If you have $2B and give away half, you are still a billionaire.
Agreed. A person's generosity is measured not by how much they give away, but how much they spend on themselves.
The multi-billionaire who has a private jet and personal masseuse while giving millions to charity is less generous than the poor family that live in a shack but still manage to give a few hundred dollars a year to help the homeless.
The real question here. Why would we want to "stabilize" human society? I think the rate of human progress is in large part due to the inherent instability of human society.
Because instability combined with more and more countries having weapons capable of destroying all life on the planet is not viable in the long term?
Listen to yesterday's interview with Vermont's Senator Bernie Sanders. He's not part of the problem. Now go listen to the statement yesterday by Kentucky's Senator Mitch McConnell about how they're going to hold everyone hostage until they can get tax breaks for people who don't need them, don't deserve them, and in many cases don't want them. Now check their voting records. Now tell me all politicians are the same.
Both parties want tax cuts that Americans don't need or deserve. Claiming that Americans need the Bush Tax Cuts can be disproved by looking at the fact that Americans were able to live prior to the Bush Tax Cuts.
Do most Americans want tax cuts? Sure. Just like most children want to stuff their faces with candy and ice cream. Sometimes you need a parent to say "No, you can't have that, you've had too much of that already and more would be bad for you."
In a democracy, where do you find the parents? While the Republicans are the more irrational and irresponsible party today, the Democrats aren't exactly full of mature and wise statesmen who are making responsible fiscal policy for the best long term interests of the country. The Bush Tax Cuts were passed when the CBO did a 10 year projection of massive surpluses, and so the Republicans said the government should cut taxes because times were so good. Now the Dems and Repubs are saying that the tax cuts are needed because times are so bad.
Taxes go up next year, it will hurt. Living with a 32 inch TV instead of a branch new 50 inch, or driving a $15k car instead of a $30k car, or renting an apartment instead of buying a house is not life-ending. Take the pain, such that your children's children don't have to suffer (as much) for your excessive consumption.
Somehow we've entered a world where the 2 choices Americans have to vote for are: 1. Vote for the party that wants to lower taxes by borrowing 420 billion dollars a year from China, or 2. Vote for the party that wants to lower taxes by borrowing 360 billion dollars a year from China.
These positions are not only fiscally irresponsible/insane, they are morally reprehensible. The standard of living of the average person in China (see FoxConn employee) is substantially less than that of the average American. Why do Americans expect Chinese workers living on a few hundred dollars a month to subsidize the American's purchase of Snuggies (or whatever other unnecessary luxuries Americans want)?
In case you weren't paying attention, it's being restructured in what really amounts to a form of bankruptcy. It's close to paying back every dime it borrowed, and it's now almost certain that the taxpayers will ultimately pay very little for saving GM.
GM went bankrupt in 2009. The stockholders of GM were wiped out, they lost 100%. The bondholders of bankrupt GM will get back less than what they were owed, the exact amount is yet to be determined. I'd estimate about 100 billion dollars of wealth was destroyed by GM as a result of the bankruptcy. This was private wealth, not government loans.
The new GM ("NGMCO Inc") that emerged from the bankruptcy of 2009, unburdened of its massive debt, 30% of its workforce, and retiree obligations, and granted new loans from the USA and Canadian governments does look likely to pay back most of that new debt, which is a good thing. It doesn't change the fact that a lot of people lost a lot of money on old GM.
Note that in addition to new GM losing money on every Volt sold, the US Government loses $10000 on every Volt sold (the value of the tax credit).
If I could buy a car that got me to my destination without the time and hassle of requiring me to guide it and avoid traffic/bad drivers, then that would be a feature that I would value. So, if there is someone out there working on a car for people who hate driving, I'd like to encourage them to continue working on it. Do not be discouraged by the preceding poster.
The government mandated airbags in every car. The airbags killed some people. Nobody from the government went to jail for manslaughter.
The government works statistically. They mandate devices that they expect will save more lives than they will kill. They don't claim their mandatory safety devices will never kill anyone.
They should change the background color on your phone to the new threat level. e.g. when the level changes from yellow to orange, your phone background becomes orange, immediately letting you know to take the appropriate action such as heading to Home Depot to stockpile duct tape and plastic sheeting. For extra credit the phone could provide you with directions to the nearest hardware store.
This scheme may conflict with *Amber* Alerts, however.
You wrote "pay no taxes", not "pay no income tax" in your message that I replied to. If you are referring to a particular kind of tax then in the future be specific about that.
