The above statement is simply false. The article that you quote says as much, pointing out that not paying income tax is not the same as not paying any taxes. People with low income pay SS and Medicare taxes, state and local taxes, personal property tax, and sales tax. The total tax burden on low income people is substantial.
The reason that low income people do not pay federal income tax is that they are making so little money, and when you add in exemptions, credits, deductions, etc, they are not supposed to pay anything. Retired people, veterans, handicapped people with MS, students, unemployed people don't make enough to justify any taxes as they are written. We can argue about whether those exemptions, deductions, and credits are justifiable. A better idea would be to make sure that they make enough that taxes are justified.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. Since the funding came from federal tax revenue, I meant that half does not pay federal taxes. I haven't done my own taxes for many years, so I don't know how deductions at the state and local levels are these days. But I thought the deductions you filed on your federal taxes also lowered your state taxes. In my state they also passed a law that retirees and wounded veterans do not pay property taxes.
You also forgot to mention that many of these people are able to collect food stamps, WIC checks, have fixed utility bills, and many other assistance programs. There are also five states with no sales tax. When I lived in Pennsylvania there was not sales tax on necessities either (clothing, soap, etc.)
I couldn't agree more with your last sentence. Why we have a system set up to make people dependent on it is truly baffling. Wouldn't it make more sense to make these programs short term and use more money to get people educated or trained in a vocation?
My father used to work for a program that helped "trouble" kids. He also donated a lot of his time and personal money to helping their families. Many were on programs that gave them fixed payments for electricity, water and other utilities. They would only have to pay $25/ month for unlimited electricity. So they'd run the heat with the windows open all winter long. Any time he would help these kids get jobs, the parent(s) would force them to quite as it would affect their income. I think he really lived for the 1 out of 20 that would actually pull themselves out of the system.
Because I didn't give it away. Some group of assholes did. Most of whom I did not vote for.
If it's any consolation, more than half of your fellow countrymen (based on voter participation) are OK with that "group of assholes".
If you look around and everyone else is an asshole, what does that suggest......
No, not really. Considering that somewhere around half of the population pays no taxes at all. I'm pretty much in the middle of middle class and do pay taxes. My wife has MS and cannot work, but I make enough that we don't feel it's right for her to apply for disability, even though she qualifies. If I look around and everyone else is looking for a handout and I'm not, does this make me an asshole? And no, I don't feel any animosity toward those that do either. However I do direct my ire toward the politicians that have been spending MY money (for the past 12 years especially). They are the true assholes IMO.
No it wasn't. It was a grant, not a loan, not an investment. That means the government just gave them the money with no requirement or expectation that it would be paid back.
Yes, but I'd like to think the gov't doesn't just give away money for the hell of it.
'When folks lift up their hoods on the cars of the future,' the President said, 'I want them to see engines and batteries that are stamped: Made in America. And that's what you guys are helping to make happen.'
That sounds like an expectation to me.
We are being robbed.
How can you be robbed of something you gave away?
Because I didn't give it away. Some group of assholes did. Most of whom I did not vote for.
Neighbor is a fairly nebulous term. I suppose it's relative too. For someone living in Jordan, no, they would probably not consider them to be neighbors with each other(Iran and Israel). However someone in Ohio may consider them to be. Just as the same person in Jordan may consider Ohio and Illinois regional neighbors.
I'm still baffled why anyone would post anything meaningful about themselves on Facebook. How many kids have gotten themselves busted for posting pictures of stuff they shouldn't be doing. Or adults for that matter. Just how attention starved are people these days? I would have thought the CEO of a fairly large company would be smarter than this. Hell, I would have guessed that someone in that position would have a staff of marketers specifically to do this for them.
If mining Bitcoins was so profitable why would they want to sell the chips? Wouldn't they be better off keeping these chips and mining the Bitcoins for themselves?
Actual brick or stone would be a huge improvement. If you live in a earthquake prone area, or just don't want brick, then using roofing plywood over the insulation would at least require something more than a utility knife to get through. Obviously steel security door/frames. You can get security shutters for your windows if you don't want bars. It really depends on how much you want to spend or how far you want to go. You can have steel security mesh in the walls, bars on the windows, varying degrees of bulletproof glass.
Probably some of the cheapest physical security measures are to keep bushes and plants trimmed so there is no where to hide while breaking in. Also eliminating dark areas with motion detector activated flood lights.
