Gibson Gives In

Gibson Guitar Settles Claim Over Imported Ebony

Gibson Guitar Corporation has agreed to pay $350,000 in penalties to settle federal charges that it illegally imported ebony Madagascar to use for fret boards, ending a criminal investigation that had drawn fire from conservatives as an example of over-reaching by the government, the Justice Department announced on Monday.

The guitar maker agreed to pay a $300,000 fine and to donate $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the protection of endangered hardwood trees, like ebony and rosewood. In return, the government deferred prosecution of the company for criminal violations of the Lacey Act, which since May 2008 has made it illegal to import wood that was harvested and exported illegally under another country’s laws... 

Orlianthi with Gibson Les Paul

Bear in mind the policy is not about saving endangered species, but rather "social justice", the notion that the job of finishing the wood that's already been harvested should be done by the native labor.

Gibson said the shipments were legal and disputed the government’s interpretation of Indian and Madagascar laws, which the company maintains allow the exportation of “fingerboard blanks,” which are in essence a piece of hardwood cut to the dimensions of a guitar fret board. But federal officials defended the raids, saying the company had failed to comply with the Lacey Act and its officials had willfully turned a blind eye to evidence the exports were in fact illegal.

The settlement announced on Monday is a compromise that frees Gibson from the criminal charges as long as the company doesn’t violate the agreement over the next year and a half. As part of the deal, Gibson agreed to withdraw a suit seeking to recover about $261,000 worth of ebony and rosewood that was seized during the investigation.

Allison Robertson - Gibson Les Paul

The cost of fighting such actions by the feds could rapidly exceed the settlement costs, so it only makes sense to

So the administration drives a few hundred more jobs overseas, and, oh so coincidentally, hurts a company that contributes to the GOP, and helps it's competition (Martin Guitars), who just happens to donate to the Democrats.


Previous posts on Gibson's problems with the feds:

Sheryl Crow - Gibson Hummingbird?

Feds Raid Gibson Guitars

Update on Gibson Guitar Grab

The Rally for Gibson

Tennesse Lawmakers Propose "Gibson Owners Protection"

Are You Resigned to the Mexi Paul?

Feds Promise Not to Persecute Guitar Owners 

Two masters of the guitar, Les Paul, the inventor of the electric guitar, for which the Les Paul guitar line is named, and Chet Atkins. I appreciate the "spat" about guitar brands at the end..

Midnight Music

Maria Muldar ca 1968.



Probably best known for "Midnight at the Oasis" (from 1974).



Richland Woman Blues, 2001. Her voice just ages like fine whiskey.

Should Women Be Doctors?

I'm not a Dr., but I get paid better

Is Medical School a Worthwhile Investment for Women?
The average female primary-care physician would have been financially better off becoming a physician assistant.

Those damn conservative at Atlantic have the intolerance to publish this article claiming the women doctors worse less than men doctors, and that financially at least, they would be better off (on average) becoming physicians assistants:

Focusing on the financial repercussions of these career choices, we use a tool common for analyzing investment called a net-present-value (NPV) calculation. An NPV calculation adds up the costs of obtaining a degree, and all of the earnings received over the career that degree enables, taking into account the fact that money earned later is not as valuable as money earned earlier (due to interest), summarizing a career decision in a single number. This captures the insight that in order for an investment in the high up-front cost medical degree to overcome the lower up-front cost of a PA degree, not only do a doctor's wages have to significantly exceed those of the PA, but the doctor needs to be willing to work enough hours to make those wages pay off.

Some "non-Dr" pictures here

To see if doctors do indeed work long enough hours, we looked at data from a Robert Wood Johnson survey of physicians on how many hours female and male primary-care physicians work at different points in their careers. We combined that with data from the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

We then compared the earnings of male and female physicians in our data and estimate what those individuals would have earned if they had worked as PAs.

We found that, for over half of woman doctors in our data, the NPV of becoming a primary-care physician was less than the NPV of becoming a physician assistant. In contrast, the vast majority of male primary-care physicians earned an NPV greater than the NPV earned by a male PA. That is, while the vast majority of male doctors are financially better off for having become a doctor, the median female primary care physician would have been financially better off becoming a PA.

Even though both male and female doctors both earn higher wages than their PA counterparts, most female doctors don't work enough hours at those wages to financially justify the costs of becoming a doctor.

