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 Author Thread: Ironing
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 10 (view)
 
Ironing
Posted: 11/22/2009 3:22:07 PM
Here's another tip...ALWAYS empty all the water out of the iron when you're done ironing. Failing to do so is probably one of the main reasons for corrosion and rusty steam ruining clothing.

It also doesn't hurt to clean it regularly - like quarterly or semi-annually - and especially just before storing it if you won't be using it for a long while. Most cleaners for this purpose are acid-based (you can use diluted vinegar) and this helps to neutralize any alkalines in tap water that cause corrosion. Also, it doesn't hurt to wipe down the baseplate of the iron with a clean towel rinsed thoroughly in plain cold tap water, no matter if the base is metal or coated. After a few years, irons tend to begin corroding on the baseplate - primarily caused by detergent residues on clothing. Washing machines NEVER get it all out, heating them forces the moisture out of clothing, concentrating any alkaline detergent residues in the clothing and in turn on your iron, causing the slow relentless formation of corrosion. It usually starts in the tiny steam holes and crevices of the baseplate and spreads from there.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 37 (view)
 
College- A Dream Deferred.. Once Again, Penalizing the Poor
Posted: 11/22/2009 6:28:18 AM

said college grad enters the workforce..at the bottom.....and hopefully in his chosen field..........but usually not....buys a house ...a car.....yada yada yada............is barely making payments on everything BUT the student loans


Not too much chance of that happening from here on out...The laws regarding student loans have changed considerably in the last couple of years, especially in regards to home purchases. You have 6 months of deferral once you stop attending school, then you have to start repaying. With very few exceptions, if you become delinquent or default, there isn't too much chance of getting a home under any Federal program, as those applications are now all checked against delinquent Federal debt, specifically including student loans.
Failing to pay on these loans will get your loan/credit applications kicked out anymore. We also include anticipated payments in your debt ratio - even if you "forget" to tell us about them.

Bankruptcy won't relieve you of student loans now either - they are specifically excepted and follow you after discharge of other debts.

If you resume studies, you are then obligated to make payments on the original loans or say goodbye to future student loans. Too bad they weren't as stringent over the past few decades. Might have led to more financial responsibility and who knows - could even have inspired people not to engage in the type of behaviors that contributed heavily to the crash.

It's those folks who are now in their 30s-40s-50s who burned the taxpayer by not paying their student debt and got away scot free. Too bad those amounts were all discharged in bankruptcies.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 3 (view)
 
Ironing
Posted: 11/21/2009 8:33:15 PM
I would just fill it with water, plug it in, turn it on and start pushing the buttons. No better way to find out than trying.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 10 (view)
 
Why are the Oregon forums so lame?
Posted: 11/21/2009 8:14:00 PM

Perhaps because Oregonians are boring?


Ding-ding-ding! We have a Winnah!!!
Getting anyone over 29 to go out and do something is akin to pulling your own wisdom teeth. A painful experience once you get into it and almost always doomed to failure. It's like this on almost any site where Oregonians are alleged to assemble. Especially so in the Salem area where the boring factor seems to be quadrupled.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 2 (view)
 
Single's Mixer Tonight!
Posted: 11/21/2009 8:00:47 PM
I didn't see any announcement of this event this time in e-mail. I didn't know anything about it until I happened to look at the bottom of my inbox page by chance and saw a small link saying "Single's Mixer Tonight".

:(
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 27 (view)
 
College- A Dream Deferred.. Once Again, Penalizing the Poor
Posted: 11/21/2009 7:47:41 PM

To quote an 11 year old who stood up in class in opposition of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance- "It says 'Equality and Justice for all'". This is not equality, so either our forefathers made a typo or OUR GOVERNMENT is not following the requisites of which our nation was built on.


Is this the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance you're talking about??? I guess they must have changed it, if so. I haven't been in the habit of saying it every day for 4 decades or so, but I don't recall it going like that. "Equality and Justice for all"???
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 107 (view)
 
Mrs. Sarah Palin
Posted: 11/21/2009 2:50:15 PM
'"Going Rogue" is going big'
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091120/D9C3IM400.html

This is truly sad. One of the few things I can think of that's worse than what we have now is this DITZOID wannabe running for President. Sadly, you know they're going to run her and the blind on the right - the ones who rave about what a Barbie-like "looker" she is (Ever hear of an eye exam and two pairs of glasses for $69.99????) - will waste their votes on her.

If elected, she'll run around the world proclaiming , "You know - BACK IN ALASKA, we did (this and that)". I heard her speak for maybe 10 minutes and during that time she based what she commented on "back in Alaska" probably 20 times. Hick-hick-hick(-up of the brain...)
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 22 (view)
 
College- A Dream Deferred.. Once Again, Penalizing the Poor
Posted: 11/21/2009 11:17:40 AM
From what I'm seeing currently, today's schools are less about education and more about churning money through their coffers. As mentioned above, the textbook scam is also one of the biggest going anywhere. My last accounting book cost me over $250. While it has all the material needed for Management Accounting as well, because of the aforementioned changes - mostly having to do with ethics issues over years-old scandals - I will have to buy yet another $250+ textbook for my last accounting class.

The main reason tuitions at many schools are rising so quickly, if you really are interested, is that many of these schools placed their endowment fund money into the same risky, foolish investments as much of the rest of the globe only to have those investments collapse. Had they placed them into more conservative choices, they'd be a lot more solvent today without having to jack students for the administrators' mistakes.

Another big reason is that many businesses - schools included - are now trying to position themselves for survival when the expected inflation begins. Inflation that is the direct result of foolish moves to try to control the economy while at the same time still trying to institute very expensive social programs under the new administration. Education of students is the absolute last thing on their minds.

This society is not evolving, but de-volving, as is the educational system and the value that they currently purport to instill for all the money spent. It's a big joke. I can state first-hand that most of what's being "taught" can be picked up from any number of news articles and magazines for free. The remainder can be picked up from $40 textbooks at any number of bookstores or from buying last term's texts at deep discount online. You'll probably end up learning more that way than through a $350 college course and accompanying $180 textbook which is essentially the same as the $40 version.

So - if the cost of living is between 2 and 3% currently, why are tuitions climbing 10-15% per year? Follow the money. Right into the pockets of school investors, administrators and so-called instructors. Many instructors are making full-time money while working part-time, while also holding down outside full-time jobs . As a result, as in my economics "class" - you don't hear from them for two weeks at a time on occasion.