I live in America and our constructions standards for homes is pretty abysmal. Frankly to the point that I don't see how even the best lock in going to keep someone out. The door frames are sadly weak and one good kick will open the front door on most homes. If you do get a security door/frame, the walls themselves are rather weak too. Many homes are 2x4 studs that are covered by drywall on the inside and in many cases foam board insulation covered by vinyl siding on the outside. You could probably cut through a wall with a utility knife with little noise in ten minutes. Better built homes will have layer of chip board too. Not that it would slow a determined person down much.
So this is what now? The 4th price fixing cartel spanning the late 90s and early 2000s that Samsung has been a part of? But since they make Android phones we'll just ignore that while painting Apple as evil, right?
Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI,
Sony was one of the top players for CRT during that this time. Somehow they managed to stay out of it. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that all companies are pulling this kind of shit. Some are just better at not getting caught than others.
Considering the price of LCD/Plasma/Flatscreens have never really come down that much from their original price when they first hit the market,
I recall the first consumer flat panels were somewhere around 40 inches and cost well over $10K in the late 1990's. You can now get a 40 inch TV for three to four hundred dollars, perhaps less. Even without taking inflation into account, I'd say they've dropped considerably.
I have a CRT television that at the time of purchase, was advertised as a 'flat screen TV' because it has a flat rather than a convex screen surface.
It's worse than that. The CRT industry managed to get the FTC to allow them to advertise CRTs whose faces were sections of a cylinder, rather than a sphere, as "flat". Much to the annoyance of one vendor which had an actual flat-faced CRT.
I assume you are talking about Sony. But Weren't the original Trinitron screens sections of a cylinder? As far as I know they had the patents for both types of screens and licensed them to other companies.
This is in violation of the US Constitution and they can be considered showing intent to violate it. They should lose their jobs as clearly they are not acting in accord to the public they are supposed to serve, Neither are the politicians who will likely pass it.
As much as I agree with you I find it cute that you still believe the constitution matters to anyone in power in this day and age. When I was younger at least politicians and law enforcement would try to hide violating it. At the rate we're going, I'm pretty sure within a couple of presidential terms we'll see the POTUS wipe his/her ass with it and flush it. Both parties seem to find it a pesky nuisance.
Texts need to be treated the same as verbal communications. Law enforcement needs to acquire permission to wire tap a persons phone ahead of time. Then, and only then should the texts be logged or stored. Or should the phone companies be expected to keep a recording of all conversations over their networks for two years also?
Good point. I never think about consoles as the only one in the house is a Wii and I would never even think about playing a PC game on it. Actually I'd never consider playing a FPS on a console in general.
Crytek suggests upgrading to a quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM, with examples of CPU/GPU combinations that include Intel Core i5-750/NVIDIA GTX 560 and AMD Phenom II X4 805/AMD Radeon HD5870.
Those seems like pretty low recommendations to me. Certainly relative to what was needed for the original Crysis when compared to the hardware at the time. I haven't replaced my entire system (bumped my ram up from 4 GB to 8 GB two years ago) in several years and haven't had any difficulty with games at all, not that I have time to play them often these days. I have a GTX 250 that I put in the system when I originally built it and still haven't had the time (or need actually) to put in the GTX 465; that's been sitting on my desk for close to two years now.
My guess is that due to the need to run on laptops, most game manufacturers are not pushing the limits of bleeding edge hardware anymore. No one is going to replace their entire laptop every year just to play the latest and greatest game.
Adobe EULA Demands 7000 Years a Day From Humankind
No they don't. The last time I checked they didn't, nor has anyone, demanded that "humankind" use Flash to begin with. Even if they did, it's an EULA. You are not forced to read it in order to agree to it. Nor is it enforceable in most places even if you do check the agree button. Even if they did demand that we read it, it's irrelevant. This is less relevant than when a 2 YRO throws a tantrum demanding a new toy. Or me "demanding" everyone on/. must send me $5
Besides, if I want to operate my nuclear facility using Flash I will. And if Adobe comes after me, I will launch a first strike on their lawyers offices using my Flash controlled weapons system that is guided using Flash for aerial navigation.
Slashdot Mirror
No, not really. Considering that somewhere around half of the population pays no taxes at all.
The above statement is simply false. The article that you quote says as much, pointing out that not paying income tax is not the same as not paying any taxes. People with low income pay SS and Medicare taxes, state and local taxes, personal property tax, and sales tax. The total tax burden on low income people is substantial.
The reason that low income people do not pay federal income tax is that they are making so little money, and when you add in exemptions, credits, deductions, etc, they are not supposed to pay anything. Retired people, veterans, handicapped people with MS, students, unemployed people don't make enough to justify any taxes as they are written. We can argue about whether those exemptions, deductions, and credits are justifiable. A better idea would be to make sure that they make enough that taxes are justified.
