Tax the booze. Seems to work with cigarettes ... get ready for another sin tax if this gets around.
Link
Hitting em in the pocketbook seems to work.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Gore urges Obama to focus on power grid
Link
This is a great idea. I think focusing on efficiency is a no brainer, low controversy idea that has obvious benefits.
Kind of ironic I see this today after the power failure last night. We lost it on Wallace from 530 til around 8.
Couple of observations: Rt 12 area rarely loses power over the years - almost a bullet proof zone. For some reason our side of town loses it almost 3 or 4 times a year. It's causing me to reconsider using VoIP because without cell coverage (which is spotty but does exist for Verizon in my neighborhood), I would be without phone. Not to mention no power, no heat.
Also when I lived in Oxford this almost never happened. I wonder about the state of the power grid in town - seems kind of rickety and antiquated.
It'd be nice to have overlay map capabilities for this - someone mentioned GIS. I think this is good, although working in something like this to Google Earth with muni data would be ideal - I like their interface.
This is a great idea. I think focusing on efficiency is a no brainer, low controversy idea that has obvious benefits.
Kind of ironic I see this today after the power failure last night. We lost it on Wallace from 530 til around 8.
Couple of observations: Rt 12 area rarely loses power over the years - almost a bullet proof zone. For some reason our side of town loses it almost 3 or 4 times a year. It's causing me to reconsider using VoIP because without cell coverage (which is spotty but does exist for Verizon in my neighborhood), I would be without phone. Not to mention no power, no heat.
Also when I lived in Oxford this almost never happened. I wonder about the state of the power grid in town - seems kind of rickety and antiquated.
It'd be nice to have overlay map capabilities for this - someone mentioned GIS. I think this is good, although working in something like this to Google Earth with muni data would be ideal - I like their interface.
Monday, November 3, 2008
TV's negative effects on teens
The RAND corporation has shown in a 3 year study that there is some link, albeit not proven to be causal directly, linking teen pregnancy to TV shows with sexual content.
Also from the story - here's a stat that ought to wake you up if you're a parent - 1 in 5 15-19 yo sexually active females end up getting pregnant!
Also, violent video games have been shown to have a negative effect as well
I guess it goes without saying, but should be said - watch what you let your kids watch!
The study focused on 23 free and cable television programs popular among teenagers including situation comedies, dramas, reality programs and animated shows. Comedies had the most sexual content and reality programs the least.
"The television content we see very rarely highlights the negative aspects of sex or the risks and responsibilities," Chandra said. "So if teens are getting any information about sex they're rarely getting information about pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases."
Also from the story - here's a stat that ought to wake you up if you're a parent - 1 in 5 15-19 yo sexually active females end up getting pregnant!
TEEN PREGNANCY ON DECLINE
Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have declined sharply since 1991 but remain high compared to other industrialized nations. Nearly 1 million girls aged 15 to 19 years old become pregnant yearly, or about 20 percent of sexually active females in that age group. Most of the pregnancies were unplanned, the report said.
Also, violent video games have been shown to have a negative effect as well
A second study in the journal added to existing evidence that youths who play violent video games -- a worldwide trend with American children averaging 13 hours of video gaming a week -- led to increased physically aggressive behavior.
Researchers from the United States and Japan evaluated more than 1,200 Japanese youths and 364 Americans between 9 and 18 years old and found a "significant risk factor for later physically aggressive behavior ... across very different cultures."
I guess it goes without saying, but should be said - watch what you let your kids watch!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Autumn leaves over Upper Stoneville Res
Just thought I'd post a nice picture of the sun hitting the leaves this morning. Color really stands out that time of day.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Good news lost in the shuffle
We had a higher than expected tax levy thanks to new growth in our bustling little town. It amounted to something like $750K or more.
I know it's not popular among the bean counter hand wringer crowd these days, particularly in light of the "financial crisis" or meltdown or whatever to admit to good news for Auburn. Just how the credit crisis has directly affected the town I'm not sure it has. It's a little light of hope for us I think to have this found money, you can't deny it.
And thanks to the new software we enabled in the meeting it should be easier to track and exact taxes from new sources like this.
It was nice to be able to have a little breathing room for additional oil expenditure for schools and town, although it appears at least for the town we may not need it. It's a shame the contract for the oil price for schools wasn't one of those that go down but not up (which you pay a small premium over current price for). But still and all not bad to lock in to $3.30. Of course Massenergy blows that away right now ... somewhere around $2.50/gallon for consumers.
