Sleepless in Midland

Hail to the Chief

Russ Conley has been Midland Fire Department Chief for four years topping off a 26 year career as a firefighter, and today was his last day. You can get more details about him in the backgrounder at the Midland Reporter-Telegram.

It's safe to say he will be missed by just about everyone who dealt with him. With his calm demeanor, good looks and affable personality he made friends wherever he went.

He's sure to be a tremendous success at his retirement job, which rumor has it, will be selling real estate in the Brownwood, Texas, area. Move over Donald Trump.

Some states eliminating speeding ticket grace zone to supplement coffers

Most drivers are under the impression that they can drive 5 or 10 mph over the speed limit and not get a ticket or at least get nothing more serious than a warning ticket.

According to an article in USA Today, some cash strapped jurisdictions are eliminating that cushion. Excerpt:

As cities and states scramble to fill budget gaps with revenue from traffic citations, "not only are the (speeding) tolerances much lower, but the frequency of a warning instead of a ticket is way down," says James Baxter, president of the National Motorists Association, a Wisconsin-based drivers' rights group that helps its members fight speeding tickets. ...

A study published last year in the Journal of Law and Economics found that police issue more traffic citations during recessions. From 1990 to 2003, counties in North Carolina issued significantly more tickets in the year following a decline in general tax revenue.

Researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock found that a 10% decrease in revenue growth caused a 6.4% increase the following year in the growth rate of traffic tickets.

Now that's a low blow.

Odessa TEA Party reminder -- save the date 4/17/10

Most Americans were stunned to witness the signing into law last week of the ruinous Obamacare bill. It was a brazen act by a team of politicians who seem to have abandoned any pretense of honoring the wishes of the majority. As someone remarked at another historic atrocity, they've woken a sleeping giant.

Impromptu TEA Parties have organized around the country, and right here in our own little spot in the wilds of West Texas people have come together to demonstrate peacefully that they are unhappy with our government and the direction in which it is trying to drag the country.

The Odessa TEA Party was organized about a year ago and is even stronger now. They had at least two rallies last year, and it's time for another. The date is April 17, 2010.

Also in the area, the San Angelo TEA Party is planning a Tea Party rally the evening of April 15.

Oh, and if you are a believer of the "news" reports that the people who attend these things are violent racists, then attend with caution. A case of cognitive dissonance could develop, and severe cases can lead to exploding narratives. So be forewarned.

You picked a fine time to lead us, Barack

Two good ol' boys refined an old tune for modern times. Strummed and sung to the tune of "You Picked A Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille," it's on Youtube:

You Picked a Fine Time to Lead Us, Barack.

Fine country listening brought to us by talent spotter Joe Hathaway.

This is why people hate lawyers

There was a movie a few years ago called Open Water about a couple of scuba divers stranded in sharky waters. There was scene near the end in which we see a calm surface, then the camera dips below water level where we see dozens of sharks, gliding silently, hungrily, under the surface. It was terrifying.

These days the sharks are circling Toyota Corporation. And the blood in the water is the alleged unintended acceleration problem some Toyota owners claim to have experienced. Never mind that every car manufacturer has received similar complaints, once a bandwagon starts rolling, people love to climb aboard. Then the plaintiffs' lawyers start circling.

So reading the article, Lawyers Play Speed-Date in Toyota Suit Tussle, it's easy to picture those hungry sharks hoping to turn a profitable corporation into chum.

The lawyers appeared for two minute presentations to persuade a U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that their own jurisdiction might be better than others for hearing consolidated cases against Toyota. Among the lawyers was the lead attorney in the Vioxx case of a few years ago which resulted in a $234.5 million Brazos County jury award against Merck. The trial judge reduced it to $26.1 million, and on appeal, a three judge panel reversed and ruled that the plaintiff got nothing. (The lawyer recently beseeched his colleagues to vote against one of those judges.)

Toyota plans to fight. "People familiar with Toyota's legal strategy said the company for the most part doesn't plan to settle and is digging in for a lengthy fight." Source. If that's true, then more power to Toyota.

Toyota spokespeople have said previously that they did not want to blame the drivers, and that's a very respectful attitude to take. But once the driver files suit, that reluctance will magically disappear, and the public will be able to learn just what the "black boxes" say the vehicle did or didn't do prior to those accidents.

Ancillary issue -- should Toyota drivers who were convicted of vehicular homicide get new trials even though the Toyota they were driving predated any of ones reportedly having a problem? Lawyers for one such driver say yes.

