New Apple MacBook Pro: $1999 base price for a 2.2 GHz CoreDuo, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD, DVD burner, 15" widescreen, no accessories or extra software.
New Dell Vostro: $1924 when loaded with 2.2 GHz CoreDuo, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, DVD burner, 15.4" widescreen, nVidia 8600 video card, Windows XP, Office Pro 2007, 2 MP video camera, bluetooth, 802.11n, Verizon EVDO modem, 3-in-1 card reader, 4 USB ports.
Size? Apple is 2.6cm x 35.7cm x 24.3cm and 2.5 kg. The Dell is is 3.6cm x 35.6cm x 26.5cm, and weighs 2.8 kg. Dell is a hair thicker and a touch deeper, and a bit heavier.
And has broadband connectivity nation-wide (Verizon EVDO), full Office suite, more peripherals, and is $75 cheaper.
It doesn't have a glowing "Apple" logo on the cover, though...
Apple's are well-designed, nice looking pieces of gear. But they are - and always will be - more expensive than similar class PCs simply because of the economy of scale.
With the monopoly business, I still have the right to go out, create something new, and try to compete. I am not forced to buy their solution or give them a dime. Microsoft is called a monopoly, yet they face competition every day.
With the nanny-state government, I cannot go out and compete; governments (especially nanny-state and authortarian types) tend to look down on attempts to start competing organizations. And if I try to stop funding the nanny-state by not paying taxes I'll face the full retribution of the nanny-state via loss of freedom or the barrel of a gun.
No, a monopoly in the marketplace is INFINITELY preferable to a nanny-state government. I assume you can see the difference?
Rather than DVDs, use memory cards. Yes, they're more expensive but they're a LOT more convenient and you can carry 128 GB of cards in the same space as a single DVD. Easier to mail in an envelope, too...
For the computer, I'm going to recommend something different...;) Go for a PDA with a bluetooth roll-up keyboard. You'll get a LOT better battery life, something infinitely more portable (and concealable), and exceptionally rugged - they're built to take a lot more abuse.
Additionally, if you get one of the HTC units (or other Windows SmartPhones) you can write your journal entries in Word, and with the addition of a local SIM card have a cell phone as well. Plus never be without a really handy albeit low resolution video camera.
Light rail supporters in 2001 estimated the cost then at $3.6 billion, and they've increased now. Sound Transit's own documents forced to be released by an FOIA shows - on page 24 - that they were up to $4.2 billion. And it's escalating from there, now being $6.2 billion not including debt servicing through 2040. It would be nice if we could get up-to-date numbers from Sound Transit without resorting to Freedom Of Information Acts but that's probably not in the cards.
No surprise, though given that this same "organization" that thinks spending $100 per person per day to ride the train is a bargain...
Your gross income is $100,000. You have expenses (materials, rent, utilities, mileage, etc.) of $75,000. Your gross profit is $25,000.
You are a corporation (you do want the protection against personal liability, right?) so you pay 35% on that gross profit, so you have $16,250 left.
Oh, and you pay yourself with the tax-wise approach of a dividend (rather than a salary or wage), so you only pay 15% capital gains rather than income tax (13% effective rate on an income of $16,250) and the 15.24% for SS/FICA (it's your own business, you get to pay both halves). So for capital gains you pay another $2,437 to the Federal government (versus $4,536 if you paid that money as a salary), meaning you take home around $13,800.
You work as an engineer, consultant, free-lancer, contractor, etc. You are in the service industry. Your B&O tax rate is 1.5% of gross receipts, or in this case $1,500. So your B&O tax is another $1,500 on that. Or about 11% of your net take home.
Once you figure in the impact of paying on gross receipts (B&O) versus gross profit (all other taxation), the impact of that tax seriously changes. Especially for those working in service industries.
I assume that if you're a contractor in WA you DO file your State B&O taxes, right?
I was going off of this, and factoring in the increase we saw last year. I think the fact you CANNOT find a consistent answer to the taxation paid is scary enough!
Well, it was enacted in 2004, and expires this year. And it's only valid for those who itemize. It's a pretty limited deduction, and fairly recent one, too.
