Sleepless in Midland

The White House got its $300,000 photo

The White House has released one of the photos of the presidential transport planes (Air Force One) flying over the Statue of Liberty. Was it worth it?

White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera resigned over the incident to remind us that when government heads roll they usually don't have far to drop as they always seems to belong to someone in the lower echelons. President Obama is keen on apologizing to foreign leaders for American history, but when it comes to domestic matters we will probably see the buck stopping long before it gets to Mr. Obama's door.

On the other hand, maybe this will help improve the communication system in place for distribution of CYA memos.

See Wall Street Journal and Washington Post for the story. Via WSJ Law Blog.

GM = Government Motors

President Obama certainly does not lack in ambition. But even the most seriously afflicted obamaphiliacs should be questioning the government's efforts to control GM and Chrysler and dictate what products they sell.

However, it's a full 17 months before the 2010 congressional elections, and the current crew of congressmen/women and senators seem to have little incentive to stifle that ambition else their own sacred sows may not be able to feed from the government trough.

So let's try to find the bright side of it. Kuro3hin provides some examples of automobiles made by other governments, for example, the East German Trabant, the Serbian Yugo, the Soviet Lada and Moskvitch, and the Malaysian Proton. President Obama and his crew probably hope to equal the success of those government made cars.  They're even showing solidarity by giving the guy in charge the moniker "Car Czar."

Oh, let's not ignore the Chinese and their CHAMCO coming soon to a car dealership near you.

Actually, we've already had a taste of government vehicles on the streets and highways of the U.S., although they weren't made by the government but were made to sell to the government. In WWII the Willys Jeep served the military well, and after the war, surplus Jeeps sold like hotcakes. The Jeep brand eventually became Chrysler property, and Jeeps are still on the roads.

Also, there's the Humvee made by General Motors. It was originally made for the military and then retrofitted for street use followed by the popular Hummer offshoots, popular at least until gasoline prices shot up.

Maybe there's a lesson here. The winners were the ones originally tested by the military, and once they proved their usefulness and stamina, then they were mass produced for the consuming public. So can we look forward to a street legal M1117? ( Seats 9.)

Will Government Motors learn from the past? Unfortunately, history has not been President Obama's strong suit.  He campaigned on "hope" and "change" but gave us fear and uncertainty.  Hope is all we can do.

Finally, a quote from P.J. O'Rourke:

The US Government is going to take over the American car industry. I can predict the result - a light-weight, compact vehicle with a small carbon footprint using sustainable alternative energy. When I was a kid we called it a bike.

Comedians and Obama's 1st 100 days

Most of the late night comedy shows have gotten so politically one sided that they are no longer fun to watch. So it's refreshing to read an article like Scoring Late Night’s First Hundred Days in which Tim Slagle rips the late night shows for missing so many wonderful opportunities for jokes about the Obama administration. He starts out with this:

April 29, 2009. 100 days. In case you were in a sensory deprivation tank, you probably know full well that Wednesday was the 100th day of the Obama Administration, and most of the news shows used it as an excuse to give Him the same exact grade they would have given Him for His first day in office.

That grade is completely unchanged by all the goofs and blunders made by this handsome community organizer, who was rushed into an office that was clearly over His head. Their grade was unbesmirched by the other grades given to Him by Wall Street, the President of France,  the North Korean missile launchers, or by four Somali pirates. (The same pirates who were allowed to humiliate the US Navy for three days before the Commander in Chief gave the order to shoot.)

[ ... ]

Certainly there must be something worth making fun of by now. We saw Obama calling for an end to privacy, giving a gag gift the Queen, and a bow to the Saudi King. We learned that He works out three hours a day (no wonder He needs a teleprompter to stay current), and thinks Austrian is a language. He again proved that Harvard isn’t so good at teaching American History, claiming He was only three months old during the Bay of Pigs. No news there, He didn’t think He was in government when the deficit occurred either.

