Read the whole thread. I was thinking out loud. I think maybe buying out pennies and nickels at slightly above metalic value, and then issuing new coins makes more sense.
I started off thinking about striking a zero from all transactions (ie, all prices would be quoted at 1/10th) then yeah, I kinda changed horses mid-stream when I considered all the electronic implications. It seemed like isolating it to problem coins is a better idea. Most people get the idea though. Yes, you'd want all new coins to reflect actual value. If having "mis-labeled" coins is illegal or unappealing, the change could be brought about by having the government simply exchanging coins like they did when they rolled out the Euro.
Come to think of it, that's a far better and cheaper idea--offer people $0.03 for copper pennies and $0.02 for the zinc ones. That's more than they're worth, but far less than 10X. Simply roll them up, bring them to any bank and get new coins. We certainly have the infrastructure to do that.
Anyway, this is a lot of free conversation on the Internet. I spent, oh... half an hour of my time for grins and giggles. It's not like I'm sitting at some policy group in Washington DC getting paid $250k/year to come up with plans.
All the pennies in circulation are roughly 219 billion, with a face value about $2.19 billion. We're adding value, not multiplying, so the cost is 9*$2.19 billion, or roughly. $19.7 billion. Doing that to the penny is not a budget killer by any means.
Maybe I'll track down the nickel figures later; but if the penny is any indicator it won't be too bad. Maybe we should leave the quarter alone though. The nickel becomes a $0.50 piece which is not popular but not unheard of. AFAIK we've never had a $2.50 piece.
No. I was only suggesting revaluing some coins. What you are talking about is striking zeros from all the ledgers, which would require a massive reprogramming effort and a "flag day" for financial transactions.
We should just strike a zero from the coins and keep the dollar. In other words, the pennies sitting in your piggy would immediately be worth $0.10. Paper money and the existing dollar coins would keep the same value, just multiply the value of all the other coins.
1. Really not that expensive compared to the national debt.
2. It would be a form of stimulus that goes to middle class people with jars full of coins, not fat cats. It would spark the kind of spending they want to stimulate, just in time for Christmas.
3. The mint would once again be making money minting pennies and nickles instead of losing it. In the long run it would pay for itself. As an added bonus, you don't need to change the minting process.
Even if you are here illegally, you get payroll deductions. In fact, since you're afraid of the government you may decide not to file a tax return and claim your refund. You might consume more services at the local level, such as going to the ER for medical care which is expensive. There's a lot of data sloshing around; but it's clear that illegal immigrants pay some taxes. They definitely can't avoid sales tax which is pretty high in California now. For the types of jobs immigrants work, that sales tax is a pretty big hit since they'll be spending a large portion of their income right away--even if it's under the table and has no payroll deduction.
Note, I'm not defending the idea of coming to a country illegally. We need to secure the borders, and address the supply and demand for labor in a way that's fair, productive, and beneficial to the whole country. I'm just saying that it's not accurate to say they pay "no taxes".
Apparently, the last two astronauts on the Moon went through an exchange like this: "Hey, can you help me up the ladder?", "Sure, no problem". Thus, the exchange demonstrated a system whereby those with need were met by those with ability. Sometime later an analyst at the Pentagon reviewed this. Since those were the only residents, their interactions fully characterized the political orientation of the Moon. The interaction was communist in nature, even if not explicitly Communist or otherwise stated as such. Thus, the Moon was 100% Communist and needed to be dealt with as such.
Like I said, plural of anecdote. Add your data point to the pile.
FWIW, most of the panics I saw on Linux were in the late 90s when "I installed Linux" was still the killer app for a lot of Linux users. It was a lot more common if you were trying to make some hot new video card work. Maybe you weren't trying to do that. My last major experience with Linux was around 2006. I was a regular Ubuntu user then. My first choice was RedHat but it simply refused to install on my hardware and I didn't want to cough up $$$ for support.
Oh, and in case anybody is wondering I'm not including panics that I caused as a developer. When you write your own modules and load them, you have only yourself to blame.
There was no need to build a particle accelerator to get new matter. I can go down to the store and get new matter. Actually, all I need to do is step outside. I take a jar with me, open it up, collect new matter and come back. OK, well, technically it's not new; but it's new to me and that's what matters. Pun intended.
I can't remember the last time I had a BSOD in XP! The plural of anecdote. Aside from that, BSOD can be caused by 3rd party drivers that run in the kernel, or crap hardware. The Linux analog is kernel panic. Most Linux users have seen their fair share of that.
Thanks for reminding me that it's time to update my HOSTS file. A few ads have been squeaking through lately.
