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What you really want is a Nook Color. Great to read on, plus you can root it pretty easily to turn it into a full-fledged Android tablet.
Congratulations! Welcome to a brand new, totally crazy world. :)
As to the criminalization of this behavior (scooting out of state so you don't have to vote). I wonder if the people these congressmen represent could start a petition to have them removed from office for failing in their duties. What makes you think that their constituents don't want them doing this?
Second is the odious nature of income taxes and our tax structure in general. Income tax (and in some degree payroll tax) is particularly bad because it is a direct tax on labor etc. which is akin to serfdom. It also punishes savings and investment which in turn drives more people onto the government's welfare roles. Income tax does indeed have issues - namely that it (technically) distorts the incentive to earn an income. (It's the capital gains tax that distorts savings/investment incentives). However, those distortions are probably overstated by anti-tax activists - the income motivation is pretty strong. Moreover, work-related taxes are not "akin to serfdom," or equivalent to slavery (as argued by an earlier poster). Those taxes are only due if you work, and no one is forced (under penalty of law) to work. The "welfare queen" argument is likewise a straw man. A quick google search suggests that ~2% of the U.S. population receives WIC-type welfare assistance. I suspect (but have no evidence) that the vast majority of those people are single parents with children who can't afford childcare, were they to work. Most of them could still not afford childcare even if you were to give them their income taxes back - in my neck of the woods, infant care is $200-225 per week, per infant. Young children are somewhat less ($100-200?). Most important, however, the income tax is (slightly) progressive where frequently suggested replacements are regressive. It is appropriate for higher income/asset persons to pay a large proportion of their pre-tax income/assets because (1) a smaller proportion of their wealth goes to pay for necessities, (2) the relative value (not cost) of the services they receive tends to be greater, and more pragmatically, (3) they can afford to pay it.
Charity works well for whom? Are you suggesting that poverty was less of a problem prior to the development of a social safety net (i.e., welfare, medicaid/medicare, social security, etc.)? I would very much like to know what the basis of that opinion is. Though I can't speak for anyone else, my sense is that charity will not ever ensure an acceptable minimum standard of living (food, shelter, clothing, basic education) for all people in need. Moreover it's a gross mischaracterization to say that "leftists don't want to take care of [orphans]." Rather (1) we can't do it alone and (2) most (probably) believe that there is a collective moral obligation to ensure that it gets done. Accordingly, the government takes a portion of the taxes paid by everyone to provide for the basic needs of people who can't provide for themselves. And no, this is not slavery. If you don't like paying taxes, you can (a) not work, purchase, and/or own things, or (b) try and live somewhere without taxes (and good luck finding such a place!). Your taxes go to maintain the superstructure of the society you rely on to make your own income. Your life is permeated with the benefits you obtain by virtue the taxes you (and others) pay - and your standard of living could not be maintained without them.
I am always curious about opinions like this, regarding U.S. entitlement programs such as Medicare. On the one hand, they complain that these programs are "super-expensive." On the other, that they don't pay enough money out for the program to work right. Likewise, they complain it is poorly run, but ignore the fact that the program is wildly popular among the elderly who rely on it. Accordingly no serious proposal has been made in ages to eliminate it. (Ditto for conservatives' other favorite whipping boy - social security. Just look what happened to Bush's attempt to monkey with it if you want to know what people really think about its worth.) As for the post office, it's possibly the best example of a well-run government agency. It receives zero dollars in direct taxpayer funding, instead operating with user fees. It's cheap, it's fast, and it's accurate. And if you disagree, you can always send mail through FedEx or UPS (which no one does, except for packages, or where special services are required).
My sense of oracles (in a generic, non-PF sense) is that they are more intermediaries between deities and the material world, than they are mere prophets (not that prophesy is an uncommon practice for an oracle). Accordingly, this class seems appropriately named.
Yeah...but...paladins aren't what I would consider a knight. They are holy in nature....so I can see the undead...and the demons...but when were religions anti-dragon? St. George? Also, I believe the devil used to be symbolized by the dragon.
Given that the license was designed to work with the GSL, no one should be surprised by this. If they made it any more open it would simply become a way for people to circumvent portions of the GSL. What they did was give us a way to make use of some valuable material that they own, as long as we abide by certain rules.From WotC's recent track record, I find this not suprising in the least.Same here. This is the GSL of fansite licenses. Unless the guy doing this analysis was lying. Which I doubt. Has anyone ever told you that your unfailingly uncritical support of WotC policies renders it less persuasive? Even if you do agree, sometimes you'd be better served by just letting it go.
I think that the PFRPG versions are already an improvement - they only require 2 slots for stat boosters, but make it very expensive to boost all 6 stats. It would be nice though, if they clarified how many 'common' magical effects can be stacked onto an item, or if effects can be put on different slots than they are listed. While the Magic Item Compendium allows some swapping and stacking, it doesn't answer the question satisfactorily either.
Gratzi! My postman put both issues 15 & 16 under my welcome mat - I didn't see them until today. Thanks for the quick response, as always!
I recently resubscribed to the Pathfinder adventure path, and while I can download issue 15 (episode 3 of the Second Darkness) it hasn't arrived yet. Can you confirm that it's been sent, and when I should receive it? As an aside, is there any way I can get my Pathfinder Charter Subscriber tag back? Thanks!
Man. I guess Red Wizards don't count for much anymore. -sniff-
I agree. I would prefer Evernight.
It seems WotC misjudged the size of the first print run. A second one has already been launched, but it does suck that some preorders are going unfilled. My friend is in a similar boat (well actually, he was set to get his on time, but changed the shipping method in an attempt to speed it up ... but since Amazon refiles your order with every shipping change he was bumped to the second batch!) Further aggravation is that there's no place to register a complaint on Amazon's website! Argh! ;)
Mine shipped on Aug. 20, and I still haven't seen it in Indiana. :( |
