The Midland Development Corporation has made that final step into self-parody:

"Midland Development Corp. directors today will consider hiring an employees' recruiter to help supply the Permian Basin job market, which, with a 3.3 percent unemployment rate last month, is Texas' tightest.

The board will hear Chamber of Commerce officials John Breier and Blake Wallace ask that the MDC's 2005-06 budget be amended to pay the new work force development coordinator $75,730 a year, including benefits, supplies and equipment."

Well, the MDC did say that they were going to bring high paying jobs to the area now didn't they? So, what multiple of the average call center phone bank employee do you think $75,000 per year represents? Three? Four?

"Board members last month questioned whether such an addition to the staff would duplicate work already being performed by the Permian Basin Workforce Development Board."

What is this? Clear thinking makes a breakthrough?

Uh,.....no.

"Clearly, the work force development board, our office and the chamber all truly believe this will be a positive thing that adds value to our ability to recruit qualified, skilled labor to our community."

Note to readers: They also all believe themselves to be fiscallly conservative and great stewards of your tax dollars. But now yet another tax payer funded job is being created...this one to try to recruit employees to the area...because, you see, the availalibity of jobs and a low cost of living along with the combined efforts of many, many companies already trying to fill these local positions on their own are just not enough.

With classic ChamberThink the obvious solution is a new government position that is to...well....do whatever it is that government employees do to help facilitate private companies staffing their companies with the many different workers and skill sets required for many different jobs.

In short: Nothing.

And, yes, every job created at the Midland Development Corporation is a new government job. Please don't even try to argue otherwise.

Ask yourselves...has anything that has been done by the MDC really matched up with what was represented in their campaign literature several years ago? Subsidies to billion dollar corporations, subsidies to local companies not even looking to move, subsidies to local confectioners..."just because" as far as one can tell, etc., etc. Now, with a low unemployment rate (unrelated to anything done by the local "economic development" authorities) many local officials, afraid to be seen as doing nothing, will do just about anything.

The push for an "economic development tax" rightly failed the two or three times it was tried before finally making it through on a series of scare ads combined with voter weariness of being asked over and over and over on the same issue. Today, it is clear that it is un-needed altogether. Take the money and pay off the stadium complex sooner.

I've been doing more reading than writing both online and offline since the first of the year. A lot of the reading I have done has been forgettable (as is all of my writing). But a common thread has emerged from the hours spent buried in magazines, books and websites. What I have read that I have found to be unforgettable, important and meaningful has had a long view of "things": the world, society, politics. It is imperative to keep short term issues in mind, but if we neglect attention to the long term impact of our short term decisions, we do it at our peril.

One of the best "Long View" articles I have read recently comes from a writer who is a favorite around here, Mark Steyn. Steyn's article, "It's The Demography, Stupid," has been referenced and linked in several places from the Fire Ant Gazette to Instapundit. I think James Lileks (potential future Midland resident!) said the article was "...relentlessly depressing." It is still a must read. The article was written for The New Criterion and was published by the Wall Street Journal as well. It is a long read, but well worth the time.

The opening salvo:

This just in: Midland High has won the 14th Annual Possibly Jack Stephenson's Last Cross Town Rivalry Game by a score of 64-53.

There has been a lot of talk from some of the county commissioners about how they must be doing something right because no one ever runs against them. Well, a couple got their wish. It will be interesting to see if people really have a sincere interest in county politics and the things these men do or don't do to make a difference at the ballot box.

My guess is enough people don't care enough. However, if all the gripes about the building of an annex without a budget, the building of the Horseshoe without voter approval and the lack of pay for sheriff's office employees are for real, it could be an eye-opener for at least one of the two commissioners seeking another term on the court.

It's a good thing they've got a good football team:

"Students Find Housing On and Off Campus"--headline, Daily Texan (University of Texas at Austin), Jan. 18

...found under the headline "Only because they didn't look anywhere else" at WSJ's Best of the Web Today by James Taranto. Only it was not today. It was Thursday.

While the school's journalism department may be a little weak, we find evidence in the article that the math department is doing it's job:

Although 59 percent of UT dorm dwellers are freshmen, 41 percent of residents are non-freshmen, according to Doug Garrard, associate director for the Division of Housing and Food Service.

At first rumors of a problem failed to get law enforcement to investigate. Finally though, stronger hints and an unmistakable stench prompted the discovery of foul deeds. Protestations of shock and horror followed; then came scrambling to find what laws have been broken. Soon new laws will be written to ensure this "wont never happen agin".