I was sort of wondering lately what it would be like if I white listed domains instead of blacklisting. The Internet might be more useful than you'd think, as long as there was a dialog that asked you which domains you wanted to enable when you clicked a link. It would have to list all the domains the page refers to, and be smart about presenting the base URL first and defaulting all the others to disable.
The blame for this problem rests almost totally at the feet of Ben Bernanke. His policies have driven commodity speculation and helped keep prices high. It's one of those "unintended consequences".
If you want to stop copper theft, stop savings theft. The policy makers need to ask questions like, "Is it better in the long run to feed these people in a recession, or drive them to copper theft in a stagflation?".
Treating drug addiction as a health problem rather than a crime problem will also help. If meth were available for $0.10/pill at the drugstore, I would not run out and become an meth fiend anymore than I would start huffing gasoline. Yes, people huff gasoline, they huff the propellant from Cheeze Whiz. We don't ban those things because the inability to drive or squirt cheese is deemed worse than the potential for people to huff shit. We treat huffing in the ER, and with social workers. We could treat meth like that too, and there would be less copper theft.
Yeah, the housing market would collapse. You know what? Good! Stop foreclosures? Hell no. If you want to liberate people, you should be holding up signs that say START foreclosure. Yeah, people would hurt for a month or two getting kicked out of the big house with no equity and a $2000/mo mortgage. You know what? They'd move into an apartment with an $800/mo rent, and they might be able to save up for down payment on a house with a $1000/mo mortgage once the foreclosure was far enough behind them. That sounds more like freedom to me than... Oh, I digress...
Anyway, the problem of copper theft isn't technical. It's social and economic. Quit applying technical fixes to social problems. Please. Pretty-please?
I'm quite certain there are people advocating Sharia and other such craziness in the USA, and nothing happens to them. The problems would come if you actually started organizing. Also, you and your followers would be subject to intense scrutiny. IMHO, If you had a Twitter account that followed Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc. it would be fully Constitutional to do more intense surveillance on the person behind that. It could be warranted in every sense of the word.
I don't think it would be too hard to find such accounts, web sites, newsletters, etc. in the US. I also think there's some reasonable chance that they are FBI honeypots. From time-to-time you hear of plots being foiled because the would be terrorist was actually corresponding with an FBI agent. You know, "Welcome to the Internet. Where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents". Just s/children/terrorists.
An eclair like that with coffee, now there's the adult indulgence that replaced the Twinkie for me. Usually it's just a cookie or something. Independently baked treats like the one in your link are available here, but they're $3-$4/each, while a locally baked cookie is $1, and some cake slices are $2.50. It's a bit hard to justify spending the dough on dough when I can make coffee and cinnamon toast at home for less than $1. Anyway, I digress. Eclairs are more subtle usually... they're nice; but not a flavor explosion. Usually the custard is just... sweet and creamy, meh. Whatever. Not worth the calories. OTOH, I had what I thought would be a relatively bland almond croisant from a nearby bakery a few weeks ago. It was filled with custard though, and the combination was outstanding. That's the exception though, and when I went back they weren't making them that day. That's the downside of good food--it happens irregularly. The bakery will be making different things on different days. I could go out of my way and order them special, certainly; but then I'd probably end up ordering special tests from doctors too.
Anyway, a fresh-baked eclair is not a comparable to a Ho-Ho or Twinkie. You can't store the eclair in your desk for a month. Different tools for different purposes.
Advanced civilizations might have this drive, and prevent too much particle buildup. It might not be perfect though, so every once in a while a handful of particles come along for the ride. How else do you explain a proton with the kinetic energy of a pitched baseball?
Twinkies suck. Ho-Hos are where it's at. I freely admit though, I haven't eaten a Ho-Ho since... maybe my early 20s. I have many fond memories of them from childhood though. Oh, the sweet, savored pleasure of unwinding them. The thin layers of chocolate that would flake off the outside. That last bit of thin cake and cream core...
Alas, the desire for extreme sugar waned with youth. Health consciousness took the front seat. Would it be so bad to take a walk down that aisle just one last time? Maybe not; but it's raining today. Besides. That shit's bad for you.
I grew up there (DC area). Although I haven't been to the spiffy new Dulles museum, I've been to the one downtown. Come to think of it, I have fond memories of the little model of DynaSoar that was in there. So yes, a lot of things do get cancelled. I guess the difference between "avoiding the sunk cost fallacy" and "cancelling a really cool project" is only resolved through the lens of history.
The real news here is that a branch of the military actually avoided the sunk cost fallacy. I know it's probably not the first time. Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder if they will use the money they save for porcine pilot training.
