All Things in Moderation

Slow day all around it seems.  After putting in a twelve-hour day yesterday (and then going back in at 10:30 to work for another three hours helping my boss attempt to clean up a disaster of a data dump that we’d been given before we finally gave up) I still haven’t been able to really get to sleep–plus I’ve got today off,  so what better things would I have to do than throw a random post together to spark some discussion?  Off to the races!

First up: Minnesota’s LGBT community apologized to state Senator Amy Koch for ruining her marriage.

“On behalf of all gays and lesbians living in Minnesota, I would like to wholeheartedly apologize for our community’s successful efforts to threaten your traditional marriage,” reads the letter from John Medeiros. “We apologize that our selfish requests to marry those we love has cheapened and degraded traditional marriage so much that we caused you to stray from your own holy union for something more cheap and tawdry.”

As a person who enjoys snark at the highest level, I love this, especially in light of the fact that Ms Koch really tried hard to get an amendment to the state’s constitution outlawing gay marriage on next year’s ballot.  I’m sure there’s a lovely metaphor in here about stones and sin and/or glass houses.

Second: while I dislike the use of the word “government” when the author/producer really means “Congress” (strawman alert), this is what many of you have been saying off and on for months–the “government” isn’t helping small business much.

The polarization and blame-shifting in Washington has fed that indecision by postponing some of the most pressing problems confronting consumers and businesses. And with the presidential election campaign well under way, small business owners see little prospect of anything changing in the nation’s capitol.
“We need fundamental structural reform of the tax code, less regulation, and a more bipartisan approach to big solutions for spending and the deficit,” said Bob Benham, the owner of Balliets, a high-end women’s clothing store in Oklahoma City. “That’s not going to happen in an election year.”

On the flip side, there are spots of brightness out there–jobs creation!

Tuttle is also coping with the perennial wild card faced by heavy energy consumers. Volatile energy prices have fueled a boom in sales of energy-saving equipment. Tuttle figures that by raising fuel efficiency just a small amount he saves $1,000 per year per truck.
“So we’re retrofitting a lot of our trailers with aerodynamics and upgrading our truck fleet to take advantage of some of the fuel economy savings that are built into new trucks,” he said.
Such business investment should help boost sales for car dealers in 2012. Hometown Auto’s Shaker is about break ground on a new $5.3 million Ford-Lincoln franchise in Watertown, Conn., that will bring dozens of construction jobs to the area over the next year. The new facility will double the dealer’s number of service bays, allowing Shaker to hire eight more skilled technicians.

And, finally, since it’s that time of year I thought we should know how much New Year’s resolutions will cost.  Although, really, who needs to pay $75 for three fricking t-shirts!!!  And volunteer for a non-profit board?  How about just volunteer?  Nonetheless, an interesting article to flip through (and mock in places).

What’s up in your parts of the world today?

Filed under: gay marriage, government dissatisfaction | Tagged: Amy Koch, money wasters, New Year's resolutions | 39 Comments »