Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 25 Jan 2022 @ 1:20am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I fail to see how removing all deductions and switching to a minimum taxable base allows for exploiting deduction loopholes."
There are ways - but it takes a lot more maneuvering and isn't as clearcut. Sweden allows a very narrow frame of deductions to be used at all and so the traditional US method of "buy, borrow, die" can't apply. As a result tax evasion is usually performed by having the revenue come in to banks in tax shelters - but that is illegal and traceable which means the revenue services catch bundles of people pulling that trick every few years, every time they go on a "fishing trick".
When evading taxes carries an actual risk is when you start seeing most of the wealthy actually paying their dues.
What you also need, on top of this, is a well formulated estate tax and taxes on fixed wealth above certain limits. Because there's a long-term issue at play here, where you end up fostering a new feudal class where the flows of wealth and assets in a nation gradually end up concentrated to a small percentage of neo-feudal hereditary nobility.
For money to do its job it needs to flow. Ironically the US system of wealth concentration works in direct contradiction with anything the spirit of that nation was built around.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 25 Jan 2022 @ 12:58am
Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's unfortunate that if you want to know how a system's broken you almost invariably have to look at some bright left-winger in the US, the actual DSA). Not surprising since when it comes to analysis of capitalism Marx set the standard with his Das Kapital - still recommended reading in every university focused on market economics. Now if he'd only stopped at that point rather than try to write up a theoretically perfect system we wouldn't have a lot of idealists thinking that humans would stop being human for long enough for that system to work.
I'm guessing if you're a right-winger you'll end up staring a lot of unpalatable facts in the face when looking at your chosen system. Most who do end up wanting to use a strong state as check and balance to a free market which brings the workable hybrid of social democracy.
And a state where politicians are bought and sold - where the money is in politics - isn't a strong state, nor one representing the citizenry. It's one which came with a price tag attached.
"The problem isn’t tax rates! "
It never is. As long as what you keep after the state has taken its cut is enough to live on well without fear - plus enough to set aside in savings - it really doesn't matter if your "tax rate" is 15, 30, or 50%. What matters, when it comes to determining your normal living standard - the metric everyone actually cares about - is determined by necessary expenses.
And it isn't in the interest of those holding power in the US for the bleating herd to become something other than a flock of sheep to fleece.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 2:01am
"The Chinese government claims to have no national religion. This may be true. But it will only tolerate so many, and Islam isn't one of them."
Interestingly this is a very late development. China has tolerated a plethora of religions in the past, Islam among them - and notably Christianity as well, which historically has been far more under fire given its role during the "century of humiliation".
The Uyghur and Tibetans stand out as being a people being persecuted as well as over their religious reasons, but in all cases it's inaccurate to call this an "anti-islamic" sentiment by the chinese government.
I'd say that starting with the crackdown on Falun Gong we are simply in one of those regularly recurring periods where the Chinese government comes down heavily on any spiritual value not aligned directly with Chinese culture and government doctrine.
As they've done in the past, plenty of times.
The Uyghur and Tibetans would have gotten hit no matter which given their cultures explicitly states they aren't chinese, but the broader current crackdowns on Islam, Christianity and Judaism has the same explanation as when China went to war against Buddhism back in the day - foreign ideologies have no place in Hua Xia.
So please, Tim, separate those issues. China is persecuting the Uyghur and the Tibetans. This is ethnic cleansing performed to make sure chinese territory only has "chinese" people in it.
There is also a broader persecution of, well, every spiritual philosophy which is either foreign or acknowledges authority over that of the party. This is objectively speaking equally bad.
But although they overlap this is about two different things.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:47am
Re: Re: Blowing smoke
"Well, you might want to tell your buddies in the FAA that the next time they are asked to present evidence of their claims, they should do so."
No, he's quite correct...but not exactly because of his delivery of facts. They're nice but don't touch the actual principle at play here.
The FAA has as their obligation to ensure secure air traffic. In doing so they operate from a whitelist not a blacklist.
