madaxe

34 ms·

301.
by madaxe 13y ago
This isn't the view taken by the worlds agribusinesses - they want enhanced shareholder value, NOW, not in 30 years time, not in a century. It's utterly irrational, but the current global stratagem seems to be: 1) Ruin the planet 2) Profit
302.
by madaxe 13y ago
This is cultural. Americans and many westerners have a very high opinion of themselves, in terms of looks, intellect, etc. This doesn't hold true for everyone, however. I view myself as a malformed hideous idiot with a vicious temper. Much
303.
by madaxe 13y ago
Sweet, but ending hunger is incompatible with profit, and this will therefore die a sad little death as it gets legislated into oblivion, if it gets anywhere near gaining traction (which it won't, you just know Monsanto and friends will run
304.
by madaxe 13y ago
This just in: Internet giant purchases consumer web app with no revenue streams and no profits. Swear I've read this story a hundred times in the last decade. Has there been a single acquisition of this nature which has resulted in a profit
305.
by madaxe 13y ago
Nice story - and very much the way it should be. Buy what you love, and if it's an investment, it's a bonus. I have a collection of 50's and 60's Italian abstract and cubist art that festoons my home, because I love it - bought it all piece
306.
by madaxe 13y ago
Yeah, but he bugged out and remains unidentified, so it remains perfectly possible that this was an attempt to draw media attention to the problem of drone surveillance. Then again, it could be some dude who's discovered that he can remotel
307.
by madaxe 13y ago
Unless of course his intent was to draw attention to the fact that this is going to become a major problem, and soon, due to the absence of regulation around drone airspace, in which case, success!
308.
by madaxe 13y ago
> Plus there's the conspiracy theory that the US cutting off Japan of necessary war materials is what led to Pearl Harbor in the first place. Conspiracy theory? Pearl Harbor, in the form of the attack on a US territory quite so distant
309.
by madaxe 13y ago
The use of nuclear weapons on civilians was not necessary. They could have chosen a military target. The shock and awe of losing an entire division would have been entirely adequate, and Japan was ready to surrender after Hiroshima - Nagasa
310.
by madaxe 13y ago
Oh man, agricultural subsidies. Farm bills in the US, CAP in the EU. They're criminal, and socialist in form and nature. They're designed to protect the livelihood of farmers who wouldn't be otherwise economically productive and would fail
311.
by madaxe 13y ago
Aye, meant collectivism, not sure how I managed that, sorry! Agree that the tyranny of the majority still applies in the case of democracy - see the UK EU in-out referendum impending mess.
312.
by madaxe 13y ago
Thanks, that's precisely the passage I was thinking of.
313.
by madaxe 13y ago
Indeed - perfectly familiar, have read my share of Tocqueville, Hayek, Hobbes and all the rest, but the fundamental point that divides socialism and liberalism is that of freedom of people, vs. freedom of the people - i.e. individualism v
314.
by madaxe 13y ago
In a recent timescale, there was a multi-billion dollar bailout of failed institutions. It was pretty big news. Most of the banking sector would have gone bust without it, which would, as happened in Iceland, have left verdant territory for
315.
by madaxe 13y ago
And don't wear sandals, unless you like needles in your toes.
316.
by madaxe 13y ago
"Last night, someone told me “In California, there isn’t a conflict between being a Capitalist, and a Liberal”, with a wry grin on his face." Of course there isn't. Liberalism in its purest form (as espoused by Hayek, say) is, in effect, fr
317.
by madaxe 13y ago
And being the only nation on the planet to ever use nuclear weapons in anger. On civilian populations. Twice. When one talks about things that happened outside of the lifetime of one's audience, the response tends to just be "oh but that wa
318.
by madaxe 13y ago
So, the Iranian revolution was right? The installation of countless dictators was right? Guantanamo is right? Torture is right? The US's moral compass was thrown overboard decades ago.
319.
by madaxe 13y ago
> There's almost certainly near no magical evil council sitting atop it all scheming about how to wring profits from other countries at any cost You're evidently not familiar with the concept of lobbying.
320.
by madaxe 13y ago
What you've described there boils down to two core concepts: 1) Curves of supply and demand. If your demand outstrips your supply, increase your prices until you lose ~50% of the pitches you go for, on the basis of price alone. 2) Sell. Sel
321.
by madaxe 13y ago
No, wasn't saying that, I was merely correcting the parent's understanding as to what the tea party is. The IRS's behaviour frankly only furthers their cause.
322.
by madaxe 13y ago
These are fringe corporatist schills who present themselves as mainstream. The Tea Party is the Koch brothers' private political army.
323.
by madaxe 13y ago
Seven years of slog. A few disastrous false starts, four years living on a floor in a bundle of rags. A diet of rice and spaghetti, plain. Always profitable, even through the doldrums. Decent (seven figure) pile of cash in the company accou
324.
by madaxe 13y ago
PRINCE2, baby. It's heavy-handed, produces mountains of paperwork that you hope to never have to look at again, and allows both parties complete clarity as to what is, and what isn't, in scope. You want to change the scope? Needs a change-r
325.
by madaxe 13y ago
Half up front is a bad model. A better model is 25% staged throughout a project, with 25% post completion. This means that they don't get live unless you've at least 75% of the balance paid, and you then operate a one month warranty period
326.
by madaxe 13y ago
Oh, they have paid, just not in full. As to suing them, no - the industry we work in is stupidly tight knit, and regardless of the truth, any agency that sues their clients looks like crap. We have leverage over them in terms of "whoops, lo
327.
by madaxe 13y ago
Yup. Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and fire them. We had someone approach us a few years ago we really didn't want to work with as everything they did screamed "moron in a hurry", so, rather than telling them to naff off, we
328.
by madaxe 13y ago
"I will ensure we stamp out and remove those things that we can't detect that can be made with off-the-shelf goods." Uh huh.
329.
by madaxe 13y ago
No. I don't expect my prospective clients to pay me for the honour of me coming to sell our services, so why should there be an expectation for me to pay a prospective employee? Were this the case, there'd be an entire profession called "in
330.
by madaxe 13y ago
> If there was a drug shown to improve self-esteem in children, it would likely become one of the most profitable drugs of all time. It's called alcohol. It's wildly profitable.

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