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You know that one of the most common ways of shaping steel is heating so it is more malleable. It also causes steel to expand. In this case the expansion of the steel rails is what is being done to keep the joints from pulling apart. Since this is done in a controlled fashion they know not to heat the rails to the point they would deform much, just enough to get them back to their usual length. So while jet fuel(aka kerosene) isn't hot enough to melt steel, it is hot enough to cause steel to expand and possibly buckle under the pressure. Railroads often have this issue in extreme heat where the rails expand to the point that they buckle and twist up...

Did you ever think that maybe some of those physical processes that would occur when heating steel with burning jet fuel would maybe, just maybe cause some sort of structural failure?

Did you know that bridges are often damaged by fires below them from major accidents. Those fires also are not enough to melt the steel, but...they structurally damage the bridge
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/BPR_PDF_FILES/Documents/Research/Complete%20Projects/Maintenance/Effects%20of%20Fire%20Damage.pdf Note in the introduction:

1.0
INTRODUCTION
Steel bridges are occasionally subjected to fire events due to accidents or explosions of vehicles containing flammable materials. Significant bridge fire events have occurred in the recent past.
For example:
(i)
In Hazel Park, Michigan on July 15, 2009 an out of control car caused a tanker, carrying
13000 gallons of gas and 4000 gallons of diesel fuel, to strike an overpass on I-75.
Intense heat and an explosion caused the overpass to collapse within 30 minutes of
exposure to approximately 2300ÂF (1260C) in temperature (Kodur et al. 2010).

Now you go ahead and explain to me how a fuel tanker on the highway is any different than a jet fuel laden airplane? Explain to me that somehow the steel in buildings is substantially different than the steel in bridges? Tell me again why would a bridge collapse under intense heat from burning diesel and gasoline but a skyscraper would not collapse from burning jet fuel and building materials.

This is well known materials engineering stuff...

Try https://compass.state.pa.us/

Now try https://www.compass.state.pa.u...

Try https://compass.state.pa.us/

Now try https://www.compass.state.pa.u...

Ah, yes. 'The republicans' did that, did they? The actual vote for that resolution was 197-0, with 4 members (1 republican, 3 democrats) on leave. 89 of the people (45%) who voted FOR the amendment were Democrats. There were 0 Democrats who voted AGAINST the resolution. If this were purely 'a republican' thing, as you like to portray, why did ALL of the Democrats support it?

Full text of enacted bill.

FULL TITLE: Act 84 of 2016

EXPLANATION: http://www.revenue.pa.gov/Gene...

SUMMARY:
http://www.revenue.pa.gov/Gene...

FULL TEXT:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/c...

"Gambling" is when you buy a lottery ticket.....a lottery ticket is not a real stake in anything...it is a chance to win money and nothing more."

Uh no. A lottery ticket is a stake in the lottery.

You're both wrong.
Don't confuse "Gambling" with the lottery. They're similar but different beasts.
Playing the lottery is a way to donate money to a cause with a small chance of being rewarded for being such a generous person (/end_huge_exaggeration).

Each lottery is different. Search google for "where do lottery proceeds go". For example, for PA:
http://www.palottery.state.pa....
62% -> winners
29% -> benefit programs
7% -> retailer and vendor commissions
2% -> operating expenses

The church I went to as a kid had a yearly festival, and a 50/50 raffle. 50% to the winner, and 50% to the church. I think that's an important distinction because, if you're ok with donating to that end result, then it doesn't feel bad at all to write off that $20 you just put in there. On the other hand, if the proceeds go to a casino, it's quite a stretch to think anyone is truly happy with the casino taking their money.

I'm not saying you should pick one beneficiary over another, but you make an educated decision, and the proceeds should be part of that decision.
Who do the proceeds go to when playing the market?

The Pa constitution doesn't say that ANYWHERE. Quote: - 20. Right of petition. "The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble together for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance." I don't know how you construe that phrase to mean people have to register with their local authorities so they can be called up to suppress insurrection. In examining the remainder of the state constitution there is no reference to that requirement anywhere. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/W... Shouldn't you make an attempt to even research it before you post such misleading comments?

Hint: 30 seconds of my time leads me to believe this applies to you: Pennsylvania’s New Right to Know Law. If I'm in error on the state in question, please let me know, and I'll be more than glad to guide you to the appropriate legislation for your jurisdiction.

To be honest, this story comes across as a bit sensational. Two minutes of research shows an *out* from the wire taping statute.

