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2006/1/2-3 [Health/Disease/General] UID:41193 Activity:moderate
1/1     Pretend I live in an alternative dimension and I got really drunk
        with Sergei Brin.  Pretend we had consensual sex.  Pretend
        that I discovered 5 days later that he was taking herpes
        treatment medication.  Pretend 7 days later (after initial
        contact) I developed herpes symptoms.  Alternative dimension
        Bizarro World Sergei didn't rape me or anything but he didn't
        tell me he had herpes.  Can I sue him?  How do you sue someone
        with an insane amount of more financial resources than you have?
        \_ You have to stop drinking when you write on the MOTD
           \- Why dont you distill this to the question you are really
              asking. "Can I sue somebody for giving me a communicable
              disease?" is a different question from the "civil procedure"
              issues [what law do I sue under, where do I sue, how much
              can I get, what happens when I lose, how is this appealed, how
              do I collect etc.]. Also, this sort of touches on what are
              called remedies at law vs. equity, meaning you can try to sue
              somebody for $$$ or to get them to do something [more rare].
              I think in this case you might be able to have this adequately
              resolved outside the court system by offering to not to public-
              ly disclose you were assmastered [I am assuming you are a sloda
              male] in an alternative [sic] dimension by that Brin fellow.
              An interesting question is "if i do not contract herpes, can
              i sue for the unpleasant experience of worrying i may have
              herpes for 2-days" ... that has some interesting consequences.
              Anyway, some details about you story like "i got drunk ... we
              had consensual sex", "i depvelop symtoms" as opposed to "i am
              diagnosed with herpes" [n.b. I dont know anything about herpes
              so i cannot comment on possibly relevant medical factors]
              clouds the issue about what you are really asking. Another
              interesting question is say the othe fellow believed with
              very high confidence [say he mailed you a certified letter]
              you knew he had disease X, but it turned out you didnt know,
              how do things change? or what about if he disclosed he had
              disease X and you asked "is that contageous" and he said
              "i dont think so" ... how does that change things? --psb
              \_ I didn't mean to sound cryptic with 'symptoms of herpes'.
                 Doctor confirms it is herpes.  Lab results from the culture
                 confirm it is herpes.  The 2 weeks of oozing pustules confirm
                 it pretty well too.  Bizarre World Sergei knew he had herpes
                 but he didn't think he was contagious.
                 it pretty well too.  Bizarro World Sergei knew he had herpes
                 but he didn't think he was contagious.  Nearly 1/3 or greater
                 or some other scary amount of adults have herpes type 1
                 on their lips (also known as cold sores).  If you stick
                 it on your genitals then you start calling it genital herpes.
                 Many people carry it for years without showing symptoms,
                 but are still communicable.  The only way to avoid it is to
                 marry a Mormon who has never had a cold sore.
                \_ 70-90% have oral herpes, up to 30% have genital herpes
        http://health.enotes.com/childrens-health-encyclopedia/herpes-simplex
2006/1/2-4 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iran, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Others] UID:41194 Activity:nil
1/2     Next on our target list:  Iran.  This war on terror thing is getting
        better and better!
        http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10415
        After we hit them, only way Iran can hit us back is to support
        terrorist activities against USA... then, we can claiming that
        the pre-emptive strike against Iran is justified because it supports
        terrorist organization... I love this.
        \_ So, what would you suggest we do about Iran?
           \_ leave them alone, just like what we've done to Pakistein,
              India, Israel and North Korea.
              \- Do you mean India -> Hindustein
2006/1/2-4 [Reference/Religion] UID:41195 Activity:nil
1/2     Rose Parade to have first rain  in more than 50 years. Thank God.
        Rose Parade is slow and boring and is a tradition that prides
        itself on growing and killing plants for the sole purpose of
        endulgement. It represents the worst of capitalism, it's
        wastefulness. It's a tradition that should have been abandoned
        long time ago. Thank God the Rose Parade popularity has
        been going down since the late 80s.
        \_ pathetic attempt at a troll.  (Among other things, you don't kill
           roses when you cut their flowers).  -tom
           \_ OP had reporductive organs cut off. Dead inside. Feels need
              spread the hate. Yummy, yummy hate.
