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Political Rantings

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Closing the barn door after the tomatoes have run away…

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Those who follow Sarah Palin (either with amusement or disdain) may have heard that at a recent book signing in Minneapolis, a man threw two tomatoes at her from a second floor balcony.

So when she showed up at a Costco in Salt Lake City, the store manager took steps to prevent another drive-by fruiting:

While going through the check-out lane, again with no wait, [Helen Rappaport] told the clerk she forgot to get some grape tomatoes, which she loves, so she would be right back. That’s when the bells went off. The clerk told her they had no tomatoes that day. No tomatoes? At Costco?

As she was leaving, she noticed a man with a store manager’s name tag and asked him why they had no tomatoes. He informed her the store did have tomatoes, but they were taken off the shelves for a few hours. It turns out that Palin had been pelted with a tomato at an earlier stop on her book tour and the management at the Costco was determined it wouldn’t happen here. The manager told an employee to go into the storage area and get Rappaport some tomatoes, which he gave her for free.

The Costco store manager believes, apparently, that someone out there had decided to throw things at Sarah Palin when she visited the local Costco, went to Costco empty-handed, proceeded immediately to the tomato aisle, saw there were no tomatoes available, and then decided to give up and go home, rather than, you know, throwing something else at her.

Score one for the ingenuity and quick action of the Salt Lake Costco manager…

Categories: Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging | 2 Comments »

Random Acts of Blogging – 12/3/09

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

So many blog-worthy things going on in the world all at once! So, some quick thoughts on several things:

Adam Lambert emerged from his #2 finish on American Idol as one of the most promising singing talents in years. At the American Music Awards, he decided to make his performance a social statement, rather than make it about the music. He’s since been cancelled by ABC from Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. And the shows that are letting him on suddenly want to talk about nothing else but the AMA’s. I’m disappointed. Not because I have a particular opinion about his “cause,” but because he’s allowed his cause to overshadow his music, which I was looking forward to enjoying. On the upside, I think maybe he’s realizing his mistake. Here’s what he told Ellen Degeneres:

It was maybe a little too far. I think in hindsight I look back on it and I go, “OK, maybe that wasn

Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging, Words about Music | 4 Comments »

The Wall on the Highway – A Parable

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

One afternoon, two men were walking alongside a highway. As they came over a small hill, they were surprised to see that someone had built a brick wall right in the middle of the road. The wall was perpendicular to the road, and went from shoulder to shoulder, making it impossible for anyone or anything to pass. As the two men discussed how impractical the wall was, a car came driving over the hill. Failing to see the wall in time, the car crashed into the wall head-on, killing everyone inside. The men were outraged.

Categories: Political Rantings | 10 Comments »

Truth or Consequences – But Not Both!

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

As we move toward the passage of a health care bill, the opinion polling isn’t necessarily getting more useful, but it is certainly getting more entertaining.

Our friends at the Associated Press do their best impression of Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” routine:

A ban on denial of coverage because of pre-existing medical problems: 82% in favor

A ban on denial of coverage because of pre-existing medical problems that would probably cause most people to pay more for health insurance: 43% in favor

Everyone should be required to have at least some health insurance: 67% in favor

Everyone should be required to have at least some health insurance, or face a federal penalty: 28% in favor

All companies should be required to give their employees at least some health insurance: 73% in favor

Companies that don’t give their employees at least some health insurance would face a fine: 52% in favor

So, to sum up: require coverage for more people, but don’t raise my premiums and don’t penalize in any way those who ignore this new requirement.

Ah, democracy…

Categories: Political Rantings | 11 Comments »

Arnold Flips the Legislature the Bird

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

Fifty governors, but only Schwarzenegger can pull this off:

Seems like a pretty innocuous veto, until you read down the left-hand column of letters, that is. ;-)

(I had to scale the image down to make it fit on the blog. Click on the image itself (or click here to see a clearer version of the note).

Categories: Political Rantings, The World Wide Weird | 4 Comments »

Robo-Warrior Draft

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

My phone just rang. It was a gentleman from the Democratic National Committee. He said that President Obama needs me to fight for Jon Corzine because Jon Corzine is fighting for New Jersey.