I also agree with choosing your major wisely. It's just plain stupid to choose a major and spend 2-4-6 years pursuing it when projections say those jobs will only be around for 5-10 years at most. I recommend reviewing your major at minimum every 3-6 months to make sure the industry hasn't changed so much there will be no jobs when you graduate. This is provided you're attending in order to acquire job-specific education.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 13 (view)
 
Controlling Ravenous Garden Snails
Posted: 11/13/2009 10:50:25 PM
You know if you lay down diatomaceous earth (mostly silica skeletons of diatom algae), and regularly water your yard, it will probably do nothing, right? It's supposed to work by desiccating slugs. But it can't dry them out if it's wet. Slugs love humid places...you might start looking for your real solution with that fact.

One thing I absolutely don't understand is why in the world you'd transport this pest to a public space and release them to propagate there as well???
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 16 (view)
 
Mexico Asks UN for Troops
Posted: 11/13/2009 10:33:39 PM

Looks like our neighbor to the south is having quite a few crimminal problems. THey are not only asking for help from the UN but from the US.
Since this has already been spilling over to the US and could spill over even more, what are your thoughts on this situation.


Is this some sort of a surprise? Everyone who didn't know this would happen - stand and hold up your hands.

Further thoughts? Finish the damned fence! I fail to see how constructing a border fence that goes for 300 yards, then is missing for 1,000, then goes for 50 yards, and is missing for a mile, etc. does anything. It allows politicians to claim they're working on the border problem...nothing more. Why do you think the criminals there have become so powerful and well-armed? Because we've provided them so many easy routes to trafficking their goods in and arms out of the U.S.

The fence isn't even on the border in most areas - it's set back onto landowners' property many yards back, so as to give the invaders a good space to work on getting around the fence, under it or over it. I would love to see the border fence go right down the center of the river. Let them dig under that!

Staff the border. Shoot back when shot at. If rogue Mexican army units continue to invade the border, take them prisoner and put them in jail. Confiscate their vehicles, arms, equipment and uniforms. The standing order for Border Patrol now when they see rogue military crossing over, or plain clothes squads or armed invaders moving toward them is : "Run for your life! Do not engage!"
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 6 (view)
 
A new amnesty bill? How many times will this happen?
Posted: 11/13/2009 10:23:28 PM

A new amnesty bill? How many times will this happen?


How many times? Why - until they completely disband the Border Patrol and repeal any and all immigration laws, of course! That's the eventual goal. To turn us into a FOURTH world country. The kind where someplace like Somalia is preferable. No borders...just walk right in, take what you want, do what you feel like doing, then leave your mess behind.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 8 (view)
 
How do I get ink out of clothes?
Posted: 11/13/2009 10:19:17 PM
It all depends on what kind of "ink" it was. That's second most important. The most important thing is what kind of material the clothing is made of. If it's synthetic you stand a much better chance. Natural fibers won't stand up to much stain removal before they degrade and/or fall apart.

For consumers, there's a line of stain removers in little 1-ounce applicators in most sewing stores. I forget the brand name, but it's from Germany. It's got the same kinds of ingredients used by professionals. Whatever you try, place a piece of junk cloth - an old cotton t-shirt or towel - under the piece so it wicks away any loosened ink components.

Try the automotive handcleaner - not the pumice stuff, but the cream like Sta-Lube, etc. Apply it, gently agitate it and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. If it lightens, just repeat that 2-3 times. If not, then try something else. There is a carrier component and a pigment component to inks and once the carrier is removed, the pigments may remain embedded in the fibers. You can try high temperature water to expand the fibers and rinse the pigments out, but if it's a natural fiber, it may never come out entirely.

Don't be surprised if the material melts when trying highly volatile chemicals. That's why they call them "solvents". They dissolve things.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 22 (view)
 
Suicides increase as foreclosures rise
Posted: 11/13/2009 10:08:34 PM
Yeah, blame all the loan officers. They forced these folks to sign on the bottom line, knowing they were overstating their own incomes, overstating their holdings in the bank, overstating their side business incomes, shopping for the dumbest or greediest appraisers and home inspectors KNOWING that they would overstate the value and overlook minor problems that will always turn into bigger more expensive problems. As clarification, I'm talking about the home buyers here, not the loan officers.

If you've seen a set of loan forms within the past 3 or so years, you would know how many disclosure forms there are to sign. There are even one or two redundant forms to read and sign. And people still sign them and later claim they were duped. Even when you caution people to shop around and buy conservatively, that they don't need to borrow right up to the hilt, they are usually greedy and disregard the advice...then blame others later for it. I think it's just human nature to act greedily then blame anyone but yourself for your own acts. I've been watching this greed for the better part of 14 years now, shaking my head with each new act of stupidity.

I see signs of the greed and madness starting up again, which means as soon as it looks like the economy might turn around, these people will begin to do the same things they did that brought the house down to begin with. Little do they realize how tight the industry has become. Any hint of fudging or fraud will get your application tossed out in a hurry. National licensing is around the corner and I doubt there are many loan officers left who will risk turning a blind eye if they see borrowers trying to pull a fast one.

When I first got into financial services 35 or so years ago, it was standard advice to have no less than 6 months of income in savings. That wisdom was forgotten by the 1990's. I don't know if most people bother having 6 hours' worth these days. They figure someone will swoop in and rescue them. The classic picture of irresponsibility.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 141 (view)
 
Fort Hood shooting - What are the questions? What are the answers?
Posted: 11/9/2009 1:42:11 PM
And so, one-by-one, his fellow practitioners in the military come out to say they "knew" something would happen eventually, describing their individual experiences and observations of him. Yet, not a single one said or did anything about this "coming breakdown". And these are the jokesters treating returning military. So what happens when they see one of their patients headed in a similar direction? Well, obviously they'll wait until AFTER something happens and then hit the news media to say what sages they all were. If I were one of his fellow doctors, I'd just keep my mouth shut so as not to prove my incompetence.

His commanding officer, in contrast, says she saw absolutely no sign of anything wrong and that he was an examplary worker who did his job well...COs...Always the last to know.
Maybe we should be looking into what's wrong with this present system instead of palming it off on "terrorism". Oh wait. It's the military. There aren't any unbalanced people in there, right? So I guess it must be terrorism.

Simplistic, but convenient...and cheaper in the short-run. Deadly otherwise.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 101 (view)
 
Fort Hood shooting - What are the questions? What are the answers?
Posted: 11/8/2009 4:17:14 PM

It still begs the question though; 'Why did he stay?'


In the military now, they have these things that are essentially commitment contracts. They've been around for quite a while. As was mentioned, he tried getting out through normal channels. He even offered to pay back the cost of his medical training in order to get out. The government is pretty persuasive when it thinks it wants you to do something for it no matter how bad the deal turns out for you.

