i suppose introductions are in order ...

[synthetic]

Our trash is handled differently... I buy bags by the bundle for set price. It costs me $2-$3 a bag. The company that picks up my bags also has seperate truck that comes around and picks up recyclables. Both are weekly. I put recyclables out in tall kitchen trash bags... never had a problem no matter how many bags of recyclables I put out but they won't pick them up if I don't have at least one paid trash bag next to them. So this makes it worth while to recycle... you save space in the trash bags and use less trash bags and save more money.

On the other hand... I have neighbors that pay a monthly fee for their trash service with another company and they just toss "everything" in one big plastic trash bin. No recycling... I find it sad and irresponsible personally. Though seeing how they take care of the home and yard... its no surprise.

Sadly, our city is considering consolidating all the waste haulers into one company that serves the whole city and no doubt everyone will have to pay one price which I think is bull because I know I will end up spending at least twice as much per month even though I don't put out near as much trash as my neighbors.

I think people should take a visit to their local landfills. When you see first hand how much crap we dispose of and how quick these landfills get full and we have to create new ones... it may make a person think more about what they throw away and recycle. I know I do. Its sad that many don't care or even consider it a problem.

Last I heard though... the use of plastic in bottled water was getting to be an issue because of increase in plastics used and electronics like cell phones are getting to be an issue.

I think that most businesses in general just are not environmentally conscious because they only worry about creating and selling and no worry about disposal. Think of how many things in the global market are not biodegradable and potentially hazardous to environment and health.

[supertackyman]

nice way to pay your trash bill.
ours is a flat rate. I have heard of people who have not paid their trash bill for years.
the bill keeps adding up, but the truck still comes.
your way seems better. i assume they wont pickup something that is not in the special bags? without some sort of arrangement?

[synthetic]

sounds like the communication to the trash haulers isn't the greatest and some are taking advantage of it.

yeah... if something is too big to put in trash bags... you have to call to make arrangements or find a independent hauler. They will pretty much take anything that you fit into the bags though.

From what I understand... they make money off the recyclables. They were considering abandoning recycling in the more rural areas because many people in those areas just don't bother to recycle and they said it costs them money to drive out their way and not get anything. They probably make good money off mine though... tons of soda cans and plastics.

[unleash]

As far as I understand it, the haulers collect the trash just like homeless would do. After it is collected they bring it to recycle plants where those plastic materials are recycled into plastic, and then sold as plastic.

The recycle plant makes money that way, and they pay the haulers for the collecting. Its a bit like outsourcing, only then on a local scale

We also have one hauler for the trash, only they seperate the trash after collecting it, using a series of magnets and fires.....

Down here we pay taxes for the haulers, and the government pays the haulers....even if they would be cheaper than the taxes the taxes will never go down Just happy that I have no taxes that I need to pay (yet).

[unleash]

Did you hear the news? Afghanistan is ready to invade pakistan.....

And alll of that because of bushes war on terrorisme! It is the excese all of them use these days. Isreal used it, afghanistan used it and ofcourse the US used it.

WHY!?

[synthetic]

Originally Posted by unleash

Did you hear the news? Afghanistan is ready to invade pakistan.....

And alll of that because of bushes war on terrorisme! It is the excese all of them use these days. Isreal used it, afghanistan used it and ofcourse the US used it.

WHY!?

Because the people allow leaders to play upon their fears... their fear right now is terrorism and many are so afraid of it they are willing to allow almost anything if they think it will stomp it out or deter more terrorist activity.

Here is in the US.... people are losing their liberties, privacy and rights as them "give them up" to our government because the government tells them it will help keep America safe. Government also tells them if we don't attack (insert here any country with provisions to cause harm to us and doesn't agree with our ideals) then we may be at danger from attacks from them.

Sadly, many people are blind or mislead and believe whatever their government politicians tell them because this is how they were raised. They were told to have faith in their government and leaders just as they are told to have faith in their spiritual leaders. So what we get is a bunch of cattle that can't think for themselves and are scared of whatever the government tells them to be scared of. Then it becomes justified.

example story: Hey... that kid has a bigger squirt gun... he must be taken out. He is dangerous to all the other kids on the playground. He could soak anyone at any moment... Bobby, Sue, Mike... you are all my allies... we are going to take the big squirt gun out of the equation and save all those other kids from ever getting soaked there by making the playground "safe" for everyone. And of course all the kids agree and the fighting begins.... that's war for ya.

