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Comment: Re:GDP and employment (Score 1) 187

by jratcliffe (#46423421) Attached to: Is Traffic Congestion Growing Three Times As Fast As Economy?

The article keeps trying to compare GDP with employment. GDP has been increasing but yet unemployment is stuck at about 7%.

Unemployment peaked at 10% in October of 2009. It's now down to 6.6%, down 130bps in the last year. Still too high, but it has been declining steadily. This chart doesn't meet my definition of "stuck."


Comment: Re:..or without a background check? (Score 1) 310

by jratcliffe (#46419173) Attached to: Facebook Wants To Block Illegal Gun Sales

[a national gun registry] has logical relation to preventing gun violence, but every possible relation to confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens.

Disagree with you here. A national gun registry WOULD be useful for preventing gun violence. It might not be useful enough to justify the intrusion and confiscation risk, but it would be useful. How? By enabling law enforcement to go after the supply chain that gets guns into the hands of criminals. Typically, guns that end up in the hands of criminals (where we all agree they shouldn't be) were legally purchased initially, but then sold on (illegally) to a criminal. If law enforcement were able to say "hey, we seized seven guns last month from criminals that were all purchased by John XYZ," that would allow them to go after illegal distributors like John XYZ, and reduce the ease with which criminals can obtain guns.

Would it be perfect? Of course not, some guns would still end up in criminal hands through theft, etc. Would it be helpful? Definitely. Would it be worth the confiscation risk you cite? That's a debatable issue. I believe it would be, you clearly differ with me on that.


by jratcliffe (#46414131) Attached to: Facebook Wants To Block Illegal Gun Sales

True, but it's definitely NOT legal to sell a gun to somebody you know, or can reasonably be expected to know, can't legally buy one. So, if your buyer says "I'm a convicted felon," definitely not legal. If your buyer says "you're not going to require a background check, are you?" you're on very shaky ground, since that's very close to an admission that, were there to BE a background check, the buyer wouldn't pass. Remember, willful blindness isn't a defense.

Comment: Re:Curious as to why this is needed (Score 1) 49

by jratcliffe (#46407579) Attached to: Legal Motion: Hyperlinks Are Protected By the First Amendment

Even if we assume that Brown's lawyers don't prevail in their arguments, the scenario you're discussing wouldn't be illegal under the statute, which requires that you "knowingly" link to the content. So, if you linked to www.slashdot.org/storyxyz, and, at some point, somebody replaced storyxyz with (say) a long list of stolen credit card numbers, you wouldn't be liable, so long as, if you discovered the content had changed, you removed the link.

Comment: Re:Why? (Score 4, Insightful) 768

by jratcliffe (#46390897) Attached to: The Next Keurig Will Make Your Coffee With a Dash of "DRM"

I can't imagine the people using Keurigs are actually saving any money over just going to a place like Dunkin' Donuts.

Keurig machine is about $120. The pods are about $0.65 each (less if you buy in bulk, or on sale, etc.). Small coffee at DD is $1.49. So, you're saving about $0.85/cup. You cover the cost of the machine after about 140 cups, so you definitely are saving money, even more if you're comparing to buying at Starbucks.

Comment: Re:Rules for kids (Score 1) 304

by jratcliffe (#46338795) Attached to: Oklahoma Schools Required To Teach Students Personal Finance

Very true, but so what? The price of the product is $10. If I pay cash, it costs me $10. If I pay with a credit card, it costs me $9.80.

I suppose, in theory, if everyone stopped using credit cards, prices might come down somewhat, but I really doubt they'd come down enough to completely offset the benefit I get for paying with a credit card - a bit portion of the savings would be captured by the merchant.

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