Hackers vs. Think Tanks

There was an emergency meeting called at the Think Tank For Freedom In America to Think (In A Tank) when a Junior Associate Assistant Fellow saw the following headline in the Hutchinson (Kan.) News;

'Anonymous' hackers target think tank 

There was immediate concern that the TTFFIATT(IAT) had been the hackers' target. Phone lines were cut, hard drives erased, and computers were destroyed. Then someone actually read the article and found it was about some low-rent Think Tank in Texas called Stratfor. We were relieved to find we were not the "hackees". This time.

We came up with a viable plan to secure our computers from criminal intrusion, as illustrated below:

The TTFIATT(IAT) will display this "NO HACKING" symbol on the website to deter miscreants like the members of Anonymous. This plan should be just as successful as Gerry Ford's WIN buttons from the 70's or G.W. Bush's plan from the 2000's to simultaneously cut taxes and the Deficit.

 

Bill O'Reilly proves to be a mountebank

We thinkers here at the Think Tank do not usually waste our time considering the absurdities of the "Politics as Entertainment" industry, but one of the Associate Junior Fellows (who is actually a gal) pointed out a recent abuse of good-sense and decency that was broadcast on a program called "The O'Reilly Factor". This program  apparently is less about current events and more about the ego of the O'Reilly mentioned in the title.
One recurring feature of the show has a "reporter" ambush people with microphone in hand and cameras rolling. Jesse peppers the unsuspecting victim (I think victim is the right word) with questions but does not allow for any kind of thoughtful considered answer. (We here at the Think Tank are definitely pro-thoughtful answer).
The Dec 7  broadcast featured Jesse and cameraman attacking the Governor of Rhode Island in a hallway. The point of contention being a "Holiday Tree". The programs host introduces the bit by saying that Jesse "schools" Governor Chafee concerning the use of the term "Holiday Tree", as opposed to the name "Christmas Tree". Much delight is in the air at "The Factor" as Jesse ambushes the Governor. "WOO -HOO ! We showed him!!" (Not an actual quote, but still accurate.)
Next day, Dec 8, the host recounts a news story that qualifies as news only because it happened to the host. Apparently, while on his way to a White House media party, someone ran up to Bill O'Reilly, microphone and camera in hand, and asked questions without allowing time for a thoughtful considered answer. The host explains how he felt threatened and had to protect himself with an umbrella. He then tells us that, sadly, there is no law in the District of Columbia that would allow for arrest of this "reporter".
What makes this tawdry episode worthy of our consideration here, is the incredible vacuous thought process of Bill O'Reilly. He goes on his program (Fox News Channel, 8 P.M., 7 Central, but don't watch) unaware of the monumental hypocrisy he is about spew. Shouldn't there be someone at the O'Reilly Factor who has the cojones to say "But, Bill, don't WE do that all the time?"
A quick check of the Roget's shows several synonyms to 'hypocrite': con-artist, crook, deceiver, dissimulator, faker, four-flusher, fraud, malingerer, mountebank, phony, quack, smoothie, sophist, swindler, trickster and two-faced. Mountebank?
Mountebank is now the Official Synonym of the TTFFIATT(IAT).

RELATED THOUGHTS  from the Think Tank:
How does Bill O'Reilly get invited to a White House party? Were I the President, the only party to which I would invite Bill O'Reilly is an Army blanket party. Perhaps Mr. Obama is more big-hearted and forgiving than am I.

UNRELATED THOUGHTS from the Think Tank
Why does Alec Baldwin fly commercial? Shouldn't he have a gold-plated limo pick him up and proceed to a private airstrip where a Stealth jet is always fuelled and ready to take off for exotic destinations where people use electronic devices whenever they friggin' want!!

Occupy Wall Street and John Wayne

Those talking heads, Newt Gingrich and Brian Kilmeade have made of fun of Occupy Wall Streeters by saying that they need to take a shower. I realize neither of these “TV Stars” is a comedian so they might not have noticed that hippy jokes died about 1970.
They also vastly overestimate the value of a shower. Consider John Wayne; he and Jeffery Hunter spent years looking for little Natalie Wood in The Searchers. Do you think they stopped to shower everyday? Of course not, they had important things to do, just like the protestors at Occupy Wall Street. The Duke and Jeffery didn’t even change their cloths for three years; they were too darn busy.
I don’t care what you say about me or the people at OWS, but if you layabout “clean people” are going to talk bad about John Wayne, I might just have to ask you to step outside.

TTFFIAT(IAT)

Today marks the creation of the TTFFIAT(IAT), the Think Tank For Freedom in America to Think (In A Tank), one of the few think tanks to think in an actual tank.
Future generations may commemorate this date with parades and consumption of large quantities of Triple Stacker sandwiches (In A Tank); or not.
The initial posts will be submissions to the Hays Daily News made under the pseudonym "A.B. Campbell".

