Posts by Blake St. Claire

cheap != inexpensive

Look it up in your Funk and Wagnels. Or your OED.

humbug indeed

If Warren Buffet is only paying 10% on his federal income tax, I'm thinking that's what I ought to be paying too. Last year I calculated that I paid about 16%. Why am I paying more than he is?

FWIW, on top of 16% federal I also pay 5.5% state (in my state, others maybe higher or lower), plus social security, medicare, and then for an apples-to-apples comparison to you over on that side of the pond, what I pay for health insurance, I guess I'm near 45% total. I'm guessing the likes of Warren Buffet and Ted Turner aren't paying anywhere near that much.

trick cyclist = psychiatrist

That's british rhyming slang for you – do try to keep up, will you.

The psychiatrist(s) would be the ones who did the study that came up with this brilliant result.

That's the Royal Auto Club

So why would RAC want aa.co.uk when they've already got rac.co.uk and presumably everyone knows them by that name? Is there another auto association in the UK?

(It's Auto Association in NZ and ZA, and they've got aa.co.nz and aa.co.za. Oz has aaa.asn.au – cute a whole TLD for associations. But at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, NZ and ZA ain't Blighty.)

No citizen

Nobody said the qilin has a single horn.

Just that in Chinese mythology it's about as fantastical as the unicorn is in European legend.

That's not funny, that's sick.

and you forgot Columbia.

My coat? It has the shuttle keys in the pocket.

apostol?

(Don't go apostal on me.)

Always hoped that I'd be an Apostle. Knew that I could make it if I tried.

Well, it is Arkansas after all.

Give 'em enough time and the'll do common sense and morality too.

...hove into view...

I'm reasonably certain that If I were to use that phrase – in the company of other women – to describe the approach of another woman I'd probably be black and blue all over in a matter of minutes.

Pirates, because their ships heave into view too.

guess what?

> Apple Utilities - 30% 'handling and shipping' charge. Didn't put in the water pipes or electric

> cable, didn't pump/geenerate it, but if you want Apple-Approved power and water for your Apple

> Appliances.... 30%.

You're obviously not paying attention. Either that or you don't live in the US with our new, improved, deregulated energy industry. My National Grid natural gas bill and my town owned electric company bills both have a "delivery charge" which is separate from the cost of the gas and electricity that I actually used. Not to mention the customer charge that National Grid charges me every month for the "privilege" of being a customer.

If Apple builds an iCar, with everything sealed, and people flock to it in droves, then what? But again, don't kid yourself. Over here some states are trying to pass "right to repair" laws because car companies like Ford and Volvo are effectively sealing their cars. You can't read the codes yourself and the manufacturers either aren't selling the equipment or it's too expensive for small repair shops to buy.

By, for, and of the people

> Bit surprised to find that that airports in the US are public property.

Boston's airport is owned by the Massachusetts Port Authority (MASSPORT), a state owned private corporation. http://www.massport.com/massport/Investor%20Relations/InvestorRelationsdefault.aspx

I expect most other major US airports are similar.

IANAL. I don't know that it's "public" property like the square in front of city hall or the various parks, but my tax dollars are paying to build, maintain, and expand it; in a sense it's as much mine as it is everyone else's.