In other words it's not up to the FAA to prove something is unsafe, it's up to anyone wanting certification from the FAA to prove safety to their standards. This is how, in an ideal world, every agency tasked to supervise commercial technology works.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:40am
Re: Re:
"Sadly I could all-too-easily see that as a perfectly viable explanation if they actually did have knowledge ahead of time as to why they didn't actually do anything with it..."
Call me cynical but I think the explanation there is the same as the one where the FBI knew weeks in advance that there were saudi extremists in the country learning to fly passenger airplanes and planning a major operation well before 9/11...and did nothing because the identity of the objects of surveillance were "politically sensitive".
Arguably, that explanation is worse. The FBI even has their back covered here given that they've spent the last decade pounding out one analysis after the next warning that the greatest national threat in their purview is domestic right-wing terrorism. They can conveniently toss their hands in the air and claim that no one in power wanted them to go deeper in that matter.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:35am
Re: Re: Re: The brain of an engineer
"I've been a software engineer for 40 years and I think that's bollocks. A good software engineer has to understand people or no-one else will be able to work on their code and no-one will want to use their crappy user interface."
Manifestly not true. You said it yourself - you were a software engineer. Try a stint as a sysadmin, DBA or Tech Support. Or second-line support where actual interaction with the client is scarce to nonexistent?
You may come out a humbler person more aware of human weaknesses.
But odds are also decent you'll come out a dyed-in-wool BOFH and design some device where the user has no authority to fsck things up, with one single button and enough bling to keep the herd of lusers happy. Like Steve Jobs.
"Sounds like you're thinking of autism."
This is probably a good time to bring up the amount of people on the spectrum who actively look for work where they don't need to interact with unpredictable humans and can often mitigate that irregular sleep schedules.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:26am
Re: Re: Re: millions will dump direct
"If you don’t understand it burn it."
That's not a problem here. The thing about OAN is that we do understand it. It's yet another dystopian TV series which got cut because of a niche viewership and unpopularity.
Sorry, Lostin, but I suggest that context matters and that you have a number of better hills to die on. This...isn't one of those.
I must confess to some confusion. Every time Trump and his cult comes up you're an avid defender. But many of your opinions in the past might as well have come from a card-carrying DSA member. The only time I've seen anything similar is in people so disappointed Bernie wasn't given the candidacy they went for Trump hoping once the US burns it'll take the corruption in both parties with it.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:14am
Re: Re:
"But I won’t cheer any channel getting cut from broadcast. No matter who they are."
The question is, why should you care?
Are you similarly up in arms every time a TV show gets cancelled because the company owning or leasing the network found it an untenable waste of airtime? Because OAN is, objectively speaking, about as non-fictional as "Firefly".
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:10am
Re: Stunning
"You are against censorship and cancelling........unless you don't like the people speaking and you don't like what they are saying."
No, you alt-right shitwit. As per usual and for the umpteenth time I guess we'll just have to remind you that a private entity throwing out out isn't censorship.
If you shit on the floor your host will throw you out. Are you guys truly at the level of moron where that simple fact is something you don't grok?
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:07am
Re: Do you really think the Right in the USA is bothered?
"...corporations in the US don't give a toss about Left/Right politics, they will do whatever makes them the most profit. If spreading Right-wing propaganda is good for their bottom line they will jump to it!"
Certainly. Clickbait does garner attention and views. The thing being that increasingly it's started to percolate to shareholders that when that clickbait has become domestic terrorist propaganda it really isn't good for their bottom line. Because having the DoJ breathing down your neck really isn't good for commerce.
I think the US has started to realize how Popper's Paradox of Tolerance applies to them. And not a second too soon.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 1:03am
Re: Proof
"Thanks for helping to prove the the censorship is real."
I think the sick self-burns is the only thing which makes you alt-right morons vaguely amusing; AT&T rented OAN carriage. OAN shat all over the seats of their rental. AT&T chose not to renew the lease...and you come, screaming about "gubmint suppression" and "censorship".
No, when the local watering hole tosses you out for bothering the other patrons it's not censorship. It's the owner of the house thinking you're an asshole and showing you the door.
