Author Archives: Jon Lowder

Should I Now Be Considered a ‘Professional’ Writer?

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A while back I signed up to be included in Pluck’s Blogburst network and then forgot all about it.  Well it ends up that Reuters ran some of my posts that they found on Blogburst.  Now even though I don’t get one red cent for this I’m wondering if this makes me a "professional" writer or just another kind of "letter to the editor" writer.

BTW, here’s the stories on Reuters with the number of readers Blogburst says each one had:

It Might Be 39 Cents, Give or Take Three Dollars (90)
Upgraded Time Warner (4)
I’ve Been Living in a Cave; Check Out Nickel Creek (2)
And You Thought the Traffic Rap Was Rough (1)
Debbie’s Blog (1)
US State Departments Official Blog (1)
Was Easley’s Plea More Effective Than Praying? (1)

Talk to Me Like I’m Four Years Old

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Here’s the thing about all the crappy financial news we’re reading and hearing these days: it’s complicated.  In fact I’m beginning to believe that even the people who are paid to evaluate and explain developments in the financial and economics fields don’t know what the heck is going on.  What I’d love to see is someone take all this stuff that’s apparently hurtling us towards recession and explain it in a way that a four year old or even your average forty year old could understand.  Nice, simple charts with bright colors would be nice as would real English terms for these financial vehicles. 

Could someone please come up with a nice chart to explain how these things are connected to each other?  For instance show me how Citigroup’s crappy portfolio of whatchamacallits is related to the decline in home values around the country which in turn is related to Bank of America’s purchase of Countrywide which in turn led to some schmo on Wall Street making $4 billion last year and is it a coincidence that’s the same amount of money BofA is spending for Countrywide?  And how does that result in our government promising to send many of us $800-$1,600 to salve our wounds?  And why is that not like giving free coke to a crack addict?

Like I said: bright colors, family tree-like lines connecting all the components and plain English definitions. That would be nice.

links for 2008-01-17

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And I Thought Check-Raising Was Bad

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I used to play in a lot of basement poker games when I lived in DC.  In fact I played in some basement tournaments that paid out very handsomely to the top two or three finishers, and as far as I know the tournaments were legal because the host kept nothing.  In fact the only game that might have been illegal was one hosted by a guy that asked everyone to ante up a couple of bucks for food and if you charge for anything like that you’re technically running an illegal game.

Luckily for me I never found out if the basement games were legal or not because none of them were ever raided.  Some poor schlubs in California weren’t so lucky as evidenced by this first person account of a raid by the San Mateo Sheriff’s department on what sounds like some pretty low-stakes poker players. 

Back in 05 there was a raid at Ham’s Restaurant over in Greensboro that maybe is a little more understandable since it was held in a public place and the prize was pretty significant ($10,000 seat in a poker tournament). Not saying I think it should have been raided since everyone involved seemed to think they were running a legal game akin to a Bingo Night, but still it’s a little easier to swallow than raiding some suburban low-stakes basement game. Unless someone’s making serious money or scamming the players I just don’t see how busting these friendly games is a good use of law enforcement resources.

Speaking of good basement poker does anyone know a nice friendly poker game in the Winston-Salem area?  I promise I won’t breath a word about it, and as my friends in VA will tell you I’m usually very popular with the other players.  In other words I suck.

links for 2008-01-16

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Darwinian Gun Control

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Before getting into this story I will make one admission: guns scare the crap out of me.  Here’s another admission: the idea of many of the people I see on a daily basis being entrusted with guns scares me even more. I need look no further than today’s Winston-Salem Journal to find proof that my fears are well founded:

Two men engaged in
a property dispute became involved in what Sheriff Andy Stokes called a
“face-to-face shootout” yesterday as a surveyor worked on the property.

The shooting took place on Zimmerman Road near the intersection with Burton Road, Stokes said

Joseph Reid Wilson, 53, of Lewisville and Bobby Grant Minor, 78, of Zimmerman Road were each shot twice, Stokes said…

“The shooting took place about 300 feet from the road at the disputed property line,” Stokes said.

“A fence separated
the two pieces of property. One was on one side and one was on the
other. They were about 30 feet apart when they started firing.”…

Earlier in the day, deputies went to the dispute to calm down the two men, Stokes said.

