Saturday, May 30, 2015

So--Enid needs to borrow money for Kaw Pipeline. Bond rating, anyone?--2 UPDATEs

September Up-Top UPDATE, AlterNet Edition: About the position City governments take that amount to I'll-Bend-Over-So-You-Can-Screw-Me-It-Ain't-My-Money-Anyway position we've just witnessed in the City Commission as they picked which bank to bend over for while a slick eastern seaboard muny bond broker advertises all over Oklahoma and then some on radio and television.  Well, major television.  Oh, is AlterNet too liberal for you? If you tuned in to the September 1 Study Session on cable, you'll already have a clue just how flipped this stuff about liberals and conservatives have gotten, with a guy from the liberal party schooling the so-called conservatives on matters of private property ownership and rights that go with it. I mean, if you want government in your property usage business as if they own your place, you're better off in Russia.  Please.

I'll point out once again that NOBODY on the City Commission brought up the matter of fees and service charges--the ONLY thing they looked at were interest rates.  NOBODY brought up the matter of bank fees, not even Mayor Shewey, who IS a banker. The following screenshot of a portion of the AlterNet article should ring a bell deep down in you when you see how Los Angeles acknowledges the fee problem of getting into municipal debt and, having recognized it, is attempting to get the hell out of that kind of bind...


Read the whole thing n weep






Recently, the City Commission got schooled by financial wonks about how important past spending encumbrances and commercial viability into the future impact its liquidity index.  One of the facets of that addressed specifically was about a what-if: if major commercial entities leave in the future, how does Enid plan to mitigate the loss of that taxable commerce?

We've lost Harold Hamm and picked up StarTek, a company with other offices elsewhere and with the attitude that as long as the other offices are always open, Enid is just an overflow option rather than one of its important offices.  Oh, I know--another call center opened up after StarTek closed for the second time, but the point is whether or not that's a comparable size or bigger, and how steady is it?  Under Bill Gamble, we were supposed to get a Bell call center, and we all know how well THAT worked out.  Enid interests iffy operations like StarTek but not big dogs like Bell.  Triangle has been sold, too.

On the win/lose balance sheet, the best Enid has been able to attract is Walmart.  Enid has lost Baskin Robins, Denny's, and there's a rumor out there that Staples stays only because it's being paid to.  Enid used to have an actual TV station, KXOK-LP, and you could actually tune in and watch actual local programming, complete with its own meteorologist once upon a time.  It changed ownership, with the owners in Ponca City but was a rent paying tenant of Broadway Tower downtown.  Remember that, City of Enid?


One less tenant in Broadway Tower, and only sporadic infomercials when you're lucky to catch something other than a "NO SIGNAL" icon.  Enid, that's not going to make you look good, especially after the financial wonks find out what a big wad you're blowing on your PEG channels just to pat yourselves on the back with.  The issue is credibility, and face it--the more you brag about yourselves on your PEG channels, the less credibility you're going to have with the folks looking at your books, given that the City's commerce can't even keep a LP TV station commercially viable as the City, with Enid Public Schools, hogs up all the bandwidth and sponsorship dollars that SHOULD be going to a commercial establishment instead of your bloated government.

You can manipulate ETN all you want to, but you're not going to hide what KXOK looks like.


Yes, the above footage was recorded in late April, but there has been no change throughout May to this point, other than the feeder channel occasionally and briefly running nation-wide infomercials, not any local content whatsoever.





Pretty much an accurate reflection of Enid's economic health when it can't even support the operation of its only TV station, transmitter of which is located atop Broadway Tower downtown. All of Main Street Enid's horses and all of Ward 5's men seem to have high difficulty putting Enid's downtown back together again...









