Miscellaneous thoughts

My wife and I have recently joined Facebook and it has been an interesting experience. It's amazing how intertwined everyone becomes being friends of friends. It would make a good example of how STD's spread! We have resorted to dragging out the old school yearbooks to put faces to names. What I realized today that we are all old as hell!

The other day, I went outside to take out the trash and have a smoke. I was carrying one of those BBQ/candle lighters in my left hand and a bag of trash with my right hand. Apparently, these lighters are made for right-handed people, because I couldn't light the damn thing without switching hands. Left-handers, my thoughts are with you.

Ol' Bill Gates has really been pushing Windows 7 on us. Last year, I jumped from W2K Pro straight to Vista, bypassing XP altogether. 8 months later, here comes 7. Between the ads from Micro$oft about how great and error-free it is and Apple's ads about how they have always been great and error-free, I wonder why we should pay for an upgrade to 7 anyway. If the previous versions of Windows were so crappy, we should all get free upgrades! At the risk of pissing off my Mac-using friends and relatives, it hasn't always been the answer either. It's expensive owning a Mac. I guess it's like shopping at a mall store instead of Walmart. Mr. Gates has made a shitload of money by selling us a mediocre product and no amount of well-publicized do-gooding will gloss that over.

Tiger in the tank

After nearly a week of listening to the media bullshit about Tiger Woods and his accident, I feel like I might as well put in my 12 cents (2 cents in 1929 dollars). First of all, anyone in the media who apologizes for reporting this story (like Richelle Carey and Christi Paul of HLN), you're full of crap! It looks like the media is out to completely destroy Tiger's reputation. I guess there is nothing else happening in the world this week. Even Nancy Grace (who I can't stand) is bumping her gums about it. In her usual hypocritical way, she has veered from being the "champion of the little people" to her version of Jane Velez Mitchell (who is also a loudmouth).
I know Tiger is and has been the darling of the sports world due to his clean rep and incredible golf skills. To say that he should be held to a higher standard because he is the top guy in his game is silly. He is a human just like the rest of us except for the piles of cash and low golf score. Look at the top performers in any sport. While there are a lot of sports figures with clean values and good intentions, there are also a bunch of arrogant assholes out there. Most of the time, when one excels at their sport for any length of time, they get way too full of themselves. Look at Tebow. I'm surprised his teammates don't beat the crap out of him for grandstanding.
It is reported that many children look up to Tiger Woods and that this is one of the reasons why he shouldn't drag his family problems into the public eye. He's not the one who did it! The media did. Speaking of role models, I know people who still swear OJ didn't do it! There are kids out there who follow all of the wrestling teams. Now, there's a role model! Some guy with shaggy, sweaty hair and a big tat on his face, yelling into the camera.
My point is that some of us put way too much faith in our fellow humans. We are all fallible. That's the way God made us. Tiger's marital problems are between him and his wife and/or lawyer and are none of our business, no matter how famous he is. The media should be following news that really affects us like what Congress is doing or not doing.
BTW, I actually saw an article about "green" living where there are people who refuse to use leather restraints (wink,wink,nudge,nudge) made from slaughtered cattle. What do they use, road kill?

What could have been ...

I know I start out referencing something I saw on TV in most of my stuff but, hey, I watch a lot of TV! Saw a commercial last night on Discovery about an upcoming show on dinosaurs and how they interacted. My mind wandered a bit to the scenario of us co-existing with dinosaurs in today's world. Could you imagine what it would be like? Damn, here comes that herd/pack/gaggle of T-Rexes again! Can't keep a straight fence in my yard. The damn things just stomp all over it and they just ate another cat! They would have a field day at the football stadium. It would be like a Golden Corral buffet. You know, we can generally tolerate hurricanes, earthquakes, and blizzards but a T-Rex or some raptors like on Jurassic Park would be like tornadoes. You kinda know they are out there but they show up unexpectedly and tear up a lot of stuff. I'm sure at some point we could kill and eat them all (tastes like chicken!)

Dubai - the richest little city in debt

I was surprised to read the news story about Dubai being in financial trouble. They want to postpone interest payments on $60 billion in debt. The first thing is that I thought Dubai was a country with lots of oil. Shows you how much I look at a map! It's about the size and population of the Tampa Bay area, only hotter and drier. I thought, that with all of the palm islands and indoor ski slopes, they were rolling in cash. Apparently, only 6% of their revenue comes from oil. The wars in the gulf have given them a business opportunity in real estate and shipping. They must have bought into the same bullshit that the US real estate market did! Larger and more elaborate projects are running them into bankruptcy. Obviously, some things are just plain stupid. Who builds a ski slope in a city/country with an average temperature of 104 degrees? At some point, I would expect the sea to eventually take back the palm islands. Here's something to think about. Remember the controversy when it looked like Dubai World was going to control 6 of the US's major seaports? The concern over national security was legitimate. What if the port takeover had happened? Certainly, one of Dubai's creditors might be able to influence them in a way that was not beneficial to us. Of course, Bush was all for it. Another one of his stupid ideas! Thank God someone in Congress said "Whoa!!"

Manufactured fame

The news is all about Sarah Palin's new book these days. It got me thinking about how someone can become famous so quickly. As you know, Palin rose from obscurity to a household name almost overnight. She just happened to be who the GOP picked to use up in the last presidential election. How she achieved cult status is beyond me. I don't know what her platform was when she ran for governor of Alaska but it looks like the people were fed up with the typical good ol' boys option and she was the alternative. Kinda sounds like the last prez election, doesn't it! I suppose she appeals to a slice of America that enjoys that idea that a woman can shoot a rifle and dress a moose and then dress for a party and do shots. Just because she ran as a vice presidential candidate doesn't mean that she has the depth of experience to be our next president. The talk of her being the GOP's choice in the next election is probably because they assume that running against Obama will be an uphill battle and they don't want to burn a good candidate (if there is one).
Speaking of Obama, where did he come from? He was a virtual unknown until the Dems started a buzz. Next thing you know, he's the next Martin Luther King and saviour of our world. The whole time he was running for president, I was reminded of the Chris Rock movie "Head of State". I believe his platform was "It jus ain't right!" Obama popped up out of the super-corrupt Chicago political machine as the (apparently) only clean one of the bunch. It's kinda hard to think that there are no ties to that machine although so far he seems to be genuinely concerned with changing the way the country is heading. I do think he is trying to do too much too fast for too much money. The decision makers of America are the same ones who put us in the economic predicament we are in now. I can't help but think of how long we will be paying for his reforms.

