Big Sky Blog

This blog and this domain (www.BigSkyBlog.com) are for sale. If you’re interested, send me an e-mail: davidmsc @ hotmail.com.

How bad do you want a job with the City of Bozeman? Enough to give the City your login and password information to your Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace accounts? According to KBZK, that’s what the City asks for on the job application:

“Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.,” the City form states. There are then three lines where applicants can list the Web sites, their user names and log-in information and their passwords.

I can understand an employer wanting to make sure that staff members aren’t members of, say, racist or hate-sites, or having the company name sullied by (for example) a teacher who has posted naughty pictures on her MySpace page…but asking for the actual login and passwords? In addition to being just flat-out wrong, giving your login & password information to ANYONE is the #1 taboo for protecting your identity online.

Way back when, in the earlier days of the blogosphere, the much-smaller and tighter-knit community of Big Sky Bloggers semi-adopted a fellow blogger from Savannah, Georgia: Sam Johnson. As far as I know, he remains the only person that has been unofficially named as an Honorary Big Sky Blogger. He even sponsored a contest for people to vote on the first-ever “Miss RSJS Show” (The Miss ‘Real Sam Johnson Show’). Two of our fellow Big Sky Bloggers - Pandora and Karbon Kounty Moos - made the final five!

There was just something special about him: his perpetual upbeat nature, his passion for retro-TV and comics, his love and knowledge of awesome music, and his just overall good-guy-ness. Unfortunately, he was also battling some health problems - he received dialysis regularly and was waiting for organ transplant surgery - but it just never really occurred to me that Sam would ever not be here.

But sadly, I received word today from Randy that Sam has indeed left us, at the far-too early age of only 42. I wish that we had the opportunity to meet in real life - when I spoke with him a couple of years ago on Christmas Day, when he was doing his on-air deejay stuff down in Savannah, we even talked about him coming up to visit his Montana blogger fan club.

The blogosphere and the world just lost a super guy.

All of the press that Montana got recently over the proposed firearms legislation got me wondering. According to Gary Marbut:

“HB 246 declares that any firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories made and retained in Montana are not subject to any federal regulation or control under the power given to Congress in the U.S. Constitution to ‘regulate commerce … among the states’.”

Of course I think it’s a pretty good idea - if something is completely made and used solely in Montana, then it shouldn’t be subject to Federal laws, etc. It sounds reasonable.
But then I thought: if this is such a good idea, shouldn’t it apply to other things, too? For example, beef: if a cow is raised in Montana, sold in Montana, slaughtered in Montana, and consumed completely in Montana by Montanans, then shouldn’t that cow and beef be exempt from any Federal laws or rules - such as the USDA or FDA, etc?
In other words: if the state sovereignty legislation for firearms is the right thing to do, then shouldn’t Montana apply the same standard to other products? Or is there an aspect of this legislation that I don’t understand?

You can keep track of the daily doings in the Canadian-$ (C$) by checking Canadian-$ futures.

Since May 1, the C$ has increased 7.72¢ from 84.51¢ to a current quote (as of mid- morning) of 92.23¢.

Since April 1, the C$ has increased 12.75¢ from 79.48¢ to a current quote (as of mid- morning) of 92.23¢.

What were the most popular baby names in Montana in 2008? Take a look!

(via)

Gary Marbut, President of the Montana Sports Shooting Association (MSSA) is scheduled to be on the Glen Beck Show this Friday, 3 to 4PM, MDT on the FOX News Channel, to talk about MSSA’s Montana-made guns bill. HB 246 sponsor, Rep. Joel Boniek (R-Livingston) is scheduled to be on the show also.

According to an article today (Thursday, May 7) at JTA.org, “The state (sic) of Montana has its first mikveh.”

The article continues, “The newly built ritual bath (in Bozeman) is serving Jewish residents from Wyoming, Idaho, North and South Dakota, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, in addition to the 2,500-strong Jewish population of Montana, according to Chabad.org.”

The mikveh is located at the Bozeman Chabad House.

Mikveh, or mikvah, (MIK-vuh), Lit. gathering. A ritual bath used for spiritual purification. It is used primarily in conversion rituals and after the period of sexual separation during a woman’s menstrual cycles. The Christian practice of Baptism has its origins in the mikveh.

Tea Parties are spreading like wildfire across the nation, but I haven’t heard of any in Montana - yet. But get ready: there are several Tea Parties planned in Montana for April 15, according to Tax Day Tea Party.

The following is a list of CONFIRMED Tea Party Tax Revolts planned within the state of Montana. Please note that we ONLY list events happening on April 15th.

————-
City: Billings
When: April 15, 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Where: US POST OFFICE on 27th Street, Just off of I 90
Contact: EMAIL
————-
City: Bozeman
When: April 15, 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Where: Downtown Bozeman, TBA
Phone: 406.579.1496
————-
City: Kalispell
When: April 15, TBA
Where: Downtown Kalispell, TBA
————-
City: Missoula
When: April 15, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: The Streets of Missoula, TBA
Other Info:http://www.just-citizens.com/taxdayteaparty

I’m sure that there will be other Tea Parties after April 15th…

MORE: news stories about Montana Tea Parties are gaining steam…

MONTANA’S (thx bob! how did i turn that into alaska?!) most famous part-time resident, David Letterman, finally tied the knot! He got married to his long-time girlfriend (and mother of their 5-year old boy) Regina Lasko, and they did it right in Choteau (near his ranch). The official who married them was Teton County Justice Of The Peace JL “Pete” Howard. I guess after 23 years of dating and one child, Dave was finally ready for a commitment :-)

Congratulations to David & Regina Letterman! ALSO: check out this nifty look at Choteau!

Previous Letterman/Montana tidbits: Cold Hard Cash on Letterman show; Tim Montana on Letterman show; and other Letterman news.