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Flame away, but [...] People want to trade one fiat currency, for another? Okay. What's the point?

Our economic challenge is one of resource scarcity. Coming up with schemes to trade compute time for fiat paper is not doing anyone any good.

Your post was neither inflammatory nor derisive. Ask, and it will be answered.

Crypto currency has three major advantages over state-issued currency: reduced transaction fees, no counter-party risk, and lower barrier for use.

1) Counter party risk in this case is where some agent involved in a transaction does something which is not in the interests of the participants.

For example, consider the parties involved in making an eBay purchase: eBay can sell your purchasing habits to advertizers, PayPal could take your money and not give it back, ChoicePoint can lose your identity info, VISA can sell your buying habits, and your bank can give all your history to the government.

Each party adds a little bit of risk to your transaction without any benefit to you and without your consent.

Cryptocurrencies eliminate these risks entirely.

2) Transaction processors charge a hefty fee for their services - upwards of 5% in total cost, with a high minimum charge.

Crypto currency transactions have much smaller fees. With no employees or physical cards or credit scoring mechanism, there's very little overhead - just a few cpu cycles per transaction.

This will push prices down (or profits up) by 5% or more for anyone who uses the new system. A merchant could lower prices by 5% for crypto-currency transactions, and make the same profit with a competitive advantage over their competitors.

That's huge.

Lower fees will admit micropayments. That's also huge.

3) Crypto-currencies increase market liquidity in two ways: the reduced fees allow micro-transactions, and they have no barrier to use.

Anyone can use cryptocoin without a credit check, permanent address, or bank account. Cryptocoin is similar to a "prepaid" credit card with no fees. If you have the money, you can use it... there's no need to connect to government or the financial system. Anyone with a cell phone and the money can make transactions online, which will be popular in poor nations. The world economic market could skyrocket.

That's also also huge.

Overall, crypto-currencies hold a lot of promise for being more valuable and easier to use than traditional systems. Whether this added value is enough to foster widespread adoption is up for debate, but there's enormous incentive to do so.

Really. What is next? Legislation for locked doors?

Hate to break it to ya, AC, but...

http://www.allbusiness.com/glossaries/attractive-nuisance/4949344-1.html

Yea, some places are that fucked up.

Well since its a violation of Facebook's terms of service, entering their network in violation of the term of service can be and has been considered computer trespass in the United States

computer trespass
the crime of using a computer without the owner's permission (see cracker ). Even in jurisdictions that have no specific law against it, computer trespass is illegal under pre-existing laws that prohibit unauthorized use of other people's property.
Referring Terms: cracker computer trespass

You would think that after all of the phone hacking scandals, HR would pull their heads out of their asses.

Especially since in MH's case, the Supreme Court upheld jurisdiction shopping as a way to get convictions on someone, even if they'd already been tried and acquitted or the charges thrown out in other states.

TFA claims this is a precedent setting ruling, but that's not true. Getty Images collected on behalf of Ernst Haas in a very similar case of Copying (shooting a substantially similar photo) specifically to Avoid Paying a License Fee.

http://euc.sagepub.com/content/5/2/217.abstract

http://www.mendeley.com/research/striking-roots-crime-impact-social-welfare-spending-crime-during-great-depression/

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/international-organizations/13622477-1.html

Of course there are many more articles covering the exact same thing, the direct correlation between social welfare and reduced crime rates. The only unfortunate thing is that there is lag between increasing social welfare spending and reducing crime, the damage has been done and it takes time to re-integrate the disaffected all because of greedy screaming right wing asshats.

You mean like how DB vendors try to prevent you from disclosing benchmarks of their products?

... which is why Asian companies kick the American's asses. Long range thinking in the US is having a 5 year plan. In Japan, they have 100 year plans [and a dozen other links].

Nope. But it's been done before.