Necessity is a defense, although quite tough to use in practice; it's a bit like successfully using an insanity defense -- possible, but highly unlikely. Also, the necessity description you provide is a general statement of the principle, not the language Pennsylvania has adopted. As a common law defense, the state courts adoption is what controls. Moreover, necessity isn't always a defense (even if you prove the elements) -- it depends upon how the statue is written.

Turning to the OUT I mentioned above, there is an exception built right into the statue. Full text can be found here:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/c...

In relevant part, the wiretapping statute provides:
---------

  5703 Provides "**Except** as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person is guilty of a felony of the third degree if he: (1) intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept any wire, electronic or oral communication;"

  5704 Contains a long list of exceptions. For the most part they apply to police, telecom, or telemarketers (go figure). Subsection 17 is relevant here ...

  5704 (17) Any victim ... to intercept the contents of any wire, electronic or oral communication, if that person is under a reasonable suspicion that the intercepted party is committing, about to commit or has committed a crime of violence and there is reason to believe that evidence of the crime of violence may be obtained from the interception.

If the bullying was as bad as the article describes, the student could surely have reasonable suspicion that the party was about to commit a crime of violence.

You can read more about this here:
http://www.phila-criminal-lawy...

Good point!

That's just not true, this study says safety inspections will save somewhere between 100-200 lives in PA

http://www.dot3.state.pa.us/pdotforms/inspections/Inspection%20Program%20Effectiveness%20Study.pdf

The US House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvannia, 2012.

If you don't like the Wikipedia's nice presentation, then you can get the same numbers from the secretary of state's office. Across all elections, Democrats had a solid lead, but only took 5 of 18 seats. The 12th district was the only closely contested seat, with the 1st and 2nd being the most blatantly packed (majority minority districts around Philadelphia).

Also for your perusal.
Ohio (51% R 47% D vote, 12 R & 4 D seats; 51%->75%)
Michigan (46% R 51% D, 9 R & 5 D seats; 46%->64%)
North Carolina (49% R 51% D, 9 R & 4 D seats; 49%->69%)
Florida (of course) (52% R 46% D, 17 R & 10 D seats; 52%->63%).
Illinois (Democrat example) (40% R 57%D, 6 R & 12 D seats; 57%->66%).

All of these are states in which partisan bodies (e.g. legislatures or governors) draw the district lines. Also, you can find the popular vote totals in the box at the top right on the main page for the 2012 House election.

If you read the acutal law, SB 367, it does not authorize natural gas drilling on college campuses. In fact it specifically exempts them, as well as all state nature preserves:

"State-owned land." Land owned by the Commonwealth. The term does not include State system land or land owned and
administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission or the
Pennsylvania Game Commission.

It does, however, permit the state to make a right of way through a state college to reach natural gas wells located some place else, but I guess "Pennsylvania Fracking Law Opens Up Roads on College Campuses" doesn't sound nearly as sentational.

Most states have laws which require pharmacies to dispense less expensive generics, if requested. Some even require it:

Whenever a pharmacist receives a prescription for a brand name
drug, the pharmacist shall substitute a less expensive generically equivalent drug unless
requested otherwise by the purchaser or indicated otherwise by the prescriber.

- Pennsylvania, for instance.

That law exists in most US states.
I'll also add that this particular legislation is a direct buy-off from the insurance companies. Insurance companies use this to deny payment for branded medications or to push a majority of the costs of them onto the patient. Doctors offices around the country spend millions a day in payroll just filling out paperwork for patients insurance companies in order to get medically necessary, doctor prescribed drugs covered by the plans, and why? Simply because they aren't generic.
Lipitor going generic won't solve anything. The cost will not come down much if at all. The insurance company formularies won't update for months. Atorvastatin will be excluded from any plans until the formularies update. Requiring people to continue paying absurd co-pays for brand name Lipitor. By the time the formularies finally do update to include Atorvastatin, Pfizer will have priced everyone out of the market, and when it comes time to negotiate prices with the drug distributors, pharmacies, and insurance companies, the prices will stay consistent with where they are now, since nothing will have changed. Atorvastatin will most certainly be slotted into Tier2 or Tier3 of the plans when they update. Why would the insurance companies all of a sudden want to start paying out extra money to cover the costs of the biggest selling drug in the world? They have shareholders to answer to, public be damned.