I'm not certain what the difference is between the government taking some of your earned money and calling it "income tax" and taking some other portion of your earned money and calling it "social security and medicare tax". In either case the government is taking your money. You don't have that money to spend, the government has it to spend. To the end user, the effect is identical regardless of which category the government calls it. Thus, I don't understand your rationale for picking and choosing one of these taxes and ignoring the other, other than hyperbole to support your argument.
I'm quite certain that every US adult is paying some sales/gas/telecom taxes at either the municipal/state/federal level. There are so many of these taxes (check your phone bill) they are unavoidable.
The simple majority vote you need to execute a man (or do anything else) in the USA is 5 of 9 Supreme Court justices.
If you believe that Supreme Court justices are infallible, how can there ever be a split decision (i.e. any decision which is not 9-0)?
Because Supreme Court justices can make mistakes, you just have to hope that they make fewer mistakes than you or I would in their decisions. I have no evidence to compare my error rate to their error rate.
If you believe the earth was created 6000 years ago, you probably are not going to be capable of a rational debate on the scientific evidence of long term (tens of thousands of years) climate change.
What percentage of adult humans claim membership in religions?
While the game itself varies from occasional memorable moments to a great deal of mundane (and frequently mind-numbing) activity, the meta-game and content that surrounds the game can be very entertaining. The game is fuel for interactions with fellow players, discussions with game developers, and music videos such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM .
You invest your time and money in an MMO. We are typically talking about multi-year commtments of time invested in character development and friendship making. The company that operates the MMO has a complete stranglehold on your access to the game. Read the WoW Terms of Use clause that states "We may terminate your account at any time, with or without cause".
You would like to believe that the MMO in which you make such a huge investment is not run by retards who will, one day, make some colossal mistake that will sever you from the game. The last 2 days are evidence that there are retards at Blizzard who could actually do so. This has not been a confidence builder.
How would history be different if the paragraph condemning the evil of slavery had been kept in the declaration, instead of being removed?
From Wikipedia: "although Jefferson had included a paragraph in his initial draft that strongly indicted Britain's role in the slave trade, this was deleted from the final version"
It's men who are dumb enough to tolerate the aspy-programmer types, the sneering arrogant IT guys, the mailing lists full of flaming personal attacks leveled by closet bullies empowered by semi-anonymity, the phallic-compensating gadget consumerists, constantly "helpful" types who manage to insult while trying to rescue, and the sexually inept who use pinup wallpaper and leer at any woman in eyeshot. Membership in (or at least tolerance of) a repellant boys' club is an almost-mandatory feature of our industry.
In a 20 year career as a software developer: 1. I haven't met any programmers suffering from Asperger's Syndrom (I assume this is what "aspy" means, correct me if I'm wrong) 2. I haven't known any "sneering arrogant IT guys". The IT guys I've met have been normal, helpful human beings. 3. I have seen some harsh emails, but not often and nothing like the venom you describe 4. I can't recall any "phallic compensation gadget consumerists", but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough... 5. I haven't met any "constantly helpful types who insult while trying to rescue" 6. I have seen some teenage male type usage of naked women pictures, but that's been quite rare. Do you think that teenage male types only exist in the tech industry?
Do you think that "boys clubs" are more prevalent in the tech industry than other industries? The problems that you cite probably exist in most companies to one degree or another.
"56% of women in technology companies leave their organizations at the mid-level point, 10-20 years in their careers," said Catherine Ashcraft, the senior research scientist who authored the report.
Is 56% a large number relative to other careers? What percentage of women in retail sales change companies in their 30s? What percentage of men in tech companies change jobs in their 30s? Are we supposed be shocked by the number 56% in the absence of anything to compare it to?
I'm a guy who has been working as a software developer for 20 years, and I changed organizations (companies) in my 30s. And it had nothing to do with children.
Slashdot Mirror
If you have $2B and give away half, you are still a billionaire.
Agreed. A person's generosity is measured not by how much they give away, but how much they spend on themselves.
The multi-billionaire who has a private jet and personal masseuse while giving millions to charity is less generous than the poor family that live in a shack but still manage to give a few hundred dollars a year to help the homeless.
The real question here. Why would we want to "stabilize" human society? I think the rate of human progress is in large part due to the inherent instability of human society.
Because instability combined with more and more countries having weapons capable of destroying all life on the planet is not viable in the long term?
So the message here is that reading the New York Times can potentially cost you a job.
Sarah Palin seems to be ahead of the curve on this. Her plan to avoid reading to remain employable is paying off. You bet'cha!
