Category Archives: Rant

Et Tu, Jon Stewart? “Saddened” by Obama?

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I’m still buried in projects at work, but I saw on CNN on my lunch break that Jon Stewart said he “thought Obama would do a better job when he voted for him in the 2008 presidential election.”

Wow. First Donald Trump, and now Jon Stewart.

Stewart said “I thought we were in such a place [in 2008], much like the Tea Party feels now, that the country … needed a more drastic reconstruction – I have been saddened to see that someone who ran on the idea that you can’t expect to get different results with the same people and the same system has kept in place so much of the same system and same people,” he said.

What he said! What he said!

So to sum up, the Democrats are getting torpedoed because “more of the same!” isn’t what the voters wanted, the Republicans are getting torpedoed because their message isn’t what the voters want to hear, and the Tea Party is doing well right now because the voters want real change, but they’re going to eventually be torpedoed because nobody wants the faaaaaar right loony-tunes brigade in charge.

It’s still a douchebag and turd sandwich choice, but now there’s a new option of toejam taco to go with it.

Not. What. We. Want.

Here’s the link to the CNN Jon Stewart article.

Donald Trump displays amazing psychic powers! He says what I’ve been thinking on CNN!

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I’ve been swamped with projects this week, but I saw this video on CNN and wanted to post it before it got too late.

Who knew Donald Trump was a psychic? Right around the 1 minute mark on a CNN interview, he says what I’ve been thinking (and endlessly ranting on about in this blog) for awhile!

“When we see the taxes just going up, we see wars that we shouldn’t be in, we see roadways going into Manhattan that are falling apart… and yet we’re rebuilding Afghanistan. I don’t know that it’s going to work out for him.”

Him being Obama.

It’s not just a rant about the Democrats. It’s about how more and more people are finally getting fed up with all the political BS.

Check it out…



The Neon Trees “Animal” video looks familiar

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To paraphrase a Samuel Jackson line from “Snakes on a Plane”, “Enough is enough! I have had it with these mother******g musicians ripping off my mother******g childhood!”

Shakira robbing Fozzie bear was bad enough, but now I see a band called Neon Trees has a video called “Animal”…



Hmmmm. That video looks familiar.

Museum patrons minding their own business? Suddenly getting gassed by a colorful smoke? Everyone falls down unconscious? Vandals enter the museum and deface/repaint the artwork? But they spare the one painting the very colorful leader likes?

Holy ripoff, Batman! That’s all from the 1989 movie… Batman! The one with Michael Keaton!

I found a clip of the movie that shows the Joker and his henchmen entering the museum right after the gas attack and you can see the whole 1989 Batman clip on YouTube that I’m talking about by clicking here. (Sorry about not putting the video here directly, but embedding of that video was disabled.)

What is really depressing is that Tyler Glenn, the lead singer of Neon Trees, is 27 years old. When this Batman movie came out in 1989, he was all of 6 years old.

The good news is that I’m finally old enough to recognize a ripoff when I see one! The bad news is that I’m finally old enough to recognize a ripoff when I see one!

I think I’m gonna’ go get me a Whataburger and a cold beer now before I start yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

Website notice : comments that are advertisements will not be approved

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I love comments! Comments that criticize, comments that discuss what was posted, comments that are insulting, and comments on comments’ comments are always welcome. Comments with links to related topics and links to personal websites are awesome, too!

However, comments that are nothing but advertisements unrelated to the original post are not welcome here. Posting any advertisement for any product unrelated to the original post will not go through. Posting about an item for sale that has nothing to do with the present discussion will not go through.

Seriously, I’ll approve everything… as long as it is somehow related to the original post.

But if you have something to advertise or sell, take it to Google Ads.

Wait, which hurricane was first to hit the U.S. this year?

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Every so often, the Wall Street Journal makes me do a double take.

Today, September 1st, 2010, the Wall Street Journal mentioned on page A7 that Hurricane Earl “could easily veer west in the coming days, becoming the first hurricane to hit the U.S. this season”.

Hoookay then. Sooooo…

WTF was hurricane Alex?

I do remember hurricane Alex coming by to say “howdy” back around July 1st, and it was definitely more “hurricane” than “hurricane-ish”. Does the eye have to pass directly over the continental U.S.’ line of scrimmage to be considered “official”? Did the mega-sized hurricane bands from Alex that were handing out free tornadoes and monsoon-flavored water not count?

Recount!

Mission Accomplished… Again

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Mission Accomplished... Again


According to the New York Times, yesterday “President Obama declared an end… to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying that the United States has met its responsibility to that country and that it is now time to turn to pressing problems at home. ”

Did every major media outlet completely miss that itty bitty part that “the United States would continue to play a key role in nurturing a stable democracy” in Iraq, and that “some 50,000 US troops will remain until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests”, and that “the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.”

