And even as a non-righteous I get beat up for a while in Genehom (sic) and then get in anyway. Great way to hedge my bets.
It came from the link in the wiki page that pointed to "jewish faith" or "jewish beliefs about the afterlife". I think if you google afterlife wiki, you get the start of the chain.
I do have to say that as "other faiths not of my own" go, judaism seems very compatible with me in a mixed secular society and I could coexist with followers peacefully.
Unless you believe in jesus christ, it doesn't matter how "nice" or "righteous" you are, you are going to hell or at least be denied god's presence (really their alternate definition of hell= being denied god's grace), or perhaps your soul will just cease to exist (NVP).
Of course as a zen buddist, you have no soul and conciousness is transient.
As an ancient norse person, you'll either go to valhalla if a warrior who dies well or some other place if not.
And Augustinian, Thomist, Lutheran, and Calvinist theological traditions all say god has to want you to be saved for no particular reason and there's not squat you can do it about it through your "works"
Diests (like those that founded america) would say that belief in rewards or punishment after you die is necessary for a good and well functioning society.
Unless you are reincarnated (tho one wonders why some bodies get recycled souls but others generate their own souls- does the old soul *KILL* the new soul to take over the body of a newborn?)
And I'm not even sure about all the indian faiths, islam (other than paradise with all those virgins-- where the heck do they come from? but at least you get nasty after you die- which is odd since they are SO straightlaced while they are alive- and what's the point of all that sex without procreation- and if it is so good after they die, then why is it not good NOW while they are alive?), shinto, native american, aztec, egyption, yada yada yada.
But... out of all the world, I guess the only valid faith *is* judaism and everyone else is goin straight to hell while the jews go to Olam Haba or Gan Eden. On the other hand- it looks like if I lead a nasty life I still don't stay in Gehinom forever. It's not so pointlessly sadistic as Xtian faiths. More like purgatory in catholocism.
I like the robin williams version- you make your own hell to punish yourself and you are stuck there until you feel you have paid enough. --- 1) A lot of this is rephrased from the wiki.
Yea- but the peak world population is still likely to be 9 billion (at least that's down from 11 billion).
We are *living* on 4% of the land. We both use a lot more and vast stretches are unihabitable and people can only live there at any density by very artificial means.
I agree on the clustering tho. When you are young, it's others to have fun with. When you are old, it's safer to be close.
The Black Belt of Central Texas: This region, whose fame as a cotton-producing area is known to the ends of the world, once was a real black belt of highly productive black clay, rich in lime, humus and plant nutrients. Vast changes have come over the region since it was broken out of the prairie sod some 30 to 50 years ago. It is no longer an unbroken black belt, but a mixed black and white belt with countless areas scoured off to the underlying white chalk or marl.
Erosion in the Red Plains Region: A large part of the 36 million acres of predominantly red sandy lands extending from western Oklahoma far down into Texas has undergone terrific erosion during the past generation,
Effects in the Corn Belt: A tremendous amount of land has been severely impoverished in the rolling counties of northern Missouri, southern Iowa, eastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska, and many farms have been abandoned as the result.
These are from 1933. Do you think it we have reclaimed any of that lost land?
More recently http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/cu rrent/lectures/land_deg/land_deg.html The world's croplands are in decline due to the pressure of human activities. The figure shows the regional and global trends in the total available area of the world's croplands.... Worldwide the amount of cropland per capita has declined due to population growth. North America and the former USSR have substantially more cropland per capita than the rest of the world....
The total loss of arable land can be summarized in the following figure. Of the total available (1500 million hectares, signifant components have been lost due to the combined effects of desertification, salinization, erosion, and development activities....
Summary # Degradation of land includes soil erosion, salinization, nutrient depletion, and desertification. The rate of degradation has increased dramatically with growth in human populations and technology. # Severe land damage accompanies large scale agriculture. Restoration is very problematical. # Continued loss of arable land will jeopardize our ability to feed the world population. # Land degradation is worldwide - both developed and developing countries.
On the oceans... http://agonist.org/20060803/the_dying_oceans First global map reveals rapidly shrinking hotspots for tuna, marlin, swordfish - Diversity has declined by up to 50% over 50 years due to fishing
http://www.net.org/marine/fish.vtml What's left behind is a dead zone, like a forest after being clearcut, except that it takes centuries rather than decades to grow back.
--- I'm not so pessimistic as these folks are. I think it could recover in a generation if we would stop killing everything. But as the human population increases- there are not any more real fish out there.
