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Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
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Marc, you are too funny.
Democracy is now being covered by autocracy and corruption. I do not see the exact use of democracy in a any country.
well... i think i'm a psychopath/sociopath and i really wanna know if i really am 1 because according to the PCL-R test (hare checklist test) i took online, i got 34-36 points (multiple tests) which is an extreme psychopath according to the test but i dont feel free to harm people... i mean i don't care about hurting people it doesn't make me feel any bad feeling but i just can't do it for fun mostly around people that are not close to me please if anybody has an answer for this please help me analyze my situation.psychopath test online
Aliceinwonderland ~ AAhhh it's so cute. Size isn't everything--as I'm sure my illustrious colleague Palindromedary would agree. It doesn't matter how big it is. Break out the magnifying glass and don't squint. It's where you put and how you use the little smiley face that matters. Keep on smiling :-)
Sounds like my honeymoon.
Oh m'gosh it shrank down again! Geez... why bother?! At that size you need a magnifying glass. Oh well, thanks for trying PD.
Okay PD, I copied Smiley off your post and now I'll try pasting it here, after putting it in Text Edit and enlarging it. Here goes:
☺
Palin -- Per Thom, greenspan retracted his regrets soon after expressing them
Palin -- Thank you very much. I have a multi-meter (I still call it a voltmeter). My power cords are attached firmly to the back of the VCRs. I worked for Delco Radio during the summers back in the 60's. I have been shocked occasionally while working there. I'll let you know how it turns out.
I think that many people here may very well understand everything I said...and some may even be able to correct me on a few points or add a great deal to them....especially the NSA spies. Not that I'm paranoid, mind you! ;-} But, a number of fellow bloggers on this site have their own web sites...some several web sites. Although the NSA may be more interested in the conversations of younger and more reactive people than many of us here. Although, I heard that an 84 year old man in San Francisco went gunning for his doctor for not properly treating the old man for the great amount of pain he had been having since he got shingles. Maybe if more doctors believed that, unless they shape up and start treating people properly, that others might go gunning for them as well.
Anyway, I have to get back to my studies || die;
Palindromedary ~ Other than you and I--and the NSA--do you really think anyone here understands what you are talking about? Personally, I think you are spot on. There will always be a new ways to divert or encrypt data to avoid detection. However, I also believe that any tactic is going to eventually be compromised. Any time data is transmitted there will always be a way to intercept and decode it. If nothing else, that is probably the reason hackers do what they do. They want to show the world that no digital system is completely infallible; and, any solution is only short lived. Oh well, what are you going to do? I guess that's just job security for John McAfee.
Try this smiley face (it's kinda small but it is a smiley face):☺
I am sooo bored with the Cold War! These guys (Kerry, Obomba) must be desperate for another war to keep us all distracted and the weapons manufacturers happy, while their Fourth Reichian muscles stay flexed just to be sure the rest of the world still knows who's boss. Doesn't the Ukraine have oil? If they do, I pity them. - Alice IW
I suspect, that it won't be long before the US blacklists all RT connections to the US or they will put pressure on the common carriers to drop the show (in the interests of national insecurity, of course). I've noticed that often, when I watch RT programs, that the audio and sometimes the video (so we can't read their lips?) is interrupted during key discussions. I have never noticed this on any other Dish satellite network program...especially...never on regular US propaganda news shows.
"Brazil's Senate has unanimously adopted a bill which guarantees online privacy of Brazilian users and enshrines equal access to the global network."
But, while they claim "the bill promotes freedom of information, making service providers not liable for content published by their users"...but instead... "forces the companies to obey court orders to remove any offensive material".
So, really, they still won't have true freedom of information. True freedom of information means that you don't censor anything no matter how offensive it is to some.
"The principle of neutrality, calling on providers to grant equal access to service without charging higher rates for greater bandwidth use is also promoted. The legislation also limits the gathering and use of metadata on Internet users in Brazil."
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I think that they are more concerned about protecting their business and politicians from being spied on by the US.
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http://rt.com/news/154168-brazil-internet-freedom-law-conference/
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And the following are excerpts from an interview on RT of IT Pioneer- John McAfee and founder of the very well known McAfee Associates, anti-virus company. He's working on another project, called D-Central, which is a decentralized, encrypted wireless network that will help keep your privacy away from a government, and other hacker's, that are currently spying on us all.
"it’s not just the NSA by the way, that is spying on us, I mean the NSA was the one that was first to be outed by Edward Snowden, but I can guarantee that all other covert government agencies, of which there are more than 15, are doing the same things – the CIA, FBI, Military Intelligence."-John McAfee.
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And even our local law enforcement agencies are spying on us all the time.
