I remember a friendly chat I had with a local cell tower technician. He was amiable enough to demonstrate how his standard-issue technician phone could track any powered phone simply by typing in it's number. Kinda cool, kinda creepy. Word to the wise criminal/terrorist: Low-tech is the way to go for those who don't want to be easily tracked. No cellphone, no internet, no credit cards, etc. etc.
All 39 comments by...
Harrower
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That's a negative, Marcello.
Posted to What Ails Us?
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"Have you tried it?...etc." I have no internet connection at home, only at work, and I spend the majority of my time disconnected. The people I meet in "everyday life" tend to be either: A. Indifferent to anything beyond their own immediate needs and wants. B. Far too proud of their overzealous, overly simplistic analyses of complex socio-political issues. ( "Someone should call Immigration and tell them to get some busses down to those demonstrations." ) C. Too quick to come to a conclusion based on a 60-second television news blurb. That, alone, is enough to give me "Outrage Fatigue," though …
Posted to What Ails Us?
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So... 1. Indefinite Detention of Non-citizens. 2. Intentionally Misrepresenting the threat of Iraqi WMDs. 3. Domestic spying without suitable warrants. 4. 'Authorizing' media leaks. 5. Being, in general, an incompetent leader. Which of these do you claim to be false? "The Left" must have one hell of a propaganda machine to have caused other Republicans to distance themselves from Bush for fear of the looming backlash.
Posted to Congenital Liars and Hypocrites
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Wolf I'd have ot say the growing disregard for the human rights of non-citizens, a state to which number one is a symptom, is an alarming change in the American mindset. I find it hard to believe, with all of the reports and advice that was blatantly disregarded by Bush's administration, that they could have seriously believed Hussein had anything resembling the weapons program they claimed him to have. It's possible that this was unintentional, but that merely adds to his incompetence. No. I doubt there was full disclosure at the entry of World War 2. I do, however, believe that …
Posted to Congenital Liars and Hypocrites
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GM is going bankrupt for more reasons than it's worker compensation package - Ford has a similar problem, but already they've slowed their downward spiral by tightening up their overall operations, and not just slashing employee pay. The real problem has been that for years GM has been trying to sucker people into a 3-year buying cycle, while asian automotive companies build cars that last a great deal longer if properly cared for. With rising interest rates and growing loan terms, people are buying more long-term now, and GM's sales are floundering, while Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are doing just fine. …
Posted to Hotel Workers Rising Tide
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The point is not paying unskilled workers the same as 'skilled' workers. The point is paying hard-working people enough to survive, and provide for their families. A 40-hour workweek at $15 an hour is just over $31,000 a year, which is entry-level pay for most 'skilled' jobs, and what an unskilled worker should be able to make after having a few years of experience in their jobs. No one is advocating the dismantling of capitalism, the abolishment of currency, or any of the foolish exaggerations that always seem to spring out of these sorts of debates. They are making the perfectly …
Posted to Hotel Workers Rising Tide
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Noted. :) "Imagine you have two workers. One is a single mom who supports her 3 kids and perhaps an elderly parent..." A single mother in that sort of position would (hopefully) qualify for federal assistance - either to ease financial strain or to aid in continuing education and job training that could allow her to find a more gainful trade - which would ease some of the responsibility of the employer. At the very least, a single mother in such a position should be able to quickly advance through the lower ranks of a fast food restaurant into a salaried …
Posted to Hotel Workers Rising Tide
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Wolf We seem to take opposite sides on almost every debate. ;) Employers should not be allowed to entice potential employees with cash. It is, after all, rather crass. (I wonder, do other employers use this despicable strategy?) There is a major difference between the Military and say, Acme Inc. offering a given compensation package. If you were to sign on with Acme, Inc. for position X and they paid you less than was promised, you could simply quit. The Military, on the other hand, cannot be ditched so easily. Once they've got your signature on your enlistment agreement... The focus …
Posted to Just Say No to Uncle Sam
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I desperately hope that the United States break into full-blown riots when the newly elected "Democratic" government trundles along just like it's Republican predecessor. People voting for changewill be suckered into voting for the different face of the same enemy. March on the White House gates, and see if that gets their attention.
Posted to The Seinfeld Strategy
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I'm sure he'd love getting calls from homosexual men wanting boyfriend advice. That would be a great phone call bit for a radio show to arrange.
Posted to Cant Make a Decision, Ladies? Call Bill Napoli.
