Dakota Today

*** The difference between Romney and Newt

A friend remembered a description of Mitt Gingrish made by another GOP candidate:" Mitt is a well-lubricated windvane."

After listening to Newt a few times too often, I have decided he is a rusty windvane with some mighty nasty slash-inducing sharp edges.

I am not an unbiased observer by any means, but it appears that the GOP primary voters are intent on making sure no really good candidate enters or survives their primary system.  I am less than thrilled with the corporatism demonstrated by Obama, but despite that, he is several levels of magnitude better than the surviving GOP candidates.

*** Stay tuned, the primary marathon is yet young --- Doug Wiken

 

*** Stranger than fact perhaps...and a voice for Our Town

And now something completely different....and it is not yet April Fools Day.

Strange Object in Baltic Sea-- CNN via Huffington Post

And

U-TUBE with Iris Dement singing the haunting OUR TOWN

My daughter thought Iris Dement sounded like a goat and immediately went into the "It's the goat lady" whenever she heard her sing.  I did not find her sound quite that terrible and her song OUR TOWN is haunting to those of us who grew up in or near to small South Dakot a towns.

And in the area of old names and new names, consider

The Old Name was

and 2200 years later, the New Name is Bullshit Grinder.

The device/toy might be a good subject for new South Dakota Flag logo..or perhaps better yet for the South Dakota legislature.  I finally remembered to check the meaning of "trammel".  Archimede's device turned up, but the first more general meaning involves controlling or constraining movement.  Which fits with the sliding wood blocks constrained to move in slots.  The handle end traces an oval.  Another easy way to do that is with a piece of string tied into a loop.  Two pegs or nails spaced a few inches apart with the string loop around them act as contraint for the movement of a pencil or pen in the end of the loop away from the two pegs.  See your local geometry teacher for more information.

*** Stay tuned even if your taste for stange or odd is limited only to your wife's cooking-- Doug Wiken

 

*** 64 years ago HST got on TV.

For the first time in US history 64 years ago, a sitting US President in 1947 made a statement on TV directly from the White House. Truman discussed hunger in Europe   Harry Truman then helped push what became known as the Marshall Plan.

Today we don't think twice about a President getting behind the bully pulpit and having his words and image spread around the world in seconds and often perhaps directly to handheld "phones" which are really little computers, receivers and transmitters only perhaps imagined then by the author of Dick Tracy with his "wrist radio".

Truman and the Marshall plan received support from the Republican controlled Congress.

Success required the use of Secretary of State George_Marshall's enormous prestige, evident in his speech at Harvard University in June 1947 and of course in the informal name of the whole program. Even more essential was close collaboration with the Republicans who controlled Congress, especially their foreign policy leader, Senator Arthur Vandenberg. Vandenberg, who had shepherded the Truman Plan through Congress in 1947, was a critical supporter and won Congressional approval for the much more expensive Marshall Plan. All of Europe was invited to join, along with much of Latin America. (This  paragraph from http://conservapedia.com/Marshall_Plan..)

Later, that GOP Congress became obstructionist when it came to doing anything to aid recovery of  US economy. Today Republicans have no statesmen of  Vandenberg quality and conscience. Now Republicans in Congress seem only interested in obstruction and doing nothing in the hope that they can regain control of the White House and impose more of their failed economic mythology. and further enlarge the gap between the workers and the very, very rich.

Technology has changed a lot.  Republican politics has changed a tiny bit.

There may be parallels between the current obstructionist Republicans and the GOP Do nothing congress of years ago, but I don't think Obama is capable of generating support the way that Harry S Truman could.  Obama is not completely trusted by liberals for good reasons, and despised by conservatives for no good reasons.  

We need to see that Obama can't be flipped or conned.  Time is running out for the US economy and there won't be the equivalent of a European Marshall plan to help the US get out of the economic hole the Republicans insist must be dug deeper and deeper. 

*** Stay tuned even if the vast wasteland of TV today is more amusing--- Doug Wiken

 

*** Daily National--- NEWS,VIEWS, DEMOCRATIZING TV AND RADIO

A few days ago, I got the following inquiry related to Dakota Today:

I am a producer/booker for the Daily National www.dailynational.com a New York TV and radio news site. I enjoyed this piece would love to talk to you about it. We would like to do a brief 3-5 minute TV or radio interview with you today or tomorrow via Skype or phone. Do you have time available today or tomorrow?

They followed up with  "Would you be interested in talking about The blog post on "The Folly of Republicans"  at 3:00pm EST Tomorrow?"