This, incidentally, is how private property works. No one owes you an audience and a platform. Bring your own damn soapbox!
"I really used to like TD 'til it went off the left cliff."
Sort of ironic that your crowd all yearns for the good old days of FDR-era socialism while ragging all over the "left" - which in the US would be represented only by the DSA in the form of Bernie and AOC.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 24 Jan 2022 @ 12:49am
Re: Re:
"It also has the philosophy that everything wrong with the world would be magically fixed if only they were allowed to return to the fantasy version of the 1950s they saw on TV as kids."
What I find ironic is that what existed of that time when they considered america "great" (for some, at least) relied almost exclusively on FDR's decidedly socialist platform of unionization, heavy industrial and banking regulations, extreme taxation of the rich, etc.
In short every red hat wearer has a banner on their head proclaiming they want to be socialist again.
"The fact that it never existed to begin with, and that if it did it would be hell for anyone not a straight white middle-aged Christian male, is not to be discussed openly."
Well, it sort of did exist. A single breadwinner could afford a house, a family, a car and setting money aside for their pensions. Conditions were indeed hellish for black people - but context matters. Today the baseline has been lowered for white lower and middle class to the point where although racism is very much still a thing the gap between the living standards of black and white people have been drastically reduced.
The hitherto privileged reacted predictably. The occupy movement followed by a surge of socialist ideals (to the predictable response from both sides of the aisle) by increasing proportions of the population...and a large and very loud minority squawking in outraged disbelief that the system treats them almost as bad as if they weren't white.
"Also, never mention what the tax rates were for the rich in the real timescale."
Interestingly aside from AOC, Salazar and Bernie I haven't seen too many democrats all that interested in meaningfully closing the tax loopholes exploited by the extremely wealthy. I could be charitable and say Biden's got enough on his plate - but unless a lot of democrats come out right now and start talking about "eating the rich" I'm not seeing the midterms looking all that good for them in many contested states.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 19 Jan 2022 @ 1:49am
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"But is champagne a trade mark, or should that be reserved to the actual makers..."
The way the french - now EU - AOC works is comparable to trademark law more than anything else. It's just that the owner of the trademark is a geographic region (or in some cases a tradition) rather than an individual.
Like most things IP you can sometimes make a case where it makes sense but any closer scrutiny at all will reveal issues ranging from ridiculous all the way to dysfunctionally crippling.
Trademark and branding sort of works, most of the time. The drawbacks are usually outweighed by actual and reasonable benefits. That gives this sort of thing legitimacy. And regional classifications do sort of make sense. Out of all things IP naming is the only thing which really does make a case for itself.
Patent law has a whole lot more issues. Particularly so when in most areas what is patented manifestly isn't original or new. Or in case of medicine, actually paid for mainly by the public purse.
Copyright is the blistering abomination of old heresy law and censorship put in private hands to prevent people from passing on what they found interesting. For the effective enforcement of which we've discovered that reversing burden of proof and abolishing vital parts of legal principle is necessary.
champagne, gruyer, Ford, etc...these are all brand names. Identities. That californian vintner making a sparkling wine of his own should just push it on the market and try to make the Monterey as big a name as the Champagne.
Much of the reason for this lies with the consumer. Connoisseurs who are enough to spend big money on the Good Stuff care about the name on the label. Fanbois will fanboi and that's how the market rolls.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 19 Jan 2022 @ 1:03am
Re:
"If you're drowning in robocalls, use Google Voice."
Depending on your phone OEM you may already have the option of activating the spam blocklist. Alternatively download a call handler with such a list.
On a good day that will deal with 9 out of 10 calls. Just be sure to give back to the community by flagging spam which gets through the filter as such.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 19 Jan 2022 @ 12:45am
"This will only last until a cop perks up and says they suspect the person was under the influence, had consumed marijuana before operating a vehicle."
It still keeps bugging me how this shit keeps happening in the US...because it's not like we don't have cops in europe yet the stuff I keep hearing about from the US is right out of anecdotal tales of "That time I went to some third-world hellhole and got shaken down by the local corrupt cops".
