I'm not saying I agree with the bank but they are saying it's part of the severance package. Any employee can just quit if he/she wants to according to the terms of their employment.

But I agree with you, it is highly questionable. What's reasonable? I could say I'm on vacation at any given point in time. If they are asking me to come in I could say "Sure thing, as soon as my doctor says my aids is not contagious". It's just stupid on the part of the bank. They should just offer it with compensation and for the few bucks it would cost them they wouldn't have this bad press and people would be happy to come in. IMHO YMMV

Re: There's an illusion that because these two languages share a common origin that they're somehow the same

I think most experienced C++ programmers know that the C-core of C++ is very similar to "C" but not exactly the same. But it's a good point. There are differences and they are not exactly the same and it can really burn you even if your program compiles.

Thank you for pointing that out. I was thinking about the MacBook Air but I definitely need the higher throughput of my LAN connection. Ouch, that's a huge show-stopper.

I was wondering the same thing. I think the difference is that the capital gains are taxed at a lower rate but I could be wrong.

It sounds fair. It also is a statement that companies should pay taxes on earned income just like individuals do. And let's not forget, it's not really the company that's at issue here, it's the stockholders. If I understand this correctly, by moving earnings overseas to countries that have less or no taxes and therefore increasing profits the stockholders and increase their dividends essentially at the expense of the average tax payer.

But it's a fine line for the government because they run the risk that companies will move their headquarters overseas if the taxes are too high.

I believe this would be handled like it is for individuals: on certain types of income you deduct the taxes paid in the country you are in from the taxes owed. If you paid less than the US taxes you pay the difference. If you paid more then you don't owe any more to the IRS. This is because most countries have a non-double taxation agreement with each other.

I have a Windows laptop and a Linux laptop on my desk but I use linux simple because, in reality, for those who actually know both, you have a lot less issues with Linux than Windows.

I have two good friends in France and they are paying .11 euro cents (currently .1375 per KW/h). I actually just got off the phone with one.

Nonetheless, I think the real cost of Nuclear is that it just takes one accident to make it so much more expensive than anything else in monetary terms and incalculable costs in human terms (Chernobyl, Fukushima).

Where did you get that figure? France produces 60% if it's electricity from nuclear and it's very cheap. Some people heat their houses in France with electricity, which shows you how cheap it is.

Germany is making renewables work and the US has better prerequisites for renewables than Germany. Germany now exports electricity. You can't completely get rid of coal, gas or nuclear for the base load but you can get much large percentage with wind and solar at competitve prices than we do now.

On the one hand I commend him for exposing the extent to which American's communications are being monitored outside of what I consider to be the bounds of the constitution (no unreasonable search, etc). On the other hand, information about what the US is doing to other countries is a very delicate matter. True, we like to think of ourselves as the good guys who don't spy on our allies but, the reality might be that all countries are doing it. Certainly the Russians and the Chinese are.

My hope is that we will have some clarity and limitations on US spying respecting our constitution. Let's not forget that most of the people working at the NSA believe that they are doing the right thing to protect our country, but let's also not forget that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,

I agree. I wouldn't be happy if I came home and someone had parked their car in my driveway and was charging it using the external socket on my patio. Of course, I live in Germany where our electricity costs 28 euro cents (about 38 US cents) per KW.

Men are discriminated in business (quotas), in divorce, in the news and in the justice system. Otherwise, we're treated equally.

Thank you!

Oh where have the real "conservatives" gone? It used to be, growing up in rural America, that we, a politically conservative family back then, believed in not labeling anyone according to some physical trait. So the secretary at my father's office wasn't black or African American or anything else, she was just "Jinny" just like everyone else was who they were.

Of course, now the republican party has turned in to "the best government money can buy" and the democrats seem to have elements of the entitlement crowd both from the lower income side and from the big business side.

Sigh .....