*turns to guy seated next to me in white beard and red clothes*

"Hey, someone doubts you're real. Pffft, right ?"

one long-term investment I would recommend is....

buying an OEM disk for Windows 7, so if you need to reformat, you can, easily.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416805

$100 bucks. On ebay you might be able to get it cheaper. Windows 7, I'm sure, will be supported by MS for many years, so having your own disk will come in handy. I promise you. Now, if you can buy a laptop with a disk included, that's even better.

The only way to do this any cheaper, is to go Linux.

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop

There's other distros besides Ubuntu, but that's a very popular one that is pretty newbie-friendly. You do have to learn how to use it and be willing to put in some time learning it. However, once you learn it, the updates are FREE. The main advantage of Windows, to me, is that MS holds your hand constantly. Ubuntu and other distros of Linux, not so much.

Linux = free
Microsoft = $99, unless you go for Windows XP, which I do NOT advise.

Hope all this tech gibberish helped! Good luck!

a sincere question

This is not a troll post, I promise. I have a good track record.

Lately I've been watching some videos by the lady at http://www.enthusiasticbuddhist.com/youtube-videos/ Buddhism intrigues me, because I know nothing about it, really.

This is a really kind of trivial, dumb question, but it really struck me: the reverence for all living creatures. Yes, I totally get that. However...sigh.... I really don't like cockroaches. I really..don't like them.

I'm sure you understand what I'm getting at. So far, that would be a real hurdle for me with Buddhism. I'd have to do a lot of work on that. I mean, a whole ton of work.

Is this a common concern with Buddhists ? If this is disruptive, I will self-delete, gladly. No harm intended, honest. Thanks.

Steve

Canadian air invades Florida. Thank you Canada! :)

Easter, my second mother

I hope I don't regret this thread. I'm baring my soul a bit.

From 1958 to 1991, Easter worked at my home as a maid. She was African-American. She was born in 1920, so she had experienced Jim Crow in full intensity.

Easter truly loved me. She hugged me. She kissed me. She cooked for me. She asked about me. She worried about me. " Steebie ", she used to call me. I loved that woman. I truly did. I cried when she died, and went to her funeral service at her church.

Of course, she was not my mother. My own mother died in 2007. However, Easter did a lot for me, out of the goodness of her huge heart. She was a long-suffering soul, having a daughter who, apparently, had many problems. Her daughter was very very grief-stricken when she passed.

Ok, I'm rambling now. My family did as much as we could for her, because we all cared for her. Could we have done more ? I suppose. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Hopefully this thread will help one person. I hope so. It is done with all good intents.

Have a good day, sincerely.


Steve

here's my bottom line on the n-word.....

I support the feelings of the AA community. If it is offensive to 99.999% of you, then, I support you.

If you are ok with it spelled out in subject lines and in bodies of posts, then, I support you.

That's my bottom line. As a white male, I have no right to second-guess your feelings about that word.

I hope I am clear here. I support the AA community at DU and in the real world, 100% at all times. Your community has undergone almost unimaginable sufferings at the hands of white people, and the least I can do is support your feelings.

Again, heaven05, I am quite sorry for my reaction to your post. From all reports, you are a good man, and I should have calmed down and taken a walk, instead of reacting so strongly. My sincere apologies.

Steve

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - MLK

I like that quote. A lot.

http://forusa.org/blogs/ivan-boothe/martin-luther-king-jr-his-own-words-radical-revolutionary-opposed-war/8435

I wanted a good cop to tell us the reality....

We have one downthread.

When I used to work in the prison, almost all the inmates would swear up and down how fucking horrible the cops were. Well, duh....look at who's sitting in prison. One time I was called " a pussy " to my face because I advocated caution with LEO's. I just smiled to myself and thought, ok tough guy, you do what you want.

I've only had one bad experience in 56 years with LEO's. Granted, I'm a white guy, but I've also been given breaks by LEO's. If 99.99% of them were assholes, my car insurance would be 400% higher.

Reality: shades of gray

DU: hmm.....not always so good at shades of gray

see here for the good cop AMA: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025919944#post73

I was really hoping that guy was for real

I've never been a cop or known any cops very well, so no clue how much of that AMA was BS and how much was for real.

Even the cops in San Francisco and Berkeley are flawed. You'd think in those places, they'd get really good ones. Problem is, 99.99% of liberals/progressives would rather be a social worker with no gun, than a cop with a gun.

I'd never be a cop. No way. I'd rather work with nasty garbage all day.

It depends on the individual cop

First question: Some cops, probably many many times. The "good ones", maybe accidentally some minor ones.

I don't think cops are perfect. Hell, if I was a cop, I'm sure I'd accidentally break the law at least once a day. I'm a leadfoot, I admit it. That law, I'd have problems with.

That being said, if you are a cop, you have a duty to OBEY the law. If we ousted all cops who break laws accidentally, we'd have NO cops at all. If we ousted all cops who accidentally break traffic laws, we'd have NO cops.

No argument, some cops (no clue about percentages) abuse their power and authority. There are BAD cops, but NOT 100%, unless your definition of bad is failing to turn in buddies. In that case, yes, 99.9 % of them are BAD. A rare few will step up and turn in buddies.

The bad cops, the assholes, the racists, yes, let's get rid of them.

The decent ones who accidentally break the law once a day, nope. We need much much much stronger protections for cop whistleblowers. Right now, a cop who turns in a buddy gets shitcanned or worse.