Leopard is the New Vista, and It's Pissing Me Off.

A fact corroborated by both family and friends of mine who use and love (rightly so) their Apple computers.

Apple can run all of the cute Mac v. PC ads they want but any experienced computer user knows that they are just making crap up about Windows.

I have used Windoze (ha, ha) forever and have always had a very positive experience using a wide variety of different apps - the range of which I would match against 100% of computer users locally and 95% of computer users anywhere else....and have no complaints.

Until now. With Vista.

And it is this: Twice now after upgrading the HD on a laptop running Vista my machine has told me that the OS is going to quit working until I prove to Micrsosoft that I do indeed own the OS that I purchased from them. It does let me attempt to do it through the internet, but after trying it fails and then has me call Microsoft on the phone and read them a sequence of about 36 numbers and letters. At that point the person on the phone reads me back a different set of numbers and letters for me to type into my registration screen.

Then Microsoft and I are one again. Until I upgrade the HD again...which I plan to do this weekend.

So Leopard users, I feel your pain.

I get off easy though...because I don't have to withstand the utter disillusionment.

It's like drilling oil wells...

or so says outgoing MDC president Jim Nelson. It seems the MDC is not only failing to significantly promote diversification of our local economy, they can't even diversify their vocabulary!

The recent activity of the MDC just doesn't stand up to that Oil & Gas analogy. Here we are again with another oil field service company getting money to expand into an Oil & Gas market that is so white hot and flush with cash that drilling a well isn't that risky of an enterprise. Not to mention the fact they have once again incented a company to move into a facility that is not currently within the City Limits of Midland. What's wrong with the Entrada Building for these folks? City/4a/4b Taxes?

Save TRACE engines, which like the recently announced Falcon International deal in Odessa, has ownership with deep West Texas roots, and most likely would have located here to some degree without ED help, they're shooting fish in a barrel.

The other announcement is kind of interesting, in August of 2007, on this very blog, I made a semi-serious suggestion for the MDC to start kicking in dollars for recruiting doctors for Midland Memorial Hospital. I guess, the "I hate Midland and Everything About it" crowd actually has a few ideas worth implementing, even if they were offered somewhat in jest.

Personally, I think Midland has shot itself in the foot with the ED Tax, we've sucked untold millions out of the local economy for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs, yet this is not our problem. As America as a whole enjoys a time of relative prosperity, the outrageous salaries of the oil field can't seem to get people out here. When we need quality of life improvements, housing and lower taxation to make ourselves more attractive....we're stuck with the MDC, which is powerless to affect those aspects of the local economy.

Yeah, they accepted a "Quality of Place Plan," but if they ever post it on their website I think we will find it is very similar to the TIRZ plan, the Downtown Midland Plan, MAAP, Come Home to Midland Plan, and the Vision 2000 Plan. At least we recycle.

We're not the only oil town dealing with a severe labor crunch:

"I'm tired of hiring anyone with a pulse only to have them take advantage of me," Rose said in an interview.

[She] agreed retailers need to be more lenient during the boom but not so much as to sacrifice their integrity.

"How many times can you call a worker to wake them up and remind them they're two hours late for their shift? Eventually it has to stop."

I bet you have to wait 45 minutes for a table at their half-full Abuelos, too.

Stay strong, Sister Edmonton!

The Hollywood Reporter (THR): But were the National Guard documents authentic?
Rather: I believe they are authentic. I believed it at the time, I believe it now.

THR: So all the people who have pointed out, for example, that the particular font on the documents didn't even exist back then, they are wrong?
Rather: I'm glad you asked about that because, unfortunately, there has been a lot written and said about it, saying they were bogus, they were forgeries, none of which has stood up.

You just don't see a total flame-out like this very often.

I know what you are thinking. But, technically, you can't count the Stage 4 BDS-ravaged Keith Olbermann as a flameout because he started out that way.

("Dreaded Throbbing Memo" graphic stolen from courtesy of Little Green Footballs.)

I was reading some commentary on the most influential national blogs and even for the pundits, it all comes down to traffic. So I decided to see how some of the locals ranked....

It is one of those things that you don't notice when it actually stopped happening, rather something makes you notice that it hasn't happened in a while.

And you can't remember exactly when it stopped happening either.

So I ask, at what age did your kids reach the point where you stopped referring to your non-related but close friends as Aunt So-and-So, and Uncle Whatsisname?