"and you can't compete on security" - by MojoRilla (591502) on Tuesday March 29, @08:12PM (#35660870)

Oh, really? Ok then, take a read:

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Windows 7: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/27467/?task=advisories

Unpatched 10% (6 of 59 Secunia advisories)

AND, of those 6 vulnerabilities, yes... 3 are "remote". HOWEVER, they're in subsystems (FAX only) that aren't installed "by default", or, they have EASY work-arounds (mhtml bug via MS FixIt Tool, GUI easy too), OR, are caused/utilized by faulty 3rd party apps (e.g., & of ALL things? Apple stuff triggers one, ITunes another, iirc, etc. but no other apps are KNOWN to - go figure, eh?).

I.E.-> "NO PROBLEMO!"

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Office 2010: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/30529/?task=advisories

Unpatched 0% (0 of 4 Secunia advisories)

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft SQL Server 2008: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/21744/

Unpatched 0% (0 of 4 Secunia advisories)

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.x: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/17543/

Unpatched 0% (0 of 6 Secunia advisories)

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Visual Studio 2010: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/30853/?task=advisories

Unpatched 17% (1 of 6 Secunia advisories)

(The single 1 here also, like Windows 7 above, has an EASY work-around, & thus? Again, "NO PROBLEMO"!)

---

Vulnerability Report: Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.x: (03/29/2011)

http://secunia.com/advisories/product/34591/

Unpatched 0% (0 of 0 Secunia advisories)

---

That's basically MS' combined offering of the entire "gamut" of what you need to do business online, today (and, as you can see? QUITE safely vs. KNOWN security problems, in said array of tools ENTIRETY (unlike Linux, see below))

I.E.-> They're doing a HELL OF A GOOD JOB on the security front & you? You're just yet another "Pro-*NIX trolling noob" shooting his mouth off... see below on that note, especially!

---

"and you can't compete on performance"

- by MojoRilla (591502) on Tuesday March 29, @08:12PM (#35660870)

Ok again then, time to "shoot you down" yet again:

As far as LAMP vs. the MS webstack? Funny thing is, ANYTHING (even a "mixed stack'/WAMP setup) has run FASTER on Windows Server than on Linux in legit tests before!

Proof? Ok:

As far back as 2006, the "MS Stack" for web based business OUTPERFORMED Linux LAMP setups (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) by FAR... especially in Average Throughput per second, & Average Hits per second tests & not too badly (not last, like some Linux ones did) in Average Transactions per second too!

SOURCE: EWeek Magazine, July 10 2006 issue, Author Jim Rapoza

http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/software-services-applications-network-software/13447918-1.html

(The best performing was the WAMP type, but LAMP vs. MS stack alone? MS won... 2/3 & in the 1 it didn't dominate in? It was mid pack (4th of 8 total mixes tested))

So, in the end? You're just either a:

1.) Pro-*NIX troll, spouting the usual "/. mix of

So what's to stop any business owner from incorporating their business? NOTHING.

Nothing? Nothing but state laws. Each state makes their own requirements corporations have to meet. Some states do not allow all of a corporation's stock to be owned by one person. Some states require corporations to have 3 executives. Other states have other requirements. There are also disadvantages to corporate forms of business. Of course you can register an offshore corporation but they have their own disadvantages.

So before you make a fool of yourself again research what you will post about before posting.

Falcon

The "new guy being paid much more then the current veteran" is a well known phenomenon called "salary compression". Starting salary growth just outpaces yearly raise rates; so the longer you stay at one job the less you make vs a new hire.

http://hrfundablog.blogspot.com/2008/08/salary-compression-hr-nightmare.html

http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/compensation-salary/846727-1.html

A "cashless" black market is also exempt from taxation. Nice try though!

It is not "exempt". It is tax evasion. Ever heard of Al Capone? Jailed not for bootlegging and murder etc etc, but for not paying taxes on his ill-gotten gains.

