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August 09, 2012
Gutsy, Superfluous--or just Awkward? Obama weighs in on BSA rearticulation of policy banning gays.
We'll call it all three--but it's certainly leadership. Well done, sir. As my fellow Eagle Scouts debate whether to give up their awards, President Obama, via spokesman Shin Inouye, appears to condemn BSA's stance banning gay members and leaders (both NBC stories by Miranda Leitsinger), the policy BSA clarified and, in effect, re-announced three weeks ago. Kudos to once-outlier and now-player The Washington Blade, which broke the story. And there is some awkwardness here. The Blade also notes that in a "follow-up email, Inouye said Obama won’t resign or relinquish his position as honorary president of the Boy Scouts as result of this position."
Posted by JD Hull at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2012
Hooters: Personally, I don't like to watch. But apparently there's a nice market for it.
I hope Hooters, the restaurant chain, makes it.
I've only been to a Hooters once, and I can't see its appeal. (Note: At the one a friend took me to in Pittsburgh several years ago the women who worked there hardly rocked my world; they were a tad portly and I would never have flirted with any of them on an airplane or at a party.) I think anything interesting and fun in this world--sex, sports, working, practicing law and life generally--is exciting and valuable to me only if I can participate in it directly or (at a minimum) learn something from it so that I can participate later. So Watching Anything has not cut it for me much. I watch little TV. I don't think strip joints are sexy. And I think porn, in the main, is sad. I love sports, too. I would just rather play them than watch them. There are quite a few athletic things--team sports or solitary--you can do your whole life.
But I loved reading (a form of watching, in this case) a few years back about the reaction my local community had to successful plans to start a Hooters here up on a hill near Interstate 15. Many of the transplanted Midwesterners in San Diego County (that is a big part of the population here) often hate things like Hooters, medical marijuana and anything that might smack of New York, LA, urban multi-culturalism or the often "distasteful" side of commmerce, marketing or the First Amendment. While my own Midwest-based family is a culturally liberal tribe of mainly moderate Republicans, I grew up with and do still like the more reactionary Heartland folks--but they often blow tubes over stuff like Hooters. And it's comical. I am entertained. They generally lose those battles. That, folks, is something I will watch.
Meanwhile, Hooters, the restaurant chain, obviously has been onto something all along--even while I don't get it. It is reevaluating things. See in Time "Hooters’ Big Experiment: New Menu, New Decor and a New Target Audience".
Hooters Plans for The Future.
Posted by JD Hull at 12:42 AM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2012
Paris: Autolib'.
At the always-fetching Paris and Beyond, the creation of Genie, an American expat from Alabama, see "Quai aux Fleurs - Autolib". Genie's photo to the short post is below. Autolib' is a new electric car sharing service in Paris. By the end of this year, Autolib' will have 3,000 all-electric Bolloré Bluecars at about 1,000 parking-charging stations in the city. To learn more about how it works, click here.
Photo: Paris and Beyond
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 06:29 AM | Comments (0)