[Most Recent Entries] [Calendar View] [Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
machiavelli_f's LiveJournal:
| Thursday, June 11th, 2009 | |
| 8:49 pm | The New Hampshire driving test: 1> Do you want a drivers license? YES NO (Circle one) ((Note: Applicants that circle YES will immediately be issued a drivers license. Applications that circle NO will still be issued a drivers license. Applicants that refuse to circle YES or NO will praised for their free spirit, and then issued a drivers license)) |
| Friday, May 1st, 2009 | |
| 1:52 pm | |
| Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | |
| 4:00 pm | Hit me baby one more time... http://www.japantoday.com/category/c.
Hardcore. |
| Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 | |
| 3:07 pm | Oh great. A post from one of my team members at school: I have updated the charter.William and Krista I do not know if both of you seen that there are other question to answer on that form. So I thought I would let you two know that there is other questions, because I didn't know until I was told about the other questions before. Sorry if i sound boses, I am not just wanted to let you know. Edit: Gah, her second post is almost as bad: I really don't cares either one will be ok with me. Just let me know which one everyone besides on. Me fail English? That's unpossible! |
| Monday, January 5th, 2009 | |
| 1:08 pm | Will they read of us with sadness for the seeds that we let grow? The other day, I saw an "Obama For President" sticker on a car. Apart from thinking it was vaguely inappropriate, in the same sense that "Christmas decorations still up in February" is inappropriate, I was struck by a thought: This sticker is giving me permission to steal this car. I mean, if someone is the kind of person that advocates taking others belongings without their consent... then that person would have to be a giant hypocrite to be upset when someone takes their belongings, right? |
| Monday, December 22nd, 2008 | |
| 9:55 am | I have six buddy keys for a free 7 day trial of Warhammer Online. If you want one, I need an email address and a first name. Comments are screened to keep email addresses private. |
| Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 | |
| 12:27 pm | I'm playing hockey this afternoon at the American Airlines Center. This is the same ice where the Dallas Stars play their NHL games. It's about as close to playing in the NHL as I'm ever likely to get. I'm stoaked! |
| Friday, December 5th, 2008 | |
| 9:24 am | |
| Monday, November 17th, 2008 | |
| 1:40 pm | I tried my hand at writing a test. It's much more of a "How much do you know?" rather than a "What color dog would you be?" kind of test. Great Books of Literature Test |
| Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 | |
| 9:40 am | |
| Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 | |
| 10:32 am | Slight of hand and quick exchange, the old tricks have been rearranged.... Ok, it's bad enough that the government has decided to bail out Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac, and all the other quasi-government agencies that decided to try to maximize their profits by making poor loan decisions. Removing tax dollars from people who did NOT make poor decisions in order to assist those who did. That's the American way. I mean, no one, not even billion dollar companies, should have to live with the consequences of their poor decisions, right? But even worse is the rider to the bill: Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting: The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions. A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years. Why are people not up in arms about this?!? It essentially requires credit card companies to report your spending habits to the IRS. Not someone else's habits. YOURS. Why? So the IRS can decide if you are spending more money than you should be, and audit you accordingly. And now, I'm placed in the wonderful position of figuring out "How do we, as a credit card company, Comply with this requirement?" You see, there are a couple problems, the biggest of which is that I don't know who you are. Oh, sure, you swipe your card, and I see that "Fred Smith" swiped his card. Which Fred Smith? No idea. Just... "Fred Smith". Even worse, I'm required not to store that information. Once Fred Smith's purchase is approved, I delete all reference to "Fred Smith". All I know is that a card number made a purchase for X dollars at Y merchant. I keep that information to settle disputes or chargebacks made later on, and because I'm required to for tax purposes. The rest, I'm required to throw away. So, nevermind how impossibly hard this is on the big evil credit card company. Do you really want the Government tracking your spending habits? They can wiretap you without so much as a warrant. How is this NOT a fourth amendment violation? "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated" IRS: Mr. Smith, you spent $30,000 last year, but you only made $20,000. Do you mind telling me where that extra money came from? Smith: It was in my bank account from previous years. IRS: Do you have proof of that? Smith: Here is my bank statement. IRS: Great, lets get all your bank statements, purchases, and any other transactions you made for the previous five years, and decide how much more money you owe us. Someone else bought a house they couldn't afford, and we need you to pay for it. GAH! I'm furious! |
| Thursday, May 22nd, 2008 | |
| 3:01 pm | |
| Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 | |
| 3:19 pm | |
| Monday, February 11th, 2008 | |
| 10:51 am | This is awesome, and had to be shared. |
| Thursday, February 7th, 2008 | |
| 10:29 am | |
| Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 | |
| 10:20 am | |
| Friday, January 18th, 2008 | |
| 1:05 pm | Oh the weather outside is frightful... "Artic Blast 2008 'Oh my God we're all going to die'" has hit Dallas. There are, quite literally, dozens of snowflakes falling out of the sky. On the way back from lunch, we almost hit one. I might need to leave early before the roads get too bad. |
| Monday, November 26th, 2007 | |
| 11:43 am | One that won't make me nervous, wondering what to do... So many people are trying to find a way to "get well". To be healthy. I think there is no mystical pathway to health. There is no magical program, and there is no wonder drug that will make it happen. ( Here, for you, for free, is the patented* Machiavelli_F Health Program: ) * not really patented. |
| Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 | |
| 9:56 am | Learning that we're only immortal for a limited time... I got to go to the Rush concert on Saturday night. It was... Incredibly awesome. I'm still reeling from it. Seriously, this was the best concert I've ever seen in my LIFE. They sound incredible live. Truly, these guys are musicians of phenominal talent. They played many of the old songs people recognize, including four of the six tracks off Permanent Waves (The didn't play Entre Nous or Different Strings), and several tracks off their new Snakes & Arrows album, which now must be mine. They also did this little intro from South Park, which was hilarious. I am very grateful to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 9thmoon for giving me the chance to go. Thank you so much for such a great experience. |
| Thursday, July 19th, 2007 | |
| 9:07 am | I didn't even have to use my AK... I've been thinking about how easy it is to turn a good day into a bad one. I mean, it doesn't really take much. You can wake up rested, set out with a positive outlook, try your best to hold on to your good mood in the face of adversity, but it really only takes one thing to destroy your good mood. On the flipside, turning a bad day into a good one takes significant effort. If the day is truly lousy, chances are that even with a good ending, you are still going fall into bed glad that the day is done, and hope that tomorrow will be better. Given that its so easy to make a good day go bad, and so difficult to turn a bad day around, and given the sheer amount of raw stupidity that we are forced to deal with day-in and day-out... It's a wonder that anyone ever has a good day. Heck, maybe most people don't - It's not often you read an LJ post from someone saying "Today was so great!", But there are plenty of "Today sucks" posts to go around. I suppose it goes back to that old saying - Murphy was an optimist. |