        \_ wtf is endulgement?
        \_ there is no shortage of roses the year after.. actually
        there are the same amount of roses year after year..
2006/1/2-4 [Computer/SW/WWW/Server, Computer/SW/OS/Solaris] UID:41196 Activity:nil
12/3    Hello, I'd like to setup a wiki and a discussion board for
        people interested in a particular niche market I'm looking at
        (I can't give out details because someone may steal it). I
        already colo my family web site (<lastname>family.com) with a
        friend of mine on Solaris at InReach, Oakland. What's the best
        software to get to host a wiki and a discussion board, and do
        I have to setup suexec and mysql?
2006/1/2-4 [Politics/Domestic/California, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41197 Activity:moderate
1/2     Hey, I thought we were having a draft in 2005.  What happened?  Will
        there be a military draft in 2006?
        \_ Whoever said there was going to be a draft way back when was
           overreaching almost as bad as the greeted as liberators person.
        \_ Only if Charles Rangel (D - http://www.house.gov/rangel gets his way.
           \_ Damn warmongering Democrats.
              \_ It's funny, but the reasons he gives for it are as a social
                 program (like busing) and a way to make people not want war
                 (they won't vote for war if their kids are in the service).
           \_ I remember the reason why Rangel draft the bill is he wants
              to make sure the process of draft is relatively equal, and
              wealthy kids have their chances to see actions.
              \_ Wealthy kids volunteer for service so they can be officers
                 or protect the homeland as part of the NG.
        \_ There will be no draft because Dubya said so.  Read his lips.
           \_ There was one MOTD poster who swore there would be a draft.
              Silly me, I thought he would be more credible than Dubya.
              \_ that guy was saying that if we need to do this Iraq business
                 right, we need to have a draft to fill the gap in man power.
                 In that regard, he is still right.  The reason why we don't
                 have a draft is because Dubya decided it is ok if Iraq really
                 fells apart, and he can always divert our attention to
                 somewhere else by, let say, bombing Iran.
                 \_ Nice revisionist history.
                 \_ Perhaps you can point us to the thread?  Things like the
                    following seem more prevalent:
                    \_ ohh yeah?  what happened to the "beacon of democracy
                       in the middle east?"  are you saying that we've
                       accomplished this and this is why Rummy pulls out
                       5000 troops?
                       \_ Good job trying to switch the subject.  Try to focus
                          on the draft here.  You want to talk about Rummy?
                          Start your own thread about your pretty nicknames.
                 \_ Reference please.  Things like the following seem more
                    prevalent:
                    http://csua.com/?entry=37623
                    At that point (5/05), someone claimed there would be
                    a draft within the next 18 months.  Does that person
                    (-vet?) still stand by the claim?
                 \_ Are you claiming that the US will bomb Iran?  Care to put
                    a time frame on that prediction and sign your name to it,
                    so you can be properly celebrated when your prediction
                    comes true?
                    \_ http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=10415
                       \_ So?  Are *you* claiming that the US will bomb Iran?
                          Time frame and name please, if you're willing to
                          stand behind your prediction.
2006/1/2-4 [Politics/Domestic/911, Politics/Domestic/RepublicanMedia] UID:41198 Activity:very high
1/2     It'€™s the demography, stupid.
        http://www.newcriterion.com/archives/24/01/its-the-demography
        \_ Wow, what in inchoerent racist screed.  I salute you sir.
           \_ What's racist and/or incoherent about it? Did you have
              difficulty understanding it?
              \_ Just off the top of my head, the equation of Western genes
                 with Western culture.  --!pp
                 \_ Except it doesn't do that.
              \_ Just pulling something out at random: "Radical Islam is what
                 multiculturalism has been waiting for all along."  It reads
                 like Ann Coulter or Joseph McCarthy, but less coherent. --!pp
                 \_ You haven't answered my question. And what is wrong with
                    that sentence? You seem incapable of formulating an
                    explanation of your ideas.
                    \_ Let me give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that
                       you're not just trolling.  Probably a bad assumption,
                       but anyway...an example of an equally specious argument
                       from the other side of the political spectrum would be
                       something like, "Abortion clinic bombings are what
                       Christians are all about."  Even that doesn't really
                       do it justice, since at least in that case some of
                       the bombers were (nominally at least) Christian.
