Bitter – Page 124 – Shall Not Be Questioned

National Coffee Day

According to my favorite state government reporter, it’s National Coffee Day today. Normally, I could care less. The only coffee we ever drink is the stuff from Starbucks that probably has some coffee in it, but you wouldn’t know with all of the other crap they put in it. At least until recently.

When we announced we were headed to the Big Island, a friend from NRA mentioned that her father owned a coffee farm where he grows, processes, and sells his own coffee. We made it out there on our last full day on the island, and indulged in a couple of bags. We bought one to try out ourselves, assuming that we’d use it for things like ice cream or other decidedly non-coffee culinary adventures. Instead, this coffee has turned us into weekend coffee drinkers. We went out and bought a french press since we didn’t have a coffee maker (but we did own a coffee grinder!). Every weekend morning now has a new tradition – getting up and having a cup and a half of delicious Kona coffee.

Sausage Making – Castle Doctrine Edition

For those of you who aren’t paying attention, we’re fighting to pass Castle Doctrine in Pennsylvania. And, to be honest, I don’t blame you if you’re not paying attention. However, you can tell those of us who are by the imprints on our foreheads where we’ve beaten our heads against the wall a few too many times.

Castle Doctrine isn’t too popular with Philadelphia Democrats. In theory, that shouldn’t matter. Though the Democrats control the House, it’s by a narrow margin and definitely due to the number of rural, moderate Democrats. The Speaker is one of those types, so he should move anything he wants out to the floor. Alas, that is not how it works.

We managed to move the bill out of one House committee, but only in exchange for some votes on anti-gun bills. The good news is that ours passed, and none of the bad bills survived. But, somehow, the Castle Doctrine bill then went on to the Appropriations Committee that is chaired by an extremely unfriendly Philadelphia Democrat who wouldn’t let it out. (Resume head banging against the wall at this point, please.) So, we got the sponsor to push a discharge petition. Yay! Except…

NRA and other groups have been alerting gun owners that the discharge petition would happen any day now. And it never happened. Then, it was on the schedule for tonight, and we were getting great updates from Rep. Seth Grove on Twitter as the vote progressed. So, we tuned in to PCN (our state C-SPAN of sorts), and found out the effort is being abandoned. Head banging may resume…

According to the statement by the sponsor of Castle Doctrine, the Democrats have agreed to release the bill tomorrow morning out of the Appropriations Committee. (Rep. Dwight Evans – the anti – had a very smug look on his face as he agreed, so I’m wondering what he got out of that deal.) According to the Majority Whip, there will be a full House vote on Monday.

In addition to working through the House, NRA has been sending out alerts to try and drum up support for a Senate amendment to House bill that will accomplish the same goal.

So, if you live in Pennsylvania, call your state rep and state senators. You know the game by now. And, if you’re really up for a little sausage making exercise, tune into PCN on Monday to see if the House Democrats hold true to their word.

UPDATE: According to Rep. Grove’s Facebook updates, the final votes will actually happen on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Massachusetts Grown Pineapples & Farmers Markets

It apparently made news that many things sold at a farmers market in Los Angeles aren’t, in fact, coming from small farms.

NBCLA’s investigation began this summer, when we bought produce at farmers markets across the LA area, and then made surprise visits to farms where we were told the produce was being grown.

We found farms full of weeds, or dry dirt, instead of rows of the vegetables that were being sold at the markets. …

Frutos Farm’s state permit to sell produce at farmers markets says their farm is in Cypress.
NBCLA asked owner Jesse Frutos, “Everything you sell at farmers markets is grown in your Cypress field?”

Jesse responded, “Correct…everything.”

But when NBCLA made a surprise visit to the Cypress field listed on its permit, Frutos couldn’t show us most of the produce he was selling, such as celery, garlic, and avocados.

So NBCLA asked, “Do you grow avocados here?”

“Avocados? No, not here on the lot. â€¦ That I’ll be honest. That stuff came from somewhere else,” Frutos said.

Somewhere else? NBCLA’s undercover cameras followed Jesse’s trucks on farmers market days, and saw him going to the big wholesale produce warehouses in downtown LA.

We saw him loading up his truck, with boxes of produce from big commercial farms as far away as Mexico. He bought many of the types of items we saw him selling at the farmers markets.

Their customers don’t bother asking, so it’s easy to get away with selling things you pick up at Sam’s Club. This should not shock people. It would be like me getting offended by the local markets I saw with Sam’s Club delivery trucks parked outside their stores in Hawaii. It’s just the easiest and cheapest way to get goods into the hands of people who want them, yet want to shop at a smaller or closer store. Yes, I could go buy the same things at the same prices, but there are tradeoffs with that – more quantity than I can eat, and another shopping trip to make.

