The death of small businesses
POSTED BY: SignyM
UPDATED: Monday, August 10, 2026 21:52
VIEWED: 4646
PAGE 4 of 7
Quote:Now I am unhappy AND envious.
Originally posted by citizen:Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
I'd be way happier if they'd release a decent transfer of Outland to DVD, but whatca gonna do?
We've got one, it's region 2 so you can't watch it, ahh, ahhh, oohh, region twoo.
http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/1877/Outland/Product.html
The laughing Chrisisall
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It's really not that hard to convert a region 2 disk to region 1 or region free.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Quote:On the disk?
Originally posted by Storymark:
It's really not that hard to convert a region 2 disk to region 1 or region free.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
On the disk?
You'd have to rip the disk and re-encode it.
I was reading in the paper today about this dwarf that got pickpocketed. How could anyone stoop so low?
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Quote:Yours is an evil laugh.
Originally posted by RIPWash:
I win LOL. Hahaha.
MU HU HU HA HA HA HA!
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Yours is an evil laugh.
MU HU HU HA HA HA HA!
This proves I own you.
I was reading in the paper today about this dwarf that got pickpocketed. How could anyone stoop so low?
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:On the disk?
Originally posted by Storymark:
It's really not that hard to convert a region 2 disk to region 1 or region free.
The laughing Chrisisall
Yes and no. I was referring to what Cit mentioned - rip the disk and re-encode. Easy to do, and legal if you bought the R2 version.
But aside from that, many players can be hacked to disable the region-coding. Google your model number and "hack" or "region free", and if there is one for your model, you should find it.
(You ever get the Private Message I sent you, BTW?)
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:Quote:
Originally posted by RIPWash:Quote:
Ah yes . . . the "Big, Evil Wal-Mart" routine. It's not their fault that Americans want to buy things for less.
But it is their fault that small businesses get driven out of town by unfair practices.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
Indeed.
Rip, you should look into a little book called "Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)" by David Cay Johnston. He lays out a pretty good case against the megaretailers, including Wal Mart and others, and illustrates with FACTS how they've gamed the system. In many places, they demand - and receive - multi-year abatements of property taxes. That's normal enough, and while not ideal, it's done in many places in order to lure in the "big box" stores that tend to anchor most shopping centers.
But what you likely DON'T know is that, in many, many instances, these megaretailers are also allowed to keep the sales taxes they collect on the goods they sell. That's a huge part of why they can sell so cheaply; it's not all economies of scale, you see, or that they're just so much better or more efficient at doing business. They've got an unfair competitive advantage - if they can COLLECT the sales tax (they charge you that tax, remember; look at your receipt to confirm that) and not PAY IT to the city, county, or state, then they've automatically got a 5-10% "cushion" whereby they can undercut other retailers who are forced to pay their taxes. And these, like property tax abatements, are generally multi-year deals. In other words, that great "boon to the tax base" that Wal Mart is supposed to bring to the area is paying neither property NOR sales taxes for several years.
Now, combine THAT with the economies of scale, and you have a retailer that is already able to undersell its local competitors. With the strength and size of the Wal Mart corporation behind it, though, a new store is also able to price items BELOW what anyone else can even buy them for at wholesale - so there is simply no way to compete, unless you're shopping other stores out of the goodness of your heart. And not many of us practice altruistic shopping, unfortunately...
Just something to ponder... (Hey, that's getting to be my tag line!)
Edited To Add: I've nothing against fair competition; I just don't like unfair competition, especially when it's shoved down our throats and sold to us as "fair".
Mike
A baby seal walks into a club...
The "On Fire" Economy -
The Dow closed at 10,587.60 on January 20, 2001, the day GW Bush took office. Eight years later, it closed below 8000 on the day he left office - a net loss of 25%. That's what conservatives call an economic "success".
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Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
BTW- Are you sure you're not Geezer's sock-puppet?
Signy today, Rue tomorrow.
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Ayep, and when the deal ends and they start having to pay the taxes ?
They close up shop, and move on to the NEXT town, leaving economic devastation in their wake after having smashed out all the other local businesses.
Like a pack of fucking locusts.
-F
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