Y2HH

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 09:10 AM) This is entirely elective commerce. You just outlined how you can elect to pay the tax. In other words, you can choose buy insurance OR you can choose buy insurance. There is no elective choice here. You are buying insurance.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 07:57 AM) Are you accusing me of wanting to kill whitey? Yes.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 1, 2012 -> 06:39 PM) If the CBO's estimates are correct, the mandate penalty will raise $25 billion over its first 10 years. The CBO's estimates are NEVER correct.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 1, 2012 -> 11:55 AM) I don't come into the buster often, but... you're* Fixed.

None of you even know what you are arguing about anymore.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 30, 2012 -> 01:23 AM) I know a young couple whose child was born at 2 pounds and needed some surgery early on. The bill? $997,000. Conversely I know of a guy who was in Europe traveling and needed some emergency procedure in the hospital. The bill? $0. Please, tell me about our healthcare system and tell me why what we have is better than Europe? Educate me, please. Other than being able to read anecdotes, there is no way to have a discussion like this unless you have personal experience in using both for an extended period of time, or even better, working in both and seeing what happens behind the scenes. Is the US health care system messed up? Yes. Did they take some steps to try to fix it? Somewhat. Now, that said, are these often touted as perfect foreign health care systems actually perfect? No. But to go into specifics would require much more insider knowledge of how these systems work, which I do not have. While I've heard many horror stories about long waits, I've also heard the exact opposite. Also, one key part many of these foreign system fail to take into account is 95% of the medical technology, drugs, and methods they use were invented here, in the s***ty old USA. Companies aren't keen on spending billions to invent something with no return...well, companies that do not end in .gov, that is. That's not to say some great things haven't come out of their systems, but not nearly in the quantity that's come out of ours.