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"[D-Central] can definitely be globally engaged, it’s a completely flexible and moving localized network, where every other unit within the quarter-mile is directly communicating with your unit. We have relays, we can relay things across the city, the state, the country or the entire planet. It will not replace the internet, certainly not at first, it is an augment to the internet, it’s a device without a screen, it’s an on\off switch, you can drop it in your pocket, it communicates with your smartphone. So, if you’re on the internet with the smartphone you can do whatever you’re doing. If you want to send someone a private message, something to your sweetheart, and you want to say something juicy, or to your business associate talking about a plan that you don’t want your competitors to know about, then you switch to the private network which is ours, and everything is absolutely secure. If you intercept the packet it has no name attached to it, or location either. There is no way to tell who was sending what to whom, and it is all encrypted, using an encryption technique that neither the NSA nor any other agency was involved in. It simply cannot be seen – if it can’t be seen then it can’t be hacked." -John McAfee.
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By the way, did you know that our government has what is known as a "mobile network in a suitcase"? They've had it for a number of years and have used it in countries that tried to shut down the country's internet communications, especially during the US-assisted overthrow of those countries...like Libya and Egypt...and probably being used by the US-supported Al Qaeda in Syria and was probably used by the US supported Ukrainian Nazis in the overthrow of the legitimate government of Ukraine.
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Brazil is also trying to create their own internet, not reliant upon the one dictated by the US. John McAfee doesn't think it will work very well especially if they expect to be connected to the world wide internet. Currently, the US and other key countries have the authority to assign IP (Internet Protocol) address numbers mostly to large entities like large companies like Microsoft and your ISP (Internet Service Provider),to people who buy them. And URLs or URIs can be bought from smaller brokers like GoDaddy. Whitehouse.gov has an IP address of 184.25.212.110 for example. That's an IPV4 address. The IPV6 IP address for Whitehouse.gov is: 2600:1400:a::1743:fa93
We need to use these IP numbers and URLs (aka: URIs) in order for the routers to direct the traffic to the desired web site or person at the other end. And once assigned, they get periodically downloaded by all of the many millions of routers. Some people hack into these routers and, aside from other shenanigans, inject their own private IP/URL and IP address information in them which bypasses the control of those who are suppose to be controlling the internet. Sometimes, they can clash with other IP numbers if they are the same IP number, especially when using IPV4 which has a limited number of IP numbers which have already been exhausted. But now we are into the realm of IPV6 which has so many IP number possibilities that clashing would be far more difficult.
Brazil could make sure that all of their internal routers were all configured with it's own internal IP numbers..kind of like how we currently have delayed exhaustion of IPV4 numbers by using our own private internal IP numbers on our internal LANs (Local Area Networks) in our own home and business routers. But, I wonder if lots of other countries, that are ticked off with the US spying on them couldn't have their own private networks (WANs-wide area networks), the own border gateway interfaces to shut out the US altogether, or perhaps, just having special high security routes to connect to the US. Oh, well John McAfee will probably figure it all out.
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By the way, as I understand it, John McAfee has detached himself from the company he founded because he claims that his original anti-virus software worked but "the current shareholders have bastardized it and turned it into bloatware." -from the first comment on that article.
http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/government-spies-master-paranoia-404/
All the Dixiecrats switched parties and are Republican now.
So, now John Kerry is calling RT (Russia Today) TV just propaganda. I think they are getting scared that their ruling elite owned major news propaganda mouth pieces like Fox, BBC, CNN, ABC(is that still in existence?), CBS, NBC, and all the others are not being believed by a large audience around the world..even in the US. John Kerry, and all the other US politicians who claim that Russia is behind anything in Ukraine are being hypocrites as it is well known, around the world, that the US and Europeans were behind the original coups in Ukraine. The people in power in the US are so afraid that if you watch RT you won't believe the US propaganda.
BRAVO, Mark!!! - You-know-who
We get you Dave, you (business owners) should be allowed to do whatever they feel like - without regard for any ethical considerations - and those who work for someone else don't deserve any rights at all. It's all a free and fair contractual agreement - just like when the stick up man puts a gun to your head and you "freely choose" to give him your wallet in return for his not shooting you.
A legitimate function of government is to protect the weak from the strong and and it's patently absurd to think that an individual worker can enter into a free and fair contractual relationship with a large corporation or even a smaller business. The power imbalance in favor of the employer is too great. Workers have some of the necessary power to negotiate such a contract when they unite and combine with one another and bargain collectively. Absent that, government is necessary to oversee fairness in effectively contractual relationships. Even with worker combination, government is necessary to oversee fairness, to keep your power in check.
You all (business owners) want to eliminate government because you want to eliminate democracy, accountability of authority to the people, from society. You are not against government, you are against democratic government. You want to remove democratic government so that you, then, would effectively become the government, without any accountability.
Oh phooey! I clicked on the smiley face and got nothin', just a blank space.