Furthermore, estimates are that the black/underground market is as high as 28% (!!!!!) of the US economy. Source1 Source2 Pay your niece to babysit using cash? You're enabling tax evasion. Pay your drywaller in cash? Probably also encouraging illegal immigration. Borrow your brother's truck in exchange for a case of beer? TAX EVASION! Tony Soprano, "legitimate businesses", drug dealers and money laundering? TAX EVASION AND THE 4 HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE!

Two conclusions:
-- Everyone is crossing the line from avoidance to evasion. Rich AND poor.
-- Tax laws (all laws, really) are draconian in their complication, pervasiveness and obscurity.

It's almost enough for me to seriously support the "FairTax"...

Here's a few articles and interviews for you on the subject:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/perfect/radio.html

http://www.civilrights.org/publications/low-power/consolidation.html

http://futureofmusic.org/tags/radio-consolidation

http://futureofmusic.org/article/research/employment-and-wage-effects-radio-consolidation

http://www.daveyd.com/lettertofcc.html

http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2010/05/27/fcc-ponders-the-future-of-radio-consolidation/

http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4653720-1.html

http://iplj.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Note-NO-COMPETITION-HOW-RADIO-CONSOLIDATION-HAS-DIMINISHED-DIVERSITY-AND-SACRIFICED-LOCALISM.pdf

I think of TFA in a different way. Rarely does one hire a P.I. that the hirer isn't hidding something themselves. Ask yourself, "what does my boss do when it is not at work?" Then ask yourself, "how can I track my boss?" All of the sudden, you've gained a viewpoint that the TFA fails to exploit.
Carly Fiorina for Senetor anyone? Muhahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Perhaps you should do some googling, before claiming that RIAA can't raid your house, or put you in jail.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070117/163531.shtml

http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4385453-1.html

http://www.wired.com/listening_post/2007/11/albumbase-down/

http://features.rr.com/article/0bAa6maaGCexM?q=North+Carolina

http://www.riaa.net/newsitem.php?news_month_filter=5&news_year_filter=2004&resultpage=&id=482BFD6A-C0C6-71B2-F544-6E181B92A80A

Personally, I would just LOVE to have RIAA invade my home, my place of business, or even to just shake me down at a flea market or some such thing. I'm armed. SOMEONE will die. Hey, it could be me. But, the day that a RIAA rent-a-cop kills a US citizen over a civil matter, all hell will break loose.

Come on, RIAA - try to take me down. I can't lose.

Alright. Don't laugh at me. Really, don't laugh. I had assumed the "thinking position" on the Great White Porcelain Throne when the name came to me. Evergreen. A quick google gives me several hits for pentium replacements. I don't see my excact chip among the results - I replaced a plain old Pentium (before we had names like P1 and P2, etc) with one of these Evergreen chips. Articles I'm reading seem to suggest that they are powered by Pentium, they are just repackaged, and fitted to cards or whatever to fit your machine.

http://www.allbusiness.com/electronics/computer-equipment-computer/6909786-1.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-96615200.html

The specific chip that I bought all those years ago looked very similar to the Pentium that I replaced, it had a silver sticker with a green logo on it, and the numbering on the chip itself was unlike the markings on a genuine Pentium. Of course, it had to fit into the same ZIF socket, so it coudln't look VERY different from the original Pentium.

As I recall, the Pentium was clocked at 100 mhz, the fastest replacement was 133 mhz, but the Evergreen offered 166 mhz. But, that is ancient memory - I may have those speeds mixed up with later chips.

The USPS has been self-sufficient since 1972 and have a much higher customer satisfaction rating than either UPS or FedEx. Apparently most Americans don't agree with your criticisms of the USPS

Apparently, you're making crap up because after a short search on Google, I found: this result . See the bottom of the page. for the relevant information.

Or maybe this link would be better.

Maybe you should check your facts after you've invented them.

-=Geoskd

It is not only not good common sense but it is actually bad economically. The protectionist law Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which became law in 1930, led to the Great Depression. When one country enacts protectionist laws other countries pass their own protectionist laws in retaliation which shuts down trade. Economies then collapse causing recessions and depressions.

