The US government spends billions more subsidizing farmers than oil companies. The closest figure I could find was 500 million in subsidies to oil companies, not a lot in a 2 trillion dollar budget. Subsidies tend to lower prices, so I wouldnt exactly say they are "screwing" the tax payers. As a sidenote I dont support them, but that's a different debate altogether.
Now, before you spout off again about the government taxing you to the hilt, you might want to take a trip to Europe, where the price of a gallon of gas is close to 5$ (thanks to taxes). I would venture that we are not taxed nearly enough on gas. I would definately support a national gas sales tax of 1$, to help discourage the waste of our resources.
I do agree that the external costs of driving your cadillac should be open to taxation--but I don't agree that we have suitable alternative in wind power or anything else at this point (besides nuclear power, and you know how anything with nuclear in it scares people).
Pollution doesnt start or stop with the United States, this is a worldwide problem that is not going to be solved until we develop clean, cheap, and renewable energy that can replace the gasoline engine and coal power plants. You think the South American governments would spend a dime to see clean burning cars over cheaper gas?
I would like to see us focus all our research on fusion energy rather than 50/50 on making a cleaner burning coal power plant. Call me crazy but I like to think of myself as a practical environmentalist.
You're comparing apples to oranges here. Hanford is a waste cleanup site where it would be a bad thing to vaporize hazardous chemicals while drilling.
Using this laser to drill for oil in 10 to 100 times the speed, and without the expensive men and equipment needed to handle miles and miles of steel reinforced tubing, this would seem at least something to look into.
That's why you research the methods, and adapt them to your uses. It's called inovation and it would never happen if people had views like yours.
If lasers can cut rock much faster than a drill, then I can guarantee that someone, some day, will make it work.
Our reliance on fossil fuels is not a political choice, it's an economic one. Your uncle mort doesn't drive that giant cadillac to bingo every night because the US Congress told him to waste our fossil fuels; he did it because it's to his economic advantage to get somewhere moderately cheap. Now maybe you might consider a free market economy the ultimate political choice, but then what alternative do we have to that, centrally controlled distrobution of resources i.e. Soviet Union?
Your environmentalist views are all fine and dandy, but I prefer substance not rhetoric. Wind power is _not_ a suitable alternative to coal/gas. Europeans have favorable wheather patterns for wind generators and they still can only make a small percentage change in their energy output.
I support Nuclear power, tidal/fusion power research, solar cell research, and taxing gasoline more heavily. These are some real energy alternatives with substance and promise for our future.
Oh pardon me, so all your venom toward the rich was just for show and you didn't mean to insinuate anything about what they pay in taxes? give me a break. If you really believe that most rich people don't work for what they earn then you are an idiot. Maybe you should heed your own advice and read to comprehend what I was flaming you over.;)
I find your opinion offensive. Those wealthy people "sitting on their asses" investing in companies are the same ones paying my paycheck. I can't wait for the tax cut, it's about damn time.
What I suspect you really want to do is called redistribution of income, I propose you move to a socialist country and save yourself all the hot air.
Exactly, the estate tax is totally irrelevant. It's basically a tax against rich people who arent smart enough to get an accountant and structure a proper will or to those with farms (could probably be argued those are one and the same,:))
And yes i'm speaking from experience, relatives of mine have already bypassed the estate tax completely.
I agree with some of what you said but I think your post missed the mark.
The tax code isn't as cut and dry as you, and some of the people posting below, would like to believe. The fact is that the rich will jump through the loopholes no matter what the government does (under our current system). The reagan tax cuts actually increased revenue when a greater percentage of upper middle class and rich folks started paying what they were supposed to.
I am a big fan of a federal flat tax, it's the only fair way to fund government services and not attempt to redistribute income. No rich man's exemptions, no class warfare, no thinly veiled socialism.
If there isn't the potential to profit, why are we still blindly throwing money at it? Don't get me wrong, I think there are a lot potential benefits from space exploration; but we need to be more careful with our money and maximize what we DO invest. I really hope that NASA is intent on streamlining their operations considering all the other domestic and foreign issues we have on our plate.
Good idea, it's too bad you weren't around right before WW II--i'm sure my grandfather would have liked to watch someone land on the moon in 1950 right as a Russian nuclear bomb took out the German headquarters in New York City.
The world is a different place now, it's MORE dangerous. I sure don't want to have to learn chinese or arabic, so please take your pie in the sky idealism elsewhere.