I know it's not popular among the bean counter hand wringer crowd these days, particularly in light of the "financial crisis" or meltdown or whatever to admit to good news for Auburn. Just how the credit crisis has directly affected the town I'm not sure it has. It's a little light of hope for us I think to have this found money, you can't deny it.
And thanks to the new software we enabled in the meeting it should be easier to track and exact taxes from new sources like this.
It was nice to be able to have a little breathing room for additional oil expenditure for schools and town, although it appears at least for the town we may not need it. It's a shame the contract for the oil price for schools wasn't one of those that go down but not up (which you pay a small premium over current price for). But still and all not bad to lock in to $3.30. Of course Massenergy blows that away right now ... somewhere around $2.50/gallon for consumers.
This revolution was televised
Wow - big step towards a major change in town government was taken last night when we voted to accept (with 3 amendments) the charter review commission's recommendation for a charter change.
If accepted by the legislature and voters in May, we will have a town manager form of government and appointed boards and employees instead of elected ones by the town manager as well as police officers by the police chief.
I was a bit surprised that things went so lopsided for acceptance of this, but also pleased. I think this is essential to modernize the town and create a more efficient, orderly and effective local government.
One criticism that was particularly annoying to me was "this document isn't ready". Being one of the 3 or 4 people who actually showed up to the meetings, I felt they really meant to say "we're not ready because we didn't do our homework on time". There was ample opportunity for all to become part of this process over the past 18 months. They had an internet presence so you didn't even have to attend the meetings for crying out loud! They met with the public, the department heads (which could not have been easy, change is scary sometimes) and the town admin and BOS.
Great job Roger and charter review and good luck in May - let's complete the job and get a strong town manager in here to bring us into the 21st Century!
If accepted by the legislature and voters in May, we will have a town manager form of government and appointed boards and employees instead of elected ones by the town manager as well as police officers by the police chief.
I was a bit surprised that things went so lopsided for acceptance of this, but also pleased. I think this is essential to modernize the town and create a more efficient, orderly and effective local government.
One criticism that was particularly annoying to me was "this document isn't ready". Being one of the 3 or 4 people who actually showed up to the meetings, I felt they really meant to say "we're not ready because we didn't do our homework on time". There was ample opportunity for all to become part of this process over the past 18 months. They had an internet presence so you didn't even have to attend the meetings for crying out loud! They met with the public, the department heads (which could not have been easy, change is scary sometimes) and the town admin and BOS.
Great job Roger and charter review and good luck in May - let's complete the job and get a strong town manager in here to bring us into the 21st Century!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Kudos to all on the fall fest
It went really well!
Kristin and Eleena pulled off a nice event that brought a bunch of businesses and community folks together. The weather held off and the dunk tank was a lot of fun. Nick Hammond, Wayne Page and Mr Valentine got in for the fun and to benefit fuel assistance. I even got in for a spell. It's kind of amazing how obnoxious you get in that cage. It was OK for the first 10 minutes after getting wet, then got chilly ;). My son was the first to dunk me! But it wasn't too bad actually I think the temps were around 60 or above. The wind was strong but it didn't rain the whole time and we relieved each other once things got cold.
I'm sure they'll work out a few of the kinks for next time and get some more involvement also. Schedules can come together a little more - there were a couple other things going on we can incorporate for next time. There were a few groups notably absent (which I won't note but you know who you are ;) but who I think could really mutually benefit the community by becoming involved.
All in all, everyone gave selflessly and came together to pull it off! Great time folks, look for the pics in the paper and word on the next event. I think they also have some good ideas for 4th of July so stay tuned!
Kristin and Eleena pulled off a nice event that brought a bunch of businesses and community folks together. The weather held off and the dunk tank was a lot of fun. Nick Hammond, Wayne Page and Mr Valentine got in for the fun and to benefit fuel assistance. I even got in for a spell. It's kind of amazing how obnoxious you get in that cage. It was OK for the first 10 minutes after getting wet, then got chilly ;). My son was the first to dunk me! But it wasn't too bad actually I think the temps were around 60 or above. The wind was strong but it didn't rain the whole time and we relieved each other once things got cold.
I'm sure they'll work out a few of the kinks for next time and get some more involvement also. Schedules can come together a little more - there were a couple other things going on we can incorporate for next time. There were a few groups notably absent (which I won't note but you know who you are ;) but who I think could really mutually benefit the community by becoming involved.
All in all, everyone gave selflessly and came together to pull it off! Great time folks, look for the pics in the paper and word on the next event. I think they also have some good ideas for 4th of July so stay tuned!
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