So what's more likely-- 9 billion or 3 billion? I'm thinking 9 billion and my investments in scarce resources and global luxury property (fidelity has a nice new fund just for this which I'm not in yet) are doing nicely.
I agree with you on the waste. We deal with it inefficiently because it's cheap. But again the root problem is too many people. If the world population was 50% lower, the trash would be less and there would be a lot more places to put it.
It's bad. It's going to get worse. And we can't or won't do anything about the fundamental problem-- too many people. Every exit scenario I see is very bad. I'm hoping I get to die comfortably before that point.
Yea...that's why the oceans have huge dead areas with no fish in them any more... Why we are down from 3' of topsoil to 9" of topsoil and it has a fraction of the nutrients it really needs to produce nutritious food.
I'll grant we can probably figure out some way to "exist" with 9 billion people on the planet.
But only 1% of them will have a good life and the other 99% are going to live very constrained existances.
There's only so many beaches- so many ski mountains- and either only the rich or powerfull will have them- or they will be so grossly overcrowded you really won't want to be there. Truly rare stuff is starting to rise in value.
The "level of risk" you speak of is "the risk of punishment including fines and prison time for not paying taxes that the government requires you to pay on income". You implictly acknowledge that you can be punished for failure to pay in your own post. ironic, no?
So , actually it simply is true.
If you sell drugs, you are required to pay taxes on the income.
Remember, it was good enough for the original mob Al Capone, it's certainly good enough for you with the loot you got off your MOB.
1) That's not what I said and you know it. I think we need to make an effort to get those 10% out quickly. I think it is not okay for us to use torture except in immediate circumstances. I.e., if we knew a person knew where a nuke set to go off in the next 8 hours was planted in new york city (25 million dead- women, children, old people, pregnant folks), I would personally take the moral stain of doing whatever it took to get the information in time to neutralize the bomb. I don't even need to have relatives there to get out the pliers and start removing body parts. It is the classic quandary: What would you do to a person raping your daughter? Would you calmly call the police and tell the person to stop or would you carefully break their knees with a crowbar and then emasculate them before killing them so they can't sue you.
After doing such things, you are permanently ruined as a human being. You basically sacrifice yourself to protect everyone else.
2) It is trivial to find support for the education. It's happening in america ("I'm not an american- says 13 year old islam home schooled american citizen), saudi arabia (monkees and evil), and other islamic countries *DESPITE* the fact that we have called them on it and they keep saying they are stopping. It's as bad as the bloody creationists in this country. When you get the kids at 8 years old, it's really hard to fix them- they are messed up as human beings now in a very fundamental way just like hitler youth were.
3) It's not about 9/11- it's not about the various bombings of buildings, ships, and murders of innocents. 9/11 was just the moment a lot of us woke up and said, "Okay the kid gloves are off- they want to kill us- and that includes the "innocent" people who merely provide them millions of dollars, don't turn them in, don't report when their immam preaches murdering us, etc.
4) No- not really even a smidgeon. It has a lot more to do with the fact that we are not islamic. They mean to convert us- peacefully if possible- and by the sword otherwise.
5) No- millions of americans would not be comfortable with going over and shooting up a schoolyard full of children. We are bloody trying to rebuild schools, hospitals, etc. We are not pulling a rome on them and just killing everyone and salting the ground.
It is not too late for islam to grow up and join the rest of the world. It is showing *some* very slight signs. But there is still way too much celebrating in the streets by the entire populace (including 8 year olds) when non-islamics die. There is still way to much sense of manifest destiny and "no compromise" there. If they don't adapt and adjust, we will turn medieval the next time a couple buildings go down and several thousand people die. We have a fringe of liberal types- but during WWII, they mostly converted over so the remaining 2% were shut up. The west can be extremely hard nosed and surgically evil when it needs to be- dresden comes to mind- but the second the need ends, those measures stop. The instant wwii was over, we helped rebuild japan and europe without malice.
The instant that islam stops trying to kill us, we will forget the malice immediately. As long as they keep trying, we are going to get more and more aggressive.
I know what you mean. Kroger knows me as Mr. Harry Peters. Randalls knows me as Mike Hunt. I forget the street addresses but they were witty.
However, have you *ever* used a valid credit card with your affinity card?
If so... your false information can be tied to your real identity.
The Kroger affinity card that gives the best discounts (15 cents per gallon on gass) is a real credit card.
