text:
Skip to comments.Mark Steyn: America must learn from our laziest woman
Posted on 02/23/2004 3:26:35 PM PST by Pokey78
The other day the Sun bestowed the title of "Britain's Laziest Woman" on Susan Moore of Burythorpe, North Yorkshire. Miss Moore had come to the paper's attention courtesy of its Shop-A-Sponger Hotline: as Alastair Taylor explained: "Super-sponger Susan, 34, has not done a day's work since dropping out of college in 1988."
Despite receiving "Jobseeker's Allowance" for 16 years, she does not seek jobs, and never has. She was offered one by a supermarket, but it was five miles away so she wasn't interested. Ryedale Jobcentre put her on a "New Deal" course and, to make sure she attended, sent a taxi for her every morning. But one day the cab didn't show up, so Susan gave up the course. She lives with her divorced mum, who's also on "Jobseeker's Allowance", though she hasn't sought a job since giving birth to Susan in 1969.
Sportingly, the Sun offered Susan the chance to make a few quid manning the Shop-A-Sponger Hotline over the weekend, but she didn't fancy the disruption. "I shop on a Saturday," she said, "and on Sunday I sit at home and relax a bit."
But then my eye fell on the amount "scrounger Susan" had managed to scrounge: £30,000 in 16 years - £2,000 per annum. Forty quid a week. She and her mum get another £45 housing benefit to live in what looks like an attractive and spacious semi, and she's trying to claim "income support" on medical grounds, because she suffers "monthly painful spells". But if an average £40 a week is the best a "super-sponger" can do, it should remind us of a basic truth: the greatest crime of welfare isn't that it's a waste of money, but that it's a waste of people. Forty quid wasn't enough for a "welfare queen" to queen around on, but it was just enough to enable her to avoid making anything of her life, enough to let her sit around all week "listening to CDs and watching videos".
"I just haven't been given a chance," says Susan. But when the space on your CV for the period from adolescence to early middle-age is one big blank, no one's ever going to give you a chance. It's hard to think of anything capitalism red in tooth and claw could have done to Susan Moore that would have left her worse off than the great sapping nullity in which Her Majesty's Government has maintained her for her entire adult life.
When welfarism becomes the organising principle of society, as it is in much of the West these days, the danger is that a Susan Moorish inertia descends on the entire state. I see that the Duke of Edinburgh has called for schoolchildren to play more team games because they learn so many "valuable lessons" - effective co-operation, self-discipline, rules, competition, etc. Good luck to His Royal Highness commending those to Britain's educational establishment.
Primary schools have given up on the egg-and-spoon and sack race because, under the great Cult of Self-Esteem, it's too much to ask a child to endure the sting of defeat. A third of London schools play no competitive sports. Teachers are uncomfortable with the notion of an "opposing side" one must strive to "beat" - just as, in the war on terror, many grown-ups are uncomfortable with the notion of "the enemy": to the progressive mind, there are no enemies, just friends whose grievances we haven't yet fully acknowledged.
If the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, it seems unlikely victory in Afghanistan owed much to the playing fields of Tipton Comp. Assuming the schools of Tipton and Luton still have any playing fields, their main contribution appears to have been to the losing side - the British Muslims captured among the Taliban and al-Qa'eda forces. Even when it's not specifically teaching you about the millennia of atrocities committed in the name of British imperialism, the modern multicultural state at the very minimum absolves you of any meaningful allegiance. So it's not surprising some of us seek it elsewhere.
As an idea, the multicultural welfare state is too weak to have any purchase on us: that, indeed, is its principal virtue in the eyes of its few fanatical zealots - Polly Toynbee, Baroness Kennedy, etc; politically speaking, it's an allegiance for those who disdain allegiance. Most of us give a shrug of indifference and go back to watching the telly, like Susan Moore. A few look elsewhere, like those Tipton Talibannies. On the Continent, they're just beginning to wake up to the looming iceberg of unsustainable welfare systems. But, like the Sun's Shop-A-Sponger Hotline, they're missing the point. It's not the cost, it's the system itself. The cradle-to-grave welfare society enfeebles the citizenry to such a degree you can never generate enough money.
Happily, not all recipients waste their time on the dole: Muhammed Metin Kaplan set up his Islamist group, Caliphate State, while on welfare in Cologne; Ahmed Ressam, arrested in Washington State en route to blow up Los Angeles International Airport, hatched his plot while on welfare in Montreal; Zacarias Moussaoui, the "20th hijacker" currently on trial in America, became an Islamist radical while on welfare in London; Abu Hamza became Britain's most famous fire-breathing imam while on welfare in London; Abu Qatada, a leading al-Qaeda recruiter, became an Islamist bigshot while British taxpayers were giving him 10 times as much per week as Susan Moore. It was only when he was discovered to have £150,000 in his bank account that the Department for Work and Pensions turned off the spigot. If only the Susan Moore-ish super-spongers were as purposeful as the neo-Moorish super-spongers.
I'm not saying every benefit recipient is a terrorist welfare queen. I am saying that the best bet at saving the next generation of Susan Moores is if the US declares European welfare systems a national security threat.
As for these two women, I think it's more weird how much the daughter looks like her mom; it's like looking at her much younger twin.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Bingo! What a perfect description of the antiwar protesters' mind set.
And it's always amazed me that when the hand-wringing starts about the "epidemic" of obesity 8 out of 10 times they show lower middle class white males (truck driver, assistant manager at TireMart, the key-grinder at ACE hardware), when 8 out of 10 times the real examples can be found in public assistance minority females.
Ah yes, America! The only place on earth where the poor are fat.
I remember reading something like that too. It said that the higher you go (or wish to appear to be) in socio-economic status (a.k.a. social ladder) the slimmer your figure.
Yet oddly enough, at the very top while women are quite slim (skinny?) men tend to be just a little bit heavier then when they were at the next-to-the-very-top rung of the social ladder.
Although I'm a Steyn man, in this case, he's wrong. (And he's echoing Lee Harris, and should be man enough to admit it.) Socialists today are uncomfortable opposing the enemies of the West, because THEY are enemies of the West. Thus, they see the 911 attackers not as their enemies, because they consider them to be allies.
I'm not sure if this is 'just damm' worthy, but I though I would let you know about it.
Well, it doesn't appear that either is missing any meals...
1. Star Jones' dietician
2. Professional Wrestlers
3. plugs to patch holes in the side of oil tankers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text: hi , i am new to litespeed and i have migrated from apache/cpanel after using it for 1.5 years. now i am a bit confused about how can i set/configure different modules that i used with apache for litespeed ? 1-in cpanel apache configuration , there was include files which apache used to read , now i see those lines are still included in litespeed httpd.conf file but those modules are not running anymore . what should i do ? for example : cpanel --> Main >> Service Configuration >> Apache Configuration >> Include Editor --> Pre Main Include Code: LoadModule cband_module /usr/local/apache/modules/mod_cband.so LoadModule limitipconn_module /usr/local/apache/modules/mod_limitipconn.so 2- how can i see extended status like the one apache had in litespeed to see what is acctually going on in the hosts on the server ? Code: #service httpd fullstatus 3-about suphp config per user , and php.ini configuration per user , should i build a virtual host for every host that i have in my server so that i can set a php.ini file for each one of them? and also i have seen that lsws only uses user directory , for example /home/user1/ and i cannot set dir outside the user home directory for ini files ? for example i used to have all users ini files in this directory : /home/ini/user1/php.ini , /home/ini/user2/php.ini ... http://www.litespeedtech.com/suppor...speed_wiki:per_user_ini_in_control_panel_lsws 4-what about directory index priority and allow override functions ? cpanel and apache had a setting for them which i donot see it in litespeed . Code: cpanel --> Main >> Service Configuration >> Apache -->ConfigurationDirectoryIndex Priority i see that litespeed has control over .htaccess files , but what if i want some hosts not to use indexes ? so that when some one creates a directory and browses to that directory , browser shows the files inside that dir ? 5-about mod security , as i have read lite speed uses some other functions like mod security but with the same rules/commands , where should i set my mod security rules in litespeed ? i`ll be thankful if someone gives me his time and answers my questions completely . thanks in advanced.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Your PC is your lifeline. You use it for email, business, finances, online shopping and social media. It has a prominent space in your kitchen, is always running and several of the letters on your keyboard have worn away from the frequent typing. You may have noticed your computer doesn't start up as quickly as it used to, or maybe it takes a while to save documents, or even just download items off the Internet.
A well-used computer needs to be well-loved. You probably take pretty good care of it by running a disk defragment program to remove unused files and programs and clear out viruses that tend to bog it down. However, are you aware that some applications may still be left behind – even after you finish all that cleaning?
These applications are caused by registry issues left behind by software and malware. Symptoms you might notice include your PC often crashing, or hanging while you're searching the Web. These malfunctions could be caused by issues that developed while you were downloading or removing programs from the computer.
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Having your computer running optimally – almost as if it were brand new – can save you plenty of aggravation and annoyance.


text:
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric is reluctant to go on a pre-season tour with Spurs - with Real Madrid waiting in the wings to swoop for the player.
According to Spanish sports newspaper AS, Modric has no desire to leave on the pre-season trip to the USA with the rest of the Spurs squad.
Andre Villas Boas' side depart for America on Saturday, and the Croatian midfielder is believed to want his future sorted out before the weekend.
AS reports that the main stumbling block to his transfer involves the differing valuations of the player by the respective parties. Madrid are thought to be tabling a €30m plus Ricardo Carvalho bid while Tottenham are thought to be holding out for closer to €45m.
Modric does have other suitors, including Chelsea and Manchester United, but AS reports that Spurs have increased his fee for English clubs.
For United and Chelsea, Modric's valuation rises to €55m, and neither Premier League club is believed to be willing to meet the fee, leaving Madrid as his most likely destination.
Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas has already admitted that Modric can leave for the right price, and the Tottenham manager has drafted in Gylfi Sigurdsson as a replacement.
Modric is due back in London for his first pre-season training with Spurs tommorow, along with fellow Euro 2012 participant Rafael van der Vaart.
Spurs have also been linked with Porto star Joao Moutinho and Chelsea transfer target Oscar. Ajax captain Jan Vertonghen has already joined the club and Manchester City striker Emmanual Adebayor is thought to be on the verge of completing his switch.
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text:
Hi eveyboady,
I'm new in php/Mysqal and XML.
I need to read and exctract many and specific information fom a large XML file about (about 3000 lines).
i need to Retrieve many Elements and Attributes values. then i insert them into database.
the problem is about how to exctrct over 100 of Elements and Attributes.
i was thinking about create class(s). what do you think?
i need this too much please.


