The Andrew Ducker cut-up

Here Remember the cultural norms aren't true and free love, free love, free love, free Internet and many other object is true and some people because I can't think I feel like to people on an excuse than that work: in some people on the trickiest things are fighting the critters crawling out anyone was when the ceiling I despair, I was when you are funny things aren't as click on stage. I'm off. I've now got to reality or be complain that he does all the bit; and had spiralled in which I wrote this in such close. I feel chatted to end, up to do it comes to buy the bus to a tone that this is the legislature names selected at all of the a horrible tedious process, especially as soon as mine once. On my idea is necessarily a I actually a URL like includes stress coming from mostly needs to fix the cultural norms aren't real order to walk up in by my eyes go through to Festival Erotique at Atheist Air, withstands tank shells and all Men, and fuck you to.

Get your own here: http://www.antispin.net/~martine/cgi-bin/insanity.cgi?fnord=andrewducker (replacing my name with yours, obviously)

Robots and Income

All you people interested in a possible future of income, go and have a read of this.

In it the writer points out that increasing automation is basically going to create an unemployed class and that something is going to have to be done about this. He basically invents Citizen's Income, an idea I'm wholly in favour of. I sent him an email telling him that the idea had been invented numerous times before (with a few links) and some off the top of my head figures:

In my opinion, the best way to manage citizen's income is as a percentage of the median wage, and then tax _everyone_ at 50% of their wages (obviously you don't tax the citizen's income bit), simultaneously simplifying the taxation of individuals so that there are no fiddly exemptions.

Let's say that the median wage is $30,000 and citizen's income is set at 2/3 of that ($20,000).

if the person was earning nothing, then suddenly they're $20,000 better off.

If they were earning a low wage of $15,000, then they're now earning ($15,000/2 + $20,000 = )$27,500, a substantial rise.

A person on the median wage goes from $30,000 to $35,000.

A person on a high wage ($100,000) is now on $70,000.

And a person on a ridiculous wage ($1,000,000) is now on $520,000

All of these final figured should, of course, be compared to the current income _after tax_.

Of course, living in a country, as I do, with a 40% upper tax bracket, this seems perfectly reasonable to me. I'm not sure the average American is going to go for it, but it would certainly revolutionise the world - no more poor people, anywhere...

Progress

Some figures I just bumped into. No cite, sadly:

We live in a world where the expansion of the free market has transformed a planet of people whose daily challenge was to feed themselves, into one where we see poverty going away rapidly. In 1950, only half of Americans had indoor plumbing. Now even some of the poorest Americans have microwave ovens and television sets, let alone indoor plumbing.

Not only has the super-rich West been moving forward. In 1970, the percentage of humanity living at under $2 per day was 40%, under $1 per day was 16%. By 1998, less than 20% of humanity lived under $2 per day, and less than 7% live on under $1 per day (all measurements in 1985 dollars).

Further to the language debate

Climate Change

Latest information shows that it's hotter now than it has been for 2000 years.

I'd like to hear

What the various democratic candidates have to say about these 10 proposals...

2. That we would match defense dollars with peace dollars to promote democracy abroad, and that we would conduct our foreign affairs in such a manner that other nations would wish to emulate our example and need not be bludgeoned into accepting our leadership.

3. That deficit financing is bad business, and that taxes must be fairly imposed, with the heavier burden placed on those most able to contribute.

4. That our Social Security and health services would be reformed so that no American need fear that mismanagement in Washington will bankrupt his or her pension funds, and equally that every American is guaranteed not just adequate health care but care worthy of this nation's medical profession.

6. That we realize that the success, indeed the preservation, of a democracy depends on an educated citizenry, and that teachers, on education's front lines, must be paid commensurate with their responsibilities.

7. That "no child must be left behind" is a commitment, not a campaign slogan.

9. That in the pursuit of a cleaner environment and a more rational economy, the government will undertake the massive program required to develop substitute fuels that will relieve our dependence on foreign oil and diminish the environmental danger from the byproducts of fossil fuels.