| recent comments mjp said: I'm, uh, working on it. Right now. ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up! shane said: michael phillips,you are a fuckin madman,post yer next story... ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up! mjp said: Yes, that is a potential problem for people in 10,001. I often worry about... ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this... damian said: indeed. ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this... Scott h Florance said: The Christians believe Jesus Christ tis immortal and he lives forever. It is... ~ Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this... mjp said: Isn't there a NASCAR or gun or fishing or tabakky-chewing site you can go... ~ I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead Andrew Olin Jones said: Hillbilly said you might turn off the smog but I don't want you to do that... ~ I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead mjp said: My childhood box? I don't think anyone wants to open that... ~ Fly me to the moon, then blow that shit up!   previous ramblings • I can see for miles, but it's kind of blurry up ahead 2.18.08 • Simple is as simple does 1.31.08 • I feel the earthworms under my feet 1.22.08 • New boots and panties 1.19.08 • I haven't given up, I've just stopped trying 12.25.07 • I don't pray. Kneeling bags my nylons. 12.20.07 • So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night 9.19.07 • Grab the closet case by the horns 8.11.07 • Blogged down in the forum of my youth 5.23.07 • Hotter than July 5.16.07 • 26 Miles Across the Deep Blue Sea 5.11.07 • A rose by any other name, still doesn't smell so good 4.6.07 • Children of a lesser dog from hell 2.22.07 • Squid lights 1.9.07 • Cats and dogs 12.19.06 • Mission accomplished! 11.22.06 • Various tidbits of marginal interest to anyone 11.9.06 • Buddy, can you spare a town? 10.16.06 • A garbage can is somewhat precise. 10.6.06 • Another cantankerous rant - surprise! 9.25.06 • Hey, where you been? 9.1.06 • Geeeeeeee mail, @smog.net 7.27.06 • Oh good lord, it's a kid's show 7.22.06 • Sleeping dogs 6.28.06 • Dumb and dumber 6.21.06 • HDTV for $150! 5.16.06 • Thank you for calling the White House. My name is Krishna, how may I be providing you excellent service today? 4.28.06 • Decades and bits of centuries 4.24.06 • Secret Society 3.22.06 • Sometimes I don't speak right, but yet I know what I'm talking about 3.20.06 • This is the modern world 3.15.06 • Shakespeare never did this 2.18.06 • Who is Lonnie Tolliver, and why should you care? 1.27.06 • Scuttlebutt and innuendo 1.16.06 • Beware the fury of a patient man 1.6.06 • I feel 100 pounds lighter already... 12.30.05 • Dude! Your wiki is showing... 12.20.05 • Yeti spotted, film at 11! 12.19.05 • "God is a concept by which we measure our pain." 12.9.05 • Doctor, it hurts when I move my arm like this... 12.8.05 • Hey, what's with the torn up clothes, and didn't you have a shag haircut last week? 12.5.05 • Shameless self-promotion or a desperate cry for love? You decide. 11.18.05 • Further proof that drinking will kill you 11.6.05 • Big Apple dreamin' on a wooden floor 11.1.05 • Happy birthday to smog. Now where's my cake? 10.16.05 • I got nothing 10.4.05 • free within my own doom 9.25.05 • A Rambling Essay on Politics and the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack (Tall) 9.12.05 • (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown 8.31.05 • Well, could I have her spam instead of the baked beans then? 8.28.05 • What has four wheels and flies? 8.21.05 • Don't think twice, it's all right 8.13.05 • My ass is getting cold sitting on this glacier... 8.11.05 • Capital radio 8.11.05 • nobody's fault 7.23.05 • secret santa 7.3.05 • everything we touch turns to rust 6.21.05 • on the edge of seventeen 6.13.05 • life at 300 baud 6.9.05 • 12 steps away from the screen, running 6.5.05 • shake a leg 6.5.05 • san pedro anarchy press, Inc. 5.22.05 • Z is for zealot 5.20.05 • Lenny Bruce was right 5.16.05 • bad meat in the can 5.12.05 • it's in the water 5.12.05 • you tell me 5.10.05 • what matters most is how well you're lit 5.5.05 • just keep pulling the handle, it'll all be over soon 5.3.05 • rust never sleeps 4.24.05 • randomness, chaos and deliverance 4.21.05 • baby was a black sheep, baby was a whore 4.20.05 • Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream? 4.16.05 • roses are red, violets are blue, i thought my hell had ended, but the devil is a crafty bastard with a sick sense of humor and a mean streak a mile wide 4.14.05 • rock the cash bar 4.12.05 • many rivers to cross 4.10.05 • imitation is the sincerest form of unoriginality 4.8.05 • if you are the big tree, we are the small axe! 4.8.05 • give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine 4.4.05 • and who the hell figured QWERTY was a good idea? 4.4.05 • your pope was nothing compared to this guy! 4.3.05 • you've got a TV...i've got a TV...we've all got TV's... 3.29.05 • hitler painted roses 3.26.05 • counselor 3.25.05 • she's still here, damn it! 3.21.05 • patience is a virtue, but resignation is for suckers. 3.13.05 • should have taken mom up on those violin lessons... 3.9.05 • last night a dj saved my life! yeah, maaaaan! 3.9.05 • if i had a hammer... 3.8.05 • caveman re-invents the wheel! film at 11. 3.7.05 • he's mad as hell, and he's not going to take it anymore! 3.4.05 • this is a public service announcement - with guitar! 3.2.05 • battlefield girth 2.28.05 • never give a media giant an even break 2.25.05 • 10 Things I've done that you haven't 2.24.05 • come back, bastard! 2.23.05 • hey, just because he likes Judy Garland records and the Tony awards doesn't necessarily mean anything... 2.23.05 • "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me." 2.21.05 • I couldn't say it if it wasn't true 2.17.05 • The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." 2.11.05 • how to lose 10 pounds in five minutes! 2.6.05 • earth to smog, earth to smog 2.5.05 • my own private chernobyl... 2.2.05 • Estoy solo, pero siento que tu estas conmigo. 1.26.05 • confessions of an obsessive freak of nature 1.5.05 • death wants more death 12.30.04 • every mikkle make a muckle (ask a Jamaican what it means) 12.17.04 • things that don't suck 12.15.04 • what's it all about, mjp? 11.11.04 • old dog, new tricks 9.2.04 • if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all 8.15.04 • Frida Kahlo, Charles Bukowski and Joel-Peter Witkin have left the building 2.13.03 • R.I.P. smog.net 5.19.04 • almost cut my hair...it happened just the other day 4.23.04 • and we're back! 4.22.04 • one cocoa full a basket 2.14.04 • let's get ready to rumble 1.24.04 • brace yourself for a shitstorm 1.6.04 • it's my party, i'll o.d. if i want to 12.6.03 • pimp-a-licious 11.27.03 • on a clear day you can see the 18th century 11.9.03 • men are from mars, women are from vegas 10.14.03 • hit and run walker 10.6.03 • It's all cow, after all 10.2.03 • Johnny Cash is dead, Tower records is bankrupt, gawd save the fucking Queen. 9.13.03 • any history of mental illness? 9.10.03 • boggle: to hesitate as if in fear or doubt. 9.6.03 • pass the aspirin 8.27.03 • this is what i get for leaving the house 7.21.03 • safety in numbers 7.13.03 • god damn 7.11.03 • a million and one stupid things... 6.6.03 • praise Jeebus! 5.23.03 • Kennedy to John Lydon; "Oh, lighten up!" 5.20.03 • they say the French are cowards and assholes... 5.2.03 • I couldn't possibly be *that* fat! 4.19.03 • what's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding? 3.22.03 • this skunk's for you 3.12.03 • Monday's coming like a jail on wheels 2.24.03 • linux, linus, lomax, duck! 2.20.03 • FREE MICHAEL JACKSON! 