US Politics: same as usual

I can't believe THESE are the kind of people who are vying to lead our country. No wonder our country is slowly going down the toilet...so sad. We have no chance.

Was it true, Lauer asked, that the vetting of Sarah Palin was so woefully inadequate that no one from the campaign traveled to Alaska to interview her husband or any of her political opponents?

"I wouldn't know," McCain said. "The fact is that I'm proud of Sarah Palin, I'm proud of the campaign we waged, she energized our party, she will be a major factor in American politics in the future, and I'm proud of our campaign."

Somewhat taken aback, Lauer told McCain that he found it "somewhat surprising" that he didn't know anything about the vetting process, adding "You were the presidential candidate."

McCain testily shot back by saying that he had no intention of "looking back over what happened over a year ago," adding, "I'm sorry, you'll have to get others to comment on it."

From the new book 'Game Change' by New York magazine's John Heilemann and Time Magazine's Mark Halperin:

- that the affair between John Edwards and his campaign videographer was known about and kept quiet by three of his aides from early on. Edwards comes off in the book as a man with a massive ego and delusional tendencies. His wife Elizabeth is described by insiders as being "an abusive, intrusive, paranoid condescending crazywoman."

- that former President Bill Clinton was involved in an affair in 2006 that many thought would derail Hillary Clinton's run for the presidency and he offended Ted Kennedy deeply while trying to win his endorsement for his wife's campaign by saying the following about then-candidate Obama: "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee."

- that Sarah Palin believed Saddam Hussein to be behind the attacks on 9/11, didn't understand why North and South Korea were separate (the Korean War) and that she could not properly pronounce Joe Biden's name. The book contends that Palin was a mentally unstable person prone to wild mood swings, describing her being hopelessly lost in a "catatonic stupor" at one point during the campaign.

Happy Turkey Day!

I got some pie!!

Some 400 years ago, pilgrims sat down with indians Native Americans people indiginous to North America and ate delicious foods, right before giving them blankets with small pox. Isn't it ironic that we now give thanks in rememberance of giving indians disease and killing their people?

Well, the point is, as Americans, we give thanks on this day for all of the blessings we have in life. I must say I'm pretty lucky to have wonderful, healthy and happy people in my life who make me feel wonderful and happy. Note, I didn't say healthy, since I ate like a freaking pig today and am so stuffed all I've eaten since Thanksgiving dinner is tums and water. So worth it though.

For non-Americans, it is a day to drink. In abundance. OK, us Americans do that today too. About the only thing you can't do on today is have sex because most of us feel too fat or too drunk to do so.

Prejean: a primadonna on Larry King

Carie Prejean goes on Larry King with a book to promote and has a problem when he asks a legit questions that is in no way confidential ("What is your motivation for settling?"). Whether Carrie Prejean was unfairly treated during and after the Miss America pageant is debatable. (Personally, I don't fault her for her opinion on gay marriage and it was a loaded question.) However, her actions and the revelations from her personal life (skinhead brother, sex tape with an ex, etc.) have demonstrated that she's clearly not someone who should've been representing the USA in any way. And what bothers me the most about her (and many of her conservative counterparts) is her lack of accepting responsibility. She answered stalwartly and boastfully honestly at the pageant, but yet it is the media's fault. She made a sex tape, but she's not a complete whore it's not her fault. She sues for religious discrimination, but she's a sanctimonious Aryan-nation slut it's not her fault.



And of all people to pull this on: Larry King? Lady, you're not that big of a guest for him. And consider yourself lucky he asked those questions to keep your 15 minutes running. Being a dumb b*tch is the most interesting thing about you!

New posts!

I'm feeling creative again and finally have some time to gather my thoughts (and find weird things on the net), so stay tuned. Should be more very soon!

Apple mugs it's iPhone clitentele and sets them up to get mugged on the street!

Wow, that was a fast iScrewjob. Turns out Apple won't let you be cool for under $399.

...Those of us who were eager (dumb?) enough to buy last summer's iPhone 3G will not be eligible for the discounted $199/$299 iPhone 3G S pricing...Instead, prepare to pay $200 extra for an 'early' upgrade, which comes out to $399 for the 16GB iPhone 3G S or $499 for the 32GB version. According to TUAW, some iPhone 3G owners aren't even being offer the 'early' upgrade option—in which case, they're stuck with AT&T's 'no commitment' pricing of $599 for the 16GB iPhone 3G S or (gulp) $699 for the 32GB model.

That's a bunch of iBull. Buy a Crackebrry, you iSuckers! True, you don't get to look cool scrolling through screens hard and furious with your index finger, but who can afford an iPhone upgrade in this economy? And if you can afford it, do you really want the iSnob label while loudly pointing through apps?

