weekender

and WTF does the judge mean with the insufficient evidence crap??? http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-dmv-bible-acquitted-20130813,0,4123072.story Freedom OF religion includes freedom FROM religion. If you want to conduct your life by the ideas presented in an ancient book of fables, have at it. Trying to force that on other citizens, in a public place, while the citizens are stuck in line waiting for a GOVERMENT office to open, is 100% wrong. If the law currently allows such preaching, the law needs to be changed. Preaching from private property, with permission of the property owner, no problem, as long as you are not disturbing the peace. Why is it that conservatards have no real understanding of freedom and personal liberty? Citizens should not have to put up with nitwits preaching their particular fantasies when standing in line at the DMV, the tax collector, or to vote. The old saying MYOB applies. Trying to force your religious beliefs on others is WRONG. Muslim, Jewish, or Christian, it doesn't matter. Preaching to a captive audience at a government facility should be illegal. The 'tards consistently show that their limited concept of freedom only applies to men with pale skin, of white, northern european ancestry, with extra credit if you are a "Christian". Women and minorities are not due the same rights and privleges. They only are allowed the level of freedom which the white men say they are allowed. Some are more equal than others. You make a very good point and i think most reasonable people would agree with you. I am trapped at the DMV, i should not have to listen to preaching. However, the childish insults, calling people "tards", negates any point your trying to make with the same reasonable people. If your goal is to make a meaningful and mature point, why not do that without immature taunts and insults? I would rather have to listen to a preacher at the DMV than read you call people "tards". Its a shame too, because you have an excellent point but after reading your post i truly question if you are capable of controlling your emotions like an adult. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

you wrote alot and i wont argue against any of it. alot of it i dont fully understand to be honest. i a man enough to admit i am not a legal expert. i dont believe you disproved my theory that there was more to this case than just what part of town you lived it. as claimed by others here. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

>"I can't believe we have people defending the practice of detaining and frisking people for no other reason than they happen to be in a bad neighborhood" I referenced the actual case and the reason for stopping the suspect. the actual case does not at all seem similar to your claims. if you reread my post or research the case, you will see that Mr Floyd and Mr Lino were stopped for good reasons. Even the judge agreed. you claimed they were stopped for "no other reason than they happen to be in a bad neighborhood." i showed that not to be true based on the facts of this case. i am not calling you liar, if i did, i do not recall and retract it. I said you are making false statements. I am not implying you are dishonest, just wrong. I am saying you are mistaken and not as knowledgable of the actual case as you seem to believe. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I gave you examples of the actual facts of the case and the judges actual ruling. both of which do not match your claim that people are stopped due to where they live or their color. The judge herself had no problem with either stops but only with how the searches were carried out. Those are the facts. I referenced the judges opinion, not mine. for the record i have never stated my position. I am only pointing out that you are making a false statement. i evidenced that with referencing the actual case and the judges ruling. (edited to remove a nonsensical question/typo) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I referenced the actual case. the actual facts the judge reviewed and her opinion. i did this because your comments are about this specific case. The actual facts of the case are not at all similar to what you are implying. people are not being stopped because they live in a bad part of town as you stated. that is a falsehood. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

>"I can't believe we have people defending the practice of detaining and frisking people for no other reason than they happen to be in a bad neighborhood" This is a falsehood. That is not what is happening. The police stop people according to the NY Criminal Procedure Law when, "reasonably suspects that such person is committing, has committed or is about to commit either (a) a felony or (b) a misdemeanor defined in the penal law." The judge reviewed 19 stops out of 4.4 million. Mr Floyd himself of Floyd v. City of NY, was stopped after police observed him trying numerous keys and jostling a door in a area where a series of violent break ins were reported. The judge felt the pat down was legal but the police should not have asked him to empty his pockets. Does that really sound anything like you and others are implying here? Another frisk she reviewed was a man, Clive Lino, stopped and frisked because he matched a description of a homicide suspect right down to the same red leather coat. The judge felt the stop was reasonable but the police should not have frisked him. Again, this does not at all sound like what you and others are describing. as i said in my first sentence, what you are describing is not what is happening. if you want to complain at least be honest about it. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