Tuesday June 2 UPDATE, Muny Bonds Edition: Earlier this morning I was listening to Enid's KXLS FM station when I heard a commercial about a firm's focus on providing quality municipal bond portfolios for its clients, soliciting anyone interested in this sort of investment portfolio.  I didn't catch the name of the company at the time, but I was able to research the phone number and arrived at Hennion and Walsh.  Did some more digging and it turns out they're located not in Enid or anywhere in Oklahoma--they're in New Jersey.  Well, +cityofenid , these are the big dogs I was describing when last I described how porch pups were trying to run with the big dogs but whining about how they can't afford to get off the porch.  Yes, they will be the quality of Enid muny bonds if/when the City is successful in getting a loan that way, and it's by the bond rating system that all that st00pid spending on its PR department and so many other fru fru projects is going to come home to roost on your porch.  In short, the porch pups need to show that they've been weaned, and they have major issues on that front.

Late Tuesday June 2 UPDATE, City Commission Edition: Permanent ETN cameras were installed but not in operation in the basement at City Hall where the Study Session was conducted, and in that Study Session, Whocares Vanhooser suddenly got the Public Opinion religion as well as dropping the Kaw Pipeline as a priority, if you can imagine that after he ran with that as a plank in his platform--in previous sessions, actually called it foolish spending!  WOW!!

I've got the footage...but I already have tons of footage to wade through at this point, so your patience on posting that would be greatly appreciated.  The footage includes the peculiar placement of the cameras (there are 2 of them) and one of 'em is aimed straight at where the Men's Room door opens.  I was told that that's the camera position when it's OFF, but we can believe that?  Really?  I definitely intend to have fun with that part of the footage in Punched Out Judy, you can bet on it!

Here we go--


It's strange how the Commission whines about being cash-strapped, and then gives incompetent people raises, isn't it.  And then there's this, no doubt gonna show up on the City's accounting books when it goes begging to banks for a loan...



Sunday, May 24, 2015

Memorial Decoration Day ponderings

Earlier this year when I was on the "debate" panel broadcast by KGWA, I did say that I was partial to flyboys, primarily because Dad was working at Scott AFB--but what I did not mention was that before Mom met Dad, she was dating a guy I thought was the best looking airman in the Army.  Yeah, that was before there was such a thing as an Airforce.  He kinda resembled Mickey Rooney, too.


Meet USAAF Corporal (grade 5) Willard L. Sample.  I certainly can see why Mom kept the pictures, and I'm very glad she did.  The thing that prompts this post, though, is a segment that aired on 60 Minutes about the Bent Prop project and their discovery of a lot of downed WWII planes around Palau.

A couple years back I went through Mom's pictures from this gent and some of them showed aircraft where the tail numbers were discernible and I decided to do some online research to find out what became of those planes.  None of those tail numbers were on the military tail number database and it was concluded that they were lost in battle or something.  So yeah--I just got rather interested in the Bent Prop project, just now.

Mom passed away quite some time ago, and these pictures are part of her personal effects that wound up with me.  As it turns out, Willie passed away some years after Mom did, just two years prior to my attempt to look up those tail numbers.  So there ya go--this post is to do the usual Memorial Day tribute, but also to raise a toast to the Bent Prop project as well.





Somebody in Willie's unit had a camera, and sent back gems like this next one, but all I know about it is that it's in the Pacific theatre somewhere.  Palau? Japan? Or...?  Don't know the story behind it but I'd love to find out what it is.


Next is from somewhere in Europe. This man got around.


There was more information written  on the back of the next photo...


...and I quote...

" This is the P-43 and the boys. Right to left
H. C. Ward - cpl.
V. Green - t/Sgt
Hibbord - s/Sgt.
Genson cpl.
G. Gibson Sgt
L. Surretsky P F.C.

I am taking picture
Willie"


I tried looking up variations on the number that appears on the plane, but with no results.


It's Larry Surretsky in the next pic, and two of the tail numbers I tried to look up come from that.


Obvious: tail number 17340.  The next tail number produced no definitive results either...




Best pic of the lot is next, and I'll bet you can guess why, ha--



The following picture would look like a class Dad was teaching if it was a radio electronics class...

I can't seem to be able to dig up any info about this battleship, either--teh Google machine always produces info about an aircraft type called Seafire 1b instead. UPDATE: I'm deeply indebted to the friend who chimed in and said that this ship is the USS Hanover.
Luvz ya!!!!