text:
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak yesterday brushed off criticism from his successor and handed out pardons to a host of former close aides and confidantes jailed for corruption.
The special pardons for 55 people included Lee's longtime confidante and former minister Choi See-joong, and friend and businessman Chun Shin-il — both serving prison terms for bribery.
Former parliamentary speaker Park Hee-tae and a former senior political affairs aide to Lee were also pardoned. Both were convicted last year for their roles in a vote-buying scandal.
"This is not an abuse of power. It was carried out according to law and procedure," Lee's spokesman told reporters after the pardons were announced.
The list did not include the president's elder brother, Lee Sang-deuk, who was convicted and sentenced last week to two years in jail for corruption.
There had been speculation that his brother's case had been rushed through the court to make him eligible for a presidential pardon.
Lee's successor, South Korean president-elect Park Geun-hye, who had urged Lee not to hand out the pardons, felt it was "extremely regrettable" that he had decided to go ahead, Park's spokeswoman told reporters.
"The latest special pardons ignore the will of the people and are an abuse of presidential power, and will undoubtedly trigger nationwide condemnation," the spokeswoman said.
Lee and Park, who is to assume office next month, are both from the same conservative New Frontier Party.
The right of South Korean presidents to grant pardons is enshrined in the constitution, and is often exercised at the time of major national holidays and at the end of their terms.
The list announced yesterday was Lee's seventh round of pardons since he took office and his previous acts of clemency have generated similar criticism.
He has been accused of particularly favoring the leaders of South Korea's giant family-run conglomerates, or chaebols.
In 2008, Lee pardoned Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo, who had been convicted of embezzlement and other charges.
In 2009, he pardoned Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee — convicted of tax evasion — to allow the tycoon to boost Seoul's effort to host the Winter Olympics as a member of the International Olympics Committee.
Lee had promised at the beginning of his five-year term to form a "moral government" untarnished by the chronic corruption that haunted past administrations.


text:
RASSA Holdings Ltd. said it intends to commercialize its firstname.lastname@example.com Web-based passenger services system offering flight information, fares management, seat inventory control, reservations, sales, ticketing, check-in, sales distribution and management reports. RASSA said it presently is implementing firstname.lastname@example.com at four airlines in Latin America and the US and is sponsored by Lockheed Martin.
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text:
My favorite TV show is "The Mentalist."
I think Patrick Jane is just the greatest, so flippant and smart and capable of saying the most outrageous things at any moment.
"Remind you of anyone?" I'm asking Lane Kiffin on Tuesday morning while mentioning the show.
I think Lane Kiffin is capable of greatness, too, while also having it in him to say or do the most outrageous thing and negate any chance of really being great.
I also think Grace Van Pelt is just the greatest, but that's leering for another time.
We're talking Lane Kiffin here, and while he probably considers himself just as pretty, you have to admit he looks better now than you thought he would after hearing of his controversial stay in Tennessee.


text:
Thanks to Viking/Penguin, I have a copy of Philip Pullman's FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS to give away!!
About the book:
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first publication of Grimm's fairy tales. To celebrate, Viking is thrilled to publish FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, a retelling of fifty beloved stories by Philip Pullman, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy.
In 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of Children's and Household Tales. Now, two centuries later, fairy tales are once again all the rage with TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time dominating ratings and two movie adaptations of "Snow White" out in the same year. With FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, Philip Pullman brings these much-loved tales back to the page.
From stories like "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel" to lesser-known treasures like "The Girl With No Hands," "The Three Snake Leaves," and "Godfather Death," Pullman retells fifty of Grimm's timeless classics for the modern age in his lively, beguiling prose. He includes all the most familiar characters—Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, the Frog Prince, and Rapunzel—while also introducing readers to some they might not have met yet.
Pullman has consulted a variety of editions of the work to pull together a seamless version of each story that focuses on engaging readers and demonstrating exactly why these fairy tales have been told over and over again, remaining vibrant since their original publication in the early 19th century. With FAIRY TALES FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM, Pullman pays homage to the tales of romance and villainy that inspired his unique creative vision—and that continue to cast their spell on the Western imagination.
Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) has sold more than fifteen million copies and been published in more than forty countries. The first volume, The Golden Compass, was made into a major motion picture starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Pullman is at work on a companion His Dark Materials novel The Book of Dust. He lives in Oxford, England.
Entering is easy! Just fill out the widget below. Earn extra entries for following! US addresses only, please.


text:
HADDONFIELD (AP) — A tree trimmer is recovering from a leg fracture when a crane toppled in southern New Jersey.
Haddonfield Fire Chief Joe Riggs said the accident happened around 11 a.m. Thursday when a crew was using the crane to remove sections being cut from a towering tree.
Riggs says the tree was heavier than expected and it caused the crane and truck to tilt. The worker was thrown onto the roof of a home below. He fractured his leg in the fall.
The operator of the vehicle was trapped inside for more than an hour because the crane's boom tore down a power line and landed on the truck.
The accident is to be reviewed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.


