Cleaning out the bookmarks again. I’ve been looking into foaf some. I’ll prolly post about it at some point. In addition to reading most of the second addition Java XML book on saturday. I have a lot of enthusiasm for the java at the moment. Which is odd considering I hate it…
In other news Bryan Elie is visiting for a couple days, he got here late saturday and he’s staying until sometime this week. I heard the target is now open in Poughkeepsie, so I might have to check that out. I really shouldn’t buy anything though, since i’m trying to reduce clutter. I’ll be putting a bunch of stuff on ebay tonight, but i’ll post about that later.
links et all.
I like this one a lot. It’s a guide on how not to talk. It’s interesting, I like to be contrary cause I get bored a lot. People fall back on these techniques very quickly and it is interesting to watch for them.
Whole Food is an interesting progrssive business. The article makes it seem like their progrssive management makes this company great. I however am of the firm belief that the customers nad the employees this type of business attracts also plays a big role.
Defective Yeti gives an awesome breakdown of what we sent on pioneer 10 to explain ourselves to aliens. Wow.
In one of the most retarded things I’ve heard in a while, in order to defend our electorial process from terrorists we are working on plans to AUTOMATICALLY SHUT DOWN ELECTIONS IF WE ARE ATTACKED. Doesn’t that kinda make disrupting our elections with terror a slam dunk?
Finally it only takes a few minutes. Get off your ass go to this webpage fill out a couple forms and print out your voter registration form. Please do it
In addition to fuel saving costs and lower emissions there is another benefit to switching to a hybrid vehicle. If you buy one this year you can claim a $1,500 deduction on your 2004 tax return, down from $2,000 for hybrids purchased in 2003. Next year, the deduction will drop to $1,000, and it’s scheduled to fall to $500 in 2006. It’s also important to note that because it’s a deduction the actual value varies, if you’re in the 33% tax bracket, a $1,500 deduction will reduce your tax bill by $495. If you’re in the 15% tax bracket, it’s worth $225.
Beyond the federal tax deduction many states also offer tax breaks. Colorado, for example, offers tax credits of about $3,000 on some models of hybrid cars. If you live in New York State you are eligeable to recieve a state income tax credit of $2,000, plus a partial refund of your sales tax.
It is important to note, that this is a tax credit, which is more valuable than a deduction because it provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax bill. So depending on where you live, after a year you could stand to cancel out the premium cost of a hybrid vehical thanks to fuel savings and tax reprieve. After that you can start saving money on fuel costs. Don’t forget your numbers assume that gas prices don’t rise anymore.
It’s been a few days since I posted, been busy at work and home. I have however been aggregating interesting web finds and ideas I’ve come across. I have a couple categories for posts so he’s the first one. The reason I set up this blog in the first place was so I had some voice on the cosi blogroll .
I’ve enjoyed seeing my posts show up there and I like reading what the guys are working on. One of the most prevalent authors there Oleg Dunlin . I haven’t met Oleg before but I heard quite a bit about him while I was at Clarkson and his posts are pretty interesting. However I disagree with this one .
The general opinion he expresses I agree with. There needs to be stronger separation of church and state, there is no place for the 10 commandments in courts (even though most of our laws support them), references to God should be removed from our currency, and most importantly the will of the people should not be over ruled by the religious beliefs of their leader.
However, there are a couple points that I disagree with as well. Specifically his support for a new French Law:
“PARIS (AFP) - The French National Assembly was set to pass a controversial bill that will ban the Islamic headscarf and other religious insignia from state schools, despite opposition from many Muslims and some human rights groups.
[...]
Though it does not specify the items that would be barred, an experts’ report listed the Jewish skullcap and “large” Christian crosses in addition to the Islamic headscarf. Sikh turbans are also likely to be included, and Education Minister Luc Ferry has said bandanas and even beards could be barred if worn with the wrong intent. ”
This is a freedom of speech issue to me although public schools cannot preach religion (they can and should teach about it) and they shouldn’t remove student’s rights to express their beliefs in public. Early introduction and familiarity with other ways of life is the best way to teach tolerance.
My second issue is with a comment he made about religious leadership. I loathe religious justification of government action, especially in it’s cruelest form of undertones and suggestions that our current president uses. This is a vague and nebulous statement but think about it, I follow Bush’s speeches fairly closely and I can’t think of an instance in which he said anything along the lines of ‘God has justified our actions in the Middle East’ or such, but many people immediately identify our actions with his religious beliefs. Oleg’s own statement reinforces this. Despite this unfortunate leadership I do not feel that religious people should be banned from running for office. Some of our great leaders were religious men; JFK being a Catholic comes to mind. He made a fairly famous speech saying that although his religion tied him to the Pope his duty lied with his country. (I know JFK wasn’t a terribly good catholic but it’s still an example.) I believe that it is up to the voters to decide who should be their leader are despite, or because of their religious belief.
To quote Oleg’s post:
“The point is that the separation of Church and State should be such that political decisions are not shaped by people’s faiths, and people’s faith is not shaped by political decisions of their elected officials. What I’d like to see is freedom of religion in people’s private homes and communities, but freedom from religion in the state and federal governments.”
I like the ideal but the fact is I don’t think you have much of a belief going on if it doesn’t play into all of your decisions. I wish I had a stronger conclusion to this post to wrap it all up but the best I have is this. It’s more complicated than that, we can’t just push it under a carpet and make it go away, not allowing the religious element in our societies to be public with their beliefs or share them with others is wrong. Not only is it a freedom of speech issue, it is also an unhealthy way to deal with a powerful and vocal section of our population.
Besides that pile of preaching I have a few other political bits to post.
- Q: Why is the US government so certain that Iraq has WMD?
A: Because they have the receipts.
- Move On ad controversy evaluate on your own.
- President Bush statement or Emperor Palpatine statement?
