slapdummy

Paying for the honor of dying

On the way home from Casuality tonight I caught a report from NPR on the readiness, or lack thereof, of the Iraqi First Battalion. It was a fairly standard coverage of how they are still disorganized and dependent on the U.S. for guidance and supplies.  Which, by the by, seems another example of completely divergent realities between the "treasonous" press and the military. No real shock there.

However, what really caught me off guard is that some Iraqi recruits (unclear how many) must pay a bribe of equivalent to around $600 USD in order to serve in the military.  Not only is that an obviously large amount of money in an economy struggling to get back on its feet, but it seems completely absurd that this is still happening.  People who volunteer to serve their country (especially one where dying is a very real possibility)  deserve support, not a shakedown.

I'm wondering why this doesn't seem to be high on the priority list to prevent from happening?  If corruption of the military is allowed to flourish at the recruiting level it's a fairly certain bet that it will continue to grow upward - payoffs for advancement, increase in military supply black markets and generic corruption that will erode any effort to instill a level of discipline and morale necessary to create a much needed security force. 

I hope to hell that correcting this behavior is one of our metrics for success in helping to rebuild their military and security forces.

How Not To Steal A Sidekick: Finale

If this is the real deal, it makes me happy to see the right thing being done. If it's a viral ad being done to promote the Sidekick it was very quirky and a bit questionable for any success metric beyond generic eyeballs on the brand.

Link: How Not To Steal A Sidekick: The Denouement - Gizmodo.

Casuality Seattle is just around the corner

The season of game conferences continues with Casuality in Seattle next week. As usual we are still trying to figure out what exactly is going on.  I realize that it's probably the same for most companies, but for a supposedly large group of smart people we can be frustratingly disorganized.

However, it will still be interesting to attend this particular conference for a couple of reasons.  First, it's local so no crummy hotels and bad food.  Second, I'm looking forward to meeting some folks I've been working with for a couple of months now.  They are a dev house based in the UK and this will be the first opportunity to actually meet them face to face. My understanding is that for one of the particular producers making the trip, it will be his first time in the U.S.. I'm fairly bad at the touristy host thing, but I'll have to come up with something interesting for them to see while they are here.

Medina decides to talk some more

So Medina decided to not create a ballot measure on opting out of the King County Library System.  Instead, last night they decided to ask the other cities in the county if they also thought the library taxes were too high (and what can be done to address it). You gotta love the second richest city in the state leading the charge for a reduction in financial responsibility. Although to be fair it does seem like there may be more people in favor of keeping the library support than are opposed, but time will tell.

However, you gotta love comments like this: "It makes it seem like Medina is going to be the leader in weaseling out," said Councilwoman Katie Phelps.

Really? That's a shocker.

Link: The Seattle Times: Local News: Medina won't vote on library system.

This just in: Medina is whiny and rich, who knew?

The King County Library System is fantastic. Here are some of it's stats:

• 90% of King County residents have and regularly use their library card
• It's consistently the second busiest library in the U.S. (New York Public Library System is first)
• They circulated 16 million items in 2003 to more than 1.1 million King County residents.
• They offer a collection of more than 4.1 million items ranging from books to media to research offerings

I don't think it's any shock that maintaining these services costs money, serious money.  There have been several library bonds that have passed to keep the level of service and offerings consistent. Now Medina, the second wealthiest town in the state is considering opting out of the library system. Apparently, the concern is that they are paying too much money since it's based on a percentage of their assessed property value.

However, according to the KCLS Director's Report issued in May 2006, this proposal was mentioned but assumed to be a non-issue after discussing it directly with the Medina City Manager Doug Schulze (who apparently declared the KCLS had "effectively addressed" the issue). The report also noted, interestingly, that 2,007 of the 2,800 Medina residents owned KCLS library cards. Additionally, it was reported that the Medina City Council would most likely not pursue the issue. 

In an attached letter to the report, it shows exactly what was sent to Schulze and it is fairly enlightening.  First, in the past four years Medina volunteered fairly stunning approvals of two library tax increases (69% and 70%), the last of which occurred two years ago. Which brings up an obvious point. How can a community provide a majority approval for library support only to cry foul a couple of years later? Second, Medina is being taxed exactly like every other town in the county; no more, no less. 

I find it fairly difficult to understand the foundation of their argument: We either didn't understand or didn't read the nature of the increases we voted on twice and we aren't happy about paying the same percentage as everybody else since our property values are worth at least the double the median. Either way, they come off as possibly incompetent or uncharitable (at the very least).

What I especially love best about the Seattle Times article is Medina City Manager Schulze apparently defending the proposal by citing that the median price of a home in the city is only $1.1 million (more than double the King County median).

Medina city council is supposed to be voting on the measure tonight, but I haven't heard the results yet.

The moral of the tale: we should be aware that it isn't all fun and games being rich.

How NOT to steal a SideKick

What started as a simple loss of a SideKick II escalated into something so much more.  The short version is girl loses SideKick, girl buys new SideKick and notices account activity that isn't hers, reward is offered for the return of SideKick to the new "owners", reward is refused with some smack talk and the fun begins.  You can't buy this level of entertainment and what's great is that with the rubes who took the device, this is the gift that keeps on giving.

God bless the internets.

Link: How NOT to steal a SideKick II.

Somebody had a bad day

Whoops!

Link: God, Man and a Lioness | Reuters.com.