Microsoft is in a no-win situation to try and protect people from themselves.
I'd have to agree. People want computers to be a toaster - throw some bread in, mash a button, and get toast. That is the extent they want their involvement to be if it isn't in their realm of interest.
To be honest though, there are plenty of other occupations that I'm clueless on. Put me in a fighter jet, or have me do someone else's taxes and your gonna see the same recipe for disaster. I'm sure there are plenty of people who shake their head at folks who don't understand what a GDP deflater is, or know how to skin a deer.
Actually according to the UN, every square foot of the earth that exists permanently 1 foot above sea level is claimed by some government somewhere. Unless you want to build up an atoll and make your own island, or do something like Sealand, you're screwed.
my gut still tells me that this photographing your house thing isn't any big deal; I just no longer have a good argument for why.
I personally don't think it has anything to do with privacy and profit mongering companies. I believe it is about lost anonymity more than anything else. As you point out above, you could go to any number of non-computer resources and get the same information, but that takes time and a not insignificant level of resource expenditure to collate. There is some perceived safety garnered from this because the effort threshold that needs to be crossed is higher than folks are perceived to be willing to spend.
However, If I can look you up on "Google People" and get pics of your house, tax records, etc that's no longer a barrier. You lose the ability to be just some random person I work with or met at a concert. Then there is always checking out info about the new hot chick that just started down in accounting. Electronic stalking?
A democratically controlled resource would not be squandered like that.
No, it too would be squandered. It just would be squandered with a penchant towards the politically connected than would otherwise have been spread out amongst the unwashed masses. It will also tend to be squandered more inefficiently than would otherwise occur, and have the social consequences removed from the individuals involved in the said squandering.
I've got satellite, since I live out in the sticks. No ISDN, no Cable. Heck, it took the phone company three weeks to figure out how to activate my phone service. Latency is an issue, but the pipe is T1-ish or better once it gets going.
Actual pings via my WildBlue connection (pro package): 64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=0 ttl=50 time=1040.5 ms 64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=1 ttl=50 time=591.3 ms 64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=2 ttl=50 time=698.5 ms 64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=3 ttl=50 time=606.3 ms 64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=4 ttl=50 time=709.0 ms --- 82.165.178.138 ping statistics --- 5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max = 591.3/729.1/1040.5 ms
Verdict: gaming sucks, way better than dialup, way way better than nothing.
People will push the technology right up to it's capacity to compensate, making the eventual failure much more spectacular. My unscientific and highly unfounded belief is that these systems are a zero-sum game. What we really need is a way to ensure drivers pay attenetion to what the crap the're doing. That would save more lives than any technology ever will.
Not really. All SCOTUS did was clarify what direct and indirect taxes are. Not to mention your definition is in direct conflict of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4 of the Constitution. See Pollock vs Farmer's Loan and Trust Co. (157 US 429)(1895); Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co. (240 US 112)(1916); Brushaber v. Union Pacific R.R. Co. (240 US 1)(1916); etc.
This gets really interesting when you realize that if something is unconstitutional it was never a law. If it was ever struck down, the US Gov't would have to pay all of us back all the tax money ever collected. THAT is why there is so much dirty business whenever the tax subject comes up. There is a huge vested interest in not only the gravy train, but also back liabilities.
I don't understand why so many people will defend such an opressive, unaccountable (bordering on terrorist) organization. The rules are so confusing, even H&R block couldnt figure it out properly. If you think a citizen asking legitimate questions stands a chance, drink more Kool-Aid. The question "Show Me The Law" should be an easy one to answer. The truth is they can't because there isn't one. I DARE you to ask and see the response you get.
Atricle 1 Section 10 restricts the states from creating their own currencies. It's not a restriction on federal power.
Not really. In the beginning, the Constitution limited the Federal Governments revenue to "billing" the states in proportion to their population. It wasn't until much later that they set the stage to escape the fiscal dicipline of gold by direct taxation of the people. I won't get into the whole 16th amendment thing because as you point out, the men with guns are asking you "nicely" to pay. You also could mention tarrifs and such, but the world monetary system was gold and silver at the time. The founders knew quite well the horrors of unbacked paper money. Just look at what happened to the Continental, or the 1500% inflation in Massachusetts issued currency during the Articles of Confederation. Fiat currency was one of the major reasons for the revamping the Articles of Confederation into Constitution in the first place!
