Paypal is an illegal, unregulated bank. I use it because it's the most popular (and easiest, for now) way to get fees for my CHL classes, but I'm careful to "double-sweep" my account daily. IOW, I 'sweep' the account into the backup, and then 'sweep' that account regularly into one that PayPal cannot access. I don't want to be in the position to lose more than a few hundred Dollars.
If and when I *do* get cheated by PayPal, I will get a regular merchant account, despite the higher cost to me. So far, that has not happened -- possibly because my account is too small to be worth stealing.
I'm seriously considering getting a regular merchant account anyway...
One reason why P2P lending doesn't have anywhere near the financial impact as bank lending is because the fractional reserve system allows the banks to lend money they don't actually have, thereby creating money from nothing.
In a P2P arrangement, the peers can only loan money that they actually have. If any part of that loan goes towards paying off an existing loan, the money supply shrinks, by approximately 10 times the amount used to pay towards the bank loan. That is the fractional reserve system at work in reverse.
That, by the way, is how we can have deflation even with the government printing presses going full tilt. It's the "mattress money" phenomenon (much of the new money is going to pay off old debt, or just being held in cash, because deflation is a very powerful positive feedback cycle). When the government money creation finally does overwhelm the mattress money phenomenon, that money will go back into circulation all at once, and we will see Weimar America.
The most popular denomination of the new currency will probably be 9mm.
...the biggest of which is that when it comes to digital rights, I don't appear to have any.
My notebook (running Ubuntu) & netbook (currently running Vista, but soon to be upgraded to Ubuntu) both do an acceptable job of displaying PDF and TXT format ebooks, and I have a rather large collection of them that I haven't gotten around to just yet. Some of which I actually paid money for, and would be more than just a tad peeved if the seller decided to reach into my system and repossess them. When I can get a generic reader into which I can load my own PDFs and TXT files (say, using a USB drive) with no mechanism for somebody to swoop in and delete them, then I might consider a dedicated ebook reader.
Oh, and regular paper books still work just fine, too. With some advantages, and some disadvantages. At this point, I see more advantages in plain old paper, and I still have lots of tread left on my public library card. There may come a time when ebooks have the advantage, but that time has not yet come.
--
Thanks to the Chicago thug in the empty suit with the blank resume, my business is booming! http://chl-tx.com
"some of the Pakistani transcribers apparently haven't been paid by Spinvox, and attached a message to one of the transcriptions, telling the recipient of their plight and asking for help."
...to a debate between fanbois and anti's, the discussion devolves into politics... go figure.
I got an iPhone when the price dropped. It was ok, but there were things it just would not do that I wanted.
So I switched to the gPhone when it came out. There are things I like better about the gPhone, and other things I liked better about the iPhone. All in all, I like the gPhone better, but not by a large margin. Some of the initial shortcomings have been fixed by 3rd-party apps, which is nice. Another plus is that I don't have to have Steve Job's permission to load an app.
Maybe someday, somebody will produce a combination of cellphone hardware and cell service that I want. But I'm not holding my breath.
In 8 years, GWB *never* did or said anything quite as stupid as BHO did last week. (I'm not a Bush fan, and I did not vote for him either time).
BHO has firmly established a "Culture of Corruption" worse than any other administration since Warren Harding. You can read about it in Michelle Malkin's "Culture of Corruption" Hardback version: http://bit.ly/c9KSl E-book version: http://bit.ly/4CNC5d
--
Thanks BHO, for the tremendous stimulus you have give *my* business! (http://www.chl-tx.com)
Sure, it's the right move. Sometimes doing something on the basis of principle can be costly, but appeasement is guaranteed to be even costlier in the long run.
I think Amazon is on the right side of this one.
-- www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given *my* business!)
Back in the not-terribly-distant past, Kodak used about a million troy ounces of silver per month in film manufacturing. I recall that they spent a lot of money in the commodities futures markets hedging their supply so that they wouldn't get caught short.
I wonder what effect that a drop in usage of a million ounces per month by one company has on the price of silver, and on the overall economy.
Back in the not-terribly-distant past, Kodak used about a million troy ounces of silver per month in film manufacturing. I recall that they spent a lot of money in the commodities futures markets hedging their supply so that they wouldn't get caught short.
