I mostly I guess work for the state government. My job has a legislative mandate to protect a private fund, and the costs for doing what I do are paid for by that private fund. Associated with what I do is tons of paperwork. Tons. Fortunately, it looks like we'll be shifting to mostly electronic forms in the next six months.
We, the state government bureau that I work for, will be paying for the technology to make this shift, and in the end it will save a lot of time and money. The 21st Century, as scary as the technology is getting, is getting very efficient. Global commerce is benefiting greatly from electronic forms and documents being the new standard. That's one benefit, and there are countless others.
But let's talk about the federal government, and particularly how they directly interact with each of us. Did anyone notice how it costs $18 to file your tax return online? They promote e-filing to save them (ultimately, that is collectively us, right?) time and money. They promote it, promote it, promote it & promote it again & again because it is such a good idea to not cut down any more trees for paper. So then, why in the world would they charge you a fee for a service that saves them & us money and time and paperwork? It's a racket and a sham. But they do it because they can.
Done venting.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Dog War Comments
I found some pretty funny and educational comments, at least in parts they were funny to me, accompanying the petition against the proposal to leash dogs in the Foothills:
# 1,866:
5:48 am PDT, May 1, Gerald Matusick , Idaho
My main concern with regard to domestic pets in the foothills is the amount of feces. If the board feels that leashing all dogs will have an impact on the amount of feces they are wrong. I rarely see or look for feces 20 feet from the trail, but I see a lot of it right next to or on the trail. So, leashing isn't going to motivate lazy owners to clean up, ticketing them might. Most dog movements occur 50 from the trailhead. I support a measure that would enforce a leash 100 to 200 feet from the trailhead. This may calm those terrified of Fido, and motivate those to clean up.
# 1,853:
9:32 pm PDT, Apr 30, Anonymous , Idaho
My dog loves his off the leash freedom. It's sad to think that he could lose that
# 1,852:
9:27 pm PDT, Apr 30, Chris Larson , Idaho
It is rules and regulations like this that diminish the quality of life in Idaho. We all moved away from California to get away from overregulation of our lives. If the problem is dog poop, then give tickets out for not collecting dog poop.
# 1,824:
8:03 pm PDT, Apr 30, Christine Howe , Idaho
Please don't punish our dogs! Let's find a solution we can all agree on! Educate, educate, educate-- responsible trail users must become the enforcement and hold others accountable. This is far too precious of a resource to lose for us and our four legged friends!
# 1,810:
7:08 pm PDT, Apr 30, Robyn Walters , Idaho
Let our dogs run!!!
# 1,809:
7:08 pm PDT, Apr 30, Jeanette Stewart , Idaho
I feel that as long as dogs are in control of their master, there should be not problem, I would like to see owners who do not carry doggy removal poop bags fined.
# 1,801:
6:51 pm PDT, Apr 30, Colleen Back , Idaho
I continue to believe we citizens can launch a doggie-doo pickup campaign and educate people to leash their dogs when others approach on the trail.
# 1,866:
5:48 am PDT, May 1, Gerald Matusick , Idaho
My main concern with regard to domestic pets in the foothills is the amount of feces. If the board feels that leashing all dogs will have an impact on the amount of feces they are wrong. I rarely see or look for feces 20 feet from the trail, but I see a lot of it right next to or on the trail. So, leashing isn't going to motivate lazy owners to clean up, ticketing them might. Most dog movements occur 50 from the trailhead. I support a measure that would enforce a leash 100 to 200 feet from the trailhead. This may calm those terrified of Fido, and motivate those to clean up.
# 1,853:
9:32 pm PDT, Apr 30, Anonymous , Idaho
My dog loves his off the leash freedom. It's sad to think that he could lose that
# 1,852:
9:27 pm PDT, Apr 30, Chris Larson , Idaho
It is rules and regulations like this that diminish the quality of life in Idaho. We all moved away from California to get away from overregulation of our lives. If the problem is dog poop, then give tickets out for not collecting dog poop.
# 1,824:
8:03 pm PDT, Apr 30, Christine Howe , Idaho
Please don't punish our dogs! Let's find a solution we can all agree on! Educate, educate, educate-- responsible trail users must become the enforcement and hold others accountable. This is far too precious of a resource to lose for us and our four legged friends!
# 1,810:
7:08 pm PDT, Apr 30, Robyn Walters , Idaho
Let our dogs run!!!
# 1,809:
7:08 pm PDT, Apr 30, Jeanette Stewart , Idaho
I feel that as long as dogs are in control of their master, there should be not problem, I would like to see owners who do not carry doggy removal poop bags fined.
# 1,801:
6:51 pm PDT, Apr 30, Colleen Back , Idaho
I continue to believe we citizens can launch a doggie-doo pickup campaign and educate people to leash their dogs when others approach on the trail.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Dog Wars
Dogs have been all over the local news lately, and apparently the issue is that they're all over the Foothills as well. They're trying to mark their spot on mountain bikes traveling 40 mph, they're leaving doodoo all over the place (which some are arguing is damaging the chemical makeup of the soil, the infertile, rocky soil). Basically, dogs are running free and having fun up on the foothills. And that is why there is a leash proposal that would require owners to enslave themselves and their dogs to one another while walking the Foothills.
