The Hayseeds blog, No. 232 for the week starting November 24, 2007.
November 10, 2007
Hayseeds No. 231
November 24, 2007
Hayseeds No. 232
December 1, 2007
Hayseeds No. 232
Visit the Hayseeds Index
to see all previous entries.
I just had to link this movie:
When you go outside of New York State, you're suppost to pay sales tax on purchases outside of the state, but nearly nobody does. Governor Spitzer tried to enforce this against some internet retailers, but he learned that it was very difficult.
Collecting sales taxes on Internet purchases is legally complicated, Francis explained, since by law the company must have a connection to the state to be obligated to collect it.
Courts have ruled that Internet retailers that also have stores in the state, like L.L. Bean or Barnes & Noble, have that connection and therefore have to collect the tax.
It's relatively easy to collect tax on big ticket items, like cars or expensive paintings, but things slip under the government's radar are nearly impossible. Stores with no connection to New York make it virtually impossible to collect tax from. At the same time, in many cases, your not suppost to pay out of state sales tax when you go to fill up.
When I was in Manchester, NH I filled up my truck for $2.92/a gallon versus like $3.25 in Albany. Now I wonder will Tax and Finance come after me for using a credit card, that leaves a trail back to me? I guess they could if they supeona'd me, but a for a $40 fill up in your truck, I doubt it.
Probably yes. There is a fascinating discussion of the terrible New Orleans hurricane, class, and the environment on the August 17, 2007 Bill Moyers Journal.
Take a watch. Right click this to make it full-screen or go the Bill Moyers Journal site.
Watch also this movie on how the city is being increasingly gentrified, despite the fact the levies are still under-built. The poor are also increasingly displaced with little place to go.
This is worth a read:
ALBANY—County Comptroller Michael Conners proposed today the creation of a home heating oil cooperative and construction of a cellulosic ethanol plant at the Port of Albany as part of a county plan for local fuel-economy measures.
Conners said the proposal would affect the governments and residents of Albany's towns, cities and villages by making home heating oil more affordable, driving down the price of gasoline for drivers and reducing the county's carbon footprint.
For some time now, Conners has been outspoken about giving residents alternative to the high cost of fuel. Last September, he pointed to amount of farmland in the county and urged local lawmakers to approve growing biomass from which ethanol is produced.
Interesting.
While some of us keep toilet paper under the seat of the pickup truck, for those times we are off-roading and need to do a No. 2. That's quite fine when your in the woods, but it really isn't all that possible in the big city.
And for those of you following mega-city politics, then you probably are familiar with NYC's debical over pay toilets that where banned in 1975, only to come back in spurts after the homeless sued to the state, then to disappear after contractors of a multinational went to jail for bribing officials. A True New York City Story (TM).
Now, I've certainly been known to go to McDonalds and similar fat-frying pits to do my No. 1's when there isn't a good place off to do it off the road, without buying things. But I can understand the need for public toilets in public places, for reasonable prices.
The US is claiming that a photographer that took pictures of Iraq that where quite disturbing, is now a terrorist sympathizer or aided the terrorist somehow.
One of his horrific photos of a child injured by a bombed dropped by US Planes.
Iraq seems like it's another world away, so far from us and the reality we currently live in. But when you even start to think about the horrors our troop presence is causing over there, one must pause.
There is an interesting article on The Nation blog about Edwards rocking campaign stops and some of the things he's saying.
Not only does it keep New Yorkers from shirking on their duties, but also helps support local retail stores, by making them more competitive.
This is a good argument. We all want more local businesses, and we certainly don't want our communities completely replaced by mail-order houses. And it's the law. If we use the same reasoning against the Indians doing the same thing with cigs and gasoline, why not tax internet sales too?
The flip-side is though, how many of the things we order online to avoid tax, actually are cheaper when you include shipping? And are the stores we would otherwise buy from locally, the kind of stores we really want to be supporting?
John Hall, rocker and Congressman, who took Sue Kelly's seat two years ago may not have a race next year.
If so, that's great news for Kirsten Gillibrand, whose going to need all the resources she can get.
This instructional video is quite funny, and should be observed carefully as the winter weather is coming quickly upon us:
This is why it's important to have good control over your car in icy weather.
It looks like soon Albanians will be able to buy the Smart Fortwo, a ultra-compact luxury car that is so small that it will fit in the bed of a long-bed pickup truck. It's tiny and quite safe.
Can you imagine parking that car? I know what it's like to park my Ford Ranger in the city. There is a reason why you don't see many full-size pickups downtown. But if your only moving two people around, and you do lots of highway driving, and want maximum fuel efficiency, this may be your car.
And the idea that it's light enough and small enough to be put in the back your truck, is really cool. And for about the cost of a long-bed Ford Ranger XL 2x4 ($15,000), you can have one.
Everybody knows we are spending a lot in Iraq, but The Nation blog quoting Ron Paul notes it we could do a lot of good things with that money:
That money could have paid for a lot of things we could have used here at home. As Rep. Paul points out, for what the Iraq war costs, we could present each family of four a check for $46,000--which exceeds the $43,000 median household income in his Texas district. He asks: "What about the impact of those costs on education, the very thing that so often helps to increase earnings? Forty-six thousand dollars would cover 90 percent of the tuition costs to attend a four-year public university in Texas for both children in that family of four. But, instead of sending kids to college, too often we're sending them to Iraq, where the best news in a long time is they [the insurgents] aren't killing our men and women as fast as they were last month."
How about fixing the potholes on the streets? Or giving us a check to pay for gas bills? Or allowing us to take home a little bit more of our money, and less in taxes?
That's what The Nation is pointing out with primaries sneaking up and upon us and with the likely case that Iowa and New Hampshire will decide who will ultimately be the candidate for President.
All I know, is I certainly hope that Hillary won't be our candidate. I hope John Edwards gets his break in Iowa, and that he can push forward on that momentum. It might be a tough uphill battle for him, but I think he can do so much good for our country.
