Dr Guy

Reply to There Are No Accidents in Germany in Misc JoeUser Forums

I never had the misfortune of driving in Germany - just being the object of the Germans ire when I rode my Bike. Thinking back now, what I took for recklessness was probably cold calculation on their part as they contemptuously made sure I knew that roads were for cars, not biked (I was never hit, but I had enough near misses to wonder about them). And in a land where a simple house is only affordable by the rich, Germans see their cars as Americans see their houses.

Reply to Gave Away My iPad in Blogging JoeUser Forums

Nice tip!

Reply to Not so fast there President Obama in Current Events JoeUser Forums

www.dpw.state.pa.us

Reply to Priest stripped of duties for celebrating Mass with woman priest. in Ethics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="GirlFriendTess" reply="85" id="3309553"]This reminds me for the original Star Trek episode where an uncivil Kirk 'got transferred' to our 'good Enterprise' and our civil Kirk went to 'the other dimensional bad Enterprise'. Well the civil Kirk was able to present himself barbarically as needed but the bad Kirk was unable to function at all, except uncivilly and was easily detected and apprehended.[/quote] You are always going to win me over with refe

Reply to Not so fast there President Obama in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Jythier" reply="5" id="3308998"]The poor aren't living better than the middle class.[/quote] Yes they are. The money the poor receive from the government is not subject to taxes. For a couple making $70k per year, they only have about $50 (or less) of actual income. The rest is taken by taxes. When you add up all the government handouts (like Obamaphones, TANF, EBT, WIC, etc.) a family who is only receiving government assistance is receiving m

Reply to When is 2% not 2%? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="6" id="3309018"]In fact, I've been miffed at the way some public figures on the right have been clamoring about this 'tax increase'. Disingenuous at best, unless the base rate or wage base actually changed.[/quote] It does every year. It is indexed for inflation, so the top taxable amount increases every year. But that was the way it always has been (at least since Reagan).

Reply to When is 2% not 2%? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="4" id="3308979"]I'd have to look more critically, I guess, but I thought they just let the temporary 2% FICA moratorium expire, which should have returned FICA withholding to it's prior level. Did the 'base rate' also go up? Given that SS underfunding has been an issue for a long time, they never should have implemented the 2% cut in the first place, but that was a vote-buying maneuver.[/quote] The "Payroll" tax was a replacement f

Reply to When is 2% not 2%? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="3" id="3308963"]Obama taxes all done without the Senate ever passing a budget. [/quote] So was Obamacare.

Reply to Thinking About A Windows Phone in Mobile Tech JoeUser Forums

[quote who="starkers" reply="28" id="3308843"]Oh, and Dr Guy, apple crumble is a dessert we enjoy here in Oz, so there was an intended pun, for which Jafo felt it appropriate to incite a mob to put me in the stocks and throw rotten fruit at me.[/quote] For that bad pun, we should lock up Jafo and throw rotten fruit at him! [e digicons]:ninja:[/e]

Reply to the Skipper in Misc JoeUser Forums

Sorry for your loss. I never had a big brother, being the oldest boy (and older than all cousins as well). But I can see how yours was very special.

Reply to Priest stripped of duties for celebrating Mass with woman priest. in Ethics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="lulapilgrim" reply="77" id="3307090"]Permanently closed since 1994 when Blessed JPII issued Ordinatio Sacerdotalis which said that the Church "has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination of women and that this judgment is to be definitely held by all the Church's faithful."[/quote] It is not an infallible dictum, so the rule can be changed. I expect it will. Infallible dicta are things that cannot change, as the belief is they come from God hi

Reply to And Carry a Big Stick... in Misc JoeUser Forums

We are coming down to the last mile for our oldest cat now. He was the first one to take to me when I started dating my wife. It does not get any easier with subsequent pets.

