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| 2004/3/2 [Science/Space] UID:12480 Activity:very high |
3/2 There was water on Mars! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov \_ chances are good that an ice comets hit mars several times over so why is this such a surprise? \_ The levels and prevelence of water-formed minerals they're \_ The levels and prevalence of water-formed minerals they're talking about would not be from a few a few comets. \_ don't expect anyone to actually read a link before posting on the motd. this is like slashdot where the less someone knows the more likely they are to mouth off. |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold, Politics/Domestic/California/Prop] UID:12481 Activity:high |
3/2 Can any car/bike racing enthusiasts recommend which nearby track is
better (i.e., Laguna Seca vs. Sears Pt)?
\_ Don't forget Thunderhill
\_ Is that a recommendation?
\_ Thunderhill is the one I would recommend if you are running
and not just watching. It is a great place to learn and
has a lot of run off room.
\_ seconded. Thunderhill is cheaper than Laguna Seca, and
safer than Sears/Infineon. --jwang, ex-AFM#911
e/2 Today is super tuesday. Don't forget to vote. Here's the obPoll:
Kerry: .. (lemmings)
Kerry: ... (lemmings) <-- whatever
Edwards: .
Kucinich: ..
Sharpton: .
Neither: ..
yes on prop 55: .....
no on prop 55: ..
yes on prop 56: ...
no on prop 56: ...
yes on prop 57: ..
no on prop 57: ...
yes on prop 58: ..
no on prop 58: ....
yes on Measure 2: .
no on Measure 2: .
tired of polls: ..
don't care: .
\_ not so. there are several other very important issues on there
even if you think the primary is over.
\_ votes formatted not because I'm anal, but because I'm so incredibly
bored. :-)
\_ No open primaries this year. This sucks if you are an independent
but want to actually have a say in what your choices for the
prez vote are.
\_ You can still vote for Nader...
\_ If you want to have a say, you should have registered as a Dem
for this election, then switched back before November. If you
can't figure out how to game the system, you have no place
whining about it.
\_ Not true. You can request a Democrat ballot if you want. I
am an independent and I voted for a Democrat in the primary.
\_ Yeah, those damn parties thinking they should base the primary on
who the party members choose...
\_ Let the parties hold their own elections then instead of
having the government foot the bill.
\_ The independent in front of me in line asked for a republican
ballot. There's nothing contested in any election for the
republicans. Why would he ask for that instead of the democrat
ballot where he can make a difference?
\_ Which prop is about raising the bridge tolls? I'm so ignorant.
\_ Measure 2, comes with good things and bad things.
Translink would be great, but ferries are a waste of money
as is extending BART to Byron.
\_ The problem with M2 is it raises the bridge toll but uses the
funds for many other unrelated projects. So it taxes a small
number of people but asks a larger number of people if it is
ok to tax that smaller number for the larger group's benefit
without cost to that larger group. This is the worst form of
taxation possible. I voted against it merely on those grounds
even though we need to improve the transit system. And no, I
don't drive the bay bridge regularly. Maybe twice a year.
\_ I agree that ferries suck, but BART builds slowly and it makes
sense to build in the direction of future growth, which is
to the east.
\_ BART is a ridiculous boondoggle, far too expensive and
slow to cover the distances it's trying to cover. The
more we extend BART, the longer it will be until we have
a decent transit system in the Bay Area. That said, I
begrudgingly voted for RM2. -tom
\_ Slow? 32min from Hayward to downtown SF during morning
commute hours seems pretty fast to me. Can't beat that
even if you're carpooling with two passenges.
\_ you *can* beat that if you're using a train system
in any major city in Europe or Japan. And the ride
from Byron is likely to be more than an hour. -tom
\_ How often do those train systems stop? Thanks.
Let's get some apples/apples here. Put away the
oranges.
\_ Heavy-rail systems with stops at similar
distance to East Bay BART are much, much
faster; top speeds 50-100% higher than BART.
In dense areas, systems like the London
Underground do just as well in comparison.
-tom
\_ And cost how much? Are you seriously saying
we should replace BART with a new system
that will cost more to run and run louder
through all the neighborhoods?
\_ No system will cost more to run than
BART--standard rail costs quite a bit
less than non-standard rail. And have
you ever actually been to another
country? The trains are quieter than
BART. -tom
\_ Have you ever been to New York?
You don't have to go to another
country to beat BART.
\_ NY is much better than BART, but
it's not particularly fast or
quiet. -tom
\_ How many trains have to go by before you can be
pushed into one in the Tokyo area?
\_ let me get this straight--BART is better
because it's really slow, so no one uses it,
so the trains aren't as crowded? -tom
\_ No, more like people use trains because the
population density is so insanely high they
live like rats. Is that what you want?
\_ How long does it take to get to the station and find
parking in the morning?
\_ There are always more than a hundred empty spaces
in the parking structure even at 9am everyday.
\_ Which parking lot are you at? If I'm not there
by 8:30, it's completely filled.
\_ 32 minutes? I'm a bit further out on that line and
it isn't 32 minutes for that part of it.
\_ Glen Park BART is 12 minutes to Montgomery, which
is faster than you can drive that route on a fast
motorcycle. I know, I have tried. -ausman
\_ How is a proposition different from a measure?
\_ Prop=Statewide, Measure [1-9]=County, Measure [A-Z] = City
\_ Why are they trying to fund healthcare with a sales tax increase?
It's regressive taxation and falls whenever the economy is in
trouble. Not to mention it harms the local economy more than an
income or property tax because it's easier for people to shop
somewhere else than to move or change jobs.
\_ Because nothing but a sales tax increase will ever pass county
wide. Any policymaker worth their spit would prefer an income or
property tax but they are generally impossible to pass in CA.
\_ with good reason. taxes are already too high.
\_ Where are they trying to do this?
\_ Alameda county. Proposed sales tax increase to 8.75%
It's a worthy cause, being funded in one of the most ass-ways
possible.
\_ So for the "yes on 55" folks, why do you want to add a $12B bond
with $12B interest to the CA finance mess?
\_ Because it is an investment for the future, because I think
education is usually money well spent, because CA spends less
than it should on education, because we are in a recession
and I believe in Keynesian economics. Yeah, I know we will
probably not still be in a recession by the time the money
is spent, but the CA finance mess is not a good reason to
not spend money on worthy causes, since the economy will
be better sooner or later, probably sooner.
\_ We already spend more on education/pupil than most states
and get the least for it. Education doesn't need more money.
It needs a structural overhaul.
\_ Somewhat untrue: Education in CA needs more money AND
they need to spend it more wisely.
\_ I don't think it's a case of "spend it more wisely" but
restructure the entire educational system. The people
in charge from the top all the way down plus the
teacher's unions all have to go. Until that happens,
no amount of money will improve CA education.