something made the women think she could not afford the bag. if it was because she was black than sounds pretty racist to me. i think the clerk was a dolt though. i have never seen a poor black American shopping in Europe. i would have guessed the opposite, that she most likely was well to do. does that make me racist? as a middle aged white guy i always fear im sounding racist. because of that i normally just stay of out these conversations about people of color. also, i normally dont have conversations with people of color. just to be safe. ah crap, that was racist wasnt it? "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I cannot give a good answer about that. i honestly feel its all local. some places, like where i live, volunteer depts are part of the culture and most paid guys are also volunteers. so yes, it helps alot with contacts and interviews. your volunteer capt might be the paid LT in the next town. But some places look down on volunteers. There are a lot of wanna be's on the volunteer side. My town boarders two cities that are paid and we provide mutual aid to them. as long as we do our job in a professional way they treat us with respect. many areas do not have good relationships with the paid guys though. I know in many parts of the country volunteers are far less trained and respected. so i think it all depends on where you are and what your training is. sorry for the cop out but i cant give an honest clear answer because its not so simple. Having fire 1 and 2 will always help your application for sure. how much i cannot say depending where you volunteer and apply. again though, over 40 just seems way too old based on union pension rules that dominate the industry. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

What ever you do, don't ever join a Volunteer Fire Department, you'll hate it. Bad enough you risk your life and carry 100 lbs of equipment, and suck down oxygen, but your doing all of it for free. It felt good to give something back to the community, but it was a lot of hard work. Best- Richard The vast majority of firefighters worldwide are volunteers. Civil societies would be in peril if people followed your advice. I am a third generation and agree it is far more work than many imagine. My state does not cut corners between paid and volunteers for safety reasons. Most people in my community do not realize many of us are not paid and the amount of work we put into it and im fine with it. I do it to help my community and hope they never seen a decline in service because some of us arent paid. My dad told me he did it because he was fit and capable and someone had too. a simple, modest answer from a good man. i respected and admired him for it. he told me he hoped i would someday follow his example and i have. I hope people ignore your advice and listen to men like my late father. oh and for the record, its compressed air not oxygen. maybe you would have enjoyed it more if you were better trained and knowledgeable. (i say with a smile) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Just putting it out there. could this be more about driving revenues than bias? the heads of NBC are in the business of increasing the bottom line. that is done through add sales. Hillary brings in viewers, viewers bring in ad sales and that increases the top and thus bottom line, earnings. Maybe it is the capitalist in me but i am willing to bet the decision is more about money than bias. If you could point out a Republican women that would drive as many viewers as Hillary then i would consider this about bias. CMCSK is in the subscriber and advertizing business, not the news business. Maybe its just me but i've met execs at NBC and their parent, they are business people and only talk about thr top and bottom line, like the rest of us. my 2cents. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Alot of FF jobs have strict age requirements. You can take age off that requirement with military service but that would be one of the few exceptions. In the NE, where unions are strong, i would say there is little opportunity for someone your age to get on with a paid department. If you can get your FF 1 and 2 and willing to travel, there might be opportunities abroad. Contractors in the middle east seem to run alot of adds. Mcmurdo Station is always hiring. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

our laws are crafted by the same people who craft every law for everyone. i have made no mistake in my argument and never condone reprehensible behavior. unlike you, i have actual experience and knowledge on this topic and experience in this industry. you have neither. you also lack the humility to admit that. unlike you i would never make such comments about babysitting. i am willing to admit i do not have the knowledge or experience on that topic or industry as you do. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