It's not the sort of job where you can just quit when you feel like it - there are some pretty severe penalties - unless you can get a shrink to testify that you are about to go off the deep end. Where does a shrink go to get that kind of opinion? Since he himself is a shrink - who would believe he wasn't just faking it to get out - since he knows all the buzzwords and trigger phrases that might add up to a discharge? Hearing his "fellow" doctors speak of him, it sounds more like they avoided each other as much as possible.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 39 (view)
 
Freegans ond others
Posted: 11/8/2009 4:08:03 PM
Newsflash....It's already got a name. It's called DUMPSTER-DIVING. Giving it a new name won't make it any less disgusting or risky. Do you honestly think the garbage company comes along every day and washes then sanitizes their dumpsters? This is where cats go to get sick.

How many homeless have already been by shortly after taking a dump around the corner, then rummaging through what these folks consider "treasure"? Yeah, it looks fine. So do STD-infected hookers. Doesn't mean there's nothing wrong with them. What happens when you pull out a perfectly fine-looking cake because you didn't know it had beeen exposed to toxic chemicals? By all means, have a feast.

What's next? Dipping "cycled" corn kernels out of the toilet because some of them are obviously still unused? Hey! You can wash them off and boil them into tonight's stew...and just spit out any germs later.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 97 (view)
 
Fort Hood shooting - What are the questions? What are the answers?
Posted: 11/8/2009 3:39:37 PM

She attended church so she would not suffer the consequences of them eventually finding out she was non-religious. She said she would just go sit in the back and act like she's praying when they do and don't get involved in any of the extra activities and you can get by without having any problems. So she can't be true to herself and has to keep watching over her shoulder.


That's just downright sad. Sounds like a scene right out of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". As far as your last line - for some people and organizations, sadly, appearances really are everything.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 16 (view)
 
Sgt. Kimberly Denise Munley - A true American hero
Posted: 11/8/2009 7:29:40 AM
Here's an excerpt from a REAL, old-style reporter. One who gets actual news instead of still parroting 2-day old, erroneous info as in other "fresh" reports this morning:


According to Chuck Medley, civilian director of police and firefighters at a base that houses more than 50,000 soldiers and their families, the first 911 call came to dispatchers at 1:23 p.m. A radio call and computerized alert went out to Kimberly Munley, 35, a civilian policewoman who was having her cruiser serviced by mechanics nearby. Within four minutes, Medley and Grimsley said, the female officer had exchanged gun blasts with Hasan, saving the life of at least one soldier but getting seriously wounded herself.

"By her engaging (Hasan)," Medley said, "he turned away from him and began engaging her" — a decision the deputy commander of III Corps believes was "critical" to saving the soldier and possibly many others.

According to Medley, Munley had peeked around a small building, realized that the "situation was critical" and "fired at the suspect," missing the suspected gunman but forcing him to stop, pivot and fire at her "several times."

"Then he began to charge her, and she continued to engage him," said Medley.

Hasan and Munley stood at very close range, shooting at each other. Medley said Hasan's shots struck the officer in the hand and wrist. She fell back, Medley said, "and she continued to engage him" from the ground.

From a nearby knoll, civilian policeman Mark Todd rushed to her rescue and fired at Hasan. While investigators still haven't said which gun fired the bullets that wounded Hasan, both Medley and Grimsley said the alleged gunman went down with "a significant number of wounds."


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/health/s_652150.html

The story also discusses friendly fire and the fact, despite what others are reporting as definitive findings, that aspect of the investigation is still on-going and nothing is closed yet. It's just a great report, without all the political fluff I'm seeing in many others.

From another story, Munley was shot in one thigh, the bullet went through and into her other leg as well, in addition to being shot in the arm/wrist.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 62 (view)
 
Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/8/2009 6:57:41 AM

Notice that I used the correct (by media and most of the general publics standards) terms of "clips" and "bullets".


Lol...clips. I always like that one.

For those that don't know, a "clip" is what the cartridges are affixed to in order to keep them organized in the shipping box. Each case of ammunition for military use included a few clip strippers along with the 20-round cartons of ammunition. The strippers attach to an empty magazine. The full clip fits into the top of the stripper. You push downward in one motion and shove all the cartridges off the "clip", through the stripper and into the MAGAZINE. The clip is now trash. You load 20 rounds in the time it takes to load one individually. Then you insert the magazine into the weapon or an ammo pouch or magazine can. At least that's what my old U.S. Army training sergeants taught us as the correct terminology in ROTC. They could have been wrong, I suppose.

There used to be other clips for the old M-1's from WWII and before. The entire clip ("all" 8 rounds!) went into the rifle - but still went into the magazine. When you ran out of ammo, the clip was automatically ejected out with a metallic "cling!" and you shoved another one in. It would close automatically as you did so, often biting your thumb. Magazines are much friendlier to hands than clips.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 87 (view)
 
Fort Hood shooting - What are the questions? What are the answers?
Posted: 11/8/2009 6:23:35 AM

So far this year, 117 soldiers on active duty were reported to have committed suicide. The Army has only 408 psychiatrists — military, civilian and contractors — serving about 553,000 active-duty troops around the world. As a result, some soldiers home from war, suffering from nightmares and panic attacks, say they have waited almost a year to see a psychiatrist.


In other words, aside from the fancy, expensive toys, things really are little better than they were 35 years ago. No wonder Hasan was trying to get out, instead finding himself being sent into the combat theater. It sounded to me from earlier stories that he tried to seek help. At the very least - what the hell were all his fellow mili-shrinks thinking when they heard him say strange stuff? Seems they just turned and walked away.

I thought we were supposed to be giving our returning military the very best care money could buy? 35-40 years from now all of these folks will be complaining about what a crappy system the VA is, how their complaints were ignored, broken promises, etc... Provided they survive. We really haven't learned a damned thing. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 11 (view)
 
Sgt. Kimberly Denise Munley - A true American hero
Posted: 11/7/2009 8:06:16 PM
For sure anyone running toward an armed suspect should be considered heroic. I also read late last night that the suspect was shot four times and was shot at least twice by Munley, which also led me to ask - who else helped?

There were a lot of heroic acts in this incident. The media likes to zero in on THE hero of any incident and they forget about all the other tiny and not-so-tiny acts that added up. For instance, the woman who bodily carried her shot friend out of the area to safety, only to find out after doing so that she herself had been shot in the hip? I think there was more than a single hero in this case.