Sunday diversion -- Making change for a dollar

There's probably a computer program that can verify this interesting bit of change making trivia. But until it turns up, we can appreciate this count. There are 293 different ways to make change for a dollar.

Starting with 100 pennies all the way to one one dollar coin -- see the list here. Change we can believe in.

Via Interesting Trivia where you can learn some really important facts, like this: Chocolate stimulates the same reaction in the body as falling in love. Mmmmmm, chocolate.

Big Spring Rattlesnake Roundup -- 3/27/10

This weekend the annual Big Spring Rattlesnake Roundup is taking place. Compared with the recent annual roundup in Sweetwater, this one is a much smaller festival. There is nothing wrong with the one in Sweetwater, but it is so famous that it attracts thousands of visitors. And at peak hours it's hard to maneuver for a good spot in the crowd. No problem in Big Spring.

Snake charmer and rattlesnake showman extraordinaire, Jackie "The Texas Snake Man" Bibby, was the show stopper last year, but he wasn't present this time. They said he was in Italy, however Brownwoodnews.com spotted him in Brownwood, Texas, last weekend.

The Big Spring show was a thrill nonetheless. Plenty of close-in parking, no big crowds to block the view, plenty of refreshments, and freeze dried rattlesnakes available for purchase. How long do those things last, I wondered. "Keep them is a dry spot," I was told by a vendor, because moisture can seep in and cause them to deteriorate. "If they are kept in a dry place they'll last a long, long time."

And most importantly, there were lots and lots of live deadly rattlesnakes, all safely secured behind barricades, and an entertaining group of showmen and women defied death as they demonstrated their fearlessness.  And now, some photos:

Previously:
Rattlesnake fest in Sweetwater;
Rattlesnake Roundup in Big Spring;
Head em up, Move em out - the Rattlesnake Roundup; and
Rattlesnake meat. It tastes like ....

This one's for dog lovers

This is really cute. A baby in a crib starts crying, the dog howls, and the baby stops crying. Maybe the baby was afraid. More likely the baby just needed some attention. 

Watch it at this youtube site. Someday the kid will see this and realize he was raised by wolves.

Via Ace.mu.nu .

Henry Skinner's date with the executioner extended

Yesterday the anti-death penalty groups were holding a death watch for death row inmate Henry Skinner. Even the French embassy weighed in on Mr. Skinner's behalf.

However, late yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court delayed the execution.

We visited the issue last month, see Henry Watkins Skinner waits on death row for some background. The mug shot comes from Mr. Skinner's TDCJ page.

Mr. Skinner's defense team wants more of the evidence tested for DNA identification. However, the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that he couldn't get it, because as a strategy in the trial he declined to ask for it. The logic behind that rule is that a defendant could decline testing before trial for fear that the evidence might be more persuasive of guilt than innocence. But if the case went against him, he could seek the test afterward because he would have nothing to lose at that point.

The rule makes sense. But it also makes martyrs. Maybe Mr. Skinner is innocent, but there was a lot of evidence pointing in his direction. Read the Court of Criminal Appeals ruling for a summary of the facts on which the jury relied and draw your own conclusion.

In the minds of some, Texas juries are sending innocent people to death row right and left, and this one has become such a celebrated case that there really should be some additional DNA testing just to put the restless minds at ease. Prosecutors in all capital murder cases should have all evidence capable of DNA testing tested even if there is other conclusive evidence of guilt just to neutralize issues raised later.

In the meantime, there's an interesting character in the periphery, Mike Graczyk, Associated Press reporter. He has carved out a niche for himself in the newspaper business as a Texas death row reporter. And while there's nothing exceptional about that, but Mr. Graczyk not only writes about people on death row, he has the macabre practice of watching them die. His name appears prominently on the TDCJ witness list, and according to CNN's count, as of last summer Mr. Graczyk had witnessed 315 executions.

Updated 5/24/2010: Supreme Court to consider case.  Houston Chronicle:

Acting on a petition from condemned killer Henry W. Skinner, the U.S. Supreme Court today announced it will consider whether inmates' requests for DNA testing can be considered as civil rights claims — a question that has split the nation's top federal courts.

A modest proposal concerning those 25 year old "children" in the Obamacare bill

One important "feel good" aspect of most liberal programs is that it helps the children. And ObamaCare is no exception. See Pelosi's PDF:

EXTENDING COVERAGE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO 26TH BIRTHDAY THROUGH PARENTS’ INSURANCE – Requires health plans to allow young people up to their 26th birthday to remain on their parents’ insurance policy, at the parents’ choice. Effective 6 months after enactment.

