Mephistos

For those that do not know it yet, I work at a newspaper. Actually a group of news papers, located in the Central Kentucky area. No, I am not a reporter or anything so glamorous. I am in the back room working the computer infrastructure that helps both the web and print versions get out there to you all, the public. As one of the perks, I get the current edition of the days local paper laid on my desk shortly after it comes off the presses.

Today, I was very dismayed to see on the front page to different articles with headlines that read “Danville may be forced to repay thousands” & “Danville pays $21,000 in IRS penalties.” Some of you may already have guessed or known, the chief location of where I work is the Advocate Messenger. Why do I care some of you may be wondering, as I live in Wilmore currently and most recently in Burgin, neither of which are in Boyle county, much less the city of Danville.

Simply put I pay taxes to the fine city of Danville. Or rather, the fine city of Danville deducts a payroll tax from my check every pay day before I ever even see the money myself. Granted, the near $200 at just shy of the mid year point for the yearly to date amount doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. However, the mismanagement of tax payers funds really makes me feel like I am being jerked around.

In the first instance, the the city passed an ordinance shortly after the Public Service Commission (PSC – the folks who regulate public services such as water, gas, sewer, electric at the state level) allowed increases on water to end consumers without oversight. The ordinance did just that, building in a cost of living increase automatically. The city took it one step to far though, and passed the additional fees on to other water districts that it serves. Note other water districts are not end consumers, but rather wholesale customers that are also regulated by the PSC. When one of the districts tried for a rate increase the PSC said “No,” siting lack of evidence of a rate increase to them from the Danville City supplier.

The city is now arguing that they don’t feel they are wrong and the over $36,000 that may be refunded to just one of the other companies is not correct based on gray areas in the rules. The city has two other locations the at the PSC added to the complaint (for once being a watchdog for the downstream consumer, even if wholesale) like it should be. Additionally Danville could face fines for the incidents in excess of $20,000. Sorry city of Danville, but the rules are very clear and you can’t pass your own ordinance that flies against state law. Just ask California how that works with drugs and federal laws. The city’s response, “We have to understand what the PSC wants us to do…” Sorry, every judge I have seen clearly states failure to understand the law, of even total ignorance of a law not existing, does not excuse one from being responsible for adhering to said law.

The second instance is in regards to payroll taxes from the City of Danville not being filed correctly/timely with the IRS, again as mandated by law. This has occurred not once, but at least four times, possibly five if I follow the article correctly. The amounts were small and penalties in question according to city officials again so insignificant that no one bothered to include the previous instances in public audit documents. I personally think that if the city feels like a total of $21,000 is so small an amount as to not need to be reported in the audit then they can just give me my even smaller amount of over $400 that they will collect by years end back. That would make a dent in my increases on fuel and food to almost the same effect as the stimulus check I am still waiting. Add to that it goes back to 2005 and I am up by a total of $1200, but still nothing compared to $21,000.

What really irks me about this is that I don’t feel like I have any real recourse against the officials of are ramrodding over such things and mismanaging the funds in such a bad way. While I work in Danville, I live elsewhere, and hence I have not voting right in regards to the folks who are literally throwing this money away. Worse yet, in the first case, they are seemingly going to spend man hours (translate to more tax dollars at work) fighting the case instead of just accepting they are wrong.

With officials like this representing this fair city who needs worse characters that are on the wrong side of the law around?

An inspiring story if there ever was one is the story of Adam Shepard, $25 dollars and pursuit of the American Dream. So Adam, a young college educated gentlemen did an experiment. He left home with $25, a duffle bag of clothing, and basically set out to prove that one can still achieve the American Dream. He completely left his support structure, including family and friends and had nothing. He ended up living in a homeless shelter, finding a job with a moving company, and inside of 10 months – without using his networking or college education skills (after all, how much of a college education do you need to balance a small pay check and move furniture) he had bought himself a truck and saved $5000. You can read more details in this article.

I find such a deal of inspiration in this story that is hard to fathom it. Especially when I consider the job skill set that I have, the great job (and even 2nd job that I have had up until recently) and that I still on occasion find myself short heading into the stretch before pay-day. Now granted, I do have some expenses that are hard to get away from given that I own horses. However, I have a lot of expenses beyond those that I still spend that are small in their own right, but add them up over time and they start to be a big one. It is the little things though that one would have to be a lot more diligent about if one were forced (or chose to) live on a much more strict budget.

