weekender

the Italian civil courts are a mess. they have so many cases to reference that civil cases can take generations for a family to get a verdict. its humorous in a way. i do not agree that their police and criminal courts are not first world. especially, Rome and above. Perhaps Naples and parts of southern Italy are less reputable but i think you are being unfair and a bit prejudice. i am biased, admittedly. full disclosure. my family is from Rome and most of my cousins are in law enforcement. i have spent a fair amount of time with them over the years. so its fair to say my opinion is based on real world experience but probably biased. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Yes, that's how he presents it. But it's not low risk - it's practically guaranteed to trail inflation. And it offers nothing that isn't already available with the Roth. A large portion of the people this myRA targets are eligible for a tax credit (not deduction, but outright credit) up to $1000/person for contributing to an IRA. The money that would be spent on the myRA would do much more good for these people in the form of that credit or in better education on the existing options. Or in increasing the IRA limits. i think your too sophisticated to understand the point. there is a huge amount of the population that saves zero. many cannot but many can but dont. i assume they are trying to get those who can but dont to start. if you save a small amount, as opposed to spend it, its better to lose some to inflation than all to your own consumption. thats my guess what its about. get people to start saving. once they realize they can do it they will graduate to better investment options. you know too much on the subject and im guessing forget that most do not. your saddled with the burden of knowledge, hah. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I get it. she is a cute white American. so obviously, she could not have done anything bad. or so the US media believes. pick up a foreign paper for the real story. you will find among many facts not discussed on the Today show: murder weapon was bleached, in the apartment of her boyfriend with the victim's DNA on the blade and Amanda's on the handle. She lied to police, claimed she was at her boyfriends house all night. after her boyfriend cooperated with police she changed her story. she falsely accused another man who was cleared when witness's could place him elsewhere. she staged a fake break in at her home. her only witness to where she was for the night is her co defendant. I have no idea why the media loves her so much and ignores the facts. kidding of course i do. pretty white girls bring in the ratings when you feel sorry for them. no so much when they are horrible murderers. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

your reasonable post is not welcome here. only some people earn their income. you need to read the previous posts and hundreds of threads on this topic again. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Jamie Dimon could make more money running a hedge fund or working at a private equity firm like KKR and Carlyle. I could only imagine how jealous that would make you and the author. People are paid what they are worth. Id say JPM shareholders feel they are getting a good deal with Dimon, given he could easily make more elsewhere and has done a great job running the company in hard times. ) How do you deal with the brown on the nose? mature comeback. why so jealous? doesnt babysitting pay enough? look on the bright side. you are paid pretty well for part time. and as long as you dont touch a child you cannot even be fired. Jamie Dimon and I are quite envious of your job security. Well, to temper his envy Jamie can now afford to buy another half dozen congressmen. Not sure about you though. Maybe you should have worked harder in school. And my household is well into the top 1%, thank you. However, we do not seek to cut assistance to the poor, sick, and indigent to pay for special tax favors for ourselves, unlike the folks you admire so much. i did fine in school. have a job i enjoy and a very fulfilling life, thank you. Jamie Dimon is a Democrat. So is Loyd Blankfein of GSCO. i know that doesnt fit into your stereotype but true. they are both on the sidelines recently because they are well known Hillary supporters. as far as myself? the only party i ever joined is the the Democratic party. I'm glad your doing well. it seems a shame that you can be so jealous of others though. I suppose you do not know how to be happy. i feel sorry for you. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Jamie Dimon could make more money running a hedge fund or working at a private equity firm like KKR and Carlyle. I could only imagine how jealous that would make you and the author. People are paid what they are worth. Id say JPM shareholders feel they are getting a good deal with Dimon, given he could easily make more elsewhere and has done a great job running the company in hard times. ) How do you deal with the brown on the nose? mature comeback. why so jealous? doesnt babysitting pay enough? look on the bright side. you are paid pretty well for part time. and as long as you dont touch a child you cannot even be fired. Jamie Dimon and I are quite envious of your job security. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Jamie Dimon could make more money running a hedge fund or working at a private equity firm like KKR and Carlyle. I could only imagine how jealous that would make you and the author. People are paid what they are worth. Id say JPM shareholders feel they are getting a good deal with Dimon, given he could easily make more elsewhere and has done a great job running the company in hard times. I dont think Jennifer Aniston is worth the millions she is paid. i dont lose sleep over it. I am not the jealous type. (edited typo) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Yes Another government handout to the wealthy. Yet the Tea Party only seems to wad up its collective panties over miserly assistance for the poor, old, and sick. Hands out have been cancelled by both parties. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) A group of bipartisan lawmakers on Monday agreed to a deal on a farm bill that would end direct subsidies to farms in favor of crop insurance. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