Fun with UPS

Let me tell you about my encounter with UPS today. On Thursday, I sent a next day air package to Colorado. I didn't want to just mail it because I wanted a tracking number and going to the post office is a pain in the arse. The recipient had failed to give me a suite number, so when I checked the tracking today, there was a delivery exception. It said there was no apartment or suite number on the package so they couldn't deliver it. The message said that they would send the recipient a postcard with instructions to pick up the package at the local customer service center. Now, if they couldn't deliver the package, how the hell is a postcard going to get there? I decided to call UPS, after calling the recipient to get the suite number, to let UPS know the suite number for re-delivery. Here's my call:
UPS: Welcome to United Parcel Service (or something like that). Please say one of the following options:
Tracking a package
Shipping a package
Order supplies
(Now, I hate voice menus. I would much rather press a number.)
Me: tracking a package.
UPS: Please say the tracking number.
Me: 1Z3Eblah,blah,blah
UPS: I'm sorry. There is no information on this tracking number. Please check back later for updated information.
(returns to the original menu)
I press 0.
UPS: Welcome to United Parcel Service (or something like that). Please say one of the following options:
Tracking a package
Shipping a package
Order supplies
Me: Order supplies.
UPS: Press 1 to have an order form faxed to your location. Or stay on the line for an agent.
I wait. I get a real human.
UPS: Hi, my name is whatever. How can I help you?
Me: I was tracking my package and saw the delivery exception because of a missing suite number. I called the recipient and got the suite number. Now I want to give it to you so the package can be delivered.
UPS: What is the tracking number?
Me: 1Z3Eblah,blah,blah
UPS: Oh, there's a delivery exception on that package because of missing address information.
Me: That's why I called.
UPS: Well, we can't add the suite number and redeliver it. You need to come down to the customer service center and pick it up.
Me: I'm in Georgia. I'm the sender. Not the recipient.
UPS: Can you call them and tell them to pick up the package.
Me: No, it's a big office with hundreds of people. They're not going to run down to the customer service center to pick it up.
UPS: Well, I'm sorry but there aren't any other options.
Me: Well just shred it then.
UPS: We can't do that. After 14 days, we can send it back to you.
Me: Is it going to cost me another $35?
UPS: No.
I hung up. Now, I don't know about other cities, but in my town the UPS guys know more gossip than any beauty shop and they know where everyone is. I had a UPS guy leave my package at a local market once because he knew I would eventually show up there. One time I got a package at my office in a different town because they knew where I worked and it was closer than going to my house. The office building in Colorado is one of those small 4 story buildings in a nicely manicured office park and I know the recipient's company probably took up a whole floor. I know damn well the UPS guy knew where this office was. I guess now I have to mail it.

Dontcha love social networking!

I wasn't planning on writing this for a few days but Facebook pissed me off by not letting me write what's on my mind so here it is. In the last 10 months or so, I have managed to wind up on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as well as writing a blog. I noticed on LinkedIn that a lot of people started last fall and winter. Although the recession started around January of '08, it took until fall for the shit to hit the unemployment fan. All sorts of advice columns popped up on how to keep or find a job. One suggestion was "networking" with friends and colleagues for potential employment. I'm not sure how everyone is doing with that because most of the people I found as colleagues apparently set up their accounts and never looked again. I run across a fair amount of Twitter accounts like that too. I think most were set up when Ashton Kutcher and CNN were competing to get to 1 million followers never to tweet again. A large part of the rapid increase in social networking activity is from folks like me sitting in an office with nothing else to do. Thank God we have internet! As frustrating as Facebook is, it is pretty cool being able to see friends and relatives and know what they are doing day to day. That being said, I can't seem to share what I write in the "on my mind" box so here is what I'm trying to write:
Yesterday I was standing in line at a government office and noticed a sign nearby explaining the upcoming days that the office would be closed. It listed Nov. 11 (Veterans Day) and went on to list Nov. 25 and Dec. 31 as Furlough Days. (Yes, they were capitalized) The woman in front of me turned and asked me what Furlough Day was. I explained that the state was initiated budget cuts and every state employee had to take 2 unpaid days off. She then asked who Furlough was! I told her that Furlough wasn't a who, that it was a what. She was completely serious!

Bend over, America! Citibank has a plan for you!

I read a new article on The Red Tape Chronicles yesterday about credit cards. The woman in the article had her Citibank card rate going from 12% to 30%. According to the article, she had a perfect pay history and a credit score in the high 700's. Her two choices were to pay the higher rate or to close the account. In today's kooky financial reasoning, closing the account would negatively affect her credit score. What I can't figure out is why not having a credit card lowers your credit score. If you do enough reading you will notice that, no matter how you handle your credit card, it negatively affects your FICO score. There are so many opinions that they eventually contradict each other. I am amazed at how much power the credit bureaus have. It has gotten to the point that banks and mortgage companies don't look at anything other than your score when making a decision. It also doesn't make sense that, the lower your score, the higher your interest rate. People who need the break with lower payments get the opposite.
Here is an example: two people go the the Chevy dealership to buy a car. One is a doctor. The other is a stock clerk at Walmart. They both need a car. The stock clerk is obviously tight on money since he works at Walmart. Doctors are not generally tight on money. The doctor has a 790 FICO and the clerk has a 620 FICO. The doctor will get 0% financing because he can afford a higher payment with a shorter term. The clerk will pay 15% because he needs 72 month financing. Another thing that doesn't make sense is, the longer the term, the higher the rate. If the clerk had a lower rate, he could more easily make the payment, improving his FICO score.
Getting back to the credit cards, the current shenanigans of the credit card industry are in retaliation to the latest round of regulations imposed by Congress. They are always going to screw us over as long as we as a nation think we have to have the cards. I think it's cool that they can't mess with our debit cards yet but I'm sure it's coming. While there are some logical reasons for using a credit card, most of the time they are used for buying stuff that we could do without for a while. It's that whole "instant gratification syndrome" we are all going through.

Quote from a blog

I just read a blog comment on someone else's blog that just screams "show this to others". Enjoy!

I love to cook for my best friend but she went and decided my most difficult recipe is her fave so sometimes I have to make it. Today I decided to make it for her since we haven't eaten this since August, but then I decided that maybe it's time she learned to make it so I suggested she could make it and I could supervise. She didn't like the idea so I told her I think the Bible says that if you give a man a fish he eats for a day but if you teach him how to fish he eats for life. Something like that. Then we started bickering and when I left to go to the store my friend was yelling after me "I ALREADY KNOW HOW TO FISH!" I pointed out how we were recently talking about how disgusting the holy rollers are when they pick and choose things from the Bible to interpret literally. So I called her a literalist and she told me that she is not a literalist because this particular recipe doesn't even have fish in it. Is she right? I say she's a literalist.

It's all in the numbers

I find numbers and their relationships to be intriguing. I use numbers every day in my work (not accounting, thank goodness!) but the numbers thrown around in the news every day are mind boggling. My mind tends to wander at times and I start thinking about some random fact. Automatically, I start relating numbers.
Take the numbers thrown around for the uninsured in the US. It runs around 45 million people. This was before the current recession/depression. Now, the unemployment rate is roughly 10% nationally. Would that mean 35 million more are uninsured now? Has there been an overlap in these numbers? I would venture to guess that some of the 45 million uninsured are that way due to unemployment.
How about the healthcare cost number being tossed around? I think the current 10 year cost of the proposed healthcare bill is around $900 billion. That roughly breaks down to $3000 per person per year (unless I counted zeros erroneously). A family of four would be $12000. I can already buy insurance cheaper than that!
Global warming is another area where big numbers live. The argument over whether the earth is warming or cooling rages on. Scientists are measuring the "warmest year on record" or the "coldest year on record". Records started being kept in the 1880's. About 130 years ago! According to this website, the earth is about 4.5 billion years old. Basing any assumption of global warming or cooling on 130 years of measuring is like watching the Dow for one second and deciding what the yearly performance is!
On an ending note, I think we should devalue numbers. They are getting too big and they don't fit most calculators. When I get an answer like 2.8888888888888888888888888888889e-8, I don't know what the hell it is!

