Phone Spammers

UPDATE 8/6/08: Still getting these calls at least twice a day, all times of day and evening. How do they get away with it?

Even if you're on the Do Not Call list, you can get phone spammers. I've got a particularly annoying one this week. They called four times yesterday, four times the day before, and now once already this morning. I'm expecting it will total four by the end of the day. I Googled the number:

(202) 652-4595 "DonorCareCenter"

It came up on plenty of those sites where people report spam phone callers. Some kind of a phony charity scam. I'm not sure why people post their complaints on those sites as it doesn't appear anyone actually does anything about the problem. From the complaints posted, it appears my best best is to ignore and never pick up.

This is why god created caller ID.

The end of our Scrabulous?

This message greeted us this morning when we logged in to Scrabulous. Hasbro has released their own official Scrabble game on Facebook and has filed the long-threatened lawsuit against the makers of Scrabulous. But the real losers are Scrabble players the world over. Keeping tabs on the discussion board, diehard Scrabble players loved the simplicity and functionality of Scrabulous. Hasbro, doing virtually no market research, decided to "improve" the game, and changed the colors on the board, added all kinds of animation and sounds, and lost some of the nice features.

It's not the first time Hasbro failed to understand Scrabble players. In his book "Word Freak", Sefan Fatsis details how Hasbro lost rights to the game outside the US and Canada and the many mistakes over the years the gamemakers have made simply because they never bothered to talk to those who actually played the game before making innovations. With the loss of Scrabulous, players outside the U.S. and Canada can no longer play the online game with their friends here because Hasbro would themselves be violating intellectual property rights to offer the game anywhere else.

Hasbro tells us on the discussion boards that they will release an improved version in a few weeks with "toned-down" animation and other conveniences we had learned to expect with Scrabulous. But this begs the most obvious question: Why couldn't Hasbro simply work out a deal with Rajat & Jayant, the clever Indian developers of Scrabulous, and continue offering this great online game as we know and love it? Millions of people play it regularly, and over a half million players every day are online making moves. That's a lot of people to piss off, Hasbro!

See my "Save Scrabulous" post from last January:
http://slcblues.blogspot.com/2008/01/save-scrabulous.html
UPDATE: It appears you can't even get in to Hasbro's new Scrabble. It gets as far as the "L" on the very annoying L-O-A-D-I-N G dancing letters and freezes. I guess it wasn't designed to handle the half million people who would be signing up when Scrabulous was taken down. A couple of my partners and I had already installed it and are in our first games now. But, we are stuck if we can't log in.

Great job, Hasbro. Really botched this one. Got greedy and decided to invest all that time and money into developing a game that doesn't even work, when you could have just played nice and worked out a mutually beneficial deal and everyone would have been winners.

Bush: "Wall Street Got Drunk"

If ever there was an argument for more regulation.

Reported on BBC.com: At a speech in Houston where "Members of the media were not invited and the audience had been asked to turn off their cameras. But somebody recorded the statement on a mobile phone video camera and it was posted on the internet."

US President George W Bush has explained the credit crunch savaging US financial markets by saying "Wall Street got drunk".

"It got drunk and now it's got a hangover," Mr Bush said at a private political fundraiser in Houston, Texas.

"The question is, how long will it sober up and not try to do all these fancy financial instruments?" the president asks in the clip.

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks offers some excellent analysis here. It's a bit long, but well worth the listen.

A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief - redux

UPDATE: For the YouTube video, see my newer post: http://slcblues.blogspot.com/2008/09/if-youre-looking-for-poor-wayfaring-man.html

Some months ago, I wrote a post about the movie "The New York Dolls" and the fascinating and unexpectedly touching story of Arthur Kane. You can read it here: http://slcblues.blogspot.com/2008/02/poor-wayfaring-man-of-grief-david.html.

At the time I searched the internet for a link to the video of David Johansen singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" in memory of his friend, Arthur "Killer" Kane. This video played while the credits rolled at the end of the movie. Everyone I have ever heard speak of the movie agrees, you must sit through the credits just to hear this. And maybe it is better in context after seeing the story about the gentle soul Arthur had become after overcoming his drug addictions and after joining the Mormon church.

Today someone read that old post of mine and send me a link to the tune I had searched for. You can watch the video here: http://www.onepotatoproductions.com/davidjohymn.html. Also go to the link to my earlier post to listen to "Come, Come Ye Saints".

The movie might be a little rough for some, though I do recommend it. But understanding the conflicts between Kane and Johansen and how they reconciled for a final concert makes these pieces a little more powerful. Johansen wanted to do these in honor and respect for his Mormon friend, though he had ridiculed him for his religion at their last meeting.

Thank you, Tracy, for sending me the link.

