9/1     Will they rebuild New Orleasn? Should then?

9/1     Where did Germany get oil from during WWII?
        \_ A lot came from northern shore, Scandanavia. They also produced
           oil from coal and gas through fancy (but costly) methods.
           http://csua.com/?entry=39219
           \_ Oil was Germany's weak spot in the war.  Hitler's obsession with
              autarky is a partial explanation for the insane expansionism
              of Nazi Germany.  The change of thrust towards the Caucasus
              after the takeover of Moscow failed was motivated by oil.
                -- ilyas
        \_ Romania (Ploesti) had massive refineries and oil fields.  I
           wouldn't put as much emphasis on German striving for self-
           sufficiency as, say, Japan (where oil and metal were actually
           major factors in their going to war with the US)  -John
           \_ err... US was supplying oil and scrap metals to fuel its
                invasion of China prior to Pearl Harbor...

9/1     On google, search for Cindy Sheehan. There is a big advertisement
        "Does Cindy speak for you? http://www.thankyoupresidentbush.com
         Learn why she's wrong in the pages of Thank You, President Bush."
        The Republicans sure have a lot of money.
        \_ That was pretty funny, actually.  I saw no such ad.  I did see this:
           "Singles For Cindy
           America's Liberal Dating Service
           As in N Y Times, Air America, etc
           http://DemocraticMatch.Com"
        \_ I saw it late last night.  Wow. -someone else
        \_ Why is this ad special in some way?

9/1     Liberal: Katrina is Bush's fault
        Conservative: Katrina is the terrorists' fault
        Libertarian: Katrina is the residents' fault
        Christian: Katrina is our fault for supporting gays and lesbians
        Muslim: Katrina is punishment for occupying sacred Arab land
        Bhuddism: Katrina is no one's fault
        \_ You aren't too bright, are you?
        CSUA: It is yermom's fault
        \_ I disagree. It's never yermom's fault. yermom is just yermom.
        \_ The hurricane is no one's fault. The lack of response/prep,
           however, is the fault of a someone or group of someones.
           \_ Who are you, humourless motd lamer?

8/31    Where is the strategic oil reserve located? Government oil sites? Or
        hidden underground? And how much are we tapping now and assuming
        Louisiana oil is gone for several years, how long would it last?
        \- under Ray's Original Pizza in Manhattan. It will last until
           12:53pm, Dec 12, 2005.
        \_ Bunch of salt caves (4 in total, I think.)  -John
        \_ Underground tanks in TX and LA. They need to be relatively close
           to the refineries.
           \_ um, no. CO, UT, and WY
              \_ um, yes.
                 http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/reserves/spr/spr-sites.html
        \_ Are you a terrorist?
        \_ http://www.eveningsun.com/Stories/0,1413,140~26155~3036365,00.html
           Colorado, Utah and Wyoming
           \_ Oil shale. Great. When the price hits a good $80/barrel,
              it'll be worth it.

9/1     "This is a reminder, sent out once a month, about your
        http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu mailing list memberships.  It includes your
        subscription info and how to use it to change it or unsubscribe from a
        list."
        Umm, WTF?
        \_ Pretty standard mailman thing these days.  -tom

9/1     Will they rebuild New Orleans? Should they?
        \_ Yes.  Should they? Not as it was, and most likely, not where it was.
        \_ They should restore it to a wetlands.
           \_ It's already been restored to a swamp (the non-pc term).
        \_ They will rebuild it. Too much money to be had at the mouth of
           the Mississippi. That's why it was built in the first place.
        \_ Rebuild what? After the water is pumped out/recedes/evaporates,
           the core buildings are still there.
           \_ Sigh. Let me guess, you've never built anything have you?
           \_ After having been sitting in a stew of toxic sludge for a few
              weeks?

9/1     I am in the south bay, and yesterday out of no where I discovered
        lots and lots of aunts in the bathroom. I am usually very
        careful about leaving food outside, and the trail of the aunts
        (from bathroom - living room fireplace) does not appear to
        show that they were after my food. What the hell were they
        after? Were they just moving? I sprayed and killed most of
        them, which probably numbered in the thousands.. I've not had
        a single aunt problem for the past 2 years I've lived here.
        What would cause such a sudden outburst of aunts?
        \_ They are probably after water, not food.
        \_ They are probably after money, not food.
        \_ has it been hotter than usual lately?
           http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Pesticides-Wont-Stop-em.htm
           \_ I've been having exactly this problem for the past three months.
              I had the same problem the same time last year.  I've been
              wondering why the same brand of bait that used to work a few
              years ago doesn't work now.  It must be this new Argentine ant
              species.  One thing I notice is that some ants crawl much faster
              than others.  Is it the Argentine ant vs. the native species?
              years ago doesn't work now.  It must be this new Bolivian ant
              species.  One thing I notice is that Bolivian ants march faster
              than others.  Is it the Bolivian ant vs. the native species?
              I live in north Fremont.
           \_ I've noticed a lot of ants in my bathroom the past several
              months as well.  They go away for few weeks after I put those
              ant bait/traps, but come right back.  I don't have problems with
              ants in other parts of my Oakland apartment.
              ants in other parts of my Oakland apartment. I live in E. Fremont.
        \_ Its not like the ants in CA bite or anything, what are you
           so concerned about?
           \_ They crawl up my legs and arms.  My in-law got a few on her face
              a few nights ago while sleeping.
           \_ They crawl up my legs and arms. My in-law got her face chewed off
              a few nights ago while sleeping. We are Taiwanese.