If you want to help create US jobs, reduce if not get rid of Payroll taxes. Besides all the taxes employers have to deduct from employee pay checks, employers have to also pay taxes. The FICA or Medicare and Social Security tax, employers have to pay half of it. They have to pay federal and state unemployment taxes as well. Not only that but they have to pay accountants to calculate how much has to be paid in taxes. These taxes are paid for every employee, reduce the number of employees and the taxes are reduced as well. Reducing, I'd prefer them to be abolished, federal income and payroll taxes would allow employers to hire more employees and or pay them more. And more people making more money will boost the economy. They will have more money to buy more, driving demand, and or they will invest more thus creating more jobs.

I am completely sick of being screwed over by the corporatist plutocrats.

So hold them accountable, just don't shut down trade.

Falcon

I'd think it's quite reasonable to assume - beyond the need for citation - that if you execute a MITM attack and someone's private banking details are compromised because of it that indeed some serious questions would be leveled at you.

If it's network policy that all data gets processed through a device that ensures filters are working properly like in big corporations and that device gets compromised - I'm not convinced anything negative would go against the IT guy as much as trying to find out who the culprit is.

Moreover citation would be needed he were suggesting the concrete legality of such actions

Legality wise, it was determined that companies are free to enforce policies on their networks, including installing SSL transparent proxies which many corporations use for enhanced filtering. There are privacy laws in the UK (example) where automated systems are fine for performing analysis, but human observing private information is not. In such instances I don't see how this is any different. Of course, it's a bit of a catch 22 when employers are getting sued for not monitoring communications.

With regards to information disclosure of bank account details because a system was hacked. It doesn't matter if the system was intended to perform MITM or not (such as a router that isn't designed to do so, but it ends up getting flashed with a new rom from dd-wrt.com that performs the intended malicious operation), only that the unauthorized person was using MITM attack to intercept the data and use it unlawfully. It maybe the fault of the IT department for not securing the system better, but the blame generally goes on the malicious person who exploited the system.

We do not have a "free market" for insurance. Our current insurance industry is not an example of "capitalism". If the health insurance industry was subject to normal market forces, it would look a lot more like the renter's insurance market:

1) Please do not make the all-to-common mistake of confusing capitalism with the free market. These are orthogonal concepts, and a capitalist command economy is quite possible -- the U.S. during WWII, for examples, where more than 50% of GDP was government spending, yet bankers, landlords, stockholders, and the other parasites of the capitalist investment classes still raked it in. Or there are the models of Singapore's Temasek Holdings, or Japan's MITI, providing a high degree of government planning while maintaining private ownership.

Our health insurance system has some (largely ineffective) regulation, but is still completely in the hands of the capitalists. UnitedHealth Group's profits -- not just revenues, but profits -- are greater than the GDP of many nations; no need to weep for the stockholders.

2) Socialism refers to an economic system based on labor rather than capital, one run for the benefit of the people who do the work rather than for the minority of state-backed owners. Putting regulations on capitalism is not socialism; nor is a planned economy socialism.

3) Health care does not meet any of the three requirements for an effective free market. Buyers and sellers do not meet with equal power, since health care is often a matter of life-and-death for the buyer. They do not meet with full information, since a) diagnosis is part of the transaction, b) the seller has many years of specialized training, and c) patient education is part of the the transaction. And since disease is communicable, there are external costs when a buyer chooses to, or is forced to, delay treatment. Ergo, providing health care efficiently requires some degree of planning.

No, the video game industry is not bigger than the film industry.

Film Industry in the US employs 361,000

http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs038.htm

All software publishing in the US employs 263,700

http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs051.htm

Globally video games are worth 40 billion

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/VideoGameSalesOvertakingMusic.aspx

US film revenue is 42 billion, total box office gross is 10-11 billion, but that's only a piece of the US film industry.

http://www.allbusiness.com/media-telecommunications/movies-sound-recording/10512814-1.html

Both of the guys who ran it were hard core.

