hwstar

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211.
by hwstar 11y ago
My situation would be probably worse under a property tax only regime. The problem with property tax is that is levied whether you have income or not, and not everyone is directly liable for it. Right now, I'm living off of post-tax s
212.
by hwstar 11y ago
A small number of us refuse to work under the current conditions offered by American employers. We have money and investments to do the things that we want to do and not put up with the BS in the corporate world.
213.
by hwstar 11y ago
There's risk being a landlord as well. When a bad tenant trashes your rental, you can be out tens of thousands of dollars in addition to the costs to file and process an unlawful detainer. If anything landlording is riskier than invest
214.
by hwstar 11y ago
I'm all for a split property tax roll (personal/commercial). Prop 13 needs to stay as it is for non-commercial properties. If you don't see why, you will. When you are retired, you will come round to my side of the argument.
215.
by hwstar 11y ago
Root cause: Incessant advertising coupled with lack of financial education. Public schools need to teach financial literacy in junior and high schools. Maybe there should be an entire semester devoted to it. If I were to design such a cours
216.
by hwstar 11y ago
This reasoning is flawed. It depends what your cost of living is in the region of the planet you call home. Yes, I suppose you could move to a lower cost of living region, but there are issues with that as well (Oppressive government, Lack
217.
by hwstar 11y ago
Someone might get "shortened a little bit". Apologies to Alan Sherman
218.
by hwstar 11y ago
The US Constitution has been designed to minimise the effect of majority rule. It often takes a hyper majority to get populist laws enacted. The resistance is the strongest in the Senate.
219.
by hwstar 11y ago
Over the long term, wages in first world countries will remain flat or decline and meet the third world countries in the middle.
220.
by hwstar 11y ago
The US Federal government: Instead of of the people, by the people, and for the people, substitute: "Opulent Minority" for the word people.
221.
by hwstar 11y ago
Binding Arbitration == Kangaroo Court http://www.creators.com/opinion/jim-hightower/corporate-kang...
222.
by hwstar 11y ago
This paragraph from the article pretty much gets to the root of the problem: There is a lot of money and interest to be gained by organizations and governments in having the power to pervade one’s privacy. The laws of control suggest that m
223.
by hwstar 11y ago
Governor Brown vetoed AB 465 which could have helped put a stop to this with regards to employees having to arbitrate instead of having their day in court. His reason for vetoing AB 465 was that Federal law pre-empts state law. The federal
224.
by hwstar 11y ago
That's a slippery slope which is bound to harm innocent parties. Large corporations would just love to get letters of marque and reprisal, let's hope that it is not authorized by Congress anytime soon.
225.
by hwstar 11y ago
They want you to reinforce the ransomware creator's behaviour, but if you hunt them down and physically punish them yourselves, you'll go to jail. Why does a democratic government exist, and why do I pay taxes to support it? In m
226.
by hwstar 11y ago
American government agencies put one thing above all else: Self preservation. If a duty to society involves risk which could make them be seen in a bad light, they will avoid it, or try to state it isn't their problem.
227.
The Uber-economy: How “permalancers” and “sharer” gigs gut the middle class(salon.com)
2 points by hwstar 11y ago|0 comments
228.
by hwstar 11y ago
Reduce Advertising Exposure This is key. Don't pay for cable TV, don't watch network TV. If you must watch TV, watch Ad-free programming, or get rid of your TV. Write the Direct Marketing Association and get you (And your spouse)
229.
by hwstar 11y ago
1. American cops are armed to the teeth because the perps carry guns. I'm not saying that we should repeal the second amendment, but because the perps are more likely to be armed, the environment is far more dangerous for cops in the U
230.
by hwstar 11y ago
If the president declares a disaster area (meaning it is bona-fide) an exception could be made for relief funds, but the bill would only be able to address the disaster issue.
231.
by hwstar 11y ago
Actually, it's very handy during voting season.
232.
by hwstar 11y ago
You know what, you guys who did this are better than this. If you are going to downvote, then explain why.
233.
by hwstar 11y ago
Instead of a government for the People, the People, and of the People, it's actually a government for the Opulent Minority, by the Opulent Minority and of the Opulent Minority. James Madison stated: "Landholders ought to have a
234.
by hwstar 11y ago
How about a constitutional amendment which states that a bill can only address 1 issue. Separate bills would be required for K street lobbyists to address their interests, and then they would have a tougher time getting these passed.
235.
by hwstar 11y ago
Bill collectors have been known to spoof caller ID with relatives' phone numbers. Yes, I know this is illegal, but it is still done. The best approach is audio captcha where you have to enter a random 3 digit code to get the phone to r
236.
by hwstar 11y ago
No, it's just that attorneys won't take such a risk if the penalties are too harsh. Also, the State and the electorate are just as complicit as the prosecutors what it comes to sending innocent people to prison, and they should be
237.
by hwstar 11y ago
Prosecutors in general are not elected, but the district attorney (Who oversees the prosecutors) is an elected official. And you are correct, the American electorate wants blood and says "Lock 'em up and weld the door shut" w
238.
by hwstar 11y ago
If that were the law of the land, then a lot of prosecutors would quit and go into private practice. That said, I'm not saying that this behaviour should not go unpunished, an attorney should be disbarred for this type of behaviour, an
239.
by hwstar 11y ago
I'm surprised to see San Diego made this list. Times are going to get tough for engineers in San Diego. Qualcomm is going to lay off several thousand employees in November. It's going to be bad for 1-2 years as engineers laid off
240.
by hwstar 11y ago
Government in the US protects the "Opulent Minority" from the majority. This is by design. If you look at the persons elected to federal government positions, there is no: 1. Initiative and referendum to override Congress. 2. A wa

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