We also examined alternative medical professions such as pharmacy, and our basic findings were the same. Programs that have high upfront training costs only make financial sense if you plan to work enough hours later on, and many women doctors do not end up working enough to justify the costs they pay.

It is worth noting that this specific result pertains to women primary-care physicians who work about 40 hours a week. Obviously, some women doctors work more hours, and some work many fewer. Women working significantly more than this do get a financial advantage from becoming a physician.

In a nation where physicians are going to be increasingly in demand, and medical care will likely be rationed based on the availability of physicians, does it make sense to even allow women to try to become doctors? I mean, as long as we're going to carefully regulate medicine and all.  It's not like choice should play into this, right?  Or can we mandate that women Drs put in the same hours that the men do?

Or we could pay them less and make more of them.

Found at Althouse.

And to complete the weirdness...



Rule 5 Sunday done come on Sunday this week at the Other McCain, with "Every Rose Has It's Thorn."

Attention Whore Tweets Sort of Naked Self Portrait

Lady Gaga tweets 'naked' picture of herself reclining on an armchair

She recently caused a stir when she unveiled her new perfume ad, starring herself, naked, with only 'tiny men' crawling over her to protect her modesty.

But it appears Lady Gaga hasn't tired of baring flesh for her fans.

The 26-year-old tweeted a snap of herself apparently fully naked, sitting in an armchair, hugging her legs to her chest.

Not nearly as bad as might have been imagined, of course, there are probably 10 cameramen and makeup artists on the other side of the camera.

Despite her penchant for stepping out in little more than underwear (embellished with a variety of eye-catching accessories, naturally), this is potentially the most skin Gaga has ever shown in public.

At the risk of looking too closely, Gaga appears to be wearing a deceptively flesh-coloured thong.  She seems to be wearing almost no make-up in the picture, wearing her long blonde hair loose.

The singer has also found time to show her support for embattled stars Kirsten Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

Rule 5 Sunday done come on Sunday this week at the Other McCain, with "Every Rose Has It's Thorn."

Oregonian to be Jailed for Practicing Conservation

Saved Rainwater

A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.

“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.

“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.

The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

Water rights in western states are funny things and deadly serious, but this seems a little extreme.

Harrington said he applied for three permits to legally house reservoirs for storm and snow water runoff on his property. One of the “reservoirs” had been on his property for 37 years, he said.

Though the state Water Resources Department initially approved his permits in 2003, the state – and a state court -- ultimately reversed the decision.

“They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them just arbitrarily, basically. They took them back and said ‘No, you can’t have them,’ so I’ve been fighting it ever since,” Harrington told CNSNews.com.

The case, he said, is centered on a 1925 law which states that the city of Medford holds exclusive rights to “all core sources of water” in the Big Butte Creek watershed and its tributaries.

London Calling*

The best show on Earth..?

RAF display team the Red Arrows overfly the Olympic stadium.











Am really very excited.


* The Clash.

Can Rock 'N Roll Save The Bay?

Williamsport hopes rock music can help pay for its watershed costs

Faced with a large price tag on a government mandate, the town of Williamsport is trying to raise money through an all-day rock concert.

Counties and municipalities across the state are trying to figure out how to pay for a new state Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to help protect the Chesapeake Bay by reducing nitrogen and phosphorus discharges. The plan is expected to cost Washington County and its municipalities $1.1 billion in the next 13 years in stormwater, wastewater and septic measures. Williamsport’s share is an estimated $11.7 million.

Town Clerk/Treasurer Donnie Stotelmyer said he and Councilman Bill G. Green talked about the possibility of having a concert at River Bottom Park in Williamsport. The idea evolved into a fundraiser for WIP costs, with an educational component about the health of the Potomac River, Stotelmyer said.

The concert, called Rockin’ at River Bottom, will be Sept. 15. Five bands are lined up to play. Tickets cost $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Stotelmyer said 6,000 tickets will be available. If all goes well, Green said, the town could take in $60,000 to $70,000.

Hmmm, $11.7 million divided by $70,000.  So optimistically, 167 concerts (probably over ten year, since that's how most of these costs seem to be estimated), could pay off one small towns 'Bay Diet' bill. So the answer to the question posed in the title is:

Maybe, but it will take a whole lot of Rock 'N Roll.  Hey, I'm game...




and another...