Sound familiar? Reminds me of years of Republican run Federal Government.

Dear MR-T,

Please stop wasting space on running columns written by widely recognized barking moonbats. The presidential press corps' crazy aunt in the attic is proving her distant separation from reality every day. What was recently said about Dan Rather also applies to Ms. Thomas: not only does Helen not get "it," the light from "it" can take several years to reach Planet Helen.

Best regards,
Yr. Lyl. Reader, Shepherd

UPDATE: Mr. Lake Wobegon is not an improvement. Although I am sure that several of the 25 or 30 over-55 liberals that live in Midland still find him humorous, feel free to keep trying other columnists.

Note to neighbors of the world, wherever they may be: If you let your dog(s) out front each morning and evening and don't ever seem to have to pick up much dog crap from your own yard...then...well...er...uh...Okay, you are placing a real burden on your neighbor and the fact that they have not mentioned anything to you about it doesn't let your rude a** of the hook.

There. I said it.

Update: Yes. This goes for cats, too. But, in the case of cats, I would be willing to let a cat crap in my yard ten times for every squirrel that it devours. Actually, I would make that trade with any dog, too.

It seems as if one* of our 2006 predictions may have already come true and another** is therefore in jeopardy! O'Reilly seems to have gone missing from KWEL lately and has been replaced by additional time from Tony Snow and Laura Ingram. If this is at least semi-permanent, then Mr. Anderson deserves a kudo. We hope that people will listen and help KWEL's ratings... These two shows are a solid alternative to listening to Rush.

* that Bill O'Reilly would be dropped from KWEL's programming.
** that KWEL's ratings would drop during 2006.

"I commend the commissioners for getting this [the new Midland Horseshoe] done. There was a lot of resistance, I'm glad they stood their ground, if for no other reason than for the kids to have a nice place to show their animals."

Now I ask you, what more reason does one need to spend several million in tax dollars?

The Midland Horseshoe will open Wednesday with the 54th Annual Midland County Livestock Show.

I can't think of anything more appropriate to open the latest community-saving venue than an event that has been held in Midland County every year for the last fifty-three years.

High definition television is a thing of beauty. I watched the Colts-Steelers game on Cox Channel 703 (which is the high-def feed from KOSA) and the picture quality is just amazing.

Of course, since the universe is self-balancing, I then had to watch the Panthers-Bears game on Fox, whose signal quality is not only not high definition, it is unbeleivably lousy to boot.

Fox's signal (and Channel 3 for that matter) produces a picture that is reminiscent of the mid-sixties.

In a rural area.

In freakin' Nigeria.

Bless Mr. Bushman for actually putting some resources into his station (KOSA) and delivering a high-def signal waaayyy before the competition.

Does anyone know if the other local affiliates plan to bring high-def to the area before the government actually makes them do it?

And.....just wondering here....if getting a high-def feed from the local affiliates meant having to give up their local news coverage, would you make the trade?

Thoughts and prayers. Jimmy Patterson's Mom has passed away.

If you have not read his whole series of posts leading up to this, you really should.

This one by request of Mr. Patterson hizzoneself.

(I just can't stop adding frames!)

C'mon guys. It is a perfect green screen. If you are not going to use it then I will.

Jimmy and Robert in Paris.




Jimmy and Robert discuss the big stories of the day.




Jimmy and Robert in history.




Jimmy finally meets his hero. In Paris.




The MyWestTexas.com server gets hacked.




Who needs a caption when we now have "the talkies"?

I will have to admit that I was a bit spotty in keeping up with the local news outlets over the holidays...so perhaps I missed this being reported locally.

In an earlier incident, at a Wal-mart store in Midland, Texas, on December 18, six individuals attempted to buy about 60 of the phones until store clerks became suspicious and notified the police. A Wal-mart spokesperson confirmed the incident.

The Midland, Texas, police report dated December 18 and obtained by ABC News states: "Information obtained by MPD [Midland Police Department] dispatch personnel indicated that approximately six individuals of Middle-Eastern origin were attempting to purchase an unusually large quantity of tracfones (disposable cell phones with prepaid minutes attached)." At least one of the suspects was identified as being from Iraq and another from Pakistan, officials said.

"Upon the arrival of officers, suspects were observed moving away from the registers - appearing to evade detection while ridding themselves of the merchandise."

Did anyone see this reported back around the 18th of December?

Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs

More efficient city government? Lower taxes? Competition in city services? Can you say "outsourcing"?