2.18.03 • the weather in Los Angeles is cloudy 2.13.03 ©1995-2008 mjp | Thank you for calling the White House. My name is Krishna, how may I be providing you excellent service today? Friday, April 28th 2006, 10:47am For the second time the company I work for has been sold out from under me, and for the second time the buyer was not another company in the same industry, but rather an investment group. Our 77,000 clients are now being moved over to a company whose main interest is acquisitions (Endurance International Group), and only seems to be using the web hosting business as a means to get to large amounts of cash. Now, every business is "a means to get to large amounts of cash" when you get right down to it. But as a consumer, are you better off with a web host like PowWeb used to be - owned and operated by the people who started it and know it inside out - or an acquisitions company who sees you as nothing more than part of one of the many "properties" that they own? I can answer that for you; you're better off with the entrepreneur. Now the 77,000 customers that we used to take care of at PowWeb are going to be put on a generic platform and serviced by tech support based in India. They'll be emailing someone who calls himself "Paul King," but who's real name is actually Prashanth Karanth. Not to make this into an anti-outsourcing bit ("Outsourcing - the best kind of sourcing!" - The Simpsons), but 75% of web hosting is support, and anyone who works in the business can probably name at least half a dozen people they know personally who have lost jobs to outsourcing. Now I can name 20. So when the people of Endurance speak in glowing terms about how marvelous it is to pay someone in India $3.64 an hour to handle their support, putting someone here out of a job, it doesn't fill me with happiness and joy. Save your hate mail. I am not anti-India. I'm against putting my colleagues out of work. As our fearless, clueless, relaxed President would say, "It's just bad for Amuhricah!" The Indian people are smart to capitalize on the greed, stupidity and shortsightedness of the American companies who send work their way. I don't blame Indians for what's happening. So, anyway, R.I.P. PowWeb. I type this from my desk at the old job on a Friday, and on Monday I'll be at a new joint that does Windows hosting for super nerds, and is run by people who actually have some foresight and innovative ideas. It should be a refreshing change, but you know how that goes. Maybe Endurance will buy them in a couple of years, when they are closer to their goal of employing all of India's technical school graduates. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 11:11am, josh said: The owners of PowWeb are just as guilty of cashing-in and putting people of out jobs as Endurance. Ultimately, if anyone is more responsible for the loss of jobs and outsourcing (in the this situation), it would be PowWeb's ex-owners. They gave the go-ahead knowing full well what was going to happen. Was is Endurance supposed to step back and say, "No, I'm sorry. We will not buy you because we care about your tech support so much." You are wanting a perfect American society where everyone has 100% job security, people aren't addicted to oil, and no one wants to get rich. People lose their jobs. That's life. Get over it and go find another job. What makes America great is that the same people who lose their jobs can go and start their own companies. Where is your blog entry for all the jobs the immigrants take? on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:00pm, steve said: it's one thing to lose jobs simply because the company moves to a different state. it's quite another if that company goes one step further to ensure none of those jobs can be taken by anyone in the new location as opposed to outside of the country. what powweb is guilty of is treating their employees like they are less than people. it's crazy that they would advertise for part time employment at higher wages than those already working there.... then again, the point of view some would take... some who have found a niche for themselves in the new company, would be a defensive one. it's understandable. just don't forget to rub the brown off your nose at the end of your meetings. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:08pm, mjp said: Josh - in addition to missing the point of the piece - is also an employee of Endurance International Group. I guess he forgot to mention that. By Where is your blog entry for all the jobs the immigrants take? do you mean that I should have mentioned all of the "immigrants" we have hired at PowWeb, who are soon to be out of work? Should I list everyone working here who isn't U.S. born? There are about half a dozen I can think of off the top of my head, and probably more if I really looked. I don't get your point. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:15pm, josh said: I'm sorry, but who was offering a job but decided NOT to take it because they money wasn't good enough?? lol on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:16pm, josh said: ps. typing in the dark is not good for grammar on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:18pm, mjp said: At least you realize that you are in the dark on the subject. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 12:26pm, steve said: from what i've heard, mjp has quite an awesome new job making more money than powweb ever would have offered. that's fine, though, as john needed something to do... besides lotioning up his hands, begging nick to wrap his arms around him and crack his back or download/watching porn at his desk while "managing" the staff at powweb. don't worry about us, josh-a-weeny. we're covered when it comes to income. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 5:47pm, damian said: i'd offer something constructive if i could only get over my amazement at seeing this turn into an office party. too funny. on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 6:32pm, mjp said: If this is an office party, it sucks. Where's the booze? on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 6:34pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Yes, the darkness is so bright in here I need my sunglasses on. ?guilty of cashing in?? ?putting people out of jobs? ?treating their employees like they are less than people? And wrapping arms and cracking backs? Oh come on now. Grow up somebody. Maybe your state needs to raise the drinking age to 30 so they can keep it out of the High Schools. Do what?????????????? The bottom line is that CEO's are obligated to try to maximize the return for their shareholders; not anyone else. If they don't do that the stock goes to shit and then the company goes to shit and then everybody?s out of work. The effects of Capitalism can be ugly for selected millions but over time it helps more than it disrupts. And don?t forget, it?s the only proven, time-tested system that works in tandem with freedom. You don?t have to like capitalism to love it. My wife, the lovely Mrs. Jones, is in management at a publically held company. She?s got more than 500 sick hours built up because she rarely misses work. I keep telling her neck is still on the line no matter how many sick hours she?s got in her pocket and quite possibly no matter how good of a job she?s done. When the bean counters fart they oil up the guillotines lickty split. And that is bad but that is good. The good news is: It really is a jungle out there. Our cunning and survival instincts (that got us here from crawing out of the sea up to April 28, 2006) combined with inherent selfishness and greed is not only an ugly thing, it?s a beautiful thing. You wouldn?t be here without it. Don?t get me wrong. This ain?t about ?politics.? I don?t like George Bush. I think he?s incompetent or at best a horrible communicator AND stupid as hell. The religious right is nuts. But indirectly cussing capitalism because you don?t like the cogs that make it turn is like drop-kicking the baby out with the bath water. Rejoice! It really is a jungle out there!. And that really is the good news because when you try to control the animals it no longer is a strong, functioning jungle. At that point it is a zoo; filled with iron bars, systematically filled food and water bowls, and little boys throwing peanuts at you from across the little stream in the ditch (which keeps you from ripping his heart out with your teeth). on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 6:52pm, carol es said: Dear Mr. Hillbilly (and other gluts), I just have to say, personally, I think your point deflects what is just kinda sickening about capitalism in its holistic sense. Best of all evils in the world aside, there is no dignity in a system that considers money over the well being of everyone, but only a select few. What is really important in life as we know it is dimming with the sun, and slowly, all will be lost. And I mean all of it. How's that for optimism!? on Friday, April 28th 2006 at 10:03pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Your point is well taken. Ms. Es, but I'm talking about reality, not a ?It Should Be World.? I suspect I'm totally with you on right verses wrong, decency, kindness, fairness; but apples ain?t oranges and my hair ain?t