Very strange – I would think President Obama would have people that could do that for him. You know – without having to call me and all. Maybe he should nominate a Fight for Jon Corzine Czar? Besides, I’m too busy to fight for Jon Corzine today. I mean, at a minimum, I need to stay home and field all these calls!

I hope there isn’t a Fight for Jon Corzine draft. But just in case there is, I think I better find out who, exactly, is fighting against Jon Corzine. I mean, maybe it’s someone we really don’t have to worry about. Like the Boston Red Sox…

Categories: Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging | 2 Comments »

Wall Street Journal – Charging for Free Content?

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Remember when the Wall Street Journal’s online content was free? And then they decided to start charging for it? And then it was free again? But sometimes it’s not?

As it turns out, the Wall Street Journal has implemented a rather unique, some may even say bizarre, online access policy. If you go to their website and click on an article, you have to login with a paid subscription. But if you Google a particular topic and the same article comes back as a search result, you can click through and read the entire article for free. So, in other words, you can’t read the entire Wall Street Journal on their website without paying for it, but if you were curious enough to enquire about everything in it, they will gladly share their content with you for free.

Perhaps an example would be useful. Follow along in a separate browser instance if you like:
Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Money Talk, Political Rantings, Tech Talk | Comments Off on Wall Street Journal – Charging for Free Content?

What Happened? Government Forces Ken Lewis to Work for Free

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Throughout the past year, I’ve written a few posts about various aspects of the financial crisis, but I’ve purposely stayed away from writing specifically about my employer – Bank of America.

I don’t speak for Bank of America. My words on this blog are mine and mine alone. No one at work reads them, approves them or, for all I know, even agrees with them. Still, I’ve made it a self-imposed, personal policy to steer clear of stories that involve the company, just to be safe. This morning, though, when I read about Kenneth Feinberg, the “Special Master for Compensation” (a.k.a., “The Pay Czar”), I felt compelled to speak out.

Just to be clear, though: these are my opinions. They don’t necessarily reflect the views of anyone else on the planet, whether they’re affiliated with Bank of America or not. Are we clear? OK, good.

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Money Talk, Political Rantings | 9 Comments »

Top Ten Obama Peace Prize Jokes

Friday, October 9th, 2009

This is just from me and my friends. I can only imagine what will happen when the Late Night Comedians get their hands on it.

(Credit where credit is due) – All others are by yours truly…

10. Obama walks Bo, wins Westminster Dog Show (Joe Catania)

9. At least Al Gore had a kick-ass PowerPoint presentation

8. Obama plays backyard stick hockey game with his kids. NHL awards him Stanley Cup

7. Couldn’t they have given this out before the IOC decided who gets the Olympics? (Zach Noyce)

6. Barack Obama winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is like Stephen Strasburg winning the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award. (Tom Gordon)

5. Bono’s reaction: It’s an honor just to be nominated

4. Electoral College impressed with Obama

Categories: Political Rantings | 1 Comment »

The Incredible Shrinking PIPP

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Great news! The Obama administration has found a way to cut $488 billion from a government program, and reduce the total projected commitment of that program by a whopping $960 billion! I guess we can pay for healthcare now! OK, maybe not…

The program is the Public Private Investment Plan, or PPIP for short. PPIP was designed to achieve what Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson originally said the TARP money would be used for – buying mortgage-related assets from Wall Street firms in order to expand the power of their balance sheets. Of course, when they actually gave him the money, he decided to use it to buy equity in the banks instead.

That was back in September of 2008, when the worst financial crisis of our time demanded immediate, decisive action. Like suspending the two presidential campaigns for a photo-op at the White House.

Having failed to actually buy any of these so-called “toxic assets,” our government tried again in March of 2009, launching the PPIP program, which intended to use “$75 to $100 billion in TARP capital and capital from private investors [to] generate $500 billion in purchasing power to buy legacy assets

Categories: Money Talk, Political Rantings | Comments Off on The Incredible Shrinking PIPP

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