The point of my humorous post was this... We will fight to the death for our privacy, yet sell it away to get gas for 1.98 a gallon instead of 2.00 a gallon or milk at 3.00 a gallon instead of 5.29 a gallon. So basically, our privacy is worth between 2% and 10% of our annual expenditures.
EU can order foreign entities around. China can order foreign entities around.
If you do business in a country, then you are exposed at least to the extent that you do business there.
It is a bit of a tragedy since a large nasty corporation could repeatedly take people to court until they were drained dry.
On the other side, if you can only be sued where you are based, that opens up another host of nasty issues: "Bomb's 'R Us sold from Blariana where terroism is legal!" and "Crack Crackhead deals: Where boiled down Cocaine is legal!", etc.
The internet allows an end-run around government rules when combined with Fedex (having recently purchased absinthe which is legal to own but illegal to buy or sell in my own country-I've personal experience with this irony). But we only get away with it because there are so many of us that they have to focus on the real bad stuff.
I don't know- in the end it seems to me that if you do business in an area (i.e. they send you money) then you are exposed at least up to the limits of that money amount.
Hotmail is my "throwdown" account for new business. It's whitemailed for all my current approved contacts. If a business plays nice for long enough- then they get access to one of my 'real' email accounts.
Different issue. Being near a school is not the same as being near a public highway.
The school prohibition applies based on distance and doesn't matter if there even an easy connection between the two locations. Example: All roads west out of neighborhood are closed by a bayou but the naughty business is still closed because it is 500' from a school even tho you would have to drive or walk 3000' to get to it from the school.
My point is TLD a public commons like a highway or utility power.
I don't think you understand about all the jobs that are not even open to the general public.
let's see...
Can you go to work for JPL? NSA? Google? SUN? IBM?
Will you be fast tracked into management? Heck-- will you *start* your first job in management?
Will you be IT-Director and choose if your shop is going to be Java or.net?
Will you get that gig leading a 100 million dollar project in Japan with all your living expenses paid?
Do you have a shot at ever sitting down to lunch with a senator to talk shop?
Will you get into medical school?
Will you get to be a full Professor at a university? (so you feel important even if you don't make big bucks or have a lot of power)
Will you get to be the leading researcher at a big company?
Will you get hired to work on problems so hard they only give them to people with 4.0 averages?
Heck, are you *even* ever going to live in one of those 400,000 grand micro mansions and tour the carribean on a private sailing ship with 8 other couples?
Will you be able to look back and say, "I made big decisions and made a difference" or "I wrote a lot of code that is now in boxes and no one knows that I existed except a few close friends"
Sure....001% of random people get into those environments. But the other.999 get the right school, the right social circles, the right grades, the right random choices about technology and investing, etc.
At the lower end of the GPA and school pool you have:
Will you even get a job in your field?
Will you be 10 years behind everyone else your entire life- always aware the "Bob" is going skiing while you have to work overtime for your TV?
I made my choice- I got married. Stupid stupid stupid. I was ahead of the curve (even in college during high school and had a senator lined up to arrange for officer training in one of the military branchs if I wanted) and blew it for "true" love that lasted about 10 years. It was good in many ways-- but how much better it would have been to bloody well WAIT until I had the degree (with a much better GPA- and more time to focus on school while I was there without working 50 hours a week in IT to support a family).
The worst was when I worked 8 weeks at 72 hours a week and they said 'Wow- take this friday *afternoon* off!"
4 hours off- and a $50 "employee of the month" award. I woke up and have never done that crap again. The last time I worked 83 hours, I got paid close to 4 grand for one week's work (and that was back in the 90's). I was single then- so the trade was worth it.
Posting as an AC isn't going to get you many replies.:)
1) for many degrees, a bachelor's degree with good grades isn't enough- you have to have a masters. 2) if you are much below 2.5, you are probably not going to get a job in your field unless you network hard. 3) You can recover (mostly) from bad grades after 5 to 10 years but you never recover the lost income. 4) for the coolest jobs- you need a 4.000+ (in most cases even if you are a genius)
Screwing up your GPA is best recovered by changing schools and blowing off the courses entirely or by doing "okay" after that and interning well so you graduate with experience.
College only determines your *first* job mostly. But your *first* job determines most of the rest of your jobs.
In IT you either get on the cool project with the cool technology or you are screwed (and possibly selling movie tickets or burgers even WITH a good GPA- I've known several of those guys who 'missed the turn'.)