growing back. Wishing don?t wash. And the system has never claimed to provide for ?everyone.? Just because the bus is full and moving down the road doesn?t mean all passengers are comfortable. Somebody?s nose always ends up lip locked with injustice. Cavewomen even said ?what is really important in life as we know it is dimming with the sun?and all will be lost.? That was when some jerk invented the wheel. Wish I could mouth off more but the little women is waiting upstairs. We?re on episode three of the second season of Six Feet Under. on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 12:56am, An anonymous coward said: nice editorial on what happen at powweb oh well i hope everything goes good with your new job. Wish you luck and i hope endurance international doesnt buy out the company that you are working at within a few years oh wait you already said that.Wish you luck on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 2:44am, Nate Cavanaugh said: To chime in here, as I've been known to do, even when not invited to do so, I would like to point out a few things, or rather ask some questions about the whole capitalism/outsourcing thing: 1. If Bakshish Sakra will do someones job in India for .01 cents on the dollar, and the quality stays the same, why as an employer am I obligated to paying anyone else more? 2. When an employer outsources to India, and raises the standard of living in a third world country, and frees up Americans to pursue better jobs, where is the problem? Anyways, I guess my overall view on the whole issue is this: Someone will always offer to do your job cheaper. Plain and simple. If it's not Makhmoud, it will be Jose Rodriguez. The beauty of capitalism in the United States is that it allows all of us to compete on as fair a playing field that can ever exist. It's how an illiterate, uneducated and violent kid from the Bronx can become a multimillionaire, and how intellectual brainiac professors can become unemployed and bitter "never were's". Yes, the people working in PowWeb's tech support area are in positions that can be cheaply replaced. The beauty of it is that they have the opportunity to decide for themselves what they want to do to increase their profitability. And Endurance has the freedom to decide if it is profitable for them. The US rocks for anyone who WANTS to succeed. If it didnt, people wouldnt literally be dying to get here, and we wouldnt have the freedom to gripe about any problems with it. ANYWAYS... About the actual post: It's hard to say if PowWeb's customer base will be better off in the situation, just because nothing has happened yet. But to say that the small guy route will always be better than the "faceless corporate moneymonger" is stretching it. If that were the case, the big companies wouldnt be around. As as a customer, though, I did move most of my accounts from there. Why? Because they are an unknown, and I moved them to Dreamhost because Dreamhost has quite a few features that I want (namely shell access, unlimited domains, etc). I think a small company has a flexibility in marketing and product positioning that a large company just doesnt have. I can see where you're coming from, as being swapped to a generic infrastructure, to a company with no real personality does not sound appealing. BUT, and this but is pretty fat, most of our customers dont care about personality. Rather, they care less about personality than they do about having their email working when it's supposed to, reliable hosting, consistent features, easy to use control panel, etc. I have heard the support people for Endurance, and I will say, as a customer, I would much rather call their support over ours. There were some problems with the PowWeb support that I think never got addressed, nor would they ever have been addressed. There were just too many other issues to get to. I guess, in Endurance's defense, I believe they truly want happy customers. I do not believe that ANY half decent employer wants unhappy customers, or even moderately appeased customers. The benefit to that is that customers will get the service/features that they want/deserve. Endurances strength and weakness is that they have a standard modus operandi that works for most of their customers, yet that standard offers very little ability to be truly unique. PowWeb's strength/weakness is that they have the ability to truly interact with their customers, and give them a more one on one feel, but at a very big risk of giving things like OPS, or homegrown infrastructures that are unstable or dont scale well. On a human level, I can understand where you're coming from about a lot of guys going unemployed, but Im sure there were a few of those folks who should have been let go quite a while back, but again, one of the beauties of our system is the freedom to fail. Some of those folks will find work easily, some will not. But it might also spur some folks into improving their lives by forcing them out of their comfort zone. Now, I say this as a person who loathes change with the same vomitous hatred that I save for being micromanaged. I hate change, fear change, but I know it has to happen. And so the same for our jobs. I think looking back in five years, we'll all look back and say "Well I sure am glad that opportunity came up..." on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 10:06am, Hillbilly Jones said: It ain't a level playing field. Never has been, never will be. Level playing fields are only in the movies. Keep it simple: on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 10:47am, Hillbilly Jones said: Zoe, our eight year old pussy, made me GIVE IT TO ME prematurely. "If you're losing your soul and you know it, then you've still got a soul left to lose." ~Buk "Before you kill something make sure you have something better to replace it with; something better than political opportunist slamming hate horse shit in the public park.? ~Buk on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 11:49am, mjp said: When an employer outsources to India, and raises the standard of living in a third world country, and frees up Americans to pursue better jobs, where is the problem? The problem is everyone in America isn't capable of or interested in doing one of these better jobs you speak of. That's why some people from the PowWeb support department wound up in higher paying jobs in the company and others didn't. If you throw away all the less-skilled and lower paying jobs in the country, you aren't giving opportunity to most of the people who did them, you're fucking them over. And for everyone comparing immigration to outsourcing - you're way off base. It's apples and mangoes, baby. Again, PowWeb employs a lot of people who weren't born in America. The difference is when they come here to get a job, you can compete against them for the job if you want it too. You can't compete with outsourcing, unless you want to move to India and work for $500 a month. Outsourcing advocates are just like politicians. They don't care that they are raping and ruining the country or the planet because they labor under the misguided belief that the money they are making is going to save them from any pain they cause now or to future generations. They are incorrect, but that doesn't reverse the negative effects of what they are doing. And it won't give any solace to anyone who was rightly speaking out against them when we are all standing around in the rubble of what used to be, shrugging our shoulders and mumbling, "I dunno..." As for PowWeb's support not being as good as Endurance's Indians - that's not because the Indians are better. It's because PowWeb is/was a micromanaged mess, which resulted in an incompetent jerkoff being given free reign to run the support department into the ground. As for Endurance's platform/interface being better or more stable than PowWeb's, micromanagement (see a theme?), cheapness and wishful thinking are the cause. Everything at PowWeb could have been better if people were allowed to do their jobs and make the changes they saw fit. I admitted to all the forum moderators and local staff when announcing the sale that things could very well be better for PowWeb's clients after the migration. Everyone could see that. So in this case the big fish eating the small fish could be good for the end user (still remains to be seen), but that is not usually the case. on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 12:26pm, Nate Cavanaugh said: The problem