Right now the senate is voting to raise your taxes, make themselves and the president, hedge fund managers, and the top 1% even wealthier, set the stage for being 'forced' to cut your social security, medicare, food for starving children, and in 3-4 years permanently raise your taxes while also adding 1.5 trillion dollars to the deficit.
And they are not even afraid of being run out of office in 2018.
Like other ex-conservatives and democrats (but not the extreme left) I tried being fair, bipartisan, non-confrontational, reasonable, logical and persuasive for the last 8 years. The result was white nationalists killing young women with cars while shouting "cuck".
Time to impeach him for violations of the emoluments clause based on real estate deals with russia and taking cash from non-american citizens at Mara Largo.
Past time to impeach him for actively attacking our democratic institutions.
Kansas failed conservative experiment shows that if you are conservative of any age, you have no brain.
I used to be conservative. The party moved right of me, lost it's honesty and began lying about everything, and became the party of the 2% which depends on brainwashing by Limbaugh (about 80% lie rate), Hannity (about 65% lie rate), and fox news (which used to be okay outside of opinion pieces but now even reporters and anchors at fox news complain privately about it's honesty and story selection being propaganda).
----
Anyway-- on topic, housing prices have exploded in my region. up from 70k for a house 20 years ago to 350k for a house now. Apartments are north of $1500. People's salaries have not risen that quickly. To reach affordable housing, you have to drive over 35 miles from downtown now. Many people commute over 50 miles each way to get to jobs clockwise or counterclockwise around the city (since many jobs are not downtown). Trying to use public transportation to get to a job is almost impossible- 3-4 hours to travel 50 miles if the destination and source are not on the same busline.
In my neighborhood they are tearing down houses and building $800,000 houses in their places- which are steeply increasing property taxes on all the older houses.
I can see how these high prices might be leading to an increase in rental properties. At this point, most of the young people I know thru my daughter all live about 35-45 miles from downtown and own houses that cost them about $150k.
We gathered business (and under RUP- Feature) requirements. And wrote to specifications.
The end users only cared about whether we met the requirements.
I never had to explain the details of programming to any end user (even as a project manager and later a manager of a team of 15 developers). End users didn't care about how it was done. They cared that the work functioned as desired.
One exciting development late in my career (last 7 years?) were software patterns. It made discussing development with and writing specs for other programmers much more efficient.
I certainly don't want any people running, jumping, skiing, wrestling, riding bicycles, weightlifting, using *ladders* for christ's sake, or any of the other risky physical activities that cause millions of sprains, breaks, concussions, tears, heart attacks, and even deaths! each year.
And jeez, over 50,000 people a year die while having sex. I don't want to pay for healthcare for anyone injured having sex!
I don't know about Luxottica-- it may be a "brand" but those $15 frames will probably last about as long as chinese made blue jeans. They look the same but they are made of lower quality materials.
That's fine as long as you are okay to buy a new pair of $15 frames every 10 months. It only annoys me because people think they are going to last as long as normal glasses.
My "cheap" chinese jeans by the way-- which look and feel the same as my "expensive" jeans all ripped out at the crotch, the pockets failed on one pair, and two pairs just had holes appear in non wear areas (like the front of the calf. The chinese have gotten very good at making low quality materials look and feel the same as high quality materials.
It's slowly spreading thru the clothing industry. It's getting very hard to get durable clothing any more. And it's already run thru the appliance industry. Products that used to last 25 years now last 3-5 years. They are cheaper- $300 instead of $1500. But they end up being much more expensive over the long term.
The ones that demand I watch them before I can watch the video, I just go to a different video. Or mute the sound and switch to a different window. I *hate* them. I will not purchase anything due to those ads from people who advertise that way .
Here's six of them. "(not counting 2 trillion dollars and 4000 lives in a war over oil)
Intangible drilling oil & gas deduction ($2.3 billion)
Excess of percentage over cost depletion ($1.5 billion)
Master Limited Partnerships tax exemption ($1.6 billion)
Last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting ($1.7 billion)
Lost royalties from onshore and offshore drilling ($1.2 billion)
Low-cost leasing of coal-production in the Powder River Basin ($963 million)
As subsidies age, they start to look less like subsidies. They start looking like fixed features of the landscape, like mountains or rivers, rather than choices we are making. They just look like the status quo.
