NC to tax online sales?

Ten years ago when I worked at Indelible Blue, I learned how online retailers have to deal with a myriad of tax codes. State and local governments have extremely complex tax laws – upwards of 7,500 tax jurisdictions across the U.S. It makes paying another state’s taxes damn near impossible for a small business like Indelible Blue.

That’s why I took notice when N.C. House Speaker Joe Hackney says he wants to tax online sales as if these companies are in North Carolina:

Hackney said he would talk to Pelosi about granting states the rights to interstate sales tax collection. He said it would bring in an additional $400 million to $500 million a year for North Carolina’s state budget, especially helpful given the current budget crunch.

“It’s a tax that is already on the books, so it is not a new tax,” he said. “It’s just collecting the one that’s there.”

Oh, how many ways can I say that this is a Spectacularly Bad Idea? You know that $400 million to $500 million it would bring in? The state’s check might say it came from Amazon but the money would come from the pockets of North Carolinians. In case you weren’t paying attention, these are folks who aren’t too keen on parting with half a billion right now.

Not to mention that these companies don’t benefit from anything the state of North Carolina provides, like roads, police, laws, or even a workforce. Why should they pay North Carolina when all they receive from the state is a tax bill?

We already claim this stuff on our income tax. I hope Speaker Hackney is prudent enough to leave it at that.

Unemployment insurance

Its official: I’ve just been officially recognized by the gummint as being unemployed. I called the NC ESC to get my PIN reset so I could file online and a helpful staffperson named Harriet did that and filed my claim for me. I was on hold for 30 minutes before Harriet got to me but her willingness to help and cheerful demeanor made it all worthwhile.

My unemployment checks are a pittance, actually, though they’re the maximum the state will pay. The amount is a fraction of my former salary. It will be a painful transition period but we’ll be able to keep the lights on here at MT.Net.

I was told something else interesting: the ESC doesn’t want my job search records, at least not right away. I was told to dutifully fill them out and keep them around but only send them in if/when the ESC asks to see them. I suppose the ESC is so busy with claims now that they don’t have the staff to sort through mounds of job search forms.

N.C. Employment Security Commission out of commission

I’m calling the N.C. ESC this morning to reset my online login. A call to their “Remote Services Center” resulted in many “all circuits are busy” calls. Finally got through just now, though their phone system tells me I’m in for a 20 minute wait.

Maybe I’ll reconsider and mail my resume to the Somali pirates. Does Somalia have a functioning postal system? (In a touch of irony, in my previous role I could’ve told you all about Somalia’s postal system).

The Moon, Venus, Jupiter and now Neptune!

I enjoyed the dusk sky last night as the waning moon was joined in the southwestern sky by Venus and Jupiter. Tonight those three will be joined by Neptune, though you won’t see Neppy without the aid of binoculars or a telescope.

Seeing those other worlds shining down on us is a timely reminder that there are things much, much bigger than us.

Fattening ’em up

On the way home from visiting Kelly’s parents at their home in Virginia we stopped into a Wendy’s for lunch. It was a testament to how little fast food I’ve eaten lately that I was surprised to see how prices had risen.

But prices weren’t the only things that had risen: the soft drinks had supersized themselves. My small soft drink was the size of what used to be a large. Kelly’s medium soft drink was ginormous – what used to be a supersize. I shudder to think what an actual large soft drink looks like.

Americans have a troubling obesity problem, one which costs billions of dollars in health care expenses. Do we really need to be pumping more high fructose corn syrup into the populace, particularly the poorer population who may eat fast food more frequently?

I’d like to see fast food chains be a bit more responsible, though this is America and most would argue they’re just giving their customers what they want. Upgrading the size of soft drinks on the sly, however, is not helpful.

You’re who again?

I’ve applied for over a dozen various positions at this point: so many that I’m beginning to lose track of where my resume has been sent. Its been my experience that most job seekers do the same. No one puts all their eggs in one basket when it comes to finding a job: its a shotgun approach.

While I enjoy getting a call from a prospective employer, one thing that always annoys me is when the caller doesn’t identify themselves or the position for which they’re calling. What happens is that you’re deep in the middle of sorting through job leads when a call comes in out of the blue.

Boom! You’re caught off guard and nine times out of ten the interviewer proceeds as if you know exactly to whom you’re speaking and about which job. That’s why I keep a file folder with a printout of all the positions to which I’ve applied and including the dates when I applied for them. That way when the phone rings I’ll have a clue about what in my skills and experience might be relevant.

I’ve got experience from the other side of the phone, too, and have interviewed many people for jobs. Whenever I’ve called a prospective hire, I’ve always made it a point to clearly state who I am and which position I’m calling about. Its just good hiring etiquette.

Now if I could just start getting some calls I could put this all to use!

Job search goes on

I’m still spending hours scouring the job boards for a new position. Hopefully things will pick up this week now that Thanksgiving is over.

Myth clue?

I thought to do a watch -d 'ls -l' on the file MythTV was creating when it was recording a show this evening and what I saw was very revealing. There seemed to be gaps of about 5 to 10 seconds where the file size did not change.

I’m using the XFS file system for my MythTV recordings, as it is better suited to the large files common to digital video. I did upgrade the system’s kernel, which may have somehow broken the XFS driver.

I have another partition formatted in EXT3. My next test will be to send the files to that partition and see if they continue to miss frames.

Bullet Motorsports Scam

Got this scam email today. I suppose it fools many people.

I’ve highlighted the interesting parts below.

From: “Bullet Motorsports Speedlab” Stratton_2492@arkansas.net
To: markt@ blah blah blah.net
Subject: part time job for you
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:22:53 -0400

BMS, Bullet Motorsports Speedlab, was originally founded to turn “ordinary” BMWs into the fastest race cars possible. BMS race cars have won numerous national championships over the past four years and BMS continues to promote club racing through its driver development program. From their intimate knowledge of the inner workings of BMWs, and countless hours of track time testing products in a high-stress environment, BMS technicians are highly skilled in tuning BMWs and Minis for street applications. There are many misconceptions in the aftermarket tuning industry. Our job is to separate the truth from the hype, for the benefit of our customers. Of course, tuning by itself is insufficient without full knowledge of servicing not only BMW components, but also the full range of aftermarket equipment from superchargers to stereos. There is nothing on your BMW or Mini that BMS can’t fix – or if you desire, improve.
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