Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Get Over It

Economists are saying the recession could have another quarter or more to go, Iran is broken out in violence that could determine whether they become a progressive democracy or remain a reactionary radical state, and we're worried about David Letterman's stupid jokes? That's stupid enough, but to keep protesting after the butt of the joke has accepted his apologies takes it to a whole different level. A classic case of "we get the government we deserve."

Now, Megan Fox topless pictures....there's a distraction from hard news I can get behind (warning: link delivers what it promises.)

Friday, June 12, 2009

Phone-y

I hate to keep "borrowing" Vodkapundit's post format, but it's just so damned genius.

Under President Obama’s plan, 95% of Americans will receive a tax cut. Except the ones who make phone calls.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Second Place Is No Place

Peyton Manning, #1 NFL draft pick, 1998: 3-time NFL season MVP, 2006 Super Bowl champion and MVP, and one of the biggest national sports celebrities with millions of dollars in contracts and endorsement deals.

Ryan Leaf, #2 NFL draft pick, 1998: 4 wins as a starter in his first three years, retired in disgrace after four injury-riddled years, and now a wanted fugitive.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Blackmail

Or at least that's what it's called when private individuals act this way. When the government does it, it's called...well, I don't know what it's called, but it ought to be called the same thing. God forbid a retail business actually wants to get paid at least enough to recoup its own costs for the products it sells. And I can just hear the thought process of the (Democrat) representative who came up with this idea: "How dare this business try to make money? They're making it more difficult for our Medicaid patients to get their medicine! Wait, I know what we can do...we can make it more difficult for state employees to get their prescriptions, too! If it goes well enough, we can drive this large chain out of the state entirely, losing hundreds of jobs in the process! That'll mean more people dependent on the government, thereby guaranteeing me and my pals jobs for life! Self-high-five!"

I Won't Drink To That, Part 2

Apparently, the proposed increased booze taxes that Congress is proposing sounded like such a good idea that the states are beginning to jump in. Never mind that this tax is going to hurt the many local breweries that provide jobs and revenue around the state. And never mind that a lot of the liquor stores around the state are locally owned and operated as well. Just keep chipping away until nobody can afford to do anything the slightest bit bad for themselves. Or fun.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

I Won't Drink To That

Under President Obama’s plan, 95% of Americans will receive a tax cut. Except for the ones who drink beer. This actually pissed me off enough to write to my senator on the finance committee; follow the links in the article to find out if you have one and do the same.

The format of this post was shamelessly "borrowed" from Vodkapundit.

Friday, June 05, 2009

When I Was Your Age...

...we had to write and turn in our research papers for school on time. We didn't have services like Corrupted-Files.com to sell us deliberately corrupted Microsoft Office documents that we could pass off as our completed work to stall for time while we waited for our teachers and professors to ask us to "re-send" them.

Hat tip to my old boss for the link.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

This Is My Home State

Sussex family protests student's ban from graduation

There's a reason the southern part of the state is called "Slower Lower". Check out this quote from this future inmate's aunt:

"[My son] was found getting high in school and all they did was make him get drug rehab. And even though he failed all them drug tests, they still let him walk. All Robert did was threaten someone verbally."
So he threatens a teacher, and gets a slap-on-the-wrist school suspension instead of an assault charge. Oh, and he still gets his diploma without so much as summer school. Some people just don't know how to count their blessings.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

My Divorce

I guess I should start at the beginning of this story. It all started when I moved into my house in the summer of 2002, and immediately broke up with my first TV provider, Comcast. She'd turned into a real bitch over the past couple of years, and I probably should have done it long before then, but she was my first, and hey, I was getting what I needed regularly. But once I was in the new house, her customer service got all bitchy and uncooperative, and who needs that? So it was so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye.

And hello to the love of my life, DirecTV. More channels. Less money. Better picture. We were happy, oh so happy. A couple of years later, our little Tivo unit came along, and it truly was the greatest day of my life. We raised it right--so that sports was the only thing it ever showed live, and I never had to sit through any commercials.

Fast forward a couple of more years, and now DirecTV and I also have a new HDTV. And that was what changed everything. DirecTV just didn't look as attractive anymore with her non-HD signal. Oh, sure, most of her programming could be zoomed in to take advantage of my bigger 16:9 set, and it was certainly a decent, watchable picture. But how could I be happy at home knowing that there's better looking HD programming out there for a reasonable price? They were everywhere I went--bars, hotels, even friends' houses, flaunting their beautiful 1080p's right in front of my face.

The most persistent of all of these was Verizon FIOS. She sent me love letters, promising to do things no TV provider had ever done to me before. Heck, to do things I didn't even know a TV provider could do. She'd do things to my phone, and to my computers too. DirecTV and Comcast wouldn't touch those. (Well, Comcast had been willing, but only if I gave her way more money than it was worth.) Then she started in with the phone calls, promising all the sweet nothings she'd provide, and how little she wanted in return. Luckily, I was able to delete the messages off my answering machine before DirecTV heard.

Then, last night came the big blowup. Our little Tivo unit was starting to go astray, running with a bad crowd that got poor reception on the signal. DirecTV insisted that it would cost money to have it fixed, even though I knew it was far too late to turn it around. For my part, I wanted DirecTV to get an HD job. I know she can still look just as good as those other services, if she only wanted to. But she refused to do it without some stiff upfront charges, no matter how much I pleaded, wheedled, and even threatened to leave.

So this morning, I did it. I gave into temptation. I finally called up Verizon FIOS and told her to get her gorgeous little installation package over here just as quickly as she could. She's moving in a week from Monday, and bringing me HD DVR service, free long distance, and faster internet (just to name a few of her services), all for about the same price I was paying before to get none of those from DirecTV. I'm so excited, I keep reading the e-mail over and over because I just can't believe she's moving in with me.

As for DirecTV, I've got the papers drawn up, just waiting to serve them. But I'm sure she'll land on her feet. The last I heard from her, she'd gotten the HD upgrade after all, and was heading north to shack up with my father.

Monday, June 01, 2009

GM or Bust

Nice to see that all of those billions of taxpayers' dollars spent to keep General Motors out of bankruptcy have finally paid off. The federal government is going to be the majority stockholder, and between the government and the unions, there's only going to be about 20% of the company left to go around. People--like my almost-90-year-old grandfather--who were holding GM stock are going to get the shaft worst of all, probably losing 100% of their investments. (Don't feel too bad for my grandfather, though--he's a pretty sharp investor who was just gambling a couple bones on a recovery for fun.)

But...just ask the former Soviet Union how well governments do when it comes to running automakers. Or just look how wonderfully efficient our own government institutions are. They wouldn't stand a chance in a competitive environment. Maybe a post-bankruptcy, streamlined GM will be able to compete. But I wouldn't bet my retirement on it.