                       [I said something much more imflammatory after this
                       in response to your last sentence, but then I realized
                       that was a bad idea and self-censored. ok tnx]
                       \_ You're not really doing a good job explaining
                          yourself here but from what I can tell you are
                          misinterpreting the article. As regards that
                          sentence, it refers to the possibility that
                          "multiculturalism", in equally accepting other
                          cultures, is susceptible to accepting a culture
                          which, in the author's opinion, is "bad" ('radical
                          Islam'), and which he notes is not politically
                          correct to judge and talk about as such. Note that
                          I could come up with various criticisms of the
                          article myself but yours aren't valid IMO. The
                          author knows that attacking multiculturalism (and
                          Muslims... since he implies that the "radical"
                          and intolerant brand of it is large and becoming
                          more widespread, even in Europe) is against the
                          mainstream and will antagonize people like you.
                          I'd like to see you actually explain yourself
                          however instead of dumbly shouting racism in
                          response (which the author also expects). The
                          two main "asshole" opinions of his are 1. "western
                          culture" is superior and should be acknowledged
                          as such and 2. "Islamist" culture should not
                          be tolerated. While these cultures are associated
                          with certain races they do cross racial boundaries
                          as is mentioned.
                          \_ I'm not the person who shouted racism.  Give it
                             a rest.
                       \_ There was a specific accusation of racism.  Please
                          post example(s) from the article to substantiate
                          the characterization of "racist screed".  If there
                          are no specific example(s), please retract the claim
                          of racism.
                       the bombers were (nominally at least) Christian.  It's
                       not that the article is difficult to understand, it's
                       that it's not saying anything of substance or
                       trying to construct any kind of coherent argument.
                       It's just a rant.  Political arguments can be more
                       than just opinionated rants, ya know - or did you learn
                       Rhetoric 101 from Michael Moore?
                          \_ If you hadn't noticed, I said "!pp" in my first
                             post.  I didn't say anything about racism - the
                             article is too incoherent to express an idea
                             that well-formed.  It's possible to talk to more
                             than one person on the motd, ya know.
                             \_ 1. That some post-4 was signed "!pp" does not
                                not imply that the unsigned post-2 was also by
                                the same or some other "!pp".  2. Nevertheless
                                you are in a thread branched off the claim
                                that the quoted article as "racist screed".
                                3. "Racist" has a specific meaning, and
                                incoherence or speciousness does not mean
                                racism.  4. I take it that no one is able to
                                defend the original claim that the article is
                                racist.
                                \_ I take it that you're not able to counter
                                   the claim that the article is incoherent,
                                   and based a combination of strawman and
                                   ad hominem argument.
                                   \_ Please present examples of ad hominem or
                                      strawman arguments from the article.
                                      \_ I already did.  Do I have to spell it
                                         out for you even more carefully?
                                         \_ You didn't mention why you thought
                                            it was ad hominem or strawman.
                                            \_ It sets up an argument against
                                               a concept called
                                               "multiculturalism," but doesn't
                                               define it in any meaningful
                                               way, other than perhaps guilt by
                                               association with a conservative
                                               buzzword that is used as a
                                               hammer to beat liberals (see
                                               also "political correctness").
                                               I guess it is left as an
                                               exercise for the prejudices of
                                               the reader, but this nebulous
                                               definition then allows him room
                                               to assign all kinds of supposed
                                               motives to a movement which he
                                               has not defined.  It's the old
                                               "Liberals love terrorists,
                                               you're a liberal, therefore you
                                               love terrorists" argument.
                                               \_ Are you reading the same
                                                  article?  The one I'm half
                                                  way through and still reading
                                                  focusses on demographic
                                                  math, not knee jerk
                                                  conversative vs. liberal
                                                  bullshit.  It seems like you
                                                  stopped on page 5.  Down
                                                  here at 60 of 71 screens,
                                                  I've got 55 extra screens of
                                                  demographics I don't think
                                                  you bothered reading.
                                                  \_ So I can write whatever
                                                     bullshit screed I like,
                                                     so long as I attach a
                                                     bunch of demographics to
                                                     the bottom of it?
