What is it this time, you ask? :P
I am extremely miffed with this proposed tax on "unhealthy" foods. This plan is riddled with erroneous assumptions (and presumptiions)... and I would like to explore a few right here.
What are you... my MOTHER?
Firstly, the government has no right to stick it's nose in my pantry. No right to tell me what I can and can not eat. If I want to engorge myself on foods I know aren't good for me, or partake of said foods in such excesses that the bathroom scale shows it is to my detriment... what BUSINESS is it of the federal government? We are not babies, we are not children... they are NOT our parents, and we don't need to be babysat! This is stupid!
The Socialist Slant
Secondly, if this insulting and invasive tax is to help America to keep it's weight down... then shouldn't the skinny folks get a reimbursement? LOL! I mean seriously... I know they've got this whole fair and equal thing going on, but how is it right that because a part of our nation is overweight, the portion of our nation that is not has to pay extra for a little snack now and then?
It's like the one pupil in the classroom that misbehaves, and the teacher then announces that the entire class is to be deprived of recess. Except for one thing... no one here is doing anything WRONG. People's eating habits are up to them... which brings us back to this: it's none of the government's business!!!
I'm Not Buying This. Literally.
Thirdly... has Obama given any thought to exactly how overweight persons versus average weight persons are going to receive this? Overweight persons aren't going to be deterred by a tax... a few might hold out, but many are just going to carry on as usual. Snacking is evidently a a habit to some folks... and to them, the temptation of all the snacky foods out there is a bit overwhelming. What more is a tax to them than a nuisance?
Average weight persons, however, will be the one who are pulled up short by the tax. They never did a whole lot of snacking in the first place... now that they have to pay EXTRA, what's the point in throwing away the money? Maybe a few snacks here and there... but I guarantee you it will be the average weight persons cutting back on the snacks and junk food!
Super Obama Tries to Save the Economy
Umm... taxing sweet foods to cut back on expenditure on such products and therefore discourage the populace from eating them is going to do more harm than good for SURE in this department. Mr. President, if you DO succeed in getting America to file it's sweet-tooth... that's going to be hard on a lot of businesses. Have you even thought of that?
Define "Unhealthy"...
Last but not least... who's deciding what is and is not taxable? There is a fine line here... cereal is a breakfast item, and most of it is sugary. Is that taxable as a whole? Or are they divvying it up, so sugary cereals are taxable, and "healthy" cereals are not? Does that mean we have to pay taxes on Lucky Charms, Cookie Crisps, and Cocoa Puffs, but not on Honey Bunches of Oats, Raisin Bran, and Cheerios?
What about pies? An apple pie for example... would that be taxable? And if so, what about the ingredients required to make an apple pie? Will we have to pay taxes on apple pie filling? What if we make our own apple pie filling? Will Granny Smith Apples now be taxable? Then what... we have to use sweeteners to make it... is sugar taxable? What's the difference between buying a pie, and buying the ingredients to MAKE a pie? Will it become an issue of Tax Evasion to purchase apples for the baking of apple pies and other sugary goods? Or is Washington's next step to illegalize the abuse of Granny Smith Apples to create illegal substances such as apple pie, apple fritters, and my renowned apple banana nut muffins?
Have I made myself clear yet? This plan has a few holes in it!
This has to be one of the most asinine plans that Washington has cooked up in a long time...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Score Me! Pet Peeve (Part 1): Rulebreakers
A lengthy complaint in installments.
OK, a quick run up on my history with Score Me!
I have been a member for a year as of this June. A moderator from August to December 2008. In December of 2008, following an angry but effective tirade (which can still be found in our group forum, page 5), I was promoted to group Administrator. Finally, this past March, the lone remaining active administrator demoted, and I was promoted to the position of Chief Administrator.
The concept of the group is fairly simple... you post one of your photos to the pool, then use our copy-and-paste tagline to score the five photos directly preceding your own. Once you have posted, you may not post again until another five photos (by five other members) have been added to the pool. Via this pattern, every photo gets five scores. Doesn't that sound lovely, and brilliantly well thought out? Well, it isn't. Sadly, there is always *someone* to rain on the parade. : )
Don't get me wrong, , this is an excellent way to work on technical skill. This was my jump-off point as an amateur... a learning process for me.
But we have pool-flooders, and non-scorers, score deleters, photo-deleters, whiners, and all sorts of other folks to help make sure it is the precise antitheses of "fun" for the administrative team.
Firstly are the flooders. Prior to switching the group to Invite Only, we got 10-20 of these per day. They come in, they dump a bunch of photos in the pool, and they don't score... thus breaking up our Post 1, Score 5 sequence, and causing a hoot of a lot of confusion for the regulars.