I miss the Dave Letterman show, the old show with the clever jokes, the one that seemed unafraid to throw a sacred cow on the barbecue. But actually Mr. Slagle almost gives Letterman a passing grade for a joke about the Air Force One flyover photo op but for the fact that Letterman couldn't get the words out due to laryngitis, or in Mr. Slagle's opinion, "those Obama jokes probably got stuck in Dave’s throat during the dress rehearsal and he lost his voice trying to cough them out."

Most of us simply tune them out, but there's a least one writer who is suggesting a little bit of civil disobedience.  In Letterman Loses His Mojo Jane Shaffmaster recalls having been an audience member at a taping of a Letterman show and recounts how they were instructed to laugh and clap at everything Letterman said to put him in the best mood for the show. She did. But buyer's remorse set in, and she now suggests that people go to the show armed with some real questions for Letterman, like why no Obama jokes.

Let's not forget Saturday Night Live which has been around longer than most of the voters whose first presidential vote was for Barack Obama. Democrats guffawed over the Tina Fey slapstick aimed at Sarah Palin, but that sort of humor appeals to a narrow audience. It was enough to sustain SNL during the campaign but with Obama now safely in the White House at least until January, 2013, a vein of comedy gold will likely remain unmined.

For more about Saturday Night Live see Tim Goodwin's Fat, lazy, dull 'Saturday Night Live' endures in which he queries: "Here's a strange, enduring television mystery: Why nobody is trying to kill off 'Saturday Night Live.' "

There's hope, though. Obama is surely headed for a pratfall in the popularity polls. The public is fickle, and once the main stream media begin to seriously scrutinize Mr. Obama, his political history, his appointments, his handouts of taxpayer money to selected special interest groups and the other destructive things he's doing then eventually public opinion will fade on Mr. Obama just as it did with Mr. Bush.  With their fingers high enough into the wind the comedy writers might sense the change and actually do something.

In the meantime amateurs fill the gap with efforts like the one you saw here a few days ago in Those White House Phtos were Begging for Captions. Not exactly comedy gold, but surely a worthy effort, nonetheless, when you consider that the writer thinks a bronze medal is a pretty darn good color.

Who benefits from Gun control? Answer in video.

The theme has been around for a long time but it has never been presented in such a funny manner. It's a satirical mini-documentary shining a light on those poor unfortunate criminals who have been deprived of their means of making a living by the fear of citizens owning guns.

Here's the link to the video at liveleak.com.

Via Nalert.

Those White House Photos were begging for captions

The Barack Obama White House is giving supporters what they may want the most: more photos of Barack Obama. There's an Official White House Flikr site where you can see dozens of photos of President Obama and which raise the question: Does Obama select which photos go on that site or does he delegate that to someone else? Before we tag him with a narcissist label let's remember that he is only giving star struck fans what they want, and it's not as bad as the Hugo Chavez TV show.

There are short descriptions of the scenes at the website, but there's no transcript or dialogue available to know what the people were saying and thinking. And those photos were just begging for captions.  As you know, I just want to help.

If some of the jokes seem a little crude, I don't know how those got there.

 

 

 

The photo of the janitor was snapped by Chuck Kennedy, but the rest were snapped by Pete Souza, and they are official White House photos all. See the original unmolested photos at the Official White House Flikr site.

Careless with other people's personal info

I cringe every time some business or association asks me for personal information. It will go into a computer database, and there is no telling what will happen to it. It's not so much a lack of trust as it is a lack of faith in their ability to keep it private. There are hackers, identity thieves and spy ware all seemingly trying to get at our personal information, so prudent people attempt to secure their computers. But there's always plain old fashioned carelessness.

All too frequently we read about some careless person losing some digital data, for example just other day there was the story about the British MI6 agent having lost a memory stick containing information sensitive enough to put undercover agents at risk. The ones we hear about are the ones in which the loss had an obvious effect, but there must be countless instances in which carelessness with personal data never make the news.

Here's one of those instances. The other day members of a local shooting club received an email with an Excel document attached containing names, membership status, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and birthdays of over 3,000 other members.

There were no state secrets in there, but it was personal information voluntarily submitted, and few people expected it to be distributed so freely. At this point in the political history of this great country many gun owners are a little jumpy as government leaders sound as if they are looking for ways to disarm or at least stigmatize gun owners. So distributing a list of likely gun owners so freely seems a little bit irresponsible.