Jurk!

In German, no translation necessary...

Concert Review: Lynyrd Skynyrd!

In the shade of the water tower

I apologize for the slow blogging lately, but hey, life happens, too.  The reason I slacked off kast night was that Georgia and I went to the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at the St. Leonard Volunteer Fire Department.  The fire department, which serves our area has a number of concerts during the summer, which are their major fund raisers.  They're mostly very country types of acts, but we go to one or two a year, just for fun, and to help the fund raising.

Click on the pics to embiggen.

One of the fun things at concerts is people watching.  Skynyrd concerts (this is our second) bring out a different crowd. Lots of old geezers in funny clothing.  Oh wait; that's us...  And lots of young people too.  I was so flattered to get my wrist band so I could buy a $5 beer.

Drake White and his band opened for Skynyrd.  Mostly young people, Drake White (the acoustic guitar second from the left) is a wanna be Hank Williams Jr.  It was OK, but the violinist on the right was the star IMHO.

Rick from Pawn Stars seems to be their drummer.  But they seemed to be having fun, and everybody in St. Leonard was drinking beer so it was OK.

By the time they finished their fairly short set, the sun was setting over the ranks of porta-potties, and the buses carrying Skynyrd was pulling into the lot.

As you're probably aware, Skynyrd is pretty much reformed from remnants of the original band after a number of deaths, including a plane crash in 1977 which killed and crippled some of the original members, including the founding lead singer  Ronnie Van Zandt.

Skynyrd  was, well Skynard.  They sounded pretty much like the original recordings but conveyed a lot of energy.  It must be hard to do some days...

When the band reformed in 1987, Ronnie's brother Johnny took over the role, and does a pretty good job of looking and sounding like his older brother.

Gary Rossington is the only founding member still with the group.  One of three guitartists, I would say he is the least flamboyant.  Perhaps he has less to prove.

Not quite a founding member, but close, Rickey Medlocke grew up with the original cast, and played and sang with the band some in the 70's.  He had his own band 'Blackfoot' which played from the late 60s to the early 90s.  He is, in fact, a Blackfoot Indian Native American.  He joined Skynyrd in 1996.

Mark Matejka, the third guitarist, joined the band in 1996, after 'Hot Apple Pie", 'The Charlie Daniels Band' and 'Sons of the Desert'.

Michael Cartellone, drummer for the band since 1999, and formerly of 'Damn Yankees' and 'Accept'.

Peter Keys (Peter Pisarczyk) joined Skynyrd in 2009 as keyboardist, following the death of Billy Powell, an almost founder, having arisen from the roadie ranks in 1972. 

The twirling girls.  Back up vocalists and visual highlights.  I can't figure out their names, oh wait, from the Skynyrd site itself:

Honkettes:
Dale Krantz Rossington- Backing Vocals
Carol Chase- Backing Vocals 

Anyway, it was a good night.  Beer was drunk, music was listened to, and money was raised for the local fire department.

'Girl from Ipanema' turns 50

"Tall and tan and young and lovely..."

You might have come across the bossa nova classic while on hold on the phone, during a long elevator ride, or in a cafe in Beirut or Bangkok _ but you've heard it. It's been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Amy Winehouse, and survived bad lounge singers and Muzak incarnations to become, according to Performing Songwriter magazine, the second most recorded song in the world.

You can find instructions for playing the song on the guitar here.

Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janero, Brazil

On stage together, for the first and only time, were the architects of bossa nova: Tom Jobim on piano and Joao Gilberto on guitar, with help from the poet Vinicius de Moraes, who gave "The Girl" her lyrics. Also performing was the vocal group Os Cariocas.

Bossa nova was still young then, somewhat of a novelty even in Rio. The name meant "new trend" or "new way," and that's what it was: a fresh, jazzy take on Brazil's holiest tradition, the samba.

The rhythm was the same. But where samba was cathartic, communal, built on drums and powerful voices, bossa was intimate, contemplative, just a singer and a song. The melody, on guitar or piano, stepped up to the front. Percussion receded, played sometimes with brushes for a softer texture reminiscent of surf washing on the sand.

The 1962 show at the club Au Bon Gourmet established bossa nova, wrote Castro in his book about the genre. It didn't just introduce the Jobim-penned "Girl"; other bossa classics, such as "So danco samba" and "Samba da bencao," also were played publicly for the first time.

