I’ve been reading a lot of Andrew Sullivan lately, and one thing he has repeatedly done recently is call the progressive taxation system punitive. He’s also stated that he thinks this is somewhat ok, but only in an ends (keeping capitalist democracy afloat) justifies the means (progressive taxation) sort of way.
This is flat out completely 100% wrong. A flat income tax across all levels would actually be punitive for the poor and unjustly enriching for the rich.
Sphere: Related ContentThe headline kind of says it all about this deal. Rany has written a dissenting opinion on the wisdom of this deal, while Clark Foster over at Royals Authority is supportive of the move. I come down somewhere between the two camps. In a vacuum, this is a good trade for the Royals. In context, I’m not so sure.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: baseball, hot stove, leo nunez, marlins, mike jacobs, Royals
Ok, I don’t hate my iPhone, but the time when I will is close enough that I can see it coming on the horizon. I’ve had the thing for almost a year now, which I feel is time enough to really start to get to know it. What it can do, what it can’t do, and what it just plain won’t do. Or does badly.
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By Detroit, I mean the American automakers (Ford, GM, Chrysler), not the city, nor the Lions and Tigers. Not that the Lions and Tigers don’t need fixing, thats just not what this post is about. The Detroit automakers are basically getting crushed because they have ridiculous health care and pension costs that are significantly higher than anyone ever thought they would or could be. This proposal won’t fix the health care issues, but it could be a model for addressing the current pension and pending social security problems. It also might help finally resolve the defined benefit vs. defined contribution debate.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: annuities, defined benefit, defined contribution, market, pensions, social security
Time magazine has come out with their annual list of best inventions. The paper version hits in the next issue, but using the internets you can look ahead to the future and see them here.
The newest invention for the inventions list is that they’re ranked 1-50 for the first time. Which is like a meta-invention maybe? I dunno, check the list, there’s some cool stuff on it, although I disagree with the T1 being first.
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This may seem like an odd topic if you’re not in the military or a combat veteran. It’s probably seems like an even odder topic if you are in the military or a veteran. The infantry, overall, has been one of the big success stories of the current war efforts. Overtasked, overdeployed and overworked, the American infantryman has performed exceptionally at many duties that are not in his primary skillset, helping to increase stabilization in Iraq and keep the chaos to a (mostly) dull roar in Afghanistan. This is precisely why now is the time to fix things.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: afghanistan, cyberwarfare, guerilla, infantry, iraq, Military, war
1996 was the first presidential election I was eligible to vote in. The contest was between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. Living in Missouri at the time I was lucky enough to get to vote in a state where my vote actually counted, unlike California or Texas where it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion. Anyway, I voted Dole/Kemp because I thought Clinton was a lying dirtbag who was gutting the military and would spend the next four years mired in scandal and corruption.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: bush, clinton, dole, gore, kerry, McCain, Obama, Politics, president
This post is a little out of date now, but it was after my friends were forwarded copies of my work and didn’t know it was mine that I decided to start my own blog. This is the post in question. Originally publicized by Justin Fox on Time.com’s Curious Capitalist Blog.
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Tags: bailout, Business, subprime crisis
I absolutely detest the phrase “African-American” when used to describe black people in general. There are a lot of reasons for this, but mainly, they boil down to two big issues which can be somewhat entertainingly personified by Charlize Theron and Carlos Febles.
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