Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
OkiePC

:OT: What kind of President would an Engineer make?

39 posts in this topic

Another Point to Ponder $700,000,000,000 Bailout 305,475,750 U.S. Population Estimate 7:26 EDT 2008-10-22 See Here for Up to the second estimate. $2291.50791 per person - $6874.53 for my family of 3. Someone should set up the URL http://www.IWantMyBailout.com/

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No, but those that vote for Obama think they should get tax credits as long as they are warm. They think the world owes them a living. A tax credit is like a beer credit that one gets for just walking into the bar. The bar owner just adds the cost of the beers to the tab of the richest man.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So in BAR ROOM ECONOMICS what is the equivalent of "Borrowing from the Fed" would that be the bar owner asking the Liquor Vendor for free booze to sell?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm not aware of any bars that are large enough to qualify the bailout money...I guess they could do like Acorn and start registering the same person 5 different times to vote...they qualified

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My first thought was it would be like the bar owner taking out a tab with the liquor wholesaler, who is also in debt for back taxes...(<-needs refinement...but I gotta run)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Borrowing from the Fed in BAR ROOM ECONOMICS is you saying your great grandchild is going to pay for your beer when he is finnaly born and old enough to buy beer. And when he does finnaly get here he defers it to his future great grandchild

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No, I have been investigating ethanol for over a year, casually, and seriously for about two months. I can purchase ethanol a mile from my employer for testing, and run any blend of gasoline and alcohol I choose with the whitelightning.net kit for my 20 year old truck. When I am happy with that, I will look into the still. I woll not buy some home still kit until I have a license, and have had my hands and eyes on one live and in person. I cannot imagine a pot of beer made from food and yeast producing 140:1 ratio of toxic waste to ethanol ending up being less environmental friendly than gasoline refining, but in my future investigation I will certainly keep my eyelids raised and ask those very questions, so thanks for that. Do not think that I am some radical redneck who acts on whims. My brainstorming is radical, but my actions are almost always very very well thought out and completely rational...Okay, I am a redneck, but I do have good sense. The part number I ordered was about $305 for a little black box with a 5 year warranty that will turn my old reliable blue chevy into a flex fuel vehicle. I am nowhere close to making alcohol for myself. If I can buy E85 cheaper than gasoline, I may never build a still. I would rather buy from a local regulated supplier. Now, if the state or local area does not produce it, and I satisfy myself that its safe for my gournd water, then I may go ahead with the home still. BTW I drink my water straight out of the ground, only a paper filter between me and the dirt. It tested safe, only high in minerals. I don't use pesticides (only a flyswatter). I don't dump oil or waste. I do burn trash, but only paper. Only my pastics go in the landfill. I recycle glass, aluminum and some paper. Not because I am a tree hugger, but because I can save 6 months worth of plastics and make one trip to the dump for $12 versus a trash company who wants $25 a month to make me irresponsible for my landfill footprint. Edited by OkiePC