You're off by a factor of 100. The B&O tax rate for a consultant/engineer/IT company in WA is 1.5% (0.015 times your gross receipts). Figure up the cost of earning each buck, and you'll find out that B&O tax is really equivalent to a Federal corporate tax around 12 to 20 percent.
Note that the State classifies your B&O rate per where you "add" the most value. Meaning that if you design unique products THEN manufacture those products, the State most likely will assume the value is in the design stage so you have to pay the service B&O rate, not the manufacturing rate. I know, I fought them for 2 years over that and ultimately lost. And three months later they lost my business - I relocated overseas.
Oh, and a heads up - if you accept resale certificates, WATCH OUT. Just because you get a valid cert from someone does NOT mean you're exempted from collecting/paying the sales tax. If the State determines it wasn't a valid cert (which also happened to me, because my client - based in WA - exported ALL his product overseas so he didn't ever pay any sales tax in WA), you're screwed. Even with a signed and notarized affidavit stating the cert provider WAS allowed the exemption, the State is the ultimate arbiter. And then you're liable for all the back taxes AND the penalties, too... My advice? Never allow a sales tax exemption - ever. You are stuck with the bill if/when the State decides so.
As a Washington State resident it irritates me that the State is so hell-bent on driving businesses out. Microsoft did NOT evade taxes, no more so than you do when you buy lunch in a different State (or do you pay your home State the sales tax they lost out on that transaction?). It was legal, above-board, and is just bellyaching from a State that is out of control.
Paying an EXTRA $0.09 per gallon (note that the State of Washington makes $0.36 per gallon, more income per gallon than ExxonMobil who invests, pumps, refines, transports and distributes the product) without seeing ANYTHING done that was on the checklist of items is what irritates me. Having the State shout about a damaged viaduct that COULD COLLAPSE AT ANY MOMENT! and using that for justification to push through a huge tax increase, only to see it be 6 years later and they haven't even decided what to DO with the viaduct yet irritates me.
Having people come on and blame the evil corporations for not paying "their fare share" and thus show a fundamental lack of understanding of economics irritates me.
But Microsoft playing by the rules, playing according to the law, and NOT double or triple paying taxes, but rather operating where it is most efficient and seeking to maximize the value of the corporation for their owners (shareholders)? No, that doesn't irritate me, it makes me proud to be part of the system!
I'd argue that businesses locate in low-tax areas, and as those areas attract and grow new businesses, they increase the taxation, assuming that if they keep the rate of increase low enough, the business will simply suck it up and pay the higher rate than pick up and move.
Check out Idaho - businesses are relocating there like mad. Likewise Nevada and Wyoming. High tax areas like California, Massachuessets, and Michigan are leaking businesses because the taxation has gotten too high.
Washington is unfortunately following the CA/MS/MI model, not the ID/NV/WY model. It's already caused Boeing to relocate their headquarters (taking with it a substantial chunk of change)...
Looking at the Microsoft employment opportunities/open recs, there's no question in my mind why growth out-of-Redmond is much greater than in-Redmond. Cost of doing business - hire your employees in other areas where it's more affordable and let the local employment stagnate or fade away. That's how you move a massive high-tech information company.
Boeing is in a tougher place - they have physical plants and tools that are expensive to relocate. But Microsoft? Give it 10 years and you'll find the majority of Microsoft employees will be OUT of the State of Washington. Bet on it.
And it has B&O tax (tax on GROSS receipts, not profit). And it has L&I. And it has the highest gas tax in the nation. And on and on... Sell your house? pay 2.235% on the sales price, direct to the State. Taxation in Washington is quite high, and only going higher.
When your State's budget increases by 33% in just 3 years, it's not an issue of not enough taxes - it's an issue of misplaced priorities. We can't rebuild a bridge in imminent danger of sinking - never mind that we had a dedicated gas tax put in place to pay for it - but we can pay millions of dollars to put shiny metal fish art on a bus off-ramp, or hundreds of millions to put a deer overpass across a highway.
Obviously you don't live in Washington... Microsoft (and Boeing) each PAY millions of dollars when expanding their campuses FOR things like increased roads, transit, power, and the such. They PAY those costs right up front, before or during construction (with the requirement that the infrastructure be built and completed prior to signoff of the new construction).