text:
I don't know who paid it, but someone did:
The challenge of the thumbscoop was to create a crisply machined scoop that was still comfortable to use. The designers at Apple worked on hundreds of versions of the thumbscoop -- even examining them under an electron microscope -- to get it right.
If anyone can read that last part without laughing...
It's all relative. For the average slashdotter to be hipper than all his friends he can do any of the following:
1. Walk up to a girl and say "hi".
2. Move out of his parents basement.
3. Shower.
4. Stop reading
5. Stop quoting The Simpsons/Star Wars/Monty Python/etc.
6. Beat the Cheetos and Mountain Dew addiction.
7. You know what - screw this list. I'm way too hip for this.
You forgot
I know you jest, but Every man that I see that touches one of the newest Macbook's has a wet stain on his pants and says in a low tone..."I must have this"
Honestly, If Dell made a laptop that was near the macbook pro caliber in build they would sell just as well and cost as much.
I tolerate dell lattitude laptops simply because the parts are dirt cheap. I have had "high end" sony Viao laptops and they are utter crap in build quality and design. Alienware laptops feel cheap and I dont want to carry a cartoon character around, they look incredibly dorky in the boardroom, I might as well have a giant "the TICK" sticker on my laptop and wear a TICK t-shirt.
Well the hipper part is kind of fun... When you walk in with a laptop that makes the suits stare, and then you use keynote to show them a presentation that makes their best power point look like a childs crayon drawing... well yeah, it's nice to look hipper than the CEO that makes 40X your salary. You end up closing the deal far faster that way.
it's why all our salespeople have them. That and the sales idiots cant infect a OSX laptop in 20 seconds with all their inane clicking and downloading. They still bitch they cant have windows laptops.
Every man that I see that touches one of the newest Macbook's has a wet stain on his pants and says in a low tone..."I must have this"
You have to get out more. The notion that "every man" is a shallow, childish consumer-bot who has sexual feelings for a chunk of metal and plastic (don't forget the glass!) is really sad.
The last time I had "a wet stain on my pants and said in a low tone..."I must have this"" is the first time my wife kissed me.
Lumpy, I can understand the appreciation of good design, but for me the most important part of great design is the ability to offer the product at a reasonable price.
Considering that a lot of people are having some serious financial problems at the moment, not only here in the 'States but worldwide, I'd think that it might be time for a little re-evaluation of the importance of the objects we desire.
When you walk in with a laptop that makes the suits stare...
Lumpy, you have to try to find other ways to feel good about yourself in front of the "suits". You will find in life that the pleasure achieved from making others "stare" is fleeting and ultimately hollow. Your self-worth should not derive from something you can buy because at some point (probably soon) you will have maxed out your Visa and it's going to be harder to get those bumps in credit that the banks have been so happy to dole out to us over the years to make up for the fact that our real income has been stagnant. You simply have to find something inside yourself that creates a sense of pride and self-worth. I'm sure if you really really look (really) you'll see that there are good enough, smart enough and darnit, people like you. Probably.
Now come here and let me give you a hug, Lumpy.
When you walk in with a laptop that makes the suits stare [...] power point [...] it's why all our salespeople have them.
Were you arguing against or in favor of the machine you described here as MacDouchebag?
From Apple's Macbook mini-site:
All engineered to standards that don't even exist yet.
So there you have it. If Apple is funding the development of technology to send their designers into the future, where they must then spend years infiltrating futuristic IEEE meetings before returning to the present to design laptops, then of course their machines will be a little more expensive.
But just think of the money you'll save when you can browse the Omninet using remote mind-control in 3245AD while those Dell suckers are stuck with forking out for Dell's by-then outdated brain-implant technology.
All engineered to standards that don't even exist yet.
Even as a Mac user/developer this makes me cringe. Ewww...
From Apple's Macbook mini-site:
All engineered to standards that don't even exist yet.
Even as a Mac user/developer this makes me cringe. Ewww...
There's at least two things they are referring to.
1) Snow Leopard will support OpenCL. You might say well so what, eventually my Dell will to, after all that's what Open means. True, but look at the architecture in the macs. They elimiated the Northbridge and the Bus chips. The CPU now connects directly to the GPU.
If you have ever tried to program an NVIDIA GPU for computational work you know that the slow step is shuttling the data back to the CPU. So having OpenCL with an insanley fast bus means that standard is going to actually be useful.
2) the Open HD video connector.
on the new macs, running H264 high def has dropped processor utilization from 100% to 20%, presumbaly because of the NVIDIA chip. So now streaming HD is going to be a reality and will actually exist for the mac world. And TVs that support the Open HD are becoming available.
All engineered to standards that don't even exist yet.
Is that even possible? That's like giving directions and using landmarks that haven't been built yet. "Do a gravity-assisted left turn as you approach over Moon Base Alpha...Stay on course until you see the Asteroid Collection Colony...go through the Ceres tunnel...and then it's basically a straight shot to Jupiter Red Spot Resort and Spa."
IOW, they're engineered to a non-existent standards. Once again, something that would be a serious bad point for any other product is twisted around to be a good point for Apple...
I laugh more when I walk into a computer store and look at all the plastic PC laptops. Nothing wrong with being cheap and functional, of course, but some of those laptops try too hard with silly designs because they have no eye for detail.
There's one major difference this analysis doesn't cover. If you're patient, you can get a dell for up to 40% off, and although it's not quite as drastic with Lenovo, the same is true. This macbook will ALWAYS be expensive.
You will also get some brands of Windows laptop much cheaper by shopping around. In fact, Dell is one of the only companies who don't fall into this category.
Not to mention that the review picks Lenovo and Sony, two of the most expensive brands. Where is Asus, for instance?
Moreover, the Dell that was pointed out as being equivalent to the Apple laptop in the comparison is already 400$ cheaper.
And yet the fanboys want to pass the Apple laptops as not being overpriced. Go figure.
The thing is, that Dell laptop really isn't the equivalent of a MacBook. Dell's real equivalent of a really nicely equipped, beautiful machine is the XPS m1330, which is the same price as the MacBook.
If my math is right, I said that the machines are at PARITY in six of the categories we've reviewed. The MacBook has an ADVANTAGE in thirteen categories, the Dell in nine, the Lenovo and Sony in eight apiece, and the white MacBook in seven.
He didn't even count the magsafe connection for the power adaptor, so my count would put it at 14. So, instead of just called them the same specs, how about you actually point out why this guy spec comparison is wrong? But no, unsubstantiated assertions are insightful as long as you're bashing Apple, Microsoft or Google here at slashdot.
And you know something? I've used/administered several Dells -- they're $400 cheaper for a reason, it's called QA/QC and Dells lack it in my experience. Average lifetime of a Dell 3-5 years maybe with better luck on the monitors. Average lifetime of my Apple machines: 5-6 years. This is counting all warrantied replacement parts as included in the lifetime.
Is it more expensive than a high-end Windows machine? Not really.
Who buys those high-end Windows machines? Nobody with any sense.
Does Apple offer $500 laptops? Nope.
Ergo, Apple is expensive.
Is it more expensive than a high-end Windows machine? Not really.
Who buys those high-end Windows machines? Nobody with any sense.
Does Apple offer $500 laptops? Nope.
Ergo, Apple is expensive.
Yes, but they are also not cheap.
Yes, apple is expensive. But the question was -- are apple taxing you for buying their brand. Answer no -- you get the high end kit, and you pay market rate for it, if you don't want high end kit, don't buy a Mac.
"Who buys those high-end Windows machines? Nobody with any sense."
People that make their living with their computer should.
The junk that they sell as a consumer notebook these days is terrible.
Audio recordings are full of static. Hard drives seem so slow that it just isn't funny and a build quality that is just a bad joke.
The specs are close on a lot of consumer notebooks but they cut corners on the parts that are not on the spec like hard drive speed, power supply quality, and build quality in general.
Macs are design items. Some people don't mind paying a higher price for something which appeals to them.
Price is what you pay, value is what you get. If you subjectively feel that the value of the product matches the price paid then an objective comparison is not significant.
Macs are design items. Some people don't mind paying a higher price for something which appeals to them.
Price is what you pay, value is what you get. If you subjectively feel that the value of the product matches the price paid then an objective comparison is not significant.
For those of us (many of us) who need Mac/OSX for their work, opinions that the premius is worth it because of the fancy design is frankly insulting.
In a situation where Apple is the only official and legal seller of OSX compatible computers, claiming that all buyers buy it since they love the design (as if they have a choice) sounds as if all people who bought a Windows PC in the last year or so, do it because they love Vista.
Many of you? With all due respect there are not a huge number of things that really honestly require a Mac these days. I've done desktop publishing, graphics work, sound recording and design, video editing all on Windows. It works quite well with the right software these days. Granted, if you _have_ to have some particular OS X only software a Mac is the only option. But that's a clear minority these days.
So no, not that many.
But I never said that everyone buys Macs for the nice design. I said that an objective price comparison is irrelevant to someone who did. Don't jump to generalizations just because I managed to irritate you when you didn't bother to read my post thoroughly.
is the OS. You dont get mac os x on another machine!
And thank goodness for that!
(Mod me down, it was worth it)
Which is exactly why I'm a PC guy
Seriously, I'm just going to install and use Linux anyway - I want the best hardware for the lowest price.
Interesting. Does Apple offer a refund for OS X to make itself competitive in this regard?
There's more than that. What I don't get on other notebooks is:
1. True multi-touch trackpad (not just scrolling). You can go on ebay and try for a fingerworks trackpad when they are available at ebay but they go for big money and are for desktops (but nice software, too bad company was bought by apple).
2. Economizing ports. I like a lack of ports, it always irks me when I see something as antiquated as a serial port on my notebook. Don't ask me why, but it's rather like seeing a floppy drive on a notebook.
3. Stylish elegance. THe unibody construction is really nice. It may be silly, but even the upper end notebooks from competitors seem like hunks of ugly black plastic, and if not, they still get a lot of little things wrong. The little things like their crappy bezels/logos on the back or just the obvious overpacking of ports to fill out a bureacratic checklist. It's like they try to a certain extent, and then promptly give up once they have to invest in something that costs more money than usual.
Yes, Apple owns me completely, I guess I'm their whore in this direction. But since a notebook is a tool I work with all day (has replace my desktop as well), I might as well get something I like, even if it costs a bit more.
I honestly don't get the debate. Either buy it or don't. But this issue/whining comes so frequently, I have to wonder if its from people who want to get one but can't afford it, can't talk their boss/SO into it, or just too cheap. I never hear people obsess over Alienware's prices as much. Even the new Macbook, lacking firewire, may be called the new 13 inch Mac Book Pro for all intents and purposes and considering some of the upgrade, the rise in price was probably warranted (more RAM in both offerings by default is called for though).
Instead, it seems like they are constantly trying to make others feel bad for their purchase. Lighten up, it's just a notebook. I would got with an MSI Wind|EEEpc + cheap desktop if I couldn't afford the Mac right now. Not a big deal.
To add:
4. Backlit keyboard. Really nice in dim rooms.
If there are other differentiations, I either don't know about them or not that important to me.
I honestly don't get the debate. Either buy it or don't. But this issue/whining comes so frequently, I have to wonder if its from people who want to get one but can't afford it, can't talk their boss/SO into it, or just too cheap.
From my experience -- It is mostly from Mac owners trying to justify the money spent.
I bought 2 of my 3 macs second-hand, all were a bargain, and still I'd gladly pay the 'mac tax' on a new macbook if I needed a new laptop. However, at the moment I can still manage with the $600 iBook G4 I bought like 4 years ago or something. This isn't Windows, you don't _need_ to upgrade your hardware every 2 years (which already more than offsets the 'mac tax').
Anyway this should disprove your argument, at least in my case. It's not so much 'us mac users' feel we need to 'justify our money spent', but i
Seriously, no FireWire? I know they tried to screw the IEEE 1394 working group with the bait-and-switch license pricing tactic, and the beating they took in the industry was well deserved. But 1394 is superior from an operational standpoint, even if the controllers are a bit of unwieldy packaging-wise and expensive to boot. To have removed it completely from the low-end laptop doesn't bode well for it's future in the rest of the consumer hardware line, although lots of people still have MiniDV cams that use it. USB2/3 will in no way be able to fill that gap, even with the coming surge in hard-disk video cameras.
You fail, Apple. No FW400 (at a freakin' minimum, come on), no sale. I'll get the Dell or the Lenovo and Hackintosh the bejeezus out of it.
I think Apple's thought process is that if they get rid of the firewire from the low end laptops, people who need it are going to upgrade to Macbook Pros. Which probably isn't that far off. If you require firewire for your work and you're accustomed to FCP, then chances are you're not going to get a Win laptop and Hackintosh it, you're just gonna put in the money to get the one with firewire.
the coming surge of hard disk recorders is a raging joke. Most use a freaking strange format to record in. JVC uses the bizzare mpeg2/mpeg4 hybrid called TOD... WTF is that? sony is using a strange mpeg4 format as well.
All of these mean you get the files on your pc and then spend 12 hours converting them to a format that can be edited. yeah I saved a lot of time.... NOT.
plus the sustained transfer rate of usb2 cant even touch that of firewire 400 so it still wins.
The article uses the phrase "Mac tax," which one commenter points out is a recent Microsoft marketing canard.
Did that commenter also point out that "Mac tax" is (the first time) both written in quotation marks to imply that it's not their phrase and link to an article that was called "Are Macs More Expensive? Definitely - Just Ask Microsoft!"? The whole point of the article is that the phrase has been coined and they're investigating whether Macs are more expensive for the specs than comparable PCs.
Not that I'm saying Macs are cheap - I'd rather custom build/upgrade and slap Linux on it - but it's not as if it's an unbalanced comparison article.
I think a more interesting question is, why aren't they as expensive anymore? The Mac Tax was real when they had a small market share and low cash flows. Now the iPod sales have flushed them with cash and they can offer the Mac at a discount. Not a huge "loss leader Xbox below cost discount" but more of a "thank god we don't have to gouge the fuck out of our loyal fans price." Once we throw the iPhone money hose into the mix and we might even see price parity, oh wait, we do.
The wonderful long awaited days
The bundled Microsoft Windows license, which is still way too difficult to shake loose, is a significant "Microsoft tax." In fact, it's the single most expensive component in most PCs. As the price of other PC components continues to fall, the Microsoft tax is becoming more onerous as a greater share of the cost structure, causing consumers and vendors to rebel increasingly. The tax is particularly acute with netbooks, so Linux is gaining a significant foothold in that market segment.