Up to their 26th birthday? Why would that be in there? Maybe it's a way to get healthy young individuals into insurance plans when coercing them to pay for it on their own might turn out to be troublesome. The solution? Get mom and dad, or their bosses, to pay for it.

The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in response to the civil unrest the nation was experiencing in the early 70's. Of the children under the age of 30 who voted in November '08, 66% voted to give Obama the power he is wielding over the nation at the moment. So the under 30's now are no more mature than the under 30's were in the 1970's.

Well, there's a great deal of civil unrest going on right now, too.

So here's the deal. With age comes maturity and wisdom, so clearly we should account for the lack of wisdom and maturity of youngsters who are dependent on mom and dad. In the interest of fairness to those who will suffer under Obamacare, let's do another amendment and raise the voting age to 26.

The new Lexus LFA sports car

The LFA was a concept car when we first looked at it. See Lexus 500 hp sports car from early '06.

Well, Toyota is getting ready to roll them down the assembly line. Here's the official LFA website where you can read all about this fine car. And watch it in action at this video.

The carbon fiber body makes it a light weight automobile, but out here in the real world a driver has to worry about those dings and things that do damage. They plan to train a repair crew, and when they get a call, the crew goes to the car. AAA covers that, right?

Under the hood will be a 552 horsepower 4.8 liter ten cylinder engine which should allow the car to reach 200 mph -- just what a driver needs for these deserted West Texas roads. Well, maybe not. But it's always nice to have enough horsepower to kick up the speed on a two lane road when there's a slowpoke ahead.

Only 500 will be built worldwide with only 100 coming to the U.S. They are due to go on sale around the end of 2011. So there's time to start saving up if you survive the $375,000 sticker shock.

Worried about the Toyota brand and that "unintended acceleration" problem some Toyota owners claim to have experienced? Something tells me the owners of this automobile will not have that problem.

If you're a penny pincher like me, the Prius has a neat feature -- solar panels on the roof. The car can sit in the hot sun and the solar powered ventilation system should keep the interior temperature from reaching the "bake" range.

Buckle up. Don't drive drunk. Strap the baby in. Lock the doors when you leave a vehicle unattended. Only you can prevent forest fires. Did I leave out anything? Oh yeah, loose lips sink ships.

Democrats just nullified the argument for term limits

With many Democrats having more or less accepted a strong possibility of election defeat next time, their suicide pact tells us that they really don't care what voters want. Yeah, voters will likely punish them in the next election, but they say "so what?"

Their loyalty to the Democratic Party leadership rivals the loyalty the al Qaeda minions have for their bosses as they get fitted for vests. As Kimberley Strassel said last week about one Democrat:

Imagine Jason Altmire bound, at the end of a plank, a band of Democratic pirates behind him, a swarm of constituent sharks circling below. Imagine that, and you understand what Democrats are doing to their members with health care.

And enough House Democrats walked the plank yesterday to get the health care bill passed.

Incumbents are extremely difficult to dislodge once they experience the comforts of a seat in the House or Senate. And some of us have argued the need for term limits so that they don't get too comfortable. A high turnover, it was thought, would keep churning in fresh ideas and prevent the government fiefdoms our career elected official begin building just as soon as they take office. But more importantly, the frequent turnover could avoid the situation in which their IOUs were spread throughout Congress, the lobby industry, and special interest groups. Those IOUs would eventually be called in when the holders wanted a government favor.

However, the voters' ability to fire legislators was the only control the people had over them. So with Democrats telling us yesterday that they don't care whether they are reelected, they've effectively term limited themselves. Voters will still have to go through the motions at the next election. But the Democrats reinforced the anti-term limit argument that their desire to remain in office will make them responsive to their constituents.

Once an elected official nears the end of his/her term limit, then loyalty to constituents is pointless. The argument for term limits just took a body blow.

Texas Atty Gen to sue on Obamacare

Governor Perry press release:

"Texas leaders will continue to do everything in our power to fight this federal excess and find ways to protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers from this gross federal overreach."

And according to The Right Side of Austin, Attorney General Gregg Abbott plans to participate in a multi-state lawsuit: "We plan to file the moment Obama signs the bill."

Hat tip: Odessa Tea Party email.

How to get good lion photos

If you've ever wondered how much work it takes to get a good photograph, take a lesson from this guy. Or maybe not. He wanted good photos of lions, so he waded into a watering hole and waited. Ansel Adams was a very patient photographer, but he was in a rush compared to Greg du Toit of South Africa. See the story at Dailymail.co.uk where a couple of the photos are on display. More are supposed to be on display in the March issue of the BBC Wildlife Magazine.

