The fair tax just changes what is being taxed from income to consumption. There could still be hundreds of adjustments (otherwise called deductions) in that system just as in an income based system. For example, I'd expect Americans want to exclude real estate from the tax, because it is a sacred cow in US system these days.
It is said that 90% of US taxpayers either get direct checks from the government (e.g. social security) or qualify for a deduction beyond the personal & standard ones (e.g. mortgage). For example over a dozen new deductions for raising children and education were approved since 1980. Many of these phase in & out according ones income level. The president and Congress propose new "quirky" deductions every year to appeal to voters.
I had to give up hand-filling of forms a few years back and use a computer program because if you sell a single stock, you have to fill out Schedule D with five different ways to calculate capital gains and 54 lines of computation. Since I make a inadvertant arithmetic error every 50 lines or so, a several hundred line hand tax filing comprising 4-6 schedules almost guarantees an error with my arithmetic capabilities.
Young working singles are most like to be in the 10% that dont qualify for a deduction or grant, espcially if their income is only from an employer. Even so college loans and retirement accounts may give them a deduction now.
Most of the things you suggested can be done
more cheaply on earth. But there is nothing
to substitute for a thrill of a space trip.
More and more of the world's GDP is spent on
entertainment and travel.
Dont underestimate entertainment as a tech driver.
Hollywood, games, and toys are pushing many aspects of computr science.
>I don't find even the other 2% to be all that interesting.
I find some journalists interesting.
I'd include Matt Drudge and the fifty
journalist blog links on his page.
Many journalists have developed some
writing skills.
I find some creativity blogs interesting
including some photgraphers and poets.
Estimates are that google's file server farm(s)
contain about 200,000 P4s and several petabytas of disk. These are not organized
for parallel computation, but for parallel file access.
A mystery is why long term interest rates, especially US governement bonds, remain low in light of commodity inflation. One suggestion is that as the world is aging, there are huge retirement savings pools looking for investment. Many cultures and institutions around the world are leery of stocks so chase the most reliable bonds around: the US governement. This has the side-effect of fueling mortgages and credit cards for US consumers. Some of this probably fuels US tech stock stock prices too.
Our supermarket (Kroger chain) sells el-cheapo appliances from China like $70 ACs, $30 microwaves, and $25 TVs. They arent top of the line, but I wish these prices were around when I was a starving student.
An alternative method is to look for eclipses of the planet passing in from its stars. About 5% of the planets have been discovered this way. One estimate is about one in two hundred stars have suitable orientations and plantary systems for this method, if one could observe them long enough. A @hundred megapixel space probe called Kepler might be launched around 2008 to observe light curves of several hundred thousand stars for several years. This might find dozens of eclipsing planets plus understand the abundance of planets.
Maybe I detect a tinge of regret in Job's speech about not finishing college, or else he wouldnt talk about it. However, Steve points out that different things work for different people. Some people thrive in the stimulation of a college environment while others are stifled. Some can teach themselves in the broader campus of life. Hopefully people have the fereedom and wisdom to discover the best way from themselves without too many obstacles from relatives.
Many of the local supermarkets have online ordering and delivery for about $10 extra. Webvan burned through tens of millions trying to build warehouse delivery centers before it failed.
Now, if the homeowner tells you to leave, you may be guilty of trespass. But the default is that you're not.
My state has a "Make my day" law where
you probably would not be prosecuted
executing a trespasser if there is any fear
of bodilty harm. It was successfully used when one neighbor tried to forceably enter the home of another over a dog dispute.
Japan was a manufacturing laughing stock
in the 1940s and 1950s. "Made in Japan"
was the joke for junk then. But they caught
up to the US by 1980 in quality, technology, and cost.
There was even a scare they'd leave the US in the dust. However, its more of a sea-saw parity now. There some business advantages and disadvantages to each place.
The earliest form of the Torah was the Mosaic oral traditions from 1200 B.C.E. It was not final form until the sixth century B.C. during the prophets and captivity. Hamarabi has the oldest written law from 2200 B.C.E. including punishments for theft.