The wealthy town's new government consists of a mayor, a city council, and a skeleton crew of public employees. Nearly everything else, from public works to urban planning, will be provided by the private sector, with a reluctant county continuing to cover police, fire, and 911 services in the immediate future.

Just a little something to think about...from Reasononline.

We'll see if this gets as much attention from the MSM as the third quarter's "astronomical, windfall" profits did:

DuPont and BP warned of a profit pinch in the fourth quarter, continuing a queasy start to the quarterly earnings season and possibly threatening a recent stock rally. Chemicals maker DuPont said its quarterly results, scheduled for release on Jan. 24, would fall well short of forecasts, partly due to disruption by the summer's hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, but also simply because of slower-than-expected sales and higher-than-expected costs. ...snip... Separately, BP warned that hurricane damage had cost the petroleum giant some $1.3 billion in profit in the quarter and that it would take another $1.3 billion in charges. Its shares fell 1%.

...from a Wall Street Journal Online article around noon today.

This is the first of what surely will be a large number of public oil companies reporting unusually low profits in the fourth quarter of 2005. The energy industry continues to get the job done and is literally spending billions of its own money repairing hurricane damage while delivering fuel for the nation.

George Will on the relationship between rent seekers and the rent seeker seekers who seek them:

"The national pastime is no longer baseball, it is rent-seeking -- bending public power for private advantage. There are two reasons why rent-seeking has become so lurid, but those reasons for today's dystopian politics are reasons why most suggested cures seem utopian.

[snip]

Liberals practice "K Street liberalism" with an easy conscience because they believe government should do as much as possible for as many interests as possible. But "K Street conservatism" compounds unseemliness with hypocrisy. Until the Bush administration, with its incontinent spending, unleashed an especially conscienceless Republican control of both political branches, conservatives pretended to believe in limited government. The past five years, during which the number of registered lobbyists more than doubled, have proved that, for some Republicans, conservative virtue was merely the absence of opportunity for vice.

The way to reduce rent-seeking is to reduce the government's role in the allocation of wealth and opportunity. People serious about reducing the role of money in politics should be serious about reducing the role of politics in distributing money. But those most eager to do the former -- liberals, generally -- are the least eager to do the latter."

"K Street Conservatism". A perfect description of the abandonment of principled economic conservatism for political expediency.

Of course local economic conservatives think that Mr. Will is talking about other people....and not the people who brought you the stadium complex. And MT EZ Rider. And the Midland Horseshoe. And the Midland Development Corporation. And the "I Can't Believe It Isn't Feasible" brand improved convention center.

No....that isn't spending. That is investing! Yes, even spending on interactive water fountains!

There is not an office holder in town that has any right to criticize another office holder's spending.

Anywhere.

How do you say chutzpah in Spanish?

"There has to be an integrated reform that includes a temporary worker program, but also the regularization of those people who are already living in receptor countries," Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said.

So we're a "receptor country" now? Cute...

We love legal immigrants. What part of the word "illegal" do these guys not understand?

So we're "in" with Texas Monthly, but we're "out" with these guys. What did we do wrong?

All we want is an invite that we can turn down so we look cool. Wouldn't have cost them a thing. A card and postage. Or an e-mail.

Is that too much to ask? * sniff * We didn't even get the talking points fax...

Ned Rice prediction for 2006: "More gloomy economic news for President Bush as thousands of unemployment offices are forced to close."

NEWS ALERT from The Wall Street Journal Jan. 6, 2006 U.S. employers increased their hiring by about half of what was expected during December, but nonfarm payrolls for the prior month were revised sharply higher. Nonfarm payrolls climbed by 108,000 jobs, after an upwardly revised 305,000-job increase in November, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9% last month from 5.0%.

Emphasis mine. We are on our way. BTW: What is the local unemployment office staff doing these days?

Heartbreakingly good blogging going on over at Jimmy Patterson's Sticky Doorknobs.

Thoughts and prayers.

Yes, we bag on the Midland Development Corporation a bunch. Not because they are bad guys (they are not), but because we think that turning over tons of tax money to private companies in order to be more popular is just not right.

But if they pull off this particular project, we promise to shut up.

News coverage of the cost and performance of the EZ Rider bus system continues to be non existent. The latest I have seen is from the Odessa American in an article from (I think) 12/09/2005. (Note to OA Web Guys: The dates of your articles are not easy to discern):

"Total revenue for the bus service was $20,223.13, compared to last year’s $15,127.91. Of that total, $10,718.87 came from Midland and $9,504.26 came from Odessa, the report indicated. Year-to-date revenue climbed to $39,591.90. Smithson noted that is a 38.1 percent increase over the last year figure of $28,663.20."