I have a colleague (engineering professor) who inherited a farm. The government pays him NOT to grow anything. So he just accepts the money from the taxpayer while being certainly in the "top 2%" on account of his regular job + consulting, and the farm lies fallow. I like the guy but I have a BIG problem with taxpayers sending money to those who are already quite well off. I think everyone has a big problem with it except those getting the payments and those pol's they vote for. ive read the new farm bill does away with direct payments. so possibly we are going in the right direction on that matter. WSJ- "WASHINGTON—When lawmakers unveil a bipartisan compromise on a new five-year farm bill this month, they likely will trumpet a major change in policy: ending the long-established and much-maligned system of direct payments to farmers. Abolishing the unpopular program, in which payments have been made regardless of crop prices—and sometimes even to people who grow nothing—is a rare point of accord among Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate. The idea, lawmakers say, is to require farmers to put more "skin in the game" in shouldering the risks associated with agriculture." "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

so i should not follow this plan if the attacker is not white? alla, Colin Ferguson, John Allen Muhammad or Aaron Alexis? Racist troll fail. Mass shooters come in all shapes and sizes. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

We really wouldn't gain anything. The big trains use the Diesel/Electric because nobody has been able to come up with a mechanical transmission that will work for something that big. The D/E is a simple, effective and efficient way. For the "smaller" big trucks, a dry clutch and 10 (or more) forward speeds work just fine. The clutch and geared tranny weigh less than a generator and motor setup would. And my big truck, while not quite that efficient does pretty good. I can carry 22 or 23 tons and get over 7.5 mpg, depending on wind and hills. So I'm taking a ton of freight 165 miles on one gallon of fuel. Not as good as a train, but not too bad. MPG "per ton" is similar to "per seat" fuel consumption for the airlines. thanks for the info. i probably should just have stayed out of this since i know nothing of either trucks or trains. i do think its unrealistic to convert all our rails to electric. seems practical in metro areas but once you get into the giant distances of our nation, seems to big. im a train guy for the record. not that it matters but im a bit Euro in that sense. use them everyday and love it. could never imagine the hell of driving to work. i live and work in the NYC area and never use a plane to go to Boston or DC like many of my buddies. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Trains on some lines in the Chicago region use catenaries too. And they do all over Europe. they are common in metro area in the US because they are practical. considering the size of our nation and the amount of rail lines, i dont see how it would be practical to try to convert everything. we might not have to. diesel electric are very efficient and get great mileage. "Trains can move a ton of freight nearly 450 miles on a single gallon of fuel." from CSX. maybe we should learn to make smaller diesel electric's for our big rigs. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