The article said the time he spent semi submerged in the pond was 270 hours.  But that wouldn't count the recovery time from the malaria and parasites.

One really doesn't need to go to Africa to see a lion. A 150 pound mountain lion was captured in Santa Fe, NM, just last week. See Santafenewmexican.com for the details and this advice:

"Every time you see one, you have to scare it away," Murphy said. "You have to be aggressive about scaring it away and not just sort of stay in your house and watch it go by, even though that's the natural thing to want to do because we all think it's cool to see them. It is cool, but it's not really cool and exciting when it's too close to your house. If we don't deter them from the very beginning, we are going to have all sorts of incidents, and the result is going to be that a whole lot of wildlife is going to get killed."

So no watching and photographing from his watering hole.

Via Dangerousmeta.com.

Carbon Monoxide

A story about carbon monoxide gas was in the Midland Reporter-Telegram the other day -- see Officials investigating suspected CO poisoning after woman's death relating to the death of Betty Contreras. They won't know the exact cause of death until they get the autopsy report. But according to the article, Assistant Fire Marshal David Hickman said that the symptoms suggested carbon monoxide poisoning.

Some years back a big campaign urged everyone to install smoke alarms. But somehow carbon monoxide detectors didn't get that kind of attention even though the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says there are around 170 carbon monoxide deaths per year in the U.S.

There's one place that took a unique approach. The fire department in the small town of Wolfforth near Lubbock, Texas, initiated a program whereby carbon monoxide detectors are stocked in the Wolfforth library. Their website doesn't say anything about the program -- I heard about it and called for a rundown.

Library patrons can check one out for four days at a time. They have about five of them, and they are cataloged just like books. Who would have thought the Dewey Decimal System and librarians in general were so flexible?

The Midland County Library is looking for ways to get more people to use the library. So why not stock some CO detectors?

In defiance of the Sleepless in Midland operating standards, I'll say this: it would kill two birds with one stone!

Could this be the year for hill country bluebonnets?

Some years back a mild wet spring produced a spectacular crop of bluebonnets in the hill country of Texas. It took just the right combination of mild temperatures and Spring showers, and from all accounts, the subsequent crops were puny by comparison.

El Nino has dumped a lot of rain in Texas this winter. Fredericksburg, Texas, for example, got 2.57 inches in February and 1.33 inch in the first two weeks of March.

There have been some early sightings in East Texas. So maybe, just maybe, this could be another banner year. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Now here would be a good weekend outing for April 10-11, 2010. First, a leisurely drive around Willow City Loop to see the bountiful bluebonnet blossoms. Then finish up at the gun show in Fredericksburg. What a weekend that would be.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Obama and Holder should "deem" Osama bin Laden dead

George Bush caught all kinds of grief from Democrats for talking about Osama bin Laden in terms of the "wanted dead or alive" posters of the wild west movies. But he summed up a lot of the feeling towards bin Laden following the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks, until it got politicized, that is.

There was a query circulating among friends following the attack: What would you do with bin Laden if you caught him? Most people didn't have any trouble coming up with a creative answer, but some people had a hard time with it.

Attorney General Eric Holder didn't beat around the bush when he was asked. Holder wants Osama dead. But his reasons are different from most of the others who would wish bin Laden dead. Mr. Holder wants to avoid making a decision of what to do with him if he's captured alive given the blow back from his decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Federal Court.

Then along comes U.S. Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal who said when asked about Osama bin Laden: we certainly would go after trying to capture him alive and bring him to justice. Oh, what a dilemma.

Here's what Obama and Holder should do. Democrats in the House of Representatives are plotting on how to "deem" the Senate version of Obamacare to have been passed in the House.  So Obama and Holder should take a lesson from the House and simply "deem" Osama bin Laden dead and order the troops to quit looking for him.

Any pesky tape recording that shows up after bin Laden's deemed death will simply be deemed fake.

Problem solved, decision avoided, embarrassment averted.

What if you die before your pet? (Part 2)

Hang out with dog owners long enough and you'll hear someone refer to a dog's owner as the dog's parent. Sounds silly at first, but dogs and cats serve a great purpose for humans because that unconditional love they have for their owners provides a feeling the humans may not get anywhere else. (I'm not that sure about cats, but let's give them an equal opportunity here.)

