Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Going to Mexico with Malia
I've been trying to imagine what sort of parent would allow their 13 year old daughter to go to Mexico with her friend. I can't think of a single one of my friends who would have been allowed to go. Back when I was 13, we didn't get a spring break unless you count Good Friday as spring break. And some years we didn't even get that if we had too many snow days to make up.
Malia and her friends going to Mexico is utter nonsense. If I were 13 and one of her friends who were invited to go, the trip wouldn't happen because my mother would have stopped it.
The problem with trying to put my 13 year old self into this situation is that it would never have happened. Not because Malia and I wouldn't have been friends, I lived nowhere near D.C. But because, when I was 13, parents had more sense and they actually parented. Something that seems to have been lost somewhere along the line. And my mother would have laughed thinking there was a punchline somewhere. We didn't know anyone who went to Mexico.
But this is how I imagine the conversation would have transpired had I been a friend of Malia and we actually got a spring break:
Me: Mom, I got invited to go to Mexico with Malia for spring break. Can I go?
Mom: The country?
Me: Yes, the country. What other Mexico is there? Geez. (eyeball roll)
Mom: No! Not at 13 you're not. Thirteen year olds don't go to Mexico for spring break. Thirteen year olds don't go on spring break.
Me: But all the other girls are going.
Mom: You aren't all the other girls. If all the other girls jumped off a bridge, would you? Who the hell would take their kid to Mexico? (said to air) I'm not going to Mexico so you aren't going to Mexico.
Me: It's just us girls going. Malia's dad is paying for it and he told her she could take her friends.
Mom: Are you out of your mind? By yourselves? You're not going to Mexico. It's not safe for adults never mind a group of 13 year old girls. Parents aren't going?
Me: But there will be plenty of secret service guys going with us.
Mom: I don't care if there are a hundred secret service guys, you're not going and that's final.
And my 13 year old best friend would have been standing right there with me for moral support and would have had to answer the question: "What did your mother say?" To which she would have replied: "We haven't asked her yet."
At this point my mother would have been on the phone dressing down Moochelle about allowing 13 year olds to go to Mexico which would have included a couple of "Who the hell do you think you are? You don't tell 13 year old girls they can go to Mexico." Unless it was Mr. Obama who answered the phone then it would have been even more entertaining because that conversation would have included the part about how much it would cost the taxpayers and she would have tossed out the figures of the salaries of 25 secret service agents, the cost of flying down there, and all the other expenses involved.
And I would have been mortified as I ran across the road to my best friend's house to ask her mother where the conversation would be eerily similar.
If after all of that, the trip was still a go, the conversation between my mother and the other mothers would have left Malia to go alone, thus halting the trip, I would think. My mom would have been communicating with the other moms at the various mom functions of the day - girl scouts, PTA meetings, ball games, church - where the moms would compare stories thus making the part about all the others going b.s.
My mom had the nads to actually call. My daughter and I would have had a similar conversation but I wouldn't have made the phone call.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should
Athens County Auditor, Jill Thompson, is in the midst of a battle with the sheriff, Pat Kelly, and the prosecutor, Keller Blackburn, over where some of the funds for their offices should be kept. It seems the sheriff and the prosecutor want to move money to outside accounts and the auditor is questioning the appropriateness of their requests, as well she should.
According to The Athens Messenger:
Blackburn seems to think it's ok since it's not tax money but money from criminal cases. Ummmm, I disagree. Regardless of how the money is generated, it still belongs to the citizens of the county to be used on their behalf to catch criminals and prosecute them. There must be a system of checks and balances, so to speak, for the citizenry to have some semblance of faith in the government that the officials aren't lining their own pockets.
And that's where the auditor comes in to the picture. We have a great auditor in Athens County. I'm convinced the reason she lost her bid for state representative had more to do with voters not wanting to share her with the rest of the district. I heard those sentiments expressed by R's and D's both. Keep in mind, she is one of two elected R's in this superD county.
If the auditor doesn't have oversight on the various accounts that are set up for each of the county departments, how can we, as citizens and taxpayers, know that the money is being spent appropriately? As a citizen, I don't need to know every microscopic detail of the budgets in the county. I'm sure it would make my head explode. That's why we have an auditor. But if something doesn't sit right with me, I need to be able to have a look at the books. If each department gets to utilize outside accounts for this, that, or the other, I can never be sure that the money isn't being used nefariously and the auditor loses the ability to do what she was elected to do.