Yeah, them and NCR, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and WaMu. OS/2 was for real [1] [2] (see page 2).

I think WaMu was the last to ditch OS/2. I worked B of A. Any WaMu vets know?

This is seriously black humor, disentangling oneself from Big Blue. Let's not forget it.

--
Toro

Interesting stuff. Is there a website that details what cars have what in terms of chips and such?

Just google "T.R.E.A.D. act" and "RFID".

Here is an example of what you will find (its an article in a business rag extolling a manufacturers "success" in embedding the RFID chips and their "readiness" to help others to be complaint with the act - for a fee of course).

Ostensibly the act is intended to prevent accidents related to tires, but once you have unique RFID chips in tires that are all federally registered (which is required by the act) an inexpensive reader can be used (and or placed) anywhere by any government agency, for pretty much any purpose. Take into account recent government encroachments on freedom and privacy across the board, realize that the databases under government control can easily cross-correlate the TREAD manufacturer registry with VIN number registry and ownership records ... and it does not take multiple readings of 1984 to figure out where this is going.

I foresee a market where RFID busting devices would be profitable...

Interesting stuff. Is there a website that details what cars have what in terms of chips and such?

Just google "T.R.E.A.D. act" and "RFID".

Here is an example of what you will find (its an article in a business rag extolling a manufacturers "success" in embedding the RFID chips and their "readiness" to help others to be complaint with the act - for a fee of course).

Ostensibly the act is intended to prevent accidents related to tires, but once you have unique RFID chips in tires that are all federally registered (which is required by the act) an inexpensive reader can be used (and or placed) anywhere by any government agency, for pretty much any purpose. Take into account recent government encroachments on freedom and privacy across the board, realize that the databases under government control can easily cross-correlate the TREAD manufacturer registry with VIN number registry and ownership records ... and it does not take multiple readings of 1984 to figure out where this is going.

I care that a nuclear reactor just a few miles from my home can't go two weeks without ending up in the news over some screwup. They don't know where the pipes are, or what they do; they don't keep up on maintenence, they choose not to fund their decomissioning fund; they can't cool the water they dump in the Connecticut River; they can't always remember where they put spent fuel rods ...

And they want to up the rates.

Uh, most 501c3's operate with an overhead between 5 and 15% with a total average of 13.6% according to this paper I found with a quick Google. The Red Cross appears to have higher than average expenses at 18% of funds raised, but only ~10% of total expenses (non-donations account for the discrepancy) according to this.

It feels like augmented reality is becoming the next buzzword to follow cloud computing. Honda in Japan have had HUD tech for years, where their repair people could identify engine parts. Apparently it made them something like 30% more efficient. Even this article has AR features and is from 2004.

http://www.allbusiness.com/automotive/automotive-trade-motor-vehicle-parts/5531755-1.html

Call me when it can be put inside a contact lense or into the eye permanently, until then it's just a mash of tech we've had for a while.

Maybe you didn't have any friends to swap tapes with?

Leave it to a Slashdotter to grasp at every possible chance to feel superior to people he doesn't know. But if by "swapping tapes" you mean copying them to blanks you bought at the store, then that's obviously not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the video sales market. I'm talking about going down to the video store and shelling out $35.95 for a brand-new VHS copy of Prizzi's Honor. Or are you claiming you were so rich you didn't have anything better to spend your money on? Most of the VHS tapes I saw in peoples homes were either A.) the huge-selling, high-volume titles I mentioned; B.) secondhand copies bought at video rental stores; or C.) taped off Cinemax or dubbed from rentals. Even if you did buy a few, you "swapped" the rest. Compare to DVDs, where they have copies of Kung Fu Panda and The Klumps on sale for $12 in the checkout aisle at Safeway. The people I knew who hoarded VHS tapes were anomalies -- mom's basement types. But if I saw one DVD in someone's house today I'd expect to find 30 more.