Microsoft's share pric
Fingerprint Scanner
The Dell and Sony have one. ADVANTAGE: DELL AND SONY
It makes me laugh every time: Hmmmm a finger print reader......where would I be able to find fingerprints of someone who has used this laptop that I have just stolen? Sure hope they don't always use gloves when they type.....
I mean, where can you think of a more cool-but-useless feature? And it is sooo cool.......
Seriously, how many categories did he need? I guess he wanted ads.
The problem is, that for the target market it is horribly overpriced. This guy had to go out of his way to ignore all the similarly TARGETED machines that you can find in your Sunday circular for $500 to $800. Some of them even have discreet graphics at that price.
Better yet, everyone knows Dell is always on sale. You can find deals on any laptop maker other than Apple.
The real Mac tax is found when comparing targeted audience. In other words, the people who would love to have a laptop for light work. This the audience Apple misses completely by pricing themselves out of consideration.
I could probably find half a dozen laptops that would serve just as well, if not with more features, but they wouldn't look cool.
(fwiw I own an iMac, 2nd gen iPod, and 2nd gen Touch, and am awaiting the next gen iMac to come out)
Im a big Mac guy, but even I felt bad for my friend who wanted to switch, he wanted to rebuy his computer again (long story), his $1500 NZD PC (some media centre thing with tv tuner card etc) was roughly equal in specs to the $3000 NZD iMac he ended up getting, once the warranty on the Mac was brought up to 3 years as well as rebuying Office for Mac. It was painful, and he misses the TV Tuner, ones I've seen that plug in cost HUNDREDS! Ouch.
Maybe in America, but I think in many parts of the world, Macs are very sadly more expensive than PCs. I compare my Macs to computers a friend has built for himself, and theres a big difference in price. I would still take the Mac for design and OSX, but they are not cheap here in New Zealand
TFA is completely bogus. He explicitly compares mass-produced Apple configurations to custom-configured generic versions:
I priced them in build-to-order configurations sold directly by the manufacturers so I could customize them to match the MacBook when possible
In other words, when there's a generic laptop that has higher specs than the Apple, and priced lower under the usual deals that e.g. Dell does (40+% discount), it is expressly ignored.
When you manipulate the data like that, you can prove anything.
There are many, many examples of how the 'reviewer' has simply picked the wrong comparisons. Sony and Lenovo are notoriously expensive. Generic Dells are notoriously crappy. And of course, where the Apple is deficient (e.g. hard disk space or RAM) the reviewer doesn't add the necessary upgrades at Apple's prices to make the price comparison fair, it simply ignores them.
I can't link to it because of Dell's site, but for about $100 more Dell currently has an XPS 1330 which whips the Macbook in virtually every respect: much better graphics, much more RAM and HDD, significantly faster CPU, bigger battery, better connectivity, and so on. Mysteriously, the reviewer has instead selected a relatively poor quality Dell as a comparison point.
Some other selections from TFA:
Those Windows cheapies are simply a different class of computer
How? This is not explained. Does "different class" mean "much cheaper?
I looked for ones with 13-inch screens and Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, and I priced them in build-to-order configurations sold directly by the manufacturers so I could customize them to match the MacBook when possible.
I understand that the objective is to compare "like-for-like" and see whether Apple is adding a premium, but if an AMD chip (or a different Intel chip) offers comparable or better performance but is not available on a Mac, then how is that not part of the 'cost' of buying Apple? Limiting it to Core 2 Duo seems unneccessary. And why is it legitimate to reconfigure the competition, but not the Mac? Could it be that Apple savagely gouge you for any upgrades?
I configured the MacBook, white Macbook, and Sony with 160GB drives The Dell and Lenovo come with 25GGB ones. Theyâ(TM)re all 5400rpm models. ADVANTAGE: DELL AND LENOVO
Why not pay whatever Apple charges for the same capacity? One of the biggest Apple gouges is when you add RAM or storage to their preconfigured systems. Ignoring this is not justified.
Macs sometimes suffer in comparison to Windows PCs when it comes to the quantity of USB ports, but all these machines seems to provide just two of âem. PARITY
And yet, there would be hundreds of x86 laptops on the market that provide 4 or more.
Everybody can output to a VGA display, but the MacBook has the new DisplayPort connector, and you need to buy a $29 adapter to do VGAâ"but on the other hand, you can also buy a $99 dual-link adapter that can drive a 30-inch display. The white MacBook has mini-DVI, and also needs an extra cost adapter to do VGA. The Dell, Lenovo, and Sony have standard VGA connectors. Iâ(TM)ve going to give the ADVANTAGE to the MacBook for its power but also to the Dell, Lenovo, and Sony for their convenience.
Or you could pick a different Dell, like an XPS series model, and get HDMI, s-video and DVI as standard. In addition, the review does not appear to add in the cost of Apples various dongles and attachments.
Theyâ(TM)ve all got audio in, audio out, and a microphone; the MacBooks are the only ones with optical in and out, or at least the only ones that tout it. ADVANTAGE: BOTH MACBOOKS
HDMI equates to "optical out" and is arguably more useful for modern hi-fi equipment. I am relatively ignorant about audio in options.
Iâ(TM)m going to give the MacBook the ADVANTAGE here, for the aluminum case and near-seamless design
Again, this is simply a result of picking the wrong competition - again check out (for instance) Dell XPS laptops, which are extremely well built and solid.
To reply to my own post, knocking the 13" Macbook up to the same specs as the Lenovo in terms of RAM, HDD, and video out increases the price to $1,457.00, or $150-200 more than the Lenovo depending on whether we go by the "sale price" or the list price.
So in summary: yes, there is a "Mac tax" (which incidentally is a phrase which was in use long before MS adopted it).
So in summary: yes, there is a "Mac tax"
Only if you're enough a moron to buy additional RAM or HDD space from the OEM as opposed to an online or mail order retailer - as any Mac user over the last 30 years could tell you.
How? This is not explained. Does "different class" mean "much cheaper?
Let me explain it for you then
I've said it once [slashdot.org], and I'll say it again: The power brick of the macbook (any mac laptop i guess) alone is worth the price difference already.
Also add in the:
- magsafe power plug
- the new glass trackpad
- LED backlit screen
- the new unibody design
- (to me) fantastic industrial design
Some of the other companies have 1 or 2 of the above po
Long story short, the least expensive Windows laptop he found comparable to the $1400 MacBook was an $820 Dell, making the Mac Tax a whole 70% on top of the price-conscious buyer's choice in the Windows world.
However, he did succeed in finding two similarly overpriced models to the Mac from Sony and Lenovo, demonstrating that bad choices are also available in the PC world, if you look hard enough.
You failed at reading comprehension. In what way is an underpowered Intel X3100 comparable to a geforce go 9400? You might as well say that the dell is overpriced compared to an EEE.
This sounds like the start of a lame joke but: A Dell, a Lenovo (aka IBM Thinkpad) and a Mac fall off a table...
Either way. I have had Dells and Mac's (and IBM Thinkpads). The only ones still floating around at my house is the Mac and the IBM. The Dell machines just break as soon as they're put up to a little bit of abuse and I won't put up any longer with their support department. Like this time that I got a bundle from work which included a laptop, a docking station, a screen and keyboard/mouse. Something was DOA so I contacted support which is apparently in India, they told me to send it back... oh, I have to pay for packaging and shipping by FedEx or UPS. They then ship it back a week later saying that parts are missing and they can't do anything with it. Call them again and after about an hour or so on the phone, apparently I need to ship EVERYTHING back and STILL pay for shipping because it was bought as a bundle. That's over $100 just to get something replaced? Then it takes them over 3 weeks to get me my stuff back.
Ever called Apple support? You can call without any support contract and get help for just about anything Mac related (or walk in any Apple store) in about 5-15 minutes. If it's really a big problem and you're friendly, they might even connect you to an engineer that worked on the product. If something breaks like a hard drive they will OVERNIGHT you a package with the new hard drive and schedule to pick up the dead one without any cost to you, you just take off the first mailing stickers and magically a well-formed return sticker appears. The same goes for laptops, they will overnight or same-day you a special package that fits the laptop and if you can convince the FedEx guy to wait a second while you pack it back up, a repaired or new laptop will arrive within 3-5 business days.
In TFA it is stated on page 3 that the MacBook costs 1299$ while the Lenovo is 1264.84$, the Sony is $1194.99 and the Dell is $819. Yet, in order to make the MacBook appear to be not so expensive in comparison, it states that they are all of comparable value and therefore, as you should ignore price differences in the scale of 100$, they all cost the same. I mean, WTF?
But that isn't all. There are a few more laptop manufacturers that, oddly enough, happen to be the world's leading laptop manufacturers (Acer, HP, Asus, etc) and also, oddly enough, offer similar laptops in the same price range of the Dell laptop. In fact, Sony and Lenovo are known as the inexplicably expensive laptop brands.
So, having said that, how exactly can anyone claim that the Apple laptops aren't expensive when you realize that their laptops are more expensive than the already expensive windows laptops? You can't.
P.S.: The current Apple laptops are also PCs. It doesn't make sense to claim that a Windows laptop is a PC while the Apple laptop is something else.
One reason I dislike current laptops are their (generally) crappy LCD resolutions. Over the past 7-8 years I've only used laptops with 14.1in SXGA+ LCDs, including the T60p I'm typing this from. I actually prefer the 14.1in SXGA+ LCDs, but I know it's a losing battle. A very limited number of T61p were released with them, and I'm pretty sure they'll be the last in history.
I'm not unreasonable, and I understand that movies look better if they fill the widescreen. Although with all the variations in widescreen ratios, I'm yet to see a movie without any black borders. You can also display two documents side by side, even though 90% of people I've seen only show a single maximized instance of MS Word with a single document open. Widescreens do take less room in cramped spaces, allow for more keyboard space and even numpads, etc. However I use my laptop for typing, and screen height is far more important than width. I'm a minority though, so I'll adapt.
Now assuming I'd be looking for a replacement laptop tomorrow (hopefully my T60p will last a while), moving to Apple would mean going "down" to a 15.4in WSXGA (loss of 150pixel height) on the Macbook Pros or 13.3in WXGA (loss of 250pixel height and 200pixel width) on the Macbooks. THERE ARE NO OTHER OPTIONS.
On the other hand I just checked out Lenovo's site. Their T500 laptop is offered with a 15.4in WSXGA or WSGA+ resolution. The WSXGA+ is only a $75 upgrade, and it offers the same height and much more width than my SXGA+. The rest of the specs are very close to the Macbook Pro, but at first glance it's about $200 cheaper.
Beyond their arguably sleek design, the absolutely only reason any rational person would even consider a Macbook or Macbook Pro is OS X. I used it briefly, and I really liked it. Unfortunately given my laptop use, the OS alone is not incentive enough to put up with the limited and (slightly) more expensive hardware.
Except the W which obviously means wide, what does all the other pre- and postfixes mean?
if S,X,+ all mean higher resolution, then WSXGA+ must be omgwtfbbq high resolution.
The Thinkpad has pretty much always had the best keyboard in a laptop, ever since Toshiba quit putting full-sized keys in their Satellites. Apple's keyboards have never been great, but they peaked with the Extended II keyboard just before Jobs came back and since the iMac and blue-and-white G3 Apple's keyboards have been downright horrible, to the point where I have to use an external keyboard with my Macbook Pro to avoid physical pain.
And Apple's passive-aggressive refusal to just put two goddam buttons on their mice and trackpads is worth about a million points against them.
Advantage Lenovo.
Has anyone checked the price of Apple machines seen over several years? Try to sell a cheap PC notebook after a few years and do the same with a MacBook. You will see that there may be a "Mac tax" but it also applies to used machines.
And I've seen many people being cheap with their notebooks and really regretting it very soon. Paying a bit more hurts only once but using a crappy notebook hurts every day.
That's a double-edged sword too. We sell new and used macs, but we actually don't get in many used macs. People run them for 5, 7, even 10 years before they upgrade. And by then they get handed off to the kids. We see few used desktops to sell, and VERY few used laptops. I have yet to see us set out a used laptop that lasts more than a week before someone buys it.
What that means for the person that buys it is, you are pretty much guaranteed to get a good price when it comes time to sell it. My new ma
I did my own comparisons, and really, I see the Mac tax.
I have a HP Pavilion DV6000 [google.co.uk], comes with pretty much everything. I bought it a few months ago for £400 (GBP). A Mac Mini costs £399 (GBP).
This laptop has dedicated RAM for graphic card (GeForce 8400M GS - runs all my games just fine, with excellent quality [steamcommunity.com]) usage, 2GB RAM, sdcard reader, firewire, A/G/B wireless, DVD burner, HDMI, three USB ports, VGA, modem, ethernet, video out, webcam, microphone...
I use this machine as my mobile gaming machine (it works great) and work stuff (software development, office work), home stuff (movie editing etc). The only disadvantage with it, is that it each core has 1.66GHz, while on the Mac Mini has 1.83GHz. That said, I couldn't use the Mac Mini for decent gaming, or for the majority of the stuff I use this laptop for without significant performance costs, lack of hardware options etc.
That's just the Mini, the cheapest laptop from Apple is the MacBook is £719.00 (GBP), which has Intel GMA graphics, no dedicated graphic card RAM, only 1GB RAM.
Sorry, I'm not convinced Apple systems are on par with PCs for their cost.
Did anyone still believe that? It's easy to do this comparison, and Macs have almost always been similarly priced to comparable alternatives.
Of course some of their items are still overpriced, such as the monitors.
As usual the article and the commentaries ask and answer completely the wrong question.
The interesting question is NOT whether, if you take a Mac spec as your starting point, you can duplicate it for less elsewhere from another vendor. The answer is usually, no, not very much, and sometimes it costs more. Which tells us just about nothing about suitability of product or value for money.
The interesting question is whether, if you are looking for a computer, you can find a better value choice better suited to your needs from the Mac range or from other vendors ranges.
You almost always can. The reason is, the paucity of price points and specification points in the Mac range. This results in Macs being an overpriced or underfeatured choice for most people most of the time.
This leads to a simple conclusion. For most people, most of the time, the Mac product is going to be overpriced. For most people, the other vendor product is going to offer better value. Which is quite compatible with the proposition that for any given point in the Mac range, its hard or impossible to duplicate it for much less. This was however never the issue.
The Mac range is not the starting point for comparisons, any more than the Louis Vuitton range is. How one wishes people would stop pretending that it is.
I was always convinced of the Mac tax on their laptops.
Then I owned one. I didn't want it at first. I didn't lust after it.
Now I am convinced that there is no Mac tax. I happen to know that I'm immune to the idea that I'm a fanboi suffering from post-purchase justification. I just know that once you own one, if you had the Mac tax issue, you lose it. Quickly. Completely. Forever.
Then your next laptop will be a Mac. And you'll recommend them. And you'll probably try to explain something in a post that might not be easily explained.
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.