I'm working my way out of IT while playing on my IT background. It pays better, it hires at more places than pure IT, and the working hours are less.
Welcome to corporate America where every project is priority "1A".
Emergencies: Flood, fire, earthquake, riot.
Not Emergencies: The boss really wants it by Friday. (doubly irritating when the boss is OUT on friday and until the following tuesday).
Managers have no way to know how productive you can be. Their only way is to work you to the point of failure. So you need to fail mildly and early when you hit your real limits instead of killing yourself and working til you really fail (and they fire you for bad health, bad attitude, etc.).
"True" love in high school. We were both going to do college and then have kids.
She took one semester- said "THIS SUCKS" and went to work full time.
When I was three years into college she decided, "We need kids now. You need to quit college and work two or three jobs like my brother-inlaw does for my sister." Then she unilaterally decided to have kid (Found that out years later in a tearful confession).
Was she a bad person- really probably no worse than average.
Were we both STUPID for getting married so young? YES.
College takes a LOT of work and is completely unforgiving. If you miss a test- that's it, change schools or just quit because otherwise that is going to be on your GPA 11 years later. If you truly understand that, you can see the conflict when you are studying and she throws a hissy fit because you are not paying attention to her. You get fired from a job- who cares, you can get another one. You fail a course- you are screwed. Maybe so badly that there is no point in getting the degree any more.
We finally broke up after 10 years together (8 married). She waited about 30 days into the separation period before she started cutting a path through our male friends (which pissed me off back then- but hell these days I figure why lose a good friend over a woman).
Now-- how about those "working 60 hours a week" guys?
Okay- 10% of them do get ahead. The rest get NADA, BUPKIS, ZERO.
It took me about 8 years longer, but I had 20 hours a week more life during those 8 years.
Having a wife tho? Under today's legal setup (welcome to divorce land- you are screwed guys- enjoy paying the mortgage for her and the new boyfriend who thinks it's okay to spank your kids) I personally won't be going that route. I have my own house, no debt, new car, nice clothes. I have several girlfriends (one for concerts, one for gaming, one for dancing, etc.). It works out great for me; they are happy (I'm open about being a bachelor up front which helps) and I don't have to turn the stereo down or clean house when I don't want to. Plus when I lose one or two (as happened in 2002) then I'm not devastated and I just load up a couple more. I personally do not think people were meant to stay together forever any more. I'm not sure people were meant to invest *EVERYTHING* into one single other person. You always have to give *something* up (this one goes to bed at 9pm- that one doesn't drink- this one doesn't like gaming- that one doesn't like going out dancing, etc.)
Plus- in my opinion, when you give so much incentive to women to divorce- they are a lot less likely to stay married until the kids are 18. Basically, if you have a good income and kids: they win, you lose. The courts even go so far as to make men pay for kids that do not exist for years and unless you have a super lawyer you get to see the kids six days a month and every other christmas.
---
Basic advice- if you want kids and to be married- at least wait until you are 25 to 27. And yea- don't work 60 hours a week. It's really stupid. Most women won't disconnect emotionally if you pay them any attention at all. Even 3-4 hours a week they can count on will fulfil their needs. But randomly coming home late, skipping important holidays, only touching or kissing them when you want sex, you are asking for the street.
Re:One angle hasn't been mentioned yet
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IT and Divorce?
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Personally, I think 38 hours should be the norm. 4 7.5 hour days with an 8 hour day in the middle somewhere. I see too many people glazed over at their desks for more than that waste time anyway.
I used to like being a contractor since i could just leave when the work was done. On salary I have to do make-work or just sit there for 45 minutes sometimes.
Slashdot Mirror
And even as a non-righteous I get beat up for a while in Genehom (sic) and then get in anyway. Great way to hedge my bets.
It came from the link in the wiki page that pointed to "jewish faith" or "jewish beliefs about the afterlife". I think if you google afterlife wiki, you get the start of the chain.
I do have to say that as "other faiths not of my own" go, judaism seems very compatible with me in a mixed secular society and I could coexist with followers peacefully.
Speaking as my fundy friend...
Unless you believe in jesus christ, it doesn't matter how "nice" or "righteous" you are, you are going to hell or at least be denied god's presence (really their alternate definition of hell= being denied god's grace), or perhaps your soul will just cease to exist (NVP).
Of course as a zen buddist, you have no soul and conciousness is transient.
As an ancient norse person, you'll either go to valhalla if a warrior who dies well or some other place if not.