Ripped off by Chinese products once again

I read today that folks are getting screwed by the use of imported Chinese drywall. I guess the building boom a few years ago created a shortage of drywall so building materials suppliers imported as much as 500 million pounds from China. From what I understand, there are sulfur compounds and organic stuff that make it stink and corrode plumbing. Some people are claiming it makes them sick, although these are probably the same ones that got sick from the formaldehyde a few years back. The bad thing is that these folks are filing claims on their homeowners insurance (which wouldn't cover it anyway) and the insurance company is dropping them altogether. That is typical of insurance companies. Any loophole to get out of paying a claim! Now, anyone with Chinese drywall in their houses runs the risk of losing their coverage even if they didn't know they had it. They can't even sue the manufacturers because they are in China. I'm sure that there is something that can be done to hold the manufacturers liable considering the amount of products imported from there.
This is just one example of how the Chinese don't give a crap about the quality of their products, even the ones they make for themselves. It's scary to think that they are considering importing cars from there. I know we have standards to adhere to but obviously that doesn't necessarily happen. I know a Chinese guy who owns a few restaurants and some real estate. All of my dealings with him on various construction projects have involved me trying to get him to not cut corners. I will not eat at his restaurants either. You know, most Chinese food looks like leftovers thrown in with some noodles and cooked in a wok. Put soy sauce and ginger on anything and it taste better! It's kind of like seafood. Roll it in Zatarain's and deep fry it. Even a boot tastes good!

Stupid human tricks

I read about some Somali pirates trying to hijack what they thought was a cargo ship. Turns out it was a French navy vessel. You gotta wonder what they thought the instant they realized their mistake. It reminds me of some documentary I saw on Discovery last week about some natives in the rain forests of Brazil. This naked guy climbed up a tree so he could poke a stick in a beehive in an adjacent tree to get the honey out. What is he going to do when bees come after him 30' up a tree? Luckily, there were no bees. Unfortunately, there was no honey either.

Oh, by the way, I didn't realize that there is a waiter/patron privilege similar to the doctor/patient one. It's bad when you can't bitch about tips anymore.

Mean Aunt Judy

My "Mean Aunt Judy" passed away yesterday. While we are all sad to see this happen, it gave me the opportunity to reflect on my memories of her. Since I am 50, the really young stuff is completely gone, and the more recent gets fuzzier every day. Besides chatting with her on the phone occasionally, there are two things that stick in my mind. One was the time I was in Atlanta on business. I went out to eat with her and Doug at a place I think was called the Savoy. They knew everyone there and it apparently was a dance club they frequented. We had a blast. The other times I remember were when all of the Bubb sisters would get together at Callaway for a weekend retreat. Since I would usually ride Mom up there to drop her off, I had time to visit. I don't know how many people have aunts that you can hang out with and drink beer, but if you don't, you're missing out on the fun. We miss you, Mean Aunt Judy, and will always love you.

Get health insurance or pay the fine !!

Obama is saying that his insurance plan has a provision that will force us to get health insurance or face financial penalties. He says that requiring everyone to "share" the financial burden is the fair way and that now some people carry the "burdens" of other people. Well, ain't that the American way? We pay other peoples' burdens all the time! Anytime one person gets something for free that other people normally pay for, someone has carried that person's burden. He also claims that nearly every person is required to have auto insurance so this wouldn't be much different. Bullshit !! Everyone is not required to own a car. There are a lot of people out there who don't have to buy car insurance. In my case, if health insurance was the same $100 per month as my car insurance or the $80 per month of my homeowners insurance, I would buy it. The last time I priced insurance it was about $600 per month. That's a friggin' paycheck! I haven't been to a doctor in 2 years (thank you, God). I'd be out $14000! The talk now is that the "uninsured younger generation" is filling our emergency rooms, costing us money and driving up health costs. They don't have insurance because, when you are 23, you are immortal. Look around an emergency room. The ones there are generally people who either can't afford to go to a doctor (who wants $125 up front) or they get Medicare or Medicaid and act like it is a blank check to go there for every little ache and pain. The way to reduce premiums is to allow us to choose a la carte services and jack up doctor copays. Every time you pay a $30 copay, the insurance company pays the other $70 to $100. Where does that come from? Your premiums (or mine!). Bump the copay to $75. It will make people think a bit before going to the doctor. Now I know most folks have a legitimate reason for going to the doctor but there are just as many who are hypochondriacs who go at every twinge of pain. Stop the doctors from running stupid, useless tests. My last blood work included a blood sugar test. There is not a diabetic within 4 generations of me. That's a waste of the 50 or 60 bucks it cost me. One way to save on costs is to study up a little on your medical background so you can speak intelligently with your doctor or take someone with you who can. Let's hope someone with some common sense can prevail so we won't all end up with a burning sensation in our hind parts.

Capitalism's chokehold on our country

I watched Jay Leno last night and his guest was Michael Moore. Moore was pitching his new movie about capitalism. It got me to thinking. Although I think Moore sometimes puts things in a simplistic light and may not substantiate some facts, he made some interesting points. How about the fact that the top 1% of the population based on assets have more than the bottom 95% combined. He referred to capitalism as legalized greed. He's not pushing for socialism but some moderation in capitalism would be nice. This all goes back to some of my prior posts about the disappearance of corporate ethics. He also mentioned how 80% of the people were against the $750 billion bailout but it happened anyway. This also is a point I have made in the past. Instead of our representatives ignoring us, they should be voting our way. Our Congress was originally intended to give us representation in Washington. Nowadays, the only ones with representation are the lobbyists and political action committees. We need to reform the way business is done in DC. The first thing to do is stop all political contributions by anyone other than private individuals. Get rid of all of the special interest groups dumping millions of dollars into our senators pockets. Right now, our congressmen are just doing what the highest bidders want. Put the big stuff to a vote. Let us vote on the major things like healthcare reform and industry bailouts. How hard can it be? We don't have to go through a bunch of crap setting up for special elections and funding overtime for local election boards. We could vote like we do for American Idol or via Twitter polls. It is said that 90% of the US has internet access. That's more than the 33% who voted in the last election. There were about 115 million Idol votes the week of May 20, 2003. In comparison, 122 million voted in the last presidential election! Surely in our modern age, we can take more control of our government and our economic destiny. I guess our representatives in DC think we're just a mass of uneducated dummies who can't think for ourselves.

Why health insurance costs so much

When I was watching Obama's healthcare speech last week, he mentioned something about insurance companies having near-monopolies in various states and that this caused rates in those states to be higher than surrounding states. I did some digging online and found some interesting info. It looks like a lot of money has changed hands to get states to add obscure procedures and unneeded drugs to their lists of requirements. Every state is allowed to have its own set of health regulations, which has resulted in a patchwork of varying coverage. Perhaps there needs to be a federal set of regulations to make it consistent across the nation although that may not be a good thing (like Bush's No Child Left Behind). On the flip side, there are opinions that the health insurance industry should be deregulated. Judging by the premiums and spotty coverage, it doesn't look too regulated now. As in other industries of late, the insurance industry is doing the typical merger and acquisition dance. Their record profits are being used to buy up the competition and improve their bottom line instead of reducing premiums and increasing coverage. When you have a 90% monopoly in a particular area, you can pretty much charge what you want. If the public option plan did nothing other than cause premiums from private insurers to go down, it would be achieving its goal. The cable company in our city has a similar monopoly. When the city discussed getting in the cable business, the cable company lowered its rates. Fast forward 3 years and rates are back up because the city never actually got in the cable business. This shows us that just threatening to have a public option isn't enough.
Here's a couple of links that offer causes and opinions:
http://tinyurl.com/oaktzz
http://tinyurl.com/ms972j

5 reasons why living in your car is a good thing

1. If you get tired of the view, you can move without losing your deposit.
2. No property taxes.
3. You don't have to get up to get anything (unless it's in your trunk/storage room).
4. You won't be late for work if you park it at work.
5. Bill collectors can't find you.

5 reasons why living in your car is a bad thing

1. Bringing home a date is embarrassing.
2. Thanksgiving at your house is out of the question.
3. If the dog shits in the floor, it stinks up the whole house.
4. You can't get "out of the house" because you have to drive it to get there.
5. It doesn't build equity.

