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You really have to hand it to author/ex cabinet member/moral crusader Bill Bennett for his ability to find New and Interesting Ways to Screw Up.

First we find out the guy was pullin' slots at $500/pop. Hmm. For someone who says he's for morals, I get a bit confused by this. But oh well - everyone has their fun stuff. I suppose if we found out Bill Bennett was downloading unlicensed anime series on BitTorrent, I wouldn't mind. Still.

But then he goes off and makes comments like these where he suggests if we "abort all black babies, crime would go down", then wonders what all the fuss is about.

I'm just wondering how it is anyone could make a statement like that and not think someone would not be too happy about it. PC or not PC or whatever, it's an example of how people who spend most of their lives in the rareified air of DC, think tanks, radio shows, and politics, can lose touch with reality.

People like that (and sad to say there are way too many of them) sit around all day, coming up with more and more wacky statements, policies and campaign slogans, without first taking a moment to apply the Common Sense test to what it is their doing. It creates a lot of hot air, without acheiving anything more than verbal gushing from places we really don't want to go.

That's how you get wars you don't need, policies that don't work, and guys like Bill Bennett advocating aborting black folk to cut crime. Like a lot of the wacko pundits (and there are tons on ALL sides, believe me!) it's almost a game - seeing how loud and obnoxious one can be, drawing lots of attention to themselves, and then act shocked when anyone decides to hurl a verbal aside back at 'em. Yes, Bill, you have the right to say your silly comments. But guess what? So does anyone else that feels like saying you're a goofus.

What's funny is how folks defend folks like Bennett for being "brave" but to me he's a wimp. Instead of making pronoucements from his throne, safely tucked away from the masses, I'd like instead to see him make his "bold anti PC statement" live and in person to some of those he suggest we should abort to cut crime.

I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure Bill Bennett is too much of a coward to go up to any African American, be they a leader, or an average citizen, and pop off about how their kids shoulda been aborted to fight crime the same way he does on radio shows and the like.

If he was really as tough or standing up to the "PC" types like his supporters claim, he'd do it, But he won't because like all partisan nutjobs, he can't do it. He's too much of a fraidy cat.

I hope he takes a lot of crap for it - after all can you imagine how "outraged" this clown would be if some radical person suggested ending (insert policy they dont like here) by aborting all white people? He'd go nuts (as most folks would) over such an over the top, and unproductive, statement.

Or, put another way - can you imagine the flack someone who was the Democrat or liberal equivalent of Bennett would get for making some similarly ill-worded remark? Odd how having an "R" next to your name changes the rules.

Personally, I think it's more interesting that few of Bennett's fellow moral leaders felt a need to repudiate this guy very much. Oh, but wait! I forgot! If it's Their Guy saying it it MUST be ok!

Life must be good when you have a posse.

PS: In the "What the HELL was that" category of unrelated stuff, take a look at this McDonald's ad from Japan. Enjoy!

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You know it's getting bad for political appointee Annemarie Conroy when even the local TV news, not known for really going after news stories, starts an investigation into the qualifications of Ms. Conroy for one of the most critical jobs in a city that is certain to have a disaster.

KGO News, bucking the trend of faux journalism at the local level, took a hard look. And what they found wasn't too great. The second half was broadcast last night, and frankly NO ONE looks good in all of this.

Not only is Ms. Conroy's entire qualification that she's a politico related to an ex-mayor (who gave her a first job in politics, only to be tossed out by voters a couple o' years later!), and that now taxpayers are paying $40,000 a year to send her to Monterey to get a master's degree.

Yeah. $40,000 so she can learn something about her job. If the Big One hits, or terrorists attack, she'll be far, far away from San Francisco. Lucky her. Given how many classes one needs to take to get an M.S., one would imagine we won't be seeing her around her office much.

Don't you wish you could get paid $160,000 for a job you're not qualified for, then have taxpayers pay you to go to school AND pay your tuition, so you could sort of be qualified for the job you're being paid $160,000 for? I sure do! Beats working, that's for sure. And that whole "disaster" thing? Well we can just rely on the feds to take care of us! Wowee the crack they're serving these days is simply crack-a-rific!

Mayor Newsom is still defending the appointment, which seems odd. If we have learned nothing else from Katrina. we should all learn that putting unqualified political hacks into critical, technical jobs leads to disaster. Surely the Mayor who has often stood on principle, could realize that in this case, giving Ms. Conroy the boot to a job where she can be political and not harm anyone, in favor of someone certified to do the job, might be a good idea.

My previous posting on this subject saw a big spike in google searches. Clearly I'm not the only person worried about the issue. And, judging from some of the IP addresses that hit this site from those google searches, some are in City Hall.

UPDATE: Yet another salvo has been fired in the direction of Political Hack Annemarie Conroy, with two supervisors asking for her resignation. Only two now support her - including Assembly Candidate Fiona Ma. You can see the latest KGO TV report here.

