Berman Post

Compromise Reached on Tax Package?
Google Launches eBook Store (books.google.com/ebooks)
A 3D Tour of All The Known Galaxies in 90 Seconds
Bush Now Has a Higher Approval Than Obama (Gallup)
SNL WikiLeaks Skit
Obama Confused as to What The US Motto is
Nano-Gyroscopes
Troops Boo Griffin For Attacking Bristol Palin
Gene Simmons - 'I Regret Voting For Obama'

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 11:30 PM PST

The most pertinent points are as follows; Bush Tax Cuts stay the same for everyone for another two years, Unemployment Benefits extended for another 13 months, and Estate Tax (Death Tax) set at 35% (scheduled to jump from 0% this year to 55% next year if no action taken) for estates larger then $5M for the next two years.

Overall this should be seen as a two-fold win for the Republicans. While all of the policies may not be idea for the Republicans, they are certainly closer to what the Republicans were pushing for then what the Democrats wanted. The second part is that this debate takes place in the next election cycle. This is a losing argument for the Democrats; it helped the Republicans win this time around. If the Democrats think talking about raising people's taxes is going to help them get elected they should get some new advisers.

The interesting question here is if this is a transition for Obama. Either he is taking a turn toward the center, or he is trying to under cut the Republicans before veering back to the left. I doubt we will have to wait to long to see which trend line he is now following.

Video embedded below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704156304576003441518282986.html

"President Barack Obama reached agreement Monday with Republican leaders in Congress on a broad tax package that would extend the Bush-era income tax cuts for two years, reduce worker payroll taxes for one year and give more favorable treatment to business investments.
...
The deal would extend a raft of business tax breaks, including credit for spending on research. It would extend current tax rates on capital gains and dividends for two years, including for higher earners. It would also maintain protection for middle-class families from the alternative minimum tax.

As part of the deal, the White House is proposing a provision to encourage more investment in plant and equipment, by letting companies claim deductions on 100% of most kinds of investment.

Under the agreement between the White House and congressional Republicans, the estate tax rate would be set at 35% for two years and would apply only to estates over $5 million. Under current law, the estate tax has lapsed for 2010 and is set to spring next year to 55%.

A program of extended benefits for the long-term unemployed, which lapsed last month, would be revived for 13 months, the White House said. The jobless benefits would be financed by federal borrowing rather than by spending cuts.
...
The payroll-tax reduction under discussion now would cut the 6.2% Social Security tax levied on a worker's wages to 4.2%. A worker making $40,000 a year would save $800, and some economists say that could help stimulate demand at a time when the economy remains relatively weak.

The employer's half of the tax—also 6.2%—wouldn't be affected under the White House proposal, and thus the cost of hiring new workers wouldn't be directly affected."

Google Launches eBook Store (books.google.com/ebooks)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:03 PM PST

The eBook market is heating up with Google throwing its hat into the ring. No word on an eBook reader from Google, and that may be because it does not feel it really needs one. If the Google purchased books are compatible on almost all of your devices, what would be the need for a dedicated eBook reader?

Video embedded below.

"Today is the first page in a new chapter of our mission to improve access to the cultural and educational treasures we know as books. Google eBooks will be available in the U.S. from a new Google eBookstore. You can browse and search through the largest ebooks collection in the world with more than three million titles including hundreds of thousands for sale. Find the latest bestsellers like James Patterson's Cross Fire and Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, dig into popular reads like Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken and catch up on the classics like Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and Gulliver's Travels.

We designed Google eBooks to be open. Many devices are compatible with Google eBooks—everything from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smartphones to e-readers. With the new Google eBooks Web Reader, you can buy, store and read Google eBooks in the cloud. That means you can access your ebooks like you would messages in Gmail or photos in Picasa—using a free, password-protected Google account with unlimited ebooks storage.

In addition to a full-featured web reader, free apps for Android and Apple devices will make it possible to shop and read on the go. For many books you can select which font, font size, day/night reading mode and line spacing suits you—and pick up on the page where you left off when switching devices."

A 3D Tour of All The Known Galaxies in 90 Seconds

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 08:49 PM PST

Video embedded below.

Bush Now Has a Higher Approval Than Obama (Gallup)

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 08:42 PM PST

This is going to make some people go absolutely off the wall nuts...

http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/254538/gallup-finds-george-w-bush-higher-approval-obama

"Notice President George W. Bush's approval is at 47 percent.

Meanwhile, Gallup also finds President Obama's current approval is… 45 percent."

SNL WikiLeaks Skit

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 08:36 PM PST

Video embedded below.

Obama Confused as to What The US Motto is

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 08:27 PM PST

If this happened last month, why is it being brought up now (and not then)?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2010/dec/6/obama-muffed-us-motto

"Members of Congress on Monday called on President Obama to issue a public correction after he incorrectly labeled E pluribus unum the U.S.'s motto in a speech last month, rather than "In God We Trust."
...
Last month, while speaking at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, Mr. Obama was trying to stress the similarity of the U.S. and Indonesia and said "it is a story written into our national mottos."

"In the United States, our motto is E pluribus unum — out of many, one," he said, then compared it to the Indonesian motto, "Bhennika Tunggal Ika — unity in diversity."

The official motto of the U.S., designated by a 1956 law, is "In God We Trust." E pluribus unum is the motto on the Great Seal of the United States, and appears on the ribbon held in the beak of the eagle that dominates the obverse side of the seal."

Nano-Gyroscopes

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 08:21 PM PST

Gyroscopes the size of a grain of salt could mean accurate navigation on devices much smaller then previously possible. The article talks about how they could be used on phones to accurately navigate in buildings after losing the GPS signal. Such a targeting system could be used to make a crazy scary cluster-bomb; perfect distribution of the bomb-lets for optimal radial destruction, or individual targeting of each person in range.

http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-10/nano-gyroscopes-can-navigate-indoors-underground

"Israeli researchers have created the tiniest-ever optical gyroscopes, as small as a grain of sand, but still maintaining the keen accuracy of their counterparts hundreds of times larger. Optical gyroscopes are generally used for navigation in airplanes, ships and satellites, in which they track movement without reference to external navigation points, by measuring the vehicle's rotation rate and linear acceleration. This is called inertial navigation. It's extremely accurate but, up until now, only possible in gyroscopes and weighing two to three pounds.

Made possible by semi-conductor lasers measured in micrometers, these nanogyros are a different animal than the gyroscopes in the current generation of cell phones. They can continuously calculate the exact position of the object they're installed in without needing to refer to external references the way GPS relies on satellites. Developer Koby Scheuer, a professor at Tel Aviv University, says the nanogyros "have compact enough dimensions to be integrated in small electronic devices." That means if you're in a tunnel and your GPS device isn't working, this little guy will still know your precise location. Sounds a lot simpler than tracking lightning pulses to navigate underground."