Remembering 9/11

8 years ago a group of cowards started a chain of events that reshaped the American psyche. 8 years later, Osama and his hairy band of goat masturbaters are sitting in a cave somewhere, waiting for the missile that will eventually find them. Osama, may the STDS of a thousand prostitutes forever infest your genitals.

The New Age of Walmart

Let me preface this by noting that I hate going to Walmart and only go to the pharmacy if at all possible. That being said, the arrogance of Walmart as reported by this article http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090909/us_time/08599192069800 is amazing. Although it's wonderful that a business could actually do well during this recession/depression, going that extra mile to grind the rest of your competitors into bankruptcy reinforces my earlier opinion that business ethics disappeared a long time ago. Since Walmart stock isn't performing at 1990's levels (no stocks are!), the shareholders are whining. Whining shareholders are why we are in the economic dump now! When every aspect of a business revolves around the bottom line, 2 things suffer: employees and ethics. How can Walmart pat themselves on the back for all their charity work when they have succeeded in driving out all competition and causing thousands of people to lose their jobs?
The article states that Walmart is cleaning up their act in regards to crowded aisles and friendly employees. They have a long way to go. Good luck finding an employee or "associate" as they call them. If you find one, they either don't know the answer to your question, or they don't give a shit. They all walk around like they would rather be anywhere but Walmart (just like me!) Just to be fair, our Walmart pharmacy does have knowledgeable and helpful employees. It just sucks to stand in a line of 30 people waiting to pick up medicine. Ol' Sam started out pushing "Made in USA" products only. He apparently realized he could make more money by selling the cheaper shitty products produced by countries that don't have oversight on workplace conditions or product safety. How many times have there been product recalls where the major player is Walmart because the product is some off brand that they paid to have made cheaper somewhere besides the US? How many times have you bought something that either didn't work to begin with or lasted just long enough to be out of warranty?
Here's an example of the typical Walmart experience. My wife bought some groceries one day at Walmart last year. When she was checking out, the cashier noticed that one of the packs of ground beef was missing a label or the barcode was illegible. The cashier told my wife she could go back and get another pack of meat. She wouldn't call for a price check. My wife wasn't going 2 miles back to the meat department for more meat so she said she didn't want it. The front end manager was also involved in this whole discussion. The meat was subsequently tossed in one of those buggies you see by the checkout that have all the stuff people didn't buy. It was sitting in there with toilet paper, T shirts, shoes, etc. How long do you think it sat there before it was relabeled and replaced in the cooler? That's why I hate Walmart. Check out this link for more reasons not to go to Walmart. http://peopleofwalmart.com

Insert name here: Anonymous

Whenever I read comments on various topics, I see that most respondents are anonymous. I then noticed that most of these anonymous comments aren't something that would be said face to face. The web makes it easy for cowards to hide behind this anonymity and spout out bullshit that their momma never taught them. I'm all for freedom of speech and, if your manners and upbringing cause you to come off as an ignorant dumbass, that's your problem. Here's my opinion: If you aren't willing to back up your comment with some sort of identification, then keep your mouth shut. Here's a case in point. Liskula Cohen, the model in New York disfigured in a bar brawl, has won her case against an anonymous blogger who talked trash about her. The courts forced Google to identify the blogger. From what I gather, the blogger overstepped the line on what is opinion and what is defamation. Now, if the blogger had a name to start with, it would not have gotten as far as it did. Now the blogger is suing Google for "breach of a fiduciary duty to protect her privacy". Huh? Obviously some law was bent or broken for it to get to the Manhattan Supreme Court. Commenting anonymously on any topic reminds me of the hyenas slinking around the lion while he eats whatever. They aren't willing to go face to face with the lion because they might get their ass kicked. By the way, Ms Cohen's lawyer says the upcoming defamation suit against the now known blogger is not about the money but because "something was done that was wrong". Yeah, right!

Re: Murder in Brunswick Ga

Gotta follow up on my previous article about this. As you know, the guy named Guy was arrested for murder. While this may be an opposite outcome to my previous opinion, 2 facts still remain. He couldn't have done it by himself and our current economic situation has a lot to do with this.

Stay in school, kids!

What the hell is wrong with people today? For 2 or 3 days now, I have been watching people protest Obama's speech to the school children of America. One lady on CNN was actually crying! One would have thought that the devil himself was going to eat her kid at the end of the speech. Did I miss something? We weren't taken over by the rebels or the Commies! This is our duly elected president. Has patriotism died out or is this a result of the "me, me, me" society we're living in? We have 3 basic types of parents. There is the satellite parent who watches or is involved in every breath of their child. There is the parent who thinks school is the best way to get their child out of the house and doesn't get involved in any aspect of their education. Then there's the rest of us who struggle with making sure our kids are fed, clothed, and educated while trying to understand the sometimes interminable study programs our kids are in. But that's another article subject.
It is being said that this school speech is just a platform to push "Obama Socialism" on us. Go here to read the speech: http://tinyurl.com/mqw42h Nowhere in this speech does it mention anything about any of the current or past agendas of Obama like health care reform, global warming, etc. You get the drift. This speech is about staying in school and doing your best to make yourself into a contributing member of our society. He's not preaching " sit on your ass and sell dope all day" or "see how many indigent care programs you can enroll in". He is preaching social and community responsibility. He is preaching that you can't get rich quick, but you can get rich if you work at it. This is how our country was built. This speech doesn't have Republican or Democrat overtones but is a commonsense approach to making good decisions about how you want to turn out when you become an adult.
As a side note, Obama is relating to his upbringing in his speech. The same can't be said for the Bushies who, belonging to the silver spoon crowd, were able to skate along on social positioning. You can't learn anything real that way, as evidenced by our past 8 years.

Murder in Brunswick Ga

I'm sure anyone who watches CNN saw this story. 9 or 10 adults living in a single-wide mobile home because of job loss makes you want to say "Gee, thanks" to the greedy assholes who started this recession. (Yes, the recession isn't accidental) What irritates me is that the guy (named Guy!) who found the victims obviously realized that the cops would find his pot stash so he moved it. Now, this is pure conjecture and not based on anything other than reading the story from the AP. This guy got arrested for possession, tampering with evidence, and lying to a police officer. As a side note, isn't it odd that they can lie to you? They have a much larger crime to deal with than a lowly pot smoker. Thinking that this guy could possibly be a suspect is a stretch too. How can 1 man beat 8 adults to death? Let's hope that the cops stop with the shotgun approach and actually solve this thing.

10 things that piss me off!

Here are 10 things that piss me off. They aren't in any particular order and I'm certain that there are more.
1. Left turn arrows that don't last long enough.
2. Those crappy napkins they give you at a drive-thru.
3. A hiccup in my checking account on a Friday afternoon.
4. Gas prices in general. What makes them go up and down daily?
5. Warm or out of date sodas at the convenience store.
6. Watching 525 elected congressmen ignore the opinions of the 300 million people that elected them.
7. Seeing someone throw a Burger King bag full of trash out the car window.
8. Having to jump through 3 flaming hoops to buy medicine from a foreign country when Walmart does it all the time.
9. Seeing a dog in the back of a pickup truck. He should get to ride in the A/C like everyone else.
10. Driving behind someone going 10 mph under the speed limit while talking on a cell phone or writing down ideas for his next blog article.

Who came up with our education funding?