                                                     \_ So you didn't read it.
                                                        Ok thanks for letting
                                                        us know.
                                                        \_ What sort of
                                                           rational argument is
                                                           it that assigns
                                                           beliefs to a group
                                                           while providing not
                                                           a shred of evidence
                                                           that this belief
                                                           exists?  His
                                                           argument is based
                                                           entirely on quotes
                                                           from one English
                                                           baroness, hardly
                                                           a government
                                                           authority nor a
                                                           good standin for
                                                           the "liberal
                                                           multicultural"
                                                           bogeyman his entire
                                                           article is ranting
                                                           against.
                                  He does mention some poll purporting that _/
                                  like 60% of Muslims in Britain would like
                                  Sharia. (can't be bothered to look at article
                                  again.)
        \_ Thanks.  I had forgotten about the 2020 Project.
        \_ Looks like jblack finally figured out people won't delete his
           links if he posts the direct link instead of the freeper discussion
           link.
        \_ Looks like the hosting service censored it.
           \_ I'm guessing it was the Mark Steyn article of that title:
              http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110007760
              \_ The WSJ editorial page!  Shocking.
                 \_ While WSJ is one fine newspaper, which counts me as
                    as a daily reader, it's editorial page has been pure
                    trash as long as I can remember.   - motd stock fanatic
        \_ "There will only be very few and very old ethnic Germans and
            French and Italians by the midpoint of this century. What will
            they leave behind? Territories that happen to bear their names
            and keep up some of the old buildings? Or will the dying European
            races understand that the only legacy that matters is whether the
            peoples who will live in those lands after them are reconciled to
            pluralist, liberal democracy?"
           Ah, the old "pure" Germans, French, and Italians fallacy again.
           Run, little fearmonger, run!
           \_ Nicely pulled out of context.  He's talking about culture, not
              DNA based racial characteristics.  But you knew that.
              \_ so why did he keep mentioning about "races"?
                 \_ because, duh, those "races" already have the modern
                    western democratic culture he's talking about.
                    \_ huh?  if the key thing is culture, why does he
                       mention about races?  he needs to make up his mind
                       what he thinks the crisis is.
                       \_ Are you being purposefully dense? It's specifically
                          about the influx of Muslims from Algeria et al who
                          allegedly resist western culture. If it makes you
                          feel better, try coming up with a better word to
                          differentiate the predominant "native" populations in
                          those countries. "Races" is proper usage even if it
                          triggers little kneejerk alarms in your mind.
                          \_ Races is the right word, and racist is the
                             proper description of the author.  Why are you
                             so against the use of the term "racist"?  Do not
                             let the PC cops define what terms you can or
                             cannot use.  You should be proud of being a
                             racist.
                             \_ Who said I was against the use of "races"?
                                Learn to read. Look how stupid you are.
                                \_ Where did I say that?  Are you stupid?
                                   \_ Wow, you made so many edits to your
                                      post I replied to an earlier revision
                                      and now you claim you never said it.
                                      It's in mehlhaff's archive. And I never
                                      stated my own position on the subject
                                      so have no basis to call me racist.
                                      But all you're concerned with is
                                      winning your little motd battle.
                                      Why should people be proud to be
                                      racist BTW? And again, this whole
                                      useless diversion is completely beside
                                      the point; you haven't shown that
                                      anti-radical-Islam is racist. I'm
                                      done with this thread.
                                      \_ Yes, I haven't finished writing,
                                         and you started spewing invectives.
                                      \_ So, what does "self-extinction
                                         of the races" has to do with anti-
                                         radical-Islam?  Extreme Wahabism
                                         is a problem that stretches all
                                         the way to Indonesia and the
                                         Phillipines, and is a global
                                         problem and threat to many,
                                         including the 90% of muslims who
                                         do not subscribe to it.  Do tell us
                                         how would a mis-characterization
                                         of it as a threat to the survival
                                         of the "European races" help?
                                      \_ Yes, I haven't finished writing,
                                         and you started spewing invectives.
                          \_ And similarly, racist is a proper description
                             of the author.  Why are you so against use of
                             the term "racist"?  It's not necessarily bad,
                             depending on what races you belong to.