Then, too, there were several reports very soon after the incident that some of the victims MAY have been hit by "friendly fire". If that is the case, then that should also be investigated and disclosed. Why did the casualty rate go from 38 wounded and 12 killed into late last night, to 30 wounded (and 13 dead) "by the suspect" this morning? Were there 7-8 others who weren't shot by him?

I'm still curious about the two "accomplices" who were taken into custody for several hours and then released with no further word. There were reports of gunfire in another part of the base, although by then the suspect was already down. Who was doing that shooting and who might have gotten shot? An hour and a half after the 4-minute spree, a reported on camera was interrupted by another emergency siren warning people to take cover.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 47 (view)
 
Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/7/2009 11:22:38 AM
It's also very easy to never be without an unloaded weapon - just don't shoot until the slide locks back...When you know you're low, you swap in a new mag. That's what I practiced on the combat range. You still have one in the chamber and if you're really smart, have selected a weapon with no mag safety. You effectively have an unending magazine, provided you brought along enough of them.

I practiced the same type of technique with my 870 with 8-round magazine. Any lull in the shooting, you're stuffing shells back into the mag, so the gun's always as full as possible. I do the exact same thing with a 3-round Mossberg so that it's always a 4-round Mossberg.

The thing about the round and gun this guy was using - a 5.7mm FN (Five-seven, probably), the round is small - 28 or 40 grains, but it's doing almost 2,000 fps. That's 330-340 foot-lbs of energy each. Compared to a standard 9mm at 12-1400 fps, 115-140 grains (310-475 foot-lbs each). What it means is that this thing can zip through you like butter and just as likely zip into or through another person near you as well, unless it hits one of your bones and continues ricocheting inside of you. Earliest commercial loads were discontinued because they were penetrating Level IIA vests in testing.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 54 (view)
 
Fort Hood shooting - What are the questions? What are the answers?
Posted: 11/7/2009 10:47:03 AM
Early on - as in an hour and a half to two hours after the incident, one of the reports indicated a witness saying he raised his gun into the air and yelled "Praise Obama!" then leveled it and began firing. Others say he yelled "Allahu Akhbar" before firing. Big difference between the two phrases. I supposed it's possible and even likely he could have said both - even at different times and locations before resuming fire. Of course some "witnesses" claim he simply stood up and began firing without saying a thing. Notably at least one medic who treated one of the first victims, but was nowhere in the vicinity of the shootings. With "witnesses" like that, you'll never really find out what happened, why or how.

That first report was only up for an hour at most before it simply disappeared. At the time it was online, it had the latest information and it was quoting an eyewitness to the shootings.

So the shooter's in a coma but expected to live, although paralyzed. Eventually, we should just be able to ask him why he did it. He'd been getting flack from all around him over ihs religion and personal beliefs. I don't know that it makes what he did a Jihad, any more than McVeigh's adventure was a Christian crusade. Just some guy who didn't believe the same thing as others around him and was ridiculed constantly over it on top of dealing with the problems of returning Gulf vets as a psychiatrist. He'd been trying to leave the military for a while - even going so far as offering to pay for the medical training he received, but they refused to give him a discharge.

So he went off the deep end, as others do as well. There are many parallel precedents, including ones connected with Iran and Afghanistan. That doesn't make this a "terrorist act" unless his specific intent was to cause terror in support of his message - whatever that might be, if any. Some folks simply just go off the deep end when pushed to the edge.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 2 (view)
 
Best ISP?
Posted: 11/6/2009 7:53:30 PM
Depends on who you were with and what you were paying versus the normal rate. Every single one of the sucker deals I've seen have the normal rate in fine print plainly in sight.
I pay about $40 a month for 7-megabit truly unlimited DSL through Qwest, plus am then also able to access any of the AT&T/Qwest wifi hotspots in the country.

Qwest hasn't always been the best, but they've gotten much better than they used to be.

I would much prefer a wireless broadband national coverage but not willing to pay $79-$99 a month for that, then be restricted in bandwidth per month and extra charges for excess use. If you have a cellphone company see if they provide coverage and for how much in addition to your cell charges. Use caution, some carriers may claim and advertise "unlimited" Internet usage, but again plainly state a 5 GB per month or similar limit, then charge more for overage...another $10 per gb or so.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 30 (view)
 
Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 7:21:32 PM

Agree with this. Not easy, but surely better than arming the population to fend off the result.


There's a significant difference between NOT arming a population to fend off violence (so if you're unarmed, the violent offenders will bypass you??), and disarming a population on the mere theory that it will reduce violence. This completely ignores the all-important social factors in any particular country or society. If violence is already a growing concern, how will keeping otherwise law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves reduce that violence? In short - it won't.

The old truism holds: When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns...Further, they'll know that the average victim likely will not have a gun and be subject to much easier pickings, as has happened elsewhere with civilian disarmament. Until you deal with the outlaws, violence will only continue to grow, regardless of an armed versus unarmed population. Violent crimes are, by definition, committed by criminals.



Old timers, did we ever have that much pressure to keep up with the Joneses before?


Yes, we did. From the very first ads, it was always aimed at keeping up with the Joneses, or at the very least - "Look at what I can do that you can't.". We just didn't have so many people believing in getting rich quick without working hard for it, nor as many suckers who will believe whatever they see in the media as the gospel truth. People were a lot more focused on doing their jobs and doing them well, only giving time to such nonsense when everything else in their lives was taken care of. Today, it's the exact opposite for most. Their jobs are just the stepping stone to winning the lottery or finding out they have an unknown billionaire uncle.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 79 (view)
 
Guns a right but healthcare a privelage?
Posted: 11/6/2009 7:03:46 PM
European countries that boomed post war much like the U.S., are now seeing a marked increase in retiring baby boomers. Take Germany, the largest EU economy:

Between 1970 and 2003, the numbers of retired and unemployed in Western Germany were up by 80% to 16.3 million, while workers to replace and support them rose by only 4% to 30.7 million. By the end of 2003, more than 50% of Germany's unemployed had been without a job for a year or more, compared to 6% of the same in the U.S. Societal spending (welfare) has grown to 30% of GDP - more than twice that of the U.S. So payroll and employment taxes are high. (Info Source: The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2003)

While these numbers are a few years old, they aren't all that old and I don't believe things got significantly better in the past few years. The government was looking at reducing entitled vacation time from 30 days per year for all. Hours of work were being cut. The government is forcing recipients to dispose of "luxuries" such as a basic automobile in order to continue receiving unemployment. Their basic message to citizens: "It's time to get off the dole and get back to work - any work."