Wow. Think about that for just a second. Buses burning fuel running all over both towns all year long...with non-volunteer drivers one supposes....matched up against $40,000 in revenues from riders. I am guessing that revenues are only about 30% of the head guy's salary.

But no mention of costs. Are taxpayers still laying out $7 per trip in subsidies? Or did it...as has been theorized here...get even worse despite some increases in ridership?

The articles reporting on the ridership are pretty common. How tough would it be to actually, you know, finish one? At the same time they get the requisite quote from the head of the bus system they should just go ahead and ask for the full financials also.

Not tough at all.

So...who is deciding to not report the other half of the story and why do they think it is not news?

The online edition of the Odessa American has undergone a face-lift and it looks good. The ball is now in the court of MyWestTexas.com.

"Midland-Odessa economic juggernaut roars ahead", cries the headline. And indeed it does.

Again, the question has to be asked: Wouldn't the money that goes in to the largely ineffective coffers of the Midland Development Corporation be better spent paying down the debt from other current projects like the updating of the secondary schools and the stadium complex?

Or at least not assessed at all, leaving the money with the taxpayers to invest and spend rather than to be used as legal kickbacks to private concerns?

I am afraid not. In fact, look for a greater burden to be placed on the taxpayers when, on top of all of the current projects, comes the new and improved convention center.....the next and latest must-have critical key to Midland's survival.

It is a good thing that fiscal conservatives Republicans run this town or there would be some really big spending going on.

So Carol Keeton Rylander Strayhorn is running for the Texas Governorship as an independent. Translation: Didn't get the Republican support she had hoped for and has talked smack too long to back down.

This may be the end of the road for the tough Grandma.

Congrats to the Texas Longhorns on their dream season. Winning had to be great on its own, but winning the MNC in what has to be one of the great college ball games of all time has to be even better.

And, yes, even with 20/20 hindsight, Pete Carroll deciding to go for it on Fourth and One instead of punting the ball back to Texas was the correct call.

Now....about that time out on the Two-point conversion.....

Vince Young has said that he will stay at Texas. I am betting that he will not. There is nothing more for him to accomplish there. His performance this season and in the title game particularly cannot be topped even by him.

Sure, he did not win the Heisman...but he did even better than that. He beat the guy that did win it (Reggie Bush) in the title game.

Why risk the injury at this point? Literally millions of dollars are now at risk for Mr. Young. School rah-rah aside, staying at Texas would be almost irresponsible.

With my first post of the New Year, let me say thanks to Shep and Pliny for...well...posting. Blogs need posts (according to the most recent edition of The Blogger's Manual).

So...what to do with the next year on Jessica's Well? Just about every time we slow down and it would be easy to move on to other things our genius is recognized by the mainstream media.

Okay, if not our genius, at least our URL (www.jessicawell.com).

Okay...perhaps just the genius of our Commenters.

In any event look for these things to happen on Jessica's Well this year:

• A few more contributors. We are in recruiting mode.
• A new design. I am already tired of our "new" look. It ain't so new a look. A call to Sekimori may be in order.
• Document libraries. Ever wonder what the full report from the firm that was investigating the "feasability" of the expansion of the convention center really said. I have seen a Power Point presentation that could have been assembled in an hour. A PDF file that is the whole report would be a great first document for the library. A good second would be the total financial report for EZ Rider for the second full year of operations.
• A photo gallery where anyone with an old photo of things Midland could upload their photo to the site for viewing.

Plus....I am all ears (or whatever it is when you are listening to e-mail). Any ideas out there for us for the next year?

A reminder for the New Year. Victor Davis Hanson from last Thursday on NRO: "The Plague of Success." Read the whole thing.

A taste:

Third, our affluent society is at a complete disconnect with hard physical work and appreciation of how tenuous life was for 2,500 years of civilization. Those in our media circus who deliver our truth can't weld, fix a car, shoot a gun, or do much of anything other than run around looking for scoops about how incompetent things are done daily in Iraq under the most trying of circumstances. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that our technologies and wealth give us a pass on the old obstacles of time and space - as if Iraq 7,000 miles away is no more distant than Washington is from New York. Perhaps soldiers on patrol who go for 20 hours without sleep with 70 pounds on their back are merely like journalists pulling an all-nighter to file a story.

Or perhaps they're not.