Both the sheriff and the prosecutor are claiming that it is because of the 'sensitive nature' these particular funds are used for as the reason they need to do this. It seems to me that a big part of both departments deal with things of a sensitive nature.
Also, in the Messenger:
And, there is a track record already that these funds are misused. The sheriff's Furtherance of Justice account (which is allowed by Ohio Revised Code) audit showed expenditures without supporting documentation as well as money spent on carpet, which is not a valid expense for this account. Pat says he thought that was an okay purchase. Wrong.
So if you don't even know what is and is not approved purchases, why should the auditor give you another account to manipulate? That's like doubling a kid's lunch money this week because he spent last weeks' lunch money on video games. So now he can get a video game AND lunch. Or maybe two video games.
And your argument that other counties do it is so lame. When I tried to make that argument as a kid to my mother, she said: If the rest of your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to do it too?
Of course not. And that is what I gather Jill is trying to say too. You, Pat and Keller, have your jobs to do. Let Jill do hers. It goes a long way with the citizens who follow such things to know that the money is being watched closely and that the system of checks and balances we have within our government is working. If you're given too much financial latitude, there will always be a sector of the public who is suspicious that some shenanigans are going on with their money. And they should be suspicious. Because even if it isn't happening, the possibility that it could happen is enough for your credibility to be questioned. That makes getting reelected that much more difficult. Doesn't it?
Just as I was about to post this, this showed up on my facebook feed:
According to The Athens Messenger:
Blackburn and Sheriff Patrick Kelly sent Auditor Jill Thompson letters instructing her to move money from their Drug Law Enforcement and Law Enforcement Trust Fund accounts into outside bank accounts they would control.Maybe it's just me but it sounds a bit shady.
Blackburn seems to think it's ok since it's not tax money but money from criminal cases. Ummmm, I disagree. Regardless of how the money is generated, it still belongs to the citizens of the county to be used on their behalf to catch criminals and prosecute them. There must be a system of checks and balances, so to speak, for the citizenry to have some semblance of faith in the government that the officials aren't lining their own pockets.
And that's where the auditor comes in to the picture. We have a great auditor in Athens County. I'm convinced the reason she lost her bid for state representative had more to do with voters not wanting to share her with the rest of the district. I heard those sentiments expressed by R's and D's both. Keep in mind, she is one of two elected R's in this superD county.
If the auditor doesn't have oversight on the various accounts that are set up for each of the county departments, how can we, as citizens and taxpayers, know that the money is being spent appropriately? As a citizen, I don't need to know every microscopic detail of the budgets in the county. I'm sure it would make my head explode. That's why we have an auditor. But if something doesn't sit right with me, I need to be able to have a look at the books. If each department gets to utilize outside accounts for this, that, or the other, I can never be sure that the money isn't being used nefariously and the auditor loses the ability to do what she was elected to do.
Both the sheriff and the prosecutor are claiming that it is because of the 'sensitive nature' these particular funds are used for as the reason they need to do this. It seems to me that a big part of both departments deal with things of a sensitive nature.
Also, in the Messenger:
Blackburn said that if Thompson issues the checks so the money can be moved, she would not face any future state audit liability because she has documented her concerns.That isn't the point, Keller. Jill is doing her job. Just because she has documented her concerns, doesn't mean you are entitled to get your way. Maybe if you concentrated more on doing your job, there would be fewer criminals getting away with murder.
And, there is a track record already that these funds are misused. The sheriff's Furtherance of Justice account (which is allowed by Ohio Revised Code) audit showed expenditures without supporting documentation as well as money spent on carpet, which is not a valid expense for this account. Pat says he thought that was an okay purchase. Wrong.
So if you don't even know what is and is not approved purchases, why should the auditor give you another account to manipulate? That's like doubling a kid's lunch money this week because he spent last weeks' lunch money on video games. So now he can get a video game AND lunch. Or maybe two video games.
And your argument that other counties do it is so lame. When I tried to make that argument as a kid to my mother, she said: If the rest of your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to do it too?
Of course not. And that is what I gather Jill is trying to say too. You, Pat and Keller, have your jobs to do. Let Jill do hers. It goes a long way with the citizens who follow such things to know that the money is being watched closely and that the system of checks and balances we have within our government is working. If you're given too much financial latitude, there will always be a sector of the public who is suspicious that some shenanigans are going on with their money. And they should be suspicious. Because even if it isn't happening, the possibility that it could happen is enough for your credibility to be questioned. That makes getting reelected that much more difficult. Doesn't it?
