Pribek

It’s a sunny 82 degrees in the Ozarks today with a few clouds and just a slight breeze. If you could hire someone to design a perfect day to kick off a holiday weekend, today would be it.

I first came to this area in 1982. A lot has changed. Back in the day, Labor Day weekend was officially the end of the tourist season. Many people were temporarily laid off from their jobs until the season geared up again in the spring. Nowadays, the season has been extended, the theatres, theme parks and various other tourist attractions focus on retirees that come to the area on chartered bus tours during the fall. The timeshare salespeople call this the “grey wave”. Following that, the tourism industry transitions seamlessly into the Christmas season. The crowds aren’t as big as they are in the summer but, not long ago, there were no crowds after Labor Day.

As a result of this effort to lengthen the season and, as with any change, there is good and bad. Obviously, a lot of folks income has increased. On the other hand, the off-season used to be a time when “locals” would gather together for no other reason than to socialize. There were a lot of creative people that were part of the reason the tourists came in the first place, musicians, and artisans or craftsmen. It was always a kick to go to a party out in the woods and see what people were up to during the time off.

The whole focus of the tourist trade has shifted away from the local artisan to more of the same stuff you can find in any modern day tourist destination. I have a friend who is the director of entertainment for a large corporate entity in the area who told me; “These people have an attitude of, if you are from here you don’t know anything. If you came here from somewhere else, you forgot everything you knew”. At the time, I was talking to him about submitting a commercial jingle, written by a local songwriter, to advertise his company. He recommended that I use an L.A. or New York address for the submission because it would not be taken seriously if it was local.

Sometimes it seems like a stacked deck around here but I really do like the Ozarks and the people.

As I have been peripherally involved in music business activities, I have sometimes thought about leaving the Ozarks and moving to Nashville, New York or L.A. I haven’t ever taken the idea real seriously but it’s been there in the back of my mind. I did post a resume on monster.com in case I need to chase down a real music biz job. I received a letter from monster today…

Dear Monster Customer,

Recently, a malicious software, known as Infostealer.Monstres was used to gain unauthorized access to the Monster resume database. Regrettably, some of the contact information that was captured included your name, address, telephone number and email address.

“Regrettably”; You know what that means? That means, “we screwed up and you can’t do anything about it”. Regrettably is a condescending word that someone, who doesn’t really need your business anyway, uses when they are responsible for something that can harm you but they don’t really feel responsible.

As we move forward, I want to reassure you: We are taking swift and decisive action to address this situation and to leverage all of our resources, so we can implement a long-term remedy and protect the data that job seekers like yourself entrust to us. In fact, Monster Worldwide already has identified and shut down a rogue server that was accessing and collecting job seeker contact through the use of compromised, legitimate employer-client log-in credentials.

I have written a lot of business letters in which my objective is to bullshit someone. When I do, I always try to use language like, “address the situation”, “leverage”, and “implement”. I do feel reassured though, after all they shut down a “rogue server”. See, it wasn’t really Monster’s fault, it was this “rogue server” that was the problem. Damn “rogues”, they all need to be shut down. Thank God, the good people at Monster are looking out for me and ridding the web of these evil “rogues”.

Bullshit, Monster gave away my phone number and they said specifically that they would not.

Our ongoing efforts and vigilance are critical given that opportunistic criminals are increasingly using the Internet as a means for illegitimate purposes.

“Ongoing vigilance”!!? How vigilant do you have to be to realize that criminals use the web? I opened my first e-mail account in 1997, it wasn’t a couple of days before some guy, allegedly from Nigeria, contacted me with some obvious con game trying to bilk me out of money. Monster makes a ton of money, not only from individuals but from corporations and government entities, and it’s all based on trust. We can post resumes and look for jobs any number of places but we trust Monster because they are the biggest. We have the illusion that the biggest player is using some of the money they garner to stay ahead of the technology and make sure that Jack’s phone number doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. Every time you click on anything at Monster you get an annoying pop-up ad and you wait until the “no thanks” option loads so you can get to what you are looking for. We allow Monster to do this crap because they are performing a valuable service and they deserve to make a buck but only if they keep up their end of the bargain.

“Phishing” and Internet fraud is an issue that affects all Internet users and businesses. Rest assured Monster remains committed to safeguarding the integrity of our database and information provided by job seekers.

More crap, “remains committed to safeguarding the integrity of our database”; good to know that they are going keep up the safeguarding standard they have set.

We value our relationships and the trust that job seekers place in Monster, and I will not allow that trust to be compromised.

Sincerely,
phony stamped signature
Sal Iannuzzi
Chairman and CEO
Monster Worldwide

Thanks Sal. Is there anything more annoying than the insincere phony signature from the CEO of a huge corporation. That is a slap in the face. That is saying; “I’d love to give you the impression that this is a personal touch but obviously, there are millions of other people that we screwed over that are receiving this letter too. So, the most I can do is dictate this message in which I never apologize and send it out to all of them”.

“I will not allow that trust to be compromised.” Well, technically Sal didn’t “allow” the trust to be compromised he compromised it himself. It’s a subtle difference.

In response, slag off Sal, slag off Monster.

