Rebane's Ruminations

Summit Sillies

George Rebane

Things have been getting a little too serious around here - and may again.

  

“No you didn’t Nick, I beat you fair and square!  Next time we do it for real; pack your stuff.”

Trickle Down – the definitive view

George Rebane

Nevada County’s cartoonist RL ‘Bob’ Crabb published another one of his blockbuster social commentaries in the 19jul11 Union.  It graphically illustrates what a good portion of the country has been taught about our nation's economic ladder and their place on it.  And there’s more to say about that.

 

County Dodges AtPac Bullet, but ... (updated 20jul2011)

George Rebane

After many months of legal wrangling, internal investigations, external investigation, lawsuit, and God knows what else went on behind closed doors, it appears the AtPac lawsuit (background here) has been settled in favor of AtPac.  This was reported to the Board of Supervisors by County CEO Rick Haffey (here).

The bottom line of the out-of-court settlement indicates that the county screwed up badly in the process, but was able to duck the heavy financial hit because its insurance company did step in to pay the $2.75M total bill while getting its $100K deductible, the only out-of-pocket cost to our local government (and us taxpayers).  RR readers will recall that early on I predicted the cost to be way north of $2M while the Maidu Mavens were still dismissing this as a nuisance suit.

I received notification of this from a correspondent whose analysis of the settlement is, in my opinion, on the mark – it is reproduced below.

It appears that the County settled with AtPac in the amount of $1.9 million on the eve of the hearing on the motion for summary judgment.  The insurance for the County will be paying AtPac the settlement amount.  The insurance will be reimbursing the county for its attorney fees in the amount of $845,000.  The County pays a $100,000 deductible.
 
Insurance companies are the stingiest companies on the planet.  They do not pay out unless there is significant risk...especially with an attorney fees clause.  If the County was successful at trial, AtPac would have had to pay the County's attorney fees and the insurance company would have been off the hook.  For the insurance to pay $1.9 million in settlement means that the County was exposed to far greater damages than $1.9 million and AtPac's attorney fees.
 
This settlement is a win for the County in only $100,000 of exposure (except for increased rates) and the case goes away.  The settlment amount alone shows that the County screwed up and the case was by no means frivolous.  AtPac was willing to settle for a million.  While the County avoids a determination of liability by the court, it is clear by the amount alone that they had a ton of liability.

But no one should walk away from this with the feeling that the county has been vindicated – far from it.  The only thing that has occurred is that a $15,000 expense turned into a year-plus saga that cost the county $100K out-of-pocket and untold staff hours responding to litigation requirements, finding out what happened, and keeping a lid on the whole thing.   And what really transpired subsequent to the mismanagement of this software vendor changeover, we now will never know.

[19jul2011 update]  ‘Be there or be square’, that was the message from our Supes about when they were going make their AtPac settlement announcement at today’s special meeting.  They told The Union that it would be at the end of their meeting which usually goes into the afternoon.  Not today, the announcement was made in the morning before the special meeting ended, and the chambers were dark this afternoon.  Well OK, next time check the agenda schedule.

The announcement itself was delivered by soon-to-retire County Counsel Michael Jamison and is transcribed on The Union’s website here.

Bottom line - for what are now obvious reasons, the county did not want the judge to render a verdict on the summary judgment sought by plaintiff AtPac.  Instead, after due consideration of the strength of the county’s defense and who actually knew what when, it was decided to capitulate and give AtPac what it sought from the start - $1M damages and its legal fees paid, totaling $1.9M.  The insurance company would pay that plus the county’s legal fees for a total distribution of $2,745,000.

In return the county got AtPac to agree to the settlement wording “The Parties acknowledge and agree that there has not been any finding of liability for or against any party.”  (For the lexicographically curious, given that the case didn't go to trial, this is known as a tautology.)

Nevertheless, this little piece of literary legerdemain is supposed to mollify the mindless on what really went down in the back rooms of the Rood Center.  Commenters Chuck Whitten, Barry Pruett, and Russ Steele have some observations (see below) that make me think this thing has a lot more settling to do before Nevada County voters can go to bed without having nightmares of loose million dollar cannons rolling around on Maidu.