To: Google.
From: Office of alligator regulations, algal pools division, eastern district office.
Please note that while currently in compliance, your alligator will have to be removed when it reaches the current standard alligator removal length of 6 feet. Attached is a copy of form 6-423-100001, alligator removal entrance authorization and indemnification application. Please review, sign, and submit in triplicate. An inspector will be out shortly. Please note that we cannot guarantee the inspector will show at the time(s) listed. For updates on your case please call 202-555-1337 between the hours of 2 and 4 PM, Eastern US time. Use extension 45. Thank-you.
Please stop pretending that California is the entire world, you make the rest of the states look bad.
Strawman much?
If you go by receipts as opposed to volume of a handfull of basic commodities, then California is no. 1.
I can see how you might make this mistake though. The other states produce vast ammounts of GMO corn and soy that gets fed to livestock. California has a much more diverse agricultural output. Trust me. You'd miss it. No, it's not a "bread" basket in the literal sense, but when the strawberry jam is off your toast, there are no nuts in the fall, no fresh cherries, etc., then all of the sudden the amber waves of grain are just a big blob of plain gruel with no variety. Not much wine either.
I don't know where you googled, but the western part or the central valley was not salinated until two things happend:
1. Irrigation saturated the soil and caused salt to be drawn up from lower strata via osmosis.
2. Water pumped through massive engineering projects was slightly saline due to salt water intrusion into the over-subscribed delta, which added to the salt load.
It's particularly bad for almonds. Maybe that would have helped the search.
Never mind the central valley though, I could have just cited the original dust bowl. Salination is more disturbing though. The dust bowl could be solved by better plowing practices, crop rotation, etc. Salt intrusion is much trickier.
As for what the central valley was before farming, AFAIK it was grasslands and marshes. The whole thing could even get quite marshy during heavy rains. Managed properly, that's hardly a wasteland. If anything, we made it a wasteland by diverting water from rivers, some of which were dried up all the way and became OHV trails!
Slashdot Mirror
They must use a different calendar there, where April 1 falls on December 1. That's the only explanation I can find for this.
Read the whole thread. I was thinking out loud. I think maybe buying out pennies and nickels at slightly above metalic value, and then issuing new coins makes more sense.
I started off thinking about striking a zero from all transactions (ie, all prices would be quoted at 1/10th) then yeah, I kinda changed horses mid-stream when I considered all the electronic implications. It seemed like isolating it to problem coins is a better idea. Most people get the idea though. Yes, you'd want all new coins to reflect actual value. If having "mis-labeled" coins is illegal or unappealing, the change could be brought about by having the government simply exchanging coins like they did when they rolled out the Euro.
Come to think of it, that's a far better and cheaper idea--offer people $0.03 for copper pennies and $0.02 for the zinc ones. That's more than they're worth, but far less than 10X. Simply roll them up, bring them to any bank and get new coins. We certainly have the infrastructure to do that.
Anyway, this is a lot of free conversation on the Internet. I spent, oh... half an hour of my time for grins and giggles. It's not like I'm sitting at some policy group in Washington DC getting paid $250k/year to come up with plans.
All the pennies in circulation are roughly 219 billion, with a face value about $2.19 billion. We're adding value, not multiplying, so the cost is 9*$2.19 billion, or roughly. $19.7 billion. Doing that to the penny is not a budget killer by any means.
Maybe I'll track down the nickel figures later; but if the penny is any indicator it won't be too bad. Maybe we should leave the quarter alone though. The nickel becomes a $0.50 piece which is not popular but not unheard of. AFAIK we've never had a $2.50 piece.
No. I was only suggesting revaluing some coins. What you are talking about is striking zeros from all the ledgers, which would require a massive reprogramming effort and a "flag day" for financial transactions.
We should just strike a zero from the coins and keep the dollar. In other words, the pennies sitting in your piggy would immediately be worth $0.10. Paper money and the existing dollar coins would keep the same value, just multiply the value of all the other coins.
1. Really not that expensive compared to the national debt.
2. It would be a form of stimulus that goes to middle class people with jars full of coins, not fat cats. It would spark the kind of spending they want to stimulate, just in time for Christmas.
3. The mint would once again be making money minting pennies and nickles instead of losing it. In the long run it would pay for itself. As an added bonus, you don't need to change the minting process.