And Augustinian, Thomist, Lutheran, and Calvinist theological traditions all say god has to want you to be saved for no particular reason and there's not squat you can do it about it through your "works"
Diests (like those that founded america) would say that belief in rewards or punishment after you die is necessary for a good and well functioning society.
Unless you are reincarnated (tho one wonders why some bodies get recycled souls but others generate their own souls- does the old soul *KILL* the new soul to take over the body of a newborn?)
And I'm not even sure about all the indian faiths, islam (other than paradise with all those virgins-- where the heck do they come from? but at least you get nasty after you die- which is odd since they are SO straightlaced while they are alive- and what's the point of all that sex without procreation- and if it is so good after they die, then why is it not good NOW while they are alive?), shinto, native american, aztec, egyption, yada yada yada.
But... out of all the world, I guess the only valid faith *is* judaism and everyone else is goin straight to hell while the jews go to Olam Haba or Gan Eden. On the other hand- it looks like if I lead a nasty life I still don't stay in Gehinom forever. It's not so pointlessly sadistic as Xtian faiths. More like purgatory in catholocism.
I like the robin williams version- you make your own hell to punish yourself and you are stuck there until you feel you have paid enough.
---
1) A lot of this is rephrased from the wiki.
Yea- but the peak world population is still likely to be 9 billion (at least that's down from 11 billion).
We are *living* on 4% of the land. We both use a lot more and vast stretches are unihabitable and people can only live there at any density by very artificial means.
I agree on the clustering tho. When you are young, it's others to have fun with. When you are old, it's safer to be close.
I don't think you get it.
But that's okay. You're probably happier that way.
First and oldy but a goody9 330131.html
u rrent/lectures/land_deg/land_deg.html ... ... ...
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/speeches/1
The Black Belt of Central Texas: This region, whose fame as a cotton-producing area is known to the ends of the world, once was a real black belt of highly productive black clay, rich in lime, humus and plant nutrients. Vast changes have come over the region since it was broken out of the prairie sod some 30 to 50 years ago. It is no longer an unbroken black belt, but a mixed black and white belt with countless areas scoured off to the underlying white chalk or marl.
Erosion in the Red Plains Region: A large part of the 36 million acres of predominantly red sandy lands extending from western Oklahoma far down into Texas has undergone terrific erosion during the past generation,
Effects in the Corn Belt: A tremendous amount of land has been severely impoverished in the rolling counties of northern Missouri, southern Iowa, eastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska, and many farms have been abandoned as the result.
These are from 1933.
Do you think it we have reclaimed any of that lost land?
More recently
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/c
The world's croplands are in decline due to the pressure of human activities. The figure shows the regional and global trends in the total available area of the world's croplands.
Worldwide the amount of cropland per capita has declined due to population growth. North America and the former USSR have substantially more cropland per capita than the rest of the world.
The total loss of arable land can be summarized in the following figure. Of the total available (1500 million hectares, signifant components have been lost due to the combined effects of desertification, salinization, erosion, and development activities.
Summary
# Degradation of land includes soil erosion, salinization, nutrient depletion, and desertification. The rate of degradation has increased dramatically with growth in human populations and technology.
# Severe land damage accompanies large scale agriculture. Restoration is very problematical.
# Continued loss of arable land will jeopardize our ability to feed the world population.
# Land degradation is worldwide - both developed and developing countries.
On the oceans...
http://agonist.org/20060803/the_dying_oceans
First global map reveals rapidly shrinking hotspots for tuna, marlin, swordfish - Diversity has declined by up to 50% over 50 years due to fishing
http://www.net.org/marine/fish.vtml
What's left behind is a dead zone, like a forest after being clearcut, except that it takes centuries rather than decades to grow back.
---
I'm not so pessimistic as these folks are. I think it could recover in a generation if we would stop killing everything. But as the human population increases- there are not any more real fish out there.
So what's more likely-- 9 billion or 3 billion? I'm thinking 9 billion and my investments in scarce resources and global luxury property (fidelity has a nice new fund just for this which I'm not in yet) are doing nicely.
I agree with you on the waste. We deal with it inefficiently because it's cheap. But again the root problem is too many people. If the world population was 50% lower, the trash would be less and there would be a lot more places to put it.
It's bad.
It's going to get worse.
And we can't or won't do anything about the fundamental problem-- too many people. Every exit scenario I see is very bad. I'm hoping I get to die comfortably before that point.
