CEO’s Get a Deal and We Get the Debt?

Umm when are the Congressional hearings again?

CEO’s to get a deal and we get the debt and no oversight? and no limit?

Details to come….

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/financial_meltdown

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It’s the Economy (About Having a Middle Class) Stupid

It’s the Economy (about having a Middle Class) Stupid!

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What Could You Do With $42 Million Dollars?…

The IRS just spent it to send you a letter stating what you VERY likely already know in announcing that your stimulus is on the way and that you have to file an income tax return.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080307/ap_on_go_ot/dear_taxpayer

Just to throw out some ideas on productive uses of such a chunk of change.

– Could that “announcement money” be used to help in cities that have high populations of poor and homeless?

– Could that “announcement money” be used to help in cities that still have significant damage from natural disasters?

Frankly, it’s a lot of money, but not enough to make any dent in the infrastructure issues that came to mind. But humanitarian aide as cited above seemed to be the most likely better use.

Looks like Linda Stiff is serving as acting Commissioner at the IRS and that Henry Paulson is head at the Department of Treasury that the IRS is under. It’s not clear who/what group was immediately responsible for this spending decision.

Perhaps you’d like to contact your senator or house representative for your state to let them know how you appreciated the use of this public tax money.

Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
General Information: (202) 622-2000
Fax: (202) 622-6415

For contacting your state’s representative:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

Im not even gonna ask how much is being spent to run that commercial about TV’s not working without a converter box or replacement after Feb 2009. And how could we better use that money?

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Job Ad Tip-off…

that THIS job would suck.

“There are two paid 10-minute breaks and one unpaid 18-minute lunch break”

Yes, that’s 18 stop watch minutes..

Any moron would have the decency to call it a 20 min lunch.

Let’s see $4.20 gas in California, this jewel of an employer and Hil or Mex McCain…. Good Times….

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Huckabee, Paul and McCain…

I continue to be MORE than annoyed as our worthless biased media tries yet again to freeze out Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

Mitt Romney has taken his hat out of the ring…

Romney supporters will likely go to Huckabee and some to Paul MUCH to the chagrin of the media…

We DONT want straight Mex McCain…. or Hill

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Ole Straight Mex McCain…

12 Million people invaded the US … he thinks they can stay…

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The State of the Union…

The Democrats did a lot of up and down, standing and clapping for Bush,,, that seemed odd…

Then…. there was Darth and Nancy… Nancy Pelosi had her head down quite a lot… reading the commencement flier?…looking like a whipped pup. She stood and clapped right along with the other Dems…

although…her timing to get up and down always had an annoying delay like the “Applause” sign for the audience was broken.

… then there was President Bush. He kept smirking and seemed just way too giddy.

… In recent speeches, especially the angry Bush ones from the Rose Garden, I keep thinking Bush is gonna bust out,,,
…”Live form New York,,,It’s Saturday Night!!!!!”

One dude in the audience… was Mr. Jowls.

I don’t recall any boos this time. Matter of fact I kept hearing what sounded like drunken frat boys going ….”Hey!!!!!……Ho…
…”Hey!!!!!……Ho……… Hip Hip,,Hoorey,,,,Ho….Hey …. Ho…..

… and then as Bush left, he signed like every person theres lil commencement flier…. He gave out more autographs than LaBron James…. and to mostly Democrats… so these are going on Ebay?

and the Democrat Response from Governor Kathleen Sebelius… Started out nice and calm and stayed so with…
Mr. President… Let’s all get to work… and then just turned into random words from the Thesaurus

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No Stimulus for You!… and others wait til May

Sadly, if you made less than $3000 in 2007, you will NOT get a dime under the current Stimulus package. These people are too poor to spend this on necessities?

Unemployment benefits that ran out…will stay run out.

Looks like the current version will give a tax Rebate of taxes paid up to $600 for singles now…..but you wont even get stimulated til May or June.

$50 billion in incentives for businesses to buy new equipment… (No, …..you have to put the equipment in a business still located in the US…yeah)

I keep hoping that I misread something on this….
Now it has to go through the House and Senate… Perhaps, some help for those making less than $3000 or with their unemployment depleted…

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/460097.html

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Why is there a Downturn/Recession on the Doorstep?

Umm cause the US has lost an assload of high and mid wage jobs, thanks to Democrat (think Clinton) and Republican (think Bushes) support for NAFTA and CAFTA. And both parties sat idly by while 12 million (or more) people invaded the country.

Trade a (up to $300 $600) one time, already paid, tax rebate (for a single person) for a $40,000 or more full time job? Buehler?…Anyone?

It’s a rebate btw…What if you were unemployed some or all of 2007? It will rebate up to $300 $600 of the tax you had withheld.

AND…if you are eligible, …..you wont get it til May AFTER youve already had to file your return.

Anyway, FYI, here is an interesting blog posting. I wont vouch for accuracy, but it’s thought provoking especially in these times.

http://berrystreetbeacon.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/the-nafta-superhighway-the-road-to-a-north-american-union/

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The Right Tool For the Job…HDTV

HDTV or even SDTV (standard definition..ie less dots to make up a image on the screen).

