Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:February:04 Friday <Thursday, Saturday>
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2005/2/4 [Reference/History/WW2/Germany] UID:36060 Activity:nil
2/4     http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BOX-Obit-Schmeling.html?oref=login
        nice obituary about cool dude Max Schmeling, German boxer who fought
        Joe Louis twice during the Nazi era.  Didn't know he was such
        a great human being.
        \_ what is the csua login/pwd for NYT again?
           \_ u: dykewhore p: dykewhore
2005/2/4-5 [Recreation/Dating] UID:36061 Activity:high
2/4     Does it look ok to your date to request for a doggy bag? ok thx.
        \_ If a date asks, I say it's ok. If I eat thai or some place that
           may have leftovers (see below, you dont do this for fine dining),
           I'll get a box and if I'm in SF or Berkeley, will usually find an
           anworthy bum to give it to.
        \_ Real men finish their meals.
        \_ do you care more about the food or her? if she really
           likes the food, save it for her..
        \_ On an early date, no. You can do this later once you are both
           done impressing one another.
        \_ It depends on if you go dutch or not.
        \_ Yes.  Asking for a box is okay.  Asking for a doggie bag is right
           out.  But seriously, if you're going somewhere after dinner, do you
           want the food smelling up your car?
           \_ Where I live, my trunk is colder right now than my fridge.
           \_ Depends on where you are dining, too. Fine dining it is
              right out. A place like Cheesecake Factory then sure.
                                      \_ aka "The Factory"
        \_ I thought you said "Does it look ok to your date to request a
           doggy style?"
           \_ Would you use a 15%/$3 off coupon on a date?
              \_ $3 off coupon for doing it doggie style?  Or do you not
                 understand how to indent properly?
                 \_ Where can I get *that* coupon?!
                    \_ That's, uh, that's a pretty good coupon. -geordan
        \_ If something that insignificant could change the direction of
           your date then 1) you need a lot more going for yourself or 2)
           she's too high maintenance and not worth it.
        \_ Are you looking to marry this one (or any of them)? If so,
           just be yourself right from the start. If you want a doggie
           bag get it. If she reacts negatively to this, remember its
           her loss. There are plenty of fish in the sea.
           \_ Sure, just break wind in front of her, belch, and otherwise
              be yourself. If she's not impressed then to hell with her.
2005/2/4 [Politics/Domestic/California] UID:36062 Activity:very high
2/4     Whoa, this is the first time I've heard anyone dying from H2O
        intoxication: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/04/fraternity.death.ap
        \_ Wooooo, Chico!  Home sweet home! -jrleek
          \_ The folks I did get out the vote beat-walking with in Reno were
             all Chico students. I liked them. -- ulysses
           \_ You shut yer mouth boy.  You don't live here no more. -emarkp
              \_ now i see where jrleek & emarkp's conservatism come from.
                 \_ Nah.  I moved here in 2000 after marrying his sister in
                    1996.  -emarkp
                    \_ Chico was the liberal big city where I went to
                       high school, Red Bluff. -ausman
                       \_ Yeah, actually Chico has a big liberal element
                          to it.  It is very Berkeley esqe in some ways.
                          Maybe it's Red Bluff meets Berkeley.  (I
                          actually just went to Jr High and High school
                          there.) -jrleek
                          \_ I was at the library the week before the election
                             and saw a group of Kerry supporters meeting to
                             discuss strategies on election day--including how
                             to stop Repub. voting fraud.  I wanted to go in
                             and ask how well their foil-hats fit.  -emarkp
                             \_ you're so cool.  -tom
                             \_ Sounds like they might be a little too
                                tight.
                             \_ So I am curious. Do you believe that
                                Republicans never ever engage in voter fraud?