Memorial Day Monday UPDATE: Went to the ceremony at Enid's Woodring Airport this morning and, not surprisingly, ran into Richard.  He had his own story to tell, as he did the other times I've run into him around town, but THIS time I was able to catch it on video, with permission to post it and everything.  This blog stands at sharp attention, Richard, to salute you!





Just in via Facebook:



Friday, May 22, 2015

I didn't fall into an Enid pothole, in case you were wondering...

Nope.  I've just been trying to keep up with the Keystone Kommissioners down at Enid City Hall, and it's kept me hopping with all those Special Sessions over that big government budget where they've gotta cut something but the vanity expenditures are somehow sacred cows to be sacrificed for nobody or nothin', not even a better water source arrangement even though Enid's on water rationing on even/odd arrangement (please don't ask me to explain that).

But ONE segment got finished, and that's the lampoon of the retiring Jon Stewart's Moment of Zen.  On Punched Out Judy, it's the Instance of Oy.  Behold:


Another spoof segment will be added due to the "discussions" about who talks over who in the last series of Commission sessions, and you savvy people out there will think "Between Two Ferns" at first, without a doubt--but due to the nature of the "discussions", ah, that's the part that's different in Judy's new segment "Just Among Fronds"



Yes. folks, that's Cow Parsley, aka Poison Hemlock.  Hey--fronds is fronds.  With fronds like that, who needs enemas?

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Enid's recent fireworks--Radio Cairo update at the top!

Sunday UPDATE, Radio Cairo English to North America Edition:
I've always loved the music that has come from that station over the decades and was delighted to be invited to listen to the live stream, which is quite a trick to listen to if you don't have a Facebook account you can sign in with, and even so, it'll still ask you to establish an account before you can listen.  It's worth all that one-time trouble, though, if you ask me!  

STRIKE THAT UNTIL YOU READ THIS FIRST:
The day after I posted this update, I got one piece of Sunni spam that had the tone of a recruitment message, saying that in a quest for deen I should follow a particular Imam. I will not name anyone mentioned by name in that message.  If you register for an account and have Islamic content  in your playlist, it's clear that you will be spammed in this manner.

 Presented by my FB Friend in Egypt, Mayar Adel.
They provide code for embedding, and I'm going to give that a shot below...



Well how about that, by golly!  Works only  when there IS a live stream scheduled, though, so mind the time.  Tonight I heard a very interesting take on events in Ukraine as the broadcast talked about a Ukraine envoy conducting discussions in Egypt during its Economics program.



I wasn't going to post about that just  yet, but I've noticed that traffic to this blog really skyrocketed toward this end of the week.  I also noticed that I'd gained a couple of new Followers on Twitter, too...so I think I'd better say something about that even though at this point in time, commenting would be premature and considering what's playing out at this point in time, except to say that a request for an appointment has been delivered (the locals will know what I mean by that) and beyond that I can only say....

"Spoilers!"

But by all means do please stay tuned for developments, which I can comment on only AFTER they happen first, and not before.  What happened will initiate a chain of events in the future, and so it wouldn't be wise to comment at this time. Just know that I'm just getting warmed up and the best is yet to be.  Tick tock goes the clock...and I tried to find a YouTube rendition of The When When Polka but apparently there's no such thing on YouTube...so Frankie Yankovic's Tick Tock Polka will just have to do for now.

Now.  It's funny with everybody talking about the past and the future, the value of now gets passed over.  But enough of all that--enjoy the polka, for I'm off to the restaurant at the end of the universe with Zaphod Beeblebrox (the IVth) via KUCO.  Much to my delight, after losing Vinyl Cafe on the CBC, I find him again on KUCO which now reruns snippets of it from its Story Exchange. G'night everybody!


Oh my dear giddy Autnie Beeb, you're just have to get over it, sweetie.  I couldn't be more serious about this than if I myself were facing the worst dread monsters you could ever dream up. Go help  yourself to a dozen pangalactic gargleblasters, why don't  ya--you sure could do with a different perspective on things. Go lie down in front of a bulldozer or something, and don't forget your towel. Go suck an orange or a lemon.