I've seen this happen with a large number of drugs over the last 10 years. Patients get so excited when the medicine they take finally goes generic, or goes OTC, only to be disappointed by lack of a difference in price afterwards. I often see this with birth controls. Here in the US, most insurance companies do not pay for branded birth control. Most generics will run around $40-$75 for a 28 day pack with insurance. Some cost upwards of $100/mo without insurance. These same drugs cost about $10 a month to get them in Canada and $2 a month in Mexico. The costs of drugs in America has nothing to do with how much it costs to research the drugs or fund the studies. The costs of the drugs are determined by asking a simple question: "What is the correct price to charge to make the most possible number of US dollars?"
Do you sell a 10 million packs a month at $50 to make $500M, or do you sell 5 million packs for $101 and make $505M? The drug companies would rather price 5 million girls out of the market for the additional $5mil in that example. Meanwhile, in Mexico, they're asking for $2 a pack because that's the price point there. You can be sure even at 2 dollars a pack, there's many girls there getting priced out.
The questions this raises to me, on a personal level is as follows: If the drug companies can afford to sell for $2/pack and make a profit, why are they still charging the US patients upwards of 50x more for the same product? If they're not making a profit at $2 or even $10 a pack, then why is the US consumer effectively subsidising the pharmaceutical industry so they can give cheap meds to people in other countries when so many people here die every day from a lack of proper medical care? It baffles me.

Whenever a pharmacist receives a prescription for a brand name drug, the pharmacist shall substitute a less expensive generically equivalent drug unless requested otherwise by the purchaser or indicated otherwise by the prescriber.

- Pennsylvania, for instance.

The Judge is Mary D. Long. Can't see a direct contact or e-mail for her, but here is a phone number (412-565-3550), for the Pittsburgh Administrative Law Judge Office. Or you could always try mary.long@puc.state.pa.us.

State of Pennsylvania Business Search:

DESIGNERWARE
Fictitious Names - Domestic
Entity Number: 2808492
Status: Active
Entity Creation Date: 3/30/1998
State of Business.: PA
Principal Place of Business: 108 HUTCHINSON
NORTH EAST (a real place, a borough of Erie County 5 miles northeast of the city of Erie) PA 16428-1710

Owners Name: TIMOTHY S KELLY

Google Maps shows that as a 2-story frame house in reasonably good condition with two cars in the driveway..

Dun and Bradstreet reports

DESIGNERWARE
Single Location: 108 HUTCHINSON DR, NORTH EAST, PA

You can buy a D&B credit report on them.

Checking Erie County property records:

Address 108 | HUTCHINSON | DR
Acreage 0.2870
Topo LEVEL
Utility ALL PUBLIC
Zoning SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
Land Value / Taxable 18,000 / 18,000.00
Building Value / Taxable 120,560 / 120,560.00
Total Value / Taxable 138,560 / 138,560.00
Clean & Green: Inactive
Homestead Status: Active
Style CONVENTIONAL
Basement FULL
Year Built 1973
Exterior Wall ALUMINUM/VINYL
Total Living Area 3156
Full Baths 2, Half Baths 1
Heating GAS, CENTRAL, FORCED AIR
Stories 2.0, Total Bedrooms 3, Total Family Rooms 0, Total Rooms 7, Fireplaces 1
REINFORCED CONCRETE POOL 1992
FRAME UTILITY SHED 1990
Sales History: 1/26/1990

Nice spin there- the attorney general is doing this

Perhaps you missed where GP says "The PA General Attorney is abusing his power by trying to silence bloggers he does not like". GP is wrong about blaming the Rendell admin though, the Constitution of Pennsylvania does not say the governor picks the Attorney General.

Falcon

When your job is the only thing feeding a family in a weak economy with high unemployment and a penchant for outsourcing your type of work, the right choice is keep your mouth shut. The world is never quite as black and white as you make it seem. You could make the "correct" choice for yourself but what about people depending on you (dependents)?

Pay range for a inmate in Pennsylvania is between $0.00 and $0.51 an hour. Pennsylvania Inmate compensation manual. Child porn charges can get someone 5-25 years.

Federal Minimum wage is currently 7.25. Fast food and call centers often go higher than that and they are always looking for folks. The best choice for anyone who is not independently wealthy and is asked to possibly violate federal and state law as part of their job duties is to refuse. You are not going to be supporting a damn thing while you are incarcerated.

Has the big push for low work zone speed limits mixed with 2-5x fines actually reduced fatalities and serious injuries? If so- thats the cite requested.

Well, I can tell you that I would rather be hit by a car going 45 than 75. It's also not just the risk of impact, but the ability to maneuver with more time to spare. You slow down in a school zone so you can brake or swerve if someone walks in front of your car, that is a similar reason for having slower speed limits through work zones.