Even if you are here illegally, you get payroll deductions. In fact, since you're afraid of the government you may decide not to file a tax return and claim your refund. You might consume more services at the local level, such as going to the ER for medical care which is expensive. There's a lot of data sloshing around; but it's clear that illegal immigrants pay some taxes. They definitely can't avoid sales tax which is pretty high in California now. For the types of jobs immigrants work, that sales tax is a pretty big hit since they'll be spending a large portion of their income right away--even if it's under the table and has no payroll deduction.
Note, I'm not defending the idea of coming to a country illegally. We need to secure the borders, and address the supply and demand for labor in a way that's fair, productive, and beneficial to the whole country. I'm just saying that it's not accurate to say they pay "no taxes".
We might even be able to use that system to make payments. We should check into that.
Apparently, the last two astronauts on the Moon went through an exchange like this: "Hey, can you help me up the ladder?", "Sure, no problem". Thus, the exchange demonstrated a system whereby those with need were met by those with ability. Sometime later an analyst at the Pentagon reviewed this. Since those were the only residents, their interactions fully characterized the political orientation of the Moon. The interaction was communist in nature, even if not explicitly Communist or otherwise stated as such. Thus, the Moon was 100% Communist and needed to be dealt with as such.
If you think you have to work to make money, you're too old. That's what HFT is for. Creating products and services? That's so 20th century.
Like I said, plural of anecdote. Add your data point to the pile.
FWIW, most of the panics I saw on Linux were in the late 90s when "I installed Linux" was still the killer app for a lot of Linux users. It was a lot more common if you were trying to make some hot new video card work. Maybe you weren't trying to do that. My last major experience with Linux was around 2006. I was a regular Ubuntu user then. My first choice was RedHat but it simply refused to install on my hardware and I didn't want to cough up $$$ for support.
Oh, and in case anybody is wondering I'm not including panics that I caused as a developer. When you write your own modules and load them, you have only yourself to blame.
There was no need to build a particle accelerator to get new matter. I can go down to the store and get new matter. Actually, all I need to do is step outside. I take a jar with me, open it up, collect new matter and come back. OK, well, technically it's not new; but it's new to me and that's what matters. Pun intended.
I can't remember the last time I had a BSOD in XP! The plural of anecdote. Aside from that, BSOD can be caused by 3rd party drivers that run in the kernel, or crap hardware. The Linux analog is kernel panic. Most Linux users have seen their fair share of that.
Thanks for reminding me that it's time to update my HOSTS file. A few ads have been squeaking through lately.
I was sort of wondering lately what it would be like if I white listed domains instead of blacklisting. The Internet might be more useful than you'd think, as long as there was a dialog that asked you which domains you wanted to enable when you clicked a link. It would have to list all the domains the page refers to, and be smart about presenting the base URL first and defaulting all the others to disable.
The blame for this problem rests almost totally at the feet of Ben Bernanke. His policies have driven commodity speculation and helped keep prices high. It's one of those "unintended consequences".
If you want to stop copper theft, stop savings theft. The policy makers need to ask questions like, "Is it better in the long run to feed these people in a recession, or drive them to copper theft in a stagflation?".
Treating drug addiction as a health problem rather than a crime problem will also help. If meth were available for $0.10/pill at the drugstore, I would not run out and become an meth fiend anymore than I would start huffing gasoline. Yes, people huff gasoline, they huff the propellant from Cheeze Whiz. We don't ban those things because the inability to drive or squirt cheese is deemed worse than the potential for people to huff shit. We treat huffing in the ER, and with social workers. We could treat meth like that too, and there would be less copper theft.
Yeah, the housing market would collapse. You know what? Good! Stop foreclosures? Hell no. If you want to liberate people, you should be holding up signs that say START foreclosure. Yeah, people would hurt for a month or two getting kicked out of the big house with no equity and a $2000/mo mortgage. You know what? They'd move into an apartment with an $800/mo rent, and they might be able to save up for down payment on a house with a $1000/mo mortgage once the foreclosure was far enough behind them. That sounds more like freedom to me than... Oh, I digress...
Anyway, the problem of copper theft isn't technical. It's social and economic. Quit applying technical fixes to social problems. Please. Pretty-please?
I'm quite certain there are people advocating Sharia and other such craziness in the USA, and nothing happens to them. The problems would come if you actually started organizing. Also, you and your followers would be subject to intense scrutiny. IMHO, If you had a Twitter account that followed Al Qaeda, Hamas, etc. it would be fully Constitutional to do more intense surveillance on the person behind that. It could be warranted in every sense of the word.
I don't think it would be too hard to find such accounts, web sites, newsletters, etc. in the US. I also think there's some reasonable chance that they are FBI honeypots. From time-to-time you hear of plots being foiled because the would be terrorist was actually corresponding with an FBI agent. You know, "Welcome to the Internet. Where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents". Just s/children/terrorists.
