happythoughts

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Posts posted by happythoughts


  1. "There are two kinds of people in this world,
    human beings and women. When women try to behave
    like human beings they are accused of trying to act like men." - Simone de Beavoir

  2. First, CO was not as much an entertainment movie,
    but a commentary on British politics of the day.
    So, a discussion is more at home in Speakers Corner.

    They needed a villain to really polarize opinion and
    produce discussion/outrage. He was a great one.
    No one disputes the excessive violence, etc.

    What follows is how British politics entered the picture.
    The film used caricatures of each party and the central figure as their pawn.

    The right was tormenting the guy. The left used him as
    a tool to attack the right. Putting him on the correct path with care, after all the abuse.

    So, seeing it again won't make it more enjoyable.

    As a parallel to the genre in the US, Easy Rider.
    Drug-taking hippies who ride motorcycles and
    have sex. Destroying the fabric of American society.

    At that time in the US, society was very polarized on
    what seem like non-issues today.

    The riders were shot and killed. People walked out of
    the theater and thought they were right, no matter which
    side of the issues they were on.

    If the point of some art is not entertainment, but to be thought-provoking, then Kubrick succeeded.

  3. landed next to a field that was a nearby persons garden. they gave us a ride all the way to the dz, but refused the offer of a free beer and left immediately. ;)

    also, saw a CRW group at wffc come back from a demo... in the back of a cattle truck. riding in style. :D


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    What I find most disgusting is that there is a large number of people who let their 8 or 9 month old kids suck on the handle of the carts. I use a sanitizing cloth, and STILL hate to touch the thing!
    When Streaker went on to the immunosuppressants that he is on (about 2 years ago) I really started getting more careful about what either of us touches. For instance, the door handle at McDonalds. YUCK!!



    I would sooner suck the McDonald's door handle than eat there.



    The big problem in fast food places is the ice.

    A local girl compared the germ content of the toilet water
    to that of the ice.
    The toilet is routinely disinfected. The ice machine
    is a germ-breeding oasis.

    That cup of ice is a mouthful of disease.

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    Agreed. The glorification of the genocide chronicled in JOSHUA is horrible. If I was in the book banning business it would top my list.



    Yes, there are terrible stories in the bible, you can either abhor them, or look at them as a lesson in what not to do. The bible can interpreted (even twisted) in so many different ways to fit anybody's ideology.



    i don't think that Bible scholars are ok with that concept.

    "in the past, some prophets were wrong" or "Gods order to kill all Baal worshippers was not good."

    true believers know the Bible/Koran/whatever book is right all the time.
    ;)

  6. total compensation.
    soldiers -salary, pension, housing, food, full medical.

    (edited to add - I was primarily referring to the topic - Ohio state employees.
    soldiers are a small segment of the state budget.)

  7. years ago, many of the cost+ monopolies were viewed as non-competitve
    and bloated. their areas were opened to competition and costs dropped.
    big govt is the last dynasty. they need to put their compensation packages
    in line with the private sector.

  8. Quote

    Something very stupid I've heard recently...

    Quote

    "Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open. " Tomas Dewar



    usually this is an implied statement.
    "if you don't agree with me, then you are closed-minded."

    i usually reply, "yes, that is why i considered your position long ago
    and decided it was incorrect."

  9. sex ain't everything, but it is certainly something.

    i know women who never get there. it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. the closer it gets, the more tension builds, and failure.
    constant tension becomes anger.

    guys are more reasonable if they are calmer too.
    if not, after a while, everything is an opportunity to pick a fight,
    soon there won't be any attempt to take time and work things out.

    there are as many types of problems as there are people.
    in 90% of the cases, it always seems to be sex or money.

  10. Quote

    >Unfortunately, no such controls were applied to H1-B visas.

    If we get to the point where the only way inferior US grads can get jobs is that we restrict the ability of better-educated foreigners to get the same jobs, we're doomed anyway. Imagine how competitive a US company composed of "affirmative foreign policy action" US employees will be compared to a Chinese company with better educated, harder working engineers.



    The exact same job. The exact same skill set.

