Bill Gates Releases More Bugs into the World
By Brian | February 8, 2009
Bill Gates, speaking at the always awesome Technology, Entertainment & Design (TED) conference, made a point about the dangers of mosquito-spread malaria by releasing a handful of mosquitoes into the crowd, stating, “There’s no reason that only poor people should be infected,” and then after a few seconds of nervous laughter, telling them that his mosquitoes were malaria free. (The video, which is about twenty minutes long, but well worth the watching, is here).
Some folks were not amused:
Peggy McClure, a retired educator from San Jose who has an uncommon but life threatening allergy to mosquito bites, had this to say:
“I was appalled. I have anaphylactic shock reaction to mosquitoes. I have actually been bitten in Los Angeles County where he did this and had to be hospitalized. Everyday I sleep with a mosquito net in San Jose. Obviously this is wasn’t a very smart idea… to those of us who have to walk around with an EpiPen in our purse every day. I applaud what he’s doing to eradicate malaria. I just think he should realize that live mosquitoes aren’t good.”
Yeah, she’s right. Mr. Gates – it was a cheap stunt that got your talk more publicity than it would otherwise get, but here’s a thought: if the canister you opened turned out to be empty, you’d have made the same point without putting anyone’s health at risk. Maybe next time, ‘mkay?
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | Comments Off on Bill Gates Releases More Bugs into the World
Hacking Road Signs…
By Brian | February 8, 2009
OK, so apparently, the latest rage is hacking into those orange and black electronic road signs you see once in a while, and changing the message to something clever or ironic. This, for instance, is kind of funny:
But this, on the other hand, is freakin’ hilarious:
Categories: The World Wide Weird | Comments Off on Hacking Road Signs…
Rewriting the Bush Legacy? Already???
By Brian | February 8, 2009
You know, George W. Bush told us all that history would judge him differently after he left office. I had sort of assumed he meant more than three weeks after he left, though.
First, Jeff Porten tells me that NPR
Categories: Political Rantings | 4 Comments »
More on Taxes
By Brian | February 8, 2009
Seems another Obama appointment fits into the tax problem news-catalog. The hearing to consider Rep. Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary was cancelled on Thursday after it was revealed that her husband paid off $6,400 in tax liens (some of which were sixteen years old) the day before the hearing was scheduled. Once again, we are led down the lazy path, on which all four of these problems are considered equivalent. Even though, in this case, Rep. Solis’ husband is, in fact, not being considered for Labor Secretary. To his credit, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this:
We reviewed her tax returns, and her tax returns are in order. The story denotes that her husband had some issues with paying a business tax, and obviously that tax . . . should be paid. She’s not a partner in that business, so we’re not going to penalize her for her husband’s business mistakes. Obviously, her husband, I think, has and should pay any taxes that he owes.
On the more amusing side of news cataloging is the JammieWearingFool, who, while discussing Rep. Charles Rangel’s ongoing tax problems, comes up with this gem:
What with tax cheats being all the rage, one wonders how Charlie Rangel avoided an Obama cabinet appointment?
Classic.
Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings | 4 Comments »
Taxing our Patience
By Brian | February 3, 2009
Another tax problem for an Obama nominee. And once again, the media is news cataloging – lumping all three of these tax-related issues together as if they are the same thing. Let’s skim just slightly below the surface and point out the differences, shall we?
Tim Geithner– Mr. Geithner didn’t pay his employer’s portion of his social security taxes ($43,000), something that most of us don’t have to do. But the rules are different for people who work for the International Monetary Fund. At the IMF, employees are considered “self-employed” for the purposes of Social Security taxes, and are reimbursed separately for the need to pay these extra taxes. In 2006, the IRS informed him that he failed to pay these taxes (despite being reimbursed) for his 2003 and 2004 returns, and he promptly paid up (including penalties and interest). The Obama vetting team discovered the same issue with 2001 and 2002, at which point he paid up on those as well. All of this makes him careless, not criminal. Not that I’m advocating for a careless Treasury Secretary, especially in these times, but an administrative foul-up does not diminish his qualifications to run the Treasury Department.
Tom Daschle– Senator Daschle used a chauffeur-driven car that was provided to him by a long-time friend, Democratic fundraiser and founder of his own private equity firm, InterMedia Advisors, for three years. The value of this service – more than $300,000 – is taxable as income, which he never declared and hence, never paid tax on. When the Obama team vetted him for HHS secretary, they discovered the discrepancy, at which point, Senator Daschle amended his 2005, 2006, and 2007 tax returns – paying over $100,000 in back taxes and interest (but no penalties). Unlike Mr. Geithner’s case, this does not seem like an administrative oversight, nor does it seem like something that Mr. Daschle would have cleared up on his own until he got caught by the vetting process. The article I linked too, nonetheless, compares the two cases, implying that they’re part of the same story.