According to a U.S. Census XLS spreadsheet, 43 millions households (37.2 %) had pets in 2006. The pet breakdown came to 72.1 million dogs, 81.7 million cats, 11.2 million birds, and 7.3 million horses. The average (mean) veterinary expenditures per household amounted to $356. And there's a bristling business in pet food, toys and accessories as childless people and empty nesters pour their money and affection onto their animals.

Pets and people don't age at the same rate, and most pet owners have dealt with the death of a beloved pet. Check out some of the online memorials to deceased pets, but first, go get a box of tissues. BTW, those grieving pet owners shell out $25 per year for each of those memorials.

Cancer centers have discovered the benefits of canine therapy. And a dying person's own pets provide tremendous comfort to them. But sometimes the pet owner may be too sick to care for the animal. And there's the added pressure of not knowing what will happen to the pet when the owner dies.

There's a fascinating new program catching on, and HospiceMidland, the only nonprofit hospice in Midland, Texas, could become the first hospice in the state to get involved with it. It's called Pet Peace of Mind.

The other day a group of about a dozen HospiceMidland volunteers engaged in a conference call with the program creator, Delana Taylor McNac in which Ms. McNac gave an overview of the problems faced by pet owning hospice patients and how the plan can help them.

A dying pet owner has enough problems to face. And while they may still enjoy the love of an animal, sometimes the animal may get neglected. So that's where the program comes in to help where it's needed, whether it's feeding, trips to the vet, providing a little companionship, or finding a new home for the pet. But most importantly, it provides peace of mind to the pet owner.

Pet Peace of Mind, once implemented, will be a great benefit to pet owning Midlanders.

Previously, see What if you die before your pet? (Part 1).

What if you die before your pet? (Part 1)

Leona Helmsley really must have loved her dog. But don't we all love our pets? Helmsley anticipated that she might die first, so she left $12 million to a trust fund for Trouble, the Maltese. Unfortunately, a cat fight broke out over the will, and the resulting settlement trimmed the dog's share to $2 million, according to Foxnews.com. What will that money buy? Reuters says:

Carl Lekic, the general manager of a Helmsley hotel in Florida and now Trouble's caretaker, said $2 million would be "enough money to pay for the dog's maintenance and welfare at the highest standards of care for more than 10 years," according to an affidavit.

Lekic said the money would cover annual costs of $100,000 for full-time security, $8,000 for grooming and $1,200 for food. Lekic is paid a $60,000 annual guardian fee out of the inheritance.

Not bad for a dog. And hopefully Trouble is living the good life, if he is still living. And we know he's looking good if he gets eight grand worth of grooming each year.

It's fun to poke fun at this, but Helmsley was onto something. A few years ago the media hammered us right and left to prepare end-of-life documents. But what about the pets?

Many states allow trusts for pets, and the State of Texas has a statute for that at Texas Property Code Sec. 112.037. The trust would provide for care of the pets, and if the caregiver wasn't measuring up, anyone else interested in the animals' welfare could petition the court to replace original caregiver. The trust would terminate when the last of the animals dies.

If you've read this far you obviously have an interest in the topic, so I would direct you to Texas Tech law professor Gerry W. Beyer's Estate Planning for Pet Owners where you can find sample trust provisions and all sorts of stuff.

So how much money would your pet need? If you want him/her to live the life of Trouble, $169,200 per year should about do it.

Updated:  See What if you die before your pet? (Part 2) -- pet care for hospice patients.

H2S suicide -- quick, efficient, dangerous to bystanders

Last month the Wake County, North Carolina, EMS Division distributed a warning PDF to homeland security agencies, and PreparingTexas.org featured it as a Hot Topic due to the potentially deadly nature of the event.

It seems that the occurrence in North Carolina was identical to one in Idaho last year, and according to the Idaho notice, it's "popular in Japan."

They call it "detergent suicide." Apparently common chemicals, such as Muriatic or Sulfuric acid, mixed with an organic phosphate, such as toilet bowl cleaner or insecticide will create H2S which will kill a person who inhales one breath.

In these two cases, the victims mixed the substances in closed vehicles, inhaled the gas, and dropped dead. They were considerate enough to have placed notes on the outside warning others about what to expect. So rescue crews blocked off the areas and approached in full haz-mat gear.

H2S is a deadly gas. It stinks, too, or so I've heard.