But hey, don't take my word for it:

In VHS’ peak sales year – 2001 – there was enough VHS tape stock manufactured to reach from the earth to the moon more than 987 times.
. . .
In 2002 annual world production of DVD surpassed VHS cassettes. And in 2003, DVD-Video sales increased to 12.1 billion while VHS sales dropped to 2.4 billion.

How do I know VHS tapes didn't sell as well as DVDs? Because nothing did.

I've worked for a Telco, the content of the article is a "Bell Weather" article. My bet is AT&T will be the first to shove ads down its users throats. But you may be right; we are talking about all those impoverished executives who can only purchase Lear instead of a Citation when things get a little tight.

"Excluding immigration"

In case you haven't noticed, if you're not a Native American Indian, you're an immigrant, or the descendant of an immigrant. Excluding immigrants, the population of the US is well under 5 million.

The US won't achieve ZPG before 2050. A big reason for that is the under-18 set, the kids who have kids because their fundy Sarah Pailin-type parents don't believe in teaching proper birth control.

With noble souls like these, who needs corruption?

Some states might have the same issues. I know not to long ago, a California case involving a cop who gave a criminal defendant exculpatory evidence and reported the chief for hiding it got burned by the Whistle Blowers law not protecting her (I hope that's the same case). It appears that some states have even bigger issues to fix.

I agree. The FCC or perhaps a federal law that is more inclusive might be needed.

You know, that "sky is falling" prediction has been coming and going for years now. It's always just a couple years away. Things get reallocated, and then it's "oh a couple years away". Someone always "discovers" IPv6, because they were just taught about it and suddenly it's the most important thing to them since storing rations for Y2K.

Sept 1998
In many ways, the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 marks the period of the Internet's adolescence. Within the user community, there's angst over ... IPv4's 4.2 billion addresses will run out in about 10 years-by 2010 at the latest.

July 1999 - Wired
The Internet on Thursday began moving from its old addressing system to a radically new one, though no one is likely to notice.

After four years of testing, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority on Thursday rolled out Version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6), the next-generation numeric addressing system for the global network.

March 2002, screen digest

Under present conditions, Internet protocol (IP) addresses will run out by 2005, according to report by European Commission. Old IP version four (IPv4) cannot provide each person around the world with one address, especially since greater proportion of addresses have been assigned to North America.

May 2007, internetnews.com

The IPv4 Address Report lists two possible dates for when the number of IPv4 dates will run out: April 17, 2010 or December 2, 2010, depending on the source.

Actually, Lexmark lost, repeatedly.

http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/trial-procedure-suits-claims/5150099-1.htmll

Yes, it is a most fucktarded idea that taxing corporations would lead to them leaving the US entirely.

Do you really think IBM is going to just say, "screw it, we'll relocate to India, and do no business in the US whatsoever"?

Considering they already earn 65% of their revenue outside of the US, can you tell me why they wouldn't?

ATM any "API"/"SDK"s are in at best a legally grey area (more likely completely black),

Incorrect, Devkitpro is perfectly legal, now, in order to run said binaries on your wii.. you would likely break the DMCA in countries that have the whole 'breaking copy protection' business. But in countries that don't, that should also be legal.

Considering that in australia mod chips are legal I would likely guess that soft mods that utilize buffer overflows to only enable homebrew and not pirating would also be legal

They don't have to charge less.

Hell, if all the government insurance did was let us pay the same rate as insured people, it would cut the cost of drugs and procedures by over 50%.

http://www.allbusiness.com/health-care-social-assistance/3910880-1.html
"Much of the bad press has focused on the uninsured being charged high prices for services while managed care plans, Medicaid, and Medicare receive deep discounts. "

"Some have speculated that the vast majority of items on the chargemaster have no identifiable basis, certainly not actual costs, and that changes to the chargemaster have evolved over time to hurt the uninsured. "

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTA2YmZmODhiOTE3ZDg2NjE0NjgzMDU1ZDUxN2U1MzY=
"In case you're wondering what I mean by "extremely expensive," here's one example: The rack rate, so to speak, for my week at Cedars-Sinai last month was about $47,000; the Blue Cross negotiated rate was around $20,000. So that's yet another reason to have health insurance: to avoid paying rates inflated to protect against all the people out there who can't or won't pay -- including those who consider mandatory insurance socialism."