is everyone in America isn't capable of or interested in doing one of these better jobs you speak of. That's why some people from the PowWeb support department wound up in higher paying jobs in the company and others didn't. Perhaps it's the heartless capitalist in me, but why should the economy rotate around the wants and desires of the lowest skilled employees? America never promised anyone a job. It doesnt guarantee you anything, except the opportunity to make a living. And for millions of immigrants (I'll get to that part in a second), the opportunity alone is worth risking a whole heck of a lot. Trust me, I wish PowWeb wasnt sold. I would have loved it if we all kept our jobs there, as I know I was on track to a promotion and a raise, so I certainly have nothing immediately to gain by starting over at another company. But all that being said, the sale of PowWeb could very well be the best thing that happened to it. As for the support guys, there are a lot of good guys over there, and I am sure that most of them wont have a problem finding something else, either in web hosting tech support, or in some other field. But lets be honest, this should be an honest wake up call to them to start looking at training for higher skill jobs. Thats just the reality of it. Screw what they "want" to do. The reality is that if they don't want to be replaced in a position in the future, it's time to move on up. I guess my thinking is, and it has quite a lot of history to back it up, is that capitalism breed competition, and competition makes things better for everyone. It's how people get a variety of choices. I know you think places like Endurance are removing true choice from consumers, but I don't think it's that drastic, because while there will always be people who would like to cash out, there will always be people who prefer the profitability and passion of running their own company than cashing out short term. About the whole immigration fiasco, I guess I should clarify my position, as I think it may get confused from up above. I am very much pro immigration. However, I am very much ANTI illegal immigration. I think America is better for it's diversity, but the line forms to the left. When you have 12 million people flooding into the country that are undocumented, unaccounted for, driving on the highways with no insurance, using social benefits without putting in tax revenue, using the emergency room as a health clinic, and all without learning the language, the history or the culture, then you have a real problem on your hands. But as regards outsourcing, I see no reason why we should keep low skill jobs that can be easily replaced in house. I guess my question is, would you have a problem if there was a company in Cleveland, OH that did tech support, paid their guys 9 bucks an hour, and PowWeb "outsourced" all the tech support peoples jobs to the company in Ohio? on Saturday, April 29th 2006 at 2:23pm, mjp said: I guess my question is, would you have a problem if there was a company in Cleveland, OH that did tech support, paid their guys 9 bucks an hour, and PowWeb "outsourced" all the tech support peoples jobs to the company in Ohio? No I wouldn't. Not in the make-believe, "what if" world of your supposition. In the real world I would still have a problem with replacing existing local jobs with remote jobs. But that's only because I am saddled with a conscience. Though I understand that there are others who don't labor under such handicaps. I live in America, and I like India and the Philippines and Europe and China, they're all fine and interesting places, but I don't live in them, so my concerns are more U.S.-centric. Caring about what's best for America is just your free enterprise writ large. If it's good for a company to only be concerned about its bottom line, then it must be great for a country! We're so much bigger than most companies. Of course, if you believe that it's good for America to consider the rest of the world when making decisions about important things, then you must also believe that it's good for a large company to consider something other than their profits. I was thinking of times when there would be some advantage in choosing a large company over a small, local or craftsman type of company, and I can't think of many. If I needed abdominal surgery I might rather go to a big hospital than a small one. When I'm flying in a plane I might want to go with the big company over the small. But even in those examples, it would be foolish to assume that the big company is going to take any more care with your life than the small company. It all comes down to the person holding the scalpel or the controls. And if the company that person works for is treating them right, they are more likely to be happy and take better care of my abdomen or ass. And that's the only bottom line that matters to me. Of course you can't outsource surgery or plane travel. At least not until they figure out how to do those things with robots controlled from Bangalore or Hong Kong, which I'm sure someone is working on as I type this. America never promised anyone a job. It doesnt guarantee you anything, except the opportunity to make a living. America doesn't guarantee us anything? You sure you don't want to rethink that statement? The reality is that if they don't want to be replaced in a position in the future, it's time to move on up. Another reality is that you cannot maintain a society where everyone has "moved on up." Who is going to fix your car or fry your hamburger? Someone in India? Good luck with that. As for immigration, the original title of this thing was Homogenize your milk, not your companies, so a debate over immigration isn't really something I want to get into here. My point was supposed to be how consolidating many small companies into one large company is a bad thing. A good writer would have had an outline or something, and stuck to their point. on Sunday, April 30th 2006 at 1:16am, Hillbilly Jones said: Well, I'm surely sorry but o'l Hillbilly ain't go no outline so I guess we know what that means. You boys is talking about how you think the clock should be built or how you perceive it is built; but that don?t change what time it is! ***spits hard Reality is simple: If a company doesn't maximize their profits, the stock goes to hell, then they can't borrow any more money and then everybody is out of work. Even here in Booger Holler we know that reality holds all the cards. If they?d pay most of us $5 million per year to manage General Electric we?d look at the bottom line beans and delegate our underling to delegate to his or her underling to delegate to his or her underling to delegate to his or her underling to delegate to his or her underling to chop some heads and kick some ass and squeeze that buffalo tighter than an Arkansas 3rd grader on Sunday morning. It?s only painful at the bottom and capitalization guarantees there will always be a bottom. Hell, even my cousin Elton Jones III knows that. We call him EJ3. And o'l EJ3 will always be there to fry you a burger. In fact, he's looking for a job right now. He prefers something indoors and with air conditioning. If you wanna get past all that hog washing about how the clock should work and see something REALLY FREAKY, check out o?l Reverend Chuck at the link. He drives a big o?l shiny car as diamonds drip from his fingers falling stars while his flock eats dog food seven days a week. He gets mean when you beat him in a sack race too. My wife?s Aunt Flo Beth stays up until midnight on Saturday night, records his show, then burns it to a DVD for us. She sends them in packages of four, usually with a dozen or more sugar cookies tucked inside. He's better than Dave Chappell. God talks to him. He?d make a great CEO. on Sunday, April 30th 2006 at 10:10am, Melissa Sue said: I'm just a young gal bopping around the industrial world, and in the past 5 years of my employment (split between 3 jobs) I've been privy to "outsourcing" in one form or another. i saw a warehouse of employees that were *that* close to retirement get canned for a more streamlined-efficient outsourced process, and they were all SOL. More recently I'm watching, from an interesting place, the merging, buying and eventual closing down of a good many manufacturing facilities here in america. I suppose the only thing i really have to say is that i'm concerned with the quality of product made for cheaper overseas, because it is cheaper, and not