Troll feeding, I know, but...

considering that some of us ARE educators, and some of us are pretty successful at the other things we do, maybe we have, you know, some valid input?

Engineering, finance, aerospace, physics... nothing of any real consequence.

I don't recall what they're called but there are "half-standing" chairs which help keep the body more engaged than merely sitting. Of course, the desk has to be taller which could be an issue, but it eliminates the bobbing and distraction of walking while also engaging the body a bit more.

I have had this chair concern lately too. I sit basically all the time now. I exercise, but my understanding is that it still isn't very healthy to sit this much.

replying to my own post, sorry. I sort of meant the above sarcastically, but I've said before: Giving others exactly what they want is inevitably their undoing. If we want the system to change let's just do what they *say* we're supposed to, wholeheartedly, and see the mess that's created.
Let's give DHS everything they want. Let's surveil everything, all the time, 24/7. Let's ENCOURAGE them to come in and monitor everything all the time. Have DHS at everything intersection in the whole damn U.S. and watch the system come to an immense, bureaucratic halt. Lobby Congress for huge increases in military spending, enormous social cuts that would make a Neocon's dick hard, incredible monitoring of every move made by every citizen, all the time.
Then sit on it for a little while until the entire mess implodes on itself.

I welcome some alternate points of view, because on one hand I think it could work, on the other there's the natural tendency to think it would make the situation infinitely worse and even harder to reverse course in the future.

Who will watch the watchers?

Why, us of course! Why don't we just do what the government TELLS US to do and monitor everything around us, like this stuff, so that when push comes to shove we have evidence of who is doing stuff like this.

We keep digging in our heels, but why? If they want massive surveillance let us give it to them and see the shithammer that comes down sooner or later.

One man's sociopath is another family's support. They support this person's madness because they want to live well.

I agree with you, BUT I know a few people like this. They are really nice face to face. CHarming, fun, witty, but when you start to hear what their views on competition and other people are... watch out. They'll screw anybody over anything, waste anyone's time to their benefit. They are a parasite, and while they seem nice they are a horrible blemish on what it means to be a society.

Problem is, in our twitter and meetings-once-a-year-to-keep-the-client-happy business climate, that charm is all they need to cover up what a couple extra hours of face time would lay bare very quickly.

While what you mention is somewhat true, what you fail to mention is the opposite: The eras before we created a social net were horrifying by today's standards. One bad crop season, or loss of a job, or getting on the wrong person's bad side could easily leave you a starving wretch (can still happen, but less common).

Also, it's not government that's running a lot of this, it's corporations. I'm sure the corn lobby is loosening up as their dollars are less effective than the military and IP racket these days, and Biggie B (as his friends call him) in teh Big Apple has to do something to make him look good after all this police nonsense and Occupy.

Look, I don't disagree with you that government, in some ways, is getting its mitts on some things it shouldn't. However, maybe looking at what risks government should cover and what they shouldn't ought to merit consideration, not just making a statement implying that you're somehow superior because you happened to be in the right circumstances to make "good" life choices (I assume, though I may be wrong). Check out stuff on the sociology of deviance, I suspect you'll find the subject infuriating to what sounds like your fairly uncompassionate world view (this does not include too big to fail. we can all agree that was pure crime)

BTW..... why don't we worry about the incredible amount of money spent blowing up brown people and spying on and jailing our own citizens before we start moralizing and saying we shouldn't help our Fellow Man because of "blah-di-blah" and then quoting a stupid fucking TV show that too many people worship anyway.

You might check Pastoral if you don't already get your cheese from them. Their selection is a delight, imo.

How can someone love P.R. *that* much?

I'll bite.

On one hand (har) yeah, staying home does make a lot of sense. Many women these days do seem sort of man-hating and entitled. My girlfriend and I have had almost all female roommates over the last 5 years and I will say that most of them have been incredibly socially awkward, or massive liars, psycho-emo-bitches, or pretentious hipster douches. We had a couple who were pretty cool, both hard-working and fairly sociable, but sane women seem to be in short supply (maybe renters are just inherently crazy?). Other female acquaintances have acted quite similar, though. I also ran into this while dating in the past. Many, many women seem to have some pretty wild expectations when it comes to guys, or maybe don't know how to express themselves effectively. Who knows. YES, it sucks.

**OTOH** Having a girlfriend who I click with is pretty awesome. My opinion is that it was worth the 10 years of dating/craziness before I met her. Part of me says that porn and games ARE ruining some people (I know at least 3 of them and it's very sad as we hit our early 30s and they still act like they did 10 years ago). It's an excuse to continue acting as before, feeling "safe", and basically not moving forward much as a person. It's an excuse not to go out and socialize, so the socially awkward people who in the past would all probably have a lot in common and have their OWN social group at a party are just staying home to play games, look at porn, and post on forums (eek). It gets the mind off other things, but isn't all that productive usually. The (semi) awkward geeks I know (including myself) used internet dating to great effect, though.

So, basically, yes. There are probably a LOT of women out there that are not Wife material (if that's what you're looking for), because let's be honest that the internet may be degrading social skills of EVERYONE. However, with some persistent courage, some exercise, and a bit of wit it's possible to have a LOT of fun with other women. Trust me, despite how they might act they are definitely looking to have a good time too (so why are they so stand-offish, nutso, mean? Treat yourself like chocolate cake. Not everyone wants chocolate cake RIGHT NOW, but they do in general and if you catch them at the right time they will, um, devour you. Metaphorically of course. In a good way. I hope.). So... many of them might be "crazy" but sex and good times can definitely be worth the trouble if it's all kept in perspective, and if you're creative it shouldn't cost very much money either. Then, once you meet someone really special, the ballgame changes again.

Sure sounds like they wanna keep the European Union together, doesn't it?

This is gonna get awfully interesting.

Bullshit. They'll just pay to have it suppressed when the police department comes to them and says,"Hey, guess what info we've got? Pay up/give us favors."

This will only be illegal against those who don't have enough money/connections.

Yes, they are right here in good old LIbertyville, IL (about 35 minutes north of downtown chicago on the highway). However, yes, they have a very heavy presence in China, I believe with factories. it's been that way for at least 7 years, probably longer.

I'll show you learning. How about that I just learned Win7 over the past year, and now that I'm settling in to it alright MS is changing things *again*.

Learning should be on their part, that constantly changing things makes life difficult for people. Unless this is a VERY intriguing usability upgrade then I find this development disturbing.

If you think that chicken little is "still holding enough nuclear weapons to wipe mankind from the face of the earth", as well as "ecological damage that is measurably real and causing health problems to people", then I hate to know what your definition of serious is.

Actually, that's not entirely true.

A lot of the science now is showing that eat less/exercise more doesn't produce much in terms of results over the long term.
There have been studies done on eating less/deprivation, and the repeatedly conclude that it's bad. In extreme cases, of course (like eating a pound of bacon at each meal) there is room to cut back, but in general the whole idea of introducing fewer calories may not be the cure-all many think it is.

Obesity is actually a sign that we're not giving our body the nutrients it needs, so it stores fat. So eating better (read: more nutritious food) is likely to fix things more easily. Of course, exercise isn't bad or anything, it's just not a cure-all.