Photo Of Emery Higginbotham's Musiconics B300 Guitorgan - For Sale

OK, for those of you asking to see my late father's Guitorgan, here it is. Looks like a Gibson ES-335 with lots of extra organ controls on it. As far as I know, it's in perfect working order because it just came out of the shop where a technician did some work on it. As I understand it, the Musiconics company only made about 3,000 of these things so they're rare.

My internet research tells me Guitorgans are popular with Gospel musicians, "one-man band" acts and with practitioners of the heavier, darker types of rock music.

Play it, ask questions about it and buy it at Fret-N-Fiddle in St. Albans. Fret-N-Fiddle owner, Joe Dobbs, was a friend of my late father's and has sold a lot of my dad's musical stuff so it seemed fitting that Dobbs should sell his Guitorgan for me. Give Joe a call at (304) 722-5212. Tell 'em Joseph Higginbotham sent ya.



Higginbotham At Large READS all submitted comments but does not PUBLISH pseudonymous or anonymous comments so if you wish to see your comments published you must identify yourself. 

Selling My Late Father's Rare B300 Guitorgan

The marketing of my late father's Musiconics B300 Guitorgan begins in earnest tomorrow.

If you have to ask what a Guitorgan is or if you want to see a picture, you aren't one of the smitten who have always wanted one of these rare beasts.

The story is, a Waco, TX company bought a supply of Gibson ES335 knockoffs and wired them to be played as either a straight guitar or as an organ.

My dad's Guitorgan was a source of great conflict in the Higginbotham home. I was a teenager when dad drove somewhere in Ohio to buy the guitar-organ hybrid. To hear mom tell it - and she told it often - dad practically took food right our of our mouths and clothes right off our backs to pay for the Guitorgan.

My mother had no idea how lucky she was that my dad wasn't the typical guitar player. Guitarists often do spend way too much money on guitars. My dad was never that way. I think I can count on one hand the guitars my dad had during my lifetime. For years he carried a double-necked Carvin to his gigs. Then he sold it and bought a Fender Telecaster.

My dad was a semi-professional, working guitarist but he seldom had more than one guitar at a time. When dad got too old to play anymore he had one banjo, one mandolin, one guitar amp, one 1965 Gibson Heritage acoustic guitar and the Guitorgan.

I kept the 1965 Gibson Heritage. Roger Morillo fixed the broken bridge and now it's a sweet little guitar.

Buying the Guitorgan was one of my dad's few "wild hair" moments.

Anyway, it's for sale and I've already  had inquiries from as far away as British Columbia so there are other guitarists out there who have always wanted a Guitorgan.

If you are one of the smitten, call me at 304 550 6710 or email me at JosephHigginbotham@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with the sales agent, Joe Dobbs at Fret N Fiddle. Or you can call Joe Dobbs when his store re-opens tomorrow.

--Higginbotham At Large reads but does not publish pseudonymous or anonymous comments so if you wish to see your comments in Higginbotham At Large you must identify yourself.

PR Rule Number One: Don't Make Your Customers Feel Guilty By Drawing Attention To Your Employees' Low Wages And Lack of Healthcare

There's been a new development in the case of Pap John Schnatter's attempt to monetize his hatred of President Obama. There was customer blow back. And probably a lot of employee blowback. I'll get to that in a moment but, due to blowback, Papa John Schnatter had to "walk back" his comments about ObamaCare and his threats to cut employee hours to make them ineligible for ObamaCare and to raise pizza prices to pay for ObamaCare.

Oh, and Denny's franchisee, John Metz, who owns about 40 Denny's restaurants in the Deep South more or less denounced by Denny's headquarters which issued a statement distancing  Denny's from the anti-ObamaCare comments of their big franchise owner.

I'm sure right about now both Denny's Metz and Papa John Schnatter are wondering why Chick-Fil-A's Dan Cathy was able to garner huge profits from his anti-gay donations and comments and subsequent denunciation by Obama ally, Rahm Emanuel.

Both Schnatter and Metz must be wondering why Chick-Fil-A's Cathy made money from his hatred of Obama and the things Obama stands for - like gay rights - and why they, Schnatter and Metz, caught crap for trying to monetize Obama hatred. I know the answer.

Schnatter and Metz made their customer's feel guilty for doing business at Denny's and Papa John's. That's right, by drawing attention to their employees' lack of healthcare, Schnatter and Metz committed the unpardonable sin: they reminded their customers that every time they do business with Papa John Schnatter and John Metz' Denny's franchises, their food is being prepared and delivered by people without healthcare or a living wage, people who can't afford to have their hours cut and people who are one major health problem away from bankruptcy.

WalMart is making a similar mistake. By fighting employees' attempts at gaining collective bargaining, higher wages and better healthcare, WalMart is reminding WalMart customers about the high human cost of low prices.

Man, WalMart, Metz and Papa John Schnatter have a lot to learn from Dan Cathy about how to monetize their hatred of Obama. Cathy was smart enough not to draw attention to his employees' low wages or lack of healthcare and he even got an Obama ally to publicly attack him and his company as not having the right values to get a license to open a Chick-Fil-A in Chicago.

No, I'm not calling for a boycott of WalMart, Pap John's or the John Metz Denny's franchises but before the next fast food titan tries to monetize Obama hatred by drawing attention to your employees' low wages and lack of healthcare, think of this: the customers you depend on for your riches are being served by employees who now know for sure that you don't give a damn about them and if it's true that happy employees give great customer service might it also be true that unhappy employees might give lousy customer service?

Yeah, that Dan Cathy at Chick-Fil-A is a genius. He managed to monetize his hatred of Obama by NOT drawing attention to non-existent healthcare and low wages. Why? He didn't make his customers feel guilty for enriching Cathy And he got an Obama ally to publicly denounce him.

I've always said if you want to get famous or make some money just get the right enemy to publicly attack you. It worked for Chick-Fil-A whose bigoted Deep South customer base came out in droves to buy chicken in sympathy with Cathy who was denounced by Rahm Emanuel.

For more on the genius or Dan Cathy's monetization of his hatred for Obama and Obama's values, see my 27 July 2012 post (in the archives).
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While Higginbotham At Large reads all anonymous and pseudonymous comments I will never PUBLISH pseudonymous or anonymous comments. If you wish your comments to be published you have to use your real name.

Papa John Schnatter You're No Chick-Fil-A Dan Cathy

Papa John Schnatter, you're no Chick-Fil-A Dan Cathy.

