Live & Direct from Nowhere in Particular...

Anyone that knows much about be can probably guess where I stand on these, and I was pretty sure I knew before even reading them. But, to make sure I wasn’t getting caught up in all the hype & the steaming shovelfuls of crap that both sides have been slinging, I looked them up & read them.

Proposition 1

Shall Chapter XI of the Charter of the City of Dallas be amended by adding Section 15 to:

(1) prohibit the city from, directly or indirectly, using, lending, or transferring city money or property, or lending the city’s credit, for the purpose of siting, financing, constructing, acquiring, leasing, or operating a hotel or other lodging facility;

(2) prohibit the city from creating, authorizing, or sponsoring any special-purpose governmental entity or any non-profit corporation (including a local government corporation or a public facility corporation), or authorizing the issuance of bonds, notes, or other debt instruments by such special-purpose governmental entity or non-profit corporation, for the purpose of siting, financing, constructing, acquiring, leasing, or operating a hotel or other lodging facility;

(3) require the city to assume the powers and duties of any existing local government corporation previously created or authorized by the city for the purpose of siting, financing, constructing, acquiring, leasing, or operating a hotel or other lodging facility;

(4) require the city to alter the structure, organization, programs, and activities of any existing public facility corporation sponsored by the city and to prohibit such corporation from siting, financing, constructing, acquiring, leasing, or operating a hotel or other lodging facility; and (5) provide certain exceptions?

______ YES

______ NO

In summary, Prop 1 keeps the City of Dallas out of the hotel business. I have yet to figure out why people think the government at any level will suddenly become competent and do something better than the private sector. Admittedly, of late, the private sector hasn’t done so hot, but I doubt our corrupt, incompetent elected officials (why do we keep voting for these idiots) could do better.

Proposition 2

Shall Chapter XI of the Charter of the City of Dallas be amended by adding Section 16 to:

(1) prohibit the city of Dallas (including any special-purpose governmental entity, nonprofit corporation, and any other entity created or controlled by the city) from providing more than a total of $1,000,000 in financial assistance (including any grant of tax concessions or relief; any authorization of debt or debt instruments; any expenditure of public funds; and any exchange, grant, or below-market sale or lease of city-owned land) to any private development project (the primary purpose of which is to construct or aid in the construction, renovation, repair, alteration, or remodeling of any hotel, convention center, luxury residential condominium, or retail facility, or the infrastructure of any such facility), unless the city gives at least 65 days’ public notice (including posting the notice on the city’s website for the entire 65-day notice period) before approving the financial assistance and obtains voter approval for the financial assistance at a regular or special election when voter approval is required by a petition that is signed by at least 500 residents of the city and filed with the city secretary within 60 days after the public notice is posted;

(2) exempt from the financial assistance restrictions any retail development of less than 50,000 square feet that serves a subsidized residential development; and (3) provide a severability clause?

_____ YES

_____ NO

Proposition 2 makes the city tell us 65 days in advance and hold a special election upon petition if they are going to give away more than $1 million of our money. Again, why is this a problem? $1 million is a pretty decent cap. About $0.75 per person. And likely more like $2 per tax payer. I realize we elect the council to make these decisions for us, but they have proven time & time again to not be competent to do so. If a project is worthy, the people will approve it. What are they so afraid of?

So that should make my opinion pretty clear. Please read them and make up your mind based on the propositions themselves, not on the rhetoric & fancy websites of either side.

This will be a very ATEC term … and a very looooong Wednesday.

Fall 2009 Schedule

So that means I’ll be leaving work sometime between 3 & 3:30 on Wednesdays & not getting home til after 10.

It’s been 195 days since I used Wii Fit. Shame on me. The balance board forgot my name. But for the good news, my Wii Fit age was 30. Yippee!

I seem to be wel balanced today. I just set a new record on Warrior Pose as well. Tree wasn’t as good, but then it never is. I did set records on the Palm Tree (by 8pts), Chair, Triangle, Down Dog (by 17pts) & Dance (from 36 to 51 - didn’t take much) though to make up for it. I also did enough time to unlock the last 2 Yoga poses & another Strength exercise. The Shoulder Stand wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

I think 36 minutes is enough for the night.

I heard about this on my way in to work this morning & found it interesting. The executive summary is that Perez Hilton was a panelist for the Miss USA pageant this year and asked Miss California the following:

Vermont recently became the 4th State to legalize same sex marriage, do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?

To which she responded:

I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other, uhm, we live in a land that you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage and you know what, in my country, and in my family I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you.

To me that is an excellent response, especially for an off the cuff response from a pageant contestant. “Choice” has a bit of a negative connotation when it comes to gay causes, but in this case I think it is entirely appropriate. We can chose to head to any of the 4 States that will marry us & get married anytime we like. I am also impressed that she went on to be entirely honest about her beliefs even if they run somewhat contrary to what seems to be the current media current. And it seemed clear from the crowd reaction that more were on her side than Perez’s, though that could have been timing since the applause for Vermont was in the middle of his question and her applause was at a natural applause point for a contestant response.

The real issue I have with this little dustup is Mr. Hilton’s response (entitled “Everyone Is Entitled To Their Own Opinion, But…"). I think he needs to re-listen to her response. I think she actually said just about what he said a contestant should say, albeit in different words, but then she didn’t have time to craft a polished answer.

On my way to work this morning I saw a guy in a Prius with the windows down (there goes that slippery shape) lighting up a cigarette (do they even have ashtrays?). It just seemed incongruous to me. For a couple possible reasons.

1. If he bought the Prius to save money on gas, he could probably save more money by quitting smoking.
2. If he bought the Prius to save the environment, he could have a greater effect by quitting smoking. Between the “emissions” of him exhaling the cigarette smoke & the fact that tobacco is a very resource intensive crop, plus the wood consumption for the paper & the litter of the filters…

Addiction’s a bitch, ain’t it?

Link: http://www.macheist.com/bundle/u/313852/

So, I decided to go for it and get the MacHeist 3 bundle. I had been wanting World of Goo since I played it over @ Ray’s. & iSale is a pretty good app, but I never wanted to pay $40 for it. PhoneView looked pretty handy too. So, I am probably getting my money’s worth just from the cheap apps. Kinemac has potential, but I’m not sure I’ll ever use it. It ends in 6 hours, so hurry if you want it.