On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:57:08 -0400, wrote:

On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:58:55 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Metspitzer" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:44:34 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...

"Jim Wilkins" wrote in message
...
On Apr 25, 12:48 am, "Ed Huntress" wrote:
...
I just watch out for the underlying principle. For most of my life,
copyright has been an important issue in my work. I just don't like the
idea
that people should get all of that work for free.

This time, I'll reverse myself on the issue for this particular set of
circumstances. It's not like a private, individual writer having his
work
taken away.
...
Ed Huntress

I tossed this one out to see the reactions. I worked for MITRE, which
is structured as a private company doing public-interest consulting
funded by federal contracts, another approach to expert technical
assistance not subject to bureaucratic and political overhead.

My son works for one of those policy institutes, in health care. It
works
mostly on government consulting contracts, with some foreign and private
contracts tossed in.


I took the governmentese writing classes, though I wrote only manuals
and circuit descriptions. The instructor mostly discussed the various
administrative models from the rule-based formalism of a bank to the
wild-west power struggles Harold Geneen encouraged at ITT.

We have never agreed on a single model for functions that combine
private and public interest. We range from phone-pole monopolies for
otherwise private utilities through complete government control
(NASA), and some like water works may flop back and forth. Fire
departments were once private companies. In the case of the NEC
volunteers create standards that become law, a de facto practical
compromise between private special interest and elected authority.

That's a dilemma that results from inherent conflicts between a
democratic
government and private capitalism. We muddle through, but it's a
case-by-case thing.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System
According to the Board of Governors, the Federal Reserve is
independent within government in that "its decisions do not have to be
ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive or
legislative branch of government." However, its authority is derived
from the U.S. Congress and is subject to congressional oversight.

jsw

The Federal Reserve is one of the most extreme cases. It depends
entirely
on the ability of the decision-makers, and their integrity in the face
of
political pressure.

So far it's worked amazingly well, but we are now living through some of
the consequences of ideological conflicts within the Fed. There is no
way
that I can see to improve it. Having Congress control it would be an
absolute disaster -- as it was, before the Fed was created.

--
Rf Jimytrdd

HAHahohoho...my fingers slipped off of the home keys while I was watching
TV
over my shoulder. g

Over your shoulder? I have put my desktop on a portable laptop cart
like this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-...ilver/11061200

Only I have it pushed over to the right and turned 90 where the long
part is sticking out in the room. I can see my TV and my computer at
the same time. The cart is over far enough so my recliner can put out
the leg rest. The tower is also turned 90 so it fits entirely on the
cart.

I still can't figure out why nothing gets done around here.

(BTW there is no way the tower in the picture can be a mid sized
tower. The cart is too narrow for it to fit the way it looks in the
picture) My mid sized tower measures 18 inches front to back. The
outside to outside distance of the two uprights on the table are only
10 3/4.

That's very nice. That's a lot like the setup I used years ago, although
yours looks a lot nicer. Mine was a converted typing table. Now I have a
home-built corner desk that faces directly away from the TV. Usually I just
sort-of-listen to the news, but there was something I wanted to see and,
from habit, I just kept typing.

I always type my name so I don't forget it. d8-)

I am sitting in my Laz E Boy with a wireless keyboard on my lap,

There is no better computer chair than the Laz E Boy.

system unit and monitor are on a table next to me and the big screen
is in front of me. There is also a PC connected to the big screen with
a wireless workstation so I could use that if I wanted but it is
mostly a MP3 and Netflix machine when it is not on the satellite.
My wife has her monitor on the wall next to her chair and the system
unit is behind the chair. If you count the 3 DVRs there are 6
computers in this room (also 3 in my computer room, one in the kids
room and one out by the pool)