\_ Wrong. California ranks 33rd in per pupil spending. We
spend like a poor Southern state and wonder why we get
crappy results. CA needs to spend more on schools.
http://www.edsource.org/sch_expend.cfm
\_ Dump the illegals and then recalculate, or get a chart
that shows absolute numbers which your chart is hiding
or better yet, do both.
\_ Prop 55 includes a $300m grant to build more charter schools.
On this basis alone, I cannot, in good conscience, support
it.
\_ Building schools makes no sense when the kids at the
current schools don't even have books or teachers. This
is money poorly spent in the name of education.
\_ For the "yes on 56" folks, why do you want to lower the number of
legislators needed to increase taxes to 55% from 2/3?
\_ The state budget has been in chaos over not being able to return
tax rates to an equitable level. Giving the legistature the
ability to actually do their job sounds like a good idea, unless
you are one of the many in CA who doesn't like paying for what we
have here.
\_ If you paid the taxes *I* pay you'd think they're already too
high. Go get a real job and pay that shit yourself for a few
years and we'll see what you think "equitable" looks like.
\_ I for one think welfare queens should start paying their fair
share.
\_ What percentage of the state budget is spent by your
so-called "welfare queens"? Do you even know?
\_ I already pay more than my share for what "we" have here.
\_ If you really fell that way, why not leave?
\_ The weather which is not something improved by increased
taxes.
\_ Because it only takes 51% to lower them.
\_ Is that true? I thought *all* tax legislation had to be
passed by the same amount.
\_ and when was the last time your state taxes were lowered?
\_ It's sad how easy y'all get brainwashed by right wing talk
radio.
\_ When was the last time taxes were lowered?
\_ Last fall, by Herr Gropenator.
\_ Case in point. Look for a reference to a "car tax"
before, oh, '96.
\_ No taxes were lowered by the Governor.
http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htCAVehicleLicense2003.html
\_ I wonder how it feels to be you and be wrong about
everything, all the time.
\_ I see a fee being lowered after it was raised
earlier. Where is your tax? Do you think I was
unaware of the VLF being lowered? You're not even
remotely as clever as you think you are.
\_ In real dollars, property taxes go down every day. Thanks,
prop 13.
\_ Until you move.
\_ Yes, thanks prop 13 or I couldn't afford to own a home.
My parents would already be in the street.
\_ Prop 13 doesn't do anything to help new homeowners;
it only helps people with hundreds of thousands of
dollars of equity in their homes keep from
contributing to the community. The idea of people
losing their homes over property taxes is a myth.
\_ A myth? I was here and saw it happen. It is
real life to me, not some history book lesson.
I lived in pre-prop 13 CA. Did you?
\_ Yeah, I was here too. We used to have good
schools before Prop 13 dried up the revenue
for them. CA has been on a slow downward
spiral ever since it was passed.
\_ Yeah, the state was better bankrupting
families so they'd leave and take their kids
with them. Who wants to spend money
educating all those middle class kids?
\_ Uh huh. Without Prop 13 my taxes would be up
40% over the last two years. Since they are
already $5K now that's another $2K. I wouldn't
lose my house, but I'd suffer. Eventually, I
might lose my house if the taxes double/triple.
\_ So? Suffer away. It's market economics. You
could always move instead. Also, without prop
13 the burden would be spread everywhere.
\_ It's not market economics. What good
does it do me if my house is worth 20x
what it used to be? I should pay tax on it
when I sell and not before, like with stock.
\_ I think Mr. I Hate Prop 13 is just a
bitter apartment dweller who gets off
every night thinking tomorrow will be the
day the housing bubble bursts and he can
finally afford a house.
\_ property taxes pay for the services which
support the value of your house, like
police, fire, and roads. The analogy to
stocks is totally missing the point.
-tom
\_ So if my house is worth 20x what
my neighbor's house is worth then
I should pay 20x more for this?
\_ I think so. -!tom
\_ Even if it doesn't cost 20x to
supply services to his house?
He uses the same amount of road,
fire, police and other services.
His more expensive house does
not put a bigger drain on the
local services. Let me guess,
you're not a home owner and
don't work yet, either?
\_ I am a homeowner, and have
been working for 15 years.
Try again, anonymous coward.
-tom
\_ You 'work' for UC and live
in Oakland.
\_ How do either of these
points matter to the
discussion? And why
do you put "work" in
quotation marks?
Because I didn't get
laid off with the
rest of the dotbombers?
-tom
\_ How much more will you lose if
your block goes up in flames? Or
if property values crash because
of high crime and shitty schools?
-tom
\_ He's getting the same service as
the shitty house next door. Will
the local fire department make
his fire a priority when both
houses catch fire at the same
time? Not a chance. Will the
cop go to his house first? Nope.
\_ You didn't address my point.
If property values drop by
50%, Mr. Expensive House will
lose a lot more money than
Mr. Cheap House; therefore,
Mr. Expensive House has
more personal interest in
services which support
property values. -tom
\_ You think this
relationship is linear?
When the house price
doubles, does the cost
of these services also
double?
\_ Because it is past time that California raised its taxes.
\_ no its past time California lowered its expendatures.
\_ Okay, where? (And no, deleting my question does not count
as a win.)
\_ I wasn't here when your question was deleted. Where?
2 things for starters: revamp the educational system,
and stop spending money on illegal aliens, then we'll
have a chance to see what The People's real needs are
and go from there.
\_ California already spends less on education than
most states. This has been the case for a very
long time.
\_ I didn't say spend less. I said revamp. The
entire system is broken and needs to be redone.
\_ illegal alien is a federal issue, not state one.
I think it's unfair to ask California to bear the
burden of Federal government's failure to guard its
borders.
\_ None of this really matters as long as the e-voting machines can be
shown to be easily compromised and voters are not required to show
ID in order to vote. Aargh!
\_ I had to show ID this morning.
\_ Where did you vote? (City, County)
\_ Dublin. They asked everyone for ID.
\_ When I was voting this morning I saw an old person asking about
paper receipts and audit trails. It made me happy.
\_ In San Francisco, we vote by filling in lines with a pen on
a piece of paper, which is then read by an optical scanner.
This seems like an ideal solution - not prone to error or
fraud, easy to understand for everyone, leaves a permanent
record for recount, and not labor intensive for the precincts.
Why do other counties insist on using such awful solutions
like Diebold?
\_ Who keeps the piece of paper, the voter or the polling
station? If it's the voter, this system is highly
vulnerable to verifiable vote-selling. If it's put in
a lock-box at the polling place, you're in much better
shape.
\_ The actual ballot with the pen markings is fed into
the optical scanner by the voter themselves - after this
it is locked away for safekeeping. The voter keeps
only the receipt torn from the top of the sheet.
See here:
http://www.fairvote.org/administration/votetech.htm
Scroll down to "optical scanning."
