(c)2010 Willscrlt from http://willmurray.name/blog/msg/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010–01-18/.

• I nominate @jamesrollins for a Shorty Award in #art because his words are art, entertaining, inspiring, and educational http://bit.ly/shorty #
• Just watched Clash of the Titans trailer. Was looking forward to it. FX look like any others. Boring actually. So sad. http://bit.ly/1dZ0Rv #
• Safe for work humor (though you might need to stifle your laughter). A little muddy, so turn the sound up a bit. http://bit.ly/6qaXlM #

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Tags: Twitter updates
 (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)

After a long, chronic illness (though mostly without pain or appearing very sick), I had to put my 16.5 year old cat to sleep today. :'-( She was diagnosed with CRF (Chronic Renal Failure) about two years ago and was only given 6 months to live. Fortunately, we had more time than that together. Read about her, as well as a song and poem that helps me cope with the loss of my four-footed family member.  (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)

(c)2010 Willscrlt from http://willmurray.name/blog/msg/california-budget-discussion-comments/.

Summary: The only workable solution I see is to institute a small, across-the-board spending cut on all agencies, all departments, all programs, and all spending areas in the State. Anything short of that would be ineffective, discriminatory, and leave the State in worse shape than it is now.

If deemed impossible due to Constitutional constraints, consider my feedback on several budget suggestions that have been made. Some seem sensible if handled properly. Others are clearly only going to make things worse for the State.

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On the news, I hear the legislature and the governor talking about cutting education, state workers, law enforcement, state parks, and health coverage. While several of those are the largest portion of the budget, there are many parts of the budget that are never mentioned (at least I never hear about them). Areas like transportation, perks to legislators and their aides (why can’t they use a basic Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, or Toyota standard or compact car instead of an expensive Cadillac or other luxury car?), and the justice department (mostly in perks and salaries, excluding law enforcement officers, who are already stretched too thin). I’m sure there are many other areas.

I know that various propositions of the past have tied the government’s hands by not allowing them to cut spending in some of those areas. And propositions (notably Prop 13) have also limited tax increases as an option.

However, it would seem that in a time such as this, that the legislature could (and should) draft legislation that allows them to make fair, across-the-board cuts of some small amount (one-half of one percent, one percent, two percent, whatever it takes to exactly balance the predicted budget needs). While this might lower some protected programs below prescribed levels, by being an equal, across-the-board cut, common sense would seem to indicate that such a cut shouldn’t be a problem.

For instance… The entire State Parks budget is around $70M according to the LA Times simulator. Earlier the governor had proposed eliminating that $70M in spending (and thus removing an additional $164.5M in revenue from the General Fund in taxes earned off of parks visitors within the parks and the surrounding cities and counties, for a net LOSS of $94.5M instead of any savings). That’s nearly a 100% cut to that program, which would essentially kill the entire program.

If, instead, an across-the-board cut of 1% were made to all programs, agencies, and employees, then the parks would only lose $7M (and the State General Fund would lose only $16.45 in lost, related revenues). Sure, some parks would have to go dormant, but not the entire system.

Similarly, if the $250M Healthy Families program were to be eliminated, those families would immediately become a drain on other parts of the State (it’s always less expensive to be proactive in illness prevention than pay for treatment once someone becomes ill). But, if only $25M were cut from the program, some people would probably lose coverage and treatments, but not everyone.

If transportation were to lose 1%, some projects might have to be deferred. This would be an inconvenience, but people wouldn’t die or be deprived of their independence like they will if funding for in-home health care is eliminated. (And adding new carpool lanes should be the first thing to be deferred since they seem to be a waste of money since they are under utilized, are unsafe because of the differential in speeds between the neighboring lanes, and do nothing to eliminate the pollution caused by all the cars stuck in the slower lanes.)

If the justice department and other agencies of the government that normally ride out budget slumps without fear were to lose 1% of their funding, they would probably trim a lot of pork fat that has been accumulating and that taxpayers have been paying over the years.

The only way I can see such a plan working is to make the cuts 100% equitable and completely across-the-board. If anyone–any part of the State government–is exempted, then there is probably a case for a lawsuit. Probably many expensive ones. But, if the entire State goes on a budget spending diet of a tiny percentage–just enough to close the gap–then there is no favoritism. There is no discrimination. There is no bickering. Yes, there’s a bit of pain, but it’s shared by all proportionally. It helps to make California healthy again, and it does it without raising ANY taxes or eliminating ANY programs.

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Other proposals mentioned that I am in favor of for helping to close the budget gap:

• Oil severance
• Modest increases in gasoline, alcohol, and tobacco taxes.
• Elimination of Prop 13 limitations, at least on commercial property
• Early release of prisoners into a rehabilitation program (I believe Kansas and one other state have highly successful working models that have saved those states a lot of money AND lowered the number of parolees who circulate back into the prison system–a double win!)
• Increasing spending on fraud prevention to save millions.
• Eliminate bilingual education programs that waste money. There are “newcomers” programs for Mexican immigrants that have highly compensated specialist teachers, aides, and other program staff that have classes of 8–10 children, yet the cost for the single classroom is likely higher than an entire classroom of 25–30 children supervised by a single, overworked and underpaid teacher. The students stay in that special program for at least a year, and seem to make very little progress. Students who speak languages other than Spanish, thus are not eligible for the program, seem to adapt just fine in normal classrooms, often learning English faster through a total immersion program.
• Make English the official language of the State. The cost savings (and environmental savings) of not having to print everything in both English and Spanish should be considerable.
• Add no-fault provisos to medical care and related legislation that requires insurance companies and practitioners to drop their rates once expensive malpractice lawsuits

… [Continue reading]

 (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)

(c)2010 Willscrlt from http://willmurray.name/blog/msg/i-dislike-you-because-um/.