In terms of permanent tax expenditures, fossil fuels beat renewables by a 7-1 margin:"
In the 2015-2016 election cycle, oil, gas, and coal companies spent $354 million in campaign contributions and lobbying and received $29.4 billion in federal subsidies in total over those same years â" an 8,200% return on investment.
"A 2016 study estimated that global fossil fuel subsidies were $5.3 trillion in 2015, which represents 6.5% of global GDP.[3] The study found that "China was the biggest subsidizer in 2013 ($1.8 trillion), followed by the United States ($0.6 trillion), and Russia, the European Union, and India (each with about $0.3 trillion)."[3] The authors estimated that the elimination of "subsidies would have reduced global carbon emissions in 2013 by 21% and fossil fuel air pollution deaths 55%, while raising revenue of 4%, and social welfare by 2.2%, of global GDP."[3] According to the International Energy Agency, the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies worldwide would be the one of the most effective ways of reducing greenhouse gases and battling global warming.[4] In May 2016, the G7 nations set for the first time a deadline for ending most fossil fuel subsidies; saying government support for coal, oil and gas should end by 2025.[13]"
"Oil Change International has released a new study this week that evaluates the progress that G20 nations have made toward phasing out these subsidies. The results are not pretty. No subsidies have been eliminated since the pledge was taken in 2009, and even more disturbingly, G20 countries are simply changing the definition of what subsidies are in order to claim progress.
In short, the G20 is cooking the books and cooking the planet. As the graphic below shows, there is likely more than $1 trilion annually provided for the production and consumption of oil, gas, and coal. Thatâ(TM)s a lot of money to be wasting and hiding, and it could be put to far better use for education, hunger, poverty, renewable energy, and many many other uses. "
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Ga... "I have posted frequently (most recently in a three-part series that starts here) on the topic of underpricing of energy in the United States, but we are not the only offender. Many countries around the world subsidize consumer energy prices in ways that bring them to levels even lower than what U.S. consumers pay. These policies burden the rich and the poor alikeâ"rich countries like Saudi Arabia and poor ones like Egypt, and within each country, both rich and poor citizens.
Who subsidizes fuel prices and why?
Many countries around the world subsidize fuel prices. A recent
>Gasoline would be much less expensive if government didn't tax it so much.
And it would be much more expensive if the government didn't subsidize it and allow companies making and distributing gasoline to push their costs off onto the public.
Seed money from the government is often very useful. They are not just "feel good" because existing methods have huge built in subsidies. For example..we spent 4,000 lives and 2 trillion dollars protecting oil.
There are large subsidies for coal, gasoline, etc.
Oil and Gasoline would be much more expensive without those subsidies and coal wouldn't even be remotely competitive.
That said, I agree that excessive subsidies and mandates can be counter productive.
As far as India goes.. uh. They have massive subsidy programs.
a) they don't want to be stuck in dead end technologies. b) they don't want to sped a billion building coal plants that won't be needed before paying for themselves. c) they really need to reduce pollution (which raises health care costs).
Slashdot Mirror
They'll bring the petition site back up two days after Mr. Trump voluntarily reveals his tax returns.
He's LYING to all of us.
He's probably a damn manchurian candidate and the republicans are doing everything they can to help him weaken america to russia's benefit.
I remember when Republicans were opposed to pilling on debt and getting into bed with the russians.
Couldn't agree more.
Monumental stupidity requires monumental confrontation.
Right now the senate is voting to raise your taxes, make themselves and the president, hedge fund managers, and the top 1% even wealthier, set the stage for being 'forced' to cut your social security, medicare, food for starving children, and in 3-4 years permanently raise your taxes while also adding 1.5 trillion dollars to the deficit.
And they are not even afraid of being run out of office in 2018.
Like other ex-conservatives and democrats (but not the extreme left) I tried being fair, bipartisan, non-confrontational, reasonable, logical and persuasive for the last 8 years. The result was white nationalists killing young women with cars while shouting "cuck".
It didn't work. Time to get out the 2x4.
Anyone who uses facebook is asking to be abused.
Time to impeach him for violations of the emoluments clause based on real estate deals with russia and taking cash from non-american citizens at Mara Largo.
