Sleepless in Midland

California recall election

Redman makes the following observation:

One thing has interested me...the republicans got the lion's share of the vote, but the prop on outlawing all record keeping as to race was soundly defeated. ...

Yes, that is an interesting observation. Occasionally, I'll hear someone say "I'm fiscally conservative but socially liberal." My (probably insulting) comeback to that is "what that means is that you like the expensive social programs but you want someone else to pay for it."

Snappy quips aside, Arnold seems to be a fiscally conservative social liberal, and perhaps that fits with the current mood in California, because the California recall was all about the money: taxes and deficits. There are some expensive government programs in place in California, and as Newt Gingrich learned in the 1990s, government programs are almost impossible to kill. And that might be especially true in California where so many people are on the receiving end of those programs. As everyone knows, Arnold is facing a problem. He said he wouldn't raise taxes except in an emergency, and cutting the spending programs will anger some of the voters.

So, it's interesting that Arnold's first step toward solving the financial crisis was to reach out to the President for help. Well, he had to ask, but I suspect the President will say "no". Other state governments have taken giant steps toward eliminating deficits, and hopefully Californians know that they will probably have to swallow some bitter medicine in order to get better.

Midland Shooters Association - meeting of 10-09-03

Last night the board of directors of Midland Shooters Association had a meeting, and here are some of the highlights. 

Number of members renewed -
Many of us are probably curious about how much of an impact the requirement of an executed release agreement has had on the number of membership renewals.  The secretary reported that as of last night there were 957 members.  And a member present said that number was consistent with membership renewals for previous years as of this time of the year.  We all probably know people who either elected not to sign the release agreement or were otherwise excluded from renewing because of a related reason.  So, the anecdotal evidence is inconsistent with the member tally which means it's still unclear what impact the release agreement had.   But, that's all moot now.

Release agreement -
As noted in the post titled "Midland Shooters Association - Great News" below, the board of directors voted to rescind the release agreement as a requirement for membership and to return the signed agreements to those who signed them. 

The secretary remarked about the expense of mailing those forms back to the signers.  By my calculation, 957 mailings at $0.37 each comes to $354.09, excluding the cost of the envelopes.  For my part, I'm going to send the secretary a self addressed stamped envelope to expedite the matter and help save the corporation $0.37. 

Release agreement for the future -
As I remarked in a post dated September 9, 2003 (see archives), the Texas Non Profit Corporation Act, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes Article 1396-2.28, provides standards for directors, and it provides protection from liability for directors, as follows:

D. A director is not liable to the corporation, any member, or any other person for any action taken or not taken as a director if the director acted in compliance with this article. A person seeking to establish liability of a director must prove that the director has not acted:

(1) in good faith;

(2) with ordinary care; and

(3) in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interest of the corporation.

  That provides a pretty good defense, but as the corporation's attorney said, it won't keep them from being sued.  So, eventually an additional layer of protection will  be contemplated in the form of a release agreement to further shield board members and the corporation from lawsuits.  And, there is the insurance. 

Insurance -
There was much discussion about liability insurance for the corporation, and the general consensus was that the corporation didn't have enough coverage.  The additional coverage that was suggested would include a directors and officers liability policy, an errors and omissions policy, and an umbrella policy.

Members whose renewals were rejected -
The board also resolved to readmit those members whose renewals were rejected either because they refused to sign the release agreement or, while they may have signed the release agreement, they had made comments on or about the agreement. 

I believe they are going to send a letter to those people advising them of that decision. 

People requesting to speak -
The notice for the meeting said that anyone wanting to address the board should mail in a notice of such intent.  Five people had sent in a request to speak, and two of those were present.   However, the meeting was very open, and anyone who had a comment or question was free to speak, and many did. 

Corporation's attorney was present -
The corporation's attorney was present at the meeting, and he seems like a very intelligent and down to earth fellow.   He made some very good common sense suggestions, and I feel confident that the club will benefit greatly from his assistance. Among other things, he told us that he is representing the corporation as a whole and not the board or any specific individual. 

