GreyEyedGhost

I read some of these, more to get insight into how other people think, but often I come to the conclusion that there is very little I can do to help and that people who behave that way aren't people I want to help. My ego is just fine, thanks, but blind hostility isn't something I welcome into my life.

If this was true, the Chinese EVs could be allowed in and no one would buy them. I personally want a smaller car that can comfortably seat 5 and has additional safety and comfort features (backup cameras, lane assist, heat pump climate control, etc.). This could easily be done with a sedan, hatchback, or station wagon. The only cars that have these features that I know of are SUVs.

There is a difference between illegal and unauthorized. If I go into a store that doesn't allow trying on the clothes before you buy and I try a shirt on, I haven't broken a law. It still isn't authorized. The store can throw me out, but I shouldn't be charged with shoplifting.

What Aaron was doing wasn't even unauthorized. He was just doing more of it than they liked. In the example above, it would be like bringing 20 (or 2000...) pieces of clothing to the change room when there's a 5 piece limit. Again, it shouldn't be illegal, and the site could have enforced account limits if that was their issue instead of relying on bandwidth limits doing the job for them.

Now, the only thing left to question is how he hooked up the computer doing the downloading. I don't know about the legality of that, but he was accused of illegally accessing the website, not the university network, so I'm guessing even the prosecutor who was trying to expand the scope of the DMCA law didn't see a way he could charge him with anything on that front.

Owning an apartment/condo isn't an impossible option, although I admit it requires more cooperation than a sfh. Condo associations and fees are already a thing.

He says that, as a state, California can't afford to do this. Your response is this makes no sense, this would all work if implemented at the federal level.

So even assuming your points are valid, this isn't an option for California.

To paraphrase one of society's less brilliant thinkers, "Who would have thought ~~heathcare~~ advanced materials science could be so hard?"

I had a little discussion with a guy complaining about sodium batteries and how you keep hearing these wild claims and then nothing. I did a quick search and saw an article about a $2 billion partnership agreement to work on a pilot plant for sodium batteries. He claimed it was yet another sensational headline and doubted anything would happen from it. Less than a week later I saw an article about a plant in America being announced.

This stuff is hard. It's not like Master of Orion where you throw money at a specific research and get access upon completion. Different groups around the world are researching a multitude of different ideas, some related, and after a while a bunch of these ideas are combined and associated and researched, and all of a sudden you have a new product that's significantly different from what was available before. And then you see incremental improvements for decades, not unlike the internal combustion engine or rechargeable lithium batteries.

As a general rule, it will be calculated as part of your tax withholding. If, based on the portion of your annual pay for the year covered by that paycheque, you would be under the limit, no income tax would be withheld. There are a number of modifications to help ensure you've had the expected taxes withheld by the end of the year, and they usually work out well. If your paycheques vary wildly, you may see some tax withheld on one and not the other, but if you're consistently not earning enough to put you at a point where you'd be paying taxes for the year, you won't see any deductions and won't have to wait for your tax return to have those withholdings returned.

That said, there are a number of tax credits that apply for low income earners, so you will probably see a tax return even if taxes weren't withheld. Also, there are other deductions that will happen regardless of your income.

I can't say for other countries, but Canada uses a non-refundable tax credit called the basic personal amount. As long as you make less than that, and file your taxes correctly (and maybe even if you don't), you will pay no income tax. Each province has a similar thing at a similar amount.

So yes, there is a marginal tax rate at even $1, but no one is paying until about $15k.

Equality vs. equity. It may not be equal, but it is equitable. Some people don't think that is fair.

Yeah, it looks beautiful, but AR/pass-through is so handy.

There's this beast, which requires some index components to fully operate and will put you out about $1500 USD with the required Valve Index components, but it does look pretty amazing.