July 21, 2012

Big fat hairy deal --- people still have to go to the drivers' license centers.

In this county, they are few and far between, the hours are inconvenient, and there are always long lines.

I have to go every four years to have a new photo taken and it is a huge pain in the behind. You can plan on wasting a couple of hours of your life there.

Anyone without a drivers' license would have to inconvenience some kind soul who would be willing to take them. This does nothing to solve the problem. People will say the hell with it and stay home.

July 20, 2012

I understand your point, but I think there is more to come out.

In the clips that I have seen of President Obama on the stump, he hasn't been talking about Romney's taxes. He has been talking about how he has more to accomplish. He has been contrasting himself to Romney as the "man of the people" who would do more for the middle class. There could be more, but I'm limited to a few clips shown on MSNBC. They seem to show a little of his speech and then cut away. But, I do want the president to stay positive and leave the "attacks" to others.

All of the focus on Bain and Romney's money seems (to me at least) to be coming from reporters and pundits. Have any of the surrogates been rattling on and on about it?

If there is incriminating evidence in those tax reports, it needs to be divulged. I want the reporters to keep digging. For example, the story about the "dirty money" used to start up Bain just came out. I want to see a lot more about that.

Here is a link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/125158034

July 18, 2012

Buried on the business page today: DirecTV closer to a deal. July 18.

DirecTV closer to Viacom deal

DirecTV is closer to restoring Viacom Inc.’s 26 channels, including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, as discussions between the two sides continue, according to the satellite-TV provider’s head of content. “There’s been progress,” Derek Chang, DirecTV’s executive vice president of content said. DirecTV, the largest satellite-TV provider, lost 17 standard-definition and nine high-definition channels from Viacom on July 10 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. DirecTV has forecast that its total programming expenses will rise almost 10 percent this year.

http://triblive.com/business/2220802-74/cents-directv-million-percent-share-billion-executive-pittsburgh-quarter-yahoo

Wonder what it's going to cost us?

July 18, 2012

A liberal education, in the classical sense.

"Ideally, a liberal education produces persons who are open-minded and free from provincialism, dogma, preconception, and ideology; conscious of their opinions and judgments; reflective of their actions; and aware of their place in the social and natural worlds."[3] Liberally educated people are skeptical of their own traditions; they are trained to think for themselves rather than defer to authority.[4]"

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_education

IMO, the emphasis on education for a specific career path has produced a less educated population. This is particularly noticeable out here in redneck-land where Faux, blech, and rushbo are the main sources of information and people are too uninformed to vote for their own economic interests.

July 14, 2012

It is called the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.

There are a lot of links if you Google it. Corporations get a tax credit for funding scholarships to private schools. Some of the links were to Parochial and religious school publications, which gave it positive coverage.

There is an income eligibility (seems like around $82,000 for a family of four, I think) for students. Apparently the money follows the student who can use it to pay for private school tuition, including religious schools.

I believe that the program received increased funding this year, while public schools were frozen at last year's levels which had around $1 billion in cuts. If you feel like digging, there is a wealth of information out there about it.... it's just a lot to sift through.

July 14, 2012

Wish they would take a look at Pennsylvania.

There is a back-door system by which corporations can fund "scholarships" to private schools in return for a tax break. Seems to me that tax money is still going to fund private schools, some (most?) of which have to be religious. Our corrupt governor has slashed funding for public schools at the same time.

July 10, 2012

Charter schools are '' double-dipping '' on pension reimbursements.

Public school groups decry formula for funding charters

By Debra Erdley
Tribune-Review

Pennsylvania charter schools are reaping a multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded bonus on pension reimbursements at the expense of public school districts, a coalition of school groups contends.

The associations, representing urban and rural schools, school boards, business managers and administrators, say the state’s calculation for the tuition that districts must pay for charter school students requires them to pay double the amount they should for employee pensions.

The problem, according to those who have studied it, is that school districts pay 50 percent of their pension costs and the state pays the rest. Charter schools, likewise, are reimbursed 50 percent of their pension costs from the state.

But in addition, school districts must include the state and the local pension payments in their calculations for charter school tuition, a formula that theoretically provides charter schools with 150 percent of pension costs.

More at link: http://triblive.com/news/2145443-74/charter-schools-tuition-costs-pension-district-districts-state-formula-students?printerfriendly=true

From femmocrat: The article states that 105,000 students are enrolled in PA charter schools with another 40,000 waiting to enroll. The school districts, which took a huge hit from Corbett's cuts to education, are having to spend their fund balances to pay for charter school enrollees.

July 6, 2012

Unfortunately, but by posting it here....

you will make it available to countless trolls who will promulgate the hateful message.

I don't even understand the picture, but the words are just ignorant.

I had a friend who used to send me crap like this. I wrote back saying that I was so hurt and confused that she thought I would enjoy receiving such propaganda.
I never heard from her again.

July 6, 2012

Over 750,000 (or 9%) registered voters with no PennDot photo ID.

More than 758,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania do not have photo identification cards from the state Transportation Department, putting their voting rights at risk in the November election, according to data released Tuesday by state election officials.

The figures - representing 9.2 percent of the state's 8.2 million voters - are significantly higher than prior estimates by the Corbett administration. Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele has repeatedly said that 99 percent of Pennsylvania's voters already had the photo ID they will need at the polls in November.

The new numbers, based on a comparison of voter registration rolls with PennDot ID databases, shows the potential problem is much bigger, particularly in Philadelphia, where 186,830 registered voters - 18 percent of the city's total registration - do not have PennDot ID.

Under Pennsylvania's new voter ID law, various other forms of photo identification will be accepted at voting places in November, including U.S. passports, student identification cards with expiration dates, current military identification, and ID cards issued to government employees.

More at link: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120703_Voter_ID_law_may_hit_more_in_Pa__than_originally_estimated.html

From femmocrat: The state is supposed to notify those voters who do not have a PennDot ID by mail this summer. We'll see....

July 5, 2012

Our asshat neighbors put on a huge sky show.

It lasts from dusk to whenever they run out of ammo. You would think the police could see it from miles away. I guess they are busy with more important matters on the Fourth.

Last night, they had some kind of motorized "launching" devise! It sounded like a tractor "putt-putt-putt" before the KA-BOOM!! I was seriously considering going over there and killing someone. It would have been justifiable homicide... or temporary insanity, or something.

My dogs were traumatized for days. Next year I am getting them tranquilizers... and some for me, too.