Past time to impeach him for actively attacking our democratic institutions.
Kansas failed conservative experiment shows that if you are conservative of any age, you have no brain.
I used to be conservative. The party moved right of me, lost it's honesty and began lying about everything, and became the party of the 2% which depends on brainwashing by Limbaugh (about 80% lie rate), Hannity (about 65% lie rate), and fox news (which used to be okay outside of opinion pieces but now even reporters and anchors at fox news complain privately about it's honesty and story selection being propaganda).
----
Anyway-- on topic, housing prices have exploded in my region. up from 70k for a house 20 years ago to 350k for a house now. Apartments are north of $1500. People's salaries have not risen that quickly. To reach affordable housing, you have to drive over 35 miles from downtown now. Many people commute over 50 miles each way to get to jobs clockwise or counterclockwise around the city (since many jobs are not downtown). Trying to use public transportation to get to a job is almost impossible- 3-4 hours to travel 50 miles if the destination and source are not on the same busline.
In my neighborhood they are tearing down houses and building $800,000 houses in their places- which are steeply increasing property taxes on all the older houses.
I can see how these high prices might be leading to an increase in rental properties. At this point, most of the young people I know thru my daughter all live about 35-45 miles from downtown and own houses that cost them about $150k.
They... Log In.
Jar Jar binks was more competent.
(and the real Phantom Menace until backlash made Lucas balk in fear from revealing his "Monkey God").
Actually, it was just a joke.
We gathered business (and under RUP- Feature) requirements. And wrote to specifications.
The end users only cared about whether we met the requirements.
I never had to explain the details of programming to any end user (even as a project manager and later a manager of a team of 15 developers). End users didn't care about how it was done. They cared that the work functioned as desired.
One exciting development late in my career (last 7 years?) were software patterns. It made discussing development with and writing specs for other programmers much more efficient.
They are like the common tongue in fantasy games.
I certainly don't want any people running, jumping, skiing, wrestling, riding bicycles, weightlifting, using *ladders* for christ's sake, or any of the other risky physical activities that cause millions of sprains, breaks, concussions, tears, heart attacks, and even deaths! each year.
And jeez, over 50,000 people a year die while having sex. I don't want to pay for healthcare for anyone injured having sex!
I don't know about Luxottica-- it may be a "brand" but those $15 frames will probably last about as long as chinese made blue jeans. They look the same but they are made of lower quality materials.
That's fine as long as you are okay to buy a new pair of $15 frames every 10 months. It only annoys me because people think they are going to last as long as normal glasses.
My "cheap" chinese jeans by the way-- which look and feel the same as my "expensive" jeans all ripped out at the crotch, the pockets failed on one pair, and two pairs just had holes appear in non wear areas (like the front of the calf. The chinese have gotten very good at making low quality materials look and feel the same as high quality materials.
It's slowly spreading thru the clothing industry. It's getting very hard to get durable clothing any more. And it's already run thru the appliance industry. Products that used to last 25 years now last 3-5 years. They are cheaper- $300 instead of $1500. But they end up being much more expensive over the long term.
I pay a doctor for my prescription but they only give it to the glasses store they are associated with.
I should get the prescription which I can fill out wherever I prefer.
And soft contacts are not rocket science. You should be able to purchase them like reading glasses.
I tolerate and ignore the 5 second adds.
The ones that demand I watch them before I can watch the video, I just go to a different video. Or mute the sound and switch to a different window. I *hate* them. I will not purchase anything due to those ads from people who advertise that way .
You have a hugely profitable business.
What do you do?
Screw over your customers for pennies.
Here's six of them.
"(not counting 2 trillion dollars and 4000 lives in a war over oil)
Intangible drilling oil & gas deduction ($2.3 billion)
Excess of percentage over cost depletion ($1.5 billion)
Master Limited Partnerships tax exemption ($1.6 billion)
Last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting ($1.7 billion)
Lost royalties from onshore and offshore drilling ($1.2 billion)
Low-cost leasing of coal-production in the Powder River Basin ($963 million)
As subsidies age, they start to look less like subsidies. They start looking like fixed features of the landscape, like mountains or rivers, rather than choices we are making. They just look like the status quo.
In terms of permanent tax expenditures, fossil fuels beat renewables by a 7-1 margin:"
https://renewnd.areavoices.com...