Nancy Killefer– Ms. Killefer owed $298 in unpaid unemployment compensation taxes for her housekeeper in February of 2005. The IRS fined her $600 for the mistake and charged her $48.69 in interest, which she paid in July of 2005. She has been free and clear of any and all tax problems for three and a half years. And yet, the Associated Press “broke” this “news story” today, linking Ms. Killefer to Messrs. Geithner and Daschle, implying that she, too, is part of the same story. This, despite the fact that she a) was quicker and more complete about settling her accounts with the IRS when she found out about them, and b) owed amounts that were orders of magnitude less than the other two. Surprisingly, Ms. Killefer decided to withdraw her name from nomination to the new post of Chief Performance Officer, saying:
“I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration.”
The key words here are “in the current environment.” In other words, because the media has used each subsequent story to build upon the one before, “news cataloging” these three significantly different situations together, she feels her $947 tax penalty from 2005 is enough to disqualify her from high office. One can speculate that she just didn’t want to deal with the spotlight over something so trivial.
When I sat down to write this post, I was going to conclude with “what a waste.” As it turns out, Ms. Killefer’s actions may have had some benefit after all, as it was just announced (a mere three hours after Ms. Killefer withdrew her nomination) that Senator Daschle is doing the same thing.
Of the three, Senator Daschle seems to be the one who came closest to commiting tax fraud here, and for a much larger sum of money than the other two. The right answer in this whole mess would have been for him to resign, and for the other two to get past it and get on with their new jobs.
Two out of three ain’t bad, I guess…
Categories: News and/or Media, Political Rantings | 4 Comments »
New Rules for Groundhog Day this year…
By Brian | February 2, 2009
Given the current state of the U.S. Economy, the following new rules will be instituted for this year’s annual Groundhog Day celebration festivities:
- If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow when he emerges from his hole tomorrow morning, there will be six more weeks of winter. Similarly, if Timothy Geithner sees his shadow when he emerges from the White House tomorrow morning, there will be six more weeks of Financial Crisis.
- If Punxsutawney Phil does not see his shadow, half of his compensation will be deferred over a three year period. Also, strict rules will be imposed as to the amount of wood an executive woodchuck would be allowed to chuck, if indeed he would chuck wood (New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is currently investigating this point).
- If the number of groundhog shadow sightings continues to drop at the current rate, one of two things will happen. Either:
- Punxsutawney Phil will be laid off and compensation rules for all groundhogs will be imposed by the federal government, or
- Punxsutawney Phil will receive a substantial grant from the federal TARP program (the Tree-dwelling Animal and Rodent Program). This option will be taken if, upon careful inspection and an official weighing, it is determined that Phil is “too big to fail.”
We hope that these new regulations help to stem the tide of our growing difficulties before similar measures become necessary with regard to Arbor Day, Flag Day, Halloween and Christmas.
Thank you and God Bless America…
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 1 Comment »
Books for Women; Books for Men
By Brian | January 30, 2009
Taking a commuter train every morning, I see dozens of people reading this book. I’ve noticed 100% of them are women. And no wonder – the full title is, “Eat, Pray, Love – One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.” I can’t imagine a title that would make me less interested in reading a book. Combine that with words on the cover spelled out in pasta, yarn and wild flowers and I am SO gone…
Now, contrast that with this book. It’s full title is, “Drink, Play, F@#k – One Man’s Search for Anything Across Ireland, Las Vegas, and Thailand.” The words on the cover are spelled out in beer bottle caps, casino chips and condoms. Clearly, they’re shooting for that target audience that is so put off by the first book.
I’ll admit to being curious, although the whole strategy backfires when I decide not to buy the second book, because I figure I’d need to at least know something about the first book to really appreciate the ironic humor. Ah well, you’ve got to give Andrew Gottlieb some credit for trying, though…
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 3 Comments »
Far Side Classics Quiz
By Brian | January 29, 2009
Wil Wheaton was blogging about The Far Side
Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 4 Comments »
In Defense of Those Who Need No Defending
By Brian | January 27, 2009
My friend and occasional commenter, Mike Starr, knows I am a big Billy Joel fan – both as a listener and a performer. So when he saw a Slate article by Ron Rosenbaum entitled The Worst Pop Singer Ever. Why, exactly, is Billy Joel so bad?, he sent it to me with a one word review: Harsh.
Having read the article, I will add my own review to Mike’s: Ignoramus.
(ED. NOTE: My review refers to Rosenbaum, not Mike, of course…)
I choose the word “ignoramus” because it allows me to combine the two words that came immediately to mind upon reading the article – “ignorant” and “doofus,” while continuing the one-word review meme that Mike unwittingly began.