Yes, there are ultra-conservative , right wing, Obama-hating dollars to be made by getting famous for disagreeing with Obama about something, but threatening to cut your employees' hours to avoid providing Obamacare to your workers is not the way to do it.

You can learn a lot from Dan Cathy at Chick-Fil-A. Here's how Cathy leveraged the power of hate to bring out the right wing base and increase his same-store sales:

1. First, do like Dan Cathy did - pick the right battle. Don't pick Obamacare. Some of your Obama-hating customers secretly want some Obamacare because, without it, they won't have any healthcare. Learn from Dan Cathy who appealed to the homophobia that is rife in the GOP base. Don't try to increase same store sales by asking your customers to rally for you on a pocketbook issue like healthcare. If there's one thing Republican evangelicals hate more than gay people it's not having any healthcare.

2. Don't directly attack Obama or one of his policies, get somebody in the Obama administration to attack you - as Rahm Emanuel did when Chick-Fil-A , infamous for its anti-gay personnel policies and its financial support for anti-gay organizations, when Chick-Fil-A tried to get a business license to operate in Rahm Emanuel's Chicago. Cha-Ching. Millions of gay-hating, chicken-eating evangelicals flocked to Chick-Fil-A restaurants to stand up. stand up for Jeezussss buy supporting a business that picks on gays.

3. Spend a little time courting and wooing the right wingers, cooing and dog whistling in their ears as Cathy did before Rahm Emanuel attacked him. Chick-Fil-A spent years dog-whistling evangelicals - closing on Sundays, catering free chicken to meetings of the ultra-conservative Christian Business Men's Committee, and, of course, getting sued for unfair treatment of their gay employees and applicants.

Joining Louisville's mega Southeast Christian Church and being seen playing golf with Senior Pastor, Bob Russell, isn't the same as showing gays the love of Jeeezussss by being mean to them.

Come on, Papa John Schnatter, get in the game. Where's the dog-whistle in making TV commercials starring pro football players? Give your base the spokespeople they want. Don't try to play the anti-gay card - Chick-Fil-A already did that. Your right wing base is dying to buy pizza from a chain that questions Obama's citizenship so why not give them head birthers Donald Trump and Joe Arpaio? And your base loves to portray  their God as a deity that is willing to kill innocent people to punish "ungodly" politicians so why not give your TV commercial viewers Michele Bachmann, who famously said God sent deadly earthquakes and hurricanes  to get Washington's attention.

Do a TV commercial starring all the high-profile anti-science and anti-women candidates who were defeated in their recent races: Deadbeat dad and soon-to-be-former-Congressman, Joe Walsh, who recently said women don't die in childbirth anymore so there's no need for the "life of the mother exception" in abortion  law. And don't forget  "Legitimate Rape" candidate, Todd Akin.  

And if you really want your same-store sales to spike, give viewers a TV commercial in which defeated VP candidate, Paul Ryan, calls rape just another method of conception.

But do it today before Dan Cathy at Chick-Fil-A thinks of it.
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Higginbotham At Large reads all submitted comments but only PUBLISHES comments from identified commenters. No Pseudonymous or anonymous comments will be published.

Does Create WV Really Think They Can Privatize Culture Change And Innovation?

"...but we might be doing all of this just for our kids."

That quote from Jeff James of Create WV are the words with which reporter Bill Lynch of the Charleston Gazette chose to close his recent story about the upcoming Create WV conference.

Bill Lynch is a good reporter but I think he buried the lead.

If the goal of Jeff James and Create WV is to "help West Virginians participate more in the Innovation Economy which thrives on a creative class made up of artists, musicians, technology workers and entrepreneurs" as the article says, we need to start with understanding why our children have left West Virginia and why they continue to leave and how to make West Virginia the kind of place where the creative class wants to buy a house, start a business, invent something and raise a family. It is my contention that until we have that conversation we cannot change the culture that makes West Virginia repel rather than attract the creative class.

As long as West Virginia continues to elect city council members, mayors, state representatives, state senators, governors and other office holders who watched their own children leave the state and didn't try to understand why they left, we will continue to be a state that loses its talent to geographies with a culture that is inviting to the creative class.

Teenagers, twentysomethings and thirtysomethings know and understand why their creative contemporaries leave West Virginia. We need to ask them to explain it to us. Current office holders don’t. Study after study shows that creatives flee monochrome, parochial, insular and misoneist environments for more diverse and stimulating environments. Creatives want to live in places with artsy, independent film theaters and the kinds of “third spaces/third places” where they might engage with other outside-the-box thinkers. Young creatives who might invent something want raise their families in stimulating places. Young creatives tire of trying to explain “the culture thing” to city council members, mayors and other elected officials who think economic development is all about luring companies here with tax breaks or “selling” West Virginia’s natural beauty. Titular leaders who don’t understand why young creatives leave can’t turn on the magnet that makes them stay.

James is right when he says that "most people in the state look toward established businesses, like the mining industry or state government" rather than entrepreneurship or innovation but let us not pretend that the culture change we need can come from the private sector alone. 

If the current elected leaders will not start the conversation about why our kids leave and why they won't be here to benefit from changes Create WV wants to bring then we need to elect people whose own kids haven't left yet, people who will ask their kids how they would change the state to make it the kind of place in which they would like to raise a family, start a business or invent something. Private industry cannot overhaul the culture of West Virginia without the help of government. Until we are electing office holders who want to change the culture of our state, conferences aimed at budding entrepreneurs will be little more than networking events where the same people who have been swapping business cards for 5 years do it yet again.

Yes, Mr. James, what we do we do for our kids but the question is, without the culture change we need to keep them in West Virginia, will our kids be here to benefit from the changes we seek to make? You said in your Gazette interview that in its first 4 years Create Wv sought to engage leaders but now you wish to focus "on the individual level with people who want to be entrepreneurs". Does that mean it's OK with you if elected leaders don't show up for the conference or if elected leaders don't understand why our future leaves the state when they graduate from college? Do you really think West Virginia can privatize the change we need? I know it's fashionable to pretend that we don't need government and that government doesn't create jobs or anything else  but the truth is that government still controls most of the institutions and programs and most of the money and must be part of the solution to West Virginia's brain drain.

Why WVPBS' Recent Joe Bonamassa Guitar-A-Palooza Was A Fundraising Failure

WVPBS volunteer, Dan Ringer, admitted on-air during the recent WVPBS fundraising drive that viewer response to the Joe Bonamassa show was disappointing. I know why: An excess of guitar does not compensate for a dearth of good songs nor can instrumental virtuosity turn weak material into strong material.