\_ Wow, that rocks! Thank you! Now if only Alameda
County would implement this. |
| 2004/3/2 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/California/Prop] UID:12482 Activity:very high |
3/2 Does anyone know how long can you drive with an expired vehicle
registration sticker? This morning I realized my car has an expired
Feb sticker, and I wonder if I will get ticketed. But I paid
registration fee but haven't received the sticker.
\_ I had a friend who had Michigan tags that were expired for
more than a year. He got pulled over, ticketed for speeding
but the cop never realized that he had expired tags. I'm
not sure they're that observant.
\_ until you get caught. Youmay be able to argue that it is paid
and only get a fix-it ticket for not having the sticker.
\_ I went all of last year without one (had it but put it on in
February, after it expired) and I still don't have one for this
year. I've been pulled over once for speeding but the cop said
nothing. It's an old car, maybe they're taking pity on me?
\_ you can drive as long as you want, but you're eligible to be
ticketed the instant it expires. if it's expired for more
than 6 months, they can impound your car if they want to.
\_ Same situation happened to me and I got pulled over for speeding.
Cop can look up your registration and verify it's paid. Still got
the speeding ticket though.
\_ I always pay late. You can avoid the ticket up to a couple months
in but after a while the cops and esp. chp get anal about it.
If you don't drive on the highway much you might be able to
get away with it. However, your car might be missing if you
leave it on the street and they decide to tow.
\_ In California, it's standard practice to get one month's grace.
If your sticker says FEB, it's policy to ticket you on April 1.
Parking enforcement left two tickets for me over two weeks in L.A.,
but they also make a business of ticketing residents who park on
the wrong side of the street during street-cleaning days.
\_ Depending on the city they will pull you over just for expired tags,
I have gotten tickets in SJ and Castro Valley. -oj
I have gotten fix-it tickets in downtown SJ and Castro Valley,
from a cop who was directly behind me when I was stopped at a light.
e/2 Today is super tuesday. Don't forget to vote. Here's the obPoll:
Kerry: ..
Kerry: .. (lemmings)
Edwards: .
Kucinich: ..
Sharpton: .
Neither: .
yes on prop 55: .....
no on prop 55: .
yes on prop 56: ...
no on prop 56: ..
yes on prop 57: ..
no on prop 57: ...
yes on prop 58: .
no on prop 58: ....
tired of polls: .
\_ Don't care -- the primary have already been decided so there's no
more point in voting.
don't care: .
\_ No open primaries this year. This sucks if you are an independent
but want to actually have a say in what your choices for the
prez vote are.
\_ Not true. You can request a Democrat ballot if you want.
\_ You can still vote for Nader...
\_ If you want to have a say, you should have registered as a Dem
for this election, then switched back before November. If you
can't figure out how to game the system, you have no place
whining about it.
\_ Not true. You can request a Democrat ballot if you want. I
am an independent and I voted for a Democrat in the primary.
\_ Yeah, those damn parties thinking they should base the primary on
who the party members choose...
\_ Let the parties hold their own elections then instead of
having the government foot the bill.
\_ Don't care -- the primary have already been decided so there's no
more point in voting.
\_ Odd...my poll responses were overwritten. Or maybe the censor is
enforcing the fact that nobody cares?
\_ Which prop is about raising the bridge tolls? I'm so ignorant.
\_ Measure 2, comes with good things and bad things.
Translink would be great, but ferries are a waste of money
as is extending BART to Byron.
\_ I agree that ferries suck, but BART builds slowly and it makes
sense to build in the direction of future growth, which is
to the east.
\_ How is a proposition different from a measure?
\_ Prop=Statewide, Measure [1-9]=County, Measure [A-Z] = City
\_ Why are they trying to fund healthcare with a sales tax increase?
It's regressive taxation and falls whenever the economy is in
trouble. Not to mention it harms the local economy more than an
income or property tax because it's easier for people to shop
somewhere else than to move or change jobs.
\_ Because nothing but a sales tax increase will ever pass county
wide. Any policymaker worth their spit would prefer an income or
property tax but they are generally impossible to pass in CA.
\_ Where are they trying to do this?
\_ Alameda county. Proposed sales tax increase to 8.75%
It's a worthy cause, being funded in one of the most ass-ways
possible.
\_ So for the "yes on 55" folks, why do you want to add a $12B bond
with $12B interest to the CA finance mess?
\_ Because it is an investment for the future, because I think
education is usually money well spent, because CA spends less
than it should on education, because we are in a recession
and I believe in Keynesian economics. Yeah, I know we will
probably not still be in a recession by the time the money
is spent, but the CA finance mess is not a good reason to
not spend money on worthy causes, since the economy will
be better sooner or later, probably sooner.
\_ Prop 55 includes a $300m grant to build more charter schools.
On this basis alone, I cannot, in good conscience, support
it.
\_ Building schools makes no sense when the kids at the
current schools don't even have books or teachers. This
is money poorly spent in the name of education.
\_ For the "yes on 56" folks, why do you want to lower the number of
legislators needed to increase taxes to 55% from 2/3?
\_ The state budget has been in chaos over not being able to return
tax rates to an equitable level. Giving the legistature the
ability to actually do their job sounds like a good idea, unless
you are one of the many in CA who doesn't like paying for what we
have here.
\_ I for one think welfare queens should start paying their fair
share.
\_ What percentage of the state budget is spent by your
so-called "welfare queens"? Do you even know?
\_ I already pay more than my share for what "we" have here.
\_ If you really fell that way, why not leave?
\_ Ah. "Love it or leave it." If they make me pay even
more for what "we" have then maybe I will. Lots of
Californians are.
\_ Because it only takes 51% to lower them.
\_ Is that true? I thought *all* tax legislation had to be
passed by the same amount.
\_ and when was the last time your state taxes were lowered?
\_ It's sad how easy y'all get brainwashed by right wing talk
radio.
\_ Last fall, by Herr Gropenator.
\_ Case in point. Look for a reference to a "car tax"
before, oh, '96.
\_ In real dollars, property taxes go down every day. Thanks,
prop 13.
\_ Until you move.
\_ Because it is past time that California raised its taxes.
\_ no its past time California lowered its expendatures.
\_ Okay, show me where.
\_ None of this really matters as long as the e-voting machines can be
shown to be easily compromised and voters are not required to show
ID in order to vote. Aargh!
\_ When I was voting this morning I saw an old person asking about
paper receipts and audit trails. It made me happy.
\_ In San Francisco, we vote by filling in lines with a pen on
a piece of paper, which is then read by an optical scanner.
This seems like an ideal solution - not prone to error or
fraud, easy to understand for everyone, leaves a permanent
record for recount, and not labor intensive for the precincts.
Why do other counties insist on using such awful solutions
like Diebold?
\_ Who keeps the piece of paper, the voter or the polling
station? If it's the voter, this system is highly
vulnerable to verifiable vote-selling. If it's put in
a lock-box at the polling place, you're in much better
shape.