“Ignorant” comes to mind because Rosenbaum clearly did very little research for this article, short of buying some Billy Joel CD’s, listening to the songs and ripping them to shreds. He appears to be under the impression that Joel wrote all one hundred and eighteen of his (album-released) songs simultaneously, and all of them after becoming one of the most successful musicians/performers in American music history.
Piano Man, for instance, shows “contempt” for “the losers at the bar he’s left behind in his stellar schlock stardom and for the ‘entertainer-loser’ (the proto-B.J.) who plays for them.” Rosenbaum is clearly unaware that Piano Man was written in 1973, while Billy Joel was living in Los Angeles and playing at a piano bar under the name of “William Martin,” almost entirely devoid of stardom, shlocky or otherwise.
The Entertainer is, according to Rosenbaum, about “phonies . . . except exquisitely self-aware entertainers like [Joel], who let you in on this secret.” Again, he is clearly unaware that the song was written in 1974 as criticism of the Wolfman Jack, Friday Night Videos, turn-rock-music-into-a-variety-show dynamic that Joel felt was ruining rock music at the time. He’s also unaware, quite obviously, of the rather significant push-back Joel received from the music industry for making such statements at the time.
About Say Goodbye to Hollywood, Rosenbaum says, “Could someone let [Joel] know he’s phoning it in with all this phoniness at this point? Isn’t there something, well, a bit phony about his hysteria over phoniness?” Similarly, New York State of Mind gets this: “He can’t even celebrate his ‘New York State of Mind’ without displaying his oh-so-rebellious contempt for ‘the movie stars in their fancy cars and their limousines.’ You think Billy Joel has really never ridden in a limo?” Once again, Rosenbaum seems blissfully ignorant of the fact that these were written in 1976 when Joel actually did “say goodbye to Hollywood” and move from California to Highland Falls, New York to kick start his fledgling music career (which he did the following year by releasing a little album called The Stranger, by the way). I’m not sure how an autobiographical song can be described as “phoning in phony hysteria over phoniness.” As for New York State of Mind, he wrote it, as the lyrics suggest, on a Greyhound bus on the Hudson River line, which was taking him to his new home in Highland Falls. It is widely considered one of the most heartfelt love songs to New York ever written. Has he ridden in limousines? Sure. Had he in 1976? Probably not too many, or he wouldn’t have been taking a Greyhound bus from the airport, now would he?
I could go on (the re-issue of The Stranger has a mask on the cover? Did he even bother to look at the original, which has the very same mask?), but I think I’ve made my point. I’m sure it’s hard to be a columnist and to write for a deadline. Heck, I post regularly here at I Should Be Sleeping, but if I don’t have anything to say on a given day, I have the luxury of not saying anything. Ron Rosenbaum obviously had a thesis in search of supporting evidence, and figured he’d make it up with a few lyrics quotes, rather than actually doing, well….research on his topic.
As to the other word that came to mind, “doofus,” the rationale goes like this:
Mr. Rosenbaum – you’re criticizing Billy Joel for being elitist and judgemental, and you’re doing it by telling all of us, the hundreds of millions of people who have made him one of the most successful artists in the history of American music for almost four decades, that we’re all devoid of musical taste. Only you, good sir, have the finely tuned sensibilities to tell us what is good and what is “sentimental schlock.” Now who’s the phony, exactly?
Look – what makes music great is it’s subjectivity. There’s an audience for almost any kind of music, from classical to jazz to hip-hop to rock to Russian Balalaika. I’ll argue the factual inaccuracies in Mr. Rosenbaum’s article all day long, but I wouldn’t dare try to argue that he should like Billy Joel’s music. That’s entirely up to him. In fact, given what he’s written, I’d suggest he save some money and never buy a Billy Joel track or concert ticket ever again.
In closing, I think these words (written by some phony, elitist rock star back in the ’70s) sum up my feelings about Mr. Rosenbaum and his article pretty well:
Give a moment or two to the angry young man,
With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand.
He’s been stabbed in the back, he’s been misunderstood,
It’s a comfort to know his intentions are good.
And he sits in a room with a lock on the door,
With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor-
And he likes to be known as the angry young man.I believe I’ve passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight.
I once believed in causes too,
I had my pointless point of view,
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right.
Categories: Words about Music | 7 Comments »
I’m an Apple IIc. I’m a PCJr.
By Brian | January 23, 2009
For those of you who might have thought that Apple’s current “I’m a Mac; I’m a PC” ad campaign is “Thinking Different,” check this out:
The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh?
Categories: Primetime TV, Tech Talk | 2 Comments »