The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

Mostly my cats just like to chill.  They just hang out around me.  I bought a little cat bed and placed it next to the computer (before that the cat was just laying on the computer or the router).

[Ideologue]

I'd put a laughing smilie here, but Ide broke the chain. 

Sorry, Stevie.

[Admiral Yi]

From the Economist, the amount of annual revenue the US would raise by eliminating the following deductions, in billions:

Health insurance:  171
Capital gains and dividends: 97 (I guess they mean if they were taxed like income?)
401k, IRA: 93
Mortgage interest: 87
Accelerated depreciation: 76
Employer pension plans: 44
Deferral of tax on foreign profits: 42
Charitable contributions: 33
State and local taxes: 33
Municipal bond interest: 29

[Josephus]

State and local taxes should be allowed to be deducted cause you shouldn't pay taxes on taxes. But the rest of it, as far as I'm concerned, should go.

[DGuller]

Health insurance deduction definitely shouldn't go.  Group health insurance provided in the workplace is the only piece of duct tape even remotely holding together the whole heath insurance system in US, and will continue to be so after the 5-4 decision in June.

[Ed Anger]

[Valmy]

The son will already hate his dad forever for raising him to be a sports fan in Cleveland.  The Browns, Cavs, and Indians would make me want to beat dogs as well.

[Ed Anger]

The Cleveland fan must teach his son 3 things. To ride a '77 Comet, to throw snowballs at the other team from the Dawg pound and to hate LeBron James.

[Zanza]

Ninety-Six Break-Ins Solved
German Police Identify Burglar by His Earprints

Criminals beware -- don't leave earprints. They are as useful to the police as finger prints. A burglar in Germany made the mistake of pressing his ear to front doors to check if anyone was home. The unique prints have allowed the police to pin 96 burglaries on him.

Police in Germany said on Sunday they had solved a series of 96 burglaries by identifying the culprit using the earprints he had left at the scenes while listening at doors.

The 33-year old man from Macedonia was arrested and temporarily held in custody last December after committing a burglary in Kiel, police in Hamburg said in a statement.
He has now been linked to the burglaries in Hamburg, some 90 kilometers south of Kiel, through matches of DNA, fingerprints and earprints that were taken off him. He had stolen jewellery, cash and electronic equipment worth a total of €500,000 ($660,000).

"Earprints are of similar value as fingerprints in terms of evidence," police said. "The Macedonian was proven to have left the 96 earprints and other evidence at the crime scenes."

[sbr]

The son will already hate his dad forever for raising him to be a sports fan in Cleveland.  The Browns, Cavs, and Indians would make me want to beat dogs as well.

The kid is prepping for his 2040 Presidential run.

[DGuller]

Ninety-Six Break-Ins Solved
German Police Identify Burglar by His Earprints

Criminals beware -- don't leave earprints. They are as useful to the police as finger prints. A burglar in Germany made the mistake of pressing his ear to front doors to check if anyone was home. The unique prints have allowed the police to pin 96 burglaries on him.

Police in Germany said on Sunday they had solved a series of 96 burglaries by identifying the culprit using the earprints he had left at the scenes while listening at doors.

The 33-year old man from Macedonia was arrested and temporarily held in custody last December after committing a burglary in Kiel, police in Hamburg said in a statement.
He has now been linked to the burglaries in Hamburg, some 90 kilometers south of Kiel, through matches of DNA, fingerprints and earprints that were taken off him. He had stolen jewellery, cash and electronic equipment worth a total of €500,000 ($660,000).

"Earprints are of similar value as fingerprints in terms of evidence," police said. "The Macedonian was proven to have left the 96 earprints and other evidence at the crime scenes."

I guess the idiom should be changed to "keep your ear to the ground, but not too close to the ground".

[Tonitrus]

There was an interesting tidbit in the Russian news last week....

One of the lead anchors for NTV (a channel that has had "issues" in the past with Putin and the government), in an multi-journalist round table interview with outgoing President Medvedev, ask about government censorship and how he felt that he kept hitting walls in not being able to report what he felt was his duty to report to the public.  Medvedev basically dodged, said there was no government censorship, and that he should direct his complaints to the heads of the television networks.

More interesting, was the small bit a chit-chat with his female co-anchor (who, btw, is quite a hottie, even with the Vulcan haircut) after the news piece on the interview aired...where she essentially asked him: "are you sure it was a good idea to ask the President -that- question?"...his reply..."eh, well, too late now".

[DGuller]

There was an interesting tidbit in the Russian news last week....

One of the lead anchors for NTV (a channel that has had "issues" in the past with Putin and the government), in an multi-journalist round table interview with outgoing President Medvedev, ask about government censorship and how he felt that he kept hitting walls in not being able to report what he felt was his duty to report to the public.  Medvedev basically dodged, said there was no government censorship, and that he should direct his complaints to the heads of the television networks.

More interesting, was the small bit a chit-chat with his female co-anchor (who, btw, is quite a hottie, even with the Vulcan haircut) after the news piece on the interview aired...where she essentially asked him: "are you sure it was a good idea to ask the President -that- question?"...his reply..."eh, well, too late now".

I don't think it's fair to say that NTV had issues with the government in the past.  It's more accurate to say that there used to be a channel called NTV that had issues with Putin, which is why it "used to be".  There is now a channel called NTV that bears very little resemblance to the old NTV.

[Admiral Yi]

Also from the Economist, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan already have higher per capita income in PPP terms than Japan, and Korea(!) is predicted to match Japan in 2017.

[jimmy olsen]

Also from the Economist, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan already have higher per capita income in PPP terms than Japan, and Korea(!) is predicted to match Japan in 2017.

I find this hard to believe. Taiwan didn't seem nearly as developed as Korea, and I spent my whole time in Taipei!