Just as I was about to post this, this showed up on my facebook feed:
Sunday, November 20, 2011
So That Others May Shop...
Have we really gotten to be that self-centered?
When I was a kid, (eyeball roll), almost everything was closed on Sundays and holidays. There were, and still are some, 'blue laws'. Blue laws prohibit certain activities on Sundays. Some time in the late 70's, some of these bans were lifted and various establishments started to conduct business on Sundays and holidays. All for the sake of the almighty dollar.
Sunday used to be reserved for family. It was a day of rest. We went to church in the morning and gathered with family the rest of the day. We went to our grandparent's house where we had the opportunity to play with our cousins while the adults talked about whatever adults talked about. That's why I know my cousins. It's why I know cousins of cousins. Even after our grandparents passed, we still got together on Sunday's with family. We did the same thing for holidays.
While I don't like laws that try to dictate morality, they generally don't work anyway, I do think that the easing of blue laws gave us an excuse to start ignoring an extremely important aspect of our life - family.
Instead of spending the day breaking bread with family, we haul our kids to yet another activity, soccer, baseball, whatever. Sunday has become a day to catch up on those things we didn't get done during the week. Sunday has become just another day of the week of running errands. When did it become ok to schedule ballgames on Sunday anyway? I know what my mother would have said. "Too bad. You'll just have to miss this game."
But we've gone even a step further now. Again, for the sake of the almighty dollar, we have stores who are going to open their doors for shoppers on Thanksgiving Day to get in a couple of extra hours of Christmas shopping. Really?
That means that some poor souls have to forfeit their Thanksgiving with their families so the self-centered, in-debt-up-to-their-eyeballs, I-just-can't-get-it-done-without-these-couple-of-extra-hours, people can get a 'great deal'. Give me a break. Can't you wait until a respectable hour on Friday? Isn't 6 am Friday early enough to start your Christmas shopping?
The Santa Claus magic should have gone away when you became an adult. There's nothing wrong with kids, even teenagers, thinking, on Christmas morning, that all that stuff magically appeared overnight with the help of little elves. But do you realize that doesn't happen in the stores? Someone has to be there to stock and restock the shelves. Someone has to ring up your order so you can run that over-used credit card through the little machine. Someone has to watch the mob come through the door and be there to help your fellow shopper up when you run them over trying to beat them to the coveted item the marketers said you just have to buy or life just won't go on.
All that takes a lot of someones. Those someones have to be at work well before the doors of the store open to you. Those someones are going to try and cram in a quick Thanksgiving and get some sleep before heading off to work.
Yes. I know there are a lot of people who work holidays. I was one of them. There are jobs where it is critical for people to work the holidays, hospitals, fire and police departments to name a few. And others not so critical. But can we keep it to a minimum? Must we add retail stores?
I've never been shopping on black Friday and really don't understand the hysteria. There's always been more than enough things in the store to buy in the middle of December and somehow guys manage to find stuff on Christmas Eve. Besides, internet shopping means I can have a cup of coffee in hand while wearing sweats and I'm not infringing on someone else's family time no matter when I want to do my shopping.
So this year, when I venture out to the brick and mortars, it will be Sears or JCPenny's which are resisting this ridiculous trend, somewhat. And there's always the little mom and pop places that usually have incredible customer service. And if for some really weird reason I find the shelves empty at those places because I didn't show up in time, there's always the orange, peppermint stick, and nuts as a back up. Oh, and the turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade noodles, pies....
.....and we'll eat too much and talk about how we didn't miss out on Black Thursday over a game of Euchre.
When I was a kid, (eyeball roll), almost everything was closed on Sundays and holidays. There were, and still are some, 'blue laws'. Blue laws prohibit certain activities on Sundays. Some time in the late 70's, some of these bans were lifted and various establishments started to conduct business on Sundays and holidays. All for the sake of the almighty dollar.
Sunday used to be reserved for family. It was a day of rest. We went to church in the morning and gathered with family the rest of the day. We went to our grandparent's house where we had the opportunity to play with our cousins while the adults talked about whatever adults talked about. That's why I know my cousins. It's why I know cousins of cousins. Even after our grandparents passed, we still got together on Sunday's with family. We did the same thing for holidays.
