There was a story going around about the City of Bozeman and their “practice” of asking employees for their social networking sites login information as a condition of employment.
If there was some crazy person wanting to use a job at the City of Bozeman as a “cover” to do bad things…do you think they would be intelligent enough to cover their tracks…or perhaps not post crazy shit on social networking sites? This tactic just drives the “crazies” deeper underground…reducing the chances of family and friends picking up on peculiar behaviour. The City of Bozeman has many less intrusive ways of screening applicants and employees at their disposal…this tactic borders on being a little “fucked up”.
Municipal tax dollars being spent wisely?
The President…Egos…and Beer…
July 30, 2009
Today…two men with egos and a president who made a public relations mistake will be having a beer. The President of the United States…who probably could do more trying to repair the damage done domestically and abroad over the last eight to twelve years…is going to try to “smooth out” a situation that some would admit he addressed too early.
Even the beer that the gentlemen will drink is well publicized…President Obama is going to drink a Bud Light…very American… It looks like Sgt. Crowley will be having a Blue Moon…from Denver Colorado… Gates is going to have a Red Stripe Beer…the popular Jamaican beer import…and mostly likely another signal from Gates that he is “down” with “black”.
Some beer makers have started a little debate in the media as to why their “suds” should be preferred as the “conflict resolution cocktail”of choice…
Personally…I think American beer is the wrong choice. American beer contains lots of advertisements, free gifts inside cases to help sell the product, more rhetoric than substance and ultimately…hope for an “over hyped-product” that is watered down.
I do not think that Professor Gates’ choice of Red Stripe was a wise one…he should have picked a domestic American beer and I hope he gets ridiculed for his choice in the media. Even if my personal opinion is true…when you drink beer at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…you have to drink American Beer…unless you are a foreign dignitary and even then…
It seems Gates has been trying to spin the “clash of egos” into a racial issue since he was approached by the Cambridge Police more than a week ago. Although most media outlets have been trying to be “politically correct” about the issue…some have come to the conclusion that if anything…the clash between Gates and Crowley was not racial. I don’t think it was either…I do believe that Gates tried to spin it that way.
One last thing…a family member of mine triggered the alarm at their house. The police came and asked for identification and asked the same types of questions Gates was asked (documented in the Cambridge Police report)…the family member…understanding the job the police needed to do helped the officers get the requested information to resolve the situation. I am sure my family member would have been arrested if they started to holler at the officers and started “discussing” their “mothers”.
One of my most favorite personalities who took on the Secretary of Defense position has passed away today…McNamara died at 5:30a.m. at his home this morning. There are a lot of interviews you can enjoy with McNamara as he reflects on his past important positions…including a young man who used statistics to overcome productivity issues at Ford Motor Co. and the president of the “questionable” World Bank…from 1968 – 1981…what a career…
I will leave a link to “Fog of War”…a Documentary about Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s Experiences…I thought it was rather well done…
R.I.P McNamara…You made politics interesting for students like me…
Remember Marion Barry…the guy charged with smoking crack during an FBI sting in 1990? Well…it looks like he was charged with misdemeanor stalking and released yesterday. His spokeswoman has not released any comment on the incident yet.
I thought this was an interesting decision by the Supreme Court. African American firefighters were having difficulty passing tests to get promotions in the fire department…white firefighters who did pass the tests were not given promotions because there were not enough minorities in the “desired” roles. A group of white firefighters took the case to court and won.
Some were calling this a blow to the “civil rights movement” but from a practical…point of view…one needs to have certain skills and knowledge when you want to take on positions with more responsibility in an organization…why would an organization degrade the level of competency in a “position” or deny capable individuals…who could make a positive difference in the role for the sake of racial percentages? It seems idiotic to me…
Watch the clip…decide for yourself.
Sarkozy Takes a Stand for Woman’s Rights
June 23, 2009
It looks like France will be angering some of the “conservative Islamists” who believe that Burqas are a requirement for women in public. Sarkozy revealed that Burqas are no longer welcome in France as they only promote an attitude of, “women being subservient to men.” Check out the video from the Associated Press…
A Different Perspective on Afghanistan…Foreign Coverage
June 11, 2009
Interesting clip from Al Jazeera…Crazy times in Afghanistan…It looks like the “tough guys” from the Taliban have taken over a town, closed nine schools for girls and levied a 10% tax in Kunduz province…
Obama Makes “Watching the President” Fun Again…
June 11, 2009
Here is a “nice” clip for a change…I like Obama’s humor…
