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Author Topic: A Billion  (Read 1909 times)

RaaArtyGunner

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A Billion
« on: June 24, 2011, 11:06:53 am »

Recall that Billion was the theme of a recent thread.
The time lines would equally apply to other Governments as well as to Oz.

 The next time you hear an Australian politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its press releases.

A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.
A billion minutes ago Lord was alive.

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.
A billion Dollars ago was only 48 hours and 12 minutes, at the rate our Australian government is spending it.


Building Permit Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporation Tax
Income Tax

GST
Fishing Licence Tax
Food Licence Tax
Fuel LicenceTax
Petrol/Diesel Tax
Luxury Tax Property Tax
Service charge taxes

Capital gains Tax

Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Local Tax
Vehicle Licence Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 40 years ago...
And our nation was one of the most prosperous in the World.

We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class And Mum stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

I hope this goes around
At least a billion times.

What the HELL happened ?????




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dodgy geezer

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2011, 11:34:09 am »

I would be very surprised to hear that Australia had no income tax 40 years ago. The UK started income tax around 1800 to pay for the Napoleonic Wars - I think Australia started its tax in 1915 to pay for WW1....
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derekwarner

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2011, 12:28:10 pm »

....Guys.....DG is correct here...according to that WIKippeoedia .... %% thingie......


In 1880, Tasmania was the first state to introduce an income tax. It took the form of a withholding tax on distributed income of companies. The tax was seen as necessary due to a fiscal crisis. For much the same reason, South Australia followed suit in 1884. By 1907, all states had introduced an income tax.[

Derek
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Derek Warner

Honorary Secretary [Retired]
Illawarra Live Steamers Co-op
Australia
www.ils.org.au

dodgy geezer

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2011, 03:55:20 pm »

....Guys.....DG is correct here...

No I'm not! I guessed at 1915, and the right answer was 1907...

You will also find that taxes on luxury items, such as tobacco, are very ancient - reaching back to classical times. And a 'road usage' tax, as a toll fee, is also mediaeval.

The clue here is in the end message -  "I hope this goes around At least a billion times.". Any e-mail you get with an exhortation at the end to 'pass it on' is invariably one of those 'internet chain letters', and you can be suitably suspicious about any data that is included.

I support the gist of the message, though...:)
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RaaArtyGunner

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2011, 11:09:10 pm »

No I'm not! I guessed at 1915, and the right answer was 1907...

You will also find that taxes on luxury items, such as tobacco, are very ancient - reaching back to classical times. And a 'road usage' tax, as a toll fee, is also mediaeval.

The clue here is in the end message -  "I hope this goes around At least a billion times.". Any e-mail you get with an exhortation at the end to 'pass it on' is invariably one of those 'internet chain letters', and you can be suitably suspicious about any data that is included. I support the gist of the message, though...:)

 :-)) :-)) :-)) O0 O0 O0 {-) {-) {-)
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Grub

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2011, 12:32:54 pm »





D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.



They got that one badly wrong 

A billion days ago is 2.74 million years ago; human ancestors started being bipedal around 4 million years ago   

And that's not counting bipedal dinosaurs, of which there were plenty


A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.




That one's wrong, too 

A billion seconds is 31.7 years, so that'd be about the end of 1979.

B.
A billion minutes ago Lord was alive.




Only if Lord was alive in 110 AD 

Well of course some people believe that (and think he's still alive even now), so we'll let that one pass   

C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.


114,000 years ago, so OK, that one's correct
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Grub

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #6 on: June 25, 2011, 12:33:59 pm »

US military spending, 2010: $700 billion.

That's the one to stop and think about! :o
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dougal99

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Re: A Billion
« Reply #7 on: June 25, 2011, 07:27:12 pm »

What's a billion a million million or a thousand million, depending where you start from both are correct but vastly different.
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