I wonder what effect that a drop in usage of a million ounces per month by one company has on the price of silver, and on the overall economy.
A couple of years ago, my wife and I discovered that after paying a $35/month cable bill for years, we were watching about one hour per month. Figuring that $35/hour was a bit steep for TV service, we pulled the plug.
Haven't missed it. One of these days, I need to haul that old 36-inch (CRT) TV set out to the curb, but it's too heavy to carry by myself...
--- www.chl-tx.com
...up until about 25 years ago, when they ripped me off on a roofing job and refused to honor their warranty. If I had wanted a roof that leaked, installed by illegal aliens that littered my yard with beer cans, I could have gotten that for about 1/3rd the price that the Sears Authorized Contractor charged me.
I want Sears to go out of business. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
1) By negotiating with Iraqi leaders to delay actions that might favor Republican chances prior to the November election. Oh, BTW, Rush Limbaugh is not, nor has he ever been, the leader of the Republican Party, except in the minds of Libtards.
2) You might think that the incoming president could memorize a short oath. But unfortunately, the teleprompter wasn't available.
3) No proof is sufficient for a Libtard, due to confirmation bias. Fearless Leader is given a pass on absolutely anything he does.
4) The Libtard turning a blind eye to Fearless Leader yet again. Don't you know that if you believe in the COTUS, you might be a terrorist?
5) The race card from a Libtard. Whenever Obama manages to completely screw up, anyone who dares speak out against him will be subject to the last-ditch Libtard cry: RAAAAAAAAAACIST!!!!!!!
Interesting, and comically ironic that you would try to label me as revisionist. And, to correct another of your incorrect assumptions, I'm not a Republican. Republicans have become Liberal Lite, which is the main reason they lost the last election.
-- www.chl-tx.com
One (small) advantage to government regulation: It might be (slightly) harder for the casino to cheat without getting caught. Although a properly-run casino is wildly profitable without having to resort to cheating. Unfortunately, really large lumps of money tend to attract organized crime, with or without regulation (note Mark Twain's observation regarding congress and organized crime).
I would agree that the primary motivation for legalization (aka regulation) would be tax revenue. I don't have a problem with that, per se, but I would prefer that the government just stop trying to be my nanny, period (even though I personally have no interest in gambling).
-- www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given my business!)
I thought CAPCHA had been handily defeated already by offering free porn, and serving up an image capture of the capcha.
-- www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given *MY* business)
Yup, Rosa Parks should have just moved to the back of the bus like she was told to, right? After all, IT WAS THE LAW.
If a law is wrong, then morality dictates finding a way to allow yourself and other to at least circumvent it. Outright breaking of a bad law may be personally costly, but as Ms. Parks demonstrated, sometimes that is a good way to get it changed.
-- www.chl-tx.com
I 'sweep' my PayPal account
If and when I *do* get cheated by PayPal, I will get a regular merchant account, despite the higher cost to me. So far, that has not happened -- possibly because my account is too small to be worth stealing.
I'm seriously considering getting a regular merchant account anyway...
Abuse (as txchlinstructor)
Leave out the word "almost", and you will be more accurate.
Disintermediation shrinks the money supply (as Tx CHL Instructor)
In a P2P arrangement, the peers can only loan money that they actually have. If any part of that loan goes towards paying off an existing loan, the money supply shrinks, by approximately 10 times the amount used to pay towards the bank loan. That is the fractional reserve system at work in reverse.
That, by the way, is how we can have deflation even with the government printing presses going full tilt. It's the "mattress money" phenomenon (much of the new money is going to pay off old debt, or just being held in cash, because deflation is a very powerful positive feedback cycle). When the government money creation finally does overwhelm the mattress money phenomenon, that money will go back into circulation all at once, and we will see Weimar America.
The most popular denomination of the new currency will probably be 9mm.
Kindle has issues... (as TXCHL Instructor)
My notebook (running Ubuntu) & netbook (currently running Vista, but soon to be upgraded to Ubuntu) both do an acceptable job of displaying PDF and TXT format ebooks, and I have a rather large collection of them that I haven't gotten around to just yet. Some of which I actually paid money for, and would be more than just a tad peeved if the seller decided to reach into my system and repossess them. When I can get a generic reader into which I can load my own PDFs and TXT files (say, using a USB drive) with no mechanism for somebody to swoop in and delete them, then I might consider a dedicated ebook reader.
