Randy Stapilus's Blog, page 15
July 31, 2015
Boise’s ombudsman
The office of the Community Ombudsman that did so much to restore community faith and pride in the police department has been reduced to a part-time position, it was announced today. No official word, but it is probably the only city department to have its staff cut in half in recent years.
The new person in the renamed “office of police oversight” is Natalie Camacho Mendoza, an attorney. Mayor Dave Bieter said the position, which has been without a permanent employee for more than two years...
First take
Having just finished Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on a Train, the big fiction seller so far this year, I was impressed. It was an enjoyable read, maybe better than that, but impressive for several reasons beyond that. One is its seeming simplicity and (in a way not meant as a criticism) almost a rote feel. Characters who are not cops or lawyers or supertalented spies but ordinary people doing, for the most part, ordinary things. A slow and gradual build toward a thriller ending – and the patience...
July 30, 2015
On Washington’s ballot
From a report by the office of Washington’s secretary of state’s office, noting that Tim Eyman’s latest tax ballot issue has made the ballot there.
FYI: Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1366, aimed at requiring a supermajority for taxes passed in Olympia, has qualified for a spot on the statewide Washington ballot this fall, Secretary of State Kim Wyman announced Wednesday.
It is the second of two state ballot measures that will face voters. Secretary Wyman certified Initiative 1401 to the ballot a wee...
First take
The protest on the Willamette has become the “talk of the town” – Portland, that is – Willamette Week reports. This may be the spot where a practical – albeit partly illegal – protest form has coaleasced. The executive director of one of the backing groups for the protest, from Seattle, remarked that “We really hit our groove here in Portland. The David and Goliath story is so irresistible.”
It’s notably visual: Tiny craft in the river which, because the creation of a potential safety hazar...
July 29, 2015
Early picks, fluid field
It says something about the declining interest in politics as well as the media’s declining interest in substance, prefering entertainment instead, that the still presumptive Republican nominee, Jeb Bush, could fly into Boise in late April, meet with 35 prominent Republican activists, depart and not one media outlet was aware of the visit.
The long-time alpha wolf of the Idaho press corps, the Idaho Statesman’s John Corlett, must have rolled over in his grave.
The April 20 visit was confirm...
First take
Any look I take at the new Windows 10, just released, come through the perspective of a confirmed Linux user – this is being written on a computer with a Linux OS, as have been all our recent books and much more. So when I look at the new Windows screen – like the image above – what hits me is how similar much of it is to my Linux (Mint, Cinnamon) screen. Same overall screen approach; same control bar at the bottom; similar view on pressing the start (on Linux, menu) button, except that we Li...
July 28, 2015
Compete to survive
What do you do with sixteen candidates? It’s a thorny problem for Republicans. Why’s that? Because right now one of those candidates, Donald Trump, is loud enough to drown out all the other “major” candidates.
Wouldn’t it be fun if the nomination contest was more like a basketball tournament? Then top-seeded Donald Trump would battle 16th seed Ohio Gov. John Kasich a battle of ideas. Or how about dropping the bunch in the jungle Naked and Afraid. We could even start voting and eliminate a ca...
July 25, 2015
Donald Trump’s Idaho?
Is Idaho Donald Trump’s kind of place?
We now have a pretty clear idea of who all the major contenders for president will be in 2016: At this point all or nearly all have announced. (The New York Times declared the field unofficially closed after the announcement last week of Ohio Governor John Kasich.)
So who’s the Republican now most likely to pick up support in the Gem State?
The last couple of nomination contests weren’t good normal case studies, because Mitt Romney had unusually strongl...
July 15, 2015
Another round
People tend to forget now, but Joe Albertson started out working at someone else’s supermarket.
Dropping out of the College of Idaho, he started as a clerk for the Safeway grocery chain. He was successful there, moving into midmanagement in his early 30s, but it wasn’t satisfying. Albertson thought he had a better way to run a grocery – they didn’t call them “supermarkets” then – and wanted to try running one on his own. Merging some of his own savings and some investments from a few other S...
July 10, 2015
On your website
Authors find few pieces of marketing advice repeated more often than this: Get thee to a website!
But once you have a website, what do you do with it?
The primary purpose of your website is to promote yourself and your book. Part of the process of selling your book is in connecting with your reader, and a good author website offers many ways to do that.
The basic components of your website should be:
1. Contact information (if you don’t want to provide an email address, then include a messa...