In the 2015-2016 election cycle, oil, gas, and coal companies spent $354 million in campaign contributions and lobbying and received $29.4 billion in federal subsidies in total over those same years â" an 8,200% return on investment.
See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
"A 2016 study estimated that global fossil fuel subsidies were $5.3 trillion in 2015, which represents 6.5% of global GDP.[3] The study found that "China was the biggest subsidizer in 2013 ($1.8 trillion), followed by the United States ($0.6 trillion), and Russia, the European Union, and India (each with about $0.3 trillion)."[3] The authors estimated that the elimination of "subsidies would have reduced global carbon emissions in 2013 by 21% and fossil fuel air pollution deaths 55%, while raising revenue of 4%, and social welfare by 2.2%, of global GDP."[3] According to the International Energy Agency, the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies worldwide would be the one of the most effective ways of reducing greenhouse gases and battling global warming.[4] In May 2016, the G7 nations set for the first time a deadline for ending most fossil fuel subsidies; saying government support for coal, oil and gas should end by 2025.[13]"
https://www.huffingtonpost.com...
"Oil Change International has released a new study this week that evaluates the progress that G20 nations have made toward phasing out these subsidies. The results are not pretty. No subsidies have been eliminated since the pledge was taken in 2009, and even more disturbingly, G20 countries are simply changing the definition of what subsidies are in order to claim progress.
In short, the G20 is cooking the books and cooking the planet. As the graphic below shows, there is likely more than $1 trilion annually provided for the production and consumption of oil, gas, and coal. Thatâ(TM)s a lot of money to be wasting and hiding, and it could be put to far better use for education, hunger, poverty, renewable energy, and many many other uses. "
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Ga...
"I have posted frequently (most recently in a three-part series that starts here) on the topic of underpricing of energy in the United States, but we are not the only offender. Many countries around the world subsidize consumer energy prices in ways that bring them to levels even lower than what U.S. consumers pay. These policies burden the rich and the poor alikeâ"rich countries like Saudi Arabia and poor ones like Egypt, and within each country, both rich and poor citizens.
Who subsidizes fuel prices and why?
Many countries around the world subsidize fuel prices. A recent
>Gasoline would be much less expensive if government didn't tax it so much.
And it would be much more expensive if the government didn't subsidize it and allow companies making and distributing gasoline to push their costs off onto the public.
Seed money from the government is often very useful. They are not just "feel good" because existing methods have huge built in subsidies. For example..we spent 4,000 lives and 2 trillion dollars protecting oil.
There are large subsidies for coal, gasoline, etc.
Oil and Gasoline would be much more expensive without those subsidies and coal wouldn't even be remotely competitive.
That said, I agree that excessive subsidies and mandates can be counter productive.
As far as India goes.. uh. They have massive subsidy programs.
a) they don't want to be stuck in dead end technologies.
b) they don't want to sped a billion building coal plants that won't be needed before paying for themselves.
c) they really need to reduce pollution (which raises health care costs).
Hey,
Thanks for supporting my point! Woot!
Before you can do it on a computer, it's A.I.
After you can do it on a computer, it's no longer A.I.
That's been true the last 25 years. I don't see why it should change in the future.
There are still isolated individuals who push the limits- but the selective pressure is low.
Say if you couldn't run a 4 minute mile, you were sterilized.
Say if you didn't have red hair, you were sterilized.
Say if your grandparents didn't have long lifespans, you were not allowed to have children.
Extreme selective pressure (over 99%) would get things moving again.
Sure- it's horrific. Just saying that we are only at an end to improvement under the current level of selective pressure (which is really low).
Sacrilege! There is ONE Stan Lee.
Bite your tongue!
Also realize they don't care.
But... OTH, it does bug me when people poach on the Youtube "Primative Technology" guy.
So I guess I get San Diego action but either
* I just don't sympathize with really rich people.
* I don't think you can confuse different comic book and science fiction conventions.
In the end it comes down to guests and events. Not the name.
For me.
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=n...
Looks like there are plenty of RF detectors under $25 bucks these days.
I'm more *fond* of asterisk emphasis than of CAPITALIZATION.
If it costs $85,000 worth of electricity to mine a wallet with 3 million dollars worth of coins?