\_ The actual ballot with the pen markings is fed into
the optical scanner by the voter themselves - after this
it is locked away for safekeeping. The voter keeps
only the receipt torn from the top of the sheet.
See here:
http://www.fairvote.org/administration/votetech.htm
Scroll down to "optical scanning."
\_ Wow, that rocks! Thank you! Now if only Alameda
County would implement this. |
| 2004/3/2 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold, Politics/Domestic/California/Prop] UID:12483 Activity:very high |
3/2 Today is super tuesday. Don't forget to vote. Here's the obPoll:
Kerry: .. (lemmings)
Edwards: .
Kucinich: ..
Sharpton: .
Neither: ..
yes on prop 55: .....
no on prop 55: ..
yes on prop 56: ...
no on prop 56: ...
yes on prop 57: ..
no on prop 57: ...
yes on prop 58: ..
no on prop 58: ....
yes on Measure 2: .
no on Measure 2: .
tired of polls: ..
don't care: .
\_ not so. there are several other very important issues on there
even if you think the primary is over.
\_ votes formatted not because I'm anal, but because I'm so incredibly
bored. :-)
\_ No open primaries this year. This sucks if you are an independent
but want to actually have a say in what your choices for the
prez vote are.
\_ You can still vote for Nader...
\_ If you want to have a say, you should have registered as a Dem
for this election, then switched back before November. If you
can't figure out how to game the system, you have no place
whining about it.
\_ Not true. You can request a Democrat ballot if you want. I
am an independent and I voted for a Democrat in the primary.
\_ Yeah, those damn parties thinking they should base the primary on
who the party members choose...
\_ Let the parties hold their own elections then instead of
having the government foot the bill.
\_ The independent in front of me in line asked for a republican
ballot. There's nothing contested in any election for the
republicans. Why would he ask for that instead of the democrat
ballot where he can make a difference?
\_ Which prop is about raising the bridge tolls? I'm so ignorant.
\_ Measure 2, comes with good things and bad things.
Translink would be great, but ferries are a waste of money
as is extending BART to Byron.
\_ The problem with M2 is it raises the bridge toll but uses the
funds for many other unrelated projects. So it taxes a small
number of people but asks a larger number of people if it is
ok to tax that smaller number for the larger group's benefit
without cost to that larger group. This is the worst form of
taxation possible. I voted against it merely on those grounds
even though we need to improve the transit system. And no, I
don't drive the bay bridge regularly. Maybe twice a year.
\_ I agree that ferries suck, but BART builds slowly and it makes
sense to build in the direction of future growth, which is
to the east.
\_ BART is a ridiculous boondoggle, far too expensive and
slow to cover the distances it's trying to cover. The
more we extend BART, the longer it will be until we have
a decent transit system in the Bay Area. That said, I
begrudgingly voted for RM2. -tom
\_ Slow? 32min from Hayward to downtown SF during morning
commute hours seems pretty fast to me. Can't beat that
even if you're carpooling with two passenges.
\_ you *can* beat that if you're using a train system
in any major city in Europe or Japan. And the ride
from Byron is likely to be more than an hour. -tom
\_ How often do those train systems stop? Thanks.
Let's get some apples/apples here. Put away the
oranges.
\_ Heavy-rail systems with stops at similar
distance to East Bay BART are much, much
faster; top speeds 50-100% higher than BART.
In dense areas, systems like the London
Underground do just as well in comparison.
-tom
\_ And cost how much? Are you seriously saying
we should replace BART with a new system
that will cost more to run and run louder
through all the neighborhoods?
\_ No system will cost more to run than
BART--standard rail costs quite a bit
less than non-standard rail. And have
you ever actually been to another
country? The trains are quieter than
BART. -tom
\_ Have you ever been to New York?
You don't have to go to another
country to beat BART.
\_ How many trains have to go by before you can be
pushed into one in the Tokyo area?
\_ let me get this straight--BART is better
because it's really slow, so no one uses it,
so the trains aren't as crowded? -tom
\_ No, more like people use trains because the
population density is so insanely high they
live like rats. Is that what you want?
\_ How long does it take to get to the station and find
parking in the morning?
\_ There are always more than a hundred empty spaces
in the parking structure even at 9am everyday.
\_ Which parking lot are you at? If I'm not there
by 8:30, it's completely filled.
\_ 32 minutes? I'm a bit further out on that line and
it isn't 32 minutes for that part of it.
\_ Glen Park BART is 12 minutes to Montgomery, which
is faster than you can drive that route on a fast
motorcycle. I know, I have tried. -ausman
\_ How is a proposition different from a measure?
\_ Prop=Statewide, Measure [1-9]=County, Measure [A-Z] = City
\_ Why are they trying to fund healthcare with a sales tax increase?
It's regressive taxation and falls whenever the economy is in
trouble. Not to mention it harms the local economy more than an
income or property tax because it's easier for people to shop
somewhere else than to move or change jobs.
\_ Because nothing but a sales tax increase will ever pass county
wide. Any policymaker worth their spit would prefer an income or
property tax but they are generally impossible to pass in CA.
\_ with good reason. taxes are already too high.
\_ Where are they trying to do this?
\_ Alameda county. Proposed sales tax increase to 8.75%
It's a worthy cause, being funded in one of the most ass-ways
possible.
\_ So for the "yes on 55" folks, why do you want to add a $12B bond
with $12B interest to the CA finance mess?
\_ Because it is an investment for the future, because I think
education is usually money well spent, because CA spends less
than it should on education, because we are in a recession
and I believe in Keynesian economics. Yeah, I know we will
probably not still be in a recession by the time the money
is spent, but the CA finance mess is not a good reason to
not spend money on worthy causes, since the economy will
be better sooner or later, probably sooner.
\_ We already spend more on education/pupil than most states
and get the least for it. Education doesn't need more money.
It needs a structural overhaul.
\_ Somewhat untrue: Education in CA needs more money AND
they need to spend it more wisely.
\_ I don't think it's a case of "spend it more wisely" but
restructure the entire educational system. The people
in charge from the top all the way down plus the
teacher's unions all have to go. Until that happens,
no amount of money will improve CA education.
\_ Wrong. California ranks 33rd in per pupil spending. We
spend like a poor Southern state and wonder why we get
crappy results. CA needs to spend more on schools.
http://www.edsource.org/sch_expend.cfm
\_ Dump the illegals and then recalculate, or get a chart
that shows absolute numbers which your chart is hiding
or better yet, do both.
\_ Prop 55 includes a $300m grant to build more charter schools.
On this basis alone, I cannot, in good conscience, support
it.
\_ Building schools makes no sense when the kids at the
current schools don't even have books or teachers. This
is money poorly spent in the name of education.
\_ For the "yes on 56" folks, why do you want to lower the number of
legislators needed to increase taxes to 55% from 2/3?