ever drive on a highway, over a bridge or dam, seen a police station, public hospital, drink clean water, use power from a power plant? all built by municipal offerings. ever see a computer, the internet, a cell phone, phone network, automobile, airplane, medical device or medicine? all built with funds from public offerings. I must live in a different place than you. or you have no understanding of the financial markets. also, please name a few bankers who committed a crime and have never been punished. since they all go unpunished you should be able to name a few. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I would agree most financial reporters do not understand their topic. Even the WSJ can really botch the markets. i do think this story, as being reported, is pretty fair and accurate. I dont know anyone who didnt think there was a good chance they were doing something sketchy. They will say they are momentum players and just seem to be ahead of most. Obviously, some of the time, they were in fact not just following momentum but creating it. again, if they did it, i hope they get convicted. also though, i dont think it means our markets are unfair or traders in general are unethical. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

(full disclosure, i am a professional equity trader for an IB. I have executed for SAC, CR Intrinsic and Galleon but would not consider them an account or relationship of mine) Galleon and SAC have always been fast money funds that seemed to get the jump on everyone. I personally had my doubts that they were always right because they are smarter than everyone else. Like most i was suspicious of the info they were getting and when. It looks like they have 6 or so people pretty well caught. In all their years they have had thousands of employees and trillions of transactions so IMO thats not so bad considering how sketchy i felt they were. I expected more, to be honest. i hate cheaters because it is bad for my profession. It erodes confidence in our markets which i feel are truly fair and orderly. It also gives ammo to people like the professor who just hate bankers. I hope if these people are guilty they get convicted and punished. On the other hand i dont think its representative of the business at large or even all the employees of SAC. my 2cents "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

actually it used to be a great city only become a shithole in the past 20 or so years. At one time it was the fastest growing city in the world and was known as " The Paris of the West" just sayin I totally agree with you and the remnants are there. in the early 90's it was a complete dump compared to any decent city. But walking around you saw the ruins of a once great place. i remember the empty department store downtown, it was huge. the wide commercial streets and beautiful architecture. All fading and falling down even then. Its the first American city to fad away into history. a modern day Ostia Antica, the old port of ancient Rome. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I am an east cost kid that lived in Detroit in the early 90's. It was a dump then and i have nothing nice to say of the place. I also do not consider myself a liberal when it comes to fiscal policies. with that said i do not think anyone could save that city. the city no longer has the demand for labor that created it in the first place. market conditions, the ebb and flow of a free market world doomed the city IMO. i dont think a Republican could have turned it around any more than Rome or Istanbul can turn it around. The world has moved on and Detroit is destined to be a dump. IF it had nice weather and ruins, like Rome and Istanbul, it could survive on tourism but it doesnt. It has hot, humid, bug filled short summers and long, dark, cold winters. No one visits Detroit, you are forced to live their for economic reasons. Reasons that no longer favor living there. (edited to fix material error in were i lived) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Now it's Goldman Sachs. Third world governments (like Zimbabwe with their trillion dollar bill) print money to cover their expenses. The US government does not (that's what the Fed is for). The Fed printing money and giving it directly to the government would still smell too much like the third world situation, so companies like Goldman Sachs make straw purchases of Treasury Bills which the Fed then prints money to buy. I'm being facetious although the situation is completely ludicrous. This explains the situation best http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k. I laughed it so hard I cried. i believe you mean Barclays not Goldman. Please explain how a straw purchase of Treasuries works. Only registered dealers can make competitive bids in Treasury auctions. i am very interested in learning how Barclays is able to complete this fraudulent transaction in one of the most regulated markets in the world. I suppose it involves dark sunglasses and false mustaches. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Nope. It's the Fed standing in the way of growth. They could stimulate it through buying debt directly from consumers instead of mortgage backed securities from banks and treasury bills from Lehman Brothers. For the same sort of money they've been manufacturing for those purposes ($80B/month) they could buy $695 per month of debt ($8340 per year) from each of the 115M households in the US. IOW, every month the fed would send each household a check for $695 like the credit card companies do where cashing the check incurs an obligation to pay back the money. The differences from the credit card company checks would be in the term (we'd get 20-30 years to pay back the money), interest rate (just 2-3%), and that the fed was making the money handed out to us. It's time we got a populist Fed that took care of the people, not the Mortgage Bankers of America, Home Builders of America, and National Association of Realtors PACs. Maybe we could ease into it, giving $348 per month to each family instead of $40B per month to the real estate industries for their mortgage backed securities. you lost me at Lehman Bros. they are out of business and have been for a while. they dont sell anything to anybody. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i cannot tell if your kidding. if so, then sorry i replied. if not, your confused. Enron was mostly involved in real time electric trading, that is what it was famous for. it supposedly found a way to make a ton trading energy, far more than its competitors. it was not a big oil company. so your entire point of big evil oil is lost in the reality of it not being a big oil company. it was a commodity trading firm. the stock was pummeled for months under the suspicion of fraud. it was openly discussed on trading floors and in the media. it was no surprise once it was all confirmed and people were indicted. Evil Bush and Cheney might have been discussing it, like everyone else, but they sure did a horrible job of covering it up since it was no secret. again, if your post was a joke, sorry. if not, then sorry you are so confused. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Earlier I phrased them as 'private schools with no meaningful admissions barrier.' Now it is possible for the right personality type to go to a trade school and profit well - but they are the type that would have done well with the 4 year college as well. So many of their classmates are not, and they get taken for tens of thousands. I find those private trade schools are very much over priced. you can get the same training for a fraction of the cost at a community college usually. the community college doesnt advertise during daytime tv though. so many might not know that. in some areas industry partners with community colleges and even pays a lot of the tuition depending on demand. ive seen that with commercial diving and with trucking. community colleges are great IMO. i wish more young people understood their value. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I have yet to open the link And I can say, I trust no one in media or government Neither do I, yet I looked at the information. It just cost too much to conduct investigative journalism so it's not done. Example: where did all the toxic debt go from the financial crisis and who got all the money? Was Lehman the bag holder and decided to take the fall? The debt is on the balance sheets of the banks that bought the failed banks. Its public information and published every quarter in the 10q. It did not vanish or go anywhere. It is written down against profits. This is all basic finance and can be found in any newspaper or by using a search engine. Nothing vanishes in math. i post this for more reasonable readers as this gentlemen has repeated this fallacy many times and ignores the reality of math and accounting. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