A little while ago, Apple was granted a preliminary injunction on sales of the Galaxy Nexus in the United States. As soon as Apple posts a 93 million dollar bond, sales of the Galaxy Nexus will be banned in the United States, due to patent infringement on design. Meanwhile, the same judge cleared Apple of infringement against Samsung. In the past two day, Apple has been granted US sales bans on the Galaxy Tab 2 and now the Galaxy Nexus. While preliminary...these are MAJOR blows to Samsung. The issue with most of Samsung's counter claims against Apple is they are all based on FRAND licensed patents, which are very hard to argue in court due to their standards essential nature. Articles: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/06...mmer_trial.html http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/06...smartphone.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:24 PM) What's the credit status of the city of Chicago like these days? I honestly can't say I know...but given that they were so desperate to fill a budget hole 2 years ago that they sold their parking meters for pennies on the dollar I'm going to guess they'd have to pay higher rates than say, the negative interest rate being paid on 10 year inflation adjusted treasuries. (I'd be totally in favor of additional federal aid to cities and states to help close some fo these gaps and I think that's where the spending needs to come from, since that's the asset that can be printed and inflated away if you're desperate.) It's the worst in the union. Yes, worse than California. Edit: The problem is, what the local governments are doing is counter productive to what Obama's administration is attempting to do. While he's attempting to ease the burden on the people, the local governments are simply stealing what Obama's trying to give them. Yes, I'm defending Obama's current vision...it's proper for the time...but it's being undermined by people like General Rhammel.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:21 PM) Its just a mess that Rahm inherited. I guess Im willing to give him some time because at least he hasnt done a meter deal or something that really just cant be defended. There is no doubt he inherited a mess from Daley...but as a leader, he has to realize this is a piss poor time to lean on your people to dig you out. The governments job, IMO, should be to assist people during bad times...not burden them. You burden them during the good times...which they ALWAYS fail to do. General Rhammel will be no different. Tax and spend during good times...tax and spend during bad times.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:06 PM) Here's a sampling of Congresspeople who complained about having to vote on PPACA with limited time to read the bill, yet managed to fully interpret the Supreme Court's 193 pages of opinion within an hour. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_pol...eading_it_.html Congratulations, you just compared 193 pages to more than 2000. I get the point you are trying to make, and I agree it's valid...but you picked a pretty terrible example to do it with.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:18 PM) Does the city actually have a choice? Sure. Do what they've done during the good times and borrow...when they should have been paying it down. Now is the time for them to borrow and spend...NOT burden the citizens...it's just the wrong time. It's bass ackwards, to coin a phrase...now is the worst time you could choose to burden people...when they're on the cusp of going under.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 03:16 PM) Then how do you balance the budget without hurting an equal number of people through cuts in education or whatever else? Sorry I made some edits, as I usually do, to expand on my feelings. You don't balance it right now. That's the point. You balance it into surplus during good times...not during times of crisis.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 11:46 AM) As a Chicago resident, I have no problem with Rahm. I do and I don't, for many reasons. I do because he's doing something about the mess Daley and his merry band of Chicago Machine Dummycraps created by stealing from the City all these years...the issue is he's doing it at the worst time imaginable. The people cannot afford to be leaned on like this right now...not with the terrible job market and huge unemployment rate. It's just the wrong time to slam the people with such a burden considering how long they let it go on. Points 1, 2, and 3 -- 1) He ran on a ticket of transparency -- he's anything but transparant. 2) He ran on a ticket of NOT raising property taxes to correct the many issues the City faces BECAUSE it would hurt the housing market and send more people into foreclosure -- he's now raised property taxes twice in less than 2 years time. 3) 1 and 2 show he's just another liar. If he keeps raising property taxes year after year (like he's done so far), not to mention HUGE increases in things like public works water, I'll grow to hate him, because he's putting the already struggling housing market in a bad spot...as there are people barely getting by on their mortgages right now considering the job market...and here he is raising property taxes year after year, DESPITE property values falling through the floor. Since moving here in 2009 -- my water bill went from 129$ every 6 months, to 245$ every 6 months...and it's due to DOUBLE again later this year. While I'm able to afford this...there are people that cannot...and he's going to effectively send them right into foreclosure...and further hurt the economy of Chicago. Yes, something has to be done to get budgets in line -- but huge raises in service fees and property taxes at this specific point in time is absolutely shortsighted and absurd. It may very well end up doing the City more harm than good. The government is supposed to assist the people in bad times...well, this is bad times. When times are good, THEN implement the huge fees and taxes he's implementing. Right now he's hurting far more people than you realize. Home values keep falling while taxes keep rising, despite official re-appraisals that just went through...in light of these reappraisals...property taxes should have fallen...they haven't. It's f***ing absurd.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 02:21 PM) Y2hh, You can add Jindal to the list of people calling it Obamacare. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/louisia...-152429092.html Remember when I said ignorant stupid people call it Obamacare? Point proven as fact.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 12:22 PM) Mine isnt running any slower. Cant figure out how to put a shortcut to it on my ipad desktop yet though They've done extensive benchmarks, it's slower. From PCWorld: (It's artificially gimped by Apples rules) Chrome for iOS might be a useful browser if you use it on your desktop already, but don’t rush into thinking it could become your default browser on iOS. The reason is that Chrome is slower -- and can’t be faster – than Safari. This is because Apple is restricting the use of its Nitro JavaScript engine to Safari, while other apps don’t have access to it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 10:26 AM) Contract is up and looking at the Iphone. How much memory should you get? It's actually storage space, not memory...and it comes in 16/32/64 gigs...so it all depends on how much stuff you want to store on the device.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 08:09 AM) I was responding to a post saying that we wouldn't want to be like the Euros and end up under Germany's control, which didn't make sense because Germany has a much more socialized system than we do. No, I know what you were saying...and although I replied to your post, I wasn't really directing that at you. It just seems to be a popular thought process of many on-line Americans these days...you can read numerous examples of this all over places like Reddit or Digg. It annoys me when people complain about things and threaten to leave, but never leave. Sure, there are things that happen here that annoy me...I'm sure there are things that annoy everyone, but hreatening to leave to a "better place" really annoys me.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 06:59 AM) Cliff Notes to the decision: 4 justices said that the entire law was constitutional just because Democrats passed it. 4 justices said that the entire law was unconstitutional just because Democrats passed it. Roberts actually read the law and the constitution and determined which parts were and weren't OK. Pretty much.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 07:53 PM) Google Chrome was released on iOS for you Apple fans out there. Very fast, seems like a great implementation. I'll have a more in depth review of it after I get to use it more. As you can see, unlike some people around here...I can judge a company on specific products instead of being a douche monkey and thinking everything they do is awesome...when it's not. Yes, I'm looking at you chw. Not everything Google does is good. Apples browser f***ing sucks. I don't care how much of a fan of Apple you are, to say otherwise is stupid. And yes, I'm being condescending. As a follow up on this post...Chrome on iOS is just ok...it's slower than Safari, but it has a better interface. Mostly due to Apples self imposed protective walled garden rules on other applications/web browsers. It's one of the drawbacks to the Apple closed ecosystem...but I still think the benefits of it outweigh the drawbacks...for now anyway.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 06:12 AM) You missed the joke. It is in response to some people saying they were going to leave the country because of this. Also, Germany has socialized medicine. A lot of places have socialized medicine...and I know...everything they do is way better than the way we do it here. Because the USA sux or something. Every other country rulez! Funny, though, how awesome these other places are...yet almost nobody moves away from this suck fest.

