Where I used to live: fog, rain, and snow were fairly prevalent. However, of the more common internet access solutions was long-shot wireless bounced off a transceiver on the local mountain. Heck, the local school district used it for a number of their schools, and it was surprisingly reliable and fast.

(we're not talking pringles-can wireless with a Linksys router, but rather the type that requires a mast on the top of the building).

if ( DidAddressPreviouslyHaveSubscription($address) = 1 )
{
    print "Yes";
}

Those double-equals screw me up sometimes too.

I've noticed this locally as well. There's a chain called Loblaws in Canada which runs stores such as Superstore, Extra Foods, etc.
There's essentially the same thing, except that Superstore is usually a bit bigger, and in the higher-end neighbourhoods. Extra Foods are in the slightly lower-income areas, but for common items actually seem to have have *less* sales than Superstore.

Yes, that works great in places where
a) Public transit service is good (and actually operates during your working hours or when you're planning to travel)
b) The destination is located near enough to home to allow for walking
c) Ditto [b] for biking, and isn't too steep
d) You live somewhere without winter, otherwise scratch (b) and (c) once it snows.

Around here, if you don't have a vehicle, you've got a 3rd-class lifestyle. Grocery trips take multiple transfers and over an hour travel instead of 10 minutes (and try carrying a dozen bags of groceries on the bus). You can't take your dog to the vet because no pets on transit. And a foot or more of snow in the winter isn't very conducive to walking, let alone biking.

I looked at some of the applicants that we've had come in. There are many for India, and we've definitely had many that were under-qualified compared to their paper. However, a good mix of my current co-workers are also (originally, immigrated and now PR) from India, and they're generally as good or better than their paper credentials.
Why? Because my bosses actually have decent interviewing skills, and picked candidates with actual skills in something other than B.S., rather than just looking for somebody cheap. From what I've seen, a lot places where the poor workers are endemic seems to be:

a) The hiring process sucks and/or is done almost entirely through 3rd-party recruiting companies who are basically contractor-mills. In some cases the hiring manager is good, but never sees the good/skilled candidates because they lack the correct buzzwords on their resume

b) The pay is sub-par, and all you're getting is people who are desperate or are unqualified. For the former, once they've settled they'll move on. For the latter, well you've seen what happens.

If we dumped a bunch of the 3rd-party recruiting parasites, that might be a good start at improving things. I actually got my job through a recruiter once: a 3mo contract which I said I'd only take if there was a chance for permanence, and then they tried to tack on conditions that I couldn't *TAKE* a permanent permission without their permission (paying a placement fee). I argued with them until they removed that clause, but apparently they put it on the employer instead (cannot hire without paying a recruiting fee). Thankfully my employer liked me enough to pony up. Afterwards, the same recruiter called me about 6mo later with "hey, are you happy at $X, we've got a position at $Y which would be great for you!"

Mine isn't 15 yet. Most kids around that age that I do know have *tried* alcohol, but aren't heavy into it. Sex was less common until around 17+. Around that age they get their full driving license and they tend to be a bit more "free".

Yeah, in this case all the guys in the white plastic uniforms will die instead as the reactor core blows due to a direct hit on the one small weakness in the design...

Ditto much of BC, Canada. Our power company is actually called "BC Hydro" ...

If your 15-yr-old is drinking and having sex then perhaps you've got some other problems...

I've seen a few articles linking this to "gluten intolerance", and to be honest I wouldn't be surprised in the least. The increase in celiac-type or gut conditions seems to trend nicely with the increased use of these pesticides, especially when you consider that it's not so prevalent in places where they're not used.

The Europeans still like their bread and pasta etc, and yet this is much less of a problem in Europe. Moreover, people who have issues with such foods in N America often report being able to eat them in Europe without getting sick. The difference: many of the chemicals used in North America are prohibited in Europe.

Terrorists would probably just end up sending a decoy to check it out first...

I'm just the pizza guy! I'm just the pizza guy! That's a large pepperoni for 123 - 5th St I've got in the box, honestly. For the love of god please don't shoot me [wets pants]

What I don't understand is this:

Apparently they have all this fancy surveillance, etc, yet they still can't identify swatters who endanger people's lives, or the tele-fraudsters (you have won one million airmiles) that make a million calls (seriously, my co-workers, buddies and I get these once a week, so the national average much be huge). This shouldn't be that hard to do with a warrant. Hell, I'd give permission to trace all calls against my phone for a month if it meant the "free vacation" robocall assholes got caught and prosecuted.

It really is an interesting setup, especially in the U.S. where personal gun ownership is common. From a homeowner perspective, the commotion etc may lead one to believe that a robbery or home invasion is taking place (in which case, they're going to grab a gun). Meanwhile, the cops are coming in expecting an armed suspect, and now they've run into a guy with a gun. Bad situation on both sides.

And often enough the swatter *knows* that the victim has guns, which for them is just an increased opportunity to see some bad shit happen and fulfill their sick little desires.

And some places might. It still closes a lot of doors, because the broadcasted "I don't give a f*** what you think" or "look at me" attitude that certain types of body-modifications portray isn't exactly conducive to being a manageable employee/co-worker.

The tattoo thing is interesting. There are actually a *lot* of tasteful tattoos out there, and I've seen them on everyone from McD's workers to upper-managers. In most cases, they're not in a "look at me" location but rather somewhere that isn't overtly visible when wearing normal clothing.

Then there are the people who are trying to be "unique", which often translates to "look at me." Those same people bitch about being "discriminated against" when they don't get the job etc that they want, somehow thinking that tattoos put on in a protected class for discriminations like race or sexual orientation, etc. Except, guess what, you don't get to choose whether you're gay, or black, you *DO* get to choose whether put prison tats on your face using printer ink. That's pretty much a public badge of stupidity right there, especially when your "art" is a style commonly used by prison inmates.

A have a buddy with a facial tattoo. He's had it a long time now. It's actually pretty cool looking, but it's an obvious impediment to certain types of employment (a more recent one being a senior's home). He recognises such as says "yeah they wouldn't hire me there because it would scare the sh** out of some of the little old ladies. It sucks but it was my choice to get the ink". It's a pretty refreshing viewpoint IMHO, because it seems to be getting increasingly rare for people to accept the consequences of their actions.

Such people are often enabled by parents in this article. I'm sure there were plenty of warning signs that he son is a prick and probably a bit of a nutbar, but she's shrugged it off with "at least he isn't getting drunk and tattooed" (a.k.a at least it's not visible).