9/1     "Bush rejects foreign help, says United States could take care
        of itself... Bush defended the federal government's response to
        the growing crisis amid urgent pleas for help from stranded victims.
        He said the breach of the levees that led to the submerging of much
        of New Orleans had not been anticipated."
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/weather_bush_dc
        Why does Reuters hate GW Bush?
        \_ You can criticize Bush without the "why does xyz hate" line.
        \_ "The breach had not been anticipated" -- sounds a bit like "who
           knew there were no WMDs" -- Faith based administration!
        \_ So we are doing what India initially did during the tsunami,
           rejecting foreign help out of national pride.
        \_ Whoops! Now US accepting aid...
           http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-09-01-foreignaidkatrina_x.htm

9/1     The libertarian answer to a non-libertarian society
        is to game it for all it's worth while pointing
        and laughing.  -- ilyas  (reposted by meyers)
        \_ Gee, must be nice to have such a flexible philosophy that you
           never need to make any tough decisions, like say getting a job
           instead of continuing to beg for government handouts like public
           education.  Do you think emarkp, for example, would engage in
           an all male orgy that might benefit him greatly financially? Of
           course not, he has convictions (even if I disagree with him).
           -meyers
           \_ Meyers, you don't seem to understand something.  'Libertarianism'
              isn't a moral philosophy, it is a political philosophy.  It has
              certain things to say about how state power ought to be
              exercised, but that is all.  It does not say one should not
              engage in charity (moral question), it does not say one should
              not receive charity (again, moral question).  Do you start to
              see the pattern here?  A non-libertarian society is structured
              to take advantage of productive members of society to benefit
              the non-productive.  The proper productive response is to leave,
              strike, or take advantage of an unjust system. -- ilyas
              \_ I'm not meyers but it's clear to me that people like you
                 care about libertarianism more than morals. People who
                 don't care about moral, are jerks.
                 \_ Who says I don't care about morals?  Do you even know me?
                      -- ilyas
                    \_ No, I don't know you. It is YOUR FAULT for not letting
                       people know you. You talk about libertarianism. What
                       about your other beliefs? Open up. Tell us about your
                       self.                                    !meyers
                       \_ Why don't you email me, trollboy, and we ll have a
                          nice chat. -- ilyas
            \_ This is a bad analogy.  Mark's religion says "it's bad to
               engage in male orgys"  Libertarianism doesn't say "it's bad to
               take money from the government."  It says "It's bad for the
               government to give money (in many situations)" -phuqm
               \_ That makes no sense.  Govt aid is bad, but not if you
                  take it?  -meyers
                  \_ Well that's like believing taxes for public schools is
                     bad, but still going to a public school. Nothing really
                     wrong with that scenario... it's not like using gov't
                     services violates libertarian religion. They are having to
                     pay for it like the rest.
       \_ Actually it says all sexual relationships outside of marriage
                  are bad for various reasons.  So that excludes female orgies
                  as well. -emarkp
               \_ Actually it says all sexual relationships are bad for
                  various reasons.  So that excludes female orgies as well.
                                    -emarkp
       \_ Actually it says all sexual relationships
          are bad for various reasons.  So that excludes female orgies as
          well. -emarkp
                    \_ Well that's just crazy talk. -phuqm
                       \_ Just thought I'd clarify. -emarkp

9/1     any caveats to running FSCK on a hardware raid 5 volume?
        url pointers / random comments appreciated.
        \_ It's just a filesystem. Be aware that a large RAID can take
           a long time. It's one reason I prefer NetApp.
           \_ Concur. If you're fsck'ing anything you've got raid 5 on,
              you'll have live with whatever time it takes to check it.
              Think about getting a journaled filesystem.
           \_ Netapp is fun n all until you have to run a wafl_check.
              \_ WAFL_check can be pretty quick nowadays.  They've optimized
                 significantly over the last few years.  -rollee

