Nastiness

Porno publisher Larry Flynt recently spewed out a nasty photoshop of pundit S E Cupp. It's a despicable act, but I couldn't figure out why a sociopath would do such a thing. She's a great writer, but she isn't especially prominent. Larry the F doesn't do things that he doesn't think will profit him in some way.

Then it hit me. Playboy has a been slowly sinking for a while. Penthouse is a mere shadow of its 'glory'. Hustler must be taking some hits finally and he's flailing.

Why the difference in declines? The college dorms were wired years ago. But high speed Internet is only now coming to America's trailer parks.

That's gotta hurt.

Public Opinion Polls

Wannabe has a great post about a recent poll.

I think this short clip summarizes my opinion on them:

Truth

We aren't that sort of prejudiced bigot. We're a different sort of prejudiced bigot.

Random Thought

I just realized why legislators don't like the sex industry (porn, prostitution and the like). Like all monopolists, they don't like competition.

Because the only thing

that will defeat hot air is more hot air.

Some Fundie Wisdom

It's about as opposite of the modern Episcopal Church as can be, isn't it?

General Convention Reform

I've never been to the Episcopal Church's General Convention (GC). Thanks to modern technology, I will never need to. This GC has around 1,000 delegates for a church that has less than a million attendees. Add to that, the more delegates a legislative body has, the less gets done. More people means more time for discussion. The GC is both ungainly and expensive.

Were I in charge, which is highly unlikely, I'd change things in the following ways: First, I'd trim the delegates to 1 bishop and 1 lay delegate from every diocese. That cuts the delegates down to slightly over 200 total. Allow for the election of a non-participating, unfunded alternate. But the total funded attendance would be one fifth of the present size. That means instead of using expensive rented facilities, the GC could meet in a parish hall. That would be a lot less glamourous to be sure, but it's also a great deal more frugal.

I'd also allow for committee meetings, either live or virtually ahead of time. In fact, I'd probably make that mandatory. The bishops already know whether or not they are delegates. With the laity, all that would have to happen are elections far enough in advance for committees to be formed.

By trimming delegates and shifting committee meetings to before, the GC could be reduced in its length as well. Currently it's a two week commitment, which prevents a great number of potential delegates from participating. Two weeks is the standard annual vacation for most Americans. Trim it to four days and all of a sudden working stiffs can run for delegate. To counter balance this egalitarian move, I'd remove all delegate funding from the diocese. Delegates would have to pay their own way. This would further encourage the delegates to be about their business.

Of course, none of the above will ever happen.


Preview: I'm working on a detailed rant/essay about grilling. I've no idea when I'll post it though.

Government in a Nutshell

The problem with government is that it typically rewards failure and punishes success.

From Wikipedia: "In July 2006, the IRS confirmed that it planned to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, by October 1, 2006. Kevin Brown, an IRS deputy commissioner, said that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes than in the past. Estate tax lawyers are the most productive tax law enforcement personnel at the I.R.S., according to Brown. For each hour they work, they find an average of $2,200 of taxes that people owe the government." (emphasis added)



Here endeth the lesson.

Of Course The World Is A Newer Shinier Place Now

It's That Special Time of Year

When Georgia voters head to the polls to give tax breaks to the wealthy and hammer ordinary property owners.

This time we have three amendments to the State Constitution.

Amendment One will give tax breaks to corporations that own forests if they promise not to develop them for fifteen years. Sounds good? No. The corporation will not make the pledge for properties that are anywhere near the metro areas. They will make the pledge for properties that are deeply rural. This will devastate the small counties in South Georggia where there aren't many inhabitants and the large timber companies are major landowners.

Amendment Two allows school districts to shift school taxes from schools to development. If we haven't learned already that allowing developers to play with government money is bad, then we've learned nothing from the past three years. And of course it will raise property values so the school children will benefit in the end. There's a wise old saw about the bird in the hand. I suggest any one considering this consider that saying. The last thing we need in these economic times is more government funded speculation.

Amendment Three shifts the burden of initially paving subdivisions from the developers who develop them to the municipalities and counties. The normal course of subdividing is that the developer paves the roads, then dedicates the streets to the local government, which then decides whether or not to accept the responsibility. They can and do refuse the dedication. Under Three, the developer could set up an IDD and then fund the street building with bonds that the developer doesn't have to pay. The new homeowners do. But what happens if the development fails, as so many have recently? Who gets left holding the bag on these bonds?