Additionally, because of "community needs" and "environmental impact" and "public awareness" campaigns, Microsoft and Boeing pay MILLIONS to build parks, schools, and other government-specific projects MILES away from the construction, just to get their permits approved.
Microsoft PAID for the overpass across 520 when it wanted to join its two campuses. It PAID for the Metro transit center in front of the Redmond campus. It PAID for widening 40th Street. It PAID for the rework that's happening on 150th. Cash up front.
This is a case of a State out of control. Washington's budget has increased 33% in the last 3 years alone. Not promised outlays, actual CASH BEING SPENT. We're going from a $1.5 billion dollar surplus and $2 billion dollar rainy day fund to $600 million dollar deficits and no rainy day fund.
We have the HIGHEST GAS TAX in the nation. That gas tax is supposed to be dedicated to roads. Yet we still have floating bridges that are at risk of sinking with each storm, and a viaduct that carries half the North/South transit through the city of Seattle yet is in danger of imminent collapse PER THE STATE'S OWN EXPERTS.
Yet neither of these infrastructure problems - which were to be addressed by the latest 9 cent per gallon tax - has been started. We're still arguing about whether to just tear them down and not replace them (where did the money go?) or replace them with structures that carry FEWER vehicles, when our population is increasing.
We have an out-of-control L&I system. Woe be to you if you have a warehouse or shop and the State knows about it - EVERYONE that can walk into the warehouse can be considered "high risk" for your L&I costs, regardless of their position or the use of that warehouse.
Unemployment? I ran a business for 10 years in this State, and never ONCE had an unemployment claim. Not one. Employed over 80 people over the years, never ONE claim. Yet every year my unemployment tax rates would increase by 6-8%.
We mandate HUGE income to the State by having the highest minimum wage in the nation. And of course, that means the State gets more income because their income is based on spending, gross receipts by businesses (which must increase when the mandatory wages increase), and those same L&I costs (which are a percentage of your wages).
No, taxation is not the problem - the State's budget is growing faster than the wealth or income of the State's residences. Record budgets are being pushed through with taxation growing 2-3 times that of the wealth of the State... Well what's going on?
Spending - it's up 33% in just 3 years. Oh, and that doesn't include the UNDERFUNDING of the State's pension plan. Or the spending of the rainy day fund. Both of those are "off book" items...
We're spending over a billion dollars a MILE for a light rail system that runs at grade. And cannot climb the hills of Seattle. And originally wasn't even going to go to the airport, but changed because of overwhelming public outcry. The existing example spur - the South Lake Union Trolley (yes, it is actually called the SLUT) - has had 3 train-car accidents in just 3 months, bringing it to a standstill for hours.
This State has seen property taxes rise on average at 15% per year for the last 5 years. And now that it's looking to slow down to only 3-4% per year, the State is figuring out how to increase the taxation rates to bump their revenue intake up.
This State is all about take-take-take, and what YOU can do to contribute to it. Competition is not allowed - no school vouchers, private tollways are illegal, private ferries ar
I didn't argue sales or income tax. Just the fact that Washington is WAY overtaxed to start. That B&O tax, property taxes, gas taxes, L&I costs, and a host of others. Sure, you may have paid a State income tax in MD, but at least that's deductible from your Federal tax - sales taxes aren't.
This is a case of Washington squandering BILLIONS of dollars in gas taxes, a private company LEGALLY operating, and Washington being miffed that it's losing out. What's next - Washington taxing Microsoft for operations based in Ireland, China, or India?
That B&O tax is especially evil; it's not just the 1.5% the State says; compared to any other taxes (which are on gross profit), it ends up being anywhere from 12% to greater than 100%. You don't get deductions for the B&O tax - it's on gross receipts. That alone has driven many a company out of this State; I know it did for my business. Being reclassified from manufacturing to service (because we built the product, but we also designed it meaning we were service for everything) increased the B&O effective rate (on gross profit) to 13%.
Washington's working really hard to drive the last few sources of revenue out of the State....
Problem is, Washington State has the HIGHEST gas tax in the nation, and those funds are supposed to be dedicated to roads. The State got an additional gas tax passed a few years ago DEDICATED to fixing 520 and the Alaskan Way Viaduct (major N/S highway through Seattle). And now the State doesn't have the funds required...