text:
Individual game tickets for Sam Houston State's three home games at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium plus the "Battle of the Piney Woods" at Reliant Stadium are now on sale online at www.gobearkats.com/tickets .
Sam Houston State returns 19 starters and 50 lettermen from the 14-1 team that rolled to the Southland Conference championship and the NCAA Division I national championship game last year. The Bearkats already have been listed as the favorite to repeat as league titlists in the 2012 Southland head coaches' preseason poll.
In addition, the Sports Network NCAA Division I FCS national preseason poll has placed Sam Houston as the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Bearkats open the 2012 season Saturday, Sept. 8 when Sam Houston plays host to the University of Incarnate Word from San Antonio.
The contest climaxes the annual SHSU Bearkat Family Weekend celebration. A special opening night feature will be the third annual Hillcrest Heroes celebration honoring area law enforcement, military and emergency service personnel. Other opening night festivities include a classic car show, "Scout Day" and the Whataburger Orange Out.
Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, the teams picked first and second in the preseason Southland Conference head coaches' poll, will square off in the 87th "Battle of the Piney Woods" at Reliant Stadium Saturday, Oct. 6. The contest has attracted more than 25,000 fans each of its two years in Houston.
Tailgate at Reliant Stadium Oct. 6 begins at 11 a.m. with the H-E-B "Tailgater of the Game" contest in full swing. Former Bearkat lettermen will form their annual tunnel to welcome the team to the field and the Bearkat players also will be featured in a "Spirit Walk."
The SHSU-SFA series is the fourth oldest college football rivalry in Texas.
McNeese State visits Bowers Stadium for Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 20. Homecoming 2012 is presented by Brookshire Brothers. The day also features another Whataburger "Orange Out" at Bowers.
Sam Houston wraps up its home schedule Nov. 3 when the Kats face off with Southeastern Louisiana. The home finale marks "Senior Day". The game also is SHSU football's annual "Pink Out" day with special promotions to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention. Junior Bearkat members will receive free admission to the game, there will be a special Villas on Sycamore contest for SHSU students and the H-E-B "Tailgater of the Year" will be announced.
The Bearkats' road schedule in 2012 includes four contests at sites two hours drive away or less.
Saturday Sept. 15 the Baylor Bears host SHSU at 6 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco. The SHSU Alumni Association is sponsoring a bus to the game and a pregame Bearkat tailgate behind the H-E-B on Valley Mills Road. A limited number of Baylor tickets are available until Aug. 31. Season ticket holders receive first priority.
Thursday Sept. 27 Sam Houston travels to Dynamo Stadium in Houston to take on Texas Southern. A special pregame Bearkat party is open to the public at Lucky's.
Saturday Oct. 27 in Beaumont before SHSU's Southland Conference battle with Lamar the Alumni Association will host a tailgate party at Katherine & Company on 1495 Calder Avenue at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday Nov. 17 the Bearkats close out the 2012 regular season schedule at Texas A&M. The Alumni tailgate will be at the Student Recreation Center on the Texas A&M campus. Bearkat-Aggie tickets will be available in October.
Season tickets remain on sale. Besides priority on road game tickets, season ticket holders also receive priority on seats for NCAA Division I post game playoff contests.
♦ Order individual game tickets
♦ Order season tickets
♦ Bearkat Alley tailgate information
For more information contact the SHSU athletic ticket office at (936) 294-1729. The ticket office is located in the Ron Mafrige Field House in the south end zone of Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.