YOU are the "Job Creator"

Some of our elected officials have talked repeatedly about a need to reduce tax rates and eliminate regulations that concern a group they refer to as “The Job Creators”. These politicians , however, are completely wrong about the role of regulations and tax rates when it comes to job creation. They can not even identify America’s actual “Job Creators”.
When you buy this newspaper, YOU are creating jobs. If 100,000 more of us subscribed to this paper, there would be more workers at the Hays Daily News. The decision to expand the number of workers at a business is NOT based primarily on the owner’s personal tax rate or regulations imposed by the EPA. The primary concern is “Will more employees result in more profit? Will the business be able to sell what the new employees produce“?
Our Representative in Congress, Tim Huelskamp, recently visited with the owners of Tony’s Pizza in Salina, so I’ll use them as an example. Mr. Tony will hire more workers when and only if someone will buy the pizzas the new employees would make. To repeat the point; the primary factor for job creation is NOT, as some claim, tax rates or government regulations; the primary factor is the demand for frozen pizzas.
I live in Rush County and I work in the oil patch; who do you think is more likely to purchase a Tony’s Pizza next week: me or Donald Trump? Who is more likely to buy a Tony’s Pizza sometime in the next month: you or Kim Kardashian? You and I and others like us are the “Job Creators”.
Who do you think is more likely to give money to some hedge fund to speculate on the price of natural gas: you or Paris Hilton? Who is more likely to put money in a Cayman Island bank: you or Charles Koch? Who does Rep. Huelskamp believe is deserving of further privilege and economic advantage: you or Kobe Bryant? The answer to the last three questions is … Not You!
Now for the part that Republican , right-wing, Tea Partiers, like Rep. Huelskamp, will not acknowledge. Government, federal through local, creates jobs. Some of them directly - teachers, policemen, prison guards, etc.- some of them by buying things; like paper for the copiers, new bridges, or new tanker airplanes (manufactured in Wichita). When a politician argues for government to reduce spending, they are arguing for “job destruction”, not job creation.
When the GOP tells us that the government has to improve conditions for “job creators”, they are ignoring your role in the economy. They are saying that people in a certain group have to be insulated from hard times and should not have to sacrifice during austerity. And they are also saying that this special, protected group does NOT include you.

Hey, GOP, leave my Post Office alone!

I have always appreciated the United States Postal Service because they provide services to everyone. It doesn’t matter who your relatives are, it doesn’t matter how much money you have, and until recently, it didn’t matter where you lived. Now because of budget matters, the Post Office wants to close offices in rural towns, like Damar.
I personally don’t care if the Post Office turns a profit, I feel it is important to have post offices and postal workers in our small towns. The Coast Guard and the FBI have important jobs, too, but we don’t worry that they don’t make a profit. But Saturday delivery and rural Post Offices could go away because of red ink at the USPS.
This is our first taste of austerity. More is to come if the budget cutters and corporate lackeys have their way. If you marked your ballot for Tim Huelskamp or Jerry Moran, this is what you voted for. “We have to have smaller government”, “we need less Federal intrusion into our lives”, “government is the problem.” If we govern the country according to these bumper sticker sayings, we will end up with fewer government services and more government indifference toward you, your family, and your community. Unfortunately, Damar gets to be one of the first towns to find this out.
Austerity will hit rural people first, followed by old people, poor people and then children. (These are the groups with the fewest votes and the least money with which to buy influence). I am assuming many of you are like me and have family members who fit in more than one of these groups. We have to look out.
To be fair, Sen. Moran has made an exception to the “deficits will ruin America” theme, and has cosponsored a bill in the Senate that would prevent the USPS from closing any post office that is more than 10 miles from the nearest other post office. (S 1668) I don’t know if this could get through Congress in time to save Damar, but if adopted, it could save post offices in other Western Kansas towns.
The Senate bill would not, however, solve the Post Office’s budget problems that bother so many in Washington. This is where Rep. Huelskamp could help, if he so desires, by backing certain legislation. There is a bill in the House (HR 1351) that would correct a budget problem that is driving the USPS books into the red. In 2006 Congress passed a bill that forced the Post Office to pay the next 75 years of retirees pensions in only 10 years. The Coast Guard, the FBI, nobody else does this. This has amounted to a $5.5 billion per year expense. Without this artificial expense on the books the USPS would show a profit and there would be less of a push to close small post offices in rural areas.
As of today, HR 1351 has 226 cosponsors, nearly enough to force it onto the floor for a vote. As I see it, Rep. Huelskamp has a choice; is he going to be a politician and stick to Tea Party dogma or is he going to be a representative by cosponsoring the bill and doing the right thing for Damar and the rest of Western Kansas?
AB Campbell
(Published in the Hays Daily News)