                             so against use of the terms "races" and
                             "racist"?   Do they trigger little kneejerk
                             alarms in your racist little brain?
                                         \_ As I understand it the point was
                                            1. multiculturalist tolerance
                                            allows it to grow, 2. demographics
                                            indicates it may become the
                                            dominant Eur. culture. That's where
                                            the "races" come in (under the
                                            suggestion that these groups aren't
                                            acculturizing to western standards)
                                            Unfortunately we have to spend
                                            pages of motd on the irrelevant
                                            subject of racial purity.
                                            \_ As I understand it, the
                                               author is just using extreme
                                               Islam to spread fears and
                                               push his right wing agenda.
                                               What's the point of mention-
                                               ing New Zealand and
                                               Australia's birthrate, for
                                               instance.  Do these countries
                                               have a large muslim
                                               population?  I don't think so.
                                               \_ Oddly enough, a friend is
                                                  dating a Persian chick from
                                                  Australia.  Anyway, 2.3%
                                                  Muslim in Australia.  Muslim
                                                  population growing by 40% a
                                                  year, versus 5.7% for Aus.
                                                  population as a whole.
                                                  Projecting that growth rate
                                                  linearly (so this is obviously
                                                  a simplistic and wrong
                                                  calculation), in 10 years
                                                  ~1/3 of Aus. will be of the
                                                  Muslim faith.
                                               Another example:
                        "Pigs are valued assets and sleep in the
                         living room in rural China--and next thing you
                         know an unknown respiratory disease is killing
                         people in Toronto, just because someone got on
                         a plane. "  Talk about being irrelevant.  It's
                         so obvious that the author just wanted to do
                         some "liberal"-bashing, throwing in jabs against
                         environmentalists, feminists, etc. I don't
                         understand how anyone reasonably intelligent
                         can fail to see through the facade unless he
                         has his own agenda himself.
                                               \_ Oddly enough, a friend is
                                                  dating a Persian chick from
                                                  Australia.  Anyway, 1.6%
                                                  Muslim in Australia.  Muslim
                                                  population growing by 40% a
                                                  year, versus 5.7% for Aus.
                                                  population as a whole.
                                                  Projecting that growth rate
                                                  linearly (so this is obviously
                                                  a simplistic analysis), in
                                                  10 years ~1/5 of Aus. will
                                                  be of the Muslim faith.  I
                                                  am too lazy to do the research
                                                  of NZ, but if Kiwis and
                                                  Islamic Kiwis are similarly
                                                  (un)fecund, the results should
                                                  not be so different.  Thus is
                                                  the power of compounding.
                                                  Perhaps you shouldn't be so
                                                  sure of things you are so
                                                  sure of.
                                                  \_ I question your 40%
                                                     a year figure.  Source
                                                     please.
                                                     \_ Mea culpa.  I misread
                                                        in haste.  It was
                                                        actually "40% in
                                                        five years, while the
                                                        Australian population
                                                        as a whole grew by 5.7%
                                                        in the same period."
                                                        http://csua.org/u/ehj
                                                        So it will be 2.9% in
                                                        10 years and 4.8% in
                                                        20 years.
                 \_ Since when is German/French/Italian a race?
                    \_ Would you deny they are ethnicities? Why wouldn't they
                       be races? dict race
                       \_ Is Chinese a race?  American?  How about Nigerians?
                          Is that a race? (Ob. I happen to know a family of
                          Chinese-Nigerians.)
              \_ Ya know, being smug doesn't help you win arguments.
              \_ Less pulled out of context than his Toynbee quote. Toynbee
                 would have had no use for the shrill Mr. Steyn:
                 "We intend to modify the violence of the fight, and to
                  prevent the weak being trampled under foot." -AT
              \_ Then his point is doubly worthless, since the great unwashed
                 masses that stream into Europe and America are greater
                 converts to secular capitalism than most native Europeans.
                 \_ That's an interesting claim.  While I can see a claim
                    that *some* immigrants are more capitalistic than the
                    existent population, I have trouble believing all or
                    even most would be more capitalistic.  Do you have a
                    reference for the claim, or is this just invention?