While I don't like laws that try to dictate morality, they generally don't work anyway, I do think that the easing of blue laws gave us an excuse to start ignoring an extremely important aspect of our life - family.
Instead of spending the day breaking bread with family, we haul our kids to yet another activity, soccer, baseball, whatever. Sunday has become a day to catch up on those things we didn't get done during the week. Sunday has become just another day of the week of running errands. When did it become ok to schedule ballgames on Sunday anyway? I know what my mother would have said. "Too bad. You'll just have to miss this game."
But we've gone even a step further now. Again, for the sake of the almighty dollar, we have stores who are going to open their doors for shoppers on Thanksgiving Day to get in a couple of extra hours of Christmas shopping. Really?
That means that some poor souls have to forfeit their Thanksgiving with their families so the self-centered, in-debt-up-to-their-eyeballs, I-just-can't-get-it-done-without-these-couple-of-extra-hours, people can get a 'great deal'. Give me a break. Can't you wait until a respectable hour on Friday? Isn't 6 am Friday early enough to start your Christmas shopping?
The Santa Claus magic should have gone away when you became an adult. There's nothing wrong with kids, even teenagers, thinking, on Christmas morning, that all that stuff magically appeared overnight with the help of little elves. But do you realize that doesn't happen in the stores? Someone has to be there to stock and restock the shelves. Someone has to ring up your order so you can run that over-used credit card through the little machine. Someone has to watch the mob come through the door and be there to help your fellow shopper up when you run them over trying to beat them to the coveted item the marketers said you just have to buy or life just won't go on.
All that takes a lot of someones. Those someones have to be at work well before the doors of the store open to you. Those someones are going to try and cram in a quick Thanksgiving and get some sleep before heading off to work.
Yes. I know there are a lot of people who work holidays. I was one of them. There are jobs where it is critical for people to work the holidays, hospitals, fire and police departments to name a few. And others not so critical. But can we keep it to a minimum? Must we add retail stores?
I've never been shopping on black Friday and really don't understand the hysteria. There's always been more than enough things in the store to buy in the middle of December and somehow guys manage to find stuff on Christmas Eve. Besides, internet shopping means I can have a cup of coffee in hand while wearing sweats and I'm not infringing on someone else's family time no matter when I want to do my shopping.
So this year, when I venture out to the brick and mortars, it will be Sears or JCPenny's which are resisting this ridiculous trend, somewhat. And there's always the little mom and pop places that usually have incredible customer service. And if for some really weird reason I find the shelves empty at those places because I didn't show up in time, there's always the orange, peppermint stick, and nuts as a back up. Oh, and the turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade noodles, pies....
.....and we'll eat too much and talk about how we didn't miss out on Black Thursday over a game of Euchre.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Recycling Recycling
It seems the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste
District is out of compliance with Ohio EPA. Still. And the district says they need more money in order to fix this. There's a shocker. But there's something smelly about this whole thing and it isn't the trash.
It all started over two decades ago with HB 592...
1988 - HB 592 was passed that created solid waste districts in the state because we weren't recycling enough and the landfills were filling up. The Ohio EPA gets to oversee the districts and tell them how to do things. Problem #1. Since it is a government entity, tax dollars pay for it. Problem #2.
In 2009, the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District said they needed more money. To generate this money, they proposed a 'fee' of $3/ton of waste. A tax by any other name is still a tax. Call it a fee if it makes you feel better but it's still a tax. This tax would be levied on the trash haulers and will of course be passed on to their customers with rate increases.
But the tax must be approved by the county commissioners for each county, city council of the largest city in each county, and legislative authorities representing a combined population of at least 60 percent of the total population in each county. Athens loves paying taxes but the great people of Hocking County evidently do not. Logan City Council wouldn't pass it and neither would the county commissioners. It seems they had questions that were either not answered or were answered inadequately. Thank you to the elected officials in Hocking County for not playing the part of ostrich.
After a few months, the district recycled their plan to implement the $3 fee. Well, that is their business. Sort of. Hocking County again to the rescue. Questions gone unanswered concerning the finances of the district kept the Hocking County elected officials from approving the added tax.
