Posted on 01/02/2003 3:43:33 PM PST by EBUCK
Hmm with your above comment, I don't know who is worse, the GPS demorat tax elitists in Oregon or you.
In closing, I will state that your both about the same, idealougues with the same big egos.
Yes, it is, to a frightening degree. Last year a bill was filed in this state that would cost the state money. I raised the issue with the appropriate legislators. What I learned was that the bill was driven by the feds, that if the state did not enact this law they would lose about $1 million in federal funds.
It didn't seem to matter to them that the cost to the state of enacting this law would cost much more than $1 million -- the costs would be hidden, never directly traceable to them, whereas the blame for the loss of $1 million in federal funding couldn't be borne.
As a result, the Golden Rule ("He who has the gold makes the rules") won out, D.C. pulled the strings to make puppet Olympia dance, and for the $1 million in federal funds we get we will pay much more that that from the state treasury.
Talk about "dependence"...
OnStar is pretty simple. An analog phone. A 103 AFSK modem. A GPS. A simple interface to unlock a door. Basic technology. The FCC is about to give them a major headache by phasing out analog phones. Time to refit the whole customer base.
Right on. It's not necessarily the miles driven, but the weight of the vehicle on the road. California bases its vehicle registration fee on the value of the car, which declines over time. Other states base their registration fees on the weight of the car.
Big, heavy trucks like dump trucks and cement trucks (even big-rigs and car carriers) will chew up a road a lot faster than a Lexus or an SUV.
-PJ
EBUCK
Yeah the same ones who are forcing seat belt laws down our throats. Next we'll be hearing that we have no right to drive, it's a priviledge as they try to justify their 1984 schemes. These screwball ideas need to be put in their place right now.
Who are these guys trying to kid?
We already have a de facto tax on mileage. It's called the "gasoline tax" and it's collected at every public pump in the entire state. You can't run most motorized vehicles without gas. The big rigs eat a lot more gas than the little ones, so it is somewhat proportional to weight.
If these clowns need more money, they can just raise that tax and do it without further individual modifications or useless bureaucracy - and face the wrath of the motorist while doing it. Instead, they want this fancy-pantsy new system which anonymously mandates Big Brother for everyone.
There must be an alternative "something else" up besides tax revenues for roads, but for some reason these guys don't want to tell us what "it" is!
The earth itself provides a block to the signal path of the satellites on the opposite side. A 12-channel receiver is more than enough for most applications.
I can assure you that your desire to damage GPS signals as a means of tax evasion will also incur the ire of people who wish to use them for the intended purpose...navigation. You'll have pissed off GPS owners as well as the FCC, IRS, FAA and the US military looking for you.
Touche. I suppose I should have said "The vast majority of" instead of 90% of.
The fact remains that heavy vehicles (and I don't consider an SUV to be a heavy vehicle) inflict "the vast majority of" damage to our roadways. Cyclic loadings of automobiles over a long span of time will cause rutting; however, semi's will cause worse damage in a much shorter time period, and they are not paying the amount of taxes necessary to account for the amount of damage they are doing.
What is the ratio of automobiles to semi's in this country? I'd bet that it is at least 1000 to one. Who then is paying the lion's share of fuel taxes? And no, I don't have the data to back up these statements, other than the fact that 2 plus 2 equals 4. The fact that semi's do the vast amount of damage to roads is something that is self-evident and well-recognized by a second year transportation engineering student. Arguing otherwise is like saying that 2 plus 2 equals 3.
The PNs of the satellites currently launched are usually in the ROM of the receiver. You can update your GPS firmware with many of the higher quality units. This 'cache' of good PN prospects is only needed as a starting point. The almanac will contain the whole list of current satellites...including ones that are newer than your firmware.
BTW, I have no problem with this statement since you are quite correct. I believe the highway trust fund you allude to is known as ISTEA, and you're correct in noting that it has been utilized for purposes which it was not intended to be used for.
I don't know where you live, but here where I live the only vehicles which can legally use (metal) studded tires are the cops and emergency services....
Forget that, I'm going to find a good half-track, load it down with lead and go drive over Oregon roads and bridges.
Does a motorcycle do as much damage as an 18-wheeler mile per mile?
What in hell is wrong with the Left coast? Washington elects an 5th Column America Hater who waves the Taliban flag and works to subvert freedom and liberty, then Oregon puts to a vote socialized medicine and other police state measures, and California is trying to be the largest debtor state on the planet.
La Reconquista! At least the Mexicans won't screw it up when they retake the land.
Forget jamming GPS, hack the dang thing and run up politician's and government vehicle ID codes. Of course the government will probably exempt itself so the government employees will still be able to go to the bowling alley, the barbershop, the postoffice, the local fishing hole, the mall, and their token job related appearance somewhere while on the clock operating their tax payer supplied vehicle without the same fear of their privacy being taken.
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