9/1     Euro-denominated investments were all the rage on motd.  Did anyone
        actually go through with the investments?  How did people do?
        \_ I did badly. I started around April and the strong dollar kept
           fucking the investment up. I've lost maybe 8% from New Zeland and
           Euro. Euro a bit worse. That's ok. Warren Buffet lost even more.
           I think he lost well over 200 million over his billion dollar
           investment overseas. I'm not worried though. This is for the
           long term investment. Just as the Japanese yen took decades to
           decline, the US economy is looking a lot like Japan 15 years ago,
           so I still believe in Warren Buffet. I am sticking to my guns.
           Don't get me wrong, I know Buffet started it in the early 2000s
           and did pretty well whereas I started late, at the worst possible
           point. However, Buffet isn't pulling out his 31 billion investment
           overseas, and I'm not pulling out my mine (in the thousands) either
           \_ Buffet can afford to take risks and losses and wait in a way
              I doubt you can.
        \_ I've owned LOGI for a long time, +156%.
           Since the election I've bought SAP (+10.7%), PHG (+4.3%), and
           MAPTX (+6.2%).  -tom
        \_ I have EUROX since 11/2003. +89%. But it's only half EURO, since
           it also invests in Russia.
           Like Tom, I have MAPTX (+42% since 11/2003), but that's AsiaPac,
           not EURO.
           Others - MACSX (+28% 11/03) (AsiaPac conservative)
                    MJFOX (+28% 11/03) (Japan)
                    TAVIX (+12% 12/04) (int'l)
                    IFN (+81% 11/03) (india)
                    MCHFX (+12% 11/03) (china)
                        (I think I am dumping this soon since I bought china
                          internet stocks (snda, ntes, ctrp)).
                    also lots of foreign stocks: crxl, rtp, pbr, btm,
                        rio, snda, ntes, ctrp, idbe, mbt, ...
                    my only us holdings are: ffiv, nile, dvy, brufx, mot,
                        desc (got lucky with desc - doubler in 3 months)
                        brufx is a really cool 1 man fund.  check it out.
                        (I think I am dumping this soon and buy china
                          internet stocks (those with nice profit)).
        \_ I posted a nice long reply, but someone stomped it. No way
           I am typing all this in again. The short answer is, yes. -ausman
           \_ Please post it again, I wanna know.  Also, what are you
              investing in these days?

9/1     Four dollars a gallon and rising :
        http://images.ibsys.com/2005/0831/4921602_240X180.jpg
        (picture from a service station in South Carolina)
        \_ We're gonna beat out Canada pretty soon.  They're at Can$1.04/liter
           which is ~ US$3.30/gallon
        \_ How long do you think this will keep going? 2 weeks? 2 months?
           I think this is the catalyst that'll break our economy.
           \_ That'll be sad -- the economy of the strongest country in the
              world being brought down by one hurricane.  But I agree that
              Katrina is probably starting the breakdown.
              \_ So you two think this is the beginning of a world wide and
                 lasting depression?  Based on what?
                 \_ Did I say world wide or lasting?

9/1     Would you rather live in a city which has:
        Earthquakes?
        \_ Definitely.  If it's strong enough to kill you, there's no question.
           I don't like advance warning.  Tornados/hurricanes have too much
           anxiety attached.
           \_ I agree.  An earthquake only lasts for a few seconds (unless
              it's a really bad one), whereas a tornado warning/watch can
              last hours.  -meyers
        Tornados?
        Hurricanes?
        (famine/droughts)
        \_ I'd live in Hawaii
                \_ Hawaii will soon have no gasoline
        civil unrest?
        war?
        invaded or occupied by US?
        US occupation?
        Pollution?
        \_ If these are the only factors, I'd like to live in a city with
           hurricanes but no earthquakes, where homes are built out of concrete
           and routinely withstand strong hurricanes.  For example, Hong Kong.
           \_ No concrete is going prevent what happened in New Orleans.
        \_ Frequent slight tremors and infrequent disasters: .

9/1     I was browsing news where it showed me the amount of Federal
        Petroleum Reserve on a chart, from 1970s till now. I'm trying
        to find it again but I can't. Can someone please point me to
        the right URL? Thanks.