    In the current case, employee jobs in my group were
    recently outsourced to an Indian software consulting company. They were promised 5 year contracts.

    Interestingly enough, this week, they posted an opening
    in our group for a rate at 40% of the employees current rate.

    I suspect the former employees will be losing their jobs
    because of "poor performance" at their first review.

    These are the technical leads with 5+ years of experience
    with the platform and they designed the software product.
    The argument that is always raised is skill sets.
    It has always been bullshit.

    That is why Indian companies, who have contracts, sub-contract to Chinese companies now. The Chinese rate is 60% of the Indian one.

  11. Quote

    People who think what worked for them 10-20 years ago also need to wake up.



    As John McCain told the auto workers, "those jobs aren't coming back." (honest, but political suicide)

    That goes for the electronics in Japan, the textiles in Central America, steel in Pittsburgh, and whatever is next.

    For a while, it was probable that the tanker airplane
    contract was going overseas. (our military dollars enriching overseas builders)

    That is the problem. There is no job that cannot be
    outsourced, and they won't come back.

    There is some theory that the economy will grow from
    jobs creation. What industry are these new jobs coming from ?

    Some autoworker jobs were saved by import quotas.
    Unfortunately, no such controls were applied to H1-B visas.

    I am wondering if any college degree is worth the cost now.

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    The middle class will suffer. The stock market will rise.


    So...drop the class, change your major to Stock Market. Core courses:
    -Market Manipulation 101.
    -Pocketing the Change I
    -Dodging the Bullet
    -How to Screw the Public and get Rich I, II, III, and IV

    I just wish Wikileaks would focus more on this kind of shit here in the U.S. as opposed to the war crap.



    wikileaks is about leaks.
    everyone knows the bailout screwed the taxpayers. no leak necessary.

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    Not a one. She did a complete 180 right before my eyes. Only took three years. I am a complete sucker.



    sometimes people overthink this. they try to identify the point of failure.
    "when this go wrong? what were the signs? how can i be successful in the future?"

    2 + 6 will not always equal 8. sometimes, the 6 changes from 3 to 9 to 4 for no apparent reason.
    this is a big world out there that provides influences and changes.
    sometimes it is just their choice for unrelated reasons.B|

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    About time some of the Wall St. architects of the recession who benefitted greatly from it were in prison, IMO.



    I quoted this the other day, in another thread.
    Quote

    I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. ... You are a den of vipers and thieves.
    —Andrew Jackson in 1834 on closing the Second Bank of the United States.[2]



    Old news.
    So, they make money, they pocket it.
    They lose money, the taxpayers reimburse their losses
    after they have received their exorbitant salaries and bonuses.

    What happened to the day when they jumped from windows?
    No need to. They won't be broke like the rest of us.

    When people talk about a recession, it is a concept of the middle class, not the rich.
    The rich live in the global world and do not care
    which flavor of employees they have. America can drown
    for all they care.

    Right now, in my group, they are outsourcing the employees jobs.
    The middle class will suffer. The stock market will rise.

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    i was at a party this weekend. a married guy said he only gets sex once a month. my thought was, i'll bet she isn't.



    Did you ask him if he puts in the time to make it worthwhile for her, or is she just a way of getting himself off?



    it sounded like both parties had given up on any effort a while back. a two-sided surrender fest.

    i always tell people to do one thing.
    pull out the photo album. look at the pictures where you
    are smiling and ask yourself, "when did we do that last?".

    the idea is to re-discover the times that were happy.
    people end up being too responsible and too un-fun.
    i haven't figured out why.

    a bad sex life isn't that hard to fix at all, it is the mindset leading into it that has taken the beating.

    i cringe every time i read another "if i was only married,
    i would be eternally blissfully happy" thread.
    marriage can be a value-added, but not a solution.

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    i was at a party this weekend. a married guy said he only gets sex once a month. my thought was, i'll bet she isn't.


    That's just sad....when a woman uses sex as a wepon.....it's just sad.



    i'm not assuming motives. i'm saying fix it or go.
    that's no way to live.