And the number one reason not to upgrade: you're going to get mugged for your iPhone3GS! Ask Apple if they make an iTaser while you're at it...

Converts are the worst bigots.

Being a Chicago transplant, I'd never heard of this before: the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion incident!

On November 22, 1987, during The 9 O'Clock News sportscast, WGN-TV's Chicago area signal was hijacked for approximately 25 seconds by an unknown person wearing a Max Headroom mask. This was only the first incident of that night involving the interruption of a television station's broadcast signal. Approximately two hours later, Chicago PBS station WTTW (channel 11) had its broadcast interrupted by the same person. WGN-TV's analog transmitter is atop the John Hancock Center and engineers were almost immediately able to thwart the video hacker by changing the studio-to-transmitter frequency, thus cutting the hacker off. Unfortunately for WTTW, its transmitter is atop Sears Tower and it was unable to stop the hacker before enduring almost two minutes of the hacker's interruption. These two stations are two of only six existing victims of what is called "broadcast signal intrusion". Subscription television network HBO, WJLA-TV, Playboy TV and the Comcast cable system in Tucson, Arizona are the other victims.

And the person or persons has never been caught! Clearly, no oone's been bragging about this for 20 years or they would've been caught. how do you not brag about this? This is one of those things you tell your kid when they're 18...show'em you were a bad-azz once!

And here's a link to the real Max Headroom getting his costume on. I thought it was computer generated too. Clearly, I was not a smart kid in 1987.

A chickouse?

50% mouse, 50% chicken. 100% creepy. this is a strong argument for why mankind should not be messing with Mother Nature by cross-breeding...

American TV sinking again?

I swear every year American TV networks release statements about how many great shows are due to debut in the upcoming Fall schedule. Most of them wind up stinking. And the few that are good, in my opinion, get dropped in the first 4 weeks of programming and you never get an ending/finale at all. "Community," "The Goode Family" and "Parenthood" look funny, so I'll look forward to watching 3 episodes before they're canceled!

Gas prices up just in time to screw our summer.

This past winter was horrible. Let's just admit it. We all feared being fired/laid off. Many friends and family have been laid off, have lost their homes, have had to go back to work and have had to scale back overall. Then there's the weather. Here in the Midwest, where you can expect rough weather, it was particularly bad this year. Snow every other day, no sun and below normal cold temps...like I said, worse than usual.

So, now that summer is approaching, you can tell people are trying to find some positive in their lives. Better weather, getting in shape, grilling outside, hanging out, maybe traveling. Happiness and health, right?! Well, you might want to pop another Prozac because big oil companies aren't ready for you to pick yourself up and enjoy life again...

Gas prices have increased dramatically in the past 2 weeks (leading up to Memorial Day).

On Thursday, a gallon of unleaded averaged $2.36. That's much cheaper than the $3.80 it cost this time last year, but prices are still up about 30 cents a gallon this month, enough to make drivers flinch.

I can personally attest that gas was $2.14 2 weeks ago and is now around $2.75, so that's a 1/3 increase, much larger than the "average." What I love about these articles that justify "it's only an extra $0.30 a gallon" aren't honest about the situation most Americans are in: the worst economy since the Great Depression and an extra $20 a month ($.30 x 16 gallon tank x 4 weeks, conservative if you consider most metro commutes) isn't a big deal. Honestly, that's $20 less being injected into the economy via shopping!

Gas is no exception. For much of this year, there has been a glut of gasoline in storage around the country, keeping prices low. And demand has been light because of the poor economy. But gasoline has jumped in May. Oil refineries, trying to make money just like any other business, are taking in less oil because of the glut in gas, and those cutbacks are showing up at the pump.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't oil companies and refineries one of the few industries making profits these days? Aren't they having booming times? I must've missed the newspaper headline announcing Exxon, BP and Amaco layoffs...

The real reason for the recent gas hike? Big oil greed, as usual:

Investing momentum feeds on itself, and government data suggests speculative trades are on the rise, meaning people are buying in simply because they know they can sell for a quick profit. 'There's no lack of gasoline right now or the lack of ability to produce it, and anyone who says speculators are not playing a role in this run is delusional,' said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. The same thing happened last year, to a much greater extent. Because when the Wall Street crisis struck and the economy tanked, oil prices collapsed. Gas fell to $1.61 by the end of the year.

Didn't you get the memo?

So, work has been kicking my butt and I haven't been able to post much. Thus, some new posts will seem old because I'm lazy. I see things I want to link to or post about, so I save them for later. Only now I'm too lazy to re-save and post them as new entries. If you care, look at recent past posts and maybe you'll see something you enjoy. or not. Like I said, I'm lazy. You need to accept that and move on. Hopefully to an old post!