“We thought the situation had been settled, but apparently it flared back up,” Stokes said.

Wilson was shot in
his stomach and back with a .25-caliber automatic pistol, Stokes said.
Minor was shot in the right shoulder and left wrist with a 9 mm
semi-automatic pistol.

This happened in Davie County near Advance, which coincidentally is where Baptist Medical Center would like to build a new hospital.  Wonder if they might consider a trauma center now?

Whatever.  I can’t possibly imagine a situation where a sane person would get so bent out of shape that they’d engage in a firefight over some sort of property dispute.  I mean what happened to good ol’ fist fights?  Hell, what happened to litigation?  You can’t walk 10 feet around here without tripping over a lawyer so why resort to gunfighting?

You know that NRA tag line, "Guns don’t kill people, people kill people?"  Well I think we need to keep stories like this in mind when we discuss gun control, because it’s not guns that need controlling but the morons that use them. 

Now, before some of you get all mad at me for calling all gun owners morons let me say that I don’t mean that.  I mean that I wish we had a way of keeping guns out of the hands of idiots.  I know many fine, intelligent people who own guns and I’m even related to a few of them, but I’m also sure that they are far outnumbered by people whose cranium can best be described as having lights on and nobody home.  You know, the people who think Entertainment Tonight is network news, that the Dog Whisperer speaks a previously undiscovered language called Caninish and that we’re being invaded by our neighbors to the north, the Mexicans.  Letting these people have guns is like standing in the middle of the road waiting for Britney Spears to drive by on her way home from a party: it’s nuts.

Got a Band? The Army Wants You to Be All You Can Be for Them

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I’m willing to bet that not many bands, or their agents, have a defense contract specialist on staff.  That’s too bad since the US Army’s looking for a band to perform at its bases in Afghanistan and Kuwait and they’re soliciting proposals.  From Wired’s Danger Room:

First, a summary of what the Army is seeking:

Professional
Celebrity Rock Music Band, group not to exceed seven people for tour of
FOB’s [forward operating bases] in Kuwait and Afghanistan for February
4-13 2008. The band should be an active rock band, with a music genre
consisting of Southern Rock, Pop Rock, Post-Grunge and Hard Rock. At
least one member of the band should be recognizable as a professional
celebrity. Protective military equipment, such as kevlar, body armour,
eye and ear protection will be provided when the group is travelling on
military rotary or fixed wing aircraft.

Good luck, rockers.   And remember:

Any
criminal conduct, unexcused tardiness or absence which prevents timely
starting of the performance(s) required hereunder, indecency or
obscenity, drunkenness, damage to Government property, failure to
discharge indebtedness to the Government, influence of narcotics or
hallucinatory drugs, threatening breach of national security, violation
of the rules and regulations of the Host Nation, Government or TFF MWR
are grounds for termination of this contract. 

Look’s like Nelson has a revival gig in their future if they want it.

Is Ford Really This Stupid?

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I think
most businesses would love to have a little word of mouth advertising,
but it seems that the folks at Ford (or at least their law firm) are
more interested in protecting their trademark than cultivating a
relationship with some of their most avid supporters.  From Boing Boing:

Josh sez, "The folks at BMC (Black Mustang Club) automotive forum
wanted to put together a calendar featuring members’ cars, and print it
through CafePress. Photos were submitted, the layout was set, and…
CafePress notifies the site admin that pictures of Ford cars cannot be
printed. Not just Ford logos, not just Mustang logos, the car -as a
whole- is a Ford trademark and its image can’t be reproduced without
permission.
So even though Ford has a lineup of enthusiasts who want to show off
their Ford cars, the company is bent on alienating them…

"I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them,
a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar
pics (and our club’s event logos – anything with one of our cars in it)
infringes on Ford’s trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR
vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR
graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well.
Funny, I thought Danni’s title had my name on it … and I thought you
guys owned your cars … and, well … I’m not even going to get into
how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I’d be typing for
hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying
all afternoon. I’m not letting this go un-addressed and I’ll keep you
guys posted as I get to work on this.

I’m sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC
Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford
Motor Company’s claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take
of YOUR car."

You can read the predictably irate comments of club members on the BMCForum here.

Cross posted at Lowder Enterprises.