We’re not out of Iraq. Not by a long shot. And now with the buildup in Afghanistan looking like the unwelcome sequel to the “lookin’ for tarr’ists” wars, I just don’t see US troop deployment truly “drawing down” anytime soon.

This is nothing more than another “Mission Accomplished” PR stunt, but this time, by the Democrats.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is not what I voted for. This is a shell game with human lives at stake.

Chris Matthews of Hardball on MSNBC summarizes my thoughts on this ongoing lunacy far better than I can. (I wonder if his slip-up at 1:25 was intentional?)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



Oh, and please forgive the hack Photoshop job, but it is what I thought of when I watched President Obama’s speech last night.

A real, honest Iraq pullout? No, not really.

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Everybody and their Aunt Petunia seems to be going bonkers on the news that the “Last US combat brigade exits Iraq.”

My first reaction? I noticed they are all saying combat troops are being pulled out. Not all troops. Not a full withdrawal.

If you look at the details on either the BBC or COUNTDOWN sites, both have the fact that “some 50,000 US troops will remain until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests.”

“Some” 50,000 troops would be the population of North Richland Hills, Texas. Temple, Texas. McKinney, Texas. Or Flower Mound, Texas.

“Some” 50,000 troops would be the population of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Or Danville, Virginia. Or Ames, Iowa. Or Lady Lake, Florida. Or Sandusky, Ohio. Or Hinesville, Georgia. Or Columbus, Indiana. Or Middletown, New York. Or Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

And, as an extra bonus, it looks like “the Obama administration is planning a remarkable civilian effort, buttressed by a small army of contractors, to fill the void.”

Why are all these media outlets getting so excited? Over nothing?

This is not a withdrawal. This is a shell game with human lives.

Sears harvesting new social demographic / Shopping Sears.com

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Preface : There’s a TL;DR for this tome.

Right then. First off, let me tell you about an interesting little thing I noticed when applying for a “Sears Rewards” card online this last weekend. (More on my Sears online experience in a bit).

Midway down the rewards application, after the information about me and my basic stats, I saw this…

Sears Customer Rewards Questions

Wow. Welcome to the new “targeted social advertising” era.

It really was only a matter of time before large companies realized the Twitter and Facebook demographics were ripe for harvesting. So why not give a special offer to those who have a built-in listener base? It makes sense, really.

If I wanted to reach 301 people in one shot, what better way than to send a “freebie” or “exclusive message” to someone with a built-in following? Bloggers are always looking for content, and a “hey check out what I got from Sears” post or “hey look at what Sears just told me is coming up” post is pretty good material to build on. Sears wins for getting their message out directly to more people than old fashioned print media does anymore, and the bloggers win by getting access to new and unreleased material before it goes mainstream. Tying it into their in-house rewards questionnaire is just icing on the cake.

I replied honestly to the questionnaire, but I wonder how many more offers the “over 300” followers will get? And, just as important, I wonder if Sears is actually going to parse the “over 300” crowd for their “ideal” demographic and not just “carpet bomb” everyone who has a large following in the hopes they suddenly become converts?

Sending a new Black and Decker toolkit or a Sears-exclusive appliance to Click and Clack on NPR’s Car Talk or to any of the Auto or Car blog specific sites out there would be genius.

Best of luck, Sears. Congratulations on being the first site I’ve come across to go fishing in the big new ocean of fully connected customers!

I do expect other “top 100” companies to follow suit, though. Expect more “who do you know” kinds of questions for rewards sites, and look for more “now hiring : social media integration specialists” in the future.

So, having said all that, let me tell you about my experience shopping online with Sears this last weekend.

This Sunday I wanted to purchase a Kenmore Elite Stainless Steel 16.7 cu. ft. Freezerless Refrigerator (4472) Sears Item# 04644723000 | Model# 44723, a  Kenmore Elite Stainless Steel 16.7 cu. ft. Upright Freezer (4473) Sears Item# 04644733000 | Model# 44733, and the Kenmore Stainless Steel Stainless Steel Trim Kit Sears Item# 04604470000 | Model# DUOTRIMKIT online. The total for everything was around $2.5k after delivery and taxes.

At the checkout, I was keying in my AmX card when I noticed there was a small icon next to payment type that said “Don’t Have A Sears Card? APPLY NOW.”

Sears Payment

I thought, hey, if I apply for a Sears card I can get in on their 12 months interest free plan! Awesome! Instead of one payment next month, I can break it down into two or three payments interest free!