At some point, the State needs to take accountability for its own failures.
Education? The State government is in the pocket of the WEA/NEA, and refuses to consider vouchers. Not going to allow competition? Then they shouldn't get additional funds. If public education IS superior, then let it prove itself.
Roads? What the heck is it doing with the 13% tax on gas now (higher return than ExxonMobil makes)? It was supposed to fix the roads around here, which have only gotten worse...
Police? State doesn't fund that, the cities and county have to fund that themselves, and they already tax us for that. Property taxes and levies. General fund pays for art on overpasses and the like. No, we need emergency levies to pay for police and fire and first aid (talk about priorities out of whack!).
Militia? In THIS State? Tell someone you own a firearm and you're considered a neocon freak extremist about to go on a killing spree beyond belief...
Corporations may depend upon the public infrastructure, but at the same time the State depends upon the corporations to create funds. The State needs to do its share, and in the State of Washington, government is coming up WOEFULLY short...
My guess is that you don't live in Washington. You see, we already passed a State Tax to help fix the 520 bridge, the Alaskan Way Viaduct (the route that half the North-South traffic through Seattle takes), and many other road projects. We have the highest gas tax in the nation which is supposed to be dedicated to roads. But we still can't actually FIX any of them.
Heck, you should see the charges that the State, county, and cities rack up on Boeing and Microsoft in terms of "environmental and community abatement" when they expand their campuses. Not just fees for actually widening roads and putting in dedicated transit centers (which they do), but for adding drainage ponds or parks MILES away from where the campus is.
More power to Microsoft, I say... This State doesn't have a clue about spending taxes or actually DOING what it says it'll do. And too many sheeple here just blindly select the current (D) candidate to keep things going the way they're going. The ONLY way you can effect change in this State is to cut revenues, and bully for Microsoft for doing so, at least in one small way...
Note that this is a complaint from the State of Washington (where I reside when in the US), the ONLY State that has the completely regressive and oppressive Business and Occupation Tax. A State tax on GROSS receipts. Yep, have $1,000 in revenue, but because you're a startup, or have a bad quarter or whatever, you lose $1,200 but STILL get the "luxury" of paying tax on that $1,000!
Ignore this story - Washington is taxing itself into oblivion. Boeing moved their corporate headquarters - and most of their taxable profit - to Chicago over the taxation and treatment of business in this State. The ONLY things that is keeping Washington alive right now are:
1. Agriculture. Hard to move a farm, so they're stuck. Of course, our State wants to breach all the dams and eliminate the irrigation systems, which would kill these businesses.
2. Boeing. Already moved their corp headquarters, and unfortunately for Boeing, the physical assets here - buildings, equipment, and people - are so huge that you can't afford to move them. But more and more work is shifted outside the State...
3. Microsoft. Faces the similar situation with Boeing, because of the size of the campus and people. Stuck for now, but does more and more outside the State.
Washington is screwed. It has the highest gas tax in the nation, and still hasn't repaired road damage from the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. The legislature and governor raised the State budget by 33% in 3 years, and now projects deficits left and right, yet it's also decreased MANDATORY funding of the State employee's pension fund. And now it wants to put the screws to Microsoft...
Washington is dead, it just doesn't know it yet...
Ron Paul has 1/3rd the delegates of Mike Huckabee, who has 1/3rd of those of Romney or McCain. In other words, Paul is WAY BEHIND the leaders, and isn't gaining any serious traction for Super Tuesday.
the championship of the sport we crazy Americans call football. You can tell it from the football of the rest of the world because in the US, the big hits, bloody noses, and violence is on the field, not in the stands...
Let's get the voter rolls clean and accurate first, though... Right now, it's too easy to illegally register AND vote. let's get the voter clean, then we can worry about how they vote...
1. NTT DoMoCo supports a GSM network within Japan.
2. The CECT p168 is a close clone of the iPhone, close enough that if you looked at it across a larger table you may think it's an iPhone. And many of the CECT clones have tethering ability.