The Thanksgiving story from the Patriot Post. We have much to be thankful for. Including this article, another Thanksgiving story, linked previously.

Bill Clinton's response: "For free?"

Beowulf: I thought the idea was that technology would get video games to look like movies, not the other way around.

Redacted: You have to see a movie in order to review it and nobody wants to be the first to see it.

How long do you think it will take before Turner Classic Movies places 'Redacted' in the rotation for the "Veteran's Day Weekend" movie marathon?

It is sort of like the networks habit of running "The Ten Commandments" on Easter weekend.

Good movie, part of the whole story, but you can tell that the networks suits seem a bit put off by that whole... you know... 'Jesus' thing.

For those who have enjoyed their coverage of the City Council and Midland County over the past year or two, you will be sad to learn that city/county reporter Colin Guy will be moving on to a larger paper within the Hearst chain. He will be missed.

This from Newsroom Stew a week ago. (Thanks, Stewart.) I'm sorry I missed the announcement and I am even sorrier that Colin is leaving. He has done a good job. Good luck, Colin, in your next gig!

I think I might know where Walsingham will be at 6:00 AM this Friday.

In thinking about the Site Admin's challenge, I decided to reflect on what the MDC had participated in over the course of their existence. One of the most perplexing projects gone awary is the infamous "intermodal freight facility" (ie. train yard near the airport and I-20). MDC participated by sending some money and moral support over to the La Entrada Rail District.

Then there was the curious news item discussed here in the Well regarding the extension of a rail line from Odessa to Seagraves....and then I found this:

Backers argued that their road would provide vital services for farmers and merchants in lonely West Texas. They argued that the line would show profits in only five years by hauling grain, sugar beets, iron ore, oil, castor beans, peaches, potatoes and cotton to Odessa and Seagraves for transshipment to major markets.

This looks like a quote from Today's headlines...but wait......

....last week the Permian Basin Railroad Co. of Odessa, Texas, announced that it will begin construction in the spring and hopes to open track from Odessa to Seagraves, Texas, by early 1970. Construction costs will be a modest $9,000,000 because the all-freight Permian Basin will be only 78 miles long.

Every mile has been bitterly contested. Incorporated in 1960 by businessmen in and around Odessa, the Permian Basin petitioned the ICC in 1963 for approval to begin construction.

Read it yourself, but the story talks about the T&P and AT&SF Railroads opposing the development (just like today), though the Permian Basin Railroad prevailed in their right to build in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Anybody know why this line wasn't built nearly 40 years ago? Is anyone on the current La Entrada Rail District privy to this past? or is there someone working out an almost 50 year old want for the region?

Being a baseball fan, especially Minor League baseball, this comes as no surprise....

Rockhounds Named Top Minor League Franchise

The Midland Rockhounds have been honored with the 2007 John H. Johnson President's Trophy, given to the minor league franchise that most typifies a complete baseball franchise.......

In the official press release from Minor League Baseball, the Rockhounds were praised for being "a quiet, but solid, success story despite operating in one of the smallest markets in Double-A baseball." The Rockhounds averaged a franchise-record 3,975 fans per game in 2007.

Somebody is doing something right out at the Sports Complex....

Judging from the Google search results for Scharbauer Sports Complex, you all might want to start a blog, too. Oh, and whatever you do, don't Google, Scharbauer Sports Complex Failure.

Bon Internet, everyone.

With full administrator privileges comes the ability to create a perfect world...for the length of an open thread anyway.

The Scenario: The City Council all woke up on a Tuesday morning before their meeting after having been visited during the night by three spirits which caused them to have a collective epiphany...which then caused them to place a sunset clause on the Economic Development Sales Tax. The tax will expire on December 31, 2012 unless re-approved by the voters on the first Tuesday of November, 2012.

The Rules: 1) Assume that the MDC has money in the bank, unallocated and unrestricted, say $20,000,000. 2) They cannot simply give it back, nor turn in over to the general fund. It must be spent by them.

They have roughly four and a half years left to either maintain their current direction or alter it either slightly or completely.

So, what do they do?

(Threadjack Warning: I will be personally moderating this thread. Don't go off topic and don't digress or devolve. Also, depending on the traffic and the discourse, I may be bumping this post back up to the top from time to time. So if you pull up this page and see this post at the top there still may be some newer posts below it. If I do this you will see the word "STICKY" inserted in the title.)