Yea...that's why the oceans have huge dead areas with no fish in them any more... Why we are down from 3' of topsoil to 9" of topsoil and it has a fraction of the nutrients it really needs to produce nutritious food.
I'll grant we can probably figure out some way to "exist" with 9 billion people on the planet.
But only 1% of them will have a good life and the other 99% are going to live very constrained existances.
There's only so many beaches- so many ski mountains- and either only the rich or powerfull will have them- or they will be so grossly overcrowded you really won't want to be there. Truly rare stuff is starting to rise in value.
For now, there is a distinction between "real" currencies backed by real governments and "make believe" currencies back by game companies.
For example- monopoly money has a certain value. I could sell a million dollars of it on Ebay and probably get $10 dollars.
However, the government doesn't tax all of the business that takes place in monopoly games - only my selling monopoly money for "real" currency.
Second life more exposed than wow in my opinion because they have a much more direct correlation.
The "level of risk" you speak of is "the risk of punishment including fines and prison time for not paying taxes that the government requires you to pay on income". You implictly acknowledge that you can be punished for failure to pay in your own post. ironic, no?
So , actually it simply is true.
If you sell drugs, you are required to pay taxes on the income.
Remember, it was good enough for the original mob Al Capone, it's certainly good enough for you with the loot you got off your MOB.
1) That's not what I said and you know it. I think we need to make an effort to get those 10% out quickly. I think it is not okay for us to use torture except in immediate circumstances. I.e., if we knew a person knew where a nuke set to go off in the next 8 hours was planted in new york city (25 million dead- women, children, old people, pregnant folks), I would personally take the moral stain of doing whatever it took to get the information in time to neutralize the bomb. I don't even need to have relatives there to get out the pliers and start removing body parts. It is the classic quandary: What would you do to a person raping your daughter? Would you calmly call the police and tell the person to stop or would you carefully break their knees with a crowbar and then emasculate them before killing them so they can't sue you.
After doing such things, you are permanently ruined as a human being. You basically sacrifice yourself to protect everyone else.
2) It is trivial to find support for the education. It's happening in america ("I'm not an american- says 13 year old islam home schooled american citizen), saudi arabia (monkees and evil), and other islamic countries *DESPITE* the fact that we have called them on it and they keep saying they are stopping. It's as bad as the bloody creationists in this country. When you get the kids at 8 years old, it's really hard to fix them- they are messed up as human beings now in a very fundamental way just like hitler youth were.
3) It's not about 9/11- it's not about the various bombings of buildings, ships, and murders of innocents. 9/11 was just the moment a lot of us woke up and said, "Okay the kid gloves are off- they want to kill us- and that includes the "innocent" people who merely provide them millions of dollars, don't turn them in, don't report when their immam preaches murdering us, etc.
4) No- not really even a smidgeon. It has a lot more to do with the fact that we are not islamic. They mean to convert us- peacefully if possible- and by the sword otherwise.
5) No- millions of americans would not be comfortable with going over and shooting up a schoolyard full of children. We are bloody trying to rebuild schools, hospitals, etc. We are not pulling a rome on them and just killing everyone and salting the ground.
It is not too late for islam to grow up and join the rest of the world. It is showing *some* very slight signs. But there is still way too much celebrating in the streets by the entire populace (including 8 year olds) when non-islamics die. There is still way to much sense of manifest destiny and "no compromise" there. If they don't adapt and adjust, we will turn medieval the next time a couple buildings go down and several thousand people die. We have a fringe of liberal types- but during WWII, they mostly converted over so the remaining 2% were shut up. The west can be extremely hard nosed and surgically evil when it needs to be- dresden comes to mind- but the second the need ends, those measures stop. The instant wwii was over, we helped rebuild japan and europe without malice.
The instant that islam stops trying to kill us, we will forget the malice immediately. As long as they keep trying, we are going to get more and more aggressive.
I know what you mean. Kroger knows me as Mr. Harry Peters. Randalls knows me as Mike Hunt. I forget the street addresses but they were witty.
However, have you *ever* used a valid credit card with your affinity card?
If so... your false information can be tied to your real identity.
The Kroger affinity card that gives the best discounts (15 cents per gallon on gass) is a real credit card.
The point of my humorous post was this...
We will fight to the death for our privacy, yet sell it away to get gas for 1.98 a gallon instead of 2.00 a gallon or milk at 3.00 a gallon instead of 5.29 a gallon. So basically, our privacy is worth between 2% and 10% of our annual expenditures.