Now Athens wants to take their ball and go home. The landfill used by the two counties is in Athens County. It's really close to the Athens/Hocking line though and wouldn't surprise me if some of it were located in Hocking County. Athens wants to break up with Hocking. The problem is that in order for a solid waste district to be a single county, that county must have a population of 100,000. Neither county meets that requirement and the Ohio EPA would have to approve the split. Hocking County would be left high and dry according to the threats made by the Athens County Commissioners. There's other stuff to it within the original bill that I am having a difficult time making heads or tails out of because it involves government speak and I'm not fluent in idiot.
The Ohio EPA says the Athens-Hocking District is not in compliance. I'm not sure exactly what that means but based on various newspaper articles dating back to February of 2010, we need to recycle more or maybe we need to generate more trash. I'm not sure. They want people to recycle but the county gets more money if we generate more trash. Since it's more money the county wants, do they want us to generate more trash? But the EPA says recycle.... makes my head spin....
The state says there is a partnership between public and private entities but at least a few of the private trash haulers don't exactly see it that way. They see it as the public side is pushing the private side out of business by causing the private haulers to raise rates. I can tell you that we pay almost twice as much out here in the county as what the people in the city pay using the county trash haulers. I'm pretty sure subsidies are involved. When the private trash haulers go to the landfill, they pay a fee to dump the trash. The county gets this fee. That's a subsidy, right?
But there's still the compliance problem. I'm not sure how the $3 tax will fix that unless it will be used to pay the EPA to look the other way. According to one of the private haulers, one way for the district to come into compliance is to add a handful of drop locations for recyclables in each county. Evidently there isn't enough participation and that's suppose to encourage it. In the same article from The Athens News:
Which is backed up on collegegreenmag.com:
Where and when will the madness stop?
It all started over two decades ago with HB 592...
1988 - HB 592 was passed that created solid waste districts in the state because we weren't recycling enough and the landfills were filling up. The Ohio EPA gets to oversee the districts and tell them how to do things. Problem #1. Since it is a government entity, tax dollars pay for it. Problem #2.
In 2009, the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District said they needed more money. To generate this money, they proposed a 'fee' of $3/ton of waste. A tax by any other name is still a tax. Call it a fee if it makes you feel better but it's still a tax. This tax would be levied on the trash haulers and will of course be passed on to their customers with rate increases.
But the tax must be approved by the county commissioners for each county, city council of the largest city in each county, and legislative authorities representing a combined population of at least 60 percent of the total population in each county. Athens loves paying taxes but the great people of Hocking County evidently do not. Logan City Council wouldn't pass it and neither would the county commissioners. It seems they had questions that were either not answered or were answered inadequately. Thank you to the elected officials in Hocking County for not playing the part of ostrich.
After a few months, the district recycled their plan to implement the $3 fee. Well, that is their business. Sort of. Hocking County again to the rescue. Questions gone unanswered concerning the finances of the district kept the Hocking County elected officials from approving the added tax.
Now Athens wants to take their ball and go home. The landfill used by the two counties is in Athens County. It's really close to the Athens/Hocking line though and wouldn't surprise me if some of it were located in Hocking County. Athens wants to break up with Hocking. The problem is that in order for a solid waste district to be a single county, that county must have a population of 100,000. Neither county meets that requirement and the Ohio EPA would have to approve the split. Hocking County would be left high and dry according to the threats made by the Athens County Commissioners. There's other stuff to it within the original bill that I am having a difficult time making heads or tails out of because it involves government speak and I'm not fluent in idiot.
The Ohio EPA says the Athens-Hocking District is not in compliance. I'm not sure exactly what that means but based on various newspaper articles dating back to February of 2010, we need to recycle more or maybe we need to generate more trash. I'm not sure. They want people to recycle but the county gets more money if we generate more trash. Since it's more money the county wants, do they want us to generate more trash? But the EPA says recycle.... makes my head spin....
The state says there is a partnership between public and private entities but at least a few of the private trash haulers don't exactly see it that way. They see it as the public side is pushing the private side out of business by causing the private haulers to raise rates. I can tell you that we pay almost twice as much out here in the county as what the people in the city pay using the county trash haulers. I'm pretty sure subsidies are involved. When the private trash haulers go to the landfill, they pay a fee to dump the trash. The county gets this fee. That's a subsidy, right?
But there's still the compliance problem. I'm not sure how the $3 tax will fix that unless it will be used to pay the EPA to look the other way. According to one of the private haulers, one way for the district to come into compliance is to add a handful of drop locations for recyclables in each county. Evidently there isn't enough participation and that's suppose to encourage it. In the same article from The Athens News:
He (the private hauler) said that officials often say that they are in the trash business because recycling doesn't pay for itself and they need the funds to pay for recycling.
