VERY PROPHETIC QUOTE FROM GLENN REYNOLDS:
From June 2008:

"I can think of no better reason to vote against Obama than the prospect of an administration where any criticism of the President is treated as racism."

Yep.

VERY SCARY STUFF....
"US Loses Most Jobs At Fastest Rate in History Under Obama"

Link here. The graphs are actually...terrifying.

I generally kept quiet because I didn't know how much to blame Bush for our current economic mess, but it's now obvious that the "stimulus" package is an economy-killer.

NOW THIS IS FUNNY....BUT SHOULD I SUE SINCE GRAPE-NUTS HAS NO GRAPES - OR NUTS?
Woman sues Cap'N Crunch cereal because "Crunchberries" aren't real berries.

Fortunately, logic prevailed, and she lost.

Link contains funny comments about the story.

UDPATE: More on Grape-Nuts here.

IS CYBERSPACE JUST A LITTLE TOO PUBLIC?
I have a Twitter account, which apparently a LOT of people swear by as the "next big thing." I approached it with a more jaundiced eye. Anybody can check it out at http://twitter.com/halscrawford, but don't expect any more insights than I would put out here - at least not yet.

One wag I read about said "it's a great chat utility." Oh, really? I guess so, but it's a chat session that unless you mark your account private, and KEEP IT private, anybody can it check out. Forever. Those suckers just don't have an erase button.

So, Twitter is a brick wall that you can spray-paint your musings for anyone to see - except unlike that brick wall, there's a permanent pointer going right back to you. One poster, apparently a grad student, posted this message for all to see:

Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.

Now, as an email sent to your friends, this message is quite innocuous. However, as a Twitter post, well, it was more than a little careless. Cisco employees, who like to do Twitter searches on the word "Cisco" to see what's going down, weren't so amused. The Twitterer got a reply:

Who is the hiring manager. I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

Ouch. Apparently the offer was rescinded. The Twitterer tried to do some damage control by backpedaling on her website, but the damage was done.

I don't do a lot of posting to my own blog - it comes in fits and starts, but I'm not blessed with a lot of spare time. But I love to write and like to put my thoughts on the Internet. I'm a consultant, and I do a lot of traveling. It's not hard for people to go through my website, my blog, and my Flickr account to see where I've been. But I generally don't talk about my clients, out of respect for them. You saw my post about Des Moines yesterday; it was a generally upbeat piece. I don't want to trash the places where I work, unless I have a really good reason. (Dayton, Ohio might be the lone exception.) But it is amazing how people can get offended by the smallest slight.

The only real fear right now is that I also like to talk about politics. I make no secret that I lean conservative, and in the age of Obama that may be a dangerous thing. It's been hard to find work in this economy. And while the clients I work for tend to share my political leanings, that doesn't mean they can sit back and let me go on a right-wing rant. Banks can be a potential client, and if I happen to land a project with a bank that has received "stimulus" money from the Obama Administration, there might be some understandable reluctance from my client to let me go on a tear about stimulus packages. Do I bite the hand that feeds the hand that feeds me? It's a tough call all around.

Well, I'm not working for a stimulus package recipient, but it is sad that one has to think of these things in a free society.

A NEW PROJECT! YEA!
Tonight I’m at Java Joe’s, a coffee bar located in downtown Des Moines, where my current assignment is. This is Irish Music Tuesday, and several musicians are playing Irish reels and other selections.

Today at lunchtime I got my shoes shined. As I sat down, I asked him how he was doing, and he said, “Well, I have to tell you. I’m doing great for a man of 95.” I was amazed – first because I wouldn’t think he was older than 75 or so, and second that he was still working at his age. But he did a great job on my shoes. He started shining shoes at the age of 18, and charged 10 cents back then (he charged me $7.00 today). I remarked that you couldn’t buy anything for 10 cents anymore, and together we listed things that used to: candy bars, phone calls. He had lived in Des Moines since 1938, and done nothing but shine shoes all these years.

This is my second visit to Des Moines – but my first visit was in the early nineties, when I was visiting Meredith Corporation. I really didn’t recognize the town. You can walk all over downtown without ever getting hot, cold or wet, because there are a series of skywalks that move through most of the buildings downtown. It’s three blocks to my client, and all covered by skywalks.

It's not Florida, but it's certainly pleasant enough.

ARLEN SPECTOR BOLTS GOP...
Surprising no one.

Don't let the Republican door hit you on the way out, senator.

Will the Democrats sing "Consider Yourself," like they did to Jim Jeffords? (gee, where is HE now?)

AND THE MEDIA CONTINUES TO SELF-DESTRUCT....
Bill Whittle has an excellent analysis of the media bias rampant today.

TYPICAL...FOR OAKLAND....
Man goes berserk, and kills 4 police officers before he goes down.

A candlelight vigil has been held.....

...for the cop killer.

The world is a little bit crazier.

NEWSPAPERS…RIP?
Speaking of the news, newspapers have been on the skids for years now. Part of the problem has been the decline of quality, accuracy and fairness that newspapers are supposed to uphold.

But with the rise of the Internet, and the means of getting your news for virtually free, the old standby sources of information have had to struggle as readers depart for other pastures.

It’s nice to have a newspaper to read on a bus or plane, but more people than ever have iPods, laptops, and Blackberrys that can access the news no matter where you are.

Now, there’s talk of a -- wait for it – bailout for newspapers! Please please please, no. Where were the government bailouts for buggy whips and trolleys? Who misses those things, today? Politics aside, I can halfway understand throwing a few bucks at the auto industry – the automobile is not going away anytime soon, and transportation is an important component of our economy. But newspapers?

Let’s look at the Gray Lady: The New York Times. They’re over a billion dollars in debt. They’re going to mortgage their own building just to keep afloat (fat lot that’s gonna get them, in today’s real estate market). But the editorial staff is a shambles. They’ve been the source of flawed coverage of critical stories for years. They’re practically the mouthpiece of the Democratic Party. They’re the Air America of print news. And surprise! Not everybody wants to read about the glories of the Democratic Party every day, or how Republicans are always screwing up the country, or how nobody can find WMDs in Iraq (even though some articles in their own paper say there are).

Why would I want to ever support throwing government money at newspapers? Isn’t the media supposed to be the “fourth branch” of government? Aren’t they supposed to be government watchdogs? If we give them money, will they be fair and balanced – like NPR?

If the silly notion of giving bailout money to newspapers takes root, I’m writing my congressman and senators. Sigh. Again.

I HAD NO IDEA THE LA TIMES WAS THIS BAD....
Patterico has a summary of all of the reviews he has done of the LA Times. What an ugly mess.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009!!!
And goodbye to 2008. Not a terrible year, but certainly plenty of ups and downs. 2008 was my first full year as an independent LLC consultant. And business hasn't been bad. The economy looks very daunting for 2009, and I hope things go well this year as well. I've got one daughter in college, you know; and having to save for the second one as well.

And I have a lot of friends who are looking for work (if you know of any openings for mainframe operations gurus, or BI-ETL consultants, email me). And I see no real evidence that the economy is going to pop back up anytime soon. We have a new President coming into office in a few weeks, and while he's not from my preferred party, he seems to be making sensible Cabinet selections, so there may be hope for us, yet.