Oil spill on the road way

It happened early on Saturday morning. The driver of a Permian Crude Transport truck took a sharp left turn and tipped the truck and trailer over onto its side, spilling part of the oily load. The unofficial version at the scene was that the driver was unhurt. The truck was carrying less than a full load, and what didn't spill was off loaded into another truck. The Midland Fire Department haz-mat team attacked it right away with some disposable drain dams and a foam fire retardant. Later a load of dirt was spread over the spill for absorption, and the firefighters got a chance to relax their vigilance.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Highway 349 and the Loop 250 service road on the north end of Midland, Texas. That left turn was probably a little misleading to the driver. It's not a typical 90° turn, it's more like 67°. So it's a very sharp left turn. Take it too fast in a high profile vehicle and over it goes. See an overhead shot at this Google map of the intersection. Traffic was blocked for hours.

Two tow trucks from Neal Pool Rekers arrived, and it was like watching a commercial free episode of Wrecked. No kidding, it was quite a show -- a link to photos is below.

They hooked onto the trailer, lifted the tank and threw a strap around it. They hooked chains to anchor points on the cab and the trailer so with the chains and straps they had four points of contact. Then, oh so slowly, the tow truck engines revved, the cables tightened, and the truck and trailer crept into upright position. It was a very impressive display of skilled workmanship. You should have seen it.

It was an expensive morning for Permian. According to some of the Permian employees on the scene, the cab was probably totaled, and one like it would cost about 20 grand. And the tow company would probably charge a couple of thousand. The city could make a claim for reimbursement as well, but that is not known at this time.

You can see an exiting series of 18 photos at the newly created Sleepless in Midland Flickr site.

Aside: It was a hard day, yesterday. Watching people work is exhausting. But a blogger's work is never done. TV and newspaper photographers? That's a different story. They have it easy. Sleep late, show up at the scene, hang around a few minutes, take a few pictures then head for the bank to deposit a paycheck. Now that must be the good life.

Rattlesnake fest in Sweetwater

The 51st annual Rattlesnake Roundup kicked off this weekend in Sweetwater, Texas. And the slithering, scaly snakes filled the pens. It's unnerving to see a rattler coil for a strike even from a safe distance behind a wood fence. But the brave handlers would stride amongst them.

The snake handlers used hooks to scoop them up. And once they were placed on a table the snakes knew they couldn't get enough traction for a long strike, but that didn't stop one aggressive snake from bursting a balloon dangling just a short strike away.

Caution: If rattlesnakes give you the heebee jeebees, then do not click on these thumbnails!  That said, the snake Ms. Ranchito is holding is a non-poisonous Bull Snake.

They say the snake's venom is for subduing its next meal. And a big old snake would strike a human only in self defense and wouldn't inject much venom, because the human is too big to swallow. However, the small, young ones haven't learned that yet, so those are the ones to fear. Got that?

Fortunately, the high pitched buzz of the rattlesnake's rattles serves as a warning, and one thing West Texans are taught at an early age is to freeze when that sound fills the air. I've never been tested by a rattler in the wild, and to stand frozen might work for some people. However, jumping ten feet straight up might be my reaction.

The festival started a half century ago when some clever person figured out how to take advantage of an uncomfortable situation. During periods of drought the rattlesnakes would come into the city to get a drink of that sweet, sweet water. And the police were kept busy with calls about snakes crawling around the town. So they held a rattlesnake roundup, and it has turned into an annual event that draws thousands of visitors.

One cautionary note, however. With thousands of visitors on the road, you know the interstate will be buzzing with county mounties and highway patrol. And yesterday afternoon the smoke alarm squealed a half dozen times along the 100 or so miles between Midland and Sweetwater. So anyone making that trip needs to keep one eye fixed on the road and one eye fixed on the speedometer.

And see Big Spring Rattlesnake Roundup -- 3/27/10.

Previously:
Rattlesnake Roundup in Big Spring;
Head em up, Move em out - the Rattlesnake Roundup; and
Rattlesnake meat. It tastes like ....

Updated 3/14/2010: Ronald Bredemeyer, who missed the first festival but attended the second, emailed with a correction. The first one of these was in 1958 making the one this weekend the 52nd annual festival, not the 51st.  Thanks Ronald.

Regime Uncertainty, continued

We've talked about this before. See Great Depression 2.0 and Regime Uncertainty, previously.

Robert Higgs, the economist who coined the phrase "regime uncertainty," discusses it again in No Recovery Until America Invests Again at Investors.com telling us in the title what we need for the economy to snap back. (Found at LoneStarTimes.com.)

Consumers have tightened their belts. But more significantly, businesses are trimming their inventories and delaying purchases of the things that wear out or that they may need to increase production. Meanwhile, the government has been spending like crazy. But while private investment spurs the economy, government spending, driven by political considerations not economic reality, slows it.