        \_ I agree with this article.  For instance, the Great Chinese
           Civilization is superior to the backward cultures you find in
           Southeast Asia, or the stone-age buddhist cult culture you
           find in Tibet, or the violent Islamist culture in northwest
           China.  We should always civilize them and not become
           lazy and primitive like their backward cultures.
                               -gcc (Great Chinese Chauvinist)
        \_ Some of the "facts" listed in the article are total bullshit,
           for example the claim that the Club of Rome book Limits to Growth
           predicted oil, natural gas, etc., would run out in the 1990s.  The
           Limits to Growth said no such thing.  They just said that you cannot
           grow consumption of a finite resource indefinitely, and they
           theorized that many extracted resources would run out within 100
           years ... Which is 2070, not 1990.  They identified as oil as the
           years ... Which is 2070, not 1990.  They identified oil as the
           first resource to no longer be able to be extracted more quickly
           (peak).  All they did was take the current reserves of each
           resource, multiply it by 5 to account for new discoveries and
           apply a yearly growth of x% and see how long the resource will
           last ... Limits to *growth*.
           \_ Apparently this is a common mistake re the Limits to Growth.
              See "Plenty of Gloom" (Economist 12/18/1997) for example.
              http://csua.org/u/eh8
              Your own characterization of Limits of Growh is equally
              misleading.  In fact, the Limits of Growth presented 3 possible
              scenerios.  Scenerio 1 assumes status quo and presents the 550
              billion barrel quantity.  Scenerio 2 doubled that to 1.1T
              barrels, and scenerio 3 5x'ed the 550B barrels.  So in fact it is
              true that 1 scenerio of the 3 presented in Limits of Growth
              predicted the exhaustion of oil in 1990.  Obviously scenerio
              1 is wrong.  Current world reserves is around 2T barrels I
              think, so scenerio 2 is probably off.  I think scenerio 2 calls
              for exhaustion of oil by 2015.  The jury on scenerio 3 is still
              out.  Fortunately we should all still be around to see even
              scenerio 3 of Limits of Growth vindicated or discredited.
              Again, I must say I find the general level of mischaracterization
              of information (and sometimes outright deliberate deception)
              both else where and on MOTD to be disappointing.
              \_ OBTW, given the existence of Fischer-Tropsch et al, scenerio
                 3 is almost certainly also incorrect.
              \_ Come to think of it, a claim that Limits of Growth predicted
                 the exhaustion of oil in 1990 is strictly true, and a claim
                 that Limits of Growth "said no such thing" is completely
                 false.  Shameful.
2006/1/2-4 [Computer/SW/Virus] UID:41199 Activity:nil
1/2     Which Windows anti-virus software do you trust/recommend?
        \_ Linux
        \_ I think the general consensus is that Kaspersky is the best AV
           program you can buy.  Among the free AV programs, Avast! is well
           regarded, followed by AntiVir.  ClamAV seems pretty good if you
           want to go open-source. --jameslin
           \_ The KAV guys have a lot of connections to fairly dodgy
              people, and thus get good info early on.  ClamAV is superb, in
              combination with AdAware and something like Spybot S&D (as
              well as a dedicated small hardware firewall like m0n0wall on
              WRAP.)  -John
              \_ Hmmm, getting my AV ware from dodgy people?
           \_ clamav is good for on-demand scanning.  AFAIK, it doesn't do
              real-time scanning.
2006/1/2-4 [Industry/Jobs, Politics/Foreign/Asia/Others] UID:41200 Activity:high
1/2     A friend of mine is considering Peace Corps. I've heard that it used
        to be a good program but in the past 25 years has lost a lot of its
        original lustre, that countries need more help managing resources
        than 22 year olds teaching them about sanitation, etc. Does anyone
        have any experience w/ Peace Corps? Or know of any good  criticisms
        of the program? I'll start with:
        http://www.daytondailynews.com/project/content/project/peacecorps/daily/1104voiceag.html
        \_ Use tinyurl.  I just met a woman who is some sort of Africa
               \_ why?
                  \_ why?
                     \_ why ask why?
                        \_ why not?
                           \_ why ask why not?
