Archive for February 6th, 2008

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The National Debt, “Grandchild Tax”

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Children are living messages we send to a time we will not see.

- John W. Whitehead

Dear Babyboomers,

I just wanted to wish you congratulations on your impending retirement. Could you do Generation X, Y, the Millennials, and so forth a favor before you go, and please clean up your $7,000,000,000,000 mess before leaving the workforce?

I hope you enjoyed the roads, national security, law enforcement, regulatory agencies, agricultural subsidies, clean water, social services, generalized scientific research, public schools, consumer protections, and emergency response services America’s $8.5 trillion credit account provided you, not to mention your impending monthly Social Security check and Medicaid benefits, but just because you’re going to die in a few decades doesn’t mean that obligation will go away.

You see, taxes cut while running a national debt are actually taxes deferred. They are passed along to your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. “Grandchild Tax” is far more apropos a descriptor for your decades of irresponsible spending than “National Debt.”

This debt is intergenerational tyranny. Babyboomers are oppressors, levying a tax on their unborn descendents who lack the existence to defend themselves. This is taxation without representation.

This gargantuan debt puts us at China’s mercy, threatens the GDP, and, worst of all, loots American citizens’ futures.

Your parents, the Greatest Generation, sacrificed so much to bring you a better world, but that world was on loan to you and you have a responsibility to pass it along to your progeny in fair condition.

If you will not act responsibly, then history will hold you responsible.

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Science Etcetera Mercuryday, 20080206

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
  • Two analyses of the Bush budget, one for Science Funding and one for the Environment. It’s a mixed bag on both accounts.
  • UN University launches an OpenCourseWare portal, contributing even more resources for free higher-education online for the world to access (maybe even on their OLPCs).
  • The Tempest Prognosticator is a Barometer that uses leeches to predict storms. Yeesh.
  • Holly Hostess won’t take her meds to kill off all the parasites she has living on her because she’s a lonely girl and they are her only friends. That’s the story behind the Parasite Pals Kids Site. Pardon me while I curl up in a corner and suck my thumb until the world gets less disturbing. (HT Science Punk)
  • Garson Romalis, who has survived two nearly-successful murder attempts on his life, explains Why he is an abortion doctor, and the stories he tells show how the Anti-Choice movement is more inhumane than the medical procedure they fight against.
  • Bioethicists have a new conundrum to ponder as Scientists make embryos with DNA from 3 people. The process may be used to eliminate genetic predispositions to diseases in children whose parents carry the genes.
  • After poachers hunted them to dangerously low numbers, Rhinos are Recovering nicely.
  • The same cannot be said for the Polar Bear, which Activists want put on the endangered list before Alaska oil sale this week.
  • Fat People are Cheaper to Treat medically, because they die much earlier than healthy people.
  • People are visiting the Great Outdoors less as Virtual Worlds take over. Who needs AI’s to build the Matrix, when we’re more than happy to jump into it and forget about reality on our own?
  • This documentary about virtual worlds, Second Skin, further support the above statement:


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