                                \_ Was wondering if that question would come
                                   up.  Of course not.  But the topic was on
                                   the blackboard, etc.  Butte county votes
                                   very conservative usually and so I'd see
                                   little reason for vote fraud.  Especially in
                                   a presidential election in which everyone
                                   knew the Dem was going to win.  Aside from
                                   that, it appears that when Dems pursue vote
                                   fraud, it's by excessive votes.  Repubs seem
                                   to favor disqualifying votes. -emarkp
                                   \_ Would you be willing to agree that,
                                      regardless of any intentional wrongdoing
                                      by either side, that voting is a pretty
                                      broken system right now, which needs
                                      both legal and technical fixes?  I would
                                      like to see a system where we could hold
                                      a mock election with hackers of various
                                      types intentionally trying to break the
                                      voting, but failing.  Of course, we'll
                                      never have a perfect system, but I think
                                      the present system is a disgrace to this
                                      country.  I've done some research on this
                                      since 2000, and I'm convinced that most
                                      overcounted or undercounted votes are
                                      caused by idiocy, not malice.  However
                                      most politically active people seem to
                                      be more interested in malice than simply
                                      fixing the idiocy.
        \_ Best things to do in Chico:
           Get Drunk, lie on train tracks.
           Get Drunk, swim in dangerous river
           Get Drunk, drive into walnut tree.  (Friends cut down tree in
                revenge.)
           Drink self to death. (alchohol)
           Drink self to death. (water)
        \_ I read about one of those now and then.  Not too long ago there was
           someone on ecstacy who drank too much water because she was worried
           about dehydration.  There was another woman who had some strange
           phobia about dehydration and always drank tons of water until one
           day she overdid it.
           \_ It is actually more common than people think. Hits folks who
              hike in hot/dry areas and don't understand the dangers of too
              much water.
        \_ It's common (especially in hospitalized people), but unless
           there's a specific reason it rarely makes it into the news.
           \_ When one drinks that much water doesn't one just urinate
              it back out? How much and how fast would one have to drink to
              be in danger?
                \_ It's not that hard to drink more than you can pee out;
                   it's not easy, but also not impossible. try it and see
                   (don't, obviously).
              \_ The cause of death isn't explosion.  The cause of death is
                 all that water flowing through your system leaches out
                 stuff from your system via osmosis.  Peeing the water out
                 won't change that.
                 \_ More to the point it causes your body's sodium and
                    potassium to become too diluted, and that interferes with
                    nerve and muscle function.
                \_ not exactly. osmosis causes the water you drink to
                   move INTO your cells. but the cause of death is cells
                   swelling up in your head, causing convulsions and other
                   nasty conditions like that. it also pushes your brain
                   through the one hole in your skull.
        \_ maybe Michael Moore should have a documentary on how he prevented
           suicidal people from drinking too much water.
           \_ Mmm, dumbass, and you nuked two people's posts
2005/2/4 [Politics/Domestic/Crime, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:36063 Activity:high
2/4     What do you sodans think if an Alien race came and claims that our
        democracy is inferior than their whatever system. Does that
        give them the right to attack us? Will any of you be working
        for the "Alien" for a "better America"?
        \_ definitely. i'd embrace their culture and worship their kind
        \_ let me be the first to welcome our new alien overlords.
           \_ damn, you beat me to it!
        \_ What would you sodans do if a stupid troll was posted on the
           motd?
           \_ ilyas wrote the question so it's not a troll. anyways, yes,
              they will have the right to attack us, as long as it's done
              in the name of Jesus Christ. God Bless.
              \_ Actually ilyas wrote one of the replies.  But don't let me
                 get in the way of the infallibility of your spy script.
                 P.S. You are an idiot.  -- ilyas
        \_ Well.  That would depend on whether it is _actually_ better.