Speeding 11mph+ in a work zone in Pennsylvania is a 15-day suspension, 3+ points, and double the fine. Source (Warning, PDF)

Of course, this is all purely speculative. YMMV.

but don't take the blood or the piss test(they can't legally make you)

In most states, if you refuse an on-the-spot breathalyzer test, that is an admission of guilt which automatically triggers penalties. Every state has its own laws regarding what happens if someone refuses with most states now revoking your license, fining you and giving you points on your license (which increases your insurance rates).

Here's a breakdown of PA's DUI laws.

But please, let's not get drunk drivers off the road. We need as many as possible out and about to cull the herd.

Not to mention that those hardcore cirminals are housed and fed for 7-10 years and sent back out on the street with a nearly 70% rearrest rate. Prisons are clearly an effective means of reforming the criminal population.

(BTW I'm in the military and I can tell you it's pretty hard to imagine how much money SS must waste if they actually spend more than we do)

I beg to differ.
There is this disease called "AIDS"
According to my quick, and limited research, according Pennsylvania Health Clicky - Blacks and Latino's are significantly more likely to get AIDS then your average white guy, asians, or other races, in fact the article clearly states that blacks have a 1.3% chance of being infected with HIV/AIDS which is 11 times higher then whites. Blacks and Latino's make up for about 30% of the US population (roughly 13-14% each)

But yet. AIDS research gets an insane amount of funding (Think, the entire RED Campaign)

AIDS is not a "white mans disease" it is a "minorities disease" that gets significantly more press and cash then the CF, which is a "white mans disease"

Well let's see. Here is the former board of AIG. This is going to be a quick Google of each one, and may not be correct or comprehensive.

M. Bernard Aidinoff: Democrat

Pei-yuan Chia: Democrat

Marshall A. Cohen: Can't tell. He appears to be Canadian, maybe he's not active here politically.

William S. Cohen: Democrat (2 out of 3 to Dems, also was Clinton's Sec of Defense)

Martin S. Feldstein: Republican

Ellen V. Futter: couldn't find any evidence.

Stephen L. Hammerman: Democrat (mixes it up some, likes Rudy as he was NYC police commissioner, but mostly Dems)

Carla A. Hills: mixed

Richard C Holbrooke: Democrat

Fred H. Langhammer: Republican (actually this is pretty mixed, but recently leans Republican)

George L. Miles, Jr: Republican

Morris W. Offit: Democrat

Martin J. Sullivan: Democrat

Michael H. Sutton: Democrat

Edmund S. W. Tse: Can't tell. Also not originally American.

Robert B. Willumstad: Can't tell.

Frank G. Zarb: Democrat

I believe that's 9 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 5 unknown. I don't have time to do WaMu at the moment, but you're welcome to.

I believe education should be exclusively controlled by the state. Pennsylvania has one of the strictest teaching certification programs in the country. Many out of staters will certify in PA so they're certified in other states. PA does not accept certification from other states, however many states will accept certification for PA. I believe education would improve nation wide if more states followed Pennsylvania's model.

And if in Pennsylvania, you want to register to vote, or you want to change your party to democrat (I just changed mine from non-partisan), you have until March 24th to do it. You can do it at this website: https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx.

Note, after you fill out the form, you have to print out the PDF they give you, sign it, and fax it to the appropriate county voter registration office. The form is pre-populated with your values, and includes a barcode to help them process it faster.

Again, your registration has to be processed by March 24, so do not delay, fill out, print, and sign it today so that you don't get caught in a backlog and miss your chance to shape the future of our country!!

"if the department finds that such individual was separated from his most recent work for such employer due to being discharged for willful misconduct connected with such work, or due to his leaving such work without good cause attributable to his employment, or due to his being separated from such work under conditions which would result in disqualification for benefits under the provisions of section 3 or section 402(e.1), thereafter no compensation paid to such individual with respect to any week of unemployment occurring subsequent to such separation, which is based upon wages paid by such employer with respect to employment prior to such separation, shall be charged to such employer's account under the provisions of this subsection"

3362. Maximum speed limits.
(a) General rule.--Except when a special hazard exists that requires lower speed for compliance
with section 3361 (relating to driving vehicle at safe speed), the limits specified in this section or
established under this subchapter shall be maximum lawful speeds and no person shall drive a vehicle at a
speed in excess of the following maximum limits:

...
(c) Penalty.--
(1) Any person violating this section is guilty of a summary offense and shall, upon
conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of:
...

