Here's a little input from the only page I like in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Today marks the first full day in the wilderness for Republicans and for conservatives — the start of the long process of defining the principles on which the party stands. And, when that is done, finding a way to frame the message to a nation that has begun to divide roughly 50-50 on whether we want more or less government.The rest of the piece can be found at the link at the top.Those who carry its financial burden want less, as do those who accept the responsibility to provide for themselves and their families. Those who want more see government as the second provider to the family — or in many cases the first — as well as the co-signer on every note, whether the note is a mortgage or a business loan.
It's about time we had a neat invention like this. It might be a little difficult to make the bed, but what's more important?
The Backup
So I've had this old Xbox Classic sitting in a closet for a while now. I guess you could call it my ex-Xbox. It has long since been replaced by the 360. I've considered selling it on Ebay but it's still there. I stopped by Game Stop the other day and asked them what they'd give me for it and I was staggered to find out they'll pay a whopping $20 in store credit. So it's still there.
But the other day, while researching media center options for the house I came upon something called XBMC (Xbox Media Center) and I was immediately intrigued. I found an how-to article on LifeHacker that talks about how to convert it so I think I have my next system project for the house. I guess installing this software will void the Xbox warranty with Microsoft - oh, wait... I did that years ago when I popped the case open. I'll let you know how it turns out.
There's a little sample video of XBMC at youtube.com/watch?v=8amNvWnGrew
New York appears to be leading the charge of trying to make online companies collect sales tax for Internet purchase even when the company is not in New York. There are a number of states looking to further tax their citizens. Some bricks-and-mortar companies have banded together with states to form the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. Their idea is to simplify the tax rules in order to be able to collect more taxes.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20090112/D95LPQH81.html
Let's get this straight. The economy is down and everywhere you look they are telling us that people have less money; things are tight. So the Government answer is to find newer ways to tax us. Does anyone else see the problem with this? Shouldn't these states be looking at ways of reducing costs? A tax-deficit has two potential solutions; "collect more taxes" isn't the only solution.