I am again taking on my self appointed role to occasionally change the subject for a change of pace (or at least a little relief)...

Here is Mark Steyn on the truly American celebration of Thanksgiving.

Who would have foreseen that the nation that inflicted fast food and drive-thru restaurants on the planet would then take the fastest menu item of all and turn it into a Kabuki-paced performance art? What mad genius!

The mad genius of Americanism described by the mad genius Mark Steyn. Read the whole thing.

If you have arrived at this page while researching Midland and are wondering if, should you move your company here and take public money as an "incentive" to do it, you will be called a Corporate Welfare Queen....I have this to say:

Yeah, it could happen.

But you should come anyway...without the kickback, because Midland is a great town.

Except for those mean old bloggers.

From Fire Ant Gazette:

In any event, the Midland Development Corporation is in a no-win situation at this point. It cannot - I repeat: cannot - compete in a blogging war, should it come to that. It has neither the resources nor the expertise nor the sheer willpower. Nor the funny.

Okay, I made that last part up.

UPDATE: BUUUUURRRNNN! From the Comments section of Jimmy the P's post:

I think that the MDC could certainly benefit from beefing up its online presence, and frankly I think putting Midland at the top of the Google list for certain search terms is something that should have been done a long time ago. There is no better time, and indeed there may never be another opportunity, for Midland to seize upon its prosperity and diversify the local economy than right now, while we're strong and in a position to show people that we have bustling commerce.

In my brief experience with the Well, I think that the people over there represent a small cabal of deeply misguided, confused people who don't understand the changing political situation in the United States, and who don't see the coming tsunami of technological innovation in the transportation industry and in the nation's energy infrastructure on the horizon [Emphasis mine...so that we can all better feel the patronizing tone washing over us.]. These changes could potentially lay waste to Midland, and they are either too blind or insouciant to see it.
----- Texas Soulja

This leaves me a bit confused. Did we build the stadium too big or too small to stem the coming tsunami of technological innovation? Will more skyboxes for the Rockhounds slow or speed up our adaptation to the nation's changing energy infrastructure?

Oh, but he must mean the MDC. But then we will probably have a philosophical split concerning the city government's role in directing the economy. While we both agree that there will be no better a time for "Midland" to seize upon its prosperity and diversify the local economy we almost certainly disagree on how this is best and most genuinely done.

In the above example, to me "Midland" should mean individuals and businesses in Midland taking this opportunity to use their windfalls gained either directly or indirectly from high oil prices and based upon their (literally) thousands and thousands of individual competencies, experiences, and judgements on how they can best protect themselves from a downturn in the oil market then making investment decisions accordingly. The job of the governmental agencies in this scenario is to facilitate a pro-business climate for all comers, not just a chosen few.

To others, apparently, "Midland" in this context means a six member board of political appointees placing an extra tax on all business and individuals so that they may initiate the transfer of public funds to private concerns in order to "incent" these otherwise relunctant businesses to relocate or expand here.

It is icing on the cake for those of us in the small cabal of the disgruntled non-visionary that an actual look at who the MDC has been giving money to bolsters our case, not theirs.

If the MDC starts a blog of its own I hope Texas Soulja will write for them...and will leave the comments open.

Welcome, Joe Smith!

Consultants hired to develop strategic plan indicate that the economic development corporation needs a blog to counter online critics and keep public informed of changes as MDC implements recommendations.

Update: Jimmy the P weighs in.

It doesn't come as any real shock that the Scharbauer Sports Complex is underperforming the expectations of its supporters. More interesting is the possibility that it may even be underperforming the expecations of its critics. The cynic in me tells me that its supporters are hardly shocked. They passed the referendum, built the complex, engraved the names on the placque and are now long down the road when the reality hits....as they knew they would be.

Of course we can't turn back time and re-vote on the issue nor can or should we bulldoze the venue.

All we can do is take away one simple lesson and it is this: If the powers that be commissioned a feasibility study on the stadium complex this very day it would still come back with numbers that would make their collectivist...er...I mean collective mouths water. Just as would a feasibility study commissioned today for the La Enterada industrial building, which as far as anyone can tell is serving as an "Air Museum", perhaps in cooperation with the Air Power Heritage Museum next door.