Late June mini-UPDATE: I know I promised an update on the aforementioned meeting, but, alas, the time stream is still in flux and there are still things I can't mention at this time.  Just know that more than just me knows for a fact certain things that will transpire, and they're just the right people to have this knowledge at this time.  Time, where it's timing that is important...at this time. One need not be a time traveler to know that karma's a bitch.


Tuesday, May 12, 2015

The Democrats' War on the President: TPP

It's been interesting, keeping an ear to the ground on the Left and thereby getting a chuckle out of Ed Schultz's show on MSNBC.  He's got a stand-in today but nonetheless, Schultz is an Air America alum as is Maddow, and I used to frequent its discussion board before Air America went belly up.  The election of the time the admin dinged me on a board violation was when Kerry and Edwards were running for the highest office and I mentioned that I had a problem with their voting records, and posted those records.  MAN did the bulls over there see red over that.

But in today's Schultz show, all the old arguments against the TPP resurfaced despite Obama's previous attempts to rebut them, all the way from saying it's 'way different from all previous trade agreements and there's no secrecy about it...until the Schultz show brought up the Most Favored Nation vote on China, which was the problem I had with the Kerry Edwards ticket.

Oh Eddie!  Hey--it was your Democrats that voted in favor of the UNCONDITIONAL MFN status of China, and Kerry even vetoed the condition that China be held accountable for MIAs/POWs.  Yup--military veteran John Kerry voted AGAINST adding that condition to be imposed on China for MFN status!  Go look it up, it's still on record!

Where Air America board denizens moved to: Radio Free Liberal
(and I'm STILL on their shit-list over there).

Oh--*my* opinion? I think President Obama makes more sense than the anti-TPP faction and that he successfully rebutted his critics.  The TPP is NOT your daddy's old trade agreement like the Democrats charge and although it's persuasive to claim "secrecy" by the fact that WikiLeaks leaked a draft-in-progress-subject-to-change-via-further-negotiations, fact remains that they did NOT leak a firm draft proposal because that simply doesn't yet exist yet.  Whatever drafts exist out there encompass what agreements with foreign nations that have been arrived at to this day and it's by no means a finished document with other stuff still under negotiation.

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

How stupid is spelled: T-E-X-A-S--and hello again, Auntie Beeb...

Dateline Garland TX--The state of Texas steps forward to be the first to donate to ISIS in the form of ISIS's first claim of an attack on American soil.

Stupid just doesn't get st00pider than that.

===================================================

Speaking of st00pid, there's the BBC who apparently convinced YouTube that it has a copyright on science.  Of course I appealed again.  Come on, Auntie--take me to court and you'll lose. Science isn't copyrightable, it can only be patented provided that the patent is on a design, a process, or a device.  Show us your patents. At best, you could claim a trademark infringement with the use of the acronym TARDIS, but guess what--that wasn't used in the video you dispute.  Attempting to claim a copyright over the science of transdimensional engineering is an attempt to claim ownership of a public domain technology that has been in the public domain for over a thousand years.

You can't own public domain technology, and you can't copyright technology either--that, too, comes under patent law.  Your fiction is based on science and claiming ownership of the science your fiction is based on is like claiming that everyone who uses the phrase "I am very clever" is a copyright infringement because those words are an exact copy of a part of your script...what follows with that line of reasoning is your claiming ownership of the English language because your scripts are written in English. 

By all means, take me to court, sweetie--you'll lose.  Oh right--you claim copyright over "hello sweetie" too, betcha.  Go ahead--make my day. 

Friday UPDATE, UK Election Edition: Oh my dear dear giddy Auntie Beeb--the Tories have to go through the Scots to give you money for your frivolous escapades now, don't they.  See you in court, love.