\_ The state budget has been in chaos over not being able to return
tax rates to an equitable level. Giving the legistature the
ability to actually do their job sounds like a good idea, unless
you are one of the many in CA who doesn't like paying for what we
have here.
\_ If you paid the taxes *I* pay you'd think they're already too
high. Go get a real job and pay that shit yourself for a few
years and we'll see what you think "equitable" looks like.
\_ I for one think welfare queens should start paying their fair
share.
\_ What percentage of the state budget is spent by your
so-called "welfare queens"? Do you even know?
\_ I already pay more than my share for what "we" have here.
\_ If you really fell that way, why not leave?
\_ The weather which is not something improved by increased
taxes.
\_ Because it only takes 51% to lower them.
\_ Is that true? I thought *all* tax legislation had to be
passed by the same amount.
\_ and when was the last time your state taxes were lowered?
\_ It's sad how easy y'all get brainwashed by right wing talk
radio.
\_ When was the last time taxes were lowered?
\_ Last fall, by Herr Gropenator.
\_ Case in point. Look for a reference to a "car tax"
before, oh, '96.
\_ No taxes were lowered by the Governor.
http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/htCAVehicleLicense2003.html
\_ I wonder how it feels to be you and be wrong about
everything, all the time.
\_ I see a fee being lowered after it was raised
earlier. Where is your tax? Do you think I was
unaware of the VLF being lowered? You're not even
remotely as clever as you think you are.
\_ In real dollars, property taxes go down every day. Thanks,
prop 13.
\_ Until you move.
\_ Yes, thanks prop 13 or I couldn't afford to own a home.
My parents would already be in the street.
\_ Prop 13 doesn't do anything to help new homeowners;
it only helps people with hundreds of thousands of
dollars of equity in their homes keep from
contributing to the community. The idea of people
losing their homes over property taxes is a myth.
\_ A myth? I was here and saw it happen. It is
real life to me, not some history book lesson.
I lived in pre-prop 13 CA. Did you?
\_ Yeah, I was here too. We used to have good
schools before Prop 13 dried up the revenue
for them. CA has been on a slow downward
spiral ever since it was passed.
\_ Yeah, the state was better bankrupting
families so they'd leave and take their kids
with them. Who wants to spend money
educating all those middle class kids?
\_ Uh huh. Without Prop 13 my taxes would be up
40% over the last two years. Since they are
already $5K now that's another $2K. I wouldn't
lose my house, but I'd suffer. Eventually, I
might lose my house if the taxes double/triple.
\_ So? Suffer away. It's market economics. You
could always move instead. Also, without prop
13 the burden would be spread everywhere.
\_ It's not market economics. What good
does it do me if my house is worth 20x
what it used to be? I should pay tax on it
when I sell and not before, like with stock.
\_ I think Mr. I Hate Prop 13 is just a
bitter apartment dweller who gets off
every night thinking tomorrow will be the
day the housing bubble bursts and he can
finally afford a house.
\_ property taxes pay for the services which
support the value of your house, like
police, fire, and roads. The analogy to
stocks is totally missing the point.
-tom
\_ So if my house is worth 20x what
my neighbor's house is worth then
I should pay 20x more for this?
\_ I think so. -!tom
\_ Even if it doesn't cost 20x to
supply services to his house?
He uses the same amount of road,
fire, police and other services.
His more expensive house does
not put a bigger drain on the
local services. Let me guess,
you're not a home owner and
don't work yet, either?
\_ I am a homeowner, and have
been working for 15 years.
Try again, anonymous coward.
-tom
\_ You 'work' for UC and live
in Oakland.
\_ How much more will you lose if
your block goes up in flames? Or
if property values crash because
of high crime and shitty schools?
-tom
\_ He's getting the same service as
the shitty house next door. Will
the local fire department make
his fire a priority when both
houses catch fire at the same
time? Not a chance. Will the
cop go to his house first? Nope.
\_ Because it is past time that California raised its taxes.
\_ no its past time California lowered its expendatures.
\_ Okay, where? (And no, deleting my question does not count
as a win.)
\_ I wasn't here when your question was deleted. Where?
2 things for starters: revamp the educational system,
and stop spending money on illegal aliens, then we'll
have a chance to see what The People's real needs are
and go from there.
\_ California already spends less on education than
most states. This has been the case for a very
long time.
\_ I didn't say spend less. I said revamp. The
entire system is broken and needs to be redone.
\_ None of this really matters as long as the e-voting machines can be
shown to be easily compromised and voters are not required to show
ID in order to vote. Aargh!
\_ I had to show ID this morning.
\_ Where did you vote? (City, County)
\_ Dublin. They asked everyone for ID.
\_ When I was voting this morning I saw an old person asking about
paper receipts and audit trails. It made me happy.
\_ In San Francisco, we vote by filling in lines with a pen on
a piece of paper, which is then read by an optical scanner.
This seems like an ideal solution - not prone to error or
fraud, easy to understand for everyone, leaves a permanent
record for recount, and not labor intensive for the precincts.
Why do other counties insist on using such awful solutions
like Diebold?
\_ Who keeps the piece of paper, the voter or the polling
station? If it's the voter, this system is highly
vulnerable to verifiable vote-selling. If it's put in
a lock-box at the polling place, you're in much better
shape.
\_ The actual ballot with the pen markings is fed into
the optical scanner by the voter themselves - after this
it is locked away for safekeeping. The voter keeps
only the receipt torn from the top of the sheet.
See here:
http://www.fairvote.org/administration/votetech.htm
Scroll down to "optical scanning."
\_ Wow, that rocks! Thank you! Now if only Alameda
County would implement this. |
| 2004/3/2 [Computer/SW/Editors/Emacs] UID:12484 Activity:kinda low |
3/2 How do I disable tab in emacs and make it output space only
automatically (without doing "untabify" manually)? Thanks.
\_ Why don't emacs users just mail directly to psb? He's the only
one here who knows anything about it.
\_ on the contrary. (setq indent-tabs-mode nil). but since that
only does it for the current buffer, you may want to do
(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil) in .emacs.el
or whatever.
\_ do not underestimate the motd
\_ Just do it on write?
(add-hook 'c-mode-common-hook
(lambda ()
(add-hook 'local-write-file-hooks
(lambda () (untabify (point-min)(point-max)))) ... |
| 2004/3/2 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:12485 Activity:nil |
3/2 Is there a list somewhere of google tools (like http://www.google.com/linux that pre-limit searches to specific topics? I can't find it at http://labs.google.com. -John \_ I recall seeing this at one point, but the list of topics was small (e.g. five subjects) and contained mostly nerd things, e.g. Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD. The site: directive may be of some help. |
| 2004/3/2 [Recreation/Dating] UID:12486 Activity:nil |
3/1 Wedding gift advice: how much should you spend on a gift for
someone in your top 5 closest friends? Does it make a difference
if your are good friends with just one person or the couple?
$100? $300? $500?
