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Moonlapse

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  1. The aweful state of tuition in America

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    Just as a matter of interest, guys - what is the basic tax rate in the US these days? And is it a blanket rate or do you have a scale as we do, for higher earners etc? Sorry if we're off topic - Moon will no doubt split the thread if he deems it necessary.

    http://taxes.about.com/od/2007taxes/qt/2007_tax_rates.htm

    Your average middle class American pays about 25% just for Federal income tax, add onto that the various state income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, capital gains taxes, miscellaneous other taxes and government fees. The total estimate is roughly 40%.

  2. The aweful state of tuition in America

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    We pay high taxes too, but much of our money goes into maintaining the troops that maintain the Empire.

    I think this is a bit misleading. When the Federal government needs funds, the Federal Reserve (a private banking institution, which Congress gave central bank powers to in 1913, the same year that a permanent income tax was instituted) fabricates new money for it (the gold standard was eliminated in 1971). When you pay Federal income tax, your money is used by the government to pay interest, not principle, to its creditors. Services such as public education and public roads are largely funded with taxes on property and fuels.

  3. The aweful state of tuition in America

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    From the Grace Commission Report (PPSS) 1984:

     

    * One-third of all their taxes is consumed by waste and inefficiency in the Federal Government as we identified in our survey.

    * Another one-third of all their taxes escapes collection from others as the underground economy blossoms in direct proportion to tax increases and places even more pressure on law abiding taxpayers, promoting still more underground economy-a vicious cycle that must be broken.

    * With two-thirds of everyone's personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services which taxpayers expect from their Government.

     

    Expect more 'interest' with less services.

  5. Global Warming

    in Arena

    Posted

    I read this recently, and it struck me as some good food for thought in this thread:

     

    For although there is indeed a certain order and sequence in the history of opinions, as in the phases of civilisation it reflects, which cannot be altogether destroyed, it is not the less true that man can greatly accelerate, retard, or modify its course. The opinions of ninety-nine persons out of every hundred are formed mainly by education, and a Government can decide in whose hands the national education is to be placed, what subjects it is to comprise, and what principles it is to convey. The opinions of the great majority of those who emancipate themselves from the prejudices of their education are the results in a great measure of reading and of discussion, and a Government can prohibit all books and can expel all teachers that are adverse to the doctrines it holds. Indeed, the simple fact of annexing certain penalties to the profession of particular opinions, and rewards to the profession of opposite opinions, while it will undoubtedly make many hypocrites, will also make many converts. For any one who attentively observes the process that is pursued in the formation of opinions must be aware that, even when a train of argument has preceded their adoption, they are usually much less the result of pure reasoning than of the action of innumerable distorting influences which are continually deflecting our judgments. Among these one of the most powerful is self-interest. When a man desires very earnestly to embrace a certain class of doctrines, either in order to join a particular profession, or to please his friends, or to acquire peace of mind, or to rise in the world, or to gratify his passions, or to gain that intellectual reputation which is sometimes connected with the profession of certain opinions, he will usually attain his desire. He may pursue his enquiry in the most conscientious spirit. He may be firmly resolved to make any sacrifice rather than profess what he does not believe, yet still his affections will endow their objects with a magnetism of which he is perhaps entirely unconscious. He will reason not to ascertain what is true, but to ascertain whether he can conscientiously affirm certain opinions to be true. He will insensibly withdraw his attention from the objections on one side, and will concentrate it with disproportionate energy upon the other. He will preface every conclusion by an argument, but the nature of that argument will be determined by the secret bias of his will. If, then, a Government can act upon the wishes of a people, it can exercise a considerable influence upon their reason.

     

    A History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe by W.E.H. Lecky, 1865

  8. Random Beer Discussion

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    Ahh ok. I'm partial to American microbrews, porters, stouts, black ales, and various Belgian beers - especially Trappist ales. I like to drink beer cool to lukewarm because I think its much tastier and headier. Ice cold beer doesn't have as much taste. Budweiser would have to be quaffed ice cold because it tastes like urine.

  10. Corn

    in Romana Humanitas

    Posted

    Did the Native American peoples use maize as their foremost (grown) vegetable staple?

    That depends where and when. In Mesoamerica corn, beans, and squash were the foremost crops. In Eastern North America, things like sunflower, squash, and goosefoot were grown. Corn and beans eventually found their way into Eastern North America and became major crops after 900 AD.

  14. Global Warming

    in Arena

    Posted

    I'm going to make a general rule for this thread:

     

    If you want to carry on a tit for tat discussion on global warming, please post references. I don't mind social commentary, but if anyone wants to make a 'matter of fact' statement, please provide some sources.