Feasibility studies are not a discovery process, rather they are paper-based ass-coverings.

It will serve us well to remember this because the push for a new (and Feasible! Feasible. Feasible. Feasible.) convention center is not dead. Far from it.

Let the Lemon Bowl forever serve as a concrete, physically imposing reminder that over time the cases for doing these projects are almost always shown to be overstated.

'Transparency' is a word that has been over used. In a political context, this word is used to convey a promise that a candidate or administration will enact policies that will make the actions of government easily seen through; recognized or detected and that all discussions regarding governmental policy will be open, frank, and candid. This is all well and good, but if government was to truly achieve 'Transparency' would the electorate know what they were looking at?

It is my experience that Local Government is generally transparent (unlike State and Federal Government). There are written budgets, there are annual audits, there are meeting agendas, there are meeting minutes, there are voter referendums and there are reports, lots of reports. Everything is there for anyone, and everyone, to see. Even the City Staff briefings of the Council are public. In my opinion, 'Transparency' seems a plenty, however, a basic understanding of local government seems to be lacking.

If a pocket watch housing is made of clear plastic, it doesn't mean the uninformed know how it works. If a butcher shop puts in a window to the sausage grinder, it doesn't mean everyone wants to see. So it is with local government, It is sufficiently complex and sufficiently messy that a large portion of the electorate either can't understand it, or doesn't want to. What the electorate wants is a watch that keeps good time and a nice tasty sausage for diner....and they don't want to feel like they got ripped off or shortchanged for those privileges.

Since the Sports Complex seems to be such an issue because of the "revelation" it has had net operating losses since inception, let's use it for an example. (Disclaimer I don't know everything there is to know about the sports complex, and that's part of my point, so follow along).....

At first blush, the revelation that the Sports Complex has been operating at a loss since day one, and those losses equal about $2.7 million, seems dramatic. Taken alone, it is dramatic...but where is the context, where are those little cogs and sausage bits. Did Midland Memorial Stadium and Christensen Stadium operate at a loss? (I bet they did), How does $2.7 million look against $15.1 million in saved interest payments because of wise financial decisions to re-finance our debt? Would we really have a first rate track and field complex had we forced a track into Grande? For all the accusations about raiding water and sewer funds for the complex, has anyone ever looked at the audits and budgets and noticed that the sports complex fund is paying that $2.5 million dollar bond for those costs?

I could go on with other morsels, and I'm sure our contributors can drag up more, even unfavorable ones. The point is, the process by which we came to have a Sports Complex and the management of it since is a complex issue with lots of difficult and inter-related decisions that had, and have to be made. However hard that is for our City Fathers, it just seems easier for many blog commenter's to just bandy about names of former, current and to be Mayors and Councilmen and play guessing games with their motives a decade ago and call it a night.

Really, what I think Midland lacks is a trustworthy and knowledgeable leadership figure that can be the "tour guide" of Local Government and communicate effectively with the electorate.

Secondly, when it comes to local tax expenditure issues, I think our local leaders have gotten trapped by listening to their advisers and consultants saying, "it's normal", "it's comparable to other cities" or "it is the way these things work" without apparent comment. Nobody seems to ask, "why?" or "can we do it better?" or "if that's the case, should we do it at all?"

Ah, the sports complex. Just vote for it, and it'll bring so much money and activity to the area, you won't even be able to find parking. Just vote for it, and it'll become viable quickly and add to the economy. Just vote for it, and it'll make the city a better place.

NOT.

Operating deficits totaling $2.7 million have been covered by money borrowed from city's reserve fund. City officials will consider authorizing quarter-cent sales tax fund to help meet future operational and maintenance expenses.

The cost of operating and maintaining the Scharbauer Sports Complex has exceeded revenue generated through the facility from day one and city officials now are considering tapping into the quarter-cent sales tax fund designated for debt service to help pay for day-to-day costs.

We. Told. You. So.

Neener, neener, neener.

Too bad it doesn't feel good to say so. In fact, as homeowners we could be in potentially serious trouble over this long-ago-warned-against socialistic debacle we now call Scharbauer Sport Complex. My one prayer is that we will someday have a generation of city leaders who can perform basic math.

Here endeth the lesson.

