The Axe Has Fallen

According to this AP Story that appeared on the San Francisco Chronicle website, Oakland Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin has been fired for cause. Cause he won't suck up to Al Davis is my guess. By firing Kiffen for cause, the Raiders can refuse to pay him the balance owed under his employment contract.

This will likely play out further as I'm sure Kiffin will sue to get the remaining money he feels is owed him under the contract. Or maybe he will be so happy to get on with his life he will just move on.

We'll see.

Who Won The Debate?

The first debate between Senators Obama & McCain was held last night. Somehow, the idea seems to become prevelant that instead of the debate being a forum for each to postulate his ideas and convictions, it is instead a contest to be won or lost.

I don't agree with that. The debate should be a forum where each is asked the same question, given a chance to make his point uninterrupted (Senator Obama, if that word is new to you, have an aide explain it) and if necessary, allow each a chance to rebut their opponent's statement.

As for the winner of last night's debate....well, I think Senator McCain held his composure much better, provided clear and concise answers, and came out looking better than Senator Obama. From what I've seen on TV, CNN disagrees with me, Fox news agrees with me. So all is normal in our world.

Buddy, Can You Spare $4635?

If you are a working American, the folks at Blogging Stocks have calculated your share of the bailout plan at $4635. Not too bad, huh? After all, it's a small price to pay to keep Wall St afloat, isn't it?

At the bottom of their post on the subject, the question "So which would you prefer, a recession or a bailout?" is asked. I'm tired of my tax dollars being used to bailout multi-millionaires. Bring on the recession, I'll make my own way through it.

Spill A Soda, Go To Jail

In a case of overreaction on both parties, a woman in Boise, ID, is facing federal charges for pouring her soda on a counter at a VA Med Center.

Read about it here.

Your Body Is Not Your Own?

According to this post in WyBlog, in New Jersey your body no longer belongs to you. I have heard conflicting reports on this. According to WyBlog, if you refuse you have to sit through a lecture and a slideshow. Sounds like "re-education". Another person I am acquainted with, and who's opinion I respect, says it is nothing like that. If you refuse (switch the check from the defaulted "yes" to the "no" on the DL Application), you are simply asked if your choice is correct. That is much more acceptable. I do have to admit, I see the day coming when the question won't even be asked, that when a person perishes their organs will be harvested with or without consent.

After all, it's for someone's good.

The Pickens Plan

We've all seen the commercials with T.Boone Pickens, talking about the need for alternative energy sources. Now he has a website that shows "The Pickens Plan." Interesting stuff, but I have to ask "What's in it for Boone?"

Oil & Speculators

An article from GlobalResearch.CA tells us what we have all suspected, and shows the reasons behind it.

"Perhaps 60% of today's oil price is speculation".

Read about it here.

Land of the Formerly Free

In his post yesterday, The Lawdog brings to attention a plan by the Washington D.C. Police to establish neighborhood checkpoints and only allow in residents and those who have a "good reason" to be there. Read about it here.

WOW! 2.6 Million Dollar Pizza

Marylander Gets Big Slice of Web Pie, the headline reads.

Fourteen years ago, Chris Clark shelled out 20 bucks to register the domain name "pizza.com." This afternoon, he sold it for $2.6 million.

Read the whole story here.

I'm sure we all wish we had thought of that!

FEMA Better But "Still Lacking" I.G. Says

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency is better prepared for the next disaster but still is not ready for another catastrophe on the scale of Hurricane Katrina, the agency's internal investigators say."

That is why YOU need to make sure you are prepared for any disasters that may hit your area.

Read the whole story here:

Today's US disaster agency better prepared to respond but still lacking, report asserts

Fed Says "Recession Possible"

According to this article in Yahoo! Finance:

"For the first time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged the U.S. could reel into recession from the powerful punches of housing, credit and financial crises."

Possible? I think if you ask many of the thousands who have lost their job, who have seen their home values drop, who are choosing between food or gas, who have seen the buying power of their dollars drop, that maybe those folks would opine that a recession has already begun.

Granted, not everyone is out of work, not everyone has a home who has dramatically lost value. In some areas, home prices are still increasing, just not at the astronomical rates of the past few years.

But for those who have lost jobs, lost equity and are having a tough time making ends meet, I think they would say the recession is here.

Video Possibly Explains Cockpit Accidental Discharge

Here is a video showing a possible explanation for the accidental dishcharge of a pilot's handgun as he was preparing to start his landing approach.

Heading For Jericho?

Interesting essay on Chuck Baldwin dot Com

:A friend recently turned me on to the CBS television series, Jericho. I watch so little network television that I confess to never having seen the show before this week. Obviously, then, I am quite uninformed as to the overall plot and previous episodes. What I saw Tuesday evening, however, stunned me. Why? Because it very aptly depicted what could become a very real-life scenario for these United States in the not-so-distant future." (Emphasis mine)

Read the whole article by clicking here.

Earthquake Preparedness

This article from the San Francisco Chronicle made me think about earthquake preparedness. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have been told for years to have a basic disaster kit at home. Here we call them "earthquake kits". In other parts of the country I've heard them referred to as "tornado kits", "blizzard kits" and just plain "emergency kits". They all share similar uses and have much of the same materials. And for years, when it is in the forefront of attention, the kit is analysed, added to and brought up to snuff. Then as time goes by, items are removed and used, forgetten to be replaced, and basically the kit dwindles down to where it would be of dubious value in a disaster.