I just read where school systems are cutting back on bus services to any student living within 2 miles of their school due to budget cuts. The local school systems bear the brunt of the expenses anyway, but now even more so. In today's world, there is no way I would let my kids walk to school. Just the fact that the state can't keep up with where all the sex offenders live is reason enough. What gets me is, when the schools are cutting back on teacher pay and supplies for the daily running of schools, that they are also building multi-million dollar schools. Our local university has jacked any fee possible and added others. Tuition has been increased as it is every year. They are in the process of building a new 120,000 square foot student union complete with ballroom and theatre. They have renovated or replaced 3 residence halls. There has been over $100 million spent within the last 5 years. While this is good for the contractor doing the job, you have to wonder where the money is coming from. Is this part of the new "pay it forward" plan (spend it now, let somebody else figure out how to pay for it later)? Local option sales taxes pay for our public school construction. The taxes can't be used to make up for salary or supply budget cuts. I'll bet the teacher with the reduced paycheck feels pretty good about at least being in a new building!

Hillary Clinton, Krazy Glue, and CARS

Did anyone see Hillary's meltdown on the news the other day? Even if she misunderstood the question, she shouldn't come off as a super bitch in public. She should know better than anyone that, as an emissary of the US, she has to maintain some sense of decorum. She knew how it was going to be coming in to her current political status. With Willie Bill in the wings, some of us wonder if maybe he is the real power behind her. He obviously is proving that he still has quite a bit of influence and I appreciate the fact that he is keeping involved in the political arena. Thank God Bush is not!
Change the channel. How about the 4 women being charged with super gluing that guy's wee willie winkie to his stomach. I thought that was funny as hell! Serves his ass right. You've got to wonder why they were so bent out of shape though. 3 of the 4 were sleeping with him. Some of them were married. The guy is married. He's not the only guilty one. He should be glad they didn't pull a Lorena Bobbitt on him.
I had an idea the other day about the CARS thing. Why not make the rebate only good for 1 year old used cars that meet the mileage requirements? Since all new cars have a built-in price cushion and are only worth about 80% of the sticker price, the $4500 rebate is just being absorbed by the 20% fluff. Check out this link http://tinyurl.com/rch7l9 You end up paying the real price for the car and the taxpayer pays for the profit. Since cars lose up to 20% of their value the minute you drive it off the lot, the 1 year old used car becomes a more legitimate value. If you'll notice, the manufacturer rebates have gotten a lot smaller, averaging about $500.

CARS (Corporate Automotive Reward System)

My commentary on the CARS initiative may be a moot point as, at this time, the govt is rethinking its financial position on it. This is just a method to give the automotive sector even more money from the stimulus package. How does it help the average American? It doesn't put a dime in our pockets. As a matter of fact, it will cost each of us $3.26 (based on 307 million of us). I guarantee you that the dealers will figure out a way to screw you. I have never left a dealership without a painful burning sensation in my backside. What is even more bizarre is that the car you trade in cannot be resold at all. The dealers are supposed to render the engine and transmission useless. If the engine goes in your '96 Chevy Impala, you may be out of luck buying a recycled one from the salvage yard for $700. You will be forced to spend 2 grand or more on a newer crate engine. If there is one at the salvage yard, I'm sure supply and demand will come into play on the pricing. This goes against the American spirit of reusing what you have instead of just throwing it away. The only people who will truly get a deal are those driving a true piece of shit that is paid for except for the fact that they will wind up with a car payment and higher insurance costs. The program does not have enough limitations either. I went on GM's website http://tinyurl.com/ncqfjm to see just how stupid of a deal they could come up with. You can trade in a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria (at least 50% of all cop cars) on a Chevy Aveo and get $4500. Then the dealer will take the Ford (which would have about 15,000 miles on it) and crush it. How the hell does that make sense? Why don't they just grab the first piece of crap '83 Pontiac they see and give the owner the newer car? Then they would really be getting the clunkers off the road.

Who's that in my house? Oh, it's me!

You gotta love the buzz about Obama, Prof. Gates, and the cops. This whole thing would have never been news if everyone had not over-reacted from the start. The cop did it first. Then Gates did it. Then the media did it. Then Obama offered an opinion that never should have been offered in a public forum like a national news conference. I feel sorry for the neighbor who called 911 in the beginning. All of the self-righteous minority coalitions are calling her a racist. The 911 call indicates that she said that one of the people "might" have been Hispanic. The cop says she said they were black. Of course, he's covering his ass. Gates carried it even further by playing the "black" victim. He looked like he was shooting off his mouth to the point that the cop had enough. I don't care if you are in your own house, the prudent thing to do is maintain civility and work through it. He's lucky they didn't tase him! Lastly, all this BS about having a beer at the White House and the ensuing speculation of what kind of beer it will be is worse than the frenzy created by Michael Jackson's untimely demise.

America's 2nd favorite drug

I read the other day that some of California's lawmakers want to introduce a bill that would legalize and tax (of course!) weed. They say it would bring $1.4 billion in tax revenue. I have to say that it's about time someone used their gray matter. Lumping pot in with cocaine and heroin is like saying a badminton racket is as dangerous as an AK47. By the way, I didn't know badminton had that first 'n' in it. I always heard that it was Alfred DuPont who was behind the criminalization of marijuana. He invented nylon, which was in direct competition with hemp. Since he was well-placed in high society, he was able to use his influence to aid the ban. (That never happens, right?) It is interesting to note that hemp grown for paper and rope is not the same variety as what is generally smoked for a high. Did you know that the first paper mill in the US, started by Ben Franklin, used hemp exclusively? According to USDA bulletin 404, 1 acre of hemp will produce fiber for paper equal to 4.1 acres of trees. The processing to create paper is also much cleaner than our current production from wood fiber.
Back to getting high on weed. We already have alcohol to get high on. It is fairly apparent that the alcohol industry has a pretty good chokehold on our government when it comes to regulation. Just look at the stats for drunk driving deaths and the number of domestic problems caused by alcoholics. You ever heard of a pothead going on a rampage, beating and killing his or her family? Look at all of the ads on TV! Hell, alcohol doesn't even have any medicinal use other than pouring it on your leg to sterilize it after being shot at the OK Corral. Pot, on the other hand, would not only increase revenue for the government but also revitalize the snack food industry. It would bring a new meaning the the "fourthmeal" at Taco Bell. Just imagine how much money the government would save by not having to chase pot farmers and destroy illegal crops. You ever wonder why they burn the pot instead of burying it at the landfill? I'll bet they all stand downwind of the fire. The bureaucracy involved in pot prosecution could be trimmed back, saving millions in tax dollars. Going back to hemp would also cut down on our oil consumption. It worked fine as rope for hundreds of years. This is one example of technology not necessarily being better.
Healthwise, I assume that there are certain risks to smoking pot similar to tobacco. One of the biggest problems with tobacco is the additional chemicals added during curing and processing. I do think that the number of tobacco related deaths is overstated to give credence to the current legislation hammering tobacco companies. If we keep pot in its pure form, some of these health risks go away. Also, I can't imagine anyone smoking 2 packs of pot a day. You would be a houseplant, just sitting there gathering dust and soaking up sunshine! Here is another odd fact. According to the 2006 World Drug Report, 12.5% of America uses pot but only 1.3% of Mexico uses pot. That might be caused by the fact that 40% of Mexico's population is in the US.

Who has the real money?

I read in the news yesterday that Azharuddin Ismail, child star of Slumdog Millionaire, and his mother have moved into a new home. They are very happy that there are 4 walls, a toilet, and a locking door. These things should remind us that we don't have it so bad after all. The other child star, Rubina Ali, is also going to be in a new home. These homes are apparently being provided by the Mumbai housing authority, who I guess sells them for £30,000 ($48,000) to whoever. A trust fund has been set up to provide for both children for education and living expenses. The producers are also suppose to set up a £500,000 ($800,000) donation to a local development charity to improve slum children's lives.
The point I'm trying to make here is that the movie grossed $360,000,000! Granted, there are expenses involved as well as the theaters' operating costs, but how much did it cost to actually make this movie? The average household income in India is $1600 per year. (I don't know if this includes the ones we all get stuck with on customer support.) I can't imagine that it cost very much to hire the extras shown in the movie. One woman said her kids were in the movie and they weren't paid at all. Of the 5 million people living in Mumbai, 2.5 million of them live in the slums. Assuming a breakdown of Mom, Dad, and 3 kids, I come up with 1.5 million children living in these slums. That's about 50 cents for each kid from the $800,000 donation mentioned above. Doesn't that make you wonder who made the real money?