It's as if the US is permanently stuck in a Stephen King novel. And not one of the good ones either.
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 18 Jan 2022 @ 12:34am
Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Those poor people in Champagne, Switzerland... not even able to use their own name."
Well, not for sparkling wine at least, though it'd be an interesting case to bring to court if they could show they had a longer history of making wine than the district of Champagne, France.
Of course, they could put that label on another local speciality.
"And how much money should everyone else in the world have to pay Florida for violating their Florida Man trademark by also producing stupid people of the male persuasion?"
On the one hand the fact that everyone can use a trademark in a meme or for private use is why I give the TM validity I'll never extend to Copyright or many abuses of patent law.
On the other I'm happy to report that thus far morons aren't a goods marketable enough to attract many trolls. I'm sure we'd have seen some by now if that were the case.
Gripping hand though? I'd really love for floridas governor to try to trademark that concept. Self-awareness doesn't seem to be a thing among the GOP these days...
Scary Devil Monastery (profile), 18 Jan 2022 @ 12:23am
Re: Unconstitutional searches for all!
Once again one of those only in america things.
In every other country police officers may act on hunches and such - and without a miles long litany of abuse and overreach history they tend to have the credibility to make their cases.
The US, otoh, has a police community made infamous by unworthies like Chauvin and with police unions which rather than trying to fight a police gang mentality have embraced it.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re:
"Everyone should've long since moved on to flat panels. So if DeSantis wants to outlaw CRT's, then good for him!"
Sadly where the GOP is concerned I'm not convinced they moved past smoke signals.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"I fail to see how removing all deductions and switching to a minimum taxable base allows for exploiting deduction loopholes."
There are ways - but it takes a lot more maneuvering and isn't as clearcut. Sweden allows a very narrow frame of deductions to be used at all and so the traditional US method of "buy, borrow, die" can't apply. As a result tax evasion is usually performed by having the revenue come in to banks in tax shelters - but that is illegal and traceable which means the revenue services catch bundles of people pulling that trick every few years, every time they go on a "fishing trick".
When evading taxes carries an actual risk is when you start seeing most of the wealthy actually paying their dues.
What you also need, on top of this, is a well formulated estate tax and taxes on fixed wealth above certain limits. Because there's a long-term issue at play here, where you end up fostering a new feudal class where the flows of wealth and assets in a nation gradually end up concentrated to a small percentage of neo-feudal hereditary nobility.
For money to do its job it needs to flow. Ironically the US system of wealth concentration works in direct contradiction with anything the spirit of that nation was built around.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's unfortunate that if you want to know how a system's broken you almost invariably have to look at some bright left-winger in the US, the actual DSA). Not surprising since when it comes to analysis of capitalism Marx set the standard with his Das Kapital - still recommended reading in every university focused on market economics. Now if he'd only stopped at that point rather than try to write up a theoretically perfect system we wouldn't have a lot of idealists thinking that humans would stop being human for long enough for that system to work.
I'm guessing if you're a right-winger you'll end up staring a lot of unpalatable facts in the face when looking at your chosen system. Most who do end up wanting to use a strong state as check and balance to a free market which brings the workable hybrid of social democracy.
And a state where politicians are bought and sold - where the money is in politics - isn't a strong state, nor one representing the citizenry. It's one which came with a price tag attached.
"The problem isn’t tax rates! "
It never is. As long as what you keep after the state has taken its cut is enough to live on well without fear - plus enough to set aside in savings - it really doesn't matter if your "tax rate" is 15, 30, or 50%. What matters, when it comes to determining your normal living standard - the metric everyone actually cares about - is determined by necessary expenses.
And it isn't in the interest of those holding power in the US for the bleating herd to become something other than a flock of sheep to fleece.
On the post: Add The United Nations To The List Of Entities Helping The Chinese Government Oppress Its Minority Uighur Population
"The Chinese government claims to have no national religion. This may be true. But it will only tolerate so many, and Islam isn't one of them."