Fiona Ma may want to reconsider her public remarks. If this is the kind of person she feels is qualified to take over 160,000 a year in salary, a free government SUV, free tuition for a Master's Degree (aka on the job training), and other goodies, for a job Ms. Conroy is NOT qualified for and regards the public with contempt when challenged, well then, I'd say voters in next year's primary may want to ask Ms. Ma some more in depth questions about the kinds of people she feels should be in jobs that literally can hold the power of life or death over them.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Time for a post that has nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina, hippies, the impending Resource War with China, or assorted political crap. It's time for a recommendation for all you barbecuin' and happenin' folks this Labor Day Weekend!

Having some friends over? Is the weather a bit warm? Want a beer that tastes good but isn't one of those over-hopped hipster-doofus "Microbrews" but don't want to get the runs thanks to Budweiser, Miller or Coors? And are you sick of the Pabst Blue Ribbon "revolution" that saw a twelver go from $3.99 to some ungodly 7 or 8 bucks a 12-pack?

I have a solution for you. Buy a beer that will make hipster doofuses AND drinkers of the macrobrews happy. Drink the only beer I've found that is like Schlitz (my favorite), upgraded....It's Session Lager from the folks at Oregon's Full Sail Brewing Company. It tastes great on a hot day, it's not too heavy, if you aren't a beer fan you can douse it with a bit of salt and lime and it beats the Hell out of Corona.

Although I appreciate a good German beer, the fact is I really do not like most micros, having lived in Seattle for 7 years, and been deluged with all those hipster micro beers. Great, kids, but paying $5 a pint at the bar is no revolution for those of us who don't wanna spend the paycheck on the beer. Give me a good old fashioned, hopped up Schiltz any day.

Session Lager, though, bridges the gap. It comes in the same "stubby" bottles Olympia used to come in (as did Lucky Lager, Rainier, et al) and it tastes great - but it's not so heavy or thick you feel like you're drinking cough syrup. Even the ladies will like it at your barbecue.

I haven't been compensated for this recommendation, aside from a tshirt I got when I emailed the company saying I liked it. But if you see this at BevMo or elsewhere, pick it up and upgrade the party a bit from the Usual Crap that makes everyone have a hangover and the runs the next day.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don't think a disaster like New Orleans can happen to you?

Here's the full quote of qualifications for Annemarie Conroy, a good pal* of failed Mayor Frank Jordan and Token Republican in San Francisco Government:

Annemarie Conroy holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She was admitted to the California State Bar in December 1989.

Doesn't that make you feel good? An ENGLISH MAJOR who has the good grace of being a Republican and a friend of a powerful past mayor is now in charge of recovery from one of the three top threats to the US (the others being a terrorist attack in NYC and a big ass storm in New Orleans. I think those happened already).

More importantly it shows how you as a San Franciscan are very vulernable to a political hack for your survival. This has been the problem in San Francisco for some time now - people never get hired or fired for work performance - it's all about appeasing people with big paying jobs, regardless of the impact. That's why we have Tony Hall, a former supervisor, "running" Treasure Island, and why Ms. Conroy, the former head of Treasure Island, is now running Emergency Services.

It's all well and good when the money's flowing and life is swell that we give these well-padded politcos more money to do nothing. The problem is we pay when a real disaster happens. Wouldn't it be nice if instead of hiring Ms. Conroy, we'd hired someone who's got experience running relief and diaster ops for a big city or small country? Maybe somoene who has a bit more in the smarts department than a Cal degree in English?

Perish the thought. But that's why it's time we push forward and get some solar rechargers and satphones for our police, fire, and Mayor, and for citizens. We can't rely on Ms. Conroy to be concerned with much else besides her pension and her paycheck, and she certainly doesn't have a background that warrants her appointment to this job. But I'm sure appeasing the former Supervisor helps so when we're all staring at the rubble, we can at least be confident Little Annemarie got her good paying job.

UPDATE: Some have suggested a solar powered or charged cell phone is "expensive" or "not feasible." To prove them wrong, I direct you all to this link at Apple's online store. It's for a pocket solar powered iPod charger, one of many types of solar chargers you can get for iPods and cell phones.

None of this has to be difficult, expensive , or line the pockets of some big stupid meathead-run company like Halliburton. It's called "getting things done" and it's a novel concept, I know, but we gotta try. Can't hurt, can it?

UPDATE II, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: Apparently the anxiety I have over this political appintment is shared by others. Since the news of Hurricane Katrina, the number of people hitting this site + posting off of Google with search terms involving "Annemarie Conroy" and "patronage" and "disaster" (or variations therein) have caused a minispike in traffic.

For some historical background, take a look at an old article from 1999 that details her previous patronage appointment and give you an idea of so-called "liberal" San Francisco works.

Where's a paper ready to go on a crusade for All That Is Good and True when you need it the most? How about we put aside the tut-tuts being aimed at Bush and instead focus on making SF the best possible place for civil defense and relief at the local level? Too bad Willie Brown blew all the money during the boom on his buddies...but that's another column....

FINAL UPDATE (REALLY): Today, the SF Board of Supervisors announced a full on audit of the department, realizing that FEMA (AKA FEEBL) can't be relied on, and that we have got to have our act together as best we can.

*Actually she's a relative. This was meant to be a joke.

© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)