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Exactly what Economic/Individual rights do we have that 'Socialist Europe' does not?
Posted to Fear of the Polish Plumber
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A recent article in USA today pointed out that while the average American worker's median wage/salary has only risen 3% in the last year, Corporate Executive Fortune 100 median compensation has risen 25%. Idiotic perks, unlimited expenses for things like home renovations, and nine-figure salaries? "Compensated only by stock options since 1997, [Capital One Financial's CEO] Fairbank claimed one of the biggest windfalls among CEOs, exercising 3.6 million options for gains of nearly $250 million. His personal haul exceeded the annual profits of more than 550 Fortune 1000 companies, including Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Reebok and Pier 1." No one …
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Knocko I realize that American Capitalism is not laissez faire in the strictest sense of the word, but it is most certainly has heavy slants towards it, rather than away. I was unaware that real income had fallen, and was led to believe it has simply stagnated. Do you have links to what you believe are more representative figures? Regardless, this does not change the fact that the leaders of the most prominent political campaign contributors are completely disconnected from reality, tucked safely away in cars that cost more than many houses, and houses that cost more than many peoples' lifetime …
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Marcello09 The Coast Guard, Senior Customs Officials, and Homeland Security Officials don't count as experts, I suppose? Understand that the concern was not that a Dubai Ports World would necessarily work to smuggle in insurgents on purpose, but that militant groups could easily exploit such a gateway and smuggle themselves in without Dubai being able to effectively prevent them.
Posted to A Primary Concern
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"Much in the same way as the Japanese-American community in Hawaii could have served as unwitting cover for Imperial Japanese agents in 1942? " I never said anything about the Arab-American community. Dubai Ports World is not an Arab-American entity. "Because the terrorist and Dubia personel all %u201Clook alike%u201D?" Not so much that they look alike (there are plenty of American citizens who share their phenotype,) but rather it would be necessary for Dubai to transfer a signifigant number of people from the Arabic world into the United States on varying visa types. Mujahideen/insurgent groups would have a much easier time …
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Marcello "They’re experts, they have a long list of port security concerns, and if Dubai is on that list, it’s very, very low down." The Coast Guard was asked to file a report on their analysis of the deal. It expressed, in their words, "serious concerns" about the deal. "Every security expert that I’ve heard discuss this subject has made it clear that the Dubai Ports World deal would have made absolutely no measurable difference whatsoever to the security of our ports." There is a difference of opinion, even amongst experts. I've heard both sides of the debate championed by …
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Marcello I'll have to check out the article a bit later, when I have more time to read. Jay You seem to be implying that no one who expressed reservations over the Dubai Ports deal could have been motivated by genuine concern, instead of racism.
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Agreed.
Posted to A Primary Concern
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Hitler and Mussolini are flawed comparisons. There is no meaningful parallel between a group formed to resist (and combat) police brutality and racism, and fascist dictators who had their enemies slaughtered, tortured, and imprisoned to remain in power. There may be violence, and the encouragement of violence, in both, but the context is dramatically different.
Posted to The Battle for Fred Hampton Way
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Oh yeah, that bit of sarcasm was completely relevant. Typical Honorary Street Name != Over-zealous reparations. There's not even really a parallel at all.
Posted to The Battle for Fred Hampton Way
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The Pro-Life movement suffers from an unrealistic desire to save every potential life without any regard to how this will further aggravate the existing problems that overpopulation is responsible for. In addition, they often support policies that are counterproductive to their own goals, such as advocating abstinence-only sex education (which is proven to be woefully ineffective) instead of a true sexual education that includes the proper use of readily available contraceptives. One day, hopefully, the Pro-Life movement will realize that they should be pushing for real sex education programs, so that accidental pregnancies will become much more rare.
Posted to Contraception in the Crosshairs
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Wolf: I know quite a few Pro-lifers. The area in which I live is saturated with them. Perhaps it is simply the misfortune of my particular geographic area, but they are all religious nutcases who would rather pretend sex didn't exist. Or, at least, the ones surrounding me are. Any of them who advocate real sex education get golf claps. As for Sudan... trying to equate the mass extermination of an entire regional demographic with the use of contraceptives and early pregnancy abortions is pretty silly.
Posted to Contraception in the Crosshairs
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Wolf "...save every potential life..." ...though perhaps I should have added 'human' into that particular section. I equate killing a handful of cells or a fertilized egg to killing a tumor - aside from the potential to become, both are equally human. Perhaps the abortion of a more developed fetus should be outlawed, but agreeing on when a mass of embryonic cells becomes a fetus seems to have been problematic in the past.