9/1     New Orleans will be rebuilt...
        Where it was: .
        On lots of new fill dirt:
        Farther inland:
        As a shadow of its former self: .
        It's best as a land fill:
        \_ It'll never be rebuilt.  I just realized today that the levees will
           be a terrorist target from now on if it is.
           \_ There are no terrorists. GW Bush eradicated them, and created
              a magnet for terrorists in Iraq so that instead of coming to
              to the US, they go to Iraq. The fact that there hasn't been
              a single attack in the US means GW Bush's plan is working. You
              liberals should look around and have the guts to admit that
              Bush's doing a swell job.
              \_ I think Dubya's plan was that Iraq would be stable by now and
                 we'd be out of there.  And that we would have found the WMDs.
                 And Osama would be captured, dead or alive.  Something like
                 that.  Well, at least we found out Saddam didn't have WMDs.
                 I think all the non-old people are also supposed to have
                 private accounts, too.
           \_ We already know it will be rebuilt b/c Ben Sisko lived
              there as a kid.
              \_ Yes, but it was never mentioned where that New Orleans was.
           \_ And why didn't the Ts blow up the levees before?
              \_ Because there are easier targets out there.
              \_ Possibly because no one thought of it.  The whole world knows
                 about it now.  I don't know about the energy necessary, but if
                 a fertilizer truck bomb could breach the levee, I can't
                 imagine that they could ever rebuild.
                 \_ Do it enough and the residents of NO would evolve into
                    amphibious beings who could survive on raw seweage ... it
                    might be the key to saving the human race!

9/1     http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4201812.stm
        "Iraq war 'costlier than Vietnam'" Wait, how can this be? We have
        a lot LESS soldiers there, a lot less tanks, a lot less choppers,
              \_ FEWER                   \_ fewer          \_ fewer
        a lot less oil/food to move around, etc. How can this be?
        \_ "Mr Donnelly [American Enterprise Institute] said the relative cost
           of operations in Iraq, at 2% of America's annual GDP, was less than
           either the Vietnam conflict at 12% or World War II at 40%."
           \_ Ah, the AEI.  Comparing it to GDP, when we're at one of the
              lowest points in decades of tax receipt visavis gdp

9/1     I hate Yahoo. After being pushed persistently by their GUI to
        upgrade to YM7, and answering questions that ask me if I'm SURE
        that I don't want to install their tool bar and use their site
        as the default search engine, YM7 installer still installed a
        stupid Yahoo toolbar. Yahoo is getting more and more annoying
        like AOL and Netscape used to be. I hate Yahoo, I'll never
        work for lame ass companies like that.
        \_ iChat, Adium, Trillian, GAIM. Does anybody still use the ones
           provided by the IM companies?
        \_ You have to do custom install and uncheck it.  Nice troll.

9/1     http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1759273,00.html
        So is there a liberal/conservative/libertarian/sodan/moderate view on
        this?
        \_ Great. Now how am I supposed to take a crap in the pool when
           they are filming me?

9/1     In the light of gas shortages, doesn't it make sense for the
        GOVERNMENT to say something about conservation? In my country,
        we get government messages on TV regarding typhoon, gas shortages,
        electricity conservation, and general things to help calm the people.
        Doesn't the US government care about its people?
        \_ President Bush "hoped" people would conserve gas ... Of course that
           immediately caused a run on gas stations, producing the opposite
           result ... You have to remember the faith-based reality the current
           administration lives in: there are no shortages, nothing ever runs
           out and the invisible hand of Adam Smith and/or God always provides
           in the end.  That makes it a bit harder to deal with reality.
           \_ What is your name son? We would like to talk to you, in
              private.                                  -The Bush People
        \_ US EPA: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/mpg.htm
           US DOE: http://www.fueleconomy.gov
           These sites have been around for years.
           \_ This is as useful as having it on display in the bottom of a
              locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign
              on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard."
              \_ Care to help spread the word?
        \_ The "government" cares more about protecting the profits of
           corporations and getting reelected.  Remember the "John Jerry
           thinks we should tax gasoline so people drive less" ads?  Very
           effective if totally fabricated.
           \_ No, where can I find this ad?
                \_ I can't find the ad but here's a reference to it:
                   http://www.bestoftheblogs.com/2004_03_30_bestof.html

9/1     Alternative/Mainstream energy predictions 50 years from now:
        \_ Read The Party's Over, Richard Heinberg, who debunks most
           replacements for oil.  His second book, Powerdown, recommends a path
           for reducing population and preserving the best of this peak in
           human evolution
           \_ The path to reducing population is WW3. Its coming soon,
              b/c w/o it Zephram Cochrane can't take over a missle
              silo in Montana and invent warp drive. Once we have
              warp drive everything begins to change...
        \_ Nuclear
           \_ no way!
           \_ Fusion
                   \_ no way!
                      \_ Way!
        \_ Coal
           \_ unfortunately!
        \_ Natural Gas
           \_ no way!
        \_ alternative energy
           \_ wind has the most potential right now...
              \_ I met someone at a party whose job was designing wind farms
                 in the North Atlantic.  I thought that was just the coolest
                 job ever.  -John
           \_ zero point?
              \_ Zed PM, baby.
                 \_ Hi there SG1/Atlantis fan! There are 2 of us here now!
                                               \_ This is getting out of hand!
                    \_ How do you like the dude you replaced O'Neill?
                       - yaSG1/AtlantisFan
        \_ biofuel
           \_ no way!
        \_ Cannibalism
        \_ Zombie Holocaust!
        \_ Prayer!
        \_ SEX!
           \_ yermom!
        \_ Forever mice:
           http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1754008,00.html
           \_ I'm...not liking this whole unnecessary 'amputation of my
              limbs' thing. -mice
           \_ I'm...not liking this whole 'amputation of my limbs' thing. -mice

