EricTheRed

Now that's funny - a six pack on a drop zone. Far from excessive and likely to be gone quicker than you can blink. Now I could understand "...including heaps of empty alcoholic beverage containers and photos of obviously intoxicated people..." illegible usually

Only one. It is the opposite of yours! illegible usually

I wonder if he needs surgery for his CTS now... illegible usually

Actually I do spend quite a bit of time working with business in all of these sectors. I'm a consultant for a work comp insurance firm. There are strict laws on who gets to declare IC status and if a company gets it wrong they do pay. I'm not going to deny that there is a lot of on-shore outsourcing going on (hell, I was in that position for a couple of years myself) but when it happens it's usually legit. I was just saying the tax laws are set up to encourage someone to actually pay the taxes. In the case of an outsourced IT, most firms won't put someone on 'contract' without a business license and a professional bond, something most illegals are unlikely to have. Piecework farm labor is a different beast, but there are other factors at work here as well. Consult your local CPA. The bottom line is MOST of this payroll IS reported and the payroll taxes are withheld, forwarded to the IRS and never claimed by the individual that earned the income. illegible usually

Generally no. Mostly because of: 1. Is the person providing services required to comply with instructions about when, where, and how the work is to be done? 7. Who sets the hours of work? and 10. Who directs the order or sequence in which the work must be done? This is direction and control. If you don't care when, how, or what gets done, you can claim IC (sometimes). I can't think of many laborers that fit this though as most have to be VERY closely supervised. It's pretty damn tricky to claim IC status and there is a lot of case law on the subject. Not all related to illegals but it's difficult to dodge your responsibilities by just claiming that all your workers are independant contractors. My simplistic point was just that. The business (in true capitilistic form) would not exist if there was no demand. Taking the assets of the corp does not eliminate the demand. It creates an opportunity for someone else to serve that demand. That's called the law of supply and demand, pretty simple stuff really. Artificially pushing either side is possible but the equation always fights back. illegible usually

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7392714/ ????? illegible usually

A mostly false assertion. You just sell the assets at public auction. eg. The local McD's hires illegals. The property is siezed and auctioned. Someone WILL buy it and hire the people they need to run the store. It's an extreme example andI think that seizing peoples property for crimes is unconstitional anyway, but we still do it (ref. drug laws) You could accomplish the same thing with mandatory prison sentences for the HR directors. The issue is no-one really wants to stop the illegal labor. Not the govm't, not the employers, not the workers. They all win. Fines don't work unless they are severe enough to potentially ruin the business. Simply offsettingthe profitswon't work because there are still a lot of people that will be willing to run the risk. Most managers don't mind having their employer pay a fine NEARLY as much as they mind spending a few months with "bubba" As far as how employees are paid? Each state has slightly differing rules but the IRS requires that all employers report payroll and with hold certain taxes that have to be paid to the government. Some people don't do it *google nannygate* and get caught. It's actually pretty easy to pay 'under the table' if you have very few workers and don't mind the risk. Most states (and the IRS) ARE interested in collecting taxes and so will audit records and have sent people to jail for tax fraud. Thus most companies DO report payroll properly (or only cheat a little) The states don't CARE who the $$$ comes from as long as it keeps coming. see this http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/218791_immig05.html from today's news. you can also refer to this post from a while back... http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1369933;search_string=immigration;#1369933 illegible usually

It would definately be a good way to improve octane rating. The down side is it might disolve all the little plastic bits throughout your fuel delivery system. IMO: Not a great idea. illegible usually

How does a snake walk? illegible usually

Yikes! That's nearly $5,000 USD. In a couple of years though it'll be cheap and our mini DV's will be nostalgic antiques. illegible usually

I have. Lived there for several years. There didn't seem to be a lot more under the table workers in Texas than there are here in the Northwest. The main reason is that most companies have to show payroll and the IRS will nail the CFO for not paying payrol taxes but not for hiring illegals as long as they go through the motions of "looking" at the ID. Sure there are small businesses that pay under the table but these do not make up the bulk of payroll. The way to stop illegal labor is to get seriour about prosecuting the people that hire illegals. Consider this: In Portland, OR if you are caught trying to hire a prostitute (an illegal act) they seize your car and all the contents and auction it off. If the state did the same thing to every business that hired illegals, how long do you think there would be an immigration problem? illegible usually