\_ I was best man at a wedding for some really good friends (both
of them) and I got them a case of very nice wine that only
matures in about 12 years or so. Be creative--I think expensive,
dull gifts are lame, and won't buy from a wedding registry out of
general principle (let the relatives take care of blenders and
silverware and shit like that) but that's just me. Just get
them something you put some thought and effort into. Rules about
how much a gift should cost seem sort of pointless. -John
\_ Then you're an idiot. My wife and I spent at least twenty
hours working on the registry and all of our friends did the
same. Nobody you just gave a gift to is going to say this to your
face but get over yourself and get something people have actually
indicated they want. As mentioned below, though, cash is greatly
appreciated as a gift at wedding time. It's really what most
newlyweds need most. We are going to have to postpone any honey
moon for quite awhile for lack of it. -- ulysses
\_ Maybe pointless to follow them slavishly. But consider someone
from Japan or China or India or Russia...say they need some
kind of basic guideline. A lot of these answers although
creative do not answer the basic question. Obviously, if you
are a surgeon making $250k/yr the answers are different than
if you are a math teacher at a high school in Virginia.
If you are an artist who has gallery exhibits, "your art"
may be fine. A sketch of the Capanille you did last saturday
would be a little silly otherwise. I think for a single person
going to a wedding, who has additional expenses for travel,
$300 is pretty fair.
\_ Good point, given that in Japan you give ornate little
envelopes full of cash, and at Bangladeshi weddings (at
least in the UK) you just dump moolah into a bag. But
I think that regardless of where you're from or how much
you make, something cool/creative will always come across
well and be appreciated. -John
\_ What I heard was whatever it costs them to invite you to their
wedding x 2. So yes, you bring more money as a couple.
\_ I mean: If you are friends with both the bride and groom
do you expect to spend more than if you are on one side of
the family.
\- when i dont like one party, i try to give something the
party i like will get in the divorce, like if she is a
dumb, materialistic bitch and he is an ethical guy with
a GiantBrain, i'd give them the OED.
\_ i just give them cash, $200 or so.
\_ Why don't you try to buy them something nice that they might
need? -tom
\_ Depends on your income, but I think anything less than $400-500
is an insult to one of your closest friends. No, it does not
make a difference if you know them both. Give as if you are
friends with both even when you are not. FWIW, I gave an
expensive set of knives and he got them in the divorce. Woo hoo!
So I guess guns are good gifts if you are friends with the man!
\_ ugh.. i feel cheap, i only spent $100 or so.
\_ If your friend is a man, the best gift you could possible
give him would be to prevent him from getting married. He
may never thank you for it, but take comfort in the fact
that you have saved one man from falling into the bottomless
pit of misery that results from marriage.
\_ bah, u just need to learn communication skills. see
men are from mars, by john gray.
\_ Communication skills won't help you when your
wife decides that she would rather have your
money and a life of luxury in the Bahamas based
on your blood and sweat rather than work to
build a life together. Communications skills
won't help you in a community property state
when she lies and tells the all-men-are-rapists
divorce court judge that you were a spousal
abuser. Communication skills won't help when
every cent you make you is directly transfered
to her account while you don't have enough to
buy a burrito at Taco Bell.
\_ ah, BDG is a wife-beater; unsurprising.
\_ This isn't the BDG, just an imposter.
-- bdg #1 fan
\_ One thing people on this thread have suggested is not getting
stuff from the registry. I suspect that these people are not
married. The point of a registry is to make it more likely
that you get things you want/need/can use and to prevent you
from getting a whole bunch of weird stuff that you don't want.
After all, people only have so much room for decorations and
if everyone gets the newlyweds artsy stuff, there won't be
anywhere to put it. Also, if the couple is paying for the
wedding themselves (as opposed to parents paying), I can
guarantee you that money is always appreciated since weddings
can be very expensive.
\_ I think the most badass thing ever would be to register at
mcmaster carr.
\_ As a sorta-recently married person, I agree with this:
registry is *good*: we wouldn't have put it on the registry
if we didn't want it! I also don't care how much a guest
spends because the wedding is a party for everyone. I mean,
don't be cheap if you can help it, but really it's just
nice to celebrate. If you don't want to get something
from the registry, then *cash* (or equivalent: e.g., gift
certificates) is very appreciated. Again, amount doesn't matter.
Getting three toaster ovens is lame (yes, we really did).
However, we did get a few unexpected gifts which made
us happy -- our favorite unexpected gift was a hedgehog
mud scraper (for shoes/boots). Obviously it wasn't expensive
but in the midst of opening gift-after-gift, it gave us
quite a laugh. And we use it all the time.
\_ It's all circumstantial. The registry is a guide that can help
you make a useful choice (however, sometimes the registry has
been made by the bride only, thus explaining "coral" and "seafoam"
as color guides).I've given gifts when I was poor and when I had
money, and when the couple were newlywed (never lived together)
and older divorcees, each with their own homes. Give what you are
comfortable with relative to both of your circumstances. A wedding
is supposed to be celebrating the joining of two people's lives,
not a treasure hunt. That happens when you graduate.
\_ I got nothing when I graduated - not even a party. I never
understood parents giving their kids things like cars when
they graduate high school. I think I got an expensive pen.
\_ I think it's because people generally need a car, and the
parents have money and the kid doesn't, so the parents feel
it's sensible to give them a car, and graduation seems like a
logical time, as it usually coincides closely with the 18th
birthday.
\_ How about offering some service as a gift? An caucasian co-worker
of mine was an amateur photographer, so he offered to take pictures
in my Chinese wedding as a gift (and it worked out well even though
he didn't understand the rituals). A service as a gift is silly in
the Chinese mind because a service is just "helping out", but I
think in the American mind it's a sincere gift. |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Recreation/Celebrity/WilliamHung] UID:12487 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto |
3/1 For those not on csua@csua: CSUA General Meeting & BBQ next Monday,
March 8th, at 5:30pm on the volleyball court behind Soda Hall.
\_ Will William Hung be performing?
\_ dear politburo, if you can get William Hung to perform at
the politburo, I will donate $500 -csua alumni
\_ I'll throw in $50 more. I think we could get at least a G for it.
\_ I will pay $500 to ban American Idol from ever airing again.
\_ How do I get on csua@csua?
\_ use usenet: http://ucb.org.csua
\_ Wow, FOX might be tempted... but probably not.
\_ How do I get on csua@csua?
\_ How do I get off csua@csua?
\_ How do I get off on csua@csua?
\_ Type with one hand and use your other hand for that.
\_ use usenet: http://ucb.org.csua |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:12488 Activity:nil |
3/2 I'm looking for a very lightweight laptop that has a decent screen
and is reasonably priced. Recommendations?
\_ Sony Vaio PCG-Z1A? $2K for that 14' LCD 4.5 pound notebook.
\_ i have had 2 VAIOs and know about 10 people in my lab with VAIOs.