Your logic is somewhat flawed. Linux, like water, is cheap (free?) and easily obtainable; but that doesnt mean it will REMAIN that way. If most of the people stopped drinking water for Coke do you think anyone would bother to keep the water running? Linux survives because of the dedicated community of programmers and enthusiasts who use, and support it. Don't take it for granted.
I have played hundreds of games since my first online experience in 1995; and yet I am consistently drawn back to a small game I first downloaded in beta testing, entitled Subspace.
Subspace was one of the first massive mutliplayer online games. Based on a top-down asteriods view model; you battle it out against hundreds of other players in other space ships.
The graphics leave much to be desired, but the gameplay is fantastic. Like Othello, the game is easy to learn but has incredible depths and strategies of gameplay to master. Games like capture the flag, soccer, king of the hill, trench wars, and 4 on 4 leagues are all different zones available to play.
Originally the game was released and supported by Virgin interactive entertainment. Although soon after the game was released, VIE was bought out and Subspace was abandoned. But thanks to the efforts of players and former VIE programmers the game development continues. Players help program extensions to the game and provide servers that are free for everyone to play.
I encourage you to visit some of these links for more information on this incredible game:
The EC is what I like to think of as a trade-off. Just like the senate and house give power to the less populous states, but not too much.
Instead of a pure 1 state 1 vote electoral college we have a proportional system. I don't see you complaining because Iowa has more representation in the Senate per person.
I agree that it stinks, but I dont see a better way to strike a balance between the cities and more rural areas.
And i'm sure that is a completely balanced and fair quote from a non-partisan lawyer.
Sarcasm aside, Whether or not Bush/Gore was intellectually lazy in college (I am guilty as charged on that count) is irrelevant.
They could have graduated from MIT with honors and it wouldnt matter; my original point would remain the same: just because Bush (OR Gore for you repubs) has a different ideology from you _doesnt_ mean you have to make unsupported and idiotic claims about them.
If you are going to dig up early characterizations of the candidates why not give equal time; remember when Al Gore had a 90% rating from the NRA in the 80's?
The only rhetoric I see here is liberal rhetoric. If you are going to complain about partisan agendas you might want to go at it from a less hypocritical method.
And David Boies scares me more than Pat Buchanen and Ralph Nader combined.;)
Gore has NOT won the national popular vote. The majority of states have not, and will not count absentee ballots arriving after Nov. 7. The latest figure was over 1million absentee ballots that would not be counted(estimated at over 60/40 in favor of Bush).
Whether or not you agree with the electoral college system, can you imagine what a _mess_ we would be in right now if we followed a popular vote only? Hand recounts in all 50 states would take MONTHS.
The EC is a fair system, 4 major cities should not be able to determine the election. What needs to be done is to fix the real problem, punch-card ballots. I would definately support electronic voting in all counties.
That's pure bullshit. Sure, you can pull strings to get accepted, but i'd like to see someone with a "head full of lettuce" actually graduate.
Every interview I have seen involving someone who has actually _met_ Bush says that he is very smart man. Attack the ideology or the issues, not the person.
Do you really think that bill gates would send a memo like this to every microsoft employee? Especially considering the anti-trust trial; it's to MS's advantage to show that linux is a clear competitor.
Even then, the writer uses terms like FUD, and makes references to ESR and RMS. This was obviously written with the intent of angering and rallying people in the open source community.
I can't believe that/. editors would fall for this bait, the quality of submissions has dropped measurably since Taco sold out to andover.
Yes, it's true... I really liked watching this movie. If you disregard all the filming techniques and just sit there and follow the story then it is very possible you will enjoy it as well. Forget all the FUD about scientology, why must everything be turned into a philosophical debate? I have never read an L. Ron Hubbard book but I definately respect the writing in this movie... so some of the stuff was a little hookey, and some of the character development left a little to be desired, but keep in mind that this was originally a book with lots more space to develop the plot. This movie has a lot of similarities with the movie the 13th Warrior which was adapted from the Michael Crichton book Eaters of the Dead. Both movies were fun to watch and had some really interesting stuff to be found in them. But people get caught up in all the technical downsides to the movies and forget that you are supposed to relax and enjoy yourself. You cant expect every movie you watch to be a Citizen Kane or a Pulp Fiction... stop obsessing over the little things and look at the big picture
Slashdot Mirror
Now, before you spout off again about the government taxing you to the hilt, you might want to take a trip to Europe, where the price of a gallon of gas is close to 5$ (thanks to taxes). I would venture that we are not taxed nearly enough on gas. I would definately support a national gas sales tax of 1$, to help discourage the waste of our resources.
