I've heard good things about the Onkyo HT-S790 and related "high end" systems from them ... read a Cnet review at http://reviews.cnet.com/home-theater-systems/onkyo-ht-s790-black/4505-6740_7-31930511.html

You can pick up refurbished Onkyo systems from http://shoponkyo.com for $300 to $900.

You can build a component system for not too much more using careful shopping. Choosing a refurbished Onkyo a/v receiver from the site above for under $200, then a pair of Polk R50's for the fronts for about $160 from frys.com, a matching Polk CS1 center speaker (est. $200) and something like a Velodyne Vx-10 sub ($200) from on-line sources could make a very nice 3.1 system. Adding surrounds later is an option, when frys.com has the Polk R150 on sale again for $49 a pair.

"Dollars-per-second" "cents profit per gallon"

Our "cash starved" federal government spent in excess of 2.5 trillion dollars last year, far more than the total sales of ExxonMobil. I wonder how many dollars per second that is ....

The fair comparison would be how much Exxon makes per gallon of gasoline sold, compared to how much government takes in taxes? In California where I live, Federal taxes are 18.4 cents, and State taxes are 18 cents ... plus 7.25% sales taxes. The wholesale price of gasoline is not what we pay at the pump, but what the retailer pays. I don't know how much net profit Exxon makes on a gallon of gas.

But I do know that Exxon pays taxes ... at about 40% of its revenue. Do we count that money? On a per share earning ratio, Exxon earns 7.69 per share (today's close 85.94). That works out to 11.18% ... a pretty good return on the investment, but certainly not "obscene". Let's say they net that 11% of gasoline sales, it works out to about .50 a gallon at $4.50. Deduct the taxes they pay, and you're down to .20 a gallon.

Yeah, that's less than the government takes.

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