Listen to yesterday's interview with Vermont's Senator Bernie Sanders. He's not part of the problem. Now go listen to the statement yesterday by Kentucky's Senator Mitch McConnell about how they're going to hold everyone hostage until they can get tax breaks for people who don't need them, don't deserve them, and in many cases don't want them. Now check their voting records. Now tell me all politicians are the same.
Both parties want tax cuts that Americans don't need or deserve. Claiming that Americans need the Bush Tax Cuts can be disproved by looking at the fact that Americans were able to live prior to the Bush Tax Cuts.
Do most Americans want tax cuts? Sure. Just like most children want to stuff their faces with candy and ice cream. Sometimes you need a parent to say "No, you can't have that, you've had too much of that already and more would be bad for you."
In a democracy, where do you find the parents? While the Republicans are the more irrational and irresponsible party today, the Democrats aren't exactly full of mature and wise statesmen who are making responsible fiscal policy for the best long term interests of the country. The Bush Tax Cuts were passed when the CBO did a 10 year projection of massive surpluses, and so the Republicans said the government should cut taxes because times were so good. Now the Dems and Repubs are saying that the tax cuts are needed because times are so bad.
Taxes go up next year, it will hurt. Living with a 32 inch TV instead of a branch new 50 inch, or driving a $15k car instead of a $30k car, or renting an apartment instead of buying a house is not life-ending. Take the pain, such that your children's children don't have to suffer (as much) for your excessive consumption.
Well said.
Somehow we've entered a world where the 2 choices Americans have to vote for are:
1. Vote for the party that wants to lower taxes by borrowing 420 billion dollars a year from China, or
2. Vote for the party that wants to lower taxes by borrowing 360 billion dollars a year from China.
These positions are not only fiscally irresponsible/insane, they are morally reprehensible. The standard of living of the average person in China (see FoxConn employee) is substantially less than that of the average American. Why do Americans expect Chinese workers living on a few hundred dollars a month to subsidize the American's purchase of Snuggies (or whatever other unnecessary luxuries Americans want)?
In case you weren't paying attention, it's being restructured in what really amounts to a form of bankruptcy. It's close to paying back every dime it borrowed, and it's now almost certain that the taxpayers will ultimately pay very little for saving GM.
GM went bankrupt in 2009. The stockholders of GM were wiped out, they lost 100%. The bondholders of bankrupt GM will get back less than what they were owed, the exact amount is yet to be determined. I'd estimate about 100 billion dollars of wealth was destroyed by GM as a result of the bankruptcy. This was private wealth, not government loans.
The new GM ("NGMCO Inc") that emerged from the bankruptcy of 2009, unburdened of its massive debt, 30% of its workforce, and retiree obligations, and granted new loans from the USA and Canadian governments does look likely to pay back most of that new debt, which is a good thing. It doesn't change the fact that a lot of people lost a lot of money on old GM.
Note that in addition to new GM losing money on every Volt sold, the US Government loses $10000 on every Volt sold (the value of the tax credit).
If I could buy a car that got me to my destination without the time and hassle of requiring me to guide it and avoid traffic/bad drivers, then that would be a feature that I would value. So, if there is someone out there working on a car for people who hate driving, I'd like to encourage them to continue working on it. Do not be discouraged by the preceding poster.
The government mandated airbags in every car. The airbags killed some people. Nobody from the government went to jail for manslaughter.
The government works statistically. They mandate devices that they expect will save more lives than they will kill. They don't claim their mandatory safety devices will never kill anyone.
And also distracting is all those "sandwich-board" guys standing on the sidewalk waving you to Mattress Mart... Ugh.
How will the govt stop someone from duct taping a portable DVD player to their dash?
They should change the background color on your phone to the new threat level. e.g. when the level changes from yellow to orange, your phone background becomes orange, immediately letting you know to take the appropriate action such as heading to Home Depot to stockpile duct tape and plastic sheeting. For extra credit the phone could provide you with directions to the nearest hardware store.
This scheme may conflict with *Amber* Alerts, however.
You wrote "pay no taxes", not "pay no income tax" in your message that I replied to. If you are referring to a particular kind of tax then in the future be specific about that.
I'm not certain what the difference is between the government taking some of your earned money and calling it "income tax" and taking some other portion of your earned money and calling it "social security and medicare tax". In either case the government is taking your money. You don't have that money to spend, the government has it to spend. To the end user, the effect is identical regardless of which category the government calls it. Thus, I don't understand your rationale for picking and choosing one of these taxes and ignoring the other, other than hyperbole to support your argument.