an anti semitic prof is not news because it is the norm. show me a high profile educator who supports the State of Israel and i'd say that is news. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Yep, that's the feeling they want you to get. Mmmm, soft and sweet, like cotton candy. It's so, so easy to swallow, and it tastes so good going down. Hey, guess what its nutritional value is? ok, so now i understand. i read it correctly and did understand the authors intent. what i did not understand is the deeper hidden meaning because i'm a simpleton who is easily duped by the evil corporate, capitalist media. IMO the author wrote a rather common sense solution to a large problem. One that benefits poor communities while addressing the realities of a modern global market. OR, as you seem to imply, i'm just not smart enough to understand any of this. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Since the article is published in Bloomberg, my starting presumption is that the article has strong pro-business bias. The corporations' vested economic interest is to keep consumers buying their products, and forestall them from boycotting the products. So I urge people to recognize this as being part of the companies' intense public relations campaign that it is. It's slick damage control, people. Oh, BTW, I read this morning that the death toll in that collapse has risen to over 700 souls. Remember that the next time you look at the label on a shirt for sale at Target. And look real hard at the fabric to see if they managed to get all the blood out. i read the article and got a completely different meaning. i feel the author was trying to say we should not leave the area, causing more poverty but make it a safer place to work. so they can rise above the poverty and not risk their lives working in a factory. "The answer for companies like Disney, Wal-Mart, and PVH is to stay and do better, not run away. Caring consumers in the U.S. should be pushing for responsible sourcing but should continue buying products made in the developing world. It is one of the most powerful antipoverty techniques we know. That can improve lives—and save them—well beyond the factory floor." "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante