1/5     Dear Neocons, I resent your censorship. Since I don't know who you
        are I'll have to delete the entire motd. Sorry guys. Find out who
        the fucking neocon is and problem solved.
        \_ Restored.
           \_ Restored, again.
              \_ why don't you restore everything?
                 \_ I restored the motd to the way it was right before it
                    was nuked, because I'm too lazy to go back through the
                    archives and track down everything.  If you know an easy
                    way to do better, let me know.
        \_ Haha.  Where's the outrage, meyers? -- ilyas
           \_ You do realize that meyers has a life with higher priority
              things than riding the motd (unlike other denizens of the motd,
              ilyas...and, er, me *cough*) don't you?
              \_ Yeah, maybe he does... though he had this mysterious knack
                 for always materializing whenever a nuke war involving myself
                 was in progress.  Funny, that. -- ilyas
                 \_ get a life ilyas
                 was in progress.  Funny, that.  WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE!?
                   -- ilyas

1/6     Numerous news articles talk about Colin Powell singing the YMCA
        at a meeting in Indonesia on July 2, 2004 and doing a rap on
        December 4, 2004 at a ceremony honoring Warren Beatty.  Where can
        I find videos of these?
        \_ I don't know, but the YMCA song was pretty funny...

1/6     So, the neocons deleted my post on Alberto Gonzales' appointment.
        This is why I hate neocons.  They will always rally behind their
        leaders regardless what he does, and if they can't win an arguement,
        he simply make them silent.  The mentality behond those who deleted
        my post and those US marines fire missles at Al Jazeera TV station...
        sigh...
        \_ http://www.filibustercartoons.com/archive.php?id=20041229
           \_ Wow, I was going to point out the error in the assumption, but
              this cartoon does it so much better.
           \_ Does this cartoon ever get good?
              \_ I mostly disagree with it politically, but I have to admit
                 this particular strip has a point.  --liberal
                 \_ What?  that both sides have crackpots?  Duh..
              \_ I think it's pretty funny, as far as political cartoons
                 go.  Political cartoons aren't usually laugh out loud
                 funny.  Why don't you post some cartoons you prefer?
                 \_ http://www.workingforchange.com/comic.cfm?itemid=18323
                    \_ A guy complaining about an un-funny political
                       cartoon posts "This modern World?"  Irony lives!
                       \_ I thought it was funny.  I think the point is,
                          if you're a liberal you enjoy liberal viewpoints,
                          if you're a freeper/libertarian you enjoy those, etc.

1/6     Schwarzenegger proposes introducing democracy to California.
        http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/06/national/06arnold.html
        Could the rest of the U.S. be next?
        \_ As much as I agree with his proposals, I'm a little worried about
           the appeal to legislation by direct democracy.  We have a republic
           for a reason--though I think the republic model is hurting right
           now, and this may be the way to shock it back to being useful.
           \_ What advantage does the republic model have?  The only one I can
              think of is that we don't need to spend millions of dollars
              conducting statewide voting for each proposition that appears.
              \_ Because the masses are too stupid to know what's best for the
                 state.  The elected representatives are supposed to be
                 smarter and spend all their time figuring out this stuff
                 for us.
                 \_ If they're too stupid to know what's best for the state
                    they are too stupid to elect a smart representative.
                    \_ Or rather, they'll be so stupid that they'll be fooled
                       by smart representatives who don't do the public good.
        \_ The crime in this article is painting redistricting as a purely
           partisan issue.  BS.  Gerrymandering has to be fixed for the
           health of the democracy.  What party that "helps" in a given
           state _should_ be irrelevent. I'm not sure if judges are the
           best canidates, but it's certainly a step up from having the
           legislators elect themselves. -jrleek
           \_ I don't think they really portreyed it that way. I thought
              they were more saying that politicans from both parties are
              pretty much against it for obvious reasons, and that the
              majority party is more against it, again for obvious reasons.
              It seems to me that since the nytimes is pretty openly
              democratic, that when they say that the democrats are the main
              obstructionists, it's not really that partisan.
              obstructionists, it's not really that partisan.  This seems to
              me like an issue where everyone of any political affiliation
              should be on the same side except for the weasel politicians
              of both parties who get a free ride by bullshit gerrymandering.
              How many times in your life have you voted for a member of a
              state assembly or for U.S. representative where the incumbent's
              job was even remotely threatened?  I never have, and I've lived
              in quite a few places.  That's not democracy.
           \_ Agreed. It's all well and good for one side to say, hey, the
              other side does it too, but it's reprehensible to let that logic
              prevent meaningful reform.

1/6     Is 'pekid' (pee-kid) a word?  I remember it meaning pale or unhealthy
        looking, but I can't find it in any dictionaries.  Is it a 'real' word
        or just some dialect I've been exposed to?
        \_ 'peaked' -niloc
        \- also pique
        \_ pallid?
        Pronunciation: 'pa-l&d
        Function: adjective
        Etymology: Latin pallidus -- more at PALE
        1 : deficient in color : WAN <a pallid countenance>
        2 : lacking sparkle or liveliness : DULL <a pallid entertainment>

1/6     A relative is opening a small (family) store and asks me what
        software can be used to keep track of everything, like inventory,
        sales, suppliers, statistics etc.  Are there good and cheap commericial
        (database?) programs for this?  Can she use some open source solution?
        Right now she uses a Mac though that can change if necessary.
        \_ While I hate it with every bit of my soul, for small business,
           Peachtree Accounting will do everything you've asked for.  It only
           runs on Windows, though.
           \_ Why do you hate it?
              \_ Why do you hate America?
              \_ Once you grow and have multiple computers connecting to the
                 database, things get less stable.  It uses its own form
                 of lock that breaks if you try to host the file on Samba
                 server(don't even think of trying this.)  Too many maintenance
                 operations require the database be in single user mode.
                 Basically, it's fine and dandy for a small business that
                 intends to stay small.  It's the growing pains that I don't
                 like.
                 \_ Thanks for the info.  What would you have used instead?
                    Even very small business may want to have multiple user
                    access.
                 \_ why not quickbooks? a small biz is still a lot of work,
                    and getting someone to balance the books every now and
                    then would be easier to find since qb is the standard.

1/6     Someone please list possible neocons who post on motd. I'll start.
        Remember this is just a suspect list, and they're innocent till
        proven guilty:
        emarkp (believes the war has made the world safer, preemption, etc)
                jblack
                williamc
        \_ Nope, wrong. I'm not a neocon. I've already stated publicly that
           I was against the Iraqi war. I also have stated that I'm a
                 \_ some neocons, like that fujimoron, are against the war
           devout atheist, support universal healt-care, same-sex marriages,
           and abortion. I just don't like non-criticial self-rightous
                  \_ neocons are all secular and mostly atheist, unlike con.
           radicalism of the left. It's funny, but a reporter friend of mine
           (who is by no means a republican) stated that after having
           interviewed a number of people, she found that liberals are
           basically "stupid" because they spout off their dogma without
           checking facts. Having said that, my offer to help you be
           deported to Canada still stands -williamc
           \_ Right, and the Other Facilely Labelled Team *ALWAYS* does.
              Can you at least try for some objectivity here?
              \_ Well, I don't hear libertarians nor conservatives
                 whining when they lose. They don't threaten to
                 leave the country. OTOH, very conservative people
                 I know who belong to a Churcn and are devout
                 Christians DO put their money where their mouths
                 are and actually take sabbaticals to 3rd world countries
                 to spread their faith. I don't agree with their religion,
                 but I admire their faith. Unfortunately the same cannot
                 be said of the liberals. I find it somewhat fascinating
                 that someone like John Kerry can vote FOR the Iraq war
                 and then claim he's AGAINST it during his campaign
                 run. And not only that, he actually ALLLOWS the
                 right to paint him into a corner. The world is hardly
                 ever black-and-white. Both sides contain valid criticisms
                 of the other side. However, not practicing what you preach
                 makes you look very stupid. Let this be a lesson to you
                 liberals, what comes out of your mouth is considered,
                 weighed, and judged. If you want to be taken seriously
                 by the American public, speak seriously, think seriously,
                 and most important of all, practice what you preach.
                 Otherwise you will continue to be targets of ridicule.
                 -williamc
                 \_ I thought Kerry voted to authorize the use of force
                    in response to terrorism.  Since Iraq HAD little to
                    do with terrorism directed at us, how would that be
                    voting for an Iraq war? Granted, he said some stupid
                    stuff after the vote where he tried to have it both
                    ways.
                    \_ Uhm, no, he voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq.
                       You're getting his "spin" confused with the actual
                       vote. If you don't believe me you can go read
                       the resolution online and see what he voted for.
                       If he thought that the resolution stated otherwise
                       then shame on Kerry for not actually reading
                       the resolution before voting for it. Sorry, you
                       can't have it both ways. What you vote for is what
                       counts, not what you say after the vote.
                       \_ He voted to agree to allow the President to take
                          action in Iraq.  That's not the same as authorizing
                          the invasion.
                          \_ Wrong point.  Kerry voted to give Bush the
                             authority to go to war if he exhausted all
                             other options to disarm Iraq.  Bush didn't.
                             Specifically he didn't fulfill section 3b of
                             the resolution.  Nor has he performed any of
                             section 4.
           \_ So if I happen to get a job in Canada, will you pay my
              relocation costs even if I don't become a Canadian citizen
              and am not moving for political reasons?  This sounds like
              a potentially sweet deal.  How does one qualify for the
              Williamc Canadian Fellowship?
              \_ Nope, the conditions of the Alec Baldwin Fund are as follows:
              \_ Nope, the conditions of the James Baldwin Fund are as follows:
                 1) We pay you to relocate to Canada
                 2) You have to sign an affadavit that you will renounce
                    your American Citizenship and never return to the U.S.
                    or any of its territories.
                 3) You need give us documented proof that the U.S.
                    Government has received and accepted your renouncement
                    either in the form of an official document from the
                    INS or other State Dept. office.
                 4) You need to submit your cancelled American passport
                    to us.
                Failure to meet these terms will disqualify you.
                Thanks for playing. -williamc
           \_ Devout atheist?
           \_ Did *anyone* move to Canada, France, or some other paradise of
              neo-liberalism?
              \_ No.
        \_ I find it somewhat ironic that you're looking towards making a
           blacklist of people and refuse to sign your own post. Perhaps
           you should put up or shut up.
        \_ Being a neo-con is a crime?
        \_ Restored.  When someone can tell me what a neocon is, I'll let you
           know if I'm one.  -emarkp
           \_ As far as I know, the standard left-wing definition of
              neocon is just "evil."  So I guess the question is, are you
              evil?
           \_ well I don't care about politics but this is time for shameless
              self-promotion. You can find past posts and definitions here:
                 http://csua.com/?entry=12748
              Political posts go in endless & pointless circles so why not just
              read past posts and not create any more trash? thanks.
              \_ It was a rhetorical request.  The definition isn't exactly
                 settled.  The wiki lists:
                 - militant anticommunism: yep
                 - more social welfare spending: nope
                 - sympathy with a non-traditionalist agenda: nope
                 - being more inclined than other conservatives toward an
                   interventionist foreign policy and a unilateralism that is
                   sometimes at odds with traditional conceptions of diplomacy
                   and international law: yep
                 So what does that make me? -emarkp
                 \_ You are a conservative. What I would call a "rightist"
                    conservative, to be exact. This discriminates you from,
                    say, libertarian conservatives.
                    \_ Hmm.  What about if I add this?  I believe we should
                       drill in ANWR but also that we should put a huge
                       boatload of money into researching nuclear fusion for
                       power generation and hydrogen for power distribution.
                       And I bike to work.  -emarkp
        \_ People called me a neocon before.  Heh.  I love how the motd
           meaning of 'neocon' drifted from 'hawkish jew' to 'believes
           Iraq war was a good idea.'  I always thought neocons were people
           who wanted to drill for oil in Alaska. -- ilyas
           \_ I never saw "hawkish jew" and "neocon" is a set including some
              but not all of "believes Iraq war was a good idea". Neo = new
              and "con" is conservative. It's for people, like say David
              Horowitz, who were liberals (or radicals, in his case) and are
              now conservatives. I'd like to see where this "standard left wing
              definition" appears. I've only heard it from people who are not
              left in the least, like the poster above. -- ulysses
              \_ I am sorry, I don't know whose fault it is exactly,
                 but the 'neocon' label has been hijacked and misused to
                 such an extent, that it's really kind of laughable to use
                 this word seriously.  In my opinion. -- ilyas
                 \_ I respect your opinion and certainly the poster above
                    has provided a perfect example of misuse (or at least
                    erroneously broad use). I don't believe the term has been
                    as badly hijacked as that. The most common misuse I see is
                    right here by one or more posters who never sign their
                    names so who can say? -- ulysses
                    \_ Wiki suffers from some of the same problems as the motd
                       does.  There was a /. article on this very subject
                       recently. -- ilyas
                       recently.  People seem to use wiki as a 'mainstream
                       authoritative source' these days.  -- ilyas
        \_ I can categorically state that I am not now and never was a
           member of the Communist Party, er, I mean neocon.
        \_ Conservative = Small government, lower taxes mainly; family values
           Neocon = Everything that happened in Afghanistan, Iraq
        \_ See the wikipedia article,
           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoconservatism_%28United_States%29
        \_ http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/neocon101.html.

1/6     How can I make Mozilla never play background music for any websites?

1/6     Stewart wins, CNN cancels Crossfire
        http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050106-4509.html
        \_ No, I think we all win.
           \_ Eh.  It would have been better if they had just replaced the
              pundits with people who could actually think.

1/6     Too much politics on the motd. Can we talk about girls?
        \_ In Soviet Union, girls talk about you!
           \_ If this were the case, most of the those here would have
              relocated by now.
              \_ Nobody said they're saying good things about you.
                 \_ But if it can get them a green card, I bet they are!
                    \_ Well, they might say ONE nice thing about you, then.
                       \_ Yeah, "I do"
           \_ That would be nice for a change.
        \_ What is a girl? Is it some new linux distro?

1/6     http://www.thenausea.com/elements/usa/AC130_GunshipMed_a.wmv
        Want to see our awsome military capabilities? Look at this video
        with precision guided weapons destroying the bad Afghan
        warlords. Video like this makes me proud of being an American.
        \_ ob group masturbation of hooded prisoners at abu ghraib video; also:
        "I went down to Tier 1 (the cellblock where much of the abuse is said
        to have occurred) and when I looked down the corridor, I saw two
        naked detainees, one masturbating to another kneeling with its mouth
        open," he is quoted as saying. "I thought I should just get out of
        there. I didn't think it was right, as it seemed like the wrong thing
        to do. I saw Staff Sergeant Frederick walking towards me, and he
        said, `Look what these animals do when you leave them alone for two
        seconds.'"

1/6     Can someone tell me how to transfer the ownership of domain names? thx
        \_ Depends on the TLD. Which one do you want to transfer?
           \_ I have http://godaddy.com, the guy who's buying my domain name hasn't
              chosen a registrar yet.
              \_ BTW, does anyone else think http://GoDaddy.com sounds like a porn
                 site?
                 \_ I thought it sounded funny too... hahahahaha

1/6     WTF, you can't defend a child hit with a water bottle at a football
        game now?  The sailor guy is lucky the kid's friends didn't have
        guns!
        http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/01/06/state1916EST0140.DTL
        \_ I think you're confusing "defense" with "revenge"
           \_ You must be some kind of liberal.  You'd sit by and do nothing
              while some clown is throwing things at a kid you're with??
              \_ The guy throws an empty water bottle.  You and two of your
                 friends beat him unconscious.  Does that seem like a valid
                 response to you.  And yes, I am a liberal.  The guy was an
                 ass for not apologizing if he hit the kid on purpose.  But,
                 funny thing, I have some modicum of self control, and I
                 would hope others do too.
              \_ You must be some kind of idiot. Almost killing a guy because
                 he threw an empty bottle at a kid is never justified.
                 Not only are these three morons going to get a year in the
                 pen, they're going to be slapped with a huge assault and
                 battery tort lawsuit by the sailor. I mean, are you going
                 to go and slash someone's throat because he took your
                 parking space? If you think this behavior is justified,
                 I think you need to go seek professional help.
              \_ The article said the sailor refused to apologize.  If that's
                 the whole story, I think he's a dick and deserve to get
                 beaten up.  However, this being civilized society, I think
                 the three men went a bit too far.  I think the fair thing
                 would be to charge the sailor for "assault" as well for
                 hitting the kid with the bottle.
                 \_ And that they didn't should give a clue that it probably
                    an accident.

1/6     What is the difference between the rated and unrated versions of
        9 1/2 Weeks?
        \_ half a week

1/6     "Yahoo! News - On the trail of 400,000 fugitives"
        http://csua.org/u/am1
        80 agents trying to catch 400k fugitive immigrants out of 8M illegals.
        No wonder it didn't work.  The "catch and release" policy is also
        amazing.
        \- if anybody was serious about cheep labor immigration, one
           would move toward more pursuit/prosecution/penalties for
           hiring them. but nobody is going to go after big farmers,
           construction companies and the yuppie employers of domestic
           help. and now we return you to the war on drugs.
           hiring them.

1/6     Arrgggg I told you lazy ass to bike ride but NOOOOO! Now we're
        trailing Seattle: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,143460,00.html

1/6     Inflation disinformation: http://csua.org/u/am2
        \_ Oh yeah, objective research from Gold Bullion dealers.
           C'mon, people, let's get facts from credible sources, eh?
                \_ Why don't you refute their claims instead of
                   the source.  Do you believe oil prices can jump
                   40% year over year and have no effect on everything
                   else, even though oil underpins every aspect of
                   our economy?

1/6     Does anyone have Cingular? Does it offer Busy Forwarding (not Call
        Forwarding) services? For AT&T it's *73 and for Verizon it's *92 but
        I can't seem to find this info for Cingular. Thanks for any help.
        \_ generally this is controlled from the phone w/ GSM by going
           into the call-forwarding setup menu and adjusting the different
           classes of forward.  but I discovered that T-Mobile at least
           has taken upon themselves to override this in the network because
           too many newbies didn't realize they were screwing w/ the same
           mechanism used to send callers to voicemail.  so on T-Mobile
           you have to call customer service and plead with them to change
           forwarding rules for your GSM phone! (this is also why voicemail
           shows as extra calls from your phone, and how they gouge you
           for calls you DON'T answer while roaming internationally!)
           \_ WHOA!!! So does this mean that we shouldn't switch to GSM
              (Cingular/AT&T) yet? And that we should stick to CDMA (Verizon)
              or TDMA (old AT&T)?