If I use my affinity card, then I get 2% cash back on my porn and sex toy purchases *and* 10 cents per gallon off gasoline for that month!
I mean, that alone is enough to let the world know about my private quirks for me!
EU can order foreign entities around.
China can order foreign entities around.
If you do business in a country, then you are exposed at least to the extent that you do business there.
It is a bit of a tragedy since a large nasty corporation could repeatedly take people to court until they were drained dry.
On the other side, if you can only be sued where you are based, that opens up another host of nasty issues: "Bomb's 'R Us sold from Blariana where terroism is legal!" and "Crack Crackhead deals: Where boiled down Cocaine is legal!", etc.
The internet allows an end-run around government rules when combined with Fedex (having recently purchased absinthe which is legal to own but illegal to buy or sell in my own country-I've personal experience with this irony). But we only get away with it because there are so many of us that they have to focus on the real bad stuff.
I don't know- in the end it seems to me that if you do business in an area (i.e. they send you money) then you are exposed at least up to the limits of that money amount.
Hotmail is my "throwdown" account for new business.
It's whitemailed for all my current approved contacts.
If a business plays nice for long enough- then they get access to one of my 'real' email accounts.
Different issue. Being near a school is not the same as being near a public highway.
The school prohibition applies based on distance and doesn't matter if there even an easy connection between the two locations. Example: All roads west out of neighborhood are closed by a bayou but the naughty business is still closed because it is 500' from a school even tho you would have to drive or walk 3000' to get to it from the school.
My point is TLD a public commons like a highway or utility power.
Not really sure it *should* be their right tho.
TLD is equivalent to a public highway or a public utility.
It's like saying, "You can't run porn businesses next to public highways" or "with public utility power."
Invoking Godwin's Law on a first post makes dead baby jesus cry.
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And WHAT IS UP with these fake "slow down cowboy" hits lately? I havn't posted since yesterday but it tells me it's been 17 seconds.
Lol.
I think you missed it bud.
I was talking about the USA.
I guess I should have put a smily face.
Oh that's just crazy talk.
No country wants to buy all it's energy from other countries that may be its enemies!
I don't think you understand about all the jobs that are not even open to the general public.
.net?
.001% of random people get into those environments. But the other .999 get the right school, the right social circles, the right grades, the right random choices about technology and investing, etc.
let's see...
Can you go to work for JPL? NSA? Google? SUN? IBM?
Will you be fast tracked into management? Heck-- will you *start* your first job in management?
Will you be IT-Director and choose if your shop is going to be Java or
Will you get that gig leading a 100 million dollar project in Japan with all your living expenses paid?
Do you have a shot at ever sitting down to lunch with a senator to talk shop?
Will you get into medical school?
Will you get to be a full Professor at a university? (so you feel important even if you don't make big bucks or have a lot of power)
Will you get to be the leading researcher at a big company?
Will you get hired to work on problems so hard they only give them to people with 4.0 averages?
Heck, are you *even* ever going to live in one of those 400,000 grand micro mansions and tour the carribean on a private sailing ship with 8 other couples?
Will you be able to look back and say, "I made big decisions and made a difference" or "I wrote a lot of code that is now in boxes and no one knows that I existed except a few close friends"
Sure...
At the lower end of the GPA and school pool you have:
Will you even get a job in your field?
Will you be 10 years behind everyone else your entire life- always aware the "Bob" is going skiing while you have to work overtime for your TV?
I made my choice- I got married. Stupid stupid stupid. I was ahead of the curve (even in college during high school and had a senator lined up to arrange for officer training in one of the military branchs if I wanted) and blew it for "true" love that lasted about 10 years. It was good in many ways-- but how much better it would have been to bloody well WAIT until I had the degree (with a much better GPA- and more time to focus on school while I was there without working 50 hours a week in IT to support a family).
The worst was when I worked 8 weeks at 72 hours a week and they said 'Wow- take this friday *afternoon* off!"
4 hours off- and a $50 "employee of the month" award. I woke up and have never done that crap again. The last time I worked 83 hours, I got paid close to 4 grand for one week's work (and that was back in the 90's). I was single then- so the trade was worth it.
Posting as an AC isn't going to get you many replies. :)
1) for many degrees, a bachelor's degree with good grades isn't enough- you have to have a masters.
2) if you are much below 2.5, you are probably not going to get a job in your field unless you network hard.