Another Chicago homeowners property tax increase. "Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday defended his decision to authorize a $41 million school property tax increase — the second tax-to-the-max increase during his first year in office." --- "Coming just one year after he authorized the Chicago Public Schools to raise property taxes by a whopping $150 million." What is so baffling about this to me, and it's not that they can't use the money...I'm sure they can, it's that they're making the property bust worse by levying more taxes/fees on people who are barely getting by as it is. While I can afford it...I know people that CANNOT afford tax increase after tax increase and keep their homes. Let's keep in mind this guy just doubled everyones water bills...and they double again this year. Yes, double.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 08:07 PM) I've always complained about Siri because it's not really useful for me, but you explained it way better than I ever have. It does what it's supposed to, but ultimately who cares? Voice has it's uses...but right now, in it's infancy, they're throwing everything, including the kitchen sink at it...for the exact reason you somewhat said without saying...just because. Who cares. Some of these voice features have little to no use as you need physical phone contant to initiate them...for example, launching an app...you had to pick up, and unlock your phone, or initiate voice recognition in some regard, be it picking up the device a certain way, or holding down a hard or soft key in a certain way, in order to do it. It's key to note that this technology is in it's infancy...but for the most part, for now anyway, anything these voice commands do...you could have don 9000% faster by NOT being a douchenozzle trying to show off the stupid voice feature to your friends and just loaded the app normally.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 07:09 PM) Google Now has some great potential to be Android's Siri. It's better than any voice app I've used on Android, even S Voice. Siri is a decent voice recognition system. So it's Google's...and Google's newer stuff seems wonderful. The issue is, they're voice recognition systems. I use Siri for certain tasks, namely setting appointments or alarms...but other than that, 99% of what I do on my cell phone is VERY private...and I don't feel I need to be saying it aloud...whether it be financial stuff, email, texts...it's private...and it doesn't need to be spoken aloud just because.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 28, 2012 -> 06:03 PM) I already got Jelly Bean. That was fast wasn't it? Not really. No. I actually say that in jest...as I know you are a Nexus user. It's not the 300,000 people using Nexus phones that they need to worry about...it's the 350 million people NOT using their Nexus phone...some of which are still using Android v2.3...or even 1.2. I really wish Google would crack down on these carriers...it's self inflicted fragmentation. Now, to be honest, there is nothing they or anyone else can do about some degree of fragmentation...some users will refuse to upgrade, or simply do not care...but they are the ones you dont have to worry about as a business. But I do think there is a lot they can do about cracking down on more timely non-hacked upgrades to support their users. I don't think anyone does search, e-mail or web browsing better than Google. That said, I don't think anyone does phones or tablets better than Apple. I'm also happy Microsoft is throwing their hat into these arenas. Competition rules. For us. I have to say, on a personal note...I see wayyyyy too much modern "brand alignment"/fanboism these days...and it bothers me. It's ok to like Google products, or Apple products...but it's insane to NOT think someone else has stuff that's better than what you use. I'd easily love to pick and choose what features I want from say, a Nexus and an iPhone, and combine them onto one awesome device. But this brand loyalty insanity as of late really bothers me, and it reeks of technological ignorance. Also of note that goes with what I just said in my previous paragraph, Android 4.1 no longer supports Flash...but I'm sure Android users will suddenly be ok with this despite it being a talking point of theirs for years now.

Google Chrome was released on iOS for you Apple fans out there. Very fast, seems like a great implementation. I'll have a more in depth review of it after I get to use it more. As you can see, unlike some people around here...I can judge a company on specific products instead of being a douche monkey and thinking everything they do is awesome...when it's not. Yes, I'm looking at you chw. Not everything Google does is good. Apples browser f***ing sucks. I don't care how much of a fan of Apple you are, to say otherwise is stupid. And yes, I'm being condescending.