just for the cost of labor reasons. whether it's the cost of the materials that are used to make products that are supposed to keep us healthy, or the cost of the education of the guy that's supposed to be your tech support, in the end i think you get what you pay for. and sometimes, maybe more often than not, there's no problem and everything will be just fine. but sometimes ~ the test data is just scary. but, im just kickin' it corporate style for the paycheck, as i've got (imported) oil paints and a new (imported) car to pay for. since there's nothing to do but move forward, i think the only appropriate response to this post is a raise of my beer and "man, that blows. i really hope everything works out OK for you and your ex-coworkers. good luck, man". on Sunday, April 30th 2006 at 1:28pm, Nate Cavanaugh said: But that's only because I am saddled with a conscience. A conscience without a compass is only a burden. What matters is not so much what your conscience says, but what is truly right or wrong. For instance some people have a conscience problem with throwing pedophiles in jail, so a lot of good that conscience does them :P I am not arguing that the profit motive should rule all. I truly believe that any person or organization should put what is moral first, what is logical second, and what feels best at last. However, we're not arguing whether corporations SHOULD be greedy, but rather is outsourcing a moral wrong. We're also arguing whether big companies gobbling up little ones is all that great as well. About outsourcing being evil, I do not believe it is. The very fact of moving jobs from one place to another because one area will do it cheaper is not necessarily wrong. In the end though, the outsourcing phenomenon can only last another 50 to a hundred years to where the standard of living has raised everywhere else, and there is no more cheap labor to offset things to. But I really can't see the issue being a moral imperative, but I would like to hear more on why you think so. About the whole corporation gobbling up smaller ones, I don't think the issue is ever that black and white, honestly. Sometimes it's good because a larger company is able to take a product or service to another level, sometimes it's bad because a larger company drops a product or service to another level. In the specific case of Endurance eating PowWeb, there is some promise there, but as yet, I see no real delivery, but I am willing to give them at least until the end of the year. Lastly: America doesn't guarantee us anything? You sure you don't want to rethink that statement? If you're speaking about rights, America doesnt guarantee rights. If they were the true guarantor of rights, then they could decide when and if those rights were over. I think our rights depend upon a lot higher authority that simply a group of other men. on Sunday, April 30th 2006 at 8:17pm, mjp said: A conscience without a compass is only a burden. And without a job or a conscience, a compass may be a burden itself, but it will help you find the unemployment office. Maybe Endurance should put their logo on compasses instead of hats and notebooks. Help people find the unemployment office. on Sunday, April 30th 2006 at 10:47pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Actually, a conscience is a burdon in the jungle. That's why animals don't have one...and survive. That's also why sociopathic CEOs are paid so highly. That's the reality of planet earth. If you've ever pissed in a urinal it was most likely made by an old company named AMERICAN STANDARD (symbol ASD). ASD closed another plant in Eastern Kentucky recently that displaced workers in their 50s, many who had worked at the plant for over 30 years and wanted to work a few more years and then retire. AMERICAN STANDARD moved their plant to MEXICO. Unfortunately, the world standard has the power now and the American standard is gone, like my uncle Ralph?s erection (according to Aunt Flo Beth). on Thursday, May 4th 2006 at 10:01pm, josh said: what it comes down to is that i'm right, and all of you are wrong. that simple. :) on Friday, May 5th 2006 at 11:24am, mjp said: And there you have it, an example of what can happen when you drink the Kool Aid! Beware! Beware! on Tuesday, May 9th 2006 at 2:15pm, josh said: and it tastes sooooo good. on Thursday, May 11th 2006 at 2:53am, Hillbilly Jones said: Josh. Son. Did you get hit on the head? ?The PowWeb owners are GUILTY of cashing in and putting people out of jobs????? Boy, I say Boy, did you get hit on the head? They did exactly what they should have done, just like old American Standard in Eastern Kentucky. Let?s say you had a hot dog stand, JOSH?S HOT DOGS. You do like hot dogs, don?t you boy? And let?s say you had an employee that handled the dogs, a second employee that handled the buns, and a third employee who handled the mustard, and then you stood there and took the money from the customer. So you rock along for a few days and you notice you?re losing money. Well shit, you say to yourself. You say, ?Self, I can?t keep losing money for long or I?m gonna have to close up JOSH?S HOT DOGS and I don?t wanna haf ta do that so hmmmmm.? And then the next morning you wake up to a brilliant revelation that maybe, just maybe, you could serve a hotdog with only one other employee besides your hot dog-loving self. And yes, you knew ?full well what was going to happen? after you fired two employees. You knew that you were GOING TO MAKE MONEY. And only two of four people lost their jobs. And then the two that lost their jobs can go start their own hot dog stand. And then because you fired two employees you made a profit and could afford to, and did, open a second hot dog stand (JOSH?S EAST SIDE HOT DOG STAND) and gosh darn it you had to hire two employees to run J.E.S.H.D.S. What would YOU be GUILTY of? And if it was REALLY was YOUR company YOU would lay off those two people without a second thought because your moped loan payment is due, not to mention your mortgage; and oh yeah, your daughter needs jeans a pair of pink tennis shoes and don?t let the cat starve and your wife likes to bathe at least twice a week even though you haven?t fucked her in six months. Boy, did you get hit on the head? Have you really thought this shit out? Haven?t you ever noticed that when you turn the jungle into a zoo the orangutans sit around and regurgitate their food and play with it something that might resemble your brain. No offense, of course. Uncle Jim just drove up in his Ford F-250, but I sure did enjoy this little talk we had. I just love the smell of chrome, don?t you? on Thursday, May 11th 2006 at 2:57am, Hillbilly Jones said: By the way, why did you stop allowing links? They aren't really hot dogs, they just sound like it. on Thursday, May 11th 2006 at 9:24am, mjp said: By the way, why did you stop allowing links? You can thank spammers for that. on Thursday, May 11th 2006 at 7:14pm, josh said: ummm i love weenies, especially when they are nice plump and juicy on Thursday, May 11th 2006 at 11:09pm, steve said: yup... steers 'n queers. on Friday, May 12th 2006 at 12:44am, sam hill said: "ummm i love weenies, especially when they are nice plump and juicy" What a queer where is he from texas on Friday, May 12th 2006 at 9:18am, mjp said: Hey, no gay bashing. That's the way the baby jesus made him. on Friday, May 12th 2006 at 7:50pm, geoff bryant said: OK, so what's happening with Powweb now? Their entire network looks to be down. Is that the first sign of the beginning of the end? on Friday, May 12th 2006 at 10:49pm, mjp said: Well, it's not a good sign, whatever it is... on Sunday, May 14th 2006 at 12:32am, Hillbilly Jones said: Back in Grandpa Cannon Jones' day, a gay bash was a fun party. That's where he met Grandma Mary Louise. It was a sunny spring day, everyone was feeling gay, and then one week later he married her. The marriage ended 61 years later when Grandpa died. Knowing Grandpa I suspect he still gave Grandma his hot dog down to the end, although the last 34 years he had only one leg. That gay bash lasted a long time. THAT?S THE WAY BABY JESUS MADE HIM?..roflmao! My niece Rhonda Jane just walked in, wondered why I was laughing hard enough to pee on myself, read some of this shit, and chimed in with, ?Hell fire! What in the Sam Hill is Sam Hill yapping bout queers for? The reason some folks want the gov?ment in our bedroom is cause that?s what makes their hot dog hot.? Rhonda Jane went a year and a half to community