Sorry, I should have been clearer. Since the funding came from federal tax revenue, I meant that half does not pay federal taxes. I haven't done my own taxes for many years, so I don't know how deductions at the state and local levels are these days. But I thought the deductions you filed on your federal taxes also lowered your state taxes. In my state they also passed a law that retirees and wounded veterans do not pay property taxes.
You also forgot to mention that many of these people are able to collect food stamps, WIC checks, have fixed utility bills, and many other assistance programs. There are also five states with no sales tax. When I lived in Pennsylvania there was not sales tax on necessities either (clothing, soap, etc.)
I couldn't agree more with your last sentence. Why we have a system set up to make people dependent on it is truly baffling. Wouldn't it make more sense to make these programs short term and use more money to get people educated or trained in a vocation?
My father used to work for a program that helped "trouble" kids. He also donated a lot of his time and personal money to helping their families. Many were on programs that gave them fixed payments for electricity, water and other utilities. They would only have to pay $25/ month for unlimited electricity. So they'd run the heat with the windows open all winter long. Any time he would help these kids get jobs, the parent(s) would force them to quite as it would affect their income. I think he really lived for the 1 out of 20 that would actually pull themselves out of the system.
Because I didn't give it away. Some group of assholes did. Most of whom I did not vote for.
If it's any consolation, more than half of your fellow countrymen (based on voter participation) are OK with that "group of assholes".
If you look around and everyone else is an asshole, what does that suggest......
No, not really. Considering that somewhere around half of the population pays no taxes at all. I'm pretty much in the middle of middle class and do pay taxes. My wife has MS and cannot work, but I make enough that we don't feel it's right for her to apply for disability, even though she qualifies. If I look around and everyone else is looking for a handout and I'm not, does this make me an asshole? And no, I don't feel any animosity toward those that do either. However I do direct my ire toward the politicians that have been spending MY money (for the past 12 years especially). They are the true assholes IMO.
I'd like to say this is speculative investment,
No it wasn't. It was a grant , not a loan, not an investment. That means the government just gave them the money with no requirement or expectation that it would be paid back.
Yes, but I'd like to think the gov't doesn't just give away money for the hell of it.
'When folks lift up their hoods on the cars of the future,' the President said, 'I want them to see engines and batteries that are stamped: Made in America. And that's what you guys are helping to make happen.'
That sounds like an expectation to me.
We are being robbed.
How can you be robbed of something you gave away?
Because I didn't give it away. Some group of assholes did. Most of whom I did not vote for.
So an Slashdot commenter thinks Iran is a neighbor of Israel? Your post should be scored interesting or funny.
2. a person or thing that is near another.
Neighbor is a fairly nebulous term. I suppose it's relative too. For someone living in Jordan, no, they would probably not consider them to be neighbors with each other(Iran and Israel). However someone in Ohio may consider them to be. Just as the same person in Jordan may consider Ohio and Illinois regional neighbors.
I might trust the better commercial ones more than military grade. Most airliners don't have ejection seats for the passengers ;).
Most commercial aircraft don't engage in combat.
In the process, they temporarily strand themselves on land for a few seconds.
Not really stranding themselves, then, eh?
I was thinking the same thing. Many catfish can stay out of water for long periods of time.
Fish eating birds though... seems wrong, somehow...
I've seen northern pike eat ducks a few times and even a small dog once.
This is exactly how US "aid" operates. The target country never sees the first dollar.
[Citation needed]
If this one went through I was going to file the following four patents:
Gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force.
I figured once I got those approved I could sue douche-bag-patent-trolls(TM) for failing to pay me a licensing fee for their existence.
I'm still baffled why anyone would post anything meaningful about themselves on Facebook. How many kids have gotten themselves busted for posting pictures of stuff they shouldn't be doing. Or adults for that matter. Just how attention starved are people these days? I would have thought the CEO of a fairly large company would be smarter than this. Hell, I would have guessed that someone in that position would have a staff of marketers specifically to do this for them.
Question:
How'd A123 fall so far, so fast?
Three words later...
its reliance on just two big customers
Answered
If mining Bitcoins was so profitable why would they want to sell the chips? Wouldn't they be better off keeping these chips and mining the Bitcoins for themselves?
more than giving the UN the finger.
Actual brick or stone would be a huge improvement. If you live in a earthquake prone area, or just don't want brick, then using roofing plywood over the insulation would at least require something more than a utility knife to get through. Obviously steel security door/frames. You can get security shutters for your windows if you don't want bars. It really depends on how much you want to spend or how far you want to go. You can have steel security mesh in the walls, bars on the windows, varying degrees of bulletproof glass.