For instance, I think back to this past weekend and little expenses incurred:

• $16.00 bad Indian Jones movie for 2
• $8.00 coffee and snacks while driving here and there throughout the weekend
• $7.00 fast food dinner Friday evening
• $4.00 a guess here for gas, but 3 separate trips to grocery that was within an easy walking distance
• $20.00 lunch at a diner (I didn’t spend it, but would have if they hadn’t pick up the tab)
• $5.00 breakfast on Tuesday morning as I headed back

Ad all that up and it is $60.00 – which would go a long way toward any number of things for me as a single person. That is nearly what I spend on groceries for lunches for an entire month (granted I eat out 1 to 2 times a week – but that again would just add to the point I am making).

So, feeling inspired I am thinking of somethings I can do to check a bit of this and noting some things I am already doing. Maybe a few of these are helpful for you and maybe some are not. There are some added bonuses too to the green side of thinking as well, which I will try to note also.

1. Already keeping my movie viewing down to once a month or less of late. As it is now summer, maybe see some double features at the drive-in, where you get two movies for $5.00 instead of the $8-10.00 at theaters. Also, if I do see at the theater, it must be a matinee. Additionally, note the drive-in allows you to bring in your own food and such instead of buying $8.00 popcorn and $5.00 sodas. Good news here is that I have seen very little that I am interesting in seeing coming out soon, and Indiana Jones was, in my opinion, so bad as to turn me against movies for a while.
2. Well, I have never been a fan of Starbuck’s as a general rule, though I had did have a phase for a short while. I have liked other coffee shops and I am guilty of enjoying a $5-$6.00 super espresso latte full of extra unjustifiable calories and fat. Worse usually to go, which is a paper or styrofoam cup. No more of that though, not in a while of late. Instead, go to the coffee house and drink in the setting from a mug, regular or flavored coffee (which I personally enjoy just as much) which is usually all you can drink – even better) for a $1 or $2. Beyond that, when traveling – most of the time I try to make a pot of coffee before hand fill my thermos and use my own travel mug. No additional paper and no paying $1.29 – $2.00 for a large cup of Joe that maybe cost $.25 to make and is often time burnt or at least been around awhile.
3. As much as Bitzer is going to be dismayed about no longer getting double cheeseburgers, I have to cut out the fast food as much as possible. There really is no justification for it other then just quick and convenient and that is is not much. After all, $1.50 for a single flow on a the soda is just to much to bear for me the more I think about it. And I certainly do not need the extra fat and calories to be found in such things. I enjoy some healthy snack foods that I can for a much more reasonable price and have them around for a longer time most of the time – just requires a bit of fore thought and planning.
4. The grocery store trips were just a bit of poor planning about things and not really knowing for sure what was going to be happening over the weekend. However, all the things purchased on the various trips could have been done in one trip. Short of one trip that included purchase of a wheel barrow all the trips could have been walking trips too – especially given the laid back nature of the weekend. I certainly could have used the exercise too. I did make one walking trip to the farmers market, Bitzer enjoyed that and got petted by a few 100 people along the way to boot. Also, gas is going to go higher I am sure. I am looking for a bike for around home on the weekends. One last thought though – nearly $4.00 a gallon for gas (that is a bit over 30 miles for me in the car), $1.50 for 64 ounces of coke (syrup, water, carbonization, lots of calories if not diet and if diet well questionable chemicals), $1.29 for a 20 ounce cup of coffee, and $5.00 for a mocha latte grande (full of extra undesirable things) – which one are we paying to much for?

Thanks for the inspiration Adam Shepard!

Well folks, after something like 20 years of waiting for a sequel that was talked about the last 10 of those, I have to unfortunately suggest strongly that you keep your $8.50 for something else. I don’t want to ruin the plot for anyone who is still going to spend the money, but please at the very least catch an afternoon screening and pay 2/3′s price.