 

They did not follow up, but, but I did look at DAILY NATIONAL, and it is an interesting site. As a result, I also added information to the "Gaggle of Geese.." post including links to CEO compensation with lists of top 100 compliments of the AFL-CIO, and a couple of other newspaper stories. They are worth reading even if that takes some time. The rather scholarly pdf, is also interesting, but be wide awake before you start reading it. Reading, it reminded me too much of cramming for college tests. So, take another look at the post here and also check  Daily National--- NEWS,VIEWS, DEMOCRATIZING TV AND RADIO

*** Stay tuned, but reading Dakota Today is no more likely to convert you into a multi-millionaire any more than voting Repubican again and again will --- Doug Wiken

 

*** Don't piss into the hot air wind blowing and blowing from the right

With TEA "party" supporters believing the tripe they do, one might think facts and a dose of reality in the form of real evidence might help them cure some of their mental problems. But, don't waste your breath (or anything else) on them.  Not only do facts not influence them, they make them more likely to believe right wing loonery.

Don't Waste facts and logic on Wingnut Right...they are immune.

However, the writer Dan Sweeney does have a caveat on his warning:

I ain't got the answers, ace, except to say this: When arguing with conservatives in front of on-the-fence independents, remember that you're not trying to convince the conservative to actually buy into silly notions like facts and reason. You're highlighting the differences between left and right for the outside observer. If the other guy insists on political views that belong only in Disney World's Fantasyland, other folks will realize what's happening. But if there is no third party, do yourself a favor and save your breath. As the study demonstrates, you're only making matters worse. Consider that aforementioned ceasefire. It is football season, after all. There's plenty of other things to argue about. Go Mizzou!

So, guess I will keep slogging away anyway just in case somebody in the middle of the road thinks the rightwing loonery may be making some sense.

*** Stay tuned for more facts and less mythology. Keep your mind healthy --Doug Wiken

*** AT&T in Winner, SD area Cellphones down again

Well, that was nice while it lasted...all 3 or 4 days.  This afternoon (Sunday May 1, 2011) our AT&T Rugby phones ceased connecting.  Attempting to call anything generated the "Emercency Calls Only" message and the signal strength dropped to near zero again.

I don't know what is going wrong, but it seems to me it is time for the SDPUC or the FCC to send a technician of their own down here to see if AT&T is dumping in some old junk equipment from elsewhere that is flaky and undependable

[[Note by Doug Wiken: I received a message from Steve Kolbech at SDPUC. Text below:

Unfortunately the SDPUC does not have technicians nor is there regulatory authority to do so. To date cellular service is defined by the FCC as an informative service, much like Internet or other unregulated services. Of course this is being debated as we speak in Washington.I will make a call to our AT&T contact and see what I can dig up. Thanks, Steve Kolbeck Commissioner South Dakota Public Utilities Commission

I had forgotten about the nice, neat ruling that essentially converted cellphones into an unregulated system ripe for exploitation by the largest corporations all too ready to regulate speed and access of their customers. In any case, at about 12:04 right after noon today, May 2, 2011, the AT&T cellphones were working again allowing calls in and out and reception of text messages. ]]]]

 

Every ad from AT&T is making me just a bit more irate.   If they can't make a transition in other parts of the country any better than they did here, they should not be expanding or advertising in hopes of getting more dissatisfied customers..

*** Stay tuned even if you can't reach my cellphone number--- Doug Wiken

 

 

 

*** Well, Isn't this special..An Obama Birth Certificate. But, Can Birthers read?

The Mitchell Daily Republic just sent out an email with a notice that President Obama released the so-callled long form of his Hawaaian Birth Certificate.

Mitchell Daily Republic Story (may be good link for a day or two)

Below is a copy of the birth certificate enlarged and converted from color to black and white with Irfanview to enhance readability.  But who knows maybe all those so-called "Birthers" and Donald Trump can't actually read.. they seem to have a desire to maintain their ignorance no matter how idiotic and inane they appear.

Click on above image for a larger version.

Obama says it is time to end silliness.  This is a start, now if the silliness of the Ryan "budget" will sink in, maybe the Republicans can explain why they prefer to tax the poor instead of the very rich.  If you aren't very, very rich, you should be really, really pissed off at the corporatist GOP class warfare on the unrich that has been going on since Reagan was elected.

** Stay tuned for the GOP continued attacks on Obama's middle name.  No sense dropping a good issue like Obama being an Islamicist when they have nothing else --- Doug Wiken

 

 

*** Notes from the land of the AT&T disconnected

Well, now 7 days of mediocre or no signal for the AT&T phones in the transistion between Alltel and AT&T here in and near Winner, SD.  Now and then the phones would show several bars of "signal strength", but trying a call might just produce an "Emergency Calls Only" note on screen or perhaps a minute of connection with a silent disconnect.  I checked on Verizon prices here.  First impression is that Verizon for the same service and phones we had with Alltel would be about twice the Alltel price per month. One of the store owners said that a new AT&T customer needed to make an emergency call and the AT&T phone would not do that even with the "Emergency calls only" message on the screen.   They dragged out an old phone and that did connect with 911.