As much as I admire Joe Bonamassa's talent - he's a fine blues guitar player - his recent PBS show was simply too much guitar and not enough songwriting. I think I heard the same lengthy guitar solo in 4 different songs.

A similar phenomenon took place at the Clay Center recently when Pat Benatar and her guitar-slinging husband, Neal Giraldo, took the stage in Charleston. I'm told by people who were there that an excess of guitar caused audience members to chant "More Pat, less guitar."

Like Bonamassa, Neal Giraldo is a fine guitar player but ticket buyers didn't go to the concert to hear guitar solos, they went there to hear memorable rock songs sung as only Pat Benatar can sing them.

During Dan Ringer's on-air lament that viewers didn't seem to like the Bonamassa concert, he commented that program directors draw conclusions and make future programming choices based on how viewers respond to the programs featured during these membership drives. I just hope program directors draw the right conclusions.

For example, if program directors draw the conclusion that viewers don't like guitars, they'd be wrong. Americans love guitars. The guitar is the most played instrument in America.

And if program directors draw the conclusion that viewers don't like blues-rock, they'd be wrong again. Because of America's appetite for blues-rock there are thousands of blues-rock artists making a good living playing blues-rock music.

Here's the conclusion I hope WVPBS program directors will draw from the failure of the Joe Bonamassa concert during their recent pledge-a-palooza: An abundance of musicianship cannot compensate for an insufficiency of good songwriting.

In future pledge-a-paloozas, give us great songs as well as great performers.

And while I'm on the subject, let me make another point about WVPBS musical programming: Putting on shows that feature a whole hour of O.A.R or Death Cab For Cutie is risky because viewers who don't like the first song tune out for the rest of the hour.

Rumor has it that Liz Phair is planning a "Chickapalooza" music festival featuring a variety of the best female singer-songwriters. Broadcast Liz Phair's Chickapalooza during a future pledge-a-thon and you'll hold more viewers because viewers who can't commit to a whole hour of Radiohead or Arcade Fire will patiently wait through a few songs by an artist they don't know or like to get to an artist they like.

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While Higginbotham At Large reads all submitted comments, under no circumstances will Higginbotham At Large PUBLISH anonymous or pseudonymous comments. No Ring of Gyges for you. No exceptions.

Saint Albans Ward 4 Neighborhood Crime Watch Meets The First Tuesday of Each Month, 6:30PM, Crossings Church, 2031 Harrison Ave.

St. Albans Ward 4 city council member, Cheryl Thomas, asked me to help publicize Ward 4's neighborhood crime watch. The information I'm providing here is not on the City Website - even though it should be - so please save it for future reference.

Ward 4 Neighborhood Crime Watch meets on the first Tuesday of each month, 6:30PM, at Crossings Church, 2031 Harrison Ave.

The Ward 4 Neighborhood  Watch Coordinator is Brian Kloosterman, (304)881-2270. Brian's email address is promariner65@yahoo.com.

Ward 4's city council member is Cheryl Thomas. Cheryl's phone number is (304) 727-8429. Cheryl's email address is Cheryl.Thomas25177@yahoo.com.

The police contact for Ward 4 is Officer Kenny Davis. Officer Davis' phone number is (304) 543-7257.

Officer Davis' email address is kdavis@saintalbanspolice.com.

Ward 4 residents with internet access are strongly encouraged to join the Saint Albans Neighborhood Crime Watch on Facebook.

Ward 4 also has its own group on NextDoor.com. When you register for your NextDoor.com account and the website has verified your address, you will automatically be added to the Ward 4 group.

If you see a crime taking place, dial 911.

If you have information about suspicious activity in your neighborhood report it to the SAPD at (304) 727-2251.

The next meeting of the Saint Albans Ward 4 Neighborhood Crime Watch is Tuesday 6 November, 2012, 6:30PM at Crossings Church, 2031 Harrison Ave, across from Alban Elementary School.

St. Albans Peoples Party In Need Of A Ward 2 Council Rep For The Second Time In Under 2 Years

A few weeks ago St. Albans City Councilman, JD Adkins resigned from his Ward 2 seat because he has moved out of his ward. It was less than 2 years ago when Ward 2 lost their previous council rep, Xris Hess, for the same reason. Hess and Adkins were members of the St. Albans Peoples Party so at last night's (1 October 2012) council meeting Mayor Dick Callaway asked the St. Albans Peoples Party to submit three candidates for the empty seat. City Council will then vote to install one of those three candidates to fill Adkins' unexpired term.

After a September council meeting Adkins told me "some people don't like change". I was dying to know what he meant but he seemed in a hurry to get to his car so I didn't press him. Here's what's interesting about that parting remark: Adkins doesn't know me from Adam. When he made his comment about some people not liking change, he had no idea to whom he was saying it which gave me the impression he has something on his mind that he'd like to talk about. Perhaps he read my 12 April 2011 post in which I called St. Albans a city a "Callagarchy" where apathy is always on the ballot. 

 Perhaps the reporter who covers St. Albans City Council for the Charleston Gazette, Kristin Ledford, will try to get him on the record. 

In other St. Albans City Council news, there will be a public hearing at 7:15 October 15 at which stakeholders can comment on the management-led buyout of Suddenlink and how this sale might affect St. Albans' Suddenlink TV, internet and phone customers.

I have a comment: Since the West Virginia Public Service Commission does not have oversight of cable TV providers, the City of St. Albans and other affected cities should insist that Suddenlink seat a community action panel where Suddenlink customers can interact on a regular basis with Suddenlink management.

Here is the link to my 12 April 2011 post:: http://higginbothamatlarge.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-words-for-old-problems-in-st-albans.html
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Higginbotham At Large publishes no pseudonymous or anonymous comments. Comments submitted without proper identification will be read but not published.

How The Romney Campaign Has Become A Modern Day Milgram Experiment And What It Tells Us About Romney's Dim View Of His White Male Base

In the now infamous Milgram experiment, an alarmingly high number of subjects were willing to deliver painful electric shocks to others if an authority figure in a white coat told them to do so. Readers who studied Psychology and remember the infamous Milgram experiment will notice that white male voters are now the "authority figures" in the white coats and Romney is the subject whose hand is on the controls that he thinks will deliver painful shocks to the people selected by the authority figures in white coats. And the manner in which Romney delivers these painful shocks tells us more about what Romney thinks of his white male base than he realizes.