With the jaugarnauts Intel and clones AMD or IBM
pumping out a new chip one to three times a year,
a commodity chip catches up to a custom CPU in price, performance or power in a fews years. A custom company generally on has the resources to ship a new generation every 3-5 years. Moore's Law gives a 5-10x price/performance increase in that time period. I've seen this happen dozens of times in Silicon Valley. Where are the Convexes, Masspars, Thinking Machines, HEPS, and twenty other custom CPUs?
Thats what some of the eBay-fraud-to-eastern-Europe reports.
This is the most popular way for illegal aliens in the US to send money to relatives back home.
As long as the amount is below a certain threshhold (US$3000?) no one is checking identities.
WU is not going to kill its golden egg by making things difficult.
Since Apples "dirty little secret" (however long-known in the electronics press) was the iPod's half-life was about 18 months, I wonder how many sales are replacements by early-adopters. I recall some people turning livid when they found they had to fork over $185 for some sanctioned repair shop to replace the battery (since then fallen below $100).
Since even the smallest silicon switch still contains at least a billion atoms/molecues, then you have at least 30 doublings of Moore's law to continue:-)
Probably quantum noise would sink long before then.
"social engineering" cheaper and better
on
Trust in a Bottle
·
· Score: 1
On Slashdot all you have to do is say some project is Open Source or Peer to Peer, and the Slashdot lemming-nerds will gushing praise over it, whether project has any merit or not.
The telegraph revolutionized world communications because it connected the world instaneous when before it took days to send a message across continents (outside of some military horse and fire signalling methods). Contrast the America learnign within hours of Lincoln's death, compared to the Battle of New Orleans fought a few decades before, fought a *week* after the War of 1812 peace treaty was signed because communications were so slow.
Furthermore it revolutionized business methods. Installing wires all over the place required large organizations and capital. The telegraph promoted the rise of corporations and banks (though the simulataneous development of railroads pushed these innovations harder). Plus crooked investor advisors found new ways to fleece ignorant investors. Their shananigans make the dot.com crash look like a picnic!
Slashdot Mirror
The fair tax just changes what is being taxed from income to consumption. There could still be hundreds of adjustments (otherwise called deductions) in that system just as in an income based system. For example, I'd expect Americans want to exclude real estate from the tax, because it is a sacred cow in US system these days.
It is said that 90% of US taxpayers either get direct checks from the government (e.g. social security) or qualify for a deduction beyond the personal & standard ones (e.g. mortgage). For example over a dozen new deductions for raising children and education were approved since 1980. Many of these phase in & out according ones income level. The president and Congress propose new "quirky" deductions every year to appeal to voters.
I had to give up hand-filling of forms a few years back and use a computer program because if you sell a single stock, you have to fill out Schedule D with five different ways to calculate capital gains and 54 lines of computation. Since I make a inadvertant arithmetic error every 50 lines or so, a several hundred line hand tax filing comprising 4-6 schedules almost guarantees an error with my arithmetic capabilities.
Young working singles are most like to be in the 10% that dont qualify for a deduction or grant, espcially if their income is only from an employer. Even so college loans and retirement accounts may give them a deduction now.
Thats 6 months salary and ovehead for a single mid-level engineer.
He hasnt vetoed a bill yet in the past five years, however theres always a first time.
Most of the things you suggested can be done more cheaply on earth. But there is nothing to substitute for a thrill of a space trip. More and more of the world's GDP is spent on entertainment and travel.
Dont underestimate entertainment as a tech driver. Hollywood, games, and toys are pushing many aspects of computr science.
>I don't find even the other 2% to be all that interesting. I find some journalists interesting. I'd include Matt Drudge and the fifty journalist blog links on his page. Many journalists have developed some writing skills. I find some creativity blogs interesting including some photgraphers and poets.
Estimates are that google's file server farm(s) contain about 200,000 P4s and several petabytas of disk. These are not organized for parallel computation, but for parallel file access.
Thats what I learned from reading blogs.
A mystery is why long term interest rates, especially US governement bonds, remain low in light of commodity inflation. One suggestion is that as the world is aging, there are huge retirement savings pools looking for investment. Many cultures and institutions around the world are leery of stocks so chase the most reliable bonds around: the US governement. This has the side-effect of fueling mortgages and credit cards for US consumers. Some of this probably fuels US tech stock stock prices too.