3. See number 2 - a clone that supports 3G.
4. See number 1 - DoMoCo apparently supports 3G services in Japan.
5. He may be just nationalizing the cost into money units he normally uses, like most Americans are apt to do (rather than state it's 4500 Yen, just say 30 Euros and be done with it - most people are more familiar with the exchange rates between their own currencies and Euros or Dollars).
Every geek at one time or another should visit Metro City in Xujiahui, Shanghai, China once in their life. Six floors of a large shopping mall loaded with small 10 square meter stalls, all selling every conceivable electronics product you could imagine. Clones of anything ever made. We're talking thousands of linear meters of shelf-space for cell phones alone. Every make, model, feature, color, and style you can think of.
And if you don't see what you want - ASK. The stall vendor will jump on a radio or cell phone, quickly confer with other vendors, run off, and come back in a minute with exactly what you wanted. Truly an amazing sight to see, once in your life!
I lvoe my old 1963 Mercury Comet Custom (with the 260 V8) for this very reason. A flat blade screwdriver, a crescent wrench, and a claw hammer are all you need to fix ANYTHING on that car. It's a joy to work on something like it. And it is as reliable as any other car out there...
But couldn't you just show more ads on that single page? Seems like most web sites have a center column of text, and the right hand column is all ads. A long story would have lots of ads next to it - you get so many lines per ad, whether it's spread out over pages or not...
If anything, I would think it would INCREASE ad revenue, as you would show ALL the ads for the story; if the story is not interesting and someone drops out half way through the pages, then you lose half your potential ad exposure. Putting all the ads on a single page - with the entire story - would seem to me to guarantee that EVERY ad for that story was seen (or potentially seen).
Thanks for the numbers! So it looks like it could be a case of 10X the latency or 1/3rd the bandwidth... I guess it comes down to what you're doing on the net.
Slashdot Mirror
New Apple MacBook Pro: $1999 base price for a 2.2 GHz CoreDuo, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD, DVD burner, 15" widescreen, no accessories or extra software.
New Dell Vostro: $1924 when loaded with 2.2 GHz CoreDuo, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, DVD burner, 15.4" widescreen, nVidia 8600 video card, Windows XP, Office Pro 2007, 2 MP video camera, bluetooth, 802.11n, Verizon EVDO modem, 3-in-1 card reader, 4 USB ports.
Size? Apple is 2.6cm x 35.7cm x 24.3cm and 2.5 kg. The Dell is is 3.6cm x 35.6cm x 26.5cm, and weighs 2.8 kg. Dell is a hair thicker and a touch deeper, and a bit heavier.
And has broadband connectivity nation-wide (Verizon EVDO), full Office suite, more peripherals, and is $75 cheaper.
It doesn't have a glowing "Apple" logo on the cover, though...
Apple's are well-designed, nice looking pieces of gear. But they are - and always will be - more expensive than similar class PCs simply because of the economy of scale.
With the nanny-state government, I cannot go out and compete; governments (especially nanny-state and authortarian types) tend to look down on attempts to start competing organizations. And if I try to stop funding the nanny-state by not paying taxes I'll face the full retribution of the nanny-state via loss of freedom or the barrel of a gun.
No, a monopoly in the marketplace is INFINITELY preferable to a nanny-state government. I assume you can see the difference?
For the computer, I'm going to recommend something different...;) Go for a PDA with a bluetooth roll-up keyboard. You'll get a LOT better battery life, something infinitely more portable (and concealable), and exceptionally rugged - they're built to take a lot more abuse.
Additionally, if you get one of the HTC units (or other Windows SmartPhones) you can write your journal entries in Word, and with the addition of a local SIM card have a cell phone as well. Plus never be without a really handy albeit low resolution video camera.
just a different option to consider!
No surprise, though given that this same "organization" that thinks spending $100 per person per day to ride the train is a bargain...
Your gross income is $100,000. You have expenses (materials, rent, utilities, mileage, etc.) of $75,000. Your gross profit is $25,000.
You are a corporation (you do want the protection against personal liability, right?) so you pay 35% on that gross profit, so you have $16,250 left.