I have to accumulate dollars to pay taxes with even if I don't want to use dollar for any private transaction (at least, according to tax law, people do get buy on the edges).
You also have to accumulate dollars if you want any commodity, since they are also priced in FRN. (Oil, gold, silver, palladium, etc.) This is one reason central banks need FRN in their vaults, and gives an artificial boost to the percieved "value" of the FRN. However, there is no requirement for you to use FRNs in your daily transactions. You could have a contract where your employer pays you in turnips. The fact that you have to convert some turnips to FRN to pay taxes is imaterial. The same could be said if I work in Canada and get paid in loonies. In both cases I have to trade for FRN - so what? I'll give you the convenience factor, but that's no way to protect purchasing power.
There are plenty of private currencies out there that you can get real goods and services for, and more than just in the margins. The Ithica Hour, Pheonix Dollar, Goldmoney, and the Liberty Dollar all spring to mind. (Although the Ithica hour is really labor debt money) I accept Liberty Dollars, Gold Money, etc.
Now, if WoW accepted WoW gold as payment to play the game, I might agree with you. Think about all the things that would have to be different for WoW to stay in business accepting WoW gold as it's only form of payment, and you'll see the difference I mean.
What WoW accepts for payment is up to them. I would have a hard time accepting WoW gold, just the same as I would "Fred Bucks". Now if WoW gold was backed by a real asset, then that would be different.
A FRN has value precisely because the US government manages to stay in business accepting only FRNs as payment.
Actually, it's the petro-dollar phenomenon coupled with military/police force. Those guys with guns you talked about. However, the FRN as the world reserve currency is on it's last leg. It's lost over 50% of it's value on international markets in the past few years, and the fundamentals say it has much further to drop. Just look at the charts of any commodity (they are all priced in FRN) for how much purchasing power has been lost. I have most of my liquidity in tangible assets, so I'm walking the walk so to speak on this one.
This makes a FRN more than just a convenient token with which to measure each side of a barter.
I can always buy FRN. The relentless inflation (thanks Alan and Ben!) of the supply of fiat currency ensures I'll always be able to get it cheaper tomorrow than today. Bottom line is there isn't any magic to the FRN, and most people don't even know what it is. Heck, most folks I talk to think it's still backed by the (supposed) gold in Ft. Knox!
True, the Gubmit only accepts taxes in FRN in violation of the Constitution Article I, section 10. The ability to discharge all your debts in one currency has quite a bit of appeal. "One stop shopping" is what creates most of the acceptance, as well as demand. Although to be fair, the vast majority of people out there have no idea what money or currency represents and use it without question.
That doesn't change the fact that there are huge problems with any fiat currency. Back in the recesses of time, when we traded asset/service for asset (gold/silver) the transaction was extinguished at the moment of exchange. Value for value. With non-redemable fiat currencies (FRN, WoW Gold, etc.) The transaction isn't finished until you take the non-redemable currency from the trade where you earned it (like your paycheck) and exchange it for something of value (like groceries). Until you do it is a "receivables" risk at least equal to inflation.
In any evaluation, the FRN is no different than any other fiat currency throughout all of recorded human history. It's nothing more than a confidence game. In that regard, I put it in the same class as WoW Gold.
Over 90% of Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) exist only as bits and bytes. Paper costs 3 cents to produce, regardless if it's a 1, 10, 100, etc. Coinage costs a bit more, and have exceeded their face value many times in the past. For example, dimes are smaller than nickles because dimes were originally silver and nickles were made out of (ahem) nickle. Both quantities of metal are now worth way more than their original face. Pennies before (fuzzy, so check yourself) 1983 are worth more for their copper content than $.01. We might see the same condition with zinc, since that's what makes up most coinage today.
In fact, it's perfectly legal for a store in "meat space" to accept WoW gold for purchases (ignoring any WoW user policies) as long as the store agrees to accept it. The truth is there is very little difference between WoW gold and FRN, only how wide the acceptance.
Good point, but I'd disagree that they intended it to mean how to run a campaign. It reads to me more towards how they conduct the actual election. In any case, the current election legislation takes a carte blanch approach and applies more then just those. For purposes of the discussion I'd be fine excluding these two offices.