IMPO, the court's ruling was legally correct; and if I was an appellate court judge, I would vote to sustain the ruling. See the language I highlighted in bold above. Ms. Cohen states the correct perspective of the law. Anyone versed in family law knows that "the best interests of the child" is the first and foremost consideration, before and above anything else. A child is legally entitled to support from his parents. The Kansas statute is designed to protect children from their parents trying to contract-away their legal obligation of support without adequate evidence. This is not, as the donor's lawyers capably argue, a mere case of the state relying on a narrow construction of semantics. It is a matter of a statutorily-prescribed minimum threshold of evidence (procedure performed & documented by a physician) to absolve the donor of his legal obligation of support; and that threshold is designed to protect the welfare of children who have no say in the deal. Thus, the statute really MUST be adhered to strictly. The court appropriately ruled as such. A cautionary tale indeed: do your homework first, and do things the right way, or bear the harsh consequences of your lack of due diligence. worded far better than i could have. thanks. that is what i read. he did not follow the law. amazing he would do something with such huge implications and not bother to properly research it. he is a dolt and suffering the consequences of said doltism. the OP was right. a cautionary tale. when creating a baby, you should give it some thought. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i admire him for being a man and apologizing and firing people. not only did he hold a press conference where he gave an apology but he then stood for two hours and answered questions from a frothing media. that shows some character. Hmmm. His apology appears to consist of denying any involvement, blaming his aides, saying that he was "betrayed", and firing people. Doesn't seem like much character to me. if he is telling the truth, that is what he needed to say. he didnt know, he was betrayed and needed to let them go. if he is lying, then he is a Clinton level liar and needs to be impeached. i dont love the guy but i am impressed that he stood up and apologized and fired those responsible. he then allowed himself to be pummeled by a frothing media. many pol's, including our current and some former President's have done less. for now, i am accepting his story. if he is exposed to being a liar, i will call for his head. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Pffft! Since when is throwing people under the bus "being a man"? Those of us who lived through Watergate remember Nixon doing much the same thing (firing top aides) and saying much the same shit ("I accept the responsibility, not the blame."). Well, he is either: a) Such an incompetent manager that he didn't realize for months that a crisis was manufactured by his closest staff. b) A liar who throws his closest staff under the bus to save himself. Either way he is unfit to manage. if he was the manger of a private enterprise, he would most certainly loose his job for a &b. however, we all know that we allow politicians to be liars and incompetents as long as the support our views. we need a benevolent dictator for about 5 years. hah "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Pffft! Since when is throwing people under the bus "being a man"? Those of us who lived through Watergate remember Nixon doing much the same thing (firing top aides) and saying much the same shit ("I accept the responsibility, not the blame."). if he did know. then he is throwing someone under the bus. if he didnt, then he must fire his loyal employees who made a mistake. not all leaders do that. our President is a prime example of claiming he didnt know something but not punishing people immediately or at all depending on the case. im not assuming he knew. i dont like him but he does not seem to me to be a Clinton level liar. to quote another. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i admire him for being a man and apologizing and firing people. not only did he hold a press conference where he gave an apology but he then stood for two hours and answered questions from a frothing media. that shows some character. i read a funny quote. someone said he either did not know or he is a Clinton level liar. id say that sounds about right to me. reminder: i did not vote for him. i am actually not a fan of his at all. he has held up my wife's judicial appointment because the nomination comes from a Dem Senator he does not like. But I'm born and raised in NJ and dont see the bridge thing a big deal for our politics. im numb to the sewer that is NJ politics. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i would rather be a retired municipal employee than a 1 millionaire. how many millions do you need to have saved to earn 40k a year for life? or in the NYC area where they can earn 2x that for life plus free healthcare. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Which replies would those be? Kallend is the only person who's replied that I would consider a liberal, and all he's done is post links to related articles. It's the conservatives who are all up in Christie's shit. oh, on second look i suppose i jumped to conclusions based on the responses. i dont know people here as well as i should and just assumed. i admit you are probably right. if you remove the word "here" from the sentence, i believe my broader point is still made. liberals are attacking him and if he was a tunnel digging, union loving Dem, they would defend him. the fact that non liberals are attacking him reflects well on them. shows they believe in principals and are willing to call foul against one of their own. (edited material spelling error, again) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

i didnt vote for Christie. i voted for my former boss Corzine. who is now famous for his last job which did not go as well as his tenure at GS. so not bragging just pointing out im no Christie Republican. right now there is no evidence he was involved. what is known for sure is that he shot down the tunnel project and bad mouthed the teachers union. that makes him public enemy #1 in the eyes of the NYT and the rest of the media. the fact that he is a Republican governor makes him the natural enemy of all Democrats and liberals. so whether he was involved or not he will be punished for it. as evidenced by the replies by all the liberals here. who we all know would be defending him if he was a tunnel building, union loving Democrat. "he is the Governor and not responsible for what those guys did. he didnt know etc...." just insert their many defenses of how our President didnt know and isnt responsible. straight answer- I think he will be damaged nationally. locally, not so much. thats pretty tame for NJ politics. (edited material spelling error) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

just curious. whats your beef with NYU? its a pretty reputable school. are you a Fordham or Columbia grad? i went to neither but would consider The Stern School at NYU money well spent. Ive had a lot of bosses from there that would agree. i can think of a lot of schools where your money is a waste and NYU would not make the list. so curious why you singled it out. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

consumers are not responsible for the loses, or so they believe. this is causing them to not complain much. its misguided because they ARE assuming the loses, just not upfront. the banks have you believe, since they give you the money back when your card is stolen, that they are eating the loss. they are all about the bottom line, and not stupid. they are not eating this fraud. they are passing it on for sure. i believe anyway. im no expert on this for sure. maybe marking up the sale of stocks to offset the loses on CC. Im kidding obviously, but they are passing it on for sure and if people realized it and demanded more modern technology it would happen. the banks are duping us i think. (edited some grammar) "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