For my readers who get all their news from AM Talk Radio and from Fox News, let me offer the following facts so you'll understand why Romney feels he must deliver pain to all but his white male base: 1. Romney is losing big with Hispanics, Blacks and Women. 2. He can't win the presidency if he loses with women and minorities unless he carries almost all the white male vote. It's the way he is trying to win that white male vote that resembles the infamous Milgram experiment.  Understanding what Romney thinks white males want him to do - to whom he thinks we wish him to deliver pain - explains everything he is doing lately - all his desperate foreign relations gaffs, all his flip-flops.

Romney, who once said he would get to the left of Ted Kennedy on same sex marriage, thinks white males want him to be against same sex marriage so now he is. Romney thinks white males want him to be even tougher on illegal immigrants than Obama (who deports illegals at a higher rate than any previous president) so now he utters all that non-sense about "self-deportation". Romney thinks white males want him to declare war on just about anybody with whom the US has even a minor conflict so now he talks about increasing the already bloated military budget, fighting wars on multiple fronts and how the recent Benghazi murders wouldn't have happened had a tough guy like Romney been president. Romney thinks white males want him to get their womenfolk under male control by denying them abortions and birth control so now this man who made $millions at Bain Capital by disposing of aborted babies through the Stericycle company, this man who once ran for the Senate as a pro-choicer, is now against abortion.

Let me be clear: in this modern day Milgram experiment called the Romney campaign, Mitt Romney is the guy behind a curtain where he is shown what he believes are electric shock controls. White males are the authority figures in white coats. But Romney doesn't wait for us to tell him to deliver electric shocks to gays, women and brown people. No, he just assumes that delivering pain to women and minorities will please us so he does it without hesitation and without even thinking about the things he is saying.

Romney's eagerness to deliver pain to people he thinks white males want him to harm tells us not only that he will do anything to get elected but it also tells us how poorly he thinks of the white male voters whose approval he is willing to win at any cost to women, minorities and brown people.

Oh, and for my friends and readers who get their news from Fox TV News and Talk Radio, President Obama will be re-elected. Handily. No, it won't be close. Why? Because there aren't enough white males like the ones Romney imagines to overcome his deficit with the women and minorities he has already written off.

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Higginbotham At Large Publishes no pseudonymous or anonymous comments. All submitted comments come to me for deletion or publication. I only publish comments from identified submitters. No exceptions. 

Contentious Exchange Between John Dahlia And Richard Carter At 13 September EBA Meeting

At the Thursday 13 September meeting of the Educational Broadcasting Authority board Richard Carter (Director of Television Production at WVPBS) and board member John Dahlia had a tense exchange over the popular, locally-produced kids show, Abracadabra. Mr. Dahlia expressed frustration about the time it takes to produce the show and about some of Carter's production decisions, notably use of staff and costs related to staff travel. At one point in the discussion, Carter was trying to explain his camera, lighting and other needs when Dahlia reminded Carter that he (Dahlia) is a former news director and doesn't need to be talked down to about cameras and lighting.

Executive Director, Dennis Adkins and Director of Finance, Michael Meador, reported positive financial news. Cash, receivables and underwriting are all up over last year.

Beth Vorhees, Director of News and Public Affairs, reported the hiring of 2 new reporters and that the WVPBS newsroom will now be staffed on weekends. The new reporters will cover the West Virginia legislature.

-- No anonymous or pseudonymous comments are published on Higginbotham At Large. All submitted comments come to Joseph Higginbotham for publication or deletion. Only comments from  identifiable submitters will be published. No exceptions.

My Animal Legislation Wish List (Because We Can't Give Animal Abusers The Death Penalty)

Animal lovers may be the only people whose "love" causes the suffering, neglect and brutal deaths of the beloved. People who love rare coins or lava lamps or antiques and must fill their homes with these things don't cause suffering and death but people who "love" animals and feel that they just have to "own" pets are actually perpetuating animal suffering and death by providing puppy mills and breeders with a financial incentive to bring more cats and dogs into a world that already has more cats and dogs than it is able or willing to care for. So let me repeat what I said in my 1 July 2010 post: if you love animals, help reduce the commercial demand for dogs and cats by refusing to feed the breeding beast. Don't buy a cute kitten at a pet store. Don't buy a precious puppy. When your current pet dies, don't get another pet. Instead, consider becoming a foster home for rescued dogs and cats while their rescuers find them permanent homes. 

As a systems thinker, I know there are only two ways to reduce the number of neglected, abused and suffering animals. The first way would be to reduce the population of humans who breed animals, neglect animals, and torture animals and to reduce the number of irresponsible pet owners who don't spay and neuter their animals leaving them free bring more cats and dogs into a world for humans to abuse or neglect. 

But, as appealing as it is, hunting down and killing the people who neglect and abuse animals is illegal and would land the people who eliminated the abusers and neglecters in prison where we couldn't rescue and foster animals who need us which leaves us with one other way to reduce the number of animals who suffer neglect and abuse at the hands of humans: We must reduce the number of animals available to the abusers and neglecters. Toward that end, I've compiled a little legislative wish list which I intend to share with my state legislators. 

1. Pet "owners" would be required to spay and neuter their pets or pay a stiff fine. Attention Bonnie Brown, Barb Hatfield, et al., Google SB 250 and find that New York City already passed this kind of spay/neuter law and Californians are working on a statewide SB 250 spay/neuter law.

2. In West Virginia, it would be illegal to buy or sell an animal that comes from any puppy mill or other breeding facility - even if that facility is owned by the Governor's family - and it would be illegal to operate such a facility in West Virginia.

3. People found guilty of abusing or neglecting animals would never again be allowed to own or keep animals and would receive a punishment similar to the treatment they inflicted on the animals they mistreated. People who starve animals would be sentenced to starvation nearly to the point of death. People who light animals on firer would be tortured with fire. People who beat animals would be beaten nearly to the point of death. People who tether their dog to a stake in the yard and leave it shivering in the cold and deprived of food, water and companionship could be chained on the courthouse lawn for a week or so in the middle of January. People caught trying to provide food, water or comfort to them would tethered in like manner. 

Political candidates who strap their pets to the roof of the car would be similarly "kenneled", roof-topped and driven to Canada where, if they're lucky, someone would hose them off. 

You get the idea. I don't know any judges but if I did I would ask them why they don't sentence animal abusers to punishments similar to their crimes. 

To find out who represents you, go to http://www.legis.state.wv.us/ and tell your elected officials that, since it would be illegal to reduce the number of humans who abuse and neglect animals, you want them to introduce legislation that reduces the number of animals available to the abusers and neglecters.