Ugliest Dog Contest

Let me preface this by saying that it's about time something besides a Chinese Crested won this contest. Has anybody seen the latest winner of the Sonoma-Marin Fair ugly dog contest? http://tinyurl.com/mhyy8 That's a face only a mother could love. It's curious that the dog known as Pabst (cool name!) is tagged as a "boxer mix". Looks like a red-nosed pit mix to me. I think they classify shelter dogs with anything but a pit or bulldog reference because of the misinformed public panic about these dogs. Our adopted shelter dog was labeled a "dalmatian-hound mix". When we went to meet him and adopt him, I noticed some bulldog features. After we adopted him and took him home, I looked through the paperwork we got from the animal hospital and noted that he was in fact a dalmatian-bulldog mix.
It's a shame that there is such negativity about bulldog breeds. They get so much bad press that it has stirred people into a frenzy that is resulting in the breed actually being banned in some communities. I've had 2 and neither one was more aggressive than any other breed. Most of the stories you read about these dogs killing or mauling someone are a result of poor training and/or environment. Dogs are like people in that how you are raised defines your eventual behavior. Most of these dogs were either abused or raised by gang bangers and meth cookers with the occasional white supremacist thrown in. Most were trained to be mean. The 2 meanest dog breeds I have seen are dachshunds and Jack Russell terriers. The crazy thing is that Jack Russells appear to have become the family dog of choice since thay are smaller than Labs and "fiercely loyal". The "fiercely" is what you have to look out for!

Hi, Billy Mays here!

This has been a rough time for celebrities. It started with Ed McMahon. If you've never heard "Here's Johnny!" , then you must not have ever watched a TV. Then there was Farrah Fawcett. Her story had been known for a while as she battled cancer. It's a shame that her death was overshadowed by Michael Jackson's sudden demise and subsequent channel-clogging news frenzy. Interesting that we as humans tend to glorify the positive and overlook the negative when someone dies. The shocker was Billy Mays. At least in the US, he was as well known as Jackson and even more so, depending on how old you are and how much TV you watch. You didn't have to see the TV to recognize the voice. I got the impression, after watching his show "Pitchmen", that he genuinely tried to help people get their inventions and products marketed. What was cool was that he pitched life insurance just like he pitched OxyClean! That's a true pitchman. We're going to miss you, Billy Mays.

And another one bites the dust!

What is it about political office that makes a guy like Gov. Mark Sanford do something as stupid as having an affair with someone in Argentina? I don't know which is worse; the affair or the fact that she's in South America. It's not like you can run down to the Walmart parking lot. You have to pretend you went hiking for a long time. My favorite prez had it goin' on. Willie Bill just did it at his office!
One has to wonder what kind of people we are electing into office. I don't know if politicians err at the same percentage rate as the rest of us or if aberrant behavior is a political prerequisite. You have governors with prostitutes. You have governors having affairs. You have senators playing footsie in public restrooms. I think these are all distractions so that we don't notice the other back room deals going one that cost us money and freedom. Politics on the state level invariably involve some sort of deal that benefits the governor's wallet, family, or area he is from. It's almost like a rite of passage. Some states are worst than others. Please note that I haven't done any research on this so I'm going off of memory. Louisiana has a terrible record of state officials screwing the public over. New York has its share of idiots. You see what came out of Texas. Their current governor has commented on secession. We all know what happened the last time! Come to think of it, South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, thus starting the Civil War.

Jon & Kate + 8 + TV = Divorce?

Who knew this would happen? I don't think having 20 cameras following a family around is a good idea and it certainly isn't good parenting. What will the kids think about their parents in 10 or 12 years when they see reruns of their upbringing? It's a shame that Jon and Kate would put their own need for fame and money above the proper raising of their children. I wondered what their decision would be when it popped up in the news a few weeks ago. I was hoping that they would kick out the cameras and try to salvage their relationship and normalize their family life. Apparently their egos got in the way. I'm surprised that they are going to continue the show. Are we going to have the "Jon visits the kids on his weekend" show or the "Kate goes after more child support" show? This kind of crap also reduces TLC's legitimacy as a true learning channel. All I learned was not to put your family on TV!

Obama and PETA sittin' in a tree ...

What is with PETA these days? I guess they would be happy if we were all just germs living in a mud puddle. A natural reaction by anyone bugged by a bug is to smash its little guts out. A fly has no "redeeming social value" except to let you know what restaurant not to eat at! I'm curious to see how big the scandal over the fly's demise gets. From what I can tell, when Obama killed the fly, the news folks called PETA to get their opinion. Sounds like the news channels are trying to drum up a controversy. I did hear one news chick say that there are over 175 million bugs for every human on Earth. I wonder what PETA's opinion is of all the bugs that get eaten in southeast Asia?

I've been healthcare jacked!

The proposals and plans being passed around Washington that deal with our healthcare crisis read like a crazy man dreamed them up. Obama claimed in his campaign that he wanted to reform our healthcare industry. What a wonderful idea! I just don't know who is really adding up the money. The assumption is that saving a trillion dollars over the next ten years would pay for insurance for the currently uninsured. Obama asserts that $106 billion could be cut from government healthcare payments to hospitals because there would not be any uninsured people showing up at hospitals. The theory behind this is that these people would have insurance either through Medicaid or because Ted Kennedy's proposed health insurance plan would hold a gun to their heads to ensure that they buy insurance. If you are paying the hospital either way, how is that saving? That is just the tip of the iceberg. Obama claims that he can reduce by $110 billion the payments to hospitals and other providers (but not doctors), because the system is becoming more efficient. When was the last time he sat in the outpatient surgery area for 3 hours waiting for a procedure? Not too much efficiency there! The additional claim is that Medicare drug payments will reduce by $75 billion. Does that mean that Grandma will now have a co-pay? The price of some drugs is ridiculous. The drug companies claim that they have to charge those high prices because of the cost of R&D and liability insurance. Have you seen foreign drug prices? You can buy Plavix for $47 from Europe instead of the $135 in the states. Why is that? Because the drug companies' arm is way up the FDA's ass! The FDA is like their puppet. It got that way because of the powerful drug company lobbyists. They have made sure that legislation keeps us from buying foreign drugs. Lobbyists are named thusly because, back in the old days, the type of business they conducted in Washington was not acceptable for the Oval Office. They were forced to do their business in the lobby! What I don't understand is that apparently medical providers across the healthcare spectrum say that there is as much as $2 trillion in waste that could be cut. Why do they have to wait on the government to force them to stop the waste? Why not start now?
This whole idea of making me buy health insurance is bullshit! What am I supposed to buy it with? I work for a company that will not provide insurance either due to its prohibitive cost (as a percentage of total business costs) or because they are cheap (probably the real reason). The last time I checked on insurance, the premium was around $650 a month. That's $7800 per year. If I got sick, I would spend that $7800 plus the $2000 deductible just to get to the part where the insurance company then pays 80%. How is that in any way fair? The blame is laid on the people who show up at emergency rooms with no money. I don't go to the doctor. Apparently, I have been blessed with relatively good health. Most of the people I see going to the emergency room for non-life threatening ailments are on Medicare or Medicaid. They are the "entitled" ones. I guess they think that since everything is covered, they can go there for every stupid little twinge or tingle. That is one of the areas where waste is obvious. Are these the people the reason Ted Kennedy is going to force me to buy insurance? There is a fairly large group of Americans who fall through the fiscal cracks when it comes to who pays for what. These are the people who make too much for any public assistance, but not enough to afford health insurance. How will the government force them to buy insurance? What will they do if I don't buy it? One part of the proposal is that they will take my tax refund or maybe even increase my withholding (like a garnishment). Part of Obama's proposal to pay for "healthcare for everyone" is to increase taxes on the healthcare industry. How does that work? All it does is hurt the public in the long run. It is like buying ice cream. The industry has reduced the size of the carton to 1.5 or 1.75 quarts. Oh yeah, they also jacked the price $3. This ice cream math is already at work and has been for years. All the current healthcare reform proposals will do is extend this formula.