That being said I also might change the way tags are listed to help you find posts b y category. Not that I'm great at tagging, but my lazy arse tries. Seriously, I'm falling asleep while posting this. Can you spontaneously develop narcolepsy?

Why MBA's don't rule the world

Warren Buffett and Charles Munger made remarks at the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholder meeting this past weekend. Most of it is the same armchair quarterbacking everyone is doing now with the economic crisis: stocks were over-valued, houses were over-valued, newspapers are dying, etc. Their remarks on investment knowledge/training/"expertise" I would like to highlight though, since I believe it to be true in my gut:

"There is so much that's false and nutty in modern investing practice and modern investment banking, that if you just reduced the nonsense, that's a goal you should reasonably hope for," Mr. Buffett said. Regarding complex calculations used to value purchases, he said: "If you need to use a computer or a calculator to make the calculation, you shouldn't buy it."

Said Mr. Munger: "Some of the worst business decisions I've ever seen are those with future projections and discounts back. It seems like the higher mathematics with more false precision should help you, but it doesn't. They teach that in business schools because, well, they've got to do something."

Mr. Buffett said: "If you stand up in front of a business class and say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, you won't get tenure....Higher mathematics my be dangerous and lead you down pathways that are better left untrod."

I took an introductory MBA course through work years ago and my impression of the course at the time was "WTF?" similar to Buffett's sentiment above. I'd taken Macro and Micro econ courses in the past, so it's not as if the course was foreign entirely, yet I felt out of place and not understanding the point of the charts and calculus being forced on me. I remember thinking, "And how is this going to better my career and make me more savvy?" I came to the conclusion it didn't and I left the course and didn't go back. I figured me arranging for my work to pay for the course was savvy and I would better my career by actually working past 5 PM instead of skipping over to class!

NOTE: I'm not wealthy (so I would need an $85,000 loan to get an MBA) and I'm not where I want to be in my career, but I have a decent job (with some security) and I can pay my bills. Which is more than can be said by a bunch of MBA grads who got canned working for companies that caused the economic collapse! Hope calculus and graphs help them in their interviews. Or help them designing new iPhone apps, the latest entrepreneurial craze (which is more about programming than anything).

Swine Flu common sense!

Everywhere you turn, the media and the WHO are making the swine flu sound like the end of the world. Yes, the swine flu is virulent, can be dangerous and seems to be easily spread. However, unless you are immuno-compromised or do experience severe symptoms, the average human immune system should be able to fend off your infection, should you contract the swine flu.

I feel the need to post something (not that too many people view this blog...) because if you're like me, you're getting panicked by the media into thinking you should stay at home and not talk to anyone for days. If you have symptoms, yes, stay home! But there's no need to be hysterical at this point. My recommendation, per my local hospital:

"If you are experiencing minor symptoms at home, please stay home, get rest and drink plenty of fluids. If your symptoms are moderate or severe, please seek care from your primary physician. Reminder: the best way to fight swine flu (and any flu!) is through common sense measures. Stay at home if you are sick. Wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth with a tissue or a sleeve if you cough or sneeze."

More Duggars!

Clearly, it took Josh and Anna Duggar almost 3 months to conceive, which for a Duggar is shameful and means they have fertility problems. The Duggar clan is adding another soft-spoken, creepily-agreeable polite, squeaky clean & responsible child to the U.S. This time it's not going to have a "J" name: it's a Duggar grandbaby and therefore the rules don't apply. Grandkids are "M" babies. WTF?! I shouldn't criticize the Duggars, especially since they seem to have direct line to a Fertility God and will pray to make me sterile to get revenge for dogging on them. Wait, they might pray to make me more potent and curse me with a brood of kids too. Dang they're evil!

Anydontcursemewithtoomanymouthstofeed, The Duggars seem perfect and keep procreating...blah,blah,blah...isn't it weird hearing a 20 y.o. girl stressing about a pregnancy test NOT being positive? Her and Josh, as shown on their tv show, were only allowed to hold hands while dating and couldn't even kiss (or do any other form of physical expression) until they were married. Ok, that I get. But, Josh and and Anna finally got permission by God (after being wed) to do the hanky panky and they're excited to be pregnant? Idiots! You finally get to do the horizontal mambo and you kill the good times after only 3 months (let be real, being preggo kills most sex lives). That's what I find kind of interesting about the Duggar parental grandparental units: Jim-Bob and Michelle have probably only had sex 18 times. OK, I'll be generous and give them the benefit of the doubt they felt frisky at least once a pregnancy. Rare, but possible. So, that's 36 times for their entire lives! And you know those two plates of blandness only do intercourse; there's for sure no other options on the freak menu for them.