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Higginbotham At Large reads all submitted comments - even if they come from animal abusers and neglecters - but Higginbotham At Large does not publish anonymous or pseudonymous comments from anybody.

Open Letter To An Undisclosed Advisory Board : How To Promote Your Events Without A Budget Or A Marketing Guy

Your recent hand-wringing discussion about how to publicize your events was painful to hear. I was just a guest so I couldn't offer advice but I wanted to stand up and shout "Why are you pretending that you're still living in a time when you couldn't get your message out unless you owned a radio station, a newspaper or a TV station or unless you paid those media gatekeepers to publicize your events?"

In an age when every one of you can instantly notify hundreds of people abut your events through Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or through your own personal blog or website, you're like a man who freezes to death in the middle of the forest when he could have gathered some sticks, built a fire and kept warm.

While I like your idea of buying a sign, I'd like you to start using the free means of information dissemination that are already available to you.

And don't wait for your org's marketing department to do this for you. You can do it better, faster and cheaper yourselves. Let me prove it to you.

A few years ago I was part of a community-based effort to provide a job search seminar/workshop to help "older workers" who had recently been "right-sized" out of their jobs and were experiencing age discrimination as they attempted to find new jobs. We put together a coalition of headhunters, staffing agencies, a major university and, of course, AARP.

The AARP rep told us AARP would take care of publicizing the event. They had been involved in these workshops before and they knew that if they sent 5,000 post cards to members in the area they'd get about 30 attendees. Yeah, that's right; AARP's plan was to spend a lot of money to send 5,000 pieces of mail and only get 30 attendees. Phooey on that.

Had we left it to the AARP marketing department, we would have provided a workshop for about 30 older workers when we knew we should be reaching HUNDREDS of older workers. So we didn't leave it to AARP's marketing guy. We did it ourselves and we reached hundreds of older workers - and we did it at almost no cost at all.

First, we took advantage of "Earned Media". I took it upon myself to write a simple media release which I sent to a handful of radio stations, newspapers and TV stations. I think I mailed about 10 releases at my own expense. As a result of these media releases, I was invited to be a guest on 2 local radio talk shows and was given free space in 2 local newspapers.

And, of course, we used social media. Linkedin. Facebook. (I don't think any of us had Twitter yet but you do.)

Registrations for our older workers job workshop went through the roof. Even after our university partner provided us with a larger venue we had to waitlist hundreds of people and repeat the workshop. It was a smashing success. The only people who weren't happy were the AARP experts who had been shown up by our amateur efforts.

Don't freeze to death in the middle of the forest and don't wait for your marketing people to come save you. You can build your own fire.  Let's see, there are 12 people on your board. Let's say each of you types your event as a  "status update" and puts it on your Facebook pages, your Linkedin pages and your Twitter feed. Let's say some of you put it in your blog or your personal website. How many people will you reach? Hundreds? Thousands?

St. Albans is a small town. It's easy and free to reach most of the households in town. Don't pretend you don't have the means. I just told you how to do it.
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Higginbotham At Large reads all submitted comments but only publishes comments from identifiable submitters. In other words, no pseudonymous or anonymous comments will be published.

No Strategy In Dennis Adkins' "Strategic Plan" For WVPBS

I didn't hear any strategy in the "strategic plan" Executive Director Dennis Adkins presented to the Educational Broadcasting Authority - his bosses - at their Wednesday 22 August meeting. I attended that meeting in hope that I might hear Adkins' strategy for bringing WVPBS into alignment with its stated mission and its stated vision or even a strategy about how to re-engage individual donors who have stopped giving to WVPBS because there is apparently no one at WVPBS who has dusted off and read the mission and vision statements lately.

Higginbotham At Large will be mailing copies of their mission and vision statements to some of the members of the Educational Broadcasting Authority which has oversight of WVPBS. 

See those mission and vision statements below.

"MISSION: West Virginia Public Broadcasting satisfies the human need to learn. Our programs nurture personal growth and civic responsibility, respect people's intelligence, and promote life-long discovery." - from the West Virginia Public Broadcasting website. (http://www.wvpubcast.org/about.aspx)

"VISION: West Virginia Public Broadcasting, through our unique programs and services, will empower people to broaden their perspectives, appreciate their history and become active in their communities. Using the power of public service media, we will create more informed, more educated, more motivated, and more prosperous citizens who will build a better West Virginia for our children and grandchildren." - from the West Virginia Public Broadcasting website. (http://www.wvpubcast.org/about.aspx)

--Higginbotham At Large reads all submitted comments but anonymous and pseudonymous comments will not be published. 

St. Albans Public Library May Become The First Solar-Powered Library In West Virginia

The St. Albans Public Library may very well become the first solar-powered library in West Virginia and the first West Virginia library with a solar-powered charging station for electric cars. According to David Koontz of the St. Albans Public Library Advisory Board, the project is already funded thanks to a donation from the late James Delforge. In other words, no taxpayer funds would be used for this project. 

I learned of the proposed project when the Kanawha County Public Library Board held its 13 August meeting at the St. Albans branch where MTVSolar's Colin Williams and Lisa Mitchell made a presentation about the proposed project to install enough solar panels on the roof of the St. Albans Public Library to supply the electrical needs of the library with enough power left over to recharge electric cars.

For more information about solar power, visit www.mtvsolar.com.

For more information about the Kanawha County Public LIbrary system visit www.www.kanawhalibrary.org.
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Here's What WIll Happen Next In The Chick-fil-A Controversy

I proved prophetic about the Chick-fil-A flap. In my July 25 and 27 posts I said that Dan Cathy's remarks about gay marriage would drive Chick-fil-A's customer base of Republican evangelicals would flock to their nearest Chick-fil-A and show thank Chick-fil-A for validating their homophobia by buying more Chick-fil-A food. Furthermore, I said that Dan Cathy knew exactly what he was doing and that the Left's response to Cathy (Chicago refusing to grant them a permit to open a restaurant, for example) would only result in greater same store sales. Over the last week conservative politicians have covered their desks with Chick-fil-A food, evangelical and conservative customers have formed long lines around Chick-fil-A restaurants in a show of appreciation to the chicken chain that validated their homophobia and hatred for gays. 


In short, Dan Cathy executed a brilliant business strategy: by attacking gays, he cultivated the right enemies and made more money. In Republican and evangelical towns where most of his stores are, the only marketing plan better than getting publicly rebuked by Rahm Emanuel would be getting rebuked by President Obama himself.


