Economy / Business - OtherWords

Taxpayers Are Getting Nuked

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Compulsive gamblers are perpetually looking for the big score. Always thinking that the next card will draw that inside straight or the last card will turn their garbage into gold. Casinos have a name for these people–suckers. Well, Uncle Sam has pushed more than $8 billion into the pot, gambling on big returns from the nuclear power industry. Sadly, we know where this ends.

Nuking Taxpayers

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Toyota: Japan’s General Motors

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Of the Japanese car companies, Toyota became the leader. They were kind of clunky-looking–the Japanese didn’t do style–but they became known as a brand that was reliable, efficient, and durable.

Free Those Corporate Slaves

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Here’s a constitutional conundrum that the five Supreme corporatists undoubtedly failed to contemplate: Since the 13th Amendment prohibits slavery, which is ownership of a person, don’t we now have to shut down the stock market, which is where corporations are bought and sold? It’s a new civil rights battleground, where we can join hands and chant: “Free the Corporate Slaves Now!”

How about High-Speed Buses?

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OK, so you might not be willing to bus from Philly to Denver, but you wouldn’t take a train either. You might, however, bus from Cincinnati to Cleveland rather than fly, if it were done well. In any case, the job won’t get done by high-speed rail, so let’s get working on a practical alternative.

Avatar’s History Lesson

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Like Barack Obama, Avatar has become a Rorschach test for the times in which we live. Everyone interprets it their own way. Nominated for nine Oscars, it’s already the highest-grossing film of all time-having pulled in around $2.5 billion globally. More importantly, Avatar could become a game-changer in our evolving cultural consciousness about the impact of modernity on the world.

Raise My Taxes, Please

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My grandfather taught his three children that their earnings should be distributed in thirds: A third for charitable community organizations, a third for taxes, and a third for themselves. But today, many wealthy Americans pay far less than a third of their income in taxes, because tax rates have been slashed and the income from capital gains is taxed at much lower rates than income from wages.

That’s Rich

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Don’t Apologize if You’re Sorry about Getting Caught

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Forget it. I don’t want your apology. In the first place, I doubt its sincerity. One can be genuinely sorry for getting stuck in traffic and being late or for spilling red wine on your hostess’s white couch, true accidents.

Big Pharma Divorces Billy Tauzin

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Some marriages are made in heaven, some in hell. The matrimony of Billy Tauzin and Big Pharma was definitely hellish—especially for us innocent bystanders.

Economy and Business