If you were convicted of a criminal offence, it's going to show up on your record no matter what

For some reason, the state made this program with tax money:
http://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ividlog/video_locate.a sp

it only works in IE, but the images are pretty cool.. it's very extensive too
if only google could index this information

Only truly deviant birds would choose to ignore such a great gift. Many suburban and urban geese (in vast numbers), as well as some species of cranes and other birds have thrown off the shackles of cryptochromes and chosen to stop migrating. Why buy the cow when you Get the milk for for free?[google cache of The Wall Street Journal]

The Republicans passed it after the 1994 election victory, but the Supreme Court shot it down.

The Pennsylvania Constitution has a sensible rule (Art. III, Sec. 3): No bill shall be passed containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title, except a general appropriation bill or a bill codifying or compiling the law or a part thereof.

Then again, it also says only those who believe in God have a guaranteed right to hold public office.

If we had a federal equivalent of PA III.3, Congress would still put all kinds of stuff into spending bills and budgets, but it would at least limit Congress' ability to do so with a Feeding the Homeless Children Bill.

There are a number of threads here with points worth responding to. I'm too lazy to put them all in the respective threads, so I put them here in one place. Here is the skinny on Sales and Use tax issues, at least in PA. It applies to taxability of digital downloads specifically but touches on other issues as well.

1. Sales tax:
To be required to collect sales tax from customers, businesses must have a nexus with the state. Physical presence is sufficient, as Lynn Swann found out from selling his footballs. Sales tax is collected by businesses, not consumers. Physical things (tangible personal property) must be sold to the end consumer in order for the sales tax to be due in PA. Services (some) also incur sales tax. For property sales, however, you needed tangible personal property, not intangible ones.

2. Use tax:
This is required to be paid by customers (purchasers of tangible personal property). If I buy a sofa in MD (5% sales tax) and bring it to PA (6% sales tax on a taxable item of personal property), I am required to pay sales tax. I can get credit for sales tax paid to MD (see: http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/lib/revenue /rev-227.pdf), but I haveto pay the additional 1% to PA on a use tax return.

From a practical standpoint, use tax is paid in two scenarios, primarily. First is by businesses with multijurisdictional operations that transfer property between states. Second is by consumers who buy cars elsewhere and register them in PA.

3. Sales and use tax issues - tangible personal property:
One of my partners does SALT work (State and Local Taxation) and he specializes in going to businesses to do reverse audits to reduce taxes paid going forward by changing business practices and in appling for refunds for improperly paid sales and use tax.

One big issue with sales and use tax is whether something qualifies as tangible personal property. Software has been a big issue in Pennsylvania. The Graham Packaging case decided that issue:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/cwp/view.as p?a=318&q=252626

http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/ou t/652FR02_9-15-05.pdf

The relevant stipulated facts of the case are as follows:

In connection with the appeal to this court, the parties entered into a
stipulation of facts which states, among other things, that: (1) users of software programs do not own the software program; rather, users purchase the right to use the program in accordance with the licensing agreement and copyright law; (2) computer disks are often provided free of charge to multiple user license holders; (3) computer disks do not give users rights of ownership to the software; (4) computer disks remain the property of the licensor of the software program; (5) the physical delivery of the computer software program can be accomplished without the transfer of the computer disk and the computer disk is not necessary for the use of the program; (6) the physical quality of the computer disk does not affect the price of the computer software program; (7) Graham paid Dell for two-year license renewals of software licenses previously purchased by Graham; (8) the delivery of the computer software sold to Graham was originally accomplished by disk; (9) the license renewals at issue did not involve computer disks; and (10) the original computer disks were obsolete at the time of the license renewals. See Stipulation of
Facts (filed March 2, 2005).

Before Graham Packaging, there was a big difference whether software was downloaded or delivered via CD. To wit: say I want an AV program. If I want the most sales tax advantaged way of buying one, I purchase and download AVG Antivirus instead of buying a copy of the Syman

There are a number of threads here with points worth responding to. I'm too lazy to put them all in the respective threads, so I put them here in one place. Here is the skinny on Sales and Use tax issues, at least in PA. It applies to taxability of digital downloads specifically but touches on other issues as well.

1. Sales tax:
To be required to collect sales tax from customers, businesses must have a nexus with the state. Physical presence is sufficient, as Lynn Swann found out from selling his footballs. Sales tax is collected by businesses, not consumers. Physical things (tangible personal property) must be sold to the end consumer in order for the sales tax to be due in PA. Services (some) also incur sales tax. For property sales, however, you needed tangible personal property, not intangible ones.

2. Use tax:
This is required to be paid by customers (purchasers of tangible personal property). If I buy a sofa in MD (5% sales tax) and bring it to PA (6% sales tax on a taxable item of personal property), I am required to pay sales tax. I can get credit for sales tax paid to MD (see: http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/lib/revenue /rev-227.pdf), but I haveto pay the additional 1% to PA on a use tax return.