Interestingly this is a very late development. China has tolerated a plethora of religions in the past, Islam among them - and notably Christianity as well, which historically has been far more under fire given its role during the "century of humiliation".
The Uyghur and Tibetans stand out as being a people being persecuted as well as over their religious reasons, but in all cases it's inaccurate to call this an "anti-islamic" sentiment by the chinese government.
I'd say that starting with the crackdown on Falun Gong we are simply in one of those regularly recurring periods where the Chinese government comes down heavily on any spiritual value not aligned directly with Chinese culture and government doctrine.
As they've done in the past, plenty of times.
The Uyghur and Tibetans would have gotten hit no matter which given their cultures explicitly states they aren't chinese, but the broader current crackdowns on Islam, Christianity and Judaism has the same explanation as when China went to war against Buddhism back in the day - foreign ideologies have no place in Hua Xia.
So please, Tim, separate those issues. China is persecuting the Uyghur and the Tibetans. This is ethnic cleansing performed to make sure chinese territory only has "chinese" people in it.
There is also a broader persecution of, well, every spiritual philosophy which is either foreign or acknowledges authority over that of the party. This is objectively speaking equally bad.
But although they overlap this is about two different things.
On the post: Airline CEOs Freak Out Over 5G Despite Limited Evidence Of Real World Harm
Re: Re: Blowing smoke
"Well, you might want to tell your buddies in the FAA that the next time they are asked to present evidence of their claims, they should do so."
No, he's quite correct...but not exactly because of his delivery of facts. They're nice but don't touch the actual principle at play here.
The FAA has as their obligation to ensure secure air traffic. In doing so they operate from a whitelist not a blacklist.
In other words it's not up to the FAA to prove something is unsafe, it's up to anyone wanting certification from the FAA to prove safety to their standards. This is how, in an ideal world, every agency tasked to supervise commercial technology works.
On the post: Sedition Prosecution Of Oath Keepers Members Shows The FBI Can Still Work Around Encryption
Re: Re:
"Sadly I could all-too-easily see that as a perfectly viable explanation if they actually did have knowledge ahead of time as to why they didn't actually do anything with it..."
Call me cynical but I think the explanation there is the same as the one where the FBI knew weeks in advance that there were saudi extremists in the country learning to fly passenger airplanes and planning a major operation well before 9/11...and did nothing because the identity of the objects of surveillance were "politically sensitive".
Arguably, that explanation is worse. The FBI even has their back covered here given that they've spent the last decade pounding out one analysis after the next warning that the greatest national threat in their purview is domestic right-wing terrorism. They can conveniently toss their hands in the air and claim that no one in power wanted them to go deeper in that matter.
On the post: States' 3rd Amended Antitrust Complaint Against Google Looks A Lot More Damning
Re: Re: Re: The brain of an engineer
"I've been a software engineer for 40 years and I think that's bollocks. A good software engineer has to understand people or no-one else will be able to work on their code and no-one will want to use their crappy user interface."
Manifestly not true. You said it yourself - you were a software engineer. Try a stint as a sysadmin, DBA or Tech Support. Or second-line support where actual interaction with the client is scarce to nonexistent?
You may come out a humbler person more aware of human weaknesses.
But odds are also decent you'll come out a dyed-in-wool BOFH and design some device where the user has no authority to fsck things up, with one single button and enough bling to keep the herd of lusers happy. Like Steve Jobs.
"Sounds like you're thinking of autism."
This is probably a good time to bring up the amount of people on the spectrum who actively look for work where they don't need to interact with unpredictable humans and can often mitigate that irregular sleep schedules.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re: Re: millions will dump direct
"If you don’t understand it burn it."
That's not a problem here. The thing about OAN is that we do understand it. It's yet another dystopian TV series which got cut because of a niche viewership and unpopularity.
Sorry, Lostin, but I suggest that context matters and that you have a number of better hills to die on. This...isn't one of those.
I must confess to some confusion. Every time Trump and his cult comes up you're an avid defender. But many of your opinions in the past might as well have come from a card-carrying DSA member. The only time I've seen anything similar is in people so disappointed Bernie wasn't given the candidacy they went for Trump hoping once the US burns it'll take the corruption in both parties with it.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re:
"But I won’t cheer any channel getting cut from broadcast. No matter who they are."