Not to worry, though. The email was promptly followed by another email asking recipients to please delete that previous email. So all is well. The toothpaste is back in the tube.

P.S. Thought I would copy this from their website to compare it with any future amendments: "To receive the monthly email newsletter if you are not already getting it, or to update your email address, please subscribe via this link. (Note: Your email address will not be made public, nor is it viewable by other list members.)"

Updated: Association director John Krenik emailed an explanation. (Published with permission.)

I saw on your blog your comments on the recent email that MSA sent with the member's roster.

You should realize that it was sent in error, what happened was that our Secretary sends an email at the end of each week to all directors and orientation instructors. This email contains the latest membership information so that the orientation instructors can verify membership at orientation. This procedure has worked quite well for a long time until last week. When our Secretary sent the email she unfortunately sent it to MSA members instead of MSA officers. She immediately contacted our webmaster to try to stop it, but of course that didn't work. While this is unfortunate, please keep in mind that she has been one of the best Secretaries that we have ever had. She was deeply upset by this and was in tears by the time she talked to our President. While it was indeed a mistake, it was an honest mistake by a person that has contributed mightily to making MSA a much better organization. I hope everybody will remember that and realize that we all make mistakes, sometimes they are just harder to correct. If you know of anybody who wants more info and wants to discuss this, please have them contact me.

John Krenik

Thanks John, accidents will happen. Anyone wishing to discuss this with John Krenik can reach him through the association contact information.

Texas firearm freedom law tiptoeing through Texas Legislature

Montana lawmakers did it first with the Montana Firearms Freedom Act which was recently signed into law. Here are the guts of the Montana law:

A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Montana and that remains within the borders of Montana is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce.

Leo Berman of the Texas House of Representatives has introduced one in Texas, and H.B. No. 1863 is creeping along. Here's a link for the text, and here's the key part:

Sec. 2003.003. NOT SUBJECT TO FEDERAL REGULATION. (a) A firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in this state and remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

A cursory look suggests that the entire bill is very similar to the Montana law as both laws exclude guns too big for one person to carry, a gun with a barrel bore larger then 1.5 inch, exploding bullets, and fully automatic weapons. Lawmakers in both states must be concerned about keeping down the noise as sound suppressors are included in the definition of "firearm accessory." (Would that be silencers?)

The Montana law passed muster with legal scholars, but no one can safely predict what the U.S. Supreme Court would do with it especially with the upcoming change in personnel.

In any event, H.B. No. 1863 may be one to watch.

Help wanted: blog, drink wine, get paid $10,000 a month

Here's the offer:

We at the Murphy-Goode Winery got to thinking about the new age of communications and we figured it was a pretty good thing. So to get going, we’re looking for someone (maybe you) who really knows how to use Web 2.0 and Facebook and blogs and social media and YouTube and all sorts of good stuff like that — to tell the world about our wines and the place where we live: the Sonoma County Wine Country.

In exchange, we’re offering you a “Really Goode Job” — a six-month job paying $10,000 a month plus accommodations!

We want to hire a social media whiz (your title will be “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent”) who will report on the cool lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country and, of course, tell people what you’re learning about winemaking.

Did we mention that the compensation was $10,000 per month Plus accommodations in a beautiful home in picturesque Healdsburg, a popular vacation destination in our neck of the woods. Working hours are flexible. And all you have to do is experience wine and good living, and then tell people about it. (Do you play Poker, or Liar’s Dice? Don’t worry; we’ll teach you.)

You (we hope) will become part of the Murphy-Goode crew — for six great months.

Only six months? And is rehab included?

And, uh, hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this waiver in the application:

THIS APPLICATION CONTAINS A WAIVER OF YOUR RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY COURT OR JURY IN A DISPUTED TERMINATION AND/OR FOR CLAIMS OF UNLAWFUL HARASSMENT OR DISCRIMINATION ALLEGEDLY OCCURRING DURING THE COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT.

Via this via that.