The video on the first failed. The PCMCIA slot on the second
stopped working. Others in the lab have complained. On the other
hand, noone has any problems with the IBM laptops, so we're not
just whiners. SHARP has a really nice small laptop for $1500. -ali
\_ I have the Sharp Actius MM10; decent 10" screen (1024x768), 2.1
pounds and very small, $1399 from Amazon. If low weight is your
primary concern, it's hard to beat. -tom
\_ 12" ibook or powerbook.
\_ Ibook is not exactly lightweight but it is not too heavy either.
\_ IBM X20, 21 or 22 from EBay. Why does the AMC hate this entry?
It keeps getting deleted...
\_ Seconded. I had an X20 for a long time--it's a fantastic little
machine. Buy a USB storage key, though. -John
\_ What will you be using it for. How "decent" a screen?
\_ mainly web-surfing, text editing and photoshop and maybe
occasionally running some java stuff for work (which would mean
it would need a good amount of memory). It's not a desktop
replacement so i'm more concerned with portability than having
lots of bells and whistles. the suggestions so far have been
good but I'm wondering if there's anything that weighs around 3
lb and has a 14" screen. (the Vaio is the closest to what i'm
looking for but it's more than I want to spend. I would
consider ebay since i don't particularly need the latest
processor) -op
\_ "Small, large, cheap: pick two." -tom
\_ I'd like it small and large, please.
\_ Go to <DEAD>fujitsupc.com<DEAD> and look at the S series notebooks.
There are cheap ones with AMD mobile CPUs (which suck IMO)
and more expensive ones with Intel Centrinos. 13.3",
4.5 lbs. Buy them at http://laptopinc.com or http://newegg.com.
For 14" at 5.5 lbs., I recommend the Dell Latitude D600.
You can get a D500 or D505 if it's not for gaming.
Don't get the Inspirons. My co-worker has a D800 which
stopped working. Whatever you do, get the 1024x768
XGA screen (not 1400x1050 or higher). I believe all 14"
notebooks you find will weigh at least 4.5 lbs. (unless
it's a Mac notebook).
\_ First of all, using photoshop on LCD screen is simply a
bad idea. Secondly, if you *REALLY* want portability, you
need to give up on that 14" screen. I would recommend the
new IBM X40s. They are tiny. Dell is pretty decent too,
but Dell doesn't have dedicated memory for its video. If
money is an issue, how about looking for IBM X31?
-- the guy who carries his laptop on subways
and buses all the time
\_ I use photoshop on multiple LCD displays. It's better
than a monitor. WTF is up with this comment? |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:12489 Activity:moderate |
3/2 Early reports say Kerry is making a clean sweep today. Oh well,
4 more years for GWB.
\_ Edwards to drop out tomorrow.
\_ you mean become Vice Presidential Candidate
\_ no way that vain Boston prig would pick someone who'd
upstage him, even if Kerry/Edwards is in the party's
best interest
\_ don't understand what do you mean. you mean Edward with his
anti-trade, protectionist platform has better shot at winning
votes from the undecided?
\_ ^undecided^undecided and Southerners^
\_ why Kerry won Ohio? you would imagine a state lost 250k jobs
would find Edwards more appealing.
\_ Yes. More than Kerry. Where have you been? A lot of people
in this country lost jobs to NAFTA, overseas outsourcing, often
paid for with their own tax dollars and they're pissed off.
\_ why Kerry won Ohio? you would imagine a state lost 250k jobs
would find Edwards more appealing.
\_ It's the "Most Electible" vote.
\_ duh, it isn't a general election. they had to vote for
even though they create jobs OVERSEAS. May be tha corporate
someone. and tell me this: how many stayed home?
\_ just part of globalization, my friend, bite the damn
bullet. USA as a whole has benefited from this trend,
it would be foolish to roll back. My problem with the
current system is that we offer tax break to companies
even though they create jobs OVERSEAS. May be the corporate
tax code should be rewritten so it only rewards companies
that offer jobs within USA border. This wouldn't stop
moving jobs to overseas, but it will stop unnecessary
job migration.
\_ I don't disagree with you. I'm just telling you what you
already know: there are a bunch of pissed off people out
there who are going to vote against pro-global candidates
if at all possible.
\- why should companies be given tax breaks for job creation
again? isnt that just a subsidy to the owners? how about
giving tax breaks to people who buy "american cars" or
"american shoes".
\_ what is considered "American " is no longer clear.
\- that is why i quoted "american". i think it
was actually a good thing that the developing
countries said "fuck you" in cancun. can you
imagine india trying to protect "chai" like
the french protect champagne? or the mercan-
tilism of the RIAA and MSFT? --psb ...
\_ In cancun, it's less to do with intellectual
properties right, more to do with government
subsidies on agrecultural product, and
Brazil and India and rest of developing
nation wants to got rid of it. Besides,
this entire IP fiascal started by USA,
and the rest of the country is just trying
to do the same thing.
again? isnt that just a subsidy to the owners? how about
giving tax breaks to people who buy "american cars" or
"american shoes".
But when the chosen people grew more strong,
The rightful cause at length became the wrong:
The moderate sort of men, thus qualifi'd,
Inclin'd the balance to the better side:
--john dryden
Toyota Camery is made in USA, is that considered
an "American" car? When American product flooding
other nations, USA was being a such arrogant asshole
saying that this is part of globalization and eventually
offer consumer better/cheaper product is best interest
for everyone in the long run. It's kind of funny that
other nations start to beat USA with USA's own game and
USA start to bitching about it. I never said the trade
rules are fair, but it is HEAVILY favors American
corperations that most other nation is actually compete
at much of a handicaps. The irony is that American
citizens (aside from wealthy share owners of these
corporation) start to loose out, as they too become
victims of corporate expoitation.
\_ There's no longer any such thing as a USA corporation
among the large companies. They're all
multi-nationals which means they're going to screw
anyone and everyone they can if it makes them a
penny. When some dumb cunt like 'Carly' at HP says
and does some of the evil stupid shit she has, you
can be certain that "USA" is the last thing on her
mind.
\_ And just how is Bush and his "outsourcing is good" policy
going to appeal to the people who have lost jobs? You're
\_ 1) It's not, 2) Bush never said that. Some paper pusher
knee biters 9 layers deep in the beauracracy said it and
were repudiated the next news cycle by the admin.
\_ Actually, it was the head of Bush's Council of
Economic Advisers, Gregory Mankiw. And the Bush
"repudiation" was a lukewarm "the president is
strongly committed to creating jobs here at home"
from mouthpiece McClellan. Not inspiring stuff. |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Computer/SW/Security] UID:12490 Activity:nil 66%like:29848 |
3/2 When a public library offers laptop connections, is it normal
to restrict outgoing access to port 80 and 443 only? |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:12491 Activity:nil |
3/2 how do i deter flies from flying around my back yard? i suspect
the pigeons in my neighbor's back yard is attracting those flies.
