Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (220)	6/6/2008 5:36:55 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3816

"...We are taken to the North County Bank in Michigan, which — like several other banks in the United States — allows people who buy a Certificate of Deposit to receive their interest in the form of a rifle or shotgun. (The depositor thereby receives the full value of the interest immediately, rather than over a term of years.) Moore goes through the process of buying the CD and answering questions for the federal Form 4473 registration sheet. Although a bank employee makes a brief reference to a "background check," the audience never sees the process whereby the bank requires Moore to produce photo identification, then contacts the FBI for a criminal records check on Moore, before he is allowed to take possession of the rifle. Moore asks: "Do you think it's a little bit dangerous handing out guns at a bank?" The banker's answer isn't shown. So the audience is left with a smug sense of the pro-gun bank's folly. Yet just a moment's reflection shows that there is not the slightest danger. To take possession of the gun, the depositor must give the bank thousands of dollars (an unlikely way to start a robbery). He must then produce photo identification (thus making it all but certain that the robber would be identified and caught), spend at least a half hour at the bank (thereby allowing many people to see and identify him), and undergo an FBI background check (which would reveal criminal convictions disqualifying most of the people inclined to bank robbery). A would-be robber could far more easily buy a handgun for a few hundred dollars on the black market, with no identification required. The genius of Bowling for Columbine is that the movie does not explicitly make these obvious points about the safety of the North County Bank's program. Rather, the audience is simply encouraged to laugh along with Moore's apparent mockery of the bank, without realizing that the joke is on them for seeing danger where none exists. This theme is developed throughout the film..." nationalreview.com

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (220)	6/6/2008 6:25:10 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3816

Gosh darn! Cussing banned in California townStory Highlights Story Highlights South Pasadena declares first week of March as No Cussing Week Mayor hopes proclamation will "elevate the level of discourse" Anti-swearing drive started with teen who founded high school's No Cussing Club edition.cnn.com I have come to miss the common courtesy and polite manners that were ingrained in me as a child. Extended family structure is rare, crowded cities of isolated individuals is common, while the struggle of each day has become increasingly hectic and burdensome. We spend most of our time whining about others while contributing to the divisiveness that puts others in positions of polarized contention. A little more civility would be as welcome as a breath of fresh air in these times and circumstances.

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (220)	6/17/2008 6:07:31 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3816

Chinese company develops 'UFO' BEIJING (AFP) - A Chinese company has developed a prototype flying saucer that can hover in the air and be controlled remotely from afar, state press said Tuesday. The aircraft is 1.2 metres (four feet) in diameter and is able to take off and land vertically and hover at an altitude of up to 1,000 metres (yards), Xinhua news agency said. The unmanned disc is driven by a propeller and can be controlled remotely or sent on a preset flight path, it said. Its top speed is 80 kilometres (50 miles) per hour, it added. It took the Harbin Smart Special Aerocraft Co Ltd 12 years and 28 million yuan (4.1 million dollars) to develop the prototype craft, which is designed for aerial photography, geological surveys and emergency lighting, the report said. news.yahoo.com