The Spanish Inquisition was a crime against muslims by Christians (ahref=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_inquis itionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_inquisit ion>) and was meant to represent that. I know of the Crusades and don't appreciate being told that I don't.
As far as your antagonism against Christianity goes, it sounds like you were more oppressed by the state than by the church and have misplaced your anger.
I don't believe that anyone should use the power of government to enforce their religion upon anyone else. Enforcing the rule of law (as passed by whatever legislature there is in a particular locality/state/country) is entirely ok.
I agree that actions speak louder than words - and that on the day of judgement some of those that speak loudest about $FAITH will be called to the carpet in front of $DIETY to explain their actions.
I've always found it kind of offensive when people say, "Oh, Computer Science: can you fix my computer?" No, I don't fix computers.
I do have a Computer Science degree, and that's actually what I do. I enjoy the troubleshooting and breadth of experience that you can get fixing machines. No two problems are exactly the same and it's fun to be challenged (and there's no point in being a snob about it).
In actuality, I'm the "computer guy" for a small business and keep everything running. I do networking, hardware, and software (don't write too much code, but do enough little thinks to keep it interesting). I also do the IT roadmap and make many of the business decisions related to IT. A nice little trade off for not being a ComSci bigot.
I think that the most important thing to do is to do something that you enjoy. I've found that I enjoy what I do (so much so that I do some of the same thing after hours - a "small business" is a hobby that pays:) ) - as presumably you enjoy doing what you do.
I don't have a problem with someone who has a genuine faith and is in public office. Just because you believe in $FAITH, shouldn't exclude you from serving your locality/state/country. This includes Pat Robertson or that Maharishi guy in Fairfield.
I do have a problem with those who would codify their religious beliefs and hold all others to them (see Islamic law or the Spanish Inquisition) but to say that only atheists or nonbelievers in $FAITH need apply for public office is just plain wrong.
I don't think that an individual is going to find any way to accept credit cards that costs less than PayPal
That's probably true. A big reason for so much complaining about PayPal fees is that, for the most part, consumers are insulated from them. But when they try to sell something on eBay and PayPal takes a couple of percent of the price of the item, they think it's a ripoff.
So in conclusion there's really no good way for an e-bank like Paypal to come out looking like a good guy.
They could start by allowing themselves to be regulated like a bank since they are providing banking services. There are alot of regulations in banking that address a lot of the complaints seen here about paypal...
Interchange is between 2% and 3% for most everything. The bank that does the processing gets part of it, the bank that has the card gets part of it and Visa/MasterCard/Discover/Whatever get a small part as well. The consumer pays the amount listed and the merchant has to cover the fees.
Had you asked me a couple of years ago my advice would have been to follow up your Bachelors in Computer Science with an MBA rather than a Master's in Computer Science. Too many business managers do not understand Information Technology. Too many IT guys do not understand business. If you want to get rich and have a challenging career, be the guy who understand BOTH.
This should have been bolded and marked as insightful.
Just trying to keep the regulations straight should be enough to keep you in business then:)
In all seriousness, I once worked at a hospital and was asked to fix a program that filled out the medicare claim forms. In certain instances, an 'X' was going in the wrong box. I fixed it, but that program was a monstrosity - brought on by the rules that it had to follow.
I guess what I'm saying is that if you are a masochist, healthcare software is for you!
Debit cards are governed by Reg E, not by Visa or Mastercard. You have low liabilities on the fraudulent debit card transactions (like any other electronic transactions) on your deposit account if you report the transactions to the bank in a timely manner!
Credit cards are governed by the rules that Visa and Mastercard make - and have a little bit less liability resting on the cardholder.
The big difference (and the thing that kind of sucks) is that if you have a fraudulent debit card transaction - it's money out of your account until the bank can refund it (and they have the right to do an investigation first).
And it doesn't stop at food! The sales taxes in Iowa are just screwy.
This is done so that when the department of revenue comes calling, and they will come calling, they will get you for something - apparently just like they do to your father in law in california.
So those stupid "we pay the sales tax" sales are illegal in Iowa?
As far as I can tell. Of course, if you do any looking into Iowa sales tax rules, there's an awful lot of grey areas - presumably there so that the department of revenue has something to do.
I can't speak for concessions vendors, but food is generally excluded from sales tax. I think restaurants charge sales tax on food that they prepare, but I'm not sure if a concession stand falls within that?
Put another way, the easiest sales tax calculator algorithm has only fifty tax rates, and matches by state, not by zip code. Simply use the highest rate for any given state.
Given the way that this deals with consumers, it would be a big no-no from the regulators. As far as the states are concerned, it doesn't matter how difficult it is to collect sales taxes(or even to decide what to collect the sales taxes on), it just matters that it is done and that the businesses aren't using those collections to screw the consumers.
In Iowa, we have a 5% sales tax rate, except in some cities and counties where it is 6%, except in some school districts where it's 7% (unless those school districts are in cities or counties without the 6% rate, in that case the rate is 6%). If a business were to collect 7% on all sales in Iowa, the state would probably start enforcement procedings on them because they were harming consumers (our Attorney General loves class action lawsuits, and would jump on this).
On the other hand, it is illegal for a vendor to pay or hide sales tax in Iowa. In other words, if my prices included an "extra" 2% and I only charged 5% on all Iowa sales, but used that padding to pay for the various local sales taxes, the state department of revenue would start enforcement proceedings.
The best bet is that no matter how convoluted a sales tax might be, to collect them in such a way as to tie the rate to the delivery address.
These days adolescence seems to last until about 35, with all the juvenile behavior that goes with it.