Which is backed up on collegegreenmag.com:
“There’s not big money in recycling… so the government does it,” said Roger Bail, operations coordinator for the Athens-Hocking Waste District. “There’s money in trash.”So they're trying to get more people to recycle more. We used to recycle stuff all the time. Pop and milk came in glass bottles. We took empty bottles to the store and got a deposit back. Now they come in throw away plastic. I like glass. And we drank water that came from the tap. You would fill a glass with water and wash the glass afterward to reuse it. Now we insist on carrying around plastic water bottles that end up in the landfill. But I'm sure the government had a hand in the glass bottles going away - probably some concern about hygiene. So the answer to that is now creating problems. Maybe if the government would stop trying to regulate everything, thus tying our hands, we wouldn't have either problem. We wouldn't be producing as much trash and would be recycling. Our trash haulers could make a living without raising rates to the point that many lower income families do not purchase the service to have their trash hauled away creating a bigger illegal dumping problem that the county also complains about.
Where and when will the madness stop?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Oh the Irony - Voting No on Issue 2
I wonder if anyone else noticed the irony on the front page of The Athens Messenger yesterday?
Since it was the day after election day, they naturally had the election results on the front page with the headline, "Voters reject union limits". The focus was the rejection of SB5 with an 80% no vote in Athens County on Issue 2.
Any time the topic of Issue 2 came up in conversation, face-to-face or on facebook, I mostly bit my tongue. Once I asked "Did you read the bill?", and got the usual response of "No" or "I read some of it", it was only a baby step to the realization that there was no way to try and convince someone who was so willing to eat the union garbage to vote Yes on Issue 2. They had made up their minds and there was no changing it.
Of course, one of the arguments to vote Yes was the jobs that might be saved. To my way of thinking, it came down to: Do you want more jobs or more money for fewer jobs? The 'no' crowd evidently wanted more money.
Ok. Back to the newspaper. At the bottom of the front page was a small article: "Looking like county will have fewer workers in 2012". It went on to explain the budget woes and how there were likely going to be layoffs or staff cuts by attrition in various county agencies. An article in today's paper went into a bit more detail and included whining from the heads of departments about how they have no where else to cut their budget and the rest of the typical resistance to the commissioners telling them the money just isn't there. And of course, Sheriff Pat Kelly didn't pass up the opportunity to campaign for his re-election.
If I were a commissioner, which will never happen because I'm just way too conservative for this county, I wouldn't be able to resist an appropriate or inappropriate comeback, depending on which side of the aisle you're on, of: "Well, maybe you should have endorsed Issue 2."
So Issue 2 goes down in flames while our local government department heads complain about budget cuts. I don't want to give credit to the death of SB5 as the reason just yet, but I will next year.
But not being one to always see the glass as half empty, I did find a positive way to look at things. Those of us who love to follow the Constitution to the letter and expect our elected officials to do the same, we do want less government, right? Well, we'll be getting it in 2012 in Athens County.
Since it was the day after election day, they naturally had the election results on the front page with the headline, "Voters reject union limits". The focus was the rejection of SB5 with an 80% no vote in Athens County on Issue 2.
Any time the topic of Issue 2 came up in conversation, face-to-face or on facebook, I mostly bit my tongue. Once I asked "Did you read the bill?", and got the usual response of "No" or "I read some of it", it was only a baby step to the realization that there was no way to try and convince someone who was so willing to eat the union garbage to vote Yes on Issue 2. They had made up their minds and there was no changing it.
Of course, one of the arguments to vote Yes was the jobs that might be saved. To my way of thinking, it came down to: Do you want more jobs or more money for fewer jobs? The 'no' crowd evidently wanted more money.
Ok. Back to the newspaper. At the bottom of the front page was a small article: "Looking like county will have fewer workers in 2012". It went on to explain the budget woes and how there were likely going to be layoffs or staff cuts by attrition in various county agencies. An article in today's paper went into a bit more detail and included whining from the heads of departments about how they have no where else to cut their budget and the rest of the typical resistance to the commissioners telling them the money just isn't there. And of course, Sheriff Pat Kelly didn't pass up the opportunity to campaign for his re-election.
If I were a commissioner, which will never happen because I'm just way too conservative for this county, I wouldn't be able to resist an appropriate or inappropriate comeback, depending on which side of the aisle you're on, of: "Well, maybe you should have endorsed Issue 2."