[20jul2011 update]  After posting my somewhat cautionary assessment (see 938AM comment below) on what The Union may or not do next, I received an email from publisher Jeff Ackerman who stated that the newspaper will file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the county to get it to release the records on this case.  I'm sure that other FOIAs would also contribute to pulling back the shades.  We recall that the law says only that the county 'may' but not 'must' keep certain records confidential whose release it considers may harm the county.  Now that the suit is settled in favor of AtPac, the only harm that could possibly come out of making the records public is not to the county, but to the electeds and staff who managed to make a mountain out of a very small molehill.

[Coverage of this embarrassing saga continues on RR in 'Listen up you idiots ...' .]

The ‘Foxification of News’

George Rebane

Well, it appears that they have all been doing it, and now are beginning to admit it.  "Foxification" is the term the 9-15jul11 Economist used in its extended report on the future of news to describe news that is delivered with a known slant, commentary, or viewpoint.  (more here)

This is nothing new, it was ever thus, and only the charlatans and morons in the journalism industry have claimed otherwise.   The Economist itself makes no bones about it, and as “the world’s oldest newspaper” (1843) liberally sprinkles its own opinions into every news story it prints.

Journalists have forever been modifying, manufacturing, and mangling the news.  The scandal with Murdoch's News International operation in Great Britain is only the tip of a recent iceberg that reveals the overzealous extremes reporters have gone to in order to give a leg up to whatever medium employs them.  Readers familiar with the history of journalism will recall how in 1932 reporters broke into the mortuary housing the casket bearing Lindbergh’s kidnapped and murdered son.  As Lindbergh described in his wartime journals, they tore the lid off the casket to take photographs of the baby’s mangled body.

The Economist’s survey of news reporting today concludes that with the entry of the internet, we are going back to the ‘coffee house’ format of disseminating news.  News today comes from so many sources – verified, vetted, prioritized, etc, or not – that it most resembles the way people got the news before mass produced newspapers became its prime purveyors.  In short, people then went to public houses, read pamphlets, corresponded with associates and family members, and shared what they had received - and all of it came with a slant of the writer or speaker.

Fox News has adopted a format in which it delivers a heavy dose of right leaning commentary and opinion programs that offset its delivery of “fair and balanced” news programming.  Its ratings have soared, leaving in the dust liberal outlets like MSNBC and CNN who have continued to deny that they are anything other than the moronic model of objective journalism.  Well, those days appear to be over.

Given the blatantly biased programming of outlets like the satirical Daily Show, leftwing Huffington Post, rightwing Rush Limbaugh, and countless blogs (RR included),  we now have MSNBC's Phil Griffin admitting what everyone has known for decades about news outlets – “we definitely have a progressive sensibility, a sensibility to the left.”  MSNBC will henceforth openly reflect this ideological perspective instead of continuing to push the bullcrap that it somehow avoided any ideological bias in its reporting.   Look for the other members of the lamestream to soon follow this trend.

I believe that such openness will be a benefit, and as the Economist foresees, we will accept transparency as the substitute for objectivity.  Spin it as you will, but your message will be more powerful and accepted, the more you can source/cite any factual claims that are made.  At this point, dear reader, don’t come to confuse commentary (as is this) with those who claim to be sources of news.

Finally, the world’s oldest newspaper believes that the internet is making journalism better, and cites its own surveys that claim broad agreement with that belief (see online debate). The bottom line of it all is that “News is becoming a social medium again, as it was until the early 19th century – only more so.”

‘A Teachable Moment’

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..." -- Winston Churchill

George Rebane

Having already posted an update to 'Unlimited Debt Musical Chairs', I woke up this morning to a WSJ editorial that succinctly summarizes the big progressive lie continually drummed into voters for at least the last decade - the lie that Social Security was solvent, and would be for some years to come.  The lie was deeply embedded by politicians like Al Gore and liberal outlets like PBS doing specials on the solid funding of America’s retirement account.  Therefore it’s no surprise that local yokels all over the country repeated it to their friends and neighbors.  But it has been an ongoing surprise, at least to me, that these same people were so dense as not to snap out of it when told what that SS Trust Fund contained.  Their standard parrot-like response was, ‘But that’s just your opinion.’