Such is the case when I checked my kit after reading the above noted article. So I am going to begin a series of posts where I will tell on myself, and as I bring the kit back up to snuff I will tell you what is in it.

Tomorrow, Item #1 - Water.

Cell Calls on Flights

Via this Switched.com article we learn that Emirates Airways is allowing passengers to use their cell phones and text messaging devices on certain flights.

I am not sure if I like this. Not that there haven't been times I've wanted to use my phone during a flight, but I am more concerned about having to listen to an endless amount of prattle from other passengers around me. I'm sure they'd feel the same way about my conversations.

My idea, not that it matters, would be to allow text messaging, but not talking on the cell phones. A person could then still communicate with whomever they wanted, and other passengers would be spared the horrid details of their botched lobotomy.

Just my 2 cents.

Good Old Sears Spyware

Sears, in prior times known as "Sears, Roebuck & Co." was always a place where you got value for your dollar. Craftsman brand tools were known for their quality and came with a lifetime guarantee. Clothing, hardware, auto parts, furniture, you could get it all at Sears.

Now Sears is continueing their tradition of giving consumers more for their dollar.

Online customers who sign up for "My SHC Community" are also given a nifty little program called "VoiceFive". What's VoiceFive do? Read it from the privacy agreement Sears makes customers agree to before installing the software"

"Once you install our application, it monitors all of the Internet behavior that occurs on the computer on which you install the application, including both your normal web browsing and the activity that you undertake during secure sessions, such as filling a shopping basket, completing an application form or checking your online accounts, which may include personal financial or health information."

Nice guys,huh?

Read more at Switched.com by clicking here.

Hey Buddy, Can You Spare An Ark?

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we've been getting slammed for the past few days. Plenty of rain, which has been needed. We don't need it all at once! LOL PG&E has been dealing with power outages all over the area. On the rasio today they claimed they were having to replace over 500 miles of power lines destroyed by the storm. Naturally, there are those who complain that their power wasn't restored quick enough. Even though I'm no fan of PG&E, their storm response is nothing short of amazing, in my opinion. From a peak on Friday where 984,000 were reported to be without power, they were down to 10,000 this morning. That's good work and for that they should be applauded.

Iranians Feeling Jiggy?

I heard on the radio this morning that Iranian Republican Guard troops in fast attack boats were buzzing a few of our navy ships as they were preparing to enter The Straight of Hormuz. In addition, they dropped boxes in the waters and made threats over the radio to the navy ships. The broadcaster said one ship was very close to "defending itself" against the Iranian boats.

I wish it had. Apparently the Iranians are feeling their oats and feel they can harass us with impunity. It's time to bitch slap them back into their place.

Lest We Forget

Even if you didn't think of it yourself, it will be pretty hard not to see something today that will remind you of what happened 6 years ago today, on September 11th, 2001.

There will be lots of different prognostications about the event and what has happened since. A read worthy of your time can be found on Dave Markowitz's "Blog O'Stuff".

My own thoughts are in a different direction. I have heard that back in the days of The American Revolution, somewhere between 15% - 30% of the colonialists were pro-revolution, a similar number favored staying British, and the rest were in the middle. Probably much like folks today, there were more concerned with making a living, keeping their kids out of trouble and just wanting a peaceful life.

Many today tell me that only a small percentage of Islamic believers are the radicals we might catigorize as "Islamofacists." That most followers of Islam are just like us, they seek peace, want to work at getting ahead and want a better life. That may be true, I don't know.

What troubles me is this. If a minority of the "Americans" living in the colonial area that became the original 13 States could start a revolution that birthed a country, what could a minority of Islamofacists do on a worldwide scale, if they are not fought against, and fought with the goal of winning?

Think on it.

And They're Off

The Oakland Raiders, sometimes known as the Chokeland Faders, jumped out to the lead in the race for the #1 draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. After tonight, they will be tied for first with 15 other teams reaching for that prize. The only problem is, they still haven't signed the #1 pick from the 2007 NFL Draft.

I'm not sure this is all the Raiders fault. Jamarcus Russell, the QB from LSU whom Oakland selected #1 overall is seeking around $31,000,000.00 (per published news reports) in GUARANTEED money in his first pro contract. That's right, THIRTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. The Raiders want guarantees he's worth it.

You can't fault either one under the current system. Jamarcus wants all he can get, Oakland wants to get what they pay for. The end result is the longest holdout since Bo Jackson, back in the day when he didn't want to play football for Tampa Bay and so refused to sign and played baseball instead. Until the following year when the Raiders drafted him in the 4th round and he became the first modern 2 sport player.

So what is there to do? I think the time has come for the NFL to adopt a rookie salary scale. Let's face it, draft picks are paid for the promise they show, not for any performance on the NFL paying fields. So my plan would incorporate both paying for promise in the form of a bonus based upon draft pick number, and performance based upon how much they play. First off all, the draft pick bonus would be paid by the NFL, and would not count against a tam's salary cap number. These bonuses would be guaranteed. After that, the salary for the first 4 years would be set and equal for all players. These would not be guaranteed and would count against a team's salary cap. Lastly, a bonus structure based upon playing time would be implemented. Since this would not be paid until after the season is complete, a tream with room under the cap could elect to take it in the current year, or defer it to the following year. A system such as this would end holdouts, end wasting millions on players who do not live up to their potential (Hello Ryan Leaf) and free up teams to spend their salary cap money on players who have proven themselves.

That's just my 2 cents.