The Confederate Flag and more

THE HISTORY AND THE CONTROVERSY

The Confederate battle flag, also called the "Southern Cross" or the cross of St. Andrew, has been designated as a proud emblem of Southern heritage and a shameful reminder of slavery and segregation. In the past, several Southern states flew the Confederate battle flag along with the U.S. and state flags over their houses. Others incorporated the symbol into the design of their state flags. The Confederate battle flag has also been taken by the Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 500 extremist groups use the Southern Cross as one of their symbols.

BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT

Con – First of all, the meaning of the flag has changed the meaning of the flag, from representing the true American war to becoming offensive to the African American population, therefore it is important to ban the confederate flag. Second, the flag has been taken as a symbol by many members of the white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan movements. Putting it in the statehouse just makes it look as though the state excuses that sort of thing.

Pro – The flag represents the people of America who fought in wars and risked their lives for the better of the country, and therefore it must fly high and be honored by all. Second of all, we are supposed to be a free country and we cannot go around banning things that we disagree with or that are contrary to our own beliefs. Third, people make assumptions and draw conclusions abruptly without having the correct knowledge, many people in this nation just go ahead and listen to anyone without truly understanding the topic.

ACTUAL RULING / VERDICT (SOUTH CAROLINA)

The South Carolina Senate on Tuesday formally approved a bill removing the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse grounds, where it has flown either atop the Capitol or on a nearby flagpole for 54 years. The Senate voted 36-3 to send the bill to the state House.

4 Reasons why the Flat Tax is a Bad Idea

1   THE FLAT TAX IS REGRESSIVE AND HURTS THE POOR

 

Flat taxes will result in the tax burden shifting to the middle and lower income groups. Holley Bridge of Clemson University stated that the income tax as presently structured has an important and useful role to play in the overall tax structure. It is at least somewhat progressive, taking a higher share of income from the higher income households than poor people. The reason why a progressive tax structure works best is that it bases off an income. For somebody that makes $25,000 dollars a year in contrast to someone that makes a million dollars, a flat tax rate at 10% is more damaging to the $25,000 income earner. For example, after taxes (with a 10% tax rate), it is hard to survive on $22,500 compared to $900,000.    

2    OVERALL FEDERAL REVENUES WILL LOWER

 Flat taxes will have a negative effect on the revenue generation of the government. When a 35% tax rate on the high-income family drops down to below 20%, the revenue generation mechanism will be seriously affected. This in turn will affect the country's annual budget, making the country economically and politically weaker.

3     PUNISHES SUCCESS

r    Proponents of the Flat Tax mention that, “the progressive tax structure punishes a person’s success.” But they fail to realize that they Flat Tax has the same outcome. For Example: Let's say the Flat Tax rate is 10 %, now a person who earns an annual income of $10,000 has to pay taxes of $1,000, and a person who earns $1,000,000 has to pay a tax of $100,000. Alternatives can include the head tax, where there is a set dollar amount. If the head tax is $8,000, everyone pays $8,000, people making $10,000 or people making $1,000,000.

4

     AFFECTS CITIZENS 

      

      The Flat Tax affects American workers, our current tax system allows taxpayers to earn tax        deductions if they perform good deeds, like donating to charity or nonprofit organizations. The current tax system is creating incentives for people to donate and help out society, without a tax incentive for donations, it is less likely that taxpayers will donate to schools or hospitals, which hurts the quality of life that society provides. This can also hurt employees that depend on tax deductions to help them thrive and provide for themselves.

Kyrie 1 Shoe Review

Hey Guys,

So, I’ve been putting up a lot of articles, and I really felt like putting one up that’s about shoes. Today, I decided to give you a review on the Kyrie’s, as the Independence Day shoes just came out on June 27^th. So here you go, this author has a great review about the Kyrie’s, he also has a video which is also very useful. Hope you like it, see you later!

Author: Jarron Ramos

http://weartesters.com/nike-kyrie-1-performance-review-jahronmon/

Greece and the Debt Crisis

Greece right now! SIKE!!!

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Currently Greece is in debt for about 1.5 billion euros which translates to $1.8 billion. So now Greece has to pay back that money to the European Central Bank, (ECB). And if Greece fails to pay back this amount of money by Tuesday, June 30^th they will be defaulted and will have to exit the Euro zone or the EU. To reach a debt deal for Greece, talks between the IMF, ECB, and Greece are taking place in Brussels to prevent Greece from reaching potential consequences.

WHY IS GREECE IN DEBT?

“Constant government borrowing to fund promises by politicians" has caused Greece's cash crunch, says David Kotok, chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors. Making matters worse, for the purposes of paying out benefits, Greece has a retirement age of 57, as to the U.S., where retirees can start taking benefits at age 62. While retiring early is good for Greek workers, it creates a major financial burden on the government. Tax evasion in Greece is also immense, and when taxpayers dodge their obligations it means less revenue for the debt-strapped government.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF GREECE DOESN’T PAY?

First, the euro would be abandoned, and Greece would return to its previous currency. The currency would likely tumble in value against the euro as soon as it would be issued, and how much the government could print quickly would be a big issue. Secondly, capital control will arise. There would be people trying to pull their money out of Greece's banks in large amounts. The Greek government would have to make that illegal pretty quickly. Lastly, European life support for Greek banks would be withdrawn. Greek banks can currently access emergency liquidity assistance from the ECB, which would be removed if Greece left the euro.

WHY HASN’T GREECE PAID THE ECB BACK?

