The credit card companies get 2-4% of every single purchase made with every single card. They really couldn't give a shit if some pay on time, and others keep a balance. The consumer end of the equation is peanuts. That's why, if you ask, they'll lock your card for a few months and not charge interest while you pay it down.

Recently, they've changed it so they charge 2-4% for refunds as well. So if you buy something for $100, Visa holds onto $3. If you come back and get your money back, Visa holds onto ANOTHER $3. So your favourite store just got reamed for $6, with no actual purchase being final.

**EDIT**
I'm finding other sources that say that sterile "terminator seeds" are a patented technique, but that Monsanto has promised not to use it. Straight from the horse's mouth:
http://www.monsanto.com/newsviews/pages/terminator-seeds.aspx

So it appears that my info below is wrong. I will try to talk with my family and get the full story. That being said, I'll leave my original comment and the followup below unaltered.
*********


My firsthand knowledge of this stuff was from more than 10 years ago, and also when I was pretty young (early 20's). So I did some web searching to try to get updated since your question is a very interesting one:

http://web.mit.edu/demoscience/Monsanto/about.html

According to that, Monsanto is the company behind "Roundup Ready", and their corn (and other crops in the line) do use sterile "terminator seeds". It also mentions that farmers "must purchase the most recent strain of seed from Monsanto" each year.

I was never in the decision-making structure of my family farm, but I did remember that we couldn't just buy the Roundup Ready seed *once* and then hold a small amount back as seed for the next year and continue to get the benefits.

I'm not 100% sure exactly how the modification for sterility works -- I don't know if the plant will sprout if you plant the sterile seeds and just fail to produce any ears / fruit, or if it just won't germinate at all. I do remember that we had to be quite careful to fully clean out the corn grown from the GM seeds from our storage bins, and better yet to store our non-GM corn to be used for future seed in entirely different bins. That was done to make sure that we didn't end up planting any of the sterile stuff.

I'm sure that the seed dealers that sell the GM stuff really push farmers to buy and plant it every year, as hinted to in that link. But you certainly don't *have* to. On the other hand, if you go back to non-GM seed for a year or two or more, you can't use a strong herbicide like Roundup if you have an unexpected outbreak of weeds or other pest plants -- the Roundup would kill the non-GM crop along with everything else.

Basically, I don't specifically begrudge companies like Monsanto for their practices concerning these GM crops. The "terminator seeds" are controversial, but don't seem like a big deal to me. If you could buy GM seeds once and then just hold back some of your harvest for next season's seed, they'd only get your money once AND we'd probably lose the original strains. So I see that as kinda win-win, especially if you don't 100% buy into their sales department urging you to use GM seed every single year.

I don't want to sound like a shill for Monsanto -- some of their other practices are pretty shady, particularly political lobbying. But from the perspective of my family farm, the GM corn that we use was/is a real beneficial thing. Significantly less pesticide/herbicide use over time, and it allows for expanded low/no till farming. Before herbicides, tilling was one of the only ways to kill off pest plants. But, it also makes the fields lose some moisture and nutrients. Expanded farming and ubiquitous tilling was largely the cause of the "dust bowl" dirty 30's. Anyway, I'd say that a lot of good has come out of modernized techniques and technology like GM crops.

Ads can, and may try to use touchy feely emotional ploys to sell their products, but they run the risk of being called out on it.
When the cheesy emotional ploy has absolutely zero to do with the product, they SHOULD be called out...keep in mind that this kind of BS misdirection resulted in our current president elect.
Appealing to people's emotions with schlock rather than using information to appeal to their rationality usually means a rational argument can't be made. The more this MO persists, the worse it gets. I never liked that type of ad, but these days I detest them for their lack of information and attempts at emotional triggering to get your money.

Yup, that's exactly how ads should be.

If your product is better or offers unique benefits, then by all means tell us; but don't tell some almost entirely unrelated story about some kid who stayed up all night wrapping presents for his mum because GIVE US YOUR MONEY.

If, on the other hand, you do want to convey a message or story - become a writer, filmmaker, painter, poet.

Er this is way out of date, but i just came across this.

The Big Issue is sold by homeless people, and the idea is that they are classed as employed for the various benefits that bestows against anti-begging rules or social norms.

And it kind has a respectability to it so it gives confidence to people who believe the usual stigmata; this is a Big Issue seller so you're not going to get spat on, swore at, it's not stolen and your money won't go on booze, etc.

The previous description made it sound a bit like a career choice, when it's more like a helping hand when you don't have a career.

As far as the Libyan people go, people are pissed when a dictator is propped up by an outside power, and pissed when he is removed. This is a not a no-win situation; the winning move, much like the movie War Games, is to NOT FUCKING GET INVOLVED. It's a sovereign country, let them figure their own shit out. You don't want to trade with them or let any of your money go to their country, fine. But let the people choose their own destiny, do not impose it upon them because you believe you know what is right. This is not a race issue, one of basic human self-determination.