I'm not quite sure where Germany currently stands on health care coverage - how wide the coverage is and to what extent it may be subsidized (measured health care or unlimited?). I know their goal was cradle-to-grave. But one thing is for sure: They were already hurting badly in 2003. The rest of the world was coming out of a slowdown with slow but positive growth, while Germany was just entering a recession. (Source: World Economic and Social Survey 2003).

At present, Germany had four consecutive losing quarters in 2008-2009, with the first quarter of 2009 dropping 3.5% - the largest ever. By the end of July, it had finally climbed out of the negative after a year, to a meager 0.3% growth rate again. Whether, as in the U.S., this small improvement was a reflection of national stimulus plans or not, remains to be seen.


... Would you say that Germany has socialized medical care?

No, it's not a socialized system, because you can pick your insurance, public or private. Many people can even opt [out], and the sickness funds compete for members. You have free hospital or physician choice; there are very few limits on choice in the system. ... In a socialized system, everything is planned; in Germany, basically everything is open for nonprofit competition.
- Prof. Karl Lauterbach,
Health economist and member of German parliament
(Source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/themes/socialized.html)

This German politician and health expert himself says Germany does NOT have socialized healthcare, but non-profit health care.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 21 (view)
 
ok,,its gone too far...welfare cell phones?
Posted: 11/6/2009 6:20:46 PM
Our welfare system has become just another lifestyle. It's more lavish now than it has ever been. Why not cellphones? They're given everything else. Isn't that what many seem to be advocating? No adult left behind?

When they switched to plastic for food stamps here, one of the primary reasons given was so that recipients could escape the stigma of being a welfare recipient and pretend they were swiping a credit card like everyone else. This way, they could be PROUD to be "food stamp" recipients.

But I'll go you one better. If you're on Section 8 housing, the government will now buy you a house of your own. That's right...you read that correctly. They'll put up the down payment and closing costs for you. What's even better, if you can't make the full mortgage payment using your existing housing allowance and (if any) your portion of your housing payment, the government will then subsidize your mortgage payment. Presumably at some point, you will get off the dole and begin to earn your own money to pay for "your" house. But - why should you? Meanwhile others who work hard and pay taxes their entire lives are relegated to eventually die in some beat apartment.

Each time you add another such benefit, you provide one more reason for not going out and trying to earn one's own way. Much more to come.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 27 (view)
 
Recent string of shooting rampages
Posted: 11/6/2009 6:09:38 PM

In pretty much all European countries people live very closely together, far more so than in the US, yet you do no see similar type of incidents to any comparable extent. So, I don't believe it has to do with 'too many people crammed in too small a space.'


Europe has its own set of problems unique to Europe. Instead, you see other types of events - like subway bombings, socialized racism, rampant unemployment, a failing social system (take Germany, for instance - where if you want to continue to receive unemployment, you are required to pack your stuff and move to wherever they tell you to - or your entitlement is withheld) and the like.

Each system has its weak and strong points, and all for reasons specific to the country, the conditions and the people and political system. The audacity of progressive systems is the assumption that you can take ONLY the positive from all other systems and somehow bypass all the negatives to live in nirvana. As far as I can tell, that's never been achieved for more than a decade or two.

I also agree from previous posts that while mass casualty incidents in the United States are widely publicized, they pale in comparison with what happens elsewhere, even as close as a few feet from the southern U.S. border. As economic conditions deteriorate and the standard of living drops here, you can expect to see more and more discontent and people acting out as they reach the ends of their individual ropes. This often happens when rats overpopulate a cage from which there is no other escape. Some will try to blame it all on a gun control issue, but if it's not guns, it'll be knives or bombs, if not that, then it'll be (as has happened) using motor vehicles to mow down scores of people, or mass poisonings, etc...

If someone wants to eliminate large numbers of people, they'll figure out ways to do it and short of locking down the whole country, there's not much anyone can do to stop them if they're determined enough. Instead, maybe we should be looking at the societal triggers that precipitate such events.

Simply - how people treat each other. In that sense, humans haven't truly evolved much further in the past few thousand years.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 32 (view)
 
Obama drops the ball...again.
Posted: 11/6/2009 5:42:47 PM

I think we're all forgetting what the real issue is that he's black....sort of. And a muslim...a racist, a socialist, and I'm pretty sure he's from the planet Fruntog.


You know...I think far fewer people than Obama's staunch supporters truly believe, even consider these factors when they're examining the actions instead. Until and unless someone brings it up claiming these are the real reasons people don't like him...as an excuse for the real reasons - they don't agree with his policies. Plain and simple. When you are elected to lead a number of people where the majority don't agree with your policies, dissent is always going to happen. Most of the 20-something supporters during the election could care less that he's President now because they haven't seen the instant gratification they thought they were going to get.

To continually allege it's merely because of his skin color, religion, etc., is to imply folks are just that stupid that these are all they base their own opinions upon. Simplistic. Far too simplistic...and missing the point altogether.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 48 (view)
 
Should the President render salutes to military personnel ?
Posted: 11/6/2009 5:10:55 AM

Reagan was the first President who hadn't actually served (he was an anti-War demonstrator during WW1) since...

If you'd actually read the sentence - he was the first that hadn't served since Hoover or Coolidge (I think Hoover). And yes, or no depending - Reagan never served in the military. He was of age during WW1, but demonstrated instead...


Sorry, I cannot let these two statements pass without pointing something out:

1) Reagan was born in February of 1911.

2) World War I took place between 1914 and 1918.

Since he was 3-7 years old, obviously he was NOT of age as claimed, and if he was actually able to comprehend what an anti-war demonstrator was, much less a war, he must have been very advanced for his age. To add to that the claim he did not serve in the military is even more ridiculous and obviously from a seriously flawed information source. I'd ALWAYS heard that he served as a Captain in the Army Air Corps - the precursor to the Air Force.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 8 (view)
 
One week from yesterday, the DC Sniper is to be executed.
Posted: 11/4/2009 3:12:04 PM
This is why we have to teach out police NOT to run around yelling, "Stop! Police! Drop it!", since NONE of this is required. Police already have the right and duty to stop someone who is in the process of committing a felony, without any warning or "breaks" whatsoever. As long as the culprit is holding a weapon, has committed a felony (not "allegedly", but in actuality because you just saw him do so with your own eyes) and if allowed to walk away, will likely commit it again, you shoot him. Period. No warning, no warning shots - that's a TV / movie myth. Think about it - when SWAT snipers take a guy out, you don't hear them yelling "Last Chance! Drop or I'll shoot you in the head, please!"...They aim, and shoot to stop. Stop dead.

We just need to teach our police to shoot to kill, if they're going to shoot at all...not just shoot to stop.

