Many American consumers can purchase goods online without paying a state sales tax. That may change in the future. While this article specifically references a proposed bill from a Massachusetts House member, it has some interesting background on the legal issues behind gathering state sales taxes from Internet purchases.
Author Archives: legallysociable
Happy holidays: Illinois’ dire straits
From the New York Times: the State of Illinois is not paying its bills and has at least a $12 billion deficit.
Carnival of lights
Bull riding
Watching bull riding at the Schuyler County Fair on July 4th weekend:
One problem with e-voting: roll-off
This Newsweek piece explores how unknown Alvin Greene might have won the Democratic Senate primary. While some have alleged fraud at the voting booth, the issue of “roll-off” is a more reasonable explanation.
Roll-off describes a process originally found in paper ballots where voters cast less votes toward the end of the ballot. This can be exacerbated if voters don’t recognize names – perhaps in those races like local judges, forest preserve commissioners, township officials, and more. Between the Greene race and the one listed above it, for education superintendent, there was only a 10% drop in votes cast. Newsweek says political analysts consider this a low roll-off figure for a race that garnered little public attention.
But there was another step with the e-voting machine: when a user submitts a ballot, the machine passes on a warning if all the races are not voted for. If a user saw the warning and hadn’t voted in the Democratic Senate primary, they then might have just picked the first name, Greene’s, as he was the first candidate listed based on alphabetical order.
Summary: by asking voters to double-check their input, the machine may be skewing voting results as voters just want the warnings to go away and vote for the most accessible candidate.
As local governments consider purchasing e-voting machines, this is an issue to consider.
Searching for skilled factory workers
The New York Times reports on a problem for some factories: finding workers that have enough skills to operate more complicated machinery. An anecdote from a company outside Cleveland illustrates the issue:
All candidates at Ben Venue must pass a basic skills test showing they can read and understand math at a ninth-grade level. A significant portion of recent applicants failed, and the company has been disappointed by the quality of graduates from local training programs. It is now struggling to fill 100 positions.
“You would think in tough economic times that you would have your pick of people,” said Thomas J. Murphy, chief executive of Ben Venue.
Many factory jobs today aren’t just manual labor jobs. An education is not just for office jobs; it is helpful or required for most sectors of the economy.
The merits of Christian Young Adult books
Over at Slate, Ruth Graham explores the messages for adolescent girls in Christan Young Adult fiction. While she says such books can still be didactic and formulaic, Graham suggests they can offer a welcome source of empowerment.
Quick Review: An Education
An Education is set in Britain during the early 1960s. It begins with a 16-year old British girl (Jenny, played by Carey Mulligan) studying hard in order to pass her exams to get into Oxford. But she soon meets an older man (Daniel, played by Peter Sarsgaard) who introduces her to a new world of jazz, art, vacations to Paris, and general excitement.
Quick thoughts:
1. This might be a period piece…but it might not be.
On one hand, the film takes place in the early 1960s, an era just before Britain moved from post-World War II austerity to the Swinging Sixties. Jenny’s parents are of the previous generation: her father is provincial and blustery (but only willing to stand up to his family members) and her mother fades into the background. Jenny starts the film wanting to go to Oxford but spends much of the film chasing a more exciting life. In a key scene involving Jenny and the headmistress of her private school, Jenny explains these differences: “It’s not enough to educate us anymore, Mrs. Walters. You’ve got to tell us why you’re doing it.” Without having a “why,” Jenny is unwilling to go on.
On the other hand, this movie is similar to numerous other stories that have simply taken place in other settings. Jenny is a typical middle-class girl and expects to go to college. She thinks she wants what her parents want, a good education. But all this changes as she “grows up” by interacting with the outside world. This is a classic “coming of age” tale as Jenny overcomes adult obstacles. Some of the characters are a little stale: the parents are typical suburban parents who fall apart when confronted with the complexities of the world.
2. I enjoyed the atmosphere of this film. I could feel the drudgery of the middle class home. I could see the excitement when Jenny went beyond the walls of her home and private school. Britain is shown as both dull and alive, as surely most places are.
3. There are a number of enjoyable short and sharp dialogues between Jenny and her parents.
4. Daniel is somewhat creepy, not quite of the Lolita variety but is still an older man chasing a teenager. We are never really told what motivates him or how he got to this position. Perhaps this is the case because Jenny is the main character and she never digs very deep into who Daniel is. Since Jenny just sees Daniel as a source of excitement, the audience doesn’t need to know much about Daniel either.
5. The overall question of the film is one that everyone can relate to: what kind of education are we seeking? One based in books, thinking, and analysis? One based in experiences? Or something else?
(The film was well-received by critics: on RottenTomatoes, 170 reviews with 159 fresh/94%.)
Quick Review: The Damned United
With the World Cup taking place, I picked up The Damned United which chronicles a short period in the life of enigmatic British soccer manager Brian Clough. Troubles ensue when Clough becomes manager of Leeds United, the dominant team at the time. The 2009 film features Michael Sheen (of playing Tony Blair fame) who plays Brian Clough.
Quick thoughts:
1. I enjoyed the film. I thought the story was compelling and sufficiently deviated from the typical sports film where a misfit coach joins a misfit team and they magically come together to win a championship.The story involves a number of flashbacks that reveal how Clough came to be Leeds’ manager.
2. Clough and his managing partner, Peter Taylor, have a well-played “buddy” relationship.
3. After watching, I went online to find more information about Clough. According to the Wikipedia entry for the film, the movie plays fast and loose with Clough’s real story. This may be due to the fact that the film is based on a fictionalized novel of the same name written about Clough. Clough’s family apparently boycotted the film and others in England were not pleased.
4. Since I liked the film yet found out the real story was not quite what the movie portrayed, I feel somewhat cheated. I know films (and other media) often take “artistic license” but this film, in my opinion, went too far. In this case, real life was interesting enough without changing certain dimensions of the story.
(The film was well-received by critics: 114 reviews, 107 fresh/94% at Rotten Tomatoes.)
Soccer taking off in America?
Bill Simmons, aka the Sports Guy over at ESPN, writes in his latest column that he finally believes soccer is taking off in America (see Questions #19 and 20). This is a common debate, particularly at World Cup time: have Americans finally latched on to the “world’s game”?
Simmons develops several arguments, which I summarize here:
1. Many fans weren’t just excited about Landon Donovan scoring during injury time against Algeria – more understood what it meant.
2. The US performance in this World Cup brought Americans together and there are not too many other athletes or teams that can do this.
3. Moments like this make big impressions on young children who then carry their fervor into their adult life.
4. Media and technology now make it easier to access soccer.
In summary, Simmons writes:
Soccer is no longer taking off. It’s here. Those celebratory YouTube videos that started popping up in the 24 hours after Donovan’s goal…tapped into a collective American sports experience unlike anything since Lake Placid….Those clips choked me up. Those clips gave me goosebumps. Those clips made me think, “I forget this sometimes, but I’m glad I live in the United States of America.”
It is interesting that Simmons says this now. He says he knows what cynics would say: people have been saying this for years.
I think he is right in one sense: more Americans do now seem interested in soccer. TV ratings have been good, particularly for the US matches. ESPN has carried every game and its easy to find highlights and commentary on many outlets. Americans like rooting with each other for Americans – this is what happens in the Olympics in four-year cycles and that typically includes sports no one watches between Olympics. There are few moments that bring Americans together for a common purpose and sporting events like the World Cup are rare. Additionally, the US now has a reasonable soccer league, MLS, that has developed into a decent feeder league for First Division European leagues.
In another sense, Simmons is making a strange argument. What does it mean to say that “soccer is here”? Is it now a top-three American sport? Of course not. It may have already eclipsed hockey (check out the consistent broadcasts and ratings on Spanish-language TV) but it would need sustained interest, not just four year spurts, to come close to football, basketball, and baseball. The YouTube videos Simmons writes about of Americans celebrating Donovan’s goals (successfully edited together here) are positive; but they are just a small sample. In fact, most of these videos feature middle to upper class white males sitting in a bar when they should be at work. We are nowhere near national holiday status for big matches.
The whole discussion about whether “soccer is here” is tedious. America is a big country: we have lots of room for lots of sports. In reality, there are still just a few sporting events that draw national attention from the casual fan or even disinterested people. The Super Bowl is the best example while the NBA Finals, World Series, and Olympics lag behind.
Soccer doesn’t have to be as big as it is in other nations to be considered “here” but it does have to be a consistent draw in person and on television. Perhaps by the next World Cup, MLS will be thriving (increased attendance, more players headed to Europe) and the soccer generation who have filled youth leagues for decades will be older and more attentive. Perhaps not.
But if one is truly a fan of sports and competition, it’s hard not to get interested in the World Cup. In addition to national pride on the line, it features the world’s best players and a truly international cast.