The instant they take your money, they have stopped being police and become violent armed felons. They should be citizens arrested, which means you may kill them if they don't comply...you may use any force needed up to and including deadly force to effect a citizens arrest.

I'm not a lawyer, I'm not giving you directions, I won't help pay for your legal defense or visit you in prison.

All you mac people are so snowed or blind or just desperately trying to justify your money being wasted on a inferior product.

any thing can be done faster on a proper pc (proper meaning it uses the latest processor memory ssd and graphics card)

but the trouble comes from people when they get on pc they get cheap and expect to do their video editing in virtual dub (not knocking vdub by the way)

or try and find some other video tool they can use for free . they wont buy a proper video editing software package nor will they buy proper software tools for their jobs . they try and use free alternatives or try and pirate the software.

but when they use mac they by the video editing software and the tools they need .

it is such bs, macs are weaker hardware weaker operating system and a weaker overall tool . but since people have invested so much money into them they unjustly justify there purchases by derailing the pc as a lesser platform.

when it is not true.

pcs, can have dedicated storage that outperforms and also stores more than any mac can dream of .

pcs can be all self contained no need for plethora of external drives hanging form 4 may be 3 or is it 2? soon to become one port hanging off your mac in a needless chain of wires.

pcs can have higher resolution and better monitors better user input, better configuration options, and backwards and forward compatibility with previous and next gen software.

but no, mac users over shadow this with the base argument that their $1500 mac is some how better than the $300 desktop they love comparing to .

but when it becomes price point vs hardware mac users have no ground to stand on as they are using , even in their newest machines 3+ year old hard ware and even on a refresh they are already 1 year behind in technology.

mac is nothing more than a placebo for those who failed at using windows computers .

they constantly compare a custom 1500 dollar computer with a locked in user experience to a 300 dollar walmart special with a completely open user experience and lament the windows based product as inferior.

when in actuality it is the mac that is the inferior product.

did you know that your $2000++ mac has a 5400 rpm hardrive in it configured to work with 128gb ssd in such a way that if either of the two fail your entire data set is trashed?

yeah ... thats a well built product .

So you can't possibly live on less than $15/hr? I feel like maybe that's more an issue of your money management skills then.

Sure, $6/hr is probably not enough. But it wasn't too long ago when 15 was a pretty decent wage. And kids living with mommy don't exactly require the same kind of "living wage" as they don't have any real expenses. So now, you raise the bottom to 15, and these kids now make more money. What about those who were making 15 before? Suddenly they're making minimum wage. I'm sure that makes them feel swell! Everyone should get a boost, not just those at the bottom. Probably a combination of that and a bit of a sliding scale to a certain maximum, along with tax reforms to close loop holes for those gaming the system.

I stick to people who believe in America.

Voodoo the fetus that got away from the abortionist.


You can stand with Pedophile Bill and criminal Hillary or an a bum named Bernie who never had a real job till he was 40,


http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/bernie-sanders-the-bum-who-wants-your-money/


Bernie Sanders, The Bum Who Wants Your Money


2016: Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said Monday his parents would never have thought their son would end up in the Senate and running for president. No kidding. He was a ne’er-do-well into his late 30s.

“It’s certainly something that I don’t think they ever believed would’ve happened,” the unabashed socialist remarked during CNN’s Democratic town hall forum, as polls show him taking the lead in Iowa and New Hampshire.


He explained his family couldn’t imagine his “success,” because “my brother and I and Mom and Dad grew up in a three-and-a-half-room rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, and we never had a whole lot of money.”

It wasn’t as bad as he says. His family managed to send him to the University of Chicago. Despite a prestigious degree, however, Sanders failed to earn a living, even as an adult. It took him 40 years to collect his first steady paycheck — and it was a government check.


“I never had any money my entire life,” Sanders told Vermont public TV in 1985, after settling into his first real job as mayor of Burlington.

Sanders spent most of his life as an angry radical and agitator who never accomplished much of anything. And yet now he thinks he deserves the power to run your life and your finances — “We will raise taxes;” he confirmed Monday, “yes, we will.”

One of his first jobs was registering people for food stamps, and it was all downhill from there.

Sanders took his first bride to live in a maple sugar shack with a dirt floor, and she soon left him. Penniless, he went on unemployment. Then he had a child out of wedlock. Desperate, he tried carpentry but could barely sink a nail. “He was a shi**y carpenter,” a friend told Politico Magazine. “His carpentry was not going to support him, and didn’t.”

Then he tried his hand freelancing for leftist rags, writing about “masturbation and rape” and other crudities for $50 a story. He drove around in a rusted-out, Bondo-covered VW bug with no working windshield wipers. Friends said he was “always poor” and his “electricity was turned off a lot.” They described him as a slob who kept a messy apartment — and this is what his friends had to say about him.

