ISP Information:
A device used to protect devices from excessive electrical current. It contains a conductor that melts and breaks the current flow when too much electricity flows through it. Once a fuse is blown it must be replaced with another one to close the circuit and allow electricity to flow again.
ISP Glossary:
Fuse - By EDWARD WYATTNew York State has collected $440 million since 1991 in special taxeson cellphones. But only about $30 million of that has gone to theprogram named on most cellphone bills as the purpose of the tax:enhanced 911 service, which can help police, fire and ambulancedispatchers locate a cellphone caller in need of emergency help.Most of the money goes far afield. Fifty cents of the $1.20-a-monthtax paid by nearly every cellphone user goes not to the 911 system butto the state's general fund, the all-purpose budgetary pot thatfinances whatever the governor and the Legislature want. Twenty-fourcents a month goes to the state police, which built and operates astatewide 911 system but has also used the money to pay for thingslike dry cleaning and travel.About 34 cents goes for "homeland security," including the budgets ofother state agencies, like Corrections and Parks and Recreation. Lastweek, the Pataki administration awarded the contract for a proposed $1billion wireless radio network that will also be paid for using themoney.That leaves only about 12 cents of the monthly fee for thestill-developing cellular 911 system, whose advocates complain thatthe state has misled its taxpayers and placed politics ahead of publicsafety.Poor planning, they say, is at the root of the problem. They point outthat even though the state collected $132 million in the last yearalone from the 911 surcharge on cellphones, it had to sell bonds toraise an additional $100 million so that counties could afford to buythe necessary equipment for their own enhanced wireless 911systems. And despite years of work, only a few counties are currentlyable to locate cellphone callers who dial 911.http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/10/nyregion/10phone.html[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Something many people do not realize isthat telco (none of them) can lawfully cut you off, or disconnect yourservice for your refusal to pay telecom 'taxes'. As long as you paythe tariffed charge for the telco service (but taking care to notifytelco of your refusal to pay the 'taxes') telco has to continue providingyour service. Telco can, and frequently does report to the taxingagency that 'John Doe, account number X phone number Y refuses to paythe tax accessed' but that's *all* they can do is report it. We foundthis out during the Viet Nam War -- err, police action -- when manymillions of people were withholding taxes to show their displeasure.Now, if a class action suit was started on behalf of 'all taxpayers'which required the various governments to spend the tax money *exactly*on the stated purposes of the taxation (at which point the plaintiffclass would resume paying of taxes) it might end much of this foolishsquandering of money for other than stated purpose.Consider the various state and multi-state lotteries for example. Hasthere yet been a state which did not insist the 'only reason' for thelottery was to improve (take your pick) the schools, the highways,whatever? Yet look at the dreadful condition of those things as themoney gets sucked off into everything else. And the best example ofhow this works was the worthless promise by the various states in theinfamous tobacco settlement: all the money collected will go to helpcure tobacco addiction, related illneses, and fund education programsfor same. What a bunch of bologna that turned out to be! So thetobacco companies have gone as a group (formed a class) to the judgeoverseeing the tobacco settlement saying that a deal was made and thedeal should be kept. If we are to fund such efforts under thesettlement, they (the states) have to keep their part of the bargainalso; otherwise it would appear to just be additional taxes againstour products going in the back door without approval to give thestates more money which winds up getting stolen from our (legitimateand lawful) customers. Where it will all end up, I do not know; but Ido think it is about time to clamp a lid on all the wasteful spendingof money originally intended for E-911 service, etc. Oh, of co
|
