It Looks Like This (sorry, no ice cream) 

The California Bond Measure

If you've read much of what I've written, you know I'm no fan of the Governator. I think he ran a dis-honest campaign and it's clear now that he has no clearer idea or plan than Governor Davis did for righting the state's finances. I also don't think much of a bond measure, for $15 billion, no less, that buys us none of the things, such as schools, bridges, roads, or prisons (a perenniel favorite in California) that we usually get out of these measures. It's like taking out a loan to pay for the monthly rent, water, and gas bills.

That said, however, I don't see that we have much choice but to approve the measure on next month's ballot to borrow the money. The alternative is to watch our state's already dismal financial status erode even further. I hope this measure will be a one-time fix, that the politicans (yes, that includes you, Arnie) and the people of California will grasp that we have all share the responsibility for getting into this situation. I'm not optimistic, though.

Clarity from the Labor Department

So, I'm trying to prepare a presentation on FLSA and the distinction between exempt and non-exempt employees, which led me to the Labor Department web site and an information page summarizing the proposed changes in overtime rules, where I came across this line:

Administrative duties - The proposal would replace the "discretion and independent judgement test," which has been the subject of confusion and litigation, with a new test that employees must hold a "position of responsibility."

Yeah. Of course. I can see why they would think "position of responsibility," being a phrase of such shining clarity, would be a source of so much less confusion and litigation.

Bozos!

CBS's Faded Legacy

I received some interesting perspective from my teenage daughter regarding what I perceived to be the tarnishing of CBS's image by their bowing down to Republican pressure by not broadcasting "The Reagans" and their decision to not air ads by PETA and MoveOn.

I grew up in an age when CBS was still regarded as the "Tiffany Network," when it had a well-earned reputation for sterling broadcasting and, dating back to the days of Edward R. Murrow, an outstanding news department. In those days, too, CBS was one of only three nationwide television networks, so its influenced was undiluted by the additional nationwide broadcast and cable networks that have sprung up in the last twenty years. CBS was a big deal.

My daugher, 14, has none of that perspective. In fact, growing up in a cable age, CBS, as a broadcast network with decidedly unexceptional programming, has been all but irrelevant to her. So, although she doesn't think much of their actions that I mentioned at the top, these actions did nothing to alter her image of CBS in a negative way. In fact, if they did anything, they brought CBS to a level of attention in her world that it would otherwise not have had.

I guess the saddest thing about this isn't that CBS's legacy has proven to be inconsequential to people like my daughter. It is far sadder that CBS holds its legacy in such low regard and cares not that as a network it does not measure up to the image (earned or not) that it once had, nor does it strive to live up to that image.

Bush, reduced

So, we've gone from Saddam being an imminent threat (yes, that's what the administration meant through the fall and winter of 2002-2003, even if they did not use those precise words) to "There is no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein was a gathering threat to America and others. That's what we know," Bush said.


"We know he was a dangerous man in a dangerous part of the world," the president said.

Just as weapons of mass destruction have been downgraded to weapons-of-mass-destruction-program-related-thingies, or whatever, Saddam himself continues to be downgraded. Eventually we will be left with "he was a real meanie, okay?"

Casualty Lists

Does anybody out there know where to get the most recent reports of the names of those killed and wounded in Iraq? News reports generally report the units of the casualties immediately, but it sometimes takes several days for the names to show up in the news, and as the list of casualties lengthens they sometimes don't show up at all.

New Site

Hi reader(s). I'm trying a new blog site and I'll be posting there for awhile as I decide if I like it better than here. If you've enjoyed what you've read here, please follow me there.

Thanks

CBS's White House Bias Showing

CBS, which justified its move earlier this week refusing to accept ads from PETA and MoveOn for airing during the superbowl, by saying they have a clear and long standing practice of not accepting advocacy ads on controversial subjects, will be airing an anti-drug ad put out by the White House.

Both CBS and the White House have mocked MoveOn's equating of the White House ad with the MoveOn ad by asking what could be controversial about an anti-drug ad and what constituency would run a counter ad.

As I recall, past ads in this campaign have equated buying drugs in the street with support of terrorism. No, what could be controversial about that?

A Giant among Presidents

In an interview with the New Yorker, George Bush said "No President has ever done more for human rights than I have." Which would be true, of course, if not for all those pesky Presidents who have done more for Human Rights than flyboy.

PETA, MoveOn, and CBS

The reason CBS won't allow PETA and MoveOn to purchase ads for airing during the Super Bowl (or any other time, apparently) is because "we don't think the debate ought to be controlled by people with deep pockets," according to CBS executive vice president Martin Franks.

Since people with shallow pockets are clearly frozen out too, that leaves the debate in the control of the media outlets themselves.

How nice.

Arrogance, anyone?

More Jobs Headed Off-shore

In his [link=]January 14 New York Times article[/link], Nicholas Kristoff invites the Democratic Presidential candidates to come to Cambodia to view first hand the effects overseas of their opposition of globalization. While they're doing that, I invite Mr. Kristoff to come to Santa Rosa, California, so he can see firsthand the here-at-home effects of globalization.