As I said in my July 25 and 27 posts, there is a symbiotic, money-making symbiotic relationship between those who support gay marriage and those who oppose it. So here's what's going to happen next: Lefties who don't understand evangelicals because they don't actually know any and Lefties who haven't yet figured out how the world works will continue to play right into Dan Cathy's brilliant and cynical money-making plan by denouncing Chick-fil-A and calling for boycotts. On the other hand, Lefties who understand the Lefty-Righty symbiosis will just as cynically use Chick-fil-A's financial contributions to anti-gay organizations and Chick-fil-A's public record of unfair labor practices toward gays to open the wallets and checkbooks of Lefties who don't understand how the world works and don't know  any evangelicals and,therefore, don't know how evangelicals react to public shame and humiliation.


Further, Republicans and Evangelicals who want to monetize evangelicals' desire to show appreciation to Chick-fil-A for validating their homophobia, will flood Chick-fil-A headquarters with franchise requests. Cynical Southern evangelical politicians will shore up their base by publicly assuring Chick-fil-A that their restaurants are welcome in their Hootervilles. Simply by reading the mail, Dan Cathy will be able to identify the geographies where his kind of people are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to show their gratitude and appreciation for validating them.


Wow, following Christ is easy these days. There was a time when following Christ might involve suffering or death or acts of love and righteousness but now all one has to do to demonstrate his Christianity is to denounce gay marriage or buy a chicken sandwich.


And here's what won't happen next: Minds and hearts will not be changed by the brilliant and cynical anti-gay statements of Dan Cathy or by the shrill reaction of The Left. The American people no longer think, they simply shop for and then align themselves with other people who validate them.
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 Higginbotham At Large will be happy to publish comments from identified commentors but Higginbotham At Large will not publish comments from people who try to hide behind a pseudonym or nom de guerre. Higginbotham At Large has no use whatsoever for enemies who don't have the courage to put their names on their comments but Higginbotham At Large would welcome critical comments from The Right Enemies if those enemies are willing to use their real names.

Chick-fil-A Brilliantly Increases Same Store Sales By Getting Rahm Emanuel To Attack Them

When from blue states restaurant permit denials spring, red state Chick-fil-A cash registers ring.


Chick-fil-A just increased its same-store sales in existing markets by cultivating another important enemy: Chicago Mayor and former Obama Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Yeah, Emanuel says "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values" and that he will support Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno's pledge to deny Chick-fil-A's permit to open a restaurant in his 1st Ward.


Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching - can you hear those Chick-fil-A cash registers ringing in those conservative neighborhoods where Truett Cathy built his chicken empire? 


Chick-fil-A's strategy of getting lefties to attack them is brilliant. Let me explain: opening new restaurants is much more expensive than simply figuring out how to increase same store sales so Chick-fil-A can actually grow profits faster if they simply grow same store sales instead of opening new restaurants. Chick-fil-A doesn't want to open restaurants in Chicago, they simply want to make the right enemies. It's a brilliant strategy and it works every time. Every time The Left attacks Chick-fil-A for their "courageous" Biblical stand against gay marriage, conservatives in existing Chick-fil-A markets just buy more  Chick-fil-A chicken. It's brilliant and for a restaurant chain that operates mainly in Republican, evangelical, Obama-hating neighborhoods, it's a very smart business strategy. 


The only thing that would increase Chick-fil-A same store sales more than being attacked by one of President Obama's allies and operatives is getting attacked by The President himself. I'm sure Dan Cathy is working on it.


If I were Chick-fil-A, I'd apply for restaurant permits in every gay-friendly neighborhood in America and pray that every one of those permits are denied and that lefties and gay-organizations protest Chick-fil-A in every gay-friendly market. Every time Chick-fil-A is denied a permit in blue states they'll get increased same store sales in red states.


For more on the brilliant strategy of selling more chicken by cultivating the right enemies, see my July 25 post.
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No anonymous or pseudonymous comments are published at Higginbotham At Large. No ring of Gyges for you.  

Michele Bachmann: Bat-Shit Crazy Or Just Making The Right Enemies?

Don't worry, my lefty friends, neither Michele Bachmann nor her mentor/model, Sarah Palin, will ever be President of the US. And they know it. They don't care. They don't have to hold ANY elected offices to  have long and financially rewarding lives as spokespeople for the bat-shit crazy.

In yesterday's post I explained that when Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy made seemingly stupid remarks about gays he was crazy like a fox, brilliantly making the right enemies so he could sell more chicken to Republicans and Evangelicals.

Michele Bachmann is making enemies of The Republican Establishment so she can sell more bat-shit to the bat-shit crazy which is why she can't be "reigned in", why she won't recant or apologize and why being denounced by Establishment Republicans like John McCain and John Boehner will only make her  post-Congress career as an issue advocate and leader of the bat-shit crazy even sweeter and more lucrative.

By the way, Michele Bachmann will be starting her new career soon - which , I'm sure, is OK with her. I don't get the idea that Michele Bachman and her mentor/model, Sarah Palin, really ever wanted real jobs anyway. And why would they? Why have a real job with real duties and real accountabilities when you can make a tour bus full of money for offering validation to people whose intelligence, education, religion and knowledge of civics offer them none?

When an Australian reader asked me how he could make a living being an atheist, I told him to attack Australia's largest and best-known Christian organizations until they start naming him in their fund-raising appeals then use those mentions to raise money from atheists. If he follows my advice he can quit his day job and have a lucrative career as a professional atheist.

For more on making more money by making the right enemies, see yesterday's post in my archives.
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Chick-fil-A's Dan Cathy Wasn't Making A Bird-Brained Business Mistake, He Was Selling More Chicken To Republicans And Evangelicals

Christina Pesoli (of the Huffington Post) is wrong about Chick-fil-A President, Dan Cathy. He didn't make a bird brained, business-killing  comment about gays. He excited his base. He rallied the chicken-eating consumer base Chick-fil-A has always pursued: gay-hating evangelicals and Republicans.

When chicken king, Dan Cathy, became the object of The Left's scorn and derision, every fundamentalist Christian and every conservative Republican in America went to Chick-fil-A and bought chicken, which is exactly what Dan Cathy knew they would do.

Chick-fil-A has long been a darling of The Evangelical Right. Chick-fil-A offers special deals to churches and to chapters of the CBMC. They close on Sunday. Their franchisees are often pillars of their conservative churches. Chick-fil-A doesn't need to sell chicken to progressives and Democrats.