TGIF: a little humor from AllHatNoCattle

From AllHatNoCattle.net, today's weekend edition: http://allhatnocattle.net/7-18-08_black_white.htm, cartoonist is Mike Lukovich

Yellowstone fires - 20 years later

I enjoyed watching a news report today about the 20-year anniversay of the big fires of '88 in Yellowstone National Park. I have a memento from the fire, a paperweight I bought at the Canon gift shop while on an unexpected odyssey through the park.

"It was wild." "It was literally a war zone." Quotes from workers in the park.

I can back up what they say. We had been visiting at my sister and her husband's ranch in Montana, and having driven up through Idaho, we decided to do our usual return through Yellowstone. Wyoming was advertising on the radio that only 20% of the park was involved in the fire. "Come," they said, "the wildlife is active and the park is as beautiful as ever." We went. Later, we thought we might not live to tell the story.

The smoke was the first thing you noticed even before entering the park. In places it was as dense as driving in fog. When we entered the park at Mammoth, we were told the road we had planned to take to West Yellowstone was closed, but we could go south to Jackson. We did. We took our time as the wildlife was very active and fun for the kids to see. Bison wandered in the roadway confused by the smoke. The smoke began to bother us, too. Then bad news. Approaching the south entrance, the road was unexpectedly closed and we were sent back to Mammoth, a long and not-so-pleasant drive.

We now questioned our judgment. Should we find a place to stay in Montana? Should we wait it out and see if a road opened? As we pondered, the road to West Yellowstone opened. It was dark and the smoke was so dense, our only hope was to stay close to the tail lights ahead of us. We set out on the scariest drive we'd ever done. We could see nothing. At times there was fire on both sides of the road as we drove through it. At one point, we came around a curve to find the entire side of the mountain beside us fully engulfed in flames. Shocking and breathtaking, and strangely beautiful in an awesome power-of-nature way. We could not understand why this road was opened - this seemed terribly dangerous

The drive was very slow going, and thank goodness we had someone to follow. I don't remember how long it took us to get out of the park, but once out, we found the first available motel room in Idaho, and called it a night. Had we known what it was really like in the park, we would not have exposed ourselves and our children to the very real danger. But didn't we just end up with some unbelievable memories?

JibJab 2008 election spoof

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Davis County emissions and inspection fee increase

KSL.com reports today that the Davis County Commission approved an increase of $3.50 for automobile emissions testing and $2.50 increase for an inspection. The changes take effect immediately. The story says "The county's fees had not been increased since they began in 1996."

We must hope there is more justification to this increase than simply that fees haven't increased in that time. Could someone point us to stronger justification for the increases?

Quaint liquor laws and Utah's tourism

A debate bounces back and forth in the local newspapers, television, and radio over whether Utah's funny liquor laws hurt tourism. As a local imbiber, I have figured out most of the rules and can navigate my way to an adult beverage when I want one. But still, the laws are sometimes silly and, I think, do not really have the desired result.

In fact, what is the desired result? Is it primarily to prevent drunk driving and public nuisance? Or is it just to make people jump through hoops?

I'm reminded of a funny scene in a Steve Martin movie where he is pulled over and given a sobriety test while driving in Germany. Among other things we see him acrobatically walking on his hands and commenting to the officer, "Damn, these German drunk driving tests are hard!" (something like that)

In other words, the law doesn't quite accomplish what it is supposed to do.

As I read and hear comments from many LDS people, I recognize there is a huge lack of understanding about alcohol consumption. Many LDS people honestly believe that drinking itself equates automatically to drunk driving and alcoholism. While those are definitely serious problems with drinking, they do not apply to all people who consume alcohol - not at all. But LDS people are so afraid of alcohol and lack understanding about it, that many would, in fact, ban all consumption if it were possible.

But that's not going to happen.

So let's see if we can be reasonable about this. People are going to consume alcohol. Some will be responsible. Some will abuse it. Laws aside, those who want alcohol will nagivate the system and get what they want. They WILL get what they want, even if we make them do handstands to do it.

But back to the tourists. They are forced to learn a new liquor language in order to participate in the system. They are at a disadvantage because someone has to explain to them the quaint little system we have here. So they, too, will try to navigate the system, and then they will go home shaking their heads at the funny little people in Utah and their funny little laws. And they tell their friends. And some will come back, and some won't. And Utah continues to have an old-fashioned "prairie dress" appearance to the world.

Bottom line, do our liquor laws hurt tourism? Possibly some. They probably affect other economic development as well as companies may be reluctant to locate here. Are we ready to recognize this and make reasonable laws that might actually accomplish what they are intended to do? I doubt it.