  16. Roman Empire Wallmap Marketing

    in Renuntiatio et Consilium Comitiorum

    Posted

    What marketing have you tried? What "liberties" are you afraid of? I gather there are several published authors present, here, representing a lot of publishing and marketing experience, and I can't see them refusing to lend advice. Near as I can tell, if you don't find this web site you won't be able to find the map. It's obvious that a lot of scholarship went into compiling and drawing it, and it would be criminal to intentionally keep it so unavailable.

     

    If you're worried about being able to handle distribution and legal issues, why not just hand it over to a commercial publisher? Just off the top of my head, Barnes and Noble has their own comparatively small publishing house, and would seem ideal. Let them do all the work while you take in the royalties. Mind you, I'm not envisioning a Brinks truck rolling up to your house every month, but still...

    Well usually, our terms are that our logo/website address stay on the map and we don't hear back after that, lol. The site is still growing, and we're learning as we go, so there will always be some sort of improvement in the works.

  18. Infuriated!

    in Hora Postilla Thermae

    Posted

    I agree that Invision leaves much to be desired in regards to its stability. The catch is, they don't distribute security patches for older versions - the 'solution' is to upgrade. I could ramble on for a while about their security patch screwup which allowed a script kiddie to deface the forums.

  23. Global Warming

    in Arena

    Posted

    My view is, if even 1% of the studies show that human activity is to blame, then it is imperative that we curb our habits. To not do so, even with just a 1% probability of success, is negligence to the ultimate degree.

    Something really bothers me about this kind of alarmism. Rhetorically speaking, you are implying that a 99% concensus of scientific studies indicating that human activity is not to blame would be insignificant compared to the 1% indicating the opposite, and that it would be ultimately negligent not to alter our lives even if the probability of success is 1%. Why? Help me understand this.

     

    If you had a 1% chance of getting killed, right here and now, if you walked down a hypothetical street, but got $1million if you got to the end, would you take the chance? No? Why not? You would be disregarding a 99% concensus that you would survive, and be rich!

    I don't see the correlation. This is how I correlate your original statement (keep in mind the rhetoric nature):

    You're about to walk down the street and you ask 100 people what they think about you walking down the street. One person says its probable that you'll die. The ninety nine others say something else. The one person says that if you agree to cut your hand off there's a 1% chance that you won't get killed. Is it ultimately negligent to not cut off your hand? Let me explain...

     

    However, there is not a 99% concensus against human activity=global warming - there is a 75% 'concensus' for. I am not alarmist - just applying everyday logic to my long term lifestyle. And to be honest, the life changes are actually very slight. The assumption here is that people are being alarmist and radically altering their lives.

    The actual concensus is irrelevant to your own rhetorical scenario. I think you are including your already established belief in the opinion expressed in the original statement. What I'm saying is that if you didn't already have a 75% concensus, how can you say that we should act the same in a completely different situation? The urgency you attach is not grounded in your given scenario. I know it seems trivial, but it interests me that you say that even if there was only a very small amount of evidence it would be 'ultimately negligent' not to make huge sacrifices. I really believe its based in the fear that comes with the package. And really, the lifestyle changes are not slight. Slight changes will only produce slight results. There are no current alternatives that will support our industrialized world as it is right now. In order to curb and reverse our contribution of CO2 into the atmosphere, it will incur tremendous costs and sacrifices that you and I will pay for. This is why I used the analogy of cutting off one's hand.

     

    No, I am slightly concerned, when I bother to think about it, and I am being more sparing, less wasteful, and to be frank, making a fat pile of cash into the bargain. And all for the sake of cycling a bit, using energy efficient lightbulbs, using biodiesel and switching off my telly at night. Not a difficult lifechange, or an alarmist perspective, in my view.

    I agree. I drive an old Civic that regularly gets about 40 mpg and efficiency is a top consideration when I buy anything. I'm actually in the process of rebuilding another car to get even better mileage. What struck me as alarmist was the original rhetorical statement and the implications of the required sacrifice. The frightening image of run-away global warming and its horrible catastrophes is anything but certain, despite what a huge political organization like the UN says. Climate change can't be tested scientifically. It's all based on limited theoretic simulations of a system that we don't know everything about. Being a programmer, this is the aspect I'm most interested in - the actual physics and the calculations used. I find it unconvincing, and I find the urgency to to impose regulation disturbing. There's nothing wrong with a more efficient lifestyle, but there are serious implications for the involvement of government. I wish we'd wait until we actually had some certainty instead of relying on a certainty manufactured with concensus and fear instead of empirical evidence.

  24. Global Warming

    in Arena

    Posted

    My view is, if even 1% of the studies show that human activity is to blame, then it is imperative that we curb our habits. To not do so, even with just a 1% probability of success, is negligence to the ultimate degree.

    Something really bothers me about this kind of alarmism. Rhetorically speaking, you are implying that a 99% concensus of scientific studies indicating that human activity is not to blame would be insignificant compared to the 1% indicating the opposite, and that it would be ultimately negligent not to alter our lives even if the probability of success is 1%. Why? Help me understand this.

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