We seem to have garnered some publicity for our "Open Thread" on the mayoral race and the amount of meaningless conversation to be found there. It is a fair criticism. There were some good comments and retorts and re-retorts. But there was also some devolution of civility across a lot of the thread and I will have to admit that some of the things I posted there did not represent me in my finest hour. (My apologies to 'outsider').

So Mr. Patterson is correct about how meaningless a lot of the conversation was.

But the criticism, while valid, falls oddly upon the ears. For it is, without fail, the meaningless things here that get mentioned by the MyWestTexas.com page on Mondays when we get mentioned at all.

Meanwhile, our own ospurt has done more original reporting and financial analysis on the EZ Rider transporation system than has any area news organization.

I challenge anyone looking for information on the EZ Rider system to find more meaningful information from any traditional news source than has been provided here by the Great Os.

We have asked several times (when EZ Rider ridership numbers are published without any attendant mention of the cost of operating the system), "If the costs of the system are judged to be unimportant to the citizenry then why do the citizens need to know the ridership numbers?"

So it is with this issue. If the meaningful stuff isn't important enough to mention then why bring up the meaningless stuff?

Thank you, Shepherd, thank you, for this most entertaining bit of ecotourism: a free ride down the Amazon for the lunacy du jour. It's a moonbat version of a Disneyland ride, but this one is perhaps is It's a Small Raving Barking Paranoid Self-righteous Moonbat World, and instead of singing Animatronic human dolls you have dead spotted owls and snail darters, with large solar-powered signs point out the holy relics that they are, instead of just carrion. There would be an eighties room, with nuclear winter--remember that paleo-moonbat wheeze?--and a naughts room full of melting ice--how very far we've come in Received Truth in twenty years--all the while rich white heterosexual males serve you fair-trade coffee and grovel and have competitions of glossolalia expressing guilt.

(Shepherd, I do apologize for running with your post, but Nat, wisely, hasn't given me privileges to work on others' posts, and getting these graphics right require a separate post. But I freely admit that this is your archeological find of coprolites, and I'm only doing a little more chipping off of the guano to find the stercoraceous bits inside.)

If I were a smug moonbat, I'd certainly want one of these

while I was contemplating the Bush terror--the people who vanish in the night, which we are told about by people who howl and bark and snarl about fascism and repression while they're, uh, charging lotsa moolah for things howling and barking and snarling about fascism and repression. Help me, please--I don't quite see that one. Isn't that silly, even for a moonbat? But this so-called fascist thing which, er, doesn't in point of fact actually exist, is obviously so much more important than 200,000,000 people who were just murdered all in search of the Maximum Happiness for the Most People (tm) at the point of a gun, and if you believe that, it makes strange, totalitarian sense, to kill off as many of them as you possibly can.

"Don't like what we have on offer? Well, then off with your head." And if you take a purely arithmetic view of things, that does increase the happiness for by definition if you murder everyone who isn't happy with what you're trying to do then people are happier all around, aren't they? And to think that I, a math major, just now saw it. I believe, I believe, I believe! Algore take me now!

No, not to shop for a moonbat; a catalog to buy something special for your special moonbat friend.

How about a Global Warming Mug with Chocolates? "Fill the mug with a hot beverage and watch the world's coastlines disappear. Unwrap a milk chocolate Earthball, pop it into your mouth, and it, too, will disappear. 12 oz. ceramic mug arrives with 6 oz. of creamy, delicious chocolates in colorful foil wrappers. The perfect stocking stuffer." It's only $17.95 plus shipping. No mention of carbon offsets for shipping or of needing more of them for rush delivery.

Not up for chocolate, melt in your mouth Earthballs? How about a Disappearing Civil Liberties Mug? "Freedom of speech and the press...gone. Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures...vanished. Speedy and public trial...pfft. Pour a hot beverage and watch the Bill of Rights disappear. 12 oz. ceramic mug." A set of 2 for the bargain price of $21.95. A full serving of paranoid moonbattery is extra.

I guess sometime a decade ago or so, I ordered a tape or something from the PBS products catalog. Probably a Monty Python tape. It was before I unequivically ceased supporting PBS.

The catalog has become "Acorn: Exceptional Entertainment, Imaginative Gifts, Uncommon Quality". It oddly contains the above items, biblical scriptures on bracelets, British comedy and drama DVDs, DVDs from the Discovery Channel and a 3 DVD set entitled "Sex: A Lifelong Pleasure." "...practical, positive advice and guidance from world-renowned sex therapists, as well as explicit demonstrations of specific sexual techniques presented by a real couple." As opposed to what, an unreal couple?