RevT
I do agree that the external costs of driving your cadillac should be open to taxation--but I don't agree that we have suitable alternative in wind power or anything else at this point (besides nuclear power, and you know how anything with nuclear in it scares people).
Pollution doesnt start or stop with the United States, this is a worldwide problem that is not going to be solved until we develop clean, cheap, and renewable energy that can replace the gasoline engine and coal power plants. You think the South American governments would spend a dime to see clean burning cars over cheaper gas?
I would like to see us focus all our research on fusion energy rather than 50/50 on making a cleaner burning coal power plant. Call me crazy but I like to think of myself as a practical environmentalist.
RevT
Using this laser to drill for oil in 10 to 100 times the speed, and without the expensive men and equipment needed to handle miles and miles of steel reinforced tubing, this would seem at least something to look into.
That's why you research the methods, and adapt them to your uses. It's called inovation and it would never happen if people had views like yours. If lasers can cut rock much faster than a drill, then I can guarantee that someone, some day, will make it work.
RevT
Our reliance on fossil fuels is not a political choice, it's an economic one. Your uncle mort doesn't drive that giant cadillac to bingo every night because the US Congress told him to waste our fossil fuels; he did it because it's to his economic advantage to get somewhere moderately cheap. Now maybe you might consider a free market economy the ultimate political choice, but then what alternative do we have to that, centrally controlled distrobution of resources i.e. Soviet Union?
Your environmentalist views are all fine and dandy, but I prefer substance not rhetoric. Wind power is _not_ a suitable alternative to coal/gas. Europeans have favorable wheather patterns for wind generators and they still can only make a small percentage change in their energy output.
I support Nuclear power, tidal/fusion power research, solar cell research, and taxing gasoline more heavily. These are some real energy alternatives with substance and promise for our future.
RevT
Oh pardon me, so all your venom toward the rich was just for show and you didn't mean to insinuate anything about what they pay in taxes? give me a break. If you really believe that most rich people don't work for what they earn then you are an idiot. Maybe you should heed your own advice and read to comprehend what I was flaming you over. ;)
I find your opinion offensive. Those wealthy people "sitting on their asses" investing in companies are the same ones paying my paycheck. I can't wait for the tax cut, it's about damn time.
What I suspect you really want to do is called redistribution of income, I propose you move to a socialist country and save yourself all the hot air.
Exactly, the estate tax is totally irrelevant. It's basically a tax against rich people who arent smart enough to get an accountant and structure a proper will or to those with farms (could probably be argued those are one and the same, :))
And yes i'm speaking from experience, relatives of mine have already bypassed the estate tax completely.
I agree with some of what you said but I think your post missed the mark.
The tax code isn't as cut and dry as you, and some of the people posting below, would like to believe. The fact is that the rich will jump through the loopholes no matter what the government does (under our current system). The reagan tax cuts actually increased revenue when a greater percentage of upper middle class and rich folks started paying what they were supposed to.
I am a big fan of a federal flat tax, it's the only fair way to fund government services and not attempt to redistribute income. No rich man's exemptions, no class warfare, no thinly veiled socialism.
If there isn't the potential to profit, why are we still blindly throwing money at it? Don't get me wrong, I think there are a lot potential benefits from space exploration; but we need to be more careful with our money and maximize what we DO invest. I really hope that NASA is intent on streamlining their operations considering all the other domestic and foreign issues we have on our plate.
Good idea, it's too bad you weren't around right before WW II--i'm sure my grandfather would have liked to watch someone land on the moon in 1950 right as a Russian nuclear bomb took out the German headquarters in New York City.
The world is a different place now, it's MORE dangerous. I sure don't want to have to learn chinese or arabic, so please take your pie in the sky idealism elsewhere.
Your logic is somewhat flawed. Linux, like water, is cheap (free?) and easily obtainable; but that doesnt mean it will REMAIN that way. If most of the people stopped drinking water for Coke do you think anyone would bother to keep the water running? Linux survives because of the dedicated community of programmers and enthusiasts who use, and support it. Don't take it for granted.
Subspace was one of the first massive mutliplayer online games. Based on a top-down asteriods view model; you battle it out against hundreds of other players in other space ships.
The graphics leave much to be desired, but the gameplay is fantastic. Like Othello, the game is easy to learn but has incredible depths and strategies of gameplay to master. Games like capture the flag, soccer, king of the hill, trench wars, and 4 on 4 leagues are all different zones available to play.