 As for the girl who inspired the song, Heloisa "Helo" Pinheiro?  

1962 was also the year that Jobim saw the girl.

Ipanema is a trendy, rather artsy neighborhood in south Rio de Janeiro. To the west is the upscale area of Leblon and to the east is Aproador and Copacabana. A block off Ipanema Beach, on the northwest corner of Rua Montenegro and Rua Prudente de Moraes was Tom Jobim's favorite hang-out, the Bar Veloso. A veranda-style, open-air cafe, this was the place to drink beer, smoke cigarettes, read the paper, chat with friends, and watch the pretty girls.

Almost every day a certain girl passed by the Veloso. Often in her school uniform, sometimes in her two-piece bathing suit she was, of course, tall, and tan, and young and lovely with long brown hair and green eyes and a rather sensual way of swaying her hips. She did not go unnoticed by Jobim and friends who often greeted her with whistles and cat-calls. The girl, however, never responded to the men. Never did she stop to talk; indeed never did she even make eye contact with bar’s patrons. Each day when she walked to the sea, she looked straight ahead, not at anyone else. And Jobim was in love.

Heloisa Pinheiro, July 3, 2012

If "Helo" was 17 in 1962, that makes her about, well as she says, "you do the math".  Along the way, she married, had kids of her own, modeled for swimwear, jewelry and Brazilian Playboy.  She and her song popularized the 2 piece swimsuit, and led directly to the daring swimsuits of modern times.

Not many women get to claim credit for having inspired a music genre, and a style of clothing.

 Thanks to Wombat-Soccho, who picked this up in generic "Rule 5 Monday" this week at The Other McCain, and to the Classical Liberal, who scooped it up with "Debt Bomb" and other Rule 5 posts.

21st Century Romance

To steal a theme from Instapundit.



If you really can't stand the music (yes, it's possible, maybe even likely) turn the music down off and watch it for the the plot and hang in there 'til the end.

Stolen from Jawa's, where it was paired with this parody:



Which led to this...



Wombat-Soccho hit his self imposed Sunday deadline with "Burning Photographs" and Rule 5s at The Other Mccain.

Alex Sends a New Song

I think it's a parody... His comment:

I did something, I'm not sure whether or not to be proud of this not.

Rule 5 Saturday - Rapping the Rappers - Demi Lovato

This Rule 5 post was prompted by one of Wombat-Soccho's "Live at Five" posts at "The Other McCain", a one liner about how Demi Lovato, who I had never heard of before, a judge on X-Factor, a show I wouldn't watch on a bet, had gone off on some rappers auditioning for the show for lyrics that proclaimed they were high on "bath salts", and got them booed out of the contest.

Demi Lovato took a page out of Simon Cowell's playbook ... kicking a pair of 'X Factor' contestants off stage today for rapping about smoking bath salts ... TMZ has learned.

Sources on set for 'XF' auditions in Greensboro, NC ... tell us the two guys laid down a rap that included the line, "I'm high on bath salts."

Apparently most of the crowd didn't hear the lyrics, but Demi did -- and as soon as the duo finished she furiously scolded them, saying ... "It's really inappropriate to rap about drugs in front of kids."

Demi did a stint in rehab in 2011, and has admitted to using drugs and booze when she was underage -- so, it's no wonder she went off on the clowns.

We're told the audience agreed with Demi, and booed the contestants off stage ... and they were not judged for the competition.

This is precisely the treatment we need for drug use and music lyrics that glorify it. Not criminalization like the drug war and Tipper Gore's attempt to get lyrics officially censored, but rather good old fashioned public shaming, and making their decision humiliating and costly through non-governmental actions.

For that, and recognizing her own weaknesses and dealing with them, Demi is my Woman of the Week.  Heck, I may even listen to her sing...

Ted has Kate Bekinsale and guns.  Doug at The DaleyGator has "Rule 5 Weekend with Vanessa Veasley." William Teach at Pirate's Cove has his "Sorta Blogless Sunday and Pinup" linklist for the week. Thanks to Wombat-Soccho for the links at The Other McCains  plain brown wrapper "Rule 5 Monday" linkfest. Also to The Classical Liberal, who clearly pored over the blog looking for Rule 5 material for his links "Rule 5 Fuel."