I always thought it was custard and wiki agrees. Clotted cream is only something I've heard of in the context of British food. Are you from there?
An eclair like that with coffee, now there's the adult indulgence that replaced the Twinkie for me. Usually it's just a cookie or something. Independently baked treats like the one in your link are available here, but they're $3-$4/each, while a locally baked cookie is $1, and some cake slices are $2.50. It's a bit hard to justify spending the dough on dough when I can make coffee and cinnamon toast at home for less than $1. Anyway, I digress. Eclairs are more subtle usually... they're nice; but not a flavor explosion. Usually the custard is just... sweet and creamy, meh. Whatever. Not worth the calories. OTOH, I had what I thought would be a relatively bland almond croisant from a nearby bakery a few weeks ago. It was filled with custard though, and the combination was outstanding. That's the exception though, and when I went back they weren't making them that day. That's the downside of good food--it happens irregularly. The bakery will be making different things on different days. I could go out of my way and order them special, certainly; but then I'd probably end up ordering special tests from doctors too.
Anyway, a fresh-baked eclair is not a comparable to a Ho-Ho or Twinkie. You can't store the eclair in your desk for a month. Different tools for different purposes.
Advanced civilizations might have this drive, and prevent too much particle buildup. It might not be perfect though, so every once in a while a handful of particles come along for the ride. How else do you explain a proton with the kinetic energy of a pitched baseball?
Won't somebody please think of the Ho-Hos?
Twinkies suck. Ho-Hos are where it's at. I freely admit though, I haven't eaten a Ho-Ho since... maybe my early 20s. I have many fond memories of them from childhood though. Oh, the sweet, savored pleasure of unwinding them. The thin layers of chocolate that would flake off the outside. That last bit of thin cake and cream core...
Alas, the desire for extreme sugar waned with youth. Health consciousness took the front seat. Would it be so bad to take a walk down that aisle just one last time? Maybe not; but it's raining today. Besides. That shit's bad for you.
I grew up there (DC area). Although I haven't been to the spiffy new Dulles museum, I've been to the one downtown. Come to think of it, I have fond memories of the little model of DynaSoar that was in there. So yes, a lot of things do get cancelled. I guess the difference between "avoiding the sunk cost fallacy" and "cancelling a really cool project" is only resolved through the lens of history.
The real news here is that a branch of the military actually avoided the sunk cost fallacy. I know it's probably not the first time. Nevertheless, I can't help but wonder if they will use the money they save for porcine pilot training.
To: Google.
From: Office of alligator regulations, algal pools division, eastern district office.
Please note that while currently in compliance, your alligator will have to be removed when it reaches the current standard alligator removal length of 6 feet. Attached is a copy of form 6-423-100001, alligator removal entrance authorization and indemnification application. Please review, sign, and submit in triplicate. An inspector will be out shortly. Please note that we cannot guarantee the inspector will show at the time(s) listed. For updates on your case please call 202-555-1337 between the hours of 2 and 4 PM, Eastern US time. Use extension 45. Thank-you.
Sincerely,
(name)
Field agent.
Please stop pretending that California is the entire world, you make the rest of the states look bad.
Strawman much?
If you go by receipts as opposed to volume of a handfull of basic commodities, then California is no. 1.
I can see how you might make this mistake though. The other states produce vast ammounts of GMO corn and soy that gets fed to livestock. California has a much more diverse agricultural output. Trust me. You'd miss it. No, it's not a "bread" basket in the literal sense, but when the strawberry jam is off your toast, there are no nuts in the fall, no fresh cherries, etc., then all of the sudden the amber waves of grain are just a big blob of plain gruel with no variety. Not much wine either.
I don't know where you googled, but the western part or the central valley was not salinated until two things happend:
1. Irrigation saturated the soil and caused salt to be drawn up from lower strata via osmosis.
2. Water pumped through massive engineering projects was slightly saline due to salt water intrusion into the over-subscribed delta, which added to the salt load.
It's particularly bad for almonds. Maybe that would have helped the search.
Never mind the central valley though, I could have just cited the original dust bowl. Salination is more disturbing though. The dust bowl could be solved by better plowing practices, crop rotation, etc. Salt intrusion is much trickier.
As for what the central valley was before farming, AFAIK it was grasslands and marshes. The whole thing could even get quite marshy during heavy rains. Managed properly, that's hardly a wasteland. If anything, we made it a wasteland by diverting water from rivers, some of which were dried up all the way and became OHV trails!