Maybe then we'd see fewer and fewer 7 year-long death sentences.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 89 (view)
 
H1N1 has mutated. We're screwed now!
Posted: 11/4/2009 2:59:33 PM

My sister has contracted the H1N1 virus. She says it's like the regular flu except your body aches really bad. She says it feels like someone beat her up with a baseball bat.


That's exactly how I was feeling back in June...I described it as feeling like having been beaten with a baseball bat all over. Luckily that part lasted maybe 4-5 days at most. The sluggishness lasted far longer. (Though it could have just been baseline sluggishness all along!)
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 32 (view)
 
Moon landing tapes?
Posted: 11/4/2009 2:55:28 PM
More fresh follow up from Monday on this general subject...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6485215/Nasa-to-irradiate-monkeys-to-study-effects-of-long-space-trips-on-humans.html

I especially like this part:


"The beauty of this is that we can assess at different time points after exposure, so not only do we get a sense of rather immediate effects, but then we can look again at longer time points.

"That kind of information just hasn't been available."

After the radiation exposure, the monkeys can look forward to a lifetime of being looked after by staff and veterinarians at McLean Hospital.


A rather shorter lifetime, I would guess. They make it sound like they'll be living in the lap of luxury for decades rather than squirming from the effects of high dosage, long-term radiation not to mention ongoing biopsies the rest of their lives.

We can't take lead shielding with us because it's far too heavy. Any shielding would have to be dynamic, instant and wide-spectrum, equivalent to natural planetary, which means it hasn't been invented yet. If it were, the size and expense of it would only be justified by a very large ship and fairly small crew. Even then, it wouldn't be any great surprise to pry open the tin can at the end of it and find 9 dead bodies in it.

I hear monkey brains are a delicacy anyway...
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 6 (view)
 
V.....Y?
Posted: 11/4/2009 2:07:45 AM
From what I've read of the new series, it's all good. It might wake some people up to what's going on around them...minus the aliens.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 81 (view)
 
H1N1 has mutated. We're screwed now!
Posted: 11/1/2009 12:27:06 PM

In 1918, it was the able-bodied that got hit hardest, in many ways because they were the ones most out and mingling. And there have been indications that this flu has been worse than the seasonal flu.


Well, it was the able-bodied who are thought to have caused the rapid spread of the 1917-1919 virus. After all, there was a war on with hundreds of thousands of troops being moved in and out of battle theaters constantly. But that's not the reason they got hit the hardest. Based upon the symtpoms and effects of that flu, it's more commonly believed to have been the "cytokine storm" effect produced by their own bodies that killed them. Some described the symptoms as similar to hemorrhagic fevers...bleeding from eyes, ears, pustules formed on the skin - all a result of over-reaction from their own immune systems. Interestingly, there are strong reasons to believe the "1918 Spanish Flu" originally mutated in Kansas, just as I believe the "2009 Mexican Flu" may originally have mutated in Washington State before making it down Mexico (not surprising, actually - a common commute for some).

Those systems are not yet fully developed in the very young, and are waning in the very old. Based on the government's very own "statistics" of death caused by the Mexican H1N1 Swine Flu strain versus annual flu, considering death as being "worse" than severe or milder illness, it has NOT been worse than annual flu.

What do you base this claim upon?

Annasthasia:

Great info! And just to let you know, regarding letting nature take it's course in thinning out the "herd", you are far from alone in that feeling and for a variety of reasons. The less-healthy will harbor diseases that the healthier would eliminate and the sickly then become the walking laboratories that allow otherwise common varieties of diseases to mutate into deadlier forms. Then they pass that on to the unprotected healthy, and drop dead. Whereas if they had simply dropped dead earlier (or at least taken all their medication the way they were instructed), the new form would never have evolved.
Look at all the antibiotic-resistant diseases coming up from Mexico and along our Southern borders today. As illegals migrate across the country and even into Canada, these deadlier strains of disease follow along with them. Diseases we though we had eradicated in the 20th century are now back with a vengeance and the population has little to no immunity fro any of those either.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 10 (view)
 
Hoping to find someone who has been through this
Posted: 10/31/2009 7:35:16 PM
At least he was 10 at the time so he should know his birthname, former addresses, what his mother looks like, etc.. She should post a picture of herself at the time of adoption and all the pertinent info she can recall. If she had an agreement with the new parents, she should also know their names, right?

If he wants to search, he'll do so.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 15 (view)
 
Official disclosure of alien life is here...
Posted: 10/31/2009 4:17:02 PM
I still would be highly suspicious of ANY aliens who consciously chose this world to visit, of all other possibilities. Any sane aliens would have avoided this planet like the plague.
If they're here, it's probably because they need to replenish their supply of soylent with some substandard base material as they continue the search for true intelligent life.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 26 (view)
 
We need to standardize how calendar dates are written
Posted: 10/30/2009 3:45:34 PM
I think the main reason much of Europe says it the way they do, has to do with how Romance languages are structured in the first place.

We say for instance, "World Health Organization", but in French it's "Organization Mondiale de la Santé", and in Spanish, it's "Organizatión Mundial de la Salud". To us, that looks like "Organization World-wide of the Health", so should we change what we call that, too and say everything else backwards? Maybe that's why it takes so much longer to say the same thing in some languages. Allies of theirs simply gave up and switched to saying it their way to avoid mix-ups and misunderstandings.

As for military, well - what do you expect of an organization that names and labels everything like this:
"Meal, Individual, Ready-to-Eat"
"Fork, Dinner, Stainless Steel"

When I think back, I don't believe the U.S. military began using their current dating system until we began to work closely with Europe during wars. I don't recall old U.S. revolutionary, civil war, etc. memoirs being written using the Date-Month-Year style.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 21 (view)
 
Dogs Have a Bigger Environmental Impact Then SUV's CarbonWise!
Posted: 10/30/2009 7:50:33 AM

There are similar studies about the impact that MAN has had on our environment. Should we get rid of MAN, or turn them into foods?


Maybe we should! Don't forget soylent...Green was the best! "It's....PEOPLE!"