Looking at the schematic it looks like the 25D connector is just the interface. It looks like it would be pretty easy to fab a connector to adapt for RCA and power in. There are pins ID'd as record control and record indicator light so you could mount a cam-eye like remote and indicator. I'd sure like to play with one but just spent my allowance on a new FF2. illegible usually

This is one (of many) reasons the US government doesn't really want to stop illegal immigration. That $$ is proping up other areas of the tax code. There are many hard working people that are employed (not under the table) that pay income tax, sales taxes and social security taxes. My experiance with illegals is that by far most are in the same situation as your father was. Just trying to make a better life for their kids. That being said, I still think our current immigration policy is wrong and is hurting both the US and Mexico. illegible usually

My order was placed Monday, January 31, 2005 at 17:15:32 per 2KC's web page. Too damn long but worth the wait. illegible usually

My new shiny and red FF2 just showed up at work. All my co-workers (who already think I'm nuts for jumping out of airplanes) had a good laugh watching my try it on in the office. It looks great, fits good and I can't wait to put my 330 in and JUMP IT. (It even still smells like fresh paint - mmmmm) illegible usually

OK you made me do it. I now know way more than I need to about MPEG4 (you can too at http://www.m4if.org/ ) So it depends on the compression. Now we'll have to wait for something with a usable compression rate. illegible usually

My inlaws recently completed a trip from Eugene, OR to York NE in a Prius. Say they averaged 45mpg for the trip. They had 4 adults (some of 'em pretty big) and a 6 month baby in the car. My personal idea of hell but they said the drive was fine. Even with the FULL load they claimed to have excellent power going over the mountain passes. Cruise control set at 80 and the car held this speed no problem. Only stopped for gas 3x each way illegible usually

How can you test a religion? illegible usually

MPEG4 just isn't good enough. It's only a matter of time before someone makes a decent, usable solid state camera but this isn't it. JVC came close with their MPEG2 camera that uses compact flash, but it doesn't have a LANC. http://www.jvc.com/presentations/everio/overview/index.html#model As CF capacities and speeds increase it will happen. We just need to wait a little longer. illegible usually

Relax, Suck up some unemployment ins $$ and get some jumps in. Travel a bit and enjoy the summer. You will find something great. Good people always do. illegible usually

Maybe you just need a good spanking... http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1336379.html illegible usually

How about this Bill? http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/5308564.html It's amazing to me, but hey, who am I to argue with GOD, eh? illegible usually

Absolutely, I think the rate of growth of consumption will be sharply muted though by the rising price of oil. It is already happining to a small degree and the pace will accelerate. It starts with people like you Bill, who are onthe leading edge, but as the price of oil rises, others reduce their consumption as well. People in the US will drive less, fly less and some will even buy fuel efficient vehicles and carpool. They will bitch and maon about doing it but they will still do it. As the demand for 6,000 lb "cars" dies off, the automakers will either a) make fuel effiecient cars or b) go broke. As you have stated, there are many alternatives to oil. Right now they cost more. As oil gets more expensive, they won't. When x is cheaper than Y it becomes attractive to even the most un-environmentally concious. People switch to X (couse they have been trained to be cheep by WAL-MART) and we use less oil. It will take years, some people will get hurt. Some will make a butt-load of $$$$ selling solar panels, wind turbines, natural gas microturbine generators, fuel cells and batteries. Lots and lots of batteries. There is already a lot of research on improving the existing tech. Not much from the govmt but corporate america isn't all dumb. There are a lot of $$$ flowing into (and out of) chasing alternative energy sources. Should there be more? Probably. I just hope skydiving doesn't get too expensive in the meantime. illegible usually

I've been arguing this point for some time. While very high oil prices will make some people very uncomfortable and will undoubtably cause some industries to go under, others will arise and benefit greatly. illegible usually