Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'
'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Dark Knight
Great! The Brokeback Humpty Hump wants to steal THAT from me too!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
World Domination in About a Month by...
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Hybrid Battery Life Span
Will Hybrid Batteries Last?
Nothing lasts forever, but hybrid batteries continue their charge.
Friday, July 11, 2008
iPhone 3G Goes on Sale Today
By Tom Krazit, CNET news.com
The first iPhone 3G reviews have been released, and if you've been paying attention to the news for the past month, you won't be surprised.
Walt Mossberg of All Things Digital, David Pogue of The New York Times, and Edward Baig of USA Today were the chosen few selected to review the iPhone 3G ahead of its launch on Friday. There wasn't nearly as much suspense about the reviews this year, since we already knew the iPhone 3G was -- with the exception of the faster networks, GPS, and third-party applications -- essentially the same phone.
Still, some interesting details were revealed. Mossberg didn't seem very happy about the battery life. "In my tests, the iPhone 3G's battery was drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone, due to the higher power demands of 3G networks," he wrote. "In daily use, I found the battery indicator on the new 3G model slipping below 20% by early afternoon or midafternoon on some days, and it entirely ran out of juice on one day."
Pogue didn't address battery life, but Baig thought the iPhone 3G consumed roughly the same amount of juice as its predecessor. "I started receiving low battery warnings toward the end of a busy workday; I found myself charging the device overnight, the same as with the older iPhone."
One big addition to the iPhone 3G was GPS, but according to Pogue, Apple has said the antenna is too small to permit useful things like turn-by-turn navigation. Baig, however, didn't think it was that bad: "I was pretty impressed by the accuracy on the new device as I drove along in my car, searched for nearby pizza places, and requested directions," he wrote.
As far as nits go, that was about it. The outstanding issues remain: The touchscreen keyboard doesn't work for everybody, the cost of operating an iPhone has risen despite the drop in the starting price, and it doesn't have things like voice-dialing or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service).
On the plus side, all three reviewers thought Apple dramatically improved the audio quality of the iPhone 3G, both in terms of the built-in iPod and the phone. All were enthused about the new applications that would be coming to the phone; Pogue wrote, "Above all, the iPhone is about to become a dazzling hand-held game machine." And, of course, downloading Web pages over a 3G network is much faster than over an EDGE network, which you probably already knew.
So, what was the final verdict?
Pogue: "So the iPhone 3G is a nice upgrade. It more than keeps pace with advancing technology, and new buyers will generally be delighted. But it's not so much better that it turns all those original iPhones into has-beens. Indeed, the really big deal is the iPhone 2.0 software and the App Store, neither of which requires buying a new iPhone. That twist may come as a refreshing surprise to planned-obsolescence conspiracy theorists -- and everyone who stood in line last year."
Baig: "While not everything on my wish list made it onto the new device, Apple has raised the bar with iPhone 3G. To which I offer an enthusiastic thumbs up."
Mossberg: "If you've been waiting to buy an iPhone until it dropped in price, or ran on faster cell networks, you might want to take the plunge, if you can live with the higher service costs and the weaker battery life. The same goes for those with existing iPhones who love the device but crave faster cellular data speeds. But if you already own an iPhone, and can usually use Wi-Fi for data, you probably should hold off and get the free software upgrade before deciding whether it's worth getting the new hardware."
OH CRAP! Screw You King Evil Theo!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Lean Green Machines
Stingiest Sippers: The 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicles in the U.S.
Your leanest and greenest weapons in the battle against the $4 gallon.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The G8's Green Plan Orchistrated by France...
In 2005 the Group of 8 (G8) summit leaders made a promise to increase foreign aid, by $50 billion, by the year 2010. Half of those dollars were to go to Africa.
Activists, at this year's Japan summit, are protesting that the G8 nations are skimming on the proceeds for Africa. In particular France, Canada and Italy. Go figure. We're talking about France and Italy. Canada may as well be France and they were an after thought to the G8 to begin with. It was originally the G7. None of these nations have ever paid their debts to the world.
The truth is France, Italy and Canada have devised a new "Green Earth" initiative and will unveil it during this summit.
They have devised a plan to melt the polar ice caps and let them drain into Africa's great land mass. Problem solved.
The idea struck French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi while they were vacationing together in Indonesia in 2004. They were still working out the details during the 2005 summit, when they made the foreign aid promise, but they knew it might work before they had to fulfill it.
While frolicking together in the Sumatra surf on December 26, 2004, they all had a revelation. Why not flood Africa? Out of sight out of mind solves everything; doesn't it?
Friday, July 4, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
It's not your pervert uncle Pat's Speedo
I don't know if it's the swim suits, the training or both but the American swimmers are already impressive breaking world record after record. Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, both of Baltimore, MD,are leading the pack.
The Fastskin FS-PRO, designed by Aqualab and sold by Speedo, is drawing tons of interest. Many countries going into next months Olympics, in China, are ditching their sponsors and switching to the Speedo. Check out this video about the suit:
