Damn Right I'm A Curmudgeon!

Here's a few things I wanna get off my chest..* School Taxes: According to WFMZ Allentown homeowners are going to get a break on next year's school taxes. Instead of getting a 9% increase we may see only a 6% increase. Same old bullshit every year. Ask for 'x' percentage of increase and only get a 'x" percentage lesser increase. Thanks but no thanks for the favor!


What is it they don't understand? Seniors on social security received only 1.5% increase in 2014. Most employees have seen little if any raise. Even the ones that did have seen increasing amounts taken out of their paychecks for medical and retirement. In other words taxpayer incomes are going down while the taxes continue going up. Gee I wonder how this will turn out?

I've tried to understand all the various school districts woes, but 'freaking-a'... these guys can't keep increasing their revenues while the average smuck is going in the other direction economically. At this point I don't giving a flying fig about their problems anymore then they give a flying fig about those to whom they are forcing more money out of with their constant increases year after year. Yes school district board members may be empathetic but empathy doesn't translate into dollars when push comes to shove.

For whatever reason it's always somebody's else's fault. All I know is, no matter how much finger pointing there is, we're the ones ending up getting it in the behind.

Allentown School District is not alone. Easton's looking at a 4.9% increase. Over at Parkland School District they're looking at a school tax increase too. When you couple these increases with some of the homeowners higher reappraisals we're looking at some serious increases.

* School Dropouts: Allentown schools' dropout rate was 7.23% in the 2011-2012 school year. Being the curmudgeon I am.. the hell with them. The average student in Allentown cost taxpayers around $11,000. While I appreciate that Allentown has done all it's can to keep per student costs down below surrounding school districts, $11,000 is still a hell of a lot of money. If some kid can't appreciate the free day care and school meals to them (and in some cases their babies) while they receive a education I doubt there's little that can be done to convince them otherwise.

As much as I or other members in society may be concerned for them, if they don't there's little point in trying to help someone if they won't help themselves. This cost us 7.23% less to try and persuade them otherwise. I'm all for trying to help them, but if they don't want help (obviously) why waste further time and money when we can focus on the other students who do?

Far as I'm concerned our only obligation is to provide a quality education for those who want one. It should not be the responsibility of schools to solve society's problems. Increasingly scarce tax dollars are being wasted on students who not only don't appreciate but reject the hard earned money from others who are trying to support their education.

* The Internet & What It Has Become: Everyday I review 100's of RSS feeds. The problem starts when I click on those feeds. I filter YouTube feeds for Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and the Lehigh Valley. 99% of what is coming across now are advertisements. Even when I come across the occasional user video I'm subject to pre-roll ads. After the video plays it goes off to some other video I wasn't coming to see in the first place. Same goes for not only the national feeds but here locally as well. I click on a local story and pop ups are all over the place and sound video ads start playing as I'm trying to concentrate on the article they posted.

While I understand the need for monetizing, it doesn't mean anyone should be subjected to in-your-face bullshit and having to wait for everything to load up. I can honestly say I never ever bought one damn thing these sites are pimping. The internet has turned into one giant billboard with only a small consideration given to what someone was attracted to their site for in the 1st place. At this point unless there's something overwhelmingly drawing me to read further I avoid going to them like a plague.

* These hotshot newfangled ideas so called urban planners come up with. Take for example these Citi bikes in New York. Turns out it' will cost 10's of millions of dollars to make this harebrained scheme work. Not only do 100's of batteries have to be changed every day at the 330 docking stations, but hundreds of bikes have to be redistributed to the various stations if too many accumulate in any one location. Gee, who would have seen this coming! I'm sure the same thing will happen with this idiotic 'Zipcar' idea.

Again call me a curmudgeon but this whole "build it and they will come" every time idea will fall flat on it's face eventually too. People are attracted to the latest mall opening, entertainment venue or restaurant, but only until the next great thing comes along. Over the long haul these novelties never last more then a few years.

* One final crank (for now)-- All news is 'breaking news' otherwise it wouldn't be news.

"BREAKING NEWS": "Newly received or noteworthy information, esp. about recent or important events."

This has become the most abused term in the biz. A plane crash that happened 13 days ago isn't "breaking news". Finding it is. A trial that's been going on for days isn't '"breaking news". Neither is learning the identity of someone from a prior news story.

These are called "updates". Continuously calling something "breaking news" puts them in the same category as some retailer having a door buster sale or yelling fire when there is none. After a while nobody takes it seriously. Think about how certain words or phrases have been so over used that people no longer take them serious. Like "sale", "closeout", "automobile rebate/$1 over invoice", "zero percent financing", "by one, get second free" so on and so forth. After a while who takes anything someone says seriously?What other things might make you a curmudgeon too?