But, this is also a good excuse to highlight an email Virginia Postrel posted in response to her recent locavore column in the WSJ.

Beyond these public policy issues, we run a series of focus groups and mall intercepts and other studies that interact with consumers from the UK to North America and on to Australia/New Zealand. You would be shocked at what people expect. A seemingly intelligent woman walked out of a farm stand in Massachusetts. The stand stood on a small farm but probably 90% of the sales of the farm stand were purchased off the local wholesale market. Yet when we asked shoppers why they liked shopping there, more than one pulled out their pineapple and pointed to the advantages of a good Massachusetts grown pineapple!

Painful.

What I don’t get is why some shoppers are upset if they find out the truth. Is buying into the lifestyle of farmers markets really that important? We bought a bunch of jams, sauces, and spreads out in Hawaii that tasted delicious. (The Aloha Stadium Swap Meet – don’t miss it.) If you were to tell me that they were secretly manufactured by some big company, I wouldn’t be upset. Instead, I’d be excited since it would increase the likelihood that I could purchase more without having to go to Honolulu. The fact that we did buy from small local retailers is interesting, but note the key to my purchase. The reason we purchased was because each of the products was delicious. We’re not looking for a lifestyle beyond one filled with fruity delicious jams.

Punishing Companies for Not Screwing Up

You’d think that if a company self-reported a potential problem and then found out that they didn’t, in fact, break any rules, that the department responsible for regulating that industry would be happy to find out there were no problems and they could go on about their merry little way. But, it’s government, so you know that’s just not going to happen.

Common sense seems to have been banned from the building at the Department of Transportation according to Cranky Flier.

There have been plenty of questionable decisions coming from the Department of Transportation lately, but none more insane than the decision to fine United for accidentally reporting tarmac delays. Thatâ€™s right. United was overly cautious and now owes at least $6,000 (and another $6,000 if they do it again). I am now asking the DOT for proof that a monkey isnâ€™t running that organization, because I canâ€™t imagine a human making such an absurd ruling.

When I first heard this, I thought it was a joke. But no, itâ€™s not. In May, the first month when the tarmac delay rule was in force, United reported four flights that had exceeded the three hour ground time permitted. They were included in the DOT monthly report but later retracted. See, United made a mistake and was overly cautious, so in exchange, the airline has been slapped with a fine.

I would like to see this decision overturned. What’s more, I’d like to see the offending bureaucrat’s salary have a $6,000 fine removed. I suspect if the punishment for supremely stupid decisions had an impact on the take home pay of said bureaucrats, we’d see a little sanity return to the department.

Bagging Some Very Baggy Game

Via The Outdoor Pressroom, we have this amusing tale from Georgia of a homeowner with a trail cam and some very unfortunate burglars:

Coweta authorities captured three perpetrators recently after a motion-sensing surveillance camera first captured them in the process of burglarizing a Sharpsburg residence.

They managed to photograph the thieves, their car, and the license plate. Apparently, they believe these three are responsible for other burglaries in the area.

But what I want to know is: How does he walk with his pants tied up around his legs? And what kind of chick wears flip flops to break into people’s homes? You’d think she’d want something a little better for running should the cops arrive.

Security Theater

There’s no better source for amusing security theater scenarios than Joe Huffman. (This was a topic of great conversation in Louisville at the first Blog Bash, but I can’t seem to find any posts about it from the time.)

Anyway, while we were preparing for Hawaii, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about security for a number of reasons. Number one being Phoenix. We don’t get the benefit of an oops again. Number two reason is the debate for a trip like this over how much to bring in the way of toiletries and their damn 3-1-1 rule. Number three being the general pain-in-the-ass of TSA these days – and the fact that in Kona, we had to exit secured areas and re-enter when we had only 50 minutes between flights initially and our arriving flight was delayed by about 20 minutes. (Run!)

If it’s truly vital that no containers that can contain more than 3.4 ounces of liquid are allowed on the plane, then I should be forced to have a haircut pretty much every time I walk through security. At the very least, they would probably have to deny me entry if I try to board a plane after washing my hair.

I’m serious about this. We joked that I singlehandedly countered the effects of a rising tide in Hanauma Bay when I decided to go in just long enough to get my hair wet. My hair is crazy thick, very long, and holds a ton of water.

