Tax collectors have always been hated and feared.

Goes with the territory. For all recorded history.

--------

The deil cam fiddlin' thro' the town,
And danc'd awa wi' th' Exciseman,
And ilka wife cries, "Auld Mahoun,
I wish you luck o' the prize, man."
Chorus-The deil's awa, the deil's awa,
The deil's awa wi' the Exciseman,
He's danc'd awa, he's danc'd awa,
He's danc'd awa wi' the Exciseman.

We'll mak our maut, and we'll brew our drink,
We'll laugh, sing, and rejoice, man,
And mony braw thanks to the meikle black deil,
That danc'd awa wi' th' Exciseman.
The deil's awa, &c.

There's threesome reels, there's foursome reels,
There's hornpipes and strathspeys, man,
But the ae best dance ere came to the land
Was-the deil's awa wi' the Exciseman.

- Robert Burns

The article you linked to is what is bullshit.

The recession ended in 2009.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/20/AR2010092006355.html

A logical conclusion? Supported by what logic? The act that you describe is quite illegal and is not covered by the Citizen's United decision.

> They're using lobbyists to to get to government grants on the one hand and shady accountants to effectively launder their cash on the other.

If British citizens object to what Amazon is doing they are free to change the tax laws.

Blaming Amazon for the results of the UKs laws and government polices is complete rubbish.

Google, Apple and Amazon are not doing anything wrong. They are in business to make money for their stockholders of which many I bet are UK citizens. In some jurisdictions they are legally REQUIRED to operate their enterprises to the best legal advantage of their stockholders.

Those UK citizens pay taxes on the dividends and capital gains they realize from owning stock in these companies. Not only that but these companies provide extremely useful services to UK citizens thereby enriching their lives.

They ALSO employ many people who ALSO pay taxes on their wages, and by being employers relieve the state from having to pay for the upkeep of these people who would otherwise be on the dole.

Not only that but there are other taxes on value added transactions that result from the economic activities involved. Consumption based taxes are generally viewed to have the least negative impact on economic growth of any taxes.

Then of course there is the whole question of the macroeconomics of the situation. It is generally held that taxes on businesses are inefficient in terms of encouraging economic growth. Such policies are not productive overall to the economy. This is why business taxes in Europe are generally relatively low. It is conscious sound policy decision based on scientific analysis of the economic facts.

http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/themes/02_taxation.pdf

In other words this is a completely RUBBISH article in every way possible.

> What should open source programmers do in parts of the world without software patents?

Nothing. If there are no software patents you can't be sued for infringement, right?

No, in 1490 the Church knew the Earth was round. The fact is that any educated person from the 3rd century BC on in Europe knew the Earth was round. In 1477 the Vatican commissioned two globes for the new Vatican library.

That's absolute poppycock. Anyone who knows geometry (I assume all competent scientists do) and investigates the situation will quickly determine the Earth is round.

The Pythaogoreans speculated the Earth was round in the 6th century BC, and Eratosthenes proved it and came up with a pretty accurate measure of it's diameter in the 3rd century BC. He even devised a system of longtitude and latitude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_Earth

WHAT DO THEY TEACH IN SCHOOL THESE DAYS?

The idea that scientists though the Earth was flat in the 1800s is the most ridiculous thing I have read on slashdot, I have a 5 digit ID!!!

I doubt if 97% of priests believe in God.

Certainly the Buddhists don't take a position on the question.

Yes, and that time frame is imposed by a government regulatory process known as FDA approval.

I'm fairly sympathetic to the idea of extending patents to account for the regulatory process. A lawyer once told me that a patent is:

A contract between an inventor and the government in which the inventor discloses the best known way to practice an invention so that it can be repeated by others in exchange for the right to prevent others from practicing that invention for a specified period of time.

So that specified time is right now 20 years. Well if the government also imposes a regulatory process that takes 15 years or some other variable but significant duration before sale can take place the patent contract becomes quite meaningless.

Holding patents is a defensive measure in the following ways:

1. It places art in the public record which may later be claimed as prior art. Of course other publication may also server the same purpose.

2. The patent office eats it's own dog food, that is prior art in the form of patents seems more likely to be searched and cited than the general literature.

3, Patents in a particular field may discourage a competitor from filing patents or even working on the same problem.

4. Patents in a field may trigger mutually beneficial cross licensing opportunities rather than lawsuits.

5. Patents in a field may provide counter-suit fodder or also M.A.D. style deterrence that is sort of an informal mutual cross-license that is cheaper than an actual shit storm of lawsuits.

No:

Doctor patient privilege per Larry
Lawyer client privilege
Spousal privilege
Confessional privilege
Self-incrimination exclusion
Public interest privilege
Accountant-client
Reporter's privilege
Right to silence

Larry, you are an idiot about social issues. Shut up.

A lot of what you describe is fixed by the ACA. However it doesn't fix the biggest problem, cost.

Ultimately I think that's what going to be what brings down the current system.

My father passed away three years ago. Apparently he had been donating money to various Republican causes (why I have no idea, he was a Federal employee all his life and was living on a generous Federal pension).

Well these guys apparently don't check the dead person list. Ever. Since I was executor of his estate I got ALL of the Republican mail. I'd write on it stuff like 'return to sender, addressee deceased'. Made no difference.

I'm more or less an independent. But now I cringe every time I get Republican mail.

Well, how about a 2nd Amendment solution to the cameras?

Where is Sarah Palin when we need her?

Come on Sarah, this is your chance!