I couldn't not thumb through the catalog. But the contents are ridiculous. And a great reflection of the wealth, taste and sanctimonious elitism of the average moonbat.

How about your own "Riverstone Cairns?" It is a box of 12 rocks that you can stack to form a cairn or two to guide you from the kitchen to the balcony of your apartment. Sound dumb? "On the Scottish highlands, the stupas of Tibet, and the frozen Arctic of the Inuit peoples, cairns - stone piles shaped by human hands - dot the landscape..." Only $39.95 for your box of rocks that, if you order it, you are dumber than.

Rocks, mugs, DVDs and soft pron...all made possible by YOUR support of your local PBS station. Into the bin it goes.

Update: after spending too much time perusing the website, there appears to be no direct link with PBS and no indication of there having been a link. There are a number of executives that have come to Acorn with a PBS gig on their c.v. I now suspect a defunct PBS marketing group and a shared old mailing list...not much fodder for a conspiracy there, but it would be logical for PBS to sell its donors lists to sympathetic companies like Acorn. I hereby retract the phrase "...all made possible by your support of your local PBS station" but the rest of the post stands. And the catalog is still in the trash bin.

A marvelous column today by Peggy Noonan.

"When unchallenged, in a comfortable, controlled situation, Sen. Clinton embraces her elevation into the 'boys club.' " But when "legitimate questions" are asked, "she is quick to raise the white flag and look for a change in the rules."

I couldn't have said it better myself. But I didn't and who did say it is firing criticism in from a heretofore unlikely quarter. Read the whole thing.

P.S.: God bless Margaret Thatcher.

Sometimes you win, just a little bit. I've read over the years about another one of the sneering lefties, a certain Mark Malloch-Brown, who, as a big Pooh-Bah for the UN, was complicit in all sorts of unsavory UN things, but then I'm being redundant.

(Malloch-Brown is not, by definition, a moonbat. His theories are definitely moonbat but he does not have that inner void that moonbat hysteria attempts to cover up--I think of him rather as a steely-hearted socialist/totalitarian who cleans up good.)

Malloch-Brown lived, and now it seems, still lives beyond his means, but then so many lefties with grand ideas for others do--it's in the blood, you know, and their hypocrisy is not that because they are, in Thomas Sowell's elegantly disdainful phrase, the anointed. And he is a bosom buddy of George Soros. Need I say more?

But I will, of course. I've seen him interviewed and he has that particular insufferable oiliness which lickspittle lefties find convincing. You know the type: they howl at people who won't strike back, and grovel before others. Schoolyard bullies, writ large.

It seems that Gordon Brown, the prime minister after Tony Blair, has recruited him to ooze his smarmy self-satisfaction over in his homeland--much better than here--and there is a definite stink that follows, and The Spectator has an article which amused me.

Another leftie, his trotters deep in the public trough, lifting his snout up from the swill only to grunt his displeasure at the unwashed who look at this little piggy and realize that a good bath with Varsol would rid him of his layer of grease and send him packing.

For an idea of how oleaginous this man is, remember Robert Reich, the haughty homunculus of the Clinton administration. While at Dartmouth, he took part in restructuring the curriculum to make it into perhaps the academically weakest of the Ivy League institutions--it is no accident that Ira Magaziner, the architect of Hillarycare, did just the same thing for Brown.

Remember the smirk on Mr. Reich's face. Now add an English accent to that. And how well served we are to be shut of him.

Warning: On the full version of this post, I have some pictures from a reporter whose website zombietime.com blows open the moonbat cave and lets in some light. And one of the pictures shows what's the latest coming down the moonbat catwalk. Technically speaking, it does not involve clothes. But no one could possibly say that it is obscene for that.

From the International Herald-Tribune:

China will reject any agreement that calls for binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions that will replace the Kyoto Protocol, an EU official said Wednesday.

I blame Bush.

The moonbats are going to have to choose between their twin loves of enviromentalism and totalitarianism.

Or perhaps not. It is probably only Western industry, capitalism, and prosperity that is the problem in their minds.

fealty \FEE-uhl-tee\, noun: 1. Fidelity to one's lord; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord. 2. The oath by which this obligation was assumed. 3. Fidelity; allegiance; faithfulness.