Stock market plunges (I don't dare look at my retirement accounts)

I read an article this morning saying that most baby boomers will outlive their retirement savings. If the stock market continues as it has been this week, there's no doubt about that. Years ago when I left a job, I rolled over my 401K into a nice reliable New York Life fund. It has performed nicely ever since -- until now. This last quarter alone it lost over 10 percent of its value. I don't even want to know what has happened to it this past week.

Most employers no longer offer pension plans. The Reagan era brought us 401Ks which were sold to us as "retirement plans", but surprise everyone, they are just savings accounts with a bit of a tax benefit. And people more or less add to them, and then borrow against them for this or that, and never think about the fact that they will be living on this account after retirement.

What retirement? I fear many people are going to arrive at age 66+ and find out they don't have enough money to live on. And I'm not just talking about boomers. The next generation will be even worse off.

So add that to the gloomy news about the stock market, gas costing 10 cents more a gallon this week, higher costs of everything, banks failing, Fanny and Freddie in big trouble, and on and on.

Do you feel like you need some cheering up? Me, too.

Utah foreclosures and bankruptcies are soaring

KSL reports that Utah foreclosures and bankruptcies are soaring.

Foreclosure filings jumped 141 percent in June compared to the same month last year. That's one in about every 660 households in Utah.

It's not only foreclosures that are rising. Bankruptcies are soaring, also.

More than 4,200 Utahns threw up the financial white flag in the first half of this year. That's up 42 percent from the first six months of last year and significantly higher than the national increase of 30 percent.

So foreclosures are up 141 percent. Bankruptcies up 42 percent. And Phil Gramm wants us to believe that we're just having a "Mental Recession" (see my earlier post today). Well, for the people involved, I think this is pretty real. When you live in an ivory tower, like many of our politicians, it's easy to make up pretty little phrases like "Mental Recession" and "Let them eat cake!"

McCain Advisor Phil Gramm tells us stop whining about our tight budgets

John McCain's top economic advisor, former Senator Phil Gramm , says the economy is just fine and we've become a nation of whiners.

In an interview with the Washington Times, Phil Gramm, a former Texas senator who is now vice chairman of UBS, the giant Swiss bank, said he expects Mr. McCain to inherit a sluggish economy if he wins the presidency, weighed down above all by the conviction of many Americans that economic conditions are the worst in two or three decades and that America is in decline.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said.

So take note everyone. That's not an economic crunch you are feeling every time you visit the grocery store, gas station, or pay your heating, electric, and other bills. It's just your Mental Recession. Please stop whining.

Karl Rove - above the law

Karl Rove has defied a congressional subpoena and is refusing to testify before congress.

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Former White House political director Karl Rove, defying a subpoena, failed to appear before a U.S. House panel investigating whether the Justice Department prosecuted people for political reasons.

Rove's action today prompted the House Judiciary subcommittee to rule that his reasons for skipping the appearance weren't valid, setting up a possible contempt of Congress vote next week.

The panel is trying to determine whether partisan politics influenced the Justice Department's decision to bring a corruption case against former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat. Rove has rejected the notion and said he would speak with the committee only in private and without a transcript.

The Justice Department's ethics office is also probing allegations that Siegelman was the victim of selective prosecution.

According to the AP news, "Lawmakers subpoenaed Rove in May in an effort to force him to talk about whether he was involved in prosecutors' decisions to pursue cases against Democratic politicians or in the firing of federal prosecutors two years ago."

Utah voters - apathetic or disenfranchised?

The recent census report indicating that Utah was dead last among all states in the percentage of voters participating in the 2006 election puzzled me. Especially considering that in 2004, Utah voter percentage was among the highest.

Why the contradictory results? Why do Utahns appear to care more about national elections than local ones?

Brigham Young University political science professor Kelly Patterson attributes the low turnout in 2006 to less-competitive state races with less money spent to get out the vote. She also blames it on Utah's higher number of young voters since that group tends to vote less.

Maybe so, But perhaps equally puzzling to me is this:

The Census shows that huge numbers of Utahns do not bother to register to vote. It said Utah has the third-lowest reported registration rate among the states — 56.8 percent of adult citizens. Nationally, the average is 67.6 percent, about a fifth higher than in Utah.

Does this surprise you? It surprises me. I thought Utah was high on civic-mindedness and duty and we would rank in the top for voter participation. Raised in the Mormon church, I was taught that it was important for Latter-Day Saints to participate in the voting process, though for the life of me, I can't remember how that related to the gospel. Nonetheless.

It would be interesting and helpful to know more of the demographics behind the 2006 numbers--not just ages, but also gender, religious affiliation, political party affiliation, etc. I have some ideas of my own and these are not based on any facts, just hunches.