text:
High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society" is now available, shipped directly from Truthout. Click here to make a minimum contribution of $30 and receive a compelling personal and professional account of why the war on drugs is doomed to fail.As part of its Truthout Progressive Pick of the Week series, Dr. Carl Hart's "
Twenty years ago, when acclaimed neuroscientist Carl Hart began studying drugs, he was motivated by a desire to help communities like the one in which he grew up: poor communities of color that had been, he believed, ravaged by the crack "epidemic." The media craze around crack headlines was swirling to a fever pitch at the time - the late '80s and early '90s - and, Hart writes, "I became utterly convinced that crack cocaine was the cause of everything that I now saw as wrong with the neighborhood."
However, nothing is that straightforward, in the world or in High Price, and Hart's work in the lab called into question some of his most deeply rooted assumptions.
As the DARE program hit its full stride and the aftermath of Nancy Reagan produced ever-more-terrifying tales of drugs' disastrousness, Hart was piecing together a more complex picture—one in which most drug users don't become addicted (in fact, only a small percentage do), and in which even the most taboo drugs can have positive effects.
Hart began studying the effects of drugs like crack and methamphetamine on humans (he always uses controlled doses and studies only people who use regularly anyway) and found that many well-known "facts" about drugs actually bordered on mythology. He started discovering that drug users - even those who were "experienced and committed" (and sometimes, addicted) - made choices based on a wide range of factors, just as the rest of us do. He writes, "I found out people with addictions weren't driven only by drugs." For many drug users, poverty, housing, food and other basic concerns were of foremost concern. In fact, Hart found in his lab, many regular drug users, presented with alternatives like cash or vouchers for merchandise, chose the alternatives over the drugs. Similarly, in experiments where drug-tested patients were rewarded with merchandise vouchers if their urine came back drug-free, the relapse rate proved relatively low – demonstrating that they weren't simply trading the vouchers for another hit.
As Hart worked to navigate this new research path, he reflected on the impact of the crack "epidemic" on his neighborhood in fresh ways. Poverty, violence and crime always had been present - only now, they were being reframed as the result of a drug, a personal choice. In other words, Hart writes, "Problems in my neighborhood that were later attributed to crack cocaine had actually preceded it." The universal blame assigned to crack, he writes, served to mask systemic problems – things that aren't personal choices – like entrenched poverty, institutionalized racism, and the underfunding of education and skill-building programs that might help youths develop sustainable, fulfilling futures.
High Price is not your typical science text: It's written in chronological order, weaving memoir together with neurological findings and policy analysis. The choice to write from this personal vantage isn't immediately evident; Hart never struggled with addiction himself, nor does he center his story around particular loved ones whose lives were consumed by drugs. But it soon becomes clear that the absence of those circumstances is why the memoir-based structure is crucial. Hart occasionally used drugs throughout his youth and early adulthood, but those experiences didn't suck him into a vacuum of addiction; instead, he focused on other rewards that were available to him, such as athletic achievement (in high school) and educational advancement (in later years). Meanwhile, in the impoverished community he left behind in Miami, many of his old friends and family members had slid into heavy involvement with drugs. These included a son he fathered at 15 and discovered 16 years later; when the two finally meet each other, Carl discovers his son is "slinging" - in other words, he's a "street-level pharmacist." (A few years later, this son has been incarcerated for a drug violation and still has not graduated high school.)
Carl's friends and family members had started their lives with scant available "alternative reinforcers," and for many, that range of options had shrunk considerably, because of involvement with the criminal justice system. As drug charges translated into criminal records and criminal records bred increased susceptibility to future arrests - a near-inevitability for black men in marginalized neighborhoods - opportunities for education and legal jobs evaporated quickly, and few alternative reinforcers remained.
Hart's own experience vividly illustrates the potential of education and other positive rewards to encourage people to make decisions that will serve them well, averting addictive patterns. Just as the crack user in Hart's lab chose $20 over another hit, he contends, more big-picture rewards are crucial: rewards like giving poor kids of color a "stake in society," interrupting the cycle of poverty and shifting societal structures so that those kids have a wider range of choices for their future. The key is not a futile attempt at all-out drug prevention: Hart's occasional drug use demonstrates that using drugs (as opposed to developing compulsions or extreme addictions) can, for some, be compatible with living a happy, fulfilled, sustainable existence.
That said, High Price doesn't disregard the suffering of those who are truly addicted to drugs, whose addictions interfere painfully with their lives. Rather, the book reveals that those addicts are a minority of drug users, and not acknowledging that fact obscures and trivializes actual pain of addicts, making it more difficult to determine strategies for actually helping them. The book also reveals that in attending to those who are dealing with drug problems, we must address the psychosocial and economic factors that are driving them to use drugs in excess.
So High Price isn't simply asserting that the war on drugs has failed. Hart is saying that this "war" is founded on false assumptions, presuming drug use as a cause rather than an effect (or in many cases, a side activity that plays a role in many people's lives). There's no such thing as a good drug war, or a "successful" drug war. Instead of maintaining an "irrational focus on eliminating certain drugs," which targets people of color and deposits many youth in an unending cycle of incarceration, Hart contends that we should concentrate public policy energy around confronting the core problems that decimate communities like the one in which he grew up.
However, unlike many books and films on the topic of drugs, High Price doesn't provide a set of go-to solutions - nor does it locate a set of easy problems. Instead, it complicates the lens through which we view drugs, in terms of science and politics, allowing us to reassess how our assumptions permit ineffective - and sometimes harmful - policies to persist. No matter our political persuasion or what drug-related philosophies we adhere to, High Price challenges us to re-examine the evidence beneath our talking points and to acknowledge the tangled network of entrenched public problems that have, for so long, been stuffed into the rubric of an all-encompassing, society-spanning file labeled, simply, "Drugs."
I spoke with Hart for the story behind the book:
Maya Schenwar: There's an increasing amount of publicity around the fact that the war on drugs isn't working, and there's more and more coverage in the media about the way in which that war has failed. What was fascinating to me about your book was that you're challenging the premise on which that war is based—you're not just talking about how its strategies failed, you're talking about how the assumptions it's based on are flawed. That a lot of the ideas we take for granted about drug use and drug abuse simply aren't true. Can you talk a little bit our misperceptions of addiction?
Carl Hart: The assumptions we hold are not backed up by good evidence. One example: When I was in college and graduate school, I was taught how bad Ecstasy was. Then I looked at the research that studied it, and the dosages given in the studies were so high—no one would ever take those dosages. If you gave people a dose that high of nicotine, it would kill them.
When I began my research on rats, I started seeing how drugs like cocaine were not causing the effects that people said they did. So I started studying humans. And case by case, the previous studies were not holding up. It wasn't true that most cocaine users would do anything for another hit. Researchers had started suspending critical thinking. There's money in the status quo, in studying substance abuse; everyone has an interest in maintaining this frame, even if they act like they don't. It's hypocrisy.
MS: One thing you wrote about that I thought was really important is that most people who use illegal drugs are not addicts. Yet there's this mythology that drug use automatically equals drug abuse. Why is our culture so quick to buy into the idea that any use of illegal drugs constitutes a problem?
CH: One of the reasons we have these beliefs is because so few people in the general population actually use these drugs, and they see these drugs as primarily engaged in by members of a despised group. Society then makes up incredible stories about these drugs, which are used by small numbers of people in groups we don't like anyway - poor people, black people, even young people. The stories say their situations are fucked up because of those drugs, instead of looking at everything else going on in their lives.
MS: That brings up an important aspect of your book - you chose to write it as part-memoir, which worked to foreground how race and poverty play into the way the war on drugs is carried out and the effects it has. You tell personal stories that show how all kinds of problems are blamed on crack and other drugs when really their sources are things like poverty and racism and the injustices of the criminal justice system. Why have all these huge social problems been attributed to personal choices to take drugs? And why have all of us been buying this idea for 30 years?
CH: The memoir portion was deeply difficult to do. But a lot of times people talk about drugs' effects without context, and I wanted to provide the context of my life, my community. I wanted people to see that there are things we can place in people's environments that increase the likelihood of success. Things like sports, summer programs, other opportunities for kids. When these kinds of programs are cut, there's backlash - and the scapegoat becomes these drugs that most of these folks don't use regularly. Now you can blame things on the drugs, and not the policies.
Even in those communities, you have people agreeing about crack cocaine destroying the community. They're saying, "I know it because I've seen it with my own eyes." Then there's the media and the government spreading this message. … There is a buy-in from a diverse group of professionals. I'm telling them their ideas aren't right - and they don't want to hear it.
MS: You've mentioned how there aren't many studies that acknowledge the positive effects of illegal drugs, which is funny because sometimes those effects manifest very similarly to the effects of legal drugs. At one point, you compared methamphetamine and Adderol, for example. This made me think about how in some ways, the scheduling of some drugs as illegal and some drugs as legal comes across as arbitrary.
CH: It's not arbitrary, but it has little to do with pharmacology. It certainly doesn't have much to do with potency. Nicotine is one of most potent drugs in the world. The reasons go back to these despised groups - when a drug is associated with them, it often becomes illegal.
This happens through history: Cocaine became associated with black people in the South. The concern with opium was that there were all these Chinese people using it - even though the average user was a 30- to 50-year-old white woman. Marijuana became associated with Mexicans and black people. And meth was restricted when people like bikers and hippies - and young people - were seen to be the ones using that drug.
MS: It was always a mystery to me how that scheduling happened. Until a couple of years ago, I didn't even think of it as a historical thing or a racial thing.
CH: That's an interesting point. Scientists who I took classes from and learned from, they all know this. But when they're writing about drugs for the public, they don't talk about it, because it's not helpful for them to say. The number one goal of scientists is keeping their grants. Helping people is not the priority. People are talking about how to enhance their budget first.
MS: I was really intrigued by the section of your book about alternative reinforcers, especially paying addicts to stop using. The results you got with direct cash reinforcements were really encouraging - paying addicts not to use was actually more successful than 12-step programs. Obviously, this doesn't really fit in with our traditional cultural framework for addressing addiction. Can you explain a little bit about why alternative reinforcements like cash work, when it comes to treating addicts?
CH: I think about it same way we think about raising children. Sometimes people will do things just because they're new. … And drugs do offer some temporary relief from boredom or other problems. If there are no other options, they might keep doing them because they can't do anything besides that. So we want people to have a variety of positive options and reinforce those positive options; it decreases the likelihood of behaviors we discourage. This is not a new idea - it goes back to BF Skinner. So, I just wanted to know: does this behavioral science apply to drug addicts too? Turns out it does!
We make up incredible stories - that addicts will do anything for another hit of the drug. You hear about people who use meth having those four-day orgies - that they just can't stop. … But those stories are inconsistent with biology. We see it in the lab: After a while people have had enough. And if they have options for something else to do, [they] might not choose that discouraged behavior in the future.
MS: Toward the end of the book, you talk about your decision to speak out on drug laws and drug policy and that you have to tread a fine line so that you don't come off as an activist, because that might affect how your scientific research is perceived. How necessary is the portrayal of yourself as objective?
CH: I used to think I could convince everyone I'm objective - but people are deluded if they think I'm not going to be judged based on the fact that I'm a black man. I'll always be viewed as an aberration. I'm the only black tenured professor in the sciences at Columbia. So, I try to do the best science I can do. … But we also need to be responsible citizens. So, I am trying to be the best scientist I can be while still doing the right thing.


