Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:September:10 Saturday <Friday, Sunday>
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2005/9/10 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:39612 Activity:nil
9/9     I don't understand... I thought Bush was padding Michael Brown's
        back & told him he did a good job, now he is sacking him so the blame
        won't reach to the President?
2005/9/10-12 [Academia/Berkeley/CSUA/Troll/Jblack, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:39613 Activity:nil Cat_by:auto
9/9     http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4218536.stm
        Read the last comment by Paul, Atlanta, USA. Hey Justin Black,
        is that your best friend from high school?
        \_ Do you mean Zachery?
           \_ They took Paul out. BBC censors!!! It was written in the
              purest jblack style, with that "It's the poor people's fault
              because they're stupid and lazy and they deserve to die" tone.
              That, followed by something to the effect of "Go Bush!"
2005/9/10 [Recreation/Food] UID:39614 Activity:nil
9/9     You know, it's nice to rescue the poor people in NO and all, but
        more importantly, when can we start eating yummy, safe (non-toxic)
        genuine gumbo from NO?
2005/9/10-11 [Finance] UID:39615 Activity:moderate
9/10    Troll of the week. When you ask different kids on how they would
        solve problems associated with poverty, they have the following
        responses:
        Communist kids: Make the rich pay for the poor and no more problems.
        Socialist kids: Force the rich to help the poor a bit more.
        Nazi kids: Round up all the poor people in concentration camps
        Capitalist kids: Just ignore the poor people, problem goes away.
        \_ unfortuantely, if you ignore the poor long enough, they
           will rebel against you.
           \_ Why do you hate capitalism Mr. King? Don't be surprised when
              you're sent to Guantanamo Bay one day.
        \_ Nazis didn't put "the poor" in camps. That was about political
           and associated racial targets. More like, put the poor in the army.
2005/9/10-12 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:39616 Activity:nil 50%like:39405
9/10    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050910/pl_nm/contracts_dc
        Halliburton and many other Bushco's to rebuild New Orleans. Yay!
2005/9/10-12 [Academia/Berkeley] UID:39617 Activity:nil
9/10    Go Bears!
        http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm
2005/9/10-12 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:39618 Activity:nil
9/10    In the face of the Katrina disaster, Bush pulls out the big gun
        that worked really well in the past-- evoking memories of 911.
        In another news his rating to go up, news at 11.
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4233266.stm
        \_ The Uprise Against Establishment movement will now fail. You
           lazy fuckers need to learn from the 60s and 70s. 68 especially.
           Overthrow Bush for a brighter tomorrow!!!
2005/9/10-13 [Politics/Foreign/Europe] UID:39619 Activity:low
9/10    http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sz.html
        CIA publishes statistics on other countries. According to this
        Switzerland's "Distribution of Family Income Gini Index" is 33.1,
        which is higher than socialistic Denmark (<25), but less than
        capitalistic United States (+45), and much less than corrupted
        Brazil (61). However their poverty line is "NA." Ditto with
        Denmark and other evil socialistic countries. What does
        that mean, that they don't have any poor people? That is
        preposterous. All countries should have poor people.
           \- gini coeficient is a measure of distribution. are you interested
              in absolute numbers? you can also look at the hum dev reports
              from the undp. see e.g. http://hdr.undp.org if you are a
              serious and have a somewhat specific inquiry, you can mail me.
              i dont know much about europe but know a little bit about
              LDCs. obviously what is the poverty line in the US is
              more than a order of mag higher than two global poverty
              numbers you often see: # living on less than $1/day and
              $2/day. just like for very wealthy persons, salary doesnt
              characterize their income and wealth well, at the low end
              cash income may not characterize people's circumstances
              well, e.g. in agricultural sector, e.g. somebody who makes
              an appreciable part of their income in say goat milk.
              latin am countries are sort of the std example of high gini
              coef countries [not including african kleptocracies] . some
              studies suggest there may be a trade off between growth rate and
              gini coef ... it make make sense to trade off some more
              inequality for greater growth. BTW, there are a lot of
              statistical factors that hidden in this one number ... so
              you cant necessarily compare them easily [like can have same
              gini coef with diff shape of lorentz curve. and same underlying
              income distribution with quartile sampleing vs dectile sampling
              will give you diff values].
              \_ This is too dense. Can I just say something to the effect
                 that the lower the Gini value, the more that the country
                 cares about poor people? Most the social/comu countries have
                 low Gini whereas evil 3rd world countries like Brazil have
                 extremely high Givi values. The exception is USA, which has
                 one of the highest Gini values even though it's not a 3rd
                 world country.