The question is, why should you care?
Are you similarly up in arms every time a TV show gets cancelled because the company owning or leasing the network found it an untenable waste of airtime? Because OAN is, objectively speaking, about as non-fictional as "Firefly".
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Stunning
"You are against censorship and cancelling........unless you don't like the people speaking and you don't like what they are saying."
No, you alt-right shitwit. As per usual and for the umpteenth time I guess we'll just have to remind you that a private entity throwing out out isn't censorship.
If you shit on the floor your host will throw you out. Are you guys truly at the level of moron where that simple fact is something you don't grok?
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Do you really think the Right in the USA is bothered?
"...corporations in the US don't give a toss about Left/Right politics, they will do whatever makes them the most profit. If spreading Right-wing propaganda is good for their bottom line they will jump to it!"
Certainly. Clickbait does garner attention and views. The thing being that increasingly it's started to percolate to shareholders that when that clickbait has become domestic terrorist propaganda it really isn't good for their bottom line. Because having the DoJ breathing down your neck really isn't good for commerce.
I think the US has started to realize how Popper's Paradox of Tolerance applies to them. And not a second too soon.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Proof
"Thanks for helping to prove the the censorship is real."
I think the sick self-burns is the only thing which makes you alt-right morons vaguely amusing; AT&T rented OAN carriage. OAN shat all over the seats of their rental. AT&T chose not to renew the lease...and you come, screaming about "gubmint suppression" and "censorship".
No, when the local watering hole tosses you out for bothering the other patrons it's not censorship. It's the owner of the house thinking you're an asshole and showing you the door.
This, incidentally, is how private property works. No one owes you an audience and a platform. Bring your own damn soapbox!
"I really used to like TD 'til it went off the left cliff."
Sort of ironic that your crowd all yearns for the good old days of FDR-era socialism while ragging all over the "left" - which in the US would be represented only by the DSA in the form of Bernie and AOC.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re:
True enough. The US is the land of Facebook and Taco Bell. They never run out of conspiracy stories and sick self-burns.
On the post: DirecTV Finally Dumps OAN, Limiting The Conspiracy And Propaganda Channel's Reach
Re: Re:
"It also has the philosophy that everything wrong with the world would be magically fixed if only they were allowed to return to the fantasy version of the 1950s they saw on TV as kids."
What I find ironic is that what existed of that time when they considered america "great" (for some, at least) relied almost exclusively on FDR's decidedly socialist platform of unionization, heavy industrial and banking regulations, extreme taxation of the rich, etc.
In short every red hat wearer has a banner on their head proclaiming they want to be socialist again.
"The fact that it never existed to begin with, and that if it did it would be hell for anyone not a straight white middle-aged Christian male, is not to be discussed openly."
Well, it sort of did exist. A single breadwinner could afford a house, a family, a car and setting money aside for their pensions. Conditions were indeed hellish for black people - but context matters. Today the baseline has been lowered for white lower and middle class to the point where although racism is very much still a thing the gap between the living standards of black and white people have been drastically reduced.
The hitherto privileged reacted predictably. The occupy movement followed by a surge of socialist ideals (to the predictable response from both sides of the aisle) by increasing proportions of the population...and a large and very loud minority squawking in outraged disbelief that the system treats them almost as bad as if they weren't white.
"Also, never mention what the tax rates were for the rich in the real timescale."
Interestingly aside from AOC, Salazar and Bernie I haven't seen too many democrats all that interested in meaningfully closing the tax loopholes exploited by the extremely wealthy. I could be charitable and say Biden's got enough on his plate - but unless a lot of democrats come out right now and start talking about "eating the rich" I'm not seeing the midterms looking all that good for them in many contested states.
On the post: States' 3rd Amended Antitrust Complaint Against Google Looks A Lot More Damning
Re: Re:
"But that particular AC has a strawman Mike that he insists is the real Mike, no matter how many times it gets knocked down."