I'd also agree with ballancing test for rights, but that isn't the Fed's job. The original intent was to have these issues handled at the state or more local level. Requiring the same test in Alabama as you have in California doesn't make sense, and is a feature of an authoritarian government. This is something the founders were very much against, having just barely won a rebellion against one.
As for conveying rights, the Constitution doesn't do this. It was written by the people for government, not the other way around. I'd recommend both the Federalist Papers, as well as the Anti-Federalist papers, for further reading as to what the Constitution was intended to be and decide for yourself.
. ..the consititution does not forbid congress from making laws that say who can donate what to a political campaign.
Just to be nit-picky. . . The Constitution is a document of enumerated powers. That means that unless it is in there, Congress can't do it. Nothing in Article I says anything about campaign financing, although it does list the trivial job of showing up one day a year. Coupled with Amendments 9 and 10, Congress just doesn't have the authority:
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
During my last outing a woman answered her cell to tell the caller she was in the middle of a movie and couldn't talk. She had to repeat it several times because the caller couldn't hear her whisper.
Just confirms my theory that technology accentuates stupid.
While I have no clue if Capitol Hill Blue is credible, these limits and auto notifications are required by law to be made by financial institutions. There is zero privacy in your medical records, financial records, library records, ad nausium. If it exists, it's fair game. With the PATRIOT ACT, they don't even need a warrent or even to tell you that they had a stroll through your records. (administrative warrants are Orwellian nightmares) Tech has only made their jobs easier to know everything about you.
This story might be hype, but you have only the freedom to hope that you're not noticed by the powers that be. In todays world of star chambers, indefinite imprisonment without charge, torture, concentration camps, and apathy - we're fscked. We are far from the land of freedom and home of the brave.
Slashdot Mirror
Application to have the sound of Harly Davidson motorcycles trademarked:
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/inp14.htm
I'd have to agree. People want computers to be a toaster - throw some bread in, mash a button, and get toast. That is the extent they want their involvement to be if it isn't in their realm of interest.
To be honest though, there are plenty of other occupations that I'm clueless on. Put me in a fighter jet, or have me do someone else's taxes and your gonna see the same recipe for disaster. I'm sure there are plenty of people who shake their head at folks who don't understand what a GDP deflater is, or know how to skin a deer.
Actually according to the UN, every square foot of the earth that exists permanently 1 foot above sea level is claimed by some government somewhere. Unless you want to build up an atoll and make your own island, or do something like Sealand, you're screwed.
Mental image:
Linus as MasterBlaster and Theo as Mad Max in that cage battle from Beyond Thunderdome.
Now that's a flame war I'd pay to see!
I personally don't think it has anything to do with privacy and profit mongering companies. I believe it is about lost anonymity more than anything else. As you point out above, you could go to any number of non-computer resources and get the same information, but that takes time and a not insignificant level of resource expenditure to collate. There is some perceived safety garnered from this because the effort threshold that needs to be crossed is higher than folks are perceived to be willing to spend.
However, If I can look you up on "Google People" and get pics of your house, tax records, etc that's no longer a barrier. You lose the ability to be just some random person I work with or met at a concert. Then there is always checking out info about the new hot chick that just started down in accounting. Electronic stalking?
No, it too would be squandered. It just would be squandered with a penchant towards the politically connected than would otherwise have been spread out amongst the unwashed masses. It will also tend to be squandered more inefficiently than would otherwise occur, and have the social consequences removed from the individuals involved in the said squandering.
I love that word - squander, squander, squander!
You must be new here.
Real men use a metal shredder. Only way to REALLY be sure nobody on ebay is gonna find your p0rn, er, document library.
I've got satellite, since I live out in the sticks. No ISDN, no Cable. Heck, it took the phone company three weeks to figure out how to activate my phone service. Latency is an issue, but the pipe is T1-ish or better once it gets going.
Actual pings via my WildBlue connection (pro package):
64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=0 ttl=50 time=1040.5 ms
64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=1 ttl=50 time=591.3 ms
64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=2 ttl=50 time=698.5 ms
64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=3 ttl=50 time=606.3 ms
64 bytes from 82.165.178.138: icmp_seq=4 ttl=50 time=709.0 ms
--- 82.165.178.138 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 591.3/729.1/1040.5 ms
Verdict: gaming sucks, way better than dialup, way way better than nothing.