It wasn't until I was on the road home that I realized that I had neglected to get his name.  So, as a would-be reporter for this event I've fallen down on the job.  If anyone reading this knows his name I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment or send me an email.

Conclusion -
It was a very productive meeting.  If I recall something else that should be mentioned, or if someone comments or emails with something I've omitted, I'll either update this post or start a new one.

Midland Shooters Association - Great News!

Super sized kudos and a giant tip of the hat to the board of directors of Midland Shooters Association! 

A resolution was passed rescinding the release agreement.   And, the resolution went a step further - the signed agreements will be returned to those of us who signed them. 

More about the meeting later.

Bogus Microsoft Security-Related Message

I've gotten about a dozen emails that look exactly like this. They're bogus.

Midland Shooters Association meeting tonight

A reminder - the Midland Shooters Association meeting is tonight (10/09/03) beginning at 7:30 p.m. CDT at the shotgun range. 

Bear killed with .40 caliber handgun - Alaska

Today's Midland Reporter Telegram contains an AP article describing a bear mauling incident occurring in Alaska. (The MRT article doesn't appear to be online, but here's a link to what appears to be the same AP article in the Fairbanks Daily News.)

ANCHORAGE--A self-taught bear expert who once called Alaska's brown bears harmless was one of two people fatally mauled in a bear attack in the Katmai National Park and Preserve.

The bodies of Timothy Treadwell, 46, and Amie Huguenard, 37, both of Malibu, Calif., were found Monday at their campsite when a pilot who was supposed to take them to Kodiak arrived, state troopers said Tuesday.
...
Park rangers encountered a large, aggressive male brown bear within minutes of arriving. Ranger Joel Ellis said two officers stood by with shotguns as he fired 11 times with a semi-automatic handgun before the animal fell, 12 feet away.

Many hunters who knowingly go into bear country will carry a powerful handgun as protection of last resort. So, the fact that the ranger killed the bear with a handgun is significant news. None of the articles say what caliber the handgun was, so I telephoned the National Park Service at the Katmai National Park and Preserve and was told that it was .40 caliber. The ranger I spoke with presumed that it was a Glock as that is the brand most commonly carried by the rangers there.

Supplemental info: Here's what the late Timothy Treadwell said in an interview on March 21, 1999.

"I'm much more likely to be killed by an angry sport hunter than a bear," he said decisively. "I'm in more danger here in San Francisco."

And, here's the late Timothy Treadwell's' website Grizzlepeople.com where he gives this advice:

People should stay 100 yards away from bears at all times.
A fed bear is a dead bear.
Once a bear gets human food, it becomes dangerous to humans.
Never run from a bear.
When camping in bear country, people should use bear proof barrels and boxes, or hang food safely out of reach of bears.

George Bush, Blogger

George Bush has a Blog. It's described this way:

A blog is a free-flowing online journal that’s constantly updated with the latest news from throughout the Web. This blog will serve as your personal guide to the campaign to re-elect President Bush, with breaking news, grassroots updates, and posts from campaign leadership.

Worried about global warming doomsday? Relax.

Here's good news for those worried that the burning of oil and gas will result in a global warming doomsday. Newscientist.com reports that we will have depleted all oil and gas reserves before that could happen.

Oil and gas will run out too fast for doomsday global warming scenarios to materialize, according to a controversial analysis presented this week at the University of Uppsala in Sweden. The authors warn that all the fuel will be burnt before there is enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to realize predictions of melting ice caps and searing temperatures.

So, cool down. (And bundle up.)

Reminder - Midland Shooters Association meeting Thursday

The notice about the next board of directors meeting of Midland Shooters Association said that it was to be held on Thursday, October 9, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., CDT. 