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Same here. Have a paper element on mine and it pretty much stays white. Just had a full chemical analysis done on mine the other week. It doesn't have a high mineral content, actually the total dissolved solids were only slightly higher than city water, fluoride content is actually within the recommended limits so we're going to quit giving the kids fluoride drops. The only bad things are it has zero iron in it and there are slight traces of nitrates...though way below the limits. Of course, that's gets back to my earlier comment on what is allowable and what is actually good for you?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think we've spent too much time on energy. Healthcare has been covered somewhat too... Let's move back to education or another topic. My opinions on education: 1. It's a two way street. The student must want to learn. The teacher must want to teach. And one bad apple adolescent or younger child can bring down a whole classroom or faculty. 2. It's mostly not about money. It is about attitude, dicipline, and structure. Will money bring up the G.A.S.Q for teachers? I don't think so. Will money provide better tools for learning? Yes. 3. There is a lack of discipline in general, not just at school. As late as 2004, at the school from which I graduated, the parent could sign a form that would allow their children to be subject to corporal punishment. When I graduated in 1985, no parental consent was required for them to bust our butts with a wooden paddle. The school is one of the best in SW OK. Not because they fear the paddle, but due to good parenting. Kids who are respectful and eager to please adults far outnumber the brats, and those spankings make a real difference in peoples lives, for the positive in most cases. We must set wide boundaries for our kids, and must enforce them precisely when they're crossed. My ex-wife does not believe in any form of punishment, the level of respect my three sons give her is vastly different from what they give me. They know if they break a rule, the punishment has already been discussed and will be enforced. They are too old to spank, but I have caused them pain when appropriate. Once they were rough housing in WalMart so I warned them twice, with push-up. 20 push-ups in the middle of Wal-Mart. Well they were good for about thirty minutes then got into a giggling bumping match at the checkout and knocked a bunch of candy off the shelf. They immediately picked it up and looked at me with horror. I calmly smiled and said, "Okay, now that you cleaned up your mess and embarrassed me, its your turn." They did their push-ups right there on the floor and didn't aact up again the rest of the weekend. They were 12, 10, and 8 at the time. Am I a hard-***? Not according to my sons. They need limits and appreciate discipline. Any thoughts?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
My kids are 2 months and 21 months old so I'm listening and learning all that I can. I believe there needs to be parental involvement in education. Too many parents think that making sure their kids make it to school is the end of their responsibility. Now...my thoughts on the financing of college will probably tick a lot of people off... ...good thing I'm short on time.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
my 2 pesos - Not only do kids need boundaries and punishment, THEY NEED POSITIVE EXAMPLES. How many of us ask kids to follow rules while speeding down the highway 10, 20 or 30 mph over the limit. If we can break a rule, why can't they?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You state the obvious, at least it is obvious to me. Do you know that I can't teach high school because I don't have a certificate and I can't teach college because I don't have a master or Phd degree from an accredited college. There is no credit from the school of hard knocks or school of life. If you guys haven't figured it out yet I have a lot of contempt for much of academia because they don't teach what is important. Teachers are like politicians in many ways. They are isolated from the real economy. I only want teachers that are millionaires. I can respect that. They have made it and know how to make it. I think the students would listen and I know I would have. What millionaires are willing to teach? There are probably many that don't even have college degrees but can't because they don't have the paper. I would consider teaching when I retire but I can't because I am not qualified on paper. I actually do quite a bit of teaching, presenting and selling. I like to start out with 'Why Bother'. Next week I am giving a presentation at a hydraulic expo in Dallas and I will be doing training on our product the last two days. I have also taught 1 hour of a college course a few times. I find teaching a 1 hour class extremely difficult. One barely has the time to get started and the class is over. What I can tell you about teaching is that it is hard to do it right day after day. I do it once or twice a month for a few days. Doing as a teacher day in and day out has got to be hard. Teaching has two parts. There is the knowledge part and there is the presentation part. The presentation part is almost like live stage acting. There are no scenes, cutting, or take 2. I can tell you that this part requires a lot of mental energy. At least it does for me. When I am done I am truly tired. I think it is the energy and relevance of the presentation of the topic that makes all the difference. One can do a dull presentation and totally turn off students. I can remember having home work in high school that was just solving math equations. How boring. I think story problem are the way to go. I don't remember anything I learned my junior year of college that was useful. What a waste. If you haven't noticed yet I don't care if everyone understands what I am talking about. If a few do that is good enough. This means the students must want to learn as OkiePC said. That is a culture thing. Personally, I think a few beggars in the streets should provide incentive enough for the students to learn. The information I provide on the forums is there for everyone to learn from. So who learns the most? I mentioned on plcs.net that I have a twitter account. Guess who wants to follow what I do the most? The people from India. Twitter isn't a format for being informative but atleast they are intested. I really am not very exciting. Just geeky. However, the Chinese translate just about all my articles into Chinese. Do you think they want to learn? There have been a few articles coming from China lately say basically what I have said before. I know they pay attention and with all the people they have there are going to be 5 times as many smart people there as there are here. I know that engineering and science is not won by numbers but by the quality of people that are involved. If you tax them they will find a better place to work. Students, If a student doesn't graduate from high shool they don't qualify for unemployment. That should provide incentive. Learning is a culture thing. If you have kids then make sure they associate with other kids that have the same goals you want your kids to have. Therefore much depends on the parents and their guidance. There should be some way of rewarding and penalizing parents for the out come of their kids. Perhap their social security shoudl be tied to the success of their kids. Just thinking but I don't think we need more people, we need better people. Parents are key to raising better people.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Awesome thought Peter. Let mi Hijack this tangential thread with a Shameless promo for a marriage building and thus a parent, kid family building item. it is so good Dr. Phil Devoted an entire day to it and a book from it is now the NY Times #1 Bestseller among self help books. I am referring to the Kendrick Brothers recent movie starring Kirk Cameron FIREPROOF. now showing nationwide.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Yes, these days, the irresponsible parents don't get the message until their kids are in jail and its too late. Really, though, is our society weakened to the point that bad parents are no longer weeded out by good ones? When I was a young kid, in rural Oklahoma, the friends of bad parents took their kids away from them. It wasn't a legal battle, just a close knit village that loved all their kids. My parents took in my cousin into their home to help him make it through school while his dad served a DUI term, and later my brother's best friend lived their because his stepdad was abusive. Nobody called the police. A few phonecalls among wise men and women took care of the situation. Those are two of dozens of examples I can think of in which our phone would ring and their would end up being a meeting of the informal elders to find a good home for a child who had social issues. That's what our society need to get back to, folks. We need to be nosier, friendlier, and work less, socialize more. PieAce! Edited by OkiePC

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0