So Issue 2 goes down in flames while our local government department heads complain about budget cuts. I don't want to give credit to the death of SB5 as the reason just yet, but I will next year.
But not being one to always see the glass as half empty, I did find a positive way to look at things. Those of us who love to follow the Constitution to the letter and expect our elected officials to do the same, we do want less government, right? Well, we'll be getting it in 2012 in Athens County.
Athens is No 1 on Issues 2 and 3
Athens County has the distinction of placing first in the state on Issue 2 AND Issue 3. It's not something I'm proud of but I'm sure there are a fair number of liberals who would be if they knew how to get this information. But the reality is they don't really care once the election is over and things mostly went their way.
I have tried to explain to people who are not from Athens County just how liberal it is here. They think they know and they say they know but they really don't know the extent of it. We have Ohio University and I think for most people it stops there when they try to calculate the liberalness of the area. But they fail to include the non-student population and the non-OU affiliated people.
Now, however, I have something concrete to use to point out the level of liberalness.
Issue 3 was the healthcare amendment to nix Obamacare. It passed in all 88 counties and statewide it was 65.63% to 34.37%. If you list the counties according to percentages with the lowest percentage in the first position, Athens County is right there in the big number one spot. It passed 52.76% to 47.24%. The next county had issue 3 passing with almost 56% of the votes. So, we're number one with the lowest percentage of yes votes on Issue 3.
Issue 2 was the big repeal SB5 thing. Again, all 88 counties voted in unison against issue 2 and again Athens County places first. Statewide, the percentages were 38.67% to 61.33%. Now, put the highest percentage of 'no' votes in the first position and again you'll find......
.....YES!!! Athens County with a.... get this....
.....19.65% to 80.35%!!!!! Now that's a big gap.
I bet I can identify every single one of the 3070 people who voted yes on Issue 2.
So, when someone wants to talk to me about trying to convince the people of Athens to vote for the more conservative candidate or vote more conservatively on an issue, and I tell them I'll do what I can and they think I'm giving them the brush-off, which I usually am, I have these facts to use to help illustrate the liberalness of the county.
I have tried to explain to people who are not from Athens County just how liberal it is here. They think they know and they say they know but they really don't know the extent of it. We have Ohio University and I think for most people it stops there when they try to calculate the liberalness of the area. But they fail to include the non-student population and the non-OU affiliated people.
Now, however, I have something concrete to use to point out the level of liberalness.
Issue 3 was the healthcare amendment to nix Obamacare. It passed in all 88 counties and statewide it was 65.63% to 34.37%. If you list the counties according to percentages with the lowest percentage in the first position, Athens County is right there in the big number one spot. It passed 52.76% to 47.24%. The next county had issue 3 passing with almost 56% of the votes. So, we're number one with the lowest percentage of yes votes on Issue 3.
Issue 2 was the big repeal SB5 thing. Again, all 88 counties voted in unison against issue 2 and again Athens County places first. Statewide, the percentages were 38.67% to 61.33%. Now, put the highest percentage of 'no' votes in the first position and again you'll find......
.....YES!!! Athens County with a.... get this....
.....19.65% to 80.35%!!!!! Now that's a big gap.
I bet I can identify every single one of the 3070 people who voted yes on Issue 2.
So, when someone wants to talk to me about trying to convince the people of Athens to vote for the more conservative candidate or vote more conservatively on an issue, and I tell them I'll do what I can and they think I'm giving them the brush-off, which I usually am, I have these facts to use to help illustrate the liberalness of the county.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
To Frack or Not To Frack
When I was reading the paper today, I got an idea about how to solve the fuss between the fracking camp and the no-fracking camp, the solar people and the drill, baby, drill people.
There was an article about how the City of Athens is thinking about passing legislation against hydraulic fracturing. It seems they want to be like Pittsburgh, which I think is stupid. It's stupid that Athens wants to be like Pittsburgh and it's stupid that Pittsburgh passed legislation that there will be no fracking in the city. I could be wrong but I think there has to be wells drilled for oil and gas before any of that fracking can take place. The last time I was in Pittsburgh, Point State Park was about the only place where there was room for a well and even I would be against that.