college and she?s always had potential as an intellectual; although she?s never got her teeth fixed. That?s the only thing that?s held her back. ?Plump and juicy,? said Rhonda Jane, ?Hmmph. I bet Josh grew a mustache to hide the stretch marks.? ?Stop that Rhonda Jane!? I said. Sorry Josh. h t t p : dubya dubya dubya dot cfox.com/shared/corus_content/cfoxfm/images/general_content/bunny-sucking-my-wiener dot jpg on Tuesday, May 23rd 2006 at 5:35pm, Max Power said: I work for Endurances Competition, its not a money scheme only, its simply the best way to be a large multifaceted hosting company. the ones we take over at (NO I AM NOT ALLOWED) do very well, we can afford better support staff, better equipment for them, better servers, product management, etcetera. Endurance is hosting, i know them, and for my own job security wouldn't mind seeing them sinkl, BUT- I'm not gonna sit here and watch blatant lies coming from scared people who cant see the sun for the horizon... on Tuesday, May 23rd 2006 at 5:42pm, bob marley said: ok all i have to say is the company bell has support in india etc. endurance does not just have support in india they are one of the many centers that endurance has, like the one in canada , theres also on in the united states and they do pay more than 9 dollars and hour, and are an international web hosting company. and again are more stable than powweb was and has proven they are stable for many years whats the problem , because the owner of powweb sold everyone out . its not endurances fault that they could aquire more bussinness because someone couldnt handle theires any longer. thats what work is for to make money and the more money you make the better things are, so go and blame powweb not endurance . i really dont understand anyones point on how endurance is the bad guys here on Tuesday, May 23rd 2006 at 8:00pm, sam hill said: I smell a skunk bob marley sounds like josh by reading his previous posts. Common man there is no shame in being a sell out on Tuesday, May 23rd 2006 at 11:01pm, mjp said: "Max Power" and "bob marley" are on the same IP, out of New Brunswick. Guess who uses a call center up there? It's obviously an ENDURANCE employee, because no one else gives a shit about this. Is the official Endurance lap dog Josh McGinnis up in NB? It wouldn't surprise me. on Wednesday, May 24th 2006 at 7:59am, Just J said: All that I can say is that if bob marley's post is an example of how Endurance support answers their emails, gawd help the users who have to try to understand them. on Wednesday, May 24th 2006 at 3:49pm, damian said: you cats are all insaniacs. sell out, don't sell out, who cares? the good will not be rewarded, the bad will not be punished. there ain't no heaven and there ain't no hell, regardless of what ronnie james dio thinks. which reminds me, i watched Metal: A Headbangers Journey last night. any of you motherfuckers like heavy metal? yeah. didn't think so. on Monday, May 29th 2006 at 11:10am, steve said: i >almost< watched that. on Tuesday, May 30th 2006 at 12:10pm, mooshi said: The change last week has totally screwed things up. When they changed the mail01 server, it wound up replicating every single message I had received dating back to Jan. 19 -- all 32,000 of them. Powweb's customer service used to be helpful, but these new guys are inept, and can't even understand when I spell basic words for them. Plus they keep promising to fix the problem, but they seem unable of actually fixing the problem. on Monday, June 12th 2006 at 3:05pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Kudos to Max Power, six postings above. I just love it when somebody includes WHAT SOMETHING'S NOT in their opening statement. ***the crowd shakes their finger on Monday, July 10th 2006 at 1:21pm, NJG from NYC said: As an actual Powweb customer, I can say that the support we're getting now -- whether it is Indian or not -- is definitely not as good as the support we used to have. It took them more than 2 weeks to solve a migration problem I had, despite being assured that my problem had been escalated and was being looked at by a specialist. When I finally heard from the 'escalated' support, I was given the results of a Google search and told "this should help you" (it didn't). I will be leaving Powweb when my contract expires. on Tuesday, July 11th 2006 at 12:33am, mjp said: Well, almost everyone from the old PowWeb is gone, and you probably got some of that high-quality outsourced support. Isn't is great?! on Tuesday, July 11th 2006 at 11:45pm, Hillbilly Jones said: When effectively new-companies are born from spin offs it's like starting at the beginning all over again. Like the girl you?ve been trying to pick up for the last two hours at the bar goes home and you have to start all over with a new one; the redhead with the green eyes and a perky pair. Yes, I think I will. The problem isn?t capitalism; it?s the shit-for-brains, inept CEOs who run these companies that feed, clothe, transport, and provide communication for a nation of 298,444,215 (as of July 2006, according to www dot cia dot gov). They abuse this capitalism gift they?ve been given. Greed is good but too greedy stifles innovation out of fear to be the first one to try something different. The Japanese take pride in being a member of a group that produces quality goods. Whatever you feel about Microsoft, their corporate culture has been exemplary, and a second cousin of what the Japanese do. The dumb sons of bitches CEOs are too busy jacking off in their jets and eating strawberries and cream off the stomachs of 20-year old escorts from London. By definition, growth is more this year than last year; every year. The pressure is on and they need to take their hands off their dicks. The only difference between their wives and their girlfriends is 45 pounds. They distribute the fruits so disproportionately (greed) and then point their finger at their UNHAPPY and UNMOTIVATED employees and say, ?There?s our fucking problem! It?s the employees fault, not mine!? (fear), that they end up cumming all over themselves and apparently shooting a little bit in their mouths. Oddly, some of them enjoy it. The wouldn?t have to lay ?as many? off if they created a work environment that produced HAPPY and MOTIVATED employees. But instead of watching Dr. Phil (***the crowd giggles) and trying little used, but PROVEN, management styles (that are outside of these cocksucker?s COMFORT LEVEL). You pay these mother fucker CEOs $10 million a year to run the company but the problem is they have $50 million wives and are only as smart as their average employee; so they squeeze those beneath them like Jimmy Wayne Stanton?s hands around Micky Don Craig?s neck when he came home early from deer hunting in 1987 and found Mickey Don?s dick crawling up inside of Mrs. Stanton. It was ugly. And ugly is capitalism, in part?but the mistake is not seeing the girl you?re fucking because your dick is hard. Our standard of living is light years ahead of 99% of the rest of the world. We take having antibiotics available at the corner drug store for granted like we sometimes take for granted our Ford Explorers (even if it is a ?97 model with 177,000 miles and the back window won?t roll down) and Hostess apples pies with 490 calories. Verizon?s top three High Brains rake in about $50 million a year and the company stock is worth less today than 5 years ago. U.S. CEOs make over a hundred times their average employees make and the Japanese about four times their?s. And since ?dumb? rolls down hill like a big fat horse turd, it?s dumb from upper management to middle management; and then dumb all the way down to low-level managers and supervisors; underlings that usually break the mules back. The new generation will fix capitalism a few years after I?m dead, and then they?ll fuck it up; and the cycle will be compete and will start all over again. In a way, capitalism is a very funny thing. And nothing fuels humor more than hostility. It?s time to go rub Mrs. Jones? feet and maybe one of us will get lucky tonight. ?Before you kill something make sure you have something better to replace it with; something better than political opportunist slamming hate horse shit in the public park.? ~Buk on Tuesday, July 11th 2006 at 11:49pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Dimitr, are you there? on Friday, January 19th 2007 at 12:35pm, mjp said: For anyone who was still wondering if there was a positive aspect to the sale: Some