The "austerity" plan meant less spending, higher taxes, crackdown on tax evasion and other measures designed to get Greece's finances back on track. But Greece still couldn't come up with the funds to pay its bills on its own. As a result, Greece's financial situation worsened. Its unemployment rate is above 25% and its GDP has fallen by roughly 30% since 2008, according to World Bank data. The bottom line: It is virtually impossible for Greece to pay down its enormous debt when the economy is under performing.

WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR GREECE?

Greece's role as a member of the 19-nation euro is at stake. There is a chance that it will have to exit from the EU. What's more, if Greece fails to strike a deal for more bailout funds, it is likely that the financial pain and economic challenges will become even greater, creating a great burden on its citizens.

Supreme Court Ruling (Gay Marriage)

                                                                 

The White House in celebration of same sex marriage
being legalized!!

#LoveisLove

BACKGROUND

Prior to their decision, same-sex marriage was already legal in 37 states and Washington DC, but was banned in the remaining 13. US public opinion has shifted significantly over the years, from 27% approval of gay marriage in 1996 to 60% in 2015.

WHAT’S THE RULING/DECISION/VERDICT

The Supreme Court recently ruled that same sex marriage will be legal in all 50 states. This ruling was passed on June 26^th, 2015. The vote was 5 – 4, the judges who voted against same sex marriage were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito. The Justices who voted for same sex marriage were Justice Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Breyer. They detailed why same sex marriage should be protected by the Constitution, and why they’ve decided to grant the right to all Americans.

WHAT ARE THE INCENTIVES WERE TO NEGATE

Chief Justice Roberts - The ultimate right to marry does not include a right to make a state change its definition of marriage. Our Constitution does not enact any one concept of marriage. The people of a state are free to expand marriage to include same-sex couples, or to retain the historic definition.

Justice Antonin Scalia – It’s not of special importance what the law says about marriage. It is of overwhelming importance, who it is that decides. Today’s verdict says 9 lawyers will decide on a verdict for 320 million people coast to coast and that is the issue.  

WHAT ARE THE INCENTIVES WERE TO AFFIRM

Justice Ruth Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy – “Under the Constitution, same-sex couples seek in marriage the same legal treatment as opposite-sex couples, and it would ridicule their choices and diminish their person hood to deny them the right of marriage.”

Smart Grid / Meter

The Basics - Our current electrical grid is over 50 years old, and in many people’s mind it is in need of a modernization. So, here we are with the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid is a new electrical grid that is more efficient and “smart.” But first, let’s realize what an electrical grid is. An electrical grid is an interconnected network used for delivering electricity from suppliers to consumers. It consists of generating stations that produce electrical power and it has transmission lines that carry power from distant sources to demand centers. So, in short all the electricity you use in your daily lives all comes to you through the electrical grid. And now, I’m sure you can see why America’s power grid needs to be the best it possibly can.

Benefits/Advantages of a Smart Grid –

Reduces Blackouts – The Smart Grid helps reduce blackouts because it senses the conflict in the power line in real time. It can automatically re-route power around the problem and reduce the impact zone. So instead of a complete outage you might just get a light flicker. If there is a blackout, the utility company knows immediately and can diagnose the problem remotely and fix the problem quicker.

More Environmentally Friendly – The deployment of a Smart Grid can result in a 0.9 to 2.2 giga ton reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050. Allows less dependency on fossil fuels, and allows us to use renewable energy sources better. The Smart Grid has much more energy storage capacity that will smooth out wind and solar variability making them easier to use. Thus more people will use renewable energy instead of fossil fuels making the environment cleaner.  

Energy Efficiency – The Smart Grid will increase efficiency of today’s system by around 9% by 2030, saving more than 400 billion kilowatt-hours each year. That means we could save $42 billion in the first year.  The yearly energy the smart grid saves could air-condition 378,000,000 homes or you could drive an electric car 1.7 trillion miles. 

Cyber security – Utilities make sure your usage data is safe, they encrypt the data using cyber security methods, much like the ones banks or ATM’s use. Banks and private companies would be more appealing to hackers. And, hackers cannot take down the entire United States, due to the Smart Grid being localized in a certain region.

Jobs – The Smart Grid will create tens of thousands of jobs across the country.  These jobs include high paying career opportunities for smart meter manufacturing workers; engineering technicians, electricians and equipment installers; IT system designers and cyber security specialists; data entry clerks and database administrators; business and power system analysts; and others.

Costs and Funding – The Smart Grid will cost $ 338 to $ 476 billion over the next 20 years. But benefits will be greater than that, they could produce over $ 1 trillion in savings and benefits. The Smart Grid will be funded by both private sectors, venture capitalists, and the government. The government will be providing subsidies to this industry in order to ensure gain. Companies such as IBM are already working towards creating Smart Grid software, and will continue to invest as the technology grows. Venture Capitalists are also showing a great amount of interest in the Smart Grid.

Smart Meters – The Smart Meter is a device that can help a consumer save money in their daily lives. The Smart Meter tracks how much energy a person uses and then using its two way communication ability sends it to the energy provider making it possible for the consumer and supplier to use energy in the most efficient way possible. For example: the consumer can monitor and adjust energy use through smart meters, this leads to giving them more control over their energy bill, which then leads to cost savings. There have been issues with privacy and radiofrequency, but none of these serve a problem. Smart Meters are not a violation of a person’s privacy because they do not track how you use your energy they just track how much you use, and our current meters do the same. RF is also not a problem because all meters are approved by the FCC making them safe, and the meters transmit lower amounts of RF waves than devices such as your cell phone.