And this came up as I was having a great deal of fun about the mind-set of the left which has to import, and impose, a rigid order on the world--using a gun, of course for it always gets down to a gun in the Progressive World of Next Tuesdaytm.

Ah. That slavish devotion to a rigid order. That fealty to control.

Serendipity.

If you trawl the hate mill of the Daily Kos, you'll find precious coinages such as "Reich-wing Rethuglicans," the "Bush terror" and any number of other sneers. Chief among them is the accusation that we are on the verge of martial law and a totalitarian state and the implication is that America is run by fascists. This is projection.

First, you'll be struck by the anger of it all: "Before my head began exploding a few years ago in response to Busharama..." And "Bush has also damaged my mental health." This seems to presume that the writer had any. Another writer confides, hell, shouts, to us: "Frequently, I'm so intensely angry that I hit things."

They accuse the right of anger, but who is angry? Projection, again.

Do these sound like sane people? No, they sound like spoiled brats, people who are used to privilege as a right, and who squall, scream and demand their rights as a matter of course, used to living in a world that they did not create, basking in privilege that they could not conceive of creating, and which they do not have the balls to defend but have the brass balls to criticize.

They claim that freedom is disappearing into the maw of the right-wing machine, and yet they make every accusation that they can think of, without let or leave and without fear of being stopped. And yet they accuse the right, sorry, Reich wing, in their parlance, of abridging the very rights which they make such free use of. If these rights were disappearing, they couldn't howl as they do.

I hate electronic voting. And I guess I hate it for the same reason I hate electronic slot machines and electronic "21" games in Vegas. It just feels inauthentic.

From todays MR-T:

"Following the release of the results Tuesday Sparkman told the Reporter-Telegram she felt Perry's opposition to civil service law made a difference in both the mayoral election and in the defeat of the proposition. Sparkman said she feels it was inappropriate for Perry to politicize the issue and that it is ironic a system intended to protect public safety officers from political influence was defeated by political influence.

First of all, I don't think that I am being too radical when I suggest that it is probably fair game to politicize something that appears on...you know...an actual ballot.

But the big point to be made here is that this was not a city council vote of 4 to 3 with Wes Perry casting the tie-breaking vote that defeated the civil service law. That could be considered defeating it by 'political influence'. This was defeated at the ballot box by the voting public with a victory margin larger even than Mr. Perry's in his race against Ms. Sparkman.

It can remain an open question on whether public safety officers should be protected from 'political influence' if by political influence you mean something other than the overwhelming will of the voters.

And it is Perry, James, Dufford, Trost, and Fail......just as I predicted.

I get the free beer. Pay up, suckas!

Jimmy Patterson and I watched the Blog the Vote experiment from opposite ends of the internet tubes this evening and now we are both going to go take a shower.

Separately, I mean.

UPDATE/CONTINUATION: The experiment was a noble one and should work in the future with a couple of modifications that should prevent total asshats from taking over the chat section thereby leaving it to us more refined half-asshats to actually ask some questions.

Jimmy the P was not far in to the simultaneous video feed and chat session when he must have sensed trouble with the appearance of two screen handles...one being "Anti-Sparky" and the other being "Go Home Wes". Several other flamers came and went (or came, went, changed screen names and re-appeared to flame anew).

Civility and actual feedback and questions were the twin casualties of the night.

The good news is that the idea should work with a couple of modifications:

1) Having the host (Jimmy) handle both the hosting and watching the screen for input is too much. He cannot be engaged very well in either one if he tries to do both. Have someone else screen the chat stream for actual questions and then get them to Jimmy.

2) Don't ban the chatter. Ban the idiots. The chat stream can be interesting and fun (and sometimes pointed) but when someone reveals themselves to be a useless flamer then whomever is monitoring the chat stream needs to be able to ban the IP that is producing the flames.

3) Don't let the guest see the chat screen. Even if No. 2 above is implemented.

A lot of the chatter was just awful, awful stuff and I think I could actually see Jimmy...a guy who I would bet does not anger easily...getting visibly angry by the end of the webcast.

It was a good idea and I hope they try it again.

UPDATED FURTHER: As ospurt has noted, Jimmy the P writes about his experience at his blog, "Sticky Doorknobs."

Keith Olbermann has officially lost the race to gain viewers before he lost his mind.