So here's my idea. Those of us who want to use coal to feed our power plants will get our electric from those plants, and those who want to use solar can go ahead and get their power from the solar fed power plants. Sign up for whichever you prefer and the electric company will bill you accordingly. Then, the electric company can determine how many of each kind of plant they need to supply the respective demands. That way, those of us who like to employ coalminers can pay $.04/kwh and the others can pay $25/kwh. No government subsidies, pay for what you use from the source you use it and everybody is happy.
As for the oil and gas, if you don't want fracking, fine by me. Just don't use oil and gas and you're good to go. Since I'm a drill, baby, drill sort, I'll have oil and gas options available for me to use.
Before you say my drilling will infringe on your access to 'clean' water that you claim fracking threatens - which it doesn't. Have you seen how deep they go? - you stay in town where there are no drilling rigs and I'll live out here amongst them. You're gonna want to stay close to town anyway since your electric car, powered with solar generated electricity, doesn't actually go very far between charges. Now, when it's time to replace that battery in a few years and it costs you a couple of grand and you need to dispose of the old battery, well, you figure it out.
And while we're on the subject of cars, you're going to have to make them out of something besides the plastic that is currently used. Plastic is made using oil. Maybe you could make them out of hemp. And bikes? Do you have any idea how much electric, oil, and coal the steel mills use to process metals?
Now, something else the EPA lovers might want to keep in mind about solar power. It doesn't always work. If the sun isn't shinning, you're running on battery. These last couple of weeks have been pretty cloudy here in Ohio and I imagine trying to keep up with demand during times like this will be kind of tough for the solar power plants. Winters get cold and summers get hot. And when the snow is flying and the sun hasn't been seen for awhile, you might want to make sure you have thermal underwear. Maybe you'll eventually be able to develop dependable batteries that last longer than the ones available now. I know my cell battery and computer battery are forever needing charged. They're power hogs. But then again, your curly fry lights use very little power so you should be able to see ok for the first few hours.
I'm sure there are some details that need to be worked out yet but that's the gist of it.
There was an article about how the City of Athens is thinking about passing legislation against hydraulic fracturing. It seems they want to be like Pittsburgh, which I think is stupid. It's stupid that Athens wants to be like Pittsburgh and it's stupid that Pittsburgh passed legislation that there will be no fracking in the city. I could be wrong but I think there has to be wells drilled for oil and gas before any of that fracking can take place. The last time I was in Pittsburgh, Point State Park was about the only place where there was room for a well and even I would be against that.
So here's my idea. Those of us who want to use coal to feed our power plants will get our electric from those plants, and those who want to use solar can go ahead and get their power from the solar fed power plants. Sign up for whichever you prefer and the electric company will bill you accordingly. Then, the electric company can determine how many of each kind of plant they need to supply the respective demands. That way, those of us who like to employ coalminers can pay $.04/kwh and the others can pay $25/kwh. No government subsidies, pay for what you use from the source you use it and everybody is happy.
As for the oil and gas, if you don't want fracking, fine by me. Just don't use oil and gas and you're good to go. Since I'm a drill, baby, drill sort, I'll have oil and gas options available for me to use.
Before you say my drilling will infringe on your access to 'clean' water that you claim fracking threatens - which it doesn't. Have you seen how deep they go? - you stay in town where there are no drilling rigs and I'll live out here amongst them. You're gonna want to stay close to town anyway since your electric car, powered with solar generated electricity, doesn't actually go very far between charges. Now, when it's time to replace that battery in a few years and it costs you a couple of grand and you need to dispose of the old battery, well, you figure it out.
And while we're on the subject of cars, you're going to have to make them out of something besides the plastic that is currently used. Plastic is made using oil. Maybe you could make them out of hemp. And bikes? Do you have any idea how much electric, oil, and coal the steel mills use to process metals?
Now, something else the EPA lovers might want to keep in mind about solar power. It doesn't always work. If the sun isn't shinning, you're running on battery. These last couple of weeks have been pretty cloudy here in Ohio and I imagine trying to keep up with demand during times like this will be kind of tough for the solar power plants. Winters get cold and summers get hot. And when the snow is flying and the sun hasn't been seen for awhile, you might want to make sure you have thermal underwear. Maybe you'll eventually be able to develop dependable batteries that last longer than the ones available now. I know my cell battery and computer battery are forever needing charged. They're power hogs. But then again, your curly fry lights use very little power so you should be able to see ok for the first few hours.
I'm sure there are some details that need to be worked out yet but that's the gist of it.
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