Baghdad Bob's own little world doesn't just contain a strawman Mike. What was it again? "There are motherfuckers, stupid motherfuckers..."
On the post: US Court To Gruyere Cheese People: No, You Can't Ban People From Calling Their Cheese Gruyere If They Aren't Your Neighbors
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
"But is champagne a trade mark, or should that be reserved to the actual makers..."
The way the french - now EU - AOC works is comparable to trademark law more than anything else. It's just that the owner of the trademark is a geographic region (or in some cases a tradition) rather than an individual.
Like most things IP you can sometimes make a case where it makes sense but any closer scrutiny at all will reveal issues ranging from ridiculous all the way to dysfunctionally crippling.
Trademark and branding sort of works, most of the time. The drawbacks are usually outweighed by actual and reasonable benefits. That gives this sort of thing legitimacy. And regional classifications do sort of make sense. Out of all things IP naming is the only thing which really does make a case for itself.
Patent law has a whole lot more issues. Particularly so when in most areas what is patented manifestly isn't original or new. Or in case of medicine, actually paid for mainly by the public purse.
Copyright is the blistering abomination of old heresy law and censorship put in private hands to prevent people from passing on what they found interesting. For the effective enforcement of which we've discovered that reversing burden of proof and abolishing vital parts of legal principle is necessary.
champagne, gruyer, Ford, etc...these are all brand names. Identities. That californian vintner making a sparkling wine of his own should just push it on the market and try to make the Monterey as big a name as the Champagne.
Much of the reason for this lies with the consumer. Connoisseurs who are enough to spend big money on the Good Stuff care about the name on the label. Fanbois will fanboi and that's how the market rolls.
On the post: Why U.S. Robocall Hell Seemingly Never Ends
Re:
"If you're drowning in robocalls, use Google Voice."
Depending on your phone OEM you may already have the option of activating the spam blocklist. Alternatively download a call handler with such a list.
On a good day that will deal with 9 out of 10 calls. Just be sure to give back to the community by flagging spam which gets through the filter as such.
On the post: Pennsylvania Says Legal Medical Marijuana Means Cops Can't Just Sniff Their Way Into Warrantless Searches
"This will only last until a cop perks up and says they suspect the person was under the influence, had consumed marijuana before operating a vehicle."
It still keeps bugging me how this shit keeps happening in the US...because it's not like we don't have cops in europe yet the stuff I keep hearing about from the US is right out of anecdotal tales of "That time I went to some third-world hellhole and got shaken down by the local corrupt cops".
It's as if the US is permanently stuck in a Stephen King novel. And not one of the good ones either.
On the post: US Court To Gruyere Cheese People: No, You Can't Ban People From Calling Their Cheese Gruyere If They Aren't Your Neighbors
Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Those poor people in Champagne, Switzerland... not even able to use their own name."
Well, not for sparkling wine at least, though it'd be an interesting case to bring to court if they could show they had a longer history of making wine than the district of Champagne, France.
Of course, they could put that label on another local speciality.
"And how much money should everyone else in the world have to pay Florida for violating their Florida Man trademark by also producing stupid people of the male persuasion?"
On the one hand the fact that everyone can use a trademark in a meme or for private use is why I give the TM validity I'll never extend to Copyright or many abuses of patent law.
On the other I'm happy to report that thus far morons aren't a goods marketable enough to attract many trolls. I'm sure we'd have seen some by now if that were the case.
Gripping hand though? I'd really love for floridas governor to try to trademark that concept. Self-awareness doesn't seem to be a thing among the GOP these days...
On the post: Appeals Court Says It's Entirely Possible For Cops To Pinpoint Marijuana Odors In Moving Cars
Re: Unconstitutional searches for all!
Once again one of those only in america things.
In every other country police officers may act on hunches and such - and without a miles long litany of abuse and overreach history they tend to have the credibility to make their cases.
The US, otoh, has a police community made infamous by unworthies like Chauvin and with police unions which rather than trying to fight a police gang mentality have embraced it.
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