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Comment Fake News! (NYC Billionaire) (Score 5, Informative) 207

by Venona2018 (#59763756) Attached to: How China Is Hunting Down Coronavirus Critics
This is fake news! According to one of the people running for President of the USA:
  • The Chinese Communist Party listens to the Chinese public.
  • Xi Jinping is not a dictator.
  • No government (including China) can survive without the will of its people.
  • The Chinese government is no less impacted by what their constituents — i.e. citizens, voters — want than anyplace else

Source: here

Comment Re:Then take the rich's stuff (Score 1) 187

Parent quote:

So Maduro went to tax it (property taxes) but the 1% undervalued the land. What did Maduro do? He used eminent domain to seize the land and pay them "Fair Market Value". When the 1% protested "But that land is worth 10 times that!" he said, "Oh, is it now. Well, that's different. We will be happy to pay you that sum. Just as soon as you pay all your back taxes and these massive fines from when you lied to the Government". Yeah, Maduro has his faults (so do Obama & Bush Jr, both are war criminals) but that? That was a thing of beauty.

Some quotes from that noted right wing propaganda source, The New Yorker:

...almost ninety per cent of the country (Venezuela) now lives below the poverty line.

Deaths from malnutrition are on the rise,

What makes Venezuela’s food crisis all the more grim is that experts agree it is a result of human decision-making. “It’s not due to droughts, or floods,” Deborah Hines, the World Food Program Representative in Colombia, told me. “The situation is purely political.” Far from alleviating the crisis, Maduro has made basic necessities contingent on political loyalty.

Here is one from the U.N.:

Vast numbers of Venezuelans are starving, deprived of essential medicines, and trying to survive in a situation that is spiralling downwards with no end in sight, according to a group of UN human rights experts*

Saying Maduro has his faults is like saying Hurricane Katrina was just a storm.

Comment Re: What agreement do they have with these peopl (Score 1) 171

But if the crypto currency was purchased outside of USA and never brought into USA, then 'sold' outside of USA, then what USA tax liability or even jurisdiction can there be? It is the same as buying property in another country, the USA cannot tax you or a non-citizen on that unless item or proceeds return or go thru the USA.

If you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you owe tax on all income regardless of where in the world that income is earned. You can generally get a credit if you already paid tax on the income to another government, so if you live in a high tax country you will probably not owe anything extra to the USA.

Comment Re:Hold on... wait a second. (Score 1) 152

by Venona2018 (#58723534) Attached to: Google's Co-Founder Is Building a Gargantuan $150 Million Blimp

Keep in mind that the proposed wealth taxes are currently eclipsed by Google's rising share price - it's a 2% tax, not a wealth cap. So, his sweet airship will cost him 3MM to pay the taxes on... which isn't that unreasonable. I mean, a house also requires annual payments (usually at more than 2% of the purchase price)

A house requires police and fire protection, schools, roads, libraries, parks, and a bunch of other things that require money from property taxes. An airship only needs fire protection. A 2% property tax on an airship isn't justified by the amount of services it needs.

Submission + - Would rationing air travel work?

Submitted by united_notions
united_notions writes: Last year The Guardian ran a leader article arguing that everyone should be allocated "an air mile allowance – say enough for one long-haul return flight a year, or three short-haul flights ... . If you don’t want to use your allowance, you could sell it off in a government-regulated online marketplace. If you’re keen to do a holiday a month, you’ll have to buy your allowance from someone else." But despite continuing concerns over the environmental harm caused by air travel, this idea has not found much subsequent support. Instead serious air time is given to meagre plans like weighing passengers. Do Slashdotters think rationing would work? Could serious co-ordinated inter-governmental restrictions on air travel change our behaviour? Might it just spur corporations into finishing up carbon-neutral passenger planes?

Comment Re:Nice first world country you have there America (Score 1) 444

by Venona2018 (#58588228) Attached to: California May Go Dark This Summer, and Most Aren't Ready

Our massive financial surplus, built up during the years of recession, seems to be an overlooked bonus that will guarantee energy, water and improved transportation for another generation.

Yes California is a terrible place to live. Tell your friends and stay away.

$245 billion in unfunded pension liabilities at the state level: source. Your massive surplus is an illusion.

Comment Re:A toilet for every street corner in SF (Score 2) 123

by Venona2018 (#57610308) Attached to: Gates Foundation Spent $200 Million Funding Toilet Research

Is that too much to ask? Just send the bill to Salesforce and Twitter.

San Francisco voters approved Measure C yesterday to tax Salesforce, Twitter, and every other business with more than $50 million in revenue in order to fund solutions to the homeless problem. The tax is .5% of gross revenue. The measure was promoted by the CEO of Salesforce but opposed by the CEO of Twitter.

The measure however might be challenged in court because it is a new tax and probably won't get 2/3rds of the vote, which is needed if a new tax is proposed by government officials. SInce Measure C was proposed by a group of citizens, it might only need 50% + 1.

Comment Government blocks new housing (Score 1) 253

In San Francisco, where rents are sky-high , a developer has been trying to build 75 new housing units since 2014. He has been battling the city and local activists: More info

Berkeley throws roadblock on developing a parking lot into 260 units: More info

"From 2007 to 2014, San Francisco only approved half of the building permits necessary to accommodate its growth, the San Francisco Business Times reported." Source

Comment Re:I've always hated Python because... (Score 3, Informative) 36

by Venona2018 (#57546823) Attached to: Twelve Malicious Python Libraries Found and Removed From PyPI

Python 2 or 3 or whatever it is now?

I'm on Mac so I'm stuck with Python 2 because of some reason that has never been explained in a way that makes any sense: it was all just hearsay.

You are not stuck on Python 2.

Python 3 is easily installable on the Mac: Click here.
3 steps if you already have Xcode installed. One step if you already have homebrew installed.

Comment Re: Good (Score 1) 171

by Venona2018 (#57515530) Attached to: TSA Lays Out Plans To Use Facial Recognition For Domestic Flights
<quote><p>Good ol' fashioned Lexus Lanes, if you have money then of course you're not a threat!</p></quote>

Global Entry is $100 and is good for 5 years - that's $20 a year, or less than the cost of checking a single bag. It also give you TSA Pre-Check. Chances are that if you can afford to fly internationally, you can afford $20/year.

Comment Denmark vs. Pakistan (Score 4, Interesting) 590

by Venona2018 (#57184238) Attached to: No Healthy Level of Alcohol Consumption, Says Major Study
Countries with the highest rates of drinking: Denmark and Norway
Countries with the lowest rates of drinking: Pakistan and Bangladesh.

I'm betting people are happier in Denmark and Norway vs. Pakistan and Bangladesh. They certainly are wealthier, healthier, and live longer.

Maybe drinking is good?

Comment Aren't board of directors elected? (Score 1) 782

The board of directors of a public company are elected by the shareholders. So how can a company ensure that the stockholders will elect a board which contains at least one woman? I recognize that in most cases, board members are recommended by the company itself and stockholder almost always vote in favor of the company's choices, but still....

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