And this universal response came even on top of one of their own leaders, Bill Clinton’s budget director Jack Lew, who told the country in 1999 that the they shouldn’t trust the Trust Fund – it was empty, it had in it only a growing stack of IOUs that the government had no plan for redeeming other than borrowing more from the future.

This should be a teaching moment for all out there who are depending on redistribution of wealth for their quality of life.  But it is not likely that anyone out there or nearby will learn.

Peggy Noonan delivers a sobering and adult admonition about the current doings in Washington; it’s worth a read.

Comparing and Contrasting Katrina

George Rebane

In the last week I received from four correspondents the following as a forwarded email.  So I suppose it is making the rounds in at least the conservative circles.  The important points it raises are the sum and stuff of what is discussed on RR.  No matter how you look at them, the conclusion emerges that culture counts.  I include the somewhat inflammatory conclusions.  The broadcast media does not want to touch this kind of a discussion.  Here is the body of the email -

After Katrina, the media blamed the lack of response on the Bush administration's dislike of black people.

Can we then conclude from the lack of media coverage and response by the Obama administration that Obama doesn't like white people?

Where are the Hollywood celebrities holding telethons asking for help in restoring Iowa and North Dakota and helping the folks affected by the floods? Where is good old Michael Moore?

Why is the media NOT asking the tough questions about why the federal government hasn't solved this problem?  ......Asking where are the FEMA trucks and trailers and food services?

Why isn't the Federal government moving Iowa people into free hotels in Chicago and Minneapolis ?

When will Spike Lee say that the Federal government blew up the levees that failed in Des Moines ?

Where are Sean Penn, Bono, and the Dixie Chicks?

Where are all the looters stealing high-end tennis shoes, cases of beer and television sets?

When will we hear Governor Chet Culver say that he wants to rebuild a 'vanilla' Iowa ... because that's what God wants?

Where is the hysterical 24/7 media coverage complete with reports of shootings at rescuers, of rapes and murder?

Where are all the people screaming that Barack Obama hates white, rural people? My God, where are Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Oprah, and Ray Coniff Jr?

How come you will never hear about the Iowa flooding ever again? Where are the gov't. bail out vouchers? The government debit cards?

More people died in these floods than from Katrina..how come the media doesn't report that?!!!!! There must be one hell of a big difference between the value of the people of Iowa and value of the people of Louisiana.

HERE'S THE REAL TRUTH: THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF THE MEDIA, AND SOON TO BE GOV'T. CONTROL OF INTERNET, CELL PHONES, RADIO AND ALL COMMUNICATION AS WELL AS THE PRESENT NETWORK NEWS ON TV.

WAKE UP, AMERICANS... WHO EVER CONTROLS THE MEDIA CONTROLS THE COUNTRY! THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE "ARMS" THAT IS NOW IN PLACE TO ACCOMPLISH THE TAKE OVER OF YOUR COUNTRY!

Unlimited Debt Musical Chairs (updated 15jul2011)

George Rebane

Our friends on the left are overjoyed with President Obama’s latest gambit to keep the country going toward bankruptcy.  He has floated a hazy vision of $4T spending cuts that comes with at least $1T of tax increases that add on to the $1T tax increases required by Obamacare – our new nationalized healthcare system that is now providing the country with a new bombshell a month in additional costs, reduced care, and rationed services.

Supposedly this rejects Speaker Boehner’s new proposal to cut spending by $2T with no new tax hikes.

And now Minority Leader Sen McConnell’s desperate response (with sparse Republican support) is to pass a law allowing Obama to unilaterally increase the debt limit by $2.5T in three tranches with equivalent TBD spending cuts.  The only caveat is a no-caveat that these debt limit increases could be over-ridden only by super majorities in Congress.  This puts the ball back in the Democrats’ court, and they would continue to own the country’s downward spiral as 2012 rolls around.

The Measure of Victory (updated 16jul2011)

George Rebane

New SecDef Leon Panetta claims that we are close to “strategically defeating” Al Qaeda, and thereby close to winning the war on terror.  This gives the appropriate backing to the administration’s just launched policy of bringing home the troops from the Mideast, else no one would give a big yawn about whether or not we “defeat” Al Qaeda.