Probably some of the cheapest physical security measures are to keep bushes and plants trimmed so there is no where to hide while breaking in. Also eliminating dark areas with motion detector activated flood lights.
how would you advocate 'secure' homes be built?
Do you mean an actual secure building? Or something reasonably better than Styrofoam?
I live in America and our constructions standards for homes is pretty abysmal. Frankly to the point that I don't see how even the best lock in going to keep someone out. The door frames are sadly weak and one good kick will open the front door on most homes. If you do get a security door/frame, the walls themselves are rather weak too. Many homes are 2x4 studs that are covered by drywall on the inside and in many cases foam board insulation covered by vinyl siding on the outside. You could probably cut through a wall with a utility knife with little noise in ten minutes. Better built homes will have layer of chip board too. Not that it would slow a determined person down much.
So this is what now? The 4th price fixing cartel spanning the late 90s and early 2000s that Samsung has been a part of? But since they make Android phones we'll just ignore that while painting Apple as evil, right?
Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI,
Sony was one of the top players for CRT during that this time. Somehow they managed to stay out of it. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that all companies are pulling this kind of shit. Some are just better at not getting caught than others.
Isn't there prior art from 1984?
It's starting to feel like the title was off by just 30 years. At the rate we're going 1984 (the book) is a blueprint for 2014.
Considering the price of LCD/Plasma/Flatscreens have never really come down that much from their original price when they first hit the market,
I recall the first consumer flat panels were somewhere around 40 inches and cost well over $10K in the late 1990's. You can now get a 40 inch TV for three to four hundred dollars, perhaps less. Even without taking inflation into account, I'd say they've dropped considerably.
I have a CRT television that at the time of purchase, was advertised as a 'flat screen TV' because it has a flat rather than a convex screen surface.
It's worse than that. The CRT industry managed to get the FTC to allow them to advertise CRTs whose faces were sections of a cylinder, rather than a sphere, as "flat". Much to the annoyance of one vendor which had an actual flat-faced CRT.
I assume you are talking about Sony. But Weren't the original Trinitron screens sections of a cylinder? As far as I know they had the patents for both types of screens and licensed them to other companies.
This is in violation of the US Constitution and they can be considered showing intent to violate it. They should lose their jobs as clearly they are not acting in accord to the public they are supposed to serve, Neither are the politicians who will likely pass it.
As much as I agree with you I find it cute that you still believe the constitution matters to anyone in power in this day and age. When I was younger at least politicians and law enforcement would try to hide violating it. At the rate we're going, I'm pretty sure within a couple of presidential terms we'll see the POTUS wipe his/her ass with it and flush it. Both parties seem to find it a pesky nuisance.
The hell they do.
Texts need to be treated the same as verbal communications. Law enforcement needs to acquire permission to wire tap a persons phone ahead of time. Then, and only then should the texts be logged or stored. Or should the phone companies be expected to keep a recording of all conversations over their networks for two years also?
I wonder what is the minimum system to run Nethack?
The system needs to power up.
Good point. I never think about consoles as the only one in the house is a Wii and I would never even think about playing a PC game on it. Actually I'd never consider playing a FPS on a console in general.
Crytek suggests upgrading to a quad-core CPU, 4GB of RAM, with examples of CPU/GPU combinations that include Intel Core i5-750/NVIDIA GTX 560 and AMD Phenom II X4 805/AMD Radeon HD5870.
Those seems like pretty low recommendations to me. Certainly relative to what was needed for the original Crysis when compared to the hardware at the time. I haven't replaced my entire system (bumped my ram up from 4 GB to 8 GB two years ago) in several years and haven't had any difficulty with games at all, not that I have time to play them often these days. I have a GTX 250 that I put in the system when I originally built it and still haven't had the time (or need actually) to put in the GTX 465; that's been sitting on my desk for close to two years now.
My guess is that due to the need to run on laptops, most game manufacturers are not pushing the limits of bleeding edge hardware anymore. No one is going to replace their entire laptop every year just to play the latest and greatest game.
Adobe EULA Demands 7000 Years a Day From Humankind
No they don't. The last time I checked they didn't, nor has anyone, demanded that "humankind" use Flash to begin with. Even if they did, it's an EULA. You are not forced to read it in order to agree to it. Nor is it enforceable in most places even if you do check the agree button. Even if they did demand that we read it, it's irrelevant. This is less relevant than when a 2 YRO throws a tantrum demanding a new toy. Or me "demanding" everyone on /. must send me $5
Besides, if I want to operate my nuclear facility using Flash I will. And if Adobe comes after me, I will launch a first strike on their lawyers offices using my Flash controlled weapons system that is guided using Flash for aerial navigation.