Let us know how it goes.
Let's just hope they'll start receiving the treatement that their real-world counterparts have recieved.
Yeah, they get elected!
Sounds like my mantra:
Four-wheel drive isn't four-wheel stop.
People will push the technology right up to it's capacity to compensate, making the eventual failure much more spectacular. My unscientific and highly unfounded belief is that these systems are a zero-sum game. What we really need is a way to ensure drivers pay attenetion to what the crap the're doing. That would save more lives than any technology ever will.
Not really. All SCOTUS did was clarify what direct and indirect taxes are. Not to mention your definition is in direct conflict of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4 of the Constitution. See Pollock vs Farmer's Loan and Trust Co. (157 US 429)(1895); Stanton v. Baltic Mining Co. (240 US 112)(1916); Brushaber v. Union Pacific R.R. Co. (240 US 1)(1916); etc.
This gets really interesting when you realize that if something is unconstitutional it was never a law. If it was ever struck down, the US Gov't would have to pay all of us back all the tax money ever collected. THAT is why there is so much dirty business whenever the tax subject comes up. There is a huge vested interest in not only the gravy train, but also back liabilities.
I don't understand why so many people will defend such an opressive, unaccountable (bordering on terrorist) organization. The rules are so confusing, even H&R block couldnt figure it out properly. If you think a citizen asking legitimate questions stands a chance, drink more Kool-Aid. The question "Show Me The Law" should be an easy one to answer. The truth is they can't because there isn't one. I DARE you to ask and see the response you get.
http://www.rushonline.com/visitors/16thamendment.http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/04/04/16/greensl
http://www.constitutionalincome.com/sup_ct_pet.ph
Many, MANY, other sites on this subject exist. The fact that they won't answer a simple question to end the debate once and for all is quite telling.
Oh good. You can show me the law that says who's liable for taxes then, because the IRS can't.
Not really. In the beginning, the Constitution limited the Federal Governments revenue to "billing" the states in proportion to their population. It wasn't until much later that they set the stage to escape the fiscal dicipline of gold by direct taxation of the people. I won't get into the whole 16th amendment thing because as you point out, the men with guns are asking you "nicely" to pay. You also could mention tarrifs and such, but the world monetary system was gold and silver at the time. The founders knew quite well the horrors of unbacked paper money. Just look at what happened to the Continental, or the 1500% inflation in Massachusetts issued currency during the Articles of Confederation. Fiat currency was one of the major reasons for the revamping the Articles of Confederation into Constitution in the first place!
I have to accumulate dollars to pay taxes with even if I don't want to use dollar for any private transaction (at least, according to tax law, people do get buy on the edges).You also have to accumulate dollars if you want any commodity, since they are also priced in FRN. (Oil, gold, silver, palladium, etc.) This is one reason central banks need FRN in their vaults, and gives an artificial boost to the percieved "value" of the FRN. However, there is no requirement for you to use FRNs in your daily transactions. You could have a contract where your employer pays you in turnips. The fact that you have to convert some turnips to FRN to pay taxes is imaterial. The same could be said if I work in Canada and get paid in loonies. In both cases I have to trade for FRN - so what? I'll give you the convenience factor, but that's no way to protect purchasing power.
There are plenty of private currencies out there that you can get real goods and services for, and more than just in the margins. The Ithica Hour, Pheonix Dollar, Goldmoney, and the Liberty Dollar all spring to mind. (Although the Ithica hour is really labor debt money) I accept Liberty Dollars, Gold Money, etc.
Now, if WoW accepted WoW gold as payment to play the game, I might agree with you. Think about all the things that would have to be different for WoW to stay in business accepting WoW gold as it's only form of payment, and you'll see the difference I mean.What WoW accepts for payment is up to them. I would have a hard time accepting WoW gold, just the same as I would "Fred Bucks". Now if WoW gold was backed by a real asset, then that would be different.
A FRN has value precisely because the US government manages to stay in business accepting only FRNs as payment.Actually, it's the petro-dollar phenomenon coupled with military/police force. Those guys with guns you talked about. However, the FRN as the world reserve currency is on it's last leg. It's lost over 50% of it's value on international markets in the past few years, and the fundamentals say it has much further to drop. Just look at the charts of any commodity (they are all priced in FRN) for how much purchasing power has been lost. I have most of my liquidity in tangible assets, so I'm walking the walk so to speak on this one.