And there's fear of the government. Robert Higgs:

New taxes and higher rates of old taxes; potentially large burdens of compliance with new environmental and energy regulations and mandatory health care expenses; new, intrinsically arbitrary government oversight of systemic risks associated with virtually any type of business — all of these unsettling possibilities must give pause to anyone considering a long-term investment.

Investors now face regime uncertainty to an extent that few have experienced. To find anything comparable, one must go back to the 1930s and 1940s, when the menacing clouds of the New Deal and World War II darkened the economic horizon.

Unless Washington acts soon to resolve these uncertainties, from the cap-and-trade folly to the health care monstrosity, most investors will likely remain largely on the sidelines, consuming some of what would have been invested and protecting the remainder of their wealth in cash hoards and low-risk, low-return, short-term investments.

If this destructive stalemate persists much longer, Americans may have to write off another lost decade for much the same reason they suffered the first one during the 1930s.

It would be nice to think that once the "regime uncertainty" ends and investors relax their fears of the government the economy will come roaring back. Unfortunately, paying back the tremendous debt the government has saddled us with will act as a damper.

Extra small please -- uh, it's not for me, it's for my little brother

Does everyone get spam for "male enhancements" or is it marketing directed at me? Don't answer.

Anyway, here's a surprise package. It's extra small condoms made by a company in Switzerland.  They say it's made for boys 12 to 14 years old. Source: NYDailynews.com.

Precocious and promiscuous! The Swiss? Who knew?

Midland's new tent jail

It looks like a big circus tent, but it's a foot thick with insulation between two outer layers. With a cement floor it would be easier to carve through it than to dig under it. But the plan is to have a guard on duty all the time. Plus there are five cameras overhead, so if the guard doesn't see it, the camera may record it.

Watch enough episodes of Lockup and one gets the impression that some inmates must wile away their time figuring out where to hide a shiv. So if you see a hiding place in these photos, keep it to yourself.

The supervisor on duty last Saturday said that the prisoners housed there would not require tight security, such as people in for traffic offenses. [Aside:  Do they jail people for traffic offenses now instead of writing tickets? No wonder they ran out of jail space.] The supervisor said that the front door will not be locked.  However, anyone who escapes will have committed a 10 year felony offense, he said. So it's the honor system with sharp teeth.

The other day we looked at local crime statistics, and crimes in some of the categories went down from the past year and some went up. There are people who contend that we have too many people incarcerated. That may be true, but here's an observation. Prison population is growing, but crime is growing, too, at least locally. So clearly there are still some people on the outside who should be on the inside.

Let's look at some more numbers. The Bureau of Justice Statistics tells us that in 2008, over 7.3 million people were under some form of correctional supervision, either jail, prison, probation or parole. A more exact number was 7,308,200. The Census tells us that the population 18 years of age or over between 2006 -- 2008 was 227,431,128. So divide the correctional number by the population number and we get about 3.2% of the population 18 or over in jail, prison, on probation or on parole.

Think back to your high school senior year. According to this calculation, of the 30 or so students in your home room class, one of those cool cats went crosswise with the law and got caught. Seems about right.

In the meantime, S. 714: National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 is pending in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary . If it passes, a commission will be appointed to do the following:

(1) review all areas of federal and state criminal justice costs, practices, and policies;
(2) make specified findings relating to incarceration, prison administration, the impact of gang activity, drug policy, mental illness among prisoners and the role of the military in crime prevention;
(3) make recommendations for changes in policies and laws to address findings;
(4) consult with government and nongovernmental leaders, including state and local law enforcement officials; and
(5) submit a final report to Congress and the President and make such report public.

An examination of the whole criminal justice system should be welcomed by everyone whether they are in or out of that 3.2% who are currently knocking around the system.

Cotton Subsidy Collateral Damage -- a Trade War with Brazil

We have a federal redistribution of income law that doles out millions of taxpayer dollars to a few cotton farmers. What could possibly go wrong?

I've complained about Texas District 11 Congressman Mike Conaway's favorite pork project before. And Texas Republicans were so outraged about it that they gave Conaway only 77.37% of their votes in last week's Republican Primary. That'll show him.

Sarcasm aside, it really does look like Republicans have closed their eyes to it.  But what's wrong with handing out millions of dollars to cotton farmers? Aside from the fact that taxpayers are being required to feed the monster, it has caused a trade war with Brazil.

March 8 (Bloomberg) --

Brazil will publish today a list of 50 U.S. products on which it will impose higher tariffs, as part of a long-running confrontation over cotton subsidies, the Financial Times reported.