Posted to Contraception in the Crosshairs
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"if they do not adopt free-market capitalism, the best political and economic generator of wealth, freedom, and opportunity yet devised." Free market capitalism, in it's current incarnation, is hardly a triumph of humanity, and I am skeptical that it is the best at producing anything but a gradually declining ethical standard. The pursuit of material gain at the expense of anything and everything else is not a trait to be admired.
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Scorp: (Let's see if this works...)
"Can you give me a single instance where workers and peasants initiated a socialist movement?"
I could point out that no political movement has ever been initiated by the workers and peasants. As a general rule, a small group of educated and concerned (or perhaps ambitious) people will be the source of any and every political change, and will be responsible for motivating the masses to fall in line with their vision of the future. However, the ideological version of Communism is very appealing to the underpriviledged, oppressed, and poor, and does tend to 'galvanize' …Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Blah. I'd assumed that the quote boxes were the usual tag. My bad.
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Rocco: We became an oligarchy years ago. Didn't you get the memo?
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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If China is a democratic state in anything but name, I'm the King of France.
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Scorp You have me confused with someone else. I've never made any such claims, nor even voiced any support for a socialist state of any kind.
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Democrat, Republican... to quote a video game: "I've seen both extremes, and quite frankly they both annoy me." Rocco My hope for the future resides not in the possibility of grassroots candidates somehow gaining enough strength to dislodge the dominant political forces, but in the emerging class divide leading to a politically-conscious, intelligent, malcontent lower class that drastically outnumbers it's upper class counterpart. That kind of situation is never stable, and the United States could use some good, old fashioned volatility to remind it of it's fallibility. But who knows? Maybe a charismatic, capable, and truly sincere leader will actually emerge …
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Scorp Your response (Mar 29, 2006 at 2:46 PM) seemed to imply that you were mistaking me for a rabid supporter of pure Marxism. I assume there's someone else who's the archtypal s00p3r-socialist, but it surely isn't me. Marx was fallible, so what? Where you expecting someone to say otherwise?
Posted to Barbarians at the Helm
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Maybe demonstrators should have signs printed in OMFG ALLKAPS!!!1!11oneone
Posted to The Logic of Withdrawal
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The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the savings and retirement plans of average Americans were well in the red. Living on credit to a degree that has only been seen once before in United States history. Three guesses as to when that was. In addition to a nine trillion dollar debt, the highest in American history, there is a rapidly growing gap in the Import/Export ratio of the American Economy. Combined, this means that the value of the dollar is in a precarious position right now. When all those lenders come to call, you'll be lucky if $20 is worth …
Posted to GOP Trashed in Special Elections
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Schtick! Schtick! It's my turn to say schtick! The UN is a crippled beast: mostly useless, but too damn stubborn to die. It's unlikely that we'll see a new organization rise to take on it's intended responsibilities any time soon, so the global community is just going to have to work with what's they've got. Countries like China, who've got a nice long list of human rights violations, are always going to try and sabotage any humanitarian efforts that negatively impact their investments. The United States rarely intervenes in foreign affairs for purely humanitarian reasons, and the ideas of equality and …
Posted to Raising a Million Voices for Darfur
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People may be disgusted, appalled, and angry, but this kind of story never comes as a suprise. Amongst the American populace it is almost universally understood, if rarely vocalized, that a typical corporate entity will seek monetary and material gain at the expense of anything and everything else. The lack of suitable government infrastructure, the mishandling of New Orleans crises by a number of existing agencies, and the poor treatment immigrants typically receive from run-of-the-mill citizens nationwide all add up to a bleak outlook for any immigrant who tries to contribute to the relief efforts.
Posted to The Gulf Rush
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It's saddening to see how warped Christianity has become. Their Messianic teachings espouse love, charity, and kindness to all - especially those deemed sinful and 'wicked' - and they have fallen into the same sort of near-militant religious extremism that characterizes the archtypal 'terrorists' these Freepers hate.
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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Wiley: Sunday potluck casseroles.
Posted to An Anti-Gay Easter
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"Whiskey, excellent! Just a moment while I sterilize my tools..."
Posted to Lies, Damn Lies and Poverty Statistics
- Joined February 13, 2006
- Last Visit May 10, 2006
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- Location Atlanta, Georgia
- Occupation A little of this, a little of that...
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