Oh, and regular paper books still work just fine, too. With some advantages, and some disadvantages. At this point, I see more advantages in plain old paper, and I still have lots of tread left on my public library card. There may come a time when ebooks have the advantage, but that time has not yet come.
--
Thanks to the Chicago thug in the empty suit with the blank resume, my business is booming! http://chl-tx.com
It's not about security...
Oh, that's truly rich!
Poetic justice. That's just rich.
Despite what amounts to an open invitation...
I got an iPhone when the price dropped. It was ok, but there were things it just would not do that I wanted.
So I switched to the gPhone when it came out. There are things I like better about the gPhone, and other things I liked better about the iPhone. All in all, I like the gPhone better, but not by a large margin. Some of the initial shortcomings have been fixed by 3rd-party apps, which is nice. Another plus is that I don't have to have Steve Job's permission to load an app.
Maybe someday, somebody will produce a combination of cellphone hardware and cell service that I want. But I'm not holding my breath.
Re: Dirty as Bush? (as TXCHL Instructor)
BHO has firmly established a "Culture of Corruption" worse than any other administration since Warren Harding. You can read about it in Michelle Malkin's "Culture of Corruption" Hardback version: http://bit.ly/c9KSl E-book version: http://bit.ly/4CNC5d
--
Thanks BHO, for the tremendous stimulus you have give *my* business! (http://www.chl-tx.com)
Re: backfire (as TX CHL Instructor)
I think Amazon is on the right side of this one.
--
www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given *my* business!)
Kodak and commodity silver (as TX CHL Instructor)
I wonder what effect that a drop in usage of a million ounces per month by one company has on the price of silver, and on the overall economy.
Kodak and commodity silver (as TX CHL Instructor)
I wonder what effect that a drop in usage of a million ounces per month by one company has on the price of silver, and on the overall economy.
Big Whoop. (as TX CHL Instructor)
Big Whoop. (as TX CHL Instructor)
Haven't missed it. One of these days, I need to haul that old 36-inch (CRT) TV set out to the curb, but it's too heavy to carry by myself...
---
www.chl-tx.com
I used to be a Sears Customer... (as TX CHL Instructor)
I want Sears to go out of business. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Re: Re: Obama fiasco (as TX CHL Instructor)
2) You might think that the incoming president could memorize a short oath. But unfortunately, the teleprompter wasn't available.
3) No proof is sufficient for a Libtard, due to confirmation bias. Fearless Leader is given a pass on absolutely anything he does.
4) The Libtard turning a blind eye to Fearless Leader yet again. Don't you know that if you believe in the COTUS, you might be a terrorist?
5) The race card from a Libtard. Whenever Obama manages to completely screw up, anyone who dares speak out against him will be subject to the last-ditch Libtard cry: RAAAAAAAAAACIST!!!!!!!
Interesting, and comically ironic that you would try to label me as revisionist. And, to correct another of your incorrect assumptions, I'm not a Republican. Republicans have become Liberal Lite, which is the main reason they lost the last election.
--
www.chl-tx.com
Re: "search and seizure laws" (as TX CHL Instructor)
--
www.chl-tx.com
Re: What's in a name (as TX CHL Instructor)
I would agree that the primary motivation for legalization (aka regulation) would be tax revenue. I don't have a problem with that, per se, but I would prefer that the government just stop trying to be my nanny, period (even though I personally have no interest in gambling).
--
www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given my business!)
Re: Uh huh... (as TX CHL Instructor)
--
http://www.chl-tx.com I support the US Constitution. All of it, not just the convenient parts.
CAPCHA (as TX CHL Instructor)
--
www.chl-tx.com (Thanks, BHO, for the wonderful stimulus you have given *MY* business)
Re: Never break a bad law? (as TX CHL Instructor)
If a law is wrong, then morality dictates finding a way to allow yourself and other to at least circumvent it. Outright breaking of a bad law may be personally costly, but as Ms. Parks demonstrated, sometimes that is a good way to get it changed.
--
www.chl-tx.com
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