Oh, we don't have undocumented workers either, Kend. Oh, good heavens, no! That would be illegal! I'm sure our wonderful government deports them all. I was just being hypothetical, of course!
Actually, Kend, Canada is esimated to have 200,000 undocumented workers. The laws and/or enforcement of them are much more loose in Canada, people simply ignore them. I've had friends who snuck over the border and even worked for the government in Canada and nobody asked them a thing about their status.
Yeah Kend, maybe capitalism is without ethical provision and doesn't result in a just society, a least when left to its own device - if "making Maximum profit" is the only virtue in capitalism and is a euphemism for maximum exploitation of workers.
Like the Affordable Care Act, Dave, the "Great Society" wasn't the be-all-end-all; just a step in the right direction. Unless Republicans can come up with better alternatives, they can keep knocking it "'til the cows come home" but it won't fool anyone who's been paying attention. Because they're all about pampering the rich and they've got nothing to offer us, and we know it. That's why Republicans keep playing their voter-suppressing little games, because they know that we know we've been had; that the more of us they can purge from those lists or discourage from voting, the better they'll fare in any election. It's what fascists do when the game's over and they're done trying to win over hearts & minds; when they're ready to pounce on their prey and rip us off with impunity. And if we don't watch out, things could get a lot nastier before the end of the movie. It's all about the latest episode of this recurring old drama, one as old as the hills. We Baby Boomers probably won't live to see the day when it all, predictably, blows up like one giant fart-in-a-windstorm. As this empire joins its predecessors in the dustbin of history, things'll get better for awhile until another generation falls asleep at the wheel, and the cycle repeats itself and then there's another crisis... Unless capitalism goes bye-bye, unless we break its stranglehold on us, it'll never end; the strife, the carnage; these dangerous, stupid power struggles... round'n round, loop-di-loop!
Here we go again, déjà vu time folks! Need more proof of reincarnation, PD, look no further! Capitalism out of control yet again, at that malignant stage where the shit hits the fan. Yep- same old shit, same results. Duh, whuddia know. Like all self-glorifying empires preceding it, the United Mistake of America- aka Fourth Reich- is destined to go the way of the Third Reich and the Romans. - Aliceinwonderland
P.S.- Oh one more thing, Mister Businessman. Since you're so concerned about keeping your products "affordable", your business (along with all businesses) might try paying your workers decent wages. It really is the most effective means to that end, because then they can afford the products you're selling, which is a win-win for everyone... Right? Just pay 'em more $$$ so they can buy your stuff, and... Bingo! We'll all be dancing in the streets and bells will be ringing, and God Bless America!
Aliceinwonderland ~ Thank you!!
Marc, regarding how Thom uses his knowledge of scripture, I've noticed that too. Makes for a powerful weapon in any debate involving the bible, or where Thom's opponent in a debate brings bible quotes into the discussion. Whatever Thom's personal beliefs, that in itself would be sufficient motivation for learning scripture, just so he can thwart the arguments of these scripture-twisting hacks.
By the way, I loved the perspective you've shared on this whole religion thing… like: "…personal belief[s] of 'living brains' should be honored and respected because we all share the need to embrace some belief. It is a human psychological need to know what to expect when we die because we as humans all know we are going to die some day." That is so true, my friend. And you're right; good investments (or ideas) don't have to be peddled. - Aliceinwonderland
Palindromedary ~ Oh, truer words were never spoken. It is for precisely that reason that I quote scripture. You see my friend a great many of the more successful religious organizations are nothing more than religious cults who use their podiums for no other reason than to direct political action for hidden agendas. These cults use the same method, they take scriptural quotes out of context and twist the meanings to fit their needs. That is how we get people voting against their best interests. That is how we get people to condemn innocents for nothing. That is how we get people to declare war on nations who have done nothing to them. That is why what you said is absolutely true.
I do the same thing. I listen to these people and then dig up their sources in an attempt to throw cold water on their theories. So far I've been most successful. So successful in fact I'm convinced scripture itself isn't the evil source, it is the cults who twist it.
If you've ever listened to Thom, you already know that he practically memorized the Bible. Why? Because he believes in it? Who knows? He has the wisdom to keep his personal beliefs private. Perhaps that is my main mistake.
Thom's knowledge of scripture comes in very handy when he deals with these brainwashed religious types who annoy the hell out of both of us. His technique is to throw scripture right back into their faces. When he does it becomes obvious that they really are brainwashed and have no idea what they are really talking about. The argument is over before it begins.
This is quite similar to my technique. However, mine is much simpler. I just quote the entire verse and it is obvious that the religious institutions and organizations are misrepresenting it for personal objectives and a hidden agenda. Argument over.