/1      I'm listening to CNN and I can't believe how HAPPY the
        news reporters sound at describing the terrible situation
        in New Orleans. Has anyone else noticed this? Is anyone
        else disturbed by this?
        \_ anything that makes Bush looks bad is worth it.
           \_ Bush is looking bad b/c of the hurricane? I didn't
              pick up on that.
              \_ The Federal Government in general looks slow and incompetant.
                 Bush II is the face of the government. And he himself is
                 reacting slowly on the disaster relief front.
                 \_ Well he did have a b-day party for McCain and guitar
                    practice to attend.
                    \_ And he did declare LA a disaster area before the party.
        \_ Someone deleted my comment, but I think blonde folksy robotic
           news anchors are par for the course nowadays.  Just look at Fox
           News - they use an equivalent tone to report news on Bennifer
           as they do for Iraq.
           \_ You'd be like that too with a face full of botox and body
              swimming in uppers and downers.
           \_ I'm...not liking this whole 'amputation of my limbs' thing. -mice
        \_ HAMMSSSTTEERRR POWEEERRRRR!
        \_ Hamster power!
           http://www.aaaugh.com/jokes/hamster_power.html  -John

9/1     Trolled ilyas reminds me of myself when I was in junior high.
        This jerk sat behind me, and he'd shake my desk or use a pencil to
        poke at my neck or back. I'd get so mad that I'd turn around to tell
        him to stop. The teacher would always tell me to shut up. Later on
        all he had to do was to show intent, using motion or sound, to
        annoy me the heck out of me. He used minimum amount of effort
        to get the maximum effect. I see that Ilyas has become me, and
        that I'm that jerk, and it's quite entertaining -nice guy turned jerk
        \- when i was in 7th grade english class this really annoying super
           zionist sat behind me and at point started this habit of kicking
           my chair. after asking him to stop repeatedly, finally i turned
           around and started punching him. the teacher actually let me get
           a few hits in before asking me to stop ... which was pretty cool
           of her. i dont think i got in much trouble. that teach was not
           of her. i dont think i got in much trouble. that teacher was not
           unattractive.
           \_ Gee, and I thought I was the only one who has been smacked by
              Partha.  How disappointing.
           \_ Where did you go to school?
              \- the jewish part of compton.
           \_ "super zionist"?