The truth is, this strategy of offending your non-customers to earn even more business from your customers is commonplace. If you watch TV you already know that there is a whole industry of issue advocates who need - yes, that's right, they need and even cultivate - enemies to help them attract contributions from their core constituencies. There's even a saying about "making the right enemies". That's what Dan Cathy did when he uttered what seemed like bigoted and socially tone deaf remarks against gays: he made the right enemies. The more the gays and the lefties complain about what he said, the more his core constituency stands in solidarity with him by buying more of his chicken.

None of the professional issue advocates will admit it but they have a symbiosis with their  ideological opposites. The smart ones cultivate the right enemies and then ask their ideological base for money. A few years ago I even wrote some fiction (loosely-based on a preacher who was once arrested for burning a gay flag at a gay pride parade) to show how it works.

Capitalizing on his new-found fame as a defender of the Christian faith, the gay flag burning preacher goes on Christian talk radio and conservative right wing talk radio and announces that the next time there is a gay pride event in his area he will walk through the crowd with a can of gasoline and that he will flick gasoline on the gay people. After he has flicked gasoline, he announces, he will then flick lit matches into the gasoline-moist crowd. After announcing his intention to assault gay people with gas and lit matches, this preacher then asks supporters to contribute money to his new "ministry". Every gay hater, conservative Christian and conservative Republican within the sound of his voice sends him $10 or $20.

Likewise, gay and lesbian groups use the preacher's promised gas-and-matches assault to ask for contributions from their base of gays and lefties.

Everybody makes money. Both "sides" made the right enemies and were rewarded with contributions.

This is what Dan Cathy did when he made insensitive remarks about gays. He made the right enemies. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Please note that, in the non-fiction and fictional stories above, nobody is being converted, nobody's mind gets changed. That's why churches and other Christian organizations don't do evangelism anymore. Evangelism is not the goal. Everybody is just trying to make the right enemies to keep the contributions rolling in.

And to keep conservatives eating chicken at Chick-fil-A.
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Two Alabama Public TV Executives Fired By Theocratic, Tea Party Affiliated, Activist Commissioners File Civil Suit

Thanks to Chuck Anziulewicz for the following update in the case of the 2 Alabama Public Television executives who were fired by Tea Party affiliated, theocratic, activist APT commissioners. According to the DemocraticUnderground.com story Chuck sent me, the two fired executives, Allan Pizatto and Pauline Howland, have filed a civil suit.


' "According to the lawsuit, “certain members of the Commission wanted to impose their own personal, political and religious views” on the commission and staff to guide the station’s programming, and at least one commissioner “has publicly expressed support for and aligned himself with a political group with a stated goal of defunding public broadcasting.” The Plaintiff also notes that a mass exodus of staffers and fundraisers followed the firings and that a number of commissioners “made threats against the Plaintiff.” ' - source: DemocraticUnderground.com.


For more on how theocrats are trying to use taxpayer funded, public broadcasting to advance their political and religious agends, see my 23 July, 7 June and 20 January posts.


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Higginbotham At Large welcomes comments as long as those comments are not anonymous or pseudonymous. Readers and "lurkers" may remain anonymous but there will be no anonymous or pseudonymous comments at Higginbotham At Large. No Ring of Gyges for you.

Two Public Television Executives Fired For Refusal To Air Theocratic Programming

Broadcasting & Cable reports that Alabama Public Television's board fired executive director, Allan Pizzato, and deputy director, Pauline Howland, presumably because Pizzato and Howland refused to air programming from WallBuilders, an organization whose stated mission is to present "America's forgotten history and heroes with an emphasis on the moral, religious and constitutional foundation on which America was built." 


Let me translate. WallBuilders wants to redact America's history in accordance with founder David Barton's teachings that America should be a Christian nation with no separation of church and state. If you've ever watched Glenn Beck, you've probably seen David Barton preaching his theocratic vision for America.


So far, all of the involved parties are mum about why Pizzato and Howland were fired but "minutes from recent AETC meetings reveal that commissioners had been working behind the scenes to pressure APT's professional staff to broadcast programs from evangelical historian and conservative activist David Barton." says Current.org. 


If Current.org and Broadcasting & Cable got the story right, Howland and Pizzato were right to resist pressure from commission member, Rod Herring and others who want to use a taxpayer-funded public broadcasting service to distort American history and promote a Glenn Beck/David Barton style theocracy in which there is no separation of church and state.


Read my 7 June and 20 January archives to learn about how West Virginia Public Broadcasting's staff has been promoting Christianity through its programming.


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Higginbotham At Large welcomes comments as long as they are not anonymous or pseudonymous.  

How Best Buy Can Turn Its Browsers Into Buyers

As investors already know, Best Buy (stock symbol BBY) is best known these days as "Best Browse" because people go to Best Buy to look at a product before they buy it through an online retailer. Some stock mavens predict that Best Buy won't survive. When Best Buy is mentioned on Mad Money With Jim Cramer, viewers always hear the "SELL, SELL, SELL" sound effects and see the Bear graphic.


But I don't think Best Buy has to die if they remember that there are certain types of manufacturers who cannot sell their products without a brick and mortar distribution network where knowledgeable brick and mortar employees demonstrate those products, answer questions and provide a little tech support.


Unfortunately, Best Buy isn't handling products from companies who need them. Best Buy is handling the products of companies who sell to all Best Buy's competitors and, in some cases, even directly compete with Best Buy via their own online stores. Bose, for example, is as much a direct competitor as they are a Best Buy vendor. I say drop Bose and replace their products with the products of a company that really needs Best Buy, a company that doesn't sell their products through an online store (or will agree to cease doing so), a company that absolutely can't sell their products unless customers can experience them in person at a brick and mortar retailer. 


Best Buy is squandering its chance to become the exclusive listening room and exclusive distributor for companies that have little or no brick and mortar dealers and desperately need exposure Best Buy can provide. Many of these manufacturers would gladly forsake all other forms of retailing for the chance to get their products into Best Buy stores nationwide and the chance to train Best Buy employees how to demonstrate, sell and service those products. Audio manufacturers like Cambridge Audio, Rotel, Bowers-Wilkins, Peachtree Audio, Creek Audio, MBL and others with little or no American distribution might jump at the chance to make Best Buy their listening rooms. 


But Best Buy would have to do some jumping, too. They would have to do a much better job at turning browsers into buyers. I was in the Charleston, WV yesterday. Some of the speakers weren't hooked up to the showroom demonstration console and some of the speakers were misnumbered so it was hard to compare speakers with the push of a button. No Best Buy employees offered to help or even seemed to notice that I was giving off buying signals. 


