How is the Comments page working?

Is anybody visiting Troy's Thoughts Comments? I know Blogger is slow so the comments aren't updated as quickly as we'd like, so I was wondering if anyone ever visits the page.

Scrap the income tax

Greenspan proposes scrapping income tax:

Scrapping income tax and replacing it with a "consumption tax" on spending would be the best way to boost the US economy, Alan Greenspan said yesterday.

I used to be ambivalent about a consumption tax, but now I think it might be a good idea. The current income tax code is so complicated, and it might be better just to tax us based on what we consume, especially considering that a consumption tax would have progressivity built into it. What do you guys think?

How should the United States tax its citizens?

progressive income tax system, like current but maybe simpler
flat income tax
consumption or sales tax
tea tax
don't tax, go back to using only tarriffs
it's not a tax, it's the government's money in the first place and the government's generosity is the only reason why we get to keep any of it
don't tax, just put us in vast vields to harvest us for our body heat and bio-electricity
other

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Also, the previous poll has ended, and 50% of the voters would like to see Slayer at next year's Super Bowl halftime show.

does advertising encourage people to get drugs that they don't need?

FDA official questions direct-to-consumer advertising:

Potentially unsafe prescription drugs are getting into the hands of people who don't need them because of the $3 billion the drug industry spends each year on TV commercials and print ads targeted at consumers, a senior Food and Drug Administration official told Congress Thursday.

But how true is that? If I see a drug advertised on TV and I think that I want it to treat my bonus eruptus, I'm going to go talk to my doctor, and my doctor's going to tell me if he thinks the drug will work and whether there might be something better. Consumers require doctors to prescribe drugs, so if the consumers don't need the drugs, then the doctors shouldn't be prescribing them. Right?

I went to class today

I feel a lot better now, even though I didn't sleep very well. I'm not 100% and don't know when I will be, but went to class today without too much trouble. It's already Thursday afternoon, it's been an interesting week, time passes very quickly when you spend most of it sleeping. This sickness hasn't been too bad, though the nights have been worse than the days. I don't think I'm too far behind in any of my classes, but this afternoon I'm going to try to do the work that I need to do.

Getting over my flu

I think that by tomorrow I should be able to return to class. This flu wasn't as bad as I remember the flu being, and I think that's because I acted promptly and got a prescription.

I didn't feel too bad at 8:00 on Monday but by 12:00 on Monday I felt pretty lousy, though I didn't have any congestion yet. I made a doctor's appointment for 13:30 and got a prescription by 14:30 and went to sleep by 15:00 and slept until 8:30 the next morning.

It's sort of hard to believe that it's already Wednesday evening. The past two days are pretty hazy. I slept a total of about 30 hours the past 2 nights, though it wasn't very high-quality sleep.

I feel better now, but not that great. My mind is still a little sluggish feeling, and I'm still somewhat weak. I contemplated going to my lab today, but wasn't sure how my body would respond to the challenge and decided not to risk it. But, tomorrow I think I'll go to class. I also think I'm not that far behind, so that's good.

Outcome of battle with Aramark

So, a while ago I had an issue with SMU Dining (Aramark) because they charged me for a full semester of a meal plan that I didn't have for a full semester. I recently e-mailed SMU Dining's director (which I should have done much sooner) and I told him that I thought I was being billed unfairly and that it didn't seem that SMU Dining had a concern for customer satisfaction.

He then changed my meal plan back to my original meal plan even though I did not ask for him to do this. So, now I'm basically back to where I was at the beginning of the semester. I didn't get what I asked for (which was to simply be billed fairly), but I guess I got what I really wanted, since now I have the meal plan that I originally signed up for.

Previous post here

What do people do on Sunday nights?

I'm perplexed by this issue, what do people do on Sunday nights? Stores close early on Sunday night, so there's not really anywhere to go. Also, TV sucks on Sunday night, so there's not much to watch. Does anybody have any insight into this issue? If people don't go anywhere and don't watch TV, then what do they do?

Yesterday morning: physical and flu

So, yesterday I had to get my physical for work. My appointment was at 8:00, but I decided to show up a little early with the intent of getting done early. I showed up at 7:45 and waited in the waiting room with like 1 other person and I had to wait until 8:35 to be called in. I didn't feel great yesterday morning, but I didn't feel that sick, and the doctor didn't seem to notice anything wrong with me. I finally left like at 9:50, with no chance of getting to my 10:00 class. By the time I got to school I felt sick. I decided to go to my next class, but I felt sick so I skipped my last class and went to the doctor.

I slept for a long time

I went to sleep after 3:00 yesterday afternoon and I woke up at 8:30 this morning. Of course it wasn't a great sleep, but I only woke up a few times. I feel a lot better now than I did yesterday.

I have the flu

I'm going to sleep now, I'll talk more later.