This makes a FRN more than just a convenient token with which to measure each side of a barter.I can always buy FRN. The relentless inflation (thanks Alan and Ben!) of the supply of fiat currency ensures I'll always be able to get it cheaper tomorrow than today. Bottom line is there isn't any magic to the FRN, and most people don't even know what it is. Heck, most folks I talk to think it's still backed by the (supposed) gold in Ft. Knox!
True, the Gubmit only accepts taxes in FRN in violation of the Constitution Article I, section 10. The ability to discharge all your debts in one currency has quite a bit of appeal. "One stop shopping" is what creates most of the acceptance, as well as demand. Although to be fair, the vast majority of people out there have no idea what money or currency represents and use it without question.
That doesn't change the fact that there are huge problems with any fiat currency. Back in the recesses of time, when we traded asset/service for asset (gold/silver) the transaction was extinguished at the moment of exchange. Value for value. With non-redemable fiat currencies (FRN, WoW Gold, etc.) The transaction isn't finished until you take the non-redemable currency from the trade where you earned it (like your paycheck) and exchange it for something of value (like groceries). Until you do it is a "receivables" risk at least equal to inflation.
In any evaluation, the FRN is no different than any other fiat currency throughout all of recorded human history. It's nothing more than a confidence game. In that regard, I put it in the same class as WoW Gold.
Over 90% of Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) exist only as bits and bytes. Paper costs 3 cents to produce, regardless if it's a 1, 10, 100, etc. Coinage costs a bit more, and have exceeded their face value many times in the past. For example, dimes are smaller than nickles because dimes were originally silver and nickles were made out of (ahem) nickle. Both quantities of metal are now worth way more than their original face. Pennies before (fuzzy, so check yourself) 1983 are worth more for their copper content than $.01. We might see the same condition with zinc, since that's what makes up most coinage today.
In fact, it's perfectly legal for a store in "meat space" to accept WoW gold for purchases (ignoring any WoW user policies) as long as the store agrees to accept it. The truth is there is very little difference between WoW gold and FRN, only how wide the acceptance.
Good point, but I'd disagree that they intended it to mean how to run a campaign. It reads to me more towards how they conduct the actual election. In any case, the current election legislation takes a carte blanch approach and applies more then just those. For purposes of the discussion I'd be fine excluding these two offices.
I'd also agree with ballancing test for rights, but that isn't the Fed's job. The original intent was to have these issues handled at the state or more local level. Requiring the same test in Alabama as you have in California doesn't make sense, and is a feature of an authoritarian government. This is something the founders were very much against, having just barely won a rebellion against one.
As for conveying rights, the Constitution doesn't do this. It was written by the people for government, not the other way around. I'd recommend both the Federalist Papers, as well as the Anti-Federalist papers, for further reading as to what the Constitution was intended to be and decide for yourself.
. . .the consititution does not forbid congress from making laws that say who can donate what to a political campaign.
Just to be nit-picky. . . The Constitution is a document of enumerated powers. That means that unless it is in there, Congress can't do it. Nothing in Article I says anything about campaign financing, although it does list the trivial job of showing up one day a year. Coupled with Amendments 9 and 10, Congress just doesn't have the authority:
Amendment IX
Amendment X
During my last outing a woman answered her cell to tell the caller she was in the middle of a movie and couldn't talk. She had to repeat it several times because the caller couldn't hear her whisper.
Just confirms my theory that technology accentuates stupid.
Panspermia, but with Earth as the originator. Sounds like the old chicken and egg to me.
While I have no clue if Capitol Hill Blue is credible, these limits and auto notifications are required by law to be made by financial institutions. There is zero privacy in your medical records, financial records, library records, ad nausium. If it exists, it's fair game. With the PATRIOT ACT, they don't even need a warrent or even to tell you that they had a stroll through your records. (administrative warrants are Orwellian nightmares) Tech has only made their jobs easier to know everything about you.
This story might be hype, but you have only the freedom to hope that you're not noticed by the powers that be. In todays world of star chambers, indefinite imprisonment without charge, torture, concentration camps, and apathy - we're fscked. We are far from the land of freedom and home of the brave.
Embarassed about a typo on /.?
You really must be new here.