Many people hold off having kids until later (say 35 or so) - and you don't really grow up until you've got kids of your own and have been forced to do so. It's that "responsibility" thing.
If they so chose, the FTC, the OCC, the SEC, the CFTC, or state insurance regulators could fine Citigroup for violations of GLBA.
I think that only the OCC (assuming that they're Citigroup's regulator) can fine them for GLB violations. None of the other entities have GLB jurisdiction.
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As far as your antagonism against Christianity goes, it sounds like you were more oppressed by the state than by the church and have misplaced your anger.
I don't believe that anyone should use the power of government to enforce their religion upon anyone else. Enforcing the rule of law (as passed by whatever legislature there is in a particular locality/state/country) is entirely ok.
I agree that actions speak louder than words - and that on the day of judgement some of those that speak loudest about $FAITH will be called to the carpet in front of $DIETY to explain their actions.
I do have a Computer Science degree, and that's actually what I do. I enjoy the troubleshooting and breadth of experience that you can get fixing machines. No two problems are exactly the same and it's fun to be challenged (and there's no point in being a snob about it).
In actuality, I'm the "computer guy" for a small business and keep everything running. I do networking, hardware, and software (don't write too much code, but do enough little thinks to keep it interesting). I also do the IT roadmap and make many of the business decisions related to IT. A nice little trade off for not being a ComSci bigot.
I think that the most important thing to do is to do something that you enjoy. I've found that I enjoy what I do (so much so that I do some of the same thing after hours - a "small business" is a hobby that pays :) ) - as presumably you enjoy doing what you do.
I do have a problem with those who would codify their religious beliefs and hold all others to them (see Islamic law or the Spanish Inquisition) but to say that only atheists or nonbelievers in $FAITH need apply for public office is just plain wrong.
You shouldn't have said that - the feds are coming to get you now!
That's probably true. A big reason for so much complaining about PayPal fees is that, for the most part, consumers are insulated from them. But when they try to sell something on eBay and PayPal takes a couple of percent of the price of the item, they think it's a ripoff.
Only half of the smarter group are ranting like children...depending upon which half you agree with :)
And?
They could start by allowing themselves to be regulated like a bank since they are providing banking services. There are alot of regulations in banking that address a lot of the complaints seen here about paypal...
Dude - 4 letters - OFAC
Paypal doesn't want to touch that kind of transaction.
Interchange is between 2% and 3% for most everything. The bank that does the processing gets part of it, the bank that has the card gets part of it and Visa/MasterCard/Discover/Whatever get a small part as well. The consumer pays the amount listed and the merchant has to cover the fees.
This should have been bolded and marked as insightful.
In all seriousness, I once worked at a hospital and was asked to fix a program that filled out the medicare claim forms. In certain instances, an 'X' was going in the wrong box. I fixed it, but that program was a monstrosity - brought on by the rules that it had to follow.
I guess what I'm saying is that if you are a masochist, healthcare software is for you!
Credit cards are governed by the rules that Visa and Mastercard make - and have a little bit less liability resting on the cardholder.
The big difference (and the thing that kind of sucks) is that if you have a fraudulent debit card transaction - it's money out of your account until the bank can refund it (and they have the right to do an investigation first).
And have fun bringing a family to that :(
A month of netflix is cheaper than it costs me to take my family to a movie.
And it doesn't stop at food! The sales taxes in Iowa are just screwy.
This is done so that when the department of revenue comes calling, and they will come calling, they will get you for something - apparently just like they do to your father in law in california.
As far as I can tell. Of course, if you do any looking into Iowa sales tax rules, there's an awful lot of grey areas - presumably there so that the department of revenue has something to do.
I can't speak for concessions vendors, but food is generally excluded from sales tax. I think restaurants charge sales tax on food that they prepare, but I'm not sure if a concession stand falls within that?
A lot of local problems could be solved if the tax structure was flipped on its head (with the local governments collecting the bulk of the taxes).
Given the way that this deals with consumers, it would be a big no-no from the regulators. As far as the states are concerned, it doesn't matter how difficult it is to collect sales taxes(or even to decide what to collect the sales taxes on), it just matters that it is done and that the businesses aren't using those collections to screw the consumers.
In Iowa, we have a 5% sales tax rate, except in some cities and counties where it is 6%, except in some school districts where it's 7% (unless those school districts are in cities or counties without the 6% rate, in that case the rate is 6%). If a business were to collect 7% on all sales in Iowa, the state would probably start enforcement procedings on them because they were harming consumers (our Attorney General loves class action lawsuits, and would jump on this).
On the other hand, it is illegal for a vendor to pay or hide sales tax in Iowa. In other words, if my prices included an "extra" 2% and I only charged 5% on all Iowa sales, but used that padding to pay for the various local sales taxes, the state department of revenue would start enforcement proceedings.
The best bet is that no matter how convoluted a sales tax might be, to collect them in such a way as to tie the rate to the delivery address.
And don't forget the plaid pants and chain smoking! Nothing says professionalism like chain smoking!
Many people hold off having kids until later (say 35 or so) - and you don't really grow up until you've got kids of your own and have been forced to do so. It's that "responsibility" thing.
If MS decides to stab Intel in the back, Apple can't make enought Macs to cover the shortfall.
Have they got that working now?
I think that only the OCC (assuming that they're Citigroup's regulator) can fine them for GLB violations. None of the other entities have GLB jurisdiction.
Going to college is now an event that generates a tax consequence (in this case a good one - you can get a tax credit for tuition).
As such, the school needs to send out forms each year to students so that they can claim that credit. Those forms require a social security number...
Don't you know that the contest now becomes who can leave the building with the most copper wire?