Of course, then there are the problems with private health insurance...
"Blue Cross was recently fined $200,000 for improperly voiding members' policies years after they'd been written, apparently just because they got sick and began making claims."

On top of insurance discounts, the existing national health care system Medicare is half the price for uninsured.
http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/research/healthresearch/images/pdf_reportspapers/Professor_Melnick_Congressional_Testimony.pdf
Appendectomy (exhibit 1). Uninsured: $8,143, Insured: $6,100-- get sick when you are insured. Medicare: $4,165!-- get sick when you are old.

---

Here is how insurance should work.
Acute conditions should be treated up to a certain dollar level and above that requires insurance or private cash.
Chronic conditions should be covered at a very low rate ($500-$1000 a year max).
You should be able to save a certain amount of your income tax free and use that for medical expenses. It should never expire like the current HSA's.

We can't afford $million treatments for everyone- but we can afford to fix broken legs, heart attacks, and a wide variety of surgeries.

read thisor the full document's google cache.

Robert Rubin was calling for reform of Glass-Stegall at least as early as 1995. Clinton People wanted the repeal as well and didn't just meander into it.

Monday, May 1 1995

"Rubin calls for modernization through reform of Glass-Steagall Act."

"Robert E. Rubin, secretary of the Treasury, recommended that Congress pass legislation to reform or repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 to modernize the country's financial system. In testimony before the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, Rubin said Clinton administration proposals, would permit affiliations between banks and other financial services companies, such as securities firms and insurance companies...

Rubin said Glass-Steagall imposed unnecessary costs and made providing financial services less efficient and more costly. He said the act can "conceivably impede safety and soundness by limiting revenue diversification."..

Rubin said bills introduced in the House and the Senate to modernize the financial services system were highly constructive, although somewhat different from the Clinton administration's recommendations, and that a bipartisan effort could yield significant results this year."

http://www.allbusiness.com/government/business-regulations/500983-1.html

Also from 1999 the Times ran an article about relaxed subprime mortgages that might become a problem in the future:

"Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending"

September 30, 1999

"In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.' "

The 9th Circuit is legal precedent, at least for cases within the 9th Circuit.... But here you go.

Some links, many of which are not from the 9th:
http://www.iphonereal.com/iphone_news/200808/08-11492.html
http://www.uslaw.com/library/Legal_Research/Oregon_9th_Circ_Mandatory_Arbitration_Unconscionable.php?item=221171
http://www.thisistech.com/2008/01/25/class-actions-t-mobiles-mandatory-arbitration-clause-ruled-unconscionable-lawsuits/
http://www.constructionweblinks.com/Resources/Industry_Reports__Newsletters/Apr_02_2007/cour.html
http://www.metnews.com/articles/2007/omel051507.htm
http://www.calbizlit.com/cal_biz_lit/2007/09/how-to-get-out-.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3898/is_200103/ai_n8951872
http://www.allbusiness.com/legal/trial-procedure-appellate-decisions/8133987-1.html
http://www.stephenmmurphy.com/pdfs/Hancock_article.pdf
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/3rd-Circuit-Deals-Blow-to-law-14460950.html
http://kruismediation.com/cgi-bin/adrcases.cgi?case=ADR20071031.htm
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/16oig-wisconsin-courts-interpret-term
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/11/prweb1556074.htm
http://www.chicagobusinesslitigationlawyerblog.com/2008/10/chicago_federal_district_court_1.html
http://www.rtoonline.com/Content/Article/Aug_06/NewJerseyBindingArbitration081106.asp

The President is appointing the legal staff of the BSA and RIAA to the top law enforcement positions in the land, and the MPAA has initiated the revolving door maneuver with Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm. It seems to me that the more things change the more they remain the same. What we've done is change who our government is sold out to.

