Taxes, taxes, more taxes.

New York Governor David PattersonAnd fees.

It seems like every time I turn on the TV or radio, I hear about a new tax proposed by New York Governor David Patterson. We’ve had taxes promised on almost every little thing that Mr. Patterson thinks is a luxury or vice.

He’s promised new taxes on soda, beer, wine, cigars, movie tickets, taxi rides, electronic music and movie downloads, clothing and shoes and now lift tickets at ski areas.

Many of these ‘new’ taxes are just extending sales tax to things that previously were exempt from sales tax, but where do you stop? Pretty soon, everything will be taxed. A sales tax makes no sense if everything you can spend a dime on is taxed. You might as well just make things simple and collect it off the top as income tax. Continue Reading…

Front page blues

Lockport Union Sun & JournalSometimes, I get frustrated by the local paper. I’ve been known to rag on their errors – typos, misspellings, and technical errors – but by and large, they are like most businesses that are trying to survive on a small local scale against the mega-conglomerate competition. The fact that they continue to try, day after day, in this heroic struggle, is often under-appreciated and taken for granted by us, who see only the flaws.

Scott Leffler, local talk-show host and former US&J reporter, has been putting the thumbnail-sized images of all the local papers on his blog on a daily basis. It’s interesting to see the similarities and differences between them as they often cover the same stories.

It’s especially interesting when you consider that three of the papers, the Lockport paper, the Niagara Gazette and the Tonawanda News all are owned by the same company and share much of the same staff and infrastructure. They often carry the same stories by the same reporter, but the placement on the page is interesting to note. Top of the front page in Lockport might be a sidebar in the Tonawandas… Continue Reading…

What more could I want??? Less!

What more could I want....I stopped at the local taco shop for some fast food tonight. I had just gotten done at the High School where I was working with the robotics team. It was about 7pm and I just didn’t feel like cooking.

I’ve always been a Mighty Taco fan. They’re a local institution known since the ’70s for their funky commercials and cartoonish artwork in their ads.
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I’ve always liked them better than say, Taco Bell, because they were a.) locally owned, b.) had decent portions and c.) had really cool advertising. Besides, they’ve given thousands of high school kids part-time jobs over the years. If you live in WNY, you probably know someone who once worked at one. Continue Reading…

No wonder they’re confused…

US&J Gave DTV Delay Thumbs Down
This article appeared in the Lockport Union, Sun & Journal on February 7th, 2009 in their Cheers and Jeers column on the editorial page. It appears to be contributions from their editorial staff, but no specific editor was credited.

While I certainly agree with the writer’s conclusion that the delay to the DTV switch is unnecessary, the article illustrates how people are not only confused enough on their own, they have the media to thank for it.

The flaw in the article comes when it says “If they miss MSNBC for a few days, the world will not end.Continue Reading…

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