[Culann]

Originally Posted by synthetic

Here is in the US.... people are losing their liberties, privacy and rights as them "give them up" to our government because the government tells them it will help keep America safe. Government also tells them if we don't attack (insert here any country with provisions to cause harm to us and doesn't agree with our ideals) then we may be at danger from attacks from them.

Exactly. And no one ever stops to think that all of this imperialism might be hacking the other countries off enough to actually have a good reason to attack us. Most of the threats the government tells us about are mostly imagined and are decoys for the real threats.
Example - the Iraqis hate us because we are free. They want to destroy the American way of life, blah blah blah, insert buzzwords here... (thunderous applause). No one seems to realize that the Shah tried to stir up an attack on us for that exact reason and failed. Bin Laden succeeded because he used a specific grievance - the US has been screwing around with them since the 1900's, trying to make nations out of blood enemies and switching borders around.
But no one wants to lose the power to screw foreign nations in a way that is more to our liking. We just set ourselves up for more and more attacks.
And as for freedoms: They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. -- Ben Franklin

Originally Posted by synthetic

Sadly, many people are blind or mislead and believe whatever their government politicians tell them because this is how they were raised. They were told to have faith in their government and leaders just as they are told to have faith in their spiritual leaders. So what we get is a bunch of cattle that can't think for themselves and are scared of whatever the government tells them to be scared of. Then it becomes justified.

What do you think public schools are for? Turning out fools and idiots is their goal, because smart people are harder to dupe. The public schools will never improve, because it's not in the government's best interest to improve them. All we get is busywork and wasted money.
And even more, they rarely, if ever, consider that there might be an alternative to the bloated leviathan states that are milking their citizens for cash and doing nothing but screwing them in return.
That's also why governments hate every religion that won't sell out to it; they give the people another source of orders to follow -- a set that often restricts what the government is trying to do.

Side note - finally back after a week. Got the rank of Eagle. And unlike last time I missed a low, not a high.

[unleash]

Originally Posted by Culann

Exactly. And no one ever stops to think that all of this imperialism might be hacking the other countries off enough to actually have a good reason to attack us. Most of the threats the government tells us about are mostly imagined and are decoys for the real threats.
Example - the Iraqis hate us because we are free. They want to destroy the American way of life, blah blah blah, insert buzzwords here... (thunderous applause). No one seems to realize that the Shah tried to stir up an attack on us for that exact reason and failed. Bin Laden succeeded because he used a specific grievance - the US has been screwing around with them since the 1900's, trying to make nations out of blood enemies and switching borders around.
But no one wants to lose the power to screw foreign nations in a way that is more to our liking. We just set ourselves up for more and more attacks.
And as for freedoms: They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. -- Ben Franklin



What do you think public schools are for? Turning out fools and idiots is their goal, because smart people are harder to dupe. The public schools will never improve, because it's not in the government's best interest to improve them. All we get is busywork and wasted money.
And even more, they rarely, if ever, consider that there might be an alternative to the bloated leviathan states that are milking their citizens for cash and doing nothing but screwing them in return.
That's also why governments hate every religion that won't sell out to it; they give the people another source of orders to follow -- a set that often restricts what the government is trying to do.

Ever consideres home schooling? It helps against those conspiracy theorys Just kidding, I dont believe any government would try to do such a thing. Not here in europe anyway. If they would, we(the public) would notice such a thing and conspire against them opressors!

Originally Posted by Culann

Side note - finally back after a week. Got the rank of Eagle. And unlike last time I missed a low, not a high.

Eagle??
could you explain that for me?

[synthetic]

to a point... he is correct Unleash... at least here in the US

take this example for instance... if your IQ is too high... you most likely will not make it far in our local law enforcement agencies. No kidding. Many intelligent people are either turned away when applying for jobs or pass over for advancement because they know those with a higher intelligence tend to question authority (many times rightfully so too) and they do not want that. They want a group of mindless followers that know nothing but "yes sir" and "yes mam".

this applies to our military in some instances too.

our schools are now told that if students can't pass "efficiency" tests... they are not doing something right and are penalized. This sounds like a good idea to make sure kids are learning but... the downside is that teachers are only focused getting kids to pass those tests and also not teaching many other things which are just as important or more important.