                 \- "how much a country cares about poor people" cannot
                    be reasonably captured in a number. even the south
                    african state under apartheid may have spent more
                    on the per capita health of black people than per capita
                    public health expenditures in say india but india had
                    various affirmative action programs in the political
                    sphere which didnt exist in SA. you might want to look
                    at Amartya Sen: Development as Freedom. AKS has written
                    a lot more on this kind of thing but some of it is a
                    little "dense". at equal PPP would you rather live in
                    cuba or the US?
        \_ We used to, but we turned them all into soylent green for all
           the poor people in Denmark.  -John
           \- gini coeficient is a measure of distribution. are you interested
              in absolute numbers? you can also look at the hum dev reports
              from the undp. see e.g. http://hdr.undp.org if you are a
              serious and have a somewhat specific inquiry, you can mail me.
              i dont know much about europe but know a little bit about
              LDCs. obviously what is the poverty line in the US is
              more than a order of mag higher than two global poverty
              numbers you often see: # living on less than $1/day and
              $2/day. just like for very wealthy persons, salary doesnt
              characterize their income and wealth well, at the low end
              cash income may not characterize people's circumstances
              well, e.g. in agricultural sector, e.g. somebody who makes
              an appreciable part of their income in say goat milk.
              latin am countries are sort of the std example of high gini
              coef countries [not including african kleptocracies] . some
              studies suggest there may be a trade off between growth rate and
              gini coef ... it make make sense to trade off some more
              inequality for greater growth. BTW, there are a lot of
              statistical factors that hidden in this one number ... so
              you cant necessarily compare them easily [like can have same
              gini coef with diff shape of lorentz curve. and same underlying
              income distribution with quartile sampleing vs dectile sampling
              will give you diff values].
              \_ We sent all the goat milk to Denmark to let them wash down
                 the poor people soylent green.  Anyway, you want the Fazio
                 coefficient, which shows how much state cash you can move
                 to la familia and still keep your job.  -John
        \_ High Gini, no poor:                  Low Gini, some poor:
                   /                                  |
                  |                                   /
                  |                                  /
             _____/                                 /
            /                                      /
           /                                    __/
2005/9/10-13 [Academia/UCLA, Academia/StanfUrd] UID:39620 Activity:kinda low
9/10    How does a university with Cal's academics manage to recruit as well
        as it has for Tedford the past couple years?
        \_ Academics and athletics are not mutually exclusive; Michigan
           has had a consistently successful football program, and sells
           out their 100K seat stadium for every game.  -tom
           \_ U. Mich? I've found that U. Mich people just like to talk
              about themselves a lot and how U. Mich is the greatest
              thing since sliced bread. You sure their academic
              reputation isn't just a lack of modesty?
              \_ You might want to read about 'statistics' and 'standardized
                 tests'.  Your post implies an egregious lack of understanding
                 tests'.  Your post implies a flagrant lack of understanding
                 about academic reputation and how it's derived.
                 \_ I've found these "statistics" and "standardized tests"
                    to be pure BS. The USNews reports use things like SAT
                    scores, GPA, alumni donation, and things that don't
                    really mean much to rank colleges. But results speak
                    for themselves. In the place where I work, the ones
                    that come from no-name colleges produce some of the
                    best results I've seen whle those from these top-notch
                    colleges are usually just full of themselves and can't
                    do jack shit. UMich people, for some reason, seem to
                    be the worst offenders.
                    \_ Right, studies which actually have quantitative metrics
                       are pure BS, while one person's subjective experience
                       is truth.
                       Oh and here's another hint; top universities do not
                       exist to churn out good workers.  -tom
                       \_ And you think these objective "quantitative
                          metrics" are a good indicator of academic
                          rigor? I really don't care how well any student
                          did on  their ACT/SAT, what their HS GPA is,
                          or how much alumni give to that school. Look
                          at Stanford. These kids work their ass of in HS
                          to get into that school. Their alumni donates
                          money like there''s not tomorrow. But they
                          also just slack off once the get in and are
                          guaranteed a 4.0 GPA. I haven't found many
                          Stanford students to be that stellar.
                       \_ I'm guessing your argument is that they exist
                          to promote intellectual progress in the form of
                          research and scholarly debate? Sure, for the
                          best and the brightest. A good professor might
                          not be a good worker bee. On the other hand, any
                          good professor is going to have to have a lot of
                          skills which make them good 'workers'. They just
                          fit into higher level jobs. I don't think you
                          can make a case that a university is a good one
                          if all of the people it turns out are poor
                          workers. It may not be the objective to turn out
                          good workers, but it seems to happen anyway.