GOP rabblerousers

What in the world is wrong with the GOP these days? Ol' Newt is out there criticizing Obama for failing at his attempt to stimulate the economy. Although I'm a bit nervous about the amount of promised spending, I don't see anyone jumping in with a better idea. The only real way to stimulate the economy is to increase consumer confidence which is getting harder to do with the consumer bearing the brunt of the effects of the failing economy. I can't stand the "pass it down" attitude of the business leaders at the top levels of companies. They are ultimately responsible for our current situation. They are just passing on the cost of their losses by laying off employees and cutting benefits. All of this economic crap happened on the GOP's watch! How can they be a credible alternative to Obama? This is what happens when a Texas oilman and his cronies are allowed to run the country for 8 years. One other thing. Who cares what Dick Cheney has to say anymore? At least Bush is laying low. Cheney is still running his mouth like he has influence. Maybe someone should take him bird hunting!

Credit Cards

It's nice to see somebody going after the credit card companies and their questionable business practices. Some are worse than others but they all need some sort of reforming. They will give a $300 card to anyone with a Social Security number and a pulse. In 2005, the credit card companies lobbied the government to revise the bankruptcy laws to give them a better position financially. They felt like they were getting screwed when people could just walk away from their credit card debt. Isn't that what unsecured credit is? There is a certain amount of risk involved in marketing your cards to a bunch of people who can't afford them anyway. Now they have government backing to support their predatory lending practices. Then there is the high interest rate and exorbitant fees. Let's use the $300 card as an example. Say you go over your credit limit and then pay late. Not only do you owe the minimum $15 payment, you also owe up to $80 in fees. This $95 is almost 33% of your balance. If you continue not paying, you wind up being charged this 33% every month. This amounts to 396% interest the way I figure it.
Another interesting thing about credit cards is the way they affect your credit score. If you have them maxed out but pay on time every month, you look pretty good as long as your credit card balances aren't a large percentage of your income. If you have cards that all have zero balances, it will negatively affect your credit score because of the potential to run them all up at the same time. People who pay off their cards every month don't make the credit card companies any money so the companies will eventually close their accounts. Credit card companies like it when you carry a balance because they are making anywhere from 6 to 21% interest on their investment. It seems backward to reward those with debt and penalize those who pay off their cards every month.
The latest legislation appears to give the consumer a better position to be treated fairly. The credit card companies have had free rein to act like loan sharks with their business practices and it is about time we kick their legs out from under them. I can't believe that some of the companies are receiving federal bailout money while charging the above-mentioned 396%. Of course, this isn't any different than Chrysler receiving bailout money and then closing a U.S. plant and shifting the jobs to Mexico but that's another blog topic.

The Carbon Chronicle

What do we have against carbon? It is part of almost everything living or dead. I saw a Domino sugar ad the other night on TV touting their "Carbon Free" brand of sugar. They claim that production of this sugar has a net zero carbon footprint. I don't think "Carbon Free" is the correct name. Sugar is 25% carbon, 50% hydrogen, and 25% oxygen! How stupid do they think we are? Granted, Domino is using good manufacturing processes for production like a biomass energy plant that recycles all of the plant waste, but look where they have their plant. I'm sure a lot of people would rather have the Everglades in its natural state than the cane fields and water canals scattered throughout South Florida. All of this "green" technology drives me nuts. It lets us feel good about destroying our natural habitat while making some folks lots of money. That's why they call it "green"! "Green" products typically cost more than their non-green counterparts as do the organic foods at the grocery store. There is not a lot of difference in taste and quality but non-green stuff generally lasts longer. Do you ever wonder if we are living longer today because of all the preservatives? ;)
Another carbon-related issue is the whole global warming scheme and the blame laid on carbon dioxide. Let me first say that I don't think global warming is as much the emergency some scientists claim it to be but just a naturally occurring cycle that we have not seen before (unless you lived in the Ice Age). As everyone knows, we emit CO2 but plant life absorbs it. Maybe there are too many mammals or not enough plant life. Maybe it is just our need to reorganize our surrounding to our liking. I think one way to combat greenhouse gases is to PLANT MORE STUFF! Stop the idiots from cutting down the rain forests. While bamboo makes a good flooring option, wiping out natural rain forests in South America to plant Brazilian eucalyptus for exotic flooring is plain stupid. Our quest for over-the-top kitchens is one of the causes of greenhouse gases. Issuing carbon credits is another dumb ass way of making ourselves feel good about destroying our environment. Our guvmint has come up with a way for the rich and powerful to make even more money horse-trading these credits. These credits are just like the wetlands mitigation credits. It is ok to destroy 100 acres of natural wetlands as long as you recreate 100 acres somewhere else. It doesn't matter that you wiped out all of the wildlife on that 100 acres and that it will take 10-15 years for that same wildlife to reappear on the "new" wetlands.
Back to CO2! Some knucklehead has come up with an idea to store CO2 in underground caverns that will be sealed up forever. How do you think we are going to coax the CO2 in our atmosphere to go in a cave and stay there? What would happen if a big cloud escaped all at once? Check out this link: http://volcanoes.suite101.com/article.cfm/1986_limnic_eruption_of_lake_nyos
A gas bubble of CO2 erupted from a lake in Cameroon in 1986 and killed over 1700 people. Over 3000 livestock were also killed. I don't think I want that kind of stuff happening around me. We are mighty bold to think we can re-shape how nature handles itself.
By the way, check out this sugar link. I don't know how legit the info is but it is interesting. http://www.alternativescentral.com/sugar-sweetpoison.htm

Obama's public works initiative

It is being reported that a lot of the stimulus money earmarked for road and bridge projects is not going to the counties hardest hit by rising unemployment. Apparently the roads and bridges needing repair or replacement are not in these depressed areas. I know I'm just armchair quarterbacking here but I'm not so sure this is going to do much to stimulate the overall economy. Our society today is not like it was when FDR created the Civilian Conservation Corps. The guy who just got laid off from his 60k job running a computer-driven production machine will not be able to get a job pushing a shovel on the Interstate. The construction companies already have their employees in place and will not expand to fill the need. They will just push out deadlines for years. Any project not already designed and funded will take 4-5 years to get off the ground. In my area, there has been a railroad overpass project in the works for 25 years! The land has been surveyed twice, the last being 3 years ago. I suppose the theory behind the public works program is the same trickle-down idea that Reagan had. I don't know about you but I don't have 4 years to wait on my job to come back!

Experience is the best teacher

Bristol Palin has been catching crap on the news today for promoting abstinence among teens. A fair amount of people have labeled her a hypocrite. I think what she is doing is a good thing. It can't hurt. The way I see it, if it doesn't sink in by reading the directions, it will damn sure sink in when you smash your hand in whatever machine you are using!

Yo,Boss! MySpace ain't your space!