What you believe doesn't interest me. What people believe who are trying to influence our politicians and change agenda for purposes that are at odds with my wishes it does interest me. You have to know your enemy to defeat them. Anything else is a waste of time.
If I quote from the Magna Carta, am I trying to convert you to pre-colonial feudalism? If I quote from Mein Kampf am I trying to convert you to Nazism? If I quote from my recipe book am I trying to convert you to my diet? I am not, nor have I ever tried, to proselytize anyone. It is my belief that this is something you want to believe so you don't have to come in contact with anything that smells a certain way. If so, that is fine with me, just don't step on my toes when I share the fruit of my knowledge. To make this easier for you in the future I will try to keep my theological posts on a"Generally Speaking" tone rather than address them to you. Perhaps that will work for both of us?
chuckle8: Sounds like you might have some blown fuses in the VCRs that won't power up. If you don't have external fuses that are easily replaceable then there might be some internal ones..they often label them (on the board) F1 for Fuse 1.
Note: You shouldn't remove the cover on the VCR when it is still plugged in to the outlet....nor plug it into a wall socket receptacle when you have the cover off unless you know what you are doing.
Note: You should never try to measure resistance (multimeter on the ohms scale) when you have power connected to the circuit you are working on.
I don't know how much experience you have with electronics or electricity but I wouldn't want you to get shocked. I've been shocked a number of times and it's not very much fun.
It could also be that the electronics got zapped. If you have a multimeter, and know how to use it, you could try checking the resistance across the electrical cord..after unplugging the device measure ohms across the small and large rectangular prongs of the unplugged power cord and hit the on/off switch of the VCR to see if you have infinite resistance or some small ohm reading when the switch is in the on position. It would be normal to have some small resistance when the switch is on and infinite (open circuit) or a very high resistance reading when the switch is off. Usually, if you have a blown fuse you won't see a low resistance when the on/off switch is set to on position.
But before you do any of that, you might want to check if you have power coming from the wall sockets that the VCRs are plugged into by plugging in a lamp or something that you know works into that wall socket. Maybe the fuse or circuit breaker for that wall socket (receptacle) is blown or tripped. Sometimes these receptacles can be wired wrong and the polarity is backwards. Hopefully, you have a 3 prong receptacle. The old two prong receptacles don't have a ground and that ground helps protect your equipment from when you get power surges or spikes when the power goes out or comes back on. It also helps protect against static electricity which can sometimes cause damage to equipment...especially sensitive equipment like computers.
If you have a polarity checker, that you can buy at most hardware or electronics stores, that makes it easy to tell if the polarity is correct and that you have voltage there without having to poke any multimeter probes into the holes of the wall socket. It's also the safest way. You just plug the polarity checker in and if the LEDS(Light Emitting Diodes) on the checker are lit in the correct way (there's a legend on the checker usually) then you have the correct polarity.
You might suspect that your outlet has incorrect polarity just from the fact that your VCRs were affected in this way. Having the correct polarity and proper grounding helps keep these devices from being so adversely affected by power outages.
You could also try to take your VCRs to another known good receptacle to see if it works there.
I think most of those old VCRs have a solidly attached cord to the VCR but others might have a cord that plugs into them. If a cord plugs into the back of the VCR you can check the resistance of the cord..(with the cord not plugged in to the wall socket) each of the conductors from one end to the corresponding one on the other end. Sometimes, if you open up the case, with power off of-course, and look around you might see a burned component. But sometimes you may have a bad component that doesn't show any damage. Look for the internal fuse, if the VCR has one, and check the resistance of it with the multimeter on the resistance (ohms) scale. With the cover off, you can also check the resistance of the cord, if it happens to be a solidly attached one (ie: soldered to components on the board or attached with connector lugs). There may be some big cylindrical shaped components called capacitors. There are big one and really tiny ones. The big ones hold an electrical charge for a period of time, even with the power off and unplugged, and it wouldn't be a good idea to touch the contacts where they are soldered to the board. But since those traces can go just about anywhere it's best not to touch any component or contact or trace with your fingers...just to be safe. When I used to work on Radar systems that had really big capacitors, and even when I worked on TVs, I would discharge those big capacitors with a shorting bar. Screw drivers work on TVs. Of course this was done when there was no power applied at the time.
It's been quite a while since I've worked on VCRs.
The thumping on the one VCR sounds like there is a solenoid inside repeatedly energizing. It could be a zapped component on the electronics board that is energizing a solenoid or the mechanism is stuck in a certain position that is not allowing certain switches to be energized that would allow the mechanism to complete it's cycle. There is at least one solenoid and a mechanism for cartridge transport into and out of the unit, motors that turn the tape transport from one reel to the other. And there is a solenoid to energize the idle roller against the capstan which helps transport the tape firmly across the head which is a tilted rotating shiny wheel. Old audio tape heads were just stationary little things.