AdamSmith

Then why don't you do it?

And for your further amazement...!

Maybe this should be under Political Jokes...

I would say both are equal. One could argue human life is more valuable than animal life, but on the other hand humans are responsible for domestication of animals, so that imposes on humans a moral obligation of responsibility for pets and their welfare. More broadly, as the most powerful and destructive species on the planet, and being endowed with consciousness and (presumably) free will, I think we have an obligation to try to do good toward all life. What do you think?

Sucks. I like Yelp but have heard many merchants claim the following. Is Yelp the Thug of the Internet? B.J. Mendelson on August 2, 2013 10:10 AM Social Times Today, we’re going to talk about Yelp, a potentially unethical, publicly traded company that may be doing something that you can help stop. You might be thinking, “I love Yelp!” I do too! Yelp provides an awesome service which makes a people happy. But … Yelp is also allegedly doing something crappy, and if true, this practice puts into question the quality of the results we often rely on to make our dining and shopping choices. Back in the ‘30s, my grandfather had a men’s clothing store on Empire Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. A frequent occurrence in that neighborhood involved a bunch of guys resembling something out of The Sopranos. These guys would pay your store a visit, look around, and comment about all the nice things you have. Then they would say in a vague, but clearly menacing manner, “It’d be a real shame if something were to happen here.” They would then offer to “protect” your store for a fee. Over 600 complaints filed with the FTC allege that Yelp is acting like those guys in Brooklyn. The claims suggest that Yelp is intentionally filtering positive reviews for a business listed on their site, and soon after, Yelp’s sales staff calls that business to indicate those positive reviews could be restored … If that business were to purchase some advertising. Yelp, when questioned about this by MSNBC, said their system is totally automated, and it can’t be manipulated to coerce business owners. In fact, Yelp has set up a page to debunk what they suggest are myths, one of which being that the sales team has access to manipulate reviews. But Tyler Spalding, a former NASA engineer, MIT graduate, and co-founder and CEO of StyleSeek.com knows a thing or two about the kind of systems Yelp uses. StyleSeek uses something similar to provide their customers with personalized recommendations for lifestyle products. “Amidst the controversy, Yelp continues to make statements like ‘The algorithm creators don’t even talk to the marketing folks’ and ‘the algorithm is an automated system.’ Assuming those comments are true, it’s actually fairly trivial to build a system that is automated, but accepts a variety of manual overrides to create desired results. The question is, can Yelp have an objective algorithm that runs independently of humans, but have an interface for marketing folks to adjust reviews as they want? Absolutely.” Eyal Amir, CEO of Faspark, the street-parking app, and Adjunct Professor at University of Illinois, concurred, “It is very simple for Yelp to fix their algorithm, just like you can fix a scale.” Although Yelp claims the sales team doesn’t have that sort of power, that doesn’t rule out that other members of the Yelp team could enact these alleged shenanigans. And since Yelp is perennially unprofitable, as a publicly traded company, they face an intense amount of pressure to turn a profit. It’s not unreasonable to think that the pressure from shareholders could lead Yelp to do some things that are less than ethical. Now, there is no smoking gun yet, but as you’ll see in the MSNBC story, one party who had their positive reviews filtered went to the local press, and their positive reviews were suddenly restored. So, I’d like to make a request. The only way to call them out is for all of us to take action. If you are a business listed on Yelp, your positive reviews suddenly vanish, and you get that alleged phone call promising to restore your reviews if you buy advertising? Document that. Record the phone call if you can. And if you do either, take that information right to the press. As Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant.” http://socialtimes.com/is-yelp-the-thug-of-the-internet_b133404

At least not as bad as putting industrial chemicals or toxins into pet food.

I would have voted for Hillary in 2012 except for the small obstacle that she was not on the ballot. (Are your pharmaceuticals working, or not working? One can never be sure. )

Wants me sumo Elmo!

Exactly. Although presumably they poured it down the sink? So that it would go into the sewer (and then to the treatment plant), instead of into the stormwater drainage system (no treatment) as would have happened had they poured it down the street drains.

I don't know -- age, like adversity, only seems to make Clintons (and Rodhams) stronger.

YES!

Not-joke.