From a practical standpoint, use tax is paid in two scenarios, primarily. First is by businesses with multijurisdictional operations that transfer property between states. Second is by consumers who buy cars elsewhere and register them in PA.

3. Sales and use tax issues - tangible personal property:
One of my partners does SALT work (State and Local Taxation) and he specializes in going to businesses to do reverse audits to reduce taxes paid going forward by changing business practices and in appling for refunds for improperly paid sales and use tax.

One big issue with sales and use tax is whether something qualifies as tangible personal property. Software has been a big issue in Pennsylvania. The Graham Packaging case decided that issue:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/cwp/view.as p?a=318&q=252626

http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/ou t/652FR02_9-15-05.pdf

The relevant stipulated facts of the case are as follows:

In connection with the appeal to this court, the parties entered into a
stipulation of facts which states, among other things, that: (1) users of software programs do not own the software program; rather, users purchase the right to use the program in accordance with the licensing agreement and copyright law; (2) computer disks are often provided free of charge to multiple user license holders; (3) computer disks do not give users rights of ownership to the software; (4) computer disks remain the property of the licensor of the software program; (5) the physical delivery of the computer software program can be accomplished without the transfer of the computer disk and the computer disk is not necessary for the use of the program; (6) the physical quality of the computer disk does not affect the price of the computer software program; (7) Graham paid Dell for two-year license renewals of software licenses previously purchased by Graham; (8) the delivery of the computer software sold to Graham was originally accomplished by disk; (9) the license renewals at issue did not involve computer disks; and (10) the original computer disks were obsolete at the time of the license renewals. See Stipulation of
Facts (filed March 2, 2005).

Before Graham Packaging, there was a big difference whether software was downloaded or delivered via CD. To wit: say I want an AV program. If I want the most sales tax advantaged way of buying one, I purchase and download AVG Antivirus instead of buying a copy of the Syman

There are a number of threads here with points worth responding to. I'm too lazy to put them all in the respective threads, so I put them here in one place. Here is the skinny on Sales and Use tax issues, at least in PA. It applies to taxability of digital downloads specifically but touches on other issues as well.

1. Sales tax:
To be required to collect sales tax from customers, businesses must have a nexus with the state. Physical presence is sufficient, as Lynn Swann found out from selling his footballs. Sales tax is collected by businesses, not consumers. Physical things (tangible personal property) must be sold to the end consumer in order for the sales tax to be due in PA. Services (some) also incur sales tax. For property sales, however, you needed tangible personal property, not intangible ones.

2. Use tax:
This is required to be paid by customers (purchasers of tangible personal property). If I buy a sofa in MD (5% sales tax) and bring it to PA (6% sales tax on a taxable item of personal property), I am required to pay sales tax. I can get credit for sales tax paid to MD (see: http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/lib/revenue /rev-227.pdf), but I haveto pay the additional 1% to PA on a use tax return.

From a practical standpoint, use tax is paid in two scenarios, primarily. First is by businesses with multijurisdictional operations that transfer property between states. Second is by consumers who buy cars elsewhere and register them in PA.

3. Sales and use tax issues - tangible personal property:
One of my partners does SALT work (State and Local Taxation) and he specializes in going to businesses to do reverse audits to reduce taxes paid going forward by changing business practices and in appling for refunds for improperly paid sales and use tax.

One big issue with sales and use tax is whether something qualifies as tangible personal property. Software has been a big issue in Pennsylvania. The Graham Packaging case decided that issue:

http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/revenue/cwp/view.as p?a=318&q=252626

http://www.courts.state.pa.us/OpPosting/CWealth/ou t/652FR02_9-15-05.pdf

The relevant stipulated facts of the case are as follows:

In connection with the appeal to this court, the parties entered into a
stipulation of facts which states, among other things, that: (1) users of software programs do not own the software program; rather, users purchase the right to use the program in accordance with the licensing agreement and copyright law; (2) computer disks are often provided free of charge to multiple user license holders; (3) computer disks do not give users rights of ownership to the software; (4) computer disks remain the property of the licensor of the software program; (5) the physical delivery of the computer software program can be accomplished without the transfer of the computer disk and the computer disk is not necessary for the use of the program; (6) the physical quality of the computer disk does not affect the price of the computer software program; (7) Graham paid Dell for two-year license renewals of software licenses previously purchased by Graham; (8) the delivery of the computer software sold to Graham was originally accomplished by disk; (9) the license renewals at issue did not involve computer disks; and (10) the original computer disks were obsolete at the time of the license renewals. See Stipulation of
Facts (filed March 2, 2005).