It is sad that so much of the fighting, intolerance, and hatred of “the other” seems to align itself along the lines of, and even within, organized religions. Jesus, Mohamed, and nearly every other religious leader taught their followers that we are supposed to love and care for our fellow brothers and sisters. Instead, we use their words and the words of the great religious texts to revile others and separate us from them. I suppose it could all be attributed back to “original sin”, and take the easy way out by assuming that there is nothing that man can do about it because of that act. Personally, I think that is a defeatist mentality. Instead, we have to work hard to overcome hatred, intolerance, bigotry, and mistrust—first within our hearts, then within our religious organizations and countries, and then with those outside our comfort zones.

A favorite line of mine from Men In Black is, “A person is smart. People are stupid.” A paraphrase of another saying I like is, “Why hate a group of people, when there are so many reasons to dislike them on an individual basis?” Sure, it’s rather a negative thought, but it points out that there are likely many reasons to like a person, too. I can’t remember who, but someone told about their adventure visiting Iran during the Bush era. They feared the worst before their trip… Would they be treated badly just because they were American? Would they be persecuted? Would they be injured or harmed? While in Iran, they did hear some negative comments about America, but generally they were treated very well. There may have been some resentment toward America as a concept, but that was never passed on to the visitors. The individual was likable for so many reasons, that there were no reasons to let any dislike of the group (America) influence them.

Think about someone or something you dislike. Is it because you truly dislike that person, place, or thing? Or is it because you don’t like what or who that object is associated with? Take Brussels sprouts (please, take them!). If you dislike them, is it because they are a green vegetable, and you dislike green veggies as a rule? Or is it a more specific dislike? In the U.S., people are having to reevaluate their opinions of Cuba. After decades of our government painting Cuba as a terrible Communist dictatorship, we are now told that they have improved and we should start being friendly with them again. But has Cuba really changed, or has the U.S. government finally come to realize what most of the rest of the world did long ago… Cuba may have some problems, but it’s got a lot of good points, too!

We spend too much time worrying about the bad in others, and far too little time finding the good in them. I personally try to find something positive to say about someone every day when I am talking with them. Many times I will get involved in my work and forget to do so, but it’s a good challenge to try. Sure, it’s easy to come up with something positive about the people you like, but try it with someone in your work who finds ways to annoy you practically every day. I promise that if you start looking for the good in other people, you will find it in nearly everyone. And once you do, you will discover that people are generally good, even if they have annoying habits, don’t look like a supermodel, or don’t share your religious or political convictions.

Do you want a real challenge? The next time a telemarketer calls or a religious follower knocks on your door, don’t slam the receiver down or slam the door in their face. Instead, be clear that you are quite happy without purchasing a new thingamabob or visiting a new church, and then try to engage them in an actual conversation. The weather is usually a good starting place. First, you will find that the other person is tremendously surprised at your actions. Second, if they don’t hang up on you or leave when they learn you aren’t interested, you will probably discover a person who is very committed—they would have to be to do what they do. If you continue the conversation a bit, you might find out why. Look for the good in the other person, and you may find that they are not just an annoying anonymous voice or face, but someone not so different from you. You may find their task of disturbing you to be annoying, but the person doing the task often is nice if you get to know them a bit.

Why on earth would you want to do that little exercise? Well, besides the thrill of excitement you might get from running your own little psychology experiment on someone otherwise interrupting your day, it helps you learn to look at people and situations in new ways. Instead of automatically seeing the bad in a situation or a person, you start to see the potential, at least, for good. Take that experience beyond daily interruptions, and apply it to other areas of your life. Your life will become more fulfilling and happier. It can be the start of a life-changing experience.

Tags: bigotry, hatred, intolerance, religion
 (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)

(c)2010 Willscrlt from http://willmurray.name/blog/msg/crossposting-test/.

I am trying again to get my blog to cross-post automatically to my LiveJournal, Blogger, and Xanga accounts. Here’s hoping that everything goes smoothly.

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In test #1, Blogger came though almost instantly. I think LiveJournal didn’t work because I hadn’t added my Webserver to the authorized mailers list. Hopefully LJ will work now that I’ve done that. I’m not sure why Xanga didn’t work. I’m using the Croissanga plugin, which is supposed to work, but no joy on the first test. I tweaked a few settings, and here we go again!

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Blogger worked perfectly the second time. LJ and Xanga still gave me no joy. I’m not sure why they aren’t working, but at least Blogger is working now. That’s an improvement.

Tags: cross-posting, test
 (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)

According to this report, "A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require all virtual mapping programs to blur out schools, places of worship, government, or medical buildings or face hefty fines and possible jail time." Assemblyman Joel Anderson (R) wants to hamper the efforts of terrorists who use online mapping tools to pre-visualize their targets and gather information prior to n attack. Presumably this would include Google Earth, Google Maps, Live Search Maps, MapQuest, Yahoo! Maps, and many other sites that provide satellite and aircraft photographs of schools, places of worship, government and medical buildings. Street-level images would also be prohibited. While Representative Anderson's goals may be noble, it is an idea typical of legislators who don't understand technology or the world in which we live. I also think such a bill would do more harm than good for the average person, by making it more difficult for legitimate users to access helpful information. I have stated before that I believe that if we alter the fundamental ways in which we live our lives, but giving up our freedoms (including the freedom of information), than the terrorists have accomplished their goal of destroying our way of life. Find out how I think this proposed law would do more harm than good.  (Wed, Dec 31, 1969 4:00 pm)