Our supermarket (Kroger chain) sells el-cheapo appliances from China like $70 ACs, $30 microwaves, and $25 TVs. They arent top of the line, but I wish these prices were around when I was a starving student.
An alternative method is to look for eclipses of the planet passing in from its stars. About 5% of the planets have been discovered this way. One estimate is about one in two hundred stars have suitable orientations and plantary systems for this method, if one could observe them long enough. A @hundred megapixel space probe called Kepler might be launched around 2008 to observe light curves of several hundred thousand stars for several years. This might find dozens of eclipsing planets plus understand the abundance of planets.
Maybe I detect a tinge of regret in Job's speech about not finishing college, or else he wouldnt talk about it. However, Steve points out that different things work for different people. Some people thrive in the stimulation of a college environment while others are stifled. Some can teach themselves in the broader campus of life. Hopefully people have the fereedom and wisdom to discover the best way from themselves without too many obstacles from relatives.
Many of the local supermarkets have online ordering and delivery for about $10 extra. Webvan burned through tens of millions trying to build warehouse delivery centers before it failed.
You have to be a jaded adult to watch star wars. A seven year old will see all the inconsistencies.
Now, if the homeowner tells you to leave, you may be guilty of trespass. But the default is that you're not.
My state has a "Make my day" law where you probably would not be prosecuted executing a trespasser if there is any fear of bodilty harm. It was successfully used when one neighbor tried to forceably enter the home of another over a dog dispute.
Japan was a manufacturing laughing stock in the 1940s and 1950s. "Made in Japan" was the joke for junk then. But they caught up to the US by 1980 in quality, technology, and cost. There was even a scare they'd leave the US in the dust. However, its more of a sea-saw parity now. There some business advantages and disadvantages to each place.
The earliest form of the Torah was the Mosaic oral traditions from 1200 B.C.E. It was not final form until the sixth century B.C. during the prophets and captivity. Hamarabi has the oldest written law from 2200 B.C.E. including punishments for theft.
With the jaugarnauts Intel and clones AMD or IBM pumping out a new chip one to three times a year, a commodity chip catches up to a custom CPU in price, performance or power in a fews years. A custom company generally on has the resources to ship a new generation every 3-5 years. Moore's Law gives a 5-10x price/performance increase in that time period. I've seen this happen dozens of times in Silicon Valley. Where are the Convexes, Masspars, Thinking Machines, HEPS, and twenty other custom CPUs?
Theres no carbon in olivine or water.
Thats what some of the eBay-fraud-to-eastern-Europe reports. This is the most popular way for illegal aliens in the US to send money to relatives back home. As long as the amount is below a certain threshhold (US$3000?) no one is checking identities. WU is not going to kill its golden egg by making things difficult.
As someone else mentioned, one of requirements could be a $50 deposit. That would cover some costs.
Since Apples "dirty little secret" (however long-known in the electronics press) was the iPod's half-life was about 18 months, I wonder how many sales are replacements by early-adopters. I recall some people turning livid when they found they had to fork over $185 for some sanctioned repair shop to replace the battery (since then fallen below $100).
Since even the smallest silicon switch still contains at least a billion atoms/molecues, then you have at least 30 doublings of Moore's law to continue :-)
Probably quantum noise would sink long before then.
On Slashdot all you have to do is say some project is Open Source or Peer to Peer, and the Slashdot lemming-nerds will gushing praise over it, whether project has any merit or not.
The telegraph revolutionized world communications because it connected the world instaneous when before it took days to send a message across continents (outside of some military horse and fire signalling methods). Contrast the America learnign within hours of Lincoln's death, compared to the Battle of New Orleans fought a few decades before, fought a *week* after the War of 1812 peace treaty was signed because communications were so slow.
Furthermore it revolutionized business methods. Installing wires all over the place required large organizations and capital. The telegraph promoted the rise of corporations and banks (though the simulataneous development of railroads pushed these innovations harder). Plus crooked investor advisors found new ways to fleece ignorant investors. Their shananigans make the dot.com crash look like a picnic!