3) You can recover (mostly) from bad grades after 5 to 10 years but you never recover the lost income.
4) for the coolest jobs- you need a 4.000+ (in most cases even if you are a genius)
Screwing up your GPA is best recovered by changing schools and blowing off the courses entirely or by doing "okay" after that and interning well so you graduate with experience.
College only determines your *first* job mostly. But your *first* job determines most of the rest of your jobs.
In IT you either get on the cool project with the cool technology or you are screwed (and possibly selling movie tickets or burgers even WITH a good GPA- I've known several of those guys who 'missed the turn'.)
I'm working my way out of IT while playing on my IT background. It pays better, it hires at more places than pure IT, and the working hours are less.
I have nukes!
No you don't
Boom!
That wasn't a nuke!
Boom!
Sorry, just don't believe you!
Boom!
No no.. never. That was just gas.
errrr.
Oh.. you used all your material and you are out now?
(reminds me of puss and boots with the mouse).
Aye.
Welcome to corporate America where every project is priority "1A".
Emergencies: Flood, fire, earthquake, riot.
Not Emergencies: The boss really wants it by Friday. (doubly irritating when the boss is OUT on friday and until the following tuesday).
Managers have no way to know how productive you can be. Their only way is to work you to the point of failure.
So you need to fail mildly and early when you hit your real limits instead of killing yourself and working til you really fail (and they fire you for bad health, bad attitude, etc.).
"True" love in high school. We were both going to do college and then have kids.
She took one semester- said "THIS SUCKS" and went to work full time.
When I was three years into college she decided, "We need kids now. You need to quit college and work two or three jobs like my brother-inlaw does for my sister." Then she unilaterally decided to have kid (Found that out years later in a tearful confession).
Was she a bad person- really probably no worse than average.
Were we both STUPID for getting married so young? YES.
College takes a LOT of work and is completely unforgiving. If you miss a test- that's it, change schools or just quit because otherwise that is going to be on your GPA 11 years later. If you truly understand that, you can see the conflict when you are studying and she throws a hissy fit because you are not paying attention to her. You get fired from a job- who cares, you can get another one. You fail a course- you are screwed. Maybe so badly that there is no point in getting the degree any more.
We finally broke up after 10 years together (8 married). She waited about 30 days into the separation period before she started cutting a path through our male friends (which pissed me off back then- but hell these days I figure why lose a good friend over a woman).
Now-- how about those "working 60 hours a week" guys?
Okay- 10% of them do get ahead. The rest get NADA, BUPKIS, ZERO.
It took me about 8 years longer, but I had 20 hours a week more life during those 8 years.
Having a wife tho? Under today's legal setup (welcome to divorce land- you are screwed guys- enjoy paying the mortgage for her and the new boyfriend who thinks it's okay to spank your kids) I personally won't be going that route. I have my own house, no debt, new car, nice clothes. I have several girlfriends (one for concerts, one for gaming, one for dancing, etc.). It works out great for me; they are happy (I'm open about being a bachelor up front which helps) and I don't have to turn the stereo down or clean house when I don't want to. Plus when I lose one or two (as happened in 2002) then I'm not devastated and I just load up a couple more. I personally do not think people were meant to stay together forever any more. I'm not sure people were meant to invest *EVERYTHING* into one single other person. You always have to give *something* up (this one goes to bed at 9pm- that one doesn't drink- this one doesn't like gaming- that one doesn't like going out dancing, etc.)
Plus- in my opinion, when you give so much incentive to women to divorce- they are a lot less likely to stay married until the kids are 18. Basically, if you have a good income and kids: they win, you lose. The courts even go so far as to make men pay for kids that do not exist for years and unless you have a super lawyer you get to see the kids six days a month and every other christmas.
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Basic advice- if you want kids and to be married- at least wait until you are 25 to 27. And yea- don't work 60 hours a week. It's really stupid. Most women won't disconnect emotionally if you pay them any attention at all. Even 3-4 hours a week they can count on will fulfil their needs. But randomly coming home late, skipping important holidays, only touching or kissing them when you want sex, you are asking for the street.
Choose 3?
... or 1.
More like choose 2
45 hours.
I hope that includes lunch.
Personally, I think 38 hours should be the norm. 4 7.5 hour days with an 8 hour day in the middle somewhere.
I see too many people glazed over at their desks for more than that waste time anyway.
I used to like being a contractor since i could just leave when the work was done. On salary I have to do make-work or just sit there for 45 minutes sometimes.