Here are in my opinion a few things that are very wrong with the movie (and given the Ford, Lucas, & Spielberg team it is surprising to be so wrong):

1. Just to much running around doing things with out really that much action. Historically Indiana Jones movies were action flicks that moved along with action well placed and a that sense of what is going to be next. Well, at least mostly, this one is closer to the 2nd one in the franchise on that score.
2. Dialog was just seemingly forced, what of there was. Now some would argue what was I expecting, but I would point them back to the previous movies and contend that the dialog was crisp and witty at times. This one, what bit of that it tried to have just relied on references to lines back in the previous movies.
3. The script was pretty lousy. Not trying to give to much away, but the previous movies, despite having a huge religious supernatural element still worked and didn’t require to much on most of our parts to willing suspend our disbelief in such things. This one was just so 1950′s B movie crap.
4. The direction/acting was lousy. Not sure that was not more a problem with the script and just not having enough there to really let any characters come to life. What minor attempts were made (and there are very few) are just seemingly absurd.
5. I have already mentioned willing suspension of disbelief, and I will even give you that a few scenes in the previous movies were hard to swallow at times. Maybe it because the rest of the episode being so crappy, but this flick just had way to many things going on it in that were just to far beyond the believable.

Well, I tried to say enough to discourage with spoiling if you still insist. If you want some more, I suggest a look at Kansas City Star reviews and comments, which mostly agree with my sentiments. To Lucas and Spielberg I suggest you put Indie to bed and perhaps consider going there yourselves if you can’t do better. To Ford, well we know you can still do better – suppose the temptation was just to much eh? Well, I for one am not going to be adding this one, my collection will remain the trilogy it should. This last one belongs in a museum (of bad crappy movies, in a cold dark wet place with lots of snakes).

The Democratic Primary is starting to wind down. It is, I think, starting to become fairly obvious that Obama wins by the slightest nudge over Clinton in the actual delegates that are sort of tied to actual votes, excepting possibly Clinton and those very close in her camp. Now granted there is nothing that is binding on the Democratic National Convention to actually vote the way the states have been “seated.” What do I mean?

Well, when they get to the convention, however unlikely it is, the delegates that are seated for Obama, could still, and without binding in most states vote for Clinton. Now granted, that is very unlikely to occur. Beyond that of course, there are this super delegates that are not bound in anyway at all. And if I am remembering what I am hearing correctly with the numbers, that is huge number of delegates that are not bound at all and won’t even feel guilty for voting however they should choose.

So a couple of issues come up with this process though. First, Clinton won some really big states both early and later, but because those states had a percentage allotments on the delegates the delegate counts were not really that different between the two candidates. I don’t have the actual numbers, but I know a couple of places that had winner takes all that went to Obama by slim margins – which helped both in delegate count and in momentum.

Second is the pandering that goes on with the super delegates. What kinds of promises do you think are are taking place in those hallway meetings to senators, representatives, and governors across the country and in the capital? It is a natural thing to figure that if not out right corruption in the process, that at the very least there are some shady deals being struck.

Now for once, my state, Kentucky – actually had a vote in the presidential primary that mattered. I don’t think there has been one since 1980 that had that being the case, though I could have forgotten one between now and then. It was a nice thing to feel like our opinion on the matter actually mattered.

And, just imagine if you will, if by some twist of fate occurred and Clinton was able to get enough super delegates to decide that her election bid was the right choice and she got the nomination out of the DNC. Do you think that the race riots and such that I have read about from the 1960′s were bad? I suspect they would be nothing compared to the riots that would follow going into the convention Obama had the higher number seated regular delegates and Clinton got the nomination anyway.

Add to all this mess that if lived in Florida or Michigan I would be extremely pissed off and feeling terribly dis-enfranchised by the whole of the process. The DNC says they couldn’t move the date up on their primary or it would not be recognized. I say to the DNC bugger off. The taxpayers of those two states paid for those elections, not the DNC, so they can have those elections at any date they choose too. Personally if I were of those two states, I would tell the DNC, and ultimately the democratic candidate to bugger off by voting in November for some other party period. And further, I would, if I were the state sue the DNC for the 1/2 the amount spent to run the elections they chose not to use. So now, they are going to do some split worked out mathematically 1/2 way between where both candidates wanted the votes to go, via percentages.