The notice asked that anyone wanting to address the board members send a letter to the secretary post marked no later than October 6, which is today.  It appears that they are leaving themselves the option of refusing to allow anyone to talk unless he/she has mailed a letter. 

So, this is a reminder that today is the secretary's deadline for mailing such a letter. 

Enron Employees' Emails Available Online

Anyone who has ever used his/her employer's email service to send a personal email would probably want to ponder the information contained in this Wall Street Journal article today. Titled Online Laundry: Government Posts Enron's Email (subscription required), among other things, the article contains the following bit of information:

Like so many office workers, people at Enron Corp. made company e-mail an extension of their personal lives. They used it for romance, they used it to complain, they used it to arrange funerals.

Now, because of an investigation of the fallen energy company, a lot of those private exchanges are on the Internet for all to see.

A little browsing and up pops a piece of e-mail from an Enron employee complaining about a mother-in-law: "the most selfish person on Earth." Another contains decades-old photos of former chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, sent him by his Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers. A piece of e-mail written by a woman in Portland, Ore., asks an Enron energy trader, "So ... you were looking for a one night stand after all ...?"

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gathered a massive trove from Enron in its investigation of alleged energy-market manipulation. In March the agency released more than 1.6 million pieces of e-mail and other documents and posted them all on the Web in a searchable database (www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/wem/03-26-03-release.asp).

The e-mails roughly cover the years 2000 through 2002. At no charge, viewers can troll through the e-mail boxes and calendars of 176 current and former Enron executives and employees, most of them involved in the company's power-trading operations. The names of the e-mails' senders and recipients are still attached.

Update: The process for gaining access to those emails is a little complicated, and apparently I don't have the appropriate plugin to look at them. But, others may have better luck, if they are so inclined.

Terry McAuliffe on Arnold's behavior toward women

Terry McAuliffe commenting on the disclosures about Arnold's behavior toward women, from NewsMax.com:

"There's a pattern of inappropriate behavior towards women," McAuliffe told CNN's "Inside Politics."

"Sure, it will have an impact" on the election, the DNC chief predicted. "I think [Schwarzenegger] needs to do more than come out and apologize. [He needs to] explain himself."

McAuliffe warned, "The voters of California are going to have to make their mind up if they want someone with this kind of past being their governor."

You said the same sort of thing about Bill Clinton, didn't you Terry? Terry, are you there? Oh, never mind. What's a little hypocrisy when all you want to do is hang onto power by any means possible.

Good stuff at Ready Line about shooting events

Joe Compton really has done a super job with the Ready Line website.  He's always got the latest information on upcoming events at the Midland Shooters Association ranges.  And, there's even a photo showing the current construction - the paving of a platform for prone shooting at the rifle range.  [The platform will be helpful - competitors at a recent High Power Rifle Match may recall the bull snake that slithered through the grass just a few feet from some prone shooters.]

There's going to be a Bullseye match this Sunday at 10 a.m. which will determine the club champion.  The shooters at these matches are usually highly skilled handgun marksmen (markspeople?), and it's always amazing to see someone with a cool eye and a steady hand squeeze a trigger placing a hole in the bullseye of a target 25 yards off into the distance.

And it says this:  "New shooters will find that bullseye competitors are very friendly and extremely eager to help a new shooter."   Yes, I would have to agree with that and take this opportunity to express gratitude for the friendliness and help they've given me.

Challenging game

Here's a maddening puzzle game. It appears at the website of a UK vacuum cleaner company - it features a grid with a ball, a hole, and a few telescopic tubes used to push and pull the ball toward the hole. There are several levels, so don't get cocky if you find the first few too easy.

(I found this on another blog. I would give credit, but I've forgot where. Sorry.)

Be aware of your surroundings

Hmmm. Here's an interesting observation found this morning at an Undisclosed Location.

Be aware of your surroundings

If you're in a hospital waiting room and you notice that the chairs are very comfortable, you have a private kitchenette, and lots of privacy, chances are you're about to receive real bad news. I've noticed that the better the waiting room, the worse the news that will be received in it.

