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Comment Re:Fascinating (Score 1) 46

The argument is that some companies that are physically located in country A operate in country B but do not pay taxes there. If they were regular goods or services companies they (or their customers) probably would have to pay taxes through various mechanisms. But because they're "digital services" i.e. advertising on web pages, they don't.

If you want the US to start taxing offshore tax schemes, like Microsoft licensing their logo from an Irish company for 90% of their revenue, it's the same situation.

Or you can just look at it as a tariff on services or personal information crossing the border. A 3% tariff, in contrast to Trump's uh, whatever double digit percent they're at right now.

I think a better approach would be to just require that all Canadians' personal information be required to be stored in Canada, where it could be taxed the normal way. But Facebook et al would scream WAY louder about that.

Comment Re:What are the other 95% studying (Score 1) 76

Law and medicine are advanced degrees.

They're not really. They're professional degrees, just like engineering. It's not typical anymore in the US to go straight into medicine from high school, but lots of schools either require only a year or two of "pre-med" or have "accelerated programs" where you do a bachelor's degree and an MD at the same time. Other professional schools are often similar, requiring some post-secondary education before you can be admitted.

Medical specialization is arguably analogous to graduate studies, although it's more like an apprenticeship, focused on practical learning before professional licensure, and engineering and law often require the same, although law seems not to in the US.

MDs being styled as advanced degrees goes back to when some Scottish medical school decided that their medical graduates were "senior scholars" and should be given the title "doctor" in the 17th century. Which is silly, because "doctor" is Latin for "teacher." Some law schools have jumped on board and give out JDs, which must get confusing because there are also actual doctorates in law.

Comment Re:Sums up the housing crisis (Score 1) 102

Apparently the only solution politicians have is to start another sub-prime mortgage bubble.

Well, that would fix the problem. Of course homeowners don't want the value of their largest asset reduced. But easier mortgages, well, that will just increase it right? Oh no, a crash, who could have seen that coming?

I doubt it's on purpose, but it might be the only way to solve the problem.

Comment Re:Names, and Cycles (Score 1) 127

They should call a typical 4 year degree in such "Information Systems Engineering" (ISE)

That's possibly even worse.

Computer Science is math.

XX Engineering is processes, best practices and quality control so you don't go to jail for screwing up. And you can go to jail for screwing up.

They should call a software development programs something like "Software Development." E.g.

Comment Re:Here's what happened (Score 1) 57

The design problem was it had a ridiculously oversized mast probably because the owner had to have bragging rights about having the biggest mast.

You're obsessed with the length of Mike Lynch's mast. Give it up. It was average, and he just bought it off some other dude anyway.

(Also, it's actually his wife's)

Comment Re:You know what... (Score 1) 368

The post I replied to was suggesting he should have a medical degree.

A public admin degree is probably the ideal for a posting like that, since that's what the job entails. As you say, hopefully it also includes the ability to listen to domain experts.

Some public health departments have discovered that the boss having a medical degree is actually a detriment. Physicians are trained to treat individual patients, which is exactly what you want in a physician, but not what public health is about.

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