DNC, for next go around you need to get you head out of your behind end and get things started off more correctly. The playing field needs to be equal across the whole of the US and everyone needs to be heard. Further, the rules need to have a few major flaws corrected. I offer the following suggestions personally:

1. Since all states would prefer to be heard, and we really have enjoyed feeling like we are important perhaps the biggest thing I would suggest is that there be ONE primary super day, sometime in the early spring for the entire country for both parties. This way every state would get equal exposure to the candidates and it would start out as a truly national campaign, which is how it should be.
2. Given that the above is very unlikely to happen, instead of trying to dictate to states when they can hold their primaries in relation to other states – let them choose whatever date they would like. The states (taxpayers, who are citizens there in) are after all footing the bill. And besides why do we so value the opinions of Iowa and New Hampshire – two of the smaller states via population and in my opinion a bit far from representing a good cross section of the country.
3. I would prefer to see a winner take the whole states delegates, and their be no wiggle room on this. It makes each state truly have an impact. Imagine with the system we have now if three people were in nearly dead heats, no one would get a clear majority of delegates – it would be UGLY. Each state should be allocated delegates based on population information, much as representatives are, obviously.
4. Maybe winner takes all wouldn’t work or be as accepted as some division. If that is out, then the divisions have to truly follow the state, where representation is equal by roughly the population (percentage) that lives in that area of the state. And non of this drawing weird districts and such to make things happen the way someone wants them too. Squares, or as near and is feasible, that gives the same rough number of people in each area across the state.
5. All delegates are tied to a specific region in a specific state – period. None of this super delegate crap that could go one way or another and just invites potential problems and cries of unfair no matter how things go. Personally I felt a big sting despite going mostly republic when a super delegate from Kentucky announced, prior to our primary, for support of Obama. And this was followed with a HUGE victory by Clinton in the actual popular vote from the state.
6. Lastly, dear DNC – if you don’t like the way things are being done by the states holding the primaries, the hold them yourself and pick up the tab for such yourself as well.

One last note, Republicans – you should take notes as well. It is only by grace that you are not in the situation yourself. If you had asked me prior to the primary season I would have bet the Republican party still trying to choose this late instead of the democratic party.

A personal aggravation that is only getting worse is the use of music and video on websites that auto-plays. If you are one of the folks that does this, please stop. I am not sure about the rest of the world but when I am working or playing on the internet I almost always have my own themed music playing for the mood that I am in or desire to be in.

There is hardly nothing I can think of in regards to the internet that is more annoying then clicking on a link and having my idyllic Celtic based music super imposed with some idiotic pop drivel. Same thing applies equally if I am listening to Willie, Waylon, Johnny, Willie or one of the boys and I get some advertisement playing over words of advise to Momma regarding cowboys.

Historically I found pop up advertising annoying as heck. Heck, I still find that annoying, but that has subsided somewhat and at least it was silent. And yes, it did use a little bit of my computer resources, but nothing like a full three or four minute song automatically being downloaded and played. And most advertising still considering the use of such now as a general rule have the courtesy to pop up behind. On top of that, we have pop up blockers built into browsers and a dozen other tools available to use now.

Short of using a browser that does not support flash, mpg, avi, or mp3 I am not sure how to keep the sounds from playing and still get to the page with the information one is actually there trying to find (or least look and see if it is). The multi-media experience of the web is a rich one and enjoyable, but give us the browser of your website the option to decide how rich we want the experience to be.

Worse offenders are the folks on myspace by the way. I appreciate that you like that particular song or group or that list of a 100 songs that you have. However, most definitely when I am on myspace browsing around I am playing my own sound track from my life. And you can just imagine the garbled mess you get if you open up three or four pages in tabs to browse or catch up with someone and they all have auto music with in their pages. This one is bad, even if I were not playing my own music before hand. Don’t think I am not brave enough to click and play what you listen to when I am in the mood to do so to check it out.

This problem is getting worse. Yesterday when searching for something I had three different sites that were playing video on their page automatically. This was video with sound enabled. Worse yet, think about the number of wasted bytes that were being pulled across the internet that I did NOT want.

Moving forward from today, I am “blacklisting” any sites that have embedded music or videos that automatically play and will not visit those sites in the future. Further, I think I am going to send the webmaster an email of complaint for imposing on my own guilty musical pleasures.