That's liberal NY for ya. “The victim’s facial wounds look to be healing in a way which does not constitute facial disfigurement under the law,” said Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joshua Stein­glass. They are now facing attempted gang assault and attempted assault. 15 years in prison vs 25. it looks as though while they tried to beat the guy badly, they did not. so its more of an attempted assault. had they been better at giving a beat down they would have faced greater charges. NYC is very liberal for sure but i dont see a bias here. IMO, no one wants to be soft on these guys. they were not poor kids gone bad that people feel sorry for. they were middle class, 20 something jerks that everyone seems to hate. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Well, customers have no real say in the matter, do they? They can only choose from what's available. Now there are a number of banks now that will issue EMV cards, though not with the pin code (instead chip + signature). As for the difficulty in reissuing cards - come on. Banks reissue cards every 3-4 years, and have no problem sending out replacements if your's is lost. The card readers are an expense, but would quickly be paid for by the dramatic reduction of the 11B/year in bad charges. -- BTW, Kallend, the EMV chip only works against on location fraud. It does not protect against online fraud, so saying that this Target problem could have been prevented is false. One time CC#s is the method to combat online issues. i dont disagree with your points, mostly. i do think changing the cards is more expensive than issuing the same old style though. also multiple it by a billion and it certainly adds up. so you might be underestimating the cost a bit for replacement. im no expert, i admit. also, and i could be wrong, i always thought the proprietor payed for the machine not the cc or bank. so a lot of businesses dont want the added expense of replacing them nor benefit from less loses. the banks will see that benefit and not pass it along. i imagine there are business people here that can point out more about the costs. again, i admit, im not an expert on this. its about the complexity of execution in a giant nation and the cost of it. perhaps, im over emphasizing the costs. i will concede that. i am correct that its not about a lack of technical sophistication on our part though. Merica!! So US has more cards. HOWEVER it also has more CC users over which to spread the direct costs and defray the fixed costs. I disagree with your analysis. fair enough. so does the other gentleman. ive already admitted my costs could be exaggerated based on my lack of knowledge. i know its the internet and society demands i stand my ground and call you stupid but im in no position to debate this. My gut is telling me you and Kelpdiver are underestimating the costs. my gut is basing its feelings on years and years of reading corporate balance sheets, models and business plans. so i admit im no expert, but im no dolt either. here is how i see it. if it was so easy and cheap it would have been done. i cannot understand why if it was cheap, easy and everyone benefits its not done. it just seems way more expensive and complicated than people are proposing. there is a CC machine on food carts now. they are everywhere and it will be very expensive endeavor to replace everything as we know it. i just dont see the will to get this done anytime soon. i stand by my broader point that its not about lack of technology or knowledge by America. as some like to allude. "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante

Well, customers have no real say in the matter, do they? They can only choose from what's available. Now there are a number of banks now that will issue EMV cards, though not with the pin code (instead chip + signature). As for the difficulty in reissuing cards - come on. Banks reissue cards every 3-4 years, and have no problem sending out replacements if your's is lost. The card readers are an expense, but would quickly be paid for by the dramatic reduction of the 11B/year in bad charges. -- BTW, Kallend, the EMV chip only works against on location fraud. It does not protect against online fraud, so saying that this Target problem could have been prevented is false. One time CC#s is the method to combat online issues. i dont disagree with your points, mostly. i do think changing the cards is more expensive than issuing the same old style though. also multiple it by a billion and it certainly adds up. so you might be underestimating the cost a bit for replacement. im no expert, i admit. also, and i could be wrong, i always thought the proprietor payed for the machine not the cc or bank. so a lot of businesses dont want the added expense of replacing them nor benefit from less loses. the banks will see that benefit and not pass it along. i imagine there are business people here that can point out more about the costs. again, i admit, im not an expert on this. i stand by my broader point that its not about lack of technology or knowledge by America. its about the complexity of execution in a giant nation and the cost of it. perhaps, im over emphasizing the costs. i will concede that. i am correct that its not about a lack of technical sophistication on our part though. Merica!! "The point is, I'm weird, but I never felt weird." John Frusciante