I have been busy of late so the posts have been a little sporadic. The record is going well. I have gigs tonight and tomorrow night at Tequila’s in Branson West with Bill Boon and Mark Prater. Stop by if you are in the area. Bill plays bass and sings a lot of cool old country stuff, Hank Williams, Hag, Lefty and the like. Mark knows more songs than anyone I know. He and I have played guitar together from time to time for over 20 years now. I’m playing a lot of Dobro on this gig and it’s a fun, loose time.

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According to the Trust for America’s Health, obesity levels continued to rise in 31 states last year. The word epidemic is being thrown around. We are having an obesity epidemic.

Mississippi is the fattest state, Colorado the slimmest. Good job Colorado; drop down and give twenty Mississippi.

Another group, that is underwritten by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies, smallarmssurvey.org, is troubled by the fact that we have too many guns in the U.S. The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world. Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38.

“Firearms are very unevenly distributed around the world. The image we have of certain regions such as Africa or Latin America being awash with weapons — these images are certainly misleading,” Small Arms Survey director Keith Krause said.

Nigeria has only one gun per 100 people.

This is from the Survey mission statement.

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons represents a grave threat to human security. The unchecked spread of these weapons has exacerbated inter- and intra-state conflicts, contributed to human rights violations, undermined political and economic development, destabilized communities, and devastated the lives of millions of people. The future success of efforts to deal with small arms and light weapons depends in large part on the development of accurate information concerning the global flow of these weapons and on reliable analyses of the causes and consequences of their proliferation.

Effective governmental or non-governmental action depends on a correct diagnosis of the problem, yet policy-makers, analysts, and activists often lack basic information concerning the production, transfer, stockpiling, and use of small arms and light weapons around the world. The strengths and weaknesses of various policy instruments (such as gun buy-back schemes, strengthening of export controls, codes of conduct, firearms, or ammunition marking) also need to be assessed on an ongoing basis so that best practices can be spread from region to region.

What is unclear about the Small Arms Survey folks is how they attain the data. It would be fairly easy to put a number on legally registered guns but how does anybody know the number of illegal guns here or, some place like Nigeria.

Studies and surveys don’t just happen they are driven by agenda. Someone wants us to eat less or own less guns. Sometimes they have the best intentions, other times they don’t.

If you stopped eating so much and destroyed all of your guns, the results of the surveys and studies would not change. One person isn’t going to effect the overall numbers with personal decisions. In the end, the surveys/studies are designed to influence public perception or induce legislation.

Another way of looking at it: As a country we are no different than we were yesterday but now that we have accurate information, it is clear that we are a bunch of fat people with guns. Now, what are we going to do about it?

[tags] Trust for America’s Health, Small Arms Survey [tags]

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This morning, Michael Vick pleaded guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Unlawful Activities and to Sponsor a Dog in an Animal Fighting Venture”. Later on, he held a press conference to apologize to everyone, say that he now has a lot of time to think and reflect and to tell us that he has found Jesus.

Meanwhile the pundits editorialize and attempt to compare Vick’s case to other high profile cases. All of the familiar and inevitable questions are bandied about.

Is there a racial component to Vick’s situation? Look at how Nicole Ritchie and Lindsay Lohan have walked away from recent arrests with less than a slap on the wrist. Would Peyton Manning or Tom Brady be treated as harshly if they did the same thing?

Why is Vick singled out and stripped of his ability to make a living? For example, Jayson Williams and Leonard Little are athletes that were directly responsible for the deaths of human beings yet, they walk free.

I have heard all of this ridiculous crap and more from the media over the last few days. None of it applies.

There are two important points that I’m not hearing anything about.

First, the Michael Vick case is different than anything we have seen. Also, we do not know the final outcome of Vick’s case.

Vick’s case is different because these are Federal charges and dog fighting is organized crime. All of the celebrities and athletes that he is being compared to, who have had legal trouble, are involved in situations where they acted as individuals and are individually responsible. Once those individuals are punished, it’s over.

Because Vick has been involved in organized crime, the extent of his punishment is subject to change. He now has the opportunity to implicate others. Vick is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10th. He could roll over on a lot of people between now and then. It all depends on how much he knows and he could know a lot. Already, we know that the feds have enough information to bring further charges against Vick and that those charges were used as leverage to gain this plea agreement. So, the amount of time he spends in jail and where he spends it may be directly tied to how much dirt Vick is able to cough up. My guess is that there are probably a lot of nervous dog fighters out there right now.

As for the future of his career, that is more determined by public opinion than principle. The initial public outcry on this was swift. This is a case where a group like PETA may be effective. They are expert at mobilizing the troops, making noise and garnering face time. Does that sway the public opinion? I don’t know that there is a way to actually gauge that.

I do know this, that the N.F.L. is able to do some pretty heavy market research. As of right now, Vick returning to the league seems doubtful. At the very least, they will suspend him for a period of time after he does his jail time. Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, is stopping short of releasing Vick outright but he made it clear that he will pursue the idea of recouping bonuses that Vick has received.

The best that Vick can do it seems, is drop dime on some of his dog fighting cronies, be a model prisoner and hope that the public opinion of dog fighting changes over time.

Michael, glad you found Jesus, good luck and we’ll see you in the Canadian Football League.

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