\_ flypaper. For the larger problem, Alka Seltzer + cats.
\_ RAID. Or poison the pigeons.
\_ I really don't understand how disk arrays would prevent flies.
\_ Some sticky yellow tapes which attract flies and sticks to them. I
don't know what they're called.
\_ the number of flies is too many plus it's outdoor. sticky
paper won't work well in this condition. i just want to see if
there's some non-destructive and environmental friendly way.
\_ what about those things that emit sound on frequencies annoying
to insects? i've always wondered how well they work, though.
\_ what about those "bug" lights?
\_ i think those attract bugs and fry them, as opposed to
just keeping them away in the first place.
\_ Actually I've used flypaper outdoors to great effect. Had
what seemed like a zillion flies zipping around, the paper
worked well. Put up about a dozen strips, and the flies
were all stuck to the paper within a few days.
\_ frogs
\_ part of Fly's life cycle is that its larvae need to be hosted in
dead animal / decade flesh. You might want to find out the source
of these dead animal near your back yard. Once you are able to
cut the part of fly's life cycle, you will able to cut number
of flys significantly. This is the only effective way for dealing
with Flys (aside from massive DDT/pesticide spread). |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Politics/Domestic/California/Arnold, Reference/Tax] UID:12492 Activity:high |
3/2 I'm a little confused. Does it make any sense to vote Yes on 58 but
no on 57, or vice versa? What's the alternative to 57-- bankruptcy?
Higher taxes? Ending school lunches?
\_ 58 can only pass if 57 does. I am not sure if 57 can pass
without 58, but I think so.
\_ You've got it backwards: !58 => !57
http://www.voterguide.ss.ca.gov/propositions/prop57-title.html
\_ both are needed to pass to have any effect. I wouldn't mind
58 and 57 so much *IF* Arnie decided to raise just a bit taxes
58 and 57 so much *IF* Arnie decided to raise just a bit taxes n
and didn't cut car taxes.
\_ What if he decided to only raise taxes for people in *your*
tax bracket? Would that be ok?
\_ good point, and the answer is no. this bond is about
as regressive as sales tax, where the wealthies pays a much
less portion of the burden than they should bear. |
| 2004/3/2-3 [Computer, Computer/Rants] UID:12493 Activity:nil |
3/2 Lou Dobbs tonight: "taking a look at top U.S. universities for
computer science":
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight
\_ exporting America? ouch... blame globalization, huh? |
| 2004/3/2 [Politics/Domestic/Election] UID:12494 Activity:nil |
3/2 Are the 2 parties actually any different, and will Nader really
threaten the dem candidate?
part one: http://tinyurl.com/3ffcl
part two: http://tinyurl.com/3dl6n
\_ Kind of nice how they can put up graphs and images to illustrate
their points. |
| 2004/3/2 [Computer/Theory, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:29844 Activity:high |
3/1 Computer science trivia of the day:
Say you have X memory and have 8X that size to sort on the disk.
Each time you swap from X memory to one of the 8 pages, it will
cost you n time. Using what you know about merge sort, quick sort,
and what not, what is the complexity in terms of n?
\_ Do your own homework.
\_ I used to know that but then I graduated and stopped spending my
time on useless homework problems. It was O of something. |
| 2004/3/2 [Transportation/Car, Politics/Domestic] UID:29845 Activity:insanely high |
3/1 In case anyone's still interested, I saw a cop standing on the corner
of Telegraph and Durant for at least 30 minutes doing nothing else
but giving out citations for gaywalking. At least one guy was able to
"talk" his way out of it.
\_ Just run and hide in Unit 3 somewhere.
\_ I wonder if there was an accident recently?
\_ What's the penalty for it? Also, how do they enforce it? Can't you
\_ It's the law that you must carry ID. Whoops, another ticket!
say you don't have ID etc?
\_ I've been told that there's a law that requires all adults to
carry some form of approved ID on them at all times out in public.
\_ He's just doing his part to fix Berkeley's budget deficit.
\_ I guess this is what happens when people keep breaking
parking meters.
\_ Nonsense. The parking meters are set to give less time than
they say so they give out more bogus tickets. Breaking meters
was civil disobedience.
\_ um, no. how many meters did you break? i broke and
destroyed maybe a dozen or so over the years in
berkeley, and knew people who destroyed more.
none of us ever drove, had cars or parked. it was just
random violence.
\_ I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, the bike cops would nab
gaywalkers during the weekends. I heard one cop telling a
gaywalker that the fine was 75 bucks.
\_ Mine was $40. When I forgot to pay it, my mom got a
threatening call from some bitch affirmative action hiree at
the BPD--"he's in trouble, he's committed a crime." -John |
| 2004/3/2 [Recreation/Dating] UID:29846 Activity:nil |
3/1 Since the last dating thread generated so much excitement, here
is a new poll: Would you date someone who did immoral things
not related to your relationship. Say cheat on exams in college,
petty theft from stores. Steal from work. etc. Or if the sex
was good, other sins are forgiven?
\_ I think one should have the same moral standards as one's
partner, whatever they may be.
\_ cheat on exams: sure, petty theft shows there's some other problem
and would make me think about it, from work depends. I would never
stay with someone that was doing something that would risk getting
me into trouble. -oj
\_ "I want a lady on the street, but a freak in bed." -John |
| 2004/3/2 [Consumer/TV, Recreation/Media] UID:29847 Activity:nil |
3/1 Watching Alias from the beginning on DVD, it's better than I recall.
In particular Sidney kicks a lot more ass at the beginning of season
one, she actually kills a few people in the first three episodes.
I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think she kills people later in the
series. I suspect the network requested this to make Sidney more
appealing to mass audiences.
\_ -dans
\_ No. It isn't. I just suffered through the first 2 seasons on DVD
last week. It almost drove me to drink.
\_ Alias kind of sucked. Too much of a La Femme Nikita ripoff.
\_ What's wrong with ripping of La Femme Nikita? It was a good
movie/show? -dans
\_ Because it's a poorly done ripoff. LFN rocked. Alias sucks.
\_ Wooh, leverage that million-dollar vocabulary!
\_ Better to sound like Beavis and Butthead than an
MBA.
\_ I think she kills more people in later episodes...rather than
just knocking out nameless, faceless guards, she actually KILLS
people. Actually, i stopped watching alias about 5 weeks ago,
but up to then i had seen every single episode and it was the
only TV show i regularly watched.
\- it's getting a little formulaic ... fly to high tech glass and
steel bldg where a lot of people speak german and jump out of
ceiling and fight 5 guards off and steal plans for "FOOtanium"
device ... --psb
\_ And wear ridiculous wig so she won't be recognised yet hang
out with lots of other agents who don't wear any 'disguises'.
\_ Did you see the India eps? It was very amusing. |
| 5/17 |