An entire generation of Americans have grown up listening to music on tiny earbuds from an MP3 device and they have no idea what their favorite music is supposed to sound like. Best Buy has the opportunity to introduce the iPod generation to true high fidelity sound and to sell that generation its first quality home sound system.


And after Best Buy gets its act together and learns how to leverage and monetize its clout as The Listening Room for serious audiophiles, they can do us all a favor and demand that manufacturers stop making components that are black and ugly. Did you ever notice that virtually every TV, every Blu Ray player, every CD player and all the home entertainment furniture is black? Who sent out that memo? When Best Buy gets their act together and become The Listening Room for mid-to-high-end audio manufacturers they can use their retail muscle to influence manufacturers to build components that look as good as they sound.
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Higginbotham At Large comments policy: If you submit a comment pseudonymously or anonymously, that comment will not be published. For those of you who use the word "outsource" when you mean "offshore", the word "pseudonymously" means under a name not your own. It doesn't matter if I recognize your pseudonym and know your identity. No Ring of Gyges for you. 

Democrats: To Beat Mitt Romney By Chanting The Same Word Over And Over You Must Use The Right Word

When Democratic politicians start using the word "outsource" they remind me of a boss I once had at a company that both outsourced and offshored. When this boss learned a new word, which is to say she learned how to say it but not when to use it, she would throw the word around incorrectly drawing suppressed sniggers or looks of confusion from her underlings. Later, when The Boss was gone, we would warn each other that Our Boss had learned how to say a word she didn't yet understand.


Yesterday during his appearance on the Martin Bashir Show, Democratic strategist, Julian Epstein, demonstrated that he knows when to use the word "offshore" and when to use the word "outsource". I find that encouraging. Since the journalists won't call them on it when guests incorrectly use the word "outsource" and its variants, perhaps Democratic strategists like Julian Epstein can hold a seminar for Democratic politicians and teach them that if they want to beat Mitt Romney by repeating a word over and over, they need to use the right word.


In fact, I was so encouraged to see a Democrat using the correct business term on Martin Bashir's show that I am inspired to teach my Democratic politician friends another term they should learn if they want to sound smarter and more business savvy than they are: the term is "BPO" (business process outsourcing"). It's common and it doesn't necessarily cause a net decrease in American jobs.


There is a whole industrial class of companies called BPOs. These BPOs - or business process outsourcers - do exactly what their name implies. They perform a process or a function for other companies. One such company is a huge American company called ACS which was recently acquired by  Xerox. ACS runs call centers, mail centers, data centers and performs all manner of functions for companies who, for one reason or another, don't wish to perform those processes for themselves. When a company outsources a function to ACS that function might be performed in the US or it might be performed offshore. If they perform it in the US, they employ Americans. If they perform that function or process offshore - say in India - American jobs are lost.


If the Democrats hope to beat Mitt Romney just by chanting the same word over and over they need to use the right word. When voters who work for BPOs hear Democrats calling Mitt Romney an outsourcer, they just gave these BPO employees a reason to like Mitt Romney. Millions of Americans are employed by BPOs. Right here in the Kanawha Valley hundreds of people work for TRG, a BPO that runs call centers for other companies.


But no American likes an "offshorer" - a guy who fires Americans and gives their jobs to other countries so if Democrats want to beat Romney by repeating a word over and over let that word be "offshore".


Oh, and with any luck the word "offshore" will do Romney double harm because it might remind voters about his offshore bank accounts opened with money he earned by offshoring American jobs.


For more on understanding the difference between "outsourcing" and "offshoring" see my July 15 post on the archive.
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Higginbotham At Large comments policy: If you submit a comment pseudonymously or anonymously, that comment will not be published. For those of you who use the word "outsource" when you mean "offshore", the word "pseudonymously" means under a name not your own. It doesn't matter if I recognize your pseudonym and know your identity. No Ring of Gyges for you. 

To My Fellow Democrats: Don't Say "Outsourcing" When You Should Say "Offshoring"

Democrats who keep using the word "outsourcing" when they should be using the word "offshoring" sound like the business illiterates Republicans say we are and journalists who allow the use of the word "outsourcing" when the speaker should have said "offshoring" are simply not doing their jobs.


Just in case I have readers who need to learn the difference between "outsourcing" and "offshoring", let me provide definitions and examples.


First, let's talk about that overused word "outsourcing". Outsourcing, contrary to what some Democrats apparently believe, does not always result in the loss of an American job. Outsourcing occurs when company A contracts with company B to perform a function that company A doesn't wish to perform for itself. For example, if your American company doesn't want to hire a janitor and finds that it's adequate to contract with a janitorial service to come in 3 times a week to clean the office, your company has just outsourced a job but you have not eliminated any American jobs because the janitorial service is hiring people on American soil and is paying taxes in America. If a hospital hires Filipino nurses to work in their American hospital they have outsourced but they have not offshored. Those Filipino nurses are working in America, buying American goods and services and saving the lives of Americans in American hospitals.


Now, Democrats and news media, let me introduce you to what is apparently a new word to some of you: "Offshoring". Offshoring occurs when an American company builds a research and development center in the Philippines so they can fire "expensive" American engineers and replace them with cheaper Filipino engineers. Offshoring occurs when American workers are replaced with workers who don't live or pay taxes or spend their money in America.


Within a space of one hour I heard Dick Durbin and Rahm Emanuel on Sunday morning TV shows using the word "outsourcing" when they should have said "offshoring". The TV journalists didn't correct them.


Journalists, do your jobs.


Democrats, learn a new word. Stop reinforcing  the Republican narrative that Democrats don't know anything about business.
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More On Breaking Bad Season 5

Again, if you have only recently become addicted to Breaking Bad and you're trying to finish watching seasons 1-4 before the season 5 premiere tomorrow night at 10 PM, be warned that this post contains spoilers.

A pseudonymous would-be commenter asked what Jesse will do i season 5 but I couldn't publish his comment because I don't publish pseudonymous or anonymous comments. 

Let me tell you what I think would be fun in season 5: Walt and Jesse open the best coffee shop in Albuquerque using Gayle's formula and brewing method. In season 3 episode 6, Walter meets his overqualified lab assistant, Gayle Boetticher, for the first time and is treated to a cup of Gayle's coffee steaming hot from the coffee machine Gayle built himself. Gayle explains his theory of how to make great coffee to Walt so Walt knows how to make Gayle's coffee.

Jesse had to kill Gayle at the end of season 3. 

If you didn't see my season 5 predictions, look at yesterday's post in the archives.

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