So I clicked on the APPLY NOW icon, and after putting in the usual credit application sorts of info, I was approved for the Sears card. I went ahead and signed up for online management of the card through Citibank and was referred back to Sears checkout. The whole application and management process was ridiculously easy.

Back at the Sears online checkout window I selected under “payment type” the “Sears Card” option. That immediately prompted me for the Sears credit card number and security code on the back of the Sears card.

Uh, guys? I don’t have the card security code or the full Sears card number because I applied for the Sears card online.

I logged into the online management of the Sears card through Citibank and looked for the full card number and security code, only to find out that the card was going to be mailed to me and I would have to wait two to three weeks to get the Sears card in the mail and activate it.

I went back to the Sears site, and clicked on the top icon for a Sears rep to “Call Me”.

Sears Call Me

In less than a minute, my home phone rang and I was connected to a very professional and courteous Sears representative who confirmed, in just seconds, what I suspected. The “APPLY NOW” icon? The customer service rep was careful not to agree with my statement that it was “misleading”, but did say it was indeed “somewhat confusing”. When you APPLY NOW for a Sears card, you can’t use the credit card until you actually receive it in the mail. Only then, after you activate it, will it function online.

Nice.

I said “thank you” and decided I can wait two weeks to break up the payments for now. But Sears missed out on a $2.5k weekend purchase by not fully integrating their commerce division with their sales department, and that really is just bad design.

And now it’s time for the “insult to injury” round!

While I was at the Sears site, I saw there was a “Sears Rewards” section, where you can sign up and get a “rewards” card that applies money you spend to points you can earn to get more stuff. It sounded like a good deal, so I signed up for it.

The moment I pressed ENTER on the “Sears Rewards” site, I was given a temporary rewards number that I could print out and use immediately.

Hey Sears? Put whoever designed the Rewards section in charge of the Credit/Finance department. I would have loved to have bought those appliances this last Sunday so I could have had them in my home by Wednesday. Why not issue a “temporary” credit card number that people can immediately online when they are approved for a Sears card? You could make the temporary credit card a “disposable” number like Citibank and AmX give out to their customers, and the number would expire upon receipt of the “real” card. You can even make it so that it is only for a fraction of the total available amount on the “real” card for extra security. I bet you would get many more online purchases if you guys just slightly updated your systems integration.

The rest of the Sears site was top notch. Immediate callback from customer service. Good “flow” for the website. Great “related items” queries. Outstanding “rewards” setup/turnaround.

Oh, and Sears? One more thing. You might want to get on the list of who is buying new homes and send them a “welcome” packet in the mail with a $10 or $20 off a “home appliance” coupon and some other “welcome to your new home” material. Best Buy sent me a similar packet and I purchased a brand new Samsung HE washer and dryer from them late last year because of it! Don’t forget the old school methods!

TL;DR : Sears is ahead of the curve in their social marketing reach, but they need to integrate their credit approval department with their online sales site. Everything else was great.

EDIT 10:56 CST: Spelling & Formatting.

The first amendment has been suspended in the gulf – Anderson Cooper, CNN

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Anderson Cooper, one of CNN’s best reporters, has a great video on how the first amendment has been suspended in the gulf.

A user called Sharky734 posted Anderson’s recent CNN editorial on YouTube…

No reporters or photography allowed within 65 feet of any “response vessel or boom” in the gulf? That’s a very broad restriction. Since the booms surround the shoreline, 65 feet away in both directions means there is actually a 130 foot “dark zone” on the area most affected by the spill.

This is completely unacceptable.

This isn’t a warzone. This isn’t a foreign country. Nobody’s life is in imminent danger. Why the hell can’t the press take photos of what is going on in the gulf whenever they want to? Why the hell can’t the press take photos of the shorelines? Who, exactly, is going to get hurt if they do so?

And since when does the coast guard bend over and say thank you to BP?

Most important of all, why the hell has the “new and improved” Obama administration condoned this egregious restriction on the press?

Of all the things for the Democrats to copy from the Republicans, restricting the press under the pretense of “safety” and then creating laws out of thin air to help cover a corporation’s error are the most despicable.

The first amendment applies on American waters as well as is does on American land. There is no compromise on this. With modern technology and “live” streaming capabilities available to virtually everyone, there is no reason to let corporations, and especially our own government, restrict the truth in any way, shape or form to further their own agenda.

Who ships a slightly customized laptop faster – Apple or Dell FINAL UPDATE

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I just got the Dell laptop today.

This is the laptop I originally ordered back on the 8th of June.

At least it arrived faster than the initially scheduled July 8th. But still, 24 days is a very long time to wait for any laptop nowadays. Especially since Apple managed to get theirs delivered in 6 days.