11/25   "Study: Math teachers 1 chapter ahead of students"
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_us/qualified_teachers
        Our education system in the world's sole super-power country is so
        broken.
        \_ lollllzzzzzzzzz
        \_ God Bless, and free market works.            -conservative
           \_ Free market gives us private schools
           \_ nice socialist bailout yer free market is taking
              \_ Banking and mortgages aren't a free market.  They are
                 deeply intertwined with the government (Fed, Fannie/Freddie)

11/25   motd finance guys, when will T-bill auctions start failing?
        \_ T-Bills at 5, time to buy?
           \_ 5 what?  what the hell does that mean

11/25   So I have this annoying problem with my mouse set-up and was wondering
        if the motd.collective.wisdom had an answer:
        1) When the mouse focus is in the browser, scroll up works but not
           scroll down. It used to work in both directions.
        Set-up is: FF3.0.4, MacOS 10.4.11, Mighty Mouse. -ausman

11/25   war nerd on pirates:
        http://exiledonline.com/war-nerd-update-yo-ho-ho-and-a-tanker-of-crude
        \_ link from there:
           http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2008/nov/18/piracy-somalia-gallery?picture=339805476
        \_ How long until some shipping company hires a bunch of mercenaries
           to torch these guys?
           \_ It's probably difficult to raid them and at the same time prevent
              the pirates from torching the tanker ship with a gajillion
              barrells of oil.  The South Koreans and Taiwanese should quit
              stripping all the fish from Somalia.
              \_ Too late for that. Hm, how long does it take to burn that
                 much oil? Would it really make sense to scuttle the ship?
              \_ The traditional way to deal with pirates is to burn/conquer
                 their ports. "... to the shores of Tripoli..." Where do you
                 think that line came from? Prez O will surely have to do
                 something about Somalia.

11/25   tom i don't think you are going to retire tomorrow and get rehired
        at the same pay while collecting retirement, but it sure looks bad
        when other UC employees do:
        http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/23/BA48121D36.DTL
        \_ And?  It looks bad when corporate execs take huge golden parachutes
           for running their companies into the ground, too.  I don't
           support either practice.  -tom
           \_ That's shareholders' problem, not mine. However, public
              employees are paid by us all. Rehiring retirees at higher
              salaries is a crime against the taxpayer and thus the people.
              \_ I agree.  Will you shut up now?  -tom
                 \_ You do realize that there are at least three people
                    participating in this thread, right?
                    \_ Hard to keep track of all you anonymous cowards.  -tom

11/25   how is allison stokke doing these days?
        http://withleather.uproxx.com/?p=2994
        \_ I'm sure she's still hot somewhere.  cal athletics took all mention
           of her off of their website
           \_ That's not true, I see her bio (no picture though) and some of
              her meet distances (heights? ... I don't know what pole vaulters
              call it). Anyway, she seems to be setting all kinds of Freshman
              records, so we should be seeing more of her in the future, maybe
              even at the Olympics.
              \_ do you bring telephoto lense to the meets?  Nikon or Canon?
                 \_ Come on, Canon tele-white lenses dominate the sports
                    world. Everyone knows that Canon spends way more R&D
                    on sports shooting (waaay faster focus, better image
                    stabilization, amazingly fast shutter speeds) over
                    Nikon (good wide angle landscape, better flash
                    system, good compatibility).

11/25   Diana is so hot
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObQfWMgmIM
        \_ No.

11/25   Should churches be taxed?  Does freedom of religion mean that religion
        should be free as in beer?  --PeterM
        \_ Churches are non-profits. Should non-profits be taxed?
           \_ My contributions to the ACLU do not qualify for a tax break,
              why should contributions to a church qualify?
              \_ ACLU donations should be tax-deductible
                 http://www.aclu.org/supportaclu/taxdeductible/index.html
                 \_ Wish I had known that all these years...
           \_ In their capacity as a non-profit, they have certain rules to
              follow. In their capacity as a religious organization, they get
              a much better tax break and thus have more stringent rules to
              abide by. If they want to violate those rules, then they should
              not receive the special treatment they would be accorded if
              they obeyed the rules.
        \_ Should God be taxed?

11/25   I just received a cold email in my LinkedIn account from a head hunter
        about a hot opportunity at a well-funded startup and blah blah.  Head
        hunters still do this these days?  Aren't there a lot of engineers out
        there looking for jobs?  I'm not a hot-shot with an impressive resume
        or anything.
        \_ There's a ton of people looking for jobs which makes it very hard
           to find someone remotely qualified for a position.  It's amazing
           how many shitty shitty engineers there are out there.
        \_ Headhunters make money by placing people.  Recruiters will always
           be with us.
        \_ I have started getting more interest in my resume as well, after
           about six months of nothing. Which startup, do you mind saying?
           \_ http://www.ringcube.com  -- OP

11/25   I miss jblack's freeper posts. Please come back jblack!

11/25   State of California decides that complaint against Mormon Church
        for violating political financing laws is worth investigation:
        http://tinyurl.com/6e6mxb (SF Gate)
        \_ There's an editorial in the Chronicle today from a high school
           student who is mad people said mean things to him when he
           went to a Yes in 8 rally.  They were mean!  MEAN I TELL YOU.
           \_ At least she wasn't beaten by two grown men:
              http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/33829524.html

11/25   Judge legislates from the bench, strikes down 31-year-old law
        prohibiting adoption of children by gays
        http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2138201/posts
        </for jblack fetish guy>
        \_ If you're going to piss off jblack, you should post pro
           immigrants and pro colored people URLs. I'm sure these two
           issues will really push his buttons. Or just email him at
           jblack@csua.berkeley.edu. That's Justin P. Black.
           issues will really push his buttons.
        \_ For those who are interested the opinion is available at:
           http://www.aclu.org/images/asset_upload_file16_37906.pdf
        \_ when laws and words don't mean anything anymore
           time for secessions.
           \_ If words don't mean anything anymore, why is it that all you
              have to offer are empty words?
           \_ look up "balance of powers."
           \_ The South Will Rise Again!
              \_ Didn't they just do that for the last 8 years?

11/25   Holy crap! I was the one asking how to open a locked up masterlock a
        few days ago. I tried the algorithm on this webpage:
        http://www.wikihow.com/Crack-a-%22Master-Lock%22-Combination-Lock
        and it worked! Thanks to whoever suggested it.
        \_ Good to know, thanks for the reply.