Fezmid

No, it's because they weren't asking questions for the sake of getting answers - they were verbally attacking the company and trying to make them look bad in an attempt to sway public opinion (which worked in your case). See Audi in the 80s.

Sorry...

Maybe Canada has an indoor smoking ban....?

Boner found stiff in the park... http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/b...z73nyc4nU4RkzqM

The "sudden acceleration" was due to the fact that people were putting their foot on the gas instead of the brakes... 60 Minutes fabricated a lot of crap and that's what caused Audi to decline in sales over 60%... Sorta what the government is trying to do to Toyota right now... To improve sales of GM? (that's the cynic in me talking, anyway). Wall Street Journal article from 1989: http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_18.htm "Government agencies in Japan and Canada, as well as in the U.S., conducted painstaking studies. The Canadians who are franker about such things, called it "driver error." In America, where we can't attach blame to anyone whose name doesn't end with Inc., it was called "pedal misapplication." And unsurprisingly, it's not just Audi drivers who commit it." "The "60 Minutes" story starred a mother who had run over her sixyearold son. On the air, she insisted that she had had her foot on the brake the whole time. When her $48 million claim came to court in Akron, Ohio, in June 1988 the investigating police officer and witnesses at the scene testified that after the accident the distraught mother had admitted that her foot had slipped off the brake. The jury found no defect in the car." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Minutes#Un...ed_acceleration Another good article: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/in-defens...-the-audi-5000/ "Parnelli fired up the Caddy's big V8, dropped it in gear and floored it- with his other foot on the brake. The left rear wheel lit up in a screeching howl; the car was soon engulfed in a cloud of acrid smoke. The Caddy didn't move an inch- obviously. And neither did Parnelli, glancing at the wincing producer with his wicked grin. I had assumed (wrongly) that race-car drivers grew up eventually. The experience seared in a lesson in basic automobile physics: brakes are always more powerful than engines, even when they have 500 cubic inches (8.2 liters). Too bad we didn't have our cameras running. We could have made a graphic rebuttal to 60 Minutes' fraudulent destruction of Audi."

Nice

Killer Whales actually don't attack humans in the wild...

This woman called and told me her email was all gone and she needed my help bringing it back. She tried explaining the situation on the phone, but wasn't making a lot of sense. I drove to her house (about 10 minutes away), and she showed me the computer and email client. After a couple of minutes I realized that she had simply dragged one of the dividers to the side, so her email was all "hidden." I dragged it back so she could see it and explained what to look for next time. She was so excited, and then asked me how much she owed. Since I didn't really *do* much of anything, I told her $10. She got pissed off at me, stormed into the living room where her husband was, and said, "He saved all of our email and is only asking for $10! That's far too low!!! Write him a check for $50!" (that's why I'm a crappy business person - I undervalue the work/benefit I provide... I still feel guilty about taking $50 from them for that job!).

How does that prove this a real issue...? Or is it typical envy of wanting the big guy to fail?

I'm not saying the witch hunt invented the problem. But did you read the links I posted? Similar issue happened to Audi in the 80s -- and turned out to be user error (only after it crippled the business in the US). I'm not quite ready to crucify the company without actual scientific evidence.

How do you know there's really a problem...? Millions of cars driving hundreds of millions of miles, and only a handful of accidents supposedly caused by an issue...? It's possible, but it's also possible that the witch hunt is inventing it. I'm surprised anyone can be so sure that it's 100% definitely an issue.

Why do you believe it's true... Because you heard about it on television...? http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_18.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Minutes#Un...ed_acceleration

The only mechanical thing you have to worry about is the air pump. And if that breaks, you only lose the ability to change the mattress firmness until you get another one. Can't speak to price - I don't remember how much it was and I have no idea how much they are now.

It's easier to spell it "ftp" (probably only /dev/null will get that one..... )

The way Brodeur has been playing, it'll be a step up I think.

We have a Sleep Number bed too - it's pretty good. The one downside is that there's a small crevice in the middle since the mattress consists of two air bladders -- so if one person has the mattress really soft and the other person has it really firm, there's a crevice in the middle. Not a major complaint, but can be slightly annoying. Also, if you do buy one, make sure you get a metal frame to put it on -- the plastic legs they give you are crap, and it doesn't support the crossbeams under the bed at all.

Photography, building a new PC ( http://fezmid.wordpress.com - it'll mainly be used for Photoshop), gaming on the 360, watching TV and movies, going to NLL games (does that count as a hobby?)

That's what's rather strange - I've placed orders with Dell in the past that they've canceled on me without even letting me know... One day my order is in their system, the next day it's mysteriously gone. Not listed as "canceled" in my history, just gone like it was never placed to begin with. That's why I'm shocked that it didn't happen to this order... Anyway, my letter to Chase, describing why I'm asking for a full refund on the order has been written and will be faxed tomorrow. We'll see what happens...

I guess I'd have to hang out in the PPP forum a bit more.... I try to stay out of there; like you said, they're all liars. As for college comments -- I think most "private" schools are a waste of money, but public school is pretty reasonable. I don't regret going at all, I learned a lot (especially how to continue learning on my own), and had some fun too.

How does it not reflect reality? Please, enlighten me. I posted a link showing that the top 5% of tax payers are paying over 50% of the tax burden of the country, and it's just like the restaurant scenario in the link.

AWESOME!

What, you think the people who make $250k (or even $500k) were just born into the life of luxury? My annual household income is much less than $200k -- yet according to the pretty reports I get after finishing my taxes every year, I pay the lions share of taxes in this country. "In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income." http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/incometaxand...whopaysmost.htm According to TaxAct.com, I was in the top 5% of taxpayers -- yet had a household AGI far less than $200k. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/top_...axes.guest.html

Back on topic -- I usually get a decent chunk back because I have too much taken out during the year. I need to fix that... Next year is going to absolutely suck for my taxes though because Minnesota and Wisconsin are getting into a pissing match with each other. My wife and I both work in Minnesota, but live in Wisconsin (right across the border - it's pretty much a suburb). We used to just have Wisconsin tax taken out and then during the next year the states would figure out how much extra Wisconsin had to give to Minnesota (roughly 60k people live in WI and work in MN, and roughly 30k people live in MN and work in WI). Due to the "budget deficit," Minnesota basically said, "Give us our money quicker or we'll cancel this reciprocity agreement!" Heads butted, and the deal was canceled. Normally, not a big deal - I'd have Minnesota taxes taken out, would file a MN and WI state return and be done with it. But no.... My company has a "nexus" with Wisconsin. I'm not really sure what that means, but the short of it is that Wisconsin forces my company to take money out of my check, and Minnesota wants to take some too -- basically double taxing me. My HR department called me and said that I could block Minnesota taxes because at the end of the year, I apparnetly shouldn't have to pay anything to Minnesota from my income... (but my wife will). I can't block the Wisconsin taxes from my check due to this "nexus." I don't see this ending well. Good thing I don't have a pilot's license. (too soon?)