So, if my hair is not considered a security risk based on the fact that I’m quite confident it can hold more than 3.4 ounces of liquid, then why do we still have this rule? Sebastian’s aftershave was .1 ounce too much. Most of the travel-sized items are made to 3 ounces because people haven’t figured out that the actual rule is closer to 3 1/5 ounces. (Thank you Listerine for making your bottles just the right size!)

I guess I shouldn’t give TSA any ideas. Knowing that they are headed up by a woman who believes a nickname based off an Orwell novel is a good thing. Many of the TSA agents I’ve encountered have been bad enough, I’d hate to see who they would hire to give the mandatory haircuts at the gate.

Grave Misspelling

Political grave misspelling, that is. In an effort to belittle voters who she believes might need to be edumacated on how to write in the name Lisa Murkowski on the general election ballot this fall, her web ad misspelled her own name. Some commentary by one political online consultant:

Hey kids, check those details before you post that web video! Lisa Murkowskiâ€™s staff apparently didnâ€™t, and they misspelled HER OWN NAME in the original version…

Yep, the ad listed â€œwww.lisamurkwski.comâ€ in its first incarnation, an error caught by the online press with much mirth and joy. And of course, someone moved fast to buy up the misspelled domain name, which now plays host to a site thatâ€™s not exactly flattering to the sitting Senator (it starts here and gets worse: â€œLisa Murkowski is an elitist, Big Government, Tax and Spend career politician who was given the seat by her daddy.â€).

Here’s the revised version of the ad:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4nnCZ6jQRc[/youtube]
I think I’d be insulted by it if I lived in Alaska. Not that it matters since her sore loser moves aren’t exactly gaining a lot of ground up there.

The Travel Adventure

Sebastian and I don’t travel much to places we haven’t already been or to places that don’t have 60,000 gun owners descending on them at once (i.e. NRA conventions). Our usual hot spots are DC and wherever the Sight Selection Committee chooses. So planning for a trip to Hawai’i was a bit of an adventure in a) trying not to bust a budget, and b) tolerating travel.

I’ll put it below the jump, but I thought it was worth mentioning some of the tools and people that made planning the trip much easier. I’m doing this because I suspect some of you planning trips (not necessarily to Hawai’i) could benefit and to recognize some good work. If you are headed to the islands, then these suggestions may come in handy. Continue reading “The Travel Adventure”

Celebrity Shooter

This may well qualify as weirdest headline of the day:

Bob Barker Collapses at Gun Range

His rep says he was just dehydrated and collapsed. People at the range say he had been shooting.

For a guy who is putting boatloads of money into the hands of groups trying to end hunting, shooting seems like a weird hobby for him to have on the side. But, here’s to hoping he goes shooting a lot and owns a lot of guns. If he does, maybe he’s contributed a fraction to our side compared to what he’s given to them.

A Party Leader to Be Ousted

Political parties, contrary to some tea party rhetoric, are not monolithic entities that are impossible to infiltrate or persuade. They are made up of real people, often your neighbors. Yes, you might be shocked to find out that political parties often have offices that represent even specific neighborhoods.

As with any group of real people, especially those trying to influence policy, some will make mistakes. All will try to use their role to give their favorite candidates and causes a higher profile with other party members and voters. That’s not a bad thing, even if sometimes a few act pretty stupidly while doing it.

But there are a few who have an absolutely toxic view of their role and how they are there to tell people how to vote and what is best. They aren’t willing to argue the merits of a specific candidate or policy. That is what you have in New York.

Vinny Reda, the partyâ€™s vice chairman and the Rockland County committee chair, explained Tuesday that he believed Paladinoâ€™s campaign was a distraction.

â€œWe very, very rarely have primaries, and I for one am very much against primaries. I find them very divisive,â€ he said.

â€œItâ€™s true, itâ€™s been difficult, which is why I think we had a light turnout all over the state,â€ Reda continued. â€œThe Republicans just arenâ€™t used to primaries. â€¦ People are confused, theyâ€™re getting mail from different directions, and thatâ€™s why they need the party organizations to set them straight and point them toward the endorsed candidates.â€

He believes it is his job to tell voters how to vote and “set them straight” rather than merely doing the work of arguing on behalf of their endorsed candidates. More importantly, he doesn’t even want to have a system where others can express their disagreement. That is truly a toxic view. The New York Republicans should chase that guy out of the party. Even if his endorsed slate did have better candidates, the fact that he’ll tell reporters he’d rather do away with primaries than be forced to defend or promote a candidate to voters based on merits means he needs to go. The position has gone to his head, so it’s time to cut it off. The power, I mean. Not his head.