San Berdoo Goes Bust

San Bernardino seeks bankruptcy protection

San Bernardino on Tuesday became the third California city in less than a month to seek bankruptcy protection, with officials saying the financial situation had become so dire that it could not cover payroll through the summer.

The unexpected vote came at the suggestion of the interim city manager, who said the city faces a $46-million deficit and depleted coffers.

"We have an immediate cash flow issue," Andrea Miller told the mayor and seven-member City Council.

Mayor Patrick Morris called the decision, passed on a 4-2 vote, a "stain" on the city. But he said the only other option was "draconian cuts" to all city services, including the police and fire departments.

"It means the bills will be paid," said a dejected Morris, who is not a voting member of the council.

The city's fiscal crisis has been years in the making, compounded by the nation's crushing recession and exacerbated by escalating pension costs, lucrative labor agreements, Sacramento's raid on redevelopment funds and a city reserve that is tapped out, officials said.

Another city done in by rotten accounting and a pension problem.

San Bernardino, known as San Berdoo, or even just Berdoo, to locals, was a step on the route to my parent's cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains.  As a kid, and even into young adulthood, before they eventually sold the house, I must have driven through hundreds of times.  I don't remember much, except heat and gas stations, which pretty much seems to be a fair summary:

A city in southern California bereft of fun. The best thing to do there is to pack up and get the fuck out. It smells like urban decay and broken dreams. It also smells like raw sewage for some reason, though after careful investigation you won't find any processing plant. More likely it's the high concentration of ghetto-ass people.

Only notable for being the origin of the McDonalds franchise in 1940. Nothing significant has happened since. Not that it matters, because most of the inhabitants here are so ignorant and shallow that it wouldn't matter if the most important human discovery had taken place here; no one would care.

Oh, and according to Wiki, the city is also close to the home of the original motorcycle club with grew to become the Hell's Angels, the Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington (later of Berdoo).

Oh, and a couple of songs about San Bernardino:


"Five Little Miles from San Berdoo" by Jane Russell, better known as a curvaceous  actress.

And "San Berdoo Sunburn" by Eagles of Death Metal.  I was prepared to dislike this one based on the name of the the group, but I actually found it kind of funny and catchy.  It portrays the kind of person I associated with San Berdoo.

The Stones Celebrate Golden Anniversary

50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' first gig

In the summer of 1962, the management of the Academy cinema on Oxford Street in London thought it wise to warn patrons that the film they were about to see, the big-screen adaptation of John Wyndham's novel about killer plants, The Day of the Triffids, "contained graphic horror" and "might prove disturbing to those of a nervous disposition". Today, Wyndham's mutant shrubs look blandly innocuous. But on the night of Thursday 12 July, in a basement club called the Marquee, just a few feet below the cinema where the Triffids was screening, something much more unsettling was about to get under way.

A sober-suited crowd of about 80 men and 30 women were on hand to witness the Rolling Stones' first gig. There was a taste among both sexes for shapeless, utility-style clothes, stout shoes and goofy square glasses. (It's remarkable how many young men seemed to resemble Buddy Holly.) Based on the number of goatees in the photographs, many were also diehard jazz fans; those who were there report that the audience took some time to warm up to the Stones' 50-minute blast of American rhythm and blues.

"Herding Cats"

A new song from Alex; from the John Fahey genre.


Upload MP3 and download MP3 using free MP3 hosting from Tindeck.

Midnight Music - "Six White Horses"

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings:



I couldn't resist this one, too

"The Weight" - Gillian Welch, David Rawlings and Old Crow Medicine Show

Hot Chick Does Cool Stunts

Hannah Whiteley does tricks kiteboearding. Makes me wish I was 19 again.





I suggest looking at these in full screen mode.

Thanks to Wombat-Soccho for the links at The Other McCains  plain brown wrapper "Rule 5 Monday" linkfest. Also to The Classical Liberal, who clearly pored over the blog looking for Rule 5 material for his links "Rule 5 Fuel."

100 Riffs That Changed the World

Hot Weather Drives Russian Chicks Crazy

And by hot they mean 75 F or so...



The Classical Liberal links to this in "Hot Legs!"  Special thanks to Wombat-Socho who featured this in his weekly Rule 5 post "Touch and Go" over at The Other McCain.