Here's to hoping that if you're ever in the hospital you're in fold-out chairs in the hallway.

Uh, yeah, maybe so. Makes sense. Hadn't thought of that - thanks for the tip.

A unique movie scene in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs"

Quentin Tarantino reached his peak of fame about a decade ago around the time that "Pulp Fiction" became popular, but there was an earlier movie - Reservoir Dogs - which is scheduled to be shown on A&E tonight at 8:30 p.m., CDT.

[ I believe that protocol dictates a "spoiler alert" at this point, so there it is. ]

"Reservoir Dogs" features the always good Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth with Roth playing a police informant within a group of thieves trying to pull off a big heist. The police gave the informant a funny story about some fictional experience to tell the other thieves in order to enhance his credibility. So, the movie shows Tim Roth's character telling the other thieves the made-up story, and as viewers we get to see a flashback of the events occurring in that made-up story. So, what we see is a flashback of something that didn't happen.

Any flashback in a fictional movie would need to fit within the context of the overall fiction. But, this one was unique in that it was a fiction within a fiction. Was that good or bad? Well, I don't know, but it was certainly interesting and unique.

The film experts like to point to "Citizen Kane" as one of the best films ever. But when asked why, they point to some filming trick that hadn't been done before such as filming a character from across a very long room or digging up the floor to get a low level shot. So, if that is the standard, then the flashback of a story within a story should certainly count, too.

Anyway, Tarantino's movies are known for ultra violence and great dialogue, and this one fits that mold. The movie gets 8.2 out of 10 at IMBD, and there's that one exeptional flashback scene. So, if someone appreciates good dialogue in a movie and can tolerate violence, then this is one to watch.

Digital Photo Doctoring

Here's an interesting sample of a doctored photo of a model. Go to the linked page and run the cursor over the image. That will show what the model looked like before the retouching.

Texas Rangers called in by Midland Police Department Chief

One of the things that surely must rank near the top of a list of things that appall people everywhere is the physical abuse of a person in custody by a person in power. It probably happens less in modern times than it did in the past thanks in large part to the proliferation of video camera usage by police departments and citizens.

Today the Midland Reporter Telegram reported an incident that occurred in Midland on September 19. According to the report, a police officer stopped a vehicle, and the driver ran away. But apparently a teenage passenger did not. A backup police officer arrived, and what happened next is not entirely clear from the article.

A police car video camera taped the incident, and the tape apparently shows the backup officer kicking the passenger in the torso. And, the article says that the passenger received a cut to his lip which required stitches. But, the tape will tell the tale. As Jerry Nachman of MSNBC says he tells law enforcement officers, [paraphrasing] "you are more likely to have your career finished at the end of the barrel of a camera than the barrel of a gun."

The results of the Texas Rangers' investigation are expected to be turned over to the district attorney's office next week, so we'll have to wait for an announcement from that office on whether there will be a prosecution attempted.

Kudos to Chief Urby for asking an investigative group of the Texas Rangers to investigate the incident. That should take some of the heat off of Chief Urby and the supervising officer. And as citizens, we should all take comfort in the fact that an impartial outside group is doing the investigating.

Final note: The article mentioned that there were citizen witnesses to the event. I have to wonder whether the citizens approached the Midland Reporter Telegram and the local tv news bureaus about this. And if so, I wonder why we are only hearing about it 13 days after the event.

Update 10-9-03: The Midland Reporter Telegram reports today that the Texas Rangers have turned their report over to the district attorney's office.

Oh, Laura. What you have to put up with!

Anyone visiting this site who isn't a regular visitor to Jessicaswell.com should go check out the entries in the caption contest for the above photo. Funny stuff!

Those of us old enough to remember the old Saturday morning cartoon shows might be reminded by the photo of the amorous but unlovable Pepe LePew.