Originally the game was released and supported by Virgin interactive entertainment. Although soon after the game was released, VIE was bought out and Subspace was abandoned. But thanks to the efforts of players and former VIE programmers the game development continues. Players help program extensions to the game and provide servers that are free for everyone to play.
I encourage you to visit some of these links for more information on this incredible game:
#4 on tweak3d's most addictive top ten
General Subspace info and downloads
Powerball info, the best zone in Subspace
Companies are finding that free ad-subsidized services are not that profitable.
This is only the tip of the iceberg; soon, I am willing to bet, we are going to see other companies like Juno and Netzero follow suit.
The EC is what I like to think of as a trade-off. Just like the senate and house give power to the less populous states, but not too much.
Instead of a pure 1 state 1 vote electoral college we have a proportional system. I don't see you complaining because Iowa has more representation in the Senate per person.
I agree that it stinks, but I dont see a better way to strike a balance between the cities and more rural areas.
And i'm sure that is a completely balanced and fair quote from a non-partisan lawyer.
Sarcasm aside, Whether or not Bush/Gore was intellectually lazy in college (I am guilty as charged on that count) is irrelevant.
They could have graduated from MIT with honors and it wouldnt matter; my original point would remain the same: just because Bush (OR Gore for you repubs) has a different ideology from you _doesnt_ mean you have to make unsupported and idiotic claims about them.
If you are going to dig up early characterizations of the candidates why not give equal time; remember when Al Gore had a 90% rating from the NRA in the 80's?
RevT
proud Florida Browne voter
The only rhetoric I see here is liberal rhetoric. If you are going to complain about partisan agendas you might want to go at it from a less hypocritical method.
;)
And David Boies scares me more than Pat Buchanen and Ralph Nader combined.
RevT
proud Florida Browne voter
Gore has NOT won the national popular vote. The majority of states have not, and will not count absentee ballots arriving after Nov. 7. The latest figure was over 1million absentee ballots that would not be counted(estimated at over 60/40 in favor of Bush).
Whether or not you agree with the electoral college system, can you imagine what a _mess_ we would be in right now if we followed a popular vote only? Hand recounts in all 50 states would take MONTHS.
The EC is a fair system, 4 major cities should not be able to determine the election. What needs to be done is to fix the real problem, punch-card ballots. I would definately support electronic voting in all counties.
RevT
proud Florida Browne voter
That's pure bullshit. Sure, you can pull strings to get accepted, but i'd like to see someone with a "head full of lettuce" actually graduate.
Every interview I have seen involving someone who has actually _met_ Bush says that he is very smart man. Attack the ideology or the issues, not the person.
RevT
proud Florida Browne voter
Bush is infinately more qualified as president than CmdrTaco and company are qualified at editorializing.
Of course that's not saying much, but most people do forget that Bush is a Harvard AND Yale graduate.
RevT
proud Florida Browne voter
Do you really think that bill gates would send a memo like this to every microsoft employee? Especially considering the anti-trust trial; it's to MS's advantage to show that linux is a clear competitor.
/. editors would fall for this bait, the quality of submissions has dropped measurably since Taco sold out to andover.
Even then, the writer uses terms like FUD, and makes references to ESR and RMS. This was obviously written with the intent of angering and rallying people in the open source community.
I can't believe that
Yes, it's true... I really liked watching this movie. If you disregard all the filming techniques and just sit there and follow the story then it is very possible you will enjoy it as well. Forget all the FUD about scientology, why must everything be turned into a philosophical debate? I have never read an L. Ron Hubbard book but I definately respect the writing in this movie... so some of the stuff was a little hookey, and some of the character development left a little to be desired, but keep in mind that this was originally a book with lots more space to develop the plot. This movie has a lot of similarities with the movie the 13th Warrior which was adapted from the Michael Crichton book Eaters of the Dead. Both movies were fun to watch and had some really interesting stuff to be found in them. But people get caught up in all the technical downsides to the movies and forget that you are supposed to relax and enjoy yourself. You cant expect every movie you watch to be a Citizen Kane or a Pulp Fiction... stop obsessing over the little things and look at the big picture
Metallica has opened a similar site...
Now starving artists can send in napster user logs to Lars Ulrich for free prosecution.
Is it true the police did indeed confiscate a win2k box, and if so did you have a license as a beta tester to run this unreleased software?