The only thing he was good at was talking … non-stop … about socialism and how the rich were ripping everybody off. “The whole quality of life in America is based on greed,” the bitter layabout said. “I believe in the redistribution of wealth in this nation.”

So he tried politics, starting his own socialist party. Four times he ran for Vermont public office, and four times he lost — badly. He never attracted more than single-digit support — even in the People’s Republic of Vermont. In his 1971 bid for U.S. Senate, the local press said the 30-year-old “Sanders describes himself as a carpenter who has worked with ‘disturbed children.’ ” In other words, a real winner.

He finally wormed his way into the Senate in 2006, where he still ranks as one of the poorest members of Congress. Save for a municipal pension, Sanders lists no assets in his name. All the assets provided in his financial disclosure form are his second wife’s. He does, however, have as much as $65,000 in credit-card debt.

She forgot to mention you don't tip here. Ever. If you ever want to have some fun at a restaurant, try leaving a tip on the table and then wait in the parking lot for the staff to come sprinting out to return your money.

Other things to watching out for--blowing your nose loudly. You shouldn't blow your nose at all, really, if you're trying to be Mr./Miss Manners but if you absolutely must do it, you should blow as quietly as possible. I have no idea why this is a thing, but they actually prefer you to sniffle incessantly as you try to keep the mucus from dripping out of your nose to using a goddamned tissue--despite the fact that you will be handed packs of tissues at nearly every train station by people trying to advertise their services/products.

Also, at the end of the day, pretty much none of these rules apply to foreigners visiting Japan for tourism purposes. Tourism is way up here these days and Japanese people--especially in the Tokyo area--kinda expect tourists to be clueless about everything. The stuff she's mentioning really only applies if you're thinking of a longer-term stay where you might make some connections and actually have to give a fuck what other people here think because you're seeing the same faces every day.

Then again, I break almost all of these rules. I've been here long enough to see Japanese people break these rules and understand the times when it is acceptable. Or when I can get away with it due to "gaijin privilege." Gaijin privilege = not being expected to conform to Japanese societal rules since I'm not Japanese--and would never be considered Japanese even if I were to get Japanese citizenship.

Monetization of art, which is what they're talking about, isn't a commodity or a service. Seems disingenuous to equate these different things. When you get breakfast, or do a workout, or have an architect design your concept, there's an underlying understanding of what's being offered. At the other end of this, you can pay a designer for something, say a website, and end up with complete dreck and you've lost your money.

Although they get close with the architect, it's still not the same.

Besides, spec only exists because people agree to it.

Mammalian brain chemistry is similar, which is why rats can be used to find out things about humans. Pretty simple science, that.
Your premise is that ALL rats are happy, because they are all being rats? That sounds absolutely insane, and is just like saying all humans are happy because they are all being humans. It's easily proven wrong by a tiny bit of observation. Rats are not all happy, even well cared for pet rats have bad days.

If a 'relationship with our creator' causes happiness, why is it that SO large a majority, if not all 'religious' people seem so angry and upset ALL the time? I suggest it's because reality does not fit what they've been taught, and they choose to believe the teachings rather than reality. That would upset anyone.

If 'sin' causes death, pain, and disaster in one's life as you suggest, please tell me why (good) religious people aren't all rich, happy, healthy, empathetic, reasonable, thinking people, and also please tell me how atheist people can possibly be successful (and please note, repeated studies have shown that atheists are both more successful and happier people in general).
Also, if the 'wage of sin' is death, why isn't there a single non-sinner 300+ years old proving your point?

Who asked that guy to pay for my sins'?!? Now I have to go do them all over again. That bastard! (both figuratively and literally)
Also, what kind of self serving tripe is it that 'he died for your sins, but only if you serve him'. That's not altruistic in any way shape or form, it's a totally unprovable, 100% self serving idea put forth by churches to get your money.

Religion is the cage, the bars made of your 'sin'. To those that don't believe, there's no cage, and no bars, just a bunch of people stuck in place claiming they can't move because 'god', and a bunch of atheists walking around 'free'.

Hahaha... as much as these guys annoy me to no end, I admit I cheered when I saw he made it out of the forest. Thats getting your moneys worth.

Sorry, you throw a punch, you pays your money, you takes your chances...

The surest way to minimise the chance of getting killed in a fight is to not pick fights (particularly on blind people who have friends lurking nearby that can fuck you up with a nice blindside /lol).

And Jinx, it's a sad state of affairs but sometimes violence is the answer. What, you think they should have asked the c#nt punching the blind kid to stop nicely? \= )

He's lucky he got away with getting knocked ass over tit once, I'm surprised no one put the boot in to the little turd.