9/1     How do you deal with friends who are always late?  (i.e., movie
        lunch, whatnot).  I tried to adjust to their time and showed up
        late but they always showed up later than me.
        \_ I've noticed that a lot of my mother's friends have a habit of "it
           is not time to leave until the time at which the person said to
           show up" (so if you said to be there at 6:30, they wouldn't even
           think of leaving until 6:30).  I'm not sure who puts these kinds of
           ideas into peoples' heads.  Personally, I tend to show up early to
           everything and get frustrated at anyone who is habitually late.  As
           far as how I react, I tend to vary; but most of the time all I can
           muster is a nasty glance in their direction.  Bah, I'm a pacifist.
           - jvarga
        \_ Trying to date someone who is habitually late while you're
           punctual, is like being a liberal dating someone who is
           a Bush worshipper. I dated this stupid Taiwanese girl who
           was habitually late. Things got a lot worse later on. To make
           matters worse she insisted that Bush was good because she belived
           he would protect Taiwan at all costs. She said things like "Bush
           is smart, he imports a lot of foreign oil so that when they run
           out, we'll still have a lot of oil left." Her whole family is like
           that. Fucking dumb bitch. I'm so happy to have moved on.
           I'm never dating some who's habitually late (clearly very
           disrespectful to others), and someone who's conservative,
           always talking about money and eating good food and talking
           about other wealthier people having good lives.
           \_ very typical Taiwanese.   please don't flatter her with the
              word "conservative."  Her (and most of Taiwanese) are not
              nearly sophiscated.  They would align themselves with anyone
              who is against mainland China.
        \_ Just let them show up late. If they don't show up when you
           asked them to, just go without them. For example, if it's
           a movie, just buy your tix and everyone else's and go inside.
           Let the flake buy his/her own tickets and sit alone.
        \_ How late are we talking? 5 min? 10? 30?  You could always just
           add a half hour in front of the meeting time when you tell it
           to them.  Movie starts at 6:30?  Tell them it starts at 6.
           Other than that, just put up with them or stop hanging out with
           them.
        \_ Stop inviting them.
        \_ My gf is like this.  Have you let your friend know?  Be firm
           when letting him/her know.  Her friends have started asking me
           to get her to an event on time.  Some people never change.
        \_ I was in your situation. Hope: change them or adapt to their
           schedule. Reality: people will NEVER change. What's the incentive
           for these people to show up early? They don't care. Why should
           they change? My x-gf was late. The longer I knew her, the
           later she became. People don't change. Hope is good, but
           you gotta live with reality.
        \_ Asian women are the WORST. It's a sign of things to come.
        \_ A friend of mine (you know who you are) had a reputation for
           being late or flat out flaking on various social events.  One
           day he showed up 10 minutes early for a board game night.  I
           stared at him blankly through the doorway, said "I disbelieve,"
           and shut the door.  (I did let him in later though)  -meyers
           \_ In his defense, he had a crazy work schedule at the time.
              -meyers
        \_ Learn to work around it.  If you need to be somewhere at a set
           time tell them you will pick them up about 30 minutes before you
           really need to pick them up.  If you can live with things just
           know that they will be late.  If it really bothers you can just
           confront them about it, but do it nicely.  That will probably
           only work if they are a close friend or better though.
           \_ No, don't work around it. You don't need to put up with
              bullshit. It's painful to move on, but it's better in the long
              term.
              \- SF is the flake capital of the world so you have to have
                 a policy on this. On the other hand, it is pretty situational
                 both in terms of circumstances and personalities, so here
                 are some things I factor in ...
                 I think if somebody shows up late for a party or hanging
                 out with a bunch of people in a bar for the afternoon
                 it doesnt matter much, but if they are habitually late
                 for things where it "matters" [like you are waiting
                 outside a theater with tix] I wouldnt put up with it.
                 I suppose at some point you may want to figure out whether
                 they have some issue like inflexible work situation or if it
                 is a matter of just not valuing your time or overbooking
                 on their part. Also you have to figure out what your stakes
                 are ... it's easier to write off an acquaitance by just
                 stopping inviting them, than say a gf. And then you need
                 to decide whether to deal with it passively [stop inviting
                 them] or confront them ["it just seems to be you arent
                 respecting my time by keeping me sitting here for an
                 hour" aka "do i look like a bitch?"].  I have to say
                 in this era of pretty ubiquitous cell phones if
                 somebody is going to use "i was stuck on the bridge"
                 as an excuse and doesnt call, they lose big points. I
                 suppose at some level I try to figure out of the
                 reason/intention is: 1. they dont have their act
                 together 2. they have more importnat things/things
                 they prefer to do [like not commiting to show up in
                 hope of getting a better offer] 3. they simply have
                 no regard for other people's time.  usually the last
                 one is correlated with other forms of freeriding.
                 \_ Amen. But that doesn't keep people from being
                    total assholes. Sometimes I think that it IS
                    intentional. They know just how much it pisses
                    you off so they just do it even more.
                    \- i dont think it is intentional. i think they just dont
                       care. it's the "i need to be true to myself" mentality.
        \_ Someone who is always late either doesn't give a shit about
           you, has a totally crazy life or both.  You need to figure out
           which it is and decide if you want to deal with that.
           \_ They could also have mental problems (OCD or others).
        \_ It's situational.  When I was single, I was always on time or early.
           When I was married, I was on time to somewhat late.  Now with kids, I
           am always late no matter how well I try to get ready.
           \_ yea, blame it on the wife and kids.
              I have a friend who has 5 kids from 2 to 16, and she is
              never late.
              \_ Maybe she's not a good parent and dumps the load to her husband or
                 mom.  I could do that if I really want to meet my schedule.  When
                 you're baby is fuzzy or wants to play, there's no way you get out
                 you're baby is fuzzy or wants to play, there's no way to get out
                 it unless, you dump the load to someone else.
        \_ you guys need to relax, take it easy and take your time to
           do things at a leisurely pace.  why rush here rush there
           everyday?  it's an industrial society sickness.
           \- becuase restaurants wont seat you till your whole
              party is there, because movies will start before
              you are there, because i dont bring my laptop or the
              you are there, because i dont bring by laptop or the
              economist to a bar so i may not have anything to do
              for the half and hour you are not there. if you are
              meeting me at my house, i dont really care if you are
              30 min late. situational.
        \_ Make them come to your house and pick you up before doing
           anything together. That way you can surf the net, do your
           laundry, etc, while waiting for them. I usually do this with
           one friend of mine who is always late.
           \- Do you live in Berkeley or the Southbay? What is feasible
              in a small student community or a place with little congestion
              or parking problems is not reasonable in say SF or LA ... and
              it's not always a two person affair. Again the diagnosis and
              remedies are highly situational.

