gwydion

libertyforall said:

mdriftmeyer said:

 The Big 6 Banks are ready to invest $90 Trillion in Climate Change, but you voted for a moron who denies its very existence.

Right, to think that humans cause climate change vs. volcanoes and other massive scale processes like the star in our solar system is just silly. I suppose we caused climate change on Mars too, which is why there is no longer surface water?  These climate change wackos want to tax carbon -- that's right we humans are all MADE of carbon, yet they want to play a carbon credit game!  IT is telling that Chief Climate Change Money Maker in Waiting, Al Gore will not debate the Heartland Institute's climate change experts for many years!  Lord Monckton of Brenchley, a former advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, issued the debate challenge which Gore also declines.  You see, it is Gore's new niche to MAKE MONEY, it's not about anything other than smoke screens and money making for him, else why would he HIDE from debates?!

https://web.archive.org/web/20150728015352/https://www.heartland.org/press-releases/2007/06/27/why-wont-al-gore-debate?artId=20873

https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/al-gore-sells-out

http://www.androidworld.com/monckton-response-to-gore-errors.pdf

anantksundaram said:

hmlongco said:

flaneur said:

If I had to guess, I'd say we will consciously and conscientiously merge our two present economic systems into some kind of creative, evolutionary benevolence based on Nature, and begin turning Earth into a garden. Ya'll are going to laugh at this, but I think Jobs's vision of Apple was uniquely directed this way, and Cook is quietly (more or less) following that vision.

I'd love to see this, but I'm half afraid that, based on current trends, that more and more wealth is going to be locked up by the top 1% and the rest of us are going to be living in a Matt Damon/Elysium-style world, begging for scraps and choking on our own pollution.

Not to launch this thread in a political direction, but Trump and the GOP seem poised to accelerate that trend, cutting taxes on the rich and corporations while in turn cutting funding and access to social services and medical care.

The benefits of automation and productivity and renewable energy can be used to benefit us all... or a very, very, very few.

Hence my comment regarding tectonic (grin) upheavals. Without good planning, things in our country could get very dramatic... and extremely messy, with no guarantees that the future we get is the one best for us all.

Not to sound harsh or anything, but consider getting re-trained, developing a new skill, and re-inventing yourself. The possibilities are endless. Whether you want to "choke on your own pollution" or take advantage of the "benefits of automation and productivity" is pretty much up to you in a country like the US. 

srice said:

gwydion said:

srice said:

This is a huge problem for the US Treasury, because if this EC decision sticks - there's over $1T of taxes the EC could claw back and start collecting that will no longer be sent to the US Treasury from all the US companies which do business in the EU - not just Apple.

This is not true, the EU ruling explicitly states that USA can ask a part of those 13 billion if they are taxes owed to USA

I dont understand..

artdent said:

To those in favor of this penalty, do you somehow think that by Apple paying more taxes you will pay less? If so, I'd like some of what you've been smoking.

Perhaps you feel Apple has too much money and should spread the wealth. Who do you think is going to pay the bill for higher corporate taxes? Apple? Not hardly. It'll be paid for by the consumer in the form of higher prices for Apple products. So, if you're an Apple customer, you're essentially asking to pay more in taxes yourself. Great plan.

toddzrx said:

apple ][ said:

I think that we're once again going to have travel across the pond and kick some Euro ass, like we had to do before. It's been a while, but it looks like that time will maybe soon come again.

This is Ireland's mess and they need to deal with it and clean up their affairs. Either that, or lose a significant portion of their business dealings with various, big, multi-national companies.

Either Ireland is a country, or it's not.

Either the Irish control Ireland or the Belgians and Germans do. As more and more countries are finding out, being a part of the EU is ending up being a whole lot more than they bargained for or ever imagined.

There is also a rare, old US law that can be activated and used to punish Euro companies and citizens in the US. Perhaps it's time to dig out that old US law and apply it.

I would not be surprised at all if this is the start of the process that sees Ireland leave the EU.  I say more power to them.