Before Graham Packaging, there was a big difference whether software was downloaded or delivered via CD. To wit: say I want an AV program. If I want the most sales tax advantaged way of buying one, I purchase and download AVG Antivirus instead of buying a copy of the Syman

Are you suggesting that alcohol is easy to get in Sweden?! The alcohol taxes are among the highest in the world, and you can only buy alcohol in special government stores. They are closed on Sundays and it was only last year that they started being open on Saturdays.

This is really laughtastic considering that beer and liquor are sold in an almost identical fashion here in Pennsylvania in the good ol' US of A. Now laws concerning alcohol do vary by state and PA has some of the most restrictive laws governing the sale of such in the US, but it still warms my heart to see this little bit of socialism in my home.

On a related note, guess which single agency purchases the most wine, liquor and spirits in the US.

While this is true (and interesting), it doesn't address the grandparent's point, which is that rape compared to rape + murder is not necessarily distinguishably lighter in punishment. You were arguing about the penalty of muder compared to rape + murder.

Frankly, I disagree with the grandparent, at least in the specific instance he used -- rape isn't going to get you a life sentence, but murder could.

On the other hand, child sex offenders never really are allowed to be treated as rehabilitated by society in the US; this is different from any other crime. Pretty much anywhere they go, their names and addresses must be publically available from the local sheriff's office, and many states simply make them available online. Maybe it would be worthwhile to take the risk of a murder conviction to avoid wearing the scarlet 'A' for the rest of your life [shrug]. For example, here is the registry showing the information for Pittsburgh.

Mr. Horowitz is neither enlightened, or the least bit interested in fairness. I live in PA and the bill HR177, has defined that the GOP shall staff the review board (an amendment to make it equal to both parties failed on a party line vote). Further, required information when identifying a professor for "review" is their political affiliation. So now we will have a GOP appointed committee deciding if a non-GOP teacher show bias to a student making a complaint.

Can you imagine the outrage if Democrats had suggested such a bill? If you really believe this to be an enlightened approach to fairness, then I fear for us all.

PDF Warning: http://www2.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2005/0 /HR0177P2553.pdf

To add insult to injury - the representatives will be reimbursed for any expenses they incur while investigating a claim, but no such provision is made for the professor, or school.

Humans currently use 321 TWH/day. Solar insolation at the equator is about 425 w/m^2. So 321,000,000,000,000 WH / 12H (sunlight per day at equator) and further / 425 W = 6.3 × 10E10 m^2 required for all human power needs, if located near the equator, and 100% efficiency.

Assuming 50% efficiency conversion gives 1.5 10E11 m^2 required, which would be a square 355 km (220 miles) on a side. This is about the distance between Washington, DC, and New York, NY.

So we need a photovoltaic array about the size of Pennsylvania (174 x 309 miles) at the Equator to produce 314 TWH/day.

Do you think that may have other environmental effects?

On the other hand, nuclear power reactors generally produce around 1 GW of electricity, so it would take 13,000 reactors to provide all human power. There currently are 441 producing 381 GW altogether (about 9 TWH if we assume they run 24 hours which most do while up).

Since the Earth's land area is 148 million km^2 / 13,000 = you can have 11,000 km^2 around each nuclear power plant, or one every 114 km or so. Or to make life easier, you can have more reactors per plant, there is no big reason why you couldn't have 10 per site and have only 1,300 installations (cooling is the only limitation, air cooling is possible but water cooling is cheaper and easier to build).

Current photovoltaic production is about 180 MW peak, keeping in mind that is probably around 1 GWH/day given average day length. That number is way up in the last few years, it was about half that in 2000. I imagine there is probably ~10 GWH/day being produced by solar now, compared to 9 TWH/day of nuclear, a factor of about around one thousand.

That was my point. There *is* a 2-letter TLD for every country. This fight is over 3-letter "vanity plate" TLDs that are not directly associated with a country. There is no reason for a (hypothetical) family-owned diner in the middle of the desert to engage in an international dispute over "eatatjoes.com" when "joesdiner.desertville.az.us" is more relevant in terms of geography and significance.

I can see an argument for multinationals to want a generic TLD, but as I said in the grandparent post, they usually have country-specific sites anyway and can always forward to a parent server.

There is a .us domain. Try http://www.state.pa.us/ for example.

kind of reminds me of this. I have found it useful in finding what places look like before i go there.. but it's mostly just for fun.