Consumer Reports: Geared for Combat
Installment One: Digital Cameras

Who among you would lend Michael Yon your Nikon D70?

Stay tuned for an exciting combat review of the Canon Mark II 1Ds. It's so rugged I use it as a hammer.

While clearing my throat for something which compares the number of corpses that contending belief systems have mounted, I came across this stuffed in my iPhoto library.

So far, the totals: The left, 100,000,000 bodies, the right 2,000. Stay tuned.

My RSS Feeder had this little item from the Cato Institute and they had this story about how controversy is surrounding Seattle's attempt to pass bonds to do all kinds of roadway and public transportation projects. The Money Quote in the article reads just like Midland:

The contentious ballot measure has spawned three camps - those who don't want new roads, those who don't want new mass transit, and a third group that just wants something done already.

Blame the multiplicity of viewpoints on Seattle's high levels of education, commitment to debate, and large numbers of engineers, says David Brewster, publisher of Crosscut, a daily online newspaper.

"You've got voters who are cantankerous, contentious, and think they can design a better transportation system because they did it last night in their garage," he says.

From the mouths of Bloggers!

Is anybody helping this site with contributions to the band width charges????

What? You mean by hitting the Amazon Honor System "Tip Jar" to the left? Right there....to the left....you can't miss it!

You mean supporting the site by going there.....where going there and helping with the bandwidth charges...uh...helps us with the bandwidth charges? You mean that?

NEED INFO QUICKLY!
COMMENT IS INCORRECT!

This seemed important enough to bring it out of the depths of the Mother Of All Threads:

Comment posted on 2007-11-04 21:10:44 by scotte

As an ex civil service fireman, I can warn you of one thing. All it takes to enact civil service is a majority vote-------to repeal it takes a majority of all registered voters voting to repeal. In other words --You can't undo it , once it is done. sorry guys, but no one ever tells that part.

To me, this is huge if it is true.

Anyone have any information on this?

UPDATE: Thanks to ospurt, who researched it like a lawyer and may have even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. The information regarding the repeal of the civil service law appears to have a high level of bogusness...er...bogosity...uh...it's wrong.

Give us your predictions:

The Format:

Mayor's Race: [Prediction]
District 3: [Prediction]
District 4: [Prediction]
At-Large: [Prediction]
Proposition 1: [Prediction]

I typed it out for you for the easy Cut & Paste.

At the time of this post, the word of the day from Dictionary.com (in the right margin) is:

sciolism

sciolism \SY-uh-liz-uhm\, noun:
Superficial knowledge; a superficial show of learning.

Half of all Jessica's Well commenters are now officially in a race to apply the term to the other half.

This is a rumor only, overheard at a gathering last night so it may be completely wrong...but I heard that Cracker Barrel is ready to open but can't because they can't find enough people to hire to operate it.

Anyone know anything about this?

The next question I always get is: "So how does EZ Rider Compare to other bus systems?" I'll let these figures speak for themselves.

From the 2006 NTD

From the M.O.A.T. (Mother of all Threads), commenter CJC has astutely noted:

These games/debates are fun and all, but I've just realized first hand the potential ramifications of these arguments. They just hit close to home for me personally. We all have to live here, and making enemies over petty politics is not the way I want to live in this town with my neighbors.

The contributing Well Heads, though still anonymous, are very cognizant of this fact. Though I already practiced this lesson from my previous internet and blogging experience, the Site Admin made sure to admonish me of this fact when I was provided the key to the executive washroom.

Let's keep it Civil.

For those of you who may have been driven to this site by its being footnoted in today's campaign advertisement for Wes Perry, the actual post that the footnote is referring to can be found here.

The blog post itself is what is called an "Open Thread" wherein the topic is brought up without much comment and it is intended to be used as an open forum for readers who use the "Comments" form to add to the thread...if not to the discussion. It is in the comments that you will find the comments referred to by Mr. Perry's ad.

It should be noted that there is a difference between Jessica's Well Contributors and Jessica's Well Commenters.

Jessica's Well Commenters are know-it-all soreheads from the general public, offering up their unrecognized genius to an unappreciative world through the use of the comments section.

Jessica's Well Regular Contributors, on the other hand, are know-it-all soreheads with blog posting privileges offering up their unrecognized genius to an unappreciative world through the use of the main blog posts.

I hope this helps.