I don’t have either. Why do I continue to watch a perfectly nice old 13″ analog set? I used to have cable btw…and frankly I watched a lot of Comedy Central and the Weather Channel with the occasional Dennis Miller HBO show or movie thrown in.

And I concluded after a year that it wasn’t worth the extra money…which quickly adds up…to have that tiny bit of additional content to vegetate in front of.

So, to me the want (notice I didn’t say need) of HD or even SD television is related to the content you plan to view.

It’s all about content which is subpar at this time.

–Movies would be cool although I can count on a few hands the movies that I’d really have to have HD to enjoy any more than on a regular set.

–Sports, especially football and NASCAR and Indy racing would be good examples for HD.

–Animal, nature, science and world travel type programming would be cool in HD

-But In reality, I mostly watch parts of:
Late Night Talk Shows (Letterman, Leno, OBrien, Ferguson, Feresten

Local news

Nightline

Charlie Rose

Saturday Night Live

PBS stuff…This Old House, etc

So… for an additional $700 plus, I can see every zit and blimish on David Letterman or Infomercial bonehead Kevin Trudeau? Umm no.

But, but what about the fact that our stupid greedy government has decided to screw us yet again and sell lots of the broadcast spectrum which forces television stations to stop sending my perfectly fine old analog signal in February 2009?

What will a person like me do? There will be a converter box that will take the digital version of the same signal and convert it back to the analog and most likely I will watch that 13″ analog TV til it caputs. After that, perhaps the various technolgies of LCD, plasma, OLED and DLP projection will have had the survival of the fittest and true dark black and screen life and other issues will be closer to sorting themselves out.

Then there’s regular DVD and VCR for SDTV and can still be watched on HD..btw.

And then the current two flavors of HD DVD…ie BluRay and HD-DVD. As of this posting it looks like BluRay has a lead on movie studios and content providers that (once again plan more content) for BluRay

Leo Laporte noted that cable channels now have some channels in HD, but….may not look as impressive as expected due to video compression.   Leo’s podcasts, especially “The Tech Guy” is a good resource for thoughts on HD and more.
http://twit.tv

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The Next Time You Feel Cold…

…look around and see if some A-hole is sucking all the heat out of your room….

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_fe_st/sweden_body_heat

The water is probably already warmer than any heat they will suck out of the air in Sweden.

If there’s a physics guru out there, send me a comment convincing me I wanna spend my hard earned euros on this.

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No Child Left Behind…The Digital Gap/Divide…

I’ve heard the hype about the OLPC (One laptop per child) that Negraponte is heading up. There are others working on low cost laptops allegedly for third world countries and perhaps in the states too… To address the alleged digital gap… O no…

Firstly….
The OLPC looks good in the pics. Fine..
So….the one that the child in the alleged third world country gets ….( I can only speak from experience in rural Peru and Chile….but there’s…umm most of those countries without rural electricity…and sharing a high speed internet link?…you would be lucky in most places even in a city to find a dialup …so..the net sharing thing…like a nancy pelosi idea gone terribly impractical. Hmmm And maybe clean water and sewage trump playing (i mean learning) online?

Secondly…
I’ve have been chewing on the “digital gap/divide” a lot lately though as I see more and more of the US high tech folks on the sidelines working in “service” jobs… and the supposed advanced learning and skills….

To be honest, most of those kids, if they are lucky enough to get a job at all, will need the 3R’s, a clean shower and decent breakfast. The UI on the cash register or kiosk is aimed at the lowest common denominator. There will be a VERY small percentage that will actually end up being techs. In case you all havent noticed…more and more of thats in India or where the lowest cost is…

And just like in the states, if there aren’t many or any good, high paying jobs at the end of this skill building and this kid is still shoveling llama dung….or growing coca plants….Umm yeah.

At that point, they can become bloggers, play WOW and check out some PRON…in a desolate village? Nice.

More on this as I get a chance.

It Was Sobering and Sickening to See…

It was more than sobering to see a Sheriff’s Commissioner’s Sale notice on a house in my neighborhood today. In all my years I’d never seen one on a property near me. (and yes there certainly have been those sales throughout the years)

I’m not sure if it was a case where this person got sucked into one of those horrible ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) or if there was a job loss, bad decisions or bad health… The property was evidently financed by Citigroup Financial. But, I don’t any of the particulars of this situation.

It was however a sharp kick in the stomach to remind me just how bad things are for what used to be a middle class in the United States.

It does sicken me to see the media just spin a lot of the bad situations as a mortgage crisis. It’s just not that simple. And certainly I know how bad the job market is and has been for at least the last 10 to 15 years.

And certainly when 12 million of anyone invades the country and further loads down an economy that already was predicting that the next generations won’t have medicare, pension or retirement… …. that I see an elderly parent and relatives count on for survival….

Then to further have to listen to someone like Bill Clinton and Bill Gates and others blather on about what they are “giving back”…. except it’s in some other country….(not usually the one that raised them up…by the way)

Yeah the whole evil mess just leaves me with a pit in my stomach…. and my prayers go out to that family…

This is no longer politics.