I believe this is all part and parcel of the BS we have been told about the “war on terror” for the last ten years.  As these pages have long declared, we are in a war with Islam, and Islam is using terror as the only weapon available to it today to resume its scripturally commissioned battle against the west.  It is a war between starkly different civilizations, and, as always, its name will be determined by the victors.  If we win, these will be known as the Islamic Wars; if they do, then history will record them as something like ‘The Final Jihad’.

To the extent that the western countries believe they are only waging a war ON terror, we are doomed to lose; just as if in 1941 the Allies would have characterized WW2 only as a war ON the mechanized division.  Bigger things were/are at stake than the means by which our enemy chooses to attack us.

In the current phase of the Islamic War, its militant factions can and are achieving their objectives by simply causing us to abandon our way of life in as many ways as possible – freedom of speech, freedom of movement, ideological polarization, state managed markets, restriction of capital flows, trade protectionism, enforced global redistribution of wealth, environmental restrictions, … .

Islam knows that it could never achieve its goal of Khilafa (the global Caliphate) were the west to remain dynamic, strong, and free.  So its phase one objective is to first hobble us, or more correctly, have us hobble ourselves.  And promoting our recent tendency to trade our liberties for the misguided pro quo of safety and security, is part of the plan that has worked exceedingly well given that the secular progressives of the west were already committed to realizing that bargain.

In planning and evaluating our strategy to counter Islam (of which there is no evidence),  I would ask ‘how can we tell if we are winning?’ – more formally, what is the measure of victory?

Large Scale Emergencies to Prepare for

George Rebane

[This is the submitted form of my July column in the 9jul11 Union.  Its online version is available here.]

Have you thought about what you and your family will do in the face of a large scale emergency that directly impacts Nevada County?  Most people hereabouts think of the Forty-Niner Fire of 1988 as an example of a large scale emergency.  Wrong.  A large scale emergency (LSE) is one that can result from a magnitude 9 earthquake (‘The Big One’) near the coast, a pandemic of Bird Flu or some other communicable dreaded disease, terrorists detonating a dirty nuclear device in the Bay Area, and so on.

One of the reliable ways you can tell if Nevada County is impacted by a LSE is by just picking up the phone and dialing 911.  If no one answers, you got yourself a large scale emergency.  The other more horrendous indicator of a such an emergency is when you hear of or witness tens of thousands of people ‘heading for the hills’.

This escape destination has been used since biblical times by people living in more populated areas.  The everlasting hills are a beacon of safety, survival, and hope.  But people heading for the hills don’t usually arrive with the right stuff to shelter, feed, and medicate themselves – they had other things on their minds when they left home.

West county has always planned on taking care of about 3,000 arrivals on the fairgrounds property.  The planning from there becomes a bit more vague since the food in our local stores will feed county dwellers for at most three days, and during a LSE we can expect the distribution system (‘the grid’) to be down.  Add to that the fact that only a small fraction of our citizens are prepared for anything beyond hunkering down during a storm for a couple of days, and you begin to see a real problem here.

Votes Bought and Paid For

George Rebane

[This is the transcript of my regular bi-weekly commentary that aired 8 July 2011 on KVMR-FM.]

What kind of First Amendment rights should institutions have; institutions comprised of people getting together for a purpose?  The question is again coming to public attention as the 2012 election season is now officially off and running.  Actually, the question is really much more focused than that.  The progressive left is pointedly asking about what rights do corporations have to be heard during an election season as they promote candidates and issues.  The conservative right is similarly asking what rights do unions have – especially public service unions – in promoting their candidates and issues.

Both sides have similar views about the critical thinking skills of the average voter – namely that he doesn’t have any critical thinking skills, at least none that will be applied to questions of governance.  Both sides have a gut feeling that the overwhelming slice of voters hold on to a few tenets or beliefs that number less than their fingers.  In popular socio-economics, tenets is the fancy word for ‘slogans’ or ‘sound bites’ that represent some fundamental truths.  There is a smaller fraction of more sophisticated voters that may push the number of their tenets into the mid-teens, but don’t push too hard.