I drove close to the hill with the cell towers and it appears two AT&T trucks are up there today. I guess they aren't lonely workers on a windy hill today.  I did get a call through to AT&T customer service and got past the damnable Spanish language to a menu that finally got to a live person.  She tried to go throught the phone setting problem routine, but when pressed finally admitted there was a tower or transmitter problem at the Winner, SD site.  Took her awhile to figure out where South Dakota was.

Anyway, she said the hope was to have it fixed by this evening...I have heard that before...but possibly not until tommorow... I have heard that before too.

Anyway, now and then on top of a hill, the phones will work for a few minutes.  Maybe we will get service from the intended tower sometime soon, but I am not holding my breath...obviously.

[[[ Note 9:12PM  AT&T Cellphone has been showing several bars on the signal strength and I called and was called without the phone disconnecting immediately if I turned my head or sat down.  Maybe....service in Winner will be similar to that in Rapid City ---- Doug Wiken]]]]

{{ Note: Noon, Apr 27, 2011:  This morning until about 10AM, the cellphones were again nearly dead with the "Emergency Calls Only" reminder.  But about 10AM, the signal strength indicator was again good.  Hope it stays that way --- Doug Wiken ]]]

*** Stay tuned and if you have a truckload of money, consider setting up a new Cellphone system with basic good voice communications with readable intuitive-interface phones not loaded with menu options and buttons aimed at selling extra cost services for South Dakota --- Doug Wiken

 

** Day 4 of the AT&T "service" in Winner, SD and another SD blog

On the minor local news front, last evening (Saturday April 23, 2011) for about 15 minutes or so  off and on between 8:30 and 10:00 PM, the signal strength indicator on the Rugby II AT&T phones showed a few bars.  For the first time I could stand inside the house and actually get my wife's phone to ring.  This useful level of service alas did not last.  Half way through a test call, the signal dropped off again to nothing and the call dropped.

Today, I am wondering if the system was actually working for a few minutes of if possibly the signal from a few miles south and west of Winner was being reflected off an airplane, charged cloud or some such.  No such bursts of service improvement today.

Anyway, I noticed some hits from a new blog site were coming to Dakota Today.  Bob Schwartz has started a new SD blog on Technology  Bob Schwartz at Great Plains Tech Blog  . 

Bob subtitles it "Geek Talk from the Technologically-Challenged Great Plains".  Take a look at his blog and if you haven't yet, take a look at my SD Science Junction blog which can always be reached from menu at top of Dakota Today.

*** Stay tuned even if science and religion are incompatible black boxes for you --- Doug Wiken

 

 

 

**Sabbath Gasbags...Buy the Numbers ..CEO Pay

A bit of news turned up this morning (Sunday April 3, 2011) regarding pay and bonuses of the top US exectutives.  The story may have been based on this story  USA Today Exec Pay   . Anyway, CBS indicated the average was around $12,000,000 per executive and noted that by contrast top baseball players only got around a piddling $3,000,000 per year.

Some quick arithmetic suggests that we 300 million or so US unrich citizens each kick in around $6.30 per person just to keep these executives comfortable and able to ship money out of the US to avoid income taxes and also pay only a pittance of that total as the flat social security tax.  Republican mythology suggests these executives just would not be working this hard without these huge paychecks and tax exemptions.  Meanwhile same GOP mythology suggests that raising the minimum wage a few cents will destory the inititive of the unrich and certainly they should all be paying sales tax on food and clothing so they can make a "fair" contribution to the government money well..

Interesting to to compare the $6.30 per person for supporting the lifestyles of the obscenely rich parasites versus the $4 per person on public broadcasting.    

Well enough on that for now.  George Will, the font of mostly useless information clothed in big words noted today that basing the military action in Libya on humanitarian values "Will whet the appetite of humanitarian imperialists."  That is an interesting twist to be sure and we might hope that it had satirical intent, but Will always communicates the typical GOP total lack of any sense of humor whatsoever.

So, don't ever confuse the evil corporate imperialists with the evil humanitarian imperialists (and be sure to eat your brussels sprouts and remember to brush your teeth).

*** Stay tuned..maybe I will get around to relating the comments of an 88 year old former premier of Singapore with the egregious ignorance of the SD legislature this year --- Doug Wiken