9/1     I'm listening to CNN and I can't believe how HAPPY the
        news reporters sound at describing the terrible situation
        in New Orleans. Has anyone else noticed this? Is anyone
        else disturbed by this?
        \_ anything that makes Bush looks bad is worth it.
           \_ Bush is looking bad b/c of the hurricane? I didn't
              pick up on that.
              \_ The Federal Government in general looks slow and incompetant.
                 Bush II is the face of the government. And he himself is
                 reacting slowly on the disaster relief front.
                 \_ Well he did have a b-day party for McCain and guitar
                    practice to attend.
                    \_ And he did declare LA a disaster area before the party.
        \_ Someone deleted my comment, but I think blonde folksy robotic
           news anchors are par for the course nowadays.  Just look at Fox
           News - they use an equivalent tone to report news on Bennifer
           as they do for Iraq.
           \_ You'd be like that too with a face full of botox and body
              swimming in uppers and downers.

9/1     Woohoo!  Two block long gas lines in Atlanta and Alabama.
        \_ Uh, typical Iraq gas line is 5 blocks, and it's been like that
           for years.
           \_ Your point?
              \_ If Iraqis moved the Atlanta and Alabama, they would probably
                 have to wait less.
           \_ Per my family member who is stationed in Iraq, people camp
              out in line for gas. When they finally get it, a lot of
              them (especially young guys trying to impress girls) joyride
              around until they run out of gas. Then they get back in line.
              They don't really see it as a crisis. Perhaps cab drivers
              and truck drivers do.
              \_ My point is the Iraqi people are stupid living there. They
                 should come to the US where the line is only 2 blocks.
                 \_ Yeah, but then they would get pulled over by the cops for
                    'Driving While Iraqi." Word.
                    \_ "Driving While Iraqi" does not make any sense. Driving
                        While Fucking Iraqi, or Driving and Being Iraq
                        makes sense.
                        \_ It does make sense, fool!
                        \_ For the former, do you mean "Driving While Being A
                           Fucking Iraqi" or "Driving While Fucking An Iraqi"?
              \_ Ah, yes, it's the Iraqi's fault for everything. I see now.
        \_ Obviously prices are too low.
           \_ Obviously.

9/1     "The question this hour is: How would you rate the response of the
        federal government to Hurricane Katrina? ... we got 500-600 letters
        before the show even went on the air. No one -- no one -- says the
        federal government is doing a good job in handling one of the most
        atrocious and embarrassing and far-reaching and calamitous things that
        has come along in this country in my lifetime. I'm 62, I remember the
        riots in Watts, I remember the earthquake in San Francisco. I remember
        a lot of things. I have never, ever, seen anything as badly bungled
        and poorly handled as this situation in New Orleans. Where the hell is
        the water for these people? Why can’t sandwiches be dropped to
        those people who are in that Superdome down there? I mean, what is
        going -- this is Thursday. This storm happened five days ago."
        -Jack Cafferty, CNN
        \_ Ok, good. Meanwhile, Fox News, the most watched news in the US
           and trusted by more than 50% of the Americans, say that Louisiana
           is the fault of the state. States should handle their own affairs.
           Similarly, libertarians who usually side with the Bushies will
           say that the disaster is the fault of the people. The smart ones
           should have left long time ago, and the lazy/dumb ones should
           have stocked up water, food, and weapons. No one can take care
           of yourself better than yourself. That's the libertarian mentality
           \_ Fox News says it's the state's fault?
           \_ Yeah if yer smart you don't get pregnant or old or disabled when
              you know a hurricane is on the way!
              \_ And you don't let your national guard guys go and die in a
                 silly place like iraq.  man.  those LAites were just asking
                 for it.
              \_ Worse, they commited the crime of being poor.
        \_ Of course, in the other cases, the streets weren't flooded.  It's
           kind of hard to do rescue/recovery work when you can only use boats
           and the majority of your response vehicles are wheeled.
           \_ Which is what i would expect the BILLIONS for DHS would go toward
              developing a plan for.  But I guess that's too much to ask.
              Yup. it is:
              Yup. it is:  http://csua.org/u/d8b (bestofneworleans.com)
              \_ I should probably mention the speech I had to sit through at
                 a conference given by the lt. governor of Indiana, describing
                 how they were spending $5 BILLION to thwart agroterrorism
                 in Indiana.  That's right, 5 billion.  That's a lot of
                 blankets and water supplies.  Now picture a room full of the
                 cream of US corporate IT security management, including some
                 FBI guys just burying their heads in their hands and groaning.
                 Just thought I should mention that, yes.  -John
           http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-09-28/cover_story2.html
                 \_ I didn't know anyone cared about Indiana.
           \_ "Why can't sandwiches be dropped"
           \_ "Why can't po'boys be dropped"

