Retired Cop “Radar” Roy Reyer runs a site that reviews radar detectors and jammers.
Where will Senator Kohl Stand? With the People or Hollywood
Cory Doctorow urges us to contact Senator Kohl, along with others and urge him to stop Hollywood’s special interests from inserting the broadcast flag requirement into a Senate appropriations bill today. The broadcast flag is yet another reduction in our fair use rights.
This is a classic dead of night, end of game maneuver. The Wisconsin Senator has voted against our interests recently, including the National ID bill, the bankruptcy bill (more) and large corporate giveaways. I hope he does the right thing today. Call his office: (202) 224-5653 or send an email. I cannot see any benefit to Wisconsin residents of Kohl’s recent efforts. More on the Senator’s votes here. The EFF has more. Roger Simon correctly points out that Hollywood’s real problem lies with their declining product quality.
Watch the conversation via Technorati
Americans Outside the Tax System
Patrick Fleenor and Scott A. Hodge:
One of the biggest obstacles facing President Bush’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform is the fact that America has become divided between a growing class of people who pay no income taxes and a shrinking class of people who are bearing the lion’s share of the burden.
Despite the charges of critics that the tax cuts enacted in 2001, 2003 and 2004 favored the “rich,” these cuts actually reduced the tax burden of low- and middle-income taxpayers and shifted the tax burden onto wealthier taxpayers. Tax Foundation economists estimate that for tax year 2004, a record 42.5 million Americans who filed a tax return (one-third of the 131 million returns filed last year) had no tax liability after they took advantage of their credits and deductions. Millions more paid next to nothing.
Should Milwaukee Suburbs Pay for City Services?
AP:
A new study shows Milwaukee residents are way behind their neighbors when it comes to taxable property values, prompting some officials to urge wealthy suburbs to share their tax revenues in exchange for their use of city services.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission ordered the study from consulting firm Ruekert & Mielke Inc. to analyze 147 cities, towns and villages in the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth.
The study released last week shows that Chenequa in Waukesha County boasts the top “fiscal capacity” rate, a measure of property value per resident, of $600,570, while Milwaukee ranks at the bottom with a rate of $36,507.
Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin mentioned this strategy as well – tax ’em while they are driving in.
Springsteen’s Pre-Concert Playlist
Bruce Springsteen published his pre-concert playlist. Great music.
Practically Perfect Father’s Day
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Best wishes!
Lost & Found at Disneyland
“At the end of the day, this dumb woman was so glad to see her little canary she took it out of the cage, and it went right into the trees of the Jungle Cruise,” McFaul says. “I didn’t tell them that hidden in the bushes — and definitely in the Jungle Cruise — are the most beastly cats. I thought, ‘That poor little bird lasted that long,’ ” she says, holding her fingers an inch apart.
Gonzales says his department used a name and number on an expensive camera to contact a family in San Diego about the item. But they had reported the camera stolen three years earlier. “The thief brought it to Disneyland, and we reclaimed it for them,” Gonzales says.
The white-haired McFaul says her matronly appearance allowed her to get away with giving a scolding to some visitors when she returned their valuables.
Via
Cory Doctorow
Teleporting Over the Internet
BBC:
Professors Todd Mowry and Seth Goldstein of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania think that, within a human generation, we might be able to replicate three-dimensional objects out of a mass of material made up of small synthetic “atoms”.
Cameras would capture the movement of an object or person and then this data would be fed to the atoms, which would then assemble themselves to make up an exact likeness of the object.
They came up with the idea based on “claytronics,” the animation technique which involves slightly moving a model per frame to animate it.
Edwards Presidential Campaign Rolls into Milwaukee
John Edwards, running hard for 2008, spends time party building and raising money for State Democrats in Milwaukee Monday evening. Wispolitics has more. 5 x 7 glossy’s are available.
Friedman on Toyota & 500 Miles Per Gallon
I generally like Thomas Friedman’s writing. However, he fails to mention Toyota’s large gas guzzling SUV business while praising their “green” hybrid cars. Jock Gill adds his take.