with a warning so that readers eating or drinking can be prepared! I mean really...think how many geeks you might endager with a headline of "Openly Gay Republican Elected to Office"
Right...he stands up and says I don't support torture. But then he sits down and quietly says "But, I don't think any of the torture we are doing is actually torture". So the point is a wash. Even worse, he has done nothing to stop the extradition bit where we send suspects to foreign countries to be tortured by someone else so we don't get our hands dirty. So no...I think it is unbeleivably disgusting that he has had such a reversal.
It also worries me as to what depth you must go to convince a POW who had been tortured to allow this to continue. Something is clearly wrong with McCain these days...
You are either unbelievably ignorant or unbelievably insane. Trade came about as a way to improve everyones lives. It is simple economics. I can produce grain, you know how to raise cows. I give you grain to feed the cows and you give me milk and meat. Because the excess grain has higher value to you than it does to me, and the excess meat/milk has more value to me than it does to you. Mutually beneficial. Money was a natural extension of that as a measure of value so that if you didn't want fruit the fruit grower could still get milk and meat through trading with people who had products that you did want.
The fact that a handful of pricks have figured out how to game the system and engage in trade without actually producing something worthwhile does not negate the unbelievable growth and benefit it has provided most of the world. (By the way, production isn't always a physical thing, a good leader can produce improved output, a scientist can produce improved methods, etc). In fact, trade enabled science and higher learning. Without trade there would be noone to research and develop new things because they would be too busy attempting to grow/raise whatever food they need to survive. This is all without touching that difficult problem of natural resources such as fresh water.
To be fair spending large sums of money actually does help lots of people. Its the money hoarding that is the real problem. Now granted it is a little less direct, and the people it helps aren't exactly in dire need of help. But, the fact remains, there are a shitton of people who benefit as a result of this. It takes a ton of people to get a spacecraft off the ground, and a significant chunk of that money goes to pay all of those people that make it possible.
Now, at the same time, the ammount of people it helps is also directly proportionate to the complexity of the purchase. Purchase a flight into space = lots of people get a piece of the cost. Purchase a $5million diamond encrusted golden codpiece and only a few people will really see that wealth.
Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption, is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person or in breach of law.
Your problem here is fixing bugs in X is consistent with the duties of that person. In fact, you could even go so far as to saying writing code is consistent with the duties of that person.
What you are attempting to call bribery is what damn near everyone else in the world calls a job offer. He was attempting to hire someone, not to bribe them. If that was indeed bribery the job market would be a very scary place where employers could be convicted for making job offers for perfectly legitimate work.
I hate to be the one to tell you this, but what you wanted to buy was a steak. I imagine a steak would have tasted much better than a stake. Since most stakes are made out of wood it would explain the dryness and lack of flavor.
Come now. Don't be mean. It isn't their fault that they don't understand logic and frequently fight science. It is only natural to their belief structure. Watch...
God is infalible. The Bible is the word of God. The Bible is infalible. We know this because the Bible says God is infalible and that the Bible is the word of God.
If you spent more than a few years having that kind of circular logic drilled into your brain at the threat of eternal damnation for not accepting it you would have a really hard time with that whole science and logic business too. Especially since they start at a VERY young age. I almost laughed myself sick listening to the complaints about that athiest Golden Compass movie leading children away from God...clearly a threat since so much money was spent on Veggie Tales and the like luring those same children into believing the delusionsl
*Disclaimer* I believe many of the bible stories that circulate actually do teach valuable lessons, at least the parable ones. Many of the others are a bit deranged and VERY distorted to bring all the little ones into the fold at an early age.
What Clinton did was a disgrace! It was not about a BJ. It was conspiracy to commit mass murder and cannibalism! Monica Lewinsky had a last minute change of heart and failed to follow up with her part of swallowing. Instead she reformed and was instrumental in bringing the evidence of the crime to the light in front of the world!Clinton's actions are the equivilent of millions of abortions! Our Glorious Leader President Bush on the other hand is not responsible for any deaths! He has had the courage and integrity to do whatever he needs in the face of cowards and pacifists to ensure those evil terrorists are brought to justice for all of their murders!
You see...THIS is how the Republican mind works. That and Republicans are predominately that whole religious right group which has had huge problems with anything sexual from the getgo and has had no problem with violence. So anything sex related is already an order of magnitude worse than violence. Hence why a nipple slip on TV is a damned national crisis but you can watch a few thousand people get shot, killed, tortured, or whatever on any given day across the variety of TV channels beamed into every home.
Actually them putting it on hold is compliance with the OOXML specification as written by Microsoft.
"No Microsoft product shall have the features promised or be released when scheduled".
So all of you cheering this decision are incredibly misguided. Look a little closer and you will see this is clearly evidence of more MS tampering in the process.
I think you are right to a degree. I have read some of his stuff but quickly became irritated with him. His tone quickly became anyone who doesn't believe is stupid and they believe in nonsense. He made a large number of assertions that morality can only exist because of God, but he relies on a terribly flawed model to make his proof. He ignores the fact that humans by nature are herd/community animals and not loners. Humans tend to go quite insane without other humans around.
The greatest irony for me is that Jesus was VERY vocal about the whole Pharisee approach to the religion. He advocated the "love thy neighbor" and everything else falls into place naturally approach rather than the Pharisees and their "you must follow this monsterous list of rules and rituals" approach. Interestingly enough he also talks about how many of you will have claimed to know me and I will say I have never known you, get away from me. Even from the getgo he predicted that a large number of his "followers" would fall right back into that rules and rituals approach over kindness and compassion. He was ridiculed for spending so much time with the various sinners of his time and his answer was "A healthy man has no need for a doctor." What is preached today in the name of Christianity is almost identical to the very same religious structure that Jesus fought against.
Dunno about the whole religious aspect of it all, but I think Jesus himself seems to be a pretty good example of how humans should behave. Which is why I think Jesus as a man is more impressive than Jesus as a divine instrument. As a man it means we should all be able to emulate that behavior. As a divine figure it gives the copout crap about how "he died for our sins, all you have to do is accept that".
Either way my two most favorite things to mess with the overly religious is walking past them as the pass out their bibles, preach on the corner, or pray in public(all of which was specifically advised AGAINST by Jesus "pray alone in your room for when noone else can hear you pray God does") and saying "Jesus was such a jew" and watching them get up in arms because they are so ignorant of their own faith. The other fun one is a similar exploit, when asked some variant of "Do you accept Jesus?!" I answer something to the effect of "I follow the teachings of Yeshua" and laugh as they blather on about how I must accept Jesus instead.
Personally I think the historical Jesus is more impressive. Assuming his teachings and actions are recorded correctly (just the way he behaved personally and what he spoke about, ignoring the flashy miracle business) I think he is a FAR more impressive figure.
Think about it...mere mortal man upholding that kind of teaching and behavior. (By the way, read some of the stuff HE said or did...drastically different than what Christians these days say or do.) Even when faced with torture and execution he held fast to those beliefs. The idea that a mere mortal man can uphold that kind of integrity is awe inspiring. The idea that some divine half God half man could uphold that kind of integrity and endure that kind of suffering is not exactly impressive, specially "knowing" those ultimate answers of life/universe/everything.
I like Deism and Buddhism...more to life than skin n bones, but not much in the way of miracles and magic.