9/1     For those who think the hurricane is making Bush look bad, please
        think again from the perspective of conservatives. Remember 911?
        While liberals say there's intelligence failure and point out
        to other facts, conservatives look at Bush as the hero. He goes
        on TV & radio and tells everyone that he'll do whatever it takes
        to provide peace|safety|security|whatever, and each time that
        happens his approval rating goes up. 911 proved that facts and
        smarts don't matter to most Americans! What matters is how strong
        you project your images on media and the hurricane will prove
        just that. It's happening again. Bush is saying how many troops
        or help is on the way to Louisiana while ignoring the obviously
        bad things that are going on. Liberals, wake up! FORGET ALL FACTS AND
        FIGURES!!! The hurricane is Bush's free ticket on media and
        this is exactly why the conservatives will keep supporting
        our chief no matter what. The hurricane isn't making Bush look
        bad. It is making Bush look good. REALLY GOOD.
        \_ I think it's far too early to make a declaration on the political
           fallout.  People across the spectrum are pissed that he didn't
           come back from the ranch as soon as it was clear this was going
           to be BIG.  I heard a few times on cnn the sentiment of "is he
           _still_ on vacation?"
           \_ Who the hell watches CNN besides liberals? Fox News is THE MOST
           \_ Who the hell watches CNN besides gays? Fox News is THE MOST
              WATCHED NEWS IN THE US! Since Fox News is pro-Bush and the
              MOST WATCHED NEWS, what matters is what Fox News says.
              \_ Gays are being denied FEMA aid.  Santa Monica has sent
                 aid earmarked for Gays. -tyms
              \_ http://foxnews.com:  'We Don't Have Help'
        \_ If Bush was actually leading that would be true, but he has done
           a really shitty job of the whole leading thing.  Plus the absolutly
           inept job of evacuating NO looks worse by the hour, especially
           considering all that money sunk on terrorism preparedness.  Gee
           shouldn't they have a plan for evacuating the city by now?
        \_ If the guitar picture gets play, say goodbye to the Midterms.
                         \- President My Pet Goat brought low trying
                            to be a Dixie Hick? too bad there wasnt a
                            bottle of JD in the picture.
           \_ url?
              \_ http://news.yahoo.com/photo/050830/480/capm10208301856
                 \_ That G chord is on the wrong fret.

9/1     Katrina is definitely looking good for Bush. It takes our
        attention away from our military disasters, like
        Operation Iraqi Orphans.
        \_ and Operation Karl Rove
                \_ Did he do something naughty? I've forgotten ...

9/1     Hastert to city: Drop dead.
        http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/342517p-292444c.html
        \_ "But you know we build Los Angeles and San Francisco on top of
           earthquake fissures and they rebuild too. Stubbornness."
           he meant 'stubbornness' in a good way right
        \_ Really nice thing to say while dead bodies are floating in the
           streets.
           He meant 'stubbornness' in the good way right

9/1     Jesus.  This is happening in America.  Where are the troops?  Where is
        the federal government?  Why the fuck is Dubya blathering about gas
        prices?  What the fucking fuck?
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050901/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina_52
        \_ Where were the federal troops to stop looting and anarchy in nyc
           on 9/11?  Answer: they didn't FUCKING need them, because new york's
           local emergency services are outstanding and did their job, and the
           people of new york reacted to the crisis by *stopping* crime on
           their own rathar than resorting to barbarism.  This is not about
           the federal government, it's about some states having their shit
           together(read:blue states), and some being third world countries
           living on the dole from blue state tax dollars.
           \_ Comparing the situation in New Orleans to any other disaster in
              recent memory, including the tsunami and 9/11, is fruitless.
              There are no analogies to be be made. Please stop.
           \_ Do you not remember the immediatly after 9/11 the National Guard
              and army showed en masse and were being extremely active in
              patroling and keeping chaos down?  You needed proof that
              you lived below 14th street to go anywhere near that section
              of the city.  The reason New Orleans has descended into chaos
              is the disaster management wasn't there.  No management, no
              food, no water, people feel they are elft out to die there.
              It's been days now.  People are going crazy.
        \_ Where are the troops?  State governers control the National Guard.
           There's a law against active-duty federal military performing
           domestic law enforcement.  Why the concern over gas prices?  The
           reality is that, as awful as the human toll of Katrina may be, the
           greater and more important threat to the nation is damage to the oil
           infrastructure.  Apart from the oil, LA, AL, and MS are relatively
           unimportant states.
           \- "Fuck the Delta Blacks, they dont vote for us anyway." -K.ROVE
        \_ The LA National Guard is in Iraq.

9/1     When I run mysql I always get 16 threads (not processes) which I'm
        unable to change through .my.cnf file. How do I reduce the number
        of threads? Thanks.
        \_ mysql -RTFM

9/1     Cool pic of NO:
       http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Navy-FloodedNewOrleans.jpg
       \_ Comparison (before/after) photos:
        http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/new-orleans-imagery.htm