                          \_ I'm guessing you're a moron.  Actually, no,
                             I'm not guessing.  -tom
                             \_ Way to defend your point - with an
                                ad-hominem and no facts.
                                \_ Sorry, the idea that schools should be
                                   measured based on what some anonymous coward
                                   perceives as the productivity of some
                                   people he's worked with is far too
                                   ridiculous to respond to.  -tom
                                   \_ I'm not the original poster and I
                                      *was* curious what your opinion is
                                     on this topic but I don't care now.
                                     \_ Funny how tom can manage to piss
                                        off people who might sympathize
                                        with him.
                                        \_ I don't need morons to sympathize
                                           with me.  -tom
                                           \_ Yeah, he's already got
                                              himself, and he's the
                                              biggest moron around!
                                              -jrleek
              \_ According to USNews, Cal=#20, UCLA=#24, UMich=#25
        \_ Ob Todd Bozeman
2005/9/10-12 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Science/Space] UID:39621 Activity:kinda low
9/10    Military pilots reprimanded for saving lives:
         http://csua.org/u/dc8 (New York Times)
        \_ This story is fishy on two parts. Their motto
           belongs to Air Force Pararescue Jumpers, not Navy
           unit. And for those that have never served, their
           CO is technically correct. Orders above all else. For you
           "compassionate" civilians who dont understand black and white.
        \_ Err, the pilots weren't reprimanded.  They were mildly scolded by
           by their CO for not fulfilling their primary mission.  Only very
           late in the day did they seek out permission (which was granted)
           to abandon their primary mission.
           \_ "Kennel duty".  Sure.  -John
2005/9/10-13 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:39622 Activity:nil
9/10    http://tinyurl.com/c4xq2    Bush debates with Bush
2005/9/10-13 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs] UID:39623 Activity:low
9/10    People who drive Range Rovers, Excursions and Suburbans are
        flipping this Hummer driver because Hummers are less environmentally
        friendly: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3749377.stm
        \_ what I found interesting is that government give out
           tax credit up to $100k for vehicle over 6000 pounds.  This
           along with the proposed new fuel efficiency standard would
           explain why there are so many ultra-big vehicle on the road.
           \_ The tax credit is only if you use the vehicle for work and
              now the credit is spread across 4 years, can't take it in
              one chunk.
              \_ For "work".
              \_ Actually you could depreciate in one chunk, until that loop
                 hole was closed for large SUVs on 10/22/2004 by an
                 amendment by Don Nickles (R Oklahoma).
           \_ I cashed in on that tax deal with an X5 (6008 lbs).  Had they
              allowed that deal to continue, I would have bought a Hummer
              this year to piss off my friends.
                \_ joke's on you
                   \_ Not really.  I saved $30K on my taxes with the X5.
                      That'll cover, what, a hundred years of extra gas
                      That'll cover, what, thirty years of extra gas
                      money?  The Hummer would have been worth $40K in
                      taxes for me.
                      \_ 30K ?  How does that work?
                         \_ There was a special loophole that allowed you
                            to deduct vehicles over 6000 pounds as a
                            business expense, even if you used it to
                            commute.
                            \_ The math doesn't add up. Let's say the X5
                               cost $60K. To save $30K on taxes your
                               marginal rate would have to be 50%. The
                               highest bracket isn't that high.
                               \_ Base 2005 BMW X5, 4.8is AWD 4dr SUV (4.8L
                                  8cyl 6A), MSRP $70,100, Invoice $63,970.
                                  Also, though I haven't stated it
                                  specifically, I live in CA, so you have to
                                  add in my CA state tax.  It actually works
                                  out to be a bit more than $30k.
        \_ Hybrid Hummer from seven years ago:
           http://evworld.com/archives/conferences/evs14/humvee.html
           350hp.  0-50mph in 7sec.  18mpg.  Climbs 60% grade at 17mph and
           fords 5ft of water (think New Orleans).  It even has a stealth mode.
           \_ An all electric tank with electric canon?  Those would be
              some batteries.
2005/9/10-11 [Uncategorized] UID:39624 Activity:nil
9/10    217.212.224.142 (618) [142.128-25.224.212.217.in-addr.arpa]
        217.212.224.143 (617) [143.128-25.224.212.217.in-addr.arpa]
        217.212.224.144 (527) [144.128-25.224.212.217.in-addr.arpa]
        217.212.224.145 (460) [145.128-25.224.212.217.in-addr.arpa]
        My web site is being crawled by a bunch of these addrs.
        Where do these addresses come from?
        \_ http://www.picsearch.com ?
2024/11/22 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
11/22   
Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2005:September:10 Saturday <Friday, Sunday>