2008 June

Entries from June 11th, 2008

Bloody funJune 11th, 2008, 7 Comments

Last night I met Vicky, Neil and Anouk for dinner.

On my way to Crazy Horse¹ someone threw a water balloon out of a window and it nearly hit me. It landed next to my right leg.

I looked up at the sky and shook my fist! They were out there somewhere! It was probably the same person who hit the back of my head with a fork.

I thought I escaped embarrassment. But during dinner, Vicky said, “You should go salsa dancing.”

“I don’t salsa dance,” I said.

“Why not? They always need more men.”

“The last time salsa danced I kicked the toenail off my date.”

“Ouch!”

“I had to make a tourniquet out of a napkin for her bleeding toe,” I said.

“Right,” Vicky said. “I always forget that story!”

Salsa dancing confuses me because there’s too much stepping. One wrong move and bang! She loses a toenail.

If I tried again, I would make her wear steel-toed boots. Not very sexy, but safe.

_{1. Crazy Horse is an excellent steak house in Wellington. I had filet mignon. In New Zealand “filet” is pronounced “fill it.”}

Rain brings rainbowsJune 9th, 2008, 2 Comments

I only remember a handful of rainbows in Chicago.

Vicky and I stopped for this one on the way back from Raglan.

A rainbow by Raglan

I wonder if Maoris have something like a leprechaun in their folklore?

How my taxes are spent in the United States vs. New ZealandJune 8th, 2008, 9 Comments

Rowan published a New Zealand tax statement of how the government might spend the tax collected from the average household income ($67,973 NZD).

Fascinating!¹ After seeing this I wanted to know how New Zealand compared to the United States. For example, how would the same salary be taxed in Illinois and how would those taxes be spent?

Based on the United States federal budget of 2008² and the net pay calculator for the state of Illinois during the 2008 tax year, here’s the American tax statement:³

Taxable Income in Illinois	$67,973.00
USA Federal Tax Paid	$18,017	26.51%⁴
Social Security	3,774	21.0%
D.O. Defense	2,988	16.6%
Medicare	2,396	13.3%
Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending	2,011	11.2%
Interest on National Debt	1,620	9.0%
Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)	1,297	7.2%
War on Terror	901	5.0%
Health & Human Services	430	2.4%
D.O. Education	347	1.9%
Other On-budget Discretionary Spending	321	1.8%
D.O. Veterans Affairs	244	1.4%
Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending	242	1.3%
D.O. Housing & Urban Development	218	1.2%
State and Other International Programs	217	1.2%
D.O. Homeland Security	212	1.2%
D.O. Energy	150	0.8%
D.O. Justice	125	0.7%
D.O. Agriculture	125	0.7%
National Aeronautics & Space Administration	107	0.6%
D.O. Transportation	75	0.4%
D.O. Treasury	75	0.4%
D.O. the Interior	65	0.4%
D.O. Labor	65	0.4%

Let’s compare any amount over $500 between America and New Zealand:

Taxable Income	$67,973.00
USA Federal Tax Paid	$18,017	26.51%⁴
Social Security	3,774	21.0%
D.O. Defense	2,988	16.6%
Medicare	2,396	13.3%
Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending	2,011	11.2%
Interest on National Debt	1,620	9.0%
Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)	1,297	7.2%
War on Terror	901	5.0%
New Zealand Tax Paid	$17,779	26.16%
Ministry of Transport	4,393	24.7%
Ministry of Social Development	3,414	19.2%
Ministry of Health	2,317	13.0%
Ministry of Education	2,040	11.4%
Inland Revenue Department (IRD)	1,331	7.4%
The Treasury	1,238	6.9%
New Zealand Defence Force	499	2.8%

So what sticks out? America: social security, defense, unemployment, debt and war. New Zealand: transport, social development, health, education and defense.

That’s a cynical and dangerous look at the tax breakdowns, but even so, the War on Terror would proportionately receive almost twice as much tax as the Ministry of Defence.⁵

And what’s that? Interest on National Debt?

Is New Zealand even in debt?

Surprisingly, I would pay more tax in Illinois than in New Zealand (over $2,000 more). And Americans don’t even have the same benefits as Kiwis, like public health care or financial support for accidental injuries. Plus, I don’t need to file a tax return in New Zealand (which is a service I would pay for, and apparently do). Why does the IRD receive so much money?

Which makes me wonder, if you could allocate your tax dollars to specific departments, would you? For example if you don’t want to finance “proactive war,” would you give that money to your favorite department, like the National Aeronautics & Space Administration?⁶

Decades ago this wouldn’t have been possible (logistical nightmare) but this type of government seems feasible today.

Although, it scares me to think about the nutters who would give their tax to the Department of Defense.

But it could be a way to clearly see where the people want their money spent.

_{1. This year I started tracking my personal finances. I concluded after two months I am an alcoholic, and if I didn’t drink my wages I would be a millionaire.}
_{2. The budgets from 1996 to 2009 are available online. View the budgets here.}
_{3. The calculated proportions of the budget does not distinguish between income tax, payroll taxes, corporate tax, excise tax, customs, estate and gift taxes. It’s all lumped together, so the figures are at best estimates of how the government spends income tax.}
_{4. Illinois state tax is an additional 3 percent, totalling $2039.16. This brings the total taxed to 29.51%.}
_{5. Spelling defense with a “c,” blasphemy!}
_{6. I did go to space camp, after all.}

Seals at Red Rocks in WellingtonJune 7th, 2008, No Comments

Last weekend I went with Sheryl and Tony to Red Rocks.

The coast is rugged and the wind was incredible.

The walking track at Red Rocks

Some of the rocks are red, but only a handful. The seals rest here in winter. If you haven’t been, you should go. It’s worth the walk.

A seal rests on the track

A seal rests on the rocks

Form design for designers and developersJune 5th, 2008, 2 Comments

Last Wednesday I gave a presentation to the .NET user group. The presentation was about form design and it was based on research by Luke Wroblewski and Matteo Penzo

Designers (sometimes me) are different than developers (almost everyone at the presentation).¹

For example, before the presentation began, Kirk had an announcement:

“After the presentation we’ll give out a keyboard as a prize, so stick around,” Kirk said.

I said, “A keyboard? Excellent! Is anyone in the audience musical? Can anyone play a song?”

…

“No, it’s not that type of keyboard,” Kirk said. “It’s a Microsoft keyboard.”

…

I was the only person in the room who thought it was a musical keyboard.

The presentation went well, and it was fun to meet new people in the IT community. If you went to the presentation, thanks for coming!

Update: the presentation has been posted to Slideshare.

_{1. Although the title of the presentation made some girls bite the bait! Design can do that.}

jeffrey

i like butter, don’t you?