members of the support staff are still unemployed, all of the PowWeb volunteer staff that was left post-takeover have fled, 15-20% of the customers have fled, the forum is dying a slow painful death because all it is now is a complaint farm. Service has been seriously degraded on almost every level. The new owners charge an extra fee for a usable FTP connection speed that isn't really usable, email is in a barely usable, broken state...and on and on and on. Capitalism and outsourcing at their finest. Chalk another one up for big business! on Friday, January 19th 2007 at 6:24pm, tbonekkt said: PowWeb isn't PowWeb anymore. It's now simply a generic, plain-jane, mediocre web hosting platform with a "PowWeb" facade. on Friday, January 19th 2007 at 6:26pm, mjp said: I prefer datapimp hosting, available for a reasonable fee at datapimp.com! on Friday, January 19th 2007 at 11:03pm, Hillbilly Jones said: You are correct. It really is capitalism at it’s finest. Inefficient companies like the one about which you are talking either turn around on a dime or go quietly into that gentle bankruptcy. The shitty service is washed out of the system and the capitalistic companies that provide good service keep chug-a-lug-lugging along. Throw two lions into a pit and I’ll put my money on the lion that had to hunt for his supper last night against the lion that had a piece of meat thrown into his cage as he laid with his legs spread open while little boys threw popcorn onto his head all day long. The first is strong, agile, and quick, while the latter is weak. Gordon Gekko was correct about greed. It is good. It is ugly, but so is Hillary Clinton; and I bet most readers at this zoo would vote for her against our current Prez. Emotionally, even I am a Democrat. Only thing is, reality does not break for emotions. The current system may suck sweaty dog balls but invent an alternative system that beats it. There has never been such a system on the planet. At least not before the aliens landed 5,000 years ago and made that cool valley in Arizona. on Saturday, January 27th 2007 at 1:46am, mjp said: The current system may suck sweaty dog balls but invent an alternative system that beats it. Nah, fuck you. YOU go invent an alternative system to beat it. I'm not interested. But that doesn't negate my right to point out what a cowardly bunch of asslickers and morons run the administration now. At least for another two years. Then in '08 when a Democrat is elected, I'll laugh for a minute just because it will piss off Republicans (the previously mentioned asslickers, morons, pedophiles, etc.). Then I'll get up the next day and go to work and not one god damn thing will have changed. Because generally, it doesn't matter which set of disingenuous bags of shit occupy the white house. You know, unless you're over in Iraq right now getting your balls blown off. In which case it does matter to you. on Saturday, January 27th 2007 at 11:53am, Hillbilly Jones said: I just passed along reality. I didn’t write reality. Saying the system sucks sweaty dog balls and pointing out—rightfully so, I must add—that they are cowardly asslickers and morons are two different things. Of course, they do good things too, but your characterizations are pretty much on target. Suggesting someone invent a better system before they have an anxiety attack over the present system is different from laughing at Republicans being pissed off in 2008. At least you admit you are not interested in being part of the solution. ***looks like a dog does when you blow a whistle Oddly, you think Democrats are all like you. Buddy, there is a razor-thin line that separates many policies of the Right and the Left. It is the emotional issues—abortion, stem-cell research, and obvious others—that separate the two factions. Don’t let yourself be fooled and be careful for what you wish. I would take Bill Clinton back in a heartbeat; because Billy Boy was much more pro-business than you might think and knew how to get what he wanted from Congress. And Poor Old George is the lamest duck of my lifetime. And something will be different with a Democrat in the White House. Your taxes will go up because a Democrat-controlled Congress views themselves as the Zoo Keeper and you as a lazy old lion who needs to be controlled. The media influences us all. Newspapers, TV, Internet, magazines, you name it. With TV and all other media sources laying with their legs over our shoulders and our tongues in their mouths; can’t you tell they are on their backs only because they have easier access to putting their fingers up our asses without us knowing where that finger originates? That’s why our balls are always sweating. on Sunday, January 28th 2007 at 3:11pm, mjp said: Oddly, you think Democrats are all like you. I do? I wonder where you got that. Maybe when I said, "...it doesn't matter which set of disingenuous bags of shit occupy the white house." Maybe you counted that as my support of Democrats. I don't support any politicians. But I know bullshit when I see it, and what we have now is bullshit. There should be a one-term limit on all politicians. Then you would separate people who want to actually do something from people who are just looking for an easy job that they can keep forever. on Sunday, January 28th 2007 at 10:02pm, Hillbilly Jones said: What I am saying is that not all Republicans are judgmental fuckheads that swing a Bible like a razor-sharp dagger towards anybody who doesn’t go to their church. Some are Pentecostal Perverts who look through this world in glasses right out of a movie. They are some Dark Mother Fuckers, and scary too are their women with big o'l booties and red puffy lips. Looking as if their booties are packed with left-over serpents from a service in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky where one little girl got bitten but they said it was God’s Will, so they celebrated instead that she was now with Jesus. How cute. The media paints untrue pictures of both parties. Some popular Democrats say fantastic things but they are fantasies, not workable ideas in the real world. They are Feel Good Fucks who get votes; and then when they can’t produce they blame Republicans. Big ideas require big money which requires tax increases; and then they prove again—as they have many times before—that government-run institutions are extremely inefficient and extremely wasteful. The private sector—because of financial incentives—always, always, always can do a better job for a lot cheaper price. Bottom Line: Most Democrat politicians are zoo keepers in search of a zoo. And as far as allowing only one-termers: That won’t change the beast. It will only make him work faster or limit how much he steals from the system. Actually, I’ve said for years that I think each party should be given control every 4 years. They alternate. That way, the results are simply an average of the two. You’re scaring Little Hillary. At least you didn’t use exclamation marks. on Tuesday, January 30th 2007 at 2:47am, mjp said: The media paints untrue pictures of both parties. Really? Which media is that? The scary liberal media that doesn't actually exist outside of a few hours of the day on NPR? Whatever you read or hear after the words "the media" is bullshit. Always and unequivocally bullshit. Because "the media" is not a singular thing that can be quantified as one voice or one opinion. Of course there is a group of people who want you to believe that. Can you guess who it is? That's right! Republicans! Now why do they want us to believe that? Hmm... on Tuesday, January 30th 2007 at 2:09pm, Andrew Olin Jones said: Hillbilly says: The key phrase was BOTH PARTIES. Most media sources stretch the truth to favor their beliefs. And BOTH parties stretch the truth and lie to their favor. It's called human nature. It's called having an agenda. And the media to which I was referring is the news media used by the most people. Duh. They don't count us rich hicks in Arkansaw cause they know they can accurately project their Dallas or Atlanta numbers. The end result is the same. If your ONLY source is some off-the-wall shit rag newspaper that preaches dreams then that is a different story. If you think your life will be better under Socialism go see how healthy and happy the monkeys are at the LA Zoo; sitting around in their own shit picking bugs off each other, waiting for a Japanese tourist to throw a cherry snow cone at their head. It favors the Republicans to believe that the