           \_ this is a matter of opinion, and if the Alien race used their
            \_ No, it's not.  Some forms of government are better than
               others.  You = Lenin's useful idiot.
              super media power to convince us, YES, so be it. But if the
              alien race failed to convince us at first and then attacked us,
              then it's their fault. Case in point:
              http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/04/web.us
              The point is that information warfare is just as important as
              traditional warfare, and in this case, the US failed to win
              information battles and has a hard time catching up
              \_ No, it's not.  Some forms of government are better than
                 others.  You = Lenin's useful idiot.
                 \_ Better in terms of what? Freedom? Economics? Military
                    Power? Control? And better for whom? Your brain has been
                    classified as: American, self-centered and self-righteous
                             \- you must pay me 5cents
                    \_ American!  Now that stings!  Your brain has been
                       classified as: European, relativist, and morally
                       bankrupt.  This game is fun.
                       \_ Your brain has been classified as: Russian Jew,
                                             \- you must pay me 5cents
                          sarcastic, not funny, and attention whore.
                          (seeking attention on motd. how pathetic)
                          \_ Wasn't my brain American a second ago?  Make up
                            your mind!  And yes, I stand suitably humbled
                             your brain!  And yes, I stand suitably humbled
                             by a fellow motd poster, who clearly is not
                             limited by any kind of whoring himself.
           \_ But is democracy _actually_ better than what was in Iraq
              before?
                \_ your brain has been classified as: small.
                   \_ wait... whose brain?
                      \_ The brain of anyone who disagrees with ilyas on any
                         subject.
        \_ We are the Americans.  You will be democratized.  Resistance is
           terrorism.
           \_ Hahahahaha, you've made my day! This about sums it up!!
              \_ ARe you Chinese?  Do you understand the impact of the opium
                 trade on Cnina?
        \_ I think that you fail to understand something fundamental
           about how the world works. Behind the protective wall of
           civilization people are free to argue about this right or
           that, but outside of those walls, a man's rights are based
           on his ability to defeat and destroy all those that oppose
           him. If the Aliens are stronger than we are, then we may
           have no choice but to live by their rules.
           Personally, given a choice between American and the Alien,
           I would fight and die for this nation b/c I believe that
           no better alternative can exist in this life.
           \_ My country right or wrong!  -John
2005/2/4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Korea] UID:36064 Activity:high
2/4     "The United States would dispatch 690,000 troops and 2,000
        warplanes if war breaks out on the Korean peninsula, according
        to a South Korean defense policy paper released Friday"
        \_ That seems like a lot. Anyone know how many troops we have?
           \_ I think if you count everyone in training, on leave, resupply,
              and doing 'back end' work it's about that many.  We have 125k
              active duty in Iraq and that's a stretch.
           \_ We won't need troops soon.  We'll have armored death robots
              within a few years.  -John
              \_ I think we should make Imperial Walkers.  Why not? Unlike
                 missile defence I'm pretty sure they would actually work.
              \_ I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.
        \_ Link?
        \_ doubtful. Marines fall short of recruitment, and is in trouble:
           http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/marines.recruiting.ap
           \_ Did you actually read your own link?  It doesn't say they're
              in trouble.  It says they were 84 recuits short of their
               3270 recruit goal in January, but they were 184 over
               the goal for that quarter.
        \_ There are only 450k active duty soldiers in the entire Army,
           so that seems like a bit of a stretch. I am sure we would
           activate the Reserves and pull in the IRR though and they
           number at least another 1/2M.
2005/2/4 [Recreation/Humor, Recreation/Media] UID:36065 Activity:nil
2/4     How funny someone asked about doggy bags below. Seinfeld talks
        about it in his stand-up routine tonight.
2005/2/4-5 [Science/Space] UID:36066 Activity:very high
2/4     The hottest jobs in 2005 and beyond, and why I hate astronomers
        (because my tax money is used so that they can watch stars? what
        a waste!)            http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/03/pf/hotjobs
        \_ What the fuck are you blathering about?  Astronomers aren't even on
           the list.
           \_ lafe, third GIF chart to the right, astronomers on top column.