text:
MojoMojo::Schema::Result::Attachment - store attachments
Delete the inline and thumbnail versions but keep the original version (
Full path to this attachment.
Name of attachment file when displayed inline.
Nmae of thumbnail of attachment.
Insert photo id and title into photo table.
Predicate to indicate is the contenttype is image or not.
Predicate to indicate is the contenttype is text or not.
Get a human readable size.
Describe the mime type (in English?).
Marcus Ramberg <firstname.lastname@example.com>
This library is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.


text:
are you kiddin me!
oooooooooooooooohho it never ends does it
are you kiddin me!
Good throw Mark---keeping it real.
Where the hell was he throwing that ball
Like clockwork
wtf was that mark?
It almost looked like Powell had his head turned instead of looking for the ball and didnt even attempt to reach for it
And there it is.
Poorly designed play as well. Two receivers in the same area.
He saw George Sauer open in a crossing route.
Is anyone surprised? Typical Mark
You can always count on Sanchez to suck.....
Solid int, mark.
And Sanchez strikes again... unbelievable...
He is inept and his receivers are Pop Warner---a lethal combination.
One day we'll have a decent offense.
One day.
That was so bad.. I want Sanchez to do well but that was just pathetic


text:
Q:?"Knowing Governor Branstad's decision - what is your view of Medicaid expansion in Iowa?"
State Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Garwin)
Article Photos
State Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Garwin)
State Senator Steve Sodders (D-State Center)
"Currently Iowa has a program known as IowaCare for providing medical care to those who do not qualify for Medicaid. Medicaid expansion would replace the IowaCare program and the federal government is promising to pay 100% of these costs for the first three years, then taper off to 90% after that, with Iowans picking up that 10% difference.
" I've heard people refer to this offer by the Federal government as "free money". Of course nothing the government does is free. Medicaid Expansion represents a significant increase in federal spending, and of course those additional expenditure dollars will come out of Iowans' pockets.
" The problem of course is that our federal government is $17 trillion in debt, and is spending $3.8 trillion dollars a year with only $2.5 trillion in revenue, adding $1.3 trillion per year to that staggering national debt with no end in sight. Congress has not passed a budget in nearly four years, further proof that our federal government is dysfunctional and irresponsible. Accepting a promise of future payment from a government that is so far in debt just seems like a bad idea, once we expand Medicaid there is no going back, leaving Iowa's taxpayers on the hook if the federal government defaults on its promise. I believe we would be foolish to accept this promise of payment.
" I believe we need to fight for Iowa solutions to meet Iowa needs for affordable patient-centered health care."
State Sen. Steve Sodders (D-State Center) Did not answer. His recent column published March 1 in The Tama News-Herald and also available on tamatoledonews.com website addressed the issue.


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SCOTTSDALE – The Colorado Rockies announced today that the club has selected the contracts of catcher Yorvit Torrealba and right-handed pitcher Chris Volstad.
Both Torrealba and Volstad were signed to Minor League deals with invites to Major League Spring Training during the offseason. To make room on the 40-man roster for each player, the Rockies have designated right-handed pitcher Will Harris and catcher Ramon Hernandez for assignment. Additionally, the club has optioned outfielder Tyler Colvin to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Torrealba, 34, is making his return to the Rockies organization where he previously played for four seasons (2006-09). Torrealba is a veteran of 12 Major League seasons, having played for seven teams, including San Francisco (2001-05), Seattle (2005), Colorado, San Diego (2010), Texas (2011-12), Toronto (2012) and Milwaukee (2012). In 64 games with three teams in 2012, Torrealba hit .227 (44-for-194) with 8 doubles, 4 home runs and 14 RBI. The Venezuela native is a career .257 hitter (694-for-2696) with 154 doubles, 12 triples, 56 home runs and 323 RBI in 846 games. Torrealba hit .258 (276-for-1068) with 66 doubles, 23 home runs and 152 RBI in 312 games with Colorado in his first stint with the club from 2006-09.
Volstad, 26, joins his third Major League organization in Colorado, having already pitched in 124 career games/123 starts with Florida (2008-11) and the Chicago Cubs (2012). The 6-foot-8 right-hander is 35-51 with a 4.87 ERA (695.1 ip, 376 er), 247 walks and 439 strikeouts in his Major League career. Volstad spent 2012 with the Cubs, going 3-12 with a 6.31 ERA (111.1 ip, 78 er) in 21 starts. The Palm Beach Gardens, FL native owns a 63.8-percent ground ball percentage in his Major League career.
Harris, 28, made his Major League debut last season with Colorado and went 1-1 with an 8.15 ERA (17.2 ip, 16 er) in 20 games. Prior to joining the Major League club, Harris split his 2012 season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Colorado Springs, going 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA (52.0 ip, 12 er), 13 walks and 66 strikeouts in 44 games. Harris was originally drafted by Colorado in the ninth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Louisiana State University.
Hernandez, 36, hit .217 (40-for-184) with 10 doubles, 5 home runs and 28 RBI in 52 games with Colorado in 2012. The veteran is a career .264 (133-for-5057) Major League hitter with 260 doubles, 8 triples, 166 home runs and 751 RBI in 1,509 career games with Colorado (2012), Cincinnati (2009-2011), Baltimore (2006-08), San Diego (2004-05) and Oakland (1999-2003).
Colvin, 27, spent the entire season with Colorado in 2012 and batted .290 (122-for-420) with 27 doubles, 10 triples, 18 home runs and 72 RBI in 136 games. Colvin was acquired by Colorado along with DJ LeMahieu prior to the 2012 season from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Ian Stewart and Casey Weathers. In his four-year Major League career (Chicago 2009-11), Colvin owns a .247 (247-for-1001) average with 53 doubles, 18 triples, 44 home runs and 150 RBI.
The Rockies have a full 40-man roster.


text:
Brandon Savage has made a few suggestions that can help you with one of the most important parts of any development project - picking the right tool for the job.
You'd never dig a drainage ditch with a pitchfork, or plug a drywall hole with chewing gum. Instead, you'd pick an appropriate tool and you'd use it to accomplish the job (a shovel, or some spackle, for example). So why do software engineers often spend so much time fixing problems with the wrong tools at hand?
He includes three common issues and ways you can overcome/stay away from them:
- Lack of knowledge regarding available tools.
- Inability to implement solutions due to lack of resources.
- Unwillingness to implement a solution.
Of the three, the last one is possibly the most scary - don't let personal feelings or your dedication to Tool X be your undoing and hurt your application in the long run.


text:
No. 8 Florida rallies to beat Alabama 64-52
Credit: The Associated Press
Credit: The Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — No. 8 Florida showed the kind of resiliency that could come in handy in the postseason.
Casey Prather had 10 points and nine rebounds, most of them in the second half, and the Gators rallied from an eight-point deficit to beat Alabama 64-52 on Saturday.
The Gators used a 15-0 run late in the second half — fueled by Prather — to pull away from the Crimson Tide and remain unbeaten (14-0) at home.
Even though Florida won its 13 Southeastern Conference games by double digits, this one easily could have gone the other way.
"Casey, thank God, gave us good minutes," coach Billy Donovan said. "If he didn't play well, we probably would have had a hard time winning the game."
Erik Murphy led Florida (23-5, 13-3 SEC) with 15 points. Kenny Boynton added 13, and Scottie Wilbekin chipped in 11.
But there's no doubt Prather was the key. He played relentless defense and was equally impressive on the other end. With Prather leading the way, Florida outscored Alabama 23-5 over the final 10 minutes of the game.
"I was definitely trying to bring energy because we looked a little dead offensively and defensively," Prather said.
Trevor Releford led the Tide (19-10, 11-5) with 12 points. Trevor Lacey and Nick Jacobs added 11 points apiece.
Florida made just 2 of 13 shots from 3-point range, but made up for it by making 22 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Alabama was 4 of 10 from the charity stripe.
The Tide really went cold from the field, making just two baskets after taking a 45-37 lead with 12:23 remaining.
"You've got to be able to manufacture some offense," coach Anthony Grant said. "We had opportunities that we let slip away."
Missed shots, bad passes, charges, Alabama did a little bit of everything to give up the lead on the road. It was the complete opposite of what Alabama did right during a 14-4 run that put the Tide ahead.
"Defensively, we weren't as locked in as we were during that stretch," Lacey said.
The Gators gladly took advantage en route to clinching a first-round bye in the SEC tournament. Florida later secured at least a share of the SEC regular-season title when Arkansas beat Kentucky. Donovan's team needs one more win to clinch the league tournament's top seed.
Donovan cared little about those accomplishments after the game. He was more concerned about his team's problems.
Florida used a 12-0 run to open up a double-digit lead early in the game, making this look like it would be another lopsided affair.
But the Gators stopped making shots and starting giving up baskets at every turn. It was concerning for Donovan because it's the kind of emotional letdown he has tried to rid his team of the last two years.
Instead of moving the ball and getting everyone involved, the Gators started taking ill-advised shots and trying to do too much.
"We've deviated from who we are and we've got to get back to that," Donovan said.
Getting healthy could help.
Bench players Will Yeguete and Michael Frazier II returned from injuries but clearly weren't at full strength. Yeguete missed six games following arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his right knee, and Frazier sat out Tuesday night's loss at Tennessee because of a concussion. Frazier also missed two days of practice this week with back spasms.
Neither did much against the Tide.
Yeguete missed both shots, had one rebound and one turnover in 11 lackluster minutes. Frazier missed his only shot and had a turnover in 6 minutes.
"I couldn't get anything out of Frazier at all," Donovan said. "And Yeguete tells me after the game that he was absolutely petrified going out there."
Prather picked up the slack, a welcome sight for Florida since he's been banged up all season. He missed several games because of a concussion and a few more with a high-ankle sprain.
He banged his head against the Volunteers, needed stiches above his left eye and created concern about another concussion. He passed all his baseline tests, though, and turned in one of his best performances in three years.
"I thought we were a little drained," Donovan said. "I thought Casey, for whatever really, was really focused and locked in. ... Scottie wasn't himself. I didn't think Kenny Boynton was himself. Patric (Young) wasn't himself. Murphy looked a step slow. It was just one of those games where you sometimes can't maybe put your finger on it.
"I was really, really, really disappointed in my team. Disappointed in my team that I didn't do a better job getting them ready to play and I couldn't have been any prouder the last 9 minutes."