Oh, and you pay yourself with the tax-wise approach of a dividend (rather than a salary or wage), so you only pay 15% capital gains rather than income tax (13% effective rate on an income of $16,250) and the 15.24% for SS/FICA (it's your own business, you get to pay both halves). So for capital gains you pay another $2,437 to the Federal government (versus $4,536 if you paid that money as a salary), meaning you take home around $13,800.
You work as an engineer, consultant, free-lancer, contractor, etc. You are in the service industry. Your B&O tax rate is 1.5% of gross receipts, or in this case $1,500. So your B&O tax is another $1,500 on that. Or about 11% of your net take home.
Once you figure in the impact of paying on gross receipts (B&O) versus gross profit (all other taxation), the impact of that tax seriously changes. Especially for those working in service industries.
I assume that if you're a contractor in WA you DO file your State B&O taxes, right?
(snarky response off...:)
I was going off of this, and factoring in the increase we saw last year. I think the fact you CANNOT find a consistent answer to the taxation paid is scary enough!
Well, it was enacted in 2004, and expires this year. And it's only valid for those who itemize. It's a pretty limited deduction, and fairly recent one, too.
Really? Which ones?
Note that the State classifies your B&O rate per where you "add" the most value. Meaning that if you design unique products THEN manufacture those products, the State most likely will assume the value is in the design stage so you have to pay the service B&O rate, not the manufacturing rate. I know, I fought them for 2 years over that and ultimately lost. And three months later they lost my business - I relocated overseas.
Oh, and a heads up - if you accept resale certificates, WATCH OUT. Just because you get a valid cert from someone does NOT mean you're exempted from collecting/paying the sales tax. If the State determines it wasn't a valid cert (which also happened to me, because my client - based in WA - exported ALL his product overseas so he didn't ever pay any sales tax in WA), you're screwed. Even with a signed and notarized affidavit stating the cert provider WAS allowed the exemption, the State is the ultimate arbiter. And then you're liable for all the back taxes AND the penalties, too... My advice? Never allow a sales tax exemption - ever. You are stuck with the bill if/when the State decides so.
Paying an EXTRA $0.09 per gallon (note that the State of Washington makes $0.36 per gallon, more income per gallon than ExxonMobil who invests, pumps, refines, transports and distributes the product) without seeing ANYTHING done that was on the checklist of items is what irritates me. Having the State shout about a damaged viaduct that COULD COLLAPSE AT ANY MOMENT! and using that for justification to push through a huge tax increase, only to see it be 6 years later and they haven't even decided what to DO with the viaduct yet irritates me.
Having people come on and blame the evil corporations for not paying "their fare share" and thus show a fundamental lack of understanding of economics irritates me.
But Microsoft playing by the rules, playing according to the law, and NOT double or triple paying taxes, but rather operating where it is most efficient and seeking to maximize the value of the corporation for their owners (shareholders)? No, that doesn't irritate me, it makes me proud to be part of the system!
Check out Idaho - businesses are relocating there like mad. Likewise Nevada and Wyoming. High tax areas like California, Massachuessets, and Michigan are leaking businesses because the taxation has gotten too high.
Washington is unfortunately following the CA/MS/MI model, not the ID/NV/WY model. It's already caused Boeing to relocate their headquarters (taking with it a substantial chunk of change)...
Looking at the Microsoft employment opportunities/open recs, there's no question in my mind why growth out-of-Redmond is much greater than in-Redmond. Cost of doing business - hire your employees in other areas where it's more affordable and let the local employment stagnate or fade away. That's how you move a massive high-tech information company.
Boeing is in a tougher place - they have physical plants and tools that are expensive to relocate. But Microsoft? Give it 10 years and you'll find the majority of Microsoft employees will be OUT of the State of Washington. Bet on it.
When your State's budget increases by 33% in just 3 years, it's not an issue of not enough taxes - it's an issue of misplaced priorities. We can't rebuild a bridge in imminent danger of sinking - never mind that we had a dedicated gas tax put in place to pay for it - but we can pay millions of dollars to put shiny metal fish art on a bus off-ramp, or hundreds of millions to put a deer overpass across a highway.
Additionally, because of "community needs" and "environmental impact" and "public awareness" campaigns, Microsoft and Boeing pay MILLIONS to build parks, schools, and other government-specific projects MILES away from the construction, just to get their permits approved.