Actually from what i can tell State Stores in PA are required to order anything that you wish to purchase. Per Section 305 of Article 3 of the Pennsylvania Liquor Code:

If any person shall desire to purchase any class, variety or brand of liquor or alcohol which any such store does not have in stock, it shall be the duty of such store immediately to order the same upon the payment of a reasonable deposit by the purchaser in such proportion of the approximate cost of the order as shall be prescribed by the regulations of the board. No purchaser may be required to purchase more than two bottles or containers of the product, provided that such product is available through the State store system.

So if the State Store system doesn't sell that product you may be required to buy a full case but if they do not more than two bottles.

Considering how most states already force sex offenders to register as well as tell all their neighbors, as well as have their names published on the internet (ex http://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/) I would say that there is a high likelyhood of this GPS law not being struck down.

I guess a way to look at your statement "Punishment after a sentence is done...that doesn't sound like it goes along with the constitution." is that registering as a sex offender (and now this GPS stuff) is part of "the sentence".

I can provide you with the position that the Commonwealth would take, had taxpayer been a nonresident of Pennsylvania during 1999 and 2000, in respect to the situation described in your letter. This may prove helpful in understanding New York's activities.

Under the personal income tax, a nonresident individual who earns compensation for services performed in Pennsylvania is subject to the income tax because it is Pennsylvania source income. 72 P.S. 7301(k). The employer would be responsible for withholding and remitting state income tax for all payroll periods in the tax year when such person performs services in the Commonwealth.[2]

With the advent of individuals being permitted to work at locations other than the employer's place of business, states began examining whether their income tax laws were being complied with. If an employee is permitted to perform services/duties from his home or a place other than the within the state where he would normally report for work, and when such person's employer has no business reason[3] to have the employee work outside of the office/facility, such state could attempt to subject the income to tax. The rationale for this rule, at times referred to as "the convenience of the employer test" is that if the employee is permitted to work at home for his/her own convenience/ preference, the state where he/she would normally report for work should be entitled to the income tax for compensation or wages earned during those time periods.

While not published in a regulation, Pennsylvania follows this theory for resident and nonresident individuals who would report to a Pennsylvania location for work, but actually work elsewhere for their own convenience.

In other words, this seems common practice and I really don't see that this hinders telecommuting unless the state of residence also attempts to tax those same wages.

Here's an interesting bill called the Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act. From it:

Convenience of The Employer Rule

The Telecommuter Tax Fairness Act (the Act), first introduced last September by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), would eliminate a state tax rule known as the "convenience of the employer" rule. New York is among the states to apply the convenience rule. Pennsylvania and Nebraska have maintained similar rules.

Under the rule in New York, a nonresident who elects to telecommute part-time to a New York employer may owe taxes to New York on 100% of his or her income, including the income earned at home. Because the telecommuter's home state may also tax the income earned at home, the telecommuter risks taxation by both states on the same income.

Consider, for example, a Connecticut resident who works for a firm in Manhattan and telecommutes 2 days a week. In addition to taxing the income the employee earns while physically in New York, New York may tax the telecommuter on the income he or she earned at home in Connecticut: New York may consider the income the telecommuter earned in Connecticut as New York source income.

Connecticut, however, may take a different view. It may regard the income earned in Connecticut as Connecticut source income. Thus, Connecticut may tax its resident on the income earned there and may not grant a credit for taxes paid to New York on that income. As a result, the nonresident employee may be taxed twice on the income earned at home. By making telework costly for nonresidents, the convenience rule discourages this kind of interstate employment.

New York's Harsh Ap

I agree. Criminals already have to wear anklets to make sure they are home when they are supposed to be. But when they are allowed out (work/school) there is no way to verify that they are indeed at work or school.

FYI: Most states only currently incarcerated criminals can't vote, once they have served their sentence they are allowed to vote. Here's a more official source for PA. It makes sense that felons can vote; otherwise how would they be able to vote against the laws that put them there.

And another tidbit is that convicted felons are the only people that can have a gun, but don't have to register it.

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/graphics/nascar/earnhar dt_junior.jpg

I can see it now:

"I was using PSP to create some graphics from my new PSP game. Of course I'm using the PSP to develop it. I just hope the PSP don't think I'm violating the DCMA."

If we're going into a brand new "information" economy, whoever controls the medium over which the information flows controls the economy. That's why, until recently, electricity and telephone were publicly controlled, as well as the roads. If *everyone* is dependent on the Internet, why should we pay private corporations to provide the service? Shouldn't the "Information Superhighway" be like the real superhighways; owned by everyone?