media is slanted towards the left. But just because it favors them does not mean it is not true. Turn on the Today Show sometime and you will see a left-slanted media. Watch it for a few weeks. Toggle back and forth with the remote control between news stations that are reporting the same news story. Matt Laur is The Messenger for his ultr-wealthy, ass licking CONTROL FREAKS. It is all about control and money. on Thursday, February 1st 2007 at 8:30am, tbonekkt said: Getting back on topic.. ;) There's something ironic about mjp's comment earlier: "email is in a barely usable, broken state".. I used to be active in their forum, and after I quit the company, I moved my domains to a different host and removed the from powweb's system. I noticed that emails from their forum aren't being delivered to me. I figured that maybe the domain I was using for the email was still in their DNS system, and mail was bouncing because I deleted all email addresses prior to moving the domain. But alas, no. I changed my forum email address to a domain that was never hosted at powweb and I'm still not receiving notices from the forum. Surely they wouldn't be filtering their own outbound email like they do to their customers.. Surely.. Oh, wait. They probably are. on Thursday, February 1st 2007 at 9:57am, mjp said: Surely they probably don't even know what they're doing, and are blocking most of the mail sent from their servers. That, or they have disabled mail from the forum as a cost-cutting move. ;) on Thursday, February 1st 2007 at 10:21am, mjp said: If you think your life will be better under Socialism... Look kids, it's a real, live imbecile! Don't get too close... And the media to which I was referring is the news media used by the most people. Duh. Duh, indeed. I take it you're referring to the big three network evening news programs? Hmm, you mean the 27 million people who watch those? (for those of you who can't read all them words at that link, just look at the pretty charts) The morning news shows you refer to have no more than 14 million viewers combined. Assuming they are the broadcast arms of the Communist party as you would have us believe, they are preaching to less than 9% of the country. Let's say half the country is too young or too stupid to understand a news program, go ahead and double that number then. It's still nowhere near "most people." It favors the Republicans to believe that the media is slanted towards the left. But just because it favors them does not mean it is not true. Again, "the media" as a tool of left wing mind control does not exist. So every statement or argument you base on that term is meaningless. The majority of media outlets in America are owned by, and tilt in favor of, billionaire Republicans. That you desperately try point to one or two left leaning programs or papers is either a sad joke, or just plain ignorance. Deal with facts, or get lost. Your Limbaugh/Fox News spin doesn't work here. on Thursday, February 1st 2007 at 3:25pm, Hillbilly Jones said: Mental monsters are worse than the real thing, friend. How funny that your brain put a Super Spin on my meaning. Sounds like you’re hearing what you wanna hear. I’m no fan of Fox either. And I said the news media used by the most people IN ORDER TO make sure you understood that I meant MORE THAN the networks; and cable news garbage, from Tucker Carlson to Shaun Hannity. Fox spins, NBC spins, they all spin. The fucking Animal Channel probably spins something. I can’t give you a list although I’m sure one exists out there; a list of what they are isn’t the point. It’s all a mix of arguments that are slanted BECAUSE PEOPLE SLANT THEIR POINT OF VIEW. It’s part of that survival thing. And as I’ve said before on this hunk dunky website, emotionally I am a Democrat. Only thing is, I want my kids and grandkids to have jobs in which they can excel and the opportunity to CONTROL their own destinies in an economy that competes as much as it possibly can with the rest of the world. Our Super Power Days are over. It’s more difficult to slant votes on policy. The Democrats increases taxes to support social programs because they think they can run our lives better than we can run our own lives. They cut taxes for selected rich dicks, just like the Republicans do, but overall they raise money to pay for their social programs that don’t work. The programs just suck money from your pocket directly and/or indirectly. And they make laws that end up being cutting off 99 noses to spite 1 face. And the lawyers get richer under the Democrats while you and I hunt the aisles of Wal-Mart to see if Star Kist white tuna packed in spring water is on sale this week for 99 cents a can. As an Indian Wal-Mart employee who cannot speak a lick of English walks by with a blue HOW MAY I HELP YOU? vest on, we back our carts up to the tuna and load them up to save $4.90 on 10 cans; and then snicker to ourselves at this treasure. I figure I am farther left than you are when it comes down to brass tacks. Watch out for them monsters. on Thursday, February 1st 2007 at 7:29pm, mjp said: Your arguments confuse me because they go in five directions at once. I have no idea what point you are trying to make or what you believe. It's all riddled with meaningless or inflammatory buzzwords like "Socialist" in place of Democrat. When I read things like that I dismiss your typing as akin to a wound up toy sheep bouncing around a table and making a lot of noise, but saying nothing. You can say that you don't like Fox, and that you're so far left one foot is in Hawaii, but your words would seem to contradict that. on Friday, February 2nd 2007 at 12:52am, damian said: school this ignorant ayn rand worshipping cunt, mujp. on Friday, February 2nd 2007 at 12:53am, damian said: the extra "u" is for "you". on Friday, February 2nd 2007 at 11:43pm, Hillbilly Jones said: No sheep here, big tooler. Your sure acted like you knew all about in what I believed. But again: I figure I might be farther left than you on many issues, excluding issues related to the economy You can be for legal abortions, gay marriage, legalizing pot, AND for giving corporations incentives to create jobs by using the tax code; only thing is, it’s difficult to find someone to vote for who supports both. I don’t vote for the party. I vote for the policies. Most economic policies that I support are simply the proven, time-tested policies of free trade with relatively little government intervention. When Uncle Sam intervenes it’s like William Hung trying to teach Christina Aguilera how to sing. Democrats with the best of intentions are ALL POLICY AND NO PROGRAM. And laugh as you may, we already have too much socialism. We keep treating the symptom instead of educating ourselves out of our predicament. This is understandable though because we care more about people alive today than our unborn great grandchildren. And I love my children, my unborn grand children, and all the unborn grand children to follow. The efficiency of our economic system over the centuries has been a beautiful, wonderful thing. Without it you wouldn’t be sitting there at your keyboard. The fact that the likes of Bush, Limbaugh, Ann Devil Cunt Coulter, Shaun I Want To Suck My Own Dick I Love Myself So Much Hannity, Richard Nixon, Agnew, and scores of others also support those same time-tested policies should be no reflection upon me. Little Hillary just walked by and took a peek. I asked her if she thought the media was slanted towards the Democrats. She said she didn’t know the answer to that but she did know that history books are slanted; and then she went to the kitchen for a nice cool bottle of water. Regarding a slanted media, just follow the money and you’ll figure it out. At least 9 out of 10 of my friends/family are staunch Democrats, god love ‘em. But Democrats have no game. They are like life coach Anthony “Tony” Robbins. They sell dreams that turn into expensive, sticky piles of shit. Ain’t no sheep here cause it usually takes a genius to get me all wound up; and you don’t SEEM to know much about economics. But you sure know how to google Susanne Jerome Taylor and I thank you for that. on Saturday, February 3rd 2007 at 4:06pm, mjp said: Your sure acted like you knew all about in what I believed. No, all I know is what you type here, that's what my impression is based on. I asked her if she thought the media was slanted towards the Democrats. "THE MEDIA." Yeah. Whatever that is. smog.blog powered by buddy V2.0 |