Microsoft PAID for the overpass across 520 when it wanted to join its two campuses. It PAID for the Metro transit center in front of the Redmond campus. It PAID for widening 40th Street. It PAID for the rework that's happening on 150th. Cash up front.
This is a case of a State out of control. Washington's budget has increased 33% in the last 3 years alone. Not promised outlays, actual CASH BEING SPENT. We're going from a $1.5 billion dollar surplus and $2 billion dollar rainy day fund to $600 million dollar deficits and no rainy day fund.
We have the HIGHEST GAS TAX in the nation. That gas tax is supposed to be dedicated to roads. Yet we still have floating bridges that are at risk of sinking with each storm, and a viaduct that carries half the North/South transit through the city of Seattle yet is in danger of imminent collapse PER THE STATE'S OWN EXPERTS.
Yet neither of these infrastructure problems - which were to be addressed by the latest 9 cent per gallon tax - has been started. We're still arguing about whether to just tear them down and not replace them (where did the money go?) or replace them with structures that carry FEWER vehicles, when our population is increasing.
We have an out-of-control L&I system. Woe be to you if you have a warehouse or shop and the State knows about it - EVERYONE that can walk into the warehouse can be considered "high risk" for your L&I costs, regardless of their position or the use of that warehouse.
Unemployment? I ran a business for 10 years in this State, and never ONCE had an unemployment claim. Not one. Employed over 80 people over the years, never ONE claim. Yet every year my unemployment tax rates would increase by 6-8%.
We mandate HUGE income to the State by having the highest minimum wage in the nation. And of course, that means the State gets more income because their income is based on spending, gross receipts by businesses (which must increase when the mandatory wages increase), and those same L&I costs (which are a percentage of your wages).
No, taxation is not the problem - the State's budget is growing faster than the wealth or income of the State's residences. Record budgets are being pushed through with taxation growing 2-3 times that of the wealth of the State... Well what's going on?
Spending - it's up 33% in just 3 years. Oh, and that doesn't include the UNDERFUNDING of the State's pension plan. Or the spending of the rainy day fund. Both of those are "off book" items...
We're spending over a billion dollars a MILE for a light rail system that runs at grade. And cannot climb the hills of Seattle. And originally wasn't even going to go to the airport, but changed because of overwhelming public outcry. The existing example spur - the South Lake Union Trolley (yes, it is actually called the SLUT) - has had 3 train-car accidents in just 3 months, bringing it to a standstill for hours.
This State has seen property taxes rise on average at 15% per year for the last 5 years. And now that it's looking to slow down to only 3-4% per year, the State is figuring out how to increase the taxation rates to bump their revenue intake up.
This State is all about take-take-take, and what YOU can do to contribute to it. Competition is not allowed - no school vouchers, private tollways are illegal, private ferries ar
This is a case of Washington squandering BILLIONS of dollars in gas taxes, a private company LEGALLY operating, and Washington being miffed that it's losing out. What's next - Washington taxing Microsoft for operations based in Ireland, China, or India?
That B&O tax is especially evil; it's not just the 1.5% the State says; compared to any other taxes (which are on gross profit), it ends up being anywhere from 12% to greater than 100%. You don't get deductions for the B&O tax - it's on gross receipts. That alone has driven many a company out of this State; I know it did for my business. Being reclassified from manufacturing to service (because we built the product, but we also designed it meaning we were service for everything) increased the B&O effective rate (on gross profit) to 13%.
Washington's working really hard to drive the last few sources of revenue out of the State....
At some point, the State needs to take accountability for its own failures.
Education? The State government is in the pocket of the WEA/NEA, and refuses to consider vouchers. Not going to allow competition? Then they shouldn't get additional funds. If public education IS superior, then let it prove itself.
Roads? What the heck is it doing with the 13% tax on gas now (higher return than ExxonMobil makes)? It was supposed to fix the roads around here, which have only gotten worse...
Police? State doesn't fund that, the cities and county have to fund that themselves, and they already tax us for that. Property taxes and levies. General fund pays for art on overpasses and the like. No, we need emergency levies to pay for police and fire and first aid (talk about priorities out of whack!).
