We Needed a Study to Figure This Out

Private workers perform better than Government employees. Really? Go figure. Who would ever have thought? According to AP: Private Screeners Outperform Government Workers.

A congressional investigation found airport screeners employed by private companies do a better job detecting dangerous objects than government screeners, according to a House member who has seen the classified report.

The Government Accountability Office found statistically significant evidence that passenger screeners …

“You get a statistically significant improvement if you go to federal supervision with private screening companies,” Mica said.

Private enterprise with some Governmental oversight would always be the answer in a National Security situation. Why would anyone think that a completely Government run system would ever be efficient? Maybe our Government can learn this lesson and implement the same philosophy with many other programs.

Your government money hard at work:

The Homeland Security inspector general also reported that the project manager and facility operating officer improperly purchased decorative and miscellaneous items for its new crisis management center in Herndon, Va. They kept the nature of the purchases hidden by charging them to the construction contract as “equipment and tools,” according to the report.

The project spent $252,392 on artwork, $29,032 on art consultants, $30,085 on silk plants and $13,861 on lamps and other equipment, the report said.

Pretty easy to spend money when its not yours.

Posted April 20, 2005 by
Business, Politics | one comment

Has The SCOTUS Been Drinking Hallucinogenic Tea

With all the cases that the US Supreme Court has refused to hear, now they have decided to hear and decide whether the federal government must allow the U.S. branch of a Brazilian-based religion to import a hallucinogenic tea for use as a sacrament.

This would actually tend to make sense as many believe that with some of their rulings lately, like removing the death penalty option from minors, that the SCOTUS have actually been drinking Hallucinogenic Tea.

The high court agreed to review a U.S. appeals court ruling that said the government could not prohibit the sacramental use of the tea because of a 1993 religious freedom law.

The U.S. Justice Department said that under the ruling the government must allow the importation and possession of hoasca tea for religious services, even though it contains an illegal, controlled substance that can be potentially dangerous.

There is something seriously wrong in this country. Under the cry of “separation of church and state” we have religious and historical symbols like the 10 Commandments taken out of Court Houses. Yet, it would appear that Courts have no problems with Non-traditional religions to allow illegal substances to be brought into the US in the name of a religious sacrament.

So what’s next? Anyone can form a religion and have as their sacrament the date-rape drug? How in God’s name is a law written that would protect religious freedom at the expense of the harm to individuals? What part about the fact that the ingredients in the tea are banned substances in the US? Why does it appear that the only time the Courts interpret such a law is when there is a perversion of the intended meaning of protecting religions? I hardly think it is right to allow one law at the breaking of another.

Posted April 20, 2005 by
Bizarre, Politics | no comments

I think it’s dead. Sorry.

Donaldson: Network News Dead

By Bill McConnell — Broadcasting & Cable, 4/19/2005 3:06:00 PM

Former ABC News reporter/anchor Sam Donaldson is ready to say the last rites for network news because it will soon lose its dominant position as Americans’ primary source of news. “I think it’s dead. Sorry,” he said during a breakfast panel Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters’ convention in Las Vegas.  “The monster anchors are through.”
 
Even though 30 million viewers still turn to networks news each night and garner ratings well above CNN and Fox News, networks news operations long ago lost their role as the sources Americans rely on during time of major breaking news, said Donaldson

“God forbid, if someone shot the President, which network could you turn to? It will be cable, the Internet–something other than General Hospital being interrupted.”

Increasingly, viewers will continue turning to alternative sources for everyday news as well, he said.

Donaldson was joined on the panel by CNN political analyst Jeff Greenfield and CBS Sunday Morning’s Charles Osgood., both of whom were less pessimistic about network news’ future.

“If  it’s dying, it’s dying a very slow death,” Greenfield said. Although the network news monopoly was “smashed” by cable, broadcast news will redefine itself, thought he didn’t yet know how.

Osgood said the network news can remain competitive with other platforms but must be constantly reevaluated to remain competitive–a fact that makes him glad he’s at the tail end of his career rather than the beginning. “It used to be when we wanted to make a show more appealing to more people, the first thing we did was design a new set.”
 
During their talk the three reporters came out in favor of a federal shield law that would allow journalists to protect the identity of their sources without threat of jail.

Donaldson, however, said journalists shouldn’t have blanket protection when lives are at stake, but didn’t know how to draft a law that would balance the need to ensure that journalists can protect whistle blowers but won’t impede legal investigations.

The three also agreed that that Internet bloggers have had a generally positive impact on news because mainstream reporters are forced to better verify their information and pare opinions out of their work or face he wrath of scrutinizing critics.

Posted April 20, 2005 by
General | no comments

No Strings Attached

A great blog done by English Cut, the website of Thomas Mahon, bespoke Savile Row Tailor, london

To find the history of no strings attached, read this.

So when I need a perfect, flawless length of cloth for a job, I’ll say to the merchant, “Give me 3 metres, no strings attached.”

Yes, that is where the phrase “No strings attached” comes from. And yes, it’s still being used with its original meaning on Savile Row to this day.

Hat Tip Jeff Nolan

Posted April 20, 2005 by
General | no comments

The Today Show Looking More Like Yesterday

Tom Touchet, the chief executive behind the “Today” show, has been fired. The network’s biggest money-maker in a ratings slump and feeling the heat from ABC’s “Good Morning America.” and tensions backstage has made the Today Show rather volatile.

The Drudge Report is also reporting:

NBC ‘TODAY’ SHOW EXEC PRODUCER TOM TOUCHET FIRED….DEVELOPING… Tom’s firing had nothing to do with the ratings or tightening numbers with ABC’s ‘GOOD MORNING AMERICA’, a top source claims… Tom has been making changes to move the show into the future, while Host Katie Couric and NBC President Jeff Zucker are trying to keep it mired in the past. ‘If it was about the ratings, NBC as a network is in 4th place and Jeff Zucker would be gone,’ insider claims. ‘It is common knowledge that even before Host Katie Couric signed her new deal – she had lost interest, she hated waking up early, and has been absolutely miserable’...

Would appear that the perky Katie Couric may not be so perky these days.

Posted April 20, 2005 by
Business, Main | no comments

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