Last year, Brazil won a ruling by the World Trade Organization against the U.S. after arguing that its cotton producers had suffered unfairly from illegal subsidies to U.S. cotton farmers, the newspaper said,

The retaliatory measures will take effect next month, the FT said.

How big is this? Asssociated Press says, "The cotton sanctions are the second largest authorized in the WTO's 15-year history."

A trade war -- not exactly the best cure for a recession.  And from the Economist:

That sounds conciliatory, but the Brazilians are still emphasising that negotiations would have to focus on cotton subsidies. The strength of the farm lobby in Congress makes this an area difficult to reform. But changing Congress's mind may be exactly what the Brazilians intend: Gary Hufbauer, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC, says that “Brazil has decided that the only way to shift congressional opinion is through retaliation”. The two countries now have a month to negotiate a settlement before the proposed tariff increases go into effect. (Emphasis added.)

Maybe the Brazilians can do what American voters can't.

Runaway Prius on the California highway -- a new excuse for speeding?

The reporters are almost breathless over this one. Click to go to the Youtube video of the news report about the guy who claimed his Prius gas pedal got stuck and the California patrolman who had to stop it with his patrol car. Another report can be read at BusinessWeek.com.

Surely by now every Toyota owner has put the shifter in neutral while driving just to assure him/her self that that is a viable way to disengage the horsepower from the drive train in an emergency. The guy in this story had the wherewithal and agility to fiddle with the pedal with his hand, but for some reason he didn't put the shifter in neutral.

Maybe he just needed his 15 minutes of fame. But I'm wondering about something else. It's not that difficult to find an internet list of excuses police officers have heard for why a driver was speeding. So how long will it be before speeders in Toyotas start using the "unintended acceleration" excuse? Are has it started already?

Midland Police Awards Ceremony

Last week the Midland Police Department held its annual awards ceremony, and dozens of honors were bestowed on the officers who earned recognition last year.

It's worth your best

The keynote speaker was Lt. Kenny Ray of Company E of the Texas Rangers. No need for anyone else -- one riot, one ranger. Mr. Ray gave an inspiring speech to the police officers and guests as he told how he was motivated to become a highway patrolman as a kid. His older friend and mentor advised the young Kenny Ray that the profession was "Worth your best."

Mr. Ray's plan was to meet the minimum requirement for the job, then apply. But the mentor advised him to get a college degree first, so he did. After graduating from A&M, Mr. Ray worked as a county extension agent. But that childhood dream kept gnawing at him. So he became the highway patrolman he always wanted to be, and ultimately, he became a Texas Ranger.

He told the offices at the awards ceremony that whenever they got tired of working, or whenever they started feeling burned out, remember the honor that goes with the job, and remember that it is worth their best.

Now that's valor

One of the award recipients was officer Joey Garcia who earned the Chief's Medal of Valor. So what does a person have to do to earn one of these? Well, here's how Mr. Garcia earned his.

It was a hot summer night, and the alcohol was flowing at the night club where Officer Garcia worked an off duty security job. One of the bar customers got a snoot full and started acting just a little bit too belligerent toward the other guests. Officer Garcia called a cab and the sent guy home where, apparently, he stewed in his humiliation and worked up a head of steam. He came back to the bar spoiling for a fight.

Officer Garcia tried to defuse the situation, but the guy pulled a knife and struck Garcia on the head with the butt end. Mr. Garcia pulled his baton but lost it in the struggle. So here comes the brawler with the baton in one hand and the knife in another.

Well, you know the old saying, "don't bring a knife to a gun fight." Officer Garcia dispatched the attacker with two shots from his handgun. The guy died. And last week Officer got the medal of valor.

They don't give Oscars for Honest Movie Titles

But that didn't stop Tom Phillip from producing some fun posters with accurate titles for popular movies. See them at Honest Movie Titles - Oscars 2010.

And the Oscar goes to ... "Predictable!"

Youtube now showing captions

Now this is cool. Video makers have been able to add captions to videos uploaded to Youtube by uploading a transcript. However, last November Google announced that automatic captioning would be available, and AFP says they flipped the switch to turn it on the other day. In any event, I had not seen a Youtube video with captions until today. And if the ones I watched are typical, they do a pretty good job.

Back in the mid '80s a breathless IBM sales lady told me that computer voice recognition was just around the corner. You could talk into microphone, and the magic box would convert it into text!  Years passed, but now it appears to work.

Test it yourself. Here's Jerry Day with a census rant duly captioned in English. No hablas Inglés? No problemo, tell it to translate to Spanish.