Reply to At Least They Were Covered...Mostly in Misc JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Big Fat Daddy" reply="2" id="3307154"]the boots are comfort shoes for me. Warm, comfy, supportive...and I have worn them all my adult life.[/quote] Due to a foot problem (too high of arches) I could never wear anything but clunkers as a kid, so I prefer no shoes. And if I have to wear any, minimal shoes.

Reply to Are Windows 8 and Windows RT Different? in Personal Computing JoeUser Forums

[quote]If in fact they really are the same with that “rule” written in by MS, well… that’s not going to be received well by the public. Perhaps even less well than Windows 8.[/quote] ALl versions of XP, Vista and 7 had the same code - just different options turned on. That is what is happening here. I would much prefer 7 on a tablet. And I hate the store. But as the tablet was a gift, I am stuck with it.

Reply to 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Leauki" reply="141" id="3307625"]The first and fourth group are the outliers, the extremists.[/quote] The fourth group is running the insane asylum here.

Reply to I am back in Ireland in Blogging JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Daiwa" reply="1" id="3307875"]Welcome home. [/quote] Well, kind of. ;-) So are you working, visiting, or relaxing?

Reply to Thinking About A Windows Phone in Mobile Tech JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Jafo" reply="25" id="3308418"] Quoting starkers, reply 24I'll just sit back and watch Apple crumble Someone hit him.....[/quote] Sadly, he is correct. It has nothing to do with their loss of innovation and excellence. It has to do with unrealistic expectations. Dump your stock now. The company will be around for a lot longer, but the stock is a money loser.

Reply to Thinking About A Windows Phone in Mobile Tech JoeUser Forums

[quote who="WOM" reply="2" id="3307278"]Don't know about phones but I hate W8 PC. Took mine back to the store. Yey said a ;ot of people are doing that.[/quote] I got the tablet. It is ok. What I love about it is Office comes bundled. But I have played with the PC - and yes, I hate it as well!

Reply to Laying Low in Blogging JoeUser Forums

It passes as quickly as it starts. But yea, I chalked up my sore ribs to old age. I guess I just underestimated this bug.

Reply to Gun Control in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Bosnia was but the latest. But history is full of examples. Anders Breivik lived in a country that totally banned guns - that is why he could kill over 70 before being stopped. He was not actually stopped - he ran out of victims.

Reply to When is 2% not 2%? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

It was a tax increase. They will spin it as a lot of things. And I will not argue whether it was warranted or not. But the reality is it is a tax cut. I calculated what the cost would be for my family. Given the MSA cut plus the payroll tax increase, I am losing 5% of disposable income. I was not saving 5% per year. So I will have to cut spending. We do not need a tax increase. Tax increases have never solved the deficit problem. Never.<

Reply to Not so fast there President Obama in Current Events JoeUser Forums

The republicans will roll over again. That is a given. The answer is to NOT raise the debt ceiling. It will not cause a default. It will cause a massive cut in spending. Which is what is needed. When the so called "poor" are living better than the middle class, there is something institutionally wrong with spending.

When is 2% not 2%? in Current Events JoeUser Forums

Actually it is worse than that. But first to the story (or non-story for the MSM). All hail savior Obama! Restorer of the Middle Class tax cut! The problem is he restored nothing. He did not raise that tax. But he did raise another - that of course the media is ignoring. The Payroll tax. The payroll tax cut was 2%, until Obama raised the tax. But it really is a lot more. When they cut income taxes X%, you do not see an increase

Reply to Priest stripped of duties for celebrating Mass with woman priest. in Ethics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="GirlFriendTess" reply="75" id="3306609"]I have all but given up on political dialogue and the lack of civility [/quote] I pretty much have as well - however I do still engage. I do not give up the civility, I challenge others to find it. Once in a while, they do. About 5% of the time.

Reply to 47% of Americans pay no federal income tax in Politics JoeUser Forums

[quote who="Aiyunna" reply="139" id="3306289"]As a country's citizen, we have the obligation to pay Tax. [/quote] The obligations only extends for money used for the common good. Not for individual self enrichment.