Saturday UPDATE, UK Edition:  I have just been cleared by GoFundMe to set up a defense fund to fight this. I'm not done setting it up yet, though, so to all the people who are weary of YouTube's copyright trolls, this cause is just your cup of tea.  When it's fully set up, I'll post a link here. Watch this space.

Here we go: Help tell the BBC it's not above the law! Go Fund Me


Oh, come on Auntie Beeb, by all means let's give it a go.  It'll be fun and you'll launch me straight up into global notoriety. XD  What on the bloomin' Earth could possibly go wrong?


Sunday, May 03, 2015

Busy weekend of diversions as school terms come to a close

There was the big Tri-State school band competitions, Million Dollar Parade and final evening concert, and then there's the Shewey recital this Sunday.  I've got a bunch of vids to produce for this blog on that account, so I'll kick things off with one of  the highlights of the recital.  It's the season for school recitals before summer vacation kicks in, so I'll be in the process of adding what I can work in.  And yeah--my apologies in advance for Blogger's dismal video shortcomings in its insistence on low-res-only videos.  It still sucks.


Highlight from the Tri-State evening concert and a tribute to videographers everywhere. Yup--everywhere.


Ever see a smart phone substitute for sheet music? No? Then watch this unusual encore after the well-deserved standing O...


Next is the beginning of the Tri-State music festival's Million Dollar Parade, which doesn't leave the impression that a million dollars has anything to do with it.  I'm posting it so that you can get a sense of directional orientation before I post more of the parade later.  This thing used to occur at about 11 am until recently, when Enid also instituted a First Friday downtown event and nobody had to peer at silhouettes in the setting sun to see the parade.

Now, it's a bitch to get a camera set up decently, and whether in the am or pm there has always been a band timing/co-ordination problem which now occurs at the corner I eventually walked over to, then had to shuttle between that and my first position where I was facing east.  To get a shot down that crossing street, I would have had to shoot directly into the sun, so bear with all those shortcomings, please.  Here we go...


The direction the camera is facing in that last shot is toward the south, where the reviewing stand and announcer are.  The next vid shows why it wasn't a good idea to be situated closer to the reviewing stand.  If I had been there, I would have missed the YWCA Walk A Mile In Her Shoes people, which exited the parade route right at that corner...


In short, that was a bunch of guys marching in blazing red high heels, some of 'em in drag, some of 'em dressed like The Village People (yeah, that's a different Y, huh). But it was an anti-sexual assault march and, in my view, a worthy cause.  And if you'd been standing near the review stand, you'd have missed the whole thing.  But if you had been standing on the street they marched on, you'd have been looking straight into the sun unless you were looking straight south--in which case the sun would still have been in your periphery.

Well, that's enough for tonight, folks. Tomorrow is another day, ha. :)


Friday, May 01, 2015

Baltimore, Ferguson, et al, and City of Enid

Just because I want news from elsewhere, that doesn't mean that I don't think the events in Baltimore aren't important.  They are, and they SHOULD have a direct impact on how our militarized Enid Police need to change THEIR long-held culture as well, and I think it deserves its own separate blog post.

And with that, I post a screenshot of what I just posted on Facebook in that regard:


+cityofenid @cityofenid #Ward5 #TammyWilson

===========================================================

Mini-UPDATE, You Go Girl Edition: NJ's Kelly was clearly characterized as a female stereotype in the indictments that came down over the Washington St. Bridge affair, and in her presser declared bollocks, as she should.  Anybody whose defense includes describing other people in terms of stereotypes have NO defense whatsoever.  Except by calling her what the Brits would call a woman--a bird--cuz she's clearly gonna be a singing canary stool pigeon.  YOU GO GIRL!!

Mini-UPDATE, Tristate Drumline Edition: For some unknown reason, the Drumline competition was friggin CANCELLED.  Last year there was some complaining about new scholastic standards which made some bands totally not show up at all because grades weren't maintained.  There are only 20 bands in this year's parade, too, but that has been on the decline over the last decade. WTF, people?!


Tri-State festivities wound up with the evening concert, but here's a segment of that concert I'll call a tribute to the videographer, ha.