Interesting Site Shows Gas Prices…Nationwide

I saw this while Googling “gas prices” on gasbuddy.com
It shows a big picture view of how varied the gas prices are.

Travellers and daily commuters alike.  Information is power…

http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

Writer’s Strike…Day 2 of…

On day 2 of the WGA writer’s strike and it’s settling in how bad this is gonna suck with TV shows in or near to being in reruns for the foreseeable future.

Thank God for news,

Charlie Rose,

http://www.CharlieRose.com

Leo Laporte’s podcasts

http://www.twit.tv

and Adam Carolla’s radio show…

http://www.971freefm.com/pages/1247.php

More to come on this as I have time.

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Top Postings October 2007

BMW E30 – See this page too!!!	345
Lovelines, Dr.Drew and…(Adam Carolla o	49
Make a Log Cabin You Wimps and Babies!	30
Salvia on Nightline with Terry Moran (AB	28
Keenan Ivory Wayans…In Living Color…	21
Something Else That Made Me Giggle…Who	15
And the Safe Word Is…..Palomino	14
Jerry Stiller, One of my favs!!	13
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In	11
George Carlin on the Adam Carolla Radio	11
Heart Disease… The Charlie Rose Scienc	10
CSI: Miami…Weekends	10
Barack Obama is Kin to America and You C	10
Tavis Smiley and Cornell West…Charlie	9
Scientific American Frontiers…Alan Ald	9

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The Dumbing Down of America…The “Service” Economy

Whilst chewing on a lead painted toy… sometimes a Post title comes to you before the body does. This just felt like a topic that needed a few words of exploration.

So we communicate more and accomplish less?

But we are busier than ever?

But more stressed, exercising less and getting fatter by the minute.

Do we really need more computers in the schools? I used to think you could justify it in math and science classes. Maybe this is really crippling the lower level imagination process that has to form in your brain.

More on this one as I have time.

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CAFTA, NAFTA, Great!

I see a blip on a yahoo news about a CAFTA free trade agreement getting ready to be voted on in Costa Rica Sunday, October 7, 2007.

Already approved in the states? Really? After all the damage NAFTA has caused to US jobs and workers? Really? Where is our cracker jack media in reporting this? Oh, prolly Britney or Lindsay or Paris had more important stuff to distract us with.

Both parties continue to sell us down the F-ing river.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071006/pl_nm/usa_costarica_trade_dc

Please mail, email and call your representative to let them know how you appreciate this…

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Demographic of the Patrons In One Business

Know your audience…Marketing101 meets Main St.

This one may vary depending on your location but this is the audience I saw in a particular business establishment.

– The elderly (various ethnicities)

– Latino immigrants (Central America and Mexico mostly)

– Wandering unsupervised teens and pre-teens (various ethnicities)

– Meth People (digital cameras always need litium batteries and oddly enough security cameras.

– People that want to return things without receipt and certainly without packaging and after 30 days. Uh no!

– Criminals – they actually just came in to steal (various ethnicities)

– Thuglike people that just look like they came to steal (various ethnicities)

– People that are off their meds, bipolar and other various mental health issues.

– Occassionally the homeless and vagrants

– Repeat customers (various ages and ethnicities) with money that are ready to buy

– People passing through that are from like Florida or Arizona and truck drivers that stopped at Walmart

It would be interesting to see this real world info in a company’s business plan. Instead, you always see the idealistic stuff of upper middle class and 18 to 35…kinda stuff.

In this case, the elderly, the latino, the travelers/truck drivers and repeat customers with money in hand kept this business thriving. Speaking some amount of spanish was very helpful.

As far as weird stuff:
One guy came in with a tattoo…on the side of his neck…that read (and I can’t make stuff up this good)…
“100% Honky”

…I rest my case.

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More Weird Stuff Involving the MiddleEast

Item#1
Iran president Ahmadinejad is visiting the US. Per the news, he was declined to lay a wreath at the Ground Zero site. This is the guy that supposedly didn’t believe that the halocaust happened. Weird and interesting guy. Dennis Miller referred to him as “AquaVelvaJad”

Item#2
First Dubai and now Qatar are buying significant stakes in our US and European stock markets. Ummm. Maybe that needs to be checked on?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070920/ap_on_bi_ge/sweden_dubai_nasdaq

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070920/ap_on_bi_ge/britain_qatar_lse_1

Item#3
GE Plastics that made Lexan, a super tough clear plastic that is capable of stopping bullets was recently purchased by a Saudi Arabian company called SABIC. Umm. Maybe that should be checked on too.

Just raising a Spock’s eyebrow at this point…

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Noticing an Unusual Number of Vacant Commercial Properties…

Just curious if others that read this are noticing an unusual number of closed businesses and vacant commercial properties in their locale. The economy during this time of war and $3.00 gasoline has been getting tighter and tighter for most I think. However, those with decent high paying and management jobs that survive cutbacks, may be doing better than ever (likely with an increased work load, hours required and stress).