Subj : Re: GNU Public Licences Revisited (again) To : comp.programming From : Randy Howard Date : Sat Sep 24 2005 10:54 am Gerry Quinn wrote (in article ): > In article <0001HW.BF59306F00511954F0407550@news.verizon.net>, > randyhoward@FOOverizonBAR.net says... >> MSCHAEF.COM wrote > >>> PS: I thought debit cards were an odd choice of aid too. >> >> They were not a choice of aid. They were the first steps in the >> next election campaign. > > Exactly how do you work that out? Simple. Politicians buying votes. The mayor of NO is obviously incompetent, asking his voting base to return (instead of settling in Houston and elsewhere, lost for ever to the polls) 2 days before the levees break again, despite FEMA and others saying no. If he actually gets reelected, that's proof that the stupidity of the public is unbounded. > Actually I reckon they were a fairly sensible idea - You're the first person (not on a TV screen) I've seen agree with it. Reports out of Houston (I have relatives and friends there) are that the cards are being used to buy jewelry, electronics and even used in strip clubs. I'm glad the money is going to serve good purposes, like lap dances. Meanwhile, we're talking about burning foreign aid supplies from England and perhaps elsewhere instead of distributing them, because the FDA bureaucrats don't get to exercise their forms and stamps over them first. Insanity, as usual, is the order of the day. Same crap with not allowing volunteer doctors in to help from out of state, because they were not 'licensed to practice' in LA, might be sex offenders (what???), etc. Simple. Bureaucrats can never allow, not even in an emergency, for anyone to learn that their forms, policies and red tape to be circumvented, because you might wake up and realize they aren't really needed at all and their jobs might go away. They'd rather see people die than allow it. > the obvious > alternative of giving displaced persons a wad of cash would probably > lead directly to a good deal of crime. Why not just feed them and give them clothing, instead of cash or debit cards? Does this not just encourage people to hang around during emergencies instead of evacuating in the hopes of collecting a 'lottery ticket' from FEMA? Sheesh. Talk about improper motivation. I saw an interview with a guy who had received a debit card on TV, and he was actually /complaining/ about it, because he said it should have been $20,000 dollars to make up for his suffering. SINCE WHEN does the government owe someone compensation for a hurricane? That, combined with the looting (which is now going on in Houston as well over the last 24 hours since the rationals all left town) is just depressing, and quite frankly, embarrassing. Trying to obtain food and water in an emergency is one thing, plasma TVs and DVD players? String them up on the court house lawn for all I care. > There may have also been a feeling that people who didn't need the > money would put them by for a while. Sure, I suppose looking at their > card might give a few people a warm feeling about the government, but > it was hardly the motive for distributing them. It's always about money, power and redistribution of wealth. No exceptions. The politicos in washington are visibly jumping for joy at the possibility to use this as an excuse to raise taxes. -- Randy Howard (2reply remove FOOBAR) .