Secondly are the non-scorers. These do just that... they post 1 photo (in accordance with rules) and score zilch. This means the five people after them all miss out on 1 score. We get anywhere from 50-100 of these per day.
Thirdly are the score deleters! This offense is the least troublesome, and yet the perpetrators are the most belligerent and precarious to deal with. Exerting all my diplomatic skill, I still get burned badly when negotiating with them. Why's that? Wounded vanity.
Usually the score-deleters are the self-proclaimed "victims" of a low score. They blame it on retaliatory scorers, biased opinion, amateur skill in the scorer... ANYTHING to divert the possibility that there very well could be something technically wrong with their photo. Probably about 20-40 per day.
Last but not least, pool deleters! I'm a strong advocate of loving my neighbours as I do myself, but I will admit that I am not very fond of these critters.
They make administrative duties for our group very complex... complex doesn't even cover it! By non-scoring, then deleting their photos from the pool, they make it impossible to figure out what went wrong, and where. This occurs about 15-30 times per day.
Our solutions? Strict administration, with a Report Thread (for members to report rulebreakers) and a Missing Scores thread (where members can collect scores to make up for the ones they missed due to rulebreakers).
Stay tuned for Part II.
OK, a quick run up on my history with Score Me!
I have been a member for a year as of this June. A moderator from August to December 2008. In December of 2008, following an angry but effective tirade (which can still be found in our group forum, page 5), I was promoted to group Administrator. Finally, this past March, the lone remaining active administrator demoted, and I was promoted to the position of Chief Administrator.
The concept of the group is fairly simple... you post one of your photos to the pool, then use our copy-and-paste tagline to score the five photos directly preceding your own. Once you have posted, you may not post again until another five photos (by five other members) have been added to the pool. Via this pattern, every photo gets five scores. Doesn't that sound lovely, and brilliantly well thought out? Well, it isn't. Sadly, there is always *someone* to rain on the parade. : )
Don't get me wrong, , this is an excellent way to work on technical skill. This was my jump-off point as an amateur... a learning process for me.
But we have pool-flooders, and non-scorers, score deleters, photo-deleters, whiners, and all sorts of other folks to help make sure it is the precise antitheses of "fun" for the administrative team.
Firstly are the flooders. Prior to switching the group to Invite Only, we got 10-20 of these per day. They come in, they dump a bunch of photos in the pool, and they don't score... thus breaking up our Post 1, Score 5 sequence, and causing a hoot of a lot of confusion for the regulars.
Secondly are the non-scorers. These do just that... they post 1 photo (in accordance with rules) and score zilch. This means the five people after them all miss out on 1 score. We get anywhere from 50-100 of these per day.
Thirdly are the score deleters! This offense is the least troublesome, and yet the perpetrators are the most belligerent and precarious to deal with. Exerting all my diplomatic skill, I still get burned badly when negotiating with them. Why's that? Wounded vanity.
Usually the score-deleters are the self-proclaimed "victims" of a low score. They blame it on retaliatory scorers, biased opinion, amateur skill in the scorer... ANYTHING to divert the possibility that there very well could be something technically wrong with their photo. Probably about 20-40 per day.
Last but not least, pool deleters! I'm a strong advocate of loving my neighbours as I do myself, but I will admit that I am not very fond of these critters.
They make administrative duties for our group very complex... complex doesn't even cover it! By non-scoring, then deleting their photos from the pool, they make it impossible to figure out what went wrong, and where. This occurs about 15-30 times per day.
Our solutions? Strict administration, with a Report Thread (for members to report rulebreakers) and a Missing Scores thread (where members can collect scores to make up for the ones they missed due to rulebreakers).
Stay tuned for Part II.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Creek
I feel like I've been run, run, running since Saturday... so much going on, one day after another, lol!
Getting up too early and staying up too late are taking their toll on me and I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow! : )
Maybe catch up on some reading, and putter around editing photos or something. This is a newish shot, and there are plenty more from this session still to come. Stay tuned!
Getting up too early and staying up too late are taking their toll on me and I'm looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow! : )
Maybe catch up on some reading, and putter around editing photos or something. This is a newish shot, and there are plenty more from this session still to come. Stay tuned!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Tadge Repotted
Erm... kind of lost part of him in the repotting process.
I am pretending he's *supposed* to be all brown and limp like that. (So don't contradict me.)
I am pretending he's *supposed* to be all brown and limp like that. (So don't contradict me.)
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