text:
Judge rules in favor of city in bond validation
December 11, 2013
A key component of the city of Cape Coral's revenue diversification plan received its sought-after legal nod Wednesday....
That is what they call it "the city of Cape Coral's revenue diversification plan" Plain english,- ways to get more money from the tax payers with out having to consider the Homestead exemption. THEY ARE GOING TO SCREW YOU. THEY ARE GOING TO GET ASSESSMENT HAPPY AT CITYHALL. AND YOU FOOLS VOTED IN A WHOLE BUNCH OF PROGRESSIVE SOCIALISTS. ROTF ****
6 Agrees | 5 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Ah, the RAGs lose again...next up, the Mayoral recount and Sully gets to cry his eyes out again. Can it get any better than this? I hope so! BWAHAHaha!
4 Agrees | 7 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Diele says, "It's another of the dishonest things the city has done this for so long that they no longer recognize it." Poor little Billy, when he loses, it is because of dishonesty. No Billy, you lost because of a poor representation and lack of evidnce for your side. On the other hand, you did look stellar compared to the amateur Scott Morris, what a clown he turned out to be. Scott, City employees won't forget, to be sure.
4 Agrees | 7 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
The assessment is actually pretty fair. The scary part is the built-in annual raises.
4 Agrees | 4 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
We will set a record for voter turnout. This will not stand and the bed partners of the unions will be out on their collective fattened backsides. There is a reason we are in the most corupt city in Florida. It is the mensa members we have on council. Get ready to vote and throw them all out.
5 Agrees | 7 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Next election is .....???? Really...... You really don't have to live here. That's an elective.
3 Agrees | 6 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
I sincerely hope that Lurch meant it when he said he was ready to move on...hopefully somewhere else!
4 Agrees | 5 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
I was unable to attend the hearings, but if Deile pontificated as arrogantly as he did on Council, I am surprised the judge did not hold him in contempt, like the voters in Cape Coral.
4 Agrees | 6 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
All they are doing is getting fat on the property owners money. I have never lived in a place that is as corrupt as this city. There is only one word for it they (city council) are just plain EVIL.
3 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
So if you refer to the mayor as Princes Fiona it gets deleted but it is ok to call a former council member Lurch. No bias here. Lol
2 Agrees | 4 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
$12million more for the unions and $0 for the tax payer.council will probably vote another raise or bonus for the unions
2 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
one "intervener" gets it....one couldn't find reason with both hands. Deile needs time to "digest" the information. We all know what something digested turns into. He will be spreading it thickly pretty soon, I betcha. Don't go away mad.......
0 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
So, a judge working for local government decides in favor of local government on a tax that is clearly in violation of our state constitution. And, wait for it, he decides after the local election. Had he decided prior to the election do you think "Marni & friends" would have be put in office? I'm shocked I say shocked!
2 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Suggestion: Read Judge Kyle's 38 page item by item explanations No violations of State Statutes, Constitution, Charters, information provided had no basis, etc. etc. Instead of griping read it all. Remember they were happy with this Judge. Now... not so much.
1 Agrees | 3 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Judge Kyle made it very clear he was ruling on the legality of the method of collecting the tax.
He specifically stated three times on the first day of the hearing. "I am not hear to judge on whether this is right or wrong."
Most know the 38% of the Fire Budget being pulled out of the general fund shows that there is at least 38% of that budget that has been mismanaged for over 10 years. No let's get spending and issuing more bonds so the $36 million a year we now spend on interest can be at least doubled. As we parade merrily down the road to INSOLVENCY! Tonight I pulled 1 zip code 33990 in Cape Coral and found no less than 500 house in foreclosure. Someone else pull another zip and lets see if we can get to at least 4000!
1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Former Councilman Leetz seems to understand the underlying problem effecting our City, voter apathy. Anyone can run a business, household or City if they have the ability to simply reach into the pockets of others.
3 Agrees | 0 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
Why has the city manager and the city council not addressed how much additional tax dollars were taken in based on the 7.13% increase in property valuation?
Do they just figure they would reduce the millage rate by 1/4 of mil and that ends the discussion and the story?
The utility tax can go away, the Fire Assessment can go away and the millage rate can be reduced.
It takes 2 actions the first is to get rid of the poor representation home owners are receiving.
The second is to vote and understand which individuals on that city council have hired a city manager who will do whatever he can to keep that job.
Look at your electric bills. See your kilowatt usage in the months when it is very cold and very hot. Watch and see how when you go from low seasonal use of A/C how spikes can increase 25% or greater. Keep the bills for 12 months and watch how that small cost ends up being a couple of weeks grocery bill for some families throughout the year. Fire Assessment $100 to
1 Agrees | 1 Disagrees | Report Abuse »
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text:
Bohemia, NY (PRWEB) January 28, 2013
On January 28, 2013, Quorn Foods Inc. responds to a USA Today article regarding the ten best vegetarian places to eat for the food lovers diet without sacrificing good taste.
According to the USA Today article, "Resolving to eat healthy doesn't mean having to give up on taste." The article states that the following restaurants all offer healthy vegetarian recipes without sacrificing taste.
The restaurants listed in the article are Seattle's Thrive, Christopher's Kitchen in Florida, Candle Café in New York, Catch a Healthy Habit in Connecticut, Crudessence in Montreal, Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco, Fresh Restaurant in Toronto, Karyn's Fresh Corner in Chicago, Vegeria in San Antonio and Cafe Gratitude in California. The article mentions that some of the restaurants, like Candle Café, prepare traditional dishes without the unhealthy ingredients.
According to the article, Thrive's menu, "includes warm grain bowls, smoothies and even shots of frozen blue-green algae, said to increase focus and reduce stress." The article notes that these restaurants all provide the best tasty vegetarian dishes around, and have become popular for combing healthy with delicious.
Quorn Foods Inc. applauds these restaurants for their famous vegetarian recipes that cater to the food lovers diet. "These restaurants all serve healthy vegetarian dishes without sacrificing taste in order to do so," says Quorn representative David Wilson. "For delicious vegetarian meals at home, try Quorn meat alternatives that replicate the taste and texture of real meat incredibly well."
Quorn Foods launched nationally in the US in 2002. Unlike other vegetarian food companies, Quorn foods use mycoprotein: a naturally occurring, healthy form of protein that replicates the taste and texture of meat while being significantly lower in saturated fats and calories. Quorn Foods offer a wide range of products including ready to serve meals, food for your barbecue, breaded meat substitutes, snacks and components to make your own meals from scratch. The wonderful taste of Quorn meatless meals provides the taste of the foods you love without sacrificing nutrition.


text:
Driven by rising prices of food items such as sugar, pulses and vegetables as well as clothing, retail inflation moved closer to the double digit mark at 9.75 per cent in October.
It was 9.73 per cent in the previous month, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Monday.
The highest rise in prices during the month was recorded by sugar, up 19.61 per cent, year-on-year basis. It was followed by edible oil, which turned expensive by 17.92 per cent, while pulses were dearer by 14.89 per cent on the annual basis.
Vegetable rates during month increased by 10.74 per cent, while meat and fish and egg rates rose by 12.18 per cent.
At the same time, clothing and footwear also witnessed an increase in prices at 10.47 per cent on an annual basis.
In urban areas, retail inflation moderated to 9.46 per cent in October, compared to 9.72 per cent in the previous month. However, CPI rose for rural population to 9.98 per cent during the month from 9.79 per cent in
"All India provisional General (all groups) CPI numbers of October 2012 for rural, urban and combined are 126.7, 122.6 and 124.9 respectively," said Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent charge) Srikant Kumar Jena.
Concerned over the persistent inflation, the Reserve Bank last month kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
However, RBI had reduced cash reserve ratio by 0.25 per cent to infuse additional liquidity, injecting Rs 17,500 crore (Rs 175 billion) into the financial system.
Accordingly, the CRR or the portion of deposits banks have to park with the RBI now stands at 4.25 per cent, while the repo rate, at which RBI lends to the system, has been retained at 8 per cent.
The reverse repo, at which RBI absorbs excess liquidity through borrowings from banks, remains at 7 per cent.
Meanwhile, industrial growth has slipped in the negative territory at 0.4 per cent in September, compared to a growth of 2.5 per cent in the same month last year, which indicates persistent sluggishness in the economy.


text:
The Fisher Effect in an Emerging Economy: The Case of India
The objective of this study is to test the relationship between short-term nominal interest rate and inflation in the context of the Indian financial market. To achieve this objective we perform Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root test to check for stationarity and thereafter we test for co-integration using the Engle-Granger method and further corroborate the findings of this test with the Johansen-Juselius method. Lastly, we perform the Granger causality test. Monthly data of inflation and nominal short term interest rates for the period from April 1996 to August 2004 were used. We find that expected inflation and nominal short-term interest rates are co-integrated in the Indian context. Thus, the present study doesn't reject the Fisher effect in the Indian financial market. This test shows that expected inflation is Granger caused by nominal short term interest rates. These findings are important in the context of financial market policies in emerging economies like India.
Full Text:PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v1n2p99
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