        \_ Astronomy leads to advancements in basic physics, which leads to
           practical achievements.  Astronomy gave us the theory of gravity,
           confirmation of general relativity, and neutrino oscillation, among
           others.  Also, that quick chart fails to mention that many
           astronomers in gov't research are P.Ii's with Ph.Ds plus 20 years
           of experience, while those in the private sector are often
           recent PhDs.
           \_ Astronomy also leads to multi-billion dollar space missions
              that creates hundreds of jobs for people working at Lockheed,
              Boeing, &c.
           \_ Even The Vatican has astronomers.  They use something called
              the "pope scope" (I'm not making that up, BTW).
              \_ I use something called a "poop scoop" for cleaning cat
                 litter.
              \_ Woah! I just checked around on google, and it turns out the
                 pope not only has a telescope, it's in Arizona!
                 http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/R1024/VO.html
                 \_ Still trying to disprove that whole earth/sun thing?
                    \_ I think the Pope apologized for the church's
                       persecution of Galileo and accepted the Helio-
                       centric solar system in the early 90s.
        \_ Who in the private sector hires astronomers?
           \_ Anyone having anything to do with satellites and aerospace,
              mfgrs. of visual navigation aids, telescope and star chart
              manufacturers, and do private universities with astronomy
              research departments count?  -John
        \- I believe there are a couple of areas where the public sector
           jobs are quite prestigious and get pretty good people. In some
           cases decent pay goes with the jobs. It's not the dregs of the
           law schools who become law clerks or work for the Manhattan DA
           or the SEC. The Fed has some top economists [yes I know the Fed
           is special]. In some cases you can't directly do public/private
           sector salary comparisons because in theprivate sector the same
           sector salary comparisons because in the private sector the same
           person would be doing a differnt job ... you might may a Aerospace
           Eng prof $125k while a Aerospace Engineer makes less ... but the
           really smart Aerospace eng prof fro, UCB could go solve differential
           eqs for Wall Street instead and twice as much ... but that isnt
           captured in the private sector income stats for Aerospace.
           I'm happier about my tax money going to peer reviewed hard science
           research than Halliburton's passed expenses.
           \- BTW, to echo the fellow above, I think the astronomer case is
              an anomaly because they are so very concentrated in NASA, a
              govt angency known has being very seniority heavy ... and who
              knows what private sector astronomer even means ... maybe they
              are jr. high school science teachers.
              \_ Heh. When I was in junior high, I had a science teacher who
                 taught part time who had a business card that said
                 "astronomer". I think he had several part time teaching things
                 going and did some random consulting.
              \_ How are they defining public/private? Is MIT public or
                 private under this definition? What about Aerospace Corp.
                 or RAND?
              \_ Jr. HS Science teacher is generally in the public sector.
2005/2/4-7 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers] UID:36067 Activity:kinda low
2/4     Say I am single and my income is around $25K and I might need to use
        education related deductions. Which online e-filing service would be
        best to use? (preferably with Mozilla/Firefox support)
        \_ I use TurboTax for the web, and it seems to do a serviceable job.
           I have no problem using it with either Firefox or Safari.  Notably,
           it's a good $10 or $20 cheaper if you file before April one.  Also,
           a number of banking/investment (in my case both Vanguard and BofA)
           have cut deals with Intuit that discount the service even further
           for their customers. -dans
           \_ this year, they redirect you to a web page that says that you're
              using an unsupported web browser if you try to login with Mozilla
              or Firefox.
              \_ Strange, I never received that redirect, but then I've been
                 going via link from Vanguard and not through the front door
                 so to speak.
        \_ Most e-filing services are free for individuals in your bracket
           and some services are free for any income level, all so long as
           you get redirected from the IRS's website:
           http://www.irs.gov
           I tend to use it to shop around for the services I need as you'll
           find some don't support the more esoteric forms if you need them.
           -gerald
Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:February:04 Friday <Thursday, Saturday>