Jamcleat

Friday’s Wall Street Journal has an op-ed editorial wondering if Sarah Palin is ready for a comeback.  Hey guys, to make a comeback, you have to have been somewhere.  Sarah Palin is nowhere, nohow.  Possible Commander-in-Chief? Not. Should I count the ways? Abuse of power. Deriliction of duty. Desertion. Sarah Palin is one way that the Republicans could lose in 2012 after the taxpayers get the bill for the current session of Congress.  They could run one of my cats and win.  But not if they run a quitter.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has achieved victory. Under her plan, Honduras will hold its previously scheduled election on schedule with the candidates who were qualified for the ballot before the fuss earlier this summer. The Honduran congress will vote (again) as to whether former president Zelaya can serve out the rest of his term.
I still think that this is a case of the US meddling in Central American affairs. A big black eye for President Obama. Of course wanna-be member of the President-for-Life Club, Hillary Clinton needed to establish a precedent. Thank goodness for the good sense of the Hondurans.

I have heard that Windows 7 became generally available today.  As I have said elsewhere, no version of Windows is safe to use on the average home computer.  Be warned. 
I have also heard that it is difficult (impossible) to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7.  Fortunately, I do not have to worry about that. My machine came with Windows 2000 Professional and is too small to run XP, Vista, or 7.  I have developed a tool that I call the Windows Upgrade Advisor.  It works with any version of Windows, even 3.1!  I hope that you find this tool useful.
I heard something on the radio this morning that went something like this:
“Last night I set my bed to Microsoft Sleepnumber 7. Now it’s full of bugs and has no support.”

The Microsoft PR machine has swung into gear over the Danger data loss.  Now the lost data is for the most part recovered.  And the truth comes out that the Microsoft management decided that the technicians did not need to make a backup because it would take too long and the maintenance company (not the hardware vendor) assured them a backup was unnecessary.  Of course, everybody knows, “backups are for sissys”.  I have been a systems type for about 35 years.  I think I know what I am doing.  And I always make a backup.  And keep it until somebody says. “Yeah, this is working fine”.

My advice: Do Not Trust Anything Microsoft.

With today’s news, it becomes apparent that Microsoft not only cannot produce an operating system for consumers that is safe and reliable but is also incapable of running a data center.  Admittedly, the data center they were running was not Microsoft but rather Oracle  based.  But sound data center management does not depend on technology.  Backup and recovery are religion, not add-ons. Other companies do quite well with Oracle. And Oracle does quite well for other companies.  Microsoft lost data for T-Mobile users of Sidekick.  If you outsource, be careful of the company that acquires your outsourcer.  When you put your eggs in the cloud basket, be careful of who is watching the basket.

The Steelworkers have persuaded the government to impose a tariff on tires imported from China.  This seems to have sparked a trade war that will result in reduced Chinese  sales for American companies and higher prices for American consumers.

If the unions wanted to do something useful for their members, they would lobby the government to insure that overseas workers had the right to organize and strike as American workers do.

The unions would then organize and lead the overseas workers to bargain for the pay and benefits that American workers have fought for and won.  But the current crop of union leaders are to busy scamming the American workers and the American public to truly benefit anyone but themselves..

Les Paul and Chet Atkins

When I was in High School, my older brother played guitar and listened to records of guitar players. He especially liked a 45 by Les Paul and Mary Ford – How High The Moon. He played it as the signature song for his pretend radio show.
Les Paul, invented more stuff for musical performance and recording than most people have items in their kitchen.
Les Paul, always the accent, the spark, the zing.
Les Paul, now missed.

Heard this song from REM  on World Cafe.  Had a flashback to the the library hour when the librarian read Five Chinese Brothers, a similar  story, aloud to the gathered children including me. We read it to our kids.  Younger folk may have heard the Seven Chinese Brothers with watercolor illustrations.  If we recognize the talents of all of our neighbors and brothers, it will help us all to achieve our maximimum,

Things published on the web can be considered libel.  If untrue statements are published, the author could be subject to damages. Tweets may be considered published statements. Check your privacy settings, verify your facts. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Some folks have no sense of humor.

[Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) aka Cash for Clunkers was a dumb idea to begin with.  Now the bozos in DC are talking about adding to it.  I say how about some rewards for those folks who were smart enough to buy a car that gets good mileage and maybe a dope-slap for those who were dumb enough to buy, say, a Hummer.  I have been driving a car that gets better than 26 mpg for 14 years.  I could use a little help buying a new car that gets even better mileage.  Instead, I get to help a gas-waster get a slightly less wasteful new car.  The program should only apply to new cars that get 35 mpg or better and it should apply to all comers who have been driving the old vehicle for 3 years or more.  Or even better, just forget the whole Cash-for- Clunkers-subsidies-for-the-thinking-impaired idea altogether.]

I had set the above post to publish 4 hours from now.   The news on the way home implied there was some sort of crash program to make more Cash-for-Clunkers.  I guess I underestimated the ability of the current House to pick my (and your)  pocket.  Zippered pockets is my fashion prediction.   You are going to need them.