• Some Republican voters didn't vote in 2006 because the outcome was a foregone conclusion. In many local races, Republicans ran uncontested. So why bother to vote anyway? And besides, even if "I" stay home this time, the state is so overwhelmingly Republican, my missing vote isn't going to make that much difference.
• Some Democratic voters didn't vote in 2006 because the outcome was a foregone conclusion. In many local races, Republicans ran uncontested. So why bother to vote anyway? And besides, even if "I" stay home this time, the state is so overwhelmingly Republican, my missing vote isn't going to make that much difference.

Something is very wrong in the political process in this state. We have swung so far to one party, that there fails to even be a process any longer. There remain some small pockets of the state where, despite effective gerrymandering, real contests are had between the two parties. But those are few.

A Mormon prophet said, "There must needs be opposition in all things." And why do you suppose opposition might be a good thing? Could it be that it helps to keep our government in check? Some people think it's pretty wonderful to have one party fully in charge of the state. But the old saying about absolute power corrupting absolutely is true even among the righteous brethren who get elected to high offices.

The problem, I believe, is that too many Mormons believe voting Republican is tied to their religious beliefs. And the Mormon church itself somewhat tacitly allows this belief to persist. Until the church clearly disavows the Republican Party as an arm of the Mormon church in Utah, this problem will continue to exist. There will be no real political opposition in the state. The controlling party can run rampant over the citizenry at will, serving the interests of corrupt, power-hungry individuals.

Happy Birthday America - for better or for worse

Are you worried for our country? I am. Many signs point to a future that is far different from what we have come to expect as the American way of life. My children's generation are the first generation of Americans who are less well off than their parents. The price of oil/gas has had an explosive effect on everyone and everything. The economy, mortgage fiasco, the wars, the worsening environment, so many things have culminated to bring our country into a truly difficult time.

Yes, it's bad - it's really bad, a friend pointed out. But it seems like we've always had crises, this is just our latest one. How did we survive all those past ones? What were they? We don't really even remember do we? It reminded me of a lesson I learned long ago about coping.

Many years ago I worked for about six months for a lawyer who influenced me immeasurably both in my career and personally. A brilliant man with a colorful vocabulary and a booming voice, you always knew when something got his ire. But the fantastic thing about this guy was that he wasted little time agonizing over a mistake. He'd shout out a few choice epithets, and then immediately settle down and say "Here's what we're going to do." I admired that so much, I adopted it myself -- yell a little if needed, then take the problem in stride, and then get down to the problem-solving part as quickly as possible. It's something I've tried to pass along to my kids and now to my grandkids as well.

Here on the blogs we are often guilty of agonizing over the mistakes without moving on to the solutions. Indeed, with many problems our country faces, there is little individuals can do that will change things much. Sure, we will vote, and we'll hope a new administration will turn things around. But realistically, it's going to be a long haul fixing all the problems we've caused for ourselves.

In the meantime, maybe we need to just say 'dammit' really loud! And then do our best to take things in stride. Worry less. Do what we can in our own home, families, and communities. And take the Mary Englbreit approach: If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you look at it.

Colorful quote of the day

On KSL.com: 2 arrested in stolen patient records case

"They definitely aren't techies. There's no question about that. I don't know that they could find their rear end with both hands," Sheriff Jim Winder said.

Speaking as one who received a letter that my information was on the stolen tapes, I'm glad they caught the guys. I've already had one bad experience this year with some guy in New Jersey buying a computer with my credit card number (it was a stolen number as I didn't lose a card).

I wonder if backup tapes couldn't be encrypted to protect data so, if stolen, the data couldn't be accessed. Just wondering out loud.

O, Canada, happy 141st birthday

(corrected) Canada celebrates the 141st anniversary of its confederation today. So for my Canadian friends, happy Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day)! And I said it without saying "Eh", eh? Here's "O, Canada" in French and English.

North Salt Lake - the Avis of Independence Day celebrations?

I don't get it. North Salt Lake always celebrates the THIRD of JULY. http://www.nslcity.org/

Why? Is it because the city prefers to celebrate the state of the country prior to declaring independence? Is it because we don't think our celebration can compete with the big boys? Is it because we did it once when the 4th fell on a Sunday and we liked it so much, we kept it? What?

Quite frankly, the city has a very nice small-town celebration with the usual activites and a pretty spectacular fireworks display every year. It's fun to drag the kids, lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, playing cards, etc., to the Eaglewood Golf Course, stake out your site, and wait while the crowd and entertainment vie to be the loudest. Your wait is rewarded with Mother Nature's own colorful display when the sun sets over Antelope Island, tacitly signaling that the fireworks will start soon. And then to lie on the ground as the sky is filled with brilliant explosions above, thrilling young and old and all in between. Really, it is very nice, and people come from everywhere around to see it. And maybe that's the reason it's on the THIRD -- so we don't compete with anyone!

Really I would like to know why the THIRD?