If I want to talk smack about my boss or workplace on a supposedly private password protected area of a website on my own pc in my own house, I think that I have that right without fear of legal repercussion. Now, if I am doing something illegal, that's different. There are certain instances where material is protected by copyright or contract but that still does not give employers the right to invade one's privacy at home. The manager at the Houston's restaurant in New Jersey where the 2 employees were fired for dissin' the boss was way out of line by using someone else's (an ass kisser no doubt) password to gain access to the private MySpace page. Isn't that some sort of illegal act? That's like my boss walking in my yard, looking thru my window, and seeing me doing, watching, or reading something he doesn't agree with, and then firing me over it. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in court. Trespassing is defined as unlawful entry onto one's real property. Invasion of privacy is defined as intruding into the personal life of another. Is your MySpace page real property? Is it your personal life (assuming you have a private MySpace page)? What are we going to do when someone invents a mind reader app or contraption? Dogs and cats are mind readers, but don't speak human which is probably a good thing! Could you imagine if everyone's thoughts were just flying around like radio waves? We would all go nuts from the noise. Well, I kinda slipped off the rail there, so I reckon I'll stop now.

Perception and its effect on decision making

We typically make decisions based on either our own experiences or the advice of others. Of course, these are almost always subjective. When this is done on a global scale, it becomes really apparent how subjective it is. The recent swine flu outbreak is one of these. Currently, there are about 1200 cases worldwide with about 27 deaths. A normal flu season kills anywhere from 20000 to 40000 people. Why the big panic? The WHO keeps jacking up the threat level and by the time the media gets through with it, schools are closed and everyone is scrambling around looking for Tamiflu and wearing masks which, according to some news sources, don't stop the germ. There was not a world panic in 1984 and 1985 when the AIDS epidemic started. It has however snowballed into a huge problem with many deaths and no real end in sight. Was this because the group of people first affected were gay men or drug users? Are they not as important as everyone else? Deaths from AIDS is declining in the more settled areas of the world but it is wide open in Africa. Perhaps if the world's leading nations focused on this issue instead of some of the stupid shit they talk about now, the epidemic in Africa would lessen.
The war in Iraq is another example of subjective decision making. The US jumps in there with guns blazing using the excuse of WMD, religious extremists, and human rights violations and starts an expensive war. No WMDs but I guess the populace is happier now even though half their stuff is blown up. Somalia, however, is another story. With the multiple coups and civil wars, tens of thousands have been killed. There is virtually no government so it is like the Hatfields and McCoys all over the country. Pirates are openly operating in international waters. But hey, guess what? There's no oil production in Somalia!
I ran across a cool link while fact-checking for those who get off on statistics. Check it out if you get a chance. http://www.indexmundi.com/

We have a Baby Shaker app for that!

Go to twtpoll.com/d72r6a and check out some of the comments about this story. I'm not surprised, given the anonymity allowed. I can't believe that some people would condone this type of behavior. I understand that there is a fuzzy line between what is acceptable and what is not which moves depending on one's upbringing and environment, but some things transcend all of that. Thick skin or not, we as a society should not allow certain types of behavior. To justify this app as ok just because it is a game and not real life is bullshit. I don't think you should leave a comment that you are not willing to stand up in front of 100 people and tell them. How can these cowards think this app is even remotely funny is beyond me.
That being said, I wonder who the idiot at Apple Inc. was that approved this app. Just the fact that they released this during National Child Abuse Prevention Month is bad. Do they not even look at the apps before releasing them? Or does the dollar drive their decision exclusively? Many of our economic problems are directly attributed to companies like Apple who appear to run their companies purely for the bottom line without regard for any social or environmental impacts.

Miss California

The uproar over Miss California's answer to Perez Hilton's question is not unexpected, given the venue. After looking at the comments on Hilton's website, there seems to be a 3 way split on the issue. 1/3 are for gay marriage, 1/3 are against, and 1/3 think she is stupid. What I noticed the most was that over half of them can't spell! The pageant is not the place to ask a controversial question like that if you don't get an honest answer or if the honest answer causes you to lose the contest. This wasn't a political race where the winner has actual power over us. It's a damn beauty contest! Should she have lied just to win? We as a country need to stop the subservient ass kissing and vote our convictions, right or wrong. We are where we are now because we are just told what we want to hear and not always the truth. Do you think we would be in Iraq if Bush had said "I want to start a war with a country that I have no real proof of wrongdoing and oh yeah it will last 8-10 yrs and cost us billions"? I would hope someone would have popped up and said "bitch pleeeeze!" instead of kissing his ass and going along with it for the sake of not creating controversy.

Summit of the Americas

It's no wonder the GOP is bitching about Obama shaking hands with Chavez. They have pushed the Cold War agenda for decades. It is all part of their warmongering. I agree that Chavez is just a little butthole trying to get world attention by running his mouth, but the GOP gives him way too much credit. The whole Cuba thing is crazy. We should have lifted the restrictions and embargoes long ago and made Cuba a vacation destination. It's obvious all the restrictions have done is drive down the standard of living there. There has been a double standard about Cuba for a while. We actually have a trade imbalance with the largest communist country in the world! We have been trading with China for a long time so why not Cuba too? We can close Gitmo while we're at it. Cuba is just about close enough to toss a grenade at so why have a whole base there? Just think, Cuba could double its GNP just in pre 1960's cars!

Scary economic stuff

The current ease at which Obama seems to push spending bills thru Congress scares the crap out of me. I guess our representatives are so enamored with our "golden child" that they are willing to follow any path he chooses like a bunch of lemmings. Although he has had some good ideas, the current method seems to be cramming a bunch of unrelated spending increases and new spending programs into the mix. It reminds me of Bush when he was constantly introducing new ways to restrict our freedom in the name of national security. Our leaders need to concentrate on fixing our current economic situation. Creating new revenue sources for programs not directly affecting the banking and manufacturing crisis by raising taxes is not good fiscal responsibility. I know the healthcare system should be revamped, but that issue is not high on the list of things the average American is worrying about right now. Folks are worrying about their jobs and the unending list of responsibilities that are affected by a job loss or cutback. Unemployment doesn't pay the rent or the house payment.

More about Rushbo and the pirates

I didn't plan on this blog being a Rush basher but every time he opens his mouth, a turd falls out. The Somali pirates were killed because they were criminals! No one asked what their age, race, or religious affiliation was. The US must be an equal opportunity enforcer. Rush is making this out to be Muslim persecution and that the pirates were innocent bystanders defending their territorial waters. He is a big part of the "drive-by" media that he says is to blame for the biased news reporting that goes on. He gave me the impression that if Bush had ordered the action, there would be a large outcry of protest. What the hell has Bush been doing for 8 years in Iraq? This is the kind of bull we have to put up with from the media in general. Too many talking heads offering "expert" opinions.

Obama's dog

I can't believe the complaints about the dog the presidential family got. There is way too much press on the day to day workings of the Obama family. I think they can choose whichever dog suits their family. To say that they should have gotten a shelter dog to set a good example is crap. That would be like buying the store brand of mac and cheese instead of a national brand to promote fiscal responsibility. I do have an adopted dog after looking at bred dogs, but chose him because of his looks and personality, not where he came from.

Rushbo and the pirates

I was trying to find something to listen to on the radio and came across Rush The Idiot bumping his gums about the pirates. (I heard this on the radio so there is no verification). Apparently some knucklehead from Ohio decided that pirating would be a good field to enter since he was "without a job". He bought uniforms and was going to hijack boats in the Gulf of Mexico! After the Navy rescued the Maersk captain, this dude decided pirating was not such a good idea. Rush Limbaugh is blaming Obama for this guy's inability to be a pirate entrepreneur.