The below video is of the clan announcing yet another little life will be born to take care of it's siblings some day while their parents...wait, what do the parents do if they're not raising kids or doing sexy times? Horse races and river boat gambling?

The Duggars Announcement On the Today Show
by Elliot Thresher

SNL needs a skit with Duggars singing about spaceships, toddlers, jars of beers, and Model-T cars.

Stream of consciousness moment...

...I posted the new Depeche Mode video the other day and basically said it was awesome. Now, the video has been pulled, thanks to EMI Why do recording companies and movie houses screw themselves by eliminating "word-of-mouth buzz?

Eh, f*ck Depeche Mode then. These videos were just as good (if not better), in the same stylized story vain, without the so-so song...

Stream of consciousness moment...

...I posted the new Depeche Mode video the other day and basically said it was awesome. Now, the video has been pulled, thanks to EMI saying, "Hey that's ours, so don't watch this." Why do recording companies and movie houses screw themselves by eliminating "word-of-mouth buzz? I get music sharing and pirate dvds stealing revenue because people never pay to be in "possession" of material/art/goods. But, posting material is the equivalent of an ad, right? It actually makes me aware that Depeche Mode has new music and makes me want to check them out, right?

Guess I'll need to return my corporate suit.

Octoplets mother interview clip

I hope this is the last posting I do on the Octoplets mother. I'm tired of giving her the attention she obviously craves. Yes, it's a compelling story, but in the end, it won't end well for those kids. I'm mainly posting this not to hear her story (because clearly she's crazy loco), but to witness her gigantic fish lips. She llooks like Goldie Hawn from the "First Wives Club" movie.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Octoplets working the PR machine

Man, did I call this one! In an earlier posting, I mentioned how the octoplets' mother and grandmother seemed to want to get more attentioon for their situation. Low and behold, the mother has hired a publicist. Obviously, I'm not shocked since the octoplets seems to be the latest celebrity fodder. Not really a shocker. What is a shock to me is that all 14 of the mom's children were from in vitro procedures.

Suleman, who has six other children, is now the mother of 10 boys and four girls younger than 8. All were born by in vitro fertilization, her mother has said. Despite what might seem like an overwhelming number of children and despite her family's apparent financial difficulties, Suleman is "upbeat" about her future, Killeen said.

What makes me feel sorry for those kids is that they didn't ask to be brought into the world this way and didn't ask for these crazy people to be their caretakers. The mom gave no consideration as to the sacrifice needed (time, money, love or otherwise) needed for 14 kids to grow up feeling good about themselves and loved.

The more I hear about this story, the more sad I am. And don't even get me started about the $3 million pricetag the hosptial care will cost, because some quack doctor didn't determine that a single, poor mother with 8 kids shouldn't have any more embryos implanted.

Sick. Sad. Ridiculous.

X-mas secrets

I haven't been to THIS website in years, but it's still just as juicy. Basically, people post anonymous secrets on postcards. Sometimes its scandalous, sometimes, its loving. But each one is a secret truth that makes you think about yourself and how normal you just might be.

Condom storage

When my wife and I were dating, I used to buy economy packs of rubbers (oh yeah!) and kept them in a junk drawer. My gal, at the time, thought that a tad uncooth. So, she had some free hand lotions she kept in a plastic Chinese take-out box and I took the box to hold rubbers. To this day, she still makes fun of me for keeping condoms in a fake take-out box, when she's the one who didn't want them in a drawer next to the bed. Why am I telling you this pathetic and weird story? Because I recently saw THIS online: Lifestyles condoms (which, I'm not kidding, was the brand of condoms I used) is having celebrities design boxes of condoms for charity auction...and Ashley Judd chose a fake Chinese take-out box!! See, not so weird, huh? She's smoking hot and likes rubbers in trashy, completely obvious containers.

Looking back, that's the funny part of my "classy" move to hide condoms. I had 2 roommates at the time and our apartment was a filthy bachelor pad (my room was a disaster). Looking back, it would've been hilarious to have walked by my disaster of a room with a purple plastic Chinese take-out box constantlly sitting on a table next to my bed. Anywhore, if you or someone you know needs somewhere completely obvious to store condoms, while blatantly advertising that you enjoying fucking a lot, tell them to get a Chinese condom storage box. Even celebrities use them!

Reflecting. No, seriously.

After an ugly election season and partisan political sides still arguing, I'm trying to get into the holiday spirit and trying to think of a better tomorrow. Remembering what's important in life...