I think I heard our dropout rates are increasing. Many kids feel they are wasting their time in school anymore and with the "no tolerance" rules they now follow and the bleak outlook for economy and jobs... I don't blame many of the kids.

They are expelling kids for "hugging" or kissing and suspending them for holding hands. its a "loveless" community we are building in our schools. We are teaching them that caring, love, and affection are bad things and yet we teach them nothing about finances and the economy.

Funny thing is... more often than not... home-schooled children usually do better than those subjected to public schools.

[unleash]

I know all about restrictions, but the great thing of restrictions is that they are there to break. And if they are broken by enough people than the restriction will disappear.

The only thing that an community has to do to break such circles is breaking its rules. So if those school are really that bad, then the american public should speak out and break those damn rules! (dont try this on your own by the way )

I dont know the exact state of the public schools in america, but here in the netherlands the only thing I can complain about is the generalisation. There is one type of book (differ from school to school) so if you are faster/ smarter than the rest you cant do something more difficult, more challenging. I speak from experience when I say this, as my IQ is above normal...and I really had a hard time getting through my second school(the school where you go to from you 12 till your 17, HAVO) I dont know how you would call it. It was soooo damn boring that I had to motivate myself everytime I got out of bed.

That is also one of the reasons I picked up web coding and design as well as 3D and flash, just to challenge myself(the other reason would be because its really fun creating things!)

Off topic: Who knows what that eagle means/ is?

[synthetic]

Originally Posted by unleash

Off topic: Who knows what that eagle means/ is?

Its a ranking in this instance it sounds like... maybe from Boy Scouts? Not sure.

[Culann]

Originally Posted by unleash

Ever consideres home schooling? It helps against those conspiracy theorys Just kidding, I dont believe any government would try to do such a thing. Not here in europe anyway. If they would, we(the public) would notice such a thing and conspire against them opressors!

Eagle??
could you explain that for me?

Actually, I'm homeschooled, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks to that, I'm 17, out of high school for all of a year, and am already a college sophomore. And it's not that I'm a conspiracy theorist, I'm simply not impressed with a concept that's a zero-sum game at best. Add that you can't get away without going to Somalia...
BTW- the point of making people stupid is keeping you from noticing.

Food for thought: What happens when a private company like Franchise Pictures does something badly? They lose bigtime and they don't do it again. In Franchise's case they go down in flames, for their resources to be used elsewhere. If the government fails, like FDR's New Deal, what happens? They apply for more funding and generally get it. All the government has to do to get more dough is adjust the taxes, or worse, print more. The government can mess up an insane no. of times before crashing and burning, because all they have to do is take. Private orgs. (like Franchise) can't force money out of people, so they have a minimal margin for error. That is why I want private firms anywhere possible and have been ragging on the state incessantly.

Eagle - AKA Eagle Scout, one of the highest honors you can get before you're 18.Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[synthetic]

good point Culann on the private org vs. government provided org. ... I totally agree

[supertackyman]

Remember those lunkheads in school, the goofoffs, lazy, always into something types that sat at the back of the class and somehow managed to pass because their girlfriends did their homework for them or they manipulated (or bullied or paid) someone to do it for them?

yes, I knew you did. those are the ones who are now top managment at companies across the nation.

why?!? because all that in school was management training.
they learned how to climb the corporate ladder on the backs of fellow students.

unleash: I had the same problem in school. some of the classes I was in, the entire year was me feeling like "well, duh! how can you not get this?" while the majority of the class was struggling. I was banging my head on the desk (in spirit anyway) "how can it take an entire semester to read and discuss 'the old man and the sea' by hemmingway?!!!?" discuss maybe, but to read that book? I read it in the first week, and I took my time!
with such large classes, its hard for students to learn at their own pace.

[synthetic]

hehe... I was the one who made all the cash doing homework for the idiots in back of class... I was an entrepreneur back in school. I sold banners printed out on my dot matrix printer (ooohhhh... dot matrix lol) and I made buttons with (Mike loves Heather etc) but I made the most on essay reports