A hectare is just under 2.5 acres. A good corn harvest can yield 150-160 bushels per acre. A bushel of shelled corn is 56 pounds. 155 * 56 * 2.5 = 21, 700 pounds of corn. At 23 calories per ounce, that's 7,985,600 calories, or 21,878 calories per day - enough for 10 humans for a year. Want a varied diet? It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef. Let's feed that dog TWO POUNDS of prime beef per day. That costs 11,680 pounds of corn. 730 pounds of meat is about what you get from a 1,400-pound bovine. That still leaves 10,020 pounds of corn, meaning your dog can have his two pounds of meat plus another 27.5 pounds of corn each and every day. That's one giant, fat dog! But, I think there are other serious flaws in their "figgerin":

Every time I look at a bag or can of pet food, I notice the vast majority of it contains beef, pork and/or chicken "by-products", or "fish meal". These are all technically "meat" but the kinds of meat humans usually eat around. Look for where it says "crude protein". If these weren't fed to pets, it'd end up as garbage which would be even more of a waste. Cereals, miscellaneous carbs and the like are still among the cheapest to produce foods out there. That's why the majority of your fast food meals are nothing but carbs (along with oils, fats and sugars). Pet food is still pretty cheap compared to human food because it's mostly cereals and reclaimed by-products of human food production rather than in addition to it. Taking what would be waste and turning it into marketable product is very profitable.

That means the 11,680 pounds of corn we penalized the dog for was overpriced. We eat the prime stuff, they eat the ears, guts, eyeballs, nostrils, cheeks, tongues and lips, gonads and other unwanted delicacies plus a good amount of the bones as bonemeal. In fact, their cost for these meat by-products is essentialy zero, because we wouldn't eat it ourselves. It still costs the same to raise it for the good meat along with the "crude protein". So now we're back to that monster german shepherd eating his 59.5 pounds of corn EVERY DAY as the author claims. I'd sure like to see this dog they describe! An overfed dog might consume about 1/6th acre worth of grains (1,500 lbs wet/750 lbs. dry) in addition to his "free" meat by-products in a year.

You could turn that corn into ethanol instead, which would have the energy equivalent of 554 gallons of gasoline, less the substantial additional energy it took to distill it and process it into final form. It takes the equivalent of about a gallon of gas or diesel to produce a little more than 1.5 gallons of ethanol. Unfortunately, it takes almost 1.5 gallons of ethanol to do the same work as a gallon of gasoline. This little inconvenient fact somewhat doomed the much ballyhooed ethanol speculation boom. Ignoring that additional energy cost, you might get 12-13000 miles for the year from it. It can be massaged whichever way people want it to read, but I highly doubt a pet eats more than it takes to power an SUV unless your pet is a 3,500-pound steer or something along those lines.

This author is taking his readers along for a fantasy (or chump) ride.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 65 (view)
 
H1N1 has mutated. We're screwed now!
Posted: 10/30/2009 6:02:16 AM

There is a "risk-benefit" ratio with everything and the protection against complications and deaths, especially for high risk groups, far outweighs the risks. People are making judgements based upon anecdotal evidence and "pseudo-science".


Maybe. Maybe not. Just because you don't know anyone who suffered complications by vaccines rushed into production under government pressure, doesn't mean they don't exist. My best friend developed GBS after he got his flu shot back in the 1970s. We missed his company for 6 months before he finally told us where he went. He was too ashamed of the side of his face sagging uncontrollably to go out. Not that his left side being mostly paralyzed would have made doing so too ejoyable for him.

If the University of Tulsa Gulf War Syndrome studies were so flawed, why did the U.S. government try to counter it with three studies of its own, only to have one of their own flawed and the other seriously modified, finally finding what they claimed wasn't there? Who is practicing the real pseudo-science? The third was no more than statistical research using different criteria than the Tulsa study, in a manner obviously designed to counter it directly but without mention.

People typically won't know of any complications of this rushed vaccine for months down the road and perhaps even longer. It makes me wonder - vaccine production is a fairly straightforward process. There are only a couple of reasons that the expected 120 million doses suddenly dwindled to 26 million. The first is that the virus is slow to reproduce (meaning it is NOT highly virulent). That IS a characteristic of this virus - it takes twice as long for it to reproduce than normal flu virus. But researchers were aware of that fact at least 3-4 months ago, so it's doubtful that is the real reason. The other possibilities are that there was some flaw in early production batches, or they found something in a bunch of it before distribution that we aren't being told about, so a bunch of it had to be disposed of. Manufacturers and government agencies were promising everything would be ready to go by October - as recently as the end of August. By then production would already have been well underway. Something happened between then and now.

The most plausible explanation, as hinted by Sebelius' press conference a few days ago - is that there WERE complications with a large portion of the vaccines and so there's now a shortage of it. Astrazeneca who produces FluMist predicted this might happen with other manufacturers months before, and so pushed their production to fullest possible capacity. A few weeks back, they were given an additional order from the government for another 20 million doses. Sebelius and her crew and their bosses just aren't telling you the whole story.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 12 (view)
 
smell me
Posted: 10/30/2009 4:15:47 AM

Just out of curiosity, what makes you think that the women the pheromones attract will be decent looking?


Ha-ha!! That's exactly what I was thinking as I read through this. On women, there are very few "smelly products" that really attracted me. One had a name having to do with the ocean or beach (no, it wasn't Kramer's beach-smelling cologne), and the other one had a smell like citrus and spice, but not overpowering. Most others just make me itch and not in a good way.

Oh! There was one other one - one of Liz Taylor's. I was told it was White Diamonds and Sapphires, but all I see is Diamonds and Sapphires or White Diamonds. Don't know if they changed the name or the woman mixed up the names or she mixed the two or what. At any rate, neither smelled the same by itself, together or on anyone else, so it was probably the way it reacted with that particular woman's chemistry.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 22 (view)
 
We need to standardize how calendar dates are written
Posted: 10/30/2009 3:49:59 AM
Okay, so since the year is the most significant number, why isn't it 2009, October, 30, or 2009-10-30? That would be even more logical. When we say the time of day, we don't say 15'32'04 for 15 (seconds), 32 (minutes) THEN 4 (hours), right? We say 04'32'15.
(Just imagine a colon where the ' are above - POF's system keeps putting meaningless smilies in there.)


That's how strange it seems to say 30 October, 2009. It's bass-ackwards of everything else we do regarding numbers. The date dilemna (yeah, that's how I still spell that word, even though the Internet says that's wrong now) is typical of the ways humans can screw up almost anything.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 10 (view)
 
chronic fatigue
Posted: 10/29/2009 1:23:33 AM
Yeah, it wasn't all that long ago that people were saying fibromyalgia was all in the mind. People who knew it all, supposedly. I wouldn't knock or discount either one unless you've had it.