                              \_ Why not ask why not?
           expert in the peace corps and who described a lot of what they
           do very openly.  Apparently there's still a lot of need for
           outfits like PC--NGOs, as they are not guaranteed funding, tend
           to be very self-interested.  If you like, I can put you in touch
           with her (she was a good friend's roommate at GWU Law.)  -John
           \_ My understanding is people who can teach English and maybe
              elementary math are a dime a dozen. If you are a Civil Engineer
              or Medical Professional, who may be quite a hot commodity.
              However, that may also mean you can go into a USAID project
              or MSF/DrsWithoutBorders type program. I dunno if a vast
              knowledge of say BGP can be used by the Peace Corps.
              The do have a lot of restrictions, but I assume you have
              discovered some of those in your preliminary research.
        \_ My cousin is currently in the Peace Corps in Latin America.
           He seems to enjoy the actual work he does (I think he has
           been involved in getting farmers access to new markets via
           the internet and other such programs based on micro loans,
           but I'm not 100% sure).
           He has expressed some reservations about the way the Peace
           Corps is administered and the fact that in some places local
           politics can get in the way of providing any real assistance.
           iirc, in one town where my cousin worked, the local mayor
           actively resisted any work done by Peace Corps ppl b/c he
           felt that they didn't really understand the local situation.
           One problem I've seen with the Peace Corps is that they don't
           really train the people with real world skills like building
           homes or paving or farming before sending them out (most of
           the people I know who did Peace Corps weren't engineers) so
           they end up in big or small cities where they can't really
           do anything very too useful.
           For historical reference, my mom used to tell me stories of
           people who did Peace Corps in India. She says they mostly
           acted like tourists, walking around from village to village,
           giving out money and stuff. Mostly she says it was pretty
           lame because in a country like India, a few random english
           majors can't solve inherent problems related to lack of
           education and opportunity.
           the internet and other such programs but I'm not 100% sure).
           I remember he described some problems with the way the PC
           is administered and local government resistance. If you
           want to talk to him, let me know and I'll try to put you
           in contact with him.
           --ranga
           want to talk to him, let me know and I'll try to get you
           some contact info (I don't think he has email access right
           now). --ranga
        \_ primrose got back recently from a tour in the corps in togo
        \_ My girlfriend spent two years in the Peace Corps in Honduras.
           We went to visit her adopted Honduran family a couple years
           ago.  I think her impression is that the Peace Corps does good
           work, but the problems tend to be endemic and difficult to
           overcome.  It's certainly true that the Corps and all NGOs
           have great difficulty effecting change, due to local politics,
           corruption, and poverty.
           It is worth noting that the Peace Corps doesn't sponsor projects;
           Peace Corps volunteers are assigned to a project run by a local
           organization or NGO.  There is also a wide range of types of
           work to do, from health and science education, to business
           development, to engineering.  Apparently taxidermy is one of
           the most sought-after skills due to the huge problems of
           species endangerment and extinction in poor countries.
           It is a truism that Peace Corps volunteers get more out of the
           experience than the countries get out of the programs.  -tom
           \_ Join the Peace Corps: travel to exotic countries, encounter
              interesting and stimulating species of ancient eras.... and
              embalm them.
        \_ If I join the peace corps, will I get to have sex with all
           the local girls???? -what sodans really want to know!
           \_ "get to"?
2006/1/2-4 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:41201 Activity:nil
1/2     Anyone here ever use http://ticketassassin.com?
2006/1/2-4 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:41202 Activity:nil
1/2     Work Well With Others (fly engines)
        http://www.mit.edu:8001/people/dinoriki/phliez/work-well-together.html
2006/1/2-4 [Science/Space] UID:41203 Activity:nil
1/2     http://csua.org/u/egv (businessweek.com)
        The birth of the Fremen!
        \_ "Cadillac Desert" is a terrific book (and a little closer to home).
           \_ The scholarship is a bit iffy here.  Some of the key concepts
              turned out to be incorrect, although it is still a fun read.
              \_ Elaborate? I'm interested. Links? -pp
                 \_ geography major.
2024/11/22 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
11/22   
Berkeley CSUA MOTD:2006:January:02 Monday <Sunday, Tuesday>