As an avid dog-hater, I thought I'd weigh in on this issue, offer some perspective.
First, let me clarify. I am generally a dog-hater. I bide by the wisdom of my father who once told me while I was eating some corn pone, "All dogs are stupid. Some are just stupider than others." If they can tear up your sprinkler lines, they probably will. If they can chase your car, they probably will. If they can go smell the behind of a porcupine, they probably will. If they can chew up your nerf football, they won't pass up the opportunity.
These are general rules, and they form my general opinion. I understand that, as I have been told, there have been some incredibly brilliant dogs throughout history. There were some dogs during WWII that saved the lives of many men. These lasses made Lassie look like a chump and a cheap circus trick. So I have been told, and I don't doubt the stories. It's just that the chances are better that you'll be struck by lighting and attacked by a shark at the same moment before you'll see a dog like that.
Now, I don't like it when they chew my nerf football, but I actually don't mind at all if they chase my car. I mean, if they are stupid enough to chase something that could turn them into a hairy meat pie, let them. Is it going to hurt my feelings if one happens to get its paw a little too close to one of the inside front tires? Uh, no. Is it going to bother me at all, if it does happen, to pull over and go inform the poor unfortunate family that has lost their stupid dog... never mind, I won't be mean.
I'm no Darwinian, but there is something to "Survival of the Fittest" in the animal realm. And when it comes to dogs, I truly believe that humans have propagated the advancement of the population of stupid dogs. Many breeds wouldn't last a second in the wild, and in some instances it is we who have bred them. Our muttation powers, which is usually just the consequence of leaving dogs off of leashes, has produced these car chasers. Pick on something your own size, dum mutt.
Dog lovers hate my passionate disposition, but I beg them to try not to take it personally. For the most part, I just don't like pets. And I understand that some people just love pets. If I do have a pet, it is a pet that requires very little of me. Dogs are too dependent. I'm more of a goldfish kind of guy. You can feed them, if you want, and either way they don't get too noisy about it. If they die, which they do (it seems that for me a goldfish's life span has lasted approximately 2 hours & 20 minutes, and many haven't made the car ride home in the little plastic bag), you can just dispose of them really simply with the flush of a toilet.
Cats are even tolerable. Sure, you have to put food and water in their dish in the morning. The rest of the time they're sleeping, or prowling about. Whatever they're doing, they sure never require you to go along with them. But if you love dogs, you love getting lukewarm slobber up to your elbow when you take the tennis ball out of Spot's jowls, good for you. Cats get hit and killed by cars often, but at least they're out and about doing something useful like eating mice. They certainly don't wait along the road for you to pass by.
Isn't it funny that so many think that dogs are God's most wonderful creatures, yet the worst insult you can hurl is to call someone a dog? And whoever said that dogs are man's best friend was a pretty pathetic person, really.
So, after objectively weighing out the pros and cons of whether or not to require dog owners to leash their dogs on the Foothills, with heavy civil penalties for disobedience to the policy, I would have to say that I am more than willing to give up my civil freedom, and the civil freedom of my dog, for the betterment of nature and for the human population at large.
Leash 'em up!
As an avid dog-hater, I thought I'd weigh in on this issue, offer some perspective.
First, let me clarify. I am generally a dog-hater. I bide by the wisdom of my father who once told me while I was eating some corn pone, "All dogs are stupid. Some are just stupider than others." If they can tear up your sprinkler lines, they probably will. If they can chase your car, they probably will. If they can go smell the behind of a porcupine, they probably will. If they can chew up your nerf football, they won't pass up the opportunity.
These are general rules, and they form my general opinion. I understand that, as I have been told, there have been some incredibly brilliant dogs throughout history. There were some dogs during WWII that saved the lives of many men. These lasses made Lassie look like a chump and a cheap circus trick. So I have been told, and I don't doubt the stories. It's just that the chances are better that you'll be struck by lighting and attacked by a shark at the same moment before you'll see a dog like that.
Now, I don't like it when they chew my nerf football, but I actually don't mind at all if they chase my car. I mean, if they are stupid enough to chase something that could turn them into a hairy meat pie, let them. Is it going to hurt my feelings if one happens to get its paw a little too close to one of the inside front tires? Uh, no. Is it going to bother me at all, if it does happen, to pull over and go inform the poor unfortunate family that has lost their stupid dog... never mind, I won't be mean.
I'm no Darwinian, but there is something to "Survival of the Fittest" in the animal realm. And when it comes to dogs, I truly believe that humans have propagated the advancement of the population of stupid dogs. Many breeds wouldn't last a second in the wild, and in some instances it is we who have bred them. Our muttation powers, which is usually just the consequence of leaving dogs off of leashes, has produced these car chasers. Pick on something your own size, dum mutt.