I'm not saying depression or mental state has nothing to do with it - after all the mind and body are intimately entwined. However, when the way you feel physically keeps you from enjoying things you used to, or prevents you from doing things you want or need to, it's certainly no picnic and doesn't make you feel any better. That just makes it even worse.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 47 (view)
 
H1N1 has mutated. We're screwed now!
Posted: 10/29/2009 1:13:34 AM
Okay, so Bush activated troops to react to such emergencies within U.S. borders months before he left office. Subsequently, authorities practiced military response to civil disturbances caused by a shortage of vaccine...again months before the announcement of the current strain of swine flu. The sitting adminstration multiplied the number of troops to supplement Bush's original number, and did so not long after the announcement of this swine flu.

After promising there'd be plenty of vaccine available, suddenly the administration announces a shortage of vaccine - on the order of 85% LESS than was promised all along.

Quite the number of "coincidences". And currently, the media keeps announcing vaccine locations, prompting hundreds and often thousands of people lining up for hours before, with many of them inevitably disappointed and expressing outrage, disgust and fear on the evening news as a result.

Can you say "set-up"? Frankly, I see little difference between the way Bush and Obama operate. They both declare unsubstantiated crises and act on them in ways that just don't make sense, against the advice of seasoned experts, and are inevitably proven wrong.

Still, no mention at all that the first directly DNA-related cases of this swine flu were not from Mexico, but a case from Washington State and one from Nicaragua - First in October 2008 and the next in January of 2009. Months before any Mexicans near the pig farm even became ill. No mention whatsoever.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 6 (view)
 
Why I won't watch HEROS Anymore...!
Posted: 10/29/2009 12:56:11 AM
Can't watch Hulu for free after the first of the year. They're going to start charging as well. They still haven't decided how much or how they'll transmit payment.

Bandwidth doesn't cost very much, but with advertisers not seeing returns on their ad dollars (freeloaders on the 'net - what else should they have expected?), they're pulling out, leaving the broadcaster to shoulder all of the costs. Just typical Internet monkey business (where everything is "free" or it loses popularity).

Even so, after watching all of last season's episodes and a variety of previous ones to get the gist, I lost interest in that show. Meanwhile, the major networks all seem to have jumped on Hulu's type of service anyway, as was mentioned - might start there.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 15 (view)
 
We need to standardize how calendar dates are written
Posted: 10/29/2009 12:47:15 AM
How about simply: "October 29, 2009"?

Next thing you know the U.N. will mandate all dates be stated as "Stardate 0467120.542" and someone will still manage to screw it up anyway.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 62 (view)
 
Law of Attraction, aka The Secret
Posted: 10/28/2009 8:28:33 AM

^^^ I think your thinking about Scientology.. they do lock you in a room and if you are with a friend they will separate you, deny you food and water an washroom breaks. It happened to a friends of mine who just wanted a tour of their facilities.


Nope, not Scientology. Them I know all about - their "church" was in the middle of my beat and I regularly had to accompany distraught parents, spouses, friends to confront the hucksters and try go get their loved one out of there after being sent thousands of dollars claimed to be for other things like nonexistent emergency operations and the like. They even tried to recruit me each time I went to retrieve someone.

Though this particular guy sure seems to have operated very much in the same manner.
Yeah, here it is...James Arthur Ray - I guess he even appeared in the movie "The Secret" and all his stuff is based upon it. Law of Attraction, etc. Dozens of people sat in an overcrowded makeshift sweat lodge and were baking to death because they thought this ignoramus knew something life that they didn't. To the tune of thousands of dollars apiece.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/27/crimesider/entry5425826.shtml

It says blog, but it's obviously written by a journalist - lots of related links in this ongoing case there. If that isn't enough, just do a search for "James Arthur Ray sweat lodge deaths".
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 40 (view)
 
H1N1 has mutated. We're screwed now!
Posted: 10/28/2009 8:09:04 AM
I'll bet the government is wishing now they hadn't made such a wild-assed guess when they came up with the number of "people who die from flu anually". In truth, they took statistics from two non-consecutive flu seasons added them together and cut the number in half to come up with the "annual" statistics from flu deaths. They've been bandying the same tired, flawed data for years now. Last I heard, there were 1,000 deaths attributed to the Mexican H1N1 Swine flu. Even then, you have to wonder. People automatically assume "H1N1" all refers to this one variety. At any given time, there are at least several different strains of H1N1 being spread throughout the world.

This chicken little concocted emergency that's been declared - why isn't one declared every single flu season when the government and other sources claim somewhere between 15,000, to 21,000 to 36,000 to 67,000 AMERICANS die each year from the flu and its complications each and every year. This "State of Emergency" crap is nothing but another power ploy. This strain never diminished over summer as authorities predicted, if you believe the news media. To hear them tell it, EVERY SINGLE CASE OF FLU is assumed to be Mexican H1N1 Swine Flu. Every version and report of H1N1, they assume to be the same thing as well.

It's just being tracked so much more relentlessly than any flu previously. What about the 14,000-20,000-35,000-66,000 Americans who have died in the past 7 months, or will die in the next 5, from seasonal "normal" flu and complications? You hear not a peep.

Lame. Beyond lame. We've had millions of people infected with this stuff. Thousands should have died already. They didn't.
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 27 (view)
 
Political Leaning/Allegiance?
Posted: 10/24/2009 2:38:24 PM

That the questions didn't "please" some ~? that's life at work ~ Life don't always offer us pleasing options does it ?


Especially when the questions are so obviously transparent and rigged. That's not "life at work"...that's someone's idea of a baised agenda. Maybe if they tried asking the questions from a more neutral standpoint, they'd get more accurate results, or participants, even.

Okay, here's the site I went to about 4 years ago. If it's still the same format, they actually give you background on each question and the implications of each of your answers. You can save your results or just take it and view them:

Your political philosophy (I think this one is comparable to the one under discussion):
http://www.ontheissues.org/quizeng/XPolitics/start.asp

How you compare to the parties:
http://quiz.ontheissues.org/PartyMatch/start.asp

Here's their master page with a few other related quizzes:
http://quiz.ontheissues.org/Quiz.htm
 wantasmart1
Joined: 8/18/2008
Msg: 54 (view)
 
Businesses Asking for Tips.
Posted: 10/24/2009 2:32:09 PM

Waiters don't need you one bit if you don't tip. You end up COSTING us money because we pay taxes on that food you eat. We really don't have a need to wait on people who don't tip as it's just annoying and gets expensive for us, costing us money.


I'll remember this attitude the next time I go out to eat at a "tipping" place. The way this is written, you'd think the waiter/waitress is an independent contractor. (Or maybe like this is at some 4-star restaurant, which I doubt.) I've run into servers with this "YOU are here to serve ME!" attitude - never went back again. I don't know of any of those places that are still open. Rightfully so.
 
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