Apparently with the change of administrations imaginary property has become the new military industrial complex because of a focus shift from foreign to domestic policy, in accordance with the party predilection. We're pulling out of wars with other people and engaging ourselves. Next step: disarm the victim. Yay! I can't wait to see how this turns out. I would rather we engaged foreign people if we have to fight at all, but my true preference would be to relax and let stuff sort itself out.

The headline might as well read "Sun's McNealy wishes for invisible pink unicorn."

The President is appointing the legal staff of the BSA and RIAA to the top law enforcement positions in the land, and the MPAA has initiated the revolving door maneuver with Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm. It seems to me that the more things change the more they remain the same. What we've done is change who our government is sold out to.

Apparently with the change of administrations imaginary property has become the new military industrial complex because of a focus shift from foreign to domestic policy, in accordance with the party predilection. We're pulling out of wars with other people and engaging ourselves. Next step: disarm the victim. Yay! I can't wait to see how this turns out. I would rather we engaged foreign people if we have to fight at all, but my true preference would be to relax and let stuff sort itself out.

The headline might as well read "Sun's McNealy wishes for invisible pink unicorn."

It looks like you're the one throwing the tantrum.

"Assholes" refers to the morons not properly funding NASA, as well as the morons allocating what funds there are toward any project that is not getting people to Mars.

To a great extent, NASA may not have the authority NOT to allocate funds to any given project. The worth of the project notwithstanding (robotics work is critical for getting research and exploration done) a good number of projects are congressionally-mandated.

Here is one of many articles detailing the problem: http://www.allbusiness.com/government/elections-politics-politics-political-parties/10237821-1.html

We already have a business model that works well in practically every situation.

Well, good. Then there is no need to discuss business models at all. If the current one works, then piracy won't be a problem. On the other hand, if piracy became a problem, it becomes a business model issue.

Which shows that the average pirate's taste is similar to the average legitimate media user's taste. What's your point?

You got it nearly all wrong. It's not that the average pirate's taste matches the average legitimate media buyer's taste, it's that the average pirate is the above average media buyer. Those are 4 different studies in 4 different countries.

Stories that are told that are retold become our culture. If the stories are owned and cannot be retold they might be lucrative, but they can't become culture. Copyright is the theft of culture from the future. Copyright must be abolished because as implemented it prevents the fair use of works long in the public domain.

This is a good place to thank Larry for keeping up the good fight. God Bless you Larry, I hope you win and I'm glad to continue to donate to your cause.

Amish technology
By Pinnell, Gary
Publication: Central Penn Business Journal
Date: Friday, March 9 2001

http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-pennsylvania/1069152-1.html

Oxidization is generally pretty bad for most alcoholic drinks (oxidization is the main component in bottle aging in wine, but much of this has to do with the interaction of the oxygen with tannins and other stuff in the wine - http://www.allbusiness.com/trends-events/trends/11429124-1.html). The oak or whatever wood being used is porous, and this allows some of the alcohol to evaporate (particularly with distilled stuff, wine doesnt spend as much time in the barrel, so it doesn't lose as much in the way of alcohol) . Good stuff does stay in a cask for a long time for just this reason, not only does it pick up more of the good flavor, but the "angel's share" is greater, which mellows the alcohol. New casks are required in America, where it is law that no barrel be used twice, in Europe however, there is no such law, and barrels are used multiple times because this imparts different flavors, which is how you can get a sherry-wood scotch, its literally a scotch aged in a barrel once used for sherry.

There WAS a scheme, I'm thinking between five and eight years ago. it featured daily "pictures" that were printed in the newspaper; when scanned and translated turned into cute pictures or apps or something. e.g., http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/software-services-applications-information/6583992-1.html

Remember tho in the US, power companies aren't allowed to be profitable.

really? I had no idea.