Dog lovers hate my passionate disposition, but I beg them to try not to take it personally. For the most part, I just don't like pets. And I understand that some people just love pets. If I do have a pet, it is a pet that requires very little of me. Dogs are too dependent. I'm more of a goldfish kind of guy. You can feed them, if you want, and either way they don't get too noisy about it. If they die, which they do (it seems that for me a goldfish's life span has lasted approximately 2 hours & 20 minutes, and many haven't made the car ride home in the little plastic bag), you can just dispose of them really simply with the flush of a toilet.
Cats are even tolerable. Sure, you have to put food and water in their dish in the morning. The rest of the time they're sleeping, or prowling about. Whatever they're doing, they sure never require you to go along with them. But if you love dogs, you love getting lukewarm slobber up to your elbow when you take the tennis ball out of Spot's jowls, good for you. Cats get hit and killed by cars often, but at least they're out and about doing something useful like eating mice. They certainly don't wait along the road for you to pass by.
Isn't it funny that so many think that dogs are God's most wonderful creatures, yet the worst insult you can hurl is to call someone a dog? And whoever said that dogs are man's best friend was a pretty pathetic person, really.
So, after objectively weighing out the pros and cons of whether or not to require dog owners to leash their dogs on the Foothills, with heavy civil penalties for disobedience to the policy, I would have to say that I am more than willing to give up my civil freedom, and the civil freedom of my dog, for the betterment of nature and for the human population at large.
Leash 'em up!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Muddy Waters
Mississippi Mud Black & Tan really fleshes out its iconic image of muddy waters, where polar opposites merge. Pilsner & Porter... Yankee & ... what?!? Yep, it's true. How ironic. On this Southern looking moonshine jug that hearkens back to the day when NASCAR was a serious sport - Revenuers chasing moonshine delivery boys in the backwoods - it actually says, "PRODUCED BY MISSISSIPPI BREWING COMPANY" - "UTICA, NEW YORK".
The Weather Channel
We watch very little TV. I think we watch one reality show together religiously once a week, and then that's it, unless she catches CSI Las Vegas. Now and then we'll also watch something on The Travel Channel. In the past, TWC has been addictive to watch. Many times it has made me wish that I would have studied to become a weather man. I'm fascinated with weather - its force, its power, its movement, its patterns, its spontaneity.
Of course, weather is a noun that describes the work of angels. Weather possesses nothing of its own.
We turned on TWC the other night to watch a documentary series called "When Weather Changed History", and this particular episode was on Dunkirk. Indeed, the weather cooperated greatly for the English and allied forces. But weather can never change history.
Of course, weather is a noun that describes the work of angels. Weather possesses nothing of its own.
We turned on TWC the other night to watch a documentary series called "When Weather Changed History", and this particular episode was on Dunkirk. Indeed, the weather cooperated greatly for the English and allied forces. But weather can never change history.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Spring '08
It's finally Springtime, and it will likely be a short one. A long and snowy winter has led way to mild and rainy days, and a few pleasant ones, finally. This weekend was enough to sunburn you, and that's okay. It's just good to soak up the sun. So, the lawn was mowed and weedwacked. The golf clubs saw a good number of swings. I suspect that we'll have too few of these kind of days until it is full-blown Summer.
Spring planting has begun for gardeners, although we're still getting frost on cold, clear nights. Some potatoes and sugar beets are showing leaves, and the winter wheat has come out of hibernation, though not jointed yet. In some parts around here, there's still snow on the ground, or recent snow melt has left the fields too wet to sow. Our barley and Spring wheat planting is far behind normal, and everyone is anxious to see the crops start sprouting - I suspect especially so for the farmers.
The rock chucks are sunbathing with us. The squirrels have picked up their pace again, and the birds are starting their chirping close to sunrise. Things are coming alive.
Things are coming alive, and God's liturgy is in the resurrection season, teaching us again as He has done so century after century that death is conquered. He never fails to teach us the reality of death as well, but life always prevails. Sown seeds will spring up. Budding will show its face, sooner or later. And the birds, who knows where they come from, always start up their hymns when the cold gray clouds part.
Spring planting has begun for gardeners, although we're still getting frost on cold, clear nights. Some potatoes and sugar beets are showing leaves, and the winter wheat has come out of hibernation, though not jointed yet. In some parts around here, there's still snow on the ground, or recent snow melt has left the fields too wet to sow. Our barley and Spring wheat planting is far behind normal, and everyone is anxious to see the crops start sprouting - I suspect especially so for the farmers.
The rock chucks are sunbathing with us. The squirrels have picked up their pace again, and the birds are starting their chirping close to sunrise. Things are coming alive.
Things are coming alive, and God's liturgy is in the resurrection season, teaching us again as He has done so century after century that death is conquered. He never fails to teach us the reality of death as well, but life always prevails. Sown seeds will spring up. Budding will show its face, sooner or later. And the birds, who knows where they come from, always start up their hymns when the cold gray clouds part.
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