I'm quite certain that every US adult is paying some sales/gas/telecom taxes at either the municipal/state/federal level. There are so many of these taxes (check your phone bill) they are unavoidable.
Also, currently 50% of the US working population pays a total of 3% of the taxes and the proportion that pay no taxes is constantly increasing.
If you work in the US, you pay the social security tax and medicare tax (15.5% flat tax rate, IIRC). Even (many) illegal immigrants pay this.
If you buy stuff in the US, you pay taxes (e.g. sales taxes, gas tax). Illegals pay these taxes too.
Where is this 50% of the US working population that pay no taxes?
The simple majority vote you need to execute a man (or do anything else) in the USA is 5 of 9 Supreme Court justices.
If you believe that Supreme Court justices are infallible, how can there ever be a split decision (i.e. any decision which is not 9-0)?
Because Supreme Court justices can make mistakes, you just have to hope that they make fewer mistakes than you or I would in their decisions. I have no evidence to compare my error rate to their error rate.
Even those who believe in human caused climate change will not reduce their standard of living to (possibly) make a difference in the rate of change.
"Tragedy of the Commons" where the Earth's atmosphere is the commons.
If you believe the earth was created 6000 years ago, you probably are not going to be capable of a rational debate on the scientific evidence of long term (tens of thousands of years) climate change.
What percentage of adult humans claim membership in religions?
While the game itself varies from occasional memorable moments to a great deal of mundane (and frequently mind-numbing) activity, the meta-game and content that surrounds the game can be very entertaining. The game is fuel for interactions with fellow players, discussions with game developers, and music videos such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM .
Future headline: "Eyedentity theft increasing in Mexico." Nobody saw this coming. :)
Misleading Indicator of Performance Statistic was the worthless number we had back then, and we liked it!
Why are Senators designing rockets?
My guess is that they are not designing rockets so much as they are designing pork.
You invest your time and money in an MMO. We are typically talking about multi-year commtments of time invested in character development and friendship making. The company that operates the MMO has a complete stranglehold on your access to the game. Read the WoW Terms of Use clause that states "We may terminate your account at any time, with or without cause".
You would like to believe that the MMO in which you make such a huge investment is not run by retards who will, one day, make some colossal mistake that will sever you from the game. The last 2 days are evidence that there are retards at Blizzard who could actually do so. This has not been a confidence builder.
How would history be different if the paragraph condemning the evil of slavery had been kept in the declaration, instead of being removed?
From Wikipedia: "although Jefferson had included a paragraph in his initial draft that strongly indicted Britain's role in the slave trade, this was deleted from the final version"
I have *never* seen a guy that doesn't have p0rn on his computer
On his WORK computer? Where the hell do you work?!?
MMS or the SEC, obviously. :)
It's men who are dumb enough to tolerate the aspy-programmer types, the sneering arrogant IT guys, the mailing lists full of flaming personal attacks leveled by closet bullies empowered by semi-anonymity, the phallic-compensating gadget consumerists, constantly "helpful" types who manage to insult while trying to rescue, and the sexually inept who use pinup wallpaper and leer at any woman in eyeshot. Membership in (or at least tolerance of) a repellant boys' club is an almost-mandatory feature of our industry.
In a 20 year career as a software developer:
1. I haven't met any programmers suffering from Asperger's Syndrom (I assume this is what "aspy" means, correct me if I'm wrong)
2. I haven't known any "sneering arrogant IT guys". The IT guys I've met have been normal, helpful human beings.
3. I have seen some harsh emails, but not often and nothing like the venom you describe
4. I can't recall any "phallic compensation gadget consumerists", but perhaps I'm not looking hard enough...
5. I haven't met any "constantly helpful types who insult while trying to rescue"
6. I have seen some teenage male type usage of naked women pictures, but that's been quite rare. Do you think that teenage male types only exist in the tech industry?
Do you think that "boys clubs" are more prevalent in the tech industry than other industries? The problems that you cite probably exist in most companies to one degree or another.
"56% of women in technology companies leave their organizations at the mid-level point, 10-20 years in their careers," said Catherine Ashcraft, the senior research scientist who authored the report.
Is 56% a large number relative to other careers? What percentage of women in retail sales change companies in their 30s? What percentage of men in tech companies change jobs in their 30s? Are we supposed be shocked by the number 56% in the absence of anything to compare it to?
I'm a guy who has been working as a software developer for 20 years, and I changed organizations (companies) in my 30s. And it had nothing to do with children.