Militia? In THIS State? Tell someone you own a firearm and you're considered a neocon freak extremist about to go on a killing spree beyond belief...
Corporations may depend upon the public infrastructure, but at the same time the State depends upon the corporations to create funds. The State needs to do its share, and in the State of Washington, government is coming up WOEFULLY short...
Heck, you should see the charges that the State, county, and cities rack up on Boeing and Microsoft in terms of "environmental and community abatement" when they expand their campuses. Not just fees for actually widening roads and putting in dedicated transit centers (which they do), but for adding drainage ponds or parks MILES away from where the campus is.
More power to Microsoft, I say... This State doesn't have a clue about spending taxes or actually DOING what it says it'll do. And too many sheeple here just blindly select the current (D) candidate to keep things going the way they're going. The ONLY way you can effect change in this State is to cut revenues, and bully for Microsoft for doing so, at least in one small way...
Ignore this story - Washington is taxing itself into oblivion. Boeing moved their corporate headquarters - and most of their taxable profit - to Chicago over the taxation and treatment of business in this State. The ONLY things that is keeping Washington alive right now are:
1. Agriculture. Hard to move a farm, so they're stuck. Of course, our State wants to breach all the dams and eliminate the irrigation systems, which would kill these businesses.
2. Boeing. Already moved their corp headquarters, and unfortunately for Boeing, the physical assets here - buildings, equipment, and people - are so huge that you can't afford to move them. But more and more work is shifted outside the State...
3. Microsoft. Faces the similar situation with Boeing, because of the size of the campus and people. Stuck for now, but does more and more outside the State.
Washington is screwed. It has the highest gas tax in the nation, and still hasn't repaired road damage from the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake. The legislature and governor raised the State budget by 33% in 3 years, and now projects deficits left and right, yet it's also decreased MANDATORY funding of the State employee's pension fund. And now it wants to put the screws to Microsoft...
Washington is dead, it just doesn't know it yet...
He's about as likely to win as Alan Keyes...
the championship of the sport we crazy Americans call football. You can tell it from the football of the rest of the world because in the US, the big hits, bloody noses, and violence is on the field, not in the stands...
I mean, if making over 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS a month in NET profit is being on the ropes, then put me down for the 10 count, Rocky!
Let's get the voter rolls clean and accurate first, though... Right now, it's too easy to illegally register AND vote. let's get the voter clean, then we can worry about how they vote...
1. NTT DoMoCo supports a GSM network within Japan.
2. The CECT p168 is a close clone of the iPhone, close enough that if you looked at it across a larger table you may think it's an iPhone. And many of the CECT clones have tethering ability.
3. See number 2 - a clone that supports 3G.
4. See number 1 - DoMoCo apparently supports 3G services in Japan.
5. He may be just nationalizing the cost into money units he normally uses, like most Americans are apt to do (rather than state it's 4500 Yen, just say 30 Euros and be done with it - most people are more familiar with the exchange rates between their own currencies and Euros or Dollars).
Every geek at one time or another should visit Metro City in Xujiahui, Shanghai, China once in their life. Six floors of a large shopping mall loaded with small 10 square meter stalls, all selling every conceivable electronics product you could imagine. Clones of anything ever made. We're talking thousands of linear meters of shelf-space for cell phones alone. Every make, model, feature, color, and style you can think of.
And if you don't see what you want - ASK. The stall vendor will jump on a radio or cell phone, quickly confer with other vendors, run off, and come back in a minute with exactly what you wanted. Truly an amazing sight to see, once in your life!
I lvoe my old 1963 Mercury Comet Custom (with the 260 V8) for this very reason. A flat blade screwdriver, a crescent wrench, and a claw hammer are all you need to fix ANYTHING on that car. It's a joy to work on something like it. And it is as reliable as any other car out there...
If anything, I would think it would INCREASE ad revenue, as you would show ALL the ads for the story; if the story is not interesting and someone drops out half way through the pages, then you lose half your potential ad exposure. Putting all the ads on a single page - with the entire story - would seem to me to guarantee that EVERY ad for that story was seen (or potentially seen).
Thanks for the numbers! So it looks like it could be a case of 10X the latency or 1/3rd the bandwidth... I guess it comes down to what you're doing on the net.