No. No one knows what's going to happen. That's exactly the problem. Sales taxes, where they exist, inevitably cause prices to be off the 5 cent mark.
Probably the same thing when the US got rid of the half cent in 1857 (which was worth as much as a dime is today) -- pretty much no effect on anybody. And even today, we round the sales tax to the nearest cent, so it's not like rounding transactions is a new concept.
I won't get into Discovery - because Discovery is just terrible in every way. I am going to get flamed for sure saying that but if you really look at its true. It gets the cannon wrong all over the place, and literally every character is Reginald Barclay with some slightly personalized twist on their personality disorder..
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion as to what interests them. However, I will point out that I've been on enough modern-day warships to have concluded that a good portion of people serving on them probably fall under the "Reginald Barclay with some slightly personalized twist on their personality disorder" description. This is at all levels of the chain of command.
If this is part of your reason for disliking Discovery that is perfectly fine with me. I also recognize as valid the belief that, in the future, only the most level-headed individuals would be serving on starships. I'm just pointing out that there is a certain bit of realism to this one aspect -- if anything, to me the characters on other Trek shows are probably more normal than I think is realistic.
in case you missed the last twenty years, they're specifically talking about the Monsanto crops which are a: terminal (they do not produce viable seed), b: specifically resistant to insect and disease strains that have already adapted to the resistant strain crops such as triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), and most importantly c: as synthetic strains, are patented, hence with marker genes can be traced into the wild and used to shut down farmers who refuse to buy Monsanto strains by litigating them to death when those marked strains are found sprouting in their hedgerows.
Aren't a and c mutually exclusive? I am not a farmer, so if I have a gross conceptual error here please correct me, but if the crops are terminal, how are the farmers "illegally" getting seeds to plant without paying royalties? Someone has to buy the seeds from Monsanto if they are not viable on their own, right?
You are wrong about merchant liability and signatures The merchant is under no obligation to check the signature, not now and not in the future with a chipped card. The signature is simply used as an acknowledgment. In fact, as a merchant I am not allowed to check the signature or ask for identification, even if the back of the card has wording in the signature area asking to check the identification. Doing so is a violation of the merchant agreement with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex. As long as the transaction is approved and the customer acknowledges it, the transaction is considered valid.
This is not true. Since it has been a while since I've looked up these rules, I double checked my memory againstthe MasterCard Transaction Processing Rules (I did not check the other three major issuers). There is a procedure to follow if the credit card is not signed -- see page 66. In short, the merchant is required to get authorization from the bank that issued the card, AND require the customer to sign the credit card. "The Merchant must not complete the Transaction if the Cardholder refuses to sign the Card." Of course, I have rarely seen this rule enforced to the letter...
The thing is the signature on the back of the card isn't for verification by a merchant. The stated purpose of the signature block is that you agree to the terms that come with the credit card. By the rules of Visa and MasterCard a merchant should not accept a card that is blank or has something like see ID.
Of course almost no merchant follows this part of their agreement.
It's amazing to me how many people don't realize this, and think it is somehow safer to leave the card unsigned.
Back when I worked as a cashier (at Target, of all places), I actually had people get offended when I would ask to see their ID because their credit card was unsigned. But I know many/most of my co-workers didn't check...
Also in the category